Kristal Blade

Thank you, we are with some other people joining the cruise. They are having to pay $250 each for a rapid test at Denver airport. So glad we braved the zoom test!

Okay, we have done our tests and both negative. Medicspot did us a great service. So long as you work out your timings re U.K. time to your location it is fine. We had to do our test at 8am Denver time, which is 3pm in U.K. We were able to stand together so the observer could see both of us testing simultaneously. There is a bit of faffing around after the test, but take it slow, make sure you have your 6 digit code to hand before the test and have your passport ready to show on the Zoom screen. After the test wait 15 minutes, take a photo of your result thing then just follow the instructions on your screen. They say you will get the result within 2 hours. Ours were with us in less than 10 mins. So a big thank you to everyone here for tips and hints for our testing. We definitely recommend Medicspot and will use them again for our next trip. In our dreams testing will be over soon! Good luck to those of you who need to test soon.

Tomorrow is the big day on our Covid test by Zoom. I will let you know how it goes in 12 hours….

A little update on our journey to USA. We had a doctor carry out the nose swab on us the day before our flight. This was at a special clinic in a shopping mall. The swab was done really gently. Afterwards I said to my husband that when I do a test to myself I jab the swab up higher and swoosh it round much more vigorously! Anyway, we had negative results within half an hour. I added the info to my VeriFLY app by printing out the result info from the clinic then taking a photo of it in the VeriFLY app. That was all acceptable to BA when we checked in at LHR. Nobody asked to see our Covid paperwork when we landed in Vegas. More news when we have to do our pre boarding Covid test in Denver.

Yippee! We don’t get picked up for our transfer to the port till 12.30 so either time before pick up or en route should achieve a couple of bottles for our cabin bar.

The Village always delivers a great meal! When I was teaching we would go there and get free wine cos we taught the kids of the owners. Happy days.

Hi RJ, We have bought the Medicspot tests and are going to take them with us. That is a bit of a pain because we need to test in Denver on Saturday morning. However, we needed to pick a U.K. time to match that. I hope my calculations are right. Apparently we do the test by Zoom. I will post to let everyone know how that goes. Assuming they haven’t baked in our cases!! See Frankp 01 comment above for that new worry. I read about the on street free tests. Seems a bit too good to be true. We arrive in New York about 8pm on the Saturday and leave about noon to head to the “ferry” on Sunday morning. I’m not sure the turnaround time on these tests would be fast enough. I’m still not sleeping properly, my head just buzzes with “what ifs” at night. So annoying. We used to be so blasé about hopping on planes and cruise ships. We are flying BA so had to download the VeriFLY app. It’s just one form after another with the same questions. Good luck with your tests. oh, another annoyance, involving Tavistock. We ordered $$ from Tesco, click and collect. The website said our nearest pick up was Tavistock. Not the big Tesco store at Roborough. So, we duly turned up at the designated time on Friday to be told they hadn’t arrived!! Still not in and we leave on Thursday this week. Any pennies we saved by getting them from Tesco is now wasted on petrol going to and from Tavistock!! Hope your planning is going better than mine.

What! I didn’t realise we were visiting a puritan state.

I hear she was met by ambulances. Any news about that? We have a friend on board, but she is fine.

I think I have got everything ready, printed out or added online, including our photos. I just need to do the health check prior to boarding. Thanks for the run through, Queenvee, very helpful.

Thanks Jack, excellent advice! I’m feeling happier about achieving a few pre dinner drinks in our cabin now. Isn’t life grand?

Doing a bit more thinking about our drinking dilemma. We have a private transfer from our Times Square hotel to Brooklyn. Do you think our driver will be amenable to a stop at a liquor store before we board? I’m thinking a few dollars in her/his hand might help.

These are excellent tips, Frankp01, I’m checking out Astor now, plus looking at the distance from the ship to Dry Dock and Wet Whistle. I’m not sure how long it will take to get on board, but we are going to be on our first post Covid cruise and I’m not sure we will be able to drag ourselves off once we board! Thanks for these tips!

A life for a life. Linda McDaniel

I’m liking the delivery idea, Port Royal Unfortunately we have an internal flight from Denver to NY and I don’t think we can take booze on the internal flight. But if anyone knows differently…. We fly into LaGuardia if anyone has info about that. Thank you

So, when I board in New York in a few weeks can I take as many bottles as I like on board? I’m not sure I will be able to take anything as we are overnight at Times Square the night before and I’m not sure we will be able to buy wine or spirits on a Sunday morning. I doubt there is a Bargain Booze equivalent at Times Square!

We were given one of these as an upgrade on an oceanview cabin. We hated it with a vengeance! People sitting right outside your access door to the deck, having to keep curtains closed when changing for dinner, even though it was still daylight outside. We felt like poor relations. It’s not a balcony, it’s like having hordes walking right past the front door. We will never book one of these cabins. But, Hygge! loved it, so it’s very much a personal choice.

Thank you for a great review, We are boarding with Thumbun in just under 3 weeks. We are hoping that shared tables will be allowed. We have late seating. Is that a specified time or a free for all? Thanks for any advice.

Thank you Frank, mission accomplished. I was on Safari, skipped over to Chrome and my e-tickets and luggage labels were there. I’m beginning to think we will, at last, be going on a cruise!

I am completing my details for online check in. I’m using an iPad. It all went well until I pressed “download” to get my boarding passes. Red blobs moved around on the page, vanished, then a new totally blank page opened! I press back button and get back to the option to download. Any suggestions? Thank you for any help. I sail in 21 days.

Great price. We are paying nearly £70 each for a test that we go to a centre for. But we have bought Medicspot tests for our tests we need to take in the US before we board QM2. Used them on the advice of CC board! I’m really not worried about testing positive as we both had mild Covid about 6 weeks ago, but this rigmarole is a real pain. I wouldn’t have booked a trip to USA if I had known these tests were required!

Hi Tinkerbellesparkle, I just copied this from the BA site. About 12 lines down it says you need to have “real-time supervision “. Maybe your flight is with a different company? All travellers regardless of their vaccination status must have an original printed or electronic negative COVID-19 viral test result (NAAT: RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, TMA, NEAR, HDA, SDA, CRISPR, or Antigen: Rapid, Viral, Antigen Chromatographic Digital Immunoassay, Antigen Chemiluminescence Immunoassay, or Antigen Lateral Flow Fluorescence). The test must be taken a maximum of 1 day before the first scheduled departure time in the flight itinerary (if a flight is at 1 pm on a Friday, travellers could board with a COVID-19 negative test that was taken any time on the prior Thursday). Test results must include the traveller's full name and at least one other identifier such as date of birth or passport number. The test must also clearly state that the results are "negative," SARS-CoV-2 RNA not detected," SARS-CoV-2 antigen not detected," or "COVID-19 not detected." A test marked "invalid" is not acceptable. This requirement applies to all travellers, including US citizens, residents, and transit travellers. Travellers may use a self-testing (sometimes referred to as a home test) procedure that must include a telehealth service that provides real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection. The test must meet the requirements of the CDC. For more details, please see the source. Some US states might have more strict rules regarding COVID-19 test types and where they must be administered. Please carefully review the rules before travelling to each state.

I’m pretty sure it does have to be an observed test for USA. We are having a test done to us at a centre in our town centre before our flight later this month.

Yes, thanks, I watched the video because I was intrigued by the dare and then I was confused to see cheese when I was expecting chocolate fondue!

I’m glad you got such great travel and eating tips! Was that cheese under the mushroom layer?