Side 2 Side cruise testing

[discru]

Does anyone know if Celebrity will covid test passengers on the ship if they are doing a side to side cruise with Royal?  We will be getting off Celebrity in Rome, and flying back to US arriving late. The next morning we cruise on Royal. The Royal cruise is over 5 days long, so it will require a covid test. 

[Wineaux007]

1 hour ago, discru said:

Does anyone know if Celebrity will covid test passengers on the ship if they are doing a side to side cruise with Royal?  We will be getting off Celebrity in Rome, and flying back to US arriving late. The next morning we cruise on Royal. The Royal cruise is over 5 days long, so it will require a covid test. 

We got off a Celebrity sailing in Vancouver and then got on a Royal sailing to Alaska the same day.  We asked Celebrity to do a test and they refused.  They did give us a free test (emed) to take with us when we disembarked.  We ended up doing the emed test the last day of the Celebrity sailing on board using their internet, and it worked out.  I would recommending doing the emed test while still on Celebrity before you fly back.  It should meet the 2-day requirement.

[wrk2cruise]

Their policy used to say yes they will provide the test which I guess technically they did with @Wineaux007 as they gave them the test kit for free.

 

We were on Reflection in March disembarked on Saturday and joined Constellation on Monday (different port) and they tested us no problem onboard Reflection on day of disembarkation.

 

As testing requirements change it will probably get even more complicated.    If I were in your shoes and doing this in the next couple of weeks I would have video proctored tests with me and take them within the required 3 days of the Royal sailing to be safe.  

 

I think getting definitive answers in writing that would be upheld by both Celebrity and Royal with the changes going on would be next to impossible.

 

 

[cruzer0007]

These things continue to change over time, I dont have current information but I can offer that wife and I did a "side to side" last April, and we tested (at no cost) on the last full day of the first cruise.  Our side to side was RCCL first (Allure) then Celebrity (Apex).  It was painless ... other than the anxiety of needing to see the negative result.  I suspect that for as long as they require pre-cruise negative tests, they would continue the policy to support side-by-side in their corporate umbrella, but I would check to be sure

Edited August 14, 2022 by cruzer0007

[discru]

5 hours ago, Wineaux007 said:

We got off a Celebrity sailing in Vancouver and then got on a Royal sailing to Alaska the same day.  We asked Celebrity to do a test and they refused.  They did give us a free test (emed) to take with us when we disembarked.  We ended up doing the emed test the last day of the Celebrity sailing on board using their internet, and it worked out.  I would recommending doing the emed test while still on Celebrity before you fly back.  It should meet the 2-day requirement.

Thank you. I wasn’t sure if the internet signal would be strong enough., but it’s good to hear it works.  A

[discru]

5 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Their policy used to say yes they will provide the test which I guess technically they did with @Wineaux007 as they gave them the test kit for free.

 

We were on Reflection in March disembarked on Saturday and joined Constellation on Monday (different port) and they tested us no problem onboard Reflection on day of disembarkation.

 

As testing requirements change it will probably get even more complicated.    If I were in your shoes and doing this in the next couple of weeks I would have video proctored tests with me and take them within the required 3 days of the Royal sailing to be safe.  

 

I think getting definitive answers in writing that would be upheld by both Celebrity and Royal with the changes going on would be next to impossible.

 

 

Lol. I agree. I’ve asked Celebrity and have yet to receive an answer.
 I’m not sure what would happen if I test positive… I guess if it’s on a day at sea, X will quarantine me for some period on the ship. What if I am able to find a testing place in our last port and that is positive? Would they let me back on the ship to quarantine?

[discru]

Cruzer0007, thank you. That’s what I hoped will happen. It’s stressful, for sure. 

[lexmiller]

5 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Their policy used to say yes they will provide the test which I guess technically they did with @Wineaux007 as they gave them the test kit for free.

 

We were on Reflection in March disembarked on Saturday and joined Constellation on Monday (different port) and they tested us no problem onboard Reflection on day of disembarkation.

 

As testing requirements change it will probably get even more complicated.    If I were in your shoes and doing this in the next couple of weeks I would have video proctored tests with me and take them within the required 3 days of the Royal sailing to be safe.  

 

I think getting definitive answers in writing that would be upheld by both Celebrity and Royal with the changes going on would be next to impossible.

 

 

We are doing a Celebrity side to side in October in Fort Lauderdale, getting off the Beyond then the next day, boarding the Infinity - so it's good to hear that in March, you were tested on the Reflection before boarding the Connie.  I understand of course, that this may not be allowed for us in October, but your experience is a good precedent for us.  Let me ask you this - did the folks on the Reflection print out your results for you so that you could give them to the Connie at boarding, or how exactly did that work?  Thank you!

[wrk2cruise]

Since our Constellation sailing was 2 days later they gave us a special appointment for test at 7:30 before debarkation.  Regular B2B people were tested the day before.  We did ask them to print the results and they did,  just took awhile for them to go get the printout and return.

 

The complicating factor now is your first leg may not be doing B2B testing so the testing company may no longer be onboard like it has been.    I also don't know how the pier workers on the second sailing would know you were on a B2B and that you supposedly didn't need to be tested for the second leg.

 

That's why I said until there are some first hand reports or you can get something in writing from the line I would just make sure to have video proctored tests available to take.

[RichYak]

34 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

We are doing a Celebrity side to side in October in Fort Lauderdale, getting off the Beyond then the next day, boarding the Infinity

That’s not a side to side. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

If you have a cruise on X and a gap day followed by a cruise on Royal the answer is simple - no.

What I would ask is why is using a proctored test stressful any more than a test in person?  No more likelihood of a positive test either way.

Is the stress the cost?  Would suggest if a $10 test and $17 proctoring fee are causing stress; that is definitely a problem.

Nobody knows what the rules will be tomorrow.  We carry tests.  Are travelling internationally since April and will follow whatever rule is in place when we cross a border.

[lexmiller]

17 hours ago, RichYak said:

That’s not a side to side. 

Well, what do we call it then?  It's pretty close, off the Beyond on a Friday, on the Infinity on Saturday.  Is a "true" side to side on and off on the same day?  I want to get the terminology correct!  😋

[TeeRick]

36 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

Well, what do we call it then?  It's pretty close, off the Beyond on a Friday, on the Infinity on Saturday.  Is a "true" side to side on and off on the same day?  I want to get the terminology correct!  😋

In general the term side-to-side usually refers to walking off one ship and getting on a different one, same day, same port.  Back-to-back is the same ship.  Your situation is a good one, no matter what it is called!😀  But cannot easily answer your testing question.  Maybe you will need to ask Guest Services when on board the first ship.  And the answer might very well change by the time you take these cruises anyway.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, lexmiller said:

Well, what do we call it then?  It's pretty close, off the Beyond on a Friday, on the Infinity on Saturday.  Is a "true" side to side on and off on the same day?  I want to get the terminology correct!  😋

It's just 2 separate cruises. A side to side or back to back means disembarking one cruise and embarking on the next the same day. "Pretty close" counts for horseshoes and hand grenades but won't count for the cruise line arranging your test to board the second cruise. For that, you're on your own.

[lexmiller]

3 hours ago, RichYak said:

It's just 2 separate cruises. A side to side or back to back means disembarking one cruise and embarking on the next the same day. "Pretty close" counts for horseshoes and hand grenades but won't count for the cruise line arranging your test to board the second cruise. For that, you're on your own.

Right, gotya, and I always assumed this, until I read the above post by @wrk2cruise, who wrote:

We were on Reflection in March disembarked on Saturday and joined Constellation on Monday (different port) and they tested us no problem onboard Reflection on day of disembarkation.

 

[wrk2cruise]

4 hours ago, RichYak said:

It's just 2 separate cruises. A side to side or back to back means disembarking one cruise and embarking on the next the same day. "Pretty close" counts for horseshoes and hand grenades but won't count for the cruise line arranging your test to board the second cruise. For that, you're on your own.

 

They have been providing any required testing for true side to side (same day different ship withing RCG).   I was surprised when someone here reported they did it for them for when the next sailing was 2 days away.   I asked at guest relations and they said sure no problem.   I really thought they would not want to test me early morning on disembarkation day.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

They have been providing any required testing for true side to side (same day different ship withing RCG).   I was surprised when someone here reported they did it for them for when the next sailing was 2 days away.   I asked at guest relations and they said sure no problem.   I really thought they would not want to test me early morning on disembarkation day.

I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask, right? I just want to make sure @lexmiller doesn't rely on getting the same result and has a backup plan in place.

[discru]

On 8/14/2022 at 4:24 PM, Arizona Wildcat said:

If you have a cruise on X and a gap day followed by a cruise on Royal the answer is simple - no.

What I would ask is why is using a proctored test stressful any more than a test in person?  No more likelihood of a positive test either way.

Is the stress the cost?  Would suggest if a $10 test and $17 proctoring fee are causing stress; that is definitely a problem.

Nobody knows what the rules will be tomorrow.  We carry tests.  Are travelling internationally since April and will follow whatever rule is in place when we cross a border.

For me, the stress is not in the price or in the proctoring, but in testing positive period. Been there, done that.  Being in a foreign country just adds to the “excitement”. 😏

Edited August 16, 2022 by discru

[lexmiller]

20 hours ago, RichYak said:

I suppose it doesn't hurt to ask, right? I just want to make sure @lexmiller doesn't rely on getting the same result and has a backup plan in place.

Thanks!  We definitely will be traveling with our Binax Emed tests, have tests will travel......but my thought was if X would pay for us to test, then we could save our tests and bring our tests back home with us and save them for the next cruise (being mindful of expiration dates, of course).