New Sail Safe Covid Polices Effective 9/2/22

[BermudaBound2014]

For those sailing in Canada keep your eyes peeled for changes. 

[KeithJenner]

7 hours ago, CruisingMelly said:

I am also very confused regarding this new wording. We have our cruise boarding in Rome on Saturday and was under the impression all testing requirements have been removed, however it now states all cruises before Sept 2 require negative test prior to boarding…

In case you haven't seen it, the page has now been updated to say that no testing is required before 2nd Sept for cruises other than US, Canada or Athens.

[ChiefMateJRK]

41 minutes ago, Fisical1 said:

For Canada (Alaska Cruise) Did they change the testing day to 3 from 2 days prior to the cruise?  I thought it was 2 days prior.

NCL now says 3 days but Canada's government website still indicates 2. (Antigen tests in both cases)  What could possibly go wrong?

[graphicguy]

Read through it.  Not sure I understand it, totally.  But, said it before, it was just a matter of time before whatever matrix the cruise lines use to ascertain the amount of vaccinated guests they'll have on the ships.  If you look at those who are vaccinated is quickly approaching 80% in the U.S.

 

The vast majority of cruisers are 65 or older.  That demographic is over 95% vaccinated rate.

 

Give NCL credit.  They instituted their COVID policy well over a year and a half ago.  They didn't waver.  They stuck to it.  Now, they're easing their restrictions to reflect the reality of vaccine status.

 

Testing stopped those who were already infected from boarding.  With the high vaccination rates, they can ease up on that process, too.  I'm sure the extra layer of time associated with checking everyone's proof of negative covid tests is something they wanted to eliminate when it was prudent, also.

 

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

21 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

For those sailing in Canada keep your eyes peeled for changes. 

Do you know something we don't know?😀

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

The vast majority of cruisers are 65 or older.

Vast majority?  Are you sure?

[graphicguy]

1 minute ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Vast majority?  Are you sure?

According to the CDC as of August 4th.

[graphicguy]

3 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Vast majority?  Are you sure?

I read your questions wrong.  You're not talking about vaccinated ages.

 

To answer your question, this is from 2020.  Revise my statement to say "majority".

 

https://porteconomicsmanagement.org/pemp/contents/part1/ports-and-cruise-shipping/average-cruise-passenger-age-group/

[Cindy]

This is the news I’ve been hoping for. Continuing pre-cruise testing didn’t make sense to me given that you  don’t have to test to get into most countries and you could be exposed dozens of times after testing and before boarding. At best mandatory testing might catch a handful of people before a cruise but there are so many ways and places to catch Covid that I don’t see how a ship could be 100% Covid free.

 

For our trip to Hawaii and POA cruise next month, we will self test before our flight, and then not again unless we have good reason to think we’ve been exposed or have symptoms.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

10 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I read your questions wrong.  You're not talking about vaccinated ages.

 

To answer your question, this is from 2020.  Revise my statement to say "majority".

 

https://porteconomicsmanagement.org/pemp/contents/part1/ports-and-cruise-shipping/average-cruise-passenger-age-group/

Thanks.  That chart makes sense, but it really suggests that the majority of cruisers (52%) are between 40 and 69.

[CruisingMelly]

32 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

In case you haven't seen it, the page has now been updated to say that no testing is required before 2nd Sept for cruises other than US, Canada or Athens.

Thank you! I am hearing there on changes to the website but appears to be updating in each country. Right now in Canada the website hasn’t changed but fingers crossed it will be updated soon. 

[d9704011]

3 minutes ago, CruisingMelly said:

Thank you! I am hearing there on changes to the website but appears to be updating in each country. Right now in Canada the website hasn’t changed but fingers crossed it will be updated soon. 

Don't count on it for this season at least.

[Love Blue]

Here is a link to the Government of Canada website.  We are Canadians boarding in Vancouver, sailing to US ports and disembarking in the US, so we believe we still need to test before sailing (in October).

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

 

[MichiganBound]

31 minutes ago, Love Blue said:

Here is a link to the Government of Canada website.  We are Canadians boarding in Vancouver, sailing to US ports and disembarking in the US, so we believe we still need to test before sailing (in October).

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

 

That's my interpretation as well.  I'm thinking of taking the Oct 10 sailing out of Vancouver.

[graphicguy]

39 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Thanks.  That chart makes sense, but it really suggests that the majority of cruisers (52%) are between 40 and 69.

Yeah....was looking for a more recent study, as this one's from 2 years ago.

 

That said, given the procedures for sailing over the past two years was slewed towards "older" cruisers, I would think the percentages would slew in a similar direction.

 

No matter, after nearly 2 years, we're coming out the other end of the tunnel.  I don't expect it to have much, if any, effect on NCL as they have been sailing at, or near, capacity for the last few months.  But, I think it has forced all the cruise lines to revamp their healthy sailing protocols.  That's a good thing.

[MichiganBound]

33 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Don't count on it for this season at least.

I would agree.  Hard to imagine Canada will drastically alter it's Covid cruise ship protocol for the small number of cruises that depart Canada still this year.  The season pretty much wraps up in mid-October for Canada departing cruises.  

[ChiefMateJRK]

13 minutes ago, MichiganBound said:

I would agree.  Hard to imagine Canada will drastically alter it's Covid cruise ship protocol for the small number of cruises that depart Canada still this year.  The season pretty much wraps up in mid-October for Canada departing cruises.  

There are still a lot of ships stopping in Canada between now and October, and some (most?) of those have a lot of empty cabins.  If Canada gets with the program quickly, it will certainly help the cruise lines book more passengers, which equates to more tourist dollars for the fine folks up North.

[zjc]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

For those sailing in Canada keep your eyes peeled for changes. 

I'm about to buy some tests for my cruise in September - should I hold off. 

[piedpiper99]

6 hours ago, Swells1 said:

This is a disappointment to me as well, though I'm far too close to my sail date to seriously consider cancelling. 

I think you would have sound ground to get your money back.   If you truly do not like it, don't go and be miserable -  just switch to a line that has a vaccine mandate like Seadream, or Windstar.

[BermudaBound2014]

6 hours ago, Travelicious said:

I have now seen enough anecdotal evidence to convince me that being vaccinated (which I am, and double boosted) does not prevent catching or transmitting COVID.  But I do understand your thinking, as I was there myself until recently.

 

Paradigm shifts are challenging. Congratulations!

[BermudaBound2014]

49 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

No matter, after nearly 2 years, we're coming out the other end of the tunnel.  I don't expect it to have much, if any, effect on NCL as they have been sailing at, or near, capacity for the last few months.  But, I think it has forced all the cruise lines to revamp their healthy sailing protocols.  That's a good thing.

 

You keep saying this so I'll keep correcting you LOL. Again, You are wrong. No kind way to say it. You seem to have an irresponsible habit of repeatedly reporting inaccurate information here on the forum.

 

Occupancy numbers will be filed with the SEC tomorrow. I'll be sure to report back to remove all doubt 🙂 

[bortman23]

Honestly the key after Sept 2nd is: unless country requirements differ.

 

Currently Canada's requirements differ, so currently, yes to testing if you embark or go to a Canadian Port.

 

They're basically say "we don't require testing for vaccinated guests, unless a country requires it"

 

I'm 50/50 on this news. While I think it's fine to drop the testing for vaccinated guests, it does make things less streamlined. It's easier for everyone to understand then it's a one size fits all type thing. Either testing is a YES or a NO. When we through all the different Country requirements in there it's gonna be confusing.

[NW Pacific]

When I google Canada Covid Testing-  the first Covid Canada feed that comes up, which on top says Government of Canada.  the first paragraph states "Pre entry tests are not required for fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada by land, air or water".  I could not see a date for this information.  Very confusing.  Have seen on other Canada websites the opposite, unknow date of information, but still requiring testing.  So confused

[Snowrose]

@kasimir I was answering a specific question about how getting the tests work for entering Canada. Having read the info extremely carefully, because I'm a dual citizen that may often travel across the border, I simply wanted to help make things clearer for those who are facing the same testing issues I am.

 

I'm just here to help folks when I can.

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, NW Pacific said:

When I google Canada Covid Testing-  the first Covid Canada feed that comes up, which on top says Government of Canada.  the first paragraph states "Pre entry tests are not required for fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada by land, air or water".  I could not see a date for this information.  Very confusing.  Have seen on other Canada websites the opposite, unknow date of information, but still requiring testing.  So confused

What are you confused about?  You don't need a test to come to Canada by land, sea or water.  However, the water part does not include cruise ships which are treated much differently.  Generally, you will need a test of you're boarding a cruise ship with a stop in Canada or a cruise ship embarking passengers in Canada.