European COVID testing requirements

[Named-Tawny]

Hey Friends!

Been reading NCL's site, and I'm a bit confused about the requirements for COVID tests for European cruises. Was hoping that somebody with experience understands the ins and outs (and I recognize that it may change between now and July, obviously).

On the main page it says that

"At time of check-in, all guests will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen or NAAT test (i.e. PCR) result administered by a verified third party or via medically supervised home test two days prior to embarkation date for cruises originating in a U.S. or Canadian port and within three days prior for voyages departing from a non-U.S. port."

But then on the 'travel requirements by country' section for Europe (there's nothing specific for Iceland) it says that

"All vaccinated guests age 12 and older: must provide proof of negative NAAT test (I.e. PCR) or antigen test taken within 24 hours of embarkation. This test will be paid for and administered by Norwegian Cruise Line."

Is that second requirement IN ADDITION to the main requirement (so we need to get an independent test AND the NCL administered one) or is it INSTEAD of the main requirement?

Does anybody know?

Edited April 15, 2022 by Named-Tawny

[hallux]

Maybe these previous threads have info on this?

 

[mduffy1834]

we have the same protocol when we sail on the Star in May.  It was so confusing - at check in, we had to register with Eurofins to do our (free) test at the terminal.  But the Sail Safe still said we had to test no more than 3 days prior.  Lot on the boards, FaceBook, etc......

 

Finally did an on-line chat  with NCL - he said that we need to do the required test before we get to the terminal and then have another test - in my humble opinion, a little too much.  But, we will do both if it means getting on the ship.

[Named-Tawny]

Thanks for that, much appreciated!

[KeithJenner]

I would treat anything that the phone staff say about this with caution at the moment. Things are changing very quickly and I would be very surprised if they really know exactly what will happen.

 

It is very confused at the moment. We are sailing on Sunday from Greece and I have now received two emails from NCL which specify the pre cruise testing requirement differently to what is on the website for Greece. Neither of the emails mentioned testing at the port despite the website clearly stating that they will do so.

 

We have decided to go with the pre cruise test as per the website, even though it most likely won’t even be asked for. Better to have it and it not be needed that not have it if it is recruited.

 

Registering for Eurofins when checking in is a bit of a red herring, as that was still in the check in process weeks ago before there was any suggestion of port testing. I’m quite sure that was a legacy from last year which wasn’t actually required (although it probably is now-we went back and registered after skipping that but when initially checking in).

 

The best advice I can give is to keep checking these boards for actual experience as more people go through the full process.

[TrumpyNor]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

 

 

We have decided to go with the pre cruise test as per the website, even though it most likely won’t even be asked for. Better to have it and it not be needed that not have it if it is recruited.

 

This is what I would recommend until the requirements being more clear - actually we did exactly that before a land vacation in Italy last year. Allthough we had EU covid passes that showed us being fully vaccinated at the time, Italy was however requiring a negative test as well for travellers from outside EU. Coming from Norway that is not part of EU but still part of EEC/Schengen we were worried about being stopped at the airport when arriving in Italy and sent back home or forced to do some isolation time during half of our vacation. So had a test done the day before travelling to Italy, "just in case". Turned out we didn't need that test in addition to our EU covid pass, but at the time I just didn't want to risk it... 

Edited April 15, 2022 by TrumpyNor

[erin21497]

My understanding is that the 3 day prior test is still required, and there MAY also be testing at the port depending on the country/port (and this testing may be random).  I would definitely get the 3 day early test just to be on the safe side.  And expect that worse case scenario you may also be tested at the port.

[dodge9]

I was told by my group admin specialist, who went to her supervisor and upper management.... we must do BOTH tests... the one prior is to meet cruise rules and the one at the pier is to meet country rules.  I am on the Escape May 31st.

[Dweaver]

For cruising on NCL out of Italy:

We cruised on NCL from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Pireaus (Athens) March 30-April 8, 2022. Enrolled in Eurofins when we checked in online and tested at Civitavecchia port when we arrived, we then waited ten minutes and were emailed the result, and proceeded as usual to check in; the $65 charge for the covid test was added to our onboard account. Others we travelled with took the covid test at the Rome termini train station the same morning of embarkation and paid 20€, they received an email with the result while on the train to Civitavecchia.  Obviously alot cheaper to take the test on your own but we needed the convenience of taking the test at the port as we had been on vaca out of the country prior to the cruise.

 

Note:  The day before we arrived in Athens, all passengers were assigned a time frame to have another covid test, they said Greece required but we wondered, more likely they had positive cases onboard as we saw people being tested when we returned from an excursion, we were emailed the result and were not charged by NCL—no one in Greece asked us for the test results!  NCL Jade organized the covid testing process quite well. On disembarkation, we always carry our own bag so we walked through the Pireuas (Athens) port and caught a taxi to our hotel (€25 taxi fixed rate, always ask for rate first.)

 

We have a cruise out of Civitavecchia May 5-11, 2022.  The same covid test is required to embark. We are taking a test Monday before our Wednesday cruise in our local Italian pharmacy since NCL allows the test to be up to 3 days before embarkation (we could have done Sunday but May is a holiday in Italy and it is Sunday.)  We also once again enrolled in Eurofins online just in case NCL Epic has us take another test.  

 

 

[KeithJenner]

33 minutes ago, Dweaver said:

For cruising on NCL out of Italy:

We cruised on NCL from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Pireaus (Athens) March 30-April 8, 2022. Enrolled in Eurofins when we checked in online and tested at Civitavecchia port when we arrived, we then waited ten minutes and were emailed the result, and proceeded as usual to check in; the $65 charge for the covid test was added to our onboard account. Others we travelled with took the covid test at the Rome termini train station the same morning of embarkation and paid 20€, they received an email with the result while on the train to Civitavecchia.  Obviously alot cheaper to take the test on your own but we needed the convenience of taking the test at the port as we had been on vaca out of the country prior to the cruise.

 

Note:  The day before we arrived in Athens, all passengers were assigned a time frame to have another covid test, they said Greece required but we wondered, more likely they had positive cases onboard as we saw people being tested when we returned from an excursion, we were emailed the result and were not charged by NCL—no one in Greece asked us for the test results!  NCL Jade organized the covid testing process quite well. On disembarkation, we always carry our own bag so we walked through the Pireuas (Athens) port and caught a taxi to our hotel (€25 taxi fixed rate, always ask for rate first.)

 

We have a cruise out of Civitavecchia May 5-11, 2022.  The same covid test is required to embark. We are taking a test Monday before our Wednesday cruise in our local Italian pharmacy since NCL allows the test to be up to 3 days before embarkation (we could have done Sunday but May is a holiday in Italy and it is Sunday.)  We also once again enrolled in Eurofins online just in case NCL Epic has us take another test.  

 

 

Just be aware that there have been numerous charges to the stated policy since you boarded, so things will have changed since then.

 

For example, the testing at the port is stated as a requirement, and it is paid for by NCL.

[Dweaver]

We received an email today from NCL for our May 4-11, 2022, NCL Epic out of Civitavecchia, testing required at our expense, same as in April. Prob will change by November and Dec 2022, just have to see at the time.