Testing positive a month before your cruise?

[matymil]

We are cruising on the Magic in Feb, we will all be testing 30 days from now. We just found out yesterday and my entire family was in direct contact with someone that tested positive for Covid on this past Sunday. My wife and I are vaccinated and boosted however we have a 3 year old that obviously is not. We have our fingers crossed but  the our nephew who tested positive yesterday was playing directly playing with our son for a long period of time so there is a good chance he's going to eventually test positive. We were told that there is a chance that you can test positive after having covid for several weeks even if you do not have it. Has anyone on here had covid prior to sailing? If so, how far out and were you good to go by the you sailed? My wife is started to get extremely nervous so I'm just trying to gather as much info as i can. 

[2wheelin]

7 hours ago, matymil said:

We are cruising on the Magic in Feb, we will all be testing 30 days from now. We just found out yesterday and my entire family was in direct contact with someone that tested positive for Covid on this past Sunday. My wife and I are vaccinated and boosted however we have a 3 year old that obviously is not. We have our fingers crossed but  the our nephew who tested positive yesterday was playing directly playing with our son for a long period of time so there is a good chance he's going to eventually test positive. We were told that there is a chance that you can test positive after having covid for several weeks even if you do not have it. Has anyone on here had covid prior to sailing? If so, how far out and were you good to go by the you sailed? My wife is started to get extremely nervous so I'm just trying to gather as much info as i can. 

I had similar concerns even though had not been to my knowledge exposed. My plan was to get PCR test one month prior to cruise. If pos, then repeat at two weeks. If still pos, then take an Ag test which is more likely to be neg since it detects current infection whereas PCR can detect residual, non infectious particles. Definitely have Ag test pre sailing.

[Buckeyefrank100]

7 hours ago, matymil said:

We are cruising on the Magic in Feb, we will all be testing 30 days from now. We just found out yesterday and my entire family was in direct contact with someone that tested positive for Covid on this past Sunday. My wife and I are vaccinated and boosted however we have a 3 year old that obviously is not. We have our fingers crossed but  the our nephew who tested positive yesterday was playing directly playing with our son for a long period of time so there is a good chance he's going to eventually test positive. We were told that there is a chance that you can test positive after having covid for several weeks even if you do not have it. Has anyone on here had covid prior to sailing? If so, how far out and were you good to go by the you sailed? My wife is started to get extremely nervous so I'm just trying to gather as much info as i can. 

The antigen test is what you need to take.  From what I've heard, 5 days after symptoms, you are not shedding enough virus to transmit it to anyone and will produce a negative result.  A month in advance is plenty of time to test negative.  Initially, the pcr tests were generally cycled so many times that one would test positive for up to 6 months after infection.

 

[MeganGC1983]

Rapid a week before, then rapid 2 days before (per/for carnival). Rapids detect current infection. You should be in the clear. 

[matymil]

1 hour ago, Buckeyefrank100 said:

The antigen test is what you need to take.  From what I've heard, 5 days after symptoms, you are not shedding enough virus to transmit it to anyone and will produce a negative result.  A month in advance is plenty of time to test negative.  Initially, the pcr tests were generally cycled so many times that one would test positive for up to 6 months after infection.

 

We can take antigen tests. Our son, who is 3 and was just in direct contact with someone who tested positive can not. Someone told my wife that his pediatrician can write out a note for the cruise, in the case that he does test positive. I have no clue if that is correct or not though.

[nwcruiselover]

Carnival doesn’t accept doctor’s notes in lieu of a negative test. I believe unvaccinated children have to show a negative PCR test, not antigen, to sail. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by nwcruiselover

[Cruisegoer]

2 hours ago, matymil said:

We can take antigen tests. Our son, who is 3 and was just in direct contact with someone who tested positive can not. Someone told my wife that his pediatrician can write out a note for the cruise, in the case that he does test positive. I have no clue if that is correct or not though.

I had a friend diagnosed on Thanksgiving and flew to Cancun the Dec 19 with Drs note in hand and had no problems. 

[matymil]

8 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

I had a friend diagnosed on Thanksgiving and flew to Cancun the Dec 19 with Drs note in hand and had no problems. 

Thank you. 😊 That is good to know.

[matymil]

1 hour ago, nwcruiselover said:

Carnival doesn’t accept doctor’s notes in lieu of a negative test. I believe unvaccinated children have to show a negative PCR test, not antigen, to sail. 

Thank you. Is that in writing somewhere? I looked all over; the Carnival website, this site, google...I couldn't find it anywhere. 

[Top_of_the_Cube]

6 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

I had a friend diagnosed on Thanksgiving and flew to Cancun the Dec 19 with Drs note in hand and had no problems. 

 

Carnival specifically says that a note from a doctor will not negate the requirement for proof of a negative test result.  Not being a contrarian to your statement, just want to make sure that nobody gets confused between flying and cruising (at least on Carnival).

[Buckeyefrank100]

12 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

I had a friend diagnosed on Thanksgiving and flew to Cancun the Dec 19 with Drs note in hand and had no problems. 

Cruising and flying into Mexico are 2 totally different things.  I would be shocked if they allowed a Dr note instead of PCR  test.

[Cruise, J.D.]

Have Fun. Be Safe. | COVID-19 Guest Protocols | Carnival Cruise Line

 

There is nothing in the protocols linked above that allows a doctor's note to substitute for a negative PCR test for an unvaccinated individual.

[Cruisegoer]

1 hour ago, Top_of_the_Cube said:

 

Carnival specifically says that a note from a doctor will not negate the requirement for proof of a negative test result.  Not being a contrarian to your statement, just want to make sure that nobody gets confused between flying and cruising (at least on Carnival).

Well it was international travel so...

[1kaper]

3 minutes ago, Cruisegoer said:

Well it was international travel so...

But it was the airline/country policy vs the Carnival policy. 
From what I understand you don't even need to produce a test to enter Mexico. So it would be down to the airline policy. 

[Drazil65]

We were told that there is a chance that you can test positive after having covid for several weeks even if you do not have it. Has anyone on here had covid prior to sailing? If so, how far out and were you good to go by the you sailed? My wife is started to get extremely nervous so I'm just trying to gather as much info as i can. 

 

If your 3 year old tests positive within the next 5-7 days there is an excellent chance you and wife will also test positive shortly there after as well.  You could all test positive for a while after you are over the virus. 

 

If any one of you (or all) tests positive at testing before boarding means no cruise for any of you,  probably should have plan B ready for an alternative to cruising for your vacation.  Nature of the beast at this point.  Good Luck!

Edited January 5, 2022 by Drazil65

[matymil]

14 hours ago, Top_of_the_Cube said:

 

Carnival specifically says that a note from a doctor will not negate the requirement for proof of a negative test result.  Not being a contrarian to your statement, just want to make sure that nobody gets confused between flying and cruising (at least on Carnival).

I looked all over the website and other places and I cannot find anywhere where Carnival specifically says they will not accept a doctors note. Do you have a link to this?

[sanger727]

Well, obviously to start, get the whole family tested 10-14 days post exposure just to see if anyone tests positive on the first place. But if your son tests positive; you may want to consider a plan b. All you can do to still go on your cruise is test home again in a couple weeks and hope for the best. But he could continue to test positive up until the cruise which would cause him to be denied boarding.

[mjkacmom]

I don’t think any cruise line accepts a previous positive as proof of being negative, unlike many other situations like schools, universities, airlines, hopefully they will change their policies soon.

[travelmommy]

John Heald has specifically said you must have negative test.  They do not accept Dr note stating previous infection.

[midnitestarz82]

Just to be clear, Carnival still accepts an antigen test, correct? Their website states pcr but the confirmation email I have says either. I have an antigen test scheduled for the day before my cruise. 

[nwcruiselover]

Antigen tests are fine for vaccinated cruisers.  PCR tests are required for unvaccinated.

[matymil]

10 hours ago, travelmommy said:

John Heald has specifically said you must have negative test.  They do not accept Dr note stating previous infection.

Thank you. Much appreciated

[matymil]

14 hours ago, sanger727 said:

Well, obviously to start, get the whole family tested 10-14 days post exposure just to see if anyone tests positive on the first place. But if your son tests positive; you may want to consider a plan b. All you can do to still go on your cruise is test home again in a couple weeks and hope for the best. But he could continue to test positive up until the cruise which would cause him to be denied boarding.

Thats the plan. We do have a plan B. Unfortunately, even though we did go on a cruise a couple of months ago if this one gets canceled on us again we will not rebook. This one has been moved either 5 or 6 times ( i lost count) 

[silversneakers]

On 1/5/2022 at 1:28 AM, matymil said:

We are cruising on the Magic in Feb, we will all be testing 30 days from now. We just found out yesterday and my entire family was in direct contact with someone that tested positive for Covid on this past Sunday. My wife and I are vaccinated and boosted however we have a 3 year old that obviously is not. We have our fingers crossed but  the our nephew who tested positive yesterday was playing directly playing with our son for a long period of time so there is a good chance he's going to eventually test positive. We were told that there is a chance that you can test positive after having covid for several weeks even if you do not have it. Has anyone on here had covid prior to sailing? If so, how far out and were you good to go by the you sailed? My wife is started to get extremely nervous so I'm just trying to gather as much info as i can. 

You can test positive for up to 90 days. If that happens (positive), I would get a test exemption document from you doctor and validate with the cruise line that this is acceptable.

[mjkacmom]

6 hours ago, silversneakers said:

You can test positive for up to 90 days. If that happens (positive), I would get a test exemption document from you doctor and validate with the cruise line that this is acceptable.

This works for airlines, schools, many businesses but there have been zero reports on this working for cruises, nor anything in writing.