Update 9/14/22: Change to Enhanced Guidelines Voyages

[LACruiser88]

Am I reading this correctly?  Looks like they changed the rules for Enhanced Guidelines Voyages.  No more testing for trans-Atlantic crossings or full Panama Canal cruises?

 

Enhanced Guidelines Voyages
Select voyages departing from Los Angeles, Vancouver and Santiago(San Antonio), Chile

Updated: September 14, 2022

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type & When to Take Test Before Boarding Age: 5 Years and Up
		Enhanced Guidelines Voyages From Los Angeles and Santiago (San Antonio)	Enhanced Guidelines Voyages From Vancouver
Up to Date (Fully Vaccinated with at least one booster)	Guests ages 18 or older must have received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines including one booster dose if eligible, received any time before embarkation. If cruise departs, arrives or visits Canada or Australia guests 12 to 17 years old must be fully vaccinated (no booster).	Medically assisted Antigen or PCR within 3 days	Antigen within 2 days OR PCR within 72 hours
Not Vaccinated*	Vaccination and capacity restrictions apply. Guests aged 18 years or older who are not up to date require a vaccination exemption to sail. Guests 12 and older not fully vaccinated on cruises departing, arriving or visiting Canada or Australia require a medical exemption. Guests can request a vaccination exemption to sail by contacting Princess.	Medically assisted Antigen or PCR within 3 days	PCR within 72 hours PLUS Antigen at terminal

[LACruiser88]

Below is the only list of Enhanced voyages that I could find?

 

 

Voyages with Enhanced Guidelines

Sail Date	Voyage ID	Ship	Itinerary
20-Sep-22	8238A	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
20-Sep-22	8238B	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
24-Sep-22	8239	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
24-Sep-22	8239A	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
26-Sep-22	A231A	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
26-Sep-22	A231B	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
03-Oct-22	A232	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
03-Oct-22	A232A	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
09-Nov-22	3236	Crown Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & Samoa
02-Dec-22	H240	Sapphire Princess®	Andes & South America
02-Dec-22	H240A	Sapphire Princess®	Andes & South America
19-Dec-22	H301	Sapphire Princess®	Antarctica & Cape Horn

[pompeii]

Well that certainly does look like a change.  We're on a TA on the Regal leaving from Rome in November and were expecting to have to test.  But maybe not...?

[LACruiser88]

1 minute ago, pompeii said:

Well that certainly does look like a change.  We're on a TA on the Regal leaving from Rome in November and were expecting to have to test.  But maybe not...?

We board the Regal on Oct 26th and stay on until Ft Lauderdale.  Now if they would only remove the Greece testing!

[LACruiser88]

Hopefully, Princess will update the Greece requirements!

[Alcairns]

Unfortunately it is not up to Princess it’s up to the Greek government. I cannot believe that this update is correct. All the Canada sailings have been removed from the list. One of the reasons for the enhanced guidelines was Canada’s insistence in pre arrival testing. I have not heard that Canada has changed its position. Watch this space! 

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Below is the only list of Enhanced voyages that I could find?

 

 

Voyages with Enhanced Guidelines

Sail Date	Voyage ID	Ship	Itinerary
20-Sep-22	8238A	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
20-Sep-22	8238B	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
24-Sep-22	8239	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
24-Sep-22	8239A	Majestic Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
26-Sep-22	A231A	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
26-Sep-22	A231B	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
03-Oct-22	A232	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
03-Oct-22	A232A	Grand Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & South Pacific Crossing
09-Nov-22	3236	Crown Princess®	Hawaii, Tahiti & Samoa
02-Dec-22	H240	Sapphire Princess®	Andes & South America
02-Dec-22	H240A	Sapphire Princess®	Andes & South America
19-Dec-22	H301	Sapphire Princess®	Antarctica & Cape Horn

I looked at this list yesterday morning and the Sapphire's 2023 voyages to Antarctica and South America were also listed as enhanced. Double checked just now and I get the same list with everything in 2023 now no longer listed. Saves us some trouble as we are on the January 4 Sapphire sailing out of Buenos Aires. We arrive four days before and would have had to find a test center in BA.

 

Edit: Just read Alcairns post - yeah, watch this space. Losing the 2023 voyages like losing the Canada ones seems suspicious. Agree - watch this space!

Edited September 15, 2022 by beg3yrs
Added comment

[LACruiser88]

4 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Saves us some trouble as we are on the January 4 Sapphire sailing out of Buenos Aires.

We were looking at those cruises also, we board the Sapphire on March 5th in Buenos Aires for 32 days back to LA.

[suekel]

32 minutes ago, Alcairns said:

Unfortunately it is not up to Princess it’s up to the Greek government. I cannot believe that this update is correct. All the Canada sailings have been removed from the list. One of the reasons for the enhanced guidelines was Canada’s insistence in pre arrival testing. I have not heard that Canada has changed its position. Watch this space! 

I have a cruise that goes to Canada next month out of NYC and it was never on this list.  You still must test before Canada either out of NYC or to Alaska.  

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, suekel said:

I have a cruise that goes to Canada next month out of NYC and it was never on this list.  You still must test before Canada either out of NYC or to Alaska.  

 

The below requirements are still in place for Alaska and Canada.  Yesterday's updates were specific to their "Enhanced Guidelines" voyages.

 

Voyages Departing, Arriving or Visiting Alaska & Canada

Updated: September 8, 2022

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type & When to Take Test Before Boarding Age: 5 Years and Up
Fully Vaccinated	Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation.	Antigen within 2 days OR
		PCR within 72 hours
Not Vaccinated*	Guests 12 years of age and above are not able to enter Canada without medical exemption. Please submit medical exemption to Princess for approval before a booking can be guaranteed.	PCR within 72 hours PLUS Antigen at terminal

*Kids age 5 to 11 who haven’t been vaccinated are welcome to cruise and will need a PCR within 3 days PLUS Antigen at terminal. Kids under 5 years of age have no vaccination or test requirements. Minimum age to sail is 6 months or 12 months based on cruise itinerary, review Passage Contract for details.

All Alaska voyages include Canada and must follow Canadian vaccination and testing guidelines.

[Thrak]

It says nothing about voyages out of San Francisco. We have a Panama Canal cruise in December and it sails out of SF. The email we got said it has enhanced protocols. Not surprising as it is not only a PC cruise but also 16 days. I'm not going to worry about it until much closer to the cruise date.

[LACruiser88]

4 minutes ago, Thrak said:

It says nothing about voyages out of San Francisco. We have a Panama Canal cruise in December and it sails out of SF. The email we got said it has enhanced protocols. Not surprising as it is not only a PC cruise but also 16 days. I'm not going to worry about it until much closer to the cruise date.

We had also received an email from Princess about a week ago re: our upcoming TA on the Regal and that it required testing.  But, with this new update it appears that trans-ocean, full Panama canal transits, and cruises over 16 days are no longer considered an Enhanced Guidelines voyage unless it is on their list.

[Ed342]

4 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

 

The below requirements are still in place for Alaska and Canada.  Yesterday's updates were specific to their "Enhanced Guidelines" voyages.

 

Voyages Departing, Arriving or Visiting Alaska & Canada

Updated: September 8, 2022

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type & When to Take Test Before Boarding Age: 5 Years and Up
Fully Vaccinated	Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation.	Antigen within 2 days OR
		PCR within 72 hours
Not Vaccinated*	Guests 12 years of age and above are not able to enter Canada without medical exemption. Please submit medical exemption to Princess for approval before a booking can be guaranteed.	PCR within 72 hours PLUS Antigen at terminal

*Kids age 5 to 11 who haven’t been vaccinated are welcome to cruise and will need a PCR within 3 days PLUS Antigen at terminal. Kids under 5 years of age have no vaccination or test requirements. Minimum age to sail is 6 months or 12 months based on cruise itinerary, review Passage Contract for details.

All Alaska voyages include Canada and must follow Canadian vaccination and testing guidelines.

 

Also, found this-is this an honor system test???

Voyages Departing from the United States, United Kingdom & Europe*

Updated: September 6, 2022

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type & When to Take Test Before Boarding Age: 5 Years and Up
Fully Vaccinated	Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation.	Testing not required
Not Vaccinated	Not fully vaccinated are welcome to cruise. If cruise includes a Canadian port, an additional medical exemption is needed.	Self-administered Antigen OR medically assisted Antigen or PCR within 3 days

 

 

[beg3yrs]

12 minutes ago, Ed342 said:

 

Also, found this-is this an honor system test???

Voyages Departing from the United States, United Kingdom & Europe*

Updated: September 6, 2022

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type & When to Take Test Before Boarding Age: 5 Years and Up
Fully Vaccinated	Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation.	Testing not required
Not Vaccinated	Not fully vaccinated are welcome to cruise. If cruise includes a Canadian port, an additional medical exemption is needed.	Self-administered Antigen OR medically assisted Antigen or PCR within 3 days

 

 

Yep, honor system.

[Coral]

7 hours ago, suekel said:

I have a cruise that goes to Canada next month out of NYC and it was never on this list.  You still must test before Canada either out of NYC or to Alaska.  

You are right - it wasn't on the enhanced list. It is on a different list: Voyages Departing, Arriving or Visiting Alaska & Canada

Edited September 16, 2022 by Coral

[martinitime1]

We were so happy to find out they dropped testing for our 16day TA out of the UK. We are going to stay in London a week before the cruise and were concerned about possibly testing + and not being to get  on the ship, and all the havoc that would ensue trying to get home. A huge load off.

[wallyworld583]

9 hours ago, Alcairns said:

Unfortunately it is not up to Princess it’s up to the Greek government. I cannot believe that this update is correct. All the Canada sailings have been removed from the list. One of the reasons for the enhanced guidelines was Canada’s insistence in pre arrival testing. I have not heard that Canada has changed its position. Watch this space! 

According to the Embassy in Athens, Greece no longer has testing requirements to enter the country. 

https://gr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

• Entry Restrictions to Greece Relaxed: As of May 1, 2022, travelers entering Greece are no longer required to display a certificate of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19, or evidence of a negative test result from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

So Princess needs to get with the program and update.

 

[dog]

5 hours ago, wallyworld583 said:

According to the Embassy in Athens, Greece no longer has testing requirements to enter the country. 

https://gr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

• Entry Restrictions to Greece Relaxed: As of May 1, 2022, travelers entering Greece are no longer required to display a certificate of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19, or evidence of a negative test result from SARS-CoV-2 infection.

So Princess needs to get with the program and update.

 

Does that apply to entering Greece by cruise ship?

When did that change take place?

 

more information in cruise critic Greece forum.

[palolake]

Just how does a "self administered antigen" test work?  That's BS

[Steelers36]

21 hours ago, Alcairns said:

Unfortunately it is not up to Princess it’s up to the Greek government. I cannot believe that this update is correct. All the Canada sailings have been removed from the list. One of the reasons for the enhanced guidelines was Canada’s insistence in pre arrival testing. I have not heard that Canada has changed its position. Watch this space! 

BY all accounts and research, the PCL requirements are ON TOP OF what Greece requires.  Probably the most obvious indication of this is that no other cruise line is doing the same thing.

[Coral]

10 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

BY all accounts and research, the PCL requirements are ON TOP OF what Greece requires.  Probably the most obvious indication of this is that no other cruise line is doing the same thing.

I was scheduled to go on a cruise in Europe in April. There was a European health group of some sort (not sure if it was like a CDC or what) that was requiring testing for cruise passengers even though they were not required to enter the countries. This is why Princess was requiring testing on these cruises this summer. It was this group and not Princess.

[Steelers36]

21 minutes ago, Coral said:

I was scheduled to go on a cruise in Europe in April. There was a European health group of some sort (not sure if it was like a CDC or what) that was requiring testing for cruise passengers even though they were not required to enter the countries. This is why Princess was requiring testing on these cruises this summer. It was this group and not Princess.

There is an EU Healthy Guidelines document that I believe is expected to be adopted by member countries, but they likely have flexibility.  HA Group Medical is telling me Greece is going by that document.  Thing is, that document does not stipulate what Princess is doing/requiring.  I am not sure what was required earlier this summer (prior to the mid-August announcements of testing protocol changes).  I do know Greece got worse as I am certain there was no in-person testing needed in other countries when Greece was just a port stop.  Back then, they were just testing based on departure country I believe.  When that testing was being largely dropped, all of a sudden the Greece protocol became more onerous. 

 

[JimmyVWine]

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

BY all accounts and research, the PCL requirements are ON TOP OF what Greece requires.  Probably the most obvious indication of this is that no other cruise line is doing the same thing.

This isn’t correct. There aren’t many mass market US lines that depart from Piraeus. Most visit Athens as a port of call.  But I did an extensive search of all cruise ships departing from Piraeus after 9/1 and looked at their websites and Roll Calls and all seem to be consistent with what Princess is requiring. 

[Steelers36]

9 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

This isn’t correct. There aren’t many mass market US lines that depart from Piraeus. Most visit Athens as a port of call.  But I did an extensive search of all cruise ships departing from Piraeus after 9/1 and looked at their websites and Roll Calls and all seem to be consistent with what Princess is requiring. 

Yes, DEPARTING from Greece.  But not for port calls where ship originates elsewhere.  Don't think you find other lines doing what PCL is.  Same for arriving there (end of voyage).  Anyway, it's like banging head against wall - it's only hurting me.

[JimmyVWine]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, DEPARTING from Greece.  But not for port calls where ship originates elsewhere.  Don't think you find other lines doing what PCL is.  Same for arriving there (end of voyage).  Anyway, it's like banging head against wall - it's only hurting me.

Correct. The testing protocol is only for cruises departing from Piraeus. And Princess isn’t different on this point. It is baffling how this is the rule, but it is and Princess is not to blame here.