ON BOARD DISEMBARKATION COVID TESTING

[gmjc2]

Except the California Pacific coast cruises, that is what I cannot fathom! It would mean the end of cruising again as the ships cannot afford to sit idol every other cruise! makes no sense to me for sure. 

 

Our Transatlantic for Nov is 14 days in International waters before it ends in Florida. It sails from UK after cruises in Europe so will it be cancelled?

[cjpj]

4 hours ago, TinaLee said:

"I have determined that it is in the interests of the United States to take action to restrict and suspend the entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of noncitizens of the United States (“noncitizens”) who were physically present within the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside of Europe), the Republic of Ireland, the Federative Republic of Brazil, and the Republic of South Africa during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States."

 

Last I checked, Canada was not part of any of these areas. 

My cruise goes to England, France and Spain - so yes, I will be in part of those areas.

[DebbieActon]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Every cruise goes into international waters.

"Home ported" or departing from an international port.  So, as it stands, but could change October 31st, either the TransAtlantic sailings have to be cancelled or the first cruises back that are to begin for the first 14 days from US ports.  At least that is how I am reading it.  It may change closer to the end of October but how long can the cruise lines wait?

[cjpj]

3 hours ago, gmjc2 said:

To add to the confusion the CDC has put out a new rule that ships that have been in International waters must sit idle for 14 days before taking on passengers again. This seems totally crazy!! All the current rules are set to expire on Oct 31st but with the new surge in cases of Covid who knows??????

Yes that is not a new rule. Princess needs to get that ship across to NA... so it will cruise no matter what. It will be the cruises AFTER it that will be cancelled if CDC doesn't change the rule come Oct.  Any one on either Reagal or Sky mid Nov should be watching for cancelations if those rules are not changes.

[cjpj]

36 minutes ago, gmjc2 said:

Except the California Pacific coast cruises, that is what I cannot fathom! It would mean the end of cruising again as the ships cannot afford to sit idol every other cruise! makes no sense to me for sure. 

 

Our Transatlantic for Nov is 14 days in International waters before it ends in Florida. It sails from UK after cruises in Europe so will it be cancelled?

Not a chance IMHO. Those ships need to get to NA for the winter cruise season.  It will be the cruises AFTER that will be cancelled. 

[DebbieActon]

14 minutes ago, cjpj said:

Not a chance IMHO. Those ships need to get to NA for the winter cruise season.  It will be the cruises AFTER that will be cancelled. 

Maybe I am biased because I just made final payment yesterday on the Sky's Nov 20th sailing from Ft Lauderdale, but all things being considered I think it will be the cruises which are selling the best that avoid cancellation?  If it sails without passengers to Florida for 14 days it would qualify, right?  Also, doesn't the issue of all the non-US passengers on the TransAtlantic just being in Schengen Area cause an issue too?

[cjpj]

58 minutes ago, DebbieActon said:

Maybe I am biased because I just made final payment yesterday on the Sky's Nov 20th sailing from Ft Lauderdale, but all things being considered I think it will be the cruises which are selling the best that avoid cancellation?  If it sails without passengers to Florida for 14 days it would qualify, right?  Also, doesn't the issue of all the non-US passengers on the TransAtlantic just being in Schengen Area cause an issue too?

 I don't know if it would not need to be quarantine if it sailed with only crew. That would be a interesting take. As far as non-US citizens on board being in Schengen areas, that's the passengers problem - not Princess. Most of the passengers are Americans. My husband is a US citizen, so I'm excempt. Guess Princess might do some calculations on which is cheaper to cancel TA or the Caribbean cruises that follow.  OK now you have me wondering/worried. If the rules don't change - one of us will be missing out!

[caribill]

1 hour ago, DebbieActon said:

Maybe I am biased because I just made final payment yesterday on the Sky's Nov 20th sailing from Ft Lauderdale, but all things being considered I think it will be the cruises which are selling the best that avoid cancellation?  If it sails without passengers to Florida for 14 days it would qualify, right?  Also, doesn't the issue of all the non-US passengers on the TransAtlantic just being in Schengen Area cause an issue too?

Or if it is a 15 day cruise since last being in one of the named areas, then no passenger would have been in a named area within the last 14 days.

[DebbieActon]

11 minutes ago, cjpj said:

 I don't know if it would not need to be quarantine if it sailed with only crew. That would be a interesting take. As far as non-US citizens on board being in Schengen areas, that's the passengers problem - not Princess. Most of the passengers are Americans. My husband is a US citizen, so I'm excempt. Guess Princess might do some calculations on which is cheaper to cancel TA or the Caribbean cruises that follow.  OK now you have me wondering/worried. If the rules don't change - one of us will be missing out!

Sorry, I think we have hijacked this thread but this is what I read...but I am hopeful that Princess is in talks to know what the CDC has planned for after Oct 31st.  I sincerely hope we both get to sail.  This was from the Royal Caribbean blog...

According to the CDC, the current requirements indicate that all ships operating with passengers outside of U.S. waters (i.e. ships with a homeport outside of the U.S.) will not be eligible to enter U.S. waters until 14 days after the last passenger disembarks.

[DebbieActon]

19 minutes ago, caribill said:

Or if it is a 15 day cruise since last being in one of the named areas, then no passenger would have been in a named area within the last 14 days.

Sorry, I don't know much about the Transatlantic sailing,  Is the Portugal stop cancelled?

[caribill]

20 minutes ago, DebbieActon said:

Sorry, I don't know much about the Transatlantic sailing,  Is the Portugal stop cancelled?

I assume there have been no changes.

 

I was just hypothesizing how Princess could get around the 14 day rule.

[flyboy88]

FYI, Since this thread changes have been made to when disembarkation covid testing will now occur; No longer onboard during the cruise.
 

 

[Sprocket]

10 minutes ago, flyboy88 said:

FYI, Since this thread changes have been made to when disembarkation covid testing will now occur; No longer onboard during the cruise.
 

 

I can't even imagine what this is going to look like.  We have a B2B Cabo/Hawaii booked so 20 nights returning Jan 4th.  No idea if they will test us onboard for the Hawaii portion if they are not locked down.  

We did not book Princess Air and our flight from LAX is not until 1 PM but with everyone trying to be first off to retrieve bags clear customs and line up to be tested wait an hour for the results and then go through the extra screening at the airport for Canadians I can see a lot of people cancelling.   And with onboard testing Princess took care of those passengers who test positive, now what?  Once we're off the ship I guess we're on our own.

 

Wonder if people who book Princess transfers to the ship will be delayed as some of the buses will need to wait for passengers to get their test results back before leaving.

 

 

[flyboy88]

@Sprocket I agree with everything you have said. We can only hope they rethink this as they have other items and revert back to onboard testing.   
 

Also, for those cruising sooner than later they may have issues or incur costs having to change flights due to Princess changing when they do the testing. 

[flyboy88]

On 8/22/2021 at 6:01 PM, DebbieActon said:

Sorry, I think we have hijacked this thread but this is what I read...but I am hopeful that Princess is in talks to know what the CDC has planned for after Oct 31st.  I sincerely hope we both get to sail.  This was from the Royal Caribbean blog...

According to the CDC, the current requirements indicate that all ships operating with passengers outside of U.S. waters (i.e. ships with a homeport outside of the U.S.) will not be eligible to enter U.S. waters until 14 days after the last passenger disembarks.

I believe Princess and the other cruise lines just got their saving grace in regards to this topic.  
My understanding is this ‘14 day requirement’ is apart of the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/08/10/cdc-rule-prohibits-cruise-ships-based-outside-of-united-states-returning-14-days

 

On August 27th, 2021 the CDC has now introduced the colour ‘Grey’ for all ships operating out of Florida.
Ships sailing from Florida do not have to follow the CSO, as such I do not believe the ‘14 day requirement’ applies to ships coming to Florida. 
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-operations-manual-cso.html

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by flyboy88
Updated link to website

[Sprocket]

23 minutes ago, flyboy88 said:

I believe Princess and the other cruise lines just got their saving grace in regards to this topic.  
My understanding is this ‘14 day requirement’ is apart of the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/08/10/cdc-rule-prohibits-cruise-ships-based-outside-of-united-states-returning-14-days

 

On August 27th, 2021 the CDC has now introduced the colour ‘Grey’ for all ships operating out of Florida.
Ships sailing from Florida do not have to follow the CSO, as such I do not believe the ‘14 day requirement’ applies to ships coming to Florida. 
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-operations-manual-cso.html

 

Testing of Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Restricted Voyages

Note: This section applies to cruise ships operating under the CSO, including those choosing to follow CSO measures on a voluntary basis.

Screening Testing of All Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Restricted Voyages

	Not Fully Vaccinated Passengers	Fully Vaccinated Passengers
Pre-embarkation Day Testing	NAAT no more than 3 days before boarding	Viral (NAAT or antigen) no more than 2 days before boarding† or viral test on embarkation day
Embarkation Day Testing	Viral (NAAT or antigen); NAAT recommended	Viral (NAAT or antigen) no more than 2 days before boarding† or viral test on embarkation day

Edited August 29, 2021 by Sprocket

[Sprocket]

6 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

Testing of Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Restricted Voyages

Note: This section applies to cruise ships operating under the CSO, including those choosing to follow CSO measures on a voluntary basis.

Screening Testing of All Embarking and Disembarking Passengers for Restricted Voyages

	Not Fully Vaccinated Passengers	Fully Vaccinated Passengers
Pre-embarkation Day Testing	NAAT no more than 3 days before boarding	Viral (NAAT or antigen) no more than 2 days before boarding† or viral test on embarkation day
Embarkation Day Testing	Viral (NAAT or antigen); NAAT recommended	Viral (NAAT or antigen) no more than 2 days before boarding† or viral test on embarkation day

We are cruising out of Fort Lauderdale on Feb 28th we are flying out of Vancouver on the 26th and planned to get tested on the 25th so we had the results for the airline and for Princess.  If they shorten the time frame and Princess won't test us at the pier we may have to just cancel.

I realize that as of now they have not adjusted their website and I'm trying to figure out the verbiage from the CDC.  Is this mandatory or voluntary for the cruise lines?

[flyboy88]

33 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

We are cruising out of Fort Lauderdale on Feb 28th we are flying out of Vancouver on the 26th and planned to get tested on the 25th so we had the results for the airline and for Princess.  If they shorten the time frame and Princess won't test us at the pier we may have to just cancel.

I realize that as of now they have not adjusted their website and I'm trying to figure out the verbiage from the CDC.  Is this mandatory or voluntary for the cruise lines?

The testing requirement from the CDC falls under their Conditional Sail Order.  
Due to Florida winning a lawsuit against the CDC, the CSO is a ‘recommendation’ not a requirement for sailings from Florida. 
 

As such, any ships sailing from Florida will

be colour coded as ‘grey’ since the CDC will not be observing or recording covid cases onboard these sailings. 
 

In short, follow what testing requirement Princess tells you as it’s their decision to follow the CDC’s recommendation, something different, or not require testing at all. Florida cruises are going to be different than from elsewhere as the cruise lines DO NOT have to follow the CSO in order to operate.

[Sprocket]

1 hour ago, flyboy88 said:

The testing requirement from the CDC falls under their Conditional Sail Order.  
Due to Florida winning a lawsuit against the CDC, the CSO is a ‘recommendation’ not a requirement for sailings from Florida. 
 

As such, any ships sailing from Florida will

be colour coded as ‘grey’ since the CDC will not be observing or recording covid cases onboard these sailings. 
 

In short, follow what testing requirement Princess tells you as it’s their decision to follow the CDC’s recommendation, something different, or not require testing at all. Florida cruises are going to be different than from elsewhere as the cruise lines DO NOT have to follow the CSO in order to operate.

Thanks that's what I thought it said, but sometimes my comprehension is lacking lol.  We still have plenty of time for Florida, less than 4 months for Cabo/Hawaii now.  Thanks for the replies btw.

[gmjc2]

23 hours ago, flyboy88 said:

FYI, Since this thread changes have been made to when disembarkation covid testing will now occur; No longer onboard during the cruise.
 

 

This makes no sense as US requires a negative test for all even US citizens, taken no more than 3 days prior to arrival in the country. So how does one get through customs/immigration and walk out of the terminal without having shown proof of the test? Unless Princess has special permission to ignore this rule how will this work?

Testing potentially 100's of passengers all at once!! It will be a nightmare! When we cruised in June the ship scheduled appointments over a 3 day period before arrival. It went very smoothly and made a lot more sense!