CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships is no longer in effect

[AbbyCruiser45]

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/index.html

 

"As of July 18, 2022, CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships is no longer in effect and this page will no longer be updated. New guidance for cruise ships to mitigate and manage COVID-19 transmission will be available in the coming days. "

 

Announced today. It's unclear what this means moving forward, but I take this as a big sign for things to change. I read on the other social media site that effective yesterday the Summit crew were not required to wear masks. I had a hard time believing Celebrity would do that if they still needed to do weekly Covid tests for the entire crew. It is likely due to this announcement. It'll be interesting to see what Celebrity will do regrading this change. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by AbbyCruiser45

[foodsvcmgr]

Hopefully this is the end of mandatory tests to board.

And I sincerely hoping masking for crew becomes an optional choice for them.

[AbbyCruiser45]

4 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Hopefully this is the end of mandatory tests to board.

That is my hope as well. I thought it was strange that Celebrity did not announce an end to testing for non-US and Canada based ports when NCL did considering they shared a health/safety team between the lines. It would make sense that they would want to wait until they could announce a fleet wide drop of the requirement. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by AbbyCruiser45

[Redtravel]

Testing is a good thing.  I will not cruise if testing is not required.   With testing, it prevents those infected people from passing it onto to other people on the ship.  It may be an inconvenience. It's responsible to do what you can to make sure that covid isn't on the ship.  If cruise lines stop testing, you will probably get sick. Some cruiselines have a new protocol.  Get covid, get off the ship.  I have a friend that was put off HAL on July 4th in Norway.  Still trying to get home. For now, I will reconsider my future travel plans.  My cruising days may be over. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Chatter is that the cruise lines are meeting tomorrow morning.  It looks like they may be trying to get a consensus on how to proceed after today's announcement. 

[blackshirt]

47 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Testing is a good thing.  I will not cruise if testing is not required.   With testing, it prevents those infected people from passing it onto to other people on the ship.  It may be an inconvenience. It's responsible to do what you can to make sure that covid isn't on the ship.  If cruise lines stop testing, you will probably get sick. Some cruiselines have a new protocol.  Get covid, get off the ship.  I have a friend that was put off HAL on July 4th in Norway.  Still trying to get home. For now, I will reconsider my future travel plans.  My cruising days may be over. 

I hear what you are saying but the pre-cruise testing is not preventing Covid from getting on board anyway. I feel just the opposite. I won’t book another cruise until the requirement to test is ended. The stress of worrying about getting that negative test is just too great for me.

[songbird1329]

You cannot prevent people from getting sick on cruise ships.  Before COVID there were other viruses.  Norovirus comes to mind.

 

Vaccines, mask requirements, pre cruise testing, etc. are all tools to minimize the risk that COVID will spread.  At some point the tools will have outlived their usefulness and will become ineffective.  
 

When the tools become unduly burdensome and ineffective, it’s time to retire the tools.

 

Have we reached that point with cruising?  I hope so.  I’m fully vaccinated and feel comfortable traveling, and if I don’t have to worry about testing for COVID I’ll be ok.

 

Everyone has their own comfort level.  I have friends who still won’t go to a restaurant unless it has outdoor dining.   So if you feel the risk of becoming ill outweighs the benefits of cruising, it’s your decision and I won’t fault you.  But I intend to enjoy my cruise in December regardless of testing requirements.

[deliver42]

I hope the vaccine requirement stays, but ditch the testing, which is totally useless.

[phoenix_dream]

I have very mixed feelings about the test/don't test.  How many positive people does it prevent from coming onboard?  Only the cruise lines know and they aren't telling.  If it's a significant number then they would be very foolish to cancel the testing requirement.  If not, then it is a lot of stress for little value.  We need to keep in mind that another huge outbreak would make the news in seconds and there goes their reputation again, like 2020 all over again.  They can't risk that.  I wouldn't want to be a cruise line CEO these days!

At the very least, I'm hoping that if someone gets sick, they are allowed to quarantine in their room like they can with norovirus.  That alone would make it much less stressful.  I think more people would be honest about potential symptoms if they knew they wouldn't be moved.  

 

 

[mfs2k]

Personally I have mixed feelings. 
I want all my fellow passengers to test before boarding to minimize Covid on board, but I don’t want to test and discover I can’t board my cruise. 

[Cruising89143]

Just saw this posted elsewhere.

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/environmental-health/and-just-cdcs-covid-19-program-cruise-ships-has-ended

[Gia2cats]

Can’t tell you how sad I am right now. Three days ago we finished our land tour in Alaska and tested to get on the ship. My asymptomatic husband tested positive and we had to come home. Looks like we missed our cruise by less than one week.

Now our travel agent is going through the hassle with Celebrity to recoup our money. 
And to everyone who criticized us for flying home, look how fast these rules change. 
 

[woldridge]

Even if they were to stop pre-cruise testing, some countries still require it, at least at present.  Canada being one, which effects most Alaska cruises.

 

[Dancing Shoes]

Oh gosh.  So sorry Gia2cats.  

Edited July 18, 2022 by Dancing Shoes

[jelayne]

I was surprised to see on a Live from thread that the crew on the Summit now has the option  not wear masks.  While I felt bad that for them, particularly when they were double masking, I wonder with the staffing shortages if covid among the crew will increase.  

[jg51]

1 hour ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Hopefully this is the end of mandatory tests to board. ...

.

AND ... the end of tests (on board) for back-to-back guests, on the last full day of the first cruise. 

 

Being kicked off the ship for failing the on-board test can be even more traumatic (and costly) than failing a test that precedes the first cruise.  In the latter case, "X" will give a full refund [or perform re-booking at a later date?], possibly with no loss for air travel [?] ... but, in the former case, we are not sure about refunds, and we may have to foot bills for quarantine and re-booking of air travel.

 

We are open to being corrected, if we have stated something inaccurate above!

 

Thanks for the potentially excellent news, "AbbyCruiser45"!

.

[AbbyCruiser45]

7 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I was surprised to see on a Live from thread that the crew on the Summit now has the option  not wear masks.  While I felt bad that for them, particularly when they were double masking, I wonder with the staffing shortages if covid among the crew will increase.  

That’s why I think testing for crew has to have ended with this. I cannot see Celebrity risking even worse staffing shortages by lifting the mask mandate for crew and not the testing mandate. I feel like staffing is Celebrity’s primary concern right now. 

[Lastdance]

My MDVIP doctor just sent an update this morning.  If you have not gotten the virus, you will in a matter of time.  It is here to stay like most viruses.  The majority of his patients have gotten it and recovered, about 300 or so.  It has weakened, but now there are two meds that can ease symptoms if it is not just a mild to moderate head cold etc.  He told us to fill our prescriptions and just go...so many do not even know they have it, or have had it!   Now, he is not talking about those individuals with compromised immune systems.  Lots of data is inconclusive and hospital Covid counts include people who have tested positive from getting the virus "in the hospital."  This happened to my good friend's father.  He wasn't sick, but PT and other services were taken away for 5 days.   

 

I am just sharing what my doc said; please do what yours suggests, or what you believe is best for you!  Choice is always good and something we all have with cruising.  As to what Celebrity decides to do, whether you agree or not, it is what it is...at the time that you cruise...TBD

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Lastdance
If I have offended anyone with my words, it was not my intent!

[jg51]

7 minutes ago, jelayne said:

... While I felt bad that for them, particularly when they were double masking, I wonder ... if covid among the crew will increase.  

.

We have no doubt that the cases will increase, both among the crew members and among the guests ...

BUT ...

if CDC and "X" judge that the current "strain" of the plague is mild (and manageable), then we've reached the point of having a sort of equivalence with colds, flus, and noroviruses.  For none of those three was pre-cruise testing (and masking) ever required ... so there ought no longer to be testing and masking for the weak covid-19 strain [<== in lower case, to emphasize its weakness!].

.

[lv2cruisgrl]

16 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I was surprised to see on a Live from thread that the crew on the Summit now has the option  not wear masks.  While I felt bad that for them, particularly when they were double masking, I wonder with the staffing shortages if covid among the crew will increase.  

I think it will increase with the crew. This Covid issue isn't over yet. 

[klflote]

Why is everyone assuming the testing requirement will end (and end quickly)? The article mentioned above (https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/environmental-health/and-just-cdcs-covid-19-program-cruise-ships-has-ended) posits this:

------

Protocols not likely to go away

However, this doesn't necessarily mean an end to cruise lines' own COVID-19 protocols. Industry sources said it's unlikely lines will stop their voluntary practices that have been so successful at protecting passengers, crew and communities visited. 

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That seems likely to me. 12 days until boarding and DH is still planning on getting a certificate of recovery, and I'm hoping I'm still negative for 12 days....

[AbbyCruiser45]

2 minutes ago, klflote said:

Why is everyone assuming the testing requirement will end (and end quickly)? The article mentioned above (https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/environmental-health/and-just-cdcs-covid-19-program-cruise-ships-has-ended) posits this:

------

 

For me it’s because other lines, including a major US line NCL, have ended testing in all destinations exactly for US and Canada. So that makes it seem like the thing holding them back was the CDC. 

[Gia2cats]

5 minutes ago, Gia2cats said:

And I will repeat what the Celebrity rep told us. He said that 99% of people that this happens too choose to go home. He also said that my husband wasn’t wearing an ankle bracelet and there was nothing to stop us from returning home. And he said that if you think there is one plane flying out there without COVID on it you’re mistaken. 
I have gotten off a cruise ship with a fever of 101 and the flu and flown home.  The CDC couldn’t have cared less. And don’t tell me the flu isn’t dangerous. As a former ICU nurse, I’ve watched people die from the flu.The CDC and the people making it’s arbitrary rules can come and get me. 
So tomorrow, anyone can get on a cruise ship with any Illness and no longer a problem! If you are that concerned about it, then stay home because it’s everywhere. And by the way, my husband had his second booster 32 days before our trip. So they are pretty worthless too! 

And by the way, we flew first class and minimized contact and wore masks. 

[Peteymil]

1 hour ago, songbird1329 said:

You cannot prevent people from getting sick on cruise ships.  Before COVID there were other viruses.  Norovirus comes to mind.

 

 

And then they stopped allowing self service at the buffet and norovirus seemed to disappear. I wish they would at least keep up with serving at the buffet

[larry_s_taco]

I think a lot is going to depend on the countries that the ship is sailing to. I wouldn't want to get to Italy, Spain, ect... and not be able to get off the ship due to local regulations. Other countries may not even allow a ship to come in if passengers aren't tested.