End of Testing?

[Colorado Cruzer]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:54 AM, Caps_Shield said:

This has been a port of call issue, not a US issue.  I'm not sure this island nations are going to jump up and change anything because of the US.  I could be wrong but i just do not see it.

Mexico doesn't require anything but I still have to get tested for a cruise going only to Mexican ports so that logic doesn't really work either.  It's just posturing for the government so they don't shut them down again from what I see.  The testing is worthless and expensive in many cases.  

[Colorado Cruzer]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:05 AM, csm5986142 said:

 

Darn... I was so excited for a minute there.  I have come to hate ordering the EMed home proctored tests, but it's the quickest/easier/least stressful way for my family to test prior to cruising, so I guess they will still be getting my $.  Definitely a downside to taking multiple short cruises instead of 1 long one.

Aetna reimbursed us $72 for our emed tests.  Submit your receipt if you have insurance to see if they will pay you back.

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Airlines, theme parks, etc., all have plausible deniability due to the relative short period of contact between customers compared to days or weeks at a time on a cruise ship. The pandemic still sets the schedule, including testing for cruise lines.

 

 

How is that?  I spend more time in line for the Toy Story Mania at Disney with strangers than near  strangers   onboard.  In both situations, I rarely see the same people twice.   

[topaz123]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:05 AM, csm5986142 said:

 

Darn... I was so excited for a minute there.  I have come to hate ordering the EMed home proctored tests, but it's the quickest/easier/least stressful way for my family to test prior to cruising, so I guess they will still be getting my $.  Definitely a downside to taking multiple short cruises instead of 1 long one.

Indeed.....Take the EMed home test three days before sail....get a clean bill.....fly out the next day to port.....contract the evil Covid during the airline "experience"...but go ahead and board.  Wha..??

[Lane Hog]

The only people benefitting from the cruise line testing requirements are the labs.  The general public has given up on frequent rapid testing, and it's just a matter of time (probably when funding runs out?) that the private labs give up offering rapid testing.

[jsglow]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:08 AM, Clairescurtains said:

I plan on taking an at home test prior to flying to Europe [if neg] then taking another the day we arrive since we leave the US 4 days in advance of our cruise. I figure if I am negative on Monday I will still be on Tuesday.🤔  

We're going to take the same approach in October.  Non-proctored test at home.  Fly. Test again (proctored) as soon as the window opens for embarkation. Sail. And now thankfully fly home without further issues.

[mz-s]

I know we discuss the testing anxiety on here often. I am sure Carnival is doing all they can do to put an end to it but so much of this is not up to them.

[SRQbeachgirl]

16 minutes ago, mz-s said:

I know we discuss the testing anxiety on here often. I am sure Carnival is doing all they can do to put an end to it but so much of this is not up to them.

 

The anxiety I have right now about testing is making the lead-up to our cruise so stressful. My office has been a germ factory lately, with 14 coworkers testing positive in the last three weeks. Most have had no symptoms and only a couple who ran a little fever, but just knowing I could end up testing positive and derailing our vacation is stressing me out. I'm spending a small fortune testing at home every couple days. My anxiety (and no small amount of resentment) is growing daily.

 

 

[csm5986142]

18 minutes ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

The anxiety I have right now about testing is making the lead-up to our cruise so stressful.

 

Me too!  The airlines are not being nearly as lenient when it comes to changes/cancellations as they were.  For the cruises I have booked, our airfare cost more than the cruise.  So although I'd be able to reschedule the cruise if one of us tests positive, I think I'd lose out on the airfare.

 

[travelhound]

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/cruise-lines-call-for-cdc-to-change-covid-testing-policy

 

Looks like the cruise lines are asking the CDC to be treated like every other travel industry. Fingers crossed!

[SRQbeachgirl]

8 hours ago, travelhound said:

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/cruise-lines-call-for-cdc-to-change-covid-testing-policy

 

Looks like the cruise lines are asking the CDC to be treated like every other travel industry. Fingers crossed!

 

Dropping it before, say, June 22 would be great. 😉

[elcuchio24]

On 6/12/2022 at 10:42 AM, travelhound said:

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/cruise-lines-call-for-cdc-to-change-covid-testing-policy

 

Looks like the cruise lines are asking the CDC to be treated like every other travel industry. Fingers crossed!

 

Thats awesome--thanks for posting this!

[pohlerbear]

I have a cruise booked in October, and if they get rid of the testing requirement, I'd strongly considering canceling.

 

At least a dozen people tested positive and had to cancel from my last cruise FB group (probably higher overall). So without that precaution, I don't know I would feel comfortable cruising. Some covid is still going to pop up, but I still think the testing helps.  

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 6/11/2022 at 3:11 PM, Colorado Cruzer said:

Mexico doesn't require anything but I still have to get tested for a cruise going only to Mexican ports so that logic doesn't really work either.  It's just posturing for the government so they don't shut them down again from what I see.  The testing is worthless and expensive in many cases.  

Cruise lines, in general [citation required], do not like different rules for different sailings.  Since some ports-of-call seem to still require it [again, citation required], it is just easier to have a blanket policy rather than adjust on a destination and possibly week-by-week basis.

 

Also, from personal experience, the tests aren't worthless, they possibly stopped my wife and me from giving COVID to someone else, someone with a compromised immune system, where we might have been too casual visiting them - instead we avoided them for 10 days and wore masks just in case.  We didn't test for a cruise, but the case remains, IMHO, that testing is valuable, if you bother to act accordingly to the results.

 

On 6/11/2022 at 4:34 PM, Elaine5715 said:

How is that?  I spend more time in line for the Toy Story Mania at Disney with strangers than near  strangers   onboard.  In both situations, I rarely see the same people twice.   

As stated: plausible deniability.  You could have caught the disease at the gas station in the way to Disney, or at the restaurant for dinner off-property, or at the non-Disney hotel.  On the cruise, the sources are other pax, crew, and people at ports of call.  So the cruise lines do everything they can to show they "did their best".

 

I do hope the testing goes away, but hopefully that is because the need for it goes away, not some arbitrary "meh, we've done enough".

[Lane Hog]

On 6/11/2022 at 8:37 PM, csm5986142 said:

 

Me too!  The airlines are not being nearly as lenient when it comes to changes/cancellations as they were.  For the cruises I have booked, our airfare cost more than the cruise.  So although I'd be able to reschedule the cruise if one of us tests positive, I think I'd lose out on the airfare.

 

Without a doubt, airfares are high right now how can you say airlines aren't "nearly as lenient"???

If anything, airlines are more lenient now than they've been prior to COVID and at least the past 25 years because change fees were dropped, which would add $100-300 to anything you wanted to change plus a fare differential.

The only place change fees are happening are on those basic economy "Just like Spirit or Frontier" fares that don't allow you to reserve a seat or bring a carry-on...

[cltcruiser]

I really, really hope they drop the testing requirements. It is nearly impossible to get excited for your upcoming cruise because you are waiting for the potential shoe to drop 3 days in advance.

 

And for a big family like ours with 75 different moving pieces to line up for a vacation, that’s extremely difficult.  
 

Keep the vaccine mandate. Lose the testing. 

[BlerkOne]

At this point, testing is perhaps better than vaccines.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

At this point, testing is perhaps better than vaccines.

Vaccines prevent the worst of the disease.

 

Testing does next to nothing as you can still become positive between the 2 or 3 days before the cruise and the actual embarkation.

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Vaccines prevent the worst of the disease.

 

Testing does next to nothing as you can still become positive between the 2 or 3 days before the cruise and the actual embarkation.

Vaccines don't keep covid off of ships. Testing at least keeps some of it off of ships. Testing certainly helps identify crew that need to quarantine. At this point, more than 50% of Americans have had covid and the number is approaching that of fully vaccinated Americans.

[ontheweb]

4 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Vaccines don't keep covid off of ships. Testing at least keeps some of it off of ships. Testing certainly helps identify crew that need to quarantine. At this point, more than 50% of Americans have had covid and the number is approaching that of fully vaccinated Americans.

If someone does not get Covid due to being fully vaccinated plus precautions and maybe a little bit of luck and gets on a ship, the vaccinations have helped keep Covid off the ship.

 

And since testing days beforehand can miss Covid and even testing right before embarkation can miss someone who is not yet sick enough to test positive, your beloved testing is not as foolproof as you make it out to be. 

[AQW]

3 hours ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I do hope the testing goes away, but hopefully that is because the need for it goes away, not some arbitrary "meh, we've done enough".

 

That part! 

 

I'm constantly floored by people who want the testing requirement dropped so they don't have to "risk missing their vacation" -- in other words, they just want to be able to bring the virus onboard and expose thousands of people with impunity. Mind-boggling.

[ldubs]

33 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Vaccines prevent the worst of the disease.

 

Testing does next to nothing as you can still become positive between the 2 or 3 days before the cruise and the actual embarkation.

 

Hi OTW.  My comments were brilliant, but the CC Covid discussion rules kicked in, so the world will never know!    😀😀😀

 

 

[MeganGC1983]

Well Viking has ended pre-cruise testing when the destinations don’t require it. 

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

If someone does not get Covid due to being fully vaccinated plus precautions and maybe a little bit of luck and gets on a ship, the vaccinations have helped keep Covid off the ship.

 

And since testing days beforehand can miss Covid and even testing right before embarkation can miss someone who is not yet sick enough to test positive, your beloved testing is not as foolproof as you make it out to be. 

I never said it was foolproof. And neither are vaccines against mutations they were never designed for. And there never will be herd immunity. Your tin foil hat is working.

[tallnthensome]

For the cruise lines to survive in this economic downturn they may need to get rid of the vaxxine mandates and testing in order to get back as many potential guest as possible who were avoiding cruising because of these rules at this point. For the sake of the lines this may have to happen. Some of you want to restrict everything sending them into bankruptcy at this point. Time to live with covid and cruising just like you live with it everywhere else every day of your lives out and about in the world.