Crusing is back in Italy

the cruiseline is doing throat swabs on the spot and getting results back prior to a passenger boarding.

What kind of tests do they have? As in, why is it that in the US, its 3-10 days ( or longer) to get a result?

Are they doing a worthwhile, reliable test or just putting on a show to make customers 'feel good'?

Also curious how many times a cruiseship will be called a floating petri dish in the comments below-might have to start a pool. I've written down my guess...

As a percentage or absolute number?

I read elsewhere that the passengers can't get off the ship in port unless they are on a ship's excursion. That wouldn't thrill me, but I guess it makes sense. Take them to controlled places in controlled numbers.

My Covid test results were back in just over 24 hours, but that still seems too long for a start of a cruise.

Hopefully it all works out!

What kind of tests do they have? As in, why is it that in the US, its
3-10 days ( or longer) to get a result?"

The results aren't taking that long because of the test, they are doing so because the labs are swamped.

I work in a testing lab in the UK. Time taken for the standard nucleic acid amplification test, from start to finish, is around 4 hours - but if your analysers can only cope with 96 samples at a time, and you are getting close to 2000 speciments a day - that pushes our average turnaround time to closer to 8-10 hours (we get >98% out within 16 hours).

We also have rapid (and highly accurate) tests available for emergency hospital admissions that take just over an hour. They are expensive, and we are limited to 30 tests a day because of availability of kits - but they do exist.

As a microbiologist, living near a major cruise terminal, I think you'd be certifiable to get on a ship at the moment.

At present, you need to arrive with a negative result within 73 hours and they do a swab test prior to boarding. I thought I read earlier it was a rapid test as some countries have but I can't find recent confirmation.
Improved air circulation and state all rooms will get fresh air exchange. Not dure how to do that in an inside cabin, but they are using newer ships with better circulation and fewer inside cabins.
What is really catching cruisers' attention is free on board medical care for COVID and a very inexpensive but comprehensive travel/medical insurance option in case you catch it on board. Agreeable countries will also allow docking and removal of the sick so no 56 days at a jetty.
MSC is still a private company so ready to pull out all the stops to start cruising in Italy.
I am booked on 21 day Dubai to Rome with them in April, so watching with bated breath how it plays out.
I also am not happy to have to take ship's excursions only, but I understand it. However, it is one more weight to the 'no go' side so we will see how the scales tip come January when payment is due.

Don't worry, if Covid doesn't get you, the norovirus will.

Being cooped up with thousands of overeating drunk people never sounded like fun to me. Our Viking River Cruise cured me of whatever desire to cruise I might have entertained.

I agree w/Dougmac... How i decided to never cruise again..
1) OP is right. The boat is a petri dish... nuff said.
2) Disease spreads very fast in a petri dish .... again nuff said..(if you don't believe me, read various news during COVID crisis).. and see various illness spread by other transmissable diseases.
3) Eating is an activity. Seriously in cruise, this is all you do... And none are fresh... Ship has a gigantic freezer, and need to carry enough foods to feed thousands for 7-10 days.. how fresh can that food be??
4) EXcursions.. you'll never get away from the crowds.. Everybody leave the ship (yes, all 1000+ people) dominate the tourist sites all at once... And you thought you had 4 hours of excursions, but your SO, wants to keep the excursion to 2 hours because you have anxiety about ship sailing before you get on board
5) Final bill - You mean, thousands $$$ I prepaid for the ship is not paid in full?? Is there such thing as forced tip???
I'm sure there are people here who love cruising.. but after few experiences.. uhuh.. not for ME...

In the old days, they swabbed the deck. Now, they’re too swabbing throats, too!

And I think of those mega ships not as a piece of lab equipment, but as a steerable giant hotel. But masses of people have gotten sick in hotels. And the hotel and dinner restaurant industries in Italy just don’t get much business from cruising. Heck, even Airbnb’s don’t benefit. Maybe the other industries do, and maybe that’s so important.

Thanks for sharing your insider expertise, Tim. That is very interesting and helpful to know.

Italy has divided the world in five zones:
A - S. Marino and Vatican
B - Europe, with some exceptions
C - Bulgaria, Romania
D - Austrialia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Ruanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay
F - Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Brazil, Chile, Kuwait, Macedonia, Moldova, Oman, Panama, Perù, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia
E- all other countries

If a single person aboard has been in the last 14 days in a C, D, E, F country the ship cannot stop in an Italian port. No individual tours allowed when the ship is in port.

That seems very sensible. but still wouldn't get on one, before or after this pandemic.

Anytime you see "15 minute results" for mass testing, it's the less reliable antigen test, the same as at the White House. Some call it a screening rather than a test, in fact.

Ship is at 40% capacity with distancing, masks indoors and outdoors, special arrangements for dining. It was shown on the French news.

Gotta really love cruising IMHO.

So I guess some posters have never met a cruiser who knows the meaning of moderation, self control or independence. Or consider that a cruise ship is another mode of transport? Sad for them they only saw the worst of the worst, which on a well chosen cruise don't appear at all...or at least one doesn't need to see the yahoos.
As a person who does occasionally travel on cruises, I guess they must be talking about me, as there are some very blanket all or nothing statements here. I think I am offended.
Opinion is one thing. Condemnation of all based on little to no experience is another.

...and TimW, as well as swamped, add in hire of multiple new staff so learning curves, new equipment, back order of reagents and supplies, new validations, contaminations or equipment breakdowns, changes in procedures.....all the back of house stuff that happens every day in our lab that means results take longer.
I think, given, time, there will be private businesses churning out results in short order just for we travelers...willing to pay for it, of course.

Opinion is one thing. Condemnation of all based on little to no
experience is another.

Well said. Reminds me of the good ol' days on this forum that unless you travelled independently to the non touristy areas by public transportation and hung out with locals, were you really welcome to give opinions on travel?

Not for me!

LOL - I initially read this title as "Cursing is back in Italy".

5) Final bill - You mean, thousands $$$ I prepaid for the ship is not paid in full?? Is there such thing as forced tip???

Through a series of circumstances, we ended up vacationing in Tuscany and taking a Rhine Viking River Cruise within 7 months of each other. We were invited to join long time friends on the VRC to celebrate some landmark achievements on their part.

The two trips were a study in contrasts. The trips were exactly the same length. We did all the planning and arranging on the Tuscany trip. We had a VRC salesman arrange the other. We added one extra excursion and three nights in Amsterdam to the VRC trip.

The VRC trip cost us three times what our Tuscany trip cost. I'm glad we went with our friends and the fun times we had with them made it worthwhile, but this type of travel is just not our style. We also don't do Disney World, have never been to Vegas and generally don't enjoy passive types of vacations.

Never been that interested in any cruise anyway. Maybe an Antarctica one. Definitely not right now for any.

So I guess some posters have never met a cruiser who knows the meaning of moderation, self control or independence.

There were some folks on our VRC who practiced moderation and had self control. I'd say most fit that category. Unfortunately, it only takes a handful of jerks to spoil the trip for the rest of us. On a river boat, you can't get away from them.

I guess there are different definitions of independence. I think for us you can't have independence without control and at least on a river cruise, you have very little control. Sure, you can opt out of organized tours and miss meals, but then you start to wonder what you are getting for your $500+ a day.

For us "independence" means traveling low to the ground, staying in B&Bs and eating in restaurants where local diners outnumber tourists. Independence means having a loose enough schedule that we can change our plans to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity. For us travel is more about making friends and unexpected discoveries than seeing the sites. For instance, we rode around the streets of Paris in a classic Citroen 2CV one night, singing R&B songs with our driver who was a big fan of Otis Redding, who grew up in our home town. We never made it to the Eiffel Tower.

DougMac, I agree cruising isn't for everyone and I don't ever want to 'convince' someone to do it. But bless you for suffering through it to share milestones with good friends. You can safely say, 'Tried it. It isn't for me'. Personal experience and opinion. :-)

DougMac and I have the same travel philosophy.
Hate Vegas, hate cruising, spending hundreds on organized tour is not for us...
1/2 the fun in traveling is walking alone or with SO, on a near deserted neighborhood of old Rome/Barcelona/or Spain..marveling at beautiful historical architectures....

This discussion reminded me of a post I did 7 months ago on why Cruising was right for me at the time.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/how-cruising-helped-us

Within that post DougMac asked me:

Allan, between doing a cruise and taking an RS tour, which do you feel is a better introduction to Europe for first time travelers?
Given the nature of your post, I'll guess it's still cruising.

DougMac, as a better introduction to Europe, I'll take the RS tour. It's a very good balance of tour activities and doing things on your own. You'll also learn so much about the culture of the place you're visiting. The only downside that prevents me from doing an RS tour every year is the cost. No regrets because we loved it, however, as a Canadian dealing with an unfriendly exchange rate I have to multiply Rick's US prices by 1.35 to get the tour price, so that $3795 US per person that we paid comes to about $5125 Canadian per person. Our cruise was considerably cheaper, but if we weren't planners, then we wouldn't have got nearly as much out of it that we would have wanted.

First, this isn’t a large ship. Second, it’s an Italian company. Finally, people are less worried in Europe at this point, and with reason. They got it under control and will step in again and again if necessary.

Personally, I loved the cruises I took: transatlantic, Alaska, Caribbean. You have to know the ships, sizes, fellow passengers whom they cater to, how to get around on your own, and If you are a traveler more than a cruiser, you have to focus on itinerary. In fact, we were in France on our way to Singapore to cruise Singapore to Dubai, with stops in India, when we decided to ride out the lock downs at home in the States in March. But, if COVID gets under control, there’s a small ship I’ll book doing a similar route. Fingers crossed for you MarieF. Sounds like Oman, Petra, Haifa, Suez, Greece, Sicily, Rome for you!

And I love and see real value in group tours I’ve spent thousands on: Cuba end to end, Armenia and Georgia, Anatolia, places I’ll let an expert do the logistics. And fifty years traveling independently has been wonderful: hitchhiking, sleeping overnight in bus, ferryboat, and train seats to flying first class. It’s all had its time and place.

PS DougMac— my husband’s first car was a 2CV.

PS DougMac— my husband’s first car was a 2CV.

Bets, as we say in the South, "bless his heart!".

We actually saw a Travels With Rick where he mentioned the 2CV tours. I looked them up on the Internet and made reservations for when we were in Paris a couple of years ago. We took the 2 hour night tour, starting at 8:00, when traffic had eased a little, per their recommendations. The tour spanned from the Eiffel Tower to see the light show, the banks of the Seine, then up Montmartre to Sacre Coeur. Our driver took us through many charming side streets that looked straight out of "Amelie".

When he picked us up, he introduce himself (Pierre, natch) and asked where we were from. When we told him Macon, Georgia, his eyes lit up and he started messing with his smart phone and the little Bluetooth speaker in his open glove compartment. Soon, "Respect" was blaring out. He did show and explain the sites, but between going from one place to another, we listened to Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Wilson Picket and Albert King.
Here we are, heading down the streets of Paris, lustily singing along with "Born Under a Bad Sign": "You know wine and women is all I crave. A big legged woman will carry me to my grave!"

It was a major highlight of our return trip to Paris, where we had been together back in August 1966.

Sounds like an unforgettable experience. So lovely.

By the way, did you pronounce Macon as
'mai kin, or did you say maa 'kon?

It's MAY kun. (At least that's how the North Carolina folks say it.) Rhymes with bacon.

add me to the list of someone who has never been on and will never be carried off dead, from a cruise ship (corona and noro can get me elsewhere). being a marine geek and model builder i hope those monstrosities they call ships meet their ignoble end in a wrecking yard, sooner than later. i feel sorry for the crews and staff hit hard by the shutdown, the management not so much.

i feel sorry for the crews and staff hit hard by the shutdown, the management not so much.

I think some folks who cruise, especially Rick Steves fans, would be concerned if not downright horrified if they really knew the cruising industry.

Concerned about the environment? Most cruise ships burn heavy fuel oil, the most polluting fossil fuel there is. Few have any sort of exhaust treatment like scrubbers. Carnival Cruise line's fleet of 47 ships emit 10 time as much pollution as the 260 million cars in all of Europe.

Do you think cruise lines should pay their fair share of taxes? Cruise lines take advantage of an obscure tax code that allows them to incorporate in foreign countries to avoid taxes. Over the last 5 years, Carnival Cruise lines total taxes represent just 1.1% of their 11.3 billion dollars in profits. Yet, there was a move to bail out the cruise line industry using taxes paid by you and me.

Think employees should be treated fairly? This is probably the most egregious problem with cruise ships. After reading about who the typical cruise line employee is and how they are exploited and mistreated, I cannot in good conscience support the cruise industry.

Feel free to use Google to find verified articles on the subjects discussed above.

Cruising is destroying Venice and Cinque Terre.
Read Rick Steve's guide on Italy. Under Cinque Terre, he refused to give any insights for those of cruise excursions, and pleading with cruisers to skip CT altogether.
And we all know about the effect of cruising contributing to flooding and overtourism in Venice....

It's amazing some cruise industry actually got PPL bailout money during this pandemic, even though they are not a US company.

Read Rick Steve's guide on Italy. Under Cinque Terre, he refused to
give any insights for those of cruise excursions, and pleading with
cruisers to skip CT altogether.

I'm fairly certain you're taking that out of context considering he suggests the same thing in his Mediterranean Cruise Ports Guide. He says if you've only got 1 day than it might be better spent in a place less crowded then a place where all the daytrippers are.

Here is the exact quote from Rick STeve's on his Italy tour guide book (2018 edition) - Page 353

"CRUISE SHIP TRAVELERS: PLEASE AVOID EXCURSIONS TO THE CINQUE TERRE"....."Please visit on your own. Don't try to experience the villages and fragile trails of the CT as part of a cruise ship mob"....

That's interesting Gene, now I wonder if RS is going to become more blunt instead of warnings about crowded locations. In the Cruise Port guide he mentions it as a friendly warning that you may be better off going somewhere else. I quickly scanned the Best of Italy guide and didn't see mention at all; I'm going to have to re-check. I don't have a copy of the Italy guide.

Interesting story on La Repubblica today. An Italian family on a MSC Italy had an individual trip to Capri while the ship was in Naples. They were warned by their guide that while groups excursions are monitored for safety against virus, individual trips are not and so are not allowed. When they came back to Naples they were denied boarding the ship again.

I also read that they denied reboarding of the family that didn't stick with the group. Of course, some say that since there is no info on the family, or they haven't made comments to the news, that MSC planted them to make them look good. Always a sceptic in the crowd. Regardless, if that will be MSC's stance it might make people think twice about being cowboys to the rules. It's the only way this is going to work.