Current Policies on Oceania for B2B Cruising

[Robjame]

I am sure it is somewhere but...

B2B cruises out of Miami

 

- must B2B cruisers be retested?

- must B2B cruisers disembark or can you stay onboard?

- do you have to go through customs if you are not American?

[LHT28]

I can only say  what happened in the past  pre covid

Cannot recall about Immigration but  I do not think we had to do that

Yes you had to get off   but all your things just stay in the cabin

You get an intransit card  to show  when  reentering the terminal should you wish to go ashore

 

 You  meet up at a designated spot  & they take you out the exit  & back to the front where you go to the lounge  upstairs in the port building  until the ship is zeroed  out  then  they let you back onboard

about 1 hr  or so

 

 

[pinotlover]

Home port country rules. I haven’t a clue in the US, but in Europe all passengers on BtB had to be retested. Cruise line took care of it. No big deal, unless you test positive.

[Robjame]

2 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I haven’t a clue in the US, but in Europe all passengers on BtB had to be retested.

Did you have to disembark?

I also wondered if Oceania combining these legs as Grand Voyages changes this (or whatever the current terminology is). One voyage with one Booking Number so just carry on?

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

Did you have to disembark?

I also wondered if Oceania combining these legs as Grand Voyages changes this (or whatever the current terminology is). One voyage with one Booking Number so just carry on?

Pre covid 

all PAX MUST disembark in US ports  I could not see that  changing  but who knows with COVID

 Some European cities you could stay onboard

They will send a letter a few days before the end of the 1st segment with instructions

 

[pinotlover]

2 hours ago, Robjame said:

Did you have to disembark?

I also wondered if Oceania combining these legs as Grand Voyages changes this (or whatever the current terminology is). One voyage with one Booking Number so just carry on?

We disembarked of free will wanting to sightsee. I believe everyone had to disembark so that special cleaning ( maybe an aerosol spray) could be conducted through out the entire ship. No place for anyone to hide. Your bags stayed in the cabin, but all passengers had to be off from maybe 9-12. They served lunch aboard for those returning and new boards, but I don’t believe it began until 1:00 when general boarding began. We ate in town, but I believe that was the drill aboard ship. Again, I have no clue as to what O does or will do.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

We disembarked of free will wanting to sightsee. I believe everyone had to disembark so that special cleaning ( maybe an aerosol spray) could be conducted through out the entire ship. No place for anyone to hide. Your bags stayed in the cabin, but all passengers had to be off from maybe 9-12. They served lunch aboard for those returning and new boards, but I don’t believe it began until 1:00 when general boarding began. We ate in town, but I believe that was the drill aboard ship. Again, I have no clue as to what O does or will do.

But was this Oceania?

[pinotlover]

6 hours ago, ORV said:

But was this Oceania?

No! Another line with their own sail safe protocols. Between cruises they did a total sterile deep clean with a fogging agent to kill any bugs. All passengers off.

 

I don’t know how Oceania’s depth of cleaning versus what the EU countries require.

[pinotlover]

ORV;

 

Let me add to my posts above by saying the cruise line made it very clear that some of the employed protocols were directives from the nations in which they were sailing. The cruise lines do what they are required to do in order to be permitted in that country.
 

The problem we (I) have in addressing any of these posted questions is the flux we’re in. Different nations have different rules that seem to be changing monthly or even weekly. Oceania could go to Sweden, then it couldn’t, for example. The cruise lines are the tails in this current saga, and they are being wagged, not vice versus. So, really all I can tell anyone is what was required to cruise the Med in July 2021. Who knows when the Marina, the only Oceania ship currently sailing, arrives in the Med what will be required then. 

[auldlassie]

If a ship sails into port for a day (not a disembarkcation day, just a normal cruise visit) and some passengers get off to visit and some stay on board, how is that any different to the situation within the port/town from a disembarkcation day?  I cannot see how it makes a halfpennyworth of difference if some people stay on the ship. From past experience I know the paperwork can be done to allow it.

 

As for changes due to covid protocols, then seriously, if anything, the more who stay on, the better for the town re covid. 

 

I completely understand that it is a matter of whatever local regulations are in place at the time, but it often sounds frustratingly haphazard. 

 

I'm booked for 24days on Vista, all booked as one single cruise, although I can see it is also sold as smaller segments. It is a long way off yet and hopefully by then things will be more straightforward but

I'll do whatever I have to, of course, and I won't let it spoil my fun at being back on a cruise. 🙂 

[pinotlover]

On 9/28/2021 at 6:25 AM, auldlassie said:

If a ship sails into port for a day (not a disembarkcation day, just a normal cruise visit) and some passengers get off to visit and some stay on board, how is that any different to the situation within the port/town from a disembarkcation day?  I cannot see how it makes a halfpennyworth of difference if some people stay on the ship. From past experience I know the paperwork can be done to allow it.

 

As for changes due to covid protocols, then seriously, if anything, the more who stay on, the better for the town re covid. 

 

I completely understand that it is a matter of whatever local regulations are in place at the time, but it often sounds frustratingly haphazard. 

 

I'm booked for 24days on Vista, all booked as one single cruise, although I can see it is also sold as smaller segments. It is a long way off yet and hopefully by then things will be more straightforward but

I'll do whatever I have to, of course, and I won't let it spoil my fun at being back on a cruise. 🙂 

Have you even remotely considered the possibility that the deep clean sanitizing protocols required between cruises are far more intensive and pervasive than regular daily cleaning? 
 

My nephew’s company provides a weekly service for businesses were they come in and completely fog all common areas and most work areas with a disinfectant that kills all the virus and bacteria. His workers wear protective clothing and the areas are shut off for a certain amount of time during and after the cleaning. He uses specialized equipment for specialized cleaning and decontamination. It’s different than day to day cleaning.

 

I don’t know exactly what the cruise ship did during our mandatory absence, but I have a strong feeling it was different than the day to day regimen. 
 

Why is leaving the ship, for a few hours, to facilitate thorough cleaning of a vessel meet with so much angst and/or disdain?

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Why is leaving the ship, for a few hours, to facilitate thorough cleaning of a vessel meet with so much angst and/or disdain?

From my perspective, it forces me to go through customs and re-submit to COVID testing which carries with it a certain angst… not so much distain. 😉 However, I agree with the necessity and importance of thorough cleaning - something I had not considered.

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

From my perspective, it forces me to go through customs and re-submit to COVID testing which carries with it a certain angst… not so much distain. 😉 However, I agree with the necessity and importance of thorough cleaning - something I had not considered.

We had to be retested between Segments, taken care of by the ship. Since we remained in Schengen areas, no new customs required.

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Robjame said:

From my perspective, it forces me to go through customs and re-submit to COVID testing which carries with it a certain angst… not so much distain. 😉 However, I agree with the necessity and importance of thorough cleaning - something I had not considered.

Maybe  if you are going with the group of other B2B pax  you will be in the "bubble" so no need to retest

 out the back door & in the front 😉

[Robjame]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Maybe  if you are going with the group of other B2B pax  you will be in the "bubble" so no need to retest

 out the back door & in the front 😉

We have a 39 day trip planned - combined as 2 “grand voyages” but 4 legs of 12, 10, 10 and 7 days - each leg starting and ending in Miami. The thought of 4 tests, test before flying before the cruise and test before flying home = 6 tests, makes my nose sore already. We will probably ditch this reservation if testing requirements don’t change.

 

As an aside - the invitation lunch that we had between legs of a b2b on Riviera was the best meal we ever had on Oceania. Fantastic.

[Jockocruiser]

Interesting topic here, as I will be with several of you sailing South America February 2022. Will be on one of the grand voyages and had not thought about the layover in Buenos Aires and what that may require in regard to customs, immigration, and testing. Will stay tuned.  
 

We are in Italy now, and all is very well…except for the shopkeepers insistence on masks. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop my wife from going in!

[shepherd really]

5 hours ago, Jockocruiser said:

 We are in Italy now, and all is very well…except for the shopkeepers insistence on masks. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop my wife from going in!

...except for the cruise passengers that refuse to abide by the protocols in place in the country they are visiting.  Because when you're a guest you abide by the rules of your host or stay home. 

[Jockocruiser]

2 minutes ago, shepherd really said:

...except for the cruise passengers that refuse to abide by the protocols in place in the country they are visiting.  Because when you're a guest you abide by the rules of your host or stay home. 

I did not say otherwise,  or that we were not willing to comply.   It was just in contrast to having six of us by ourselves on a sailboat throughout the Tyrrhenian Sea this week. No masks required.  😀