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June 5th Cruisers Out of St Maarten - Please Post Experiences

slanik

By slanik,
in Celebrity Cruises

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slanik

slanik

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Posted

Perhaps this goes without saying, because of the extensive discussion on the topic of what will be needed to successfully board the Millennium in Phillipsburg, but those of us leaving in the following weeks will need your expertise. My husband and I are set to sail on June 26th, but I'm still a bit stressed about the whole process.   I have a few questions:

 

1.  When did you get your PCR test to meet the Celebrity 72 hour requirements? How long did the results take to get back?  Is Celebrity very pick on exact timing?  What if the plane is delayed a few hours?  I calculated I need to get my PCR test late afternoon on Wednesday for the results to be within the 72 hour window.  That makes me a little nervous.  Of course I want to allow for the maximum time to get the results back. 

2.  Where did you go to get the test taken?  Was it a specialty place that you had to pay for to guarantee 24 hour turnaround?  Or were you able to go to CVS or Walgreens?

3.  What format was need to upload the results to the St. Maarten EHAS form?  PDF?

 

Any other information that I didn't think of, please add.  You will all have free WIFI, so please respond as soon as you can. Personally,  I would like to just chuck the St Maarten trip and go on the Edge instead, but that has it's own issues with DeSantis and the vaccine passports.  Plus my husband is set on the St. Maarten itinerary. 

 

Please calm a stressed out soul.

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Oldsweets

Oldsweets

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Ok, we are now flying in the same day {5 june] after changing our flights because of constant testing changes by Celebrity. We took our first PCR test at cvs on Tuesday morning before celebrity changed the testing requirements.  Test was quick, simple and easy and in our state free.  Results of test returned about 1am Thursday morning and we screened shot the report and uploaded onto St Marten application.  We honestly wondered if any of thus would work given the negative reporting but found it actually wasn’t that difficult a process.  We sent in our first application at about 5:30 am this morning Thursday and got an approval e-mail from Sr Marten at 6:30am this morning Thursday.  We just submitted my wife’s application to St Marten using the same process and expect an approval shortly.  We are scheduled for our 2nd PCR test this afternoon at cvs in order to meet celebrity’s new boarding rules.  We should add that we spoke with a person from Points Guy the other day about the celebrity testing confusion and she contacted her celebrity pubic relations rep who told her it was indeed driven by a point of call requirement and that anyone arriving at pier without current test will be tested by celebrity at the pier.  St marten still fully requires PCR test with pre approved application before arrival in country

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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1 hour ago, Oldsweets said:

St marten still fully requires PCR test with pre approved application before arrival in country

Excellent post. Please note, however, that Sint Maarten does not require a PCR test for US and Canadian travellers, as they can undergo an antigen test instead.

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Oldsweets

Oldsweets

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9 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Excellent post. Please note, however, that Sint Maarten does not require a PCR test for US and Canadian travellers, as they can undergo an antigen test instead.

You are correct with a shorter lead time with the antigen test then the PCR.  Sorry I was only trying to describe our experience.  I was trying to be very careful when describing Celebrity’s comments that they were going to test at the pier anyone who didn’t meet its new requirements so that folks wouldn’t somehow think that the government of st marten wasn’t still requiring full test with approval prior to arrival.  I was thinking about an earlier posting in which folks discussed that st marten was considering changing its entry requirements.  Not happened yet and  just checked and my wife’s approval from st marten hasn’t come in yet so not as quick as my early morning request.  Understandable!

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Fouremco

Fouremco

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6 minutes ago, Oldsweets said:

You are correct with a shorter lead time with the antigen test then the PCR.  Sorry I was only trying to describe our experience.  I was trying to be very careful when describing Celebrity’s comments that they were going to test at the pier anyone who didn’t meet its new requirements so that folks wouldn’t somehow think that the government of st marten wasn’t still requiring full test with approval prior to arrival.  I was thinking about an earlier posting in which folks discussed that st marten was considering changing its entry requirements.  Not happened yet and  just checked and my wife’s approval from st marten hasn’t come in yet so not as quick as my early morning request.  Understandable!

With all of the confusion over the past weeks, I just wanted to avoid someone considering the antigen test thinking that the option was no longer available. 

 

I hope that your wife's approval comes back soon and that there are no hiccups. Have a great cruise!

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Oldsweets

Oldsweets

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Well my wife was sweating the last 12 hours awaiting approval from st marten for entry.  It took them less then an hour to approve my application the first thing this morning and just under 12 hours for my wife’s application which she submitted this morning as well.  Her application went in at about 8:30 am and return approved at 8:25 pm. Makes sense when you think of the sheer number of applications they would have been receiving today given the recent celebrity changes.  Would really like to see a spread sheet of the flow of applications these poor folks in st marten had to process yesterday and today.  Bet it was some work.  Hope this helps give the next week folks some sense of the process. 

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FastandFurious

FastandFurious

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There are a lot more experienced cruisers than me who can give better perspectives but I will add my observations starting at MIA on Saturday.The more there are will obviously produce a more comprehensive overview. Once on board I will be curious about staffing and number of cruisers. Did Kaiser test this morning for Celebrity. Because of travel it is classified as a rush job. Did S Maarten test on Tuesday at 10am got results that evening. To fill out Health Dec for SM took screenshots of both test results and vaccination card.As others have said put arrival AND departure to SM as your first cruise day to avoid otherwise mandatory c19 insurance. Once I get on board I will check here for any specific on board questions.

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wesport

wesport

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IMHO we are opting for the pcr test 120 hours before departure. Test is more accurate. My fear with the antigen test is what happens if you get a false positive 48 hours before departure?  Any thoughts.

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cangelmd

cangelmd

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47 minutes ago, wesport said:

IMHO we are opting for the pcr test 120 hours before departure. Test is more accurate. My fear with the antigen test is what happens if you get a false positive 48 hours before departure?  Any thoughts.

I will try to find you some actual data, but all tests have false positives and false negatives. All these Covid tests are also being used for governmental, legal purposes (in the case entry into a country) that the test was never designed for. These are clinical lab tests meant to be used as a decision-making tool by a clinician in the context of a patient with symptoms or at least exposure OR as a public health data gathering tool. Obviously we have been using the tests for a lot of other purposes the last year, but that doesn't make them more accurate.

 

In answer to your question, though, if it was me, my biggest consideration would be if I had ever had a positive Covid test. If so, the antigen test would be less likely to be positive than the PCR. My concern about taking the antigen test is what someone posted above - most people equate PCR with Covid testing, would an antigen test throw them for a loop at the pier, especially on the first few sailings. Some countries have an out for people who know they are long term Covid positive (I think the US does), you get your physician to certify that you are not infectious, that your episode of Covid was in the distant past, and that suffices - I don't know about St. Maarten.

If I had reason to be worried about a false positive, I would find a source for both tests and take the PCR first.

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DWhit

DWhit

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Have they communicated anything about shipboard mask wearing or un-supervised shore excursion requirements?

 

We are going out in a couple of weeks from Nassau on RCL, and still no word on these issues.

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chawkjewel

chawkjewel

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47 minutes ago, DWhit said:

Have they communicated anything about shipboard mask wearing or un-supervised shore excursion requirements?

 

We are going out in a couple of weeks from Nassau on RCL, and still no word on these issues.

 

For Celebrity, they announced no masks on board and no distancing.  Apparently, the only ports we are able to do non-Celebrity excursions are St. Lucia (although they never mention that location at all), Curacao and Aruba.  These are fully vaccinated cruises as well with a lot of covid testing going on.

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SWFL Cruisers

SWFL Cruisers

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3 minutes ago, George C said:

We are on the July 3 cruise and was just informed that ship has changed to summit, is this weekend cruise on summit or millennium? 

Millennium, the switch to the Summit isn't until July.

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DallasGuy75219

DallasGuy75219

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5 hours ago, chawkjewel said:

Apparently, the only ports we are able to do non-Celebrity excursions are St. Lucia (although they never mention that location at all), Curacao and Aruba.

St. Kitts is being swapped for St. Lucia once Summit replaces Millenium.  As of now only "select approved" independent tours are allowed in St. Kitts.

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cbfb

cbfb

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4 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I just want to wish everyone on the June 5 cruise and on all the subsequent cruises a safe, happy, and fun trip!   Can't wait to read your reports of the return to sailing!

Me too! Have a fabulous time! 

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