UK rules from 7th December testing

[Lesanne]

With the need to take a test 48 hours before arrival back into the UK I have lifted this from the Cunard website

 

From Tuesday 7 December (GMT) onwards, all people aged 12 years and over must take a PCR or LF (lateral flow) Covid-19 test before they travel to England from abroad. They must take the test in the 2 days before their journey to England departs.

• For those people on a cruise returning to Southampton, this can be provided and organised on board at a cost of $25. This will be charged to your on board account.

 

 

[gumshoe958]

1 minute ago, kohl1957 said:

Madness.

 

So if, you like me, are sailing in QM2 on the West Indies Cruise from Southampton and flying back to the U.S. the day of arrival, I have to take a test two days before arrival (UK rules) and another one the day before (US rules).  

 

How did we exist before "governments"??  

 

But at least Cunard have clarified they can accommodate this nonsense. 

With that timeframe, you can use the same test for both the UK and US arrivals as long as you have it on the last full day of your cruise.

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, Lesanne said:

With the need to take a test 48 hours before arrival back into the UK I have lifted this from the Cunard website

 

From Tuesday 7 December (GMT) onwards, all people aged 12 years and over must take a PCR or LF (lateral flow) Covid-19 test before they travel to England from abroad. They must take the test in the 2 days before their journey to England departs.

• For those people on a cruise returning to Southampton, this can be provided and organised on board at a cost of $25. This will be charged to your on board account.

 

 

Your interpretation is wrong.

 

As your quoted text states, the test can be taken “in the 2 days before their journey to England departs”.

 

That is not the same as “48 hours before arrival”. Not just semantics - a material difference.

[exlondoner]

19 minutes ago, kohl1957 said:

Madness.

 

So if, you like me, are sailing in QM2 on the West Indies Cruise from Southampton and flying back to the U.S. the day of arrival, I have to take a test two days before arrival (UK rules) and another one the day before (US rules).  

 

How did we exist before "governments"??  

 

We lived lives that were nasty, poor, brutish, and short, according to Thomas Hobbes, and I'm sure the residents of, say, Myanmar would think so. Better to have rather tedious regulations than anarchy.

[sandancer]

Can you please tell me where you saw this on the Cunard website. 
We board Queen Elizabeth on Monday so this information is very relevant. 
 

• For those people on a cruise returning to Southampton, this can be provided and organised on board at a cost of $25.This will be charged to your on board account.

[Lakesregion]

3 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Your interpretation is wrong.

 

As your quoted text states, the test can be taken “in the 2 days before their journey to England departs”.

 

That is not the same as “48 hours before arrival”. Not just semantics - a material difference.

It would appear that the people who make up these rules never leave their cubicles and venture into the real world. Using their language one could have the test and prove negative two days before leaving Vladivostok by rail or automobile and arrive in the UK months later and still be allowed in with no further testing.as they followed the "rules"

[bluemarble]

6 hours ago, sandancer said:

Can you please tell me where you saw this on the Cunard website. 
We board Queen Elizabeth on Monday so this information is very relevant. 
 

 

• For those people on a cruise returning to Southampton, this can be provided and organised on board at a cost of $25.This will be charged to your on board account.

 

That verbiage is found here within the "Our Covid-19 protocols" section of the Cunard UK FAQ for the question "Do I now need to take a Covid test prior to entry/re-entry into England?"

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/frequently-asked-questions.sailing-with-confidence.faq666.summary

 

It's found here in the Cunard US FAQ.

 

https://www.cunard.com/en-us/frequently-asked-questions.sailing-with-confidence.faq451.summary

[sandancer]

Thanks. That’s exactly what I was looking for. 

[Lesanne]

23 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Your interpretation is wrong.

 

As your quoted text states, the test can be taken “in the 2 days before their journey to England departs”.

 

That is not the same as “48 hours before arrival”. Not just semantics - a material difference.

I do not think I am wrong there are now 2 tests 1 to take before flying in to the UK and then your PCR test within 2 days of entering. Cunard will do the 1st test prior to docking as required by the UK goverment

 

Before you travel to England you must:

• take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 2 days before you travel to England
• book and pay for a COVID-19 PCR test – to be taken after you arrive in England
• complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

[jimbo1683]

On 12/9/2021 at 8:50 PM, Lesanne said:

I do not think I am wrong there are now 2 tests 1 to take before flying in to the UK and then your PCR test within 2 days of entering. Cunard will do the 1st test prior to docking as required by the UK goverment

 

Before you travel to England you must:

• take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 2 days before you travel to England
• book and pay for a COVID-19 PCR test – to be taken after you arrive in England
• complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

I think gumshoe is saying you're wrong because the rules apply to (2) days not (48) hours. So you could take the test more than 48 hours before your arrival (if you arrive at 9am you would have been within the rules to take the test within the 57 hours beforehand.

[seasickphil]

We disembarked Queen Elizabeth this morning in Southampton.On Saturday everyone onboard was asked  to attend the Britannia Restaurant for a lateral flow test, we were not charged for this and as far as we know no one else was either. Whether it will continue to be free in the future is anybody's guess.

[wenlyn]

I think from Sandancer's comment we were fortunate to get the free LFT, probably because the rules changed while we were on board. Those going now will have to pay in the same way those who got off in Lisbon paid  for theirs as that was already in the small print when we booked/boarded.

 

[Oliversgrandma]

 

 

 

31 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

We disembarked Queen Elizabeth this morning in Southampton.On Saturday everyone onboard was asked  to attend the Britannia Restaurant for a lateral flow test, we were not charged for this and as far as we know no one else was either. Whether it will continue to be free in the future is anybody's guess.

Thanks so much for that info.   We are hopefully on the Queen Elizabeth in January and were wondering how things were going to work.   It seems, if the rules stay as they are, that if you are embarking at Southampton you will get your test on embarkation organised by Cunard, as previously, and that you can get your lateral flow test onboard prior to disembarking.    That just means that we will all have to book a PCR test prior to sailing to be taken on our return, together with completion of the passenger locator form.   Let's hope it's all going to be worth it!   

[seasickphil]

21 minutes ago, wenlyn said:

I think from Sandancer's comment we were fortunate to get the free LFT, probably because the rules changed while we were on board. Those going now will have to pay in the same way those who got off in Lisbon paid  for theirs as that was already in the small print when we booked/boarded.

 

That is most probably very true, i fully expected to pay, although the letter received informing us of the tests didn't indicate either way if there would be any costs involved. 

[majortom10]

37 minutes ago, Oliversgrandma said:

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for that info.   We are hopefully on the Queen Elizabeth in January and were wondering how things were going to work.   It seems, if the rules stay as they are, that if you are embarking at Southampton you will get your test on embarkation organised by Cunard, as previously, and that you can get your lateral flow test onboard prior to disembarking.    That just means that we will all have to book a PCR test prior to sailing to be taken on our return, together with completion of the passenger locator form.   Let's hope it's all going to be worth it!   

We are booked on QE 18th January but seriously thinking of transferring booking before balance due this weekend.

[jaypo63]

I have been so confused by this,so WE DO need to purchase a test on board 48 hours prior to arriving back In Southampton? We are away on QE on the 23rd December for two weeks and we've not had any info regarding this.Thanks

[sandancer]

We are on QE and we have not been given any info about the testing situation at all. The ship is beautifully decorated for Christmas. There was a Christmas show last night in the theatre. It was great. Gala night last night and I would say 90% of the guests dressed in black and white. Masks worn by all. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by sandancer

[Host Hattie]

When are you due back ? I would expect that you will receive information in time for testing before arrival.

[Sekhmet]

3 hours ago, jaypo63 said:

I have been so confused by this,so WE DO need to purchase a test on board 48 hours prior to arriving back In Southampton? We are away on QE on the 23rd December for two weeks and we've not had any info regarding this.Thanks

We have friends on the same cruise, and they sent us an email saying, amongst other things that they  "Managed to get through to Cunard today (after about 1/2 an hour) who confirmed that there would be testing available to us on board within the last 48 hrs of our cruise, at a price, to enable us to comply with regulations, unless they are changed again."

 

Hope this helps.

[sandancer]

1 hour ago, Host Hattie said:

When are you due back ? I would expect that you will receive information in time for testing before arrival.

On the 23rd. Since posting I have spoken to some folks doing b2b. They confirmed that everyone was tested 2 days before the end of the last cruise. They did not have to pay but think we all  will on this cruise. 

[bluemarble]

4 hours ago, jaypo63 said:

We are away on QE on the 23rd December for two weeks ...

 

Please pardon the interruption, but I've been hoping someone on the 23rd December QE cruise can tell me what the dress code and themed evening schedule is going to be for that cruise. That's a gap I liked to fill in the schedules I've posted on my "Dress Code and Theme Schedules for 2021-22" thread. There's a roll call started for your cruise, but it hasn't had any activity. And of course that cruise is departing soon.

 

Would you be so kind as to post which dates are going to be "Gala Evenings" on your cruise (and what the themes, if any, are going to be on those evenings)? That information can be found in the day-by-day calendar within "My Cunard".

 

Thanks for any help you can provide with this query of mine.

[Twolittleboys]

I was on the last cruise (disembarked on the 13th) and like someone else said, we had to pay $25 for an antigen test in order to be able to leave the ship in Lisbon (if we wanted to). Everyone who did not chose to take that test had to take a test on Saturday instead (rule was changing during the trip). Anyone who had had the test for Lisbon (actually done on the 9th) was allowed to disembark without another test. However, that was a special exception. Seems like in the future everyone will need to get a test done closer to disembarkation.

 

However, the good news is that the testing process was very smooth. I assume a good portion of passengers had a test done on the 9th (like me). There were time slots depending on which deck your cabin was on. I had the first time slot (8:15 to 8:45 I think). There were already a number of people in line when I got there shortly before the beginning of the time slot. However, once the doors opened (it was done in the Britannia restaurant) it went very fast. They scanned your card, sent you to a table, took a swab  and you were free to go (took less than 5 minutes). Based on this, I feel certain that Cunard will offer tests for disembarkation and hopefully they should go off without a hitch.

 

 

[seasickphil]

4 hours ago, Twolittleboys said:

I was on the last cruise (disembarked on the 13th) and like someone else said, we had to pay $25 for an antigen test in order to be able to leave the ship in Lisbon (if we wanted to). Everyone who did not chose to take that test had to take a test on Saturday instead (rule was changing during the trip). Anyone who had had the test for Lisbon (actually done on the 9th) was allowed to disembark without another test. However, that was a special exception. Seems like in the future everyone will need to get a test done closer to disembarkation.

 

However, the good news is that the testing process was very smooth. I assume a good portion of passengers had a test done on the 9th (like me). There were time slots depending on which deck your cabin was on. I had the first time slot (8:15 to 8:45 I think). There were already a number of people in line when I got there shortly before the beginning of the time slot. However, once the doors opened (it was done in the Britannia restaurant) it went very fast. They scanned your card, sent you to a table, took a swab  and you were free to go (took less than 5 minutes). Based on this, I feel certain that Cunard will offer tests for disembarkation and hopefully they should go off without a hitch.

 

 

I  was on this cruise as well, as i said earlier, in post 14. The letter i received, did say that if you didn't go ashore in Lisbon that a test would be required on Sat 11th Dec for us to be able to disembark in Southampton. What i don't understand is, you were presumably tested before getting off in Lisbon but that would have been outside the 48 hours limit to disembark. When we got off no one checked our paper work but if yours was checked i wonder if that would have been ok, as you would have been way outside the 48 hour period required for getting off the ship, according to the UK entry rules. 

[Twolittleboys]

1 hour ago, seasickphil said:

I  was on this cruise as well, as i said earlier, in post 14. The letter i received, did say that if you didn't go ashore in Lisbon that a test would be required on Sat 11th Dec for us to be able to disembark in Southampton. What i don't understand is, you were presumably tested before getting off in Lisbon but that would have been outside the 48 hours limit to disembark. When we got off no one checked our paper work but if yours was checked i wonder if that would have been ok, as you would have been way outside the 48 hour period required for getting off the ship, according to the UK entry rules. 

 

It is funny, isn't it? However, I presume it would have been okay. I did get a letter saying that they had made a special agreement that the test before Lisbon (on the 9th) would be accepted. It stated: "Our colleagues in Southampton have been in communications with the UK department of transport and on this occasion it has been agreed that as you completed an Antigen test on Thursday, 9 December 2021 in order to go ashore in Lisbon, you will be able to use those test results to disembark in Southampton, therefore no further COVID-19 tests are required." (I held on to the paper just in case there were any questions when disembarking).

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, seasickphil said:

I  was on this cruise as well, as i said earlier, in post 14. The letter i received, did say that if you didn't go ashore in Lisbon that a test would be required on Sat 11th Dec for us to be able to disembark in Southampton. What i don't understand is, you were presumably tested before getting off in Lisbon but that would have been outside the 48 hours limit to disembark. When we got off no one checked our paper work but if yours was checked i wonder if that would have been ok, as you would have been way outside the 48 hour period required for getting off the ship, according to the UK entry rules. 

The simple fact is:  the whole set of developing protocols (some emerging between embarkation and debarkation on a particular cruise) --- supposedly meeting the different requirements of different countries has become a dog's breakfast.  

 

I am inclined to wait until the dust settles: there are enough other recreational travel options to be willing to play COVID cruising roulette.   Especially in this new Omicron varient environment which puts many immunization standards in limbo.