Taking a Pre Cruise Test

[4x4bob]

The Wife just raised a interesting question.  We are now flying to port two days early just in case flight problems come up.

So, what have others done with their pre cruise test when they leave home early?  

I figured that we could take test kit with us and take test in Hotel room.  However, what is going to happen if need print out of test results?  How hard to get them on a Hotel printer? 

Feel like I have to take a Grand Kid with me to solve technical questions.  😲

Thanks

Bob

Edited July 19, 2022 by 4x4bob

[cr8tiv1]

Email yourself a copy of the results in a PDF form.

 

Go to the hotel computer and log into your email account.  Print from their computer.

 

Push comes to shove you can take your phone to a UPS store and have them print it out for you.  Any stationary store?

 

Take a screen shot/save it to your books (iPhone), save it as a PDF.  Glad the email.  Princess will accept a digital report.

[4x4bob]

46 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Email yourself a copy of the results in a PDF form.

 

Go to the hotel computer and log into your email account.  Print from their computer.

 

Push comes to shove you can take your phone to a UPS store and have them print it out for you.  Any stationary store?

 

Take a screen shot/save it to your books (iPhone), save it as a PDF.  Glad the email.  Princess will accept a digital report.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Will copy to pocket notebook so I will not forget.

Bob

[paul929207]

We are flying two days early. We will get tested  on embarkation day at the terminal

[broker1217]

If you don't mind sharing the port, I bet someone will be able to give you more detailed info for that area.

 

I would google and find the nearest testing facility to the hotel. Or, as you suggest, doing the online proctored test.

Check to see what testing is available at the port and the price. Personally I would do the test sooner than right at embarkation. 

Call your hotel and ask if they will print for you, and I feel fairly certain a hotel near a port does this frequently.

We always have a printed copy, plus the original email and a screen shot saved in Photos on our phones. Those can be pulled up even if you are out of cel service (i.e.. in a terminal).

 

Make sure you have a plan in the event you test positive--have all your insurance info (trip and medical) handy and know the isolation protocol  (if there is one)  for the port city, and understand where you could isolate.

 

We took extra at-home tests and extra prescription meds. Also made sure we had power adaptors for any country we could potentially be disembarked for isolation. 

 

 

[4x4bob]

9 minutes ago, broker1217 said:

If you don't mind sharing the port, I bet someone will be able to give you more detailed info for that area.

 

I would google and find the nearest testing facility to the hotel. Or, as you suggest, doing the online proctored test.

Check to see what testing is available at the port and the price. Personally I would do the test sooner than right at embarkation. 

Call your hotel and ask if they will print for you, and I feel fairly certain a hotel near a port does this frequently.

We always have a printed copy, plus the original email and a screen shot saved in Photos on our phones. Those can be pulled up even if you are out of cel service (i.e.. in a terminal).

 

Make sure you have a plan in the event you test positive--have all your insurance info (trip and medical) handy and know the isolation protocol  (if there is one)  for the port city, and understand where you could isolate.

 

We took extra at-home tests and extra prescription meds. Also made sure we had power adaptors for any country we could potentially be disembarked for isolation. 

 

 

Thanks for the idea of calling the hotel. Should have thought of that my self.

Bob

[Rick&Jeannie]

14 hours ago, 4x4bob said:

I figured that we could take test kit with us and take test in Hotel room.  However, what is going to happen if need print out of test results?  How hard to get them on a Hotel printer? 

 

We did exactly that in Venice a couple of months ago.  I would guess that almost *every* hotel has a "business center" which is simply hotel-speak for a computer that you can use for a while.  They will almost always have an attached printer.  Results are simply emailed to you.  Just go to the hotel computer and log in to the web portal for your email (assuming you have that as a possibility) and print it out.

 

Worst case scenario...and you do not have an email web portal you could probably find a sympathetic member of hotel staff that would allow you to email it to the front desk and they would print it for you.  That of course raises possible security issues for some...but if it came down to not being able to cruise then I would probably do it.

 

Note that airlines take the results from a phone all the time...I can't imagine a scenario where you *had* to have the hardcopy...but I like to have it myself "just in case"!

[nini]

We took our BinaxNow tests with us to London. We tested in our hotel room 3 days ahead of boarding. We used our IPhone and the WiFi at the hotel was great. The staff were friendly and helpful. We e-mailed the results to our e-mail and the front desk printed out our results for us.

This was NOT a mega hotel chain. There was no computer in the lobby. The staff were amazing.

We had a back-up plan for a local pharmacy if this fell through.

[white cap]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you are vaccinated and boosted, you can take it 3 days before embarking. So, if the ship leaves on Sunday, you can take it on Thursday. Correct????

[nini]

38 minutes ago, white cap said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you are vaccinated and boosted, you can take it 3 days before embarking. So, if the ship leaves on Sunday, you can take it on Thursday. Correct????

Correct.

[Fjord4Fun]

44 minutes ago, white cap said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you are vaccinated and boosted, you can take it 3 days before embarking. So, if the ship leaves on Sunday, you can take it on Thursday. Correct????

Be careful though.  If they count 3 days as 72 hours before departure.  I have read reports (not princess) of people being turned away at the ship because they had tested 74 hours before departure even though it was still 'three days'.  W e probably need to find out what Princess policy is for definite.

[Crystabel]

A COVID test is required within two days when sailing from Canada. 

[nini]

2 hours ago, Fjord4Fun said:

Be careful though.  If they count 3 days as 72 hours before departure.  I have read reports (not princess) of people being turned away at the ship because they had tested 74 hours before departure even though it was still 'three days'.  W e probably need to find out what Princess policy is for definite.

From the Princess website:

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/vaccine-testing-requirements/

 

It depends from where you are sailing. I am correct in that 3 days is defined as i.e. Boarding on a Saturday means you can test on Wednesday for the 3 days ahead.

[Wishing on a star]

Princess is not allowing to bring your own test kit?

Any experience on using their testing at Ft Lauderdale?

 

[Wishing on a star]

Could you go to the nearest pharmacy and do the test kit, and get documentation from the Pharmacist?  I wonder if Princess would accept that.

 

If they needed the PCR we would use CVS, because that it online and you can show those results.

But, that is more expensive.

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 hours ago, white cap said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you are vaccinated and boosted, you can take it 3 days before embarking. So, if the ship leaves on Sunday, you can take it on Thursday. Correct????

Just make sure you are correlating the correct test to the time allowance.  PCR vs Antigen.  

[Cruise till you drop]

20 hours ago, 4x4bob said:

The Wife just raised a interesting question.  We are now flying to port two days early just in case flight problems come up.

So, what have others done with their pre cruise test when they leave home early?  

I figured that we could take test kit with us and take test in Hotel room.  However, what is going to happen if need print out of test results?  How hard to get them on a Hotel printer? 

Feel like I have to take a Grand Kid with me to solve technical questions.  😲

Thanks

Bob

None of my business but doesn’t arriving to port 2 days before sailing a bit of an extreme measure ?  I think 1 day before is more than enough but never heard of 2 days (for the sole purpose of just in case)

[Billish]

3 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

None of my business but doesn’t arriving to port 2 days before sailing a bit of an extreme measure ?  I think 1 day before is more than enough but never heard of 2 days (for the sole purpose of just in case)

With current flight disruptions,  I think 2 days is extremely sensible. 

Flight cancellations are ubiquitous,  and trying to find another flight is not easy. 

 

[4x4bob]

4 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

None of my business but doesn’t arriving to port 2 days before sailing a bit of an extreme measure ?  I think 1 day before is more than enough but never heard of 2 days (for the sole purpose of just in case)

A few years ago we arrived at the airport at 7:00 AM for a 9:00 flight to Los Angles to catch the ship.  The air lines diddled around with "30 minute Delays" until 1:30 then finally cancelled the flight.  We hurried and got onto another flight that arrived at 5:00 PM and the ship had departed at 4:00 PM.   The wife and I agreed, to chase the ship.

So, 3 days later we caught up with  the ship.  During that time we generated gallons of Lemonade from the lemons that fell on us.  Finding a Hotel late at night in LA was fun.  Finding another Hotel in PV was fun.  Arranging a flight down there and getting Princess Insurance to pay for it was fun.  But when it was over we both agreed that it was an interesting addition to our cruise.

So, with this in mind and watching the current flights on different air lines going under and causing passengers to hunt and peck to find another ride, we decided to go 2 days early and enjoy the local area. 

Bob

[PhotoFlo]

10 hours ago, nini said:

We took our BinaxNow tests with us to London. We tested in our hotel room 3 days ahead of boarding. We used our IPhone and the WiFi at the hotel was great. The staff were friendly and helpful. We e-mailed the results to our e-mail and the front desk printed out our results for us.

This was NOT a mega hotel chain. There was no computer in the lobby. The staff were amazing.

We had a back-up plan for a local pharmacy if this fell through.

If you have a BinaxNow test kit, who do you call to get official results that Princess will accept? 

[Rick&Jeannie]

16 minutes ago, PhotoFlo said:

If you have a BinaxNow test kit, who do you call to get official results that Princess will accept? 

You don't call anyone.  They email the results to you within about 15 minutes...but they tell you during the monitor session what they are "proclaiming" to be the result.  Of course...you already *know* what the result is because you are verbally confirming to *them* the status of the test.

[nini]

3 hours ago, PhotoFlo said:

If you have a BinaxNow test kit, who do you call to get official results that Princess will accept? 

I thought I explained the process. Also, @Rick&Jeannie added a comment.

[Honolulu Blue]

13 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

None of my business but doesn’t arriving to port 2 days before sailing a bit of an extreme measure ?  I think 1 day before is more than enough but never heard of 2 days (for the sole purpose of just in case)

It is extreme, I suppose, if the only purpose of arriving two days early is to reduce the odds of being late.  But most port cities have interesting things to see and do just in case you arrive on time.  Spending an extra day or two there isn't necessarily a bad thing if you can spare the days.

[terry&mike]

9 hours ago, PhotoFlo said:

If you have a BinaxNow test kit, who do you call to get official results that Princess will accept? 

You need the BinaxNow proctored test, which is the one with the red stripe on the box, not the other one. You take it with a proctor over a zoom type call, and your results are posted to the app and sent to you.

We have had good success in having the front desk of our hotels print out a copy of the results document for us. 

[Billish]

Interesting to note that P&O (UK) are doing away with monitored testing from July 24th. 

All you have to do now is take a self administered test within 48 hours of departure, and declare that you tested negative on the pre-cruise medical questionnaire.  

No evidence is required.

The rationale from P&O is that whilst Covid is still rife, the actual symptoms in the vast majority of cases are so mild that a reduced testing protocol is in order.