There’s hope. RCL CEO Jason Liberty also “said he expected to drop testing for vaccinated guests on longer cruises in the near future.”
Of course, no one knows what “near future” really means. We’ve got cruises this October.
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"Vaccinated guests: Testing only required on voyages six nights or longer.
Unvaccinated guests: Testing will be required on all voyages."
Scratching head
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I did get lucky with the timing of the US return testing, so fingers crossed!
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I think it makes sense but this is one step on the way to no testing/vaccination requirement.
At this point, the differentiation is quite insulting.
The vaccination requirement will be there as long as countries the ships are sailing to require those entering the country to be vaccinated. That is not a cruiseline thing.
Countries Without Any Travel Restrictions Or Entry Requirements - Travel Off Path
Plenty of places have dropped the restrictions. There are other reasons it could be hanging around, but most Western itineraries would be just fine.
Honduras requires testing, but no vaccine. (Unvaccinated son just went there.)
“And on the seventh day all shalt test,” or something.
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Regardless of your vaccination status, Princess is ready to welcome you on board. Below you’ll find important information regarding testing and vaccination to help you plan your next cruise.
With the recent easing of CDC vaccination requirements, the options available to unvaccinated guests continue to expand. We can now accommodate more unvaccinated guests on most sailings without burdensome exemptions or vaccine status justification, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Not fully vaccinated are welcome to cruise. Please contact us to request a vaccination exemption to be presented upon embarkation. If cruise includes a Canadian port, an additional medical exemption is needed.
It’s not effortless… but it’s a start.
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I don’t think it’s meant to be insulting. If there was a system in place to certify that someone had been infected like there is with vaccination status, I think they would accept that instead. Eventually I think it will be presumed that everyone has had it and they will remove that distinction.
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The ability to regain common sense post covid brain is obviously not universal 
I know. The Cruise Line is just using ancient recommendations coming from the top.
We are way behind the curve. Look at Europe. DLP accepted a previously positive test last year!
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Do they still accept that?
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As of March of this year, there are no longer vaccine requirements or anything. In a sense, actually DLP was well behind the United States, because you’ve been able to visit WDW without any vaccine nor negative test almost from the start.
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Out of the 8 members of my family there have been exactly two covid tests ever. DS22 needed one to go back to campus in fall of 2020, and DS20 needed one a few weeks ago to go on a missions trip to Honduras. I would prefer to stay in the never-have-tested category, but I would be willing (I think) to take a test to cruise. I would not be willing to get vaccinated. I think we are in the home stretch, however.
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On a shorter cruise you are much less likely to test positive during the cruise. Positive tests will show up after disembarkation. They know it’s going to spread, but they don’t want to deal with the aftermath.
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Same as most large venues these days (for example WDW)?
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I absolutely think this is true…but I think it is more than that, in the sense that they would want to minimize infections they have to deal with while they are on board. While I am not sure testing will be terribly helpful, I am sure it has SOME impact. If they can reduce the number if people who are sick and potentially in need to medical care, I think that plays a role as to why the delineation. Other than those who board with the illness already, most guests who might contract COVID on a shorter cruise will likely be getting off the ship before symptoms develop and/or are bad enough to require any kind of medical intervention.
It isn’t like a land based location where transportation to a hospital or something is available at any moment.
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The good news is that they aren’t brain swabs anymore. I did one of the telehealth ones recently, where you are swabbing your own nose while they watch. The instructions are basically to go up about an inch, normal for a nasal swab.
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That is what my son said when he tested for Honduras.
It reveals a lot about my personality when I admit that I really would love to get to the end of all this and be able to say I didn’t.
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