Recent Bermuda Cruisers - Confused...Upload Covid test results to Bermuda / Travel Auth. or not?

[treehugr]

Hello all,

 

Doing our best to navigate through the covid testing requirements and have stumbled upon some confusion regarding the Bermuda Travel Authorization requirements. Under the Bermuda section on RCCL website they show (below) a need to upload covid test results no later than 1 day prior to sailing to Bermuda. Am I mistaken, I was under the impression Bermuda no longer required the test results to be uploaded with the Travel Authorization application two days prior, but rather just required at cruise embarkation?

 

RCCL website:

Bermuda Additional Requirements (last paragraph)

 

All travelers age 2 and older, or their legal guardians, must apply for a Bermuda Travel Authorization if your cruise stops in Bermuda. Even if you do not plan to go ashore in Bermuda, you must have the Authorization. You will be required to present an approved Authorization on the day you board your cruise.

 

You may apply at the Government of Bermuda website, no more than 30 days before you set sail. You will not see your ship/sailing listed on the website before that time. We recommend guests apply for their Bermuda Travel Authorization as soon as it becomes available. The application cost is $40 per person. 

 

"Your application will be stored until your cruise departure. Four days before departure, you will receive an email reminder to upload a negative COVID-19 result. You should upload the test result you will use to board the ship, and submit your completed application to Bermuda no later than the day before you board."

[DCL2RCI]

You do not need to submit the test results to Bermuda - Royal will check for your provisional authorization and your test results at check in (and your vaccine card and ID).

[treehugr]

13 minutes ago, DCL2RCI said:

You do not need to submit the test results to Bermuda - Royal will check for your provisional authorization and your test results at check in (and your vaccine card and ID).

That's what I thought I had read somewhere. I can't understand why RCCL's website currently conflicts with what needs to actually be done. Do you have a link showing Royal to check results?

[Charles4515]

51 minutes ago, treehugr said:

That's what I thought I had read somewhere. I can't understand why RCCL's website currently conflicts with what needs to actually be done. Do you have a link showing Royal to check results?

 

Read it here. https://www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation

[Sunshine3601]

When you do check in at cruise terminal Royal will ask you to confirm you completed the Bermuda TA.    That is probably the only time you will show it to anyone.    

No, need to upload covid test to the Bermuda site, they removed the need to upload test in May.    This saves on stress of waiting for Bermuda to review and approve.    

 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, treehugr said:

I can't understand why RCCL's website currently conflicts with what needs to actually be done.

Some sections of their site are very slow to be updated. 

[treehugr]

20 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Read it here. https://www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation

 

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.

 

20 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

When you do check in at cruise terminal Royal will ask you to confirm you completed the Bermuda TA.    That is probably the only time you will show it to anyone.    

No, need to upload covid test to the Bermuda site, they removed the need to upload test in May.    This saves on stress of waiting for Bermuda to review and approve.    

 

 

19 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Some sections of their site are very slow to be updated. 

Read quite a few post of people going insane with the Bermuda slow response for review / approval. To many hoops to jump through. One would think Royal could at least do their part by having accurate / up to date info on their website.

 

Since Bermuda is now OK with Royal handling during embarkation, one has to truly wonder why the need for a separate Travel Authorization process?  

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, treehugr said:

Since Bermuda is now OK with Royal handling during embarkation, one has to truly wonder why the need for a separate Travel Authorization process?  

To collect the $40.

[treehugr]

16 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

To collect the $40.

Didn't want to state the obvious 🙂. With Covid winding down for the most part, why are cruise lines tolerating individual islands tacking on what amounts to nothing more than a toll charge tacked on to the port fees at this point.  One would have to assume Royal is taking a lot of flak from passengers about this charge. 

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, treehugr said:

With Covid winding down for the most part, why are cruise lines tolerating individual islands tacking on what amounts to nothing more than a toll charge tacked on to the port fees at this point.

Bermuda must be in the Rahm Emanuel camp of never letting a crisis go to waste - an easy way to excuse some revenue collection disguised as a COVID related thing.

[Charles4515]

21 minutes ago, treehugr said:

Didn't want to state the obvious 🙂. With Covid winding down for the most part, why are cruise lines tolerating individual islands tacking on what amounts to nothing more than a toll charge tacked on to the port fees at this point.  One would have to assume Royal is taking a lot of flak from passengers about this charge. 

It is not a port charge. Air passengers have to do the TA and pay the $40. Residents returning from trips abroad have to do it and pay the $40.

 

Certainly the cruise lines don't like the TA and fee but probably the cruise lines need Bermuda as a port more than Bermuda needs the cruise lines. Plus the Royal Caribbean Group and NCL have contracts with Bermuda that obligate them to a certain number of sailings. 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Charles4515

[treehugr]

20 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Bermuda must be in the Rahm Emanuel camp of never letting a crisis go to waste - an easy way to excuse some revenue collection disguised as a COVID related thing.

You called it....

 

"Junior Health and Finance Minister Arianna Hodgson told the Upper House that even if all other emergency COVID-19 measures are dropped, the government needs the money generated from the TA which was introduced in 2020.

Hodgson said getting rid of the $40 payment before its planned end date of March next year would mean cutting services, raising taxes, and borrowing money."

[Silverspringcruiser]

Even though you can apply for the authorization a month before your cruise you shouldn't expect to get the approval until a week before as they seem to process them in order of necessity. (RC doesn't even bother to send you a reminder email about until 2 weeks before, which seems to indicate there's no reason to submit it as early as possible.) If you don't hear by then call 1-833-570-2594 and they'll most likely email it to you immediately. You then just type you initials at the bottom and click submit. The official authorization form will then immediately appear, and it  clearly states you don't need to upload anything. As for the test even though Bermuda accepts a PCR test within 4 days RC wants all tests within 2. We just did a walk-in at our nearest urgent care clinic and walked out with our negative results in less than half and hour.

[treehugr]

14 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

It is not a port charge. Air passengers have to do the TA and pay the $40. Residents returning from trips abroad have to do it and pay the $40.

 

Certainly the cruise lines don't like the TA and fee but probably the cruise lines need Bermuda as a port more than Bermuda needs the cruise lines. Plus the Royal Caribbean Group and NCL have contracts with Bermuda that obligate them to a certain number of sailings. 

I didn't call it a port charge. An additional toll, tax, or whatever else you want to call it, it's still a tacked on fee passed on to travelers. I'm assuming you've been on other cruises in the past, have you ever had a port assess an additional fee / tax on you that wasn't part of the cruise fare? That I'm aware of, no other port is assessing an additional fee / tax.

 

I respectfully disagree cruise lines need Bermuda more than Bermuda needs them. Bermuda needs those tourism dollars provided by cruise ships. Why else support 3 active cruise ports. If Bermuda closed up shop, rest assured others would be waiting in line to take their place.

 

This is a year old, but revenues generated are certainly not chump change....

"“The cruise ship industry is a key revenue generator for Bermuda. On average, the economic impact from the industry is $170M, with approximately 185 ship calls annually. In 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the island saw only four calls out of the scheduled 196 projected calls. - CruisehiveMar 23, 2021"

 

The Travel Authorization fees for Bermuda in one year was $22M alone. 

 

 

[treehugr]

7 minutes ago, Silverspringcruiser said:

Even though you can apply for the authorization a month before your cruise you shouldn't expect to get the approval until a week before as they seem to process them in order of necessity. (RC doesn't even bother to send you a reminder email about until 2 weeks before, which seems to indicate there's no reason to submit it as early as possible.) If you don't hear by then call 1-833-570-2594 and they'll most likely email it to you immediately. You then just type you initials at the bottom and click submit. The official authorization form will then immediately appear, and it  clearly states you don't need to upload anything. As for the test even though Bermuda accepts a PCR test within 4 days RC wants all tests within 2. We just did a walk-in at our nearest urgent care clinic and walked out with our negative results in less than half and hour.

Thanks for your reply. Did you end up calling the number above? Nice to know a window in which to start calling. What urgent care did you use / fee?

[Charles4515]

7 minutes ago, treehugr said:

I respectfully disagree cruise lines need Bermuda more than Bermuda needs them. Bermuda needs those tourism dollars provided by cruise ships. Why else support 3 active cruise ports. If Bermuda closed up shop, rest assured others would be waiting in line to take their place.

There are not that many port destination options out of northeast ports. Two of the 3 cruise ports are only semi active as they can only take small ships. The bulk of ships call at the Royal Navel Dockyard which has two berths. Bermuda needs tourism but they can still set the rules. If RC or NCL gave up their contracts and spots Carnival and MSC would be lining up to get their spots.

[Silverspringcruiser]

3 hours ago, treehugr said:

Thanks for your reply. Did you end up calling the number above? Nice to know a window in which to start calling. What urgent care did you use / fee?

My sister did because she hadn't heard back even though she submitted before me. They immediately emailed her the approval form for her to initial.  I went to a Medstar clinic and it was free with my insurance.

[KATHYMAC68]

3 hours ago, Silverspringcruiser said:

My sister did because she hadn't heard back even though she submitted before me. They immediately emailed her the approval form for her to initial.  I went to a Medstar clinic and it was free with my insurance.

Did you tell them it was for travel? I’m hearing that people have to pay if the test is for travel.

[Silverspringcruiser]

54 minutes ago, KATHYMAC68 said:

Did you tell them it was for travel? I’m hearing that people have to pay if the test is for travel.

I did not, and they did not ask. 

[treehugr]

On 7/14/2022 at 6:45 PM, Silverspringcruiser said:

My sister did because she hadn't heard back even though she submitted before me. They immediately emailed her the approval form for her to initial.  I went to a Medstar clinic and it was free with my insurance.

We're in central Florida and options seem to be drying up for free testing. Don't think we have MedStar clinics here. Thinking about pairing up one of the proctored sites mentioned here with the iHealth test we've been getting. Then again, we don't cruise until Sept, so I'm really keeping my fingers crossed the testing requirement finally goes away.

[treehugr]

On 7/14/2022 at 10:16 PM, KATHYMAC68 said:

Did you tell them it was for travel? I’m hearing that people have to pay if the test is for travel.

Same here in Vero Beach. Hearing folks going to CVS / Walgreens are now being charged. I wonder if anyone recently has paid and got reimbursed by their insurance companies. 

[treehugr]

On 7/14/2022 at 3:14 PM, Charles4515 said:

If RC or NCL gave up their contracts and spots Carnival and MSC would be lining up to get their spots.

Agree. But as I stated, cruise lines will find other options when push comes to shove. A typical family of four, arriving via air or sea, has to shell out $160 additional funds (tax) under the guise of covid safety. What happens if come March 2023 Bermuda decides to keep this scheme going to pad the coffers? Do you not think this won't impact the Bermuda tourism industry...won't affect the bottom line? My wife and I are going in Sept and will pay the begrudgingly pay the fee. But should we look to return at a later date and this tax is still being imposed, we will look elsewhere. Something tells me I wouldn't be alone in my position. 

 

Anyway, I'll jump down from my soap box now. Wishing you and yours safe travels.