Covid Testing to Cruise????

[LandstromCruise]

I really hope it is not true that they are going to require you to get a covid test to cruise.  I love cruising, but refuse to be forced to get a test to go on vacation.  This is very disheartening news.  

 

[stevendom57]

7 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

but refuse to be forced to get a test to go on vacation

Just curious, are you OK with everyone else on board, including crew,  getting tested to make sure that you are safe?

[princevaliantus]

8 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

I really hope it is not true that they are going to require you to get a covid test to cruise.  I love cruising, but refuse to be forced to get a test to go on vacation.  This is very disheartening news.  

 

So, it wouldn't bother you if anyone on the ship didn't  test for covid even though they could possibly be symptomatic? Yes OR no? That's all I want to hear.

[Leroyr55]

I would have no problem taking a test. 

[stevendom57]

My only problem with taking a test is not the actual test taking, it's what happens if I am positive. If I flew across the country and then tested positive, do I lose all my money? What if I had a week stay at the embarkation point before the cruise. I can't take the test at home. What are the logistics of that? There are so many unknowns that I am not vacationing until things settle down.

[princevaliantus]

19 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

My only problem with taking a test is not the actual test taking, it's what happens if I am positive. If I flew across the country and then tested positive, do I lose all my money? What if I had a week stay at the embarkation point before the cruise. I can't take the test at home. What are the logistics of that? There are so many unknowns that I am not vacationing until things settle down.

These are the questions that RCCL needs to address in order to bring nervous minds to rest before cruises start up.

[LandstromCruise]

1 hour ago, princevaliantus said:

So, it wouldn't bother you if anyone on the ship didn't  test for covid even though they could possibly be symptomatic? Yes OR no? That's all I want to hear.

I wouldn’t care if nobody was tested. I don’t believe any company should be able to force any person to do any type of medical test or procedure. If there was cruising this entire time and no test being done I would still be on the ship. I believe if you are the one that is afraid and wants everyone else to be tested, maybe you shouldn’t be on the ship to begin with. Besides, someone could test negative to get on and the next day have it, so what good does the test do anyways???  

[stevendom57]

11 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

I wouldn’t care if nobody was tested.

You are correct, the test's usefulness is questionable. But RC is a public company, not the government, and they can require anything of you before you board.

One point for taking that test is that it protects RC's bottom line. It is already hugely damaged. If it looked as if they did nothing to insure a covid free cruise, and the virus broke out, it would hurt it further. RC has shareholders to answer to. If RC is not around to provide cruises, it will be most difficult to take an RC cruise. And I,  for one, want to take more. 

[princevaliantus]

14 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

I wouldn’t care if nobody was tested. I don’t believe any company should be able to force any person to do any type of medical test or procedure. If there was cruising this entire time and no test being done I would still be on the ship. I believe if you are the one that is afraid and wants everyone else to be tested, maybe you shouldn’t be on the ship to begin with. Besides, someone could test negative to get on and the next day have it, so what good does the test do anyways???  

RCCL will be conducting temp checks, etc. throught the cruise to insure everyone is safe and not only prior to boarding. I believe since your statement ONLY demonstrates that you only care about yourself and not that of your fellow cruisers and not to mention innocent children that will be affected, lets all hope and pray that RCCL's implementation of this policy moves forward since it will be the only way RCCL can protect their loyal cruisers and will deny boarding and passage to those whom cannot demonstrate empathy.

[cruisellama]

When we sailed from Galveston this March , there were temp checks prior to entering the checkin side of the terminal.  Wasn't bad.  Testing would take a little more time as there's some processing.   I think the one used in Europe has a 60-90 hold time - so embarkation would become  a little more cumbersome.   You'd also have to worry about false positives which is something these express tests are know for.

 

[LizzyBee23]

30 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

I wouldn’t care if nobody was tested. I don’t believe any company should be able to force any person to do any type of medical test or procedure. If there was cruising this entire time and no test being done I would still be on the ship. I believe if you are the one that is afraid and wants everyone else to be tested, maybe you shouldn’t be on the ship to begin with. Besides, someone could test negative to get on and the next day have it, so what good does the test do anyways???  

Your premise is flawed... You're not being "forced" to do anything. You would not meet the requirements to enjoy the company's products and that means you stay home. It's really that simple.

[SpeedNoodles]

Testing should continue to get easier, faster, and more accurate. Apparently this test is a saliva test, rapid, and quite accurate.  It certainly gives me hope.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/the-nba-and-yale-just-landed-the-covid-testing-breakthrough-the-nfl-and-everyone-else-in-the-us-has-been-hoping-for-183335566.html

[Ogilthorpe]

18 minutes ago, LizzyBee23 said:

 You would not meet the requirements to enjoy the company's products and that means you stay home. It's really that simple.

I agree, as long as there is no penalty for opting out in the face of evolving requirements.

[LandstromCruise]

54 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

RCCL will be conducting temp checks, etc. throught the cruise to insure everyone is safe and not only prior to boarding. I believe since your statement ONLY demonstrates that you only care about yourself and not that of your fellow cruisers and not to mention innocent children that will be affected, lets all hope and pray that RCCL's implementation of this policy moves forward since it will be the only way RCCL can protect their loyal cruisers and will deny boarding and passage to those whom cannot demonstrate empathy.

No I don’t only care about myself but thanks for telling me about myself, your opinion is appreciated. I care about our freedoms. We don’t do all of these things for the flu that has been around forever and that is basically what this is. There is no science that proves otherwise. At this rate maybe they should make someone stand in the bathrooms too and watch you wash your hands so the norovirus isn’t spread. You want them watching your child go to the bathroom?  Where does it stop??  And please don’t throw out the fake science provided by CNN and the same scientist who said the world was going to blow up 20 years ago from global warming. Oh right, they had to change the term to climate change because their theory of warming was proven wrong. 

[KWong]

1 hour ago, LandstromCruise said:

I wouldn’t care if nobody was tested. I don’t believe any company should be able to force any person to do any type of medical test or procedure. If there was cruising this entire time and no test being done I would still be on the ship. I believe if you are the one that is afraid and wants everyone else to be tested, maybe you shouldn’t be on the ship to begin with. Besides, someone could test negative to get on and the next day have it, so what good does the test do anyways???  

I think you have this backwards. If you're so selfish that you refuse to get tested when everyone else is required to, then maybe you shouldn't be on the ship to begin with. 

[bretts173]

I cant believe they make me wear clothes to dinner. Where is my freedom.

[USFFrank]

Here's another thread that's going to get locked.

[KWofPerth]

Freedumb!!!

 

Some people are all about their rights, and to hell with their responsibilities. Disgraceful attitude.

[CruisinForABruisin]

35 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

Freedumb!!!

 

Some people are all about their rights, and to hell with their responsibilities. Disgraceful attitude.

The best part is, these people are stepping onto foreign vessels and going to countries where being American doesn't make you special 

[SpeedNoodles]

Please keep this thread civil, folks. Thanks.

[Jill]

I don’t have a problem with getting tested. My issue would be false positives. I would assume if you test positive they would offer a retest a short time later. Would be so disappointing to travel all that way and then be denied. 
 

I can understand testing before boarding. RC can claim all passengers at embarkation were virus free. Sure someone could become symptomatic the next day but to find positive cases beforehand is due diligence on behalf of the cruise line. They are trying to insure the most possibly safe environment they can. 
 

One last concern is what about the people who were close in line with a positive case? What happens to those people? 
 

So many questions.......

[JeffB]

On testing ..... To be clear, while the FDA approved saliva tests last week, these are not rapid tests - they still require machine processing, in a lab, with the attendant delays that RT-PCR tests are experiencing now (3-14 days). The CDC's testing strategy, mandated by the FDA, relies on the RT-PCR (naso or naso pharyngeal swab). We're learning this is way to slow for the public health purpose of containment of the virus. We need a rapid test (think home pregnancy tests or Influenza A/B tests) that gives results in < 15 minutes. Those kinds of tests are out there. The FDA won't approve them for various reasons, none of them very good. Here's a link to the post I made discussing this in another thread:

 

[danv3]

There are a lot of practical problems to overcome before mass pre-cruise testing is viable.

Even the new "rapid" test takes 30 minutes and requires a lab to process the sample.  While that's far better than 3-5 days, it's not a do-it-yourself almost instantaneous test like a pregnancy test or something.  Where do people sit and wait while their tests are out?  What happens when one of them tests positive?  Obviously that person (and his/her party?) are excluded from the cruise, right?  Or do they get a chance to retest?  What about people who stood near them in the security line or sat near them in the terminal?    Allowed to cruise but confined to quarters?  

Presumably to do this you have to enforce terminal arrival times.  What do you do with people who arrive before their appointment?  At most terminals there's really nowhere to wait outside, but you can't let them in (because the terminal is full of people waiting for test results).  

I'm glad I don't run a cruise line, because all I can see are problems.  

[princevaliantus]

56 minutes ago, JeffB said:

On testing ..... To be clear, while the FDA approved saliva tests last week, these are not rapid tests

Incorrect information.... please see link below:

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-yale-school-public-health

[LizzyBee23]

30 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Incorrect information.... please see link below:

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-yale-school-public-health

The OP is right... You still need a lab, a technician, and reagents for this test.

[CruiseGus]

having read this thread that is less than a day old, and digesting some of the opinions expressed as well as observing some of the actions in my community, I can easily see why we in the USA have the highest infection rate in the world. 

Which is to bad because we definitely won't be returning to cruising until that rate is much lower and somewhat under control.  I so want to cruise, but I want to do it safely with very low risk.

[CruisinForABruisin]

51 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

having read this thread that is less than a day old, and digesting some of the opinions expressed as well as observing some of the actions in my community, I can easily see why we in the USA have the highest infection rate in the world. 

Which is to bad because we definitely won't be returning to cruising until that rate is much lower and somewhat under control.  I so want to cruise, but I want to do it safely with very low risk.

[LizzyBee23]

10 minutes ago, JeffB said:

Thanks CruiseGus for recognizing the difference between "rapid" saliva tests just approved by the FDA and rapid tests developed by e25bio and others that Lizzybee23 did not understand. 

Just to clarify, you and I are on the same page and my reply was agreeing with you. The EUA was just given for the NBA style tests are not "rapid" in a meaningful sense that I think could be adapted for quick, mass testing of the thousands of people showing up for a cruise. Princevalantius linked to the FDA article about the EUA, so I don't think he was talking about the truly rapid tests being debated (1000% agree this is the only way to move forward until we have mass vaccinations with something truly effacious)

[mattymay]

Looks like a fun start to a holiday... 

[Lovetocruise2002]