Bahamas Testing Contradiction

[mrpayroll]

2 hours ago, Bollycats said:

Same here. My October Cruise to the Bahamas is already paid in full so I can't change that. But last night we were talking about doing another short cruise and started looking at Royal Caribbean. Are you listening, Carnival?

Don't make threats, just do it. You might like it ( we do ,)

[Bollycats]

13 minutes ago, mrpayroll said:

Don't make threats, just do it. You might like it ( we do ,)

We are only red on Carnival so we won't be missing any loyalty benefits. Royal has similar itineraries and pricing so we might just try something new. Why have the hassle and cost of testing if we don't need to?

[Bollycats]

20 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

For the 10th time, Virgin and Margaritaville have already been sailing to the Bahamas with untested guests for over a week now and will continue to do so this weekend without any changes.  

But John Heald said it was a "destination requirement". Apparently not. 

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, Fredric22 said:

For the 10th time, Virgin and Margaritaville have already been sailing to the Bahamas with untested guests for over a week now and will continue to do so this weekend without any changes.  

A whole 2 ships....

[Deathloks]

45 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

A whole 2 ships....

Just for the sake of this conversation, how many ships do you think Carnival sails to the Bahamas on cruises 5 days or less ?

[ninjacat123]

18 minutes ago, Deathloks said:

Just for the sake of this conversation, how many ships do you think Carnival sails to the Bahamas on cruises 5 days or less ?

I counted 9 ships on Carnival's website that go to the Bahamas and sail 2-5 day cruises.

[DCDragonfly]

What does it matter?  The virus doesn’t care about fleet sizes.

[wemjam]

2 hours ago, Bollycats said:

But John Heald said it was a "destination requirement". Apparently not. 

Just curious, has anyone pushed back on this point with John since he posted that.

 

Obviously it is not a destination requirement proven by the fact that other ships are doing it.

 

I would have guessed by now there would have been some push back - I would be interested in knowing what he had to say.

 

There has to be a reason we are missing.

[BlerkOne]

53 minutes ago, Deathloks said:

Just for the sake of this conversation, how many ships do you think Carnival sails to the Bahamas on cruises 5 days or less ?

For the sake of this conversation, false rumors aside, Carnival currently requires testing for the Bahamas.

 

Due to destination requirements, ALL guests on itineraries that include Bahamas, Bermuda and Grand Cayman must complete a pre-cruise test, irrespective of the length of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

[prmssk]

20 minutes ago, wemjam said:

Just curious, has anyone pushed back on this point with John since he posted that.

People did push back on the post earlier this week on Facebook where he claims this is a Bahamas requirement and he stuck to his story. 
 

John’s Facebook page today says that he is now taking a week vacation and will not be answering any questions over the next week. Of course he deserves vacations like any of us, but the timing is a bit interesting. 

[Fredric22]

5 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

For the sake of this conversation, false rumors aside, Carnival currently requires testing for the Bahamas.

 

Due to destination requirements, ALL guests on itineraries that include Bahamas, Bermuda and Grand Cayman must complete a pre-cruise test, irrespective of the length of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

LOL... citing what other cruise lines are doing is not "false rumors".... You can't make this stuff up!  I feel like whoever this person is is just trying to get a rise out of people.  Whoever you are,  you are very good at what you do!! 

[BlerkOne]

Just now, Fredric22 said:

LOL... citing what other cruise lines are doing is not "false rumors".... You can't make this stuff up!  I feel like whoever this person is is just trying to get a rise out of people.  Whoever you are,  you are very good at what you do!! 

It seems you are doing what you can to confuse people. Carnival's rule are clear. If you don't like their rules, there are other cruise lines. I like that Carnival isn't as reckless as a couple of tiny cruise lines.

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, prmssk said:

People did push back on the post earlier this week on Facebook where he claims this is a Bahamas requirement and he stuck to his story. 
 

John’s Facebook page today says that he is now taking a week vacation and will not be answering any questions over the next week. Of course he deserves vacations like any of us, but the timing is a bit interesting. 

If there were breaking news, I'm sure he or Jacinta would publish it.

[Deathloks]

33 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

For the sake of this conversation, false rumors aside, Carnival currently requires testing for the Bahamas.

 

Due to destination requirements, ALL guests on itineraries that include Bahamas, Bermuda and Grand Cayman must complete a pre-cruise test, irrespective of the length of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

Please don't get me wrong.  My point was not to say Carnival is doing something bad.  In fact, I believe they can do whatever they think is best for them.  If people are unhappy about it, they will act accordingly.  That being said, I was trying to point out that I don't believe there is any reason to constantly trying to put down other smaller companies that are doing something different than Carnival.  I know this is Cruise "critic", but it doesn't make other companies irresponsible or anything else because they chose a different way in their managing.

[BlerkOne]

11 minutes ago, Deathloks said:

Please don't get me wrong.  My point was not to say Carnival is doing something bad.  In fact, I believe they can do whatever they think is best for them.  If people are unhappy about it, they will act accordingly.  That being said, I was trying to point out that I don't believe there is any reason to constantly trying to put down other smaller companies that are doing something different than Carnival.  I know this is Cruise "critic", but it doesn't make other companies irresponsible or anything else because they chose a different way in their managing.

I think Carnival is choosing to be cautious. The other companies are not necessarily doing anything wrong. At the end of the day, they will likely end up at the same place, which is TBD.

[cruisekel1]

Looks like they just lifted it again. No Bahamas mentioned on their site now.

[Native Floridian 26]

TESTING REQUIREMENTS (UPDATED 8/05/22)
CRUISES 5 DAYS OR LESS

Except for sailings visiting Bermuda (see below), there will be no pre-cruise testing for fully vaccinated guests booked on cruises with itineraries 5 days or less.

Due to destination requirements, ALL guests on itineraries that include Bermuda must complete a pre-cruise test, irrespective of the length of the cruise.
To comply with destination regulations, guests may take either a PCR or an antigen test within the timelines specified below:
A PCR test within 72 hours prior to sailing (for example, if the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken any time from Wednesday).
An antigen test no earlier than two days prior to sailing (for example, if the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken any time from Thursday).

[ProgRockCruiser]

2 minutes ago, cruisekel1 said:

Looks like they just lifted it again. No Bahamas mentioned on their site now.

Well, that's good news!  No Caymans either!  Just "Bermuda" as the only exception.  (I guess no 5 day cruises to Canada...)

 

But the ping-ponging back and forth has certainly put mud on their face.

[BlerkOne]

Mud is in the eye of the beholder.

 

The requirements can still change:

All changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary and these protocols will continue to evolve.

[BlerkOne]

Royal still has weasel words

 

Testing requirements vary by port of departure and vaccination status. Below are the published requirements for select ports. We are continually adding, monitoring and adjusting information on testing requirements as public health standards and government regulations evolve. Booked guests will be advised of the latest requirements for their port of departure before sailing

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

Mud is in the eye of the beholder.

 

The requirements can still change:

All changes are subject to any requirements of destinations on the itinerary and these protocols will continue to evolve.

How many people scrambled and paid for tests that are now no longer needed?  That's a good drop of mud, IMHO.

 

And yes, we know things can change - the frustrating part was it apparently changed, then changed again, for Carnival and no other line.  Maybe this was the result of jumping the gun before the whatever backroom deals with the Bahamas were completed. If so, Carnival would have been better off waiting to announce today, basically doing the same as RCI.

 

We know that the theory this applied to cruise line pax only, because other travelers can enter freely without testing, is false because other cruise lines (yes, those tiny ones) are being allowed to dock with untested pax.  So if it truly was this:

 

44 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I think Carnival is choosing to be cautious.

Then they should have been cautious in announcing something so urgently that they then had to flip-flop-and-flip-again on.

[BlerkOne]

4 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

And yes, we know things can change -

 

Period. Full stop.

[Fredric22]

As many of us knew (except 1 person) the rules changed because they didn't make sense.  Carnival either misunderstood the Bahamian requirements or something else was happening behind the scenes. However, as predicted Carnival has now fallen in line with all of the other cruise lines.  Have a good evening everyone! 

[BlerkOne]

6 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

As many of us knew (except 1 person) the rules changed because they didn't make sense.  Carnival either misunderstood the Bahamian requirements or something else was happening behind the scenes. However, as predicted Carnival has now fallen in line with all of the other cruise lines.  Have a good evening everyone! 

The rules don't make sense, but at least you are happy. That is all that matters.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

10 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Come on Carnival - admit you screwed this up a bit and get with the (NEW) program. 

 

...

 

All's well that ends well.

 

Though, we all know that ALL OF THIS is a moving target...

 

Tom