Doctor's note still required for those over 70 years old?

[chamima]

I apologize if this has been answered multiple times but is a doctor's note still required for those over 70 to sail?

 

[deliver42]

No, just the questionaire,, proof of vaccinations, and covid test 2 days before sailing.

[chamima]

3 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

No, just the questionaire,, proof of vaccinations, and covid test 2 days before sailing.

Thanks!

No problem with those but , for some reason I found the doctor's note thing (which is still on Celebrity's FAQ site by the way) really insulting.

[GeorgesGal]

10 minutes ago, chamima said:

Thanks!

No problem with those but , for some reason I found the doctor's note thing (which is still on Celebrity's FAQ site by the way) really insulting.

Glad to see someone else felt as I did about that.  It was really offensive to those of us in our golden years, with many of us being in better shape than those decades younger!!!

Donna

[Covepointcruiser]

Hopefully anyone who should not be traveling, immune compromised and all conditions making you much more likely to get sick from COVID, are using common sense and are not traveling.

[LGW59]

8 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Hopefully anyone who should not be traveling, immune compromised and all conditions making you much more likely to get sick from COVID, are using common sense and are not traveling.

Not 70, yet, but getting very close...personally I've no problem with this if it is a requirement.  Reminding me of convos I had to have with my mom....

[jelayne]

To find the most current info on sailing requirements this section of the Celebrity website is the best place to check

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/travel

[ddpe]

No doctor is going to expose him/herself to litigation based on their opinion if you should sail.  Silly, and yes, there are many people in their 70s much healthier than people in their 40s.

 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

Actually the mortality rate for 40 year olds is much less than for 70 year olds.   We think we are healthy but our immune systems are crashing and our heart and lungs are not what there were at 40 even if we lived a healthy life style.    Add smoking and alcohol to the mix and your body is reallly suffering.

[Guppy99]

for heaven sake. It's personal choice as to whether you want to ta=ravel or not. The only concern the cruise line would have is whether you pose a risk to other passengers.

Otherwise, your a grown up. Decide for yourself. Totally offended that the cruise line, or any business, would presume to make this choice on my behalf.

[RICCruisers]

7 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

for heaven sake. It's personal choice as to whether you want to ta=ravel or not. The only concern the cruise line would have is whether you pose a risk to other passengers.

Otherwise, your a grown up. Decide for yourself. Totally offended that the cruise line, or any business, would presume to make this choice on my behalf.

I appreciate your opinion, especially since I just turned 70. Unfortunately it was the actuarial tables that were making those suggestions. This is especially true at the beginning of COVID which is when that rule was adopted. I don’t remember the exact figures of the percentage of deaths and hospitalizations early in the pandemic, but they were extremely high, I recall 80%+ for the deaths. The numbers still skew to the older populations but not as dramatic. Fortunately the rule has been eliminated. 

[TMLAalum]

Sick of the supposition that most 70+ people are in fragile health. As my sisters say about me, the oldest,  I must have gotten all the good genes because DH and I can walk and hike still. Nevertheless to put my physician in the position of stating I am healthy enough to cruise is opening her to liability should something adverse occur while sailing.

 

To answer the OPs ?, all that was required for us to sail the previous Millennium cruise was proof of vaccination and a current negative Covid test.

[jmfdr]

57 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Actually the mortality rate for 40 year olds is much less than for 70 year olds.   We think we are healthy but our immune systems are crashing and our heart and lungs are not what there were at 40 even if we lived a healthy life style.    Add smoking and alcohol to the mix and your body is reallly suffering.

I still want to take this "old suffering body" on a few more cruises and travels about the world. 😂

[cruisestitch]

That Celebrity policy disappeared almost as soon as it was announced. 
 

I still see it on their website perhaps you have an old version stuck in your cache.

[bEwAbG]

This was not a policy that was unique to Celebrity and it was issued by the cruise trade association.  They were trying to do whatever it took to keep sailing from being shut down in the face of a rapidly deteriorating situation worldwide.  In this case, the trade association said that members would be requiring some sort of "fit to sail" record signed by a physician.  The requirement also applied to those with underlying health conditions (including cancer, diabetes, and heart, lung, liver and kidney diseases), so it wasn't just targeted at those over 70.   At the time, both groups were considered at extreme risk of dying from COVID, so I'm not sure why anyone would object to them being overly cautious in the face of something that was changing hour by hour, particularly under the threat of being shut down.  This was still when ships around the world were being refused entry in ports & people were being put into quarantine at military facilities.  It was even before the first widespread masking recommendations in the U.S., which didn't happen until early April.

 

The Royal brands were going to adopt this requirement for sailings starting March 16, 2020, but cruising from the U.S. was suspended on March 14.  As noted, the requirement was dropped altogether after cruising stopped and it became apparent that it wasn't just a pause in operations for a few weeks.

[gold1953]

11 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

Sick of the supposition that most 70+ people are in fragile health. As my sisters say about me, the oldest,  I must have gotten all the good genes because DH and I can walk and hike still. Nevertheless to put my physician in the position of stating I am healthy enough to cruise is opening her to liability should something adverse occur while sailing.

 

To answer the OPs ?, all that was required for us to sail the previous Millennium cruise was proof of vaccination and a current negative Covid test.

DH and I are quite fit as well. He is 73 and plays hockey at least twice a week. Imagine the shock when we were too old to rent a car in Ireland!! There are also a few shore excursions with the age cut off. really a slap in the face

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, chamima said:

Thanks!

No problem with those but , for some reason I found the doctor's note thing (which is still on Celebrity's FAQ site by the way) really insulting.

Understand your feelings but it was not meant to be insulting.  Let’s put some context here.  There were a number of threads and hundreds of posts.  It was a proposal early in the pandemic quickly abandoned when there was very little info on the virus except that it more adversely affected the “elderly”.   Somewhat based on the number of older guests that got very ill or passed away from Covid on cruise ships early like Diamond Princess.  The note was a possible condition for sailing again when everybody thought the ban on cruising would be short-lived.  Well that was not reality and neither was a doctor’s note.  It really had nothing to do with any other preconceived health notions about older folks.  Just the virus.

[Guppy99]

15 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

I appreciate your opinion, especially since I just turned 70. Unfortunately it was the actuarial tables that were making those suggestions. This is especially true at the beginning of COVID which is when that rule was adopted. I don’t remember the exact figures of the percentage of deaths and hospitalizations early in the pandemic, but they were extremely high, I recall 80%+ for the deaths. The numbers still skew to the older populations but not as dramatic. Fortunately the rule has been eliminated. 

I understand how they made the decision, just that they should not have done so.

[Guppy99]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Understand your feelings but it was not meant to be insulting.  Let’s put some context here.  There were a number of threads and hundreds of posts.  It was a proposal early in the pandemic quickly abandoned when there was very little info on the virus except that it more adversely affected the “elderly”.   Somewhat based on the number of older guests that got very ill or passed away from Covid on cruise ships early like Diamond Princess.  The note was a possible condition for sailing again when everybody thought the ban on cruising would be short-lived.  Well that was not reality and neither was a doctor’s note.  It really had nothing to do with any other preconceived health notions about older folks.  Just the virus.

Still...poorly conceived, and not just in hindsight.  No doctor would risk the implied liability and no doctor would ever guarantee a person (regardless of age) to not become ill.

[Guppy99]

12 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

That Celebrity policy disappeared almost as soon as it was announced. 
 

I still see it on their website perhaps you have an old version stuck in your cache.

Are you sure you are not referring to excursions.  There are many excursion vendors who insist of doctor notes for those 70 and older to satisfy their insurance liability, which I don't like but I understand.

[upwarduk]

The only conditions at booking, our recent Staycation on Silhouette, was double vaccinated and resident in UK🇬🇧. Our ages were on file, but no mention was made.

[Bo1953]

After thinking about it for a 'few hours' I believe, truly, were X to require doctors notes to sail this board would be blowing up big time...

 

Most of us know this, too.

 

In health and bon voyage

[cruisestitch]

It was proposed and then withdrawn.  As they say on tv, “move along, nothing to see here”.

[glmacruise]

21 hours ago, Guppy99 said:

for heaven sake. It's personal choice as to whether you want to ta=ravel or not. The only concern the cruise line would have is whether you pose a risk to other passengers.

Otherwise, your a grown up. Decide for yourself. Totally offended that the cruise line, or any business, would presume to make this choice on my behalf.

One would think a lot of things are personal choice. It’s becoming a rarity anymore.

[Jim_Iain]

9 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

After thinking about it for a 'few hours' I believe, truly, were X to require doctors notes to sail this board would be blowing up big time...

 

Most of us know this, too.

 

In health and bon voyage

Yea but back in March 2019 I had to get one from my doctor.   He said he didn't recommend it but if I wanted one  he would and did sign it -  Electronically.    That was for our cruise to depart the day they shut down sailing.    I had just turned 70 so I complied because I wanted to sail. 

 

Maybe Celebrity figured it was stupid (which it was)