2 day Covid test requirement

[jmill6036]

Does anyone else think that the 2 day Covid test requirement for vaccinated passengers is a little rushed. I'm sailing on Allure this Monday (11/8). I took my test at CVS this morning. They say that I should have the results in 1-2 days. I'm stressing that I won't have the results by Monday, so I tried to schedule an appointment on the day of sailing at the port. I clicked on the RC link for the appointment which showed there were 317 tests available for Monday. For whatever reason, the site would not let me complete the appointment. I've been on with RC for 1:45 minutes trying to get an appointment with no luck. The RC rep could not tell me why I couldn't complete the process. Very frustrating!! I think there should be at least a 3 day window of opportunity for testing. 

[orville99]

We always do the CVS antigen test. Results in 1-2 hours.

[bethco]

When I have booked a rapid test, I have had results before I got home.

[neverbeenhere]

This is why you buy the monitored home test as backup to cvs or other rapid test. If you don’t need the monitored test, you could sell/give them to someone on your cruise. Meet the day before your cruise. 
 

we use Walgreens and Kaiser Permanente as our two backups to the home monitored tests. We cancel our appointments as soon as we successfully complete the monitored tests. 

[Junkhouse]

6 minutes ago, bethco said:

When I have booked a rapid test, I have had results before I got home.

Yes, the only way to go.  The last cruise we went on, one person said they didn't get their results until after they landed the day of the cruise while their spouse got their results the night before.

[Anton]

Unfortunately the CDC doesn't appear interested in changing the 2 day test requirement before the CSO expires on January 15.  So we are all stuck with it until then and hopefully RCI will have a more reasonable test requirement when the industry moves to the voluntary program CDC claims to be committed to doing.  I've used the at-home monitored test three times now for cruises and it's been a game changer for me.  2 day tests are hard to find in my area.

[AustinCruise]

Sounds like you did the PCR test and not the rapid antigen test.  The rapid test is 15 minutes (cvs usually takes an hour to process and get the results back).

of course it would be nice if one had 7 days, but the value is reduced the more time between testing and boarding.  So 2 sounds like a reasonable balance to me. 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by AustinCruise

[atgood]

3 hours ago, jmill6036 said:

Does anyone else think that the 2 day Covid test requirement for vaccinated passengers is a little rushed. I'm sailing on Allure this Monday (11/8). I took my test at CVS this morning. They say that I should have the results in 1-2 days. I'm stressing that I won't have the results by Monday, so I tried to schedule an appointment on the day of sailing at the port. I clicked on the RC link for the appointment which showed there were 317 tests available for Monday. For whatever reason, the site would not let me complete the appointment. I've been on with RC for 1:45 minutes trying to get an appointment with no luck. The RC rep could not tell me why I couldn't complete the process. Very frustrating!! I think there should be at least a 3 day window of opportunity for testing. 

@jmill6036 Be sure you are completing all of the boxes on the website when registering for the test.  There are boxes for your first and last names if you are a parent scheduling a minor.   If you are scheduling for yourself, be sure to enter “N/A” in both of those boxes.  If you leave the two boxes empty, the site will not let you finish to register for the test.  

Edited November 6, 2021 by atgood

[Ship2Shore]

Why not just do the rapid antigen test. We did ours at a local urgent care and had results in 10 minutes.  CVS has proven to be very unreliable with frequent cancellations. 

[ThisGirlsOnFire]

do you have to make an appointment at CVS?

[hollon]

17 hours ago, orville99 said:

We always do the CVS antigen test. Results in 1-2 hours.

is this the same test as the rapid test where you get results in 15 mins.? Making sure I'm getting the correct test?  thanks

[orville99]

29 minutes ago, hollon said:

is this the same test as the rapid test where you get results in 15 mins.? Making sure I'm getting the correct test?  thanks

Yes, this is the Rapid Antigen test. We usually get the results by the time we get home from CVS.

[orville99]

14 hours ago, ThisGirlsOnFire said:

do you have to make an appointment at CVS?

Yes, and they fill up quickly. They open for appointments 14 days before the day you would need to book. We booked on Saturday 11/6 at 7:30 AM for a Friday 11/19 test date and there were only 6 time slots left.

Edited November 7, 2021 by orville99

[1025cruise]

The 2 day rule is a CDC requirement.

The reason unvaccinated passengers get 3 days is due to being required to have a PCR test which take longer to get results. Vaccinated passengers can have the quicker antigen test.

[SilkySal]

This site may help you find a facility to perform the rapid antigen test for you:

 

https://www.solvhealth.com/covid19#get-tested

 

Also, our local county fairgrounds have been performing both the PCR and rapid antigen tests for a couple of months now, so you can check with your county offices as well. Our county uses NOMI labs to confirm all of its tests. Hope this helps!

 

By the way, we are also boarding our ship on Monday, the Allure!! Cheers!!

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by SilkySal
add

[orville99]

40 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

By the way, we are also boarding our ship on Monday, the Allure!! Cheers!!

She is in PC now. I presume she will be deadheading to PE soon.

[GTO-Girl]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Yes, and they fill up quickly. They open for appointments 14 days before the day you would need to book. We booked on Saturday 11/6 at 7:30 AM for a Friday 11/19 test date and there were only 6 time slots left.

We also booked appts at CVS for our cruise last month.  Sadly they sent us an email the night before canceling our appts with no explanation.

 

Thankfully we already had the home monitored tests and just did those.

Edited November 7, 2021 by GTO-Girl

[coffeebean]

I plan to make some phone calls tomorrow about this but just for a heads up........

 

Anyone know if urgent care centers do the Rapid Antigen Tests ONLY if a person is having symptoms or will urgent care centers do the test for travel too?

Edited November 7, 2021 by coffeebean

[not-enough-cruising]

7 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

The 2 day rule is a CDC requirement.

The reason unvaccinated passengers get 3 days is due to being required to have a PCR test which take longer to get results. Vaccinated passengers can have the quicker antigen test.

Actually the 3 day test for unvaccinated no longer needs to be PCR, the test at the pier is PCR 

[AustinCruise]

23 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

I plan to make some phone calls tomorrow about this but just for a heads up........

 

Anyone know if urgent care centers do the Rapid Antigen Tests ONLY if a person is having symptoms or will urgent care centers do the test for travel too?

Some will. Some will not. Be very careful and ask for cost up front.   Some (many?) will charge for an office visit at urgent care rates. 
 

Really - the emed option is a really great solution. 

[Harrylinden]

On 11/6/2021 at 2:54 PM, neverbeenhere said:

This is why you buy the monitored home test as backup to cvs or other rapid test. If you don’t need the monitored test, you could sell/give them to someone on your cruise. Meet the day before your cruise. 
 

we use Walgreens and Kaiser Permanente as our two backups to the home monitored tests. We cancel our appointments as soon as we successfully complete the monitored tests. 

Did you do it on your computer or on your phone? I would like to do it on my computer as it has a bigger screen. I know we have to scan a QR code but I not sure how to scan it on a computer? Can I just register online on my computer to take the test or do I have to scan the QR code to rsgister to take the test?

[cruzingthebriny]

I was just wondering.......both my daughters work for private physicians.  They do the Rapid test in their office for their patients.  When the test results come in, the doctor writes it on a prescription pad, signs it and gives it to the patient.  (they may write down their medical license number on it) I was wondering if this would be acceptable for RCI

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, cruzingthebriny said:

I was wondering if this would be acceptable for RCI

Unlikely any hand written test result would be acceptable. 

[AustinCruise]

29 minutes ago, cruzingthebriny said:

I was just wondering.......both my daughters work for private physicians.  They do the Rapid test in their office for their patients.  When the test results come in, the doctor writes it on a prescription pad, signs it and gives it to the patient.  (they may write down their medical license number on it) I was wondering if this would be acceptable for RCI

It specifically says no hand written test results. 

[travelhound]

On 11/6/2021 at 1:45 PM, jmill6036 said:

Does anyone else think that the 2 day Covid test requirement for vaccinated passengers is a little rushed. I'm sailing on Allure this Monday (11/8). I took my test at CVS this morning. They say that I should have the results in 1-2 days. I'm stressing that I won't have the results by Monday, so I tried to schedule an appointment on the day of sailing at the port. I clicked on the RC link for the appointment which showed there were 317 tests available for Monday. For whatever reason, the site would not let me complete the appointment. I've been on with RC for 1:45 minutes trying to get an appointment with no luck. The RC rep could not tell me why I couldn't complete the process. Very frustrating!! I think there should be at least a 3 day window of opportunity for testing. 

Testing fully vaccinated passengers is excessive.  Most public venues are moving to show proof of vaccination or a negative test if you are unvaccinated.  Testing everyone is not a sustainable protocol.