When Is Carnival Going to Address Bermuda Entry Requirements

[WKUTopperFan]

I look daily for an email from Carnival for word on how they are handling the requirements for passenger entry into Bermuda.  My sailing is not until August, but the Bermuda season is just a couple weeks away. I have done the research and know what the government requires... but most haven't and don't.  For cruises where Bermuda isn't the first port of call additional on board testing must occur. As I'm also a regular Celebrity cruiser, I can report that Celebrity has finally officially announced their Bermuda policies for the season last week. Unfortunately Celebrity's policy does me no good as my Bermuda saiking is on Carnival this year.

 

Carnival... what are you waiting on? Folks got to get paperwork and $40 per person fees paid to Bermuda.  If you are pulling the plug on the Bermuda season due to the restrictions it's time to come clean. I've been on 4 sailings since the restart and will roll with the punches....it's time for some information. 

[shof515]

John Heald made a few facebook posts about this

The Bermuda travel authorization process is on thier website: https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-guest-protocols?icid=advisory_cruisehealth_040122

 

 

The reason why you are not getting anything from carnival is because your cruise is in August which is currently too early. Most likely you wont be get any emails about this until July, June the earliest

 

Celebrity Cruises is doing weekly cruises out of New Jersey from now till the end of the summer, this is  why they are more on top on this process. Celebrity is doing more Bermuda cruises then Carnival.

[kdr69]

uhmmm you mean this?  Carnival.com is where you can find the Have Fun Be Safe Protocols page for answers like this and more AND its even updated frequently.  Quicker than waiting for an email.

 

SAFE SHORESIDE EXPERIENCES (UPDATED 05/04/22)

It will be necessary to follow the health protocols for every port we visit, which are under the control of local authorities and subject to change without prior notice. All guests, regardless of vaccination status, must come prepared to follow local guidance pertaining to mask wearing, physical distancing, testing/health screenings, etc.

Travel Authorization & Destination Health Questionnaires

The following destinations require the completion of a Travel Authorization or a health questionnaire for guests traveling to the said destinations. Except where otherwise noted, the QR coded provided at the end of the process must be presented at time of check-in.

• Bermuda – access Travel Authorization application here . A US$40, per person, fee applies for guests age 2 years and older.
• Canada – access ArriveCAN application here .
• Spain – a paper passenger locator form will be provided during the cruise.

Itinerary Adjustments

Should it be necessary to cancel any or multiple ports, we will do our best to find alternative destinations. However, if we are unsuccessful in doing so, there will be no compensation for missed ports, beyond a refund of any pre-purchased Carnival shore excursions.

[Ilovesailaway]

Has Carnival been to Bermuda since the restart? I know when we were supposed to go on the Legend in November they changed our itinerary 3 weeks before sail date. We went to the Bahamas. 

I know other lines have been able to assist their passengers and go but has Carnival got it figured out yet?

[S&LMom]

37 minutes ago, Ilovesailaway said:

Has Carnival been to Bermuda since the restart? I know when we were supposed to go on the Legend in November they changed our itinerary 3 weeks before sail date. We went to the Bahamas. 

I know other lines have been able to assist their passengers and go but has Carnival got it figured out yet?

Carnival pride just stopped there. The next one is my cruise carnival legend May 22.We received our email about a week ago. 

[Priscilla Cat]

I understand what you are saying. I can see both sides. We should all do our due diligence, and read the protocols on Carnival’s website often, but the extra requirements that are particular to Bermuda should be communicated, at least for the first few cruises there until it becomes more common knowledge. We sail in two weeks and haven’t heard a thing from Carnival, yet two people on the roll call got notifications already of the extra requirements. I figured we would eventually be notified also, although I already researched it and have applied and paid for the Bermuda travel authorizations for my husband and myself.  But it’s been 4 or 5 days since I read that on the roll call and neither of us has gotten any notification. We are good to go, except for downloading our (hopefully) negative tests to the Bermuda website, but I can see a cluster on embarkation day with people who are not aware. Not everyone follows John Heald, nor are on Facebook at all.   It should be an interesting embarkation day. 

[Ilovesailaway]

9 minutes ago, S&LMom said:

Carnival pride just stopped there. The next one is my cruise carnival legend May 22.We received our email about a week ago. 

That's awesome. Glad to hear Carnival has resumed Bermuda cruises. 

[Priscilla Cat]

I just saw above that S&LMom received an email about the Bermuda requirements a week ago. We have received nothing so far. Very inconsistent communication. We are good, but hopefully those who do not receive any communication are the savvy ones who already know what to do. 

[shof515]

If you booked with a travel agent, the inconsistent communication can be the TA fault. Some TA do a horrible job of not forwarding information to their clients.

 

when you booked a cruise with a TA, carnival sends all communication directly to them and not to you

[WKUTopperFan]

12 hours ago, shof515 said:

John Heald made a few facebook posts about this

The Bermuda travel authorization process is on thier website: https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-guest-protocols?icid=advisory_cruisehealth_040122

 

 

The reason why you are not getting anything from carnival is because your cruise is in August which is currently too early. Most likely you wont be get any emails about this until July, June the earliest

 

Celebrity Cruises is doing weekly cruises out of New Jersey from now till the end of the summer, this is  why they are more on top on this process. Celebrity is doing more Bermuda cruises then Carnival.

Thanks so much for showing the answer to my question.  I'm not one to study a website for a needle in a haystack. Nothing surprising or extra required from Carnival beyond Bermuda's policies. 

[Priscilla Cat]

1 hour ago, shof515 said:

If you booked with a travel agent, the inconsistent communication can be the TA fault. Some TA do a horrible job of not forwarding information to their clients.

 

when you booked a cruise with a TA, carnival sends all communication directly to them and not to you

I don’t use a TA. I booked this cruise directly. And we have always gotten any notices from Carnival promptly up until now. Both my husband and myself received emails about how to get our Platinum benefits once onboard, and I was able to check us in, so I know Carnival realizes we are sailing in a couple weeks. I chalk it up to “s**t happens” and luckily I am very detail oriented in most things so generally chaos doesn’t reign, but I

can see potential chaos on embarkation day with this sailing being one of the first to Bermuda for the season. (And as a side comment - if this is a requirement of Bermuda, and I want to go to Bermuda, I will

follow the rules, but this is quite the sweet moneymaker for Bermuda.  $40 per person for people who have already proven they are vaccinated and had negative tests to be able to sail to begin with on our ship, plus the Norwegian Joy that is on the schedule to be docked in Bermuda on the same day we are, is quite a haul just on that day alone.)

[2wheelin]

So by paying a fee, you are not contagious for Covid? Why hasn’t the US thought of this? We could have saved so many people.

[nwcruiselover]

On 5/9/2022 at 5:50 AM, 2wheelin said:

So by paying a fee, you are not contagious for Covid? Why hasn’t the US thought of this? We could have saved so many people.

You don’t just pay a fee.  You have to provide them with vaccination documentation, passport information, and proof of a negative covid test 2 days before the ship’s embarkation date (can be 4 days if you have a PCR test).  I just got off the Pride TA, and we did stop at Bermuda.  There was a lot of confusion on embarkation day because some people didn’t have their Bermuda authorization.  There were Bermuda authorities in the terminal to help sort out some of the issues.

[2wheelin]

1 hour ago, nwcruiselover said:

You don’t just pay a fee.  You have to provide them with vaccination documentation, passport information, and proof of a negative covid test 2 days before the ship’s embarkation date (can be 4 days if you have a PCR test).  I just got off the Pride TA, and we did stop at Bermuda.  There was a lot of confusion on embarkation day because some people didn’t have their Bermuda authorization.  There were Bermuda authorities in the terminal to help sort out some of the issues.

All information that the ship already has on everyone.

[nwcruiselover]

10 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

All information that the ship already has on everyone.

I think Bermuda probably should have given consideration to relying on the cruise ship to ensure everyone met the requirements.  Every passenger on our cruise was tested at the port before boarding and was fully vaccinated and had boosters if eligible.  Bermuda has the same rules for all visitors and I guess they decided not to exempt cruise passengers.  It seems to me that Carnival could have lobbied them to make the exception.

[Priscilla Cat]

So…it keeps circling back to sounding like a way for Bermuda to make a LOT of money off cruise ships to replenish the government coffers. Granted, the requirements are the same for vacationers flying into Bermuda, but generally, I imagine, there aren’t a couple thousand people flying on multiple days each month for the next 6 months. My rough math of the number of passengers on our ship on May 22 (Legend), plus the number of passengers on the Norwegian Joy that is scheduled to dock the same day we do, is over $225,000 on that day alone, if both ships are sailing near capacity, which it looks like the Legend is, at least.  Gotta wonder how long they’ll use the Covid excuse to collect the fees.

 

There are also similar requirements for our New England/Canada cruise in September, but the only thing it will cost me is some time to go online and take care of those requirements, as Canada isn’t charging an arbitrary fee.  

 
But it is what it is.  The Baltimore port is a 2 hour drive from our house so no airport drama or airfare cost for us, and I want to cruise to Bermuda one last time as our last two tries were cancelled due to a hurricane and Covid, so that’s life. I’m sure I have wasted much more money many times over the years than the $80 fee that I paid to Bermuda for my husband and myself.

[csoud68]

I wish the cruiseline would have the balls to just boycott a port en masse..

 

 I bet rules would change fast if no ships were arriving for months..

[shof515]

Last year the fee was $75 which was worse. As horrible as it is, it is very surprising Bermuda lower the fee to only $40 dollars

[bafinegan]

1 hour ago, csoud68 said:

I wish the cruiseline would have the balls to just boycott a port en masse..

 

 I bet rules would change fast if no ships were arriving for months..

Not really.  Last July there were 2 cruise lines scheduled to start/end cruises in Bermuda.  One was either RCL or NCL, the other was Viking.  The other cruise line pulled out because they felt their passengers could not meet the requirements ( they had a better day of the week start time-Thurs-that made it easier to get the required testing/paperwork done.  ANd the timelines/cost for Viking passengers was much more stringent.  VIking had a Sat start day-making it harder to get  it all done)  Bermuda just said "see ya bye" to that other cruise line. I know because we were on one of those July cruises on VIking.  

 

Carnival has no control over what the protocols that Bermuda sets.  Passengers need to address concerns to the Bermuda gov.  They do listen.  Last July the initial requirement was 2 days for a  pre arrival PCR test.  Many Viking passengers called and the gov listened-changing it to 4 days.  Everyone got another test at the arrival airport anyway.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is address complaints to the right agency/company.  Or choose another itinerary or vacation.  This truly is not Carnival's fault.

Edited May 11, 2022 by bafinegan

[bafinegan]

7 hours ago, Priscilla Cat said:

So…it keeps circling back to sounding like a way for Bermuda to make a LOT of money off cruise ships to replenish the government coffers. Granted, the requirements are the same for vacationers flying into Bermuda, but generally, I imagine, there aren’t a couple thousand people flying on multiple days each month for the next 6 months. My rough math of the number of passengers on our ship on May 22 (Legend), plus the number of passengers on the Norwegian Joy that is scheduled to dock the same day we do, is over $225,000 on that day alone, if both ships are sailing near capacity, which it looks like the Legend is, at least.  Gotta wonder how long they’ll use the Covid excuse to collect the fees.

 

There are also similar requirements for our New England/Canada cruise in September, but the only thing it will cost me is some time to go online and take care of those requirements, as Canada isn’t charging an arbitrary fee.  

 
But it is what it is.  The Baltimore port is a 2 hour drive from our house so no airport drama or airfare cost for us, and I want to cruise to Bermuda one last time as our last two tries were cancelled due to a hurricane and Covid, so that’s life. I’m sure I have wasted much more money many times over the years than the $80 fee that I paid to Bermuda for my husband and myself.

This has been like this for a year now.  In fact, the price has gone down from $75pp to $40 pp.

[2wheelin]

9 hours ago, Priscilla Cat said:

So…it keeps circling back to sounding like a way for Bermuda to make a LOT of money off cruise ships to replenish the government coffers.  Gotta wonder how long they’ll use the Covid excuse to collect the fees.

 I’m sure I have wasted much more money many times over the years than the $80 fee that I paid to Bermuda for my husband and myself.

Please send me $50. It won’t be wasted. Lol

 

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

Last year the fee was $75 which was worse. As horrible as it is, it is very surprising Bermuda lower the fee to only $40 dollars

Just like having a sale price for a hugely overpriced item. People think it is such a bargain they rush out to purchase even though it is still overpriced. The point is there should be no fee for such things.

[shof515]

According to this article: the travel authorization process is the reason why carnival is not sailing to Bermuda next year:

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20220511/carnival-appears-to-reduce-2023-sailings/ 

[bafinegan]

2 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

Please send me $50. It won’t be wasted. Lol

 

Just like having a sale price for a hugely overpriced item. People think it is such a bargain they rush out to purchase even though it is still overpriced. The point is there should be no fee for such things.

The point also is this is Bermuda- NOT Carnival.  Cruiser's have a choice not to go.  But blaming Carnival is rather dumb.  They can't change it.

[nwcruiselover]

One thing I wish Bermuda would do is allow people who aren’t going to exit the ship in Bermuda not to have to go through the process.  The Bermuda Travel Authority approval is needed for all passengers on the ship, whether they disembark in Bermuda or not.  I would have foregone all the hassle and just stayed on the ship as I have been to Bermuda multiple times previously.

Edited May 11, 2022 by nwcruiselover

[dltvermont]

7 hours ago, csoud68 said:

I wish the cruiseline would have the balls to just boycott a port en masse..

 

 I bet rules would change fast if no ships were arriving for months..

 

I think your idea would work for any of the "rules", at port, on ships etc. but unless everyone does it, it has no effect. ALL the lines would have to boycott, just as ALL the pax would have to boycott something like the vax and testing requirements for anything to effect change. As long as there are people willing (and as we see, right now everyone seems willing) to jump thru the hoops, the hoops will remain and none of the lines have any reason to fight to change them.