Branson says no testing on Virgin….Celebrity are you watching?

[cruisestitch]

From Richard Branson’s mouth to Michael Bayley’s ears

 

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by cruisestitch

[lexmiller]

Yup, the time has come.  As many of us posted on a prior post (which Host Ann shut down, btw......), it is well past time to end testing - keep the requirement to be vaxxed/boosted, but testing to board, B2B testing and self-reporting your runny nose must stop.  Virgin, Azamara, NCL, Carnival, Holland - probably many others - have all stopped testing to one degree or another.  Nowhere else, in any hospitality venture (any venture at all??), is testing required.  2022 covid is not 2020 covid.    

[LMaxwell]

22 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

 B2B testing... must stop.  

This one I would not agree with.  If someone tests positive for a B2B they should have an option while at the homeport of disembarking to quarantine/be checked further. Just my opinion on it. Thanks. Enjoyed reading other thoughts. Be well. Sea ya onboard 

[Denny01]

15 minutes ago, lexmiller said:

Yup, the time has come.  As many of us posted on a prior post (which Host Ann shut down, btw......), it is well past time to end testing - keep the requirement to be vaxxed/boosted, but testing to board, B2B testing and self-reporting your runny nose must stop.  Virgin, Azamara, NCL, Carnival, Holland - probably many others - have all stopped testing to one degree or another.  Nowhere else, in any hospitality venture (any venture at all??), is testing required.  2022 covid is not 2020 covid.    

No idea where you are getting your info on the other Lines. NCL and Holland require pretty much the same protocol as Celebrity, and Carnival requires testing unless you are boosted or the standard vaccination is within set dates. Each of us need to be aware of the specific requirements of the Line we are cruising And the itinerary we are on. It differs within Cruise Lines.

 

I agree the testing requirements need to reviewed, and ‘22 isnt ‘20, but overstating a case you are pressing doesnt help. 

 

And the approach of each Line is more than a mix. Viking dropped testing for Euro ports but not US, while Virgin and its few ships dropped US. 

 

den

[cruisestitch]

It’s that last sentence that is new and important…. Virgin dropped testing on its US departures.

[RichYak]

10 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

NCL and Holland require pretty much the same protocol as Celebrity, and Carnival requires testing unless you are boosted or the standard vaccination is within set dates.

Holland and Carnival still require testing with no exceptions. NCL will cease testing on European sailings (except from Greece) on August 1.

[canderson]

13 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

No idea where you are getting your info on the other Lines.

Big changes start 1 August.  Widely publicized.

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

It’s that last sentence that is new and important…. Virgin dropped testing on its US departures.

Most, if not all, of Virgin's US departures through the end of 2022 only visit 2 foreign countries--Bimini (Bahamas) and Mexico. That made it easy to drop the testing. Other lines have more ports of call to negotiate protocols with, complicating the process and slowing the inevitable announcement.

[Denny01]

The Point is, Cruise LInes are not dropping testing whole meal as inferred, but for specific venues and varying vaccination status. Id love not to have to test after flying to Rome, just as we had to do after getting to Seattle, but making generalized statements will mislead others who show up thinking they dont need to test. 

 

Enough. I already hurt one nice poster’s feeling being too ‘cute and smarty’……apologies @LMaxwell. 

 

Den

[RichYak]

8 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

If you are cruising Virgin.

For the time being, Virgin has a competitive advantage over every other cruise line. That effects every line.

[RichYak]

25 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

If someone tests positive for a B2B they should have an option while at the homeport of disembarking to quarantine/be checked further. Just my opinion on it.

I don't see how ending the required testing would change this. One can still report to medical with symptoms at the end of the first leg of a B2B and retain this option if they test positive.

[jelayne]

Azamara has announced it is stopping pre cruise testing effective 7/25 unless it is required by the country where the ship departs. 
 

[TeeRick]

At this point with so much Omicron around (all variants),  pre-cruise testing does very little to keep the virus off cruise ships.  Lots of people are reporting symptoms on ship or just after the cruise.  Many more just do not report symptoms for fear of isolation.  If pre-cruise testing stops a few infected people from boarding, what does that really accomplish?  There are still lots of infected people walking around the ship anyway. 

 

So what I personally would like to see is for all passengers and crew members to be required to be "Up To Date" on vaccines versus "Fully Vaccinated".  That means 1 or 2 boosters at this point for every adult depending on age and health requirements.  And vaccines for children if approved for them.  And then in the future, being Up To Date would include a seasonal, strain-specific booster when they become available.  That's it.  We will take our chances with the vaccines stopping serious disease as they do.  They will not stop actual infections so why are we counting on them to do so?  Just manage the virus on the ships as everywhere else.  No need for pre-cruise testing.  Exactly like no need for pre-flight testing.  The advantage on ships is that you know everybody on board would be Up To Date.

[George C]

I would like celebrity to stop testing, but to require vaccinations. Just found out that both my brother and sister who live thousands of miles apart have Covid but since they are vaccinated and booster symptoms are same as a mild cold.

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

So what I personally would like to see is for all passengers and crew members to be required to be "Up To Date" on vaccines versus "Fully Vaccinated".

This won't happen for passengers as it would be suicidal for Celebrity to do so. Too few people are now or ever will be up to date. Heck, I'm pro-vax and I'm not even up to date.

 

What I see happening is the opposite. The "Fully Vaccinated" requirement will slowly fade away over time, from 95% or 90% where it is now, gradually down to 0.

[Jeremiah1212]

Give it some time. Virgin's 2 ships with minimal port stops compared to Celebrity's 15 spread all over the world makes things a little more complex for Celebrity. 

[lexmiller]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Holland and Carnival still require testing with no exceptions. NCL will cease testing on European sailings (except from Greece) on August 1.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=6998

[Denny01]

Just now, lexmiller said:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=6998

Go to the Cruise Line’s actual websites and you’ll see what is Acutally the case. Again, yes Some Lines have dropped Some itinerary pre-testing. 

 

Den

[Bluewake]

We all have opinions on whether Celebrity should eliminate or keep various covid related requirements and those should be respected. However, I am curious about a couple of assertions being made. 

 

The first is the assumption that cruise line bookings are suppressed because of pre-cruise testing, vaccination, and other requirements and that if cruise lines eliminate those, bookings will dramatically increase.  In fact, one above poster stated that Virgin now has a competitive advantage because it dropped pre-cruise testing.  I understand that this assumption may, indeed, be true but is there any evidence to support it?   Have the cruise lines done any research to find out whether eliminating such requirements would bolster bookings?  Most of the cruisers I personally know find the testing to be a pain but don't want it to be dropped. In fact, if cruise lines eliminated vaccinations and testing, they may be less likely to cruise.   

 

The second assumption frequently being made is that pre-cruise testing is a waste of time.  I'd like to know if there is any evidence that this is the case. Again, I absolutely want to acknowledge that I don't know and that this could be true so I am not insinuating that anyone is wrong.  However, since the BA5 variant has an R0 value of about 18, even if 10 prospective passengers with covid are prevented from boarding and spreading the virus, that might prevent quite a few others from contracting the illness.  Not everyone of those will be so fortunate to have only a runny nose.   I just got over covid a couple of weeks ago and felt lousy for about 2-3 days. Had I been on a cruise, I would not have wanted to leave my cabin.

 

Again, not challenging....just asking.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Bluewake

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

From Richard Branson’s mouth to Michael Bayley’s ears

 

 

The headline is great, but the reality is different.   Virgin has not eliminated testing.

OK.  Now take a look at ports or countries that require testing or vaccination with boosters depending on how many days since "fully" vaccinated.

Lots of Caribbean, all Canadian, Australian, Chinese and some others have testing requirements.   Until those go away doesn't make much difference what Celebrity or RCCL does.

 

Edited July 22, 2022 by Arizona Wildcat

[Stu UK]

Cunard now, for cruises from U.K. & Europe, now only ask you to test but don’t want evidence of a negative result. It’s self certify line you do for norovirus etc. 

[cruisestitch]

The topic is how Virgin is eliminating testing, not vaccines

[RickT]

Covid cases are on the rise in most of the world (including Canada and the U.S.  Eliminating pre-cruise testing at this point would be foolish IMHO.  If precruise testing stops even one positive passenger from boarding it will have huge benefits down the line. 
 

I for one will seriously reconsider going on my next cruise if the Covid numbers are this high and precruise testing is eliminated. 
 

Yes I understand precruise testing can be a pain but isn’t that better then allowing positive passengers to board?  We already see Covid cases on board, without precruise testing I would expect Covid cases onboard to significantly increase.

[FreestyleNovice]

3 hours ago, RichYak said:

For the time being, Virgin has a competitive advantage over every other cruise line. That effects every line.

 

This is what matters, the bottom line.

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, Bluewake said:

The first is the assumption that cruise line bookings are suppressed because of pre-cruise testing, vaccination, and other requirements and that if cruise lines eliminate those, bookings will dramatically increase.

The airlines lobbied the CDC pretty hard to get the return to US testing requirement dropped. International travel was heavily suppressed. At this time of year, ships have historically sailed at north of 100% capacity. Right now it's not even close to that. Both of these indicate to me that testing is a drag on bookings. 

 

2 hours ago, Bluewake said:

The second assumption frequently being made is that pre-cruise testing is a waste of time.  I'd like to know if there is any evidence that this is the case.

We use the phrase "waste of time" but in reality it is a cost vs benefit. There's clearly not much benefit given the amount of covid on cruise ships. In fact, given covid's timeline, most of the people who test positive 48+ hours prior to boarding would in all likelihood no longer be contagious by sail away. So what really is the point? The really dangerous passengers are the ones who are already contagious but have yet to exhibit symptoms or test positive. They're being welcomed aboard with big smiles and a glass of sparkling wine.