Grandeur Barbados protocols released...

[little britain]

Her first sailing is early December.

 

The main points of discussion are: 

All travelers age 5 and older require a negative PCR COVID-19 test result to fly into Barbados regardless of vaccination status. The test must be taken within the 3 days before the day you fly into the country.

 

Due to current requirements of your itinerary, all guests on December sailings from Barbados will need to book a tour if they wish to go ashore in ports of call, regardless of vaccination status. We will continue to update booked guests and the information on this page as we know more about this requirement for future sailings.

 

Mixed vaccine regimens of brands other than Pfizer and Moderna are not permitted for this itinerary

 

Guests may need to take a COVID-19 test onboard, either to satisfy Barbados debarkation requirements, or to re-enter their home country. Costs for this test are the guest's responsibility.  

 

Guests 5 and older (regardless of vaccination status) planning to tour Barbados before making their way to the airport or enjoy an extended stay in Barbados shoreside, are required to undergo additional testing. (no mention of costs)

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by little britain

[Ginnyfyr]

I believe the only thing that's changed is that now they won't pay for test to go home, which is kinda sucky since they are paying for all their US homeport cruises. I contacted them this morning to inquire about the cost of testing and was told that information will be released in February. 

[little britain]

Updated via a social site.. interesting no mention of Columbia or Panama..

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, little britain said:

Updated via a social site

And already contradicts the list posted on their own web site - Antigua doesn't require a shore excursion according to the web site.

[Sunshine3601]

Surprised to see antigua on the list of ship required excursion as royal recently removed antigua from list of bubble tours required and rumor is st kitts is allowing people off ships to shop in port, just not allowed to book private excursions

[little britain]

Barbados our flight doesn’t leave till 8p so will be interesting to see what they do with us….

[long4acruise]

23 hours ago, little britain said:

All travelers age 5 and older require a negative PCR COVID-19 test result to fly into Barbados regardless

Yes, this is my issue. There are many options to take an antigen test (CVS, Walgreens, eMed proctored test, etc.) and get quick results vs waiting 1-2 days for PCR test results and hoping a scheduled test isn't canceled (staff shortage, bad winter weather, etc.). 

 

Little to no backup plans as there's no home PCR test kits. May have to schedule multiple AM & PM appts @ different sites and cancel the later test, but this may take a time slot someone else may need.

 

Hoping some restrictions will later be relaxed timely!

[GalwayGirl03]

28 minutes ago, long4acruise said:

Yes, this is my issue. There are many options to take an antigen test (CVS, Walgreens, eMed proctored test, etc.) and get quick results vs waiting 1-2 days for PCR test results and hoping a scheduled test isn't canceled (staff shortage, bad winter weather, etc.). 

 

Little to no backup plans as there's no home PCR test kits. May have to schedule multiple AM & PM appts @ different sites and cancel the later test, but this may take a time slot someone else may need.

 

Hoping some restrictions will later be relaxed timely!

If you are flying into teh states you can take an antigen test it doesn't need to be a PCR per the US embassy site in barbados...I scheduled antigen testing at the Crane Resort the day we disembark and results are given in less than an hour....if royal's pricing is similar to the crane i will cancel those tests.

[long4acruise]

29 minutes ago, GalwayGirl03 said:

If you are flying into teh states you can take an antigen test it doesn't need to be a PCR per the US embassy site in barbados...I scheduled antigen testing at the Crane Resort 

I was referring to flying from the US to Barbados where a PCR test is required according to the latest RC guidance.

(We traveled to Europe in late Sep for a cruise and in that case we only needed an antigen test within 3 days to fly back home to the US.)

 

Testing
Entry to Barbados: All guests must follow Barbados’ COVID-19 2021 Travel Guidelines. All guests 5 years and older — regardless of vaccination status — must present a negative PCR test result no more than 3 days prior to arriving in Barbados.

[little britain]

The ports mentioned ⬆️ where you need to take shore excursions is every single port on the 7n itinerary….. that should see a influx of cancellations.

[El turista]

I was worried about having to arrange another test in Barbados since I'm arriving on the Thursday before my sailing (to be safe and avoid last minute flight issues) but they're doing complimentary embarkation day tests so that's a relief. I'll only have to arrange one no more than three days before leaving the United States.

 

Vaccination
All guests 12 and older must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days before sailing. Only guests with World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccines may sail. Guests under the age of 12, who are considered fully vaccinated, should follow the guidance for vaccinated guests below. Children with one dose of a vaccine do not count as fully vaccinated for the purpose of our sailing. The only mixed MRNA vaccines accepted are combinations of Pfizer and Moderna.

 

Testing
Entry to Barbados: All guests must follow Barbados’ COVID-19 2021 Travel Guidelines. All guests 5 years and older — regardless of vaccination status — must present a negative PCR test result no more than 3 days prior to arriving in Barbados.

Pre-cruise testing costs and scheduling are the guest's responsibility.

 

Embarkation Day: All guests 2 and older — regardless of vaccination status — are required to take a complimentary embarkation day antigen test and receive a negative test result. Registration details will be sent via email in advance for the antigen test at the terminal.

No testing required for guests under age 2.

 

Prior to disembarking: Guests 5 and older (regardless of vaccination status) planning to tour Barbados before making their way to the airport or enjoy an extended stay in Barbados shoreside, are required to undergo additional testing.

Guests that go directly to the airport, on their own or through an RCI tour, will not be required to undergo any testing onboard.
For re-entry into your home country, guests may require proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Testing details and options will be provided onboard at guests' expense.

[El turista]

If one need a shore excursion with Royal to go ashore, I wonder if they allow to do some souvenir shopping in the dockside shops after the shore excursion is completed.

[texmex.ferr]

8 hours ago, little britain said:

Barbados our flight doesn’t leave till 8p so will be interesting to see what they do with us….

Our flight back to the UK (Gatwick) on 6 March is at 8pm also, it was supposed to be about 17.35, but it's been changed.    I'm wondering if we'll be allowed to stay on the ship  longer, or if they'll take us to a day hotel or something similar until it's nearer our time to go to the airport.

[smokeybandit]

I can't even believe RC is still going forward with the Barbados home port

[wellsme1]

Glad we cancelled this one. We’re on for 2023.

[Sunshine3601]

As much as it pained me we cancelled our b2b for february.   We dont want to fly to wear a mask at airport and on plane for approx 10 + hrs then take the chance of a positive test at embarkment and have to quarantine there.

We had a nice JS too!

Will definitely look at these sailings for 2023.

Have fun!  

[little britain]

8 hours ago, texmex.ferr said:

Our flight back to the UK (Gatwick) on 6 March is at 8pm also, it was supposed to be about 17.35, but it's been changed.    I'm wondering if we'll be allowed to stay on the ship  longer, or if they'll take us to a day hotel or something similar until it's nearer our time to go to the airport.

I would hope so. They took people with later flights on Jewel ( Cyprus) to a day resort for lunch etc.

The only 2 excursions which drop you off at the airport are to a rum place or to the beach. The beach one has no mention of washing/ hair drying facilities so zero interest in sitting on plane for 10 hrs with a rum induced headache or being salty!!  

Edited November 13, 2021 by little britain

[GalwayGirl03]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

I would hope so. They took people with later flights on Jewel ( Cyprus) to a day resort for lunch etc.

The only 2 excursions which drop you off at the airport are to a rum place or to the beach. The beach one has no mention of washing/ hair drying facilities so zero interest in sitting on plane for 10 hrs with a rum induced headache or being salty!!  

Our flight back to the states got pushed back by 3 hours so now we leave at 1750 rather than 1430...we arranged a private tour and airport drop off and they will also take us to get COVID testing.  I would love if Royal did a resort thing too!

 

[Imma on a boat]

21 hours ago, long4acruise said:

I was referring to flying from the US to Barbados where a PCR test is required according to the latest RC guidance.

(We traveled to Europe in late Sep for a cruise and in that case we only needed an antigen test within 3 days to fly back home to the US.)

 

Testing
Entry to Barbados: All guests must follow Barbados’ COVID-19 2021 Travel Guidelines. All guests 5 years and older — regardless of vaccination status — must present a negative PCR test result no more than 3 days prior to arriving in Barbados.

If you are flying into Barbados on Sunday, you can get your standard PCR test on Thursday, within the three days, and you should have your results no issue prior to arriving on Sunday.

[BSocial]

On 11/11/2021 at 10:32 AM, little britain said:

Her first sailing is early December.

 

Not much time left for Grandeur to be added to Royal’s APP:

 

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, BSocial said:

Not much time left for Grandeur to be added to Royal’s APP:

Explorer was only added about 2-3 weeks before her first sailing.

[texmex.ferr]

7 hours ago, little britain said:

I would hope so. They took people with later flights on Jewel ( Cyprus) to a day resort for lunch etc.

The only 2 excursions which drop you off at the airport are to a rum place or to the beach. The beach one has no mention of washing/ hair drying facilities so zero interest in sitting on plane for 10 hrs with a rum induced headache or being salty!!  

I emailed our TA to ask if there's alternative flights back to the UK instead of waiting until 20 10, and the reply I've received is there is an earlier flight which leaves at 17.45, but is £425 dearer, and goes via Heathrow.   My TA has also stated that there will be a list of last day excursions to pick from which will drop us at the airport later, but like you I don't fancy any of the two excursions that are currently listed, and £60 to spend the day at the beach, seems a little steep too.

Hopefully, once these cruises start in December, we'll have a better idea of what might be available.

 

Our last visit to Barbados Airport was in 2011 (when we did our first every cruise with Princess cruises), and at that time it wasn't a very big airport from my recollection.  I remember being taken to the airport and left with all the others flying out that day, and just after we arrived there were other cruise ship passengers.    There was people sitting on the floor, because the airport was mobbed with passengers all waiting on their flights.    I have no idea if it's been extended and modernised since then.     

[cruiseamm]

On 11/12/2021 at 12:30 PM, El turista said:

If one need a shore excursion with Royal to go ashore, I wonder if they allow to do some souvenir shopping in the dockside shops after the shore excursion is completed.

Latest update.  Info constantly changing. 🤪

This was sent to a December cruiser and also updated on the RCCL website.

Edited November 13, 2021 by cruiseamm

[cruiseamm]

On 11/11/2021 at 12:12 PM, Ginnyfyr said:

I believe the only thing that's changed is that now they won't pay for test to go home, which is kinda sucky since they are paying for all their US homeport cruises. I contacted them this morning to inquire about the cost of testing and was told that information will be released in February. 

Why do existing bookings on Grandeur of the Seas Barbados sailings not deserve the same consideration as Celebrity cruisers?  They are both owned by Royal Caribbean Group.  Celebrity testing is being covered for bookings prior to November 16.

I question the number of existing bookings on Grandeur is substantial compared to Celebrity and Royal stateside sailings of those requiring testing.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2805003-pcr-test-for-canadians-returning-home/?do=findComment&comment=62148898

 

[BSocial]

Grandeur is now showing up in the the Royal APP.