When will covid test stop being required?

[LHARTWICK]

20 hours ago, jalves said:

My prediction will be the day after my next cruise.  So, plan on April 4th.  

LOL!  Your luck sounds like mine!  In that case, plan on April 10!!  🤣

Seriously, I hope it's sooner rather than later, but my gut tells me it will be later.  But who knows at this point!  

[LGW59]

17 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I cannot fathom a society in which opinions are frowned on.

Well my opinion on the best school to send my kid to, yes it matters, my favorite restaurant to eat in, yes it matters, my favorite wine, sure, those are my opinions.  Opinions on CC of when testing will not be required are like a fart in a greasy skillet, science and facts will determine not our cruise lust, just my lil ole opinion. 😁

[Starry Eyes]

8 minutes ago, LHARTWICK said:

LOL!  Your luck sounds like mine!  In that case, plan on April 10!!  🤣

Seriously, I hope it's sooner rather than later, but my gut tells me it will be later.  But who knows at this point!  

I share the sentiments, but the cruiselines have much to lose if there are substantial outbreaks on ships including PR.  RCI also bears increases costs for every cases detected on board (quarantine costs on ship plus potentially post cruise).  The precruise testing is one of the few ways ways to decrease the number of asymptomatic (or fibbing symptomatic) people bringing the virus on board.

[exm]

This might be mentioned here, but don't forget that certain countries have specific restrictions. In the Caribbean RC needs to follow the Bahamas' requirements unless they don't want to stop at Coco Cay (and Nassau)

[crewsweeper]

23 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

It's not just what the CDC says, but the cruise lines still need to follow the requirements of the countries in which they port. Wouldn't make sense to drop the testing requirement to board if it means that many passengers wouldn't be able to get off the ship on port days.

True.   Grand Cayman which requires land stay guest to test every other day, was trying to get cruise ships to test every passenger when they left the ship for the tender as a condition to allow cruises back in.  San Juan is still requiring testing and limiting ships with cases.   

Plus we now know that vaccines and masks do not prevent you from catching COIVD.  Only reduce symptoms and lower hospitalizations and deaths.  In China, (realize they're a dictatorship and most Chinese just go along with what the Party tells them to do) they still test whole cities despite lower cases.  So testing will most likely go on long after mask mandates and vaccine mandates end.

[molly361]

Probably Sunday since I go to get tested tomorrow😇

[smokeybandit]

41 minutes ago, exm said:

This might be mentioned here, but don't forget that certain countries have specific restrictions. In the Caribbean RC needs to follow the Bahamas' requirements unless they don't want to stop at Coco Cay (and Nassau)

The Bahamas rule is was a result of cruise lines wanting to get around Florida's no vax mandate rule.

[Vibe]

Carnival Opts In for New CDC Cruise Program; Mask Requirement Dropped - Cruise Industry News

[D4]

Carnival just announced a change to their pretest 

[Ashland]

5 minutes ago, D4 said:

Carnival just announced a change to their pretest 

I'm hoping RCI starts allowing this for my March cruise from San Juan. That would make testing time frame so much easier !!

[BND]

4 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I'm hoping RCI starts allowing this for my March cruise from San Juan. That would make testing time frame so much easier !!

Well, Michael Bayley's announcement did say they were working through other protocols and would be making updates by 25 Feb so it's a very likely outcome.   

[D4]

4 minutes ago, Ashland said:

I'm hoping RCI starts allowing this for my March cruise from San Juan. That would make testing time frame so much easier !!

Me too.  We are flying 2 days before the cruise and we have an early morning flight.

 

We don’t want to fly if we can’t cruise.

 

We have been planning on staying up after midnight to do the proctored home tests, but that isn’t ideal.  We have to get up about 4am to get to the airport.

[Ashland]

18 minutes ago, D4 said:

Carnival just announced a change to their pretest 

Come on RCI get with this update too !!!

[Ashland]

1 minute ago, D4 said:

Me too.  We are flying 2 days before the cruise and we have an early morning flight.

 

We don’t want to fly if we can’t cruise.

 

We have been planning on staying up after midnight to do the proctored home tests, but that isn’t ideal.  We have to get up about 4am to get to the airport.

Same with us...this is so stressful !!!  We fly out early morning of March 18th for a March 20th cruise.

I would love to be able to go to my local CVS March 17th. So easy to have it done there.....Haven't done a proctored test and I'm stressed !!!!

[D4]

9 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Same with us...this is so stressful !!!  We fly out early morning of March 18th for a March 20th cruise.

I would love to be able to go to my local CVS March 17th. So easy to have it done there.....Haven't done a proctored test and I'm stressed !!!!

I’m also terrified of catching Covid on the first of our B2B cruises.  The second cruise is our whole reason for going.  It is a special group cruise which costs about 4 times as much as the first cruise.  We have the same cabin for both cruises.  
 

The first cruise was just an add on, because we like B2B cruises.

 

 

[deliver42]

We drive to the port, and testing is available in our area of S.C., but it's still stressful. I hope it goes by way of the dodo bird before our March 25th cruise on the Wonder.

[Starry Eyes]

12 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Same with us...this is so stressful !!!  We fly out early morning of March 18th for a March 20th cruise.

I would love to be able to go to my local CVS March 17th. So easy to have it done there.....Haven't done a proctored test and I'm stressed !!!!

If you are that stressed over the idea of a proctored test, order an extra one or two now.  When it comes in, do one of the proctored tests for practice.  The practice run would allow you to work out the best way to set up your equipment and work the actual kit with the proctor.  I suspect the test run will go well and you will be far less stressed afterwards.

 

An elder in my family was resistant to that testing method, but felt better after watching me do a test run with a proctor (he did not want to do the test run himself).  I was standing by when he did the proctored test 2 days before sailing; next time he will be confident alone, I think.  The extra confidence was well worth the cost of a test kit.

[marielco]

CDC rules not relevant here in Europe where many countries are now dropping mask mandates and testing. If this continues then maybe by May the cruise lines might relax their requirements too. 

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, deliver42 said:

We drive to the port, and testing is available in our area of S.C., but it's still stressful. I hope it goes by way of the dodo bird before our March 25th cruise on the Wonder.

you and me both.  

[karena1]

On 2/17/2022 at 3:08 PM, klfrodo said:

as long as no new variant pops up, I would expect testing requirements to stop in 2 - 3 months.

god i hope so. So tired of having to get the stupid test every month so we can cruise!  Testing sites are getting fewer and fewer so they are going to have to stop this at some point.

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Are CVS open late.  Go at 12:01 am on the 18th

No 8am-10pm...so that won't work unfortunately...only if RCI extends to 3 days.

[jaygatsby27]

On 2/18/2022 at 2:30 PM, Joseph2017China said:

As all of our opinions are....remember this.....I will be going on a land trip to Europe, and will not need a test before I leave the USA, just my vaccine and booster.  However, coming home, I have to scramble in a foreign country to find a test 24 hours prior my flight home, or be denied entry into my home. 

 

The testing is not about the science, but rather about politics right now.  So my opinion is sometime in 2024

It’s about public health. Covid can make people very sick or worse. Keeping passengers that are infectious off a cruise ship just makes sense. If it’s political it’s being one party no longer believes in logic or science. 

[smokeybandit]

Just now, jaygatsby27 said:

It’s about public health. Covid can make people very sick or worse. Keeping passengers that are infectious off a cruise ship just makes sense. If it’s political it’s being one party no longer believes in logic or science. 

There are a lot of airborne viruses that can make people very sick or worse that no one thinks twice about while boarding. 

[smokeybandit]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:10 AM, D4 said:

Carnival just announced a change to their pretest 

I expect all the cruise lines to adopt this.

[deliver42]

To me, it makes no difference 2 or 3 days, though I know it means a lot to people who have to fly in. I just wish they'd stop, especially for those who've been boosted.