Covid for cruiseships is over

[bazzaw]

https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/7041/?posfrom=1&fbclid=IwAR1ivnmjmV6Ikhw2NFkpJWQqgjJd8tYhZ9dhr3auFvf6Y8N_EIGxhMkYRDU&stay=1&source=99360%2F

[OzKiwiJJ]

In the USA.

 

I suspect it will still be monitored here for a few more months.

[Mikamarii]

To be fair it's just the cdc saying we won't be forcing you in to rules. Its up to cruiselines to decide. I just hope pre departure testing is what gets axed. 

[arxcards]

Do I detect a little sarcasm with the title? CDC is no longer doing a cruise by cruise expose' by publishing a colour coded status for each cruise ship. Each ship still has to report their numbers to the destination port and the CDC at the end of each cruise, and as quoted in the article, are still required to take steps of mitigating covid spread.

 

So CDC not enforcing rules, but still governing by outcomes, as they have always done with transmissible diseases. As for here, not a rats (yay, a pun) of relaxing rules much before Christmas.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Do I detect a little sarcasm with the title? CDC is no longer doing a cruise by cruise expose' by publishing a colour coded status for each cruise ship. Each ship still has to report their numbers to the destination port and the CDC at the end of each cruise, and as quoted in the article, are still required to take steps of mitigating covid spread.

 

So CDC not enforcing rules, but still governing by outcomes, as they have always done with transmissible diseases. As for here, not a rats (yay, a pun) of relaxing rules much before Christmas.

The ships arriving from the USA, HAL, RCI, NCL etc, and loaded with pax will have to comply with Federal and State protocols here though, surely. Which might shock a few North Americans if they disembark in Sydney positive and have to go into quarantine, not beyond the realms of possibility come October/November when they sail in.

Edited July 19, 2022 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

Ironically, this actually doesn't affect that many cruises, when considering what countries other than the US are stipulating. Still, a ste in the right direction.

[MicCanberra]

3 hours ago, NSWP said:

The ships arriving from the USA, HAL, RCI, NCL etc, and loaded with pax will have to comply with Federal and State protocols here though, surely. Which might shock a few North Americans if they disembark in Sydney positive and have to go into quarantine, not beyond the realms of possibility come October/November when they sail in.

I would imagine, most pax will be well aware of what may happen on their arrival, if the test positive 

[arxcards]

27 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I would imagine, most pax will be well aware of what may happen on their arrival, if the test positive 

I have no idea how many will be Aussie travelling to the US/Hawaii and cruising home vs those cruising over from the US for a holiday. Fair to say though, that a large number of those will have other plans when they get here, including B2Bs around Oz or NZ. Certainly fly in the ointment stuff, so I hope the ships all land here in a healthy state, and everyone gets to complete their planned holiday. 

[Mikamarii]

7 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I would imagine, most pax will be well aware of what may happen on their arrival, if the test positive 

Are there testing requirements upon entry? I thought they were all removed in Australia. 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

Are there testing requirements upon entry? I thought they were all removed in Australia. 

I think this refers to testing positive on the ship during the cruise, and the remaining isolation period would be need to be served in a hotel if you don't have a residence to go to.

 

Generally, no testing is required on entry, but that may also depend on the number of reported infections on the ship. Even with a domestic cruise returning to Sydney a couple of days ago with amber status, they required all disembarking passengers to do a RAT.

Edited July 19, 2022 by arxcards

[Sparky74]

11 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I would imagine, most pax will be well aware of what may happen on their arrival, if the test positive 

DW and I are to sail on the 23 night Carnival Splendor transpacific cruise which arrives in Sydney on Friday 30th September. As far as I can tell this is the first ship scheduled to arrive from overseas with passengers onboard. 
Im part of a group on another social media platform for people on this cruise (and I’m certainly not promoting that group). Many of the Americans in that group are far from "well aware" about many matters. The term "clueless" seems more appropriate.
There have been repeated questions about visas and many are shocked to learn that they need to apply for an ETA and pay the nominal fee. Many have been horrified to learn that because of previous convictions they are ineligible for an ETA and have to apply for an actual visa.
The surprises keep coming when they learn that Australian shops and businesses don’t accept US Dollars and that our powerpoints are different from theirs. And then there are the people who have booked a Sydney hotel for three days before they fly home to the USA and want to visit the Blue Mountains, Uluru,  and the Great Barrier Reef!

[arxcards]

21 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

DW and I are to sail on the 23 night Carnival Splendor transpacific cruise which arrives in Sydney on Friday 30th September. As far as I can tell this is the first ship scheduled to arrive from overseas with passengers onboard. 
Im part of a group on another social media platform for people on this cruise (and I’m certainly not promoting that group). Many of the Americans in that group are far from "well aware" about many matters. The term "clueless" seems more appropriate.
There have been repeated questions about visas and many are shocked to learn that they need to apply for an ETA and pay the nominal fee. Many have been horrified to learn that because of previous convictions they are ineligible for an ETA and have to apply for an actual visa.
The surprises keep coming when they learn that Australian shops and businesses don’t accept US Dollars and that our powerpoints are different from theirs. And then there are the people who have booked a Sydney hotel for three days before they fly home to the USA and want to visit the Blue Mountains, Uluru,  and the Great Barrier Reef!

Is that just a Carnival trait? 😉

For anyone who hasn't travelled internationally before, that is all part of the learning.

 

[MMDown Under]

32 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

DW and I are to sail on the 23 night Carnival Splendor transpacific cruise which arrives in Sydney on Friday 30th September. As far as I can tell this is the first ship scheduled to arrive from overseas with passengers onboard. 
Im part of a group on another social media platform for people on this cruise (and I’m certainly not promoting that group). Many of the Americans in that group are far from "well aware" about many matters. The term "clueless" seems more appropriate.
There have been repeated questions about visas and many are shocked to learn that they need to apply for an ETA and pay the nominal fee. Many have been horrified to learn that because of previous convictions they are ineligible for an ETA and have to apply for an actual visa.
The surprises keep coming when they learn that Australian shops and businesses don’t accept US Dollars and that our powerpoints are different from theirs. And then there are the people who have booked a Sydney hotel for three days before they fly home to the USA and want to visit the Blue Mountains, Uluru,  and the Great Barrier Reef!

You must be a wealth of local knowledge for them.  

[MicCanberra]

My comments were for those who test positive while on the cruise. They will be told by Cruise staff what will happen on their arrival, which currently is quarantine, either on the ship or in a hotel, who knowscwhat it will be by October.

[Sparky74]

7 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Is that just a Carnival trait? 😉

For anyone who hasn't travelled internationally before, that is all part of the learning.

 

I guess it would be racist to suggest it is an American trait. 

[Mikamarii]

Thanks arxcards and miccanberra for the clarification. Just wanted to be sure. 

And I have the Australian app downloaded for our electronic visas, a couple power adapters (not bringing anything that needs a conversion), and AUD haha. 

[lyndarra]

59 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

My comments were for those who test positive while on the cruise. They will be told by Cruise staff what will happen on their arrival, which currently is quarantine, either on the ship or in a hotel, who knowscwhat it will be by October.

Which begs the question. Will positive cases be put off the ships well before they get here?

If embarking from US mainland the bug should show up before Hawaii and other ports along the way.

[arxcards]

32 minutes ago, Mikamarii said:

Thanks arxcards and miccanberra for the clarification. Just wanted to be sure. 

And I have the Australian app downloaded for our electronic visas, a couple power adapters (not bringing anything that needs a conversion), and AUD haha. 

I would expect no less from our learned Canadian friends.

[arxcards]

14 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Which begs the question. Will positive cases be put off the ships well before they get here?

If embarking from US mainland the bug should show up before Hawaii and other ports along the way.

It would be case by case, but unless a passenger is unwell, they are likely to complete their quarantine aboard in transit.

[OzKiwiJJ]

9 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

Are there testing requirements upon entry? I thought they were all removed in Australia. 

 No testing requirements for entry to Australia now but passengers still have to test negative before boarding:

 - either within 72 hours for a PCR test which may allow them to test before flying here.

- or within 24 hours for a RAT which would probably have to be done after arrival in Australia. 

[NSWP]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 No testing requirements for entry to Australia now but passengers still have to test negative before boarding:

 - either within 72 hours for a PCR test which may allow them to test before flying here.

- or within 24 hours for a RAT which would probably have to be done after arrival in Australia. 

I think NSW Health will demand testing of pax on the ships coming from North America before disembarkation, like has been done with Coral Princess and Pacific Explorer recently. It is a long voyage from USA to OZ with several ports where the lurgy is about. 
 

Time will tell what protocols are implemented for the American ships arriving here in the next few months. These are my opinions anyway.

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Agreed, but it can change between now and then though, it may well be business like normal by then, or harsher requirements 

[kernow]

We are coming to Sydney for a b2b on Ovation in Nov. We're British not American and know about sockets, currency, testing etc but can someone tell me how long we have to quarantine should we test positive and is it in a regular hotel or somewhere else? We do have covid insurance to cover costs if it should happen. 

Thanks.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 minutes ago, kernow said:

We are coming to Sydney for a b2b on Ovation in Nov. We're British not American and know about sockets, currency, testing etc but can someone tell me how long we have to quarantine should we test positive and is it in a regular hotel or somewhere else? We do have covid insurance to cover costs if it should happen. 

Thanks.

The isolation period is currently seven days. I'm not sure how Royal Caribbean will handle it but the two lines operating at the moment, Princess and P&O Australia, isolate you in a cabin for the remainder of your cruise. If that time is shorter than seven days you will be tranferred to a hotel for the remaining time. The cruise lines currently pay for this.

 

Whether this will change by November, and whether Royal Caribbean offers the same deal, remains to be seen. 

[kernow]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The isolation period is currently seven days. I'm not sure how Royal Caribbean will handle it but the two lines operating at the moment, Princess and P&O Australia, isolate you in a cabin for the remainder of your cruise. If that time is shorter than seven days you will be tranferred to a hotel for the remaining time. The cruise lines currently pay for this.

 

Whether this will change by November, and whether Royal Caribbean offers the same deal, remains to be seen. 

Thanks. That is similar to what was happening in Europe last year although I think most countries over here have done away with isolation when you leave the ship now. Our rates seem to be rising again so it could come back. Even if Royal don't pay our insurance should cover us if the worst should happen so I think we will be OK.