COVID testing at Princess Cruise terminal

[mlparksoi]

Has anyone experienced COVID testing at cruise terminal provided by DocGo/RRT? Where is testing site located? Before baggage check? 

We take two days to drive to Port Everglades and this may be our best alternative.

[californiagirl]

We just disembarked the Regal about an hour ago.  Covid testing was set up there.  As you face the terminal entry drop off area, on the left side of the building, directly near the disembarkation door is the testing area.   There were several staff and a table set up.  This is only for arriving passengers as b2b guests were tested yesterday onboard.  A couple we met doing a b2b shared their experience yesterday.  
 

The porters take your luggage immediately after exiting your ride to the port.  The testing table was pushed up right next to the terminal building.  I’m sure you could keep your luggage until the negative test and then walk it back to the curb/drop off area.
 

Good luck!

[mlparksoi]

Californiagirl,

Thanks for the info. That's about what I expected. However, I believe the Majestic sailed from LA, and we are sailing from Ft Lauderdale/Port Everglades.

Mike

Edited November 29, 2021 by mlparksoi
more info/keying error

[Ken the cruiser]

OK, is this something new Princess is now offering to all of their passengers prior to boarding? Probably not, but I have to ask. If so, would you please mind posting the link where Princess is now saying on their website they're now offering this service at all US ports where their ships are boarding passengers?

[Astro Flyer]

The Princess CruiseHealth FAQs state their current testing options which includes a limited time availability at Ft Lauderdale.

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/frequently-asked-questions/us-cruises/
 

For voyages departing from Fort Lauderdale through December 19, 2021 we will be able to provide a limited number of antigen tests for fully vaccinated guests only at a cost of $100 per person charged to guests’ shipboard stateroom account. Reservations may be made up to 10 days in advance and testing will take place on embarkation day at the cruise terminal. Test appointments are subject to capacity restrictions and reservations are required. Visit the DocGo website for more information^.

 

[MarkBearSF]

For what it's worth, it appears that testing is NOT available in San Francisco. 
I thought I'd check it out and went to the site - you must register as a patient before scheduling. When I finally got to the scheduling step SF was not one of the locations offered.

[sfaaa]

4 hours ago, californiagirl said:

We just disembarked the Regal about an hour ago.  Covid testing was set up there.  As you face the terminal entry drop off area, on the left side of the building, directly near the disembarkation door is the testing area.   There were several staff and a table set up.  This is only for arriving passengers as b2b guests were tested yesterday onboard.  A couple we met doing a b2b shared their experience yesterday.  
 

The porters take your luggage immediately after exiting your ride to the port.  The testing table was pushed up right next to the terminal building.  I’m sure you could keep your luggage until the negative test and then walk it back to the curb/drop off area.
 

Good luck!

I take it that this test you referred to is being offered in San Pedro?  Please confirm. Thanks.

[lx200gps]

We did the POST-disembarkation testing (for international travel) at PE T2 two days ago, performed by RRT. They did not exactly distinguish themselves, though of course things may be different if you are doing the PRE-embarkation testing. The staff doing the testing are forced to set up just outside the terminal building on the large concrete entry platform, right in the middle of the screamingly loud buses and forklifts, no privacy, no tent, nothing. (I watched one woman with a thick foreign accent spend 5 minutes trying to yell her Email address to the tech who was doing the data entry, he simply could not hear her).  The testing staff were largely competent but one was downright rude. They  refused to give paper copies of the results, and when they finally do send you your results, it's not a simple PDF file. We had to log onto the DocGo website, set up an account, then run through a few hoops to access our PDF results.  What saved it for us was the timely intervention of a real pro, the HAL corporate rep who was in charge of the site, a wonderful lady named Heather. Not only did she sort out the problems pretty fast but also quietly slipped us paper copies of our results and later sent us a simple PDF version of our results as well.

[californiagirl]

SFAAA I have no idea about San Pedro.  We disembarked the Regal in Ft Lauderdale not the Majestic in San Pedro.

[AlanFromFL]

We decided to book the pre-cruise testing at PE for our Dec 19 Caribbean Princess cruise as we didn't want to scramble at the last minute for an available local testing facility that performs the rapid antigen test - - hoping that the experience is reasonably uneventful. 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, AlanFromFL said:

We decided to book the pre-cruise testing at PE for our Dec 19 Caribbean Princess cruise as we didn't want to scramble at the last minute for an available local testing facility that performs the rapid antigen test - - hoping that the experience is reasonably uneventful. 

@AlanFromFLIf you are looking for a free alternative, I can recommend Walgreens.  I see you are in Coral Springs.  I'm in Pompano Beach and had visitors this weekend who arrived Friday for a cruise out of Port Everglades on Sunday.  They had no issue getting an appointment at a nearby Walgreens by signing up on the day appointments opened (7 days in advance) for that Friday.  Sign up is straightforward; I did a mock booking as practice for our cruise departing on January 2.  The free test was drive-thru and done within minutes.  Our friends results were emailed within an hour.

[kokopelli-az]

On 11/29/2021 at 7:03 AM, californiagirl said:

We just disembarked the Regal about an hour ago.  Covid testing was set up there.  As you face the terminal entry drop off area, on the left side of the building, directly near the disembarkation door is the testing area.   There were several staff and a table set up.  This is only for arriving passengers as b2b guests were tested yesterday onboard. 

Is there only one terminal for Princess passengers and one set-up for Princess Covid testing?

 

We're on the Sky departing Feb 5 and I was wondering if the Sky passengers would be tested at the same location described above.  

 

[Coral]

On 12/7/2021 at 9:56 PM, capriccio said:

@AlanFromFLIf you are looking for a free alternative, I can recommend Walgreens.  I see you are in Coral Springs.  I'm in Pompano Beach and had visitors this weekend who arrived Friday for a cruise out of Port Everglades on Sunday.  They had no issue getting an appointment at a nearby Walgreens by signing up on the day appointments opened (7 days in advance) for that Friday.  Sign up is straightforward; I did a mock booking as practice for our cruise departing on January 2.  The free test was drive-thru and done within minutes.  Our friends results were emailed within an hour.

I had problems getting my results the first time from Walgreens. I called 24 hours later and did finally get them to email me the results. These results came from a lab and not Walgreens. The 2nd time I did it, I was emailed the results in 5 hours direct from Walgreens. I know the test only takes 20 minutes.

[capriccio]

9 minutes ago, Coral said:

I had problems getting my results the first time from Walgreens. I called 24 hours later and did finally get them to email me the results. These results came from a lab and not Walgreens. The 2nd time I did it, I was emailed the results in 5 hours direct from Walgreens. I know the test only takes 20 minutes.

Four weeks after our friends tested at Walgreens we used the same location before our January 2nd cruise.  We received the results 40 minutes after testing.  I had ordered the proctored tests from Optum just in case we couldn't get a test on New Year's Eve or we had issues getting the results.  Now we will use that for a backup tests if needed for our mid-March cruise.