COVID testing onboard for re-entry into USA

[englander]

I would like to hear from people who have done their test onboard their last day of a cruise.

Were there any connectivity problems using the ship internet?

Seems there would be a lot of people online holding on to their 20 minute time slot online to complete the test.

We will be returning from Amsterdam in June, flying on same day we leave the ship. I'm curious about other people's experiences.

[Sunshine3601]

If you have surf and stream internet you should be fine as long as there are no storms or rain in area of ship that could impact their satellite.   

 

I wouldn't try with just surf internet.  

 

If your cabin has good internet connection during the cruise then you should be OK.

One of my last sailings internet was horrible in my cabin but worked great at other locations, especially the computer room.

[twangster]

I'd be hesitant to use ship internet for testing, especially on older ships like Jewel from Amsterdam.   Recent Voom reports from Jewel in Florida indicate a lot of unhappy guests and dreadful internet performance.

 

With my luck it would be raining which is known to kill satellite internet. 

 

Highly recommend you have a plan B. 

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, englander said:

I would like to hear from people who have done their test onboard their last day of a cruise.

Were there any connectivity problems using the ship internet?

Seems there would be a lot of people online holding on to their 20 minute time slot online to complete the test.

We will be returning from Amsterdam in June, flying on same day we leave the ship. I'm curious about other people's experiences.

You should.be ok based on the ship.

 

 

[librarylady19]

I have the same concerns. Is it possible to get a test through the medical center on board?

(I know they charge $55 pp but it would be less stressful than trying to get one at airport). 

[Kellie in Texas]

Whose requirement is it to test before coming back into the US?  I've been trying to figure that out. We're on RCCL's Serenade from Vancouver, round-trip to Alaska, in early June. I know Canada no longer has a pre-travel test requirement, but RCCL still does.  No problem there with getting tested before the cruise.  Just wondering why people are needing to test on board the ship.  

 

We are going to have surf and stream because one son is going to have to watch a couple of online classes for his summer college class, so if we need to do the proctored tests on the ship, we should be good.  

[orville99]

1 minute ago, librarylady19 said:

I have the same concerns. Is it possible to get a test through the medical center on board?

(I know they charge $55 pp but it would be less stressful than trying to get one at airport). 

We are on Harmony now on our second leg of a b2b and got tested last Saturday morning. Took all of 10 minutes to complete the test and got results via email about an hour later. They were also testing all of the u12 unvaccinated kids. I didn’t see any backups or supply constraints as they had more than 20 infilled time slots for each half hour block when we made our appointments. 
 

Based on the flaky internet connectivity and speed, I would recommend against doing a remote proctored test. If you lose your signal, the test is voided.

[englander]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

I'd be hesitant to use ship internet for testing, especially on older ships like Jewel from Amsterdam.   Recent Voom reports from Jewel in Florida indicate a lot of unhappy guests and dreadful internet performance.

 

With my luck it would be raining which is known to kill satellite internet. 

 

Highly recommend you have a plan B. 

Funny you mentioned Jewel of all the ships .... that's the one we will be on!

[logan25]

6 minutes ago, Kellie in Texas said:

Whose requirement is it to test before coming back into the US?  I've been trying to figure that out. 

Courtesy of the CDC.  Required for arrival via air transportation.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

 

What You Need to Know

• If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get a COVID-19 viral test (regardless of vaccination status or citizenship) no more than 1 day before you travel by air into the United States. You must show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight.
• If you recently recovered from COVID-19, you may instead travel with documentation of recovery from COVID-19 (i.e., your positive COVID-19 viral test result on a sample taken no more than 90 days before the flight’s departure from a foreign country and a letter from a licensed healthcare provider or a public health official stating that you were cleared to travel).

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by logan25

[englander]

5 minutes ago, Kellie in Texas said:

Whose requirement is it to test before coming back into the US?  I've been trying to figure that out. We're on RCCL's Serenade from Vancouver, round-trip to Alaska, in early June. I know Canada no longer has a pre-travel test requirement, but RCCL still does.  No problem there with getting tested before the cruise.  Just wondering why people are needing to test on board the ship.  

 

We are going to have surf and stream because one son is going to have to watch a couple of online classes for his summer college class, so if we need to do the proctored tests on the ship, we should be good.  

We are talking about the re-entry into the USA requirement for a 1-day test.

[njkruzer]

On Jewel now.  Used surf & stream for a meeting Monday.  It was ok. Since we're b2b we were tested onboard this am. Resu,to back after breakfast.  Ours were free so not sure what they charge if not.

[twangster]

7 minutes ago, englander said:

Funny you mentioned Jewel of all the ships .... that's the one we will be on!

 

Amsterdam was the giveaway 🙂

[orville99]

17 minutes ago, englander said:

We are talking about the re-entry into the USA requirement for a 1-day test.

I can’t find anything from the CDC about required re-entry testing when on a cruise, only requirement I found is re-entry via airline. Are you sure you even need a re-entry test?

If it is a cruise line requirement, then I would imagine that you would be able to schedule the test onboard just like we did for our b2b turnaround day test.

Edited April 28, 2022 by orville99

[jacobtsf]

3 minutes ago, orville99 said:

I can’t find anything from the CDC about required re-entry testing when on a cruise, only requirement I found is re-entry via airline. Are you sure you even need a re-entry test?

They will be flying back to America from Amsterdam. 

[orville99]

6 minutes ago, jacobtsf said:

They will be flying back to America from Amsterdam. 

That makes more sense. I guess the real question is whether testing is required to enter the Netherlands. If that is the case then RCL would be obligated to perform the tests on the last day of the cruise.

[englander]

30 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

On Jewel now.  Used surf & stream for a meeting Monday.  It was ok. Since we're b2b we were tested onboard this am. Resu,to back after breakfast.  Ours were free so not sure what they charge if not.

Have you seen anywhere if ship is offering a 1-day surf & stream for the last sea day prior to docking next morning? If you have the time could you ask guest services what they charge for 1 day purchase. I don't usually buy the Voom and stream pkg for the whole cruise. I would really appreciate your help.

[englander]

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

That makes more sense. I guess the real question is whether testing is required to enter the Netherlands. If that is the case then RCL would be obligated to perform the tests on the last day of the cruise.

Netherlands doesn't require a test for vaccinated people. My only concern is getting test in time before our flight to USA.

[whitsmom]

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

That makes more sense. I guess the real question is whether testing is required to enter the Netherlands. If that is the case then RCL would be obligated to perform the tests on the last day of the cruise.

We fly into Amsterdam for our Jewel OTS cruise in mid-August.  As of right now, we have to have a negative test no later than 3 days before arrival in Amsterdam and 2 days before boarding the ship.  We decided to fly 2 days before and test that morning to cover both Amsterdam requirements and RCI's.  As far as returning to USA after our cruise, we will be taking our eMed tests with us and testing with VOOM surf & Stream the night before we disembark.  I truly hope that the requirement to test before returning home to USA will be lifted and we won't have to worry about it.  However, this will be our plan.  If the internet is iffy during our cruise, then we will check on board to see if we can get/pay for testing thru RCI.  We may can test once we are docked early in the morning with our cell internet to do the tests but I don't want to wait until the last minute causing me lots of added stress.

[whitsmom]

8 minutes ago, englander said:

Netherlands doesn't require a test for vaccinated people. My only concern is getting test in time before our flight to USA.

I just looked and no rest required for Amsterdam (if vax) - however, we still have to have one for the cruise.  I hope that will change before we go to (fingers crossed).

[smokeybandit]

The USA is way behind other western countries in getting rid of re-entry testing.  When Canada got rid of theirs, they cited the fact that only 1% of covid cases could be linked backed to border crossings.

[whitsmom]

Just now, smokeybandit said:

The USA is way behind other western countries in getting rid of re-entry testing.  When Canada got rid of theirs, they cited the fact that only 1% of covid cases could be linked backed to border crossings.

Well, American needs to step up and get rid of the testing too! 

[njkruzer]

1 hour ago, englander said:

Have you seen anywhere if ship is offering a 1-day surf & stream for the last sea day prior to docking next morning? If you have the time could you ask guest services what they charge for 1 day purchase. I don't usually buy the Voom and stream pkg for the whole cruise. I would really appreciate your help.

I boug disht 1 day surf & stream at the beginning for a conference call using my D+ discount but will look further.  Don't see anything on today's cruise compass and it's our last day.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The USA is way behind other western countries in getting rid of re-entry testing.  When Canada got rid of theirs, they cited the fact that only 1% of covid cases could be linked backed to border crossings.

 

Give up testing?  It's one of a few vestiges of control the CDC has left.  They'll hold on to testing until a court forces them to give it up.

[englander]

10 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

I boug disht 1 day surf & stream at the beginning for a conference call using my D+ discount but will look further.  Don't see anything on today's cruise compass and it's our last day.

We are D+ too

[Kellie in Texas]

Thank you @logan25We are staying in Vancouver an extra day after we get off the ship, so we can use the hotel's internet to do a proctored test (if we can't find a handy testing place).  Thanks!