New US Virgin Islands testing requirement.

[lanejudy]

What does the testing mean for my trip on the Fantasy for this Saturday?

Based on the graphic @insureman shared in post #15, your test at embarkation would be 1 day too early to meet the requirement. That’s if the new requirements apply to cruises. I haven’t found anything clarifying whether arriving by sea means just the ferry or other vessels as well.

 

[kathi]

You can literally see St. Thomas from Tortola, so if the port schedule allows, maybe they can switch them?

 

[yowcruiser]

There were two non-DCL ships scheduled to be in St.Thomas today - one ship from NCL and one from RCCL. The NCL ship is now heading to Turks and Caicos, whereas the RCCL ship is spending a day at sea.
At my end, I am attempting to change a few things for a January cruise on the Fantasy and the website has been misbehaving since yesterday... so I sense something is up...

 

[diablodancer]

There were two non-DCL ships scheduled to be in St.Thomas today - one ship from NCL and one from RCCL. The NCL ship is now heading to Turks and Caicos, whereas the RCCL ship is spending a day at sea.
At my end, I am attempting to change a few things for a January cruise on the Fantasy and the website has been misbehaving since yesterday... so I sense something is up...

Someone on the NCL Dawn atm was told by a senior crew member that St Thomas, Antiqua, St Lucia and San Juan, Puerto Rico had all now closed to cruise ships and so they would be skipping all four. Haven’t seen anything official about this yet though.

Interestingly NCL is also due to announce a wide range of cancellations today, with many of their ships not restarting until February through April.

 

[insureman]

Someone on the NCL Dawn atm was told by a senior crew member that St Thomas, Antiqua, St Lucia and San Juan, Puerto Rico had all now closed to cruise ships and so they would be skipping all four. Haven’t seen anything official about this yet though.

Interestingly NCL is also due to announce a wide range of cancellations today, with many of their ships not restarting until February through April.

That doesn't sound promising.

 

[disEAR]

Ugh.. The reason we booked our upcoming 7 Night on the Fantasy was specifically to visit St. Thomas and Tortola. We will be watching closely with baited breath to see what other cruisers report.

 

[cvjw]

This sounds terrible. We were thinking of jumping on the 2/5 fantasy eastern sailing. No interest in another western cruise. These ports closing is a big blow to cruises restarting successfully.

 

[iivye]

This sounds terrible. We were thinking of jumping on the 2/5 fantasy eastern sailing. No interest in another western cruise. These ports closing is a big blow to cruises restarting successfully.

We're scheduled on this one. I haven't heard anything from Disney yet and no one is talking about it in the fb group.

 

[insureman]

So checking what ships should be in St Thomas today it shows the following.

and checking Marine Traffic it only shows the Rotterdam at the Havensight dock.

 

[iivye]

I read that the NCL Dawn cancelled the St. Thomas, Antiqua, St. Lucia, and San Juan, PR ports. They are still scheduled to go to St. Maarten, Barbados, Tortola and St. Kitts. They are currently doing an 11 day cruise out of Tamps.

 

[Ikaikalani]

I read this to mean within 3 days of the start of travel. So any testing done within 3 days of the ship heading for that port would count. Not necessarily within 3 days of arriving at the port.

You're absolutely right Princess! It seems to me that they either require the test 3 days prior to the start of your voyage, or they are referring to air travel and not cruises.

 

[cvjw]

We're scheduled on this one. I haven't heard anything from Disney yet and no one is talking about it in the fb group.

We were on the october 8 night on the fantasy that was supposed to port in Antigua, st marten and San Juan. It changed to a western right before sailing. Disney just sent us an email informing us of the itinerary change.

 

[iivye]

We were on the october 8 night on the fantasy that was supposed to port in Antigua, st marten and San Juan. It changed to a western right before sailing. Disney just sent us an email informing us of the itinerary change.

Gotta love their last minute communication. I'm just looking forward to getting away no matter where we go.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Can anyone update me on the St Thomas and Tortola stops we have? I’m confused by comments that it’s only for ferrying or that we could flip flop. We haven’t heard anything so I’m thinking we will not have to be concerned at all?
Jan 8 test PCR Disney @PC
Jan 9 sea day
Jan 10 sea day
Jan 11 Tortola
Jan 12 St. Thomas
So am I wrong to think that because we have no word from Disney it’s resolved? They’re not going to test 2000 people for a port stop are they?

 

[yowcruiser]

Can anyone update me on the St Thomas and Tortola stops we have? I’m confused by comments that it’s only for ferrying or that we could flip flop. We haven’t heard anything so I’m thinking we will not have to be concerned at all?
Jan 8 test PCR Disney @PC
Jan 9 sea day
Jan 10 sea day
Jan 11 Tortola
Jan 12 St. Thomas
So am I wrong to think that because we have no word from Disney it’s resolved? They’re not going to test 2000 people for a port stop are they?

In typical DCL fashion, you should expect one of the following

• DCL feels that they are compliant with the rules, and they make a go of the itinerary as is, and nothing changes and all is good
• DCL feels that they are compliant with the rules and before heading to St.Thomas, they magically find out at the last minute that they can't go there and there is some sort of last minute switch (which could frankly only be a day at sea... St.Marteen is potentially a bit too far to make it to Castaway Cay in time)
• Right after boarding, everyone has a letter waiting in their room, a message on their app, or a message from the captain that the itinerary is changed

There are a few other scenarios - but every single one of them is pure speculation right now. There is a ship that did dock in St.Thomas earlier this week

I guess that what I'm saying is that you'll find out, likely, in some way tomorrow what is going on - either through the app, or in person. St Thomas has new rules in place, and several ships did skip the port this week, with most people assuming this has to do with the new testing requirement... maybe... maybe not

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Not hearing from DCL means nothing, given how they have handled Grand Cayman.

 

[Ladyfish77]

Scheduled to sail saturday, ill let you guys know I guess!

Please report back and let us know!

We're scheduled on this one. I haven't heard anything from Disney yet and no one is talking about it in the fb group.

I'm in the Feb 5th fb group. I asked this question either in that group or the other DCL group I'm in (can't remember now). Someone suggested they could possibly flip ports days with Tortola and we would be within the 3 days needed. I have no idea if that is feasible with scheduling docking and all the hoops to switch activities that are currently booked. Another person suggested they could double dip at Castaway Cay but again that all depends on the dates and schedules of other ships going to the private island. Guess we will wait and see.

 

[iivye]

I read in my cruise group that Disney just canceled St. Thomas for the current cruise. Disney is giving passengers a $200 OBC credit and 20% off a future sailing. The ship is also going to CC early and spending the night so passengers will get a half day in addition to the full day at CC.

 

[n2mm]

I read in my cruise group that Disney just canceled St. Thomas for the current cruise. Disney is giving passengers a $200 OBC credit and 20% off a future sailing. The ship is also going to CC early and spending the night so passengers will get a half day in addition to the full day at CC.

id take that deal. We’re 6 weeks away

 

[RegisteredTrademark]

I read in my cruise group that Disney just canceled St. Thomas for the current cruise. Disney is giving passengers a $200 OBC credit and 20% off a future sailing. The ship is also going to CC early and spending the night so passengers will get a half day in addition to the full day at CC.

Does anyone know what the restrictions are for the 20% off a future sailing? How long to use, do we have to book on board, etc.