Will Disney change policy now that CDC lifted cruise rules?

[nicoledj23]

Thoughts on if DCL will change any policies due to CDC lifting requirements.

 

[Freeman867]

Not a chance. Honestly, it's not even the US regulations that's driving a lot of their policy, it's the Bahamas and the other destinations that will deny entry. Those countries don't have the health care system or vaccination availability that the US has and is going to protect their citizens.

 

[MomOTwins]

And the race to see how fast this thread get locked begins in 3, 2, 1…

 

[nicoledj23]

And the race to see how fast this thread get locked begins in 3, 2, 1…

Did I say something I shouldn’t have? New here and don’t want to ruffle feathers. I was listening to the most recent DIS unlimited podcast and they were talking about it.

 

[Kwami]

Did I say something I shouldn’t have? New here and don’t want to ruffle feathers. I was listening to the most recent DIS unlimited podcast and they were talking about it.

We aren't supposed to speculate or guess about anything related to Covid-19.

The CSO has been voluntary for cruises departing from Florida since July, but Disney continued to follow all of the guidelines. I don't see that changing soon.

 

[MomOTwins]

We aren't supposed to speculate or guess about anything related to Covid-19.

The CSO has been voluntary for cruises departing from Florida since July, but Disney continued to follow all of the guidelines. I don't see that changing soon.

Yep—it was leading to a lot of arguments about vaccines and masks and so on. There’s a sticky thread at the top of the forum that explains it.

Pretty much all we can say is that Disney hasn’t announced any changes to protocols yet, and we haven’t had any word from any recent/current cruisers that anything has changed.

 

[mmouse37]

Just got off the Magic yesterday. Still masks at all indoor venues, testing at port, tons of hand sanitizer stations, crew cleaning constantly, social distancing in dining rooms, escorted to a seat in WD theatre (with empty rows between), masks on for photos. Self serve soft drinks but CM served coffee and teas at drink station, CM served in Cabanas at stations. Unvaccinated kids had to be on Disney excursion and not an independent one. I had no fears of Covid at all onboard. Felt very safe.

Heard an interesting thing from one of the entertainers onboard. They said a few weeks ago they were not allowed to sing due to possible spread of virus but now they are allowed to.

MJ

 

[Scalemaster34]

Pretty clear with current passenger levels that COVID concerns a lot of folks. And while Disney is turning away a good number of people at the port.... those few could make things a lot worse on ship operations.

We "seem" to be at a peak with Omicron.... few months we might see some changes. But some things might be the new norm.

 

[tvguy]

Not a chance. Honestly, it's not even the US regulations that's driving a lot of their policy, it's the Bahamas and the other destinations that will deny entry. Those countries don't have the health care system or vaccination availability that the US has and is going to protect their citizens.

Yup. Those nations don't think the CDC guidelines were strict enough, and they are currently overwhelmed with cases in their nations.

 

[tvguy]

Which is fair. As much as people love to gripe and complain about the US being so strict and over-reaching, our COVID guidelines are nowhere near as strict as most countries have been. I don't get how Americans just aren't getting that.

And watching some of the Cruise Vlogs, even the ports that are open have limited excursions and many stores closed because..... for whatever reason..... they don't have the people available........... or willing to work.

 

[kps7795]

We aren't supposed to speculate or guess about anything related to Covid-19.

The CSO has been voluntary for cruises departing from Florida since July, but Disney continued to follow all of the guidelines. I don't see that changing soon.

We don't talk about Covid!

 

[iannovich]

Those two are currently contestants on The Amazing Race lol.

 

[anricat]

Those two are currently contestants on The Amazing Race lol.

They are super funny. I don't watch that show, but their videos on Facebook are hilarious. Their recent one about what is and isn't a coat is also fantastic.

 

[DisneyConvert]

. . . As much as people love to gripe and complain about the US being so strict and over-reaching, our COVID guidelines are nowhere near as strict as most countries have been. I don't get how Americans just aren't getting that.

Yes, and the wide availability of vaccines.. Not speaking for parents of younger kids because I frankly don't know what I would do there . . . But being 3x'd vaccinated and taking moderate precautions, we've not been too inconvenienced. We are lucky that our workplaces have been remote supportive.

This asynchronicity between countries and Covid restrictions has affected our choices around DCL (it's been over two years ). . . We've grown to enjoy the longer and more distant cruises over FL-Bahamas runs.

Nevertheless, we are about to cancel our booked-on-the-first-day Vcvr=>Hawaii=>Vcvr back-to-back's (ouch).
The complexities & risks of getting CoVid or simply testing positive on the flights to/from Canada, connections in Vancouver, port visits in/out of Hawaii . . . (then, repeat-in-reverse) are daunting. Not even interested in the possibility of a quarantine.

Now booked on the NYC-SanJuan repo that leaves Oct 31st, from the incredibly convenient-for-us Manhattan Cruise Terminal.
One train (that morning!) and then a taxi or a bus.
Non-stop, non-international flight home from Puerto Rico.

Realizing these are incredibly fortunate problems to have, but this is the DisBoards right?

 

[mousefan73]

The only policy I hope DCL changes is that they move from a PCR test to Antigen AFTER this Omicron wave. I am not the expert on testing etc.. but after this omicron wave hits and most are infected in some way and most dont realize they were infected, you run the risk of testing positive with a PCR test for a past infection you never knew you had.

Looking a new cruises to book and saw last night thatRoyal lets you test with antigen or PCR. To be honest if were to book a new cruise in the carribeean I would chose the them over DCL just for this. and to be honest I am eying the Odyssey anyways and was happy to see they accept Antigen for fully vaxed. seeing we are flying in from Germany this lowers our risk of not sailing.

I wish there was a way to get and see the stats on port testing. how many were positive and how many were from past infections in the end. Not even sure if you can diagnostically see that. ??? But it would be interesting to new a graph over time on port testing resutls. but we know that will never be made public.

 

[amysmith282]

I wish they would allow getting PCR prior to flying there. If I’m positive I’d rather not pay for a flight and possibly infect others getting there if I’m asymptomatic.

 

[hrhdhd]

I wish they would allow getting PCR prior to flying there. If I’m positive I’d rather not pay for a flight and possibly infect others getting there if I’m asymptomatic.

You can take one before you fly. It doesn't mean you won't test positive at the port, but if you test positive before flying, you can go ahead and cancel.

 

[MomOTwins]

The only policy I hope DCL changes is that they move from a PCR test to Antigen AFTER this Omicron wave. I am not the expert on testing etc.. but after this omicron wave hits and most are infected in some way and most dont realize they were infected, you run the risk of testing positive with a PCR test for a past infection you never knew you had.

Looking a new cruises to book and saw last night thatRoyal lets you test with antigen or PCR. To be honest if were to book a new cruise in the carribeean I would chose the them over DCL just for this. and to be honest I am eying the Odyssey anyways and was happy to see they accept Antigen for fully vaxed. seeing we are flying in from Germany this lowers our risk of not sailing.

I wish there was a way to get and see the stats on port testing. how many were positive and how many were from past infections in the end. Not even sure if you can diagnostically see that. ??? But it would be interesting to new a graph over time on port testing resutls. but we know that will never be made public.

They all have their pluses and minuses. Royal accepts antigen, but they don’t provide the test like Disney, so you have to find an appointment in the two days before the cruise (which can be a real challenge at times due to test scarcity or pre cruise travel) or pay for a “supervised” home test.

We still plan to try to get an extra test before we fly down but nice not to have to fret about that two day deadline.

 

[mousefan73]

They all have their pluses and minuses. Royal accepts antigen, but they don’t provide the test like Disney, so you have to find an appointment in the two days before the cruise (which can be a real challenge at times due to test scarcity or pre cruise travel) or pay for a “supervised” home test.

We still plan to try to get an extra test before we fly down but nice not to have to fret about that two day deadline.

In our case if all goes well with flights the test we used to enter the US we can use to sail. And here they’re free and available in Germany. Thing is I prefer to have one full day before the cruise, basically three days for the test rule. So if we do do this I would have to monitor flights and make sure that we get in the day before and nothing happens. But you’re right looking for a test stateside at the moment is a pain. This is actually why we chose DCL back in December was because they took care of it. Omicron kinda changes things. Pluses and minuses.

 

[Alaska777]

I too wish we knew what percentage of people are testing positive at the port. My husband and I are going to so everything in our power to not get in (gym membership on hold, he cancelled a Mar 5th biz trip to California) but our kids are in school every day.