What do you think will happen with side to sides?

[wannagonow123]

Earlier this year I was being Ms. Optimistic and booked 2 cruises on Carnival out of Galveston in March 2021. Spend 7 days on one ship, on arrival after first cruise, get right onto another ship. I know Galveston cruises are up in the air at this point.(as are all other cruises). My concern is that they start up following CDC guidelines where I will be unable to get a covid test between the 2 cruises. Any  thoughts of how Carnival might handle this? I'm a bit afraid that if cruises start up, Carnival will tell me "sorry Charlie". At this point (and I am sorry for saying this- yes I am being selfish), I'm hoping cruising holds off until June. I could see something being done with B2B's, but I am worried about my stupid move.

[chengkp75]

I think that a side to side within one cruise line will not be allowed.  Not only is it the covid test prior to joining the second cruise, but the intent of the CDC limitation is to limit the amount of time a passenger is exposed to the "ship environment" which is shown to have a high transmission rate.

[EllaDuChien]

This is similar to my situation.  I have a 3 day on Carnival and then a 4 day on another line.  So in total, 7 days, but I am not sure how to work the Covid Test...that's if it even happens!   I am in no way trying to get around the b2b guideline, I had these two booked this way for quite a while.  

Edited November 29, 2020 by EllaDuChien

[Earthworm Jim]

23 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

I think that a side to side within one cruise line will not be allowed.  Not only is it the covid test prior to joining the second cruise, but the intent of the CDC limitation is to limit the amount of time a passenger is exposed to the "ship environment" which is shown to have a high transmission rate.

 

Does that imply side to side but different cruise lines will be allowed? The same logic would apply, but realizing the same passenger booked on two different lines in consecutive weeks would be a problem. Cruise lines aren't going to want to share their passengers lists with the competition.

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Does that imply side to side but different cruise lines will be allowed? The same logic would apply, but realizing the same passenger booked on two different lines in consecutive weeks would be a problem. Cruise lines aren't going to want to share their passengers lists with the competition.

Will it be "allowed"?  I think it may be "possible", but only because, as you say, tracking passengers between companies would be difficult.  Some posited that CBP could track them, but that would only be "after the fact", since they don't get passenger manifests until just before sailing.

[d9704011]

10 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Does that imply side to side but different cruise lines will be allowed? The same logic would apply, but realizing the same passenger booked on two different lines in consecutive weeks would be a problem. Cruise lines aren't going to want to share their passengers lists with the competition.

Personally, I don’t believe ‘side-to-sides’ will be expressly disallowed.  Pre-cruise testing requirements and ship schedules will likely discourage a lot of folks from trying this; practically speaking, I think you’d end up spending five or six nights in a hotel before boarding the second cruise.

[MsTabbyKats]

Actually, as a fact, we don't know what the cruiselines will require.  If they do require pre-covid tests, think of how many people will show up at the pier "not aware" of this.  Maybe there will be rapid test kits available (at a fee).

 

Imho, the easiest way to handle this is require proof of immunization.  Then, in theory, a sideways or B2B should be ok.  I thought the 7 day rule was so that a ship "got back" asap.  So, if there's a problem, you are back at the end of leg one.

 

My guess is as good as any guess!

[firefly333]

30 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Actually, as a fact, we don't know what the cruiselines will require.  If they do require pre-covid tests, think of how many people will show up at the pier "not aware" of this.  Maybe there will be rapid test kits available (at a fee).

 

Imho, the easiest way to handle this is require proof of immunization.  Then, in theory, a sideways or B2B should be ok.  I thought the 7 day rule was so that a ship "got back" asap.  So, if there's a problem, you are back at the end of leg one.

 

My guess is as good as any guess!

Now when you sign into your rcl cruise, a big blue sign comes up about a test being required. And then they send you a email. If you sign in to complete your boarding pass, you cant miss it. Hard to miss the big blue warning that now pops up when you complete your boarding pass for rcl. I'd expect carnival something similar.

 

Then there is the issue your name goes to homeland security.

 

I could be wrong, but thought it was the cdc requiring the double covid test to board, but at any rate, just beware, there are signs the cruiselines will require it. They dont want to be sued.

 

Here is the start of the email they send to the email on record. If you miss both warnings, and cant get onboard, I'd say it's on you. Not the cruiselines.

 

We're counting down the days until your sailing with us! Here are your next steps to ensure a smooth and healthy boarding day.  

Before You Arrive:

• Schedule and take a rtPCR SARS-CoV-2 test (between 24 hours and 3 days before your cruise), and bring your negative test result with you on your sail day.  
  • If the name on your results doesn’t match your travel documents, be sure to bring a bridging document that proves it’s you.
• Answer your required health questions on the app the day before you sail. You'll get a notification from our app when it's open. 
• Need to view your Health Acknowledgement one more time? Find it here.
• Download the TraceTogether app or collect the TraceTogether (TT) token, which is required to board the ship.

Boarding Day:

• Be sure to keep important items like travel documents, test results and face mask somewhere easy to reach! You'll need them from the moment you arrive to the port all the way to boarding the ship. 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by firefly333

[MsTabbyKats]

@firefly333

 

Good to know.....but this is the current requirement, now, today....when ships aren't sailing, and nobody knows when the will. 

 

Things may change once there's a vaccine.

[EllaDuChien]

3 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@firefly333

 

Good to know.....but this is the current requirement, now, today....when ships aren't sailing, and nobody knows when the will. 

 

Things may change once there's a vaccine.

 

Its also for Royal Caribbean, in Singapore where the CDC is not in charge, but I totally agree that it will be very difficult to pull the "I didn't know" card. 

[firefly333]

If the cruiselines are required to do the double testing by cdc, or risk a fine, or having the no sail order come back, I think the cruiselines will enforce it for a while if they get to resume.

 

Someone pointed out to me the vaccine isnt 100% on the rcl boards, it's unlikely cdc will immediately rescind their testing requirements. 

[MsTabbyKats]

16 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

Its also for Royal Caribbean, in Singapore where the CDC is not in charge, but I totally agree that it will be very difficult to pull the "I didn't know" card. 

There will always be those "I don't have the internet" people....or "no English" people.

 

But anyway...once there is a vaccine, it should supersede all testing requirements.  Maybe a test if you don't have the vaccine.  The tests aren't even accurate "for that moment in time".

[firefly333]

21 minutes ago, EllaDuChien said:

 

Its also for Royal Caribbean, in Singapore where the CDC is not in charge, but I totally agree that it will be very difficult to pull the "I didn't know" card. 

If you read the blue attachment, it's what someone got signing into their feb 21, 2021 cruise oit of Galveston.  Yes I know it's what quantum requires out of singapore, but it's what people logging in get out of Galveston on my roll calls.

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

There will always be those "I don't have the internet" people....or "no English" people.

 

But anyway...once there is a vaccine, it should supersede all testing requirements.  Maybe a test if you don't have the vaccine.  The tests aren't even accurate "for that moment in time".

The cdc testing requirement is until Nov 1, 2021, so you are just assuming they will act fast and change it? Cdc has been known to be anti cruise and not move fast to change and backtrack. 

 

It does seem like there are carnival posters who are much more positive cdc will change their testing stance immediately. Oh dont worry, no one knows anything except the 40 page cdc requirements..dont worry, they probably will throw them out if a vaccine is distributed. Ok. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by firefly333

[MsTabbyKats]

7 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

The cdc testing requirement is until Nov 1, 2021, so you are just assuming they will act fast and change it? Cdc has been known to be anti cruise and not move fast to change and backtrack. 

 

It does seem like there are carnival posters who are much more positive cdc will change their testing stance immediately. Oh dont worry, no one knows anything except the 40 page cdc requirements..dont worry, they probably will throw them out if a vaccine is distributed. Ok. 

Lol...I am not assuming anything other than "nobody knows anything" and "everything changes all the time". (Remember how I was flamed when I said "no August 2020 cruises"?)

 

Back in March they said "don't wear masks".....and then "wear masks" became the mantra.

 

Check back with me the week before the first American cruise sets sail...and we'll see what they want. With the current covid rates and thanks to the people who can't follow guidelines....I don't dare give a projection of when that will be.

 

 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

I thought the 7 day rule was so that a ship "got back" asap.  So, if there's a problem, you are back at the end of leg one.

This is not the reason, as you could have a cruise of 10-14 days around the Caribbean, that would still be one or two days away from home port at most.  The CDC does not want the ship to come back to the US as quickly as possible if there is an infected person onboard.  As I've said repeatedly, the CDC really doesn't care if you get sick on the cruise (and just like any medical emergency, the cruise line will disembark the ill passenger at the first available port, not the home port), they don't want the case dropped into the US.  They are trying to be reasonable, and allow a form of land quarantine, rather than the traditional quarantine of an entire ship, on the ship, but their main goal is to not bring infected people back into the US.

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Cdc has been known to be anti cruise

As always, this is totally bogus, and amusing to me, knowing that they could have shut the industry down decades ago if they were "anti-cruise".

[pe4all]

I just hope that more rapid testing places open up wherever cruises embark from, and debark from.  We just came back from FLL, and had a really hard time finding a rapid testing facility, as we had to have our test results back within 3 days of flying back to NY, and many places told us it might take 3-5 days to get results, with 3-10 days at some.   Imagine thousands of people looking to get tests before cruising, and after cruising.  What a mess that will be.  If they give rapid tests at the port before boarding, that would definitely help.  Will hold up boarding procedure, though.

[MsTabbyKats]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

This is not the reason, as you could have a cruise of 10-14 days around the Caribbean, that would still be one or two days away from home port at most.  The CDC does not want the ship to come back to the US as quickly as possible if there is an infected person onboard.  As I've said repeatedly, the CDC really doesn't care if you get sick on the cruise (and just like any medical emergency, the cruise line will disembark the ill passenger at the first available port, not the home port), they don't want the case dropped into the US.  They are trying to be reasonable, and allow a form of land quarantine, rather than the traditional quarantine of an entire ship, on the ship, but their main goal is to not bring infected people back into the US.

I was misunderstood or didn't word it correctly.  The point of a "short cruise" is that the ship can drop you off before "there is a known infection".  In general, it takes more than 7 days to progress from infection to "feeling sick enuf to go to the doctor".  I didn't mean bring you back fast in case someone was sick.

[chengkp75]

Just now, MsTabbyKats said:

I was misunderstood or didn't word it correctly.  The point of a "short cruise" is that the ship can drop you off before "there is a known infection".  In general, it takes more than 7 days to progress from infection to "feeling sick enuf to go to the doctor".  I didn't mean bring you back fast in case someone was sick.

So, you think that the agency mandated to prevent the introduction into the US of infectious diseases, not to prevent illness on cruise ships, wants to limit cruise length so that pre-symptomatic people can be returned quickly to the US?  I don't follow that logic at all.  That to me would be the cruise lines' reason for short cruises, so that they can deny that the infection happened on the ship.  The CDC data, I believe, has shown them that around 7 days of exposure to any pathogen, the probability of infection starts to increase dramatically, so they want to limit the time people are potentially exposed.

[MsTabbyKats]

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

So, you think that the agency mandated to prevent the introduction into the US of infectious diseases, not to prevent illness on cruise ships, wants to limit cruise length so that pre-symptomatic people can be returned quickly to the US?  I don't follow that logic at all.  That to me would be the cruise lines' reason for short cruises, so that they can deny that the infection happened on the ship.  The CDC data, I believe, has shown them that around 7 days of exposure to any pathogen, the probability of infection starts to increase dramatically, so they want to limit the time people are potentially exposed.

I believe you are saying the same thing as me....just a bit more eloquently.

 

The cruiseline want you on and off....as quickly as possible.  They don't want to be held responsible for "another wave". 

 

The CDC is in a tough spot....the only way to insure nobody gets infected is that nobody cruises.  Tests results are, at best, accurate only for the moment in time the sample was taken.  And even then, there are false negatives.  In addition, a good percentage of people are asymptomatic.  So you may think it has something to do with infection rate....I think it has more to do they don't want massive outbreaks on board.  Let's get them off...and let's test them before they can become spreaders on land.

  

 

[EllaDuChien]

59 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

If you read the blue attachment, it's what someone got signing into their feb 21, 2021 cruise oit of Galveston.  Yes I know it's what quantum requires out of singapore, but it's what people logging in get out of Galveston on my roll calls.

The blue attachment is just someone’s Facebook post saying that that’s what they got. 
Please know, I agree with what you are saying 100%, and I think that what the email says is pretty darn close to what will happen in the US as well. But I checked into my February 12 cruise on the Navigator out of Miami (which I don’t think is going either, but it’s more like than Galveston.) and I didn’t get any of that. 

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

6 hours ago, wannagonow123 said:

Earlier this year I was being Ms. Optimistic and booked 2 cruises on Carnival out of Galveston in March 2021. Spend 7 days on one ship, on arrival after first cruise, get right onto another ship. I know Galveston cruises are up in the air at this point.(as are all other cruises). My concern is that they start up following CDC guidelines where I will be unable to get a covid test between the 2 cruises. Any  thoughts of how Carnival might handle this? I'm a bit afraid that if cruises start up, Carnival will tell me "sorry Charlie". At this point (and I am sorry for saying this- yes I am being selfish), I'm hoping cruising holds off until June. I could see something being done with B2B's, but I am worried about my stupid move.

I don't see why you could not receive a COVID test onboard the 1st cruise.  It is my understanding the they may be doing them on board.

 

[LouChamp]

the reality is in my opinion is that it is too early to know what will happen until the thanksgiving covid increase occurs together with Christmas and New Years.  People just won’t pay attention. worse than little kids.  that will affect the first and perhaps second quarter.  so it doesn’t  matter what the boarding passes or websites say because the reality is it will all change.

chengkp75 always gets it right and i respect and learn from him but/i’m sure he will agree no one knows.  i wish you all the best and hope these cruises sail but perhaps the boarding passes are only good for framing.

 

 

 

 

 

[skridge]

3 hours ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Lol...I am not assuming anything other than "nobody knows anything" and "everything changes all the time". (Remember how I was flamed when I said "no August 2020 cruises"?)

 

Back in March they said "don't wear masks".....and then "wear masks" became the mantra.

 

Check back with me the week before the first American cruise sets sail...and we'll see what they want. With the current covid rates and thanks to the people who can't follow guidelines....I don't dare give a projection of when that will be.

 

 

Those same people are still out there flaming anyone that dares to type a realistic response on here.