Royal Caribbean changing its Covid testing policy Aug 8

[DaveOKC]

Quote from recent Royal Caribbean conference call:

 

"Starting Aug. 8, testing will be required for unvaccinated guests on all voyages and for vaccinated guests only on voyages that are six nights or longer,"

 

Its only for 5 day or shorter cruises it seems and you have to be vaccinated to qualify for this.

[BermudaBound2014]

It's a start. No doubt the dominos will fall. 

 

I still think there is a niche market for one of the lines to keep testing and vaccination to appeal to those that want the most strict protocols.  HAL seems a good bet based on their demographics and their longer itineraries. They aren't actively appealing to the younger crowds with water slides and roller coasters on their ships. It also seems to me  that older people are more concerned about covid protocols than those under 55 (not scientific, just an observation). 

 

Also, based on RCL's move, I can see testing remaining on the long voyages where spread appears to be more concentrated. Of course, that also means more chance of quarantine on longer voyages.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[Ferry_Watcher]

Pier staff in Seattle was told to expect the testing requirement to stay in place for cruises going to Alaska, as it is still required by the Canadian Gov't.

[DaveOKC]

4 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Pier staff in Seattle was told to expect the testing requirement to stay in place for cruises going to Alaska, as it is still required by the Canadian Gov't.

Come on Canadians - give us a break on those Seattle cruises which only are in Victoria for a couple of hours.  Wish we could have gone back to 2021 rules on this.

 

[tlguinn_2000]

5 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Quote from recent Royal Caribbean conference call:

 

"Starting Aug. 8, testing will be required for unvaccinated guests on all voyages and for vaccinated guests only on voyages that are six nights or longer,"

 

Its only for 5 day or shorter cruises it seems and you have to be vaccinated to qualify for this.

Jason Liberty said the company would still test unvaccinated guests, and said he expected to drop testing for vaccinated guests on longer cruises in the near future.

[Tidalmist]

On 7/28/2022 at 4:26 PM, DaveOKC said:

Come on Canadians - give us a break on those Seattle cruises which only are in Victoria for a couple of hours.  Wish we could have gone back to 2021 rules on this.

 

It was my understanding that Covid testing for entry into Canada was only required for the unvaccinated.

[Tidalmist]

Please read this…..https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/answers/foreign-vaccinated

[Florida_gal_50]

On 7/28/2022 at 1:26 PM, DaveOKC said:

Come on Canadians - give us a break on those Seattle cruises which only are in Victoria for a couple of hours.  Wish we could have gone back to 2021 rules on this.

 

We don’t have hospital space like you do in the USA.  It too bad Canada is looking after the people that live here and inconveniencing cruisers.

[Cruzaholic41]

Not sure I understand the Victoria argument. How many cruises <5 days go to Victoria?  
 

But regardless, if anyone still thinks vaccination status is still protecting certain places, I have a bridge to sell you. 

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

We don’t have hospital space like you do in the USA.  It too bad Canada is looking after the people that live here and inconveniencing cruisers.

I understand your concerns.  Thats why I want to go back to 2021 rules where we just skipped Victoria instead of a LATE evening stop there where very few people will even get off the ship.  Doing this would protect Canada and at the same time not inconvenience the Seattle to Seattle cruisers

[BermudaBound2014]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

 Doing this would protect Canada and at the same time not inconvenience the Seattle to Seattle cruisers

 

Isn't Canada already protected with one of the highest vaccine rates in the world (83%)? 😉 

[kazu]

50 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Isn't Canada already protected with one of the highest vaccine rates in the world (83%)? 😉 

 

Well yes and no.  For the original double vaccination - yes but the booster percentage is not that high for either the 1st booster or the 2nd.

[BermudaBound2014]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Well yes and no.  For the original double vaccination - yes but the booster percentage is not that high for either the 1st booster or the 2nd.

 

Thank you for sharing that data point.

 

I wonder why Canadians are behind in boosters? It seemed that Canadians were really all onboard  getting the vaccination quickly.

Edited August 3, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[kazu]

Just now, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Thank you for sharing that data point.

 

I wonder why Canadians are behind in boosters? It seemed that Canadians were really all onboard  getting the vaccination quickly.

 

Different provinces each determined their different qualifications (age, immune compromised, etc) to receive the booster (similar to the vaccine) and increased them as time went on.  the problem is not that there is not enough - the problem is some people don’t feel the same urgency to get the booster as they did for the original vaccines.

[BermudaBound2014]

For anyone interested: Here is RCL's official policy regarding testing and the Bahamas. There is currently some discrepancy between RCL and CCL's policy. 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

And to show just how quickly this is evolving, more changes will be announced August 14 for RCL as they transition to a point where everyone (including the unvaccinated) can travel. 

 

So far no changes announced for HAL. Perhaps they will actually offer a niche market for people who prefer protocols remain. Based on this forum, it appears that niche market exists. Probably too early to tell, but it's interesting to follow. 

 

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

More information was revealed today regarding RCL timeline for removing pre-testing. No dates given for when vaccine would be removed. 

 

 

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/royal-caribbean-ceo-hint-when-fully-drop-covid-testing

 

 

Of course, this is only relevant information  to those of you wishing to keep up with industry changes in general. No changes have been announced for HAL specifically. 😉 

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I think you maybe falling a bit behind in the changes. It's hard because the list of countries wide open with zero covid protocols keeps growing daily. 

 

Here is a current list of EU countries that are wide open! No Vaccination required. No pretest. No quarantine and certainly no booster. List updated August 1st. 

 

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-covid-travel-restrictions-are-there-any-left/

 

 

According to this article,  Spain, Netherlands, and Luxemburg are the only three EU countries with any covid protocols remaining. Even France, one of the last countries remaining, removed all covid protocols for travel very recently.

 

 

 

If you are unvaccinated, un-boosted, and unwilling to take a pretest, the list of countries welcoming you as a traveler grows daily. 

 

Here is a good site to monitor the changes. This site was updated August 4th. Note that France (which was holding out) is now a recent add to the list of 79 wide open countries

https://www.traveloffpath.com/countries-without-any-travel-restrictions-or-entry-requirements/

 

 

 

 

Of the exceptions, the Netherlands and Spain account for ports on several cruises.

[BermudaBound2014]

9 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Of the exceptions, the Netherlands and Spain account for ports on several cruises.

 

Of course they do :). 

 

However up until a few days, France was on the list too and France removed themself ;-). How long before Spain and the Netherlands remove protocols is anyone's guess, but I suspect it will be sooner rather than later.

 

 

The trend is undoubtably moving toward more and more countries removing all protocols, not adding boosters as was suggested in #19. 

Edited August 5, 2022 by BermudaBound2014