It looks like Celebrity is now requiring negative COVID test before boarding

[Silkroad]

2 minutes ago, HMK8273 said:

Then you click on the link and tell us what you get.  That's not something Celebrity has used before.  There are too many things in that email that make it odd to us - hence the phone call - still on hold.

I recently received an email from “Celebrity Cruises Express Notification” regarding a port change for one of my cruises. It had a receipt acknowledgment link. It was legitimate. 

[helen haywood]

1 minute ago, Corgidawgga said:

I sail out tomorrow on the Edge.   I went to Walgreens at noon and got the Abbot test since I am vaxed.    I got my negative result by email 30 minutes after test.
 

The hardest part is finding an opening time.     Good luck!     Celebrity will handle if we need before boarding, I am sure.   And probably at no charge if you are vaxed.

Did you tell them it was travel related?  Is your insurance going to cover it?  How unpleasant was it?

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, LuvCruzn4Evr said:

Great in theory BUT no appts available today at this late notice in our 'small' area. Thank you!

Same here

[mayleeman]

Just now, LuvCruzn4Evr said:

Great in theory BUT no appts available today at this late notice in our 'small' area. Thank you!

That sucks! Have you checked an urgent care facility?

[lostchild]

They can't expect for this to reach all the passengers in time, so they will likely provide testing at the port.   But the risk of testing positive "after traveling to the port" will probably be higher than testing before travel even if you are vaccinated.  

[maggie.1008]

I just received email for my August Millennium cruise to Alaska 

[Silkroad]

1 minute ago, lostchild said:

They can't expect for this to reach all the passengers in time, so they will likely provide testing at the port.   But the risk of testing positive "after traveling to the port" will probably be higher than testing before travel even if you are vaccinated.  

There is an incubation period of more than one day, so I doubt it will make a difference whether they get tested today or tomorrow for a Sunday embarkation. 

[LuvCruzn4Evr]

Just got off the phone with Celebrity.  She said they were told that it was not a requirement for vaccinated US citizens for sailings this weekend.  I told her the notification mad no mention of that fact. She said the 'healthy at sea' link would be updated shortly to add this.  She also said she has had quite a few calls already from upset guests and understandably so.   Last check, website has not been updated yet to reflect this requirement does not apply to this weekend's sailings.

  

[cruise kitty]

Haven't received an email yet... but thanks for the head's up.   We sail on a Friday in September, flying out early Thursday morning, so I am guessing a test on that Wednesday should be in the correct window.. am I right?

 

[Fouremco]

The decision to have everyone tested is wonderful, but Celebrity then screws it up by giving insufficient lead time to passengers prior to implementation. As seems to be the case increasingly of late, there's a lack of thoughtful analysis of the repercussion in the rush to implement change.

 

An A+ for the decision to test

An F for implementation. 

[Corgidawgga]

4 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Did you tell them it was travel related?  Is your insurance going to cover it?  How unpleasant was it?

I don’t think it mattered about the travel.   .No it was not unpleasant.     Self administered, qtip up each nostril, circle 5 times.    No cost.  Took my insurance, drivers license and vax card.   It was drive thru quick test on the Abbot machine.    
 

I think unvaxed people have to take the other more thorough one?     
 

I have been told our government is paying for one COVID test per day.     But, if I pay so be it.   At least I can sleep without worry about missing the cruise.

 

I for one am glad they are doing this.   The only way we are going to be able to cruise is if they are stringent.    IMHO
 

 

[Babr]

24 minutes ago, LuvCruzn4Evr said:

Just got it too and we fly out tomorrow morning at 7:30am for our Sunday cruise.  So Celebrity, how in the hell are we supposed to get this accomplished????? I am beyond pissed off!!!!

 

Surely Celebrity will make tests available at the pier with such short notice. They may even extend financial assistance for altered travel plans for those who test positive since they had no time to test before arriving.

 

However, it does take the shine off your vacation, doesn’t it?

[kokopelli-az]

16 minutes ago, jcpc said:

Email was sent by everbridge.net.  Everbridge is a service that provides "mass email communicaitons" (for lack of a better term).  Celebrity outsources this type of email to Everbridge (Celebrity's servers probably couldn't handle the bandwidth needed for this type of communication).

When we booked our actual Covid vaccinations (through Safeway) last February,  the booking was managed by Everbridge.  

[KXZ1498]

I sail this weekend and did not get an e-mail. From the other replies, looks like sailings this weekend aren't affected by the new protocols.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Frankly, I’m surprised they weren’t requiring this before. That’s good they are now. I do feel bad for the last-minute scramblers, but hopefully you have a plan in place for those who aren’t able to get it done in time.

[helen haywood]

3 minutes ago, Corgidawgga said:

I don’t think it mattered about the travel.   .No it was not unpleasant.     Self administered, qtip up each nostril, circle 5 times.    No cost.  Took my insurance, drivers license and vax card.   It was drive thru quick test on the Abbot machine.    
 

I think unvaxed people have to take the other more thorough one?     
 

I have been told our government is paying for one COVID test per day.     But, if I pay so be it.   At least I can sleep without worry about missing the cruise.

 

I for one am glad they are doing this.   The only way we are going to be able to cruise is if they are stringent.    IMHO
 

 

Thanks for the reply.  When I read last night about Royal implementing this policy I rather thought Celebrity might as well so I started looking around.  We live in a small rural town.  We have a CVS but they don’t have a lab and you wouldn’t get results back for several days.  Not working.  I messaged both our health department and urgent care facility and even though it was after hours both immediately responded to me that the test is walk-in, no appointments necessary and results in 15 minutes.  Whew.  So I guess we’ll do that the Wednesday before we drive down in Thursday for our Saturday cruise next month.

[kokopelli-az]

The test has to be "taken as either a PCR test or an Antigen test, conducted within 72 hours of embarkation".  Is an Antigen test the same as a Rapid Antigen Test?   We got the same email, but for the Equinox leaving Aug 8.  

Edited July 30, 2021 by kokopelli-az

[Corgidawgga]

3 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

The decision to have everyone tested is wonderful, but Celebrity then screws it up by giving insufficient lead time to passengers prior to implementation. As seems to be the case increasingly of late, there's a lack of thoughtful analysis of the repercussion in the rush to implement change.

 

An A+ for the decision to test

An F for implementation. 

I think the rapid Delta variant spread has more to do with this than Celebrity’s “analysis”.    I’m willing to give them a break on this one. 😉

 

now a 2 hour wait to get answer to booked cruise missing FCC,  I agree.   F+ for not having enuf experienced reps to answer calls.   
 

But leaving tomorrow, so imma goona let them pass on everything except rapids  delivery of my first drink once onboard. 🥃🥃🥃🥃

 

 

[LuvCruzn4Evr]

12 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

This is the exact same notification Royal issued yesterday; I’m not surprised.  For people sailing this weekend this is most unfortunate!!  Contact CVS and Walgreens etc and see about getting an appointment for a drive through test with rapid results.

Our Walgreens's and CVS's require appointments but have none available for the rest of the day.  We used Walgreens for our May trip to Hawaii and had an appt and it was easy peasy and had results in one hour.  Hopefully, there's an exception for this weekend's sailings as the Celeb rep said there was.   I'm fine if they require one at the port.  Well, lets clarify fine as long as I'm not asymptomatic and don't know it.  😟  Delta variant has become quite a concern even for those of us vaccinated.

[Corgidawgga]

1 minute ago, helen haywood said:

Thanks for the reply.  When I read last night about Royal implementing this policy I rather thought Celebrity might as well so I started looking around.  We live in a small rural town.  We have a CVS but they don’t have a lab and you wouldn’t get results back for several days.  Not working.  I messaged both our health department and urgent care facility and even though it was after hours both immediately responded to me that the test is walk-in, no appointments necessary and results in 15 minutes.  Whew.  So I guess we’ll do that the Wednesday before we drive down in Thursday for our Saturday cruise next month.

Awesome!  Travel safely and have a great cruise!

[kokopelli-az]

If anyone finds out from Celebrity if they are going to have free testing (for vaxed passengers) available at the port because of the short notice, please post Celebrity's response.  

[CajunHeavyCruiser]

16 minutes ago, LuvCruzn4Evr said:

Just got off the phone with Celebrity.  She said they were told that it was not a requirement for vaccinated US citizens for sailings this weekend.  I told her the notification mad no mention of that fact. She said the 'healthy at sea' link would be updated shortly to add this.  She also said she has had quite a few calls already from upset guests and understandably so.   Last check, website has not been updated yet to reflect this requirement does not apply to this weekend's sailings.

  

This leads me to believe that this won’t be in effect this weekend.

[runningtide]

Celebrity has to clear something up. What does 72 hours before embarkation mean. First off, what is the embarkation time for a particular cruise. Is that departure, or the time you show up? The Airlines changed back to three days instead of 72 hours. They do not count your departure date. So if you leave on the 5th, your test frame would be the second, third, or forth. Simple. 

[Babr]

18 minutes ago, cruise kitty said:

Haven't received an email yet... but thanks for the head's up.   We sail on a Friday in September, flying out early Thursday morning, so I am guessing a test on that Wednesday should be in the correct window.. am I right?

 

Please note that the email said 72 hours. That is not really the same thing as three days. If your test exceeds the limit depending on the time of day you test and the time you check in,  say 76 hours instead of 72, would it make a difference?

 

[downsmead]

6 minutes ago, runningtide said:

Celebrity has to clear something up. What does 72 hours before embarkation mean. First off, what is the embarkation time for a particular cruise. Is that departure, or the time you show up? The Airlines changed back to three days instead of 72 hours. They do not count your departure date. So if you leave on the 5th, your test frame would be the second, third, or forth. Simple. 

We had this in the U.K. and Celebrity clarified it was within 3 days of sailing. So a Saturday sailing, testing from Wednesday onwards.