RCI European Sailing Protocols

[milolii]

8 hours ago, flamingos said:

 

Do you  link to that? I ask because their website has a bunch of 'Baltic' cruises going to Germany, Norway and Sweden.  

NCL is redeploying the Getaway after early June and for now for Leaving the Dawn a smaller ship. Here is a link to a roll call see posts  #47 and #48 which have a notice from NCL  

 

[milolii]

8 hours ago, flamingos said:

 

Do you  link to that? I ask because their website has a bunch of 'Baltic' cruises going to Germany, Norway and Sweden.  

And here is Cruise Critics article on the Enchanted Princess.  Yes, more focus on Germany Norway and the West Coast of Europe.  Ship home porting at Southampton. 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6824/

[little britain]

29 days to go. Nothing yet.  🤷‍♀️ 

[FionaMG]

6 minutes ago, little britain said:

29 days to go. Nothing yet.  🤷‍♀️ 

 

We need a frown button so I can sympathise.

[lthrift]

silly question... has anyone tried calling them?

[little britain]

13 minutes ago, lthrift said:

silly question... has anyone tried calling them?

Oh yes. But you know the call centre will be the last to know anything!

I guess they are juggling with the entry requirements of Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Netherlands and Denmark for this first itinerary.... !

[Biker19]

41 minutes ago, lthrift said:

silly question... has anyone tried calling them?

Welcome to CC.

 

You only call them if you want to hear answer roulette.

[jslev9]

At a minimum, I'd say everyone needs to plan on having their most recent booster no more than 270 days from when you (re)enter Spain, based on the government's latest regulations that were published earlier this month. For example, I'm on a Carnival sailing that starts/ends at Barcelona and I just got (another) booster since it would have been 276 days since receiving my booster (third shot) when we reenter Spain at the end of the sailing.

[ONECRUISER]

46 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Welcome to CC.

 

You only call them if you want to hear answer roulette.

Well they are always Consistently Inconsistent 

[Billy Baltic]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

29 days to go. Nothing yet.  🤷‍♀️ 

I’m taking the delay as a positive. If they were going to rollout the same protocols as they currently use in the US, I think it would have been done by now. The fact it’s ‘late’ might mean they are actually doing something that aligns with local norms. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

3 hours ago, jslev9 said:

At a minimum, I'd say everyone needs to plan on having their most recent booster no more than 270 days from when you (re)enter Spain, based on the government's latest regulations that were published earlier this month. For example, I'm on a Carnival sailing that starts/ends at Barcelona and I just got (another) booster since it would have been 276 days since receiving my booster (third shot) when we reenter Spain at the end of the sailing.

Not sure how it works in your area or country but here in the uk you cant keep on getting a booster every 6 months. We dont pay for it and the UK is not allowing people to buy their own. 

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, jslev9 said:

At a minimum, I'd say everyone needs to plan on having their most recent booster no more than 270 days from when you (re)enter Spain, based on the government's latest regulations that were published earlier this month. For example, I'm on a Carnival sailing that starts/ends at Barcelona and I just got (another) booster since it would have been 276 days since receiving my booster (third shot) when we reenter Spain at the end of the sailing.

I'm on a b2b2b on Carnival in Europe starting in Barcelona in May and ending in Dover in June. I don't think Spain has an expiration on when your booster shot expires. The expiration date is regarding the timeframe for the intial vaccine. 

[xxHadleyxx]

10 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I'm on a b2b2b on Carnival in Europe starting in Barcelona in May and ending in Dover in June. I don't think Spain has an expiration on when your booster shot expires. The expiration date is regarding the timeframe for the intial vaccine. 

Correct as of now.  Here is what the Spanish governemnt site says:

 

"has been vaccinated against COVID-19, with a complete schedule or booster dose. In the case of a complete vaccination schedule, you should check the validity periods: from 1 February 2022, this certificate will be valid from 14 days after the administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule and will be valid up to 270 days from the administration of this last dose. Thereafter, in order to be valid, the vaccination certificate must reflect the administration of a booster dose. These certificates will be considered valid from the day the booster dose is administered." 

 

https://www.spth.gob.es/

[Empehi]

What are the protocols right now ....... March 17, 2022 ... for Spain, Italy, Greece, England, Netherlands, etc.

Are they all different which would make cruising and shore excursions quite problematic.

This has the potential to be a real mess.

[FionaMG]

2 minutes ago, Empehi said:

What are the protocols right now ....... March 17, 2022 ... for Spain, Italy, Greece, England, Netherlands, etc.

Are they all different which would make cruising and shore excursions quite problematic.

This has the potential to be a real mess.

They've been all different throughout the whole pandemic and, yes, it has been a real mess. 

At the moment, the various European governments are lifting restrictions, some gleefully abandoning all in one fell swoop, while others are doing so more cautiously. Unfortunately that means added work for anyone travelling as they try to understand who's doing what, when and to whom. 

[bigeck]

23 hours ago, Jimbo said:

When is final Payment now due for this Europe cruises? How many days before?

I'm on first 2 Voyager sailings and FP is 30 days. On Vision in June and that's 60 days. No changes to Voyager cruise in September cruise

[bigeck]

On 3/16/2022 at 9:14 AM, little britain said:

It isn’t sold out. Lots of RoyalUp emails being received.

 

Day 30: no protocols yet so parents with kids don’t know yet whether they can even go; and online check in hasn’t opened up yet  

It could be sold out. People are only changing cabins. 

[jslev9]

5 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Not sure how it works in your area or country but here in the uk you cant keep on getting a booster every 6 months. We dont pay for it and the UK is not allowing people to buy their own. 

 

5 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I'm on a b2b2b on Carnival in Europe starting in Barcelona in May and ending in Dover in June. I don't think Spain has an expiration on when your booster shot expires. The expiration date is regarding the timeframe for the intial vaccine. 

 

5 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

Correct as of now.  Here is what the Spanish governemnt site says:

 

"has been vaccinated against COVID-19, with a complete schedule or booster dose. In the case of a complete vaccination schedule, you should check the validity periods: from 1 February 2022, this certificate will be valid from 14 days after the administration of the last dose of the complete vaccination schedule and will be valid up to 270 days from the administration of this last dose. Thereafter, in order to be valid, the vaccination certificate must reflect the administration of a booster dose. These certificates will be considered valid from the day the booster dose is administered." 

 

https://www.spth.gob.es/

 

Ah, I misread -- thanks for correcting me! @FamilyCruiserUK - I'm actually eligible for a second booster because I fall into the immunocompromised category. I don't know what I'd do if the rule was the way I originally read it and the U.S. government said I wasn't eligible for another dose.

[irishgal432]

Msc just announced cancellations of one of their ships to the Baltic this summer and replacing them with Fjords cruises. Another major cruise line drops Baltic cruises in wake of Ukraine war (thepointsguy.com)

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by irishgal432

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, jslev9 said:

 

 

 

Ah, I misread -- thanks for correcting me! @FamilyCruiserUK - I'm actually eligible for a second booster because I fall into the immunocompromised category. I don't know what I'd do if the rule was the way I originally read it and the U.S. government said I wasn't eligible for another dose.

First of all your PCP would be the deciding factor and there are plenty of ways to get a booster if your physican recommends you need it. But obviously the worst case scenario for anyone would be the need to cancel the cruise and get a refund. Simple as that. 

[Jimbo]

That makes 3 cruise lines cancelling the Baltic cruises. Can't see it being much longer before Royal follows  them........ Just a matter of time I believe.

[Saab4444]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

That makes 3 cruise lines cancelling the Baltic cruises. Can't see it being much longer before Royal follows  them........ Just a matter of time I believe.

Those lines all had multiple ships in the Baltic and canceled just one due to low demand. They all continue to offer other Baltic cruise (NCL Dawn, MSC Preziosa and Poesia).

[dritan]

The lack of clarity on protocols is stressful.  For example, we have an 11 year old who can't get a vaccine yet due to govt policy here in the UK.  My understanding that the govt doesn't consider getting under 12s vaccinated and this will only be offered from April but it's gone very quiet on that front since the UK removed all covid restrictions.  So even if I did get my daughter the vaccine ( and it would be purely so we could cruise/travel more easily, as she got omicron last month), she wouldn't be able to get the second one until after our May cruise.

This has an impact if the protocols state that as a family we can only go ashore with ship excursions as it would add £100s to the cost of our cruise, which we wouldn't be prepared to do.  

[swedane]

Hi from Sweden. I have read on a Swedish government site, that new covid policies in the EU will be released on March 31, so I guess none of us on European cruises in April/May will know before end of march.

Neither will the agents, I already spoke to a norwegian agent and did not get a clear answer.

 

EU citizens will,  most likely have to show their valid EU Covid Vaccination certificate, when visiting other EU countries. But we will have to wait for the new policies to show up.

 

We are on Odyssey from Rome on May 7, and so far it looks like she will sail, but can't be sure.

Fingers crossed.

 

Stay safe and hope for world peace  🙏💚

 

 

[Jimbo]

5 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Those lines all had multiple ships in the Baltic and canceled just one due to low demand. They all continue to offer other Baltic cruise (NCL Dawn, MSC Preziosa and Poesia).

I checked a couple of Royal's sailings and like those a few had tons of cabins still available even  at this late date.