Tests ordered via RCCI link not here yet

[Cru1s1ng2009]

5 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

Just ordered 6 this morning, and it's already shipped. It shouldn't matter, but these were ordered for a Celebrity cruise. 

that is what mine said. I hope it works out for you. 

[Ptroxx]

5 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

that is what mine said. I hope it works out for you. 

Just got my shipping notice too    
🤞. But I’m not in a hurry. Don’t need it till jan 29th 

[Cru1s1ng2009]

2 hours ago, Race Watcher said:

I was disappointed with the customer service at Optum.  I ordered test kits on 12/22.  Delivery was to be 12/23-24.  No tests came.  I called 12/26 the person could not help and had no idea of when delivery would be coming.  They said it was a weekend and there was no one in the warehouse.  I called 12/27 11:00 am eastern.  The person apologized and asked when I needed the test.  I explained I was leaving at 6am on the 29th .  She said there was nothing she could do the tests were not shipped.  Offered a refund.  12/28 1:30pm I get home and the tests were on the front porch.  I would have slept a lot better had I known they were in route.  This was not a good experience with Optum.

 

P.S.  Negative

I am hoping this still happens for me as well. I ordered mine the same day. And if I get a refund still i am not giving it back. I feel justified because i am so stressed out over this. 

[luckyinpa]

7 hours ago, bouhunter said:

That's unfortunate.  We've had two years of great vacations.

 

amen there. my new gf (another covid positive event) talked me into getting a passport finally and we went to cancun and spent a week on an oceanfront penthouse with 2, yes 2 pools. it was 3 levels and spectacular. i never had flown internationally so it was all new to me. i went to OC MD 2 or 3 times because it's such a fun place. atlantic city isnt much but it was fun to gamble. got a nice suite to spoil us. (not as nice as crown loft suite though lol). did 2 cruises in october in 2 weeks, had a great time. love the oasis. going back on in may.  been working at home almost 2 years. this is probably the best 2 years of my life. but there's enough to see in the good ole USA especially on the east coast so anyone that has sucky vacations must not have looked hard enough. 

[Cru1s1ng2009]

5 hours ago, retiredgram said:

If you have an Expresscare urgent care center near you, go there.  We went to the one near us in Nov. as walk ins and got tested.  Was billed to our insurance, Medicare, and they cover it in full. We were there when they opened the doors. They do the Rapid Antigen test and we left with a copy of our negative results.

Yes, i am going to UNI urgent care tomorrow morning after the drive thru line. someone is going to give me a test and results tomorrow. OR ELSE!😛

[restasured]

7 hours ago, J&L~SetSail said:

My neighbor had to fly out international on Sunday. He just drove to Walgreens Saturday  without an appointment. Got in line and they took care of him. 

We did basically the same thing.  Called Walgreens, explained the situation and they said to make an appt for the next available appt and when we get the confirmation of it, to just come to the Pharmacy Drive up window and they would send the swabs out and we actually did the test ourselves and gave them back to them.  They said we had to make the appt first so we could get on the slot for the lab.  We got our results about 2 hours later.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

2 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

amen there. my new gf (another covid positive event) talked me into getting a passport finally and we went to cancun and spent a week on an oceanfront penthouse with 2, yes 2 pools. it was 3 levels and spectacular. i never had flown internationally so it was all new to me. i went to OC MD 2 or 3 times because it's such a fun place. atlantic city isnt much but it was fun to gamble. got a nice suite to spoil us. (not as nice as crown loft suite though lol). did 2 cruises in october in 2 weeks, had a great time. love the oasis. going back on in may.  been working at home almost 2 years. this is probably the best 2 years of my life. but there's enough to see in the good ole USA especially on the east coast so anyone that has sucky vacations must not have looked hard enough. 

LOL. we went to OC MD also. We get there after I had already paid their 3rd party vendor and the front desk said it hadnt gone thru so they would have to charge my card again. Well there went all my vacation money because the hotel wasnt cheap. And of course it took till the last day to get the money back. I really need a cruise...

[Cru1s1ng2009]

2 minutes ago, restasured said:

We did basically the same thing.  Called Walgreens, explained the situation and they said to make an appt for the next available appt and when we get the confirmation of it, to just come to the Pharmacy Drive up window and they would send the swabs out and we actually did the test ourselves and gave them back to them.  They said we had to make the appt first so we could get on the slot for the lab.  We got our results about 2 hours later.

each walgreens and CVS here is booking for Friday. too late

[luckyinpa]

4 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

On the other hand, a healthy person is more likely to be exposed to sick people/catch an infection (covid or cold or flu, for example) at an urgent care center than if one tests at home or at a drive up testing site.  I would rather not enter an urgent care center unless I really need urgent care.

 

when i see lines in big cities i assume everyone of those people is sick or going on a cruise, why else would you take a test. the minute you start living life after the test, you could become sick . even walking down that street and going into a restaurant so i dont see the point of testing for non symptom people. and if there are that many sick people in line then i sure dont wanna go anywhere near it. 

[restasured]

9 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

each walgreens and CVS here is booking for Friday. too late

You may try calling and talking to the Pharmacist, begging and pleading sometimes works.  Explaining the situation helps as well.  Good luck and hope it works out for you.

[restasured]

9 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

when i see lines in big cities i assume everyone of those people is sick or going on a cruise, why else would you take a test. the minute you start living life after the test, you could become sick . even walking down that street and going into a restaurant so i dont see the point of testing for non symptom people. and if there are that many sick people in line then i sure dont wanna go anywhere near it. 

Any precaution is better than no precaution.  Too many people are reactive now and not nearly proactive enough.

[luckyinpa]

2 minutes ago, restasured said:

Any precaution is better than no precaution.  Too many people are reactive now and not nearly proactive enough.

 

so when do i test exactly then? if i use the subway every day and go up in a 50 story building to work and eat out at lunch every day (probably not uncommon in NYC), how often? even in smaller cities i cannot imagine most people really doing 'risky' things that would need it everyday. i agree feeling sick people and cruise people must test. but if the people in line are truly at risk and thats why they are taking the test they should stop doing risky activities and leave the testing for people who are ill. 

[cruisin from florida]

13 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

so when do i test exactly then? if i use the subway every day and go up in a 50 story building to work and eat out at lunch every day (probably not uncommon in NYC), how often? even in smaller cities i cannot imagine most people really doing 'risky' things that would need it everyday. i agree feeling sick people and cruise people must test. but if the people in line are truly at risk and thats why they are taking the test they should stop doing risky activities and leave the testing for people who are ill. 

We are all fully vaxxed and boosted, and before we had our family (11 people, including grand children) gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas, everyone did an at-home binax now test. Just another level to protect our unvaccinated grandkids.

[luckyinpa]

7 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

We are all fully vaxxed and boosted, and before we had our family (11 people, including grand children) gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas, everyone did an at-home binax now test. Just another level to protect our unvaccinated grandkids.

 

im assuming appropriate quarantine before and after tests given what i read about how long it takes to show positive.   but thats the thing, when to test. one time i had a bday party with 50 people in a small room and afterwards i went to a casino. no masks at all. when do i test? the following weekend i went to a casino with no masks require. do i take a test before i go to ensure i dont infect anyone in these circumstances or take a test after i come home to make sure i didnt catch anything. rinse and repeat. knowing when to test and doing it just seems overwhelming to figure out. 

[coasterwiggs]

Ordered the at home tests from Royal's website this afternoon and already got a shipping confirmation.  Hope that information is correct.  I don't want to scramble to find rapid testing the day before we fly to Miami. 

[Cru1s1ng2009]

3 hours ago, coasterwiggs said:

Ordered the at home tests from Royal's website this afternoon and already got a shipping confirmation.  Hope that information is correct.  I don't want to scramble to find rapid testing the day before we fly to Miami. 

i hope my issue is just a fluke. 

[cruisin from florida]

3 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

 

im assuming appropriate quarantine before and after tests given what i read about how long it takes to show positive.   but thats the thing, when to test. one time i had a bday party with 50 people in a small room and afterwards i went to a casino. no masks at all. when do i test? the following weekend i went to a casino with no masks require. do i take a test before i go to ensure i dont infect anyone in these circumstances or take a test after i come home to make sure i didnt catch anything. rinse and repeat. knowing when to test and doing it just seems overwhelming to figure out. 

We are among the folks who are still pretty cautious.... Vaxxed and boosted, and still masking when out and about grocery shopping, etc. Our kids and close friends are similarly cautious. I'm taking a business trip soon. To protect myself I'll be extra careful about masking, hand washing, etc. To protect my unvaccinated grandkids, I'll isolate from them after the trip for 5-7 days, then test. That's our current balance, which has changed and will changed again as time passes. Everyone has to do their own calculations. 

[fliprcruiser]

Optum, the ONLINE supplier doesn't always provide good info.

 

Once I heard govt was going to give out tests. I ordered for Jan cruise. Placed order 12/22. Got a "good news" email showing ship date 12/23, with scheduled arrival 12/23 or 12/24. Tracking button shows label created. Says shipping from Hayward, Ca.

 

Monday 12/27 they arrived, shipped from Oakland. Via FedEx on 12/24. Box had completely different tracking number.

 

Sunday 12/26 I contacted Optum via contact us link on website, still no reply.

 

So the email shipping info probably isn't accurate. That helps cause confusion.

 

BTW my expiration dates are Nov 2022.

[cruisin from florida]

On 12/28/2021 at 10:46 AM, cruisin from florida said:

I just ordered ours for 2 February cruises. Hopefully they get this sorted. Best of luck to all of you trying to get tested.

They arrived today, barely 24 hours after ordering. All 6, with expiration dates in Nov. 2022. We ordered using the Celebrity link, but plan to use them for Celebrity, Carnival, and Royal cruises.

[Ptroxx]

On 12/28/2021 at 4:06 AM, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

I am FREAKING out. I dropped $200 on tests for 3 of us because the FAQ recommended two per person. I ordered them last monday and it said they would arrive on 22 or 23. Well they arent here and i went on their website and they havent even shipped from Cali and I am in Maryland. I have to take these tests tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. 

 

Is anyone having the same issue? I have no other options because the testing here is taking days/weeks now. 

Literally took 20 hours to get here.  

[Ptroxx]

27 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

They arrived today, barely 24 hours after ordering. All 6, with expiration dates in Nov. 2022. We ordered using the Celebrity link, but plan to use them for Celebrity, Carnival, and Royal cruises.

Mine took 20 hours start to delivery. Same exp date 

[Iamcruzin]

On 12/28/2021 at 9:39 AM, mek said:

I really feel for anyone who is in this situation.  We have to fly to cruise and having to deal with the pre-cruise testing requirement and the possibility of glitches was the deciding factor in us canceling our 1/23/22 Oasis cruise.

Not directed to anyone on this thread because this has to be so stressful, but I'm not sure why anyone would think getting on a ship right now is worth any of this crap.

 

Testing is out of control on land. Can't get the basic home test and appointments are booked two weeks out. Anyone who needs a test because they have symptoms can't even get them. I was about ready to order the cruise ship tests just to have them on hand for everyday use. I wouldn't be surprised of others aren't doing the same thing and that's why OP didn't receive shipment.

The on board experience is at the bottom of my check list. They lost me at testing and possibly flying to port only to be turned away. 

[Ptroxx]

3 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Testing is out of control on land. Can't get the basic home test and appointments are booked two weeks out. Anyone who needs a test because they have symptoms can't even get them. I was about ready to order the cruise ship tests just to have them on hand for everyday use. I wouldn't be surprised of others aren't doing the same thing and that's why OP didn't receive shipment.

The on board experience is at the bottom of my check list. They lost me at testing and possibly flying to port only to be turned away. 

Walk up no appointment.  No lines. No waiting here.    Took literally 13 minutes in and out.  Got my RCCI tests in 20 hours.  

Edited December 29, 2021 by Ptroxx

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, Ptroxx said:

No lines. No waiting here.    Took literally 13 minutes in and out.  Got my RCCI tests in 20 hours.  

The lines in NYC are hours long and the tests are taking days to come back. My son tested on Monday in NYC and the results didn't come back until Thursday.  My wife works at an NYC hospital and they are only testing employees if they have symptoms. They are trying to minimize the turnaround time at the overloaded labs.  The turnaround time at the chain drugstore I work for is having the same issue.  It would be pretty hard to time the results with a cruise departure.

[mjkacmom]

19 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

 

when i see lines in big cities i assume everyone of those people is sick or going on a cruise, why else would you take a test. the minute you start living life after the test, you could become sick . even walking down that street and going into a restaurant so i dont see the point of testing for non symptom people. and if there are that many sick people in line then i sure dont wanna go anywhere near it. 

Or teachers, I know a bunch who keep getting tested so they can decide if they will open next week or go remote.