Royal Caribbean to Drop Pre-Embarkation COVID-19 Testing for Short Cruises

[X-elite]

Royal Caribbean Group will drop pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing for vaccinated guests on cruises of five days or less starting in early August, if allowed by local regulations.

A formal announcement is expected shortly. 

The news was revealed by Jason Liberty, president and CEO, speaking on the company's second quarter and business update call on Thursday morning. 

Liberty said the company would still test unvaccinated guests, and said he expected to drop testing for vaccinated guests on longer cruises in the near future.

Royal Caribbean's testing news follows in the footsteps of Azamara, Virgin Voyages and Margaretville at Sea, who have all dropped pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing following the CDC's ending of its Cruise Ship COVID-19 program.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27944-royal-caribbean-to-drop-pre-embarkation-covid-19-testing-for-short-cruises.html

[VMax1700]

There is already a thread about this change.

 

 

[jeh10641]

Great news for some, not me. I never cruise for less than ten days. I like the idea of testing but HATE the thought of having to do it myself. We always arrive at or near our port of departure days in advance. In Europe so we can explore places. In Florida so we can visit friends and family. So far, those have been our most recent departure points (since 1989). Trying to find a testing site is hard to do. In December, we booked a test through a site recommended by HAL and we never got the test results before the cruise (more than 48 hours in advance for the testing).

[seaoma]

32 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

Great news for some, not me. I never cruise for less than ten days. I like the idea of testing but HATE the thought of having to do it myself. We always arrive at or near our port of departure days in advance. In Europe so we can explore places. In Florida so we can visit friends and family. So far, those have been our most recent departure points (since 1989). Trying to find a testing site is hard to do. In December, we booked a test through a site recommended by HAL and we never got the test results before the cruise (more than 48 hours in advance for the testing).

 

If you don't mind answering me, what is there to hate about doing it yourself?

 

 

 

[aliaschief]

How many cruises five days or less if any?

[1ANGELCAT]

49 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

How many cruises five days or less if any?

Bermuda and the weekend party cruises.

[jeh10641]

On 7/28/2022 at 11:26 AM, seaoma said:

 

If you don't mind answering me, what is there to hate about doing it yourself?

 

 

 

Hi, seoma,

It is purely irrational on my part. I am afraid that I will screw it up more than once. My wife self-tests every week in order to visit her sister in senior housing. But it is not supervised. That is my irrational thought process. I have several YouTube videos showing how easy it is. Another part of me says (for our next cruise) we will be in New York City, then Amsterdam, then london and finally Southampton for our cruise. Will it be two days or three? Will I have an Internet connection? Will my phone or tablet work "over there"? 

 

Jim

[BermudaBound2014]

It sounds like the plan for both Carnival and RCL is to jump start with the shorter cruises but to relax the testing further in just a few weeks. 

 

Here's a tweet from Bayley: 

 

 

 

Royal Caribbean also made a pretty big move in terms of relaxing vaccination requirements. 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/6b7e917b-5adb-3e0d-a0b3-78744ab64d06/royal-caribbean-no-covid.html

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[seaoma]

17 hours ago, jeh10641 said:

Hi, seoma,

It is purely irrational on my part. I am afraid that I will screw it up more than once. My wife self-tests every week in order to visit her sister in senior housing. But it is not supervised. That is my irrational thought process. I have several YouTube videos showing how easy it is. Another part of me says (for our next cruise) we will be in New York City, then Amsterdam, then london and finally Southampton for our cruise. Will it be two days or three? Will I have an Internet connection? Will my phone or tablet work "over there"? 

 

Jim

 

Jim, I was also very apprehensive before I did my first one.  I was prepared with several extras in case I made a mistake.

 

After you get one under your belt, I think you would be more comfortable.

 

The international travel does pose a few more problems, but then so does arranging testing in a foreign country. 

 

Thanks for your reply and enjoy your cruise. I hope you are able to stay healthy.

 

 

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

You can add MSC to the list of cruise lines who have removed pre-cruise testing on shorter cruises. NCL will be likely be next.

 

If HAL chooses not to jump on this bandwagon there is a chance this is the first we will see of the niche marketing strategies. I feel like HAL is more likely to have passengers who want pre-cruise testing when compared to RCL, Carnival, and MSC. 

[jeh10641]

On 8/1/2022 at 8:53 AM, seaoma said:

 

Jim, I was also very apprehensive before I did my first one.  I was prepared with several extras in case I made a mistake.

 

After you get one under your belt, I think you would be more comfortable.

 

The international travel does pose a few more problems, but then so does arranging testing in a foreign country. 

 

Thanks for your reply and enjoy your cruise. I hope you are able to stay healthy.

 

 

 

 

Hi, seaoma,

Thanks for the encouragement. I hope that by October, 2023, testing will be a thing of the past. stay healthy yourself.

 

Jim

[jeh10641]

On 8/1/2022 at 8:53 AM, seaoma said:

 

Jim, I was also very apprehensive before I did my first one.  I was prepared with several extras in case I made a mistake.

 

After you get one under your belt, I think you would be more comfortable.

 

The international travel does pose a few more problems, but then so does arranging testing in a foreign country. 

 

Thanks for your reply and enjoy your cruise. I hope you are able to stay healthy.

 

 

 

 

Hi, seoma,

You will be happy to know that I did my first unproctored Covid test at home and you were right. It was not hard or complicated. Now my only concern is with overseas connections to the internet. Thanks for your help.

 

Jim

[seaoma]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:14 PM, jeh10641 said:

Hi, seoma,

You will be happy to know that I did my first unproctored Covid test at home and you were right. It was not hard or complicated. Now my only concern is with overseas connections to the internet. Thanks for your help.

 

Jim

 

Well done, Jim! Now you are a pro. I'm glad I could help ease your concerns about this a little bit. 

 

My first test was a proctored one from a hotel in Seattle. Once I got past that, we began using home tests all the time for meeting up with friends and family.

 

Anyway, by the time you cruise, you probably won't even need to worry about testing and overseas internet connections.

 

Stay safe and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jeh10641]

20 hours ago, seaoma said:

 

Well done, Jim! Now you are a pro. I'm glad I could help ease your concerns about this a little bit. 

 

My first test was a proctored one from a hotel in Seattle. Once I got past that, we began using home tests all the time for meeting up with friends and family.

 

Anyway, by the time you cruise, you probably won't even need to worry about testing and overseas internet connections.

 

Stay safe and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, seaoma,

When were you in Seattle? I live about 20 miles east of that city. If you ever get back to Seattle, let me know. My wife and I will treat you to a meal. She tests every week before visiting her sister.

 

Madie/Jim

[seaoma]

8 hours ago, jeh10641 said:

Hi, seaoma,

When were you in Seattle? I live about 20 miles east of that city. If you ever get back to Seattle, let me know. My wife and I will treat you to a meal. She tests every week before visiting her sister.

 

Madie/Jim

 

We actually live in the eastern US. We drove across the country to Seattle last August, just for a vacation and to do a HAL cruise to Alaska when they re-started. We spent 2 1/2 weeks driving there, the 7 night cruise and then took another 2 weeks to get back home. We stayed at the Mediterranean Inn for a few days before the cruise and did a little sightseeing but we were extremely careful because we didn't want to test positive before our cruise. We had a fantastic trip.

 

Thanks for the offer, Jim!  Right now we don't have plans to be out your way anytime soon, but I do have a desire to take a Panama Canal cruise one day that I would like to end in your part of the country.

 

We've been to Seattle a few times over the years, but realized the last time we were there was in 2012 when we vacationed with our youngest daughter. This same daughter had been planning to move to Washington, but when Covid hit, she decided to remain closer to all her family in the eastern states. I won't be surprised if she makes the move one day though.

[jeh10641]

On 9/2/2022 at 9:19 PM, seaoma said:

 

We actually live in the eastern US. We drove across the country to Seattle last August, just for a vacation and to do a HAL cruise to Alaska when they re-started. We spent 2 1/2 weeks driving there, the 7 night cruise and then took another 2 weeks to get back home. We stayed at the Mediterranean Inn for a few days before the cruise and did a little sightseeing but we were extremely careful because we didn't want to test positive before our cruise. We had a fantastic trip.

 

Thanks for the offer, Jim!  Right now we don't have plans to be out your way anytime soon, but I do have a desire to take a Panama Canal cruise one day that I would like to end in your part of the country.

 

We've been to Seattle a few times over the years, but realized the last time we were there was in 2012 when we vacationed with our youngest daughter. This same daughter had been planning to move to Washington, but when Covid hit, she decided to remain closer to all her family in the eastern states. I won't be surprised if she makes the move one day though.

We did a Panama cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle in 2012 on Westerdam. It was wonderful.