After September 6, departing no more pre-cruise Covid testing on WS Cruises except Canada, NZ, Australia and Greece.

[milepig]

3 hours ago, alex.c said:

When you mentioned that you tested positive on Day 12 of 11 day cruise, do you mean that you discovered that you were positive after you left the ship?  So did you inform Windstar Cruise line of this or they didn't care since you are already off their ship.  I am very concerned since I will be boarding Star Breeze in San Diego for 13 days trip down to Papeete on Sept. 19th and if any crew members tested positive and still on board that might be a major problem.  Do you think the cruise line obligated to inform boarding passengers regarding any person tested positive and still remain on board?  And to compound the problem, as of Sept. 6 according to Windstar Website, new boarding passengers are no longer required to present Negative PCR test any longer.

To my knowledge, WS had never required a PCR test. Always Antigen. And I don’t see it as a problem. We’re moving to a stage where Covid is sort of like the flu as long as you’re vaccinated and being boosted. Just one more than thing to deal with. There is no major bubble but part of life.

[Redtravel]

Did you notify Windstar that you tested positive?  In June, we went on a 10 day Cruise( not ws).  It was a big ship.  Even though there were signs to socially distance, it didn’t happen. Most people didn’t wear masks. I did.  Two days after disembarkation, my spouse tested positive for Covid.  Fully vaxed and 2 boosters.  Took Paxlovid and only had mild symptoms for a day.  I didn’t get Covid.  We notified the cruise line since our cabin steward was probably exposed.  Cruise line thanked us for reporting the positive case and surprisingly refunded the value of 5 days of the cruise.  At the time, cdc quarantine was 5 days.  I was amazed.  
reading info on Windstar, I wonder how they respond to positive Covid during or after a cruise.  We are thinking about a last minute sailing on Star Breeze.  Read about Covid on recent sailings.  Should I book or skip it?
 

[alex.c]

55 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Did you notify Windstar that you tested positive?  In June, we went on a 10 day Cruise( not ws).  It was a big ship.  Even though there were signs to socially distance, it didn’t happen. Most people didn’t wear masks. I did.  Two days after disembarkation, my spouse tested positive for Covid.  Fully vaxed and 2 boosters.  Took Paxlovid and only had mild symptoms for a day.  I didn’t get Covid.  We notified the cruise line since our cabin steward was probably exposed.  Cruise line thanked us for reporting the positive case and surprisingly refunded the value of 5 days of the cruise.  At the time, cdc quarantine was 5 days.  I was amazed.  
reading info on Windstar, I wonder how they respond to positive Covid during or after a cruise.  We are thinking about a last minute sailing on Star Breeze.  Read about Covid on recent sailings.  Should I book or skip it?
 

So did you bring Paxlovid with you just incase or did you get that from the ship?  May I also ask if you purchased the ship insurance on that sailing and that is why they refund you the 5 days?  Or they will do that even if you didn't buy their insurance.  All I want to know is that the cruise line be straight forward up front with us on boarding day that if they have to house sick crew members on board in quarantine that we will be given a choice to cancel if we wish to do so.  If we decided to go on, then yes we will be responsible for ourselves if we catch Covid during the sailing.  FYI for Sept. 19 sailing, it is wide open as of now and also on Oct. 2 also Both on Star Breeze.  I am thinking of doing back to back on Oct. 2 as well but this Covid issue gave me pause.  I need to think seriously what I would do if I get sick.  I have Allianze trip insurance with Covid coverage but didn't buy ship insurance.  I was on Star Legend last November from Lisbon to Barbados 14 days crossing at the peak of Covid and no issue at all.  I didn't hear of any crews or guests came down with Covid.  Then I was on Viking Orion for 33 days  LA to Tahiti in Jan. of this year also at peak of Covid.  We got Hawaii cancelled and itinerary changed almost daily because of Tonga Volcano incident.  We did have 4-5 guests got quarantine from day 1 because they tested positive upon boarding.  Viking required we tested every morning for the entire cruise.  They were able to keep things under control and those 4-5 guests were allowed out of quarantine on the 7th day.  Then I believed one other guest test positive when we left Papeete and got quarantine.  The ship enforced social distance and will not allow a group of more than 5 even in the night club.  The most inconvenience was the use of the spa wet area, we only allowed 1 hour use each day with reservation and only 3 person max in jacuzzi and steam room.  Otherwise all food service seemed to be normal.  I had wonderful time on Viking.

[ggraphix]

Alex, I am pretty sure Windstar continues to test the crew and isolate the positive cases.  I don't know what company policy is for when they can leave quarantine.  I didn't call to let them know we tested positive after leaving the ship.  There didn't seem to be any talk about covid regulations, not even on the health center's page.  Unlike our trip with them last fall, they did not mention any positive cases onboard, or covid at all, for that matter.  

[Redtravel]

6 hours ago, alex.c said:

So did you bring Paxlovid with you just incase or did you get that from the ship?  May I also ask if you purchased the ship insurance on that sailing and that is why they refund you the 5 days?  Or they will do that even if you didn't buy their insurance.  All I want to know is that the cruise line be straight forward up front with us on boarding day that if they have to house sick crew members on board in quarantine that we will be given a choice to cancel if we wish to do so.  If we decided to go on, then yes we will be responsible for ourselves if we catch Covid during the sailing.  FYI for Sept. 19 sailing, it is wide open as of now and also on Oct. 2 also Both on Star Breeze.  I am thinking of doing back to back on Oct. 2 as well but this Covid issue gave me pause.  I need to think seriously what I would do if I get sick.  I have Allianze trip insurance with Covid coverage but didn't buy ship insurance.  I was on Star Legend last November from Lisbon to Barbados 14 days crossing at the peak of Covid and no issue at all.  I didn't hear of any crews or guests came down with Covid.  Then I was on Viking Orion for 33 days  LA to Tahiti in Jan. of this year also at peak of Covid.  We got Hawaii cancelled and itinerary changed almost daily because of Tonga Volcano incident.  We did have 4-5 guests got quarantine from day 1 because they tested positive upon boarding.  Viking required we tested every morning for the entire cruise.  They were able to keep things under control and those 4-5 guests were allowed out of quarantine on the 7th day.  Then I believed one other guest test positive when we left Papeete and got quarantine.  The ship enforced social distance and will not allow a group of more than 5 even in the night club.  The most inconvenience was the use of the spa wet area, we only allowed 1 hour use each day with reservation and only 3 person max in jacuzzi and steam room.  Otherwise all food service seemed to be normal.  I had wonderful time on Viking.

We didn’t have cruise line insurance. We have a yearly Allianz travel policy.  We didn’t make any insurance claim since we were home.  We didn’t have paxlovid with us.  We both tested negative at disembarkation. My spouse tested positive two days later, called family doctor who prescribed paxlovid.  We contacted Celebrity to report the case for tracing only. We didn’t ask for anything. We were amazed that they refunded us. 

[paulygb]

Azamara passengers embarking Athens today told rules changed last night and pre embarkation testing no longer required.Will Windstar follow ?

[milepig]

It appears that you no longer need the test for Greece. Mention is gone from the WS website. I saw some reference to beginning October 5.

[MadManOfBethesda]

1 hour ago, milepig said:

It appears that you no longer need the test for Greece. Mention is gone from the WS website. I saw some reference to beginning October 5.

That is correct. I'm sailing on a Windstar cruise departing from Athens on October 26th and I was notified last week by Windstar that Greece had dropped the requirement effective immediately.

[marinaro44]

Bermuda also dropping the test requirement if arriving on or after 10/25/2022.

[SpaceCowboy9]

Now if Windstar could only drop the vax mandate.  Most of the other cruise lines' bookings doubled after dropping the mandate!

[marinaro44]

50 minutes ago, SpaceCowboy9 said:

Now if Windstar could only drop the vax mandate.  Most of the other cruise lines' bookings doubled after dropping the mandate!

260 on our Sep 20 Pride and saying the same for Pride's October 23.  Keep the mandate at this time.

[milepig]

1 hour ago, marinaro44 said:

260 on our Sep 20 Pride and saying the same for Pride's October 23.  Keep the mandate at this time.

I would think that a high percentage of the WS demographis is vaxxed. I would go with a proof of some medical reason they can't be vaxxed.

[marinaro44]

1 hour ago, milepig said:

I would think that a high percentage of the WS demographis is vaxxed. I would go with a proof of some medical reason they can't be vaxxed.

Bermuda now let's you in unvaxxed but you must show proof of medical insurance coverage.

[Nearpost345]

We’re boarding the Breeze Dec 4th in Melbourne. I have a checked with Australian entry requirements and they no longer require any kind of testing. But I have  questions about the following excerpt from Windstar.com….

 

Pre-Departure & Embarkation

 

For cruises departing on or after September 6, Windstar will no longer require a pre-cruise COVID-19 test for embarking guests (unless required by one of the countries on the itinerary). Please note these exceptionsknown to us today. Countries requiring pre-cruise embarkation tests include:
 
Australia: Present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to embarkation, or a self-administered Rapid Antigen Test taken within 24 hours prior to embarkation

—————————————————————————————-

 

I’m not sure if this is an Australian govt requirement , or a Windstar requirement. That aside, how does one prove that they self tested within the previous 24 hours, to Windstars quayside team?

 

Obviously I could call Windstar head office, but I have lost confidence in their agents when it comes to the tricky subject of covid testing protocols. I was  wondering if anyone had any thoughts on this.

[Nearpost345]

Update, Windstar have quietly updated the guideline by adding “video self proctored “.

Maybe they read my post! lol

Australia: Present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to embarkation, or a video-proctored self-administered Rapid Antigen Test taken within 24 hours prior to embarkation; 

[Nearpost345]

Sorry for answering my own posts, just want to add that the language that changed re type of covid test required maybe an update on CIBT’s end and not Windstar fault. CIBT are some kind of visa application service that Windstar have linked up with.