Health Protocols for Celebrity Cruises This Summer - Will Carnival Follow Suit?

[Djptcp]

I just saw these health protocols on a Celebrity Cruise Critic thread for their cruises this summer sailing from St. Maarten. I am hoping Carnival Corp. will institute same/similar protocols for Carnival and Holland America as we have three HAL cruises booked for Dec. '21, Feb. '22, April '22 and one Carnival cruise booked for Jan. '22. They are very reasonable.

 

• All passengers 18 years and older MUST be vaccinated (16 years if they have the Pfizer vaccine).
• All crew will be vaccinated.
• Negative test 72 hours before arriving in St. Maarten (St. Maarten requirement).
• We are not going to be required to use ship tours…you can get off the ship on your own and do your own thing. Policies related to this are being finalized.
• They will update the mask requirements and other health protocols on board by next week when they open the cruises for reservations.
• There will be sailing at reduced capacity – 40-60% of the ship will be available.
• They will be testing you prior to embarkation.  There is no cost to passengers for testing.
• They will do the mouth swab antigen test onboard the day before disembarkation so people can come back to the states and there is not charge for either tests. Results are know in 5 - 6 minutes.
• You can only book verandas on Millennium.  No insides or oceanviews at this time for the summer cruises.
• Muster drill will remain on the TV in your cabin.  No more muster drills in public spaces with lots of people.
• Oceanview café will have food behind glass and served by crew members. You will no longer be allowed to self-serve.

[stellarose]

I can live with those for my Christmas cruise on Mardi Gras.

[1025cruise]

Crystal Ball is in the shop.....

 

Keep in mind this is specific to the ship sailing from St. Maarten. 

[pe4all]

I would also be happy to cruise under these rules.  I am just surprised at the one saying you can do your own thing off the ship - not required to take ship tours.  But I guess if everyone is vaccinated the "threat level" of covid spread is minimal.

[ladychater]

That protocol sounds pretty good to me....though as someone booked with an Ocean View for November, I'm not down with balcony only.  Oh, please, Carnival, don't bump me off the ship!

[trvlgirlmq]

That excursion thing is a total deal breaker so I love this.  If I was going to sail that is.  We have 2 land trips booked for the summer so no travel probably until next year for us.

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, Djptcp said:

I just saw these health protocols on a Celebrity Cruise Critic thread for their cruises this summer sailing from St. Maarten. I am hoping Carnival Corp. will institute same/similar protocols for Carnival and Holland America as we have three HAL cruises booked for Dec. '21, Feb. '22, April '22 and one Carnival cruise booked for Jan. '22. They are very reasonable.

 

• All passengers 18 years and older MUST be vaccinated (16 years if they have the Pfizer vaccine).
• All crew will be vaccinated.
• Negative test 72 hours before arriving in St. Maarten (St. Maarten requirement).
• We are not going to be required to use ship tours…you can get off the ship on your own and do your own thing. Policies related to this are being finalized.
• They will update the mask requirements and other health protocols on board by next week when they open the cruises for reservations.
• There will be sailing at reduced capacity – 40-60% of the ship will be available.
• They will be testing you prior to embarkation.  There is no cost to passengers for testing.
• They will do the mouth swab antigen test onboard the day before disembarkation so people can come back to the states and there is not charge for either tests. Results are know in 5 - 6 minutes.
• You can only book verandas on Millennium.  No insides or oceanviews at this time for the summer cruises.
• Muster drill will remain on the TV in your cabin.  No more muster drills in public spaces with lots of people.
• Oceanview café will have food behind glass and served by crew members. You will no longer be allowed to self-serve.

Could you provide a link to the line that celebrity will allow excursions on your own. There seems to be some back and forth on this. Celebrity site indicates no, but a travel magazine says yes.

 

A TA on the rcl boards has also asked for a link to this on the celebrity site, as what he sees does not say this.  ... though I'd imagine on the private island np getting off on your own. 

 

I also looked on the celebrity site and to me says otherwise.

[florida eagle]

We are talking protocols. Include in the protocols the gratuities. No more optioning out and lowering those costs if all are required to pay for it. Carnival must own up to this. And with all of you who enjoy cruising, good luck.

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, florida eagle said:

We are talking protocols. Include in the protocols the gratuities. No more optioning out and lowering those costs if all are required to pay for it. Carnival must own up to this. And with all of you who enjoy cruising, good luck.

I thought it was interesting that celebrity has announced new all inclusive pricing  but these cruises will not be the new all inclusive pricing announced. At least that is how I read it. I was thinking drinks and internet not included, but tips either. 

[FiremedicMike151]

Interesting - antibody tests are widely regarded as being unreliable at best, including showing negative antibodies for those who have been confirmed to have had covid.. 

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

17 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

Interesting - antibody tests are widely regarded as being unreliable at best, including showing negative antibodies for those who have been confirmed to have had covid.. 

 

I suspect it is a "box to check" to back up the real test: proof of vaccination.  The cruise line can say they did their due diligence.

 

As for those conditions: I'm OK with them.  We almost always get a balcony (next two are booked on balconies), I'm OK with being served food at the "buffet" vs self-serve, etc.  I hope Carnival takes a good look at how well this works and adopts the pros and discards the cons.

[FiremedicMike151]

54 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I suspect it is a "box to check" to back up the real test: proof of vaccination.  The cruise line can say they did their due diligence.

 

As for those conditions: I'm OK with them.  We almost always get a balcony (next two are booked on balconies), I'm OK with being served food at the "buffet" vs self-serve, etc.  I hope Carnival takes a good look at how well this works and adopts the pros and discards the cons.

But my point is, a lot of people are getting negative results.. So I show my vaccine card, and even go a step further and show that I had covid, but I get to the port and have a negative antibody test, then what?

 

[stellarose]

they are going to need to rely on vaccines and a negative test . hopefully in late summer when most are vaccinated- we will see the start of cruising.  just a teacher's wishful thinking. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

16 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

But my point is, a lot of people are getting negative results.. So I show my vaccine card, and even go a step further and show that I had covid, but I get to the port and have a negative antibody test, then what?

 

I think you are confusing "antigen" with "antibody".

 

"Antigens are molecules capable of stimulating an immune response. Each antigen has distinct surface features, or epitopes, resulting in specific responses.

 

Antibodies (immunoglobins) are Y-shaped proteins produced by B cells of the immune system in response to exposure to antigens. "

 

https://www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/articles/antigen-vs-antibody-what-are-the-differences-293550

 

The antigen test is not testing for long-term antibodies, it is testing for a specific antigen present in a current infection:

 

"Antigen tests are immunoassays that detect the presence of a specific viral antigen, which implies current viral infection. "

 

Antibody tests look for antibodies, which are different, and do not detect a current infection, but show past infection (or possibly vaccination):

 

"the [antibody] tests don't turn positive for two to four weeks (post infection)"

 

https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/pcr-antigen-and-antibody-five-things-know-about-coronavirus-tests.html

[FiremedicMike151]

4 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I think you are confusing "antigen" with "antibody".

 

"Antigens are molecules capable of stimulating an immune response. Each antigen has distinct surface features, or epitopes, resulting in specific responses.

 

Antibodies (immunoglobins) are Y-shaped proteins produced by B cells of the immune system in response to exposure to antigens. "

 

https://www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/articles/antigen-vs-antibody-what-are-the-differences-293550

 

The antigen test is not testing for long-term antibodies, it is testing for a specific antigen present in a current infection:

 

"Antigen tests are immunoassays that detect the presence of a specific viral antigen, which implies current viral infection. "

 

Antibody tests look for antibodies, which are different, and do not detect a current infection, but show past infection (or possibly vaccination):

 

"the [antibody] tests don't turn positive for two to four weeks (post infection)"

 

https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/pcr-antigen-and-antibody-five-things-know-about-coronavirus-tests.html

I am not confusing the two.  Antibody tests have been returning negative results in people who have had covid.

[not-enough-cruising]

7 hours ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

Interesting - antibody tests are widely regarded as being unreliable at best, including showing negative antibodies for those who have been confirmed to have had covid.. 

 

Where did you read anything about antibody tests?

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

I am not confusing the two.  Antibody tests have been returning negative results in people who have had covid.

 But Celebrity and Royal aren’t doing antibody tests

[FiremedicMike151]

I apologize, I re-read the post with the guidelines and it does say antigen testing and not antibody testing

 

My bad

 

[Honolulu Blue]

On 3/22/2021 at 12:03 PM, Djptcp said:

I just saw these health protocols on a Celebrity Cruise Critic thread for their cruises this summer sailing from St. Maarten. I am hoping Carnival Corp. will institute same/similar protocols for Carnival and Holland America as we have three HAL cruises booked for Dec. '21, Feb. '22, April '22 and one Carnival cruise booked for Jan. '22. They are very reasonable.

 

Thanks for sharing.  I agree that most of them seem reasonable, though that doesn't mean I necessarily like them.  For convenience sake I wish Celebrity would accept the test required to get into St. Maarten, but of course I understand why they wouldn't.  I wouldn't know what to do with a balcony, so I wouldn't like being forced into one.  And the devil is in the details about the masking/distancing/cleaning requirements, and how open the ports really are to us.

 

It's too early to say what will be the best balance of safety and comfort for cruises in December and beyond.  All Americans over 12 and some adults from other countries will have at least been offered a shot.  Perhaps a good portion of our favorite crew members will have gotten the jab too.  

[crewsweeper]

72 hours quarantine by St Marteen is similar to other islands.  Stay-cationers in St John have to quarantine in hotel for 4 days. 

This does add extra cost to any cruise out of any Caribbean island.  I doubt many families would be able to afford that and in the US I believe the CDC hasn't authorized vaccines for anyone under 18 and individual states are just now reaching out to people under 50/55 as supply extends and demand from over 60/65 year olds decreases.

[stellarose]

maryland is opening up to 16 and over. It won't be long before DE says 16 and over. I am hoping 17 year old can get Pfizer and 19 year old can get whatever PSU has on campus. 

[MsTabbyKats]

I could cruise with rules (assuming they are correct about excursions)!

Yay (had NCL Oct cruise cancelled this morning....feeling a bit more hopeful now)!

[fair-winds39]

On 3/23/2021 at 11:25 AM, ProgRockCruiser said:

I suspect it is a "box to check" to back up the real test: proof of vaccination.  The cruise line can say they did their due diligence.

 

As for those conditions: I'm OK with them.  We almost always get a balcony (next two are booked on balconies), I'm OK with being served food at the "buffet" vs self-serve, etc.  I hope Carnival takes a good look at how well this works and adopts the pros and discards the cons.

I  think you would need to show your Vaccination Card too.

[BlerkOne]

I look for the CDC to follow suit with whichever cruise lines have successful cruises.

[mredandchis]

I like the sound of this.  It seems reasonable to start cruising.  Maybe these cruises will pave the way for the CDC.  Fingers crossed that it works.