Covid on board- the Aussie experience

[LittleFish1976]

1 minute ago, windsor26 said:

I find it so much easier to go to a drive through or the local centre and have a sms sent to me

Aren't they confined only now to people who are symptomatic or close contacts of confirmed cases?

[NSWP]

Just now, LittleFish1976 said:

Aren't they confined only now to people who are symptomatic or close contacts of confirmed cases?

That is the policy in NSW.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, windsor26 said:

I find it so much easier to go to a drive through or the local centre and have a sms sent to me

Different for various states and people, but for us to get a free PCR we have to have symptoms or be a household contact. If were were in that boat, we would fail the health survey.

[cruiser3775]

17 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

For guests who opt to use a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), a photograph is required which includes ALL of the following: 1) the RAT result; 2) a government-issued photo ID; and 3) a device showing the time (e.g. watch, mobile phone lock screen, clock)."

I'm travelling alone. 24 hours before boarding I'll be in a Brisbane hotel.  I can do nos. 1 and 2. What do you suggest I do for no.3 that will be acceptable?  Maybe a TV program with the date and time showing, or that day's newspaper?  Anything better than those two?

[Balsam12]

18 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I'm travelling alone. 24 hours before boarding I'll be in a Brisbane hotel.  I can do nos. 1 and 2. What do you suggest I do for no.3 that will be acceptable?  Maybe a TV program with the date and time showing, or that day's newspaper?  Anything better than those two?

Go to hotel reception or concierge. They will be able to bring up timeanddate.com on a phone/tablet/pc for you.

 

[Matkai]

All passengers should be required to get a negative PCR or a supervised RAT prior to boarding as self administered tests can easily be faked, for example just because someone takes a photo of a negative test strip with a newspaper or some form of ID, how can you tell if that person actually took the test?

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Matkai said:

All passengers should be required to get a negative PCR or a supervised RAT prior to boarding as self administered tests can easily be faked, for example just because someone takes a photo of a negative test strip with a newspaper or some form of ID, how can you tell if that person actually took the test?

Since you are required to "attest" to having a negative result those who did fake their result could potentially leave themselves open to legal action if it could be proved they boarded knowingly with Covid and faked their test result. 

 

In actual fact no-one has asked to see our RAT photo in 36 days of cruising since the restart and Covid is not running rampant on Coral Princess or any other ship currently operating here. Most people are probably doing the right thing.

[windsor26]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

That is the policy in NSW.

I have a choice of 4 places who  just make the appointment and there is no cost  used it for the Coral cruise a couple of weeks ago and made appointment for next week before our P&O cruise   no cost and no hassle   we are in NSW

[Matkai]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Since you are required to "attest" to having a negative result those who did fake their result could potentially leave themselves open to legal action if it could be proved they boarded knowingly with Covid and faked their test result. 

 

In actual fact no-one has asked to see our RAT photo in 36 days of cruising since the restart and Covid is not running rampant on Coral Princess or any other ship currently operating here. Most people are probably doing the right thing.

Should there be an outbreak, it would be impossible to prove where it originated from,  unless the cruise line also did it's own supervised testing of every passenger at the very start of the cruise, which they would not do.  Therefore the threat of legal action would do nothing to dissuade someone from faking a negative test result if they wanted to.

Even though it is nice to believe that most people are doing the right thing, it will only take a couple of people to not do the right thing to result in an outbreak in the ship.

[windsor26]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

Different for various states and people, but for us to get a free PCR we have to have symptoms or be a household contact. If were were in that boat, we would fail the health survey.

Receptionist just asked if we had symptoms and I said no it was for travel and she said ok but if you do develop symptoms phone us and stay outside in the car!!!   Live in Southern Highlands

[arxcards]

58 minutes ago, Matkai said:

Should there be an outbreak, it would be impossible to prove where it originated from,  unless the cruise line also did it's own supervised testing of every passenger at the very start of the cruise, which they would not do.  Therefore the threat of legal action would do nothing to dissuade someone from faking a negative test result if they wanted to.

Even though it is nice to believe that most people are doing the right thing, it will only take a couple of people to not do the right thing to result in an outbreak in the ship.

Very true. Contract tracing is well in the past now, and they don't do any tracing if you test positive on the ship or return home with it after the cruise. If you return home with it, they aren't even interested that it was caught on a cruise. 

 

Given most people are honest, it would seem that many that take it on the ship unknowingly have caught it in transit, which has also been defeating the supervised tests.

[MMDown Under]

13 hours ago, arxcards said:

Very true. Contract tracing is well in the past now, and they don't do any tracing if you test positive on the ship or return home with it after the cruise. If you return home with it, they aren't even interested that it was caught on a cruise. 

 

Given most people are honest, it would seem that many that take it on the ship unknowingly have caught it in transit, which has also been defeating the supervised tests.

When I cruised I had to have a PCR ? Test within 72 hours of travel at a recommended Tester who faxed results to cruise line.  They billed cruise line which billed me.  Then a supervised RAT Test at wharf prior to boarding.  A nurse took all our temperatures at breakfast each morning.  If you forgot, she found you!  There were only 100 passengers and non caught Covid.  Crew were not allowed to disembark in Darwin prior to their cruise with no passengers to Broome.  Knowing how thorough they were, I was surprised to learn people had covid on a later cruise.  

[NSWP]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

When I cruised I had to have a PCR ? Test within 72 hours of travel at a recommended Tester who faxed results to cruise line.  They billed cruise line which billed me.  Then a supervised RAT Test at wharf prior to boarding.  A nurse took all our temperatures at breakfast each morning.  If you forgot, she found you!  There were only 100 passengers and non caught Covid.  Crew were not allowed to disembark in Darwin prior to their cruise with no passengers to Broome.  Knowing how thorough they were, I was surprised to learn people had covid on a later cruise.  

Temperature Testing 100 at breakfast? They could only do that on the expedition ships, not on the big ones carrying 3000 plus.

[arxcards]

Something that was being considered, but highlighted by the ACA program. It looks like unvaccinated children under 12 are no longer required to register in the 5% unvaccinated cap for some cruises.

 

I have edited, as the info has updated again,, and is now for all Carnival cruises departing NSW & QLD.

 

In line with government protocols, until further notice, we will operate vaccinated cruises with our enhanced protocols. We are required to have 95% of all guests vaccinated with 5% unvaccinated guests.

Vaccine exemptions are limited to a small number of guests with medical conditions preventing vaccination. Guests requesting a medical exemption will need to present evidence of a medical need at time of check-in (see related FAQ). As of October 5th, the NSW & QLD government have ruled that children under 12yrs no longer need to apply for a vaccination exemption. This is only applicable on sailings originating from NSW and QLD ports. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by arxcards
Changes to the changes

[MMDown Under]

4 hours ago, NSWP said:

Temperature Testing 100 at breakfast? They could only do that on the expedition ships, not on the big ones carrying 3000 plus.

Yes and the nurse was a volunteer!

[LittleFish1976]

4 hours ago, NSWP said:

Temperature Testing 100 at breakfast? They could only do that on the expedition ships, not on the big ones carrying 3000 plus.

 

They could have one of those bulk-processing devices like they have at airports from time to time (as they did during the first SARS outbreak in Asia) which scans the temperature of people walking past them.

 

Or come around with the quick forehead-scanning ones at the table along with the teapot and orange juice!

 

 

[arxcards]

35 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Yes and the nurse was a volunteer!

The omi variant changed everything. Lots of people are asymptomatic with it, and that includes not having an elevated temperature. Our worksite did away with temperature screening then, considered a waste of time.

[LittleFish1976]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Something that was being considered, but highlighted by the ACA program. It looks like unvaccinated children under 12 are no longer required to register in the 5% unvaccinated cap for some cruises.

 

I have edited, as the info has updated again,, and is now for all Carnival cruises departing NSW & QLD.

 

In line with government protocols, until further notice, we will operate vaccinated cruises with our enhanced protocols. We are required to have 95% of all guests vaccinated with 5% unvaccinated guests.

Vaccine exemptions are limited to a small number of guests with medical conditions preventing vaccination. Guests requesting a medical exemption will need to present evidence of a medical need at time of check-in (see related FAQ). As of October 5th, the NSW & QLD government have ruled that children under 12yrs no longer need to apply for a vaccination exemption. This is only applicable on sailings originating from NSW and QLD ports. 

 

 

They've just given me another very good reason to avoid travelling during school holidays!

 

[arxcards]

2 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

 

They've just given me another very good reason to avoid travelling during school holidays!

 

You are not alone.