New requirements for passengers from Ireland and UK

[Huntingdon1701]

18 hours ago, L and M UK said:

Surely if they require more than an ‘at home test’ they should specify (I do appreciate that this is MSC tho’)

 

They absolutely should, and if they hadn't changed their minds about five times in as many days, I would say you could take it at face value. I'm just saying what I think is an absolute safeguard against unexpected hitches. Hopefully the tests you've booked work fine - and they do meet what MSC has publicly said. 

[doconner]

On 10/8/2021 at 6:43 PM, heathstockton4 said:

We fly to Rome on Tuesday, will have our Antigen done 3pm Monday (result emailed within an hour) and that is good for arrival in Italy and boarding Grandiosa on Wednesday at our allocated time of 12.30pm.

 

Will hopefully be able to update this post on Wednesday afternoon whilst sipping a cocktail on MSC Grandiosa 🤞

 

 

Best of luck.  I'll be watching for your update on Wednesday. 

I'm sure that cocktail will taste wonderful.

[L and M UK]

16 minutes ago, doconner said:

 

Best of luck.  I'll be watching for your update on Wednesday. 

I'm sure that cocktail will taste wonderful.

Best of luck indeed and please do update us all - thanks in advance. 
Can I ask if your antigen test was supervised or an unsupervised/ at home test. Thanks again

[heathstockton4]

We are at out hotel in Rome, no issues with the Antigen at the airport so hopefully the same tomorrow with MSC

 

Just read our certificate and i can't actually see anything on it that suggests it was done remotely at home, it even has a QR code and contact number of the Dr that has verified the negative result.

 

Will update tomorrow, hopefully to confirm hassle free embarkation 

 

 

[Beamafar]

Bon voyage, HS.  Thanks for keeping us updated. 👌

[The_0neuk]

I got back from MSC Grandiosa out of Barcelona Saturday just gone MSC will not accept antigens for cruise passengers from the UK you must have a PCR

 

Lots of people had to head into town and pay for an express 2 hour PCR test

[SeaSwirl66]

6 minutes ago, The_0neuk said:

I got back from MSC Grandiosa out of Barcelona Saturday just gone MSC will not accept antigens for cruise passengers from the UK you must have a PCR

 

Lots of people had to head into town and pay for an express 2 hour PCR test

It appears that this was an incredibly fast moving situation last week though reports in the last few days seem to state Antigen is sufficient now, MSC UK staff have been advised of this - you'd have expected MSC staff on the quay side would also be aware by now too.

[doconner]

17 minutes ago, The_0neuk said:

I got back from MSC Grandiosa out of Barcelona Saturday just gone MSC will not accept antigens for cruise passengers from the UK you must have a PCR

 

Lots of people had to head into town and pay for an express 2 hour PCR test

This was for boarding on October 2nd? 

That's really shocking, because even at that point the website indicated that Antigen should be fine. 

Hopefully aside from being out of pocket for an express PCR test no one actually fully missed boarding the ship (e.g. if they had a late embarkation time and not enough time to go get the 2 hour test.)

It does sort of feel like there has been lots of clarification since the 2nd, so fingers crossed.

[The_0neuk]

yup was oct 2nd and they were adament

[Beamafar]

38 minutes ago, SeaSwirl66 said:

It appears that this was an incredibly fast moving situation last week though reports in the last few days seem to state Antigen is sufficient now, MSC UK staff have been advised of this - you'd have expected MSC staff on the quay side would also be aware by now too.

Hopefully heathstockton will have a different report to make.

 

I was onto MSC (again) about our tickets for our 22nd Oct sailing and the agent stated that we only need the antigen test.  My problem is we still don’t know our flight times so have no idea what exactly our 48 hour window is. 🙄

[L and M UK]

1 hour ago, The_0neuk said:

I got back from MSC Grandiosa out of Barcelona Saturday just gone MSC will not accept antigens for cruise passengers from the UK you must have a PCR

 

Lots of people had to head into town and pay for an express 2 hour PCR test

This is not a surprise TBH as customer services were last Tuesday (5th October) adamant that there website was wrong and a PCR test was required. However by Thursday 7th October they’d got the memo and we’re adamant that a LF antigen test was sufficient. 
As seaswirl66 notes things were moving quickly last week. 

[The_0neuk]

9 minutes ago, L and M UK said:

This is not a surprise TBH as customer services were last Tuesday (5th October) adamant that there website was wrong and a PCR test was required. However by Thursday 7th October they’d got the memo and we’re adamant that a LF antigen test was sufficient. 
As seaswirl66 notes things were moving quickly last week. 

they still allow unvaccinated passengers from schengen countries so the confusion around PCR/Antigen pales into insignificance imo anyway

Hopefully message has been fully understood by the crew at the terminal 🙂

[SeaSwirl66]

Just called up MSC myself (to query an online check-in issue) and asked the agent if they had any updates on the tests required. They sounded like they'd been asked that question a hundred times today.. lateral flow is accepted, and they confirmed if it was acceptable to get past the Italian border at the airport, it would be acceptable for to board the cruise.

[SeaSwirl66]

I'm assuming everyone with an upcoming booking just got the email from MSC with the following!

[Beamafar]

I didn’t receive anything from them about either of the changes they brought in.  The only email I received was on Sept 3rd, advising that we had to be vaccinated.  That was when they were allowing us onboard.  Only for a friend informing me about the original requirement for a PCR test I would have been none the wiser.  That was when I started this thread.  I’ve been keeping up to date by following posts on here ever since.   
 

The Ireland website was even 5 days behind the announcement of the latest change, so no point even keeping an eye there. 🙄

[Cruiseforever11]

I haven’t recieved this but if they have sent it out mine will come via my TA at some point. It's change again. I phone them up today about my voyager status and at the same time asked about tests from Southampton in Nov and the agent said definitely to be double vaccinated and a pcr test 72hrs before but now it looks like you can do either a pcr or antigen 48hrs before if I'm reading that right? I have just checked the travelling in Northern Europe bit non Schengen on their website and it still says pcr 72hrs? Totally confused now as to what I need to sort out nearer the time. 🤔

Edited October 12, 2021 by Cruiseforever11

[Beamafar]

17 minutes ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

I haven’t recieved this but if they have sent it out mine will come via my TA at some point. It's change again. I phone them up today about my voyager status and at the same time asked about tests from Southampton in Nov and the agent said definitely to be double vaccinated and a pcr test 72hrs before but now it looks like you can do either a pcr or antigen 48hrs before if I'm reading that right? I have just checked the travelling in Northern Europe bit non Schengen on their website and it still says pcr 72hrs? Totally confused now as to what I need to sort out nearer the time. 🤔

You’re correct about the requirements for non-Schengen passengers for Northern European cruises - double-vaxxed and PCR 72 hours beforehand. 
 

[L and M UK]

1 hour ago, SeaSwirl66 said:

I'm assuming everyone with an upcoming booking just got the email from MSC with the following!

Yep got the same comms - useful clarification. 👍

[MamaDG]

4 hours ago, L and M UK said:

Yep got the same comms - useful clarification. 👍

Hi All, 

Further to the email I had from MSC last week I’ve also now received the updated email confirming antigen or PCR within 48 hours of boarding.

Just to clarify we are flying from the UK to Barcelona on Saturday to hopefully embark on Sunday 🤞🤞 hoping everyone travelling soon has a fabulous time 🥂🥂

[nickam]

I received this email on 5th october for our October 23rd cruise from Barcelona 

Says PCR test within 72 hours of embarkation

[Beamafar]

They’ve changed the requirement since then to you now needing either a PCR or an antigen test, but within 48 hours of embarkation. 

[The_0neuk]

if it was me i would be having a PCR test and nothing else

 

That way your getting onboard imagine have an antigen and then an argument at the port about what website and emails say etc etc

 

PCR - Save yourself hassle

[kernow]

18 hours ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

I haven’t recieved this but if they have sent it out mine will come via my TA at some point. It's change again. I phone them up today about my voyager status and at the same time asked about tests from Southampton in Nov and the agent said definitely to be double vaccinated and a pcr test 72hrs before but now it looks like you can do either a pcr or antigen 48hrs before if I'm reading that right? I have just checked the travelling in Northern Europe bit non Schengen on their website and it still says pcr 72hrs? Totally confused now as to what I need to sort out nearer the time. 🤔

Is this on Magnifica? Just booked for Feb and looking on here to see what we need and now totally confused, TA said PCR within 72 hrs. 

Please can you update after your cruise with what is actually required.

Thanks and good luck!

[SeaSwirl66]

25 minutes ago, The_0neuk said:

if it was me i would be having a PCR test and nothing else

 

That way your getting onboard imagine have an antigen and then an argument at the port about what website and emails say etc etc

 

PCR - Save yourself hassle

 

We'll find out today how heathstockton4 got on with their Antigen test, boarding in Rome. The problem many passengers would have is getting a PCR test within the 48hr window - not the 72hrs that used to be allotted.

[Cruiseforever11]

4 minutes ago, kernow said:

Is this on Magnifica? Just booked for Feb and looking on here to see what we need and now totally confused, TA said PCR within 72 hrs. 

Please can you update after your cruise with what is actually required.

Thanks and good luck!

Hi Kernow yes going on the Magnifica from Southampton 30.11. My TA seems to think I don't need a test and will be tested at the port like they did on the Virtuosa. Msc when I called yesterday said 72hrs a pcr test which is what is stated on the website at the moment  under Northern Europe non schengan as that what the uk falls under but now people are getting emails saying 48hrs it's so confusing so I'm just going to wait till mid Nov but I will update of course. 😊