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Pre cruise Covid test


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As Speed Noodles said, CVS and Walgreen's are free.  CVS (at least in our market) opens up scheduling, on line, for testing 14 days ahead.  Your should be able to schedule a test just prior to your cruise, and electronic results usually arrive in 15 minutes - sometimes a little longer.  Your can print and/or use electronic version.  In our market, you stay in your car for the testing.  Very easy.

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It's wise to be doing your homework early.  And speed of tests can vary by location. 

None of the big-box pharmacies out here will commit to results within the time frame required for a cruise.

 

So in our case, the best option was to schedule a test at our healthcare provider.  Two tests for two individuals at the same time and place.  One result was received the next day, the other result was received the second day.  That still cut it close and made for a nail biter.

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15 hours ago, Thomas Lemtz said:

What is the easiest way to get tested prior to our cruise?

The at-home tests that royal caribbean accepts: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/09/04/should-be-your-approach-getting-covid-test-your-cruise

It's not free up front, but I believe you can now submit it back to insurance for reimbursement.

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On 2/6/2022 at 7:49 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

Easiest are the proctored home antigen tests.  Free is Walgreens or CVS antigen tests.

CVS website (at least in NY) has changed their questions. (I had used them for all of my cruises August through January)   The first question used to be "is this test for trave?l"..I would click on YES and then it would give me free testing locations.  That question is no longer showing as a choice.  If I click NO for all the questions now asked  (Have you  been near someone suspected of Covid, large crowds, etc) it brings me to a prompt that says I am not qualified for a free test and the fee will be $139.
However if I click YES on either of the first 2 questions (been near someone suspected of Covid, or been in a large crowd) I do not get the "the fee will be $139".  So people really should test out the CVS website to see how it works now so they are aware when they need to actually book a test for their cruise.

I do wonder though, since I ordered the free 8 tests per person per month covered by MY insurance (not the ones that Royal needs, just a plain old unsupervised test) if I have screwed myself for a free CVS test for this months cruise  (I am allowed 8 of those free rapid tests over the counter or apparently  testing at CVS according to my insurance).....so I guess I will use the  Binax Now At Home approved proctored tests and not use CVS-sigh.  So this is a cautionary, be aware of changes being made by insurance companies and CVS.  

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30 minutes ago, DTOCKS12 said:

Does anybody actually know where the call center is located.  The reason I'm asking is.  If I take the test past Midnight at 12:05am on Friday will it show up on my test that I took it on Friday or Thursday because the call center might be on the west coast? 

The time gets reported in UTC time. I want to say that's 5 hours more than EST? Meaning 3pm EST is 8pm UTC.

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26 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

The time gets reported in UTC time. I want to say that's 5 hours more than EST? Meaning 3pm EST is 8pm UTC.

So a Saturday departure requires a test no earlier than 0:01 UTC on Thursday? That would be 7:01 p.m. Wednesday on the East Coast and even earlier in the evening for those farther west.

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18 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

So a Saturday departure requires a test no earlier than 0:01 UTC on Thursday? That would be 7:01 p.m. Wednesday on the East Coast and even earlier in the evening for those farther west.

I took this test at about 9:45pm on 1/28.  The port agent is really focused on the date only, but I still wouldn't chance it if you can avoid it.

image.png.bf5e62fb857fdc1939f7e4d85d4bcde0.png

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On 2/6/2022 at 8:35 PM, Allen2 said:

As Speed Noodles said, CVS and Walgreen's are free.  CVS (at least in our market) opens up scheduling, on line, for testing 14 days ahead.  Your should be able to schedule a test just prior to your cruise, and electronic results usually arrive in 15 minutes - sometimes a little longer.  Your can print and/or use electronic version.  In our market, you stay in your car for the testing.  Very easy.

Have you presented the electronic version? We had ours today but they said results tomorrow and we will be on a plane(going down a day before) so I will be unable to print 😕

 

I was stressing they needed to keep a copy so flashing my phone wouldn’t be acceptable

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2 hours ago, gogopeach said:

Have you presented the electronic version? We had ours today but they said results tomorrow and we will be on a plane(going down a day before) so I will be unable to print 😕

 

I was stressing they needed to keep a copy so flashing my phone wouldn’t be acceptable

electronic version is fine.  Take a screen shot when you see it because sometimes the wifi at the pier does not work and you will not be able to pull up the result.
Pray they were able to get a result.  Once in a while you get a result that says inconclusive.

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