K_e_short

Not after I cruised but it sounded like everyone in my roll call got told to do their health assessment the day of the cruise.

20 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I believe a port can require passengers to be tested, random or otherwise, as recently happened with San Francisco and Ruby Princess.

True. However it seems Carnival has never been willing to do ship wide testing. They would rather cancel the port then do the testing.

They test the crew on a regular basis.

You are only tested if you go to the medical centre and say you have symptoms.

LAST UPDATE
 

Results showed up right now.

So that was 5 days from when the test was taken.

Negative btw.

ANOTHER UPDATE

I am now 5 days, 112 hours after taking my arrival test with no results.

I have been reading online and it seems like the turn around time is 7 to 10 days.

Which is funny because if the test was positive I'd have to self isolate for 10 days. Which means I am basically self isolating until next Tuesday.

This would be a heads up to anyone who has to do arrival testing with Switch that the system is broken and to expect to stay at home the entire 10 days 😞

Air Canada is cutting flights to all those islands because of Covid.

It seems like parts of Mexico (eastern) and private islands are the only sure ports right now.

2 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

As others have commented, yes, I've done it a few times in the past with no problems. Forgot something or helped a friend with their luggage. But I can't say how that will work during covid times.

They could ask you to retest before boarding. Enjoy your cruise.

There is no testing at the terminal for vaccinated travellers so I'm confused why you would say they may make you retest.

You would just show the same antigen testing, done 2 days ahead of time, whether you board once, or more then once.

You should all have your boarding times at the same time and arrive together.

That way you can help them onto the ship and be together.

Way easier then trying to track them down.

Right now every cruise ship with paying passengers is sitting in the yellow colour, which means that there is at least 1 crew member, or more then 0.1% of the passengers testing positive.

It really isn't a good metric right now as every ship is the same.

I just got back from the Mardi Gras. There were a lot of cases. On the second last day a Canadian whose unvaccinated daughter needed to be tested reported over 200 people testing positive.

I heard almost 30 names of people being called over the P.A. system to contact guest services (aka they were positive).

I stayed part of the roll call and many more people reported they tested positive after the cruise. I asked and they either tested positive because they had to fly home to Canada, tested because of a work or school requirement, or simply because they felt sick.

I can't see cruise lines loosening their policies but they are probably happy they don't have to report... but.. it won't matter since assume that every cruise ship has more then 0.1% of passengers with Covid.

I think you need to ask those that have sailed on whatever cruise ship you're going on what decks and rooms are used as the quarantine rooms.

For example on the Mardi Gras it was Deck 4 aft, that has both ocean view and inside rooms.

I printed out the section on the Carnival website that lists exactly what needs to be on the test.

I did not leave the drug store until I confirmed all that information was on the document.

Another thing to think about is that many cruise ships are not running as many activities, shows, and they are short staffed.

Are you o.k being on a cruise ship with no entertainment and having to wait a while for drinks and food?

If that answer is yes then book.

If the issues that others have discussed on previous cruises will ruin your vacation then don't book.

It might also be because many countries other then the U.S. require a PCR test.

The U.S. is the only country i know of that is using that for entry into the country and for cruises.

So it might be a reminder if you are trying to fly to Canada, U.K., etc. that the antigen test is not for travel.

And to be technical you are not getting the antigen test to travel out of the country. You are getting the antigen test to follow the rules of the CDC (U.S.) to go on a cruise ship.

8 hours ago, lots-of-km2 said:

 

I relied on TD Visa for USD purchases for a number of years, until I came across Rogers World Elite MasterCard two years ago.  The Rogers card gives a 3% cash back reward on all USD purchases. It's a good deal  because it more than cancels out the forex fee of 2.5%, it has trip interruption and cancellation insurance, rental car CDW coverage and some other perks -- and there's no annual fee for the card.  

 

I'm not shilling for the card, I just think it's a really good product 🙂

In June once I was fully vaccinated (or so I thought at the time), I decided to get the TD Visa Aeroplan card so that I could have some perks when I went back to travelling.

It gave me a bunch of aeroplan miles, free first piece of luggage, and a buddy pass (my son's plane ticket to and from Orlando was free).

I also get a free Nexus card renewal, free Uber Eats delivery for 6 months, and the insurance part as well.

It does have a fee but if I'm able to travel as much as I want to (hahaha - thanks omicron) it will pay for itself.

To be snobby we upgraded to business class for both flights and I might get used to that, so having aeroplan miles to upgrade is a bonus.

I just got back from the NYE sailing of the Mardi Gras.

When we docked and I went out on my balcony I was able to pick up a free wifi signal (Circle K).

I have no idea where it came from but it really only worked on the balcony. When we got off the ship it was gone.

I had asked before sailing where I could find free wifi so wanted to share with others.

I was on a Carnival ship so we were docked at the Carnival port, not the other one.

Take it!

I just got off the Mardi Gras. Awesome ship. The regular rooms are insanely narrow so your shins will love you because you wont' be hitting them on the bed 🙂

I also think you get a lot more perks with the excel suite... 

As others have mentioned on here if you get sick on board you might be moved to another cabin....

And yes the ship would be important to know. Have you looked at the sizes of the balconies versus ocean suites to figure out if its' worth it?

I know the ocean suites on the Mardi Gras are just longer.. not wider.. so you are still struggling to get in and out of the room, bathroom, and hit your legs on the bed 🙂

23 minutes ago, MamatoJack said:

 

Some cards don't charge additional fees but the ones I have do charge an additional percentage (I think it's 2.5% but I'd have to look) over the actual exchange rate. I factor that in when I calculate how much things will cost. 

Ah good to know.

I know Carnival allows you to pay off your bill in cash. I did that on the last night. Then other then the holds on your credit card you would have no fees or charges at all.

I just got back from a cruise and used my TD Visa.

I was not charged credit card fees on the US transactions. The only thing was the exchange rate.

Is that normal to have your credit card charge a fee for us transactions?

UPDATE

Well it is now 68 hours after we got our arrival testing done at the Ottawa airport and still no results.

I emailed Switch Health last night at 10pm and they responded quickly saying there is a backlog.

I'm a teacher and need to go into school to grab some things but can't until I get a negative test.

Oh and I am having symptoms of Covid.. (yes add swear words). I did an antigen test, again. that came up negative but still going to worry until the results come back.

28 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

 

I bought cancel for any reason insurance so we have lots of time to cancel our March cruise.  I am hoping for the best but expecting the worst.  We also booked an AI for the week before.  Same with that. 

When I booked with Air Canada Vacations in May they had a flexcare/flex plus option for free.

It allows full refund up to 21 days before travel and full travel credit up to 3 days before.

I would not have booked any other way, since I was really screwed over in march of 2020 trying to get money back from all the places I had booked for our trip to California.

Yikes. I had only seen that one ship cancelled the day before.

I didn't realize it was that many 😞

1 hour ago, krista42 said:

I cancelled our March break cruise this morning.  Final payment was due next week, just can't see how it could happen at this point.  So sad, we've really been looking forward to this, DD would finally be double dose vaxxed and we thought we would be okay 😞

I have until Feb 18th to cancel our AI to Mexico. I will wait to the very end but nothing is going to change 😞

Good to know.

I'm booked to cruise in Europe this summer with a week in London/Paris.

Just something else to think about 😞

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I had the same situation happen in Ottawa regarding whether or not we are to isolate until we get results.

The document we were given didn't say anything about isolating but the government website said if you were out of the country (not Canada or the U.S.).

The staff working at the testing clinic said you had to stay home until results come back.

I am sitting at 46 hours since my test and no results yet. I'll be honest I am freaking out, alot.