Lee Cruiser

Sorry, I misread your question. No, you don't have to test.

My wife and I are two of those like you.

Correct.

You do not have to test for a cruise 5 days or less, because you are "fully vaccinated."

Yes, it may be confusing. Not sure why they left the distinction in there between "fully vaccinated" and "up to date", since there is no longer a difference in testing days. The distinction before was that "up to date" could take their test up to three days before and "fully vaccinated" but not boosted (up to date) had to take it two days prior. If you read it close, it is saying that if you are fully vaccinated or up to date then you can test three days prior. That is only for cruises six days and longer.

That is not correct. You are reading that wrong. John Heald has already addressed that. Fully vaccinated still means having the the full series (one J+J and two of the others) of the original vaccines. This is from John Healds FB: Fully vaccinated ( with the exception of some of the specified longer cruises which can be found on our website) means that you have had both shots of your vaccine or the one shot Johnson and Johnson. Boosters are not required unless specified for these longer Cruises again mentioned on our have fun be safe protocols.

I would agree with that. My wife and I recently had Covid (about 6 weeks ago and non-cruise related). We both only had a runny nose (no fever, no headache, or tiredness.) It basically felt like a minor cold. I would not have even tested had I not been around my grandsons who had it. I'm guessing that most folks that have little or no symptoms like that wouldn't go test on a cruise.

Another good change is that on 6 day plus cruises that still currently require testing, those who are vaccinated, but haven't had the boosters can go back to testing up to 3 days out instead of two.

Yes. This is from John Heald's FB page: Fully vaccinated ( with the exception of some of the specified longer cruises which can be found on our website) means that you have had both shots of your vaccine or the one shot Johnson and Johnson. Boosters are not required unless specified for these longer Cruises again mentioned on our have fun be safe protocols.

You had me going back and doing a double check on mine 😀

I'm believing that that will happen. I believe the main ports that are still requiring testing are eastern Caribbean ports. If those areas stick to the testing requirement, cruise lines will probably go ahead and relax the testing policy for other areas that don't require it. They may even threaten to use other ports like they were doing last year and earlier this year.

Yes. I did it on AMAC and also on Carnival.com for comparison.

😀

You and I are on the same cruise, except mine is a seven day Western Caribbean 😀

I guess now the speculation will be about what NCL does 😀

With you there. We cruise the same day. Those who are not boosted do get the extra day back. That's good if you are traveling in early. The next step will probably include some sort of announcement about longer cruises with the exception of ... (those areas still requiring it). That will be a little more complicated. Though they may also be in consultation with those places to try to get their requirements dropped. Who knows?

"More changes will be announced shortly and all changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary."

I figured it would be coming in a matter of days. Here is the official news: NEWS ON TESTING. Carnival Cruise Line is pleased to announce that we are adjusting certain protocols to reflect the lifting of CDC requirements for the US cruise industry. We remain, as always, committed to the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve. These changes will be made in phases, with the first of these updates effective on Thursday, August 4, 2022 and focused on short cruise itineraries of 5 nights or less. More changes will be announced shortly and all changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary. Effective for embarkations on or after Thursday, August 4 • No pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests booked on cruises with itineraries 5 nights or less. • Pre-cruise testing for itineraries 6 nights or longer can be conducted up to three (3) days before departure. • There will be no in-terminal testing for unvaccinated guests (with exemption approval) on day of departure, but all unvaccinated guests, age 2 and older, must provide proof of a negative result of a lab-administered or supervised self-administered antigen COVID test taken within three (3) days before embarkation. Thank you all for helping get us to where we are now and your loyalty and your desire to cruise and have FUN is extraordinary. Cheers

They may be sailing full, but for how long? How many of those people are people like myself, who had only the first round of vaccine over a year ago and have no plans to get another one. Cruise lines are looking to move in the opposite direction now that the CDC has gotten out of the way. Jason Liberty said as much yesterday: “This means that we’re transitioning to the point where everyone will be able to vacation with us while always working with our destination partners to meet their regulations."

Don't look for this one to happen anytime soon. Cruise lines have seen the results that even the booster doesn't prevent the spread. They know that requiring anything else would just further cut the number of people going on cruises. They are looking to go in the opposite direction, which the RCI rep all but said yesterday.

The only issue I see with that is that some destinations still require a test. Not sure how the cruise lines will handle that. Of course they could start changing ports again. As those destinations start losing money again, they may change their testing requirements.

Haven't noticed that, but I also expect it to come in a matter of days. Looking forward to hearing that announcement!

AARP offers a 10% on Carnival gift cards? Is this at certain times or every day?

Much like AAA, Sam's Club and other memberships, you go through their website to book. They offer some of the same rates as directly through Carnival's website as well as some other rates and perks that are exclusive (like travel agents). I just did a mock booking for a 5-day cruise my wife and I are taking in January. Right now, I could book on their site for about $95 or so (roughly 10%) less than my current best rate offer directly on Carnival.com, so it would have been better than booking direct right now. However, it is nowhere near as good as my booking that was done under the 50% off sale earlier this year. There was also an exclusive rate that included $100 onboard credit, but much like directly with Carnival at times, the rate itself was about $100 more, so it wasn't any better.

Yes, that's what we've done on our last three cruises, but with all the announcements right before sailing, not everyone does. It's so simple now, I'm not sure why they just keep waiting.