Selfish, I know

[cinnamon]

My Goddaughter and I are sailing on Explorer next Tuesday (11th) from Tenerife.

I know it is selfish, but I'm very glad that Boris has removed the need to test onboard before flying home.  My biggest fear had been testing positive that day and being put in a quarantine hotel on an island.  I have the Chronomics package arriving this afternoon.  Of course I need the LFT on Monday evening but in theory only now need LFT once home but will be getting a PCR for that.  I do hope I can use that and not need to pay more for a private LFT and waste the PCR.

 

 

[okavango]

16 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

My Goddaughter and I are sailing on Explorer next Tuesday (11th) from Tenerife.

I know it is selfish, but I'm very glad that Boris has removed the need to test onboard before flying home.  My biggest fear had been testing positive that day and being put in a quarantine hotel on an island.  I have the Chronomics package arriving this afternoon.  Of course I need the LFT on Monday evening but in theory only now need LFT once home but will be getting a PCR for that.  I do hope I can use that and not need to pay more for a private LFT and waste the PCR.

 

 

Dont count your chickens ,pretty certain the spanish will still insist on the onboard test

[cinnamon]

2 hours ago, okavango said:

Dont count your chickens ,pretty certain the spanish will still insist on the onboard test

Why would the Spanish authorities want us tested in order to leave their country?

[ferretktf]

The Spanish did require this in October when I was on Discovery (and the UK were not requiring them)... We had to be tested before disembarkation in Palma but no negative certificates were provided to individuals. 

 

To your other question, yes you will be able use your PCR instead of the LFT on return, both are equally valid. Requirement has been eases because of a shortage of both PCR and testing capacity.   If you have not yet received the PCR tests you may be able to change them with your supplier... Not sure if you would get a refund of the difference though. 

[cinnamon]

12 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

The Spanish did require this in October when I was on Discovery (and the UK were not requiring them)... We had to be tested before disembarkation in Palma but no negative certificates were provided to individuals. 

 

To your other question, yes you will be able use your PCR instead of the LFT on return, both are equally valid. Requirement has been eases because of a shortage of both PCR and testing capacity.   If you have not yet received the PCR tests you may be able to change them with your supplier... Not sure if you would get a refund of the difference though. 

Thanks for your replies.  I have just received my pre departure LFT from Chronomics.  I don't think it's worth the hassle of trying to get the PCR changed to an LFT as it's already paid for.  

[Brummijam]

Marella  Ex2 were doing lateral flow tests when we were onboard last October they were Carried out on the evening before disembarkation day.These were free of charge and any passengers testing positive were offloaded to isolation hotels.

Our flight back to the UK was from Malaga and had other pax onboard who had been  on land based hols on the Costa del sol. Uncertain whether they had to to a pre departure test.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Brummijam
Spellink

[okavango]

2 hours ago, cinnamon said:

Why would the Spanish authorities want us tested in order to leave their country?

It was a ruling the spanish authorities brought in back in october ,anybody disembarking a ship back in to spain at the end of a cruise (even though you were only transiting to the airport) had to do a test the day before ,nothing to do with UK rules and did not apply to land based holidays ,tests were administered by the ship and not charged for

[zap99]

On 1/6/2022 at 2:52 PM, Brummijam said:

Marella  Ex2 were doing lateral flow tests when we were onboard last October they were Carried out on the evening before disembarkation day.These were free of charge and any passengers testing positive were offloaded to isolation hotels.

Our flight back to the UK was from Malaga and had other pax onboard who had been  on land based hols on the Costa del sol. Uncertain whether they had to to a pre departure test.

When we flew back from Menorca in mid October, we didn't have to do a predeparture test to leave Spain, or get on the plane, just the vaccination proof and UK PLF.

[okavango]

44 minutes ago, zap99 said:

When we flew back from Menorca in mid October, we didn't have to do a predeparture test to leave Spain, or get on the plane, just the vaccination proof and UK PLF.

Prior to the UK requirement for fit to fly tests for return it was only cruises that were affected by the spanish ruling, Menorca ????? , now it looks like along with the uk requirement being dropped the spanish authorities are not requiring tests for passengers disembarking to fly home from the canaries, which is good for reducing the chances of getting quarantined there but it means the flights are going to have a number of undiagnosed positive cases on board.

[zap99]

1 hour ago, okavango said:

Prior to the UK requirement for fit to fly tests for return it was only cruises that were affected by the spanish ruling, Menorca ????? , now it looks like along with the uk requirement being dropped the spanish authorities are not requiring tests for passengers disembarking to fly home from the canaries, which is good for reducing the chances of getting quarantined there but it means the flights are going to have a number of undiagnosed positive cases on board.

As this all comes to an end, there are bound to be a few bumps in the road. I guess the choices are take the chance, or stay at home. We choose the former.

[nancyneptune]

On 1/6/2022 at 11:37 AM, cinnamon said:

My Goddaughter and I are sailing on Explorer next Tuesday (11th) from Tenerife.

I know it is selfish, but I'm very glad that Boris has removed the need to test onboard before flying home.  My biggest fear had been testing positive that day and being put in a quarantine hotel on an island.  I have the Chronomics package arriving this afternoon.  Of course I need the LFT on Monday evening but in theory only now need LFT once home but will be getting a PCR for that.  I do hope I can use that and not need to pay more for a private LFT and waste the PCR.

 

 

 

 

I can understand your fear about being put in a quarantine hotel but I think the government were wrong to remove these tests. It now means that people who are positive with or without symptoms can now board an aircraft and potentially infect dozens of others, some who may be elderly and or vulnerable. 

Given the high numbers of infected people on board most ships at the moment and the numbers of people mentioned on social media who don't follow the guidelines on the ship this is a very risky practice. 

I do hope you enjoy your cruise and stay safe.

[idh2019]

Quarantine hotel or being on a flight with infected people?

 

Would not want either but if I had to make a choice, get us all home to the UK where we could be treated if required. Or instead, choose to be treated in a hospital in Barbados?

 

If we have all been vaccinated and with booster, we are told it should not be a problem (I hope). For those people  that you are concerned about, why are they in Barbados now with the Omicron variant in circulation since November? Could they not have cancelled/changed holiday given Marella's various options?

 

We will have to learn to live with this virus eventually.

 

I am not ready for that yet, so have rearranged two Marella cruises because of the distance from the UK and the unknown health care in the countries involved. When we booked, we had hoped things would have moved on by the time of travel.