RCI European Sailing Protocols

[little britain]

For Transatlantic Cruises From The U.S.

All Royal Caribbean guests on transatlantic sailings must present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose administered at least 14 days before sailing. Guests who do not meet this requirement, including unvaccinated children under age 12, will not be permitted to board a transatlantic sailing departing from the U.S. to Europe.

[Extra Kim]

1 hour ago, swedane said:

EU will be releasing the new restrictions for travelling on March 31.

I will be on Odyssey in May and cannot find any information on RC about European sailings yet, as they simply dont know before end March.

Lots of restrictions have been lifted though, so I don´t expect RC to go beyond what EU govt. requires.

But you never know....

Happy sailing.

They are out for Denmark.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise?dPort=copenhagen

[c-leg5]

2 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

There is no requirement for testing when travelling generally within the EU. We are going to Spain in a few weeks. No need for testing and no need for vaccination for children travelling with us. We can stay in a resort, use the same restaurants and pools as others in close quarters with no issue. However, float the resort and RC get into testing, masks in the kids club, etc. 
 

Not sure how this is any different from what has already been in place for kids sailing to Mexico, for example.

[kwokpot]

4 hours ago, mel76 said:

And last dose must be done no more than 270 days ago to enter Denmark.

That applies to your ORIGINAL Vaccine. If you're ORIGINAL vaccine is more than 270 days you have to have a booster shot. The booster shot has no expiration date at the present moment. 

[Native Floridian 26]

7 hours ago, Zana711 said:

Answering my own question - if you scroll down to the bottom of this RC page, it doesn't say much about whether the self-test needs to be medically supervised if departing from Copenhagen. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-need-an-rt-pcr-test-before-i-cruise-where-should-i-go

Now for those of us on the Voyager 15th April cruise (and not doing B2B), our last port is Amsterdam. As part of Schengen, there should be no testing requirement to leave the ship and enter into Denmark if you're fully vaccinated. 

Interesting to see no specifics on this.  At home tests with no supervision accepted?  I haven't taken any home tests, so what would you bring to show negative?  How would they even know it was yours?  Why not take PCRs?  In US, the NAAT test was easy to get at Walgreens, but that's not antigen, it's a PCR.

[gumshoe958]

17 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Interesting to see no specifics on this.  At home tests with no supervision accepted?  I haven't taken any home tests, so what would you bring to show negative?  How would they even know it was yours?  Why not take PCRs?  In US, the NAAT test was easy to get at Walgreens, but that's not antigen, it's a PCR.

Proctored tests are much more common in the US than in Europe, where the norm is to do a DIY antigen test, upload a photo of the result and get a certificate back in return. Yes, in theory anyone could do the test so it’s really an honour system.

[steamboats]

The TA rules are somewhat nonsense... From EU you don´t need a PCR test for flying to the US. An Antigen test is sufficent. RCI can´t ask for a PCR test for flying.

 

Italy will drop it´s regulations on March 31st. So by April 1st you can go onshore on your own. All TAs are in April or May so the Italian regulations are already dropped by that time.

 

steamboats

[Native Floridian 26]

Have they announced any ending date to these Protocols? For example, there were US protocols that were applicable for cruises through April 14th.  Then they announced new ones. Are they putting any end date on these?  

[xxHadleyxx]

2 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Interesting to see no specifics on this.  At home tests with no supervision accepted?  I haven't taken any home tests, so what would you bring to show negative?  How would they even know it was yours?  Why not take PCRs?  In US, the NAAT test was easy to get at Walgreens, but that's not antigen, it's a PCR.

Even the UK closed loop cruises last year required a supervised test with a medical certificate to board....I cannot imagine that is going to change. They are not just going to trust people to say they performed a home test, don't worry.

 

Why not take PCRs?  Because there is limited equipment to perform them and in many areas with covid surges that needs to be reserved for actually suspected cases. 

Also, most of Europe we can get antigen tests for free or inexpensively with certified results in 20ish minutes but a PCR test is about $100 (unless an antigen test has come back positive and you need a confirmation, or you have serious symptomes, etc and your doctor orders the PCR).  

[John&LaLa]

On 3/17/2022 at 10:17 PM, 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.

 

Never gets old😉🤣🤣

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

I'm wondering if I can buy the RC-approved supervised test here and do it 2 days before our cruise while we're in Paris or if there are rules against that... imagining you can't access the site for the US tests while in Europe or some other strange rule like that?

You should be able to test from anywhere in the world where you have an internet connection - don’t believe there are any location limits on that site. 

[Billy Baltic]

1 hour ago, xxHadleyxx said:

Even the UK closed loop cruises last year required a supervised test with a medical certificate to board....I cannot imagine that is going to change. They are not just going to trust people to say they performed a home test, don't worr

While I agree it’s unlikely they will just people, the Covid dynamic has changed completely since last Summer. Vaccination programs were still working through age groups, the concept of booster shots was just being discussed, society as a whole were dealing with various levels of restrictions. A cruise planned for Summer 2022 should not start from the basis of what restrictions worked last year. 

[xxHadleyxx]

17 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

While I agree it’s unlikely they will just people, the Covid dynamic has changed completely since last Summer. Vaccination programs were still working through age groups, the concept of booster shots was just being discussed, society as a whole were dealing with various levels of restrictions. A cruise planned for Summer 2022 should not start from the basis of what restrictions worked last year. 

And the covid dynamic has changed completely again in the past few weeks......much of Europe is seeing numbers climbing and restrictions coming back.  Here in Germany you have to be vaccinated or have a certified negative test result less than 24 hours old to use public transit and to go to work.  School kids are still testing multiple times per week in our state, etc.  I am honestly not seeing that the Copenhagen cruise protocols are out of synch with what is happening where we live.  

[Billy Baltic]

18 minutes ago, xxHadleyxx said:

And the covid dynamic has changed completely again in the past few weeks......much of Europe is seeing numbers climbing and restrictions coming back.  Here in Germany you have to be vaccinated or have a certified negative test result less than 24 hours old to use public transit and to go to work.  School kids are still testing multiple times per week in our state, etc.  I am honestly not seeing that the Copenhagen cruise protocols are out of synch with what is happening where we live.  

Thanks for the insight to the current situation in Germany. We’ve had an increase in numbers in Ireland too but no restrictions have come from it. Around half the people in hospital with Covid were admitted for something else and discovered they had Covid afterwards. My view is that vaccination is appropriate, testing is not. 

[cantgetaname]

Sailing on WOS for transatlantic and got the email last night about the protocols.   Question, do I need a  negative antigen test to disembark in Spain, either at port or at final stop?  Seems like it's getting more complicated at least to me.

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

They are not just going to trust people to say they performed a home test, don't worry.  

Times have changed and Covid is more contagious, but pre-Covid they took your word for it that you didn't have flu or norovirus symptoms.

 

Even the current health questionnaire is based on an honor system.

[crazyank]

10 hours ago, CruiseMelissa said:

I've seen others say this. Can you point me to a link?  By the time we cruise in August it will be at least 300 days since our booster shot but that's all we're allowed to get at the moment in the US... we're not approved for 2nd boosters yet so we couldn't possibly meet that metric...

The 270 day limit does not apply if you have had a booster.

[steamboats]

14 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Have they announced any ending date to these Protocols? For example, there were US protocols that were applicable for cruises through April 14th.  Then they announced new ones. Are they putting any end date on these?  

 

We are talking about new protocols for TA cruises and cruises from Copenhagen which have been just released by RCI!

 

steamboats

[dritan]

Have there been any indications of mandatory ship shore excursions if you are travelling with an unvaccinated child under 12.  Very frustating as we can't get the vaccination for our daughter in time for our May and July cruise here in the UK - so whilst we could accept the fact she would have to wear a mask whilst others don't, we'd have to draw the line at having to buy expensive excursions for all four of us - this would add hundreds if not thousands to the cost of our holiday.  

Costa has just announced for their Med cruises that ship shore excursions are no longer mandatory, so hope RCI will also clarify for their European itineraries. 

[FlatFooted Freda]

18 hours ago, Biker19 said:

You should be able to test from anywhere in the world where you have an internet connection - don’t believe there are any location limits on that site. 

We completed the proctored test purchase via RC last week. There is a pre-test questionnaire. They ask home state.  I do recall that they asked us current location - specifically a city( I think) .  Thought that was odd. So makes me wonder if would be allowed if overseas. 

[CruiseMelissa]

24 minutes ago, FlatFooted Freda said:

We completed the proctored test purchase via RC last week. There is a pre-test questionnaire. They ask home state.  I do recall that they asked us current location - specifically a city( I think) .  Thought that was odd. So makes me wonder if would be allowed if overseas. 

Thanks for the update.  Once our August cruise gets closer I'll have to dig a little deeper on this.   It would be great to use it if allowed rather than finding a testing site in a foreign country!

[exm]

Curious about Southern Europe protocols for August.

[FionaMG]

9 minutes ago, exm said:

Curious about Southern Europe protocols for August.

 

Still not up for May sailings, let alone August. 

[little britain]

9 minutes ago, exm said:

Curious about Southern Europe protocols for August.

It will be posted here when they are released. 

[steamboats]

9 hours ago, dritan said:

Have there been any indications of mandatory ship shore excursions if you are travelling with an unvaccinated child under 12. 

 

Italy does not extend its state of emergency regulations which expire March 31st. So by April 1st all cruise lines can allow individual shore tours in Italy (and it doesn´t matter whether you´re vaccinated or not).

 

That´s one of the wrong things in RCIs rules for the TAs as all of them are in April or May. So the current situation in Italy is not of any interest.

 

The other wrong thing is that you don´t need a PCR test for flying to the US. And there is no different regulation for flying into the US for a cruise. An Antigen test is totally o.k.. Although we can get PCR tests here in Germany not many of them guarantee a same day result. And RCI says it must not be older than 1 day prior to the flight (thats the rule for the Antigen test where you get the result within 20 min or less).

 

steamboats