Alaska Cruisetour land first testing

[KirkNC]

3 minutes ago, LJProk said:

So now I wonder if we need to test before leaving town tomorrow to join the land portion on Thursday . . .

I would think they would have sent you a similar notice if they were requiring testing for your trip.

[Mary229]

24 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

euros.  Our cost for testing for this cruise is $286 for the two of us.

Look at Shoppers Drug $40 CAD

 

https://www.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/health-and-pharmacy/covid-19/testing

Edited May 30, 2022 by Mary229

[KirkNC]

6 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. We leave on Saturday, but Sunday was the “official” arrival day. First tour starts  Monday. Which day do they count from?

Good question. I don’t know the answer.  
 

I am guessing it is two days before your free night, in your case Sunday.  That is the “start of your tour”.

Edited May 30, 2022 by KirkNC

[KirkNC]

So I just read the thread on offers (bad offers I should say) to passengers to delay their sailings on Alaska land/sea tours.  This got me thinking.  HAL apparently has reintroduced capacity limits and now introduced pre-land tour testing.  My conclusion or guess is that they are having trouble with Covid and hoping to mitigate the risk through these two measures.  Makes me a little nervous about what we are sailing into.

[Gray Lady]

1 minute ago, KirkNC said:

So I just read the thread on offers (bad offers I should say) to passengers to delay their sailings on Alaska land/sea tours.  This got me thinking.  HAL apparently has reintroduced capacity limits and now introduced pre-land tour testing.  My conclusion or guess is that they are having trouble with Covid and hoping to mitigate the risk through these two measures.  Makes me a little nervous about what we are sailing into.

Positive cases are up on land, so it follows that cases will go up on ships. We leave in less than three weeks and are being cautious to not pick it up beforehand. I notice HAL has said nothing about mask wearing while on the land tour. Has anyone talked about this? Has anyone worn a mask on land and still picked up the virus? Wondering what other mitigations could help???

[KirkNC]

1 minute ago, Gray Lady said:

Positive cases are up on land, so it follows that cases will go up on ships. We leave in less than three weeks and are being cautious to not pick it up beforehand. I notice HAL has said nothing about mask wearing while on the land tour. Has anyone talked about this? Has anyone worn a mask on land and still picked up the virus? Wondering what other mitigations could help???

Have not heard anything about masks. We will probably wear masks on the buses.  Masks are not bulletproof protection but they do help, particularly a N95.

[Gray Lady]

29 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

You can buy any FDA approved rapid test and have it proctored over the internet. If you are interested in this, I will post links to two sites. The cost is between 15 to 20 dollars for each proctoring session.

Here are the links to 2 places I have found. You do need to make an appointment. If there are two of you testing, you each book an appointment, but can do the test at the same time. One operates over Zoom and the other is web based. Both are headquartered in California.

https://onpoint-testing.com/product/certified-teleservice-covid-testing/

https://www.totaltestingsolutions.com/individual-testing/covid-testing/

[Mary229]

I think HAL is trying to protect their crew.  The crew still must test periodically by CDC rules and if found positive, even asymptomatic, they are quarantined for extensive periods of time.   The crew shortages are real  and the situation is made worse by these quarantines.  Protect the crew, protect the industry 

[defnjeb]

31 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

You can buy any FDA approved rapid test and have it proctored over the internet. If you are interested in this, I will post links to two sites. The cost is between 15 to 20 dollars for each proctoring session.

Yes. Please post the sites. Do you know if Hal accepts the results from these companies?

[Gray Lady]

4 minutes ago, defnjeb said:

Yes. Please post the sites. Do you know if Hal accepts the results from these companies?

The posts are in #32. Yes, both of these labs email you the results which are good for international travel.

[defnjeb]

40 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

Here are the links to 2 places I have found. You do need to make an appointment. If there are two of you testing, you each book an appointment, but can do the test at the same time. One operates over Zoom and the other is web based. Both are headquartered in California.

https://onpoint-testing.com/product/certified-teleservice-covid-testing/

https://www.totaltestingsolutions.com/individual-testing/covid-testing/

Thanks. You are a lifesaver! I am so glad I brought some home tests with me as a precaution!

[Gray Lady]

5 minutes ago, defnjeb said:

Thanks. You are a lifesaver! I am so glad I brought some home tests with me as a precaution!

Hope you have a wonderful trip! Let us know how you do with the proctored tests. Would love to hear how your land tour goes, too.

[shuyak]

Add one more option:

 

 

[Gray Lady]

2 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Good question. I don’t know the answer.  
 

I am guessing it is two days before your free night, in your case Sunday.  That is the “start of your tour”.

Just talked to HAL (yes, customer service is open on a holiday). They told me that because our tour “officially” starts on the 19th, we could test any time on the 17th. You just need the required info on your certificate such as: lab name and address, type of test, who proctored, your birthdate, and results. Our health questions open on the 16th. We fly to Fairbanks on the 18th. He also suggested that we put our info into VeriFLY, even though I was previously told we didn’t need it. I guess better safe than sorry.

[Gray Lady]

I have a curiosity question: has anyone heard if those who cruise and then do the land tour are now being tested once off the ship before starting their land component?

[defnjeb]

10 hours ago, Gray Lady said:

Hope you have a wonderful trip! Let us know how you do with the proctored tests. Would love to hear how your land tour goes, too.

I used your link and it was easy!! They took my insurance so I did not have to pay. Received a QR code. We are good to go for Wednesday. Thanks again for your help!!

[Gray Lady]

1 minute ago, defnjeb said:

I used your link and it was easy!! They took my insurance so I did not have to pay. Received a QR code. We are good to go for Wednesday. Thanks again for your help!!

I am so glad! I bet you are relieved! Did you use Total Testing? I have two different appointments scheduled with them. Please let me know how your trip goes! Wishing you the best. We don’t leave until June 18th. Can’t wait! First time in Alaska and first ever cruise.

[AMPM]

We start our land tour on Thursday beginning in Fairbanks and have not received any notice regarding the need for testing before it. We are leaving Wednesday morning and this adds to the stress. I think that we would have heard by now. Has anyone heard anything for a tour beginning this soon?

[defnjeb]

1 hour ago, Gray Lady said:

I am so glad! I bet you are relieved! Did you use Total Testing? I have two different appointments scheduled with them. Please let me know how your trip goes! Wishing you the best. We don’t leave until June 18th. Can’t wait! First time in Alaska and first ever cruise.

Yes! We used total testing. Really easy process! Have a great trip!

 

 

[defnjeb]

1 hour ago, AMPM said:

We start our land tour on Thursday beginning in Fairbanks and have not received any notice regarding the need for testing before it. We are leaving Wednesday morning and this adds to the stress. I think that we would have heard by now. Has anyone heard anything for a tour beginning this soon?

Yes, we heard last night for our tour starting on Wednesday in Anchorage.

[muffin]

SHUYAK……yes, have used Lifecenters.ca.  professional, helpful, easy based in Calgary Canada,. Two people monitored for 25.00 CANADIAN,!   Results emailed within 15 minutes of ending. Highly recommended.

[shuyak]

@muffin, thank you for the confirmation. We plan to use it for our upcoming testing requirements.

 

I feel the availability for multiple people booking together in one appointment would be (much) convenient, and saving both time and money.  The bigger the group, the more the savings - one 30 min appt for 8 people is only @ 70.00 Canadian dollars. 

 

Hope this info is useful for some fellow cruisers.

[Mary229]

Has anyone who is departing from Anchorage also gotten this email? Or is this only for Vancouver departures?

[LJProk]

9 hours ago, defnjeb said:

Yes, we heard last night for our tour starting on Wednesday in Anchorage.

So odd because we start Wednesday (tomorrow) in Anchorage as well and never received an email. Our TA called to check and was told no and I called the health line even and was told no we did not need to test. We don't have time today to test in Dallas before leaving.

[AMPM]

This is very odd we still have not gotten an email yet either and start Fairbanks on Thursday.  We fly out of Phila tomorrow am so still have time to do something today .  Just not sure what to do