Anyone on Odyssey Feb 5-12 (St. Maarten to Barbados)?

[cruiseej]

I'm wondering if anyone on this forum is on the Odyssey cruise from February 5-12, St. Maarten to Barbados? We're on the cruise with the identical itinerary three weeks later, and would be extremely interested in reports on the February 5 cruise. Some specific questions:

 

Any problems with completing the St. Maarten EHAS pre-authorization?

Any tips/tricks for arrival into Philipsburg?

Is Seabourn or the port authority conducting antigen tests at the pier prior to boarding?

Is your cruise making all the scheduled port calls, or have you missed any countries?

Which ports allow you to go ashore on your own?

If you are allowed to go ashore on St. Barth's, where there are no Seabourn excursions offered, what did you do there?

For Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, are there any excursions offered? (None are listed for our cruise.) There's no town there, so I'm curious if you can go ashore and if there is anything to do?

 

Many thanks in advance for any answers or reports you are able to provide!

[italyforme]

Also would be interest as we’re on the same itinerary in March.  I’ve just assumed that if no SB shore excursions are available on the website there may still be uncertainty about making port there?

On Odyssey In October we weren’t allowed outside of the SB bubble so no independent tours or walkabouts were possible; maybe that’s changed and I just missed it.

[cruiseej]

We were on Odyssey in late-September and early-october as well. I'm not assuming anything is exactly the same, since so much has changed with Covid since that time! 😉

 

Have you looked at the entry requirements for Sint Maarten, because I'm finding conflicting information. Seabourn's webpage says:

 

St. Maarten:
Fully vaccinated guests will be required to show proof of a negative Standard (non-rapid) PCR COVID-19 test, performed within 2-days prior of their arrival in St. Maarten. This proof may be required at the departing airport prior to the guest being permitted to board their flight, as required by the Government of St. Maarten... Seabourn requires a negative Standard (non-rapid) PCR COVID-19 test performed within 3-days prior of cruise embarkation in St. Maarten, when checking in at the pier. Details can be found here: https://stmaartenehas.com/travel-requirements/.
 

But the St. Maarten Travel Requirements page shows that fully vaccinated and boosted people require no entry test:

 

So is Seabourn's page out-of-date in stating that a PCR test within 2 days of entry to St. Maarten is required? And if so, will Seabourn not have the requirement for us to have a PCR test within 3 days of boarding, even though they will be doing an antigen test at the pier? Seabourn also says: "If arriving for a pre-cruise stay in St. Maarten, guests will not need another PCR test before embarking on their cruise." Well, we are arriving one day early. So if we don't need any test to arrive in St. Maarten, does that mean we won't need a test for Seabourn, because they will be doing an antigen test?

 

We will have to jump through some hoops involving time, travel and considerable expense if we need to get a PCR test with rapid results before flying St. Maarten — so if we don't need it, I'd love to find that out.

 

[italyforme]

Just received notification that Seabourn will not be calling at St Barths, Rodney Bay, or Mayreau on our March 19th cruise.Instead adding a sea day and Grenada as a new port.  Phooey!
 

[Jon&Alex]

We are on the cruise departing feb 5th and doing a 14 day itinerary. We arrived in SXM via Miami 3 days before the cruise.  We are boosted.  We had no problem filling out the EHAS and uploading a picture of our vaccination card. They responded within 12 hours with a “pre-approval” QR code. Because we are boosted we were NOT required to show a negative COVID test upon arrival. The American Airlines agent in Miami upon check in stated that we needed a negative PCR test regardless. We emphatically stated that we did not since we were boosted. It’s hard for them to keep up with so many different entry requirements for different countries especially when things are constantly changing at the last minute. They just shrugged their shoulders and said “ok. It’s up to you if you get there and then you need it” and waived us through. Upon arrival in SXM you show your EHAS QR code and give them your passport and vaccination card. They double check everything is in order vaccination-wise and then let you proceed to the actual immigration officer who stamps your passport. We had no problems. They offer PCR test there in the arrival area in case you need one and don’t have one. I think they were around $150 or so. We did take a COVID test before leaving Miami directly at the airport since Seabourn states that they require a PCR test before boarding and they DID ask for it. We had a RT-PCR which was not a problem as I had doubts that might not be accepted since they state “standard PCR” and ours was rapid PCR. 
As far as the shore excursions we also had doubts as before the cruise several ports did not show any shore excursions available whatsoever but on the first day of the cruise the Seabourn Source app will populate with many options available at every port. At first the second week of our 14 days were not showing any but they have now appeared. They gave us a printout of the ports where you are allowed to venture on your own and I will post a picture here. So far we have not missed any ports although the itinerary did change several times prior to the start of the cruise. 

[Jon&Alex]

[cruiseej]

@Jon&Alex  Thanks so much for taking time during your trip to post and share information for those of us who will be following you on Odyssey later this month! I'm happy to hear you are having excursions available to choose from in each port, as our cruise still shows no excursions for the 4 ports which were recently changed. 

 

As for the pre-cruise tests, I do wish Seabourn improved the precision of their language. What do they mean by "Standard (non-rapid) PCR test". Standard likely means RT-PCR ("RT" stands for "reverse transaction"), which has been the so-called "gold standard" Covid test since the start of the pandemic. But there are now rapid PCR test, some of which are RT-PCR and some of which are not. Which are or aren't accepted? I believe any RT-PCR test is okay, even if it's one with a rapid same-day result. But it would be nice if they spelled it out and alleviated and concern and worry for their passengers!

 

Did they also administer a rapid 15-minute antigen test at the pier before you were cleared to board? 

 

For most of the past 9 months since cruising resumed, whatever pre-arrival testing Seabourn required was what the local jurisdiction required. So it's curious why, in the case of St. Maarten, they are requiring PCR tests when the country does not. On the page about the Canary Islands cruises which are just starting, I found an explanation that "we require guests to be tested at home prior to departure in order to avoid travel disruptions associated with a positive result". I guess I get it: what they're not saying is that they're trying to minimize the number of passengers they need to fly home at their expense. At the same time, both in the Canaries and in St. Maarten, their policy says "If arriving for a pre-cruise stay in St. Maarten, guests will not need another PCR test before embarking on their cruise." Since you were there three days early for a pre-cruise stay, did you actually need the PCR test? What if you have gone four days early? Then a test before travel wouldn't have been valid; would you have needed a test on St. Maarten? It's unnecessarily confusing, but I realize I'm howling at the moon pointing this out. 😉

 

I hope you have been enjoying, and continue to enjoy, your cruise!

[osmoses12]

Does anybody know who will be the cruise director on the 12th March 2022 cruise from Barbados on the Odyssey.