72 Hours vs. 3 Days testing requirements

[Mrsfrz]

Everything I have read (not by HAL) about testing says the window is three days. That gives flexibility to those who would be outside the exact 72 hour window. We are traveling on Aug. 21 and are getting tested on Wednesday at CVS before our flight to Seattle that afternoon. I went to my CVS today, and they said there is no time stamp on what they send in. Only the date is recorded. I hope HAL realizes this in case some testing locations do include the time. 

[KirkNC]

40 minutes ago, Mrsfrz said:

Everything I have read (not by HAL) about testing says the window is three days. That gives flexibility to those who would be outside the exact 72 hour window. We are traveling on Aug. 21 and are getting tested on Wednesday at CVS before our flight to Seattle that afternoon. I went to my CVS today, and they said there is no time stamp on what they send in. Only the date is recorded. I hope HAL realizes this in case some testing locations do include the time. 

I certainly don’t know.  Can someone at HAL answer that.  Or try message Seth on FB, he has responded to people’s questions.

[prescottbob]

It seems that the 72-hour “window” gives you the opportunity to have a 2nd test if the 1st test is a false positive from your local lab.
 

And then when the 2nd test is negative you can use the results for embarkation plus the on-site “complimentary” boarding antigen swab test provided by HAL and other cruise lines.

 

March on &, well, mask up.

 

Enjoy!

 

Be well.

Bob

 

[syesmar]

I wrote a reply earlier but it disappeared when I hit submit.

 

From a post on the HAL’s Brand Ambassador’s FB page, Seth Wayne told a passenger to go with the hours, to be safe. The same passenger was told by a HAL supervisor it’s days. The Brand Ambassador for Carnival made a dedicated post saying it’s days. 🤷‍♀️

 

HAL needs to put this is writing to eliminate any confusion! Good luck and safe travels!

Edited August 6, 2021 by syesmar

[zgscl]

2 hours ago, Mrsfrz said:

Everything I have read (not by HAL) about testing says the window is three days. That gives flexibility to those who would be outside the exact 72 hour window. We are traveling on Aug. 21 and are getting tested on Wednesday at CVS before our flight to Seattle that afternoon. I went to my CVS today, and they said there is no time stamp on what they send in. Only the date is recorded. I hope HAL realizes this in case some testing locations do include the time. 

I wrote Seth and he said he would go by the hours to be safe. Hopefully they put something in writing in the very near future. I am going on the 14th which is the first sailing affected by this and I will certainly try to ask whoever it is that looks at my test.

[MikeD4134]

Seem to be cutting it close.  HAL's communications all say 72 hours, If you sail at 5p.m., then any  test after 5 p.m. on Wednesday would be accepted.  If you go by 3 days, are you sure the cruise lines are not counting the day of the test, which would put you at 4 days.  Let us know if you get more official information.  Seattle is a very large City, you should have no problem getting tested Wednesday evening.

[Mrsfrz]

2 hours ago, MikeD4134 said:

Seem to be cutting it close.  HAL's communications all say 72 hours, If you sail at 5p.m., then any  test after 5 p.m. on Wednesday would be accepted.  If you go by 3 days, are you sure the cruise lines are not counting the day of the test, which would put you at 4 days.  Let us know if you get more official information.  Seattle is a very large City, you should have no problem getting tested Wednesday evening.

Most of the testing sites close between 5 an 6 in the evening. Some only offer tests on certain days. It is difficult to find a convenient site, especially if you don't have a car. Of course there is very expensive testing available if you have the funds. With four of us traveling, we don't have the funds to pay several hundred dollars to get tested. I'm glad CVS is free. I'm not going to worry about the time since it is not going to be documented anyway. I believe Seth is wrong. He's only guessing. 

[atexsix]

26 minutes ago, Mrsfrz said:

Most of the testing sites close between 5 an 6 in the evening. Some only offer tests on certain days. It is difficult to find a convenient site, especially if you don't have a car. Of course there is very expensive testing available if you have the funds. With four of us traveling, we don't have the funds to pay several hundred dollars to get tested. I'm glad CVS is free. I'm not going to worry about the time since it is not going to be documented anyway. I believe Seth is wrong. He's only guessing. 

I interpreted it as time of boarding, if it's sailing time then one entire day is gone, we really only have two days to accomplish this.

[12cruise2]

The HAL communique says 72 hours prior to Embarkation, not sailing.  It is in writing.  I say go by what's in writing.  I've had several Covid tests and they put the time the sample is drawn on the results reported on mine--from a hospital.  Seth is backpeddling to now say Embarkation, which is what the original document notifying everyone said, rather than apparently what he said on that FB call (3 days).

[cruisemom42]

10 hours ago, MikeD4134 said:

HAL's communications all say 72 hours, If you sail at 5p.m., then any  test after 5 p.m. on Wednesday would be accepted.

 

Actually the wording is:

 

Effective with cruises departing on August 14th, 2021, we will require ALL fully vaccinated guests to produce a negative, medically observed viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken within 72 hours of their embarkation on all Holland America line sailings.

 

Embarkation is defined as the act of boarding a ship or other vehicle. So it is not from the time of sailing but the time you are checked prior to boarding.

[syesmar]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Actually the wording is:

... taken within 72 hours of their embarkation on all Holland America line sailings.

 

Embarkation is defined as the act of boarding a ship or other vehicle. So it is not from the time of sailing but the time you are checked prior to boarding.

Agree that’s the plain meaning. But then Carnival spokespeople were saying any “time” during that “day” would be fine, which conflicts with other statements.

https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=6134723113236865&id=144285012280735  

I know some passengers were reporting boarding time changes in the last few weeks. Hopefully HAL will not change those for people once assigned so there won’t be an issue, if policy is to go with a literal 72 hours prior to the actual boarding time.

Edited August 6, 2021 by syesmar

[boze9999]

A lot of posts on a variety of forums have conflicting information - some have said a HAL representative have said drugstores (ie CVS/Walgreens etc) are not acceptable. When we flew to Hawaii when they required testing, Hawaii was VERY specific about what tests were or were not acceptable, and the providers were specfic about were their tests "acceptable" by Hawaii government. The instructions on acceptable tests and the timing of the 72 hours were extremely specific and clear. Looking forward to HAL's more specific updates to the requirements so no one gets to the port and finds their test not acceptable!

 

[syesmar]

26 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

A lot of posts on a variety of forums have conflicting information - some have said a HAL representative have said drugstores (ie CVS/Walgreens etc) are not acceptable...Looking forward to HAL's more specific updates to the requirements so no one gets to the port and finds their test not acceptable!

 

Oh! Did this have to do with the phrase “medically observed”? Not being able to use drugstore testing service would indeed be a problem with many passengers. Something doesn’t seem right about that. While we customers are crying out for more clarity, it sounds as if customer service reps need clarity, as well.

Edited August 6, 2021 by syesmar

[boze9999]

26 minutes ago, syesmar said:

Oh! Did this have to do with the phrase “medically observed”? Not being able to use drugstore testing service would indeed be a problem with many passengers. Something doesn’t seem right about that. While we customers are crying out for more clarity, it sounds as if customer service reps need clarity, as well.

Yes - the "medically supervised" is the language which definitely needs clarification. I have a call and email out to HAL requesting specific clarification. 

[Boytjie]

7 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

 I've had several Covid tests and they put the time the sample is drawn on the results reported on mine--from a hospital.  

 

Here is what was on my recent test report (not done at CVS):

 

[silversneakers]

10 hours ago, Mrsfrz said:

Most of the testing sites close between 5 an 6 in the evening. Some only offer tests on certain days. It is difficult to find a convenient site, especially if you don't have a car. Of course there is very expensive testing available if you have the funds. With four of us traveling, we don't have the funds to pay several hundred dollars to get tested. I'm glad CVS is free. I'm not going to worry about the time since it is not going to be documented anyway. I believe Seth is wrong. He's only guessing. 

CVS is great but I can't find one close enough to me to get a rapid test appt.. The PCR test won't come back in time.  Locations for rapid testing are 60 - 70 miles away. BTW, I am not in a remote location and there are lots of Walgreens, CVS, etc. but trying to find someone to do the rapid test is what I am running into. I reached out to my insurance company and they said I just have to call around myself to find a location. Ugh!

[cursail]

The thing that bugs me about the 3 days vs 72 hours is that we're all on the same ship together for multiple days so we shouldn't have to get swabbed at different hours based on our assigned boarding time. HAL should just give the earliest boarding time as the cutoff so there's no confusion.

[aa7yy]

Doing my research on testing. Looks to me like Rapid on Thursday the 19th works best or the 20th if it works for you. Currently in Bremerton across from Seattle. Doesn't look like Walgreens is doing any testing. Rite Aid will not let me schedule until a week ahead and is confusing so far. I will go out on a field trip when the fog lifts and check each in person.

[silversneakers]

FINALLY I was able to schedule my rapid test before the cruise.  Most of the places scheduling were only offering PCR and I couldn't handle the stress of not really knowing if I would get result in time. I booked an appointment at an urgent care facility. I was told that our insurance provider no longer will cover travel-related testing!  $60 pp isn't too bad but free is would have been better. EXHALE!!

Edited August 6, 2021 by silversneakers
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[Daniel A]

11 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

FINALLY I was able to schedule my rapid test before the cruise.  Most of the places scheduling were only offering PCR and I couldn't handle the stress of not really knowing if I would get result in time. I booked an appointment at an urgent care facility. I was told that our insurance provider no longer will cover travel-related testing!  $60 pp isn't too bad but free is would have been better. EXHALE!!

Would it help if your doctor ordered the test?  Medicare covers tests ordered by a doctor.

[Mrsfrz]

2 hours ago, Boytjie said:

 

Here is what was on my recent test report (not done at CVS):

 

I stand corrected. I was told by CVS that the time is not on the specimen. However I just learned from the lab that the time is in the computer and thus on the report. 

[Boytjie]

2 hours ago, cursail said:

The thing that bugs me about the 3 days vs 72 hours is that we're all on the same ship together for multiple days so we shouldn't have to get swabbed at different hours based on our assigned boarding time. HAL should just give the earliest boarding time as the cutoff so there's no confusion.

 

What is the spread of hours from the first group to board to the last? Two hours? Three hours? I don't see what the big deal is about that.

I know my boarding time is 1:40 PM so I will make sure I am tested  Wednesday after 1:40 PM PDT. Whether someone else has to get tested after 2:00 PM does not affect me.

[cursail]

35 minutes ago, Boytjie said:

 

What is the spread of hours from the first group to board to the last? Two hours? Three hours? I don't see what the big deal is about that.

I know my boarding time is 1:40 PM so I will make sure I am tested  Wednesday after 1:40 PM PDT. Whether someone else has to get tested after 2:00 PM does not affect me.

People with an earlier boarding time have an advantage with having the longest time between when they can get tested and when the ship leaves the dock. Plus testing sites, at least the one I intend to use, get busier as the day goes on. And from a risk perspective, everyone is ending up on the same boat regardless. The people with later embarkation times don't get clustered together for the remainder of the cruise.

[mark71mark]

Related question which I am having a hard time finding a definitive answer, and hesitant to start a new post about it...  If my wife and I are on a B2B (both are 7-day roundtrips out of San Diego, same ship), it would seem that we would only be required to show a negative test for the first segment and get a "waiver" for the second.  Has there been discussion anywhere about this scenario?

 

EDIT: Sorry, never mind, found the other post that is talking about this!

Edited August 6, 2021 by mark71mark
Trying to remove post.

[silversneakers]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Would it help if your doctor ordered the test?  Medicare covers tests ordered by a doctor.

Don't think so unless it is medically related to a "condition."  It was the doctor's office that told me to contact urgent care.  It seems testing for "travel" is the culprit making it difficult.