Testing on Costa ships

[dritan]

Hi

 

I know this isn't a very active forum but thought I'd give it a chance.  If anyone has recently been  on a Costa ship can you explain a few things?

 

Is there PCR/Antigen testing at the end of the cruise?  ( I recently was on Celebrity where this was done and covered me for my return to the UK requirement).  I can see they do one mid cruise but no mention of end of cruise.

 

I will be travelling with a 13 year old who, because of UK policy, won't be fully vaccinated when we travel.  This means that in order to get a green pass he will need a negative test which Costa state they can provide on the ship.  Whilst this is fine for the rest of us as we are fully vaccinated, does this mean he will need to get tested every few days and issue with a new green pass each time?

Many thanks

 

[kremerlorraine]

Hi Dritan. I believe that the answer to your second question is yes - your child will be tested whenever required to disembark the ship e.g. for an excursion. I'll be on the Luminosa on Sunday and will find out about the test for returning to the UK.

Lorraine

[Stefan_Varong]

Generally Italian law applies for Costa. A green pass is only available to those with residence in Italy, but in many cases the national passes have the same value, besides all EU apps and passes the UK documents are accepted as well. Please be aware that entering Italy itself from the UK without quarantine (five days ended by a negative test) needs both: vaccination and a negative test not older than 48 hours. This will have consequences for your child of course in both cases, if boarding in Italy and leaving board when boarding happened elsewhere. So much about Italian law. Boarding a Costa involves a test, for arriving from many countries (including UK) this needs to be a PCR test - at this moment for boarding in Italy and Spain. This is done in the terminal. Further testing half way for seven day cruises is a Costa rule for everybody as well. For participating in excursions where a green pass (or equivalent) is required being vaccinated is enough, in all other cases a test will be done to ensure that the test will be still valid. Required is a green pass when the excursion is visiting in Italy a museum or a restaurant (table inside). As far as I know France has similar rules. This could result in being tested every second or third day for those not fully vaccinated. For debarking in Spain a fresh test is required for everybody. Since testing is required in many occasions a valid test may be available anyway, otherwise on request it must be possible. Don’t forget to use the needed forms before arriving to the different countries.

[dritan]

Ah  so easy peasy then!!!!

Looks like I'll need to do further research to make sure we jump through all the loops. If I can manage to get my son vaccinated with 1 dose here in the uk(the policy on 12-15 year old is changing) and its within the time specification, it appears my son would be considered  "vaccinated" by Italy so shouldn't need the green pass related testing for excursions in Italy but he wouldn't meet French green pass rules as they require both jabs.

Added to the fun is that we are flying into Nice which under French entry rules would only require my son to have a pre departure antigen test. But if we get a Costa transfer from Nice to Savona will the fact we are getting a pcr test at the port mean the vaccinated adults are covered for Italy entry requirements????  Its all very complicated.

[dritan]

My recent cruise in greece and Croatia was straightforward in comparison were a ship shore excursion was only required in Mykonos.

 

[Stefan_Varong]

Yes, Italy, Spain, and France as well are pretty strict at this moment. But I think that this has a reason in the bad experiences they all made. Right now Italy announced further restrictions, lucky enough these restrictions don’t limit tourists further. Greece is a bit more relaxed in this context.
 
Entering Italy from France doesn’t exempt you from being fully vaccinated plus PCR test if you have been in the UK just before. You need to fill-in the PLF and declare where you have been within the 14 days before entering Italy. This has been changed about three weeks ago from quarantine for all from the UK, if the situation in the UK improves further it may become easier. I am travelling from Hungary to Italy and for being vaccinated I don’t need a test. Based on the situation here Italy requires either test or being vaccinated or being recovered. You see, not only every country has different requirements, but also different requirements for different countries.

 

[dritan]

2 hours ago, Stefan_Varong said:

Yes, Italy, Spain, and France as well are pretty strict at this moment. But I think that this has a reason in the bad experiences they all made. Right now Italy announced further restrictions, lucky enough these restrictions don’t limit tourists further. Greece is a bit more relaxed in this context.
 
Entering Italy from France doesn’t exempt you from being fully vaccinated plus PCR test if you have been in the UK just before. You need to fill-in the PLF and declare where you have been within the 14 days before entering Italy. This has been changed about three weeks ago from quarantine for all from the UK, if the situation in the UK improves further it may become easier. I am travelling from Hungary to Italy and for being vaccinated I don’t need a test. Based on the situation here Italy requires either test or being vaccinated or being recovered. You see, not only every country has different requirements, but also different requirements for different countries.

 

Thanks Stefan for the info.  As ever, the watch word is too keep vigilant with all the ongoing changes.  Nothing here is insurmountable, just a bit of hassle but worth it in the end.  

[BVILady]

So is Costa doing tests before disembarkation and which test, antigen or PCR test. Not sure now with the constantly changing requirements whether I will need the PCR test to cross all these borders on my way home and need to know for how long to book accommodations, just overnight for the early next day morning flight or days. I am disembarking on a Saturday so if Costa is not doing the test will need to find out when and where and when to expect results. Not so sure any longer about dritans comment

On 9/17/2021 at 3:19 PM, dritan said:

Nothing here is insurmountable, just a bit of hassle but worth it in the end

😁😀😁

[Stefan_Varong]

Costa has facilities for both antigen and PCR tests aboard to perform all required tests. While for debarkation in Italy a test is not mandatory, in Spain it is. It should be no surprise to Costa that people need the one or other test at the end of a cruise for flying home. Every country has different rules and these permanently change as well. Impossible to know what will happen until May next year.

[dritan]

So the UK have cut the requirement for a PCR or antigen test before departure to the UK - so one less requirement.  Hurray!

Now if only Italy would remove the antigen test for entry, things would be much smoother;-)

[kremerlorraine]

On the Luminosa now and have been told that they will do a free antigen test on Saturday (the day before arrival) and provide a paper certificate. We're happy as it will be valid for our arrival back to the UK.

[dritan]

That's really handy especially as the "test to return" is still in place for a few weeks. Do you mind me asking how long the onboarding took on Day 1.  I've just been given a 3.30 check in time with a 6pm sail time - and am a bit bummed as I've heard it takes 2.5 hours.  Not sure why as MSC was a one hour process end to end, and Celebrity was only 30 mins.  Not sure why Costa's takes so long?

[Stefan_Varong]

7 hours ago, dritan said:

Not sure why Costa's takes so long?

 

Costa says: "Those who come from one of the risk areas and embark in Italian ports or, otherwise, have been in close contact (distance of less than 2 meters for more than 15 minutes) with people who live in one of the risk areas in the 14 days prior to boarding, they must necessarily show up at the boarding terminal at least 4 hours before the ship's departure time, to allow them to carry out the diagnostic test using an RT-PCR molecular swab . The test is required to allow guests to board the ship, and is mandatory for guests over the age of 2 years." According to this list https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OQgsAE4SRnlLCo5BstaKs9QxhX5f-OxR/view travellers from the UK have this PCR test requirement and antigen tests are way faster than PCR tests.

[latin princess]

I embark on 8th  Oct in Barcelona. I am from UK and have been given an embarkation time of 10 am. Glad I am flying in the night before  ( not sure if the fact I am pearl diamond has an impact on my given time) 

Edited September 24, 2021 by latin princess

[kremerlorraine]

15 hours ago, dritan said:

That's really handy especially as the "test to return" is still in place for a few weeks. Do you mind me asking how long the onboarding took on Day 1.  I've just been given a 3.30 check in time with a 6pm sail time - and am a bit bummed as I've heard it takes 2.5 hours.  Not sure why as MSC was a one hour process end to end, and Celebrity was only 30 mins.  Not sure why Costa's takes so long?

Hi. It took just over three hours at Trieste. We arrived 20 minutes before our allotted time and no one was checking, so you should be OK to turn up earlier. They give you a packed lunch and unlimited soft drinks while waiting.

[BVILady]

On 9/23/2021 at 3:29 AM, kremerlorraine said:

On the Luminosa now and have been told that they will do a free antigen test on Saturday (the day before arrival) and provide a paper certificate. We're happy as it will be valid for our arrival back to the UK.

Is it possible to get the certificate in digital form? Does anybody know? I will need the test-result to upload to several portals to get back home. In case it is not can anyone recommend a hotel in Venice for 1 night with a business-center where I can get the paper-form scanned? Thanks in advance.

[Stefan_Varong]

2 hours ago, BVILady said:

... where I can get the paper-form scanned?

 

Since I will stay a while in Venice before our cruise I’ll need a print shop for tickets and luggage tags. I found one close to Rialto Bridge, offering everything around copies, internet, digital and paper data: e copie da Toni, C. Giazzo, 5645, 30122 Venezia