Royal Covid test refund policy ends 4-30

[jamon]

thanks for the info.....

[RZDBS]

Hopefully a sign of cruise lines finally just dropping all the restrictions. Can’t wait for normal cruising again 

[cured]

12 hours ago, topnole said:

Currently a full refund is provided if you test positive right before your cruise.  A month from now that ends unless they extend it.  
 

So what will happen if someone tests positive the day before.  Too late for cruise with confidence at that point.  From my read of it, if no travel insurance, the person is just SOL and loses everything if they test positive.  
 

Just by the false positive %s there are going to be many people who lose their cruise and their money.  That would sting big time.  
 

Anyone cruising in May and beyond now faces this scenario and if they didn’t buy trip insurance, can they still even do it?  Anyone have insight on how or when Royal might update this policy or do they just leave it as is and after April the passengers will really need to insure themselves against a dreaded false positive.  

You do realize that false positives are very rare. False negatives are much more common on rapid tests.

 

Harvard states that false positives are close to 0%  What info do you have that refutes Harvard Medical School?

[topnole]

1 hour ago, cured said:

You do realize that false positives are very rare. False negatives are much more common on rapid tests.

 

Harvard states that false positives are close to 0%  What info do you have that refutes Harvard Medical School?

I’m not sure what you are getting at.  A rate of .0005 or .001 is just as you say, close to zero.   But that still means many people every week will falsely test positive before a cruise.  There will always be false positives with these tests.  So some folks each week will face the reality that their big vacation is a no go even though they don’t have Covid.  Just a sad reality of the current situation.  At least Royal has extended the full refund for those that test positive.   

[drjohn4]

Apologies to those who don't like statistics.  A review of multiple studies in the Cochrane database (a well known database that summarizes reliable medical studies) from March 2021 reports the following on rapid antigen tests - "Average specificities were high in symptomatic and asymptomatic participants, and for most brands (overall summary specificity 99.6%, 95% CI 99.0% to 99.8%). At 5% prevalence using data for the most sensitive assays in symptomatic people (SD Biosensor STANDARD Q and Abbott Panbio), positive predictive values (PPVs) of 84% to 90% mean that between 1 in 10 and 1 in 6 positive results will be a false positive, and between 1 in 4 and 1 in 8 cases will be missed. At 0.5% prevalence applying the same tests in asymptomatic people would result in PPVs of 11% to 28% meaning that between 7 in 10 and 9 in 10 positive results will be false positives, and between 1 in 2 and 1 in 3 cases will be missed."

 

i.e.  when there are a lot of people with COVID, more positive tests are true positives and when COVID rates are low, more positive tests will be false positives.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33760236/

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, graphicguy said:

GF is also a nurse working in Emergency Room.  For some reason, a lot of COVID cases end up coming to the Emergency Room (vs calling their GP for diagnosis).

I know that my GP will tell you that if you have COVID symptoms, please don't come to her office because they do not do COVID tests and do not do COVID treatment. And you are referred to clinics for tests and the hospitals for treatment. 

[Coralc]

17 hours ago, topnole said:

Currently a full refund is provided if you test positive right before your cruise.  A month from now that ends unless they extend it.  
 

So what will happen if someone tests positive the day before.  Too late for cruise with confidence at that point.  From my read of it, if no travel insurance, the person is just SOL and loses everything if they test positive.  
 

Just by the false positive %s there are going to be many people who lose their cruise and their money.  That would sting big time.  
 

Anyone cruising in May and beyond now faces this scenario and if they didn’t buy trip insurance, can they still even do it?  Anyone have insight on how or when Royal might update this policy or do they just leave it as is and after April the passengers will really need to insure themselves against a dreaded false positive.  

I kind of booked them that way. Had two FCC's to use. We had 6 cruises booked, 4 were cancelled. The 2 that were left are both out of SoCal on Navigator. One is near the end of April, and will be covered if we should test positive.

The second is near the end of September, when hopefully this foolishness will be gone. And we are still covered under Cruise With Confidence. 

Cruise Critic provides a lot of useful information. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Coralc

[sgmn]

16 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

This are US numbers only, in Europe and other parts of the world development of cases looks totally different.

Exactly, the new Omicron variant is going through the roof in UK.  Five mill have it this week out-of a population of 65 mill.

Everyone in family and most people I know have caught it last couple of months  even my 11 month grandbaby.

The first 20 months of covid I only knew one person who had it. 

The good news is we should hit our peak of this wave in a week or so

With the kids breaking up for Easter hols yesterday I would think a lot of families have had to cancel their holiday plans 

[sgmn]

Out of interest does anyone know in the good ol days pre covid, if someone answered positively on the health questionnaire at the port and was refused boarding, did they get their cruise fare back?

Same thing, no?

Edited April 2, 2022 by sgmn

[jean87510]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I know that my GP will tell you that if you have COVID symptoms, please don't come to her office because they do not do COVID tests and do not do COVID treatment. And you are referred to clinics for tests and the hospitals for treatment. 

Which is true from the beginning.  The guidelines are stated on the CDC website on when to go to the ER.  Some of my fellow nurse friends who work in the ER complain about the same thing and my answer is, there is a reason it is called an Emergency Room.  And the ones who are admitted are not cared for by the ER anyway.

[graphicguy]

4 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Which is true from the beginning.  The guidelines are stated on the CDC website on when to go to the ER.  Some of my fellow nurse friends who work in the ER complain about the same thing and my answer is, there is a reason it is called an Emergency Room.  And the ones who are admitted are not cared for by the ER anyway.

GF said the same.  People who believe they have COVID (whether they do or not) end up coming to the ER.  If that’s the only reason they’re there, they are treated and/or admitted (depending on the severity).  IF not severe, they are tested and instructed to consult their GP and to quarantine.

 

I know for a while there, her hospital did not have enough beds and were having positive COVID patients bussed to other hospitals.  At the beginning and again when OMICRON hit, there were some patients that were stacked in the hospital’s hallways on gurneys in a closed off area.  They ran out of intubation machines, too.

 

I know they’re trying to keep that from happening, again.

 

There were some weeks she would not come out except to work for fear she would infect someone as  the probability of her contracting COVID was high. She gets frustrated with those who won’t vaccinate or mask.  They just don’t see first hand the devastation COVID caused.

 

But, that’s not the topic here.  While I don’t agree with the policy change regarding refunds, I understand the business case.  I think they do need to make vaccination proof a permanent part of the check in procedure and believe they will continue it until the % of vaccinated guests nears 90+% (total population is nearing 70% with children vaccines now authorized).

 

Testing?  We probably have a ways to go before they lift that protocol, especially given the potential of other variants.  I know I don’t want to sail with anyone who knowingly or unknowingly is infected with COVID.  And, I’m fully vaccinated.  Still don’t want to.

 

 

[smokeybandit]

Lack of beds during omicron wasn't due to lack of beds (hospital censuses nationwide have been lower during covid than before), but lack of staff due to people quitting or being fired over vaccine requirements.

[graphicguy]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I know that my GP will tell you that if you have COVID symptoms, please don't come to her office because they do not do COVID tests and do not do COVID treatment. And you are referred to clinics for tests and the hospitals for treatment. 

My GP does test, treat and vaccinate.  He’s not accepting new patients, and hasn’t for quite some time.  So, his patients have been with him for a while and he knows our history.  I can see separate facilities set up for COVID treatment given its potential for spreading and infecting others.

[graphicguy]

24 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Lack of beds during omicron wasn't due to lack of beds (hospital censuses nationwide have been lower during covid than before), but lack of staff due to people quitting or being fired over vaccine requirements.

That’s not been true from what we’ve experienced.  Our medical facilities literally ran out of beds and space to treat COVID patients.  That was also reported nationwide.

 

While true, many of those who were on the frontlines for treatment got burned out, they were working them 12-14 hours/day x 7 days/week at its height.  And, even then, couldn’t keep up with all those who were infected..  GF was only treating those who were the worst cases.  Last Spring/Summer, she thought about quitting because of the mental and physical demands.  She powered through and at this juncture, was glad she was part and parcel to helping untold people who were sick, scared and sometimes deathly ill as a result of COVID.

 

Like anything else, if you aren’t qualified to do a job (as in the case of denying basic health protocols by treating patients while you’re unvaccinated) you should indeed be fired.

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

GF said the same.  People who believe they have COVID (whether they do or not) end up coming to the ER.  If that’s the only reason they’re there, they are treated and/or admitted (depending on the severity).  IF not severe, they are tested and instructed to consult their GP and to quarantine.

 

I know for a while there, her hospital did not have enough beds and were having positive COVID patients bussed to other hospitals.  At the beginning and again when OMICRON hit, there were some patients that were stacked in the hospital’s hallways on gurneys in a closed off area.  They ran out of intubation machines, too.

 

I know they’re trying to keep that from happening, again.

 

There were some weeks she would not come out except to work for fear she would infect someone as  the probability of her contracting COVID was high. She gets frustrated with those who won’t vaccinate or mask.  They just don’t see first hand the devastation COVID caused.

 

But, that’s not the topic here.  While I don’t agree with the policy change regarding refunds, I understand the business case.  I think they do need to make vaccination proof a permanent part of the check in procedure and believe they will continue it until the % of vaccinated guests nears 90+% (total population is nearing 70% with children vaccines now authorized).

 

Testing?  We probably have a ways to go before they lift that protocol, especially given the potential of other variants.  I know I don’t want to sail with anyone who knowingly or unknowingly is infected with COVID.  And, I’m fully vaccinated.  Still don’t want to.

 

 

yes, the topic was refunds if testing positive before and during cruise.  It has evolved to ER tx based on one ER.  

[graphicguy]

3 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

yes, the topic was refunds if testing positive before and during cruise.  It has evolved to ER tx based on one ER.  

Bless you for the work you do.  It’s tireless and many times thankless!

[jerseygirl3]

On 4/1/2022 at 12:54 PM, cruisingator2 said:

Edit….They have updated to now show 2023. That was not there until just recently. Celebrity is still showing 4/30/22. Will see if they update their website. 

Oh, boy.  That must mean that they are going to still require testing at least until March 2023.  My worry is that although our cruise fare will be refunded if we test positive right before the cruise, but we're spending 4 days in Bologna prior to a 6 night cruise and then staying on the ship for the following 15 night TA.  If we test positive when we test 48 hours prior to cruise, then what?  We find a hotel?  We find a flight?  Can't fly home if we've got Covid.  I guess we could, who would know, but I wouldn't feel right doing that and exposing others.  We do have travel insurance, but someone else mentioned that you need a Dr.'s note and a letter saying it's advised that you not travel.  Do we then try to find a dr. in Italy to see us and write a note?  So many questions....

[SherriZ366]

On 4/1/2022 at 1:00 PM, latebuyer said:

Here-is the url

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-i-test-positive-for-sars-cov-2-what-is-your-refund-policy-and-costs-covered

Thanks for the link showing the March 31, 2023 date.