New Testing Rules Starting January 17th

[ChiefMateJRK]

12 minutes ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

This is no favor to the NCL passengers

I think it is, and that many more people will see this as a positive than a negative.  NCL has a lot of actual data at this point regarding how many fully vaccinated people test positive at the port.  It is likely miniscule.

[ziggyuk]

When we did our Antigen tests in Canada at a clinic, we sat in the waiting room for just 10 minutes until we were presented with our certified results, so it's very doable.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 minutes ago, Selion said:

Still confusing.  Will I get my boarding docs since the earliest day to be tested is within the required test result submission deadline?  Perhaps this is an elaborate ploy to start charging testing at the pier.

It is confusing.  They seem to use the terms check-in and embarkation interchangeably (i.e. check-in at the port, not check-in online to get your eDocs).

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, Sugar0802 said:

The "at least" is not the correct term to use, it should be "no more than".  The chart provided tells you the earliest you can get tested, which is 2 days for US or 3 days for non-US (Antigen or PCR).

 

Agreed about the language.  How pathetic that "at least" was written in the first place AND that no one at NCL caught the incorrect language before this was sent out!  Of course they don't mean "at least" (as the chart with actual days confirms).  Besides "no more than," they could have used "no earlier than," or "conducted within X days of boarding" (the latter is Celebrity's language).  But "at least" is totally incorrect.  ☹️ 
 

[Brewyourown2001]

17 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Very nice!  This means that when I get on the plane, I'll know that I'm going to get on the ship and not have to quarantine in a distant city.  I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the 2 day requirement will eventually be stretched to three or four.

Yes!  I am taking this as good news and a step forward.  The language is however confusing; they will have to revise that.  As stated, I could take a test today and go on a cruise in 3 months and meet their standard.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, kfnesq said:

For what it's worth, we had to do this for our recent Royal Caribbean cruise - the two day turnaround is definitely doable since the rapid tests are accepted.  Depending on where you live and test availability,  I guess.  We had no problem - took the test at a CVS on a Friday morning and got results Friday early afternoon.

 

We have to do the same for a Celebrity cruise in December.  However, because of our travel schedule, we will have to do the test in the port city.  As is clear from many threads on the Celebrity board, many others who have to travel to the port have the same issue.  It means finding a testing site in an unfamiliar place, making an appointment, and hoping it all works out.  Or, in your hotel in the port city, doing the proctored BinaxNow   Ag Card self-test available through eMed.com and Optum.com, and hoping the WiFi is working fine.

 

Yes, it's all do-able with a rapid antigen test, but it does add some stress for folks who can't do the test within the required time frame before they leave home. 

 

We recently sailed on the Breakaway, and I was happy to be tested at the pier..  However, I realize NCL can't do that forever.

[coastcat]

I think what NCL meant to say is that they’ll be following the same testing protocol as every other big cruise line: passengers get tested on their own within a certain time frame and present the results at check-in along with the other required documents. It’ll speed things up at the terminal because they’ll just need to see your test results.
 

That’s how my Princess cruise worked - once I showed my test results, passport, vaccine card, and boarding docs to the gatekeeper, I was cleared to go to the check-in line. It was less stressful because there was no worrying about what would happen if I tested positive at the port. 
 

I’m concerned about the “verified third party” language. Will this include the video-supervised BinaxNOW antigen test? It should, since it’s so challenging to find quick-result testing in some areas (without spending $$$). Both of my Walgreens PCR tests have come back within 48 hours but I can’t rely on that always happening!

Edited November 15, 2021 by coastcat

[CroozFanatic]

Double fisted grab by NCL. They can now charge $99 for a test that they were providing free of charge and if you test positive at the port they won't refund your money because you didn't follow the rules.

 

 

[pbenjamin]

1 hour ago, Yinster said:

Whilst the language is confusing, it simply means you need to take a test no earlier than 2 days for a US port or 3 days for a non US port. 

 

If you do an antigen test, then it is totally doable as the results usually take a few hours. PCR tests take longer, usually overnight

 

I was able to find same day results PCR tests but they were expensive.

[goldmom]

We sail February 28th and just received this e-mail also.

 

I think there are pluses and minuses to this.  Many passengers were testing on their own prior to their cruise anyway, so that isn't going to make that much of a difference.  In a way it will be nice to not have the anxiety at the pier worrying that the test will be positive and you'd be denied boarding.  It should also streamline the check-in process dramatically.   It took us almost 3-4 hours to get through the testing process this past October on the Breakaway.

I guess the negative is that when using a test that's 2 days old to allow boarding, there are probably more chances of someone who picked up Covid while traveling to the port to be allowed onboard.  But again, someone who picked it up traveling to the port may not have tested positive at the pier anyway.

I agree the language was bizarre, I read it several times to make sure what it was saying.  I figure I'm going to go by the chart.

[cruiserbear55]

39 minutes ago, macfam5 said:

Wasn’t the cost of the test included in the cruise costs? 

 

Are they going to start charging for the PCR tests for those needing it to fly back to countries who require to get home?

Some cruise lines are. Celebrity just announced that starting tomorrow, 11/16, they will no longer provide free testing for those traveling internationally. An antigen test will cost $55.00 and a PCR test will cost $95.00. So , If you have taken a cruise out of Miami and flown in from Montreal, it's now going to cost you a cool $380.00 to get your family of four back home. Way to go Celebrity!!

[cruiserbear55]

48 minutes ago, macfam5 said:

Wasn’t the cost of the test included in the cruise costs? 

 

Are they going to start charging for the PCR tests for those needing it to fly back to countries who require to get home?

Some cruise lines are. Celebrity just announced that starting tomorrow, 11/16, they will no longer provide free testing for those traveling internationally. An antigen test will cost $55.00 and a PCR test will cost $95.00. So , If you have taken a cruise out of Miami and flown in from Montreal, it's now going to cost you a cool $380.00 to get your family of four back home. Way to go Celebrity!!

[phillygwm]

3 hours ago, Middleager said:

I didn't get any email yet.  But it sounds like NCL wants to put the onus of testing and paying for it, on cruisers rather than them administering tests on embarkation. 

 

Most other cruise lines already require on-your-own testing beforehand and NCL strongly encouraged it.  Sounds to me as though I'd have one fewer test to take if this new policy affected me.

[RYMOMA]

Already looked to see where the closest CVS in NOLA is. 
but we don’t know our flight info yet. 
so we wait and will fret about testing when I know we are flying b

 

i was ok with getting tested Thursday, and then fly Friday, but now it is a guessing game of when to get tested. 

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, njkate said:

I hear you! I fly into Honolulu 2 days before, I'll either have to scramble to find a place in Honolulu and hope the results come in time or pay at port

 

I suspect they may come up with a different system for Hawaii. I can't speak for Oahu, but I'm very familiar with Maui testing locations/procedures and it would not be simple to test 2 days before if your cruise departed from Kahului. Of course, Oahu may offer more times/locations. At least NCL is offering an option to test at the pier, but would that mean that if you tested positive your cruise cost is not covered by NCL refund policy since you didn't test ahead of time? I'd want to know that answer before boarding a trans-pacific.

[phillygwm]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I think it is, and that many more people will see this as a positive than a negative.  NCL has a lot of actual data at this point regarding how many fully vaccinated people test positive at the port.  It is likely miniscule.

It's always been NCL's preference for travelers to be tested on their own before showing up at the pier.  Some did and, to your point, probably a miniscule number of those became positive in the interim period.  Others did not and there were likely more breakthrough cases among that sample.

 

I realize this will be a hassle for some people living in remote areas but most airports have nearby (onsite at PHL) testing centers.  My biggest fear is testing negative before I fly then positive at the pier.  That wouldn't happen under this policy.

[karmamule]

We just started cruising again with RCL last month and had to get tested within 2 days of the cruise. We were rather anxious about it, but it turned out that emed's home proctored antigen test was really fast and easy to do. We did our tests Friday morning in our kitchen and had our results in 15 minutes and embarkation was incredibly smooth. We'll be using those tests for all our future cruises that need something similar.

[shof515]

this is a good change overall. There is no way the testing at the pier can be ramped to near full capacity in the future. Even with 50% capacity, Eurofins had a ton of issues with staffing and processing thousands of test in quick matter causing lots of problems at the terminal making the ship leave late.

 

Based on my experience with eurofins at NYC on the October 31 sailing that could be described as organized choas it is not something i want to go thru again. The covid testing locations near me has a much quicker process then eurofins at the terminal 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

20 minutes ago, karmamule said:

We just started cruising again with RCL last month and had to get tested within 2 days of the cruise. We were rather anxious about it, but it turned out that emed's home proctored antigen test was really fast and easy to do. We did our tests Friday morning in our kitchen and had our results in 15 minutes and embarkation was incredibly smooth. We'll be using those tests for all our future cruises that need something similar.

 

This is the best/most efficient option for most cruisers and what I am strongly encouraging clients to do, regardless of cruise line.  No worry about staffing/equipment shortages at testing sites on the day your test is scheduled, or scrambling to get an appointment, etc.

[CruiseMH]

I also got the mail today(will be on the epic from San Juan in January) but to me it luckily doesn`t make any difference. As european citizen i have to present a negative test prior boarding the plane anyway.

So i will do the test on friday,fly saturday and embark sunday.

 

I also assume that NCL wants to avoid problems,trouble and delays during testing at embarkation.

I was on MSC in september and they did a antigen test on embarkation day during checkin process at Trieste.And it was awful.It didn`t look that much unorganized but it still took me 2,5 hours from arriving at the terminal until my first steps on the ship.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

My biggest fear is testing negative before I fly then positive at the pier.  That wouldn't happen under this policy.

 

This.  I agree 100%.  We were all anxious prior to our October AK cruise.  That anxiety quickly diminished with the sight of three pink wrist bands.  

 

55 minutes ago, karmamule said:

We did our tests Friday morning in our kitchen and had our results in 15 minutes and embarkation was incredibly smooth. We'll be using those tests for all our future cruises that need something similar.

 

These sound like a great option for many.  I may buy some prior to our next cruise just to cover if my CVS runs out of Antigen tests (again).  It would be nice if the price came down a bit, but they're well worth if for many at current prices.

[paf910]

I called NCL this morning to see how the change in protocol will affect our B2B cruise starting January 23, 2022. Prior to January 17th, I was told we would be given an antigen test (free) on the ship prior to starting the 2nd leg on January 30th. After speaking to 3 (NCL) reps this morning, (2 were supervisors), I was told we would have to pay the $99.00 pp fee for antigen test on the ship, or $150.00 pp for PCR test at the terminal before starting second cruise. I think that this is totally unfair, and looks like a money grab by NCL. I have no problem having the antigen test before the second leg, but I do have a problem paying an extra $200. I filed a complaint with them this morning.

[jy0ung1]

NCL is not doing  this as a favor to any passengers. NCL is shifting the logistics and cost to the passenger.  This is simply a cost cutting measure.  Many other companies are already using this model and until the CDC relaxes guidelines we will probably see this as the standard.

[NextOne]

Another wrinkle for Hawaiian cruises -- if you're taking the 4-day pre-cruise package. Test before leaving home, then find a place to test again in Honolulu before boarding or pay $99 at the pier. And if doing a B2B, get tested on the ship for $150 or go to the pier for $99 (which is what the NCL chat guy suggested...). Not pleased.

[ChiefMateJRK]

31 minutes ago, jy0ung1 said:

NCL is not doing  this as a favor to any passengers.

Well, I can't speak for other passengers, but it sure feels like a favor to me! 😎  I'll now know when I get on that long flight to Hawaii that at the end of it I'll be assured of getting on the POA the next day.