cruisingsfun Posted February 25, 2022 #1 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Hi everyone.I am on the March 19, 2022 Marina transatlantic cruise. Our first stop is Bermuda. Bermuda is requiring that everyone get a rapid PCR test 4 days before we sail and pay a $75 fee to approve our entrance. This will be in addition to the required PCR or antigen test to board the ship. Needless to say, our roll call people are really upset. We’d like to skip Bermuda with all this nonsense. Does anyone know the email addresses of Frank DelRio, Howard Sherman, or Bob Binder? Several of us want to contact them to express our dissatisfaction. People are spending hours on the phone with reps that can’t understand the rules and are getting conflicting information. Some are being told that is we don’t get Bermuda approval, we will not be able to board the ship. This in addition to about $600 for Bermuda even if we don’t want to get off the ship. any help is appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ORV Posted February 25, 2022 #2 Share Posted February 25, 2022 FWIW, I think Mr Binder has moved up or on. Maybe you're shooting too high. Isn't that type of think generally addressed by Carlos Ortega? Seems I've seen his name and email on multiple communications here in the last couple of years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonthomas Posted February 25, 2022 #3 Share Posted February 25, 2022 59 minutes ago, cruisingsfun said: Hi everyone.I am on the March 19, 2022 Marina transatlantic cruise. Our first stop is Bermuda. Bermuda is requiring that everyone get a rapid PCR test 4 days before we sail and pay a $75 fee to approve our entrance. This will be in addition to the required PCR or antigen test to board the ship. Needless to say, our roll call people are really upset. We’d like to skip Bermuda with all this nonsense. Does anyone know the email addresses of Frank DelRio, Howard Sherman, or Bob Binder? Several of us want to contact them to express our dissatisfaction. People are spending hours on the phone with reps that can’t understand the rules and are getting conflicting information. Some are being told that is we don’t get Bermuda approval, we will not be able to board the ship. This in addition to about $600 for Bermuda even if we don’t want to get off the ship. any help is appreciated. Thank you for your effort to resolve this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted February 25, 2022 #4 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Unfortunately, no one important is going to answer you the best thing to do is go through whoever you booked with they have the clout.. Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingsfun Posted February 25, 2022 Author #5 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Thank you Jancruz and Orv for your words of wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njhorseman Posted February 25, 2022 #6 Share Posted February 25, 2022 3 hours ago, cruisingsfun said: Hi everyone.I am on the March 19, 2022 Marina transatlantic cruise. Our first stop is Bermuda. Bermuda is requiring that everyone get a rapid PCR test 4 days before we sail and pay a $75 fee to approve our entrance. This will be in addition to the required PCR or antigen test to board the ship. Needless to say, our roll call people are really upset. We’d like to skip Bermuda with all this nonsense. Does anyone know the email addresses of Frank DelRio, Howard Sherman, or Bob Binder? Several of us want to contact them to express our dissatisfaction. People are spending hours on the phone with reps that can’t understand the rules and are getting conflicting information. Some are being told that is we don’t get Bermuda approval, we will not be able to board the ship. This in addition to about $600 for Bermuda even if we don’t want to get off the ship. any help is appreciated. Effective March 7, 2022 Bermuda will add the option of an antigen test taken no more than 2 days before arrival. Also the PCR test option is not 4 days before you sail, but 4 days before arrival in Bermuda. Further the Travel Authorization fee is being reduced from $75 to $40. You can find the rules here: https://www.gov.bm/applying-bermuda-travel-authorisation One rub remains. The rules as written are structured for air arrivals, not cruise arrivals. Bermuda realizes that and will be tweaking the rules to meet the needs of cruise passengers but that process hasn't yet been completed. Last year Bermuda negotiated with the cruise lines calling on Bermuda, primarily NCL and Crystal, and developed unique rules and procedures for each of them that reflected the realities of cruise schedules . Don't bother contacting anyone at Oceania right now because the rule development process is still in progress. No one at Oceania, or any other cruise line for that matter, knows what the exact rules will be . Sit tight, be patient and the cruise rules should be in place in early March. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExArkie Posted February 25, 2022 #7 Share Posted February 25, 2022 32 minutes ago, njhorseman said: ... You can find the rules here: https://www.gov.bm/applying-bermuda-travel-authorisation ... If you scroll down that page and click on the link that asks "Are you a cruise passenger?" you will be taken to this page: https://www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation According to it, one is required to obtain a PCR test four days prior to embarkation, complete the Bermuda Travel Authorisation and get it approved before embarkation, as well as get the test done before arrival. This is what was pointed out by cruisingsfun, and is in addition to the test required by Oceania two days before embarkation. I agree that at this point everything is still in flux, but due to the conflicting information on the Bermuda Web site and the variance in answers people have received from Oceania when asking for clarification, the answer is not simple. If you have specific information that "Bermuda realizes that and will be tweaking the rules..." I'd like to read about what they are doing. At this point, it just seems that we have no clear guidance as to what documentation will be required when we arrive at the embarkation point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njhorseman Posted February 25, 2022 #8 Share Posted February 25, 2022 34 minutes ago, ExArkie said: If you scroll down that page and click on the link that asks "Are you a cruise passenger?" you will be taken to this page: https://www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation According to it, one is required to obtain a PCR test four days prior to embarkation, complete the Bermuda Travel Authorisation and get it approved before embarkation, as well as get the test done before arrival. This is what was pointed out by cruisingsfun, and is in addition to the test required by Oceania two days before embarkation. I agree that at this point everything is still in flux, but due to the conflicting information on the Bermuda Web site and the variance in answers people have received from Oceania when asking for clarification, the answer is not simple. If you have specific information that "Bermuda realizes that and will be tweaking the rules..." I'd like to read about what they are doing. At this point, it just seems that we have no clear guidance as to what documentation will be required when we arrive at the embarkation point. The reason I did not provide a link to the cruise page is because it hasn't been updated to reflect the new rules. The same thing happened last year. The rules are first developed for airline passengers and then the rules are tweaked after consultation with the cruise lines in order to have them makes sense for the scheduling of each individual cruise line. Last year the rules and procedures were different for Crystal than they were for NCL because NCL cruises from NY spent two full days at sea going o Bermuda while Crystal cruises from Boston and NY spent one full day at sea. Those differences meant that the testing schedules for the two cruise lines had to be different and Bermuda and the cruise lines worked out compromises that were acceptable to each of the parties. Some NCL passengers have been in touch with Bermuda and were advised that the cruise rules were still being developed, as expected. The NCL passengers were advised to wait until at least March 7 for publication of the cruise rules. I realize that everyone is anxious to see what the rules will be but I can only advise patience. Last year's testing program was far more difficult to administer than this year's will likely be and Bermuda wants cruise passengers to visit their country so the obstacles are not going to be formidable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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