COIVD test questions

[joestein514]

we are about 2 weeks away from the our NCL Breakaway cruise.

 

How does the COVID testing work?

 

I understand I need a test within 48 Hours of boarding.

 

BUT, do I just get a test and bring whatever they provide me?   Does the testing center have to file something?    I thought there would be something in my e-docs, but I dont see anything.

 

Also on this topic - we are all vaccinated and boosted.    Do I need to bring the original vaccine cards with me?   Are copies OK?    I have 'docket' which is an app that is used by NJ (and Utah and Minnesota?) to display your vaccine record - would they accept that?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Edited May 28, 2022 by joestein514

[BirdTravels]

35 minutes ago, joestein514 said:

we are about 2 weeks away from the our NCL Breakaway cruise. How does the COVID testing work? I understand I need a test within 48 Hours of boarding.

 

BUT, do I just get a test and bring whatever they provide me?   Does the testing center have to file something?    I thought there would be something in my e-docs, but I dont see anything. Also on this topic - we are all vaccinated and boosted.    Do I need to bring the original vaccine cards with me?   Are copies OK?    I have 'docket' which is an app that is used by NJ (and Utah and Minnesota?) to display your vaccine record - would they accept that? Any help would be appreciated.

 

The first thing you must do is read all of the information the cruise line has sent you regarding your specific cruise rather than asking random strangers for advice. At the moment, more than 25% of the responses you get on Cruise Critic are wrong and could result it you being denied boarding.

 

You need to produce a negative test result. The report needs to include 

https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/do-i-need-take-covid-19-test-prior-arrival-terminal

• Your name, which should match the name on your travel documents
• Your date of birth
• The result of the test
• The date the test sample was collected
• The name of the test provider
• Confirmation of the type of test provided

 

The easiest way to test is to use one of the NCL endorsed/trusted proctored home test providers. We use eMed for all of our cruises (NCL and Royal Caribbean). You order your test kits (almost too late for you) and they are shipped 2nd day air delivery. You take the test at your kitchen table while sipping your morning coffee. And within a minute of showing the negative test to the proctor, you will have a cruise line approved report in your email. Fast. Simple. Easy. And for us, our insurance company reimburses us 100% of the cost of the test (above what the federal government requires them to do).  

 

wrt to vaccine documentation, here's my advice (others will tell you all kinds of stuff). Carry your original CDC vaccine cards with you. You will only need to present it once and it can be put back into your bag for safe keeping. Your ability to get through the security checkpoint is 100% reliant on a minimum wage port worker (not NCL employee) to evaluate whether your documentation passes. The more goofy alternate forms of documentation you present, the higher the probability that you will get stopped and spend time arguing about the validity of it. I have 4 different forms of a vaccination record, and I would rather give the port worker something that 90% of the other people are showing them (a CDC card),,, rather than trying to convince them that you NJ app is really valid. 

 

And, I would carry a couple of photo copies of your vaccine cards. On recent cruises, we have been told to carry a copy ashore at all ports. We have been on two cruises in the past two months and have never been asked for it when on shore, but that is what the cruise line advises. There, you would be dealing with port workers in a foreign country, so again, something that they are accustomed to seeing (CDC card) would be better than a local NJ app. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by BirdTravels

[wil e coyote]

@joestein514, we are on the same Breakaway sailing! Cruising, here we come!

I agree 100% with @BirdTravels advice. We were on an NCL cruise in February and were only asked to show our vaccination card at embarkation. The ship told us to take it with us at each port, which we faithfully did, but we were never asked to produce it by either the port officials or the crew when re-boarding. That said, we plan to keep it with us when we go ashore on our upcoming cruise. I never want to be in a situation where the piece of paper I need to get back on board is on the ship, but I am not.

You probably still have time to use the proctored, mail order tests. That would be how I'd go. With the number of people testing in our part of the country, I'd be worried about getting a proctored test at CVS or elsewhere in the timeframe needed for NCL.

Good luck. See you on board.

[joestein514]

2 hours ago, wil e coyote said:

@joestein514, we are on the same Breakaway sailing! Cruising, here we come!

I agree 100% with @BirdTravels advice. We were on an NCL cruise in February and were only asked to show our vaccination card at embarkation. The ship told us to take it with us at each port, which we faithfully did, but we were never asked to produce it by either the port officials or the crew when re-boarding. That said, we plan to keep it with us when we go ashore on our upcoming cruise. I never want to be in a situation where the piece of paper I need to get back on board is on the ship, but I am not.

You probably still have time to use the proctored, mail order tests. That would be how I'd go. With the number of people testing in our part of the country, I'd be worried about getting a proctored test at CVS or elsewhere in the timeframe needed for NCL.

Good luck. See you on board.

 

Thanks - I took friendly's advice and ordered the protocored test and asked for expedited mailings.  Should be fine.  

[kdawg954]

Left on Celebrity out of Port Everglades earlier this month and before we walked in the building their was a person that only checked the negative test, which was a pdf i saved on my phone from the test I took at Walgreens 2 days earlier.

 

I'll be honest, you could of easily messed with that document and changed the results and I highly doubt it would of been a noticeable thing.   They looked for name and result and my phone was a smaller screened one at 5.7".

 

Never was asked for Vaccine card as it was already in the system and fully verified.

 

That said, you are spending all this money on a cruise, have your affairs in order and have exactly what they request on you and don't depend on other experiences or what other people have done to shortcut the process.