Will testing be gone now after today's announcement from CDC?

[island lady]

1 minute ago, robmtx said:

 

Unfortunately, this won't work either. You can test negative at the terminal and test positive the next day. You can even have symptoms and test negative, so discount it as the common cold or flu. 

 

 

 

Testing two days prior then makes even less sense.  

 

[LMaxwell]

4 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

No, because of the infectious rate of the variant. Just because your family doesnt cruise, it doesnt lower my risk of getting Covid from other passengers who were positive getting on the ship. I may never come in contact with your family on an Oasis size ship but be around others that are positive. 

 

 

I would agree you can not prevent or remove all of the UNKNOWNS. 

But you mitigate chances of spread by removing all KNOWN positives. 

Some amount of positives are boarding ships; obviously. 

However, this reduces the amount of total cases potentially boarding the ship. 

 

Those are just declarative statements based on math. Nothing really contentious or opinionated about them. 

 

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

No testing is effective on stopping Covid on cruise ships.

 

Thats a fact. Data has shown that out. 

 

So why test?

[robmtx]

1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

I think the tests worked for your group, had they not tested before boarding the infection rate of your group may have been higher then 4%.  Do you agree?

We just have to agree to disagree on this one. I do not agree. When the national average is below 1% and a one week sailing nets an guestimated percentage of 4% without a full report of everyone, I'd say that's a significant outbreak over being on land... How did the pre-cruise testing work? The point of pre-cruise testing was to prevent the spread, but 4x the national average isn't preventing the spread. At that rate it doesn't matter if it's 4x, 5x, or 6x. It failed to maintain the <1% average that we see on land.

 

[Another_Critic]

6 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

So why test?

Isn't it obvious why? ... So people can argue about the subject on CC.  😜

[Rogueperson]

4 minutes ago, robmtx said:

We just have to agree to disagree on this one. I do not agree. When the national average is below 1% and a one week sailing nets an guestimated percentage of 4% without a full report of everyone, I'd say that's a significant outbreak over being on land... How did the pre-cruise testing work? The point of pre-cruise testing was to prevent the spread, but 4x the national average isn't preventing the spread. At that rate it doesn't matter if it's 4x, 5x, or 6x. It failed to maintain the <1% average that we see on land.

 

1%?  CDC reports the last 7 day monitoring period at 17.5%.  The cruise lines across the board have been consistently below the national and global average which is why they are commended for their protocols.  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

[bwrstlrman]

5 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Because the vast majority no longer care including myself. We need to live on and deal with it. Do you think people going on vacations to resorts, Vegas, Disneyland care about Covid and are required to worry like cruise ship passengers have been forced to do? Are these peoples vacations getting ruined by testing just two days before their trip? I'm a family of four that has thousands invested in my cruise next month. For families like mine having to test two kids just hours before we fly out is a pain and stressful. If you are too scared to cruise without testing please stay home and let the rest of us go and live a normal vacation.  Enough of the rule supporters and pushers. 

My thoughts exactly!

[rolloman]

13 minutes ago, island lady said:

Test on Friday:  Negative.

 

Two days to travel to ship, you unknowingly get exposed to Covid.  (And there are plenty of venues to do so)

 

Sunday board ship...spread it around among your fellow pax and crew members.  

 

The only way to really insure there are no positive cases...is to test at the terminal before you board.  

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, your last sentence could not be more wrong. The crew is infected with Covid. The port visits are infected with Covid. Your fellow passengers are not the only source.

[island lady]

3 minutes ago, rolloman said:

Sorry, your last sentence could not be more wrong. The crew is infected with Covid. The port visits are infected with Covid. Your fellow passengers are not the only source.

 

That was my point.  Testing needs to go away.  

 

They don't test you when you board the plane and sit packed in like sardines on your way to the cruise...heck they don't even wear masks on the plane or in the terminal any longer.  

 

Get Vaxxed, get boosted...protect yourself.   Cruise lines obviously need to CYA to be sure you are fully vaxxed, so they are not dealing with cases on board that would be more serious if you were not vaxxed.    

 

But the testing is so obviously flawed.  

[F27TW]

Actually, I think what the cruise lines are stewing over right now more than anything re: dropping Covid testing altogether is whether or not they're ready to risk another major outbreak on one of their ships .. which could easily lead to another shutdown .. especially with the BA5 numbers climbing.

[island lady]

12 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Isn't it obvious why? ... So people can argue about the subject on CC.  😜

 

Oh...indeed...so much fun.  😄 

[Biker19]

55 minutes ago, island lady said:

The only way to really insure there are no positive cases...is to test at the terminal before you board.  

Spectrum in Singapore is like that.

[rudeney]

59 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Well, I feel that finding out if I am sick and modifying my social agenda is literally the least I can do for society.

 

That's the issue: With the Omicron variants, plenty of people have zero symptoms or such mild symptoms that they don't bother to get tested.  If a person's only way of knowing the are "sick" is a positive test, then they are not "sick".  

 

[island lady]

26 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Spectrum in Singapore is like that.

 

So is Disney cruise lines in PC.  

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, robmtx said:

We just have to agree to disagree on this one. I do not agree. When the national average is below 1% and a one week sailing nets an guestimated percentage of 4% without a full report of everyone, I'd say that's a significant outbreak over being on land... How did the pre-cruise testing work? The point of pre-cruise testing was to prevent the spread, but 4x the national average isn't preventing the spread. At that rate it doesn't matter if it's 4x, 5x, or 6x. It failed to maintain the <1% average that we see on land.

 

Less percentage on land because people are more spread out then on a cruise ship. Those percentages will never change.

[Jkaczanowski]

10 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

So is Disney cruise lines in PC.  

not any more.  Disney went to the 2 day proctored option like Royal.  Otherwise we would have cancelled our Sept Wish sailing. 

[Jkaczanowski]

1 hour ago, robmtx said:

We just have to agree to disagree on this one. I do not agree. When the national average is below 1% and a one week sailing nets an guestimated percentage of 4% without a full report of everyone, I'd say that's a significant outbreak over being on land... How did the pre-cruise testing work? The point of pre-cruise testing was to prevent the spread, but 4x the national average isn't preventing the spread. At that rate it doesn't matter if it's 4x, 5x, or 6x. It failed to maintain the <1% average that we see on land.

 

Do you really think the national average is being accurately reported?  8 of us went to Disney late June.  5 of us came home with Covid. 1 addl had Covid in January.  Not 1 of those cases were “reported” as all were caught on home tests.  With the decrease in the availability of testing, my guess is the number is WAY under counted. 

[island lady]

30 minutes ago, Jkaczanowski said:

not any more.  Disney went to the 2 day proctored option like Royal.  Otherwise we would have cancelled our Sept Wish sailing. 

 

Interesting.  Thanks...things do change.  🙂 

[cruiselvr04]

The cruise lines know how many people they are “catching “ with their pre cruise testing and how many they are still isolating on the ship.  They are also aware that many people on board have it and don’t report it.  They are well aware of the number of crew that test positive.  
 

The cruise lines don’t want a huge outbreak of really sick people but they do want to quit refunding cruises at the last minute.  This does cost them money.  People in isolation on ships also are not spending money in the casino, shops and bars.  
 

We cruise in less then 2 weeks.  It is very stressful thinking about testing at the last minute.  We have insurance and can get refunded of course.  But I can’t reschedule my long awaited vacation time and just re book for the fall.  

It will be interesting to see if the announcement from the CDC changes anything.  

 

[Joseph2017China]

12 hours ago, birdofsong said:

Maybe I'm slow, but I'm just not understanding why so many people want the testing mandate dropped.  Are you really okay with people going on the ship with you who are knowingly positive, or unknowingly, but don't find out because they don't have to test?  Or are YOU personally looking forward to being allowed on the ship even if you're positive, since you don't have to prove otherwise? I realize that for most people, Covid doesn't turn serious, but if you can keep people off the ships who would intentionally go even though they know they're positive, you could keep more people healthy.  

 

There are already cases on every ship and every sailing, and that is with vaxxing and testing.  I can only imagine how much higher that number would go if the mandate is dropped.  I know that there are a bunch of people who aren't cruising now because of the mandate.  Me, personally -- if they drop the mandate, I won't sail until this is far less transmissible.  

It's easy to understand.  In 30 days, I will be on an international trip, not a ship, in a large city, that I will fly without a mask on, and will not be tested going to this trip.  Will stay in hotels, use public transportation, and be in some very crowded places with total strangers, and no requirement for a vaccine, or if they have one, or if they are sick.  Go to the ship, they require a vaccine, and the testing does not always work, and it is not necessary.  So yes, I am looking forward to not wasting money and time on getting a test and COVID will be with us for the next 10 - 15 years along with a multitude of other diseases we can catch.

[Cruise a holic]

We are also cruising in a couple of weeks- Hate the test- but as the cases of Covid are on the rise- we need to be diligent and continue.  Many people do not report that they are covid positive so actual case must be much higher.

 

Fortunately, all  (most) guests are vaccinated and hopefully kids also now.

[RachelGray]

I don't want to get into any back and forth on Covid opinions or my views on testing per se, I'm simply here to find out people's true opinions on what the change will mean in reality re pre boarding. We are due to sail from Vancouver on the 14th August, following a 2 week multi-site break (we are from the UK)...this is a very long awaited holiday for us to celebrate the end of major exams and big life changes.

Do people actually feel the CDC change in stance will make a diff to Royal Caribbean's testing protocol and if so, how long do you think it'll take to come into affect? 

[hazeleyes46]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Less percentage on land because people are more spread out then on a cruise ship. Those percentages will never change.

Depends on where you go. You can sit on top of others in many places for hours on end. 

[RedIguana]

18 minutes ago, RachelGray said:

We are due to sail from Vancouver on the 14th August, following a 2 week multi-site break (we are from the UK)...this is a very long awaited holiday for us to celebrate the end of major exams and big life changes.

Current Canadian rules require covid testing prior to boarding a cruise ship departing (or visiting I believe, but irrelevant in your case) from a Canadian port. The CDC has no authority in Canada.

[dianajo67]

1 hour ago, RachelGray said:

I don't want to get into any back and forth on Covid opinions or my views on testing per se, I'm simply here to find out people's true opinions on what the change will mean in reality re pre boarding. We are due to sail from Vancouver on the 14th August, following a 2 week multi-site break (we are from the UK)...this is a very long awaited holiday for us to celebrate the end of major exams and big life changes.

Do people actually feel the CDC change in stance will make a diff to Royal Caribbean's testing protocol and if so, how long do you think it'll take to come into affect? 

Just my GUESS…..Would not surprise me if Royal makes testing changes in Europe quickly as most countries no longer require testing or even proof of vaccination.  The Caribbean is another story.  Several locations require proof of vaccination and a few still require negative covid tests.  Until that changes, I don’t think the testing will go away for U.S. ported cruises.  Expect there to be pressure on those island to “get with the program” and ease requirements.  My GUESS is 1 October for the Caribbean and 15 August for Europe.  No guesses regarding Asia and Cruises that hit Canada (sorry as I know you’re sailing out of there) as I don’t cruise there and haven’t been following.

Edited July 19, 2022 by dianajo67