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Covid tests - Home test vs. Walgreens or CVS

kafraser78

By kafraser78,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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kafraser78

kafraser78

Posted
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Hi Everybody, my family and I (4 of us) will be getting on the Mardi Gras on December 26th.  We will be in the Orlando area from December 23rd.

We are not sure which home test to purchase for the Embarkation or if we should (can we, being Canadian?) book at a Walgreens or CVS one day?

Yes we are all vaccinated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

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Saint Greg "Live from...." Rare

Saint Greg

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49 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

If the Proctored home tests are set to expire Dec 21, how does one buy tests with a later expiration date?  I have a Jan 13 cruise and would like to have back up as well.

 

I would probably wait until December...or at least until we start hearing about everyone getting tests that are good through January. I knew I was going with the home test after my Mardi Gras experience. I wanted tests that were good in October and December. I waited until the beginning of October to order. You may even be able to wait until January if you have to. I had my tests 2 days after ordering.

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ninjacat123 "Live from...." Rare

ninjacat123

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1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I would probably wait until December...or at least until we start hearing about everyone getting tests that are good through January. I knew I was going with the home test after my Mardi Gras experience. I wanted tests that were good in October and December. I waited until the beginning of October to order. You may even be able to wait until January if you have to. I had my tests 2 days after ordering.

You bought the BINAX online?  I was checking and they were sold out.  Hopefully that won't be the case in January....

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Saint Greg "Live from...." Rare

Saint Greg

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15 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

You bought the BINAX online?  I was checking and they were sold out.  Hopefully that won't be the case in January....

 

The link gtalum posted above is where I got mine. I believe it's emed that was (maybe still is) sold out.

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BoozinCroozin Great Review Rare

BoozinCroozin

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Well, testing is still difficult to get. If it is not a rapid test, then it is unlikely results would be back for a Dec 26 cruise. It will be hard enough finding a place on Dec 24 to take it let alone a facility to run the results on Dec 24 or 25th. I would 100% be going after the BinaxNow tests. I would also buy 2 for every person going just in case of issues:

  1. Empty dropper bottle
  2. Test gets crushed or damaged in shipping or transportation
  3. The proctor skips a step and makes the test invalid
  4. Dropping a piece of the test on the ground
  5. Camera or network going out in the middle of the test

Tons can go wrong and there is no solution to correct it over XMas.

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topaz123

topaz123

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1 hour ago, gtalum said:

 

You can get them here.  They are all September 21 expiry extended to December 21, though.

We have the BiMax, and I see they issued a corrected expiration date for the tests.....I thought the one we had would be expired, but I see a whole list of extended dates for these from the manufacturer.

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robc1972

robc1972

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Careful with the CVS PCR test, they say 1-2 days, sometimes 3.

Recently took me 4 days to get results back.

We timed it out so 72 hours would be as we got to Canadian border, one person got results and I didnt have mine when I got to the border, luckily the border agent was nice and let me in anyway snce he saw when I took my test and that results weren't back yet.

For cruise in November we are doing rapid test to get results in an hour.

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kafraser78

kafraser78

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1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Well, testing is still difficult to get. If it is not a rapid test, then it is unlikely results would be back for a Dec 26 cruise. It will be hard enough finding a place on Dec 24 to take it let alone a facility to run the results on Dec 24 or 25th. I would 100% be going after the BinaxNow tests. I would also buy 2 for every person going just in case of issues:

  1. Empty dropper bottle
  2. Test gets crushed or damaged in shipping or transportation
  3. The proctor skips a step and makes the test invalid
  4. Dropping a piece of the test on the ground
  5. Camera or network going out in the middle of the test

Tons can go wrong and there is no solution to correct it over XMas.

I just watched a youtube video on how to use the BinaxNow test.  What results do you provide to get on the ship?

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Vega1701

Vega1701

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If you're all vaccinated, then you can do the rapid antigen test up to 2 days before. We made an appointment at CVS for that, and we had results about 15 minutes later. I was able to use insurance so it was free for us to get tested, but the cost was listed at around $150 per test. 

 

One thing with CVS, you'd want to make an account on their website for each person, you need to go to their MyChart to get the results to print out. 

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RGEDad

RGEDad

Posted
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On 10/19/2021 at 12:20 PM, kafraser78 said:

We are not sure which home test to purchase for the Embarkation

At least one other Canadian posted that when they tried to purchase the Abbott BINAX Home test they were told they (as Canadians) could not purchase it. They cannot send the test to Canada - or have a Canadian phone number. They are technically a prescribed test, with a prescription generated by the USA selling company.

I would call eMed to confirm before assuming you can include that in your testing plans. Once you have the package you can actually do the test from anyplace.

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CTKaren

CTKaren

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I need help! We are leaving out of New Orleans on a Thursday. We are flying down two days before, very early Tuesday arriving in NO around 10am. Now I was looking into the Binax home test and it looks pretty simple. However, I don't know how we go about getting it seen by someone online. I wasn't planning to bring my laptop but know I will have to. 

 

Thanks for any help or suggestions you can give me.

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RGEDad

RGEDad

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On 10/20/2021 at 10:18 PM, CTKaren said:

Now I was looking into the Binax home test and it looks pretty simple. However, I don't know how we go about getting it seen by someone online. I wasn't planning to bring my laptop but know I will have to.

You need your smart Phone to install the NAVICA App and set up your account (one account for each person). You can do the test using just your cell Phone. Easiest to just prop it up so the proctor can see you AND the table the test is on. Periodically you will need to pick up the phone to show specific labels on the package, or a close-up of the test card. 

Videos abound on the internet of this process. Get a spare or two - just in case something goes...not to plan - or even to just do a practice run (practice makes perfect).

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