CDC adjusts warnings

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, TeeRick said:

This is good news overall.  The elimination of the on board mask requirement a few weeks ago apparently did not cause increased positive cases on board.  Now let's get the pre-cruise tests eliminated too.  Will some of you still decide to do pre-cruise tests even if they get eliminated?   Kind of like the people choosing to still wear masks on board?  Serious question.

 

I suspect that for our April 8 Silhouette TransAtlantic will sill require testing as our first stop is in Bermuda with their requirement that all must be tested.  While the CDC is an important institution with the European and Asian seasons beginning I would think we will have to abide by non-US requirements. 

 

For our B3B they still have no idea of the requirements for the April 21 and April 30 cruises.  

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, wallysdtr said:

Does the CDC indicate the percentage of passengers each ship can have? 

If I recall correctly, CDC has shifted to  voluntary compliance.   They have at lest 3 classification that are dependent on the percentage of passengers and crew that are vaccinated.     Part of this program is dropping of the capacity limitations mandated by the CDC and is up to the cruise line.. 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[canderson]

4 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Some drove, some flew.

Did some number of the 12 have transportation in common?

[canderson]

4 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

That article is extremely inaccurate. They are quoting the general Travel Health Notice levels. Cruises were given their own classification based on crew cases.

 

Why does CDC have a separate COVID-19 Travel Health Notice for Cruise Ships but not for other travel and entertainment settings?

...

Cruise ships have thousands of travelers living for multiple days (or months for crew) on the same ship—eating, sleeping, and participating in activities together in one location. These factors are not typically found in other shoreside travel and entertainment settings (such as restaurants, bars, theme parks). Data from the pandemic suggest COVID-19 spreads quickly in group settings, including on cruise ships.

In other words, very similar to one of the larger all inclusive resorts, only with a need to float the facility.  

[TheWanderingViolet]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

This is good news overall.  The elimination of the on board mask requirement a few weeks ago apparently did not cause increased positive cases on board.  Now let's get the pre-cruise tests eliminated too.  Will some of you still decide to do pre-cruise tests even if they get eliminated?   Kind of like the people choosing to still wear masks on board?  Serious question.

Yes. I will still test prior to and plan to mask depending on the situation but I also still mask at the grocer, etc. Id rather test ahead to know as best I can to reduce the chance Id pass it to someone unknowingly. If testing isn’t required Id likely do an at home. 

[D C]

4 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

"Successfully avoided"? Meaning you took the necessary precautions to avoid Covid (masking, social distancing, getting vaccinated) so that you could avoid having to get tested? 

No. I mean successfully avoided actual testing.   It's long been an irrelevant data point imho.   Not to mention how much it sucks being the recipient of a false positive test.

[TeeRick]

Thanks to those of you who answered my informal question on testing anyway even if it is no longer required.  I suspect that many will not test themselves "pre-cruise" unless they are feeling some symptoms.  I certainly would test myself post-cruise no matter what.  Probably bring an at-home test on board and test myself the night before departure.  Then a second time when I get home.

[RichYak]

21 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks to those of you who answered my informal question on testing anyway even if it is no longer required.  I suspect that many will not test themselves "pre-cruise" unless they are feeling some symptoms.  I certainly would test myself post-cruise no matter what.  Probably bring an at-home test on board and test myself the night before departure.  Then a second time when I get home.

I don't test out of curiosity. If I'm sick, I'll take a test.

[cangelmd]

19 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

We had a group of 40-50 neighbors from our 55+ community sail on Silhouette a couple just over a week ago.  As of yesterday 12 have tested positive for covid.   I wonder if these cases will ever get traced back to Celebrity.

 

Leaving on 10th sailing since restart on Saturday.   I'm still taking precautions to protect myself.

[kearney]

I wonder if the cruise lines would consider going back to 3 days pre cruise. I am not sure that one day earlier makes a real difference... since you still could get it after you take the test day 2....but by moving it to 3 days.. it makes travel easier for those coming from overseas or going from one coast to the other. Personally I would love being able to test before loading the car to drive to Florida.

[TeeRick]

29 minutes ago, kearney said:

I wonder if the cruise lines would consider going back to 3 days pre cruise. I am not sure that one day earlier makes a real difference... since you still could get it after you take the test day 2....but by moving it to 3 days.. it makes travel easier for those coming from overseas or going from one coast to the other. Personally I would love being able to test before loading the car to drive to Florida.

Yes and then you could more easily do an RT-PCR test which is a better way to deal with asymptomatic cases anyway.

[kearney]

6 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Yes and then you could more easily do an RT-PCR test which is a better way to deal with asymptomatic cases anyway.

How quickly can you get RT-PCR results? It needs to be within say a few hours... vs days.. The idea would be to learn your status before you leave home vs after you arrive at port. I know the old PCR test was..what 48 hours or so... not familiar with RT-PCR..assume it is shorter??

[TeeRick]

Just now, kearney said:

How quickly can you get RT-PCR results? It needs to be within say a few hours... vs days.. The idea would be to learn your status before you leave home vs after you arrive at port. I know the old PCR test was..what 48 hours or so... not familiar with RT-PCR..assume it is shorter??

No- it is called RT-PCR or just PCR.  Same test.   

[klfhngr]

19 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

And a good question it is, TR. We are scheduled to fly to Rome on May 11, 2022 at 3:10pm for a 10 night cruise departing on May 13. Whether or not required, we will be covid tested in the A.M with results due prior to departure. If results are positive, we ain't goin'. If results are negative, that is good news for our health and the health of fellow travelers who are in contact with us. We will still be wearing masks on board the aircraft and while embarking on cruise day. Not to do so would completely negate our thoughts and reasoning pertinent to the overall cruising experience for  fellow passengers and crew. Personally, I do not want to be responsible for causing a negative vacation experience for others.   

 

 

 

 

We'll see you onboard, we're on this one too!

[TeeRick]

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

I don't test out of curiosity. If I'm sick, I'll take a test.

I'll take a self-test after a cruise if there were announced COVID positive tests on board, if I plan to see other family members and friends within 5 days after my return.  No big deal.

[klfhngr]

On 3/14/2022 at 5:30 PM, RichYak said:

IMO, that will eventually come in spite of the CDC, not from the CDC. At some point, one major cruise line will stop voluntarily adhering to the CDC cruise guidance and the rest will follow.

HERE IT IS! UnCruise Becomes the First Cruise Line to Drop Pre-Cruise Testing Requirements

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

I'll take a self-test after a cruise if there were announced COVID positive tests on board, if I plan to see other family members and friends within 5 days after my return.  No big deal.

 

They stopped announcing them onboard, Capt Kate herself announced the positive cases my July Edge sailing, on my October sailing, despite several testing positive in the FB group and being put quarantine rooms no announcements.  The Capt wouldn't even answer if there were any positives during the Q&A session.

[Tigrou]

1 hour ago, kearney said:

I wonder if the cruise lines would consider going back to 3 days pre cruise. I am not sure that one day earlier makes a real difference... since you still could get it after you take the test day 2....but by moving it to 3 days.. it makes travel easier for those coming from overseas or going from one coast to the other. Personally I would love being able to test before loading the car to drive to Florida.

 

The CDC guidelines changed several weeks ago to allow this for some passengers.  Passengers who are 'up to date' with vaccinations, ie have had booster if eligible, can now test 3 days pre-cruise but for those who are 'fully vaccinated' (ie no booster) it's still 2 days. 

 

Carnival amended their policy fairly quickly after signing up to the new CDC guidelines.  Princess followed, and this week HAL have too.

 

Although Celebrity also signed up for the new CDC guidelines, I haven't yet seen any suggestion of them changing to the new testing times.

    

[tromvest]

34 minutes ago, Tigrou said:

 

The CDC guidelines changed several weeks ago to allow this for some passengers.  Passengers who are 'up to date' with vaccinations, ie have had booster if eligible, can now test 3 days pre-cruise but for those who are 'fully vaccinated' (ie no booster) it's still 2 days. 

 

Carnival amended their policy fairly quickly after signing up to the new CDC guidelines.  Princess followed, and this week HAL have too.

 

Although Celebrity also signed up for the new CDC guidelines, I haven't yet seen any suggestion of them changing to the new testing times.

    

I hope Celebrity changes it to 3 days. Where did you read this change from the CDC to 3 days? Could you post the link?

[RichYak]

6 minutes ago, tromvest said:

I hope Celebrity changes it to 3 days. Where did you read this change from the CDC to 3 days? Could you post the link?

Scroll down to "Testing"

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/cruise-travel-during-covid19.html

[Jeremiah1212]

10 minutes ago, tromvest said:

I hope Celebrity changes it to 3 days. Where did you read this change from the CDC to 3 days? Could you post the link?

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/covid19-operations-manual-cso.html

 

Deciphering what Fully Vaccinated vs Up-to-Date means will be a struggle and another layer of confusion. Sticking with 2 days may just be generally easier.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Jeremiah1212

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, klfhngr said:

HERE IT IS! UnCruise Becomes the First Cruise Line to Drop Pre-Cruise Testing Requirements

Too small to really matter, but it is a good sign.

[Spif Barwunkel]

2 hours ago, klfhngr said:

We'll see you onboard, we're on this one too!

Look forward to having the opportunity.

[Virginia100]

Wonder how the new variant will affect the guidelines as case counts still seem to the prime driver and not hospitalization rates. I personally don’t bother with testing unless I feel pretty sick which I never have. 

[sergel02]

On 3/15/2022 at 11:27 AM, wrk2cruise said:

We had a group of 40-50 neighbors from our 55+ community sail on Silhouette a couple just over a week ago.  As of yesterday 12 have tested positive for covid.   I wonder if these cases will ever get traced back to Celebrity.

 

Leaving on 10th sailing since restart on Saturday.   I'm still taking precautions to protect myself.

 

Similar my dad is tested positive off the Allure, though since he didn’t get tested in the ship I don’t know if it could be tracked to the ship. Same could be said on land though I know transmissibility is different. 
 

For us it’s just a sign we should keep wearing our masks personally at least, especially a medical or 95 mask. It was the first instance we were around a large group of strangers without our masks.