What is the rationale of not requiring testing for b2b pax?

[ebeluga]

Just curious...if testing is not required for b2b pax in order to continue to the next segment, then why the need to test all new pax 2 or 3 days prior to embarkation?

 

The game rules need to be fair for the sake of argument.

[Ken the cruiser]

One reason may be the CDC now only "recommends" passengers on a B2B be tested whereas passengers embarking on a cruise ship for the first time are required to provide the negative results from either an antigen or PCR test depending on their vaccination status.

 

Screening Testing of All Embarking and Disembarking Passengers

	Passengers with Documentation of Recovery from COVID-19	Passengers Who Are Not Fully Vaccinated	Passengers Who Are Fully Vaccinated	Passengers Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
Pre-embarkation Day Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)[*] no more than 3 days before boarding; NAAT is preferred	Viral (NAAT or antigen test) no more than 2 days before boarding [†] OR Viral test on embarkation day	Viral (NAAT or antigen test) no more than 3 days before boarding† OR Viral test on embarkation day
Embarkation Day Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)[*]; NAAT is preferred
Disembarkation Testing [^]	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Back-to-Back Sailing[¥] Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Recommended Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Recommended Viral (NAAT or antigen test)

[*] Either the pre-embarkation day test or the embarkation day test must be NAAT.

[†] Fully vaccinated passengers or passengers who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines may use a self-test (sometimes referred to as home test)—see specifications in section below.

[^] Disembarkation testing is only required for voyages of more than 4 nights.

[¥] Back-to-back sailing refers to passengers who stay on board for two or more voyages.

 

Operations Manual for CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships Operating in U.S. Waters | Quarantine | CDC

 

[ebeluga]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

One reason may be the CDC now only "recommends" passengers on a B2B be tested whereas passengers embarking on a cruise ship for the first time are required to provide the negative results from either an antigen or PCR test depending on their vaccination status.

 

Screening Testing of All Embarking and Disembarking Passengers

	Passengers with Documentation of Recovery from COVID-19	Passengers Who Are Not Fully Vaccinated	Passengers Who Are Fully Vaccinated	Passengers Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
Pre-embarkation Day Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)[*] no more than 3 days before boarding; NAAT is preferred	Viral (NAAT or antigen test) no more than 2 days before boarding [†] OR Viral test on embarkation day	Viral (NAAT or antigen test) no more than 3 days before boarding† OR Viral test on embarkation day
Embarkation Day Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)[*]; NAAT is preferred
Disembarkation Testing [^]	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Back-to-Back Sailing[¥] Testing	Not Applicable	Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Recommended Viral (NAAT or antigen test)	Recommended Viral (NAAT or antigen test)

[*] Either the pre-embarkation day test or the embarkation day test must be NAAT.

[†] Fully vaccinated passengers or passengers who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines may use a self-test (sometimes referred to as home test)—see specifications in section below.

[^] Disembarkation testing is only required for voyages of more than 4 nights.

[¥] Back-to-back sailing refers to passengers who stay on board for two or more voyages.

 

Operations Manual for CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships Operating in U.S. Waters | Quarantine | CDC

 

Thanks!  I see.  When it's only recommended, it is equivalent to dropping it from the cruise line's standpoint.

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, ebeluga said:

Thanks!  I see.  When it's only recommended, it is equivalent to dropping it from the cruise line's standpoint.

Not really, but it at least it gives a cruise line the option to make that determination. If I might ask, which cruise line has stopped requiring B2B passengers from passing an antigen test usually the day before transition day on a B2B?

[ebeluga]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Not really, but it at least it gives a cruise line the option to make that determination. If I might ask, which cruise line has stopped requiring B2B passengers from passing an antigen test usually the day before transition day on a B2B?

Discovery Princess, on the latest sailing.  Tests were required on the first two sailings for b2b but has been discontinued on the latest sailing.

[ebeluga]

Perhaps they are in yellow and not orange so it gives them some basis for that decision. Only conjecture on my part.

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

Discovery Princess, on the latest sailing.  Tests were required on the first two sailings for b2b but has been discontinued on the latest sailing.

Glad to hear the winds of change are approaching. We’re on a B3B in July in the Med on the Regal and definitely wouldn’t mind at all if we didn’t have to test between legs. But, hey, that’s just us.

[san diego sue]

Don't know why Discovery dropped it. We were on the first two sailings. After week one, we knew people who were sick with Covid towards the end of week one (reported and put in isolation)and people that tested positive  during the B2B testing  and had to leave the ship instead. On week one hardly anyone wore masks anywhere and we heard plenty of coughing. Wonder how many people didn't report their symptoms or went home after week one sick. On our second week it was nice seeing people masked.

[MissP22]

The Enchanted was still testing B2B passengers as of March 9 sailing. 

[Astro Flyer]

On 4/11/2022 at 3:13 PM, ebeluga said:

Perhaps they are in yellow and not orange so it gives them some basis for that decision. Only conjecture on my part.

Discovery is currently Orange as were all other Princess ships with passengers.

[ebeluga]

15 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Discovery is currently Orange as were all other Princess ships with passengers.

Totally not surprised at all from green to orange in a matter of 3 weeks (?) with less covid protocol restriction. Just like the approach that UK has adopted.  Buyer beware!

Edited April 13, 2022 by ebeluga

[ebeluga]

23 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

The Enchanted was still testing B2B passengers as of March 9 sailing. 

Looks like every ship is doing their own thing!  Majestic also had b2b testing on the latest sailing.

[Astro Flyer]

23 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

Totally not surprised at all from green to orange in a matter of 3 weeks (?) with less covid protocol restriction. Just like the approach that UK has adopted.  Buyer beware!

After 2 weeks on Discovery it’s not surprising to me either. And now that they’ve eliminated in-transit testing it might get even worse. 

[MissP22]

21 hours ago, ebeluga said:

Looks like every ship is doing their own thing!  Majestic also had b2b testing on the latest sailing.

I'm waiting for a cruise to no where...at least 7 days. Test EVERYONE before you leave, stop nowhere & it's some sort of guarantee you might not contact covid before you return. 😄

[hubble]

I'm curious to see if Discovery tests this week on the B2B passengers.  This week the ship is sailing with about 1k more passengers than the previous week, and as others mentioned it is now at orange level.  Someone last week mentioned the ship said they were out of Covid tests, so perhaps they had some, but not enough to test all the B2B passengers.  I'd like to know if no longer testing B2B is their new policy, or it was really just a one time thing on this particular ship.  No one else from any other Princess ship has reported that they cancelled testing on B2B.  Guess we will just have to wait and see how they handle it this week.

[cr8tiv1]

30 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I'm waiting for a cruise to no where...at least 7 days. Test EVERYONE before you leave, stop nowhere & it's some sort of guarantee you might not contact covid before you return. 😄

 

Wouldn't that be a great test control.  Test everyone 2 days before, upon embarkation, and 2 days after leaving port.  Make this cruise "free" + port taxes.  I'd be on it in a nano second.  Great idea.

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

Testing for b2b on ruby is tomorrow.

[san diego sue]

 We got off  Discovery on Sunday. By Monday my husband wasn't feeling well. We both tested at home and were negative.

By Tuesday he started coughing and headache. Today he has been in bed most of the day, coughing, sneezing, etc.  Tested negative again. He has had two boosters. Don't know if he needs to do a PCR test  instead of Rapid Antigen test. He may have the flu. Whatever he has, he picked up on Discovery for sure. Most of the times we wore our masks except when eating and drinking.I keep telling him to call  our Dr. or go to Urgent care. He is stubborn. He did speak to a nurse about another matter , mentioned his symptoms, and she thought the Flu but too late to take tamaflu for it.  He did have a flu shot a few months ago.

Edited April 14, 2022 by san diego sue

[Astro Flyer]

4 minutes ago, san diego sue said:

He did speak to a nurse about another matter , mentioned his symptoms, and she thought the Flu but too late to take tamaflu for it.

Hopefully he feels better soon.

[Ken the cruiser]

Deleted. Posted to the wrong thread.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[DallasGuy75219]

11 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I'm waiting for a cruise to no where...at least 7 days. Test EVERYONE before you leave, stop nowhere & it's some sort of guarantee you might not contact covid before you return. 😄

Except for the people exposed a day or two before who are still asymptomatic and/or testing negative at embarkation but will become sick and/or contagious shortly thereafter.

[MissP22]

8 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Except for the people exposed a day or two before who are still asymptomatic and/or testing negative at embarkation but will become sick and/or contagious shortly thereafter.

Yep. There are no guarantees except for staying home I guess.  

[ebeluga]

So according to someone on the 4/10 Discovery Princess roll call, no testing was mentioned/required for in transit b2b sailing onto 4/17 sailing!

[Astro Flyer]

15 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

So according to someone on the 4/10 Discovery Princess roll call, no testing was mentioned/required for in transit b2b sailing onto 4/17 sailing!

No testing between the 4/3 & 4/10 cruises on Discovery either.

[ebeluga]

7 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

No testing between the 4/3 & 4/10 cruises on Discovery either.

Appears to be this ship's b2b protocol - no testing!  So only crew and self-reported pax with symptoms will be counted and reported to CDC.