Any word from ACL on March cruises?

[BaumD]

The ACL website show Historic South cruises starting on March 13th and Mississippi River Cruises starting on March 21st. Is anyone booked on these March cruises and have they had any updates from ACL ?  Are the cruises happening and if “yes”, have they told you of any changes (like port changes), special requirements other than those shown on the website?

[BaumD]

Someone has to be on one of the 9 cruises scheduled to leave in March (Mississippi River and Historic South). If you are on one of these cruises, have you heard anything from ACL or your travel agent regarding whether the cruises are happening?

[cwatts15]

We are scheduled to cruise out of New Orleans on Mar 26. We were sent all our boarding info and to pick our shore excursions. I talked to them an they said they were sailing about 75% full. I think she said 110 passengers. They said they had a doctor on board, could do Covid tests and isolate anyone positive. We have to get a Covid test within 4 days of sailing. I am sure there was a lot more but off the top of my head, those were the main things. Of course, masks and socially distancing. There are 2 cruises before us, so we can see how it goes😊

[Suitcasefull]

Hope all goes well for your late March cruise -- sounds like it's happening so pleased for you.  Had been scheduled on the Florida Rivers one and they cancelled all the March sailings.   We chose not to move to a November date.  Enjoy finally getting to go!

 

[jkoleh]

Note the following---sounds like it is possible to have ACL do covid testing when you arrive at embarkation point  rather than within 4 days of departure.  Thoughts?

 

From ACL Operating Protocol Statement

/Guests are asked to minimize contact with others/self-quarantine prior to travel and must take a COVID-19 test within 4 days of the start of their cruise package. Only PCR or molecular test results will be accepted. Guests are asked to submit their test result to American Cruise Lines

 

From e-mail from ACL to me  2/19/21

If guests do not have their test results available at the time of boarding we will conduct our own testing, once we confirm a negative test result they will be allowed to board.

[BaumD]

If they don't get the results before the ship sails, you may have to go to the next port before being allowed to board. Get the test 4 days before, makes life a lot easier.

[BaumD]

Per the ACL website they will be using the Quidel Sofia 2 COVID-19 testing machine. This is an antigen test, not a PCR test. It does have an FDA emergency use authorization, but it is subject to false negatives. They will get results from this test in only a few minutes. From Their website:

“PCR [polymerase chain reaction] tests can be incredibly accurate, but running the tests and analyzing the results can take time. One of the main advantages of an antigen test is the speed of the test, which can provide results in minutes,” according to an FDA news release. “However, antigen tests may not detect all active infections, as they do not work the same way as a PCR test. Antigen tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular PCR tests. This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection. With this in mind, negative results from an antigen test may need to be confirmed with a PCR test prior to making treatment decisions or to prevent the possible spread of the virus due to a false negative.”

Edited February 25, 2021 by BaumD

[Izena]

Maybe I read things differently.  My impression was 

Must have negative covid test  within 4 days of cruise.

get prescreened again before  boarding the boat.

still needed all the prescreening  tests if you have received vaccine

 

ive decided to wait until 2022 to cruise

[BaumD]

ACL website now shows the March 13 and March 20 Historic South as fully waitlisted. A change from yesterday. Probably means these two cruises are cancelled.

[cwatts15]

We had 2 Lower Mississippi cruises ahead of our on 3/27 that were cancelled already. They told me the first cruise for ACL will be the Independence this weekend, the Jazz on the 21st, then our cruise Queen of Mississippi on the 27th.

So I am just waiting to see how it goes.

I asked them about  to what happens if someone pops + on the ship. She said they have hotels at every port for quarantining and she couldn’t answer about who has to quarantine. She said it is determined on a case by case basis and whether you are vaccinated. It wasn’t clear. We are waiting to see how it goes with the 2 cruises before us, but we are thinking about rescheduling again.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

New article on Cruise Critic says American Cruise Line still set to resume tomorrow (March 13):

Two U.S. Small Ship Lines Resume Cruises This Weekend