Carnival has joined other cruise lines regarding testing!

Not all are like that. NCL requires proof of vaccination and then NCL at the cruise lines expense will perform a PCR test at the terminal and it must be negative in order to board. There are a few advantages to this. One there is no faking it or falsifying results and 2 passengers from out of town do not have to worry about trying to find somewhere to get tested close to port.

This will be fun.......

The testing? The cruise? Or both?

Im beginning to think neither...and we have 5 booked. I think this is the direct result of being unable to demand proof at several major ports, and being unable to verify that proof even if they could ask for it....now we're back to wearing masks damn near everywhere...I'm speaking specifically about cruise ships, which is what this site is for...clearly, more than 1/2 of all Americans, knowing everything of course, haven't been vaxxed and probably NEVER will be...

Getting that so-called rapid test within 3 days of sailing (at YOUR expense) is easier said than done...go ahead, tell em you feel ok but you need it for a cruise...bet you'll wait up to 5 days...UNLESS you lie and tell em you're "not feeling well"....then, you might get it within 15 min, unless you picked a place that sends em ALL out to a lab...back to doing research again...most places require a "referral"...that means a trip to your PCP..oh yeh, that 11/27 cruise, 3 days prior is Thanksgiving....the world will be either closed or having big family gatherings...you know what they can do with that covid test......so you get a positive test...you get your $$ back?...nope...too close to sailing...make sure you have insurance...

My prediction is that there will be mass cancellations as a result of all this...once it sinks in...the only saving grace is that its allegedly supposedly temporary, possibly maybe expiring 10/31....(right...just wait to see what happens when school starts)....oops, almost forgot...how about skeighty-eight hundred people showing up at the pier with out ANYTHING except a paid up ticket....now THATS going to be fun......

I just found out that I need a test (with negative results) to go to Washington (state) for our Riverboat cruise. Fortunately, it can also be used for the cruise itself. I am bummed!

I tend to agree with the testing turnaround time frame. I work in healthcare and get tested all the time. Even with my prioritization, I can still wait up to a week almost for results if a lot of samples get sent to the lab. Around the holidays last year, I was lucky if I got my results within a week.

So the testing turnaround time can be done within 3 days but the chances of that happening may be slim.

So what does that mean? first you pay, then you don't go?...If YOU have priority and admit the chances of it happening in that allotted time frame "may be slim", why are you agreeing with it? It can also be done on the spot and get a result within 15 minutes IF you can track down some place that will do it without a referral. Because unless you tell em you're sick, and developed symptoms within the past 5 days, (meaning LIE) you're SOL. I think there's thousands of vaccinated people planning to cruise on CCL who just got thrown a huge curveball...

Just got an EMERGENCY email from Princess. Like Carnival, Princess will also require us to get a COVID-19 test too even though we are fully vaccinated. Hard to find testing and when I did, had to pay $150 each. That's another $300 bucks just to take my first cruise at the end of September! I hope it's worth it.

Which is why I really like the NCL approach to all of this. As I said .. vaccinated only for crew and passengers which means no masks on the ship and they do the testing at the terminal at their expense. Much happier with this approach.

John Heald from Carnival said yesterday that masks will be required on cruises. That resonated with me. In context, why would I want to go on a cruise ship when the cruise line thinks it is necessary to wear a mask? That tells me the virus as it stands is still very dangerous, even lethal. Why would I put my wife and I through that? Why would we risk our lives to go on a cruise? To me it makes no sense and decided we'll wait until the pandemic is over before we start cruising again. And yes we're vaccinated.... There's too much politics and corporations involved in my health to my liking. No thank ya.