Test required to enter St Maarten if arriving on Edge

[AbbyCruiser45]

Celebrity has updated their travel requirements for St Maarten so that all passengers must be tested for covid on board if they would like to disembark in St Maarten. This is likely due to the St Maarten government requiring it after two unvaccinated passengers broke protocol on the current Edge sailing and entered St Maarten on their own instead of a ship excursion. You can see the update in the screenshot below and this link: https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/celebrity-healthy-at-sea-protocols.pdf

I’ll be on the 17th and this definitely makes the trip a little nerve wracking since there was previously no testing during the entire sailing for vaccinated guests. I’m vaccinated but consistently worried about a break through positive like what happened on the first Millennium. Time will tell! 

 

[PTC DAWG]

There is a reason we can’t have nice things..

[barbatkins]

This kinda sucks!

[pixiedust777]

It only takes one to ruin it for the rest.

I would like to know how they even made it off the ship.

Are there not protocols in place?

Vaccinated passengers also have to wear a wristband so how did crew not notice 2 passengers disembarking with no wristbands.

 

Sint Maarten needs the tourism money.

They also cannot afford an outbreak as the medical facilities cannot handle it.

They also have a less than a 50% vaccinated rate of Adults so that is a huge part of the population that has no immunity to C-19.

It is our land vacation spot every year and I am sure it will be very different when we visit in November.

[okiebaugh]

On board now. They tested all unvaccinated guest 48 hrs before St Maarten. Vaccinated guests did not have to test. 

[Susanb10567]

2 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Celebrity has updated their travel requirements for St Maarten so that all passengers must be tested for covid on board if they would like to disembark in St Maarten. This is likely due to the St Maarten government requiring it after two unvaccinated passengers broke protocol on the current Edge sailing and entered St Maarten on their own instead of a ship excursion. You can see the update in the screenshot below and this link: https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/celebrity-healthy-at-sea-protocols.pdf

I’ll be on the 17th and this definitely makes the trip a little nerve wracking since there was previously no testing during the entire sailing for vaccinated guests. I’m vaccinated but consistently worried about a break through positive like what happened on the first Millennium. Time will tell! 

 

This is frustrating…I might rethink getting off..was happy that we weren’t going to have to test one of the reasons I chose the Edge.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, pixiedust777 said:

Sint Maarten needs the tourism money.

They also cannot afford an outbreak as the medical facilities cannot handle it.

They also have a less than a 50% vaccinated rate of Adults so that is a huge part of the population that has no immunity to C-19.

Still better than the Bahamas where the vaccination rate is still in the single digits. 

[Arzeena]

13 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Celebrity has updated their travel requirements for St Maarten so that all passengers must be tested for covid on board if they would like to disembark in St Maarten. This is likely due to the St Maarten government requiring it after two unvaccinated passengers broke protocol on the current Edge sailing and entered St Maarten on their own instead of a ship excursion. You can see the update in the screenshot below and this link: https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/celebrity-healthy-at-sea-protocols.pdf

I’ll be on the 17th and this definitely makes the trip a little nerve wracking since there was previously no testing during the entire sailing for vaccinated guests. I’m vaccinated but consistently worried about a break through positive like what happened on the first Millennium. Time will tell! 

 

From what I understand this is for unvaccinated guests.

We will let Celebrity guide us on board for whatever is required.

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by Arzeena

[harkinmr]

15 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

From what I understand this is for unvaccinated guests.

We will let Celebrity guide us on board for whatever is required.

 

The language is “all guests”, so that would include both vaccinated and unvaccinated.  
 

I am curious whether the two unvaccinated guests that broke protocols were met at the end of the gangway by security with their luggage. That is what should have happened.  As I recall there were only two unvaccinated adults on that cruise. It’s too bad that just a couple of people cause a problem for everyone else. Not surprising under the circumstances I guess. 

[pixiedust777]

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Still better than the Bahamas where the vaccination rate is still in the single digits. 

Yes true…..however I cannot wrap my head around this. Wish I understood the hesitation.

 

[Arzeena]

10 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

The language is “all guests”, so that would include both vaccinated and unvaccinated.  
 

I am curious whether the two unvaccinated guests that broke protocols were met at the end of the gangway by security with their luggage. That is what should have happened.  As I recall there were only two unvaccinated adults on that cruise. It’s too bad that just a couple of people cause a problem for everyone else. Not surprising under the circumstances I guess. 

That is a point.

 

I would definitely like to read about the "two unvaccinated guests breaking protocols". Was this the 6/26 sailing or 7/3 sailing?
 

We are going to go with the flow and will have Celebrity onboard crew on our sailing guide us to whatever is required at the time when we are onboard. Protocols change by the minute, per sailing, and there is a lot of confusion on CC.

[harkinmr]

1 minute ago, Arzeena said:

That is a point.

 

I would definitely like to read about the "two unvaccinated guests breaking protocols". Was this the 6/26 sailing or 7/3 sailing?
 

We are going to go with the flow and will have Celebrity onboard crew on our sailing guide us to whatever is required at the time when we are onboard. Protocols change by the minute, per sailing, and there is a lot of confusion on CC.

Not sure on the sailing date, but I assume it was the first sailing on the 26th. 
 

I think your approach is a great one. Going with the flow is certainly required these days. Enjoy your cruise!

[pixiedust777]

3 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

Not sure on the sailing date, but I assume it was the first sailing on the 26th. 
 

I think your approach is a great one. Going with the flow is certainly required these days. Enjoy your cruise!

It was on the 7/3 sailing as it was the first time the Edge docked in Sint Maarten on a Eastern Caribbean Sailing.

[Ken the cruiser]

14 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

Celebrity has updated their travel requirements for St Maarten so that all passengers must be tested for covid on board if they would like to disembark in St Maarten. This is likely due to the St Maarten government requiring it after two unvaccinated passengers broke protocol on the current Edge sailing and entered St Maarten on their own instead of a ship excursion.

So, this is you guesstimate. Just curious, do you have a link to an article that actually blames the 2 unvaccinated passengers?

[pixiedust777]

I cannot find any link or article blaming the two unvaccinated passengers.

until I can read proof otherwise I think it was just a fluke as this protocol was probably put in place as Sint Maarten’s positive COVID cases have been slowly rising. (Remember the Dutch and French side report separately and have different rules).

The Dutch side is where the cruise ships dock and with four separate companies starting to use the port with paying passengers it only makes sense that the island wants to protect itself.

 

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

Not sure on the sailing date, but I assume it was the first sailing on the 26th. 
 

I think your approach is a great one. Going with the flow is certainly required these days. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you.🙂

 

[AbbyCruiser45]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So, this is you guesstimate. Just curious, do you have a link to an article that actually blames the 2 unvaccinated passengers?

No article, but a Facebook post from someone on Edge said Captain Kate announced that the reason for the ship being delayed leaving port in St Maarten is because two unvaccinated guests left the excursion bubble. It’s just my assumption that the new testing is linked to that since St Maarten customs was involved in the ordeal. 

[KKB]

I'm curious--will they test ALL passengers or just those officially getting off in St. Maarten?

I assume just those getting off due to cost.

Mom & I booked an excursion in St. Maarten but she said let's just stay on the ship so we don't have to get that damn swab up our noses! 

I wonder how many others will think the same thing...

[pixiedust777]

1 minute ago, KKB said:

I'm curious--will they test ALL passengers or just those officially getting off in St. Maarten?

I assume just those getting off due to cost.

Mom & I booked an excursion in St. Maarten but she said let's just stay on the ship so we don't have to get that damn swab up our noses! 

I wonder how many others will think the same thing...

I will be honest we have no intention of getting off at any of our ports of call for our August 7th cruise. Test or no test. All the ports but Nassau are curated tours only and I am not paying what Celebrity is asking just to be able to get off the boat for a few hours. When we booked we had decided that we were cruising for the ship not the ports.

[KKB]

5 minutes ago, pixiedust777 said:

I will be honest we have no intention of getting off at any of our ports of call for our August 7th cruise. Test or no test. All the ports but Nassau are curated tours only and I am not paying what Celebrity is asking just to be able to get off the boat for a few hours. When we booked we had decided that we were cruising for the ship not the ports.

Yep just glad to be sailing!

We were disappointed about CM & Cozumel as we had our favorite All-inclusives planned out.

I don't think we have taken a ship excursion in 15 years!

We did find an excursion in Coz that looks fun but nothing in CM spoke to us. 

Gotta get off in CM to get Mama some vanilla.

Personally I still have the bottle I bought in Costa Maya 17 years ago!!! (it doesn't go bad & it's BIG)

 

[harkinmr]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So, this is you guesstimate. Just curious, do you have a link to an article that actually blames the 2 unvaccinated passengers?

 

2 hours ago, AbbyCruiser45 said:

No article, but a Facebook post from someone on Edge said Captain Kate announced that the reason for the ship being delayed leaving port in St Maarten is because two unvaccinated guests left the excursion bubble. It’s just my assumption that the new testing is linked to that since St Maarten customs was involved in the ordeal. 

Here's a post from the other St. Maarten thread.  Seems like it was just as reported by AbbyCruiser.  And they got booted from the ship.  As well they should have!  Glad to see the cruise line enforcing the protocols.

 

 

[KKB]

3 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

 

Here's a post from the other St. Maarten thread.  Seems like it was just as reported by AbbyCruiser.  And they got booted from the ship.  As well they should have!  Glad to see the cruise line enforcing the protocols.

 

 

OH MY GOODNESS--I heard it was a "medical emergency"

WOW--how foolish!

And thanks for ruining it for the rest of us--the cost to St. Maarten as some passengers may now choose to not get off; the cost of testing passengers on Celebrity; the annoyance/anxiety of getting the test on passengers.

How YOUR actions can severely impact others...

[harkinmr]

2 minutes ago, KKB said:

OH MY GOODNESS--I heard it was a "medical emergency"

WOW--how foolish!

And thanks for ruining it for the rest of us--the cost to St. Maarten as some passengers may now choose to not get off; the cost of testing passengers on Celebrity; the annoyance/anxiety of getting the test on passengers.

How YOUR actions can severely impact others...

They don't care.  Which is likely the very reason they weren't vaccinated to begin with. JMO. Not surprising, but glad they got the boot.  It really is too bad that this now complicates ongoing cruises for vaccinated people.

[Ken the cruiser]

34 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

 

Here's a post from the other St. Maarten thread.  Seems like it was just as reported by AbbyCruiser.  And they got booted from the ship.  As well they should have!  Glad to see the cruise line enforcing the protocols.

 

 

I was more interested in any article that said that because these unvaccinated 2 idiots decided to break protocol, St Maarten now required that all Edge passengers from here forward visiting their island would have to get an antigen test prior to getting off the ship. 

 

The OP said: Celebrity has updated their travel requirements for St Maarten so that all passengers must be tested for covid on board if they would like to disembark in St Maarten. This is likely due to the St Maarten government requiring it after two unvaccinated passengers broke protocol on the current Edge sailing and entered St Maarten on their own instead of a ship excursion. 

 

But, no big deal. We'll just see what happens when it's our turn to visit the island on our August Edge cruise and do whatever is required.

 

[harkinmr]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I was more interested in any article that said that because these unvaccinated 2 idiots decided to break protocol, St Maarten now required that all Edge passengers from here forward visiting their island would have to get an antigen test prior to getting off the ship. 

 

The OP said: Celebrity has updated their travel requirements for St Maarten so that all passengers must be tested for covid on board if they would like to disembark in St Maarten. This is likely due to the St Maarten government requiring it after two unvaccinated passengers broke protocol on the current Edge sailing and entered St Maarten on their own instead of a ship excursion. 

 

But, no big deal. We'll just see what happens when it's our turn to visit the island on our August Edge cruise and do whatever is required.

 

I'm pretty sure the cruise line is trying to keep it quiet, but it may end up being in the press eventually with social media and all.  A couple of YouTube bloggers are now talking about it.  With the "update" to the rules, it would make sense that the two are connected.  I can imagine St. Maarten is probably pretty mad about it, and to protect their own people going forward they're going to do what they need to do and not rely on Celebrity to do it.  Consequences.