dsmithgator Posted July 27, 2021 Report Share Posted July 27, 2021 Good Day All, first time posting to the blog, but have read numerous posts and find tons of great tips and information on this site. I didn't see anything regarding the type of test performed for traveling children, so here goes. I'm curious if anyone has traveled with children under the age of 12 that can comment on the type of test the children are required to take? I asked the question to RCL and was told it was a "standard nasal swab" but I can't find if they consider the "poke-the-brain" type swab as the standard. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothJ24 Posted July 27, 2021 Report Share Posted July 27, 2021 36 minutes ago, dsmithgator said: Good Day All, first time posting to the blog, but have read numerous posts and find tons of great tips and information on this site. I didn't see anything regarding the type of test performed for traveling children, so here goes. I'm curious if anyone has traveled with children under the age of 12 that can comment on the type of test the children are required to take? I asked the question to RCL and was told it was a "standard nasal swab" but I can't find if they consider the "poke-the-brain" type swab as the standard. Thank you. We are going on our trip in a few days, but the video I have seen they are just doing the standard nasal test that doesn’t you to have a degree in neurobiology. dsmithgator and Aulayan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmithgator Posted July 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2021 10 minutes ago, SmoothJ24 said: We are going on our trip in a few days, but the video I have seen they are just doing the standard nasal test that doesn’t you to have a degree in neurobiology. Same here. Freedom on Aug 2nd. Thanks for the response! I've got my fingers crossed it's not a deep nasal swab because I just know my 4 year old will want nothing to do with the final test on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannabecruiseexpert Posted July 27, 2021 Report Share Posted July 27, 2021 On our adventure sailing, the test was the barely in your nose for my 5 year old (q-tip size). The adults in our party and my 13 year old had the regular sized swab but still not the brain one. dsmithgator 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyfsu21 Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 23 hours ago, dsmithgator said: Same here. Freedom on Aug 2nd. Thanks for the response! I've got my fingers crossed it's not a deep nasal swab because I just know my 4 year old will want nothing to do with the final test on board. Worried about the same thing here with 2 young kids. If you watch Shannon Ford vlog on Freedom from a few weeks ago it actually shows her son getting the test and they barely put the swab in his nose. I am sailing on Friday & hopeful this is the case because my kids will refuse and we will end up driving home instead of cruising. dsmithgator and WAAAYTOOO 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovetoCruise87 Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 On 7/27/2021 at 1:21 PM, dsmithgator said: Good Day All, first time posting to the blog, but have read numerous posts and find tons of great tips and information on this site. I didn't see anything regarding the type of test performed for traveling children, so here goes. I'm curious if anyone has traveled with children under the age of 12 that can comment on the type of test the children are required to take? I asked the question to RCL and was told it was a "standard nasal swab" but I can't find if they consider the "poke-the-brain" type swab as the standard. Thank you. Welcome to the blog! I don't have any useful information as my kids are adults. Just wanted to welcome you. dsmithgator 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 I would “practice” at home with a q-tip a few times so your 4 year old won’t freak out. whitsmom, emmef and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 There is a huge problem regarding the nomenclature of the wide range of tests and collection protocols to determine if you are infected with COVID. The foregoing posts are correct regarding the type of test being used by RCL. They are antigen tests using the anterior nasal swab protocol for specimen collection. To my knowledge, for antigen testing, this is the preferred collection methodology for COVID screening and is what is being used by the cruise lines including RCL. Antigen tests - all of them - have a higher false positive rate than molecular or PCR tests. If the antigen test is positive on your child using the anterior nasal collection protocol, a PCR test would be performed to confirm that it's positive. Any of the different types of collection protocols can be used for this. I'm not sure which protocol is being used by RCL for molecular (PCR) testing. My guess is cruise lines are not using the the brain swab (naso or oropharyngeal swabs) see chart below. I've had a mid-turbinate swab and the anterior nares swab neither are awful. I've also had the nasopharyngeal swab. It was tolerable because I knew what was coming. Kids? Your probably right. No way. If it comes to a PCR, request it be collected by Anterior nasal or Mid turbinate collection. It is said that without the Nasopharyngeal level you may get the dreaded "equivocal" result from a PCR. Not enough specimen to isolate the virions in your tissues. I like Jill's idea of practicing with a Q-tip to get them to know what's coming and that it isn't that bad but don't insert it in the nostril any further than 3/4 of an inch or basically whatever is nose picking depth for your kid. Good luck, I think your kids will be fine. tonyfsu21 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 28, 2021 Report Share Posted July 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Jill said: I would “practice” at home with a q-tip a few times so your 4 year old won’t freak out. Good idea actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carotthat Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 I keep getting reminder eMails from RCL to register our less-2-years old for the in-terminal-test prior to boarding. GEE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmithgator Posted August 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2021 We got back from the Freedom yesterday and had two different experiences regarding the children's testing so I wanted to give aittle update. The testing is basically "nose picking depth" as JeffB mentioned above however the time and intensity is highly dependent on the person performing the test. My 7 year old was in and out of the chair after what seemed like 1-2 seconds in each nostril. My 4 year old didn't have the same luxury. The technician testing her seemed to be in one nostril aggressively trying to capture every bit of boogers for at least 10 seconds, then jumped over to the second nostril and started a little deeper than the first. That lasted about 1 second before my daughter pulled away. The technician let her be luckily but we did have to deal with some tears for about 5 minutes. Luckily we didn't encounter a second test prior to disembarking. Our best guess is that because the ship was at sea our final day, the testing was skipped. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted August 7, 2021 Report Share Posted August 7, 2021 5 hours ago, dsmithgator said: but we did have to deal with some tears for about 5 minutes I hate hearing that. It's a training issue for the technicians. For screening purposes, there is no need to penetrate any deeper than mid-nasal and anterior nasal is good enough. A technician that is inserting a swab beyond mid-turbinate on a child who is clearly freighted by all this is just sadistic. An adult or teen who is unlikely to be traumatized, fine. A young child, no way. My advice is to politely ask which collection technique is going to be used for a child under say, 8, that is a bit frightened by all this and ask that it be collected by anterior nasal swab. If that doesn't happen, don't make a scene at the collection point. Ask to speak to one of the medical doctors on board and voice your concerns about collection techniques being utilized for young children. It may not help your situation but it will help others after you. dsmithgator 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted August 7, 2021 Report Share Posted August 7, 2021 For our son it was: Pre-cruise PCR test, just a swirl around the nostrils Pre-boarding antigen test, just a swirl around the nostrils Pre-debarkation antigen test, just a swirl around the nostrils Quarantine #1 PCR test, not a brain tickler, but deeper than nose picking depth Quarantine #2 PCR test, not a brain tickler, but deeper than nose picking depth WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted August 7, 2021 Report Share Posted August 7, 2021 PCR is a diagnostic, not a screening tool. You want enough of a sample to get it right the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlena Posted August 8, 2021 Report Share Posted August 8, 2021 I wish here in MTL Canada we did the same. My daughter has had all brain tickler tests ( about 5!). Everywhere else seems to be at the more non invasive nasal swab but we are still very " deeply" testing everyone. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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