Pre Cruise Covid Test?

[Tlbecker1]

3 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

@unclegrandpa Or, use those tests you have with another proctor service such as https://rapidtestandtrace.com/

Exactly!  😀

[unclegrandpa]

I don't understand why the cruise line themselves can't just look at it while you do it in front of them and charge you 25 dollars for this. Why do we have to deal with this nonsense?

[hal2008]

12 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I don't understand why the cruise line themselves can't just look at it while you do it in front of them and charge you 25 dollars for this. Why do we have to deal with this nonsense?

 

You mean at port or while you do it at your home?

 

If former, they do not want to be in the business of disappointing paying pax who have travelled long distances (even overseas).  Medically speaking, portside testing will be more effective than testing 60 hours in advance and then undertake higher risk travel exposure. But they dont want to be in the business (unless forced by regulators) of being agent of making people unhappy.

 

If later,  they are in cruising business, not testing business.  In any case, It is extremely easy to do these proctored tests (Easier than struggling with RCCL's flaky website/app)

 

If you can deal with useless nonsense of taking off shoes at TSA then why these extremely easy tests done in comfort of your home so challenging

[Tlbecker1]

56 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I don't understand why the cruise line themselves can't just look at it while you do it in front of them and charge you 25 dollars for this. Why do we have to deal with this nonsense?

It really is no big deal.  If everyone had to test at the port, we would all be waiting in even longer lines and waiting for results before we can board.  This way it is all done before we get there.  We also have to travel long distances to each of our cruises and I would like to know if I am not going to be able to cruise before I leave.

[Tlbecker1]

59 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I don't understand why the cruise line themselves can't just look at it while you do it in front of them and charge you 25 dollars for this. Why do we have to deal with this nonsense?

Maybe wait until testing is over to cruise.  It really isn’t that stressful.

[smokeybandit]

8 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

Maybe wait until testing is over to cruise.  It really isn’t that stressful.

Putting thousands of dollars on the line on a trip that many can't reschedule any time soon because a few drops of reagent tells you you're sick even when you feel perfectly fine isn't stressful to you?

Edited July 20, 2022 by smokeybandit

[Tlbecker1]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Putting thousands of dollars on the line because a few drops of reagent tells you you're sick even when you feel perfectly fine isn't stressful to you?

I have tested 10 times before cruising.  Yes, I am happy when it is complete and I am negative.

[rudeney]

48 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

If you can deal with useless nonsense of taking off shoes at TSA then why these extremely easy tests done in comfort of your home so challenging

 

I don't take my shoes off for TSA.  Or my belt, or remove my laptop from my bag.  I paid for TSA Pre-Check to avoid that nonsense.  Hmm, maybe cruise lines could offer COVID pre-check where you just test at home without a proctor and they trust you to truthfully report the results.  I mean, they are trusting you to say you haven't been exposed, so why does proving a negative test need to be such a chore?

[geko29]

Our flight leaves today, but lands very early tomorrow, and we sail on Saturday.   So we can't test until we are already there.   We just did home tests (all negative, of course) about an hour ago, 🤞 we have the same results for the real thing tomorrow morning.   So the months of unnecessary stress ends in less than 18 hours....

[unclegrandpa]

No. I just meant they could look at it while you do it in front of them. I understand the process is you just show on the camera that the test went negative. But you can show them when you check in. It only takes a few seconds. You can do this while they check your passport for example. 

 

As for making people unhappy, it's no different than just hearing it from Walgreens. Anyone can test themselves at home before flying out.

 

Taking the shoes off is a lot easier and doesn't cost anything. Bad comparison. When I did my test last time the pharmacy never even sent me the results. 

Edited July 20, 2022 by unclegrandpa

[seapad]

6 hours ago, unclegrandpa said:

I received the government Covid tests. Can you use those with emed? How much does this cost and how much does it cost if you also buy them from emed?

No emed will only proctor their own tests.

[Project-College]

14 minutes ago, seapad said:

No emed will only proctor their own tests.

u can use those tests with onpoint or rapidtestandtrace proctor service.

[unclegrandpa]

I wonder why emed does not take those. Does RCI take rapidtestandtrace?

[seapad]

58 minutes ago, unclegrandpa said:

I wonder why emed does not take those. Does RCI take rapidtestandtrace?

Emed sells its own emed test kits, hence only proctoring its own tests. RCL will accept any official vendors. You can go into RCL's health safety protocol FAQ to read up. 

[cb86]

I have children under 5, since they cant be done with telemed, can someone recommend a location in Miami with quick turnaround? 

[hal2008]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:21 PM, rudeney said:

 

I don't take my shoes off for TSA.  Or my belt, or remove my laptop from my bag.  I paid for TSA Pre-Check to avoid that nonsense.  Hmm, maybe cruise lines could offer COVID pre-check where you just test at home without a proctor and they trust you to truthfully report the results.  I mean, they are trusting you to say you haven't been exposed, so why does proving a negative test need to be such a chore?

 

For the same reason taking shoes at airport is a requirement.

 

Primary objective is not safety. But confidence of the customers.

 

Cruises will get rid of the testing (same way they did with the masks) as soon as their internal PR/marketing tells them to do so. (Govt is not a factor any more)

 

 

[hal2008]

On 7/20/2022 at 5:57 PM, unclegrandpa said:

I wonder why emed does not take those. Does RCI take rapidtestandtrace?

 

YES

[hal2008]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:30 PM, geko29 said:

Our flight leaves today, but lands very early tomorrow, and we sail on Saturday.   So we can't test until we are already there.   We just did home tests (all negative, of course) about an hour ago, 🤞 we have the same results for the real thing tomorrow morning.   So the months of unnecessary stress ends in less than 18 hours....

 

Taking proctored tests at home is extremely easy process.

Easier then fiddling with RCL app/website for online check-in.

 

 

[DaKahuna]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:39 PM, unclegrandpa said:

No. I just meant they could look at it while you do it in front of them. I understand the process is you just show on the camera that the test went negative. But you can show them when you check in. It only takes a few seconds. You can do this while they check your passport for example. 

You have to have someone watch you through the entire process, about 17 minutes start to finish.  During the proctored testing process the test strip has to remain visible throughout the whole process. 

 

Now multiply that that 17 minutes per person and 2000 - 5000 passengers and imagine what a time consuming process that would be. 

 

Imagine how the lines would be with people already ignoring the 'assigned boarding times' to get on the ship earlier. 

 

I see pre-cruise testing, along with requiring proof of vaccination as positive and do not thing my wife and I would be sailing now if they were not in place. 

[wednesday]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:02 PM, redfantum said:

Can't say what will be the case in October, but currently there are many places in Miami to do your test in a timely manner. Nomi and beepermd have multiple sites as well as pretty much any urgent care clinic. I work in Miami and have to be tested regularly.  I find Nomi to be more organized, but either will do.

 

Have you used Nomi for pre-testing with Royal? We want to use them because we can test for free there and it is convenient to our house.   Our friends used them for Carnival but Royal states the documentation needs to have the testing lab's CLIA number on it and our friend's Nomi test results do not show the CLIA number.  I checked and they are a CLIA certified lab.   Thanks!

Edited July 28, 2022 by wednesday

[unclegrandpa]

On 7/24/2022 at 11:13 PM, DaKahuna said:

You have to have someone watch you through the entire process, about 17 minutes start to finish.  During the proctored testing process the test strip has to remain visible throughout the whole process. 

 

Now multiply that that 17 minutes per person and 2000 - 5000 passengers and imagine what a time consuming process that would be. 

 

Imagine how the lines would be with people already ignoring the 'assigned boarding times' to get on the ship earlier. 

 

I see pre-cruise testing, along with requiring proof of vaccination as positive and do not thing my wife and I would be sailing now if they were not in place. 

I actually did several tests and it never took me 17 minutes. I even had a precruise test once, with NCL. It only took a couple minutes. The results had to be taken somewhere else and then announced later. So it did take a few more minutes. However the antigen test itself took only a couple minutes. So if it was done right at the check in it would not have slowed anyone down

Edited July 31, 2022 by unclegrandpa

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, unclegrandpa said:

I actually did several tests and it never took me 17 minutes. I even had a precruise test once, with NCL. It only took a couple minutes. The results had to be taken somewhere else and then announced later. So it did take a few more minutes. However the antigen test itself took only a couple minutes. So if it was done right at the check in it would not have slowed anyone down

The current proctored test you are required to wait 15 minutes after inserting the swab.  

[OCSC Mike]

On 7/28/2022 at 6:17 PM, wednesday said:

Have you used Nomi for pre-testing with Royal? We want to use them because we can test for free there and it is convenient to our house.   Our friends used them for Carnival but Royal states the documentation needs to have the testing lab's CLIA number on it and our friend's Nomi test results do not show the CLIA number.  I checked and they are a CLIA certified lab.   Thanks!

Yes, others have used Nomi. RapidTestAndTrace has no CLIA # either.

 

They don’t care about that at the port, only name, date of test, and “negative.”

[timfan27]

I have a silly question and it is really to put my husband at ease. Our cruise leaves Friday and I understand the earliest we can test is Wednesday. Now the silly part, does the time matter on Wednesday? In other words, can my son and I test at 6:30 am or is that two early because of the 48 hours?

 

Thanks for the help

 

[Tlbecker1]

Just now, timfan27 said:

I have a silly question and it is really to put my husband at ease. Our cruise leaves Friday and I understand the earliest we can test is Wednesday. Now the silly part, does the time matter on Wednesday? In other words, can my son and I test at 6:30 am or is that two early because of the 48 hours?

 

Thanks for the help

 

Anytime Wednesday is fine.  It is 2 days, not actually 48 hours.