Pre departure lateral flow test

[LLOM]

I have been looking at a fly cruise to the canaries in December, looking at TUI website it states we have to do a lateral flow test after 9pm the night before the flight, I think this is instead of the one we did at the port prior to embarkation, my concern is that  after uploading the results the required confirmation does not come back in time  for us to be able to check in for the flight, also we would need to stay over the night before and if the WiFi is not good this could delay the result confirmation. We did a cruise from Southampton and the test we had there done by P&O prior to embarkation mine came back within 1 hour my husbands did not come back until we were on day 3 of the cruise ! luckily P&O could check his on their system which allowed us to board, a number of people experienced the same thing and it was put down to poor WiFi, not sure if this is true but it is what I am concerned about . Has any one who has done a fly cruise recently experienced any problems with their tests  confirmation please. Many thanks 

[howmuch!]

If you upload the results of the test using your phone, the confirmation can be downloaded using your mobile data if wifi isn't any good - assuming your emails come to your phone

Edited November 11, 2021 by howmuch!

[LLOM]

Thank you how much, sorry for the delayed response, yes I did that on the last cruise, but with difficulty, my emails do come to my phone but it still took some time for it to come through, we are rethinking about the  cruise , there is one going later which may be better. Thankyou  once again 

[2BACRUISER]

I just got my Chromatic test pack in post. Nowhere does it mention the after 9pm this is obviously a Marella thing. We have to be up at 2am to make our flight at 7am (travelling from frozen north to Brum) so not much chance of an early night prior 😕🙄 one assumes chromatics have staff available at that time of day as there are two flights to this cruise out of brum on that date so 600+ tests???

[LLOM]

Thank you for your reply, I believe it is a TUI requirement as I read it on their information page for international cruise requirements, the flight I was looking at was from Newcastle and the departure time was approx 10 45 am.

[Simonthesailor]

Just done test for MX2. Instructions form Chromatic slightly unclear at the point where you have to enter barcode - there is no bar code but there is a serial number. That worked. The approval email comes back almost by return- minimal delay. The late night test = loads of tired people next day!

Some folk were unable to download proof at check in at the cruise terminal but were able to have another test done locally (in Malaga cruise terminal) for about £18, so no need to panic

[LLOM]

Thank you Simonthesailor for that information, we have booked the cruise today so fingers crossed everything will be OK 

[2BACRUISER]

6 hours ago, Simonthesailor said:

Just done test for MX2. Instructions form Chromatic slightly unclear at the point where you have to enter barcode - there is no bar code but there is a serial number. That worked. The approval email comes back almost by return- minimal delay. The late night test = loads of tired people next day!

Some folk were unable to download proof at check in at the cruise terminal but were able to have another test done locally (in Malaga cruise terminal) for about £18, so no need to panic

One of the reasons I'll be mostly staying up late and printing mine off. 👍🙂

[paulatsea]

Hi LLOM - Marella mention this requirement - I’m not sure what others do -   It’s the after 9pm test before the flight that I’m worried about as well - I’m not going until next may so hope it’s simplified by then - but it sounds stressful to have to do this pre flight - what if it goes wrong ? Are there any testing sites at Gatwick airport ? I Might buy a tiny printer to take to the airport hotel to print results from phone.

 

good luck - hope it goes well for you - be interested to know how it goes .

 

 

Paul

 

[Mashpotato]

On 11/11/2021 at 1:15 PM, LLOM said:

I have been looking at a fly cruise to the canaries in December, looking at TUI website it states we have to do a lateral flow test after 9pm the night before the flight, I think this is instead of the one we did at the port prior to embarkation, my concern is that  after uploading the results the required confirmation does not come back in time  for us to be able to check in for the flight, also we would need to stay over the night before and if the WiFi is not good this could delay the result confirmation. We did a cruise from Southampton and the test we had there done by P&O prior to embarkation mine came back within 1 hour my husbands did not come back until we were on day 3 of the cruise ! luckily P&O could check his on their system which allowed us to board, a number of people experienced the same thing and it was put down to poor WiFi, not sure if this is true but it is what I am concerned about . Has any one who has done a fly cruise recently experienced any problems with their tests  confirmation please. Many thanks 

I am going on 14th December,up most nights reading through it all ,worrying about the test 9pm night before as you can’t check in till you have results that mean you don’t know what seats you have until then,also it don’t give much time if results are late as fly at 1230 lunch time.also we are in hotel so can’t print boarding passes or certification.also I read something about the address you have to put on the form for the cruise but can’t find it now and it’s stressing me out

[ferretktf]

2 hours ago, Mashpotato said:

I am going on 14th December,up most nights reading through it all ,worrying about the test 9pm night before as you can’t check in till you have results that mean you don’t know what seats you have until then,also it don’t give much time if results are late as fly at 1230 lunch time.also we are in hotel so can’t print boarding passes or certification.also I read something about the address you have to put on the form for the cruise but can’t find it now and it’s stressing me out

Hey , please don’t stress.

 

you don’t need to do the test before you check in. You can check in earlier in the day (if it lets you, sometimes the online check in does not work for cruises and you have to check in at the airport anyway).

 

if you are using Chronomics then there will not be any delay - you get the results instantly as it is all self-certification. You state that you are uploading a negative test (assuming that it is of course) and you get a certificate generated instantly. There is no human interaction.

 

they will email you the certificate and you will be able to show it on your phone at the airport (you can also access the certificate through your Chronomics logon.) hopefully you have a phone that supports email or internet browsing?

 

Which form are you referring to when you mention addresses?
the Spanish entry form?  
 

if so then put the Cruise Ship name in the Hotel name, and in the “number.street” put Cruise Ship, Port of Las Palmas (or Santa Cruz if Tenerife)
 

This form does request seat numbers …as does the UK PLF form….but if you don’t know your seat number it does not matter. You can just put any number in. (You have to do this for the UK PLF anyway)

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by ferretktf

[Mashpotato]

Thank you for your info ,I will take note down and hopefully all will go well 

[howmuch!]

Chronomics have finally sorted the Tui/Marella testing package out on their website.

 

For the Canaries - 

 

The cost of a pre cruise lateral flow test, and the return, day 2 PCR test is £50

[LLOM]

Thankyou how much ,so it seems we have paid slightly over at £110 for two people, although I still think it has gone up quite considerably since our earlier cruise, but still I suppose we are lucky that we MAY be able to get away. 

[MX-Drew]

19 hours ago, LLOM said:

Thankyou how much ,so it seems we have paid slightly over at £110 for two people, although I still think it has gone up quite considerably since our earlier cruise, but still I suppose we are lucky that we MAY be able to get away. 

Look on the bright side, I have had to pay more as we require a rapid test on the return to Stansted do to Christmas arrangements and as we are not purchasing the bundle I can no longer purchase the fit to fly LF test at a reduced rate. That said google discount code Chronomics and an easy airline offer a code worth about £10. 

[Medeba]

I have been looking at the Chronomics website for ordering our pre cruise rapid antigen test (I'm ordering our return PCR tests from another company).  When I try to place an order on the TUI customer page, after entering the booking reference and date of departure it asks what country you're going to.  When I try to input Spain it defaults to Canary Islands.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Does it matter if I click on Canary Islands?  I have sent Chronomics an email about this issue but I haven't yet had a reply.  

[LLOM]

We are suppose to be doing a canaries island cruise in January, I ordered our tests  through Chronomics , ticked Spain then the canaries islands came up which is what we needed, ticked that and placed our order. I also had reason to email Chronomics in September and still have not received a reply. I know some people on this site have returned tests no longer needed to Chronomics  for a refund, but not sure if they have had a reply yet .

[ferretktf]

11 hours ago, Medeba said:

I have been looking at the Chronomics website for ordering our pre cruise rapid antigen test (I'm ordering our return PCR tests from another company).  When I try to place an order on the TUI customer page, after entering the booking reference and date of departure it asks what country you're going to.  When I try to input Spain it defaults to Canary Islands.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Does it matter if I click on Canary Islands?  I have sent Chronomics an email about this issue but I haven't yet had a reply.  

no it does not matter - it is a bug

 

However, through that link you can only buy a combined pack for £50 …..your pre departure and return PCR.

 

why are ordering your PCR from elsewhere? Chronomics are cheapest?
 

you can just order pre departure from Chronomics (for £17.09) using the standard Tui link 

https://www.chronomics.com/tuiflighthotel?affiliate=tui-partner

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by ferretktf

[ferretktf]

7 hours ago, LLOM said:

We are suppose to be doing a canaries island cruise in January, I ordered our tests  through Chronomics , ticked Spain then the canaries islands came up which is what we needed, ticked that and placed our order. I also had reason to email Chronomics in September and still have not received a reply. I know some people on this site have returned tests no longer needed to Chronomics  for a refund, but not sure if they have had a reply yet .

Chronomics are a budget provider and have virtually zero customer support. And TUI don’t step in to help as Chronomics are a third party 

 

it is very very difficult to get any kind of reply or response out of them.

 

any tests ordered through them can be used for any trip up to six months after purchase. It is far easier to re-use in this way instead of trying to get a refund on unused/unwanted tests. Obviously if you are not planning on going away in the next six months then this does not apply, but as mentioned , it is very very difficult to get any interaction with Chronomics 

 

 

[Medeba]

9 hours ago, ferretktf said:

no it does not matter - it is a bug

 

However, through that link you can only buy a combined pack for £50 …..your pre departure and return PCR.

 

why are ordering your PCR from elsewhere? Chronomics are cheapest?
 

you can just order pre departure from Chronomics (for £17.09) using the standard Tui link 

https://www.chronomics.com/tuiflighthotel?affiliate=tui-partner

 

Thanks ferretktf.  The only reason we were going to go elsewhere for the PCR tests were the timescales listed on the Chronomics site for receiving results.  We are due back from Spain on 30 December and it's very unlikely we will get a result from them until early in the New Year and we would therefore potentially be isolating for quite a while.  We have used Randox before and the results were very quick. 

 

However, your information about the tests being valid for 6 months may sway our decision.  At the moment we are concerned about whether to go on the Christmas cruise given the current Omicron situation.  Beginning to have sleepless nights weighing up the pros and cons!  The obvious con is the monetary loss if we don't go as insurance doesn't cover disinclination to travel.

 

My understanding is that Chronomics send the PCR tests whilst you're away.  Do you know if this is true?  If so, this could be another potential glitz bearing in mind the public holidays over the Christmas period.  Don't know why they can't send them when you order like Randox does.

[ferretktf]

6 hours ago, Medeba said:

 

My understanding is that Chronomics send the PCR tests whilst you're away.  Do you know if this is true?  

Yes, this is true.  Historically they have despatched them to arrive on your first day back.  Not ideal I know, particularly when you want a quick release, so fully understand.  In their defence, they have never been late, although with Christmas post that could be tested - they are letterbox sized however, so maybe they will despatch them early?

 

With regards to turnaround time - the first PCR tests we had from Chronomics took 13 days !!!  Since then they have improved and if we take and post the tests on Monday (for example) we normally have the results by Tuesday evening.  However your point about postal delays in getting the tests to Chonomics is a very valid one.  

 

Had you considered an Airport test the very moment you arrive back? I know that some airports are now offering this service (at a price of course, but not massively greater than some of the postal providers)

 

As it happens, due to other cancellations/postponements, we effectively have a spare set of tests so in terms of receipt of the tests that is not a concern ... i.e. we have PCR tests that we will use for our current  trip (starts 30th Dec - please leave the cabin warm!). The tests that will arrive on/around 6th Jan we will then use for our next trip - probably end of Feb (omicron dependent)

[Medeba]

Hi ferretktf.  Yes I had considered an airport test but I have bitten the bullet and ordered all the tests from Chronomics.  We have resigned ourselves to a period of isolation on our return.

 

Incidentally, you may be interested to know that I received a reply from Chronomics today about my Spain/Canary Islands default query on the order page.  You were right, it is a glitch on the system.  Considering I only emailed them last Friday, I think that was a timely response!

[ferretktf]

maybe not isolation

 

in parliament today, Sajid Javid was asked "The travel restrictions were brought in to prevent Omnicron from taking hold in this country.  Now that we have 200,000 Omnicron infections per day, the constraints on international travel appear both superfluous and ridiculous. When will they be removed?"

 

The answer from Mr. Javid was "I agree with the point raised and I will be consulting with my colleagues from the Department of Transport to see what can be done to remove the restrictions at the earliest possible opportunity"

 

Of course Grant Shapps could disagree and leave them in place - but potentially the necessity to self-isolate may have been removed by the time of your return.

[ferretktf]

Ok - Red list abolished- but crucially...... 

 

"All current TESTING measures remain in place & will be reviewed in the first week of January."

 

so that means Pre-Return Test still required; Post return PCR test still required, and self-isolation until PCR test proves Negative will remain in place for now

Edited December 14, 2021 by ferretktf

[Medeba]

I've just read on a Mallorcan website that the Spanish government and the EU Commission are saying that UK children between 12 and 16 now have to be double vaccinated to visit Spain; it doesn't apply to children from the EU.  I wonder how this will affect the Explorer cruises in the Canary Islands over the next few weeks?