CDC Drops Cruise Travel Health Notice

[Cruising89143]

From Cruise Industry News

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27114-finally-cdc-drops-cruise-travel-health-notice.html

[davy jones]

It will be interesting to see how this affects capacity restrictions and COVID requirements.

[Cruising89143]

16 minutes ago, davy jones said:

It will be interesting to see how this affects capacity restrictions and COVID requirements.

From what I have been reading, capacity restrictions are long gone. Carnival has reported recently that they have had several sailings with over 100% capacity and RCI has had some recent spring break sailings with very high capacity. I think X just has not been able to fill ships. 
 

Agree that it will be interesting to see what or if any changes happen with Covid protocols. HAL announced recently that they’re doing away with testing for European cruises but tightening up on vaccine/booster requirements. I think the cruise lines will adjust to make it easier based on the local government of where each ship is cruising from. Regardless this is good news for the industry. 

[gerelmx]

Our August 19 cruise it's SOLD OUT, Summit Iceland and Greenland, it disappeared from the web site

[D C]

Good news, but what does this really mean in practice?

[Cruising89143]

Another article but the last line here sums it up.

 

The CDC's voluntary COVID-19 program for cruise ships remains in place.

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/environmental-health/cdc-drops-warning-about-covid-19-risk-cruise-ships

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, D C said:

Good news, but what does this really mean in practice?

Really kind of meaningless at this point.  Ships have been leaving with passengers and cruising despite this warning for many months now.   Over a million passengers on RCCL alone since the restart.  

[graphicguy]

I'm not seeing where this changes anything regarding cruise lines' protocols which have been, for the most part, successful.

 

Princess and Carnival seem to be the outliers when it comes to curbing COVID.  The rest have been good with protocols and COVID suppression.

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Princess and Carnival seem to be the outliers when it comes to curbing COVID.  The rest have been good with protocols and COVID suppression.

This is an odd take regarding Carnival. If you go by the CDC color chart (which is all we really have to go by) Carnival has a higher percentage (33% vs 22%) of green ships and a significantly lower percentage (14% vs 56%) of orange ships than Celebrity.

[Ken the cruiser]

FWIW here's the CDC posting regarding this.

 

Cruise Ship Travel During COVID-19 | CDC

 

As far as CDC testing requirements, nothing has changed from what I can tell.

Testing

• If you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you must get tested with a viral test no more than 3 days before boarding a cruise ship ^[3].
• If you are fully vaccinated ^[4] for COVID-19, you must get tested with a viral test no more than 2 days before boarding a cruise ship.
• If you are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19, you must get tested with a viral test no more than 3 days before boarding a cruise ship. You will be tested again by the cruise ship personnel on embarkation day before boarding. One of your two tests must be a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) such as RT-PCR.
  • Check COVID-19 testing locations near youexternal icon.
• Check with your cruise line to see if they require a certain type of COVID-19 test.
• If you or your travel companions test positive at embarkation, the cruise ship may deny you from boarding.
  • If you are allowed to board after testing positive, you will be required to isolate. Your travel companions who did not test positive will be required to quarantine.
• Check if your cruise line has other testing requirements.
• If traveling to the U.S. by air all passengers ages 2 years and older, regardless of their vaccination status, must show a negative COVID-19 viral test taken no more than 1 day before air travel to the United States, or documentation that they recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, before they board their flight.
  • Depending on your travel itinerary, your COVID-19 test result used for air travel may also be used for boarding the cruise ship.
  • Children under 2 years of age are not exempt from the preboarding testing requirement for cruise ships participating in CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[kearney]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

FWIW here's the CDC posting regarding this.

 

Cruise Ship Travel During COVID-19 | CDC

 

As far as CDC testing requirements, nothing has changed from what I can tell.

Testing

• If you are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, you must get tested with a viral test no more than 3 days before boarding a cruise ship ^[3].
• If you are fully vaccinated ^[4] for COVID-19, you must get tested with a viral test no more than 2 days before boarding a cruise ship.
• If you are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19, you must get tested with a viral test no more than 3 days before boarding a cruise ship. You will be tested again by the cruise ship personnel on embarkation day before boarding. One of your two tests must be a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) such as RT-PCR.
  • Check COVID-19 testing locations near youexternal icon.
• Check with your cruise line to see if they require a certain type of COVID-19 test.
• If you or your travel companions test positive at embarkation, the cruise ship may deny you from boarding.
  • If you are allowed to board after testing positive, you will be required to isolate. Your travel companions who did not test positive will be required to quarantine.
• Check if your cruise line has other testing requirements.
• If traveling to the U.S. by air all passengers ages 2 years and older, regardless of their vaccination status, must show a negative COVID-19 viral test taken no more than 1 day before air travel to the United States, or documentation that they recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, before they board their flight.
  • Depending on your travel itinerary, your COVID-19 test result used for air travel may also be used for boarding the cruise ship.
  • Children under 2 years of age are not exempt from the preboarding testing requirement for cruise ships participating in CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships.

I wish Celebrity went with the 3 day testing instead of 2... would make things easier for those traveling to Florida or other ports..from long distances... It would be nice to know if you had an issue BEFORE you boarded a flight or started your drive.

[BklynBorn47]

2 minutes ago, kearney said:

I wish Celebrity went with the 3 day testing instead of 2... would make things easier for those traveling to Florida or other ports..from long distances... It would be nice to know if you had an issue BEFORE you boarded a flight or started your drive.

That's why we have a few self tests.  If we are positive before beginning our 2 day drive, no reason to get in the car.  Sad but true.  

[Cruising89143]

35 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I'm not seeing where this changes anything regarding cruise lines' protocols which have been, for the most part, successful.

 

Princess and Carnival seem to be the outliers when it comes to curbing COVID.  The rest have been good with protocols and COVID suppression.

I think that it’s more of a “PR” thing for the cruise lines. Some might have avoided cruising due to the CDC’s warnings. Time will tell if any other restrictions are eased for ships cruising from U.S ports.

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, kearney said:

I wish Celebrity went with the 3 day testing instead of 2... would make things easier for those traveling to Florida or other ports..from long distances... It would be nice to know if you had an issue BEFORE you boarded a flight or started your drive.

You and me both!  We usually come in a couple days before and that means scrambling for a test in Florida or trying our luck with the online proctored tests.  And I agree, would like to be able to board the flight already knowing I was negative!  You can take a self-test before flying, but given the false negatives (and positives) I'm not sure if that would make life easier or more complicated.

[WonderMan3]

5 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

From what I have been reading, capacity restrictions are long gone. Carnival has reported recently that they have had several sailings with over 100% capacity and RCI has had some recent spring break sailings with very high capacity. I think X just has not been able to fill ships. 
 

 

Celebrity skews to an older demographic than those other two lines. A demographic that likely is more cautious about traveling during Covid due to their age and higher rate of comorbidities.

[5waldos]

Ugh- looked up the CDC because of this posting and the Millenium has gone from green several weeks back, to yellow last week, and now up to orange. This is NOT going in the right direction. So- not sure what health notice is being referenced but their ship listing is still available. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

3 minutes ago, 5waldos said:

Ugh- looked up the CDC because of this posting and the Millenium has gone from green several weeks back, to yellow last week, and now up to orange. This is NOT going in the right direction. So- not sure what health notice is being referenced but their ship listing is still available. 

I noticed the same with other ships. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us.

[5waldos]

Just now, lovrccl said:

I noticed the same with other ships. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us.

Me too- we have until late July but still- I had been so pleased about the Millenium- it had been green for so long. Haven't looked at other ships- figure I can get anxious enough about just this one ship to worry about. 

[Guppy99]

19 minutes ago, lovrccl said:

I noticed the same with other ships. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us.

I believe it will. I think the decision was premature and as a result of much pressure from outside sources. I have no facts to back that up. I just think that the fear people had is subsiding and there is a lot of pressure politically, financially, etc to back off.   Same as on this board with people saying "it's over...it's endemic...it's the best it's going to get....have to live with it...worst case is you get the sniffles..."  Wrong, stupid, blind sighted...in my opinion. i am fully aware that everyone does not agree.

[Ken the cruiser]

Whatever happens, we're good! We just got out second booster shot today and have cruises booked on Princess (37 days), Celebrity (24 days) and NCL (38 days) this year and plan on having a great time and employ our proven strategy to stay as safe as we can while we're on each of those cruises! But, hey, that's just us. You have to do what you feel is best for you. 😎

Edited March 30, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[BklynBorn47]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Whatever happens, we're good! We just got out second booster shot today and have cruises booked on Princess (37 days), Celebrity (24 days) and NCL (38 days) this year and plan on having a great time and employ our proven strategy to stay as safe as we can while we're on each of those cruises! But, hey, that's just us. You have to do what you feel is best for you. 😎

Same here.  If the ship is sailing, we're onboard assuming we can stay Covid negative of course.  Vaxxed and boosted and will get booster #2 between cruises.  (45 days & 36 days)
We will be taking an assortment of masks with us.  Might as well be prepared. Wearing a mask never bothered us at all.

[Cruising89143]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Whatever happens, we're good! We just got out second booster shot today and have cruises booked on Princess (37 days), Celebrity (24 days) and NCL (38 days) this year and plan on having a great time and employ our proven strategy to stay as safe as we can while we're on each of those cruises! But, hey, that's just us. You have to do what you feel is best for you. 😎

Agree. We’re getting our second booster in the morning. We will take all necessary precautions on our upcoming trip to Italy and on the Edge. Fingers crossed that all goes well. We have stayed home for over two years following all regulations and now it’s time to start living again. Each person needs to do what they feel is best. No judgements. 

[D C]

17 hours ago, lovrccl said:

I noticed the same with other ships. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt us.

There's nothing to "come back" as nothing has changed.  Still need to be vaccinated. Still need to be tested before boarding.