Royal Caribbean drops testing for 10 days or shorter

[insureman]

It was 5 days or shorter now 10 days which is most of their cruises I would suspect. Come on DCL!

"Fully vaccinated guests 5 years of age and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 antigen or PCR test taken within the 3 days before boarding day on sailings that are 10 nights or longer only. Testing is not required for fully vaccinated guests on shorter itineraries. "

 

[cvjw]

So ready for testing to be over! Will make cruising so much easier.

 

[insureman]

So ready for testing to be over! Will make cruising so much easier.

Yup

 

[laceltris3]

I was so excited when this hit my inbox.

We live in Houston and have sailed DCL over Christmas or New Years for so many years, but on Saturday I booked RCCL for 2023. DCL doesn't have the holiday schedule out yet, this year there were no 7 nights (which is what we really prefer) and Harmony of the Seas is coming to Galveston. I'm a little sad that our holiday tradition has ended (our Elf on a Shelf has always made the cruises appear when he comes after Thanksgiving) but it's just so much hassle. I am dreading checking in for our cruise this Christmas because I fully expect the Disney website will not be working, as it never is whenever I need it to.

 

[insureman]

Email from friend. Look at the accepted tests for the unvaccinated.

Updated Protocols: U.S. Departures 9‐Nights or less​ Below find our updated protocols for U.S. departures that are 9 nights or less — excluding sailings to Bermuda and Canada. Should there be any changes, we are committed to keeping you informed. All Guests, All Aboard Beginning September 5th, 2022 we are welcoming all guests, regardless of vaccination status, on most U.S. departures. Vaccination Recommended If eligible, we recommend that guests joining us be fully vaccinated against COVID‐19. While vaccination is not required, we kindly ask you disclose your status during check-in to ensure we maintain a highly vaccinated onboard population. Testing Pre-cruise Unvaccinated guests aged 5 and older must present a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 3 days of our sail date. Vaccinated guests, regardless of age, no longer need to test for sailing lengths of 9 nights or less. Accepted Tests Guests can now take advantage of at-home antigen tests (even unsupervised ones!) to satisfy this requirement. Proof of a negative test can be the printed or digital results, a clear photo of your self-test result, or your actual self-test in hand. To learn more about our accepted tests, visit our FAQ. Check out our Healthy Sail Center for our full sailing protocols​ VIEW HEALTHY SAIL CENTER​

 

[jenushkask8s]

We're doing our first RCCL cruise in November and I was SO GLAD to see this email in my inbox this morning!

 

[Cheburashka]

Time to get more in line with your oft-referenced "industry standards", DCL.

 

[braysmommy]

The fact that RCCL is allowing unsupervised home tests pretty much means testing is over.

 

[Kwami]

The fact that RCCL is allowing unsupervised home tests pretty much means testing is over.

Is this like when you get someone else to pee into your drug test?

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I was so excited when this hit my inbox.

We live in Houston and have sailed DCL over Christmas or New Years for so many years, but on Saturday I booked RCCL for 2023. DCL doesn't have the holiday schedule out yet, this year there were no 7 nights (which is what we really prefer) and Harmony of the Seas is coming to Galveston. I'm a little sad that our holiday tradition has ended (our Elf on a Shelf has always made the cruises appear when he comes after Thanksgiving) but it's just so much hassle. I am dreading checking in for our cruise this Christmas because I fully expect the Disney website will not be working, as it never is whenever I need it to.

I've been hoping that DCL would of dropped Covid testing like all the other cruise lines seem to be doing. One of the reasons we'd prefer a cruise over the parks is the hassle of park reservations, Genie+, all the hoops you have to jump thru. It seems like DCL is following the same guide book minus the testing. I don't understand why, unless there's something in it for Disney. I'm so ready for the testing to be over. And I totally agree with Disney IT, they are so bad.

 

[cvjw]

Unsupervised antigen testing? If DCL followed suit, we would book multiple cruises this week.

 

[nancipants]

Unsupervised antigen testing? Ooooookay.

 

[Disneychick13]

I mean if cruise lines are ok with “90 day recovery letters”, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be ok with unsupervised testing.

 

[nancipants]

I mean if cruise lines are ok with “90 day recovery letters”, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be ok with unsupervised testing.

I've done enough arguing lately about DCL's requirements. I'll just say that the tests that you submit for the recovery letters have to be observed. For the letter, I also had to provide an ID and a selfie.

Anyone can find a photo of a negative antigen test with a quick Google search. Or just use an old photo that they took.

 

[Disneychick13]

For the “90 day recovery letter”, while the test might have to be observed, all that is required is for a person to tell the doctor, who they booked an online appt with and has never examined them, that they are indeed recovered and are symptom free. My point is that if one is theatre then they both are. Well actually, that wasn’t really my point but it is a point. My real point is that neither one of those options tells a thing about if that individual has or can spread covid. Which means none of it really makes any sense at all.

 

[Cheburashka]

My real point is that neither one of those options tells a thing about if that individual has or can spread covid. Which means none of it really makes any sense at all.

It's kind of like it's an unpredictable and uncontainable respiratory coronavirus that we're going to have to learn to live with. Who would have thought?

 

[braysmommy]

Is this like when you get someone else to pee into your drug test?

But even easier!

 

[cmph]

I find it hilarious that someone in legal or whatever thought it was better to include an allowance for unsupervised home tests rather than just own up to having zero test requirements. At this point, why make anyone even waste time faking a test? Just seems silly to even put in such a pointless "requirement".

 

[DCLMP]

Unsupervised antigen testing? Ooooookay

Didn’t safe passage have an unsupervised mail in option.

 

[brentm77]

The fact that RCCL is allowing unsupervised home tests pretty much means testing is over.

Absolutely. Even the proctored tests were cheatable if one desired. It was a frequent occurrence for international travelers returning to the U.S. when it was required from what read. There were different ways of doing it, but it wasn't very hard from what I heard.

I've done enough arguing lately about DCL's requirements. I'll just say that the tests that you submit for the recovery letters have to be observed. For the letter, I also had to provide an ID and a selfie.

Anyone can find a photo of a negative antigen test with a quick Google search. Or just use an old photo that they took.

That, or people will just buy a test, not do a nasal swab, and put the liquid into the test strip. It will show the control line but will never show positive, since no swab was done. Then they can pass that same fake test to each family member and do their photos too.