how can you possibly meet testing requirements of all the countries you will visit?

[luckyinpa]

my research started off by looking at bermuda's govt site. theres no guidance there at all for cruise passengers. air passengers must test at the airport. so thats one issue. says get tested at the airport and quarantine till you get your results. 

 

then i got to researching other cruises. i see all the countries they visit and then had a thought. one country said you need a test 72 hours before you get there (im' sure many more require the same) so if i leave on a cruise but dont get to that country till day 5 or 6 of my cruise, how do i get that test to go in that country. you could potentially need many tests if you are on a 14 day cruise but even just a 7 day cruise you will need one test at a minimum.  out of all the virus /shot/bickering threads ive seen, i havent seen this topic addressed.

 

so does this mean they will basically be digging up your nose every 3 days on every cruise because im sure most countries have the 3 day requirement to be tested?

 

also how long do the tests take, i cannot imagine the staffing required to do 4000 passengers on the ship every few days. and will all countries accept the tests done on the ships? the answer has to be yes otherwise they wouldnt let us cruise...correct?

Edited June 3, 2021 by luckyinpa

[CruiserBruce]

They will most likely use any embarkation testing. They won't require a new test for every port. And waiving testing for vaccinated pax is also likely.

[luckyinpa]

2 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

They will most likely use any embarkation testing. They won't require a new test for every port. And waiving testing for vaccinated pax is also likely.

 

ah ok i havent researched the embark requirements. and i assumed with your proof of vax that you dont get tested. bad assumption on my part. 

[CruiserBruce]

Just now, luckyinpa said:

 

ah ok i havent researched the embark requirements. and i assumed with your proof of vax that you dont get tested. bad assumption on my part. 

CDC is already recommending vaccinated pax don't require tests. I suspect a port like Bermuda will probably follow those guidelines. But, not sure anybody has all the answers yet.

[wowzz]

Or, of course, the cruise line will just avoid those countries that require testing.

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

CDC is already recommending vaccinated pax don't require tests. I suspect a port like Bermuda will probably follow those guidelines. But, not sure anybody has all the answers yet.

 

Comes down to the question of how do you verify that everyone who says that they were vaccinated real was vaccinated?  I am sure that if you have to fill out one of those health forms before boarding, everyone will be truthful - NOT LIKELY.

 

DON

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

my research started off by looking at bermuda's govt site. theres no guidance there at all for cruise passengers. air passengers must test at the airport. so thats one issue. says get tested at the airport and quarantine till you get your results. 

 

then i got to researching other cruises. i see all the countries they visit and then had a thought. one country said you need a test 72 hours before you get there (im' sure many more require the same) so if i leave on a cruise but dont get to that country till day 5 or 6 of my cruise, how do i get that test to go in that country. you could potentially need many tests if you are on a 14 day cruise but even just a 7 day cruise you will need one test at a minimum.  out of all the virus /shot/bickering threads ive seen, i havent seen this topic addressed.

 

so does this mean they will basically be digging up your nose every 3 days on every cruise because im sure most countries have the 3 day requirement to be tested?

 

also how long do the tests take, i cannot imagine the staffing required to do 4000 passengers on the ship every few days. and will all countries accept the tests done on the ships? the answer has to be yes otherwise they wouldnt let us cruise...correct?

 

I have followed the posts of the Viking pax that will shortly be boarding in Bermuda and they have found a Govt website that has been updated a number of times in the past month for cruise pax boarding in Bermuda.

 

The latest requirements, if memory is correct, is a negative PCR Test 4-days before, then you submit the result online to attain a travel authorisation, about 24 hrs prior to arriving.

 

Not aware of any cruise ships arriving in Bermuda that are not based on the island.

 

For testing, Viking has installed a PCR lab on each ship which does non-invasive saliva testing of each pax & crew member daily.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

CDC is already recommending vaccinated pax don't require tests. I suspect a port like Bermuda will probably follow those guidelines. But, not sure anybody has all the answers yet.

 

As a British Overseas Territory, I suspect Bermuda is more likely to seek and follow UK guidelines than the US CDC.

 

Bermuda is being very specific on the testing requirements, as they only accept PCR tests, with testing required by everyone.

[luckyinpa]

15 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I have followed the posts of the Viking pax that will shortly be boarding in Bermuda and they have found a Govt website that has been updated a number of times in the past month for cruise pax boarding in Bermuda.

 

The latest requirements, if memory is correct, is a negative PCR Test 4-days before, then you submit the result online to attain a travel authorisation, about 24 hrs prior to arriving.

 

Not aware of any cruise ships arriving in Bermuda that are not based on the island.

 

For testing, Viking has installed a PCR lab on each ship which does non-invasive saliva testing of each pax & crew member daily.

 

thank you for the informative post and i am def interested in the upcoming bermuda sailings.  the official bermuda site didnt appear to address anything but testing at the airport so i was wondering how sea entry was to be handled. 

[Heidi13]

1 minute ago, luckyinpa said:

 

thank you for the informative post and i am def interested in the upcoming bermuda sailings.  the official bermuda site didnt appear to address anything but testing at the airport so i was wondering how sea entry was to be handled. 

You may be interested in reading the Bermuda thread of pax booked on the upcoming cruises. Many are frustrated at the testing requirements. Here is the link, but note it is already at almost 1,000 posts.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

There is a quite informative (and interesting, if you like train wrecks) thread on the Celebrity forum right now about all the changing requirements that are resulting from the first Celebrity sailing to depart from St. Martin. 

 

Despite what "Donald" would like us to believe, the cruise ships and ports do not exactly have this all worked out. People departing on the June 5th (first) sailing have had the requirements changed on them several times, including as late as yesterday. Celebrity also had to shuffle their itinerary and change the timing required for a PCR test required for boarding, only because they found out that one port is also requiring testing and I guess they don't want to have to test all of the passengers at THEIR expense.

 

Multiple people who had already had tests done are now scrambling to redo them; some are in transit already and are going to have to figure out how to get one in St. Martin on arrival. It sounds like a hot mess.

 

Celebrity also JUST announced that 2 of their 4 ports on that itinerary will not allow independent shore excursions/visit. Ships tours only.

 

Early travelers have been forewarned. If you are determined to be on one of the first sailings for any line, be prepared for hiccups and "going with the flow"....

 

[Heidi13]

2 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

There is a quite informative (and interesting, if you like train wrecks) thread on the Celebrity forum right now about all the changing requirements that are resulting from the first Celebrity sailing to depart from St. Martin. 

 

Despite what "Donald" would like us to believe, the cruise ships and ports do not exactly have this all worked out. People departing on the June 5th (first) sailing have had the requirements changed on them several times, including as late as yesterday. Celebrity also had to shuffle their itinerary and change the timing required for a PCR test required for boarding, only because they found out that one port is also requiring testing and I guess they don't want to have to test all of the passengers at THEIR expense.

 

Multiple people who had already had tests done are now scrambling to redo them; some are in transit already and are going to have to figure out how to get one in St. Martin on arrival. It sounds like a hot mess.

 

Celebrity also JUST announced that 2 of their 4 ports on that itinerary will not allow independent shore excursions/visit. Ships tours only.

 

Early travelers have been forewarned. If you are determined to be on one of the first sailings for any line, be prepared for hiccups and "going with the flow"....

 

 

This is consistent with the experience of the Viking pax booked in Malta, Iceland and Bermuda. The only itinerary that has gone fairly smoothly is the UK departures from Portsmouth.

[luckyinpa]

9 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

There is a quite informative (and interesting, if you like train wrecks) thread on the Celebrity forum right now about all the changing requirements that are resulting from the first Celebrity sailing to depart from St. Martin. 

 

Despite what "Donald" would like us to believe, the cruise ships and ports do not exactly have this all worked out. People departing on the June 5th (first) sailing have had the requirements changed on them several times, including as late as yesterday. Celebrity also had to shuffle their itinerary and change the timing required for a PCR test required for boarding, only because they found out that one port is also requiring testing and I guess they don't want to have to test all of the passengers at THEIR expense.

 

Multiple people who had already had tests done are now scrambling to redo them; some are in transit already and are going to have to figure out how to get one in St. Martin on arrival. It sounds like a hot mess.

 

Celebrity also JUST announced that 2 of their 4 ports on that itinerary will not allow independent shore excursions/visit. Ships tours only.

 

Early travelers have been forewarned. If you are determined to be on one of the first sailings for any line, be prepared for hiccups and "going with the flow"....

 

 

 

wowza . that is quite the mess! literally an example of what can happen in real life, not conjecture. thanks for the info. it seems it def pays to wait and not be a guinea pig. i do have confidence once the first bermuda cruises come back and are on home soil again, that the requirements should stay the same or get more lenient but until anyone actually goes to bermuda, not a soul knows what will truly happen.  on the other hand, i realize bermuda doesnt want people showing up and not being able to get off the ship. that certainly would kill all the cruises short term at least. 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

CDC is already recommending vaccinated pax don't require tests. I suspect a port like Bermuda will probably follow those guidelines. But, not sure anybody has all the answers yet.

As has been their usual norm in the past year, the CDC speaks out of two sides of their mouths.  On one hand they now say vaccinated pax don't require tests, but on the other hand they still require anyone flying into the USA to have a negative COVID Antigen test...regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.  So consider the absurdity when comparing some different cruises.  A cruise that begins and ends in the USA would not require testing for anyone who is vaccinated?  But if that same cruise were to end at a port outside of the USA, everyone on the ship would need to be tested?  Makes sense to somebody....I guess.

 

Hank

[ilikeanswers]

27 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

There is a quite informative (and interesting, if you like train wrecks) thread on the Celebrity forum right now about all the changing requirements that are resulting from the first Celebrity sailing to depart from St. Martin. 

 

Despite what "Donald" would like us to believe, the cruise ships and ports do not exactly have this all worked out. People departing on the June 5th (first) sailing have had the requirements changed on them several times, including as late as yesterday. Celebrity also had to shuffle their itinerary and change the timing required for a PCR test required for boarding, only because they found out that one port is also requiring testing and I guess they don't want to have to test all of the passengers at THEIR expense.

 

Multiple people who had already had tests done are now scrambling to redo them; some are in transit already and are going to have to figure out how to get one in St. Martin on arrival. It sounds like a hot mess.

 

Celebrity also JUST announced that 2 of their 4 ports on that itinerary will not allow independent shore excursions/visit. Ships tours only.

 

Early travelers have been forewarned. If you are determined to be on one of the first sailings for any line, be prepared for hiccups and "going with the flow"....

 

And that is why I'm not looking to cruise in the near future😳. I suspected there would be a lot of kinks to work out. Silver lining CC will probably get some traffic from all the passengers wanting to vent at how unorganised their cruise was with COVID requirements😂.

[iancal]

We have been researching this exactly for a Greece/Cyprus land trip that we hope to be able to take in the fall.  

 

The regs keeps changing.  No surprise given that covid is a moving target.

 

We would normally combine this trip with a stopover in a European gateway like London, Paris, etc.   Not this time.  If we go we will only do it with a non stop air directly to Athens, ie no change of planes in Europe.

 

The issue for us is quickly changing country covid regs between the time we lock in our travel arrangements and we present ourselves for entry.    It could be a bit of a challenge.  Too early to tell yet for us.

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

This is consistent with the experience of the Viking pax booked in Malta, Iceland and Bermuda. The only itinerary that has gone fairly smoothly is the UK departures from Portsmouth.

Are those UK departures the cruises that have no ports and are only in the UK? That would leave a lot less that could go wrong.

[Heidi13]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

Are those UK departures the cruises that have no ports and are only in the UK? That would leave a lot less that could go wrong.

 

They do visit 4 ports, all within in the UK, so affirmative no immigration issues, so much less to go wrong. Some of the other cruise lines operating out of UK are doing the cruises to nowhere.

[Honolulu Blue]

21 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

my research started off by looking at bermuda's govt site. theres no guidance there at all for cruise passengers. air passengers must test at the airport. so thats one issue. says get tested at the airport and quarantine till you get your results. 

 

then i got to researching other cruises. i see all the countries they visit and then had a thought. one country said you need a test 72 hours before you get there (im' sure many more require the same) so if i leave on a cruise but dont get to that country till day 5 or 6 of my cruise, how do i get that test to go in that country. you could potentially need many tests if you are on a 14 day cruise but even just a 7 day cruise you will need one test at a minimum.  out of all the virus /shot/bickering threads ive seen, i havent seen this topic addressed.

 

so does this mean they will basically be digging up your nose every 3 days on every cruise because im sure most countries have the 3 day requirement to be tested?

 

also how long do the tests take, i cannot imagine the staffing required to do 4000 passengers on the ship every few days. and will all countries accept the tests done on the ships? the answer has to be yes otherwise they wouldnt let us cruise...correct?

 

You bring up a lot of excellent points, most of which have been answered here by more seasoned travelers than me.  My small contribution is that I had a reservation on the NCL Gem that covered many of the same ports that the Celebrity ships will go to.  That one got canceled by Frank & Co.  Perhaps they did me a favor in disguise?

[LocoLoco1]

‘And this too shall pass.’ CHANGE will be inevitable as the months go on, plus, most of the World is not yet vaccinated. Thus, NO cruising for me til late 2022 

[BoozinCroozin]

Vaccinated cruises only!

 

I know I will be extremely ticked off if the cruise line chooses to allow unvaccinated passengers and we can't go to one of the ports because of them. I think they should be the ones responsible for compensating the vaccinated because of it. Stop bowing to the 10%. For example only, you are on a cruise to the ABC's and Bonaire requires everyone to be vaccinated. The cruise line needs to make the cruise vaccinated only. The 90% should not be denied going to Bonaire because 10% aren't vaccinated. The answer is the 10% are canceled and given FCC. Then the cruise line can fill those cabins with other cruisers that are vaccinated. 

 

Basically, the vaccine requirements should be based on the most stringent requirements of the port countries. 

[LocoLoco1]

Different Ports, different Covid rules. Rules at time of booking, rules once at Sea. This will be messy for a while. 

[ilikeanswers]

4 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Basically, the vaccine requirements should be based on the most stringent requirements of the port countries. 

 

The cruise lines will probably boycott the ports with stricter rules or like with Alaska have a separate route for vaccinated only to go to those ports. 

[navybankerteacher]

56 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

The cruise lines will probably boycott the ports with stricter rules or like with Alaska have a separate route for vaccinated only to go to those ports. 

Does mean that ships will only call at ports with minimal health concerns?
 

Interesting.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

The cruise lines will probably boycott the ports with stricter rules or like with Alaska have a separate route for vaccinated only to go to those ports. 

 

Personally, we favour a cruise line that has higher standards and cruises to ports with equivalent standards.