Geraldo086
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Posts posted by Geraldo086
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1 hour ago, CruisingNewb said:
We paid a good amount of money for a cruise. The testing thing still gives me anxiety even though my family is vaccinated and up to date on boosters. The extra day would help because we are flying into our port city and I have no intentions of testing after I get off of a crowded airplane full of people breathing the same air for 3 hours. Don't want to take any chances.
We feel the same way. It would be so nice to be able to do our test before our flight and not have to test again when we arrive. Our flight is around 9 hours so I understand your worry.
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1 hour ago, ChessE4 said:
The extra day could be helpful if flying overseas early for a pre-cruise hotel stay. It would be nice to get tested in the US instead of a foreign airport...
As things stand you need a negative test to enter the United States so we have to do a test in Ireland before boarding our flight. Our flight from Ireland is on a Thursday and our cruise is on the Sunday. So If the testing rule is changed from 2 days to 3 days we can do our test in Dublin Airport Thursday morning and the results of this test would do for us to enter the United States and for our cruise. So I really hope it’s changed to 3 days!
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5 hours ago, JDawg said:
I don’t think this will make much of a difference to most people. I am vaccinated and boosted, my wife is vaccinated but not boosted. She is not going to get the booster just to get a test one day earlier. If it was to eliminate the need to get a test she probably would.
Yes you are probably right. As most cruisers who cruise from the U.S are based in the U.S.
For many people who are travelling into the U.S for a cruise it will mean they will just have to do one test instead of 2 which is nice from a hassle and cost perspective.
- Pattycruise, Vancity Cruiser and Zurc
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I’ve just seen on YouTube that Carnival have changed their pre cruise covid test requirements. From March 1st, if you have received your booster that you can do your pre cruise covid test up to 3 days before departure instead of 2 days. I looked it up on their website and it seems to be true!
Does anyone know if this is a change in the CDC rules or just a change in the Carnival rules? If it’s a change in the CDC rules I really hope Royal implements this.
I’m coming from Ireland for a cruise in April and this would mean we could do our test needed to enter the U.S the morning of our flight and use the same test for our cruise.
The screenshot below is from the Carnival website
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31 minutes ago, Mike.s said:
@Geraldo086 that would be good, I'm thinking of ordering a test in the UK and bringing it with us, just need to ensure I bring the right one!!
I’ll let you know how I get on. I’m encouraged that it should be quite straight forward based on the replies. I’d double check with Royal that the test you are thinking of bringing with you from the UK is accepted, from what I’ve read they only accept a particular type of at home test.
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1 hour ago, Nina said:
You will need a test to enter the USA so you can use the same result to get on the ship.
We fly in Thursday and the cruise is Sunday. So we can’t use the same test unfortunately.
We were supposed to fly on the Friday and that was the original plan, to use the same test result. But the Friday flight from Dublin was cancelled. So it was fly in Thursday or Saturday, and flying Saturday was a bit too close to our cruise in case something went wrong with our flight.
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8 hours ago, JeffB said:
GeraldoO86, you have a solid plan.
I'm assuming you are ordering your tests from eMed or Optum. RCL will link you to Optum. The test you want is the proctored Abbott BinaxNow Rapid Antigen test, not the un-proctored test of the same name. You can also google search for eMed, get your tests through them, but the down side of eMed right now is they only sell a 6-pack of the proctored tests ($180). You can get a 2 or 3 -pack from Optum for much less. proctored AG tests are one test per box. The Home, un-proctored tests are 2 tests per box.
Abbott BinaxNow test results (either one) can be completed and uploaded using the Navica App (Apple or Android Play stores) that is linked to eMed. I'm not sure how Optum does this but you can use any Abbott COVID test you have with the Navica app - a bar code is a bar code and you use your phone to scan that in to the Navica app to start the testing process. I recommend this or Optum's app if they have one. It's pretty slick but you'll need a good wifi (e.g., hotel) connection to use it and get through the proctored test on line...proctors are typically Asian and they are hard enough to understand with a perfect signal. You can use data, the local network, assuming you either have an international roaming plan from your telephone service provider and can gain access to the network or a sim card (ATT, Verizon, others) you can slip into your phone for travel with phone access in the US, subject to the vagaries of data network's signal strength. Hotel wifi will probably be your best bet.
After you complete the test in the Navica App, results will uploaded directly to the app as a result of you scanning the bar code to start the test. It will then be digitally displayable (print and QR Code) to anyone you wish to show it to. You'll also get an email with your results and all the info on it for the test as a hard copy attachment. Print this out. That way you have both a digital (QR and print) and hard copy record of your test result.
Good luck and happy sailing.
Thank you so much Jeff for such a detailed reply, this will be so useful for when we order and do our tests.
I’ll see how the WiFi is before doing the test but I can do it over my data if need be. Thanks for the tip on that
Thanks again, Gerard.
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9 hours ago, KristiZ said:
I have done these tests a number of times using my Nicaragua cellphone, in Nicaragua, with no problems. You can also do them on a tablet or laptop with no cell number/service. No phone number access needed.
That’s great to hear Kristi, that you’ve had no problem using them on a non US cellphone while outside the US. Many thanks for your reply.
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Thank you very much for your reply Traveller, this is exactly what I wanted to know.
The airport wouldn’t be ideal because we fly in a day too early to take the test the day we arrive so we’d need to drive back to the airport the following day. So it’s great to hear that you ordered and were able to do the at home tests with no problems.
Mike, I’ll let you know how I get on with this if you like?
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Hi All,
Myself and my wife will be travelling from Ireland to Miami in April for our 7 night cruise on Oasis and we cant wait!
I am looking into the at home testing kits sold by Royal to use for our pre-cruise test and i was wondering if any non US residents have been able to purchase and use these tests?
I did a mock booking and i'm pretty sure i can order them and have them delivered to our hotel or to a parcel pick up location, so ordering them shouldn't be a problem.
My plan is to do the tests from our hotel room the morning after we arrive. Can any US residents advise or know if I would need an american cell phone to do the online test or would my Irish cell phone work okay for this? Is it a phone number that you call to do the video call with or is the video call done over a WiFi connection? Is there any other reason why a non US resident wouldn't be able to do one of these tests like do they require a US social security number or anything like that?
Thanks in advance,
Gerard
At Home Testing Kits For Non US Residents
in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Posted
Hi Mike, just letting you know how I got on with my testing. I didn’t go down the home testing route in the end because I wasn’t able to download the Navica, it wasn’t available in my region. It would be the same for you too I’d imagine.
So we booked a free rapid test with Walgreens, got the results by email about 30 mins after our tests. It was a drive through, self administered test. If you have a car I’d recommend this for your trip if testing is still required.