Royal has made an update on their website

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Royals handling of this is bafflingly strange. Just dont get what they are doing. 

Their biggest cash cows i imagine are the short ,3,4,5 day trips from florida so to drop vaccine makes sence in a way as lots of people want to cruise but not vaccinated, which is their choice. 

But to continue testing esp for cruises above 7 days is just strange when all other lines have moslty dropped it. 

The only difference between vac and unvac is, unvac are likely to have worse symptoms/illness from covid. Yes i know not always but mostly. So therefor just open cruises to everyone, mandate covid insurance, and test the unvac only. 

IMO.

[Jimbo]

19 hours ago, orville99 said:

Because it could scuttle the cruise lines if enough idiots game the system that way. We have already had to move (L&S) a dozen cruises because of the shutdown, and we just cleared out that backlog in July. With 21 cruises booked between now and April 2024, I simply have no more room to stuff any more into our schedule if the cruise line gets any more idiot hiccups.

Tough life you have. 🙂Maybe you need to hire me as your Coordinator.

Edited August 12, 2022 by Jimbo

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, mickeychicky said:

None of it makes any sense.  NCL opened up ALL cruises, regardless of where you are traveling from and/or to, if you are unvaccinated.  But yet Royal still has all these exceptions.  Maybe the Caribbean islands are staggering allowing unvaccinated people by cruise line so they aren't overwhelmed with amount of unvaccinated coming in....I don't know.  If NCL can allow us after their September date they posted, then what is the hold up with other cruise lines? 

I am very loyal to Royal, but they don't appear to be loyal in return, which is why my first cruise back is with NCL! 

You need to read the fine print on the NCL policy. It is NOT as wide open as it appears, its just marketing.

 

Their policy clearly states, anyone can book a fare, BUT it is the responsibility of the PASSENGER to determine if they are eligible to visit a destination, and that all requirements have been met. When you show up to the port for embarkation, if you are disqualified to visit a particular destination due to testing or vaccinations, you WILL be denied boarding at your own expense.

 

Royal is actually doing it the right way, and making sure folks have a little guidance, and don't get themselves into a bind.

 

Also, take a look at the liability that NCL is requiring of the unvaccinated. Long story short, you test positive mid cruise, you are on your own, and can be discharged from the ship at any time, in any place.

Edited August 12, 2022 by not-enough-cruising

[BND]

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Royals handling of this is bafflingly strange. Just dont get what they are doing. 

Their biggest cash cows i imagine are the short ,3,4,5 day trips from florida so to drop vaccine makes sence in a way as lots of people want to cruise but not vaccinated, which is their choice. 

But to continue testing esp for cruises above 7 days is just strange when all other lines have moslty dropped it. 

The only difference between vac and unvac is, unvac are likely to have worse symptoms/illness from covid. Yes i know not always but mostly. So therefor just open cruises to everyone, mandate covid insurance, and test the unvac only. 

IMO.

The strangest part about testing for 6 nights or longer is it makes absolutely no difference in anyone catching it.  It's not like at day 6 all of a sudden you become more likely to catch it than on day 5.  

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, BND said:

The strangest part about testing for 6 nights or longer is it makes absolutely no difference in anyone catching it.  It's not like at day 6 all of a sudden you become more likely to catch it than on day 5.  

 

I think some bean counter at RCCl determined that after 5 nights, the probability of someone testing positive is greater, so they took that to mean that they could relax testing for 5 nights or less.  It's probably a false conclusion, but it sounds good and may get more people to hop on those short cruises.  To me, it's the same marketing-speak but invalid science used by the TSA in limiting people to 3oz of carry-on liquid and making them remove their shoes.  Both viruses and terrorists will always find a way to do what they do. 

[mickeychicky]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You need to read the fine print on the NCL policy. It is NOT as wide open as it appears, its just marketing.

 

Their policy clearly states, anyone can book a fare, BUT it is the responsibility of the PASSENGER to determine if they are eligible to visit a destination, and that all requirements have been met. When you show up to the port for embarkation, if you are disqualified to visit a particular destination due to testing or vaccinations, you WILL be denied boarding at your own expense.

 

Royal is actually doing it the right way, and making sure folks have a little guidance, and don't get themselves into a bind.

 

Also, take a look at the liability that NCL is requiring of the unvaccinated. Long story short, you test positive mid cruise, you are on your own, and can be discharged from the ship at any time, in any place.

Well for right now, we are only traveling to the Bahamas and Key West, neither of which require vaccines.  I found the below on the bahamas.com website with nothing specifying anything different between air/cruise ships.

 

Effective 19 June 2022, all unvaccinated travellers ages 2 and older will be required to obtain a negative COVID-19 test — either a negative RT-PCR test or a Rapid Antigen test — taken no more than three days (72 hours) prior to travel and present the negative test results at check-in before travel to The Bahamas.
 

[Gromitsfamily]

I called Royal yesterday for our 4 night Navigator cruise out of LA on Aug. 15th.  I was told we need to test.  The protocols will change back to what they were before Aug. 8th on Aug. 14th only until Sept. 5th.  WOW  One week of no testing for 5 night or less cruises.  Then I got an email 30 mins after the call saying new protocols no testing needed?!?!?  We will be testing regardless of what we hear or read.  I think there may be very disappointed people at the cruise terminal on Monday.  

[bella30]

NCL's website under Travel Requirements by Country says that for the Bahamas currently you need to be vaccinated. Then after September 3, 2022 unvaccinated need to test 72 prior to boarding or Certificate of Recovery, and the same with Honduras. So will the Bahamas be changing requirements or will the unvaccinated not be allowed off the ship? Bc it seems like from reading that if the itinerary includes the Bahamas the unvaccinated would be allowed to board.

[ReneeFLL]

On 8/11/2022 at 9:52 AM, hazeleyes46 said:

So why worry on the cruise then if you don't at home? 

Probably because at home they aren’t around as many people as they are on a cruise ship. There’s a huge difference.

[UNCFanatik]

8 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Probably because at home they aren’t around as many people as they are on a cruise ship. There’s a huge difference.

 

All it takes is being around ONE infected person to catch covid be it at home or on a cruise ship

[hazeleyes46]

10 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Probably because at home they aren’t around as many people as they are on a cruise ship. There’s a huge difference.

It seems many have not gone to places where there is a lot of people. Many of us have for awhile and crowds don't bother us.

[hazeleyes46]

7 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

All it takes is being around ONE infected person to catch covid be it at home or on a cruise ship

Exactly so you need to choose how you live your life and let others choose how they live their life. Many don't mind crowds and have been in them for awhile now. If you are worried, then stay clear of places like that for as long as you feel comfortable.

[norskenancy]

My husband and I have traveled more during covid than any other time.  We have been to about 9 different states. Both of us are vaccinated.  I also work a place where there were large number of people not vaccinated.  I transfered to a new job where I was hardly around anyone and guess what?  I got covid.  This new covid acts like the regular flu.  I slept for a week and lived on Mucinex.  No one else in my family got it. 

I think at some point everyone will get "it", testing or not testing, because it is a virus. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

It’s progress!

[mickeychicky]

1 hour ago, hazeleyes46 said:

Exactly so you need to choose how you live your life and let others choose how they live their life. Many don't mind crowds and have been in them for awhile now. If you are worried, then stay clear of places like that for as long as you feel comfortable.

Went everywhere without a mask, didn't get sick.  We live with viruses in our body DAILY, but if people want to avoid them like the plague, like it or not your immune system doesn't know how to respond when you do get a serious one.  I think the facial coverings really hurt a lot of people instead of helping them and unfortunately the fear is what keeps people wearing them. 

[hazeleyes46]

1 hour ago, mickeychicky said:

Went everywhere without a mask, didn't get sick.  We live with viruses in our body DAILY, but if people want to avoid them like the plague, like it or not your immune system doesn't know how to respond when you do get a serious one.  I think the facial coverings really hurt a lot of people instead of helping them and unfortunately the fear is what keeps people wearing them. 

Agreed as it does not allow your immune system to fight off germs and viruses that it used to. 

[gluecksbaer]

7 hours ago, BND said:

The strangest part about testing for 6 nights or longer is it makes absolutely no difference in anyone catching it.  It's not like at day 6 all of a sudden you become more likely to catch it than on day 5.  

 

I think that after day 5 it is more likely someone will test positive while still onboard.  

That becomes a problem for Royal.  They don't care how many people test positive after they disembark.  

[verodoodle]

Does it really matter if you have been vaccinated,  many people have still gotten sick and many without the vaccine have not.  It's time to move on, live life and do what ever YOU feel comfortable with.

 

[BND]

10 minutes ago, gluecksbaer said:

 

I think that after day 5 it is more likely someone will test positive while still onboard.  

That becomes a problem for Royal.  They don't care how many people test positive after they disembark.  

But, the reality is, someone is just as likely to test positive after they go home even after a longer cruise because you're just as likely to catch it in a port or late in the cruise.  A lot of the people posting that they are sick report it after they get off 7 day cruises, not while onboard.  We did a 12 night followed by an 8 night in April and so did a lot of others (when they still were testing for b2b's).  You'd think if it was that big an issue that there would be several people who weren't able to do the b2b.  We heard of one person out of over 40 that were doing the b2b.  I just think day 5 vs day 6 or 7 isn't going to make any difference.  I haven't seen any data.  Others reporting they got sick (here and on FB) tested positive on like day 3 or 4 so it's just such a random number.  It's time to move forward and I hope the latest CDC suggestions help do that.

Edited August 12, 2022 by BND

[gluecksbaer]

35 minutes ago, BND said:

But, the reality is, someone is just as likely to test positive after they go home even after a longer cruise because you're just as likely to catch it in a port or late in the cruise.  A lot of the people posting that they are sick report it after they get off 7 day cruises, not while onboard.  We did a 12 night followed by an 8 night in April and so did a lot of others (when they still were testing for b2b's).  You'd think if it was that big an issue that there would be several people who weren't able to do the b2b.  We heard of one person out of over 40 that were doing the b2b.  I just think day 5 vs day 6 or 7 isn't going to make any difference.  I haven't seen any data.  Others reporting they got sick (here and on FB) tested positive on like day 3 or 4 so it's just such a random number.  It's time to move forward and I hope the latest CDC suggestions help do that.

 

Of course many people will still test positive after the cruise or not test positive at all.  Omicron is typically symptomatic in 3-5 days.  If I catch it on day 1 that means I'm off the ship before then if it's a 3-4 day, maybe testing positive on a 5 day, but likely positive before the end of a 7 day.  Someone boarding who is already positive will likely cause three additional people to quarantine on a longer cruise and zero people to quarantine on a shorter cruise.  I'm just saying, I think Royal has looked at their numbers and determined that it's better for their bottom line to test on longer cruises and not that important on shorter cruises.

[BND]

I just saw where Princess dropped most testing and vax requirements for all cruises except for Canada, Bermuda and Greece, shorter than 16 days.  

La Lido Loca stated it on his YT page and here's the story I could find:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/princess-cruises-removes-vaccine-requirement-for-most-voyages-elminates-pre-cruise-testing-for-vaccinated-guests-301605197.html

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by BND