Pre-departure Covid testing for UK residents

[Wandering Words]

We're booked on 18th September Greek islands cruise, going to stay in Athens for a few days pre-cruise and planning to fly home on disembarkation day, however the UK require a Covid test to be taken max 72 hours before the flight, is anybody aware if Azamara are offering this facility.

 

Thanks

Sue 

[Huntingdon1701]

I've contacted them repeatedly to find out what sort of testing they're going to provide on board (for first sailing on 28th August). They still can't tell me. 

 

In the end, I've booked a hotel so I can get a PCR test on disembarkation day ready for a changed flight the day after. Costing me a lot more so not very happy with their customer service on this. Other companies have set out their clear offer/requirements further ahead of sailing. 

[Josephgray1]

We are booked on the Sept 4th Quest. I saw that we could do a rapid Covid test at the Athens airport before our flight to meet the requirement to come back to the US.  I’m not sure if that meets your requirements for the UK. I agree it would be nice if Azamara offers it onboard. 

[laurieb]

Everything is changing daily; first cruise is still several months out.  I imagine many cruise lines that are starting up soon are in the same place as Azamara is and that protocols will change several times until close to sail date

[Wandering Words]

18 hours ago, Josephgray1 said:

We are booked on the Sept 4th Quest. I saw that we could do a rapid Covid test at the Athens airport before our flight to meet the requirement to come back to the US.  I’m not sure if that meets your requirements for the UK. I agree it would be nice if Azamara offers it onboard. 

Unfortunately at the moment I think it’s PCR - we have decided to leave booking the return flights for a while longer & see if anything changes

[Huntingdon1701]

On 7/14/2021 at 3:40 AM, laurieb said:

  I imagine many cruise lines that are starting up soon are in the same place as Azamara

 

No actually. They've published details, with NCL for instance confirming that they'll provide testing before disembarkation. 

[malcliz]

We have booked one of the first cruises too. I believe the test to return to the UK can be an antigen test which can be bought in the UK and taken with us. Some of our family just did this on returning from Portugal. The completed test had to be taken within 48 hours of travel and laid on a paper showing the reference number with an open passport and a photo taken and uploaded. The fit to fly certificate is emailed through within 12 hours. The day 2 test has to be ordered in advance as the reference number is needed for the passenger locator form on return.  Waiting to see if the Government change their advice on international cruise travel though. 

[excitedofharpenden]

What a palava!

 

Phil 

[malcliz]

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

What a palava!

 

Phil 

Yes it really is Phil, not to mention the cost of the tests and the stress in case the results don’t come through on time!  Liz

[excitedofharpenden]

14 minutes ago, malcliz said:

Yes it really is Phil, not to mention the cost of the tests and the stress in case the results don’t come through on time!  Liz

Yes Liz. The stress is the worst part and organising the timing of it all. Cruises are supposed to destress, but this is the opposite!

 

Phil 

[Huntingdon1701]

5 hours ago, malcliz said:

We have booked one of the first cruises too. I believe the test to return to the UK can be an antigen test which can be bought in the UK and taken with us. Some of our family just did this on returning from Portugal. The completed test had to be taken within 48 hours of travel and laid on a paper showing the reference number with an open passport and a photo taken and uploaded. The fit to fly certificate is emailed through within 12 hours. The day 2 test has to be ordered in advance as the reference number is needed for the passenger locator form on return.  Waiting to see if the Government change their advice on international cruise travel though. 

Absolutely agree about the stress! Although being able to get back to cruising sooner rather than later will be worth it all. 

 

Can you provide any more detail on the antigen test? I wasn't able to find one that met the requirements on gov.uk, so if you've got more info on one that was accepted that would be really helpful. 

[malcliz]

1 hour ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Absolutely agree about the stress! Although being able to get back to cruising sooner rather than later will be worth it all. 

 

Can you provide any more detail on the antigen test? I wasn't able to find one that met the requirements on gov.uk, so if you've got more info on one that was accepted that would be really helpful. 

We used Medicspot who are on the BA list (with a discount code of BA) and on the whole it worked well but we needed to contact them and couldn't find any way of getting in touch and their 'Chat' was just a Bot which was frustrating. We got the Day 2 (and 8) from Randox who were the cheapest at the time and the tests had to be dropped in a mailbox outside the Roadchef. Quite random but it worked! Hoping we won't need the tests by September.

[uktog]

Looking at what is happening to Viking in Iceland just now, if they do not get to a more manageable way of reacting to cases cruising has to go off the agenda again for a while.  Sad because I know how hard people like Azamara are working to get back to sailing.

[Huntingdon1701]

Reading the article, it sounds like Iceland reacted more extremely than other countries where small numbers have ocurred - and it sounds like the public health officials were in a different place to the port authorities. Should be relatively straightforward to iron that out now it's been revealed as an issue. 

[Huntingdon1701]

6 hours ago, malcliz said:

We used Medicspot who are on the BA list (with a discount code of BA) and on the whole it worked well but we needed to contact them and couldn't find any way of getting in touch and their 'Chat' was just a Bot which was frustrating. We got the Day 2 (and 😎 from Randox who were the cheapest at the time and the tests had to be dropped in a mailbox outside the Roadchef. Quite random but it worked! Hoping we won't need the tests by September.

 

Thank you. I'll look into those. 

[uktog]

You are right it is such a nightmare just now. 
people in the UK need to remember that in any event international cruising  is still against FCO rules and if you do go you have  to specifically check with your insurers if they will cover you for all risks. 
Mine said no. So those who are doing cruises ex Iceland or Malta just now may not even have realised this. 

[malcliz]

Ours doesn’t either at the mom

16 hours ago, uktog said:

You are right it is such a nightmare just now. 
people in the UK need to remember that in any event international cruising  is still against FCO rules and if you do go you have  to specifically check with your insurers if they will cover you for all risks. 
Mine said no. So those who are doing cruises ex Iceland or Malta just now may not even have realised this. 

Ours doesn’t either at the moment, only covers domestic cruises.  I wonder if they will cancel these Greek cruises if the FCDO doesn’t change their rules?

[uktog]

56 minutes ago, malcliz said:

Ours doesn’t either at the mom

Ours doesn’t either at the moment, only covers domestic cruises.  I wonder if they will cancel these Greek cruises if the FCDO doesn’t change their rules?

I suspect if US guests can travel in enough numbers they would try and go ahead.  UK guests would just be covered by Cruise with Confidence - thats just my guess....

[Riocca]

To be honest I can’t see the FCDO changing it any time soon either, combined with the ever changing traffic light system it’s not worth considering anything at the moment. 
Also with the current removal of restrictions causing another wave of infections we won’t be allowed to travel to other countries anyway. Our village was relatively untouched by Covid until now a group of locals, including our next door neighbour, attended the Euros at Wembley now there are cases everywhere - including next door!

Maybe I’m a pessimist but I don’t think this will end well and further lockdowns will be required.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Riocca

[Huntingdon1701]

Coverforyou have said they will cover these cruises, in an unusual break from the cautious approach of insurers.

 

Government has said the ban on international cruises will lift in life with the taskforce recommendations, which would suggest tomorrow. I've seen conflicting comments on that though. 

 

It's also worth remembering that you can get the post-Brexit equivalent of the European Health Insurance Card. It's not equivalent to insurance, but will mean medical costs are covered if you're actually ill. 

[uktog]

Unfortunately the new title of this thread does not reflect the concern of many or what the OP was asking.  The issue is will Azamara facilitate testing such that cruisers can present documentation that allows them to board the plane in Athens, pre departure covers everything from leaving home etc.  Many might be flying through the UK on disembarkation and it’s not only UK residents who need fit to fly paperwork 
It’s a really big issue for both UK guests or anyone who will transit the UK to go further afield after their cruise.  I believe some other international lines also call for documentation.  
The thread got confused yesterday when people incorrectly started talking about CDC and a comment had to be made they don’t apply in the UK.
This is not a UK specific issue, it applies to everyone- It’s stopping some guests booking and making others head to cancel.

Can we have a thread still that specifically covers what testing Azamara will offer, as I believe the original title was? 

Edited July 19, 2021 by uktog

[uktog]

19 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

Coverforyou have said they will cover these cruises, in an unusual break from the cautious approach of insurers.

 

Government has said the ban on international cruises will lift in life with the taskforce recommendations, which would suggest tomorrow. I've seen conflicting comments on that though. 

 

It's also worth remembering that you can get the post-Brexit equivalent of the European Health Insurance Card. It's not equivalent to insurance, but will mean medical costs are covered if you're actually ill. 

Just read the FCO 19th July update and the ban is still there, they updated the domestic cruises sections only - either someone has not edited the FCO pages properly or more likely as it relates to international travel they can keep it there.  Still a mess.  

 

Those risking the position and going to Greece must be getting concerned that they do not know the onboard testing plans, `I would be.

[Riocca]

57 minutes ago, uktog said:

Just read the FCO 19th July update and the ban is still there, they updated the domestic cruises sections only - either someone has not edited the FCO pages properly or more likely as it relates to international travel they can keep it there.  Still a mess.  

 

Those risking the position and going to Greece must be getting concerned that they do not know the onboard testing plans, `I would be.

Many of the Greek itineraries include a stop in Cyprus, the U.K. is on their red list which means arriving passengers must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival and a further PCR test, at the passengers cost, on arrival results taking 3 hours. So currently those itineraries would be impossible for U.K. passengers.

[Huntingdon1701]

4 hours ago, Riocca said:

Many of the Greek itineraries include a stop in Cyprus, the U.K. is on their red list which means arriving passengers must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival and a further PCR test, at the passengers cost, on arrival results taking 3 hours. So currently those itineraries would be impossible for U.K. passengers.

 

In theory possible, if you take the first test in Athens. Then the second test immediately on arrival, you'd be able to do most of the shore excursions that they have on offer with the remaining time left in port. That feels more theoretical than practical though. 

 

I'm on the first cruise and prepared for a port or two to be skipped, but that's going to depend on how many of the passengers are from the UK vs elsewhere. I have no idea how the cruise line would handle that. As for the testing on board issue, I've altered flights so that I have time to take test separately on arrival back in Greece before flying back. I also have good insurance cover and the Health Insurance Card, so not overly worried about the issues around the cruise - just whether or not it sails at all!

[Riocca]

2 minutes ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

 

In theory possible, if you take the first test in Athens. Then the second test immediately on arrival, you'd be able to do most of the shore excursions that they have on offer with the remaining time left in port. That feels more theoretical than practical though. 

 

I'm on the first cruise and prepared for a port or two to be skipped, but that's going to depend on how many of the passengers are from the UK vs elsewhere. I have no idea how the cruise line would handle that. As for the testing on board issue, I've altered flights so that I have time to take test separately on arrival back in Greece before flying back. I also have good insurance cover and the Health Insurance Card, so not overly worried about the issues around the cruise - just whether or not it sails at all!

I’m sure it will sail as there will be non U.K. cruisers who don’t have to jump through hoops, from a personal point of view as much as we would like to be back on Azamara we don’t want the hassle - yet. Next year if things are still the same then we will have to see how the logistics pan out.