Which cruises are likely to go ahead?

[sea bright]

2 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Thanks.....I should probably know the answer to this....but will ask anyway....the quick test is the PCR, right? So that is why they can do it multiple times and get results really quick.......

The rapid  test SS is using is an antigen test. They will give those to everyone. If someone tests positive then they will give the PCR test. Its slower but more sensitive and thus presumably more accurate.

[Lois R]

Thanks.....I had it backwards......

 

Who are you flying to get to Greece? Are you being tested before you leave? I read the United website......it says as long as you have been vaccinated no test is needed and I think that is all Greece needs to....did you see anything different?

[Lois R]

Looks like I am wrong......and I think I need to get a test before flying to Athens.....I am calling United to see what they say since I have been fully vaccinated.

[Lois R]

Just got off the phone with United..........no test necessary! Just have to bring your vaccination card😃

[sea bright]

We are flying Emirates and  the vaccine card is all that they require. Greece requires you to fill out a passenger locator form online at least a day before you arrive. The link is https://travel.gov.gr/#/. In it you need to state whether you will be bringing a vaccine card. If not, you need proof of a negative test w/in 72 hours, recovery etc. Once submitted you receive a confirming email and then the day of arrival you will receive a QR code by email. You need the confirmation email or the QR code to board the plane (and I think you will need the  PLF with QR code on landing and boarding the ship). It was a little confusing. You have to certify you will only submit one PLF per family, but when creating it you can only add one family member. To add more you have to go back in and edit it once you get the confirming email. Also it was unclear to me whether you needed to list all addresses in Greece - hotel and cruise ship - or just an address for the first night. I listed both. Had to Google hotel and port postal codes, etc.

[Lois R]

28 minutes ago, sea bright said:

We are flying Emirates and  the vaccine card is all that they require. Greece requires you to fill out a passenger locator form online at least a day before you arrive. The link is https://travel.gov.gr/#/. In it you need to state whether you will be bringing a vaccine card. If not, you need proof of a negative test w/in 72 hours, recovery etc. Once submitted you receive a confirming email and then the day of arrival you will receive a QR code by email. You need the confirmation email or the QR code to board the plane (and I think you will need the  PLF with QR code on landing and boarding the ship). It was a little confusing. You have to certify you will only submit one PLF per family, but when creating it you can only add one family member. To add more you have to go back in and edit it once you get the confirming email. Also it was unclear to me whether you needed to list all addresses in Greece - hotel and cruise ship - or just an address for the first night. I listed both. Had to Google hotel and port postal codes, etc.

Thanks🙂........I got that information too. And United said I don't need a test either. I have already filled out that form from Greece and I know it said that the final email will come the day before you arrive......will be flying the day before. So I guess I will have to check my phone and get my email off it.

 

I wonder what happens if you don't travel with any kind of electronics (phone). 

[spinnaker2]

Lois you likely will need a test before coming home.

 

I am not sure what you do if you don’t have a phone or access to your email in order to get the form required by the Hellenic government.

Best to print out th email confirmation you got from them as well and carry it with you.

[Lois R]

Hi Spins,🙂  I figured the ship would give me the test before disembarking.......or the day before that.

 

So have you and Mr Spins decided if you are sailing?

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, sea bright said:

The rapid  test SS is using is an antigen test. They will give those to everyone. If someone tests positive then they will give the PCR test. Its slower but more sensitive and thus presumably more accurate.

 

I don't think the second part of this is correct. For the first statement: yes, SS is doing antigen tests, both before boarding, during the cruise, and, optionally, before disembarking for passengers who need such test results for their flight or entry into their country of travel.

 

If you test positive on the antigen test, they will give you a second antigen test. I don't know if it's simply the same test, or if they have a different brand/type of test. Prior to embarkation, I think they may even do a third test. The goal here is to rule out a false positive.

 

PCR tests, the so-called "gold standard," require being processed in a lab. (It doesn't sound like SS has decided to install PCR labs in their ships, but I don't know that for certain.) If you are required to have a PCR test for your travels after the cruise, you can arrange onboard to schedule one prior to departure. There is a fee -- I've seen $120 stated -- for such a test.

 

There are pros and cons about PCR tests. They are more precise and have fewer false positives; however, they can also detect very low loads of the virus. One of the things lost in a lot of messaging about Covid is that the load (volume) of virus can be more important than a binary positive/negative, and this appears to be more relevant for people who have been vaccinated and are unlikely to have a risk to themselves or to shedding the virus to infect others if they have a very low load of the virus. For vaccinated travelers, then, the precision of a PCR test at this point could be one doubtful value, and could make things worse if if the test comes back positive for someone with only a trace amount of the virus in their nasal passage.

 

Back when Covid was rampant and we were all trying to isolate and stay healthy, a PCR test was godsend for being sure you were virus-free. In the post-vaccination era of travel, PCR tests may not be what you want; they are more costly, take more time (days, not minutes), and could get you stranded somewhere. I'd think if authorities where you are traveling aren't demanding a PCR test, a vaccinated traveler should be happy with an antigen test for these reasons.

[OlsSalt]

Family just lost an entire Hawaii vacation because one of the five had an "indeterminate" test result before departure. It remains the wild west as far as testing goes. Prepare for everything. Family settled for a domestic San Diego vacation instead.

 

And they are still not talking about which one was "indeterminate".  Bad test, borderline, past infection or ever hypersensitive to unrelated "covid" infections .But we continue to remain at the mercy of these outside forces - both infection, testing and arbitrary criteria. Not a good place to be.

 

Can't think of any parallel to this in my own almost four score years on the planet, including polio, other rampant past "asian" flus, and even the early unknown threats of the  1980's HIV scourge. Could you get it even in your dentist office? "Covid" surpasses them all in implied threat along with ongoing lack of confirmed objective data.

[sea bright]

1 hour ago, cruiseej said:

 

I don't think the second part of this is correct. For the first statement: yes, SS is doing antigen tests, both before boarding, during the cruise, and, optionally, before disembarking for passengers who need such test results for their flight or entry into their country of travel.

 

If you test positive on the antigen test, they will give you a second antigen test. I don't know if it's simply the same test, or if they have a different brand/type of test. Prior to embarkation, I think they may even do a third test. The goal here is to rule out a false positive.

 

PCR tests, the so-called "gold standard," require being processed in a lab. (It doesn't sound like SS has decided to install PCR labs in their ships, but I don't know that for certain.) If you are required to have a PCR test for your travels after the cruise, you can arrange onboard to schedule one prior to departure. There is a fee -- I've seen $120 stated -- for such a test.

 

There are pros and cons about PCR tests. They are more precise and have fewer false positives; however, they can also detect very low loads of the virus. One of the things lost in a lot of messaging about Covid is that the load (volume) of virus can be more important than a binary positive/negative, and this appears to be more relevant for people who have been vaccinated and are unlikely to have a risk to themselves or to shedding the virus to infect others if they have a very low load of the virus. For vaccinated travelers, then, the precision of a PCR test at this point could be one doubtful value, and could make things worse if if the test comes back positive for someone with only a trace amount of the virus in their nasal passage.

 

Back when Covid was rampant and we were all trying to isolate and stay healthy, a PCR test was godsend for being sure you were virus-free. In the post-vaccination era of travel, PCR tests may not be what you want; they are more costly, take more time (days, not minutes), and could get you stranded somewhere. I'd think if authorities where you are traveling aren't demanding a PCR test, a vaccinated traveler should be happy with an antigen test for these reasons.

It would appear SS has a rapid PCR test to use as a backup for those who test positive on the antigen test. See bullet point 2 from  the email I got from SS today. It refers to screening on the day of embarkation:

Boarding to the ship is denied to guests who:

• Are unable to provide proof of full vaccination, completed at least 2 weeks before boarding
• Test positive from the rapid antigen COVID-19 test and from the RT-PCR test which will be performed as secondary medical screening
• Have a temperature exceeding 38°C/100.4°F
• Have symptoms of other COVID-19 symptoms detected during a secondary medical screening

[les37b]

Greece is still on the UKs amber list, so effectively if you did travel from here, its against government guidelines and probably invalidates insurance. There are still few places we can visit (or more to the point return without quarantine) with the EU playing games with the UK still because of Brexit. We just went another week with zero deaths and infection rates are lower than most EU countries and the US..... But they are creating a bridge with the US. Not political at all of course! lol

 

With my May Venice SS cruise cancelled, I've no plans on anywhere in Europe for a while.

[kimanjo]

19 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

I don't think the second part of this is correct. For the first statement: yes, SS is doing antigen tests, both before boarding, during the cruise, and, optionally, before disembarking for passengers who need such test results for their flight or entry into their country of travel.

 

If you test positive on the antigen test, they will give you a second antigen test. I don't know if it's simply the same test, or if they have a different brand/type of test. Prior to embarkation, I think they may even do a third test. The goal here is to rule out a false positive.

 

PCR tests, the so-called "gold standard," require being processed in a lab. (It doesn't sound like SS has decided to install PCR labs in their ships, but I don't know that for certain.) If you are required to have a PCR test for your travels after the cruise, you can arrange onboard to schedule one prior to departure. There is a fee -- I've seen $120 stated -- for such a test.

 

There are pros and cons about PCR tests. They are more precise and have fewer false positives; however, they can also detect very low loads of the virus. One of the things lost in a lot of messaging about Covid is that the load (volume) of virus can be more important than a binary positive/negative, and this appears to be more relevant for people who have been vaccinated and are unlikely to have a risk to themselves or to shedding the virus to infect others if they have a very low load of the virus. For vaccinated travelers, then, the precision of a PCR test at this point could be one doubtful value, and could make things worse if if the test comes back positive for someone with only a trace amount of the virus in their nasal passage.

 

Back when Covid was rampant and we were all trying to isolate and stay healthy, a PCR test was godsend for being sure you were virus-free. In the post-vaccination era of travel, PCR tests may not be what you want; they are more costly, take more time (days, not minutes), and could get you stranded somewhere. I'd think if authorities where you are traveling aren't demanding a PCR test, a vaccinated traveler should be happy with an antigen test for these reasons.

Love your post!  I've been following some Dr's since March of last year, and if you know anything of Micheal Mina @ Harvard, you will know how he important he sees the antigen ( Rapid) test!  Finding and identifying the person on day 1, 2, 3 of infection when the "shedding" is at it's highest is so important.  A positive PCR this week, does little good if you were very infectious last week.

[spinnaker2]

22 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Spins,🙂  I figured the ship would give me the test before disembarking.......or the day before that.

 

So have you and Mr Spins decided if you are sailing?

Lois, yes we will be attempting to get to the ship and to get on the ship too!!

The situation is quite fluid however it appears that Silversea has done a good job of thinking of many scenarios and complying with the protocols (in the main) for sailing.

 

And yes my understanding is that one may get a test before disembarking, but it will not be the PCR test which is the gold standard. If you need the PCR test it will cost you some cash, will need to be arranged with Silversea onboard and in  advance.

 

 

 

[Lois R]

Good morning🙂 I got that same letter about protocols in my mailbox this morning. My cruise leaves in 30 days😃........so they must be sending it to all of us who are on these MOON sailings.