Updated Celebrity testing requirements eff 9/13/21

[goofysmom99]

So if you are coming from a distance, do you need to take a pretest a week or so before and then live in a bubble so you can test with more certainty 2 days before?  This is becoming involved. 

[helen haywood]

2 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

I did not want to circulate bad news. The cvs test gets mostly bad reviews and false positives. I dont know about the others. Do your research. 

CVS tests have nothing to do with the Abbott test that is being mentioned.  It is the only supervised home test the cruise lines accept.

[oskidunker]

2 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

CVS tests have nothing to do with the Abbott test that is being mentioned.  It is the only supervised home test the cruise lines accept.

Good to know. Someone comes to  your hotel and does the test?

Edited September 3, 2021 by oskidunker

[megfla]

I don't know if I am spoiled, but Hillsborough County (FL) offers free antigen (rapid) tests with results in under one hour.  No appointment necessary. 

 

With the increased spread, I am glad they cut it down to 2 days.  It may identify more positive cases before boarding.

[Fouremco]

34 minutes ago, djh said:

At least they are giving you the home test option.

For US residents only.

[cbfb]

3 minutes ago, megfla said:

I don't know if I am spoiled, but Hillsborough County (FL) offers free antigen (rapid) tests with results in under one hour.  No appointment necessary. 

 

With the increased spread, I am glad they cut it down to 2 days.  It may identify more positive cases before boarding.

Is that one of the County sites? We are in Manatee County. Both Manatee and Sarasota county locations are close to us. I’m just not sure if the results for the rapid test are given in a PDF form or just a verbal. 

[Northern Aurora]

8 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

So if you are coming from a distance, do you need to take a pretest a week or so before and then live in a bubble so you can test with more certainty 2 days before?  This is becoming involved. 

 

Ruth:  That is precisely what we were planning to do.  The eMed telemedicine tests are sold in packages of six.  We, if we proceed with this trip, are scheduled to fly on September 16th.  After I have my hair cut next week and we shop for groceries one more time we planned to take the home tests.  I want to know that we have tested negative before I even bother to pack.  And even though the eMed app looks straight forward we  want to ensure that we have no issues with it.  And then on the 15th we plan to test again.

 

Gerry

[megfla]

7 minutes ago, cbfb said:

Is that one of the County sites? We are in Manatee County. Both Manatee and Sarasota county locations are close to us. I’m just not sure if the results for the rapid test are given in a PDF form or just a verbal. 

We received the results via a web portal. Yes, their county sites.

Edited September 3, 2021 by megfla

[MartinsCruise]

13 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Good to know. Someone comes to  your hotel and does the test?

You do the test yourself while being monitored online so it can be done at home or at your hotel.  The tests arrive sealed with instructions not to break the seal until you are being monitored.

[cangelmd]

I wonder if the Royal group is watching Carnival to see how their plan works out, then go for testing at the port?

[paulh84]

27 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

So if you are coming from a distance, do you need to take a pretest a week or so before and then live in a bubble so you can test with more certainty 2 days before?  This is becoming involved. 

 

That's probably what you should be doing regardless of a 2 or 3 day window. 

 

In addition to catching obvious positive cases, hopefully the test requirements makes people become a little more cognizant and aware of their actions before they cruise. Maybe this year isn't the year to spend your usual XX days pre-cruise in a COVID crockpot like Florida. 

[cbfb]

My concern is how inundated the Telehealth will be. If celebrity is providing a link on their site hopefully it won’t be hours wait to get a rep on the video. 

[MartinsCruise]

17 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

 

That's probably what you should be doing regardless of a 2 or 3 day window. 

 

In addition to catching obvious positive cases, hopefully the test requirements makes people become a little more cognizant and aware of their actions before they cruise. Maybe this year isn't the year to spend your usual XX days pre-cruise in a COVID crockpot like Florida. 

We fly on the 16th so we plan on doing pre-testing.  We've been very careful when around others and will be extremely careful during our one night in FL.

[sn2792]

47 minutes ago, oskidunker said:

Good to know. Someone comes to  your hotel and does the test?

No, your test is supervised online. We just did this for our cruise leaving on Sunday. It was very easy.

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, oskidunker said:

What is the cost?

Varies from place to place and as to the type of test.  Certainly inexpensive compared to the cost of a cruise.

 

[Want2Cruise 701]

We have to test on Xmas eve day now since we cruise on Dec. 26.  This is all making me very nervous leading up to the holiday. Looks like the at-home supervised test might be the only option. Hopefully we can get a cvs or Walgreens rapid appt too on the 24th as a backup. 
 

 

[Josie201]

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

For US residents only.

Curious on this.  Do you know if you could have it done at your uS hotel or is there a specification it’s for US residents only ?  

Edited September 4, 2021 by Josie201

[canderson]

4 minutes ago, Josie201 said:

Curious on this.  Do you know if you could have it done at your uS hotel or is there a specification it’s for US residents only ?  

It's that RCCL will only SHIP them to U.S. addresses, per their FAQ.  If you could get one delivered in advance to your hotel in Florida, for example, that could be made to work if you lived outside the U.S.

 

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Starting September 8th, fully vaccinated guests can order at-home test kits, shipped right to your door (anywhere in the U.S.)

[Josie201]

2 minutes ago, canderson said:

It's that RCCL will only SHIP them to U.S. addresses, per their FAQ.  If you could get one delivered in advance to your hotel in Florida, for example, that could be made to work if you lived outside the U.S.

 

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Starting September 8th, fully vaccinated guests can order at-home test kits, shipped right to your door (anywhere in the U.S.)

Interesting.  We’re at an Airbnb for five days pre cruise.  Will have to investigate options   Thanks.  

[Catclaws]

5 hours ago, megfla said:

I don't know if I am spoiled, but Hillsborough County (FL) offers free antigen (rapid) tests with results in under one hour.  No appointment necessary. 

 

With the increased spread, I am glad they cut it down to 2 days.  It may identify more positive cases before boarding.

Making it 2 days won't make a difference at all in the number of people that identify as positive but it will prevent people from cruising since it means the PCR test results won't be returned in time and for some areas that is all that is available.

[Jim_Iain]

Wow... I feel sorry for all the people on the 9/17 Equinox cruise that already booked appointments.    I have a feeling the demand for the Proctored Home Test are going to climb through the roof.

[cruise kitty]

23 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow... I feel sorry for all the people on the 9/17 Equinox cruise that already booked appointments.    I have a feeling the demand for the Proctored Home Test are going to climb through the roof.

 We're on the 9/24 Millennium, I already have the accepted home test kits, but this is now a big concern, not being able to get through for appointments...    since you register the test to your name when purchased, I wonder if Celebrity's call in service would monitor the ones we already purchased from emed?

 

& of course, Celebrity hasn't notified us yet. 

[hiccups]

6 hours ago, megfla said:

I don't know if I am spoiled, but Hillsborough County (FL) offers free antigen (rapid) tests with results in under one hour.  No appointment necessary. 

 

With the increased spread, I am glad they cut it down to 2 days.  It may identify more positive cases before boarding.

Thanks to your post, I looked up our county testing.  It appears our site only offers PCR testing, and so we won't be able to use it for our cruise because we won't get the results in time, but it's good to know we have a free testing facility so close to home.  When I needed to get tested a few weeks ago after exposure at work, I had to wait two days to get an appointment at Walgreen's.

Edited September 4, 2021 by hiccups

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, cbfb said:

My concern is how inundated the Telehealth will be. If celebrity is providing a link on their site hopefully it won’t be hours wait to get a rep on the video. 

There is nothing in Celebrity’s email announcing the new timeline (quoted in comment 4 above) that says anything about providing a link to the proctored test (let alone some sort of dedicated one). It says they are working to set up a link for purchasing the test kits. 

[TravelBluebird]

57 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Wow... I feel sorry for all the people on the 9/17 Equinox cruise that already booked appointments.    I have a feeling the demand for the Proctored Home Test are going to climb through the roof.

 

Well, that was us. Took me a bit, but I was able to cancel the former appointments and re-book the testing from Tuesday to Wednesday, which puts us in the 2 day window for testing.  I also ordered 2 of the eMed tests just in case (since I have heard CVS sometimes cancels if they run out, or try to offer the PC test when they run out of antigen (which we’ll need to get tests back in time).