stefndoug

5 hours ago, Potstech said:

The testing is free for US Citizens and legal residents of those living in the US. You show as being from Canada.

I am Canadian...I have gotten the free US tests at CityHealth (in California), Curative (in Florida), CVS (in Hawaii) and Walgreens (in Washington State)...as you can see...I love to travel and sniff out where we Canadians can test for free to get back home.

we will be disembarking in Seattle, so I am very grateful they are still doing this.  Hopefully they still are in May when we sail on Princess.

2 hours ago, drakes2 said:

I tried calling them this morning the number I reached was a chat bot finally got through to someone and she connected me with a virtual person.  Absolutely no luck at all. 

and you can book rapid PCR or rapid antigen from what I can tell still...and its 13 days in advance.  But you might have better look booking the rapid PCR...we got our results in about 3 hours.

2 hours ago, drakes2 said:

I tried calling them this morning the number I reached was a chat bot finally got through to someone and she connected me with a virtual person.  Absolutely no luck at all. 

book online...calling them is useless.  

4 hours ago, drakes2 said:

@stefndougthank you. We will be staying on Waikiki Beach for a couple nights. Do you remember which CVS you used and did you pre register. With all the current changes hopefully they may not require antigen test by end of April possibly wishful thinking. 

 

we did the rapid PCR so there was only 1 location available for that one on Ward Street...but with Antigen allowed now, there might be more options.  Yes, reserve as early as you can.  I think CVS was at least a week, but might have been more.  We booked the first day we could.  

We used the Rapid PCR through CVS for free last month in Honolulu.  Got our results in a couple of hours.  We didn't have much luck with the Switch Health tests, so we wanted someone to do it for us.  The airport  has one that costs $140 (PCR), but they might have a cheaper Antigen which you can use (we couldn't last month).

4 hours ago, AandBmom said:

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

I used our hotel address and showed my passport.  They even knew I was using it for heading back into Canada.  I talked to the lady in billing about it all and she is the one that guided me on what I needed to do.

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

6 minutes ago, Luv2Cruze4 said:

Walgreens just told me on a message that the test for Canadians is $130 US. Not free.

Just use a US address...I just went to Walgreens for a Rapid ID Now test and they don't even check my ID even though I was going to use Nexus.  I used my friends address in the US.  

I have 2 cruises booked out of Vancouver...I sure hope it goes well this year.  Keeping my fingers crossed but not getting my hopes up.   

51 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

The author apparently has a bone to pick with Canada for some reason, and has gone out of his way to be critical. For example, he makes a big issue over passengers needing to be vaccinated to enter Canada, but the same requirement exists for anyone entering the US by land, sea or air, other than on RT cruises out of the US. He has also either overlooked or is simply unaware of the fact that the Minister of Transport stated on February 15 that with the cruise season in Canada rapidly approaching, the lingering questions that have the author in a tizzy, including testing, will be answered "very soon".

You don't need to test to cross the land border into the US if one is vaccinated.  Or do you mean something else?  

I see the Alaska season for Canada not happening...but I hope I am wrong.  The amount of testing that will need to happen will be nuts.  If the cruise is round trip Seattle, then one would have to test coming into Victoria, including using the arrivecan app.  If the cruise is out of Vancouver, then you would test to come onto the ship (cruiseship rules) and then have to test again at disembarkation because you would have been in the US and coming back into Canada...and have to use the Arrivecan app. I think the cruiselines would be smart to say "screw you" to Canada again and bypass us if we require all those stupid testing and arrivecan requirements.   

no test needed to cross into the US via land border...provided you are vaccinated.  To come home before Fab 28th you need a PCR/NAAT test.  AFter the 28th you need either a PCR/NAAT test 72 hours in advance or an Antigen 24 hours in advance (or day before...wording has been iffy).

1 hour ago, Kamloops50 said:

They might of done it for free. My relatives in the states had to supply their medical insurance number to get the test. They have had to test about six and in each case the pharmacy request the number from their medical insurance carrier. 

You do you.  I say if people don't want to believe me (and the many others that have had the same experience)...no skin off my back...pay the crap load of money for the tests in the US.  The ones that are in the know, will get it for free 🙂  

1 hour ago, Sunchaser46 said:

I’m driving to SeaTac then flying to Ft Lauderdale. Thanks for the advice!

Smart...we did that for Hawaii last month.  Drove to Seattle and fly to Hawaii...much, much, much easier.

1 hour ago, Kamloops50 said:

The Free Test done by CVS and Walgreens aren't really free . You have to supply a US Medical Carrier Number to get it free.

???  that is very incorrect.  Just did a CVS one in Hawaii last month.  Used our hotel address and then when we checked in to get our test, they changed it to our home address.  In November we used one near WDW called Curative and it was free and just used our hotel address and our passport for ID.  Many people have used the Walgreens one though and have never had to pay....just used the hotel address and passports or drivers licence for ID.  In September we went to one in California run by City Health...I told them I was using it to get back into Canada...FREE!!!! and I have told a number of people about the California one and they have gotten it for free too.

In the US, Walgreens, CVS and Curative (Florida only I think) does free Covid tests.  If you are flying from Seattle to Florida, no covid test is required for the flight.  We fly from Seattle and just cross the land border so eliminate 1 covid test.

1 hour ago, Labber 2 said:

I had hoped to remain in LA for 2 days before returning to Canada following my cruise in March.  I knew I could get a PCR done at the terminal and would be good for 72 hours. I will still get the test, but have to fly back within the 24 hours or have one done elsewhere if I stay in LA for 2 additional days. I think it may be difficult booking rapid test within 24 hours of returning flights for those travelling and returning home around march break. Are the switch tests the same as Lab administered antigen tests? See the quote from below CBC below?

"Travellers will still be required to take a pre-arrival test, but they can instead opt for an authorized, lab-administered rapid antigen test taken no more than 24 hours before their scheduled flight "

Not sure if that is different? 

 

Walgreens does rapid antigen tests in California (for free), or you can also check out City Health that does testing near Long Beach Airport (we have used them and it was free)

people in a Canadian Disney group I am in still use them.  They prefer Curative, but I think that is closer to WDW than cruise ports.

1 minute ago, mtnesterz said:

Yes, I see a QR code for the blue lane on the Medallion app. Which may not be accessible at the pier. I'm bringing a hard copy of my Passage Contract to show our cruise is paid in full.

because I can't get my security photo to upload, I can't get my QR code on the blue lane.  Hopefully i get it fixed before we leave in May.  I agree...always a hard copy along is a good rule of thumb.  

7 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

Princess knows people are having trouble, so as long as other papers are in order, it's OK.  The QR codes are for our vaccines, which ours are hard copies, Covid test results, (for Californians) and Safe Travels Hawaii, also hard copies. What a palaver!

Since writing last, Princess has started availability for a web based Medallion. I hope this will benefit those of you cruising later. To find the web based Medallion, I had to log in and go to Booked Guests. Then a link below the icons for the app.

from what I am told, the QR code is also the same as your digital boarding pass, which on the Princess website says we need for boarding.  

7 minutes ago, Thrak said:

When we did the setup we used the selfie for the security pic. It gave us an outline of a person and we just stood with a blank white(ish) wall behind us. Worked fine. At that time we were unable to use any pre-taken image from our phone. We couldn't even use a pre-existig pic for our profile pic. If that's changed maybe I'll update the app (yet again) and use a pic from my phone. As it is, my profile pic is "Pig" from Pearls Before Swine.

It won't do the selfie one...every time I select "camera", it just goes back to the screen where I select which passenger to choose.

Just now, deliver42 said:

If you can't do it, I would think Princess, like all the other lines, will take your picture at the port.

Problem with that is you can't get access to your digital boarding pass then...which just makes things go much faster at check in (and when you are talking Vancouver cruiseport, you do everything you can get make that go smoother)

13 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

Are you doing a selfie or using one that's already on the phone?  I presume the steps are the same: 1 select user 2.  Select photo (camera or file) 3. Upload and done.  

 

Did you try uploading the same pic you used for the profile one?

 

FYI - I found that I had to shut down the app a couple times to get it to work right.  (I work in IT and our favorite question:  Did you turn it off then back on again?)

Selfie doesn't work (and yes I made sure my phone "allows access to the camera for Princess".  So I have taken about 10 different pictures in various positions (including some with smiles and some without).    Yup, tried the profile one too.  I have even uninstalled the app and reinstalled it.  I have worked with computers since the late 80's...rebooting is always the answer LOL...but...I will try a few things again because why not...I can't really think of anything else that I could be doing wrong at this point.

Thank you for replying...I appreciate it.  Maybe at some point I will get it to work.

2 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

Sorry, I did this on an iPhone and didn't have any issues.  Took me a while to figure out the "profile" and "security" photo were two separate options.  The app itselfr was still a buggy as it would try to open windows and just fail, forcing me to close it.  

I have an Android.  My profile picture isn't an issue...that worked fine.  I have gotten the app to work for dining reservations and a few other things, but I just can't get it to do the security picture.  I will contact Princess about it.