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Has anyone sailed with a certificate of recovery and not a test yet? Did it go well? Complicated? And just to confirm if its within 90 days before sail date or end of cruise? We all tested 86 + days out from sail date and wondering if we can get away with not testing.

Unvaccinated Americans to face tighter COVID testing requirements in new US travel system The U.S. will roll out a new travel system in two weeks that will open borders up for millions of vaccinated international visitors. The system launching Nov. 8 will end the U.S. travel ban that has been in place for dozens of countries since the start of the pandemic.It will also make reentry more challenging for unvaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents and establish stringent testing requirements for the rare unvaccinated foreign nationals allowed entry. "For anyone traveling to the United States who cannot demonstrate proof of full vaccination, they will have to produce documentation of a negative test within one day of departure," instead of the current three days, according to the White House. Fully vaccinated Americans will still have a three-day window for COVID-19 testing with negative results, but if they are not able to show proof of vaccination, they too will be subject to the one-day testing requirement.... Continue to the article for more information

Grand Cayman just announced on October 14 that they are extending their cruise ship ban Until February 2022. My question is why have none of itineraries been changed for ships that are selling within the next 3 to 4 weeks and why are they continuing to sell cruises listing Grand Cayman as a destination that is only lying to people who may particularly want to go to that island

Received this email today for an upcoming cruise. At least it looks like the cruise is still going! "Dear Guest, Before we set off for adventure on our Explorer of the Seas <Date removed for privacy> cruise, we have a quick change to share with you. While we've been working around the clock to get our ships back to cruising, we've had to change how our guests are spaced out onboard to ensure proper social distancing. As a result, your original stateroom is no longer available. We're sorry for the last-minute change, but there's no need to worry. You'll be relocated to a like-for-like stateroom, and all your amenities will remain the same Please know, there's no action necessary on your part. Once the changes are finalized, an updated booking invoice reflecting your new details will be sent to you and your Travel Advisor via email. If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor immediately or contact us at: 1 866 562 7625 in the U.S. or Canada 1 800 754 500 in Australia In the UK only, by using our webchat service or by calling 0344 493 4005 All other countries, please visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contactus for your local Royal Caribbean International office phone number. Thanks for your understanding. Next up: kick back, relax, and start counting the days until you set sail! See you soon! Sincerely, Royal Caribbean International "

We’re sailing in August and have just the stops in Nassau and Perfect Day. Was wondering if any of the people sailing in July were told if they needed the Bahamas health visa for the “day stops”. I’m “the planner” for our group of 7 and have warned everyone that it “could” be a requirement, but haven’t seen anything yet that tells me yes or no. I’m sure Royal will provide us information when they have it, but want to stay ahead of this since not all parties are will be traveling to Florida at the same time. Thanks. note: all parties are fully vaccinated

The majority of cruise ships Royal has announced to be sailing this summer, as of right now are saying that they require guests to be vaccinated. Does anyone have any idea how Royal Caribbean will verify you have been vaccinated?

Gonna try giving this a shot even though I've never done a live blog before. Please take it easy on me ?

http://crew-center.com/royal-caribbean-group-will-require-crew-members-get-covid-19-vaccine Is it only a matter of time before guests have to do the same?

Saga, a British cruise line serving the over 50 market has today mandated all passengers having a Covid-19 vaccination prior to sailing, guess they won't be the only one. https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-line-requires-all-guests-to-be-vaccinated/46159

An update on the Paul Gauguin: More detailed (and well balanced) info is now available in local media: https://www.radio1.pf/paul-gauguin-les-passagers-en-septaine-a-terre-le-protocole-sanitaire-renforce/ https://www.tahiti-infos.com/Les-passagers-du-Gauguin-debarques-et-confines_a193190.html None of the other passengers and crew tested positive from Sunday’s testing, and they have been allowed to start to disembark the Gauguin Monday night. Here, IMO, are the salient facts to note: The infected passenger is a 22-year-old travelling with her mother. They arrived from the States last Sunday, before boarding on Thursday. They’d been diligently following the mandatory masking and social distancing protocols, and were also diligent about doing the required self-test and dropping it off as instructed. They 100% complied with all of the conditions that were imposed on their travel and their cruise -- they did their part to mitigate risk. The requirement for a test to be done 72 hours before boarding the departure flight is not perfect - but we all knew that already. It’s acknowledged that she could have easily been infected in the interval, or had a first false-negative. The required self-test done 4 days after arrival did its job. However, it did not prevent her from embarking the ship. Because of this, a 3rd test on the eve of embarkation is now going to be required, administered by the authorities. The sanitary protocols onboard ship were strictly adhered to, and worked. Tracing identified 24 ‘at risk’ crew and passengers that had been in contact with the pair (out of 340.) The pair’s shoreside day on Bora-Bora, with the use of a rental car and a stop at a restaurant, as well as their time in Tahiti could reliably be contact-traced as well. The authorities expressed confidence in their testing, tracing and isolating policy. They feel that the E.T.I.S. system (https://www.etis.pf/en/), that they have put in place to manage the health screening and monitoring of the tourists on the islands, functioned as intended. They felt that the risk of exposure had been minimal (not zero.) All passengers and crew that tested negative must now adhere to a 7-day quarantine, to end with retesting to be redone at the end of this period. The monitored ‘confinement’ must be done at home for the residents, or in designated accommodation for the other passengers. All had to sign an ‘honour-bound’ quarantine compliance agreement. Passengers who live on Tahiti were the first to be allowed to disembark and go directly home on Monday night. Residents of the other islands are expected to disembark to return home today. The crew shall remain onboard. The mother-daughter pair will be closely monitored during their quarantine on Tahiti, for any sign of illness. The interesting thing about all of this is that this incident has happened in a “closed environment” of sorts - with French Polynesia being essentially free of community transmission. What remains to be watched, especially in the next 7-10 days, is if the islands remain cluster-free, and if none of the passengers and crew return a positive result when retested in 7 days. The French Polynesian authorities did state that they do not want situations like this one to repeat, where a ship carrying passengers has to return to port and deal with a quarantine situation again. The main take-away here is the importance of compliance with the sanitary protocols.

The Paul Gauguin just restarted cruising with international passengers last Thursday, with a mix of resident, American and European passengers. Both French Polynesia and the Gauguin (Ponant) had extensive arrival & embarkation testing & screening protocols. See here: https://www.pgcruises.com/travel-advisory it was as a result of the 4-day self-administered follow-up test that a female passenger was found to be positive late on Saturday. The ship returned to Papeete on Sunday, the passenger was retested positive, then taken off the ship with her companion to be placed into quarantine. All remaining passengers and crew were also retested on Sunday, with the results - and a decision as to what will happen next - to be announced later today. Passengers are now confined to their cabins. This morning, there was more info available on French media, with little elsewhere - one English language source incorrectly identified the case as a crew member. The nationality of the infected tourist has not yet been disclosed. Bora Bora, which had remained COVID-free up to now, had all passengers disembark for the day, before the results of the follow-up test came back. Extensive contact tracing will be undertaken there as well as in Tahiti, where the passenger spent a couple of days before boarding. *This* is the one to watch, folks...