RC removing all* testing for US sailings as of Nov 2

[smokeybandit]

Testing
Effective November 2, 2022, all travelers on U.S. sailings — regardless of vaccination status — will no longer require pre-departure testing (excludes sailings to Colombia, Haiti, & Honduras).

UPDATE: As of Nov 9, Colombia is the only country requiring testing.

*Exceptions...

 

 

For Cruises from the U.S. and Caribbean with stops in Colombia, Haiti, or Honduras

• Guests age 12 and up who are not fully vaccinated have 3 days to take a test before their cruise, regardless the duration of the cruise.

• Guests under the age of 12 do not have any testing requirements.

[Pattycruise]

Just came to share this!

[WAAAYTOOO]

So any cruise that stops at Labadee and/or Roatan still have to test....right ?

[KristiZ]

21 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So any cruise that stops at Labadee and/or Roatan still have to test....right ?

Correct. But still a step closer!  

[Censored]

32 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Testing
Effective November 2, 2022, all travelers on U.S. sailings — regardless of vaccination status — will no longer require pre-departure testing (excludes sailings to Colombia, Haiti, & Honduras).

 

*Exceptions...

 

 

For Cruises from the U.S. and Caribbean with stops in Colombia, Haiti, or Honduras

• Guests age 12 and up who are not fully vaccinated have 3 days to take a test before their cruise, regardless the duration of the cruise.

• Guests under the age of 12 do not have any testing requirements.

Puerto Rico?

[KristiZ]

20 minutes ago, Censored said:

Puerto Rico?

Yes, because it says "US and Caribbean"

[WAAAYTOOO]

Is the length of the cruise no longer a factor for testing ?

[KristiZ]

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Is the length of the cruise no longer a factor for testing ?

correct.

[F355 c 5]

So unsupervised home test with a picture of results will be good enough for a unvaccinated person going to Roatan?

[WAAAYTOOO]

34 minutes ago, KristiZ said:

correct.

Yippee !

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So any cruise that stops at Labadee and/or Roatan still have to test....right ?

Still have to show a negative test at least.

[Ampurp85]

@WAAAYTOOO I am so happy for you, it means that at least for some cruises you will be able to sail again.

[WAAAYTOOO]

21 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@WAAAYTOOO I am so happy for you, it means that at least for some cruises you will be able to sail again.

Thank you so much !

As [bad] luck would have it, our first cruise goes to Labadee and the next one goes to Roatan.  Ugh.  Still holding out that all of the testing will go away by Christmas !  

[Censored]

1 hour ago, KristiZ said:

Yes, because it says "US and Caribbean"

As a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico's 3.2 million residents are U.S. citizens. However, while subject to U.S. federal laws, island-based Puerto Ricans can't vote in presidential elections and lack voting representation in Congress. As a U.S. territory, it is neither a state nor an independent country. 

[KristiZ]

19 minutes ago, Censored said:

As a territory of the United States, Puerto Rico's 3.2 million residents are U.S. citizens. However, while subject to U.S. federal laws, island-based Puerto Ricans can't vote in presidential elections and lack voting representation in Congress. As a U.S. territory, it is neither a state nor an independent country. 

Yes, but it is located in the Caribbean. Therefore covered by the statement.

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Thank you so much !

As [bad] luck would have it, our first cruise goes to Labadee and the next one goes to Roatan.  Ugh.  Still holding out that all of the testing will go away by Christmas !  

Ugh, just your luck! I believe and will put good thoughts out that you will be able to sail for Christmas. I would never sail for Christmas.............but I want those who would to be able to enjoy.

I am doing Cozumel on my Harmony next week and we hit Labadee on my Odyssey Nov 13th. My bff's brother is joining us and he is unvaxxed. He is packing 2 of the cheap government tests to satisfy the requirement.

[Jax]

Received updated protocols for our upcoming sailing over Christmas.  They look good so much better than they did for our sailing over Christmas last year   

 

[IzzyB]

Because we are going to Honduras testing is still required for non-vaccinated 12 and older.  I also received a similar e-mail, but it stated the below:

 

Pre-cruise
All unvaccinated guests ages 12 and older must present a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 3 days prior to sailing. Fully vaccinated guests and guests ages 11 and younger are exempt.
 

Which doesn't effect us since my son is the only one not vaccinated and he is 5.  So no testing required for us.

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Thank you so much !

As [bad] luck would have it, our first cruise goes to Labadee and the next one goes to Roatan.  Ugh.  Still holding out that all of the testing will go away by Christmas !  

Remember it is an honor system that the test you present at the port was even taken by you.

[AlmondFarmer]

42 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Remember it is an honor system that the test you present at the port was even taken by you.

“Hey mister, will you swirl this in your nose please?”

This is not an honorable thing to ask someone at the port.

That said, I know someone who will say yes for $5.

[SpicyCherry]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Is the length of the cruise no longer a factor for testing ?

So do I dare to believe that this applies to Celebrity as well? I have a 10N Southern Caribbean aboard Celebrity Edge coming up in December of 2022. In fact, just got my Cruise Docs today. I see the change clearly on Royal’s website….on Celebrity’s? Not so much. Maybe I should refresh??

[Jonesy]

Is Royal Caribbean really considering you to be fully vaccinated when you've had your two Pfizer shots a year ago?  Boosters are not a requirement to be considered fully vaccinated?  Or is there a risk of encountering a port worker troll who is determined to make fully vaccinated mean having all available booster shots?  I've had a really bad encounter with a rogue worker at the FLL port so I'm overly cautious when it comes to sailing with RC.

[Pattycruise]

It sure is a big difference!  I’ve enjoyed watching the restrictions lift this past year!

[King of Wales]

Does anyone know if this mean there’s no Canadian restrictions or protocols any more as well?

[ZBrady]

There is no mention of Canada in the updated protocols on the website so they seem to be in the clear.

[smokeybandit]

25 minutes ago, ZBrady said:

There is no mention of Canada in the updated protocols on the website so they seem to be in the clear.

I believe the Canada cruise season is over at this point anyway

[AspiringCruisePlanner]

4 hours ago, SpicyCherry said:

So do I dare to believe that this applies to Celebrity as well? I have a 10N Southern Caribbean aboard Celebrity Edge coming up in December of 2022. In fact, just got my Cruise Docs today. I see the change clearly on Royal’s website….on Celebrity’s? Not so much. Maybe I should refresh??

Celebrity updated their main health and safety page earlier.  It looks like they are following the same protocols as RCI, effective today.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety

What's different is that Celebrity is allowing unvaccinated who choose not to test, to sail on itineraries to Roatan, Columbia, and Grand Turk.  The stipulation is that those unvaccinated passengers who did not test will not be allowed to disembark at that port.  That's what I'm reading from this page at least.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/healthy-at-sea/protocol-exceptions

Maybe Celebrity has a better way of verifying whether you're tested or vaccinated prior to disembarkation at these ports?  

[smokeybandit]

Based on that Celebrity is requiring unvaccinated testing ages 2+, not 12+ like RC.

[ZBrady]

4 hours ago, Jonesy said:

Is Royal Caribbean really considering you to be fully vaccinated when you've had your two Pfizer shots a year ago? 

Under the current protocol, yes.

And from what I understand you are not required to show proof of vaccination, either, it just a yes or no box you mark during check-in (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).

[SpicyCherry]

31 minutes ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

Celebrity updated their main health and safety page earlier.  It looks like they are following the same protocols as RCI, effective today.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety

What's different is that Celebrity is allowing unvaccinated who choose not to test, to sail on itineraries to Roatan, Columbia, and Grand Turk.  The stipulation is that those unvaccinated passengers who did not test will not be allowed to disembark at that port.  That's what I'm reading from this page at least.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/healthy-at-sea/protocol-exceptions

Maybe Celebrity has a better way of verifying whether you're tested or vaccinated prior to disembarkation at these ports?  

Yes, by the time I got upstairs to my desktop, Celebrity's website was updated. Yaaaaaay!!! One less thing to worry about. I've been trying to get on this particular ship since 2020. Thanks.

[asquared17]

8 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So any cruise that stops at Labadee and/or Roatan still have to test....right ?

i've never been so devastated to be stopping at labadee in my entire life.

(also, damn you, roatan!!)

we are with you on the 'let's hope it's all dropped by xmas' -- although we sail two weeks before so ideally we'd love for it all to be dropped by thanksgiving

[Mike n Ky]

So, is stopping at Labadee considered sailing to Haiti?

[Pattycruise]

1 hour ago, Mike n Ky said:

So, is stopping at Labadee considered sailing to Haiti?

yes. It states so clearly on Celebrity site.  Perhpas Royal should state it more clearly.

 

[JBC1]

I had the same today for our Singapore cruise, great news indeed.

 

John

[Mike n Ky]

8 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

yes. It states so clearly on Celebrity site.  Perhpas Royal should state it more clearly.

 

Thanks. But we are vaxxed so unless it changes we can skip the test. Hence, my doctors office will be none the wiser we are going. lol

[Atlantix2000]

18 hours ago, Jonesy said:

Is Royal Caribbean really considering you to be fully vaccinated when you've had your two Pfizer shots a year ago?  Boosters are not a requirement to be considered fully vaccinated?  Or is there a risk of encountering a port worker troll who is determined to make fully vaccinated mean having all available booster shots?  I've had a really bad encounter with a rogue worker at the FLL port so I'm overly cautious when it comes to sailing with RC.

Yes, the original 2 shots (moderna/pfizer) or 1 shot (J&J) is considered fully vaccinated by Royal.  Boosters have NEVER been required by any cruise/airline/travel/etc company to the best of my knowledge.

[smokeybandit]

This one is kind of moot at this point, but good for next season

 

All guests are now welcome on Alaska and Canada sailings,
regardless of vaccination status. The Great White North is home to
charming cities, mesmerizing mountains and lucid lakes. And if you
didn’t make it there this year, now is your chance to lock in bold
savings on your next Alaskan adventure or a fall foliage escape.

[Jax]

Just received updated protocols for Canada  

[Matt]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

This one is kind of moot at this point, but good for next season

 

All guests are now welcome on Alaska and Canada sailings,
regardless of vaccination status. The Great White North is home to
charming cities, mesmerizing mountains and lucid lakes. And if you
didn’t make it there this year, now is your chance to lock in bold
savings on your next Alaskan adventure or a fall foliage escape.

Saw that too. Same announcement as yesterday, but more targeted from a marketing standpoint to spur new bookings.

[Oli82]

I'm on the Barcelona to Barbados cruise leaving next Tuesday. Confusingly my travel agent has emailed to say that no test is required. Yet I'm certain that on the RC website it is very clear that for transatlantic cruises leaving from Europe a test is still required. I paid 60 euros yesterday for a test for my wife and I. That's non-refundable.

I think the travel agent is just confused - which is unfortunate as presumably many others will now not bother to get a test that they are required to take.

I really hope the test results are checked - nothing is more infuriating than paying a lot for tests only to have the relevant company not even ask to see it! That happened throughout the pandemic for me.