Bahamas Testing Contradiction

[Island Dog]

So......yesterday Carnival clarified their testing protocols, again, to state that vaccinated travelers on Bahamas bound cruises 5 days or less indeed need a negative covid test to board. However, the Bahamas government website states that vaccinated travelers do not need a negative covid test to enter the country. In addition, Virgin Voyages continues to state that vaccinated travelers do not need a test to board their Bahamas bound cruises.

 

Why the double standard?

Edited August 4, 2022 by Island Dog

[mz-s]

You'd have to ask Carnival why they're standing alone I think.

[prmssk]

Royal has not published their policies which don't start until August 8 so we really don't know if they will have the same Bahamas requirement.  So that just leaves Virgin Voyages (1 ship) and Margaritaville at Sea (1 ship).  It is possible there is something different about those two ships we don't know.  

 

Carnival has absolutely nothing to gain by requiring testing for Bahamas short cruises but not other short cruises and a lot to lose in customer confidence and confusion.  So I really think there is something we don't know.  I keep watching Royal's page to see what their protocols for short cruises will actually be, hoping it will give us some clues.

[JT1962]

No one knows at this point, but if I had to guess, it has to do with the percentage of unvaccinated passengers allowed on board.  Either Carnival’s percentage of unvaccinated passengers exceeded what the Bahamas allows or Carnival just decided to require everyone to be tested to simplify things at the pier. 

[BlerkOne]

I would never assume new, one or two ship cruise lines know what they are doing. Carnival might have more lawyers on staff that those lines have employees.

[Bollycats]

Royal Caribbean just updated their protocols. No testing required for the Bahamas for vaccinated passengers. Carnival stands alone.

[BlerkOne]

Royal Caribbean new protocols don't begin until August 8. Carnival's began today. It is Royal that is behind the times.

[prmssk]

14 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal Caribbean new protocols don't begin until August 8. Carnival's began today. It is Royal that is behind the times.

Royal just released their detailed protocols in the 60 minutes.  They have had time to see Carnival revise their policy and the confusion it has caused.  I doubt they would want to repeat that themselves.

[BlerkOne]

19 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Royal just released their detailed protocols in the 60 minutes.  They have had time to see Carnival revise their policy and the confusion it has caused.  I doubt they would want to repeat that themselves.

Royal had time to start the new protocols today. They chose not to. Why not? Because they have doubts.

[Deathloks]

45 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal Caribbean new protocols don't begin until August 8. Carnival's began today. It is Royal that is behind the times.

I usually agree with most of the things you say.  But in this case, I believe Royal is exactly where it wanted to be at this point 🙂

[atricks]

28 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal had time to start the new protocols today. They chose not to. Why not? Because they have doubts.

 

The new protocols that RCL just released within the last hour or two start Monday for Royal to not switch it so close to most of the sailings.  Either way only Bermuda and Canada require testing for vaccinated folks now.  The Bahamas do not (For Royal).  Carnival alone is the only one still requiring testing.

Edited August 5, 2022 by atricks

[prmssk]

10 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal had time to start the new protocols today. They chose not to. Why not? Because they have doubts.

The exact date likely had more to do with when they had sailings starting.  And Royal came out with the announcement of their date first.  A date that happens to match MSC which is making the same change as Royal.  It was Carnival that picked an earlier date.

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, atricks said:

 

The new protocols start Monday for Royal to not switch it so close to most of the sailings.  Either way only Bermuda and Canada require testing for vaccinated folks now.  The Bahamas do not (For Royal).

Seems lame. Nothing is becoming more restricted so really no impact. Maybe before Monday Carnival or Royal will change.

[BlerkOne]

Just now, prmssk said:

The exact date likely had more to do with when they had sailings starting.  And Royal came out with the announcement of their date first.  A date that happens to match MSC which is making the same change as Royal.  It was Carnival that picked an earlier date.

Royal has weasel words on their site, too.

[BroadwayGirl]

Royal's announcement also said in fine print they are still working with their destination partners. 

 

[bguppies]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal Caribbean new protocols don't begin until August 8. Carnival's began today. It is Royal that is behind the times.

RCI had the stones to make an actual decision

Carnival copied a day later. for appearances sake, then after making their catchup move, came back a day later and walked back their move, quitely,  revealing they were really only making the change to short cruises to California, since all of their short east coast cruises, go to the Bahamas or Grand Cayman.

 

I have a short Bimini cruise in a little over a month.

Hopefully Carnival will wise up and change their policy by then.

If I have to take a test for a 4 day Bahamas cruise, while a month and a half of RCI cruisers are not, then Carnival will have steered a loyal customer to looking into the competition more than ever before.

 

To me, wasting time and money on ineffective pre-cruise testing is a much worse policy than taking away hairy chest contests, afternoon teas, etc.

[prmssk]

2 hours ago, bguppies said:

revealing they were really only making the change to short cruises to California, since all of their short east coast cruises, go to the Bahamas or Grand Cayman.

Carnival also has quite a few short cruises that go just to Mexico out of smaller ports like Mobile, New Orleans, and Tampa plus a couple out of Miami.

[Bollycats]

3 hours ago, bguppies said:

 

 

I have a short Bimini cruise in a little over a month.

Hopefully Carnival will wise up and change their policy by then.

If I have to take a test for a 4 day Bahamas cruise, while a month and a half of RCI cruisers are not, then Carnival will have steered a loyal customer to looking into the competition more than ever before.

 

To me, wasting time and money on ineffective pre-cruise testing is a much worse policy than taking away hairy chest contests, afternoon teas, etc.

Same here. My October Cruise to the Bahamas is already paid in full so I can't change that. But last night we were talking about doing another short cruise and started looking at Royal Caribbean. Are you listening, Carnival?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Come on Carnival - admit you screwed this up a bit and get with the (NEW) program. 

 

I now know that our Bahamas cruise next Friday on the Independence of the Seas will not require testing for vaccinated guests. At least our Carnival cruise 4 weeks from now is going to Key West and Cozumel 🙂

 

Tom

[ProgRockCruiser]

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal Caribbean new protocols don't begin until August 8. Carnival's began today. It is Royal that is behind the times.

As has been pointed out, Royal made the announcement first, but cautioned they were still working out the details, so they noted it would not be implemented until 8 Aug, and the details would be forthcoming.

 

Now the details are out (apparently, I haven't read them), and there appears to be no walking-back, unlike Carnival.

 

I really don't understand why you are defending Carnival's poor handling of the whole issue.

 

12 hours ago, BroadwayGirl said:

Royal's announcement also said in fine print they are still working with their destination partners. 

 

Sure, they have to say that - later today The Bahamas could change their test requirements, and RCI (and other lines) would have to react.

 

If RCI ends up walking back the lifting of test requirements, they'll also look dumb, of course.  And they only have a few days (including over a weekend) to do so.  So I would suspect what they say now is their current ground truth.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

As has been pointed out, Royal made the announcement first, but cautioned they were still working out the details, so they noted it would not be implemented until 8 Aug, and the details would be forthcoming.

 

Now the details are out (apparently, I haven't read them), and there appears to be no walking-back, unlike Carnival.

 

I really don't understand why you are defending Carnival's poor handling of the whole issue.

 

Sure, they have to say that - later today The Bahamas could change their test requirements, and RCI (and other lines) would have to react.

 

If RCI ends up walking back the lifting of test requirements, they'll also look dumb, of course.  And they only have a few days (including over a weekend) to do so.  So I would suspect what they say now is their current ground truth.

I wouldn't be surprised if Royal ends up testing everyone at the pier. Time will tell.

[FloridaMomKW]

We cruise 8/26 to Nassau (3 day cruise) and have not received the email that requires a negative test to the Bahamas  yet. Has anyone received an email for their cruises at the end of the month  to the Bahamas yet?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

25 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Royal ends up testing everyone at the pier. Time will tell.

 

That would be a Royal cluster !

 

Tom

[cruisekel1]

26 minutes ago, FloridaMomKW said:

We cruise 8/26 to Nassau (3 day cruise) and have not received the email that requires a negative test to the Bahamas  yet. Has anyone received an email for their cruises at the end of the month  to the Bahamas yet?

We cruise 8/15 and have not received an email yet.

[Fredric22]

45 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Royal ends up testing everyone at the pier. Time will tell.

For the 10th time, Virgin and Margaritaville have already been sailing to the Bahamas with untested guests for over a week now and will continue to do so this weekend without any changes.