Will Celebriy change testing to 1 day pre-cruise?

[Jim_Iain]

Was just watching the news and Biden announcing all passengers arriving in U.S. will be required to be tested 1 day before arrival and after arrival.   I believe this is for air travel only but suspect it may be adopted by cruise lines.  

 

Nothing to panic over, but could be a good idea to plan for it just in case.

 

Personally I'm going to order additional home test kits and be prepared, but making sure I order kits that won't expire before cruises.

 

[Bo1953]

I would think it is a good chance that they will.... to be in sync with national policy in order to not go afoul if something breaks out...

 

In health and bon voyage

[Pickels]

I think they will, keeping all venues in sync.

[Ken the cruiser]

17 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Was just watching the news and Biden announcing all passengers arriving in U.S. will be required to be tested 1 day before arrival and after arrival.   I believe this is for air travel only but suspect it may be adopted by cruise lines.  

 

Nothing to panic over, but could be a good idea to plan for it just in case.

 

Personally I'm going to order additional home test kits and be prepared, but making sure I order kits that won't expire before cruises.

 

Jim, I'm confused. Biden isn't supposed to give his briefing until this afternoon. Would it be possible to post a link where it says testing will be required both 1 day before AND after.

 

Ahead of President Biden’s visit to the National Institutes of Health this afternoon, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said that the measures in Biden’s winter Covid-19 strategy “will all help accelerate our path out of the pandemic and protect Americans.”

 

See White House official comment -

 

Live updates: Omicron Covid-19 variant puts world on edge (cnn.com)

 

 

 

 

[39august]

That would make it extremely difficult for those of us who have to fly in to the port city the day before the cruise.  We are not tech enough to do the self test. Thankfully, I have been keeping a list of places to get the rapid antigen test in FLL. 

[bajathree]

And possibly masking policy changes....

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/02/omicron-covid-variant-us-tightens-travel-testing-requirements-mask-mandates.html

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, bajathree said:

And possibly masking policy changes....

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/02/omicron-covid-variant-us-tightens-travel-testing-requirements-mask-mandates.html

With regards to this being applied to cruising, I can see this as a doable possibility if it comes to it by the cruise lines doing onboard testing the day before disembarkation. But, it would definitely be a pain for the cruise lines to pull it off, especially if there are 1700+ passengers that would need to be tested within 24 hours of disembarkation.

 

The Biden administration is tightening travel rules to and within the U.S., requiring all in-bound international passengers to test for Covid within 24 hours of departure and extending its mask requirement on all domestic flights and public transportation through March 18.

 

The changes were announced Thursday as part of a broader plan to bolster the nation’s arsenal of tools in its fight against the virus as the world enters its third year of the pandemic. 

 

However, the mask mandate would probably just be extended for the cruise port terminals as it is today.

 

The mask mandate, which was originally supposed to expire in January, requires masking while on buses, trains, planes and transportation hubs such as indoor bus terminals and airports. Fines will remain doubled from their initial levels for noncompliance with the requirement, starting at $500, and going up to $3,000 for repeat offenders.

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[cruisestitch]

Even though NCL has gone away from testing in the terminal to requiring a home test, I can see it going back to terminal testing and I could see Celebrity doing the same. Adding in the cost to the cruise would be logical. Requiring the test just before boarding would also be logical.

[Princess Fi]

Being Canadian we fly in day prior to cruise. Currently we have January 8 Apex booked. We will test Thursday for our flight Toronto to Fort Lauderdale on Friday. If we now have to test again when we arrive in Fort Lauderdale that can be an issue as we don’t plan to rent a car. Celebrity won’t mail test kits to a Canadian address so our only option is have them sent to the hotel but not sure comfortable doing that. We will for more info to come. 

[paulh84]

13 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Even though NCL has gone away from testing in the terminal to requiring a home test, I can see it going back to terminal testing and I could see Celebrity doing the same. Adding in the cost to the cruise would be logical. Requiring the test just before boarding would also be logical.

 

Haven't Carnival and NCL both abandoned this approach since it's proving to be unfeasible? Especially with increasing passenger numbers. 

[h20cruzer]

58 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Was just watching the news and Biden announcing all passengers arriving in U.S. will be required to be tested 1 day before arrival and after arrival.   I believe this is for air travel only but suspect it may be adopted by cruise lines.  

 

Nothing to panic over, but could be a good idea to plan for it just in case.

 

Personally I'm going to order additional home test kits and be prepared, but making sure I order kits that won't expire before cruises.

 

I am with you Jim, doing the home testing was so simple and quick, using an ipad or phone.

I will do exactly what you are going to do.

Had a great  time on the Equinox, felt like I was never gone.

Norma

[jelayne]

37 minutes ago, 39august said:

That would make it extremely difficult for those of us who have to fly in to the port city the day before the cruise.  We are not tech enough to do the self test. Thankfully, I have been keeping a list of places to get the rapid antigen test in FLL. 

If you can post on Cruise Critic or shop on Amazon you are tech savvy enough to do the proctored test.  I think you are up estimating yourself

[cangelmd]

 

31 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Even though NCL has gone away from testing in the terminal to requiring a home test, I can see it going back to terminal testing and I could see Celebrity doing the same. Adding in the cost to the cruise would be logical. Requiring the test just before boarding would also be logical.

It’s hard to explain without getting way deep in the weeds, but the financial challenges and logistical challenges to doing portside testing haven’t changed much, I don’t think it will happen. 
I do think that expansion of testing at the airport and in the general community, such as pharmacies and pop-up labs, is possible, and will make finding a test easier for those who have to fly in before they can be tested. The poster from Canada is wise to take a wait and see attitude at this point.

Edited December 2, 2021 by cangelmd

[Purplsmurf]

I just wish they would give an exact date of when this would start. We sail December 11 and currently have our test booked for December 9. If we have to test the day before, I’m hoping we can book another to test before we leave for the airport on Dec 10. From what I have read, “it will go into effect within the next week or two”, which is really vague. Also, as far as testing upon returning, I wasn’t planning on buying any tests, but might have to. Just hope they would get here on time before we leave. 

[Purplsmurf]

I just read an article posted 30 minutes ago that stated “passengers returning from international destinations by AIR will have to test within one day of returning to the US”. It said nothing about cruising, so hopefully that won’t change the return.

[dazey]

We shared a van with a woman getting off the Apex and going to the airport(FLL) and she said she just happened to see a sign in the airport upon arrival and got it there. She was fairly young so maybe that is why she left the testing requirment test to be resolved once she landed in Ft. Lauderdale.  I have to have the negative test form in hand before I leave for the airport.  

 

Has anyone used the antigen testing at the Ft. Lauderdale airport?  Is it available in all terminals?

[ncgolferette]

I know May is several months away, but I have started to look for hotels in Barcelona that provide Covid testing. Plan to spend two nights there after the Beyond Inaugural and testing onboard won’t help those spending nights in cities post cruise. 

[Julma]

I'd work on getting home test ASAP.  Once they are covered by insurance, I think, they will much harder to get and probably take longer to arrive.  I know they have short expiration windows, but those have been extended, so look into that.  They are very easy to do.  If you can manage to brush your teeth and make a phone call, these are just as easy.

[PTC DAWG]

Control, they want it. 

[WonderMan3]

Cruise passengers could be impacted here if they are coming off of an international cruise and heading straight to the airport from debark to fly home to the United States. Now I know that cruise lines have been doing testing towards the end of cruises (is that still happening?), but have they been doing it one day prior to debark? For those flying back to the States they will have to now. 
 

It seems strange to require passengers on flights back to the U.S. to have this 1 day requirement but not passengers on cruise ships returning to the U.S.

[helen haywood]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Was just watching the news and Biden announcing all passengers arriving in U.S. will be required to be tested 1 day before arrival and after arrival.   I believe this is for air travel only but suspect it may be adopted by cruise lines.  

 

Nothing to panic over, but could be a good idea to plan for it just in case.

 

Personally I'm going to order additional home test kits and be prepared, but making sure I order kits that won't expire before cruises.

 

If you find home proctored tests with an expiration date of later than the first week in February, please let me know.  Once I realized the eMed Binax tests I ordered for our end of November cruise would not work for our January cruise I ordered some more.  Those tests expire early in February and therefore I’ll need to order more…but I’d sure like to buy some that have a year’s shelf life from date of purchase!

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, Purplsmurf said:

I just read an article posted 30 minutes ago that stated “passengers returning from international destinations by AIR will have to test within one day of returning to the US”. It said nothing about cruising, so hopefully that won’t change the return.

If cruise guests had to have a negative covid test the day before the ship returns to the U.S., what would happen with someone who tested positive? The cruise ship is going to dock in the U.S. the next day and then leave that afternoon on the next cruise. 
 

Airline pax who test positive aren’t allowed to board their flight to the U.S.   I don’t see how a testing requirement could be implemented for cruise ship pax  without a quarantine program at the cruise ports. Hard to see that happening. 

 

[Turtles06]

3 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

It seems strange to require passengers on flights back to the U.S. to have this 1 day requirement but not passengers on cruise ships returning to the U.S.

See my comment above. The airline pax who test positive don’t get to board their flights, while the cruise pax are already on the ship. So what would happen to the covid positive when the ship docks the next day in the U.S.? 

[dleahy4444]

2 hours ago, 39august said:

That would make it extremely difficult for those of us who have to fly in to the port city the day before the cruise.  We are not tech enough to do the self test. Thankfully, I have been keeping a list of places to get the rapid antigen test in FLL. 

Would you be able to share that list? I’m from NY so I’m not familiar with testing options in FLL where our January cruise is departing from. Thanks

[lhsail]

If I understand this correctly, there is no impact on departure FROM the US, only entering the US. The one day before departure refers to departure from the international location. 
As for testing positive, Celebrity has in place procedures for anyone that tests positive including quarantine in a specific area of the ship and transportation home. I know there have been a few instances in which Celebrity provided private plane transportation.