Carnival Cruise Line Scraps Terminal-Based COVID-19 Testing Plans

(2:27 p.m. EDT) -- Carnival Cruise Line has scrapped plans to offer mobile COVID-19 testing services at its U.S. homeports, saying the logistics of doing so are too complex.

Just two weeks ago, Carnival announced it was working to set up mobile COVID-19 testing locations pierside to assist cruisers who are unable to get tested for COVID-19 within the new two-day timeframe mandated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Passengers booked on upcoming Carnival sailings were given the heads-up from cruise line president Christine Duffy.

"While we had previously raised the possibility of more on-site testing at our terminals, the logistics of making this service widely available to a large number of guests does not make this a viable option," Duffy explained.

That explanation -- along with other health and safety measures -- is now available on Carnival's website.

All passengers embarking Carnival vessels within the United States will need to provide proof of negative COVID-19 test, either antigen or PCR, or a medically-supervised "at home" test kit like the Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test.

This news does not affect the recently-announced initiative by Carnival Corporation to offer pre-cruise COVID-19 testing in partnership with Quest Diagnostics at more than 1,500 locations across the continental United States.

Carnival isn't the only organization to backtrack on new plans in recent days. On Wednesday, the Netherlands announced it will no longer force fully vaccinated travellers staying more than 12 hours in the country to quarantine for 10 days as the Dutch government had previously announced -- a ruling that threw European-based river cruises into disarray.