CVS, then Walgreens Cancels - 3 days out.

[SheSailsFL]

17 hours ago, rj59 said:

Since so many people are canceling or being turned away at the pier now, they're losing so much money and goodwill that it would seem to make better financial sense and to attract customers from other lines by simply mailing out two emed/Abbott tests to each cruiser, just as Princess mails out their Ocean Medallions.  People having to drive to different states to get a test, relying on PCR tests that can't guarantee 3-day results, or risking the entire vacation on a test the day of a cruise isn't cruising with confidence, but with unbearable stress and uncertainty.

Agree 💯 %.  I cancelled my August cruise when CVS abruptly cancelled my appointment, leaving me no other options with by then only 48 hours left.  I cant blame people for making 2 & 3 backup appointments in this situation but it is adding to the burden on an already overwhelmed system in my state (FL).  I got a full refund with no questions asked, but if I were the cruise line, I would be thinking of ways to keep that revenue with one of a few obvious and simple solutions.  
 

Lesson now learned, I’m stocking up on BinaxNow tests for my next attempt.  This is crazy.  If the kids could get vaxed they could go fully vaxed sailings and maybe there would be hope of ending this madness. 

[SheSailsFL]

14 hours ago, RosieRoo said:

My boxes say 10-5-2021 so if you add the extra 3 months they are only good until 1/5/22.  

Thanks so much to you and others for posting this info!  I’m not cruising now until January on 2 B2Bs and was wondering when I should order them.  
I’m concerned they will soon be in short supply, but can’t order yet due to the short shelf life. 🤷‍♀️

[jshli]

Maggieq,  in what CVS location in NJ did you get tested and which test did you receive?

[orville99]

18 hours ago, rj59 said:

Since so many people are canceling or being turned away at the pier now, they're losing so much money and goodwill that it would seem to make better financial sense and to attract customers from other lines by simply mailing out two emed/Abbott tests to each cruiser, just as Princess mails out their Ocean Medallions. 

This is probably the best suggestion I have ever read on Cruise Critic - which is also why RCL will probably never adopt it - it makes too much sense for them to comprehend the elegance of a simple solution.👍👍👍

[ryano]

18 hours ago, rj59 said:

 it would seem to make better financial sense and to attract customers from other lines by simply mailing out two emed/Abbott tests to each cruiser, just as Princess mails out their Ocean Medallions. 

 

Thats a brilliant idea.  They are definitely available for bulk purchase and the more you buy, the more you save.   Ive heard from Optum that Abbott is ramping up production to meet high demand.  RCI could likely get these kits at $15 a piece or less buying by the thousands.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

17 hours ago, ryano said:

Currently at our local CVS in Jasper Ga. None of todays appointments got any notice it was cancelled either.  They showed up for their scheduled appts and saw this.    This particular location only has the PCR test.   Do NOT rely on CVS as your only option!    It definitely appears to be a staffing issue instead of test shortage.  

yeap, same thing happened to me last year. At a local CVS. No call to warn me about the cancellation either...  I got extremely lucky that another CVS, several miles away, had a single appointment still open that day. Took forever in line, but I got it done that day.

[Iamcruzin]

They will probably have to cancel covid testing at the chain drug store I work at. We were supposed to take  a truck delivery last night and it never came. It was stuck on I95 due to the weather. There were 3 other stores on our route who also won't be getting a delivery. We only get a delivery once a week and now this one will have to be rescheduled and there is a holiday weekend coming up that just adds another hurdle.  Everyone who has a cruise planned should just bite the bullet and order the at home tests. I know the drug store tests are free and nobody wants an added expense but I would just chalk it up to the price of cruising at this moment.

[Iamcruzin]

19 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 I called the CVS that I am taking a test for next week, and the lady said usually cancels are not for lack of supplies but the lack of a person to open the clinic up.  If the nurse calls out sick or has a day off, they do not seem to have a backup person.  I think that is ridiculous.  I am lucky I have an urgent care nearby that will do the rapid test. 

 

 

 

 

 CVS and Walgreens here, do covid testing at the drive up window and it is supervised by a pharmacy tech.  I guess they don't have a drive up window at your location.  Vaccines are done by the Pharmacist.  

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, SheSailsFL said:

 

Lesson now learned, I’m stocking up on BinaxNow tests for my next attempt.  This is crazy.  If the kids could get vaxed they could go fully vaxed sailings and maybe there would be hope of ending this madness. 

Even if the under 12 kids could be vaccinated, next they will be requiring the booster shot for those who are 8 months out of the original shots to be considered fully vaxxed.  It's a never ending cycle

[Oceansaway17]

6 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

 CVS and Walgreens here, do covid testing at the drive up window and it is supervised by a pharmacy tech.  I guess they don't have a drive up window at your location.  Vaccines are done by the Pharmacist.  

No it is certain locations that do rapid tests for the CVS minute clinic. CVS

pharms do drive thru PCR so I know what I said was correct as per a phone call to the store

[Iamcruzin]

3 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

No it is certain locations that do rapid tests for the CVS minute clinic. CVS

pharms do drive thru PCR so I know what I said was correct as per a phone call to the store

Well that's a damn shame that they have a special site and nobody shows up to work.  I wish I could get away with not opening the store. We have floating pharmacists who can open pharmacy if someone is sick. The clinics should have the same.  I know there is the one off  last minute emergency but I gather from what you posted that it happens quite often unless I misinterpreted. 

[alexgtp]

So I was at the local Meijers yesterday and they had the BinaxNOW for sale.

 

Has anyone tried to purchase from a store and start a telehealth visit with the NAVICA app. 

-If so did they deny you because it is not from EMED or OPTUM stores? Hmm might have to buy one a try it.

[Iamcruzin]

2 minutes ago, alexgtp said:

So I was at the local Meijers yesterday and they had the BinaxNOW for sale.

 

Has anyone tried to purchase from a store and start a telehealth visit with the NAVICA app. 

-If so did they deny you because it is not from EMED or OPTUM stores? Hmm might have to buy one a try it.

The over the counter tests do not qualify for a cruise covid test.   There is a difference between those and the Emed or Optum tests. It was explained either in this thread or in the other testing thread.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Iamcruzin

[Iamcruzin]

18 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What a PITA just to go on a cruise! Is it really worth all this aggravation and stress? It gets to a point it isn't fun anymore.

They had me a having to wear a mask. Now wearing a mask seems like a walk in the park. If I was booked I would be calling for a refund now.  That extra 25% for the FCC doesn't even pay for the aggravation of it all.

[Iamcruzin]

18 hours ago, orville99 said:

We look at the Abbott Binax test as a $25 cruise insurance policy - A plan B reduces whatever remaining stress we might have had.

Why not use that as plan A and skip the appointment. 

[birdylady]

Thank you all for this information.  We planned to schedule ours with local CVS (last we checked would not have been an issue, but as of today, very few locations near us even offer it, eek).

 

So, with that, I appreciate all the Abbott/Binax info. Question. I see where if you order you get a 6 pack.  My question is, where people are saying you have to set up an account when ordering, can more than one person use a test from the 6pack? I.e. hubby and I could use 2 for our October cruise (and assuming expiration date is still good) use 2 more for February?

Thanx,

Erika

[RosieRoo]

2 minutes ago, birdylady said:

Thank you all for this information.  We planned to schedule ours with local CVS (last we checked would not have been an issue, but as of today, very few locations near us even offer it, eek).

 

So, with that, I appreciate all the Abbott/Binax info. Question. I see where if you order you get a 6 pack.  My question is, where people are saying you have to set up an account when ordering, can more than one person use a test from the 6pack? I.e. hubby and I could use 2 for our October cruise (and assuming expiration date is still good) use 2 more for February?

Thanx,

Erika

Anyone can use the tests. You just have to individually sign up for the Navica app. Be careful about ordering and thinking you can use the extra later. I ordered the 6 pack thinking I could use two now and the other four for my January back to back cruise, but when they arrived they are only good until January 5, 2022 so I am stuck with 4 tests that are useless to me. 

[mauraoel]

2 hours ago, SheSailsFL said:

Thanks so much to you and others for posting this info!  I’m not cruising now until January on 2 B2Bs and was wondering when I should order them.  
I’m concerned they will soon be in short supply, but can’t order yet due to the short shelf life. 🤷‍♀️

It's not really a short shelf life it's more they are getting rid of the stock they have had since the beginning of the year.  I think once they get rid of all the older stock people will start receiving product with a longer shelf life.

[mauraoel]

2 minutes ago, RosieRoo said:

Anyone can use the tests. You just have to individually sign up for the Navica app. Be careful about ordering and thinking you can use the extra later. I ordered the 6 pack thinking I could use two now and the other four for my January back to back cruise, but when they arrived they are only good until January 5, 2022 so I am stuck with 4 tests that are useless to me. 

That's frustrating, I know that the first 6 I ordered first had an expiration of January 15th but the next six I ordered when we decided that we were going to use them on the littles, were January 5th so we will use the these first and then one out of the first box if needed.

[sn2792]

5 minutes ago, birdylady said:

Thank you all for this information.  We planned to schedule ours with local CVS (last we checked would not have been an issue, but as of today, very few locations near us even offer it, eek).

 

So, with that, I appreciate all the Abbott/Binax info. Question. I see where if you order you get a 6 pack.  My question is, where people are saying you have to set up an account when ordering, can more than one person use a test from the 6pack? I.e. hubby and I could use 2 for our October cruise (and assuming expiration date is still good) use 2 more for February?

Thanx,

Erika

Hubby and I just took our tests this morning. We each created an account on the NAVICA app. When I ordered the tests from Emed I entered both our names for using the tests. It’s my understanding that if someone other than us needed to use the tests, they could create an account on the NAVICA app to use one of the tests.

 

We are leaving on a cruise Sunday and have another one the end of September. So we will use these tests again, but will make a CVS appointment as a backup. I don’t think the last 2 in our box will still be valid for our February cruise, but tests may not be needed by then.

[DallasGuy75219]

35 minutes ago, alexgtp said:

Has anyone tried to purchase from a store and start a telehealth visit with the NAVICA app. 

-If so did they deny you because it is not from EMED or OPTUM stores? Hmm might have to buy one a try it.

 

[garywatson]

On 9/1/2021 at 7:32 AM, WeatherFx said:

We are scheduled out of Nassau this Saturday 09-03-2021. Originally scheduled antigen test with CVS, hour away was the closest, CVS cancelled last Thursday. Rescheduled with local Walgreens for this morning- Walgreens you can only schedule three days in advance. 8:30pm last night we get text messages that our appointments are cancelled at Walgreens - sorry for inconvenience. Spent all night trying to find alternatives. No appointments available at all local urgent-cares until Saturday. The only place that we can find to get an antigen test is at PHL international airport in the next state. Fine, we'll drive there. How do you know if RCL accepts the antigen test from the airport? Jefferson Health has partnered with Rapid Reliable Testing at PHL. They don't specify what antigen test they are giving.

 

Just a data point in case you are interested - I had a RT-PCR test at the drive through window at CVS on Tuesday at 2:30pm and got the results back yesterday, Wednesday, at 8:45pm.  So a little over 24 hours.  This was in the metro Atlanta area.  By the way, something annoying about CVS is that if you go to your online chart you can print the test results but they don't look very official at all. On the other hand, if you click on the link in the text message, it takes you to a portal where it offers to print a much more official looking test report with their logo on it. Stupid and lazy, in my opinion.

[orville99]

30 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Why not use that as plan A and skip the appointment. 

Because I also have occasional land-based desire for testing (based on social interactions), and it doesn't always need to be a proctored test to provide me with peace of mind. Getting a six pack gives me that option, and that use doesn't take up a CVS slot. For cruising, we prefer the face-to-face CVS option to the less accurate lateral flow Binax test.

Edited September 2, 2021 by orville99

[molly361]

Just read on FB that as of 9/13 Carnival is changing to 2 days for testing to meet with the CDC  Wonder if Royal will follow  that's just cazy

[mauraoel]

9 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Just read on FB that as of 9/13 Carnival is changing to 2 days for testing to meet with the CDC  Wonder if Royal will follow  that's just cazy

Yeah, I just can't see anyone being able to get it done in that short a time frame unless they do the Home Proctored test.