Why hasn't Celebrity offered a Covid test the last afternoon of the cruise for those that need it.

[TomTN]

That would include mostly Americans that need a test to fly back to the US. Celebrity could charge $50-100, and it would be profitable.

 

We were on a Regent cruise that ended April 5, and they tested, and we had a certificate via email in a few hours that was used to fly home.

 

 

 

[Mark_T]

... because depending upon which country you are disembarking in, and the Celebrity policy at the time, a positive test while onboard could be very expensive and inconvenient for the ship... 

[canderson]

They want you off the ship in case you test positive.  Their current policy makes them responsible for dealing with your situation if you're still aboard and test positive.

[wrk2cruise]

Even in the US where there appears to be no assistance provided after disembarkation if you were to test positive onboard they still don't want the publicity of the higher numbers.  They are trying to portray ships as being the safest place on earth to encourage bookings.

[GenXer85]

There are options for nearly every outcome.  Consider what works for you and proceed.

[SWFL Cruisers]

Bring a test with you and take it onboard the day before disembarking. If you test positive, tell medical and now you become Celebrities problem.

[phoenix_dream]

It's a very simple answer - if you test positive onboard you are their problem and they have to get you to a quarantine place after disembarkation as well as pay you some $$ for lodging and food.  If you test positive on land after disembarkation the cost and hassle is all yours.

[Silkroad]

I agree with some of the reasoning in previous posts, but I have an additional point. Medical is already stretched thin managing Covid cases on some cruises. They haven’t time to administer tests for disembarking pax.
 

I suggest you purchase your own eMed tests and use them in your cabin the day before disembarkation. Carry an extra one for each of you in case of problems. On occasion, you may find something missing or unusable in your test kit. Or, you may fumble the swab like one YouTube poster did. Good thing he had a spare test kit!

Edited May 28, 2022 by Silkroad

[Expo67]

lol Gee can you imagine how the wifi onboard would react to 1000+ paxs getting online for a proctored video conference. 😵‍💫 And the cruiselines wonder why folks are reluctant to cruise overseas it out of country where a negative test results is required to fly in. 😂 Time for the CDC to get their heads out of their you know what and rescind the mandatory neg test. If people can fly domestically as well as drive, take a train or bus into the country without a neg test then the requirement for international flights for fully vaxed people of US citizenship should also be amended. My 2 cents worth. 🤭

[Silkroad]

Yep. Just like we need to work around everyone walking around the ship streaming their every thought and action to folks back home.  Some people have land trips pre and post cruise. Some people are on b2bs. And gee, believe it or not, we Americans aren’t the only people traveling on cruise ships in Europe. All those others needn’t test before flying home. We can rage against the government regulations all we want, but in the end we must take responsibility for ourselves. We can deal with it or stay home.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Silkroad

[Arizona Wildcat]

34 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

I agree with some of the reasoning in previous posts, but I have an additional point. Medical is already stretched thin managing Covid cases on some cruises. They haven’t time to administer tests for disembarking pax.
 

I suggest you purchase your own eMed tests and use them in your cabin the day before disembarkation. Carry an extra one for each of you in case of problems. On occasion, you may find something missing or unusable in your test kit. Or, you may fumble the swab like one YouTube poster did. Good thing he had a spare test kit!

Why would you use an eMed test instead of one of the free tests available to all Americans and Canadians?   Test positive and call Celebrity.  You are now their problem.  Absolutely no need for a proctored test to do that.

If a proctored test is required not hard to use WI-FI in ports a day or two before the end of a cruise.  The certificate is emailed to you.

Complaining about the rules?  Sort of like Don Quixote isn't it?  And it is not just the CDC, but rather many countries including Bermuda, Canada and EU members.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Arizona Wildcat

[Silkroad]

 

1 minute ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Why would you use an eMed test instead of one of the free tests available to all Americans and Canadians?   Test positive and call Celebrity.  You are now their problem.  Absolutely no need for a proctored test to do that.

I suggested using a proctored test to fly home. I do use “free” (aka funded by taxpayers) OTC kits all the time, but not when preparing to fly home. 
 

Try reading one of the many threads written by people who have recently tested positive on a Celebrity ship. Once you’ve done that, you may decide you don’t want to be “their problem”. And don’t make the mistake of thinking Celebrity’s current policies are the same for every port, or that they will continue to foot the bill forever.

[Peteymil]

22 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Why would you use an eMed test instead of one of the free tests available to all Americans and Canadians?   Test positive and call Celebrity.  You are now their problem.  Absolutely no need for a proctored test to do that.

If a proctored test is required not hard to use WI-FI in ports a day or two before the end of a cruise.  The certificate is emailed to you.

You cannot use the free test unless you have a proctor. And as far as using the Wi-Fi in port, many of us have a last day that's a Sea day  and to get back into the USA you must test on the day before you come back so that does not work.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

On 5/27/2022 at 7:57 AM, wrk2cruise said:

Even in the US where there appears to be no assistance provided after disembarkation if you were to test positive onboard they still don't want the publicity of the higher numbers.  They are trying to portray ships as being the safest place on earth to encourage bookings.

I wouldn't say it's to keep the #s down but is to keep them from having to be responsible for you. Having to either quarantine on ship or in a hotel is costly for the cruise line. In my case I tested positive 2 days before the end of the APEX TA. I was offered 2 options for my 10 day quarantine. 1. stay on board for the next cuise...12 nts....or quarantine in an Amsterdam Hotel with $$ toward the hotel. Botho cases cost the cruise line money. This policy was for cruises that sailed prior to May 17.  

[Mark_T]

9 minutes ago, Peteymil said:

You cannot use the free test unless you have a proctor. And as far as using the Wi-Fi in port, many of us have a last day that's a Sea day  and to get back into the USA you must test on the day before you come back so that does not work.

You don't need the proctor if the intention is to saddle Celebrity with the responsibility of dealing with you if you are positive...

 

If the free test is negative then you go ahead with the proctored test...

[TomTN]

41 minutes ago, Expo67 said:

lol Gee can you imagine how the wifi onboard would react to 1000+ paxs getting online for a proctored video conference. 😵‍💫 And the cruiselines wonder why folks are reluctant to cruise overseas it out of country where a negative test results is required to fly in. 😂 Time for the CDC to get their heads out of their you know what and rescind the mandatory neg test. If people can fly domestically as well as drive, take a train or bus into the country without a neg test then the requirement for international flights for fully vaxed people of US citizenship should also be amended. My 2 cents worth. 🤭

Or the ship do the test.  Went smooth as silk on our Regent cruise. No reason  X can't do it.

Unload passengers regardless of the results. 

It should be the passenger's problem.  Disembark, fly home or stay in a hotel. If very sick the nearest ER.

[Peteymil]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

You don't need the proctor if the intention is to saddle Celebrity with the responsibility of dealing with you if you are positive...

 

If the free test is negative then you go ahead with the proctored test...

That was not ever my intention. My intention was to return to the US, in which case you need a proctor test. 

[RD64]

Cruising is not all about Americans - other nationalities cruise as well.

[Mark_K]

12 hours ago, TomBeckCruise said:

Or the ship do the test.  Went smooth as silk on our Regent cruise. No reason  X can't do it.

Unload passengers regardless of the results. 

It should be the passenger's problem.  Disembark, fly home or stay in a hotel. If very sick the nearest ER.

Things that are doable with 500-600 passengers aren’t necessarily doable with three or four times as many passengers.

[TomTN]

2 hours ago, Mark_K said:

Things that are doable with 500-600 passengers aren’t necessarily doable with three or four times as many passengers.

I don't  see why not. It took 3 hours on Regent, and that was one line of people. X could do 2-4 lines of people.  50-300 positive people will not  overload a cities hotels if unable to fly or drive home. Some cruisers are already staying to enjoy a location.

 

My point is Celebrity's responsibility should end at the end of the cruise.

Theaters, hotels etc. do not care for people who use their facilities and get covid.

[Tony UK]

15 hours ago, Peteymil said:

You cannot use the free test unless you have a proctor. And as far as using the Wi-Fi in port, many of us have a last day that's a Sea day  and to get back into the USA you must test on the day before you come back so that does not work.

Also in a number of European ports you are not permitted to do covid tests,

[bunnyette]

16 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Why would you use an eMed test instead of one of the free tests available to all Americans and Canadians?   Test positive and call Celebrity.  You are now their problem.  Absolutely no need for a proctored test to do that.

If a proctored test is required not hard to use WI-FI in ports a day or two before the end of a cruise.  The certificate is emailed to you.

Complaining about the rules?  Sort of like Don Quixote isn't it?  And it is not just the CDC, but rather many countries including Bermuda, Canada and EU members.

You no longer need a negative Covid test to enter Canada but you do need to be vaxxed.

[phoenix_dream]

16 hours ago, Expo67 said:

lol Gee can you imagine how the wifi onboard would react to 1000+ paxs getting online for a proctored video conference. 😵‍💫 And the cruiselines wonder why folks are reluctant to cruise overseas it out of country where a negative test results is required to fly in. 😂 Time for the CDC to get their heads out of their you know what and rescind the mandatory neg test. If people can fly domestically as well as drive, take a train or bus into the country without a neg test then the requirement for international flights for fully vaxed people of US citizenship should also be amended. My 2 cents worth. 🤭

It is absolutely ridiculous that you can drive back across the border from Canada to the US, or you can get on a domestic flight without testing, but you need a test when flying back from any international country.  And this applies even for international countries whose Covid levels are much lower than those in the US.  It just makes no logical sense to me.  I am not anti-precautions by any means, but there is just no logic in this thinking.  But it is what it is and in the meantime we have to handle it as best we can, stressful as it is.

[Virginia100]

15 hours ago, RD64 said:

Cruising is not all about Americans - other nationalities cruise as well.

But only the US of the major countries requires its own citizens to test before returning home. The Canadians, Brits, Italians, French are home free to return home. Once again, we are behind.

[durberville]

5 minutes ago, Virginia100 said:

But only the US of the major countries requires its own citizens to test before returning home. The Canadians, Brits, Italians, French are home free to return home. Once again, we are behind.

Yep, it’s ridiculous at this point. My SIL in Canada has booked a European cruise and asked if we wanted to join them. NOPE! Not until the US removes the test to come home! (She and her husband have traveled numerous times without the worry about getting back home like us). 🫤