Carnival should do the testing at the pier for free like the other lines!

[eileen11]

NCL tests for free at the port. Why do we have to pay for Carnival's testing?  I am perfectly willing to test with CVS, but if it does not come back in time, then we have to fly across country and pay hundreds of dollars for a test that NCL is paying for and Carnival is not.

[mondello]

I'd imagine they want us to pretest before arrival. Sometimes they have enough trouble dealing with getting hundreds of guests through the lines in the terminal and aboard the ship.

[BoozinCroozin]

Maybe because they do not want to manage the logistics, overhead, and everything else that is required for it. It is no small feat. I said it in another post, they would be better off contracting with eMed, have 1,000s of test kits at a facility near the port, have computer terminals setup, and go that route for people that cannot get tested within 2 days or results didn't come back in 2 days. Much easier solution to manage. With the buying power of scale, tests could cost as little as $10. Directly from eMed for any of us, it is $25.

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Maybe because they do not want to manage the logistics, overhead, and everything else that is required for it. It is no small feat. I said it in another post, they would be better off contracting with eMed, have 1,000s of test kits at a facility near the port, have computer terminals setup, and go that route for people that cannot get tested within 2 days or results didn't come back in 2 days. Much easier solution to manage. With the buying power of scale, tests could cost as little as $10. Directly from eMed for any of us, it is $25.

I'm assuming you read rcl who is selling from emed. I'm wondering if there is enough supply. Emed link to buy thru rcl starts sept 5th, tomorrow.  Wasnt the answer I wanted. Not everyone wants a zoom test. 

[Aplmac]

And this is exactly why I won't be cruising for quite some time.
All this nonsense has to be done, before I feel like participating again.

I like cruising -but NOT THIS MUCH!

[travelplus]

As Rick Steves says.what is $150 for a $4000.trip? I'm planning to go to Europe and if you can afford the flight,hotel and attractions you can budget in the test. It's like a Visa for a foreign country.

 

WHen I went to Brazil I paid for the Visa because it's a requirement. Would you rather be stuck with loosing money because you failed to pay for a Visa?

 

I would like free testing and perhaps Carnival can work with s vendor like Alaska Air does for Hawaii with priority testing in Long Beach, Port Canaveral and Miami and you pay or book the free test  for it like. a Shore Excursion and it can automatically set your time. 

 

Or you can do it before you cruise. 

 

I',m sorry to say this but if you are not ready to pay $1000 for a Family to get tested entering and leaving a County or for a Cruise perhaps it's best to postpone your vacation. While I don't like this extra step that is incumbent on me to do.I will do it if it means no quarantine. 

 

I understand that not everything is fool proof . The hurdles to travel have always been thee just in different forms.  Basic Economy you pay for everything but I add up what I need and book the regular fare in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts? 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by travelplus

[travelplus]

As Rick.Steves

13 minutes ago, Aplmac said:

And this is exactly why I won't be cruising for quite some time.
All this nonsense has to be done, before I feel like participating again.

I like cruising -but NOT THIS MUCH!

Would you not enter a county if you have to pay $150 for a Visa to see a city on your bucket list?It's the same thing here you could easily spend $150 for specialty dining,shore excursions etc. 

 

You love cruising like I do and $150.or so is the reason you don't want to cruise? Is it the test or cost that bothers you? I would much rather sail in a lower grade cabin and use the savings for the test if money was an issue. 

 

If you test positive you get a FCC.  

 

I don't mean to question you but I want to know why is it you want cruise for a long time.

 

Lets say you love Disney and now they charge everyone $150 to go on premium rides at better times. You spent $5500 on tickets,airfare and lodging and this $150 saves you time and gives you priority access and remember time is money?

 

Or Faster to the fun is $200 and people are willing to pay this but are questioning this for the test. I guess the point you are trying to make is the Test may have false positives or false negatives.

 

PLess entertain me on your reasoning for postponing cruising perhaps I'm missing something.

[travelplus]

2 minutes ago, travelplus said:

As Rick.Steves

Would you not enter a county if you have to pay $150 for a Visa to see a city on your bucket list?It's the same thing here you could easily spend $150 for specialty dining,shore excursions etc. 

 

You love cruising like I do and $150.or so is the reason you don't want to cruise? Is it the test or cost that bothers you? I would much rather sail in a lower grade cabin and use the savings for the test if money was an issue. 

 

If you test positive you get a FCC.  

 

I don't mean to question you but I want to know why is it you want cruise for a long time.

 

Lets say you love Disney and now they charge everyone $150 to go on premium rides at better times on a first come first serve limited basis. You spent $5500 on tickets,airfare and lodging and this $150 saves you time and gives you priority access and remember time is money?

 

Or Faster to the fun is $200 and people are willing to pay this but are questioning this for the test. I guess the point you are trying to make is the Test may have false positives or false negatives.

 

PLess entertain me on your reasoning for postponing cruising perhaps I'm missing something.

 

[Pyrate13]

3 hours ago, eileen11 said:

NCL tests for free at the port. Why do we have to pay for Carnival's testing?  I am perfectly willing to test with CVS, but if it does not come back in time, then we have to fly across country and pay hundreds of dollars for a test that NCL is paying for and Carnival is not.

Seems simple, don't like Carnivals method then go with NCL.

[BoozinCroozin]

42 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I'm assuming you read rcl who is selling from emed. I'm wondering if there is enough supply. Emed link to buy thru rcl starts sept 5th, tomorrow.  Wasnt the answer I wanted. Not everyone wants a zoom test. 

Then don't depend on Carnival being able to supply this. They are working on it. Available resources to provide the service are being competed for by every healthcare facility in the nation. My nephew is a medical recruiter. A year ago the nurses he was recruiting were paid $2,000 per week. Those same nurses now are $5,000-$6,000 per week. This is no small feat to take on, find a supplier willing to manage it, let alone the supplies to do it. It is months before supply chains ramp back up and are able to cover demand. It could very well get to the point where testing is for medical only and not travel. 

 

You are welcome to do any testing you want. It sound like you just want everything provided to you so you don't have to do any thing. We would all like that, but that is not going to happen. A single test is billable at about $150. Cruise lines are at a disservice to the shareholders by not passing those costs to the customer. On average, that would be a waste of $400,000 on every sailing.

[sunonfire]

Just this morning I was thinking about Carnival’s testing - here’s my question. Do they test you before you hand over your luggage or after? If they test in the terminal then you would have already turned in your luggage, if you test positive how long before they can find and return your luggage?

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Then don't depend on Carnival being able to supply this. They are working on it. Available resources to provide the service are being competed for by every healthcare facility in the nation. My nephew is a medical recruiter. A year ago the nurses he was recruiting were paid $2,000 per week. Those same nurses now are $5,000-$6,000 per week. This is no small feat to take on, find a supplier willing to manage it, let alone the supplies to do it. It is months before supply chains ramp back up and are able to cover demand. It could very well get to the point where testing is for medical only and not travel. 

 

You are welcome to do any testing you want. It sound like you just want everything provided to you so you don't have to do any thing. We would all like that, but that is not going to happen. A single test is billable at about $150. Cruise lines are at a disservice to the shareholders by not passing those costs to the customer. On average, that would be a waste of $400,000 on every sailing.

Kind of a lot of erroneous assumptions about me. Crazy .. but ok I'll bite.

 

I have a CVS drive thru test booked for next Wednesday and have every expectation things will go smoothly. In october 2 days window so I'll have to book it a day closer to my cruise. 

 

After October I'll be dealing with it for rcl as you see in my signature. Its possible my CVS will not be smooth but that's my expectation... not your made up that I want everything done for me for free. You are smarter than this post surely and know better than to make up assumptions. Drink more coffee, wake up. 

 

Next week still have the 3 day window as I've posted previously, under the wire.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, sunonfire said:

Just this morning I was thinking about Carnival’s testing - here’s my question. Do they test you before you hand over your luggage or after? If they test in the terminal then you would have already turned in your luggage, if you test positive how long before they can find and return your luggage?

If you are talking about them looking into it ..idk where someone got it but he said earliest is November. I wouldnt count on something carnival hadnt even set up yet and we dont know the cost.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Aplmac said:

And this is exactly why I won't be cruising for quite some time.
All this nonsense has to be done, before I feel like participating again.

I like cruising -but NOT THIS MUCH!

Exactly. The more hoops the CDC comes up with and the cruise lines agree to, the more it seems like it is just not worth it.

 

Lots of great memories, but maybe time to move on.

[Homosassa]

What makes you think it is "free" on NCL?  

 

Any service provided by the cruise line is reflected in the fare paid or, if that is not possible, in cut backs in other services.

 

As far as NCL goes, maybe the base fare is the same as Carnival's fare (I don't know), but once on board you pay for such things as somewhat edible food in their specialty restaurants or various entertainment.

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, travelplus said:

As Rick Steves says.what is $150 for a $4000.trip? I'm planning to go to Europe and if you can afford the flight,hotel and attractions you can budget in the test. It's like a Visa for a foreign country.

 

I',m sorry to say this but if you are not ready to pay $1000 for a Family to get tested entering and leaving a County or for a Cruise perhaps it's best to postpone your vacation. While I don't like this extra step that is incumbent on me to do.I will do it if it means no quarantine. 

 

Extended travel to Europe or Brazil is in no way similar, cost wise, to a 5 day Bahamas cruise.  I have no problem with testing.  That said, it is absolutely true that any incremental expense associated with pre-cruise testing gets factored into my decisioning regarding a simple cruise vacation. 

[glrounds]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Exactly. The more hoops the CDC comes up with and the cruise lines agree to, the more it seems like it is just not worth it.

 

Lots of great memories, but maybe time to move on.

 

3 hours ago, Aplmac said:

And this is exactly why I won't be cruising for quite some time.
All this nonsense has to be done, before I feel like participating again.

I like cruising -but NOT THIS MUCH!

 

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Exactly. The more hoops the CDC comes up with and the cruise lines agree to, the more it seems like it is just not worth it.

 

Lots of great memories, but maybe time to move on.

 

It's sure starting to look that way for me, also. 34 cruises with Carnival, it was great fun and I had some good times, but at 82 it just gets more demanding and perks are almost non-existent. Just not the same as the "old days". 🙂

[normandes]

We did testing at the pier 2 weeks ago ago with MSC ,too stressful. Worried several days before about testing positive and then having to get back on a plane to go home.  After the test, we had had to wait in a room with other people to see our results. The couple next to us tested positive and their party of 4 were denied entry onto boat. It was sooooo. Sad😢

[rj59]

Don't do testing at the pier or a drugstore or run around worrying. Just order a BinaxNOW ag card monitored test, either through emed (6 tests for $150) or optum (2 for $70). You can take it when and were you like, you just need their app and some device with a cam and audio to have it monitored while you do it. It also is an ideal option for international travel, since you have an easy option for testing before returning to the US, and $25 a test is a reasonable option, especially if it removes the stress, risks of cancellation/not getting test results, lost time waiting in lines, having a stranger shove a swab up your nose, and  risks of sitting at a testing site with possibly infected people. That's the only reliable, universally accepted option now that can meet the 2-day testing window. 

[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, rj59 said:

Don't do testing at the pier or a drugstore or run around worrying. Just order a BinaxNOW ag card monitored test, either through emed (6 tests for $150) or optum (2 for $70). You can take it when and were you like, you just need their app and some device with a cam and audio to have it monitored while you do it. It also is an ideal option for international travel, since you have an easy option for testing before returning to the US, and $25 a test is a reasonable option, especially if it removes the stress, risks of cancellation/not getting test results, lost time waiting in lines, having a stranger shove a swab up your nose, and  risks of sitting at a testing site with possibly infected people. That's the only reliable, universally accepted option now that can meet the 2-day testing window. 

Each to his own. The people getting the emed home test have a expiration date in oct which was lengthened to January. Who wants to worry about expiration dates. It's only $25 a test if you use all 6, I'm solo. I'll take my chances with a drive thru CVS. Plenty CVS around here. Cant go inside for test, just sit in your car. I guess they figure if you are testing for covid they dont want you inside.

[K_e_short]

You get what you pay for.

Carnival is the cheapest cruise line and I like it because I don't want to pay for things I don't need.

 

The other cruiselines cost more and can afford to offer free testing.

 

As others have said if you can get the test for cheap/free then why would you pay Carnival for that?

 

Another way to think of it, if your cruise fare is higher because of testing why would you pay that extra amount if you can get the test for free?

 

One Cruise YouTuber did a cost comparision of cruiselines that offer everything all inclusive, versus pay as you go. Very interesting analysis and the conclusion was to pick a cruiseline in your price range that offers you what you want.

 

 

[stellarose]

we leave the day Christmas Day. so we have to pay to find a place Christmas Eve (Sunday sail- fly in the day before).

 

if carnival would offer it at the port- free- yeah.

if not- 135-150 per person Christmas Eve.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, glrounds said:

 

 

 

It's sure starting to look that way for me, also. 34 cruises with Carnival, it was great fun and I had some good times, but at 82 it just gets more demanding and perks are almost non-existent. Just not the same as the "old days". 🙂

Since you quoted me twice, let me say, "You can say that again" though I have had less cruises and actually with a variety of cruise lines.

 

As the song goes, "those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end".

[BlerkOne]

I'm pretty sure NCL is passing any costs on to cruisers. I'm frankly surprised they don't charge cruisers a 20% gratuity like they do with the other free stuff.

[zeroed]

Carnival could easily minimize this if they’d just go with 100% vax and no exceptions for any reason. The expensive day of terminal tests wouldn’t be needed anymore.  As for the vaxxed, they’d get tested before they arrive at the terminal or they don’t get in. It would solve a lot of problems if Carnival did this.