If you test positive at the terminal?

[bigrednole]

MSC cruises did this exact thing for their cruises. Everyone on the shuttle was denied boarding when 1 person on the shuttle tested positive. I expect ports in the US to have to do the same thing. Shuttles will be required to have a manifest that is loaded into a database for all cruise ships at a port. If any one person tests positive, the cruise ships will need to block boarding of those passengers. It will be interesting to see how they manage this when cruising does restart. It could be that the ports do not allow shuttles with guests from multiple ships. One shuttle, one ship type thing. 

[jtwind]

10 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I read Princess is allowing the Covid test to be within 5 days of the cruise, so you could take the test and get the result before even flying to the cruise, eliminating your concerns. I think the cruise lines will definitely refund your money in that case, but you’d have to deal with the airlines to see if they’ll give you a credit.

 

Yep.  Eliminates any concerns about being turned away at the dock, and initiates concerns about where your fellow passengers have been the last 5 days.  There's no easy answer.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, bigrednole said:

MSC cruises did this exact thing for their cruises. Everyone on the shuttle was denied boarding when 1 person on the shuttle tested positive. I expect ports in the US to have to do the same thing. Shuttles will be required to have a manifest that is loaded into a database for all cruise ships at a port. If any one person tests positive, the cruise ships will need to block boarding of those passengers. It will be interesting to see how they manage this when cruising does restart. It could be that the ports do not allow shuttles with guests from multiple ships. One shuttle, one ship type thing. 

What about all the people they walked with to the terminal. Not just those on the shuttle. You are always walking along with others. The baggage handlers also. The security staff and more. 

[ninjacat123]

38 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

What about all the people they walked with to the terminal. Not just those on the shuttle. You are always walking along with others. The baggage handlers also. The security staff and more. 

I hope that wearing a mask (a really good mask) would protect the wearer and therefore keep Covid at bay.  I hope...

[bigrednole]

59 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

What about all the people they walked with to the terminal. Not just those on the shuttle. You are always walking along with others. The baggage handlers also. The security staff and more. 

You can play what-if scenarios a million different ways. Simply stating what MSC did and many may take the same approach here in the US. They could even create staging areas with minimal people outside of the port. You go there for testing, put on a port shuttle if negative, and taken to your terminal. I don't know what they are going to do, but they will need to find a solution. This is no longer a pandemic and many researchers and scientists are calling it an endemic now.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I read Princess is allowing the Covid test to be within 5 days of the cruise, so you could take the test and get the result before even flying to the cruise, eliminating your concerns. I think the cruise lines will definitely refund your money in that case, but you’d have to deal with the airlines to see if they’ll give you a credit.

That 5 day gap largely undermines the point of the test.

[ninjacat123]

17 minutes ago, bigrednole said:

You can play what-if scenarios a million different ways. Simply stating what MSC did and many may take the same approach here in the US. They could even create staging areas with minimal people outside of the port. You go there for testing, put on a port shuttle if negative, and taken to your terminal. I don't know what they are going to do, but they will need to find a solution. This is no longer a pandemic and many researchers and scientists are calling it an endemic now.

When you say "endemic" do you mean that Covid is prevelant in certain areas like maleria is prevalent in tropical areas?

Edited October 21, 2020 by ninjacat123

[ldubs]

12 hours ago, BigGuy25 said:

If we’re talking about the ship’s shuttle from the airport, they check everyone in. So, I think they’d have a pretty good record of those who were on the bus.  Those from hotels or private shuttles from parking lots would be another story.  Very interesting thread. One I hadn’t thought about.  We’re not cruising before 2022, so we’ll be following early voyages to see how everything “shakes out!”

 

That makes a lot of sense about the airport transfers.   And I agree.  It will be interesting to watch how this all shakes out.   

[gooch47]

Test positive at the pier?  Is there really a test where results are available that quickly?

[sanger727]

On 10/21/2020 at 5:57 PM, ninjacat123 said:

I hope that wearing a mask (a really good mask) would protect the wearer and therefore keep Covid at bay.  I hope...

 

It has to be a medical grade N95 mask which are very hard to get these days. For the purposes of saying "yes, I was close to this person, but I shouldn't get quarantined" it has to be a medical grade N95 mask. Other masks may help but won't mean squat to the person who is denying you entry or the health department ordering you to quarantine.

[mom says]

1 hour ago, gooch47 said:

Test positive at the pier?  Is there really a test where results are available that quickly?

Of course there are. Have you not heard of rapid tests? Of course their reliability is not that great compared to the PCR tests...

[chipmaster]

On 10/20/2020 at 8:40 AM, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

They indicate you and anyone in your group will not be allowed to board if you or anyone with you test positive. If you park off site and take a shuttle or bus to the ship and you are tested positive. They indicate everyone on the bus or shuttle will not be allowed to board. Will they have the names of everyone that were on the bus or shuttle? What happens to everyone then? I see a lot of what if's. We always park off site. Guess to play it safe we will park at the pier next time.

 

Think this thru and you realize testing is only one leg of a much larger required mitigation / containment strategy.          The holes are larger as you noted and for such large group as thousands, if one tested there are likely other infected that go undetected on the ship and viola you got a Zandaam or Diamond repeat.   What has happened in Europe already.

 

Biology can't be cheated, there is no warp speed and rejection of science that can evade the facts of the pandemic.    There is NO economy or Pandemic choice, there is only one choice, the longer people and governments think there is a choice, the longer this mess continues and the longer I have to wait to do international travel and vacation/cruise, sigh

[mikedw]

I had flu like symptoms last week and I went to the urgent care center near me to be tested.  They said that they stopped doing the rapid test because they were all coming back false negative, so they did the regular test and it took four days to get the results.  They called me and said that test was negative, but they have a 30% false negative reading on the regular test and was told if I still felt bad to go to the emergency room to be retested.  I was feeling much better by then, but really don't have any faith in the test.

[sanger727]

23 hours ago, gooch47 said:

Test positive at the pier?  Is there really a test where results are available that quickly?

 

Yes, MSC is testing everyone at the pier upon boarding. I believe they are tests with results in 15 minutes. Many medical professionals believe they are not as reliable as the PCR tests (the one that takes days to come back). But it's the only way you can use testing as a screening measure. 

Edited October 29, 2020 by sanger727

[chipmaster]

On 10/21/2020 at 12:05 PM, bigrednole said:

MSC cruises did this exact thing for their cruises. Everyone on the shuttle was denied boarding when 1 person on the shuttle tested positive. I expect ports in the US to have to do the same thing. Shuttles will be required to have a manifest that is loaded into a database for all cruise ships at a port. If any one person tests positive, the cruise ships will need to block boarding of those passengers. It will be interesting to see how they manage this when cruising does restart. It could be that the ports do not allow shuttles with guests from multiple ships. One shuttle, one ship type thing. 

Wouldn’t that be nice as the family that got on the wrong shuttle bus, even if we all wore masks would we be SOL?

[SelectSys]

Seems like another thing that people will try and game.  I guess it is now best is to travel only with you cabin mate(s) and avoid group transport to the greatest extent possible.

[bigrednole]

18 hours ago, chipmaster said:

Wouldn’t that be nice as the family that got on the wrong shuttle bus, even if we all wore masks would we be SOL?

When cruising does start again in the US, know the rules well before going to port. I would not use a shuttle if there was any chance of not being able to go because 1 person on it tested positive. Private transportation for me.

[gooch47]

On 10/28/2020 at 3:52 PM, mom says said:

Of course there are. Have you not heard of rapid tests? Of course their reliability is not that great compared to the PCR tests...

Thank you.  I honestly didn't remember there were tests that came back that quickly.  I should have.  Back in June I had to have some minor surgery and had to have a test within 24 hours before the scheduled time.  Let's just call this a senior moment.

[donaldsc]

On 10/29/2020 at 11:04 AM, sanger727 said:

 

Yes, MSC is testing everyone at the pier upon boarding. I believe they are tests with results in 15 minutes. Many medical professionals believe they are not as reliable as the PCR tests (the one that takes days to come back). But it's the only way you can use testing as a screening measure. 

 

In other words, the tests are of very limited usefulness and are really useless for cruise purposes.

 

DON

[bigrednole]

On 10/28/2020 at 2:39 PM, gooch47 said:

Test positive at the pier?  Is there really a test where results are available that quickly?

Yes, but they are extremely inaccurate. There are a lot of false positives and a lot of false negatives. So all of the false negatives are a danger to the cruise lines restarting. The positives need a protocol in place for a second, more thorough test and still meet embarkation time. Personally, I think staging tests the day before would be much more thorough for those that are there a day ahead. The cruise lines can setup testing facilities near the port or with a medical practice to have real testing done. In cases like mine, they have my past positive information already that would throw a possible positive result up to 6 months. The data is already in the DHHS system and can be verified. I am not sure what documentation requirements will be needed for people that have had covid within the window of leaving the system and cruising. We are within 6 months of our cruise and the stuff can remain for up to 6 months.

[2wheelin]

16 hours ago, bigrednole said:

Yes, but they are extremely inaccurate. There are a lot of false positives and a lot of false negatives. So all of the false negatives are a danger to the cruise lines restarting. The positives need a protocol in place for a second, more thorough test and still meet embarkation time. Personally, I think staging tests the day before would be much more thorough for those that are there a day ahead. The cruise lines can setup testing facilities near the port or with a medical practice to have real testing done. In cases like mine, they have my past positive information already that would throw a possible positive result up to 6 months. The data is already in the DHHS system and can be verified. I am not sure what documentation requirements will be needed for people that have had covid within the window of leaving the system and cruising. We are within 6 months of our cruise and the stuff can remain for up to 6 months.

That in itself is reason enough to not support testing within 5 days of departure. You may have been asymptomatic positive two weeks ago (or less), never reason to test, and now you are at the pier with a positive test. You are not infectious but are told to quarantine two weeks (At you own expense) and then return home. With the absence of an infection/contagion test, the only way a positive test is definitive is if you have a negative test from a few days prior.

[SelectSys]

 

Just reading the title I would suggest that you're in for quite an experience/adventure if you test positive at the pier. 

 

My suggestion would be that people on these early cruises would be that one acts really careful in the run up to the cruise and isolate for at least a week to 10 days prior to taking the initial COVID test prior to leaving home and and be really careful with any public transportation on your way to the port.

Edited November 1, 2020 by SelectSys

[ldubs]

6 hours ago, SelectSys said:

 

Just reading the title I would suggest that you're in for quite an experience/adventure if you test positive at the pier. 

 

My suggestion would be that people on these early cruises would be that one acts really careful in the run up to the cruise and isolate for at least a week to 10 days prior to taking the initial COVID test prior to leaving home and and be really careful with any public transportation on your way to the port.

 

Good advice.   These boards are going to be filled with outrage from those who tested positive and were turned away.   

[Joebucks]

On 10/29/2020 at 2:58 PM, SelectSys said:

Seems like another thing that people will try and game.  I guess it is now best is to travel only with you cabin mate(s) and avoid group transport to the greatest extent possible.

 

Those were the first two things I thought of. Not trying to spread disease, but also not trying to get turned away at the port for things I can control. Uber and small groups.

[SelectSys]

14 hours ago, ldubs said:

These boards are going to be filled with outrage from those who tested positive and were turned away.   

 

Exactly!