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What If Covid Positive While On Board


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Not trying to be a 'Debbie Downer" but a friend, with whom we have cruised,  posted how relieved they were when they tested negative before returning to the USA.  He implied that if testing positive, one would have to quarantine in a foreign country.  Also having read about the two teenagers who tested positive and their family leaving the ship in a Caribbean port, my question is, "What happens if one tests positive during the end of cruise covid testing?"  I know that the ship places positive guests in isolation, but are they allowed to stay on board until the ship returns to the USA?

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23 minutes ago, Thorntor said:

are they allowed to stay on board until the ship returns to the USA?

No, as of right now.  If you (or any member of your cruising party) tests positive (and confirmed with follow-up testing) while on a cruise, you are isolated and then removed from the cruise at the earliest convenience.  As of right now, Royal Caribbean has been flying the party home on a private jet but nobody knows how long this kind of service will continue.

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37 minutes ago, griffinjam22 said:

If sailing out of the US and are vaccinated are they testing passengers upon returning? Or just unvaccinated?  I know things change all the time. Just curious

No. Cruises currently out of Florida have no testing requirements for vaccinated. However, that could change with this variant since some who have been vaccinated are getting Covid. 

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28 minutes ago, griffinjam22 said:

If sailing out of the US and are vaccinated are they testing passengers upon returning? Or just unvaccinated?  I know things change all the time. Just curious

Questions regarding testing protocols for entry to Caribbean ports and Caribbean Cruise ship itineraries that start from US ports then reenter the US via the cruise terminal/US C&I have become complicated. Governments of Caribbean Islands that you might make a port call at impose varying entry requirements. Here's a recent article that covers "international travelers" that by my reckoning includes cruise ship guests:

https://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Caribbean-readies-for-a-wave-of-reopenings

As of right now, if you are aboard a cruise ship, on a Caribbean itinerary that starts from a US port and returns to that port, there is a two track reentry requirement for vaccinated and unvaccinated. Below is a clipped version of a table that Celebrity provides that explains in detail the testing and health protocols in place for all their ships. This one is the reentry requirement for sailings on Equinox that is sailing E. and W. 7n Caribbean itineraries from PEV. The entire table is at the second link. WARNING: It is small and almost impossible to read if you try to print it out. The best way to examine it carefully is to download the table then expand it until you can read it in parts.

Entry.PNG.1a6e9e92f52aa5daea2ce8d5318acbcd.PNG  

Here's the link to the entire table. There may be one of these at the RCL web site but I'm not sure of that. This one is very detailed and tells guests everything they need to know: 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/celebrity-healthy-at-sea-protocols.pdf

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2 hours ago, Jill said:

No. Cruises currently out of Florida have no testing requirements for vaccinated. However, that could change with this variant since some who have been vaccinated are getting Covid. 

You know that's an interesting question. Will Royal begin testing ALL passengers for covid considering the rise of the virus among the vaccinated? In the name of responsibility to the public. And if it comes to this will Royal still charge only those that were not willing to show proof of vaccination for the test and provide the return test free for those that have been vaccinated? If media reports on the variant are true we'll know the answer soon and Royal's true intention behind charging tests for unvaccinated passengers. 

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This is a nightmare scenario and ultimately what ends cruising for me, depending of course if this last forever. This is the exact thing that will end me cruising in the future. I don't fly, I simply do not fly. I cruise and cruise from NJ/NYC because I do not fly. If the threat is go on a cruise fully vaccinated, test positive and be stuck in some foreign country/island and be forced to fly home. We have 2 cruises booked with credits from cruises cancelled from last year. June 2022 and August 2022. June is to Canada, no biggie if the shit hits the fan, quarantine in hotel and drive or take the train home. The next is Coco Cay, Florida no issue, the Bahamas would be trouble in this scenario. If things continue to work like this then those 2 cruises may be my last. I can't have that constantly hanging over my head. Am I being unreasonable? 

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4 hours ago, Jill said:

No. Cruises currently out of Florida have no testing requirements for vaccinated. However, that could change with this variant since some who have been vaccinated are getting Covid. 

Well it appears I can predict the future. Testing now for all sailing out of Florida until August 31

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/07/29/royal-caribbean-will-require-negative-covid-19-test-all-us-sailings-longer-4-nights?fbclid=IwAR3F0YVwRC21XXMFzce_ZdUgBjUodjK4b7Rw-VdfMWHqPnAmic9EKJRW29o

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2 hours ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

You know that's an interesting question. Will Royal begin testing ALL passengers for covid considering the rise of the virus among the vaccinated? In the name of responsibility to the public. And if it comes to this will Royal still charge only those that were not willing to show proof of vaccination for the test and provide the return test free for those that have been vaccinated? If media reports on the variant are true we'll know the answer soon and Royal's true intention behind charging tests for unvaccinated passengers. 

Yes. Matt just posted. 
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/07/29/royal-caribbean-will-require-negative-covid-19-test-all-us-sailings-longer-4-nights?fbclid=IwAR3F0YVwRC21XXMFzce_ZdUgBjUodjK4b7Rw-VdfMWHqPnAmic9EKJRW29o

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6 hours ago, Jill said:

Thanks! I now regret even asking the question today. Haha   I’m not a fan of being vaccinated then now having to get tested. But it is what it is…

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The pre-boarding negative COVID testing requirement is within the bounds of reasonable when viral prevalence in the community hosting a cruise port is high. Last time I checked Broward Co., home of PEV, % positive was hovering around 15%. That's up from a sustained 3-5% a month ago and that percentage signals high levels of community transmission.

Not many vaccinated people are getting "breakthrough infections." You'd not know that listening to the news reports. According to the CDC, a total of 5,492 cases of fully vaccinated people were hospitalized or died from COVID-19. That's out of 160 million people fully vaccinated in this country. Let me do the math for you. That's 3.43%. 96.6% of you vaccinated folks have no chance of serious illness if you get re-infected and your chances of that appear to be even lower. Though the CDC only tracks breakthrough infections that lead to hospitalization and death, some states are keeping track of every case, even the mild ones. In Massachusetts, there have been about 4,450 confirmed breakthrough cases or about .1% of all vaccinated people. Read that again 0.1%

Almost all new cases are among the unvaccinated - 94% to 98% is being reported. Unvaccinated account for 98% of Hospitalizations and 99% of deaths

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-delta-variant-and-covid-19-vaccines-what-to-know-11627079604

Here is a compilation of all the case studies done for each of the approved vaccines in the US

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/heres-how-well-covid-19-vaccines-work-against-the-delta-variant#Key-takeaways

The Delta variant is causing local hyper-accelerated rates of infection. The tendency is to generalize that to a massive nationwide outbreak. The NE and CA have the highest regional rates of vaccination and accordingly the lowest number of new cases. Fl and TX are about in the middle and FL is considered by the CDC to be a hot spot. So, yeah, get tested before you board.

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