CDC will let cruise rules expire

[mefordis]

I don't see a separate thread on this. Please forgive me if there is one.

What do you think this means for the cruise lines? Does anyone think they will stop testing, and which ones will be the first to stop requiring vaccines?

 

[yorkieteacher]

They will continue to follow CDC guidelines voluntarily. They don’t want lawsuits or to be accused of not caring about their guests. They will require vaccinations because most of their ports of call require them. They may go back to not testing vaxxed passengers at the port as I am sure this is very expensive for them, and only test those too young to receive the vaccine yet. Which now is only those under age five, and probably going to to age 6 months in the next three/four months. Just my guess-

 

[mousefan73]

Well here’s my eight ball: I’m guessing it’ll be at least 2024 for vaccines and testing maybe a bit sooner IF Covid develops more in the direction of omicron where basically a good portion of the population has it anyways at any given time but mainly asymptomatic and Covid is no longer a factor in our hospitalization numbers.

my advice is that if looking at any cruise that’s bookable - bringing us into 2023 season assume you need to be vaxxed even boosted and tested.

Keep in mind the CDC was never really the issue. It’s what port authority’s and their governments require.

 

[tvguy]

After the past three weeks or so I don't even see why anyone cares what the CDC says or if it is voluntary or a requirement. Cruise lines adhered to at least those standards and it appears they will continue to do so. But ports in the past three weeks or so have refused cruise ships because they don't feel the CDC and Cruise line precautions go far enough to protect their residents. That, as they say, it the elephant in the room.

 

[DCLMP]

I don't see a separate thread on this. Please forgive me if there is one.

What do you think this means for the cruise lines? Does anyone think they will stop testing, and which ones will be the first to stop requiring vaccines?

If they don’t it will be another bad year for cruiselines.

 

[Cheburashka]

They'll drop the spacing and capacity requirements first, then eventually drop the at-port testing requirement for vaccinated guests. The vaccination requirement will probably be around for years. Indoor masking will probably last however long it's going to last at Disney World.

This is good news. There is light at the end of our society's Covid tunnel vision, at last.

 

[Cheburashka]

Keep in mind the CDC was never really the issue. It’s what port authority’s and their governments require.

The CDC absolutely did close down cruising for well over a year and required a lot of restrictions for reopening, so this is a huge shift that will give the lines a lot more freedom.

 

[tvguy]

They'll drop the spacing and capacity requirements first, then eventually drop the at-port testing requirement for vaccinated guests. The vaccination requirement will probably be around for years. Indoor masking will probably last however long it's going to last at Disney World.

This is good news. There is light at the end of our society's Covid tunnel vision, at last.

I think you miss.....as I put it....the elephant in the room. The ports that have closed to ships in recent weeks don't feel those steps are enough. I think if there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we are at risk it is a train of another covid issue.

 

[diablodancer]

I don't see a separate thread on this. Please forgive me if there is one.

What do you think this means for the cruise lines? Does anyone think they will stop testing, and which ones will be the first to stop requiring vaccines?

Previous thread on this is here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/c...ional-sail-order-will-not-be-renewed.3866737/

 

[DCLMP]

They'll drop the spacing and capacity requirements first, then eventually drop the at-port testing requirement for vaccinated guests. The vaccination requirement will probably be around for years. Indoor masking will probably last however long it's going to last at Disney World.

This is good news. There is light at the end of our society's Covid tunnel vision, at last.

If vaccinated people are testing positive than why would they drop testing for vaccinated people?

 

[Elsa75]

Testing is ridiculous at this point, especially when the numbers are so high, and you can test + up to 3 mos after an infection. It makes no practical sense, unless they go to rapid testing. I am getting so tired of policies that have no science or common sense behind them - our leaders cant figure out if they should do what is RIGHT, or what is POPULAR - to our/their detriment. Would love it if they would drop the PCR test, and do rapid tests instead - or test only the little ones who cannot be vaccinated. I dont understand the concerns about cruising. The COVID + rate on any ship is lower than in my neighbourhood, schools, or work places at this point!

 

[mousefan73]

I am so confused right now. What kind of test does DCL do at port? I thought it was rapid? or is it PCR???

 

[Kwami]

I am so confused right now. What kind of test does DCL do at port? I thought it was rapid? or is it PCR???

It's a rapid PCR test.

 

[DCLMP]

Testing is ridiculous at this point, especially when the numbers are so high, and you can test + up to 3 mos after an infection. It makes no practical sense, unless they go to rapid testing. I am getting so tired of policies that have no science or common sense behind them - our leaders cant figure out if they should do what is RIGHT, or what is POPULAR - to our/their detriment. Would love it if they would drop the PCR test, and do rapid tests instead - or test only the little ones who cannot be vaccinated. I dont understand the concerns about cruising. The COVID + rate on any ship is lower than in my neighbourhood, schools, or work places at this point!

I think they are trying to avoid a bad situation onboard.

 

[amysmith282]

It's a rapid PCR test.

Anyone wonder how they are getting the rapid tests? With them being hard to find it seems odd they have thousands available to test every guest.

 

[Cheburashka]

If vaccinated people are testing positive than why would they drop testing for vaccinated people?

Because the possibility of being turned away at port is a huge deterrent to cruising, and DCL needs customers, and because it's part of a move away from trying to contain Covid, which is impossible. If you're vaccinated, you're much safer getting Covid, which is why I think they'll require vaccination for years, to reduce the chance of people becoming seriously ill onboard. I said "gradually", because as the islands DCL visits gradually build up natural immunity (aka protection from severe illness, because that's the extent of "immunity" to Covid) due to the massive spread of Omicron, they'll become less militant about keeping people out & reorient towards bringing tourist dollars in.

 

[Cheburashka]

Anyone wonder how they are getting the rapid tests? With them being hard to find it seems odd they have thousands available to test every guest.

Since they purchase them by the thousands they're a high priority customer to manufacturers. They aren't picking these tests up at the local drugstore.

 

[Freeman867]

Anyone wonder how they are getting the rapid tests? With them being hard to find it seems odd they have thousands available to test every guest.

These aren't the rapid tests you get at the drug store. They're still PCR tests like the ones that normally take 2-3 days, but they're processed on site and not sent off to a lab. That's why they can turn them around so fast like a rapid test. I could be wrong, but there might be a special machine they needed to purchase as well.

 

[Freeman867]

Testing is ridiculous at this point, especially when the numbers are so high, and you can test + up to 3 mos after an infection. It makes no practical sense, unless they go to rapid testing. I am getting so tired of policies that have no science or common sense behind them - our leaders cant figure out if they should do what is RIGHT, or what is POPULAR - to our/their detriment. Would love it if they would drop the PCR test, and do rapid tests instead - or test only the little ones who cannot be vaccinated. I dont understand the concerns about cruising. The COVID + rate on any ship is lower than in my neighbourhood, schools, or work places at this point!

If you recover from COVID, you can avoid testing within 90 days by having a doctor's note and positive PCR test uploaded. It makes a lot of practical sense in that it's doing their best to contain a virus countries like the Bahamas and ports across the Caribbean don't want in their cities and they have much lower vaccination rates and much worse healthcare than we do in the US. Cruise ships aren't doing it because of what's popular or right in the US, they're doing it because it's what's right to the people running the ports they need to dock in to sail.

 

[sjuncfan]

I am as covid cautious as anyone but I’d love to see them dropping testing at the port for vaccinated passengers, preferably before my April cruise. It’s such an added stress and I’m sure plenty of people are exposed the day or two before (at Disney or the hotel or whatever) but still test negative. Testing at the port seems arbitrary if they’re not testing the first 3-4 days of the cruise as well, and is really screwing things up for asymptomatic pspoke who probably aren’t contagious anyhow,

But I think that was driven by Disney not the CDC so I don’t think the conditional sail order impacts it one way or the other.