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No more testing for vaccinated (10 days or less) and NO MORE proctored tests at home!


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3 hours ago, teddy said:

In my best Maxwell Smart voice: “Missed it by that much”

We are on Liberty August 28-September 4, and our October cruise goes to Canada. 

Talkin' bout "Missed it by that much"....You said it!!! Going on Celebrity Edge this December....Vaxxed & Boosted....good to go, no test right? Yaaaaay!!!🎉🎉 Well, not so fast!! Our sailing is 10 Nights!!! Royal: Couldn't you pick a nice round number, like 10 or less??? "Missed it by THAT much"!!!!!!image.gif.bd1f9fff83a3265baf66567561f57f82.gif

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1 hour ago, SpicyCherry said:

Talkin' bout "Missed it by that much"....You said it!!! Going on Celebrity Edge this December....Vaxxed & Boosted....good to go, no test right? Yaaaaay!!!🎉🎉 Well, not so fast!! Our sailing is 10 Nights!!! Royal: Couldn't you pick a nice round number, like 10 or less??? "Missed it by THAT much"!!!!!!image.gif.bd1f9fff83a3265baf66567561f57f82.gif

I genuinely believe this will change again by then. I hope so!

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42 minutes ago, SpicyCherry said:

I'm hoping so too....after all, it only took a few weeks for them to go from 6 nights or less to 9 nights or less. Do I hear 10????

I need 12 but I sail in under 5 weeks. Gotta think it's not happening for me but I'll take the unsupervised self-test 3 days out happily in comparison to having to test at the airport before checking in for our flight. 👌

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26 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

The amusing thing about needing testing on a 10+ night cruise is you could test negative before your cruise and test negative on the last day of the cruise....and could have tested positive somewhere in the middle.

Yup. It really doesn't make much sense. Seems more like a CYA policy than anything genuinely useful.

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Just got off Spectrum OTS in Singapore, masks required onboard and masks on outside decks strongly recommended. Have to test morning of cruise at Raffles Hotel in Singapore also at our own expense. Vaccination and test results must be in line or else denial of boarding. Don't get what is all this rejoicing about no test and no vaccine about? Almost no coverage on this board of Spectrum OTS or cruises from Penang, Singapore regions... and also almost no roll calls either? Why not? So many posters here say they are happy without these mandates, but to cruise on Spectrum OTS in this market, everything still required...

Also Singapore market no plans to drop the SAME DAY in person test any time soon OR allow unvax to sail due to Malaysia and Singapore governments. Come to Asia and cruise from here; its still as fun.

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Also onboard in Windjammer crew all standing around reminding us to put masks on when getting up from our table to get food and food still being served to us by Windjammer staff.

Also people sitting on sun decks also masked; felt almost naked without one. Seems like the main focus of this board seems to only be Florida??? There should be more thoughts and coverage of Sepctrum OTS and the Penang Ports and Kuala Lumpur rather than just the Caribbean. Wife and I doing another Spectrum OTS in October, highly doubtful for that 4 night things will change.

Already received second set of cruise docs today again about booking proctored test (no remote test allowed) on site at Raffles Hotel in Singapore then board ship by 4 pm with rest results taken on SAME DAY only. Walking around Singapore even 90% of people masked outdoors, not to say on board Spectrum OTS also. Was gently reminded twice by crew members on Esplanade and in the Casino bar to mask up if not drinking, their very strict!

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4 hours ago, WaybackCruiser said:

Just got off Spectrum OTS in Singapore, masks required onboard and masks on outside decks strongly recommended. Have to test morning of cruise at Raffles Hotel in Singapore also at our own expense. Vaccination and test results must be in line or else denial of boarding. Don't get what is all this rejoicing about no test and no vaccine about? Almost no coverage on this board of Spectrum OTS or cruises from Penang, Singapore regions... and also almost no roll calls either? Why not? So many posters here say they are happy without these mandates, but to cruise on Spectrum OTS in this market, everything still required...

 

Sounds like my sailing out of the Bahamas last August.  Seems like Singapore is moving super slow but there’s  no reason people sailing out of the US or Europe shouldn’t be happy.  I don’t see a lot about the Australia sailings but recall people happy they had cruises out of Australia again .

please continue to update us on Singapore.  It’s helpful for those who might be considering to cruise out of Singapore .  Also create a roll call for your sailing.  I’ve not seen some roll calls for some of my sailings, and I did not bother creating one.  I guess if we all wait for someone else there’d be no roll calls at all. 
 

btw, the Canadian cruises I have coming up still require testing and it’s not at 3 days out.  It’s the country you sail from, or to, that determines the protocols. I wonder what the Covid #’s are on Spectrum vs the US sailings.  (We’ll never know since the #’s aren’t reported) It’s been amazing to see the changes in cruising this past year, I hope your Singapore sailings loosen the protocols soon. 

 

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16 minutes ago, BrianB said:

I wonder if b2b sailings have any testing protocols.
On the one hand, they’re consecutive 7 night cruises so testing is no longer required…but on the other hand it could be considered a 14 night cruise…or longer.

This is what ive queried above. Can only assume they are 2 separate 7 day cruises. 

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13 hours ago, WaybackCruiser said:

Also onboard in Windjammer crew all standing around reminding us to put masks on when getting up from our table to get food and food still being served to us by Windjammer staff.

Also people sitting on sun decks also masked; felt almost naked without one. Seems like the main focus of this board seems to only be Florida??? There should be more thoughts and coverage of Sepctrum OTS and the Penang Ports and Kuala Lumpur rather than just the Caribbean. Wife and I doing another Spectrum OTS in October, highly doubtful for that 4 night things will change.

Already received second set of cruise docs today again about booking proctored test (no remote test allowed) on site at Raffles Hotel in Singapore then board ship by 4 pm with rest results taken on SAME DAY only. Walking around Singapore even 90% of people masked outdoors, not to say on board Spectrum OTS also. Was gently reminded twice by crew members on Esplanade and in the Casino bar to mask up if not drinking, their very strict!

Interesting to hear this about Spectrum. I had no idea things were so strict yet there in Singapore. The reason not much is posted about it is most members are from North America, Australia, and Europe. Doesn't mean we are purposely ignoring what is happening in Singapore it just means we have no experience of it. So its great to have yourself post these updates and for us to hear your perspective and experience from Spectrum.

Just curious, are land based protocols similar to that on the ship or is the ship being held to a completely different standard?

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Point of clarification: Some, not all, European countries require guests who are boarding a cruise ship to be "up to date." What that means as defined by the EUCDC and mostly parallels the US CDC is that you must be able to show proof that you have received the appropriate initial one or two doses of the COVID vaccine AND a booster - the kicker is that the booster has to have been administered within 275 days of boarding.  If your last booster was administered outside of that window, you have to get another one. 

It gets complicated with mixed vaccines ...... you must pay careful attention to the vaccination requirements to board for the port you are departing from in Europe. These will appear somewhere on the your cruise line's web site where health protocols are described. You must also pay close attention to entry requirements for the country of the port you are sailing from. Generally, boarding a cruise ship is more restrictive wrt COVID heath protocols than entering the country itself and clearing immigration. 

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Looks like you still need a monitored test when going to Canada or Bermuda

Accepted Tests for U.S. Cruises Departing on or Before September 4, 2022; or Any Cruise that Visits Canada or Bermuda

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. Unvaccinated guests can use telehealth testing only if their cruise does not visit Canada or Bermuda. Learn more about acceptable telehealth tests including our home test kit.

You must receive a valid results document from your test provider that includes the name of the lab that processed the test, the lab’s CLIA Lab Number or Certification Number, the address of the lab, your name, the date the test was taken, type of test, and your negative result. This can be a printed document, email, or telehealth app notification that you show on your phone. Fully handwritten doctor’s notes (such as those written on a prescription pad) will not be accepted. Minimal handwritten components (such as a check mark on a “negative” box) are acceptable as long as the other required information is printed on the document. 

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2 hours ago, JeffB said:

Point of clarification: Some, not all, European countries require guests who are boarding a cruise ship to be "up to date." What that means as defined by the EUCDC and mostly parallels the US CDC is that you must be able to show proof that you have received the appropriate initial one or two doses of the COVID vaccine AND a booster - the kicker is that the booster has to have been administered within 275 days of boarding.  If your last booster was administered outside of that window, you have to get another one.  

This is actually incorrect. "Up to date" is defined as full dose (2 shots for pfizer, moderna, etc., or 1 shot for J&J for example) of the vaccine up to 270 days. If 270 days have passed since your full dose was completed, then you need a booster to be considered up to date. The booster does not expire for being considered "up to date", meaning I got my booster a year ago and I am still considered up to date.

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On 8/22/2022 at 9:22 AM, Bowen said:

(Not for Bermuda or Canada stops)

For All Sailings Departing on or after September 5, 2022 from U.S. Homeports with No Stops in Bermuda or Canada 

If your cruise visits Bermuda or Canada, test protocols for your cruise are in the next section. 

Guests 5 years of age and older who are not fully vaccinated must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 antigen or PCR test taken within the 3 days before boarding day, regardless of the duration of their cruise.

Fully vaccinated guests 5 years of age and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 antigen or PCR test taken within the 3 days before boarding day on sailings that are 10 nights or longer only. Testing is not required for fully vaccinated guests on shorter itineraries. 

Guests younger than 5 do not have any testing requirements.

Required testing for all guests, regardless of vaccination status, can be completed using any type of PCR or antigen test. It can be professionally proctored by a healthcare professional, such as your doctor or pharmacist, or you can use a home test kit. Home test kits are not required to be conducted under live video supervision. 

Tests must be arranged on your own and are at your own expense. 

So if you self test with a non proctored test, do you bring a photo of the test?  or the actual test stick?

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7 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Interesting to hear this about Spectrum. I had no idea things were so strict yet there in Singapore. The reason not much is posted about it is most members are from North America, Australia, and Europe. Doesn't mean we are purposely ignoring what is happening in Singapore it just means we have no experience of it. So its great to have yourself post these updates and for us to hear your perspective and experience from Spectrum.

Just curious, are land based protocols similar to that on the ship or is the ship being held to a completely different standard?

Wife and I are excited for our next 4-night cruise on Spectrum again for the first week of October. In general, things are quite strict in Singapore, one also risks a fine for not masking indoors since most malls / shops have 'Ambassadors' that will kindly remind people to mask... and being one of the few who is unmasked outdoors when walking outdoors, it elicits strange looks from the majority of people.

This is basically mirrored aboard the cruise ship as well; one would wonder if SOME people would even opt to mask while on the flowrider or on the slides though I think that would be a safety issue but its so common here in Singapore. I wish this board did have more travellers cruising out of Singapore other than myself, Spectrum OTS is a huge ship and has many amenities. The land based protocols pretty much mirror the ship as the Government of Singapore basically dictates what the cruise lines can and cnanot do (aka masks indoors, vaccine proof, same day testing). Funny anecdote but I had booked our same day tests (and their usually backlogged at the official RCL testing centre at Raffles) for 10:30 am thinking it was too rushed, but the whole process only took 30 minutes. Unfortunately RCL does not accept the eMed proctored tests for Singapore or any test OTHER than a in person test done by their 'official' provider at Raffles. The brightside is there's NO MORE disembarkation testing which was a thing up to a few months ago. But Singapore tends to er on the side of caution so while the cruise experience itself is still fun (albeit with constant reminders to mask up by every crew member indoors) - its more of an issue for those of us who aren't used to it.

Kudos to our steward and waiter though. FYI the Northstar Pod is chargeable in Asia unlike in North America, and the Spectrum does have bilingual signage as it was based in China prior. Also its useful to have USD on board ship but when docked in Penang or Kuala Lumpur (Klang) - Malaysian ringits are accepted, hardly anyone takes USD.

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12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I wonder how long that lasts. Seems a waste of time at the pier to look at pictures since there's zero way to verify.

So true!! The picture could be of anybody's test, including the family pet!! It's time to just rip off the Band-Aid and let's get it on!!!

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