RCCL - No more onboard tests for Canadians

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, Magicat said:

It would be interesting to see what happens, if testing is still a requirement in May, when the Alaska cruises start landing in Vancouver. 

I unfortunately don’t see cruises embarking/disembarking from Canada this May, let alone Victoria as a stop for RT sailings from Seattle. Unless some miracle happens, to which I will gladly and very thankfully accept.  
 

Edit, yes people can fly and drive into Canada but the government sees cruises as the most dangerous vacation possible. (possible sarcasm font “on” in edit comment)

Edited December 20, 2021 by A&L_Ont

[Veinless]

Announcing this after the final payment date is pretty effing shady.

[loupana]

Well this officially has us canceling our Jan. B2B cruises. With all the good things that Royal was doing taking care of passengers that test positive during the cruise, is now gone. It's just too risky to take a very expensive test at the airport where if we test positive we are screwed and on our own. We have enough hurdles to jump through, I'm just not going to deal with this as well.

 

I will NOT be booking any cruise that needs a flight, just not worth it. I will re-evaluate in the spring when I have more options in NY\NJ and Boston where I can easily drive.

[melbur]

If it's all about the $$, I will gladly pay Royal to get the test the day before, rather than scramble when I'm off the ship. 

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, melbur said:

If it's all about the $$, I will gladly pay Royal to get the test the day before, rather than scramble when I'm off the ship. 

Unfortunately, that's not an option and not one you are likely to see offered in the future.

 

I don't believe that it is a coincidence that this announcement was made within a couple of days of the announcement of the outbreak on the Symphony of the Seas. If they stop providing pre-disembarkation tests to Canadian and other foreign passengers requiring them for travel home, whether free or not, they greatly reduce the chances of encountering a positive result and having to conduct contact tracing that might result in another outbreak being discovered. If you can only get your PCR test after disembarking, at a facility unassociated with RCI, it's too late for contact tracing should you test positive, and RCI doesn't have another embarrassing outbreak on its hands. It also doesn't have the significant cost of caring for the positive passengers as they would for outbreaks detected aboard. 

[Russ Lomas]

5 hours ago, melbrook said:

I know my Celebrity update from last month was that bookings before Nov.16th still got the required tests on board and bookings after did not.  I understand that things change - but to your point, many of us booked flights based on having this test in hand.  Honour the items in place at time of booking and change the rules for new ones...is that unreasonable??

Fully agree.  A policy change is fine, but do this for those booking moving forwards.  Honour what the agreement was when people originally booked their cruises and their return flights.  My biggest concern is what happens when you arrive in a Canadian airport and your test results are not available yet...

[waiting2retire]

You won't get that far since you won't be allowed on a plane without your negative test results in hand.

 

 

[Russ Lomas]

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

 

 

31 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Unfortunately, that's not an option and not one you are likely to see offered in the future.

 

I don't believe that it is a coincidence that this announcement was made within a couple of days of the announcement of the outbreak on the Symphony of the Seas. If they stop providing pre-disembarkation tests to Canadian and other foreign passengers requiring them for travel home, whether free or not, they greatly reduce the chances of encountering a positive result and having to conduct contact tracing that might result in another outbreak being discovered. If you can only get your PCR test after disembarking, at a facility unassociated with RCI, it's too late for contact tracing should you test positive, and RCI doesn't have another embarrassing outbreak on its hands. It also doesn't have the significant cost of caring for the positive passengers as they would for outbreaks detected aboard. 

Well said.  I think you hit the nail on the head with this comment.  Although cost was something I am sure RCCL did not appreciate taking on, as well as the medical staff being used for this, the main reason I believe is to distance the cruise line from being associated with positive cases since I am guessing many will not be traced back in a timely manner, thus giving the false impression that there was not a large number on any particular sailing.

[snoope]

They say testing at the port - yet dont provide pricing, timing, or any other info.

 

I sent an email to Bayly's office. Here is the response. Maybe if enough of us complain they may do something.

 

Here is the email: ex-co@rccl.com

 

Hello Dave,

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. My name is JoAnna; I work in the Executive Office of Royal Caribbean and am responding on behalf of Mr. Bayley.

It’s feedback from loyal Royal Caribbean guests such as yourself that allows us to continue to improve. I am sorry to hear that in this instance you feel we have fallen short of your expectations. If you’d rather not wait until you reach the airport, you also have the option of taking a rapid PCR or antigen COVID-19 test at the terminal upon debarkation. Results are emailed shortly after.

Despite this change, we hope you will still have a wonderful time onboard the Symphony of the Seas in January. I have shared your feedback with the rest of the Executive Team for internal review. Thank you again, Dave, for taking the time to share it with us and for choosing Royal Caribbean.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please let us know.

Sincerely,

JoAnna Wallace
Executive Office
Royal Guest Experience
 

Edited December 20, 2021 by snoope

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, snoope said:

They say testing at the port - yet dont provide pricing, timing, or any other info.

 

I don't believe that the test facility at the terminal is associated with RCI, and as with the airport and local test sites, they really aren't interested in acquiring or publishing pricing or any other related information. They've washed their hands of testing for passengers requiring one to travel home and have firmly closed the door shut. (Please excuse the mixed metaphors!)

[tottenhamfc]

So I am on a back to back with a day in between. Navigator from LA to Mexico and then Radiance from LA to Vancouver. We stop in Victoria so what happens there? I then disembark in my home city of Vancouver. This is totally confusing. I am assuming our Govt will not cancel the cruise season this year as it could be the death of cruising in Canada. Please help me make sense of this. My gut is that if it stays as is, I would be best to take the test in Victoria the day before Vancouver.

[DirtyDawg]

56 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Unfortunately, that's not an option and not one you are likely to see offered in the future.

 

I don't believe that it is a coincidence that this announcement was made within a couple of days of the announcement of the outbreak on the Symphony of the Seas. If they stop providing pre-disembarkation tests to Canadian and other foreign passengers requiring them for travel home, whether free or not, they greatly reduce the chances of encountering a positive result and having to conduct contact tracing that might result in another outbreak being discovered. If you can only get your PCR test after disembarking, at a facility unassociated with RCI, it's too late for contact tracing should you test positive, and RCI doesn't have another embarrassing outbreak on its hands. It also doesn't have the significant cost of caring for the positive passengers as they would for outbreaks detected aboard. 

No testing for international travelers = a lot less Covid found on the ships.

 

Someone said earlier that this decision is all about the $$ - You bet your bippie it is!

[Magicat]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I unfortunately don’t see cruises embarking/disembarking from Canada this May, let alone Victoria as a stop for RT sailings from Seattle. Unless some miracle happens, to which I will gladly and very thankfully accept.  
 

Edit, yes people can fly and drive into Canada but the government sees cruises as the most dangerous vacation possible. (possible sarcasm font “on” in edit comment)

I thinking you are right in your thinking on this.  It is a shame that we will have to cancel our Alaska cruise and move it to something else.  I know the situation may change, but if we wait it out to see what happens, then the price goes up on a cruise that is sure to go and it ends up costing us more.  Not panicking here, just trying to stay a head of the curve.

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

No testing for international travelers = a lot less Covid found on the ships.

 

Someone said earlier that this decision is all about the $$ - You bet your bippie it is!

Absolutely. The actual cost of the tests pales in comparison with the costs associated with cases detected aboard.

[broberts]

1 hour ago, melbur said:

If it's all about the $$, I will gladly pay Royal to get the test the day before, rather than scramble when I'm off the ship. 

 

Taking a lesson from Pontius Pilate. It no longer has to care about timely, accurate testing for debarking customers.

[Russ Lomas]

1 hour ago, snoope said:

They say testing at the port - yet dont provide pricing, timing, or any other info.

 

I sent an email to Bayly's office. Here is the response. Maybe if enough of us complain they may do something.

 

Here is the email: ex-co@rccl.com

 

Hello Dave,

Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns. My name is JoAnna; I work in the Executive Office of Royal Caribbean and am responding on behalf of Mr. Bayley.

It’s feedback from loyal Royal Caribbean guests such as yourself that allows us to continue to improve. I am sorry to hear that in this instance you feel we have fallen short of your expectations. If you’d rather not wait until you reach the airport, you also have the option of taking a rapid PCR or antigen COVID-19 test at the terminal upon debarkation. Results are emailed shortly after.

Despite this change, we hope you will still have a wonderful time onboard the Symphony of the Seas in January. I have shared your feedback with the rest of the Executive Team for internal review. Thank you again, Dave, for taking the time to share it with us and for choosing Royal Caribbean.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please let us know.

Sincerely,

JoAnna Wallace
Executive Office
Royal Guest Experience
 

Already dropped his office an email as well before I read your post.  I was surprised they responded that quickly.  My next cruise is not until March, so a lot could change by then, but I feel sorry for those of you booked in January and early February who will either feel the need to now cancel or roll the dice and see how things turn out.

 

For those of you Canadians who do not cancel and do sail in January and February, please report back here and let us know how things went in your particular case.  I wish you all luck.

[gmbhardy]

I have never cruised on RC and I will never, ever consider them for a future cruise. Absolute bull crap.

[cruzincanuck]

This was the last straw for us. We were set to cruise on Jan 9th.  With all the changes over the last week and now having to try to get a PCR on disembarkation (not to mention the cost), it is no longer a vacation for us.   A feeling of relief has come over me now that the decision was made this evening.  It just proved the the stress that had creeped up on me over the last few weeks with this new variant and trying to roll with the changes.  We will try later in 2022.

Wishing all  happy holidays and a great & safe vacation to all who will cruise.

[loupana]

7 hours ago, cruzincanuck said:

This was the last straw for us. We were set to cruise on Jan 9th.  With all the changes over the last week and now having to try to get a PCR on disembarkation (not to mention the cost), it is no longer a vacation for us.   A feeling of relief has come over me now that the decision was made this evening.  It just proved the the stress that had creeped up on me over the last few weeks with this new variant and trying to roll with the changes.  We will try later in 2022.

Wishing all  happy holidays and a great & safe vacation to all who will cruise.

So true. We feel the same since we made our decision yesterday...

[Princess Fi]

18 hours ago, Liverpoolfan181 said:

Identical travel plans and westjet but we are on Allure- what do you think you would for plan b now?

We are 6 of us scheduled for Jan 8-15 Celebrity Apex and on that WestJet flight. So far Celebrity has not announced changes but this concerns me. Have been on the fence whether to go or not. Now leaning towards cancelling. 

[melbur]

I can't believe numbers play that big a role in it. International passengers on Caribbean cruises are such a small number compared to US citizens. And then what percent of that small number would be positive? (compared to families with unvaxxed kids?) 

Celebrity are still doing it and charging $95 for a PCR test. Would gladly pay that. 

[A&L_Ont]

3 minutes ago, melbur said:

Celebrity are still doing it and charging $95 for a PCR test. Would gladly pay that. 

 

I would if RC offered it as well.

 

IMO, I think for RC it comes down to media attention by positive cases onboard. If you don't test positive on a ship that's the best for them.  It has been reported with the latest variant many have mild/minimal symtoms and not even aware that they have it. An international traveller might not even be aware they have it when they step off the ship, that is until they get their test results for the flight home.  It almost reminds me a Norwalk sickness sailing.  All onboard just leave, and whatever happens once they exit the gangway happens. Basically, everyone is on their own from there. 

 

They can and still rapid and PCR test on board those that they feel are positive.  They are just not choosing to for those who are not symptomatic or close contact to a positive. The Symphony news story had the feels of a Norwalk news story, not the Diamond Princess from the start of the pandemic. 

[K_e_short]

Carnival has never done testing for Canadians on board.

 

They only do testing for B2B and those that are unvaccinated.

 

This sounds horrible but that makes a lot of sense because if you aren't testing for Covid, then there is no Covid.

 

On my roll call someone asked what happens if you test positive after you get off the cruise ship. The answer is nothing.

You don't have to tell the cruise line and they don't have to deal with it.

 

I think it's amusing as so many Canadians were whining to John Heald about how all the other cruise lines do testing for Canadians..

[edrussell]

This being our first cruise (Jan 20, out of Baltimore) we have no point of reference to compare RCCL against other lines but I will say the timing of this to be frustrating (I am using softer language than I really want to).  In a way though I cannot say I am surprised by it.  Our final payment date was last night and we decided to push ahead anyway.  We will get the Switch Health kits and go that way.  

[orioles11]

31 minutes ago, edrussell said:

This being our first cruise (Jan 20, out of Baltimore) we have no point of reference to compare RCCL against other lines but I will say the timing of this to be frustrating (I am using softer language than I really want to).  In a way though I cannot say I am surprised by it.  Our final payment date was last night and we decided to push ahead anyway.  We will get the Switch Health kits and go that way.  

Full Steam Ahead! Millions of us need to get OUT of Ontario.