Branson says no testing on Virgin….Celebrity are you watching?

[prmssk]

FYI - CDC’s updated recommendations to cruise lines still include testing and showing proof of that testing at embarkation.  That doesn’t mean they have to follow those recommendations but they may still choose to do so. 
 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid-19-cruise-ship-guidance.html

[Yoshikitty]

One severe outbreak on a cruiseship - no matter what line - and probably denial of going into port can put the entire cruise industry on their knees - again.

 

And that is the only reason, why you still need a test to board a cruiseship.

 

Personally, I have no idea where the issue is with testing. I‘d rather know that the person that I meet on a plane/ship/train has tested negative - so is not symptomatic and my risk of  getting infected by him/her is not zero but minimal.

 

[RichYak]

6 minutes ago, Yoshikitty said:

One severe outbreak on a cruiseship - no matter what line - and probably denial of going into port can put the entire cruise industry on their knees - again.

A "severe outbreak"--given vaccines, antivirals, and far less virulent variants that are currently dominant--is virtually impossible.

[TSC]

For those (like me) who support vaccinations but are ready to drop pre-cruise testing, I recommend you reach out to Celebrity. Customer response will be important to get this lifted. I did a message on the Celebrity Facebook page. They answered - so I know someone read it. 🙂 

 

[Gia2cats]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

The airlines lobbied the CDC pretty hard to get the return to US testing requirement dropped. International travel was heavily suppressed. At this time of year, ships have historically sailed at north of 100% capacity. Right now it's not even close to that. Both of these indicate to me that testing is a drag on bookings. 

 

We use the phrase "waste of time" but in reality it is a cost vs benefit. There's clearly not much benefit given the amount of covid on cruise ships. In fact, given covid's timeline, most of the people who test positive 48+ hours prior to boarding would in all likelihood no longer be contagious by sail away. So what really is the point? The really dangerous passengers are the ones who are already contagious but have yet to exhibit symptoms or test positive. They're being welcomed aboard with big smiles and a glass of sparkling wine.

Here is another viewpoint. My husband tested positive before boarding the ship after a land tour in Alaska.He had NO symptoms. By that evening he had a very minor cold….no aches, no fever, no cough other than a tickle in his throat. I tested negative.

The next morning I also had minor cold symptoms. I continued to test negative for 7 consecutive days, until finally on the 8th day I tested positive. My symptoms, like his were virtually gone by then.

Our Dept of Health kept in touch with him every day and after 5 days, declared him off of isolation. 
I’d love one of the experts tell me exactly how this happened. I would have boarded that ship with a negative test but obviously not COVID free. Is is because I had the second booster 2 weeks before we left for the trip? No one knows the answer to this.