Requirement to use only the cruise lines excursions due to COVID.

[SuiteTraveler]

If "bubble tours" become the norm due to Covid, then will this fundamentally transform the cruise industry?  I've been wondering if cruises will become more all-inclusive where the ship's tours are included in the price of the cruise like what Viking and several other lines are already doing.   

[nyllrap]

One thing I am wondering about...although maybe Royal will address this. I am hopefully going on a. T cruise Aug. 22. One of the ports is St. Kitts. St. Kitts only allows vaccinated visitors. They also require a negative covid test. I am fully vaccination. I wonder if I book an excursion through Royal if they will provide the covid test.

[SuiteTraveler]

On 6/19/2021 at 9:16 AM, nyllrap said:

One thing I am wondering about...although maybe Royal will address this. I am hopefully going on a. T cruise Aug. 22. One of the ports is St. Kitts. St. Kitts only allows vaccinated visitors. They also require a negative covid test. I am fully vaccination. I wonder if I book an excursion through Royal if they will provide the covid test.

 

Hard to know what RCCL will do, but I suspect you will be required to pay for the test one way or another.

 

But, in the meantime, RCCL has a problem now with several crew members coming down with Covid-19 which will disrupt their startup plans: https://www.wsj.com/articles/royal-caribbean-postpones-july-cruise-after-crew-members-test-positive-for-covid-19-11623867232

 

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, SuiteTraveler said:

 

Hard to know what RCCL will do, but I suspect you will be required to pay for the test one way or another.

 

But, in the meantime, RCCL has a problem now with several crew members coming down with Covid-19 which will disrupt their startup plans: https://www.wsj.com/articles/royal-caribbean-postpones-july-cruise-after-crew-members-test-positive-for-covid-19-11623867232

 

It will be interesting to see what happens.

St Kitts requires a negative RT-PCR Test which is the standard PCR test not done on any ship (because it takes a real lab to handle these tests).  Some of the islands with this kind of requirement (Barbados is another) will sometimes agree to cruise line "bubble" excursions but it is unlikely they would consider allowing cruisers to go ashore on their own or even leave their "bubble" excursions.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Just now, Hlitner said:

St Kitts requires a negative RT-PCR Test which is the standard PCR test not done on any ship (because it takes a real lab to handle these tests).  These tests generally take at least 24 hours to complete (most labs want 48 hours).  Some of the islands with this kind of requirement (Barbados is another) will sometimes agree to cruise line "bubble" excursions but it is unlikely they would consider allowing cruisers to go ashore on their own or even leave their "bubble" excursions.

 

Hank

 

[Luckiestmanonearth]

I’m not getting how the cruise lines can stipulate only ship offered excursions.

 

I mean unless the cruise lines also mandate that you need to be on an excursion to even get off the ship, how do they know I’m taking a private excursion . Once I’m off the ship, I’m on my own to explore.  Maybe I’m shopping in a non cruise line approved store.  Island private excursions companies can set up a meeting place anywhere so what’s to stop this from happening 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

I’m not getting how the cruise lines can stipulate only ship offered excursions.

 

I mean unless the cruise lines also mandate that you need to be on an excursion to even get off the ship, how do they know I’m taking a private excursion . Once I’m off the ship, I’m on my own to explore.  Maybe I’m shopping in a non cruise line approved store.  Island private excursions companies can set up a meeting place anywhere so what’s to stop this from happening 

 

But that is exactly what they ARE doing. You cannot get off the ship in ports where these excursions are mandated, unless you are on a ship tour. 

 

This has been reported for various cruises. Most recently I've read it on the Celebrity boards for Millennium restart out of St. Martin. At one port (at least one?) ship tours are required. Stickers or tickets checked at gangway. And once tour is over it's back to the ship.

 

Yet another reason to find this annoying is that Celebrity has also stated that if you happen to be on one of their "bubble excursions" and someone else on your tour tests negative, you not only risk being confined to your room but even being removed from the ship to quarantine. 

 

As posted on Celebrity forum, this is from Celebrity's FAQs:

 

If someone of a group falls ill who will be debarked?

All guest that tests positive and close contacts will be debarked. This includes close contacts that weren’t part of this group. At this time, vaccinated guests who are close contacts are subject to debark as there is not enough scientific data to confirm. As this evolves, our policies will too.

 

If a guest tests positive and is moved to isolation, what care and amenities will be available to them? 

Guests, and their traveling party, that test positive for SARS-CoV-2 will move to isolation staterooms that are closer to the Medical Center and will enjoy complimentary amenities like Wi-Fi and room service, along with regular visits or tele-consultations with medical staff to monitor their wellness. 

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

I’m not getting how the cruise lines can stipulate only ship offered excursions.

 

I mean unless the cruise lines also mandate that you need to be on an excursion to even get off the ship, how do they know I’m taking a private excursion . Once I’m off the ship, I’m on my own to explore.  Maybe I’m shopping in a non cruise line approved store.  Island private excursions companies can set up a meeting place anywhere so what’s to stop this from happening 

You cannot get off the ship unless you take the bubble excursion---seems pretty straight forward to me.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

You cannot get off the ship unless you take the bubble excursion---seems pretty straight forward to me.

Yes straight forward but is that fair?

No one mentions this when you’re booking a cruise

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Yes straight forward but is that fair?

No one mentions this when you’re booking a cruise

 

MSC has that information on their website.

[SuiteTraveler]

Here is a detailed description of how RCCL plans to handle both vaccinated and unvaccinated guests: https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/royal-caribbeans-unvaccinated-cruisers-face-more-fees-less-options.html

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Yes straight forward but is that fair?

No one mentions this when you’re booking a cruise

 

Viking Ocean clearly state it in their COVID policy & procedures.

[cruisemom42]

9 hours ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Yes straight forward but is that fair?

No one mentions this when you’re booking a cruise

 

Ever hear of "caveat emptor"?  (Buyer beware)

[iancal]

NO interest whatsoever.  For one, it tells me that covid is still a risk in those locations and as such there is a possibility of the port being closed between the time of our final payment and the scheduled port stop.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

19 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Ever hear of "caveat emptor"?  (Buyer beware)

Wow no sympathy on this thread

[klfrodo]

On 6/21/2021 at 11:58 AM, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Yes straight forward but is that fair?

 

Fair? Life stopped being "fair" when you graduated from kindergarten.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

On 6/23/2021 at 10:08 PM, klfrodo said:

Fair? Life stopped being "fair" when you graduated from kindergarten.

Dang.  Tough crowd

 

You people are heartless

Edited June 25, 2021 by Luckiestmanonearth

[ael123]

On 6/5/2021 at 12:16 PM, SuiteTraveler said:

I don't see how that makes sense.  If a passenger is vaccinated for Covid-19, they cannot get Covid-19 nor can they give Covid-19 to anyone else, so it doesn't matter who they are around, where they go or what excursion they take.

You are wrong. A vaccinated person can spread covid. They likely will not show symptoms of covid but will appear asymptomatic. Covid enters the body through the mouth and nose. If vaccinated your body knows how to fight the Covid germs. So the virus will not multiply as quickly to where it takes over the body. However, there can be virus in your nose and mouth that spreads to others through your respiratory droplets. That is why 2 vaccinated passengers on Celebrity tested positive and 2 on MSC also vaccinated tested positive. 

[sanger727]

On 6/20/2021 at 9:23 PM, Luckiestmanonearth said:

I’m not getting how the cruise lines can stipulate only ship offered excursions.

 

I mean unless the cruise lines also mandate that you need to be on an excursion to even get off the ship, how do they know I’m taking a private excursion . Once I’m off the ship, I’m on my own to explore.  Maybe I’m shopping in a non cruise line approved store.  Island private excursions companies can set up a meeting place anywhere so what’s to stop this from happening 

 

Most escorted tours meet onboard somewhere and exit the ship together. So it's easy to tell who is on a tour vs on their own. MSC started the "bubble tour" idea and got a lot of press for kicking people off the ship. On a couple of sailings that had people leave the ship with a tour and then abandon the tour partway through. They were not allowed to re-board the ship. So yes, they can tell, and if you take off on your own this is a likely result.