TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Port wants cruise fans to tell CDC they'd like cruises re-started

Daily Herald link

Not sure that's how the CDC works, but whatever..

Being the Devils Advocate, let's say cruising does begin. Do all the passengers arriving in St. Maarten have to have covid testing? Can't treat airline passengers different than cruise passengers.

Correct...I guess the 5 day thing would work if possible.....depending on the cruise

I haven't been following it closely, but I believe that at least some of the cruise lines will be requiring Covid tests before people embark, but not sure what type or when.

The entry requirements has to be the same for all people arriving on the island which is one of the issues to resume cruise ship passengers. If they really want the economy to recover and jobs come back The 120 hours won’t work especially for cruise passengers. Eventually they will have to lessen the requirement to negative Covid test within 14 days to arrive or remain on island.

What would happen if a cruise ship is at sea for 6 days before coming to SXM? There goes the five day rule. This could happen because we have been on 9-10 cruise and
stopping in SXm on day 7.

Each port would have to have protocals for testing that are consistent what other ports would have or passengers could easily pick up covid and spread it throught their cruise.

Sounds like a no go to me.....

With the proper equipment, supplies, and trained staff, onboard testing might be an option.

I'm sure that they will definitely have onboard testing once they get back going. They will have to.. But I doubt that anyone is going to want to take a new test any time they want to go ashore in a different island. Interesting dilemma, that I hadn't thought about..

I am having an issue just trying to time the test and results for SXM....I would have no desire to deal with multiple islands AND deal with the potential cluster frick of being on a floating COVID box

Multiple people wandering around multiple islands and bringing who knows what back on board....nope. I will stick with my initially COVID negative resort and deal with that

boucharda--I personally am not interested in doing a cruise anytime soon either, but this is definitely an interesting discussion..

Link

to an article from Cruise Critic.

Wanted to do a cruise before the Virus , hence now not anymore .

We were talking about doing a Mediterranean or river cruise before all this covid but now not even a thought about booking one.

We have done over 30 cruises over the years. Now? Not really any inclination to do one.

We've done 6 in the past. I feel the same as you with all the travel restrictions and covid risk.

The only cruise I've had any desire in many years is an Alaskan cruise. I think it's the best way to see so much of what that area has to offer. It will be a good while before we make that decision now.

It was a long time ago, but we had a WONDERFUL Alaskan cruise.. It really is a good way to see Alaska..

We have only done two cruises as I’ve never really wanted to be a captive audience on a boat.

But I have to say, we did thoroughly enjoy both cruises - one to Bermuda where we were docked in Hamilton and St George and could come on and off the boat at our leisure - and the other was throughout four of the major Hawaiian islands. That cruise was absolutely perfect and if it weren’t for the length of the flight to Honolulu I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But not yet.......and probably not for a few years, if ever.

Best way to see Alaska is to fly in on tree top airline and fish it. Do it twice a year for salmon but canceled 2 trips this year because of covid. Fingers crossed for next year.

I suppose it would be, Scubaman, if one liked to fish. Sounds like my personal idea of Hell.

Huhm, wonder what this means? "The plan permits limited shore excursions and requires passengers to wear masks and stay apart from other people during those excursions. Passengers who don’t comply won’t be allowed to reboard."

As in, you can't get off the ship unless you are on a shore excursion??????? Oh H*ll no. Even if I were considering a cruise, and I'm not, that would be a total no-go for me.

I think that is exactly what it means , and also a non starter for me. I think that I read that on one of the European cruises that did start again a family wandered away from the organized shore excursion excursion, and were denied reboarding.

Could be what it means. Another way to control the passengers, their movement and WHERE they spend THEIR MONEY.

It also means that, for example, taxi drivers would get ZERO money out of cruise passengers, as well as any of the little guys on island who sell food, chair rentals, etc., etc. And all shore excursions would have to be sold through the cruise line, making the cost more, meanwhile the actual operator of the shore excursion gets LESS money..

I completely agree!

You got it with regard to the cruise excursions.

While I have enjoyed fishing in the past and will occasionally go on a short trip with a few friends, there is no way I would plan a trip to Alaska for that sole purpose. To each their own but maybe a 1 day fishing excursion in Alaska would do it for me.

Herald story.
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/index...n-norwegian-cruise-looking-to-sail-again

MSC is currently doing a cruise in Italy/Mediterranean. Americans are not allowed on the ship. I don't have all the details, but the are testing before they allow boarding, mask required to be worn unless you are eating, drinking or swimming. All fresh air is being funneled into the rooms. Casinos open. There appear to be quite a few people on the cruise. You can probably find the ship using cruise tracker.

I am not ready for a cruise right now anyway, but wondering how they will handle it if someone test positive while re-boarding from a port of call.

You're assuming that they are testing when people re-board in a port of call, which I don't know if they are or not. American cruise lines are talking about requiring a test before initial boarding of the ship, but that is different than being tested at every port..

For initial cruises, I understand that they are limiting off ship calls to private islands to limit "outside of ship" contacts.
Some people just want to cruise as much as some just want to get back to SXM even under difficult requirements and limited health care.

mahokid--huh, I don't know. I haven't been following it at all. I didn't even realize that there were some ships actually sailing now.

I was thinking of a re-boarding temperature check, because honestly testing positive on re-boarding does not mean that it did not come from another port. And, if so, it has already spreaded on the ship. Is there an incubation period for Covid?

Yes, it would make sense they would do a temperature check, probably going off and coming back on. Incubation period seems to be anywhere from 7 to 21 days, depending on who you believe!

Sounds like a really bad idea with covid now making a comeback. Cases on the rise in many parts of the world. I get it that we all want to get back to doing the things we love and miss but unfortunately now is not the time. We in the US have 4 percent of the worlds population but have 20 percent of the worlds covid deaths. Restarting cruises , which it can be argued, were a major factor in the spread of virus should not happen.

Cruise Ships have been viral spreaders in the past, think what COVID could do on a ship in a short period of time! Especially when there is a dormant period and symptoms very depending on the case!

The port should retract this nonsense.

Huh? While I doubt contacting the CDC will do much, it is a matter of survival for the port, the businesses and the island residents. How is that nonsense?