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Bahamas to allow fully vaccinated travelers to bypass PCR testing requirement


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  • smokeybandit changed the title to Bahamas to allow fully vaccinated travelers to bypass PCR testing requirement
43 minutes ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

I wonder if a test will still be required by Royal.

 

38 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

This doesn't affect the CDC requirements for sailing since this pertains to cruises out of the Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean's online check-in requires a negative covid test before arriving to the cruise terminal. See: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/02/17/royal-caribbeans-online-check-requires-negative-covid-test-arriving-the-cruise-terminal

IN ADDITION:

Question:

Currently, the U.S. and Canada requires proof of a negative COVID-19 test result for those arriving by international air. Will Royal Caribbean administer the required re-entry test? Who pays for it?

Answer:

Royal Caribbean will administer an antigen test onboard the ship, and cover the related cost, should it be required for re-entry into the United States and Canada. The test will be administered just before the end of the cruise, and guests will be provided a copy of their test result. Current U.S. and Canada requirements stipulate that returning international travelers must get tested no more than 3 days before re-entering. Therefore, cruise guests should plan to fly home within 24 hours of departing the ship, for the test result to be within the valid window. Otherwise, guests re-entering the U.S. and Canada at a later date will need to secure their own test, at their expense, closer to their re-entry date.

We are continually evaluating these protocols and will make updates as government requirements, Healthy Sail Panel guidance, and public health standards evolve. Booked guests will be advised of the latest requirements within 30 days of sailing.

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23 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

 

Royal Caribbean's online check-in requires a negative covid test before arriving to the cruise terminal. See: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/02/17/royal-caribbeans-online-check-requires-negative-covid-test-arriving-the-cruise-terminal

IN ADDITION:

Question:

Currently, the U.S. and Canada requires proof of a negative COVID-19 test result for those arriving by international air. Will Royal Caribbean administer the required re-entry test? Who pays for it?

Answer:

Royal Caribbean will administer an antigen test onboard the ship, and cover the related cost, should it be required for re-entry into the United States and Canada. The test will be administered just before the end of the cruise, and guests will be provided a copy of their test result. Current U.S. and Canada requirements stipulate that returning international travelers must get tested no more than 3 days before re-entering. Therefore, cruise guests should plan to fly home within 24 hours of departing the ship, for the test result to be within the valid window. Otherwise, guests re-entering the U.S. and Canada at a later date will need to secure their own test, at their expense, closer to their re-entry date.

We are continually evaluating these protocols and will make updates as government requirements, Healthy Sail Panel guidance, and public health standards evolve. Booked guests will be advised of the latest requirements within 30 days of sailing.

That was before Adventure and Bahamas cruises were announced.  

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6 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

U.S. still requires all citizens to have a negative covid test before re-entering.

Not a problem.  The cruise lines have already said that on-board antigen tests will be included in the cruise fare and will be performed in the final days of the cruise so guests can use them to fly home. 

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10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I don't see how herd immunity would play a role since the person is already vaccinated.

Agreed.  Either a person arriving is a risk (unvaccinated) or they aren't (vaccinated).

The CDC has already stated that vaccinated are low risk for travel within the US, now they just need to apply the same brush to citizens coming home.  

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17 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I don't see how herd immunity would play a role since the person is already vaccinated.

Questions: What is herd immunity?

Answer: Herd immunity occurs when enough people become immune to a disease to make its spread unlikely. As a result, the entire community is protected, even those who are not themselves immune. Herd immunity is usually achieved through vaccination, but it can also occur through natural infection.

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12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I know what herd immunity is.

 

I don't know how a vaccinated person leaving the country then re-entering a few days later is related to herd immunity.

You stated that "At some point the USA has to waive the re-entry testing in lieu of vaccinations, too." I responded that "Only when herd level occurs and that would be the earliest." To break it further down, the U.S. will most likely waive the re-entry requirement when herd community is achieved which the chances of spreading and/or bringing it back into the U.S. from any destination, would be much less if yet, unlikely. Get it now??

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9 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

You stated that "At some point the USA has to waive the re-entry testing in lieu of vaccinations, too." I responded that "Only when herd level occurs and that would be the earliest." To break it further down, the U.S. will most likely waive the re-entry requirement when herd community is achieved which the chances of spreading and/or bringing it back into the U.S. from any destination, would be much less if yet, unlikely. Get it now??

No, because people are vaccinated.

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15 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Not everyone will be vaccinated. Moreover, vaccinated individuals can still be infected, known as a "Breakthrough" and/or become carriers who infect/spread others.

Correct, but in order for U.S. to waive the re-entry testing in lieu of vaccinations is when herd level occurs, 80%-90% vaccination and/or recovery exposure and that would be the earliest the U.S. would consider waiving.

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7 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Correct, but in order for U.S. to waive the re-entry testing in lieu of vaccinations is when herd level occurs, 80%-90% vaccination and/or recovery exposure and that would be the earliest the U.S. would consider waiving.

I don't think anyone would disagree that this is likely what the CDC will do by keep unnecessary requirements around longer than they need to.

In this case the Bahamian scientists guiding their travel policies are proving themselves much smarter than the American scientists in the CDC.

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3 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

You stated that "At some point the USA has to waive the re-entry testing in lieu of vaccinations, too." I responded that "Only when herd level occurs and that would be the earliest." To break it further down, the U.S. will most likely waive the re-entry requirement when herd community is achieved which the chances of spreading and/or bringing it back into the U.S. from any destination, would be much less if yet, unlikely. Get it now??

I don't think we will have to wait that long because the US probably won't reach herd immunity until late fall or even winter 2022.  In the state that I live in some counties we have gone from needing to make an appointment to get a vaccine to now many locations are accepting walk-ins.  They now have more supply than demand.  We are getting to that point especially with the adult population that we have vaccinated almost everyone who wanted a shot, and now it is about convincing those who hesitant to get the shot.  However according to some reports some experts are estimating at least 20%-30% of the US population will not get vaccinated.

Getting back to changing the entry and re-entry requirements here in the US I think by July the US will change its policy and instead of requiring a negative test they will require all individuals be fully vaccinated.  Taking the lead in this fight to reopen international borders are airlines on both sides of the Atlantic. Airlines across the EU, the UK and the US3 ( American, Delta, and United) are all in talks with their respective governments trying to get the borders open by July by requiring all international passengers be vaccinated. Even Qantas and Air New Zealand are pushing their governments to reopen their borders by the end of October (start of their spring season) and to use vaccination requirement as a means to do so safely.   Countries like Iceland, Israel, and Greece which will reopen to fully or are already open to vaccinated travelers only are now seeing a huge spike in demand.

Cruise lines may not have much power or sway in Washington D.C. but the nations airlines do. If they are able get the CDC and the White House to agree to swap the testing requirement for vaccine requirement or at the very least give people a choice (you're either fully vaccinated or present a negative COVID test) that will also help the cruise industry.

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1 hour ago, JasonOasis said:

I think by July the US will change its policy and instead of requiring a negative test they will require all individuals be fully vaccinated.

This July? 2021? 71 days away?  I disagree 100%.  How can you make this statement when cruises are not even sailing out of a U.S. port at this point?  You are putting the horse before the carriage buddy.

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4 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

This July? 2021? 71 days away?  I disagree 100%.  How can you make this statement when cruises are not even sailing out of a U.S. port at this point?  You are putting the horse before the carriage buddy.

Please go back and re-read my entire post. I realize this is a Royal Caribbean blog site devoted entirely to the cruise industry but the entire travel industry is inextricably linked.  If the nations airlines can convince the government to at the very least drop the negative test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals, by default that helps out the cruise industry.  As it stands now with the current CDC requirement cruise lines would have to test all passengers (vaccinated or not) upon arrival at all U.S. ports because there are no domestic cruises in this country.  The CDC requires all international arriving passengers to test negative to re-enter the U.S. If the nations airlines can get the White House and CDC to drop this requirement for fully vaccinated individuals that is another piece of the puzzle cruise lines would need to restart cruising from U.S. ports. If cruise lines were to require all passengers 16 and older be fully vaccinated to cruise at least through the end of this year that would be a major step because it would eliminate the need to test passengers before disembarkation.  Right now today international passengers over a certain age including Americans who test positive abroad can not return home.   What happens if there is no change in US policy requiring a negative test, and a passenger on a cruise ship tests positive for COVID before disembarkation at a US port.  Since the US government considers cruising international travel a positive test on the last day creates a conundrum for cruise lines and what to do with that passenger because the law currently states passengers over a certain age can not re-enter the US if they test positive.  (Quick side bar this is another reason I strongly believe cruise line will require all adults over 16 be fully vaccinated whenever cruising resumes.) However if the nations airlines are successful in getting the CDC and the White House to agree to amend entry requirements and drop the negative test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals that is another link in the chain to restarting cruising in this country.   If cruise lines require all passengers over 16 be fully vaccinated prior to embarkation then they've already cover the disembarkation.  If you need to be fully vaccinated to board then you've already met the (proposed by the airlines) re-entry requirement before you ever set foot on the ship guaranteeing your re-entry at the end of your cruise at a US port.

 

You may choose to believe it is impossible but I work in the aviation industry and I've seen first hand how the nations airlines have used testing to jumpstart domestic and Caribbean tourism, to reopen borders and ease restrictions.  Hawaii is a prime example and are the Bahamas and Aruba but I'll focus on Hawaii.   Hawaii's mandatory 14 day quarantine complete decimated demand last year at a time when airlines thought Hawaii would be a bright spot.  The airlines came together to work with the Governor of Hawaii and came up with plan to use testing as a means to allow arriving passengers to skip quarantine all together if their test result were negative. Today Hawaii is open and passenger can skip the 14 day quarantine if they test negative prior to departing the mainland.   Now the airlines working once again with the Government of Hawaii to get them to drop their negative test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals.  With fake vaccination cards on the rise the industry and Hawaii are trying to figure out how to verify passengers have been vaccinated.  However Hawaii has signaled it is open to the idea of dropping its negative test requirement for individuals who are fully vaccinated.    One of the reasons Royal Caribbean is able to start cruising out of the Bahamas is because the Bahamas allow international passengers who test present a negative test to enter and avoid quarantine.  Who do you think push for this change behind the scenes last year, it was airlines desperate to get borders reopen and ease quarantine restrictions so the could make money off Americans looking to travel.  Now May 1st the Bahamas will a drop testing requirement for fully vaccinated travelers, which is the net logical step and a win for Royal Caribbean passengers setting sail out of Nassau in June.

 

So I'm not putting the cart before the horse, unfortunately as much as I don't want to say this the airline industry is the horse and the cruise industry is the cart. If airlines are able to push through this change in entry requirements here in the US  and get the government to drop the negative test requirement for  fully vaccinated individuals by July it 100% will help out the cruise industry because the cruise industry could then go to the CDC and say we will require 100% vaccination prior to embarkation which means 100% of our adult passengers would be fully vaccinated and meet all re-entry requirements at the end of the cruise. 

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6 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

Please go back and re-read my entire post. I realize this is a Royal Caribbean blog site devoted entirely to the cruise industry but the entire travel industry is inextricably linked.  If the nations airlines can convince the government to at the very least drop the negative test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals, by default that helps out the cruise industry.  As it stands now with the current CDC requirement cruise lines would have to test all passengers (vaccinated or not) upon arrival at all U.S. ports because there are no domestic cruises in this country.  The CDC requires all international arriving passengers to test negative to re-enter the U.S. If the nations airlines can get the White House and CDC to drop this requirement for fully vaccinated individuals that is another piece of the puzzle cruise lines would need to restart cruising from U.S. ports. If cruise lines were to require all passengers 16 and older be fully vaccinated to cruise at least through the end of this year that would be a major step because it would eliminate the need to test passengers before disembarkation.  Right now today international passengers over a certain age including Americans who test positive abroad can not return home.   What happens if there is no change in US policy requiring a negative test, and a passenger on a cruise ship tests positive for COVID before disembarkation at a US port.  Since the US government considers cruising international travel a positive test on the last day creates a conundrum for cruise lines and what to do with that passenger because the law currently states passengers over a certain age can not re-enter the US if they test positive.  (Quick side bar this is another reason I strongly believe cruise line will require all adults over 16 be fully vaccinated whenever cruising resumes.) However if the nations airlines are successful in getting the CDC and the White House to agree to amend entry requirements and drop the negative test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals that is another link in the chain to restarting cruising in this country.   If cruise lines require all passengers over 16 be fully vaccinated prior to embarkation then they've already cover the disembarkation.  If you need to be fully vaccinated to board then you've already met the (proposed by the airlines) re-entry requirement before you ever set foot on the ship guaranteeing your re-entry at the end of your cruise at a US port.

 

You may choose to believe it is impossible but I work in the aviation industry and I've seen first hand how the nations airlines have used testing to jumpstart domestic and Caribbean tourism, to reopen borders and ease restrictions.  Hawaii is a prime example and are the Bahamas and Aruba but I'll focus on Hawaii.   Hawaii's mandatory 14 day quarantine complete decimated demand last year at a time when airlines thought Hawaii would be a bright spot.  The airlines came together to work with the Governor of Hawaii and came up with plan to use testing as a means to allow arriving passengers to skip quarantine all together if their test result were negative. Today Hawaii is open and passenger can skip the 14 day quarantine if they test negative prior to departing the mainland.   Now the airlines working once again with the Government of Hawaii to get them to drop their negative test requirement for fully vaccinated individuals.  With fake vaccination cards on the rise the industry and Hawaii are trying to figure out how to verify passengers have been vaccinated.  However Hawaii has signaled it is open to the idea of dropping its negative test requirement for individuals who are fully vaccinated.    One of the reasons Royal Caribbean is able to start cruising out of the Bahamas is because the Bahamas allow international passengers who test present a negative test to enter and avoid quarantine.  Who do you think push for this change behind the scenes last year, it was airlines desperate to get borders reopen and ease quarantine restrictions so the could make money off Americans looking to travel.  Now May 1st the Bahamas will a drop testing requirement for fully vaccinated travelers, which is the net logical step and a win for Royal Caribbean passengers setting sail out of Nassau in June.

 

So I'm not putting the cart before the horse, unfortunately as much as I don't want to say this the airline industry is the horse and the cruise industry is the cart. If airlines are able to push through this change in entry requirements here in the US  and get the government to drop the negative test requirement for  fully vaccinated individuals by July it 100% will help out the cruise industry because the cruise industry could then go to the CDC and say we will require 100% vaccination prior to embarkation which means 100% of our adult passengers would be fully vaccinated and meet all re-entry requirements at the end of the cruise. 

Blah, blah, blah. Thanks for the lip service but the U.S. will not change it's policy by July because as YOU have even stated that "the US probably won't reach herd immunity until late fall or even winter 2022", which is more than six (6) months away, inasmuch, why would the U.S. relax their policy if they haven't allowed cruises to sail from ANY U.S. ports up to this point needless to say the hopes of a 4th of July opening? Lets just agree to disagree. This Is a moot debate given the facts stated.

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16 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Correct, but in order for U.S. to waive the re-entry testing in lieu of vaccinations is when herd level occurs, 80%-90% vaccination and/or recovery exposure and that would be the earliest the U.S. would consider waiving.

SO, the Bahamas have reached herd immunity?  

 

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9 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

SO, the Bahamas have reached herd immunity?  

 

Per the date of April 8, 2021 of this article, https://ewnews.com/goalpost-bahamas-aiming-to-vaccinate-80-percent-of-population-to-achieve-herd-immunity-against-covid, they haven't achieved it as yet but it is their goal to do so. Bahamas's stance in letting vaccinated individuals into their country will improve those chances immensely.

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5 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Per the date of April 8, 2021 of this article, https://ewnews.com/goalpost-bahamas-aiming-to-vaccinate-80-percent-of-population-to-achieve-herd-immunity-against-covid, they haven't achieved it as yet but it is their goal to do so. Bahamas's stance in letting vaccinated individuals into their country will improve those chances immensely.

So Bahamas choice to allow in vaccinated people without a PCR test "improves their chances immensely", but the US will never do that because it runs counterproductive to obtaining herd immunity?

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8 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

So Bahamas choice to allow in vaccinated people without a PCR test "improves their chances immensely", but the US will never do that because it runs counterproductive to obtaining herd immunity?

You are half correct. IF U.S. reaches herd immunity, that is the earliest they would consider waiving entry requirement AND that is if the CDC and/or whoever is making poor decisions in D.C. regarding cruising out of U.S. Ports opens their eyes.

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45 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

80% vaccinated to reach herd immunity?  No way.

 

That'd be 80% vaccinated + recovered + pre-existing cross immunity, noting there'd be some overlap between those vaccinated and the other two categories.

Unless you have a better way than Dr. Faucci and/or The Bahamas government who is aiming to have 80 percent of Bahamians and residents vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan, I'm sure that they will want to hear about it.

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11 minutes ago, steverk said:

I've got a silly question.

I hear a lot of people bounce around different numbers of vaccinations to achieve "herd immunity."  However, they've always seemed rather arbitrary to me.  How do we know when we have achieved "herd immunity?"

In all honesty, no one knows, despite what they say. 

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