Royal Caribbean drops testing for 10 days or shorter

[DCLForLife]

I'm not confused, I'm disappointed. Disappointed that they are willing to put others at risk because they do not want to take a test. We had an RCCL cruise we had to postpone from last May until May 2023 due to issues with a family estate. With RCCL eliminating the testing I do not feel comfortable cruising with them. We have a B2B coming up on the Wish. Should DCL eliminate testing it will be my last cruise. In addition to the personal risk involved, it makes me realize I do not want to travel with these people.

Same. It's like people are desperate to be able to get on a cruise while having COVID. It's bonkers to me. The tests are cheap and easy to take; the expense is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a Disney cruise. It has no impact on your cruise unless you actually have COVID. I get that there's a small amount of stress and uncertainty to deal with, but that seems like a pretty minor sacrifice to reduce the amount of COVID on the ship.

 

[BamaGuy44]

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".

Simple, optics and deniability. They want to be able to say “We still want people to test, we just want to make it easier for them. “ even though they know unsupervised tests are worthless. I agree it’s ridiculous and disingenuous but that’s their thinking.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Same. It's like people are desperate to be able to get on a cruise while having COVID. It's bonkers to me. The tests are cheap and easy to take; the expense is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a Disney cruise. It has no impact on your cruise unless you actually have COVID. I get that there's a small amount of stress and uncertainty to deal with, but that seems like a pretty minor sacrifice to reduce the amount of COVID on the ship.

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or whatever.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or whatever.

^ exactly this. As I sit here waiting for Safe Passage for a second day to approve my vax card for my trip in less than 2 weeks. It really is an not the best way to anticipate your vacation coming up. If we were at risk of suffering serious complications from infection, cruising or a trip to WDW (which we did and my husband got covid) would not be on the radar. Masks can only do so much and you can only be so careful. I would welcome the dropping of the testing any day now.

 

[Disneychick13]

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or whatever.

Exactly. And I find that the same people who love the vaccine requirements and testing are some of the same people who love the 90 day recovered letter and fight against the pcr testing and especially testing at the port. And while they may say that they want to know before they go to the port or fly across country to just be disappointed if they test positive, the truth is that they can do that 3 day test beforehand anyways. They know that the 3 day before test (or unproctored test or proof of recovery or even vaccination) does not mean that they don’t have covid. If you are that concerned about getting Covid, for whatever reason that you have, getting on a cruise is probably not for you.

 

[nikem3]

I'll keep reiterating how unique Disney is in comparison to every other cruise line. I'd imagine if Disney was not being safe about their methods and characters started not showing up due to sickness that people would begin to complain about value of the cruise and upset that they didn't plan around this. This is them planning. I know a lot of people are anxious for some semblance of "normalcy", but these rules haven't even gone into effect yet on other cruise lines to see how well its working and Disney has a much more unique style of cruise to consider compared to every other line.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or whatever.

I personally hope testing to dropped before I cruise for the 30th and 31st time in February and first since 2019. I feel they might be holding off till after Bermuda cruises. So people aren’t confused I know last I heard still had to test to go there

As someone with a autoimmune I won’t complain if it’s not dropped though. Even if it adds more stress. I’m just glad I’ll be cruising again

 

[Disneychick13]

I'll keep reiterating how unique Disney is in comparison to every other cruise line. I'd imagine if Disney was not being safe about their methods and characters started not showing up due to sickness that people would begin to complain about value of the cruise and upset that they didn't plan around this. This is them planning. I know a lot of people are anxious for some semblance of "normalcy", but these rules haven't even gone into effect yet on other cruise lines to see how well its working and Disney has a much more unique style of cruise to consider compared to every other line.

I think you are right that Disney is a unique cruise line. And a trusted cruise line. And that’s why there are a lot of people disappointed that they can’t cruise on it right now. I think you are also right that we will see what happens with the other cruise lines. If it doesn’t significantly impact the cruising experience/staffing/etc on the other cruise lines when decreased revenue from testing and vaccination restrictions are taken into account then they will stay the course. And if that happens, then Disney will look like the follower they have been on other Covid issues when they too get rid of vaccine and testing rigidity after everyone else. Time will tell.

 

[BamaGuy44]

I think you are right that Disney is a unique cruise line. And a trusted cruise line. And that’s why there are a lot of people disappointed that they can’t cruise on it right now. I think you are also right that we will see what happens with the other cruise lines. If it doesn’t significantly impact the cruising experience/staffing/etc on the other cruise lines when decreased revenue from testing and vaccination restrictions are taken into account then they will stay the course. And if that happens, then Disney will look like the follower they have been on other Covid issues when they too get rid of vaccine and testing rigidity after everyone else. Time will tell.

Fair point, if dropping testing requirements causes a big spike in cases on other lines, Disney will look like geniuses. If not they will be under tremendous market pressure to drop it and they will be forced to. Whether any of us like it or not we've moved out of the emergency management phase of covid and into the live with it day to day phase.

 

[DCLForLife]

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or what

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or whatever.

Someone can not be at "serious risk" of dying or being hospitalized from COVID and still think testing is a worthwhile mitigation strategy. Catching COVID on a ship, especially in the early part of the cruise, is going to ruin your vacation. Testing reduces the amount of COVID on the ship, especially symtomatic people actively shedding virus in the first several days of the cruise. Seems like significantly increasing the chances of enjoying your entire vacation is worth the minor annoyance and stress of having to take a 15 minute test, at least for me personally.

As an analogy, I think it's a good idea to have metal detectors at the port to screen for weapons. Are they 100% reliable? Nope. Do I walk around in constant fear of someone using a weapon against me? Nope. Does it slightly inconvenience me and slow down boarding for a few minutes? Yep. But the benefits outweigh the costs.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Someone can not be at "serious risk" of dying or being hospitalized from COVID and still think testing is a worthwhile mitigation strategy. Catching COVID on a ship, especially in the early part of the cruise, is going to ruin your vacation. Testing reduces the amount of COVID on the ship, especially symtomatic people actively shedding virus in the first several days of the cruise. Seems like significantly increasing the chances of enjoying your entire vacation is worth the minor annoyance and stress of having to take a 15 minute test, at least for me personally.

As an analogy, I think it's a good idea to have metal detectors at the port to screen for weapons. Are they 100% reliable? Nope. Do I walk around in constant fear of someone using a weapon against me? Nope. Does it slightly inconvenience me and slow down boarding for a few minutes? Yep. But the benefits outweigh the costs.

I get what you're saying and I respect it. I'll stand by my original point that if someone feels at serious risk (in this case risk of having a ruined vacation) they shouldn't go because they will 100% be exposed on the ship. That's just where we are now, and masks or testing won't change it.

The overall market has decided the burden of making everyone test is in fact not justified and the benefits don't outweigh the cost. If customers were telling the other lines they prefer to keep testing, it would absolutely not be getting dropped. Carnival had the biggest booking day in their history when they dropped vaccine requirements.

 

[DCLForLife]

I get what you're saying and I respect it. I'll stand by my original point that if someone feels at serious risk (in this case risk of having a ruined vacation) they shouldn't go because they will 100% be exposed on the ship. That's just where we are now, and masks or testing won't change it.

The overall market has decided the burden of making everyone test is in fact not justified and the benefits don't outweigh the cost. If customers were telling the other lines they prefer to keep testing, it would absolutely not be getting dropped. Carnival had the biggest booking day in their history when they dropped vaccine requirements.

Appreciate the respectful response. I'm definitely aware that my thinking on this appears to be in the minority, at least among people who post on internet cruise message boards. I guess we'll see how it goes for the other lines. Though without reliable data from the cruise lines, we'll only have anecdotes from travelers about catching COVID, and news stories when something major happens like a ship diverting due to a major outbreak, or some unvaccinated person being medivaced because they boarded the ship positive and developed serious symptoms that the medical center couldn't handle.

 

[Uncleromulus]

DCL always seems to be a follower rather than a leader---

 

[BamaGuy44]

Appreciate the respectful response. I'm definitely aware that my thinking on this appears to be in the minority, at least among people who post on internet cruise message boards. I guess we'll see how it goes for the other lines. Though without reliable data from the cruise lines, we'll only have anecdotes from travelers about catching COVID, and news stories when something major happens like a ship diverting due to a major outbreak, or some unvaccinated person being medivaced because they boarded the ship positive and developed serious symptoms that the medical center couldn't handle.

Time will tell for sure. Going back to your metal detector analogy, if I felt that the chances of someone with bad intentions getting a weapon on board weren’t VERY close to 0, I wouldn’t even consider it. Likewise if I felt Covid protocols worked as well as weapons screening and brought risk of exposure to a very low level I would be all for them. But I think it’s clear they don’t. Not with the current strain being so ridiculously spreadable.

Not really arguing with your analogy I just thought it was an interesting take and I forgot to mention it in the other post.

 

[Geomom]

So confused by the anti-test sentiment. Why is it so upsetting? Truly don’t get it. I guess we’re one of the rare families who sees this as the final nail in the coffin for cruising any time soon.

Part of the issue is they switched to antigen tests 2 days before the cruise vs PCR right before boarding. With the current variants, people aren't always showing a positive early in their illness, plus people could pick it up in the 2 days after testing, and you have those 90 day recovery letters where someone could have caught Covid again and didn't need to test. Testing is no longer keeping Covid off the ships--just look at how many people report that they tested positive after getting off the ships or came down with it on their cruise.

 

[Kwami]

Part of the issue is they switched to antigen tests 2 days before the cruise vs PCR right before boarding. With the current variants, people aren't always showing a positive early in their illness, plus people could pick it up in the 2 days after testing, and you have those 90 day recovery letters where someone could have caught Covid again and didn't need to test. Testing is no longer keeping Covid off the ships--just look at how many people report that they tested positive after getting off the ships or came down with it on their cruise.

Yeah, pretty much this. When Disney was using PCR tests at the port, I was very much in favor of keeping the tests because they were actually pretty effective in keeping most Covid-19 off the ships. But, these antigen tests used two days before a cruise are basically worthless. My preference is to go back to the PCR tests at the port, but I understand why so many people don't like the added stress of that system.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Personally if I felt going on the cruise was putting me at serious risk, a testing requirement wouldn’t change that. At this point anyone on a cruise can assume they’ll be exposed to Covid, testing or not. I don’t get why anyone who feels at serious risk from it would even consider putting themselves in confined indoor spaces for leisure activities with 2 or 3 thousand other people, regardless of masks or testing or whatever.

This! And those people have often been cautious for years also. There has always been a portion of people that don't choose to cruise because its not worth the risk to them.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I'll keep reiterating how unique Disney is in comparison to every other cruise line. I'd imagine if Disney was not being safe about their methods and characters started not showing up due to sickness that people would begin to complain about value of the cruise and upset that they didn't plan around this. This is them planning. I know a lot of people are anxious for some semblance of "normalcy", but these rules haven't even gone into effect yet on other cruise lines to see how well its working and Disney has a much more unique style of cruise to consider compared to every other line.

Sorry I don't buy it, DCL is not that unique. This is how they have been about everything covid restriction easing.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Fair point, if dropping testing requirements causes a big spike in cases on other lines, Disney will look like geniuses. If not they will be under tremendous market pressure to drop it and they will be forced to. Whether any of us like it or not we've moved out of the emergency management phase of covid and into the live with it day to day phase.

Whether it does or doesn't no one is going to likely know. People are slowly not testing every-time they sniffle as is. They sure aren't going to test and report on a cruise going forward unless they actually need something from the medical facility. Don't have to like it, but its fact. They won't be contract tracing after people get off. In the end no one will really know, just like every other destination that is packed with people.

 

[DCLForLife]

Yeah, pretty much this. When Disney was using PCR tests at the port, I was very much in favor of keeping the tests because they were actually pretty effective in keeping most Covid-19 off the ships. But, these antigen tests used two days before a cruise are basically worthless. My preference is to go back to the PCR tests at the port, but I understand why so many people don't like the added stress of that system.

That would be my preference as well. Anecdotally, we did a Disney cruise with on the dock testing and nobody in our group caught it, and we noticed very little coughing around the ship. We did a Royal cruise more recently, and by day 5-6 you couldn't go 10 feet without hearing loud coughing. 50% of our party developed symptoms the day after we got home, and tested positive.

Obviously the 2 day in advance testing allows some COVID to slip through (people who catch it while traveling or where they are in the earliest stages when they take the test), but it also has the effect of delaying the spread on the ship because you don't have many people boarding who have active symptomatic cases. My personal view is that we shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good; just because something doesn't prevent 100% of harm doesn't mean it's not worth doing. The 2 day in advance testing catches some cases (otherwise people wouldn't be stressed about doing it), and is better than nothing.