And away we go!

[brentm77]

Man, watching a vlogger's first day on the ship, made me start rethinking whether we will keep our booking next spring. It looks peaceful, relaxing, and better than I had expected. We don't have young kids, so the club bookings and lack of activities wouldn't be a big deal for us. Still not a fan of wearing a mask when indoors - note I am not making an argument whether it is prudent, I am just saying it would detract from what I consider one of the best vacations in the world. The nighttime show situation is another major negative. But, for relaxation, good food, and just being on the sea, it is looking more tempting than I thought it would. I will watch what they do with passenger numbers, because I doubt there will be many cruises like this first one, where the ship's emptiness could make up for some of the restrictions. That will probably be a major deciding factor for us. Do they start packing the ships like WDW, or keep it light? I will be surprised if it is the latter for long.

 

[JWelch62]

Man, watching a vlogger's first day on the ship, made me start rethinking whether we will keep our booking next spring. It looks peaceful, relaxing, and better than I had expected. We don't have young kids, so the club bookings and lack of activities wouldn't be a big deal for us. Still not a fan of wearing a mask when indoors - note I am not making an argument whether it is prudent, I am just saying it would detract from what I consider one of the best vacations in the world. The nighttime show situation is another major negative. But, for relaxation, good food, and just being on the sea, it is looking more tempting than I thought it would. I will watch what they do with passenger numbers, because I doubt there will be many cruises like this first one, where the ship's emptiness could make up for some of the restrictions. That will probably be a major deciding factor for us. Do they start packing the ships like WDW, or keep it light? I will be surprised if it is the latter for long.

I'm hopeful that when our SD sailing goes (it will be the third sailing out of SD) we will also have a meaningful reduction in capacity, assuming it goes.

 

[squirk]

Still not a fan of wearing a mask when indoors - note I am not making an argument whether it is prudent, I am just saying it would detract from what I consider one of the best vacations in the world.

 

[lesajo]

Maybe all the docs were fine but someone in the party failed the rapid test at the port?

All of our documents were approved prior to boarding and we were cleared to sail. We were scheduled to depart on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral on Sat, Sept 29, 2021. My 4 yr old grandson's PCR test he took the day before, was negative and upload as such with the other children all under 12.
Upon arriving at the terminal and we all having to do the rapid PCR, his rapid test came back positive. They refused to allow us to retest, even after offering to pay. Needless to say, they refused to let us board. They allowed us to cancel with refund, or reschedule for later date, but we were not allowed to sail on this cruise. Our flight costs were not reimbursed.
We believe it was a false positive because he was retested the next day and he tested negative. We have since learned some rapid testing being done are having false positives, but unfortunately DCL is not admitting this, or allowing change in policy. My thoughts on this... anyone can test falsely positive and you have no recourse. I won't attempt to sail again until testing is no longer required. Too costly in time, money and emotional turmoil for the young ones.

 

[lesajo]

Except some vaccinated passengers are being tested for various reasons. Could be international, could be disclosure of symptoms on the morning of or at port, or could be something else.

In our case we did everything we were supposed to and were cleared to sail!
Effective with our sailing in Sept, all who were sailing on this cruise had to be rapid tested, whether vaccinated or not.
We were scheduled to depart on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral on Sat, Sept 29, 2021. My 4 yr old grandson's PCR test he took the day before, was negative.
Upon arriving at the terminal and we all having to do the rapid PCR, his rapid test came back positive. They refused to allow us to retest, even after offering to pay. Needless to say, they refused to let us board. They allowed us to cancel with refund, or reschedule for later date, but we were not allowed to sail on this cruise. Our flight costs were not reimbursed.
We believe it was a false positive because he was retested the next day and he tested negative. We have since learned some rapid testing being done are having false positives, but unfortunately DCL is not admitting this, or allowing change in policy. My thoughts on this... anyone can test falsely positive and you have no recourse. DCL could reevaluate its testing policy for in the terminal....especially if someone offers to pay for it. I won't attempt to sail again until testing is no longer required. Too costly in time, money and emotional turmoil for the children.

 

[sethschroeder]

My thoughts on this... anyone can test falsely positive and you have no recourse. DCL could reevaluate its testing policy for in the terminal....especially if someone offers to pay for it.

I am in your boat.

I don't know the science behind it but I would say if you have a positive result (after having a negative prior to port arrival) you should be tested 3 additional times. If all 3 tests come back negative you are allowed to board if 1 of the 3 comes back positive then you are rejected.

Now like I said maybe from the science of it by testing multiple times it makes it hard to test positive since you are swabbing out all the covid temporarily?

Its a big risk and why I think you really need to have insurance that covers COVID. That way you can get back your money and such. Major pain is also getting home and loss of vacation basically.

Certain places though if there was a positive test they would require you to go to the resort they have setup and quarantine. Thats what happened to someone on a NCL ship out of Seattle actually.