Upcoming Cruise Testing Anxiety

[SilvousplaitZ]

Hey guys,

We have an upcoming Cruise on Anthem of the Seas and was wondering how people deal with pre cruise Covid testing anxiety, particularly with testing children who are unvaccinated. 

Does anyone know how common it is for kids to test positive at embarkation day and how has your embarkation day experience been when cruising with kids? 

Thank you.

[SpeedNoodles]

I'd think it pretty much depends on how prevalent COVID is where you are right now.  In Minnesota it's very high and the risk would be much greater than it would be in, say, Florida.  

[svcruiser]

I just returned from the Symphony of the seas. You would need antigen or PCR test of kids & adults within 3 days of the cruise. We decided to do antigen prior to the departure to avoid waiting for the PCR test result.  

on top of that, on the day of the cruise RCB will test kids one more time to ensure unvaccinated kids can travel further. Unless, anyone in the group is symptomatic, no need to stress out. Result would be made available within 1 hr of testing, until that you would wait in a designated area. 

Depending upon length of the cruise, kids will be tested one more time prior to the return.

good luck and happy cursing!  

 

[teddy]

 

 

58 minutes ago, svcruiser said:

You would need antigen or PCR test of kids & adults within 3 days of the cruise

I'm not trying to muddy the waters, and I'm not sure where Anthem is sailing from....but...

To the best of my knowledge, vaccinated people sailing from US ports require a negative test result no more than 2 (two) days before boarding.

Unvaccinated kids age 2 to 11 require a negative test result no more than 3 (three) days before boarding.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-take-a-test-before-i-cruise#united-states

 

 

[tonyfsu21]

I totally understand your anxiety as I have 2 young children who are unvaccinated. There’s only so much you can control so at some point it’s out of your hands. At least you “should” know whether your trip is going to happen a few days before you make your way to the port based on the 1st mandatory antigen test. Personally in my house we are taking the test on Friday at a lab in Fort Lauderdale and then staying at the house until we get in the car and head North to Port Canaveral on Sunday morning. I am 100% committed to not missing out on a 2nd Thanksgiving cruise because of this virus or the politics that surround it. 

[Linda R]

Test the kids at home prior.  Then isolate until cruise.   That is what I do as  an adult!

[MuttMutt]

8 minutes ago, Linda R said:

Test the kids at home prior.  Then isolate until cruise.   That is what I do as  an adult!

Best advice you can get.  Test a few days to a week before leaving out, this way if someone does have a positive you can cancel rooms and inform Royal that you will be unable to go and get the room transferred or whatever they are doing.  Once tested avoid outside interaction with others unless you and they have a mask on.  This includes family and friends who swear they are fine and are vaccinated.  Test again 2 days before ship departure so you have the clean test and can board.

We did exactly this and had a great time with minimal fuss.  It does however require a few tests to be on hand but for the first one the cheapo's at the local store will work.  Plus for me it was a test run on how long it would all take and what I was up for on the B2B testing.

[tonyfsu21]

28 minutes ago, MuttMutt said:

Best advice you can get.  Test a few days to a week before leaving out, this way if someone does have a positive you can cancel rooms and inform Royal that you will be unable to go and get the room transferred or whatever they are doing.  Once tested avoid outside interaction with others unless you and they have a mask on.  This includes family and friends who swear they are fine and are vaccinated.  Test again 2 days before ship departure so you have the clean test and can board.

We did exactly this and had a great time with minimal fuss.  It does however require a few tests to be on hand but for the first one the cheapo's at the local store will work.  Plus for me it was a test run on how long it would all take and what I was up for on the B2B testing.

Ok, So suppose you self test with an el cheapo test kit and it shows positive. Are you now red flagged by a CDC database log? If this is the case, even if you went to a more reliable test center and received negative COVID result wouldn’t the positive still prevent you from boarding? In other words are the results of a self test which has oversight by a web based proctor uploaded to a database and used against you? 

[JeffB]

16 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

Ok, So suppose you self test with an el cheapo test kit and it shows positive. Are you now red flagged by a CDC database log? If this is the case, even if you went to a more reliable test center and received negative COVID result wouldn’t the positive still prevent you from boarding? In other words are the results of a self test which has oversight by a web based proctor uploaded to a database and used against you? 

For the type of screening tonyfsu21 appears to be doing, use a self test (e.g. Binax Now) a week before the start of the 2d antigen screening window. I'd not recommend doing a proctored test as, yes, at least for the Binax Now Proctored Tests we used, state health authorities and the CDC are notified of results....official labs like Emed which Abbot (Binax Now) uses in proctored testing is required by law to report results of testing to state PHA's and the CDC. What comes of that information I have no idea.

If you test positive on the at home self screening AG test, schedule a PCR test within the 3d window period. If it's positive well, C'est La Vie, you're not going cruising and other guests on your cruise will thank you.

[Ampurp85]

Meh I am not one that believes you have to isolate to achieve negative result. We did WDW and Universal before our cruise. Since we were all vaxxed, kept our mask on when we couldn't socially distance and washed our hands, we had no issues. I believe any test can give you anxiety. I also don't think you should test yourself multiple times. But to each their own.

[tonyfsu21]

11 minutes ago, JeffB said:

For the type of screening tonyfsu21 appears to be doing, use a self test (e.g. Binax Now) a week before the start of the 2d antigen screening window. I'd not recommend doing a proctored test as, yes, at least for the Binax Now Proctored Tests we used, state health authorities and the CDC are notified of results....official labs like Emed which Abbot (Binax Now) uses in proctored testing is required by law to report results of testing to state PHA's and the CDC. What comes of that information I have no idea.

If you test positive on the at home self screening AG test, schedule a PCR test within the 3d window period. If it's positive well, C'est La Vie, you're not going cruising and other guests on your cruise will thank you.

For the record, we are only testing once inside of the window from an accredited test center before driving to the port. I was just curious. 

[JeffB]

Quote

 I also don't think you should test yourself multiple times. But to each their own.

In general, you are correct and also that position is in keeping with CDC guidelines on testing asymptomatic people.

However, I'd argue cruising is a different ball game than where your average joe on the street sits. For example, you're traveling to an EU port and you're flying in to that port 2d before your sail date. The country you're traveling to requires you to be vaccinated with proof and present a negative antigen test within 72h (PCR) or 48h (AG) of arrival. Do you want to risk the entire trip getting blown up because you tested positive on either an AG or PCR test taken within the window? You'll be in an avoidable scramble mode having to cancel airline tickets, transport and excursion booked privately if you arranged this and hotel reservations. Your cruise fare is protected and let's hope you had travel insurance to cover the other cancellation penalties you will incur. Do self tests for everyone in your traveling party a week before the start of the window period to avoid that circumstance.

For cruises from US ports, maybe not getting tested in advance works for you. OK, IMO, if you're asymptomatic. If you have what you think might be COVID symptoms in the period leading up to the week before the testing window starts, I'd recommend self testing with a rapid antigen test at least 3d after symptoms appeared and again in 5-6d. But you're right this is a "to each his own" circumstance. A good idea if you're sweating this. 

[Jax]

So far I have never had to produce a negative test for anything so having to produce one for our first trip makes me nervous. My hubby on the other hand gets a work mandated PCR test anywhere from 1-3 times a week so the requirement for travel testing doesn’t really faze him. It’s just part of his routine so he doesn’t stress about it.  I am trying to adopt hubby’s outlook!  We will wear N95 masks on plane and try to limit our 16 year old sons interactions leading up to the cruise as best we can but mostly we will  continue to follow the safe routines we currently have in place and hope it works out.  

[tonyfsu21]

I would say 30% or less of people would actually be honest on that questionnaire regarding symptoms especially if they already have a negative antigen test in hand. People don’t like red flags and to be inconvenienced that’s just human nature. To check the box off honestly saying “yes I’m coughing and sneezing” basically puts you in RC Covid jail. Just a few months ago on Indy every time you turn around there’s another person sneezing and coughing up a lung and wiping noses with tissues. I can pretty much bet the ranch those tissues didn’t come out while standing in line at the terminal.