Proctored Covid test for Transatlantic cruises

[ILOVESHIPS]

They seem to be doing away with vaccination cards. Do they still require  a  proctored  covid test to go from  Florida to Barcelona on a  transatlantic  voyage.

[Tiggerontheseas]

5 minutes ago, ILOVESHIPS said:

They seem to be doing away with vaccination cards. Do they still require  a  proctored  covid test to go from  Florida to Barcelona on a  transatlantic  voyage.

 

Yes, at this time they still require a 'supervised' test.   Here is the information from the most recent protocols update:

 

For Transatlantic Cruises

All guests age 5 and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 test taken within 2 days before boarding day.

The test you take must be supervised by a health professional, such as a doctor, pharmacy technician, public health worker, or telehealth professional. Telehealth testing at home is accepted for vaccinated guests, and must be conducted under live video supervision. Tests must be arranged on your own and are at your own expense.

Guests age 4 and younger do not have any testing requirements.

 

Please note: A guest is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after the required number of doses in their vaccine series have been fully administered (e.g. 2 shots of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, etc., or 1 shot of Johnson & Johnson). Vaccines must be approved for use by the World Health Organization (WHO), with the exception of CanSino.

[crzndeb]

We can only go by what is written now, but that could change before the Eastbound TA’s start next Spring. Nobody knows what will happen next year.

[foodsvcmgr]

What government entity is still mandating this?

[flamingos]

18 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

What government entity is still mandating this?

I would imagine the government of the country the ship is sailing to.

 

[Kbonner]

6 hours ago, flamingos said:

I would imagine the government of the country the ship is sailing to.

 

TAs only sail to Europe.

There is no European country that mandates a test/test result for entering the relevant country.

This is all RCCL selfmade obstruction 

[gumshoe958]

As @crzndebsaid there’s absolutely no point in speculating about this now.
 

The eastbound TAs aren’t for another 3-4 months and Royal won’t even start thinking about the rules until much nearer the time.
 

The current published rules applied to the westbound TAs in September/October and simply haven’t been updated.

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by gumshoe958

[Silke Rauh]

7 hours ago, flamingos said:

I would imagine the government of the country the ship is sailing to.

 

No, Great Britain and most of the European Countrys will not require a Test. Anyway, when we arrive the Test is almost 13 Days old ;o) RCL requires the Test, nobody else

[hal2008]

16 hours ago, Kbonner said:

TAs only sail to Europe.

There is no European country that mandates a test/test result for entering the relevant country.

This is all RCCL selfmade obstruction 

A quite sensible one 

 

Cruise ship is unusually crowded (in terms of Covid spread) area.  In most 7 days ones, acquired infectee become infectious after  disembarkation 

 

Last summer, RCL(and other cruise lines) acquired enough data about TA cruise vs local 7 nighters (both in US and Europe markets) to make them continue asking for this.

 

However, this may change too as consequences (if not probability) of this infection continue to abate.

 

TLDR-:

Very sensible policy on part of cruise line especially in absence of government mandate.  But hopefully, it will go away by summer. At least hope so. 

[BirdTravels]

On 12/22/2022 at 4:17 PM, foodsvcmgr said:

What government entity is still mandating this?

 Royal Caribbean. 
 

Throughout the pandemic, the cruise line has often imposed restrictions that exceed Govt requirements to minimize risk to crew and guests. 

 

 

[MariettaGuy]

For the spring Transatlantic (and Transpacific) cruises, the rules have now changed.  You can now do an at-home COVID test without supervision.  This is a Royal Caribbean restriction - it is not imposed by any governmental agency.  They deem it necessary for safety on the longer cruises.  And I am glad they are doing it - I am doing a 17 night TA the end of April.

 

For Transatlantic and Transpacific Cruises

All guests age 2 and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 test taken no more than 2 days prior to sailing.

Required testing can be completed using any type of PCR or antigen COVID-19 test. It can be professionally proctored at your doctor or drugstore, or it can be a test you administer to yourself at home without supervision.

Guests under age 2 do not have any testing requirements.

Edited February 6, 2023 by MariettaGuy

[smokeybandit]

Letting home tests be an option is the same as not requiring testing at all.

[basenji56]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Letting home tests be an option is the same as not requiring testing at all.

Only if you assume that everyone will cheat.

 

[Tlbecker1]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Letting home tests be an option is the same as not requiring testing at all.

I don’t disagree, but I have 3 TA’s this year and I will be doing all of them with a smile.

[mugtech]

Going to be in Miami 3 nights before boarding Explorer on 4/23/23 for  a 15 day TA to Rome.  Anyone know where the best place is to get a Covid test within 2 days of boarding?  Will be staying in a hotel.

[flamingos]

4 hours ago, basenji56 said:

Only if you assume that everyone will cheat.

 

 

How ling have you been reading this forum??  🙂

[Tiggerontheseas]

35 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Going to be in Miami 3 nights before boarding Explorer on 4/23/23 for  a 15 day TA to Rome.  Anyone know where the best place is to get a Covid test within 2 days of boarding?  Will be staying in a hotel.

 

Do you have access to some home test kits? Since the tests no longer have to be proctored it would easiest to just take antigen tests with you and test yourself at your hotel room.  

[basenji56]

1 hour ago, flamingos said:

 

How ling have you been reading this forum??  🙂

Twelve years

 

[DallasGuy75219]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:19 AM, Kbonner said:

This is all RCCL selfmade obstruction 

On a TA the ship can be several days away from a port where they can disembark critically ill COVID patients to get more advanced care than is available on the ship. 

 

If someone doesn't understand the value of minimizing the number of passengers, especially unvaccinated, who board with asymptomatic COVID (or flat out lie about not having symptoms), then there will be some schadenfreude going on in the middle of the Atlantic. 

[easyqueasy]

40 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

On a TA the ship can be several days away from a port where they can disembark critically ill COVID patients to get more advanced care than is available on the ship. 

 

If someone doesn't understand the value of minimizing the number of passengers, especially unvaccinated, who board with asymptomatic COVID (or flat out lie about not having symptoms), then there will be some schadenfreude going on in the middle of the Atlantic. 

I don’t know how Royal came up with their requirements, but you are also many days from land on sailings between Vancouver and Hawaii and no testing or vaccination is required (unvaccinated 12 and over currently can’t sail transatlantic or transpacific). It’s their ships their rules, but I don’t see how a picture of a test or someone vaccinated 2 years ago matters much. 

[smokeybandit]

5 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

On a TA the ship can be several days away from a port where they can disembark critically ill COVID patients to get more advanced care than is available on the ship. 

 

If someone doesn't understand the value of minimizing the number of passengers, especially unvaccinated, who board with asymptomatic COVID (or flat out lie about not having symptoms), then there will be some schadenfreude going on in the middle of the Atlantic. 

You could count the number of critically ill covid patients that had to be evacuated from a ship on one hand.

[basenji56]

44 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

You could count the number of critically ill covid patients that had to be evacuated from a ship on one hand.

Some people live with their calendar forever reading March 2020.

 

[sunlover12]

Not sure if we should go back to required testing but passengers have to assume the risks of being on a very large cruise ship. We got off Wonder on 1/29 and both DH and I got Covid. First time either of us have had it. The past 10 days have been rough. 

 

This was our 4th cruise post-Covid, the first on RCI.  The other 3 were smaller ships with maximum 650 passengers.  On Wonder we were in crowded elevators, no one wearing masks, 6000+ passengers. We knew the risks going in but it's going to be a very long time before we go back to the mega ships, if ever. 

 

[smokeybandit]

The odds of you getting covid from 1-2 minutes in an elevator are near zero.

[Jasukkie]

7 hours ago, easyqueasy said:

I don’t know how Royal came up with their requirements, but you are also many days from land on sailings between Vancouver and Hawaii and no testing or vaccination is required (unvaccinated 12 and over currently can’t sail transatlantic or transpacific). It’s their ships their rules, but I don’t see how a picture of a test or someone vaccinated 2 years ago matters much. 

We were required to show a picture (silly) of our negative tests for Hawaii to Vancouver on what was probably the most recent sailing in October. We tested before we boarded our plane for Honolulu and before heading to the ship since we had plenty of tests and would not have wanted to board if we were positive.