Do we actually need tests at boarding?

[rsail203]

From Important Notices under my itinerary:

 

Please be advised that all guests on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements: - have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and provide proof of vaccination at terminal check-in - provide acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 2 days of embarkation and also be tested at the terminal on a complimentary basis - 

[cruzin4us]

7 minutes ago, rsail203 said:

From Important Notices under my itinerary:

 

Please be advised that all guests on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements: - have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and provide proof of vaccination at terminal check-in - provide acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 2 days of embarkation and also be tested at the terminal on a complimentary basis - 

Yes, if you want to cruise 🙂

 

[Cuedon]

That's interesting. I didn't quite catch onto what you were highlighting ("and also be tested at the terminal on a complimentary basis") until my second pass.

 

The email notice (stamped Apr 28, 2022, 8:38 PM for me, or ~22 hours before time of posting) regarding this voyage does not specify that there'll be testing at the port (but neither does it say there won't be).

[Potstech]

What cruise from where?

[rsail203]

I know Royal and Celebrity don't need boarding tests after the 2 day antigen tests. Does anyone know if Carnival and NCL require boarding tests? 

 

If you need tests at boarding, why bother requiring 2 day prior antigen tests?

 

Panama Canal cruise from LA on May 11th.

Edited April 30, 2022 by rsail203
add info

[Cuedon]

NCL required a boarding test back in February, for an LA departure... I don't remember if they required pre-testing though.

[VibeGuy]

Tests before leaving home keep most, but not all, people who are contagious at home. 
 

Tests at the pier keep most of the missed positive cases or those that developed between testing and boarding off the ship. 
 

Testing three days in keeps those few who made it past the first two tests from giving it to two more people, who each give it to two more people in four days, etc, etc, etc. 

 

layered testing is the best bet for these longer sailings 

[rsail203]

Another question about this port testing:

 

   You've checked your luggage at the pier. What happens if you test positive? How would they find your luggage and get it back to you before sailing? Has this happened to anybody?

[VibeGuy]

Happened in San Francisco. They got the bags after the cages went over to the ship and the bags were pulled before going to the cabin. *sad trombone*

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, VibeGuy said:

Happened in San Francisco. They got the bags after the cages went over to the ship and the bags were pulled before going to the cabin. *sad trombone*

Same thing happened in February in San Pedro.  Passengers that tested positive didn't get their checked bags back until 4:00 pm.

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, VibeGuy said:

Tests before leaving home keep most, but not all, people who are contagious at home. 
 

Tests at the pier keep most of the missed positive cases or those that developed between testing and boarding off the ship. 
 

Testing three days in keeps those few who made it past the first two tests from giving it to two more people, who each give it to two more people in four days, etc, etc, etc. 

 

layered testing is the best bet for these longer sailings 

 

I was really hoping that my cruise to Hawaii in March would be under these test protocols.  Princess decided to drop the embarkation AND 3 day into voyage testing.  Result was many more people were stricken on this cruise than previous voyages.  AND that began the string of most unfortunate circumstances.  

 

I, for one, would have been happy to over test.  

 

BTW...I couldn't find the previous threads.  The Grand Princess is in dry dock.  She is now yellow (no passengers).  The Royal Princess that has no passengers is green.  How long will it take to turn orange?  For Discovery, it was 3 voyages.  

 

In San Pedro, February testing at embarkation was outside the terminal.  Dropped off your baggage, tested, waited, once cleared, bussed and you boarded.  If you tested positive, they retrieved your baggage before it left the testing area.

[VibeGuy]

I’m on Royal.  First passengers board on the 2nd, first voyage ends on the 14th, figure a week to ten days before CDC gets data and posts. So let’s put a pin in Yellow around the 23rd of May and Orange after that.  
 

I had 4 10 and 2 15-night voyages on Ruby in the Omicron subvariant surges.  The last one, boarding in *Florida*, no pierside or three-day testing.  The outcome was exactly what you’d expect.  
 

doing the minimum the CDC requires isn’t valuing or protecting staff or guests.  The *only* reason I’m comfortable taking this 12NT is that I’m sufficiently close to the case I got from the 15NT that I’m not going to get reinfected and my DH who didn’t get it on the 15NT is reboosted and travelling with a course of the new antivirals in case he tests positive.  Quarantine and isolation may protect others from him, but won’t do a thing to make sure he has a good outcome.  This is a risk we were able to manage. 
 

They’re only doing this one 12NT - the rest of the voyages are paired 7NTs, so maybe they don’t think three possible links of transmission are much to worry about.  I’d really support pretravel + pierside for all voyages and adding day 2 or 3 for anything 10+, but they aren’t asking me.  Simple math says that 3000 randomly-tested people with samples collected up to 84 hours before boarding will mean 35 or more board positive with a negative lab result in hand.  Pierside would drop that to more like 6, and day 3 would likely catch all of them as well as people who turned positive between boarding and then. 
 

$700 a week for the cruising and they’re making crew and passengers more likely to catch COVID for wont of two $5 SA test kits.  Seems like a false economy to me. 
 

 

[caribill]

5 hours ago, rsail203 said:

 

 

If you need tests at boarding, why bother requiring 2 day prior antigen tests?

 

 

 

The 2 day prior tests are to satisfy the CDC recommendations for testing.

 

Any test at boarding or after boarding is to satisfy a requirement of a port on the itinerary.

 

Any testing at the end of a cruise is to satisfy ongoing travel requirements (such as flying back to USA).

[rsail203]

OP here. Everybody, thank you for the information and thoughts on this topic. Mostly, it hadn't occurred to me on my previous, non Princess cruises. The thought of being positive, as we're boarding and not knowing it, and then being quarantined on board the ship is not good. I would prefer to know in advance.

 

cr8tiv1-Thank you for that very important info on the procedure in San Pedro. We'll be sailing from there on our Panama Canal cruise on May 11th.Do you know what happened to anybody who tested positive at the pier? Does Princess have a nearby hotel for quarantined passengers?

[stevenr597]

Should we have testing…..?
Is there better way to screen passengers?

These are questions that need to be answered.  Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer.

There are two different types of testing available.  The PCR which is a bit more invasive, detects if there are RNA components of the virus in the passenger’s  nasal passageways.  It is highly sensitive, but has been found to have false positives.  Specifically individuals may have parts of the virus in their system, but do not have, and cannot pass the disease.

The Antigen test is much easier to do, especially for  mass screening.   It is less invasive.  But….50% of asymptomatic carriers of Covid,  who could possibly transmit the disease,  are found to be test negative.

Have the patient fill out a questionnaire.   Unfortunately individuals will not be entirely honest. 

But in addition to a questionnaire , temperature screening may be as effective as the antigen test, in that temperature screening can be done at the time of boarding, while the antigen test may  be done 3 days before an individuals gets on the ship. If an individual appears to be ill then a rapid antigen test may be done at the time the individual boards the ship. 

Perhaps the  best way to reduce risk to make sure that everybody over the age of 5 has the required number of vaccinations, two for children, and at least three for adults, with individuals over the age of 65 getting an additional booster.  

[nini]

17 hours ago, rsail203 said:

From Important Notices under my itinerary:

 

Please be advised that all guests on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements: - have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and provide proof of vaccination at terminal check-in - provide acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 2 days of embarkation and also be tested at the terminal on a complimentary basis - 

 

Thank you @rsail203 for posting this. I went to our Itinerary tab for May 9/ departing from Southampton, UK. It completely contradicts the other information of testing up to 3 days.

COVID-19 VACCINATION, BOOSTER AND TESTING REQUIREMENT

Please be advised that guests 5 years and older on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements:
- have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and produce proof of vaccination at terminal check-in - a booster dose is required for guests 12 years and older whose final dose of an approved vaccine is older than 9 months (270 days) - produce acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (medically observed PCR or antigen) taken within one day of embarkation. For required timing and details, visit https://*****/pcl_uktest
Travel requirements are subject to change and vary by destination. Check our CruiseHealth FAQs (https://*****/pcl_ukfaq), Princess communications and official government sites often for specifics for your voyage.

 

[Grover_]

I noticed on my travel summary that it says we will be tested at the pier before embarkation in addition to the test we take on our own before arriving.  I don’t know if it will happen, but we will do whatever is required.

[nini]

17 hours ago, rsail203 said:

From Important Notices under my itinerary:

 

Please be advised that all guests on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements: - have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and provide proof of vaccination at terminal check-in - provide acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 2 days of embarkation and also be tested at the terminal on a complimentary basis - 

 

So, basically, you need to test twice? Eventually, maybe my previous post will be approved. All I did was to thank @rsail203 for the posting and then I posted the information from our Itinerary that is a bit different. We must provide negative results within one day of boarding; not what yours specifies.

[milolii]

17 hours ago, rsail203 said:

Another question about this port testing:

 

   You've checked your luggage at the pier. What happens if you test positive? How would they find your luggage and get it back to you before sailing? Has this happened to anybody?

Some have reported hanging onto their luggage until after testing.  I think this was out of NYC though.  Otherwise, yes you have to wait. 

[RJAM3]

1 hour ago, Grover_ said:

I noticed on my travel summary that it says we will be tested at the pier before embarkation in addition to the test we take on our own before arriving.  I don’t know if it will happen, but we will do whatever is required.

test at the pier in the US is $100 each and you need a reservation…limited number

[VibeGuy]

11 minutes ago, RJAM3 said:

test at the pier in the US is $100 each and you need a reservation…limited number

That’s when it’s a case of your choice to test at the pier.  When the line or down line port requires it, it’s complimentary at the pier. 

[cr8tiv1]

to OP:  I did not have first hand experience with this (Princess dropped this requirement for my cruise...yuck).  I only heard about it through a friend who was on that previous Hawaii cruise.  

 

A few passengers in their "group" were escorted out of the waiting group.  Maybe someone from the Grand/San Pedro/February to Hawaii cruise will share their experience on embarkation day.

[LasVegasSolo]

7 hours ago, nini said:

COVID-19 VACCINATION, BOOSTER AND TESTING REQUIREMENT

Please be advised that guests 5 years and older on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements:
- have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and produce proof of vaccination at terminal check-in - a booster dose is required for guests 12 years and older whose final dose of an approved vaccine is older than 9 months (270 days) - produce acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (medically observed PCR or antigen) taken within one day of embarkation. For required timing and details, visit https://*****/pcl_uktest
Travel requirements are subject to change and vary by destination. Check our CruiseHealth FAQs (https://*****/pcl_ukfaq), Princess communications and official government sites often for specifics for your voyage.

 

Does anyone have information on availability once in England?  With travel and flight time any test you took before you left would not meet the identified 1 day of embarkation.  Thanks for any clarification.

Edited May 1, 2022 by LasVegasSolo
Deleted unneeded information

[nini]

Boots, Vivo Clinics (also at the airport), and also ask your hotel. There is much information on the Britain Board. If you have joined your Roll Call, they may also know of places. You can also test at the port.