Can anyone confirm if "iHealth Verified COVID Test Service" is acceptable/accepted by NCL?

[LMKakaThing2]

Only works on laptops and you have to use chrome. If you’re planning on taking the test away from home and using your phone or tablet, it won’t work. 

[AryMay]

On 3/27/2022 at 1:59 PM, Kjt1225 said:

I used the iHealth proctored at home test to get on the Getaway out of NY today without any problems.

 

I would like to have the iHealth test as a back-up in case we can't find another test locally or don't get results back quick enough.

 

After submitting the online order for the service (service only...I already have the tests) how long did it take to get the confirmation email and "ticket" so that you could make an appointment?

 

I would rather not pay for the service in advance because we may not need it.

[julig22]

22 minutes ago, AryMay said:

 

I would like to have the iHealth test as a back-up in case we can't find another test locally or don't get results back quick enough.

 

After submitting the online order for the service (service only...I already have the tests) how long did it take to get the confirmation email and "ticket" so that you could make an appointment?

 

I would rather not pay for the service in advance because we may not need it.

I believe I got the confirmation almost immediately.  I was planning to use as a back-up as well, so made an appointment.  Didn't use, so rescheduled something farther out for now because I couldn't find a way to just cancel without asking for a refund.  But the refund policy says you have 6 months to either use or apply for a refund if you don't need it.

[chrisdar1]

57 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I believe I got the confirmation almost immediately.  I was planning to use as a back-up as well, so made an appointment.  Didn't use, so rescheduled something farther out for now because I couldn't find a way to just cancel without asking for a refund.  But the refund policy says you have 6 months to either use or apply for a refund if you don't need it.

I used the iHealth service for our 4/10 Breakaway cruise.  Confirmation email came immediately after buying the proctored service.

 

The actual process was simple, easy and fast.  In all it took about 25 minutes from start to finish and they stay on the line with you to make sure you receive the email with your result just to make sure everything was accurate and correct on the report.

 

When we were at the port we had to show our report once along with our passports and vaccine cards.  Went quickly and smoothly.

[NolaBliss]

I also used successfully on Breakaway on 4/10 from NOLA. You have to purchase and setup individual appointments per person. You also have to use a laptop or desktop with camera and microphone. They email you the results while you are online with them and only disconnect once you confirm you have received. I had two page boarding pass, vaccination and negative result all printed out. I only had to show once. If you have multiple people I would book appointments sooner than I did -1 week out because I had a lag of two hours between each appointment which made for a long day. You want to make sure you are doing it 48hrs out because they were checking name ,date and status. It was definitely way to go for $24.99 per appointment since I already had the test kits from government.

[cuterlmt]

We used ihealth proctored, set up the appointments, did them, they stayed on with us until we got the email. The only odd thing was having to lower my laptop screen to have the camera watch the test. My computer (not a great one) kept shutting down so I would have to refresh. Very easy though, and only $20 per person. This was for the Encore on 4/3.

 

[skeeter195]

Can I test on Friday at 6am and then board the ship at 10am on Sunday?  Or does the 48 hour window stop at 6am on Sunday.  When it was a PCR test in October there was a 96 hour time but you could test earlier on the 1st day and check in after that time on the 4th day.  

[cuterlmt]

5 hours ago, skeeter195 said:

Can I test on Friday at 6am and then board the ship at 10am on Sunday?  Or does the 48 hour window stop at 6am on Sunday.  When it was a PCR test in October there was a 96 hour time but you could test earlier on the 1st day and check in after that time on the 4th day.  

So everyone seems to say it's two days, Friday to Sunday. When I posted about that on facebook, someone came on and said he was forced to test at the port because he did his test at 10am two days before and he wasn't checking in until after 1030 or so, so more than 48 hours. We had ours scheduled first thing Friday because I had to work and changed them to Friday afternoon to make sure we didn't have to test at the port. So probably YMMV. And there was only ONE person I've seen posted that, so who knows. But better safe than sorry for us.

[skeeter195]

Thank you

[mking8288]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:22 PM, cuterlmt said:

So everyone seems to say it's two days, Friday to Sunday. < snipped > When I posted about that on facebook, someone came on and said he was forced to test at the port because he did his test at 10am two days before and he wasn't checking in until after 1030 or so, so more than 48 hours. And there was only ONE person I've seen posted that, so who knows ... 

Right, a single, non-verified or confirmed post on FB by one (1) person claiming s/he was "forced to test at the port (which embarkation port and cruiseline/NCL, may I know ??)   We just came back recently from our Getaway cruise (NYC - Bahamas) and nobody on our Roll Call reported any validity of testing results with the time of the day difference being more than 48 hours (Friday for a Sunday embarkation).  The agents assigned to check our documentations were looking for & matching names, DOB and negative test results - we had and used (Antigen Rapid, and PCR) results from both CVS and N.Y.C.'s RRT (an official partner with local public health entities) available.  Furthermore, DW has her maiden name on one set of tests & her passport/docs on the other test results - we're prepared for surprises, none, nada.  Others used the newly approved proctored iHealth testing services (for a fee) and presented those for a smooth & successful check-in.  

 

We are cruising again (yay) shortly and getting ready with our "slightly more complicated" Bermuda TA and have no plans to pay for testing at an urgent care or using "eurofin" ($250 per test/traveler was the last $$ that I've seen) at the cruise terminal, and if there's a last minute issue in getting timely results, we have the free USPS iHealth kits, unopened and will just get on it with scheduling the proctored services for a small fee.  

 

NCL has established mutually beneficiary & working "partnerships" with vendors to offer & conduct testing services, that's fine but they aren't the ones generating accepted results for cruising (and, for air travel) - these providers issued reports on test results based on established standards & formats ... Well, what do I know, just another person that cruise fairly regularly except that I don't have faith or trust some of the urban legend on FB lately.   Happy, safe & healthy travel ... keep those KN95 masks handy, positivity numbers are trending up in our region lately.  

Edited April 21, 2022 by mking8288

[tupperstamper]

It worked great for us on our 4/9 Hawaii cruise. Tested at home the day before. Printed out my emailed results to show at pier.