Vaccination record

[Sunny429]

Hello! We are cruising with Silversea in April and have uploaded our vaccination records on the mysilvesea website. However, I am reading here and there in this forum about folks having to show their vaccination records prior to boarding. Should we have our records readily available for inspection - even though Silversea already has them on file? 

[Silver Spectre]

51 minutes ago, Sunny429 said:

Hello! We are cruising with Silversea in April and have uploaded our vaccination records on the mysilvesea website. However, I am reading here and there in this forum about folks having to show their vaccination records prior to boarding. Should we have our records readily available for inspection - even though Silversea already has them on file? 

Not sure about this year but last 2 cruises in 2022 we had to show either paper on electronic copies for boarding.

[drron29]

Yes even though our vaccination records have been uploaded to Silversea and our passport we still had to show a record when boarding in Barcelona mid August last year.

[les37b]

Yes, do take a digital copy at least, but paper copies are preferred.

 

it’s almost like they’ve forgotten it’s a requirement and already been given. Whoever would have thought SS could be accused of poor communication! 🤔

[Randyk47]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

Yes, do take a digital copy at least, but paper copies are preferred.

 

it’s almost like they’ve forgotten it’s a requirement and already been given. Whoever would have thought SS could be accused of poor communication! 🤔

Indeed they asked for our vaccination cards in Ft Lauderdale a few weeks ago.  We had them with our passports so no issue.  Valid point they asked they be uploaded in MySilversea before you would be considered to have completed all the pre-cruise documentation and still ask for the cards at check-in.   

[jpalbny]

I keep both Chris's and my cards in a single plastic sandwich bag, back-to-back so that the front sides with our names and the vaccination dates are showing. I did that because we can take them out to record new doses, but the cards are otherwise pretty well-protected and I found that to be a better solution than laminating the cards.

 

That bag is always in my travel backpack along with our passports because you just never know when you'll have to show it. It's unpredictable but just another part of travel in these times. Some entities will "need" to see it multiple times. Some won't. But it takes seconds to grab that bag, show one side, then the other, and replace it in my backpack. Never need to even open the bag.

 

Since I work for the government, I am completely used to silly redundant requirements that make no sense. Randy can relate, I'm sure. For example, the VA hospital where I work provided all of our COVID vaccines to us. Yet when the government passed the mandate for all federal employees to be mandated, we had to manually enter our information into another database so that they would "know" that we were vaccinated...instead of just using their own data to prove this! When I asked why, and told them, "You gave me the vaccine and you already have the records," the reply was, "But we can't access your protected health information!"

Edited March 2, 2023 by jpalbny

[Miss Merry]

On the Dawn last week sailing from Barbados they asked for the actual certificate even though they had it on file.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, Miss Merry said:

On the Dawn last week sailing from Barbados they asked for the actual certificate even though they had it on file.

 

Change of subject for a sec...... how was the boarding process? We sail from Barbados in 10 days and unsure whether to take a taxi to the ship at our leisure rather than the the coaches laid on. What hotel did they put you in? We are down for the O2 which sounds nice - especially as its AI. 

 

Excuse the brief hijack OP.... I did answer your question in post #4

[Miss Merry]

Can’t help with the hotel but……

I’ve embarked twice now in Barbados in the last eight weeks.  Both times it was the same.  I chose a taxi, it dropped me off kerbside at the Cruise Port.  The luggage was immediately taken off me at the first small Silversea desk run by the Barbados Port Authority.  I then sat and waited until enough passengers arrived to be transferred to the Silversea designated bus.  This took me to a large hanger about a minute away.  Off the small bus without your luggage to be greeted by a person giving you a very short medical questionnaire, you know the ones, have you Covid now, have you been in contact with anyone recently who has.  Your wrist temperature is then taken.  You then move on to the Silversea Nurse who is sitting at a desk and looks at your Vaccine Certificate.  You are then pointed in the direction of a bank of desks where you are officially ‘processed’.  Passport taken off you, photo taken, ships card given to you.  You heave a sigh of relief and get back on the small bus which takes you to the gangway and get on the ship using your key card.  First time the process, from kerbside to Bar,  took about 60 minutes starting at around 4.30pm, second time from kerbside to Bar, 50 minutes  starting at 3.30pm.  
I then left the ship to pick a friend up kerbside, she was arriving late.  This onshore process closes down at 6.00pm.   My friend arrived at 6.20pm and we walked straight to the ship, no buses, long way though.  Under the tent dockside the crew ‘phoned the Nurse, Reception and Security, they were all there within five minutes.  She was processed from kerbside to Bar in fifteen minutes.  I know it’s very detailed but it should help you decide.  Personally I’d avoid a mass embarkation if you can and aim to arrive kerbside in a taxi at 1.30pm.   I’m sure they don’t stick to the 2.00pm earliest embarkation anyway.  Enjoy the Dawn, she’s rather splendid. 
Miss Merry

[Sunny429]

Thank you so much everyone for your input! I am a little surprised that SS wants to see just the cards and not something more “official” like the official printed record from the department of health. We will bring both, just in case. Again, thanks! 

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, Sunny429 said:

I am a little surprised that SS wants to see just the cards and not something more “official” like the official printed record from the department of health.

Probably because most countries, including the United States, don’t have an official printed record.

[Sunny429]

37 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Probably because most countries, including the United States, don’t have an official printed record.

Many US states do have official COVID vaccination records with a QR code that one can download and print, 

[Stumblefoot]

31 minutes ago, Sunny429 said:

Many US states do have official COVID vaccination records with a QR code that one can download and print, 

Maybe, but certainly no where near all. Besides, even though our state has one, I can attest that the record is inaccurate.  Therefore, SS can’t demand one.

[jpalbny]

New York has one too. But I was vaccinated at the federal hospital where I work, and the NY system can't access that database. And the Feds helpfully protect my data by not sharing it with NY State. So as far as NY State is concerned, I'm not vaccinated. So, paper card it is!

[Miss Merry]

This Covid thing is all winding down now, I’ve read over on a Seabourn board that they’re not asking for any paperwork from vaccinated or unvaccinated passengers.  Certainly on the ships it’s been relegated to a past event in keeping with general global thinking.  Normality beckons.

MM

[Lois R]

15 hours ago, Sunny429 said:

Thank you so much everyone for your input! I am a little surprised that SS wants to see just the cards and not something more “official” like the official printed record from the department of health. We will bring both, just in case. Again, thanks! 

Even when the "restart" happened back in the summer of 2021 they did not ask for something from the Dept of Health. When cruises first re-started it was your vax card and a a printed copy of your negative test. I was on one of the first cruises back in July 2021.  Never brought anything else "official"...or unofficial either😀

[Sunny429]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

Even when the "restart" happened back in the summer of 2021 they did not ask for something from the Dept of Health. When cruises first re-started it was your vax card and a a printed copy of your negative test. I was on one of the first cruises back in July 2021.  Never brought anything else "official"...or unofficial either😀

 We flew to London before out first cruise post “restart”. It was our understanding that officials (maybe this was a London thing) wanted a QR code verifying our vaccination status, which our state’s department of health provided. 

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, Sunny429 said:

 We flew to London before out first cruise post “restart”. It was our understanding that officials (maybe this was a London thing) wanted a QR code verifying our vaccination status, which our state’s department of health provided. 

Maybe I am not remembering correctly and there was a QR CODE given but if it was, it was from filling out the country's health form that I was embarking from. That may ring a bell to me. But I know I never got anything from our Dept of Health here at home.  Now that I think of it, I sailed from Athens and 3 months later I sailed from Lisbon. I think they did have a form to fill out from their Government/Health Dept....but again, not from ours. 

[Sunny429]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

Maybe I am not remembering correctly and there was a QR CODE given but if it was, it was from filling out the country's health form that I was embarking from. That may ring a bell to me. But I know I never got anything from our Dept of Health here at home.  Now that I think of it, I sailed from Athens and 3 months later I sailed from Lisbon. I think they did have a form to fill out from their Government/Health Dept....but again, not from ours. 

Yes, it was the foreign country’s requirements. I had to find my vaccination records from the Health Department on my own and it took a bit of time before the QR code was available. I just want to play by the rules to make things as easy as possible. 

[Lois R]

Hi, I understand. I am just letting you know I never got anything from The Health Dept here at home. 

 

 

 

[Randyk47]

9 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi, I understand. I am just letting you know I never got anything from The Health Dept here at home. 

 

 

 

To the best of my knowledge neither the my state or local government has by name records of vaccinations.  We have used the same pharmacy for all five of our vaccinations from the initial to the most recent booster and they have that information on file.  I believe they report at least numbers of vaccinations given to the local government but not sure that is a by-name report.  We also were encouraged to register with the Federal database when we got our first vaccination and have kept that up to date.  I guess one or both could produce some kind of printed record though I have never checked or been asked for anything other than my CDC card.   

[Port Power]

In Australia all vaccinations are recorded to one’s health record, so we can log into our own Government health system and print out the record.  Plus I have all vaccinations recorded in my yellow book, which was the official record before online systems were invented. I still have that book stamped for my own quick reference.  (Oops! Just checked and I am some months overdue for tetanus, which is every 10 years.)

[les37b]

In the UK... you can store your record details and QR code on your iphone wallet. It stores each record in full detail, name, DOB, expiry date of certificate (renewable) and type administered and name of nurse that stuck ya.

 

Ok the last bit might not be true! 

 

Thanks Miss Merry - you've made up our minds for us to Taxi to the port instead of waiting for the taxi. I'm sure being near the back of the line on Fort Lauderdale when it involved testing etc did delay significantly. Always nice to get on earlier when possible and sip the first cocktail in the Panorama veranda.

[spinnaker2]

I vote for an implantable chip, it can have all the info and just be scanned. Plus i can be tracked so my kids know where I am/are. I often do not.