Questions related to all things Covid testing relating to Princess Cruises

[Muffinz]

4 hours ago, nini said:

I hope it goes away by next March!

yes - 6 months is a long time away and the Australian Government have have changed their requirements by then

[SimonTemplar850]

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered, but we're on a cruise that stops in Greece, but we're not embarking there. Are we still required to test?

[Steelers36]

18 minutes ago, SimonTemplar850 said:

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered, but we're on a cruise that stops in Greece, but we're not embarking there. Are we still required to test?

PCL updated testing protocols yet again yesterday and there was a significant change for Greece that makes zero sense.  I wouldn't trust the info a look for another update.  I raised issue with PCL and it was sent up the ladder.  Hopefully some others have bugged them about it as well.  (The answer should be NO, BTW, but that isn't what guidelines state now).

Edited August 17, 2022 by Steelers36

[kml246]

48 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

PCL updated testing protocols yet again yesterday and there was a significant change for Greece that makes zero sense.  I wouldn't trust the info a look for another update.  I raised issue with PCL and it was sent up the ladder.  Hopefully some others have bugged them about it as well.  (The answer should be NO, BTW, but that isn't what guidelines state now).

 

We don't sail until 9/24 (from Barcelona) so I haven't been too concerned about the requirements this far out. Now with the posting yesterday, it looks like if it wasn't for Greece, we wouldn't need to test at all. I figured we would just bring tele-med tests to use as we've done on other cruises, including out of Southampton last month. Now, with the latest posting about Greece protocols, we'll need to test AND they don't accept video-proctored tests. 

 

I'm going to wait a couple of days to see what changes, but if nothing does, I'll need to set up some in-person testing in Barcelona. All of this is a joke. What does Greece expect to prevent by my testing in Barcelona on Sept 22 when we won't arrive in Crete (first stop in Greece) until Oct 4, twelve days after we test. Besides all the touring we'll be doing during those twelve days, new passengers will board in Rome on Oct 1. It's very scary that so many governments are running our lives without a clue how to do it properly. 

 

For those interested, here's the posting on Princess.com about Greece sailings.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by kml246
Add highlighting about test proctoring.

[kml246]

1 hour ago, SimonTemplar850 said:

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered, but we're on a cruise that stops in Greece, but we're not embarking there. Are we still required to test?

 

As of yesterday:

 

[SimonTemplar850]

26 minutes ago, kml246 said:

 

As of yesterday:

 

Oh, that's just wonderful...

Right back where I started.

[Steelers36]

28 minutes ago, SimonTemplar850 said:

Oh, that's just wonderful...

Right back where I started.

Don't believe it, however.  No basis in fact.  Just wait for Princess to correct yet again.

[sidvan]

57 minutes ago, kml246 said:

 

As of yesterday:

 

Yes, just off the line with CHAT and they are saying those that qualified to the old standard of three days but happen to be in the air at the moment will be required to retest. This is our situation with friends in the air for our cruise Saturday in Rome. Chat has said there is no dockside testing available only take home tests. Trying to find a place to get an in person test in the morning before my flight.

 

 

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, kml246 said:

 

We don't sail until 9/24 (from Barcelona) so I haven't been too concerned about the requirements this far out. Now with the posting yesterday, it looks like if it wasn't for Greece, we wouldn't need to test at all. I figured we would just bring tele-med tests to use as we've done on other cruises, including out of Southampton last month. Now, with the latest posting about Greece protocols, we'll need to test AND they don't accept video-proctored tests. 

 

I'm going to wait a couple of days to see what changes, but if nothing does, I'll need to set up some in-person testing in Barcelona. All of this is a joke. What does Greece expect to prevent by my testing in Barcelona on Sept 22 when we won't arrive in Crete (first stop in Greece) until Oct 4, twelve days after we test. Besides all the touring we'll be doing during those twelve days, new passengers will board in Rome on Oct 1. It's very scary that so many governments are running our lives without a clue how to do it properly. 

 

For those interested, here's the posting on Princess.com about Greece sailings.

 

 

This is crazy.  Kevin, would you please post info on an in-person test site BCN, when you have info? 

Thanks!

 

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, sidvan said:

Yes, just off the line with CHAT and they are saying those that qualified to the old standard of three days but happen to be in the air at the moment will be required to retest. This is our situation with friends in the air for our cruise Saturday in Rome. Chat has said there is no dockside testing available only take home tests. Trying to find a place to get an in person test in the morning before my flight.

 

 

Who was the authoritative voice on the Chat?  I have raised this with Princess and it was referred to manager(s).  This protocol has to be worded wrong as there is no such requirement on Greece government site nor with any other cruise travel organization. 

 

ETA:  Sailing FROM Greece - yes, info is still good, but the rest of it has to be wrong - such as for port stops.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Steelers36

[PacnGoNow]

21 minutes ago, sidvan said:

Yes, just off the line with CHAT and they are saying those that qualified to the old standard of three days but happen to be in the air at the moment will be required to retest. This is our situation with friends in the air for our cruise Saturday in Rome. Chat has said there is no dockside testing available only take home tests. Trying to find a place to get an in person test in the morning before my flight.

 

 

Recently, many posts have said there are testing sites all over Rome. Don’t know about Civitavecchia.  Reach out to your hotel to get a site nearby.

[PacnGoNow]

56 minutes ago, sidvan said:

Yes, just off the line with CHAT and they are saying those that qualified to the old standard of three days but happen to be in the air at the moment will be required to retest. This is our situation with friends in the air for our cruise Saturday in Rome. Chat has said there is no dockside testing available only take home tests. Trying to find a place to get an in person test in the morning before my flight.

 

 

Here’s a site for Rome FCO airport arrivals, if you need it.

https://www.adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-roma-en/test-areas-at-the-airport?p_p_id=it_txt_adr_cookiepolicy_web_portlet_AdrCookiePolicyBannerPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view
 

[sidvan]

34 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Recently, many posts have said there are testing sites all over Rome. Don’t know about Civitavecchia.  Reach out to your hotel to get a site nearby.

Have reached out to our hotel and got a response of no problem thy can help within 5 minutes.

[PacnGoNow]

2 hours ago, kml246 said:

 

We don't sail until 9/24 (from Barcelona) so I haven't been too concerned about the requirements this far out. Now with the posting yesterday, it looks like if it wasn't for Greece, we wouldn't need to test at all. I figured we would just bring tele-med tests to use as we've done on other cruises, including out of Southampton last month. Now, with the latest posting about Greece protocols, we'll need to test AND they don't accept video-proctored tests. 

 

I'm going to wait a couple of days to see what changes, but if nothing does, I'll need to set up some in-person testing in Barcelona. All of this is a joke. What does Greece expect to prevent by my testing in Barcelona on Sept 22 when we won't arrive in Crete (first stop in Greece) until Oct 4, twelve days after we test. Besides all the touring we'll be doing during those twelve days, new passengers will board in Rome on Oct 1. It's very scary that so many governments are running our lives without a clue how to do it properly. 

 

For those interested, here's the posting on Princess.com about Greece sailings.

 

 

Here’s a link if you will need it for BCN airport test site.

 

https://flycovidtestcenter.com/en/barcelona-t1/
 

[sidvan]

47 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Who was the authoritative voice on the Chat?  I have raised this with Princess and it was referred to manager(s).  This protocol has to be worded wrong as there is no such requirement on Greece government site nor with any other cruise travel organization. 

 

ETA:  Sailing FROM Greece - yes, info is still good, but the rest of it has to be wrong - such as for port stops.

Just the chat agent who kept leaving to check with someone.  I pointed out the difference on the two pages for the testing requirements but ws told doesn't matter has to be within 2 days for antigen and they were wobbly on in person or not. Said you "should be ok". Not with a lot of confidence.  Hard to navigate all this while winding up work to be away for 3 weeks.

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, sidvan said:

Just the chat agent who kept leaving to check with someone.  I pointed out the difference on the two pages for the testing requirements but ws told doesn't matter has to be within 2 days for antigen and they were wobbly on in person or not. Said you "should be ok". Not with a lot of confidence.  Hard to navigate all this while winding up work to be away for 3 weeks.

Well, hopefully they escalated it up.  That's what I had done, but no immediate response possible.  All a rep can do is read what is on the website and they don't really know.  Let's all hope this is just a bad boo-boo in a line of boo-boo's.

[kml246]

26 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Here’s a link if you will need it for BCN airport test site.

 

https://flycovidtestcenter.com/en/barcelona-t1/
 

 

Thanks. Good link if you're coming in on one or two days ahead. We're landing on the 21st (early) and boarding the 24th, so antigen won't work for us. No sense spending for a PCR when a RAT will work two days before. 

 

Going to give it a few days as things are changing rapidly. 

[SimonTemplar850]

55 minutes ago, sidvan said:

Have reached out to our hotel and got a response of no problem thy can help within 5 minutes.

Our hotel has also told me they can arrange tests at a local pharmacy. We'll be in early enough to do so, but the thought of flying all that way only to possibly be denied boarding is incredibly disheartening.

[sidvan]

1 minute ago, SimonTemplar850 said:

Our hotel has also told me they can arrange tests at a local pharmacy. We'll be in early enough to do so, but the thought of flying all that way only to possibly be denied boarding is incredibly disheartening.

40 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Well, hopefully they escalated it up.  That's what I had done, but no immediate response possible.  All a rep can do is read what is on the website and they don't really know.  Let's all hope this is just a bad boo-boo in a line of boo-boo's.

Able to make arangements for testing pre-flight. Still lost my $$ now for the proctored tests non-refundable. Going after Princess for the new testing cost.

 

I did ask if testing would be available at embarkation and was told no only take home tests. Clearly the chat agent has no idea of what's about to descend on the pier in Civitavecchia

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, SimonTemplar850 said:

Our hotel has also told me they can arrange tests at a local pharmacy. We'll be in early enough to do so, but the thought of flying all that way only to possibly be denied boarding is incredibly disheartening.

Do a self antigen test before you leave - should give some peace of mind.  I know - there is still the airports and planes to deal with.

[d9704011]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Do a self antigen test before you leave - should give some peace of mind.  I know - there is still the airports and planes to deal with.

That's our strategy.  Test morning of 14 September, fly to Rome that evening and board ship in Civi on 16 September.  My hotel and a local pharmacist in Civi are perfectly willing to help me get a test on afternoon of the 15th but I chose to test before leaving Canada... JIC.

Edited August 17, 2022 by d9704011

[hunsy]

Hello,

We are flying to Vancouver on 09/23/22 from SFO and leaving on the Royal from Vancouver on 09/24/22 . We must meet the Covid test criteria with ArriveCan for the flight on 09/23/22 as well as the cruise on 09/24/22. While I realize this might be overthinking a bit, if we do the PCR 3 days prior to the flight departure, will that also cover the cruise departure? Have cruised a lot prior to Covid, but find myself in new territory here with this first cruise since Covid. I would appreciate anyone's input and advice on the subject.

[d9704011]

39 minutes ago, hunsy said:

Hello,

We are flying to Vancouver on 09/23/22 from SFO and leaving on the Royal from Vancouver on 09/24/22 . We must meet the Covid test criteria with ArriveCan for the flight on 09/23/22 as well as the cruise on 09/24/22. While I realize this might be overthinking a bit, if we do the PCR 3 days prior to the flight departure, will that also cover the cruise departure? Have cruised a lot prior to Covid, but find myself in new territory here with this first cruise since Covid. I would appreciate anyone's input and advice on the subject.

There is no Covid test requirement for your flight from SFO to YVR, just the ArriveCAN.  If you take the PCR test in SFO more than three days before your cruise departs, that is too early.  You need a Covid test for boarding the ship and, maybe, another ArriveCAN depending on the cruise itinerary.

[chubbypiggy]

Princess announced for cruises 16 days or more, COVID test showing a negative result is required. Adding up my 3 b2b2b cruises, the total days will be 16 days, so am I required to take a COVID test before embarking on the 1st cruise (7 days)?  My 3 cruises were booked separately, and have 3 booking numbers. The 1st cruise is 7 days, departs in San Pedro at the end of this October, and 2nd cruise is 5 days, and the 3rd cruise is 4 days.  

[nini]

23 hours ago, SimonTemplar850 said:

Our hotel has also told me they can arrange tests at a local pharmacy. We'll be in early enough to do so, but the thought of flying all that way only to possibly be denied boarding is incredibly disheartening.

 

I will say that it was extremely stressful to fly to London this last May, arriving 3 days before embarkation. We had already made the flight arrangements many months ahead and if we changed it, it would be super expensive. Fortunately, we tested in our London hotel and were negative. We used the Binax Now and the hotel's WiFi. The hotel was super accommodating and printed out our results.