AandBmom

just a suggestion.... join your roll call on the book of faces and start a meet and greet for this age demographic. We have one on our sailing. 

Also side note, if only one of you wants a drink package and the other adult doesn't, you can buy for just one if you're listed in separate rooms. 

13 hours ago, broberts said:

It's not a free test. Either an insurance company or the US federal gov pays for the test. 

 

Seems to me that if one can afford to cruise including tips & gratuities, one should be willing to cover the cost of testing.

Of course we can afford it, but we are a family of 6 so everything is x6.  There is a wide range of prices out there for tests. So of course any price reduction we can find helps. 

1 hour ago, bookbabe said:

Answer yes to the first two, that you were someplace where you couldn’t socially distance, and then no to all the rest.

 

fabulous thanks. 

4 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

Try CVS…they’ve got 6 locations near the LAX zip code that list rapid result (antigen) tests available.

when I answer their booking questions I get this....

1 hour ago, stefndoug said:

We used City Health near Long Beach Airport in September.  It was free.

how did you get around registering as a Canadian?  website only seems to take US addresses and you need to upload gov issued ID

4 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

The Switch Health and Azova tests can absolutely be purchased ahead of time and shipped to your house, then you take them with you on vacation and do the telehealth visit at the appropriate time while you are away.

 

Emed and the other US vendors will only ship within the States, so you’d have to get those shipped to your hotel.  Bringing some Switch/Azova tests with you seems easier.

 

If you have a car (rental or willing taxi?) you can get a free test at Walgreens.  They are available for Canadians, just use your hotel address.

https://flytrippers.com/update-on-free-testing-at-walgreens-in-the-us-my-february-12-2022-test/

 

There are also free and paid testing concierge services such as BeeperMD that will come to your hotel and test you, reviews for those vary.  I haven’t tried them myself since Walgreens is free and so easy.

thanks for the info. looks like we can get pcr tests near LAX but not rapid antigen at walgreens. I worry about results being in time. 

13 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

March 23 flying out, sailing on March 26, coming home April 3. 

 

looks like I'll be your guinea pig. lol

march 12-19

8 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

I haven't checked if you can ship them to Canada.  My plan is to have them express shipped to the hotel I am at, assuming I'll have to stay a couple of days. 
But in the past I have purchased other things and had it shipped to the hotel I was planning to stay at before I even arrived.  I just call the hotel ahead of time. 
Shipping to Canada sucks.  Haha

when are you going?  I'm hoping you can be the guinea pig 🙂

1 minute ago, CKCruising said:

They will only ship the Switch Tests to Canada.  There should be US tests that are similar but I have never looked.

But I can ship to my house here and bring them ?  

We now need rapid tests to re-enter Canada.  Family of 6, so saving money helps. 

Does anyone know of a cost effective testing location near LAX?  We are staying in Santa Monica. We have a car. 

Can't test after flight given time we fly in to BUF. 

Thanks in advance. 

They're so expensive and I can't find a pharmacy near there with free ones.

The costco there doesn't do testing.

Anyone found a hidden gem there?
Or... anyone know if i can buy the self ones that come with telehealth monitoring somewhere near there?
 

We fly to BUF at 5am so hard to do it after the flight. 

2 hours ago, 1kaper said:

Buy a SwitchHealth kit.  or one of the others. Azova or something like that.  That's our plan. 

where are you buying them?  trying to figure out where to get them while we're traveling.  Get them shipped to hotel?

I am so glad I asked! I was thinking it would be much hotter.

Thanks everyone. 

We're getting ready to pack for our cruise departing March 12.  I know weather can be all over the place, and I will of course check the forecast closer to.  But, in general, what were the extremes in temperatures?

Were evenings in ports or at sea chilly?  Were days scorching hot?  Did you need sweaters much?  Was the AC cranked, thus requiring sweaters?

I called Costco in LA and they said they don't do tests there unfortunately.  

I still need a good option for my return to Canada. 

good to know as I booked for our cruise in 2 weeks. I was able to find better availability at the 2nd costco nearest me. 

We are in town 7am-3pm

We are thinking of getting off the ship, taking a glass bottom boat to the arch, etc then getting dropped near Baja Brewery. 

Hang out on the beach, check out the brewery, etc.  Then stop at a few fun taco/drinks spots as shown on this map.....

Is it doable?  Healthy family ranging from age 11-50

agree costco is best I've found.  Unfortunately the US Costcos don't seem to offer testing. 

oh exciting news, thank you.  

1 hour ago, Luv2Cruze4 said:

I think we are going to go with the Buffalo airport option when we land as a back up. It is right in baggage claim. Simple. We are also booking with a CVS/Walgreens locally in Tampa, we have many many hours before we fly out and are renting a car to tour around.

unfortunately we don't have any viable options in Buffalo as we land at approx 5am. 

We are doing the same for march break.  Correct we can enter US by land with no test. 

We need one to board our Carnival Cruise.  I'm looking in to using the ones the kids got from school and having them "proctored" by a lab online.

We return after March 1 by land so we will need a rapid test to come back. We are looking to use the same option as noted above for the cruise. 

Do we know for sure this will be acceptable for getting back in to Canada?  As of March 1 rapid tests are accepted but everything I've read says "lab administered". Do you think self tests, proctored count?

5 hours ago, elklemi said:

Can you use OBC to book steakhouse before cruise?

i can't as my cruise is just before the date that the policy of using OBC ahead changes. 

On 2/21/2022 at 12:41 PM, Pyxie said:

 

There seems to be some confusion around the responses you've gotten. In short, you cannot use the free tests your kids received (or any free/purchased over the counter at home tests). There are home tests available that will work, but you must specifically purchase the Binax Now proctored tests through the Optum store.

Sounds like any test approved by the CDC......

Is a self-test acceptable?

Fully vaccinated guests may consider using self-administered telehealth COVID-19 tests, which have been approved by the CDC to satisfy the pre-cruise testing requirement. The test must be a COVID-19 viral test (NAAT or antigen test) with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The self-test process must happen under live supervision on a video call with a telehealth representative who must confirm the person’s identity, observe the specimen collection and testing procedures, confirm the test result, and issue a report that meets the requirements of acceptable proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The telehealth provider must issue a result document that includes all the necessary information which must be presented at the time of check-in.