Covid Vaccination Required on Regent

[cuddles115]

I as many others thought that this was nothing more than a severe flu.  I was wrong. Mea Culpa....my bad.

This has been an extremely dark and cold winter magnified by Covid-19. We all have a sense of rebirth and should celebrate the return to what we enjoyed....CRUISING. To many of us it's a no-brainer. 

To the CDC, however, it's abiding by the rules and  putting cruise ships at the bottom of the pecking order. To break the rules, i have booked the Odyssey Barbados to Barbados.  This tactic avoids  US ports which seems to be CDC's albatross around our necks. If as and when, the CDC accepts reality and allows those people vaccinated to board ships, will there be a blanket policy  or will only the big 4( Astra-Zeneca, Johnson&Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer)or will the Chinese(Sinovac) and Russian(SputnikV) be included? 

I have had 8 cruises cancelled which may or may not be a record. I would be interested in others cancellation woes

[Navis]

28 minutes ago, cuddles115 said:

I as many others thought that this was nothing more than a severe flu.  I was wrong. Mea Culpa....my bad.

This has been an extremely dark and cold winter magnified by Covid-19. We all have a sense of rebirth and should celebrate the return to what we enjoyed....CRUISING. To many of us it's a no-brainer. 

To the CDC, however, it's abiding by the rules and  putting cruise ships at the bottom of the pecking order. To break the rules, i have booked the Odyssey Barbados to Barbados.  This tactic avoids  US ports which seems to be CDC's albatross around our necks. If as and when, the CDC accepts reality and allows those people vaccinated to board ships, will there be a blanket policy  or will only the big 4( Astra-Zeneca, Johnson&Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer)or will the Chinese(Sinovac) and Russian(SputnikV) be included? 

I have had 8 cruises cancelled which may or may not be a record. I would be interested in others cancellation woes

We’re on a Barbados to Barbados cruise as well next winter!  I just posted on another thread that on 4/9 Barbados changed their protocols for all visitors (by air) effective 5/8/21. They say cruise guidance is “coming soon”, but when you can, take a look at Barbados’ new rules.

 

They are pretty complex and detailed ... one path for vaccination ... one path for not. Barbados defines “vaccinated” as only the big 4. Also, regardless of vaccination status visitors will need to test neg within 72 hours of arrival. After that it gets really interesting. Even vaccinated people will need to wear a tracking bracelet and will be tested again upon arrival. After testing visitors will need to go immediately into quarantine until they those test results (which they claim could be same day or up to 2 days).

 

Unvaccinated people go into quarantine with tracking devices and must stay there until they test again on day 5. Two days later with a negative test they can then enjoy the island. They actually say unvaccinated visitors should expect to be in quarantine for 7 days before being free to leave their hotel room.

 

Oh, and they have another kicker ... if their Health Minister declares your country to be one of high incidence of variant strains then your vaccination is irrelevant and you’ll be treated as unvaccinated... not good for us here in the US.

 

Now, technically none of this applies to just cruises ... but will “cruises” be defined as only those visiting the port for a day on a ship? What will those rules be? What about people like you and I that transit through Barbados for embarkation/disembarkation? If they are doing all this for air visitors I imagine we’ll be subject to something more than just proof of vaccination.

 

Now imagine all these islands having different rules ... I do not envy Seabourn trying to track all this for all passengers. It also goes to show ... just avoiding the CDC is not going to solve everything and we can end up with some other rules just as difficult to follow.  

Edited April 14, 2021 by Navis

[cuddles115]

18 hours ago, Navis said:

We’re on a Barbados to Barbados cruise as well next winter!  I just posted on another thread that on 4/9 Barbados changed their protocols for all visitors (by air) effective 5/8/21. They say cruise guidance is “coming soon”, but when you can, take a look at Barbados’ new rules.

 

They are pretty complex and detailed ... one path for vaccination ... one path for not. Barbados defines “vaccinated” as only the big 4. Also, regardless of vaccination status visitors will need to test neg within 72 hours of arrival. After that it gets really interesting. Even vaccinated people will need to wear a tracking bracelet and will be tested again upon arrival. After testing visitors will need to go immediately into quarantine until they those test results (which they claim could be same day or up to 2 days).

 

Unvaccinated people go into quarantine with tracking devices and must stay there until they test again on day 5. Two days later with a negative test they can then enjoy the island. They actually say unvaccinated visitors should expect to be in quarantine for 7 days before being free to leave their hotel room.

 

Oh, and they have another kicker ... if their Health Minister declares your country to be one of high incidence of variant strains then your vaccination is irrelevant and you’ll be treated as unvaccinated... not good for us here in the US.

 

Now, technically none of this applies to just cruises ... but will “cruises” be defined as only those visiting the port for a day on a ship? What will those rules be? What about people like you and I that transit through Barbados for embarkation/disembarkation? If they are doing all this for air visitors I imagine we’ll be subject to something more than just proof of vaccination.

 

Now imagine all these islands having different rules ... I do not envy Seabourn trying to track all this for all passengers. It also goes to show ... just avoiding the CDC is not going to solve everything and we can end up with some other rules just as difficult to follow.  

 

[cuddles115]

Thanks for the info.  Sounds like the same formula as in Puerto Rico.  I hope that these rules will change between now and December. This is all based upon hunches and presumptions  both on our part as well as the government(health authorities). It's like a crapshoot in a casino except you can't get comped.