habitatnal

Ponant has updated their website to remove vaccination/testing requirements for Australia.  I guess Viking is the only cruise line that hasn’t gotten the memo.  It looks like China has dropped requirements as well so the chance of anyone going on a cruise with requirements is now very low.

Silversea no longer requires vaccinations for Australia.

Ponant cruises still lists Australia as requiring vaccination/testing.  
 

The interesting thing is the Tasmanian government website says that they are updating guidelines for cruising so maybe that is why some cruise lines were slow to update their policies.

https://www.health.tas.gov.au/health-topics/coronavirus-covid-19/guidance-and-resources/best-practice-guidelines#cruise-ships

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

+1. I can't spot anything here - maybe you can. The protocols were just undone, without much in the way of press releases. I can only think that NCL hasn't noticed..

Coronavirus (COVID-19) | Tasmanian Department of Health

 

IF Tasmania was to be the odd one out (I don't think they are), it would be in NCL's interest to find an alternate port to Hobart. Alas, it is NCL that is the odd one out.

 

Good Luck, you must be running out of time.

 

The interesting thing is that Carnival is selling a cruise that leaves on October 31st going to Hobart and there is nothing on the Carnival website that indicates that there are any cruises with restrictions.  If there truly are restrictions there will be many upset people because they weren’t told about them when booking.

What I don’t get is Carnival and Princess have not said anything about requiring the vaccine/testing in Tasmania.  Carnival has a ship that is going to Tasmania in October and I would not be happy if I learned that there were requirements after Carnival said that there weren’t.

From what I can see online the Tasmanian Government has not said that vaccines/tests are required for cruising.  If I am wrong I would love to see the source.

I know the requirements have only been gone for about a month but has there been a dramatic rise in cases, hospitalizations or deaths?

On 9/13/2023 at 12:02 PM, Teachkids2 said:

I didn’t know where to start so I sent it to the above email. I got a very nice email from the VP of guest services so am including that email as well.

 

vicepresidentguestservices@ncl.com

Have you heard anything from NCL?  When I emailed them they didn’t respond.

1 hour ago, Dr heckle said:

Emailed NCL VP guest relations. Very friendly reply that said they would only state current status and that is must be vaccinated. No info on why or if it would possibly change. 

I emailed them yesterday but I have not heard back.

Disney has dropped testing and vaccination requirements.  I think NCL will drop the protocols soon.

3 hours ago, Teachkids2 said:

I sent an email to NCL guest services. They said they would be discussing this at meetings this week. I got a reply back on Monday stating at this time NCL is keeping their requirement to be vaccinated and tested prior to sailing from Australia. They did say to keep checking because things could change but for now the protocol remains. Perhaps those that wish to travel should hound corporate and send emails. Most of us in our party are vaccinated but we have a few that are not. 

I don’t understand how NCL can sail around the world with no protocols but they won’t drop them for Australia.  Do you have a good email address for NCL?  I couldn’t find one.

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

There are no more protocols, so it applies to all ports that subscribed to it.

 

No cruise has departed Melbourne since the protocols were rescinded. The first cruise out of Melbourne is on Grand Princess on 23rd October. Passengers for that cruise are not required to be vaccinated - they will not be checking for vaccination certificates.

 

There is a jumbled-up message there. Terminal employees are sub-contracted by the shipping agent and are neither port nor cruise line employees. Terminal employees always do the check-in process. and during the covid restrictions they were required to check your vaxx certificate. The cruise lines only required advance information so they could apply the 95 and 5% vaxx exemptions. 

 

It sounds like someone needs to tell Disney and NCL that the protocols are truly dropped.  NCL still has requirements on their website.  I doubt Carnival or Princess have access to different information than NCL or Disney does.

I am also active on the Disney message boards.  Someone on that message board said that they called Disney Cruise Line.  Disney told them that the reason why they have not taken down the requirement to be vaccinated/tested is because not all the Australian states have dropped the protocols.  I was under the impression that all of the Australian states did drop the protocols.  Has anyone heard that certain states haven’t agreed to drop the cruise protocols?

10 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I disembarked from the current Coral Princess world cruise in New York. In the 74 nights I was on board, I only saw a handful of passengers wearing masks. It appears that some passengers had COVID in the first two or three weeks when there were quite a lot of cabins with the little table outside indicating that the passengers were in quarantine. At one stage there were probably 16-18 cabins with passengers in quarantine. However, after another week or two, it was rare to see a quarantine cabin. Isolation worked.

 

We all had to present a negative COVID test before boarding and show proof of vaccination. That didn't stop COVID getting on board. I can only assume that some people might have contracted COVID shortly before boarding and it didn't show up on the test.

Did this cruise go to Australia at all?  I’m assuming that is why you were asked to provide proof of vaccination and a negative test.  Going forward I assume that all cruises except ones maybe going to Mainland China will have no pre-boarding protocols.  Cruising really hasn’t fully restarted in China but I know that major brands will start sailing there in the early spring.  China did drop the requirement to test before flying into their country so who knows how they will feel in a few months.

2 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

I've been monitoring P&O's cruise control and it would appear that at this stage they are still requiring pre-cruise RAT tests, though vaccinations are no longer mandatory.

 

For cruises to or from Australia, and cruises that visit an Australian port (including Norfolk Island), guests are required to take a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) within 24 hrs of boarding or a PCR test within 48 hours before boarding and carry evidence of the negative RAT or PCR result. Click here for more details.

Any guest who has tested positive to COVID-19 in the 5 days prior to the cruise departure will not be permitted to board.

If you look at the FAQs on this website it says that testing has been dropped.

https://www.pocruises.com.au/plan/know-before-you-go/healthy-cruising

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

More broad than that. No test required, but a general health form will ask you about any flu or gastro symptoms you may have recently had. The response is usually in the form of a fact sheet of how to manage any symptoms you may have.

That makes sense.  I have filled out a form like that for cruises in the US.

5 minutes ago, arxcards said:

It is for all states. The shared protocols are gone, agreed by all of the states. 

 

Each state has their own health department, and always applied their own requirements prior to covid. This is likely to be a yes/no survey, and be similar from state to state

So what you are saying is you might have to fill out a survey saying you are negative and you took a test within 24 hours?

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

I was looking for the official word last night, but it was thrown up in the dead of night. Media release.

https://www.nsw.gov.au/lifting-of-covid-cruise-ship-protocols

 

The NSW Premier Chris Minns has ended COVID rules for cruising as the industry prepares for a busy summer.

 

 

It looks like according to the media release that you posted, pre-cruise testing has been dropped in NSW.  I would hope all the Australian states drop pre-cruise testing because it would be confusing to passengers and the cruise lines to have different protocols depending on where your cruise leaves from in Australia.

26 minutes ago, arxcards said:

 

One bit missing that is important with these protocols, particularly for those outside of Australia wondering when the date will be. Chris Minns is only one state premier and has no executive power over these protocols. Extracted from those protocols:

The Eastern Seaboard and Western Australian Cruise Protocols are the primary document outlining Governments’ expectations for cruise lines operating in Australia (domestic and international). They were developed on the instruction of National Cabinet, are informed by industry, and have been approved by Governments across the Eastern Seaboard and in Western Australia. As national COVID-19 settings change, state Governments will consider and advise industry of any changes to the Protocols.

18_July_Eastern_Seaboard_Cruise_Protocols.pdf (nsw.gov.au)

 

National cabinet is not a government, but a function that allows the Australian and state governments to meet and decide on policy/strategy of things that affect both levels of government. National cabinet met last week, and as far as I can tell, this didn't get a mention and there is no date set for their next meeting. NSW & QLD developed much of the protocols, as they are the predominant cruises states in Australia. It is possible that NSW and QLD could agree to dismantle this outside of National Cabinet, but there has been no word from QLD at this stage. I am waiting intently for any news from QLD premier Anastasia Palaszczuk and/or National Cabinet.

I’m hoping we will hear something soon.  Thank you for the lesson in how Australian government works.  I have never been to Australia but I hope to someday.  I just think it is time to drop all protocols now because if you don’t think it is safe to go on a cruise then don’t go.  No one is forcing you to go on a cruise.

I wonder when this will take effect?  I would hope that all of Australia would drop protocols and not just NSW.  I would think pre-cruise testing would be dropped as well.

1 minute ago, LittleFish1976 said:

I have to point out that Australia is a country and not a state so our government is a Federal government.

 

Well, it is what it is as far as the covid rules here go. They'll change eventually I suppose but for now, they are what they are and we all have to abide by them.

 

I know that Australia is a country.  The Australian federal government has dropped all requirements for cruising.  Maybe I wasn’t clear but the reason why I said what I said is because the state governments are the ones still imposing restrictions on cruising.

4 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Vaccination against covid is not compulsory in Australia.

 

The rest of the world is welcome to move wherever it wishes to, including 'on'.

 

The cruise lines are keen for people to be vaccinated. Why? Because you're much less likely to die on their ships if you contract covid on a cruise than if you are unvaccinated. Pretty simple.

 

 

The Australian state government wants to keep the vaccination requirement not the cruise lines.  Holland America has cruises that are 40 days long with no requirements.  Do you really think that they would offer that cruise with no restrictions but then want to require vaccinations in Australia?  I have heard that the cruise lines are actively campaigning to drop the restrictions in Australia.

52 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

There is provision for a percentage of unvaccinated people to board cruise ships. I can't remember how much it is, but it is a very small percentage. You have to apply to the cruise ship company for that particular voyage, and it's "first come, first served".

If you are over 12 the only way you can get an exemption in Australia, to vaccination, is if you can’t get vaccinated due to medical reasons.  The Australian state government needs to realize that the rest of the world has moved on.

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I haven't seen a separate line for those that have filled out the arrive can ahead of time in the airports when  I've entered Canada.  Maybe there are separate lines in other airports. I'm just hoping to give some accurate information so people don't think they will be put into some super speedy line.  Take it for what it's worth.  I do find it interesting the way people will practically knock you over to run to the customs area so they'll get ahead of everyone.  I go to the bathroom, get my nexus card and clear customs while these people are still in line.  All of us are stand waiting for our luggage to come out after that for 20 -30 min. (westjet and air canada). 

For people that don’t have NEXUS, you have to fill out a declaration at the kiosk when you scan your passport.  If you use ArriveCan you don’t have to fill out the declaration at the kiosk because you already did it.  This is how ArriveCan saves you time when arriving in Canada.

15 hours ago, xlxo said:

I did a sailing out of Vancouver 3 weeks ago with my VeriFLY ready to go...  They never looked at the app and there was no line.

 

Very different than a year ago where VeriFLY saved me an hour in the embarkation lines.

I opened up the VeriFLY app for my June cruise and the only thing I could do was upload a picture.  What did you have to do for your pass to become active in VeriFLY?

36 minutes ago, HAL4NOW said:

You would need that same documentation even if you had VeriFLY. We sailed out of Vancouver on May first and did not see a VeriFLY line.

VeriFLY is obsolete now since there are currently no cruises with vaccination or test requirements.  The whole purpose of VeriFLY was to upload your vaccination card or test.  When there were requirements it sped up the boarding process since you didn’t need to show the port agent your test or vaccination card.

1 hour ago, smokesmom said:

We embark in 2 days and the Health Assessment on the check-in disappeared and has not reappeared on the website or the Navigator app. I am wondering if we will have to fill the paper form out the day of embarkation like we used to do prior to COVID.

Let us know if you have to fill out a paper questionnaire or asked any health questions.  I’m guessing you won’t.

I am going on the Nieuw Amsterdam in June.  I saw that my Health Assessment has disappeared from online check-in.  Have other people seen that?  Has anyone that has sailed in the past few weeks, noticed if they asked if you were vaccinated at the port?  Were you asked any health questions at the port?

This cruise has standard protocols and I am asking about cruises that have standard protocols.