Royal Covid test refund policy ends 4-30

[topnole]

Currently a full refund is provided if you test positive right before your cruise.  A month from now that ends unless they extend it.  
 

So what will happen if someone tests positive the day before.  Too late for cruise with confidence at that point.  From my read of it, if no travel insurance, the person is just SOL and loses everything if they test positive.  
 

Just by the false positive %s there are going to be many people who lose their cruise and their money.  That would sting big time.  
 

Anyone cruising in May and beyond now faces this scenario and if they didn’t buy trip insurance, can they still even do it?  Anyone have insight on how or when Royal might update this policy or do they just leave it as is and after April the passengers will really need to insure themselves against a dreaded false positive.  

Edited April 1, 2022 by topnole

[latebuyer]

When i asked about my cruise (although september) they said the policy hadn't been set yet so its possible it may continue. I'm in canada but i know here you can usually buy cancellation insurance a few weeks before, but not all covers covid.

[BND]

I thought it was going to be cruises booked by then.

[topnole]

13 minutes ago, BND said:

I thought it was going to be cruises booked by then.

This is the current policy.  This is independent of cruise with confidence.  But it leaves a big hole in protection if it isn’t extended.  Assume they probably aren’t extending it now because final payments are due for cruises departing in early May.  
 

 

 

Guests sailing on or before April 30, 2022 will have the following COVID-19 Assistance at no extra charge. 

• 100% cruise fare refund for you, and your Travelling Party, if any of you tests positive for COVID-19 within 10 days prior to the cruise or at the boarding terminal prior to the cruise. 
• Pro-rated cruise fare refund if your cruise is cut short for reasons related to COVID-19. 
• If you test positive for COVID-19 during the cruise, Royal Caribbean will cover the costs of COVID-19 related medical treatment onboard, any required land-based quarantine, and travel home for you and your Traveling Party. 

[cruiselvr04]

I’m hoping they extend as long as they are requiring testing.  This is really something out of peoples control.  I’m guessing about 1% have to cancel for this reason?  You have to document your positive result to get your money back.  We do always insure our trips but this would make me more nervous to make final payment.

[orville99]

They have to end it at sometime, and with cases becoming asymptotic to zero and hospitalizations down more than 90% from the January peak, the rationale for maintaining the current policy is fading just like the virus. It would be good, however, if they dropped the testing requirement at the same time they dropped the covid-assistance policy.

 

The first chart is cases and the second is hospitalizations:

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by orville99

[SG65CB]

If you are denied boarding due to a positive COVID test (yours or a travelling companion) and cannot get a refund your travel insurance policy might cover your loss. 

 

Be careful when purchasing your travel insurance, many policies exclude coverage for losses due to COVID. Some policies do cover COVID losses, and some offer coverage only if you purchase an endorsement. 

 

I have seen recommendations to purchase "cancel for any reason" coverage which would bypass COVID exclusions. However you normally need to cancel at least 48 hours before trip departure to be covered, which would exclude a denied boarding situation. This type of policy would only cover 75% of your losses. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Anyone have insight on how or when Royal might update this policy or do they just leave it as is and after April the passengers will really need to insure themselves against a dreaded false positive.  

I seem to recall some compensation even before COVID if you got denied boarding for health reasons (failed secondary screening at the pier) - they need to have some compensation (might be FCC instead of refund) if they deny you boarding for no fault of your own.

[topnole]

14 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

I’m hoping they extend as long as they are requiring testing.  This is really something out of peoples control.  I’m guessing about 1% have to cancel for this reason?  You have to document your positive result to get your money back.  We do always insure our trips but this would make me more nervous to make final payment.

Yep. Those with insurance might have zero protection for a Covid positive test at the port that prevents boarding.  Seems that Royal is moving from bending over backwards for passengers (some flying home in private jets not long ago) to leaving folks completely vulnerable to the random errors of a Covid test.  Quite a drastic change.  

[topnole]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

I seem to recall some compensation even before COVID if you got denied boarding for health reasons (failed secondary screening at the pier) - they need to have some compensation (might be FCC instead of refund) if they deny you boarding for no fault of your own.

But interesting they have no update on the policy and now cruises departing may 1 have final payment due.  So you would need to pay assuming you have zero recourse from Royal if you test positive 1-2 days before sailing.  Many people will be in this position soon and many will not have insurance that covers this situation.  Can’t believe they are leaving customers in this situation so soon.  To me this is just bad business for them.  

[frisbeewife]

If I’m reading this right, they’ve extended it so you get 100% refund if you test positive within 10 days of sailing, thru March 31, 2023. But if you test positive during the cruise, Royal only covers medical costs for cruises through April 30, 2022. 
 

[Scottee25]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

Just by the false positive %s...

 

And what percentage would that be? I can't imagine false positives are a significant percentage of tests taken. In fact, it was my understanding that a person positive with Covid was more likely to have a false negative than someone without Covid getting a false positive.

[Saab4444]

Thereafter you simply have to buy your own Covid insurance like e.g. MSC already requires you to do for a while.

[Saab4444]

36 minutes ago, orville99 said:

They have to end it at sometime, and with cases becoming asymptotic to zero and hospitalizations down more than 90% from the January peak, the rationale for maintaining the current policy is fading just like the virus. It would be good, however, if they dropped the testing requirement at the same time they dropped the covid-assistance policy.

 

The first chart is cases and the second is hospitalizations:

 

 

This are US numbers only, in Europe and other parts of the world development of cases looks totally different.

[Lane Hog]

Well I don't think this is an April fool's joke, but perhaps RCL has heard that heard that predeparture testing is going to be discontinued as a requirement. That would certainly explain eliminating CWC.

[orville99]

36 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

This are US numbers only, in Europe and other parts of the world development of cases looks totally different.

True, but the CDC imposition in question only applies to U.S. based cruises. BTW, according to the WHO, cases are coming back down worldwide.

Edited April 1, 2022 by orville99

[topnole]

29 minutes ago, Scottee25 said:

 

And what percentage would that be? I can't imagine false positives are a significant percentage of tests taken. In fact, it was my understanding that a person positive with Covid was more likely to have a false negative than someone without Covid getting a false positive.

The total number will be significant, not the %.  It varies by test, but the false positive rates are known for

each test.  But over 10s of thousands each week, you are going to have a decent number of people every week who can’t go simply due to false positive error.  It is a certainty.  

[jerseygirl3]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

They have to end it at sometime, and with cases becoming asymptotic to zero and hospitalizations down more than 90% from the January peak, the rationale for maintaining the current policy is fading just like the virus. It would be good, however, if they dropped the testing requirement at the same time they dropped the covid-assistance policy.

 

The first chart is cases and the second is hospitalizations:

 

 

I'm a nurse and I have to tell you, in the past 2 weeks we are seeing more cases of Covid again.  Not comparable at this point to the surge we saw in December-February, and hopefully that won't happen.  But even though the cases are milder, it doesn't matter how mild if you test positive.  Positive test means you can't board.  Period.  Even if asymptomatic.  

[molly361]

59 minutes ago, topnole said:

But interesting they have no update on the policy and now cruises departing may 1 have final payment due.  So you would need to pay assuming you have zero recourse from Royal if you test positive 1-2 days before sailing.  Many people will be in this position soon and many will not have insurance that covers this situation.  Can’t believe they are leaving customers in this situation so soon.  To me this is just bad business for them.  

If I test positive for COVID-19 right before my cruise, at the terminal before the cruise, or on the cruise, what is your refund policy and what associated costs are covered?

A

 

 

Guests will have the following COVID-19 Assistance at no extra charge. 

• 100% cruise fare refund for you, and your Travelling Party, if any of you tests positive for COVID-19 within 10 days prior to the cruise or at the boarding terminal, for cruises departing on or before March 31, 2023.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, jerseygirl3 said:

I'm a nurse and I have to tell you, in the past 2 weeks we are seeing more cases of Covid again.

Quick question: as a front line person, what % of the cases you are seeing are people who presented with Covid symptoms, and what % are people who are seeking medical treatment for some other problem (i.e. broken ankle) that are tested prior to treatment and test positive.

[Scottee25]

34 minutes ago, topnole said:

The total number will be significant, not the %.  It varies by test, but the false positive rates are known for

each test.  But over 10s of thousands each week, you are going to have a decent number of people every week who can’t go simply due to false positive error.  It is a certainty.  

But your original post made mention of percentages and not total numbers. If you are making a claim regarding percentages, or even total number, I am curious what those values are? All through the peaks of the pandemic we kept hearing people saying that the survival rate was was 99.9% (It was more like 98% at the time). And then claiming that 2% of infected dying because of the virus was not significant. So what is significant to you? It seems like you don't have any number to back up your claim.

[graphicguy]

GF is also a nurse working in Emergency Room.  For some reason, a lot of COVID cases end up coming to the Emergency Room (vs calling their GP for diagnosis).

 

She's seeing another surge, too.   Per @jerseygirl3 experience, GF states the same that it's not like the surge of Omicron, but it is a surge that's a multiple of what she saw in Feb.

 

There is no correlation between anyone who comes in with a "broken ankle" or a "heart attack", etc and those who come in for potential COVID infection. COVID diagnosis is separate from other diagnosis.

[Joseph2017China]

the testing could be over in a month anyway.

[topnole]

9 minutes ago, Scottee25 said:

But your original post made mention of percentages and not total numbers. If you are making a claim regarding percentages, or even total number, I am curious what those values are? All through the peaks of the pandemic we kept hearing people saying that the survival rate was was 99.9% (It was more like 98% at the time). And then claiming that 2% of infected dying because of the virus was not significant. So what is significant to you? It seems like you don't have any number to back up your claim.

Wrong.  My original post said by the false positive %s which is a figure.  I didn’t say anything about percentages other than in that context (it is a known statistic).  So say it is .01%.  That would be 50 people out of 50,000.  50 people would almost all be traveling with others.  So at least double that amount to get the total number who lose their vacation.  
 

These numbers would likely mean for every 50k passengers boarding there will be at least 100 people denied boarding due to a false positive.  I assume they are near 50k each week or more.  So at least 400 people each month have their vacation ruined only because the test gave the incorrect result.  

 

That to me is a significant number of people.  

[Cruising89143]

I currently have two RCI cruises on the books. One May and one in August. Both were booked under CWC so I think that we’re covered. We also have a Celebrity cruise booked for May out of Rome which is also booked u dear CWC. I have a call into my CVP to get clarification on exactly who it will be handled. Both RCI and Celebrity seems to have changed their verbiage as I had not seen this before. If you’re going to make this change then either do away with testing or they should have given much more notice. Not all travel insurance covers Covid related issues.