New Covid Policy - Some of you will be forfeiting your $$$

[syesmar]

10 hours ago, vegascruiser1 said:

I will be in the same predicament. We get off the Freedom on December 3rd (Friday) and get on the Radiance December 5th (Sunday). At least we have a couple of months to figure this out. 

This is a scenario that hasn’t been thought through by upper management. If they want to keep passengers cruising, they need to accommodate passengers like yourself and the OP who have multiple cruises booked. It makes sense to be able to schedule a test onboard one ship so you can board the next without an incredible amount of hassles. I would imagine if more passengers speak up about this, they’ll hopefully realize this is a need. Good luck!

[coldflame]

2 minutes ago, mek said:

You really don't get it.  Who wants to run around at the stroke of midnight ,(and a holiday weekend), changing travel plans because Royal can't provide testing at the pier?

 

 

 

It seems to me you're the one who's not getting it. I'm telling cancel now instead of waiting till stroke of midnight.

[mek]

Just now, coldflame said:

It seems to me you're the one who's not getting it. I'm telling cancel now instead of waiting till stroke of midnight.

 

Just now, coldflame said:

It seems to me you're the one who's not getting it. I'm telling cancel now instead of waiting till stroke of midnight.

I booked with a NRD, back in October of 2019 - way before Covid.  I purchased insurance covering pre-existing conditions, so at that time I had all of the bases covered.  I'm stuck with this cruise or lose my money.

Somehow that really doesn't seem fair to me.

[mek]

1 hour ago, mek said:

 

I booked with a NRD, back in October of 2019 - way before Covid.  I purchased insurance covering pre-existing conditions, so at that time I had all of the bases covered.  I'm stuck with this cruise or lose my money.

Somehow that really doesn't seem fair to me.

Additionally, I really want to go on this cruise. Why should I be forced to cancel, just because Royal can't do the right thing and say they will provide testing at the pier?

[Willard23]

What's so special about 3 days for the rapid test? It is supposed to prove you have antibodies in your system. There will be no measurable difference between 3 days and several weeks. The PCR test shows if you have an active infection and of course time is of the essence. Why make us scramble around for the rapid test at the last minute?

[poocher]

27 minutes ago, mek said:

Additionally, I really want to go on this cruise. Why should I be forced to cancel, just because Royal can't do the right thing and say they will provide testing at the pier?

I completely understand your frustration.  We are cruising in March and who knows what policies/protocols will be in place then.  However, our frustrations may not translate to changes in RC policies.  You may not WANT to cancel but you (and really all of us) may find that to be our best option.  Hope you can find a solution and enjoy the cruise.

[lazydayz]

Royal needs to offer this at port.  While I have my test scheduled, it would be easier and a better result if Royal would offer it at the port.  Testing three days prior means little, since you could contract COVID after that.  Royal did this for the Adventure cruisers out of Nassau at least once, so they know how to do it.  

[RoamingRetirees]

14 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Maybe if everyone raises a stink like the crystal block debacle, they’ll decide to make rapid testing for all available at the port prior to embarkation rather than have people scrambling for a means to obtain a test on their own. 
I’d be perfectly amenable to that - even if I had to pay a few bucks. 

Don't be too quick to wish for that. We boarded Edge on Saturday. Everyone was required to be tested. It took us more than 5 hours, mostly standing in the heat, to get to our cabin. It was brutal.

[PelicanBill]

Rapid tests have very high false negative rates and are useless in vaccinated people with no symptoms. (Yet they can be getting sick and show symptoms 2-5 days later and spread the virus all that time.) As infection rates rise again, only the PCR test is useful and turnaround times in many areas (including mine) are very unpredictable and often longer than 3 days.

 

That's why my next cruise is June 2022... hoping we will really be post-pandemic by then.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, mek said:

My cruise leaves on the Sunday after Thanksgiving making a Thursday test possibly, and more probably than not, difficult. And honestly, who wants to run around on Thanksgiving Day getting a Covid test? Yeah, you are right about that - I can't be bothered to do that while I'm cooking a dinner for 20 people.

oh, you know, perhaps, it's best not to have a dinner for 20 people in the middle of the pandemic. Unless all 20 are the members of your household, of course.

And chances are someone might infect you during the dinner, and then you will happily board a cruise ship, totally unaware of your infection.

 

P.S. all the pharmacies around here are open on Thanksgiving day and the day after. Now, Christmas may be quite different.

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy

[kearney]

11 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

Royal needs to offer this at port.  While I have my test scheduled, it would be easier and a better result if Royal would offer it at the port.  Testing three days prior means little, since you could contract COVID after that.  Royal did this for the Adventure cruisers out of Nassau at least once, so they know how to do it.  

In Nassau they test unvaccinated at the port.. keep in mind everyone over 12 and now 18 need to be vaccinated..so the numbers being tested are relatively small. Edge tried to do this last weekend and it was such a disaster that after hours of delays they cancelled testing. While it can be done...you need space, personnel and time to set this up. On the Edge return a Vlogger had his test result lost and he was unable to fly home until he located a place to do his own testing. So perhaps they can test everyone in port at some point...but they can not turn on a dime to do this...perhaps for Sept sailings and beyond... hopefully by then it will no longer be an issue.

[WisconsinFan]

I have already booked my COVID test for our Oct. 2, 2021 cruise. How'd I do this? I live in a pretty small town and called my locally owned pharmacy (not Walgreen's) when I saw the sign yesterday. I took the 12:15 PM first slot (as the lab guy can pick it up at anytime in the afternoon). I then put a bring up on my calendar to register the day before with the county health department, which will give me a code to have the test done. My pharmacy told me DON'T WAIT to get the code, as their slots had been filling up. So, you may want to check if your local pharmacy is offering COVID tests and what do they recommend you do if you have some time. One perk of living in a small town. I am a bit worried that we don't get the test results back before Saturday morning, but then we punt and try and find a rapid-antigen place in Miami. Crossing my fingers having the first slot available will make a big difference.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 minutes ago, WisconsinFan said:

I then put a bring up on my calendar to register the day before with the county health department, which will give me a code to have the test done. My pharmacy told me DON'T WAIT to get the code, as their slots had been filling up

our chain pharmacies do not require any county codes...

As a matter of fact, the only time I didn't get the results of my Covid test was when I tested at the government site. I can only assume that it was negative, since no one called me to do the contact tracing. They were still doing it last summer. When I got tested at a CVS 3 times, I had my results within 2-3 days (last summer, PCR test) and within an hour (rapid test, this summer).

[mek]

1 hour ago, lazydayz said:

Royal needs to offer this at port.  While I have my test scheduled, it would be easier and a better result if Royal would offer it at the port.  Testing three days prior means little, since you could contract COVID after that.  Royal did this for the Adventure cruisers out of Nassau at least once, so they know how to do it.  

Absolutely how it needs to be handled.  If Royal would step up to the plate and just say they would be providing tests at the port, all of my concerns would vanish.

 

[MommaBear55]

4 hours ago, paradise4me said:

We needed to do this in May for a trip to Hawaii. we did at PCR test through CVS. My results came back within 3 days and my daughter’s did not. CVS said most tests come back within 3 days but don’t guarantee that. We had to cancel last minute. Thankfully the airlines, hotel and tours all refunded us  although the airlines are vouchers.  I absolutely would never do this again.

We ended up driving 1 hour 15 minutes each way so we could get the rapid test for Hawaii. I was too nervous to do a "wait for it" one. 

[WeMissSeaView]

3 hours ago, syesmar said:

This is a scenario that hasn’t been thought through by upper management. If they want to keep passengers cruising, they need to accommodate passengers like yourself and the OP who have multiple cruises booked. It makes sense to be able to schedule a test onboard one ship so you can board the next without an incredible amount of hassles. I would imagine if more passengers speak up about this, they’ll hopefully realize this is a need. Good luck!

There has to be many others. I have a cruise where I will get off for one night and then back on a different ship.

[mek]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

oh, you know, perhaps, it's best not to have a dinner for 20 people in the middle of the pandemic. Unless all 20 are the members of your household, of course.

And chances are someone might infect you during the dinner, and then you will happily board a cruise ship, totally unaware of your infection.

 

P.S. all the pharmacies around here are open on Thanksgiving day and the day after. Now, Christmas may be quite different.

 

Really?  Not that it should matter to you what I choose to do in my own home, but as a vaccinated person, yes there is a slim chance I might get infected - which really makes the point of how useless the pre-cruise tests can be. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by mek

[RedIguana]

2 hours ago, Willard23 said:

The PCR test shows if you have an active infection and of course time is of the essence.

To the best of my knowledge the PCR does not show if you have active infection, and can pick up dead virus for months.

[LB_NJ]

In September I have to pay the remaining balance on my Dec. cruise out of Baltimore.

 

So far Royal does not have any protocols listed for Baltimore.

 

I really do not like the idea of putting down more money on a cruise when I have no idea what the rules will be for the cruise.

 

I had hoped that by now everything would be settled.

[MichaelCMTX]

1 hour ago, PelicanBill said:

That's why my next cruise is June 2022... hoping we will really be post-pandemic by then.

 

And we're late-April 2022.  Whether we're post-pandemic or not by then, I'd expect modification of the procedure a time or two, or three, or more...

[LEMJMcC]

16 hours ago, deliver42 said:

We're booked on the Ovation for September. I hope this goes away, but i doubt it. Even if everything goes well, I'm done with the Royal Group. Instead of making it easier, they just keep piling s*** on to us.

Blame the CDC; it's time they are ignored!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

31 minutes ago, mek said:

Really?  Not that it should matter to you what I choose to do in my own home, but as a vaccinated person, yes there is a slim chance I might get infected - which really makes the point of how useless the pre-cruise tests can be. 

with the delta variant that slim chance of yours just got majorly upgraded.

[mek]

6 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

with the delta variant that slim chance of yours just got majorly upgraded.

Posted from NBC News:

 

Breakthrough Covid cases: Data shows how many vaccinated Americans have tested positive

The 125,682 "breakthrough" cases in 38 states represent less than .08 percent of the 164.2 million-plus people fully vaccinated since January.

 

Not overly concerned.

[mek]

18 minutes ago, mek said:

Posted from NBC News:

 

Breakthrough Covid cases: Data shows how many vaccinated Americans have tested positive

The 125,682 "breakthrough" cases in 38 states represent less than .08 percent of the 164.2 million-plus people fully vaccinated since January.

 

Not overly concerned.

And I'm not here to debate the merits of vaccinations, pre-cruise testing, breakthrough cases, etc.  I'm not afraid to cruise - I simply want the cruise Iines to provide testing at the pier , if it is required to board, for those who prefer to be tested that way.

[lovesthebeach2]

4 hours ago, mek said:

You really don't get it.  Who wants to run around at the stroke of midnight ,(and a holiday weekend), changing travel plans because Royal can't provide testing at the pier?

 

 

 

We currently have a cruise Nov 27 which means we need a test on Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving. If they don’t change the rules for those of us that are vaxed, then I’ll probably cancel..  but I would like a refund, I have more FCC than I would like now.