Excited to cruise , terrified of testing Positive at Port

[nm951]

my countdown is on ... 20 days to go! We will be flying in to Tampa 2 days early for our 3/27 Cruise on the Dawn. As excited as I am, I am also so nervous that someone in my group will test positive at the port and ruin it all. Does anyone feel like this or am I the only paranoid one? 

[FLcruisergrl]

You aren’t paranoid! We leave on Sunday and just did a pre-test before our Friday “official” test. Definitely made us feel better!

[BermudaBound2014]

You are not alone. I suspect the anxiety related to testing is a large reason cruises are failing to make a strong comeback. The tests can be set to different sensitivity levels depending on desired outcome so hopefully the cruise line prefers everyone is negative 🙂. 

Edited March 7, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[julig22]

2 hours ago, nm951 said:

my countdown is on ... 20 days to go! We will be flying in to Tampa 2 days early for our 3/27 Cruise on the Dawn. As excited as I am, I am also so nervous that someone in my group will test positive at the port and ruin it all. Does anyone feel like this or am I the only paranoid one? 

NCL isn't testing at the port anymore, unless you choose to not test prior to arriving. 

[complawyer]

i'm sure we all share the same fear. we're leaving from los angeles to athens. last thing i want is to be stranded in greece

[cruiser123!]

we sail on Sunday out of Puerto Rico.  Have to test on Friday.  I won't even back until we get those negatives back.   I'm right there with you!

[WITraveler37]

We sail (hopefully) on the 20th. It's so hard to get excited when all I can think about is that test. 

[blueslily]

Testing prior to boarding helped reduce my anxiety and fear. If everyone can test again with a free kit, might help reduce your concern. At least you will have some awareness versus being caught off guard. Happy sailing

[ArtInMotionPersians]

How/why are you testing at port?

 

[scorpioncrawl]

Encore Sailing 2/27/22:  Well, we did the required test 2 days before sail date of 2/27/22 out of Miami. Our tests were negative.  Was tested at the port, hubby was negative and I was positive!  They pulled me to the side to be re-tested, as that test took 30 mins.  I was negative. Thank you God, as we had drove 12 hrs to Miami. They told me I was about the 10th person that day that showed a false positive!!

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

10 minutes ago, ArtInMotionPersians said:

How/why are you testing at port?

 

It’s far more convenient for some folks to test at the port, due to pre-cruise travel schedules!

The testing option is still available at the ports…but the cruise line is no longer paying for it.

[blueslily]

2 hours ago, blueslily said:

Testing prior to boarding helped reduce my anxiety and fear. If everyone can test again with a free kit, might help reduce your concern. At least you will have some awareness versus being caught off guard. Happy sailing

 

Not sure what's funny about this post. But, that's fine. We all cope with life differently. I like to be as stress free as possible. So, I choose to do what's within my control to help me have a good day. Happy sailing everyone. Life is short. 

[Uff da]

7 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

You are not alone. I suspect the anxiety related to testing is a large reason cruises are failing to make a strong comeback. The tests can be set to different sensitivity levels depending on desired outcome so hopefully the cruise line prefers everyone is negative 🙂. 

Are you kidding? The WORST press is a ship full of Covid. If you are worried about the stock and the future of cruising, this is terrible. Oy! 

[Uff da]

8 hours ago, nm951 said:

my countdown is on ... 20 days to go! We will be flying in to Tampa 2 days early for our 3/27 Cruise on the Dawn. As excited as I am, I am also so nervous that someone in my group will test positive at the port and ruin it all. Does anyone feel like this or am I the only paranoid one? 

Nope. I cruised last month when they tested at the pier. You were supposed to test ahead, just to be sure. I tried, I really did, but due to the snow and the ineptitude of FedX, the tests didn't arrive. I sweat it out at the pier (oh the anxiety) for a half hour but it was fine. If you don't have any symptoms you will be fine. At this point, you have to roll with it, whatever it is. Better to know before you leave home.

[BermudaBound2014]

21 minutes ago, Uff da said:

Are you kidding? The WORST press is a ship full of Covid. If you are worried about the stock and the future of cruising, this is terrible. Oy! 

Of course a ship full of covid is a worse case scenario. You must not believe in the effectiveness of vaccination :(..  Between double vaccination, natural immunity, both, and boosters, the odds of a “ship full of covid” are minuscule. Time to stop the fear.

[mrshorsy]

We have to test 24hrs before our UK to USA flight and we board the ship the following day so that test will meet the criteria of the ship and we won’t need to test at port. Its nerve racking but at least we would find out before leaving the UK!

[dexddd]

Good luck to OP.  We sailed September on two trips.  Thought we were set with negative tests two days prior and flight early the day before only to have AA have mechanical and took zero ownership to get us to destination timely.

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, scorpioncrawl said:

Encore Sailing 2/27/22:  Well, we did the required test 2 days before sail date of 2/27/22 out of Miami. Our tests were negative.  Was tested at the port, hubby was negative and I was positive!  They pulled me to the side to be re-tested, as that test took 30 mins.  I was negative. Thank you God, as we had drove 12 hrs to Miami. They told me I was about the 10th person that day that showed a false positive!!

Good that they just did not accept the false positives as the real thing. They are really a problem with testing.

[ontheweb]

15 minutes ago, dexddd said:

Good luck to OP.  We sailed September on two trips.  Thought we were set with negative tests two days prior and flight early the day before only to have AA have mechanical and took zero ownership to get us to destination timely.

🤦‍♂️, and another reason to be stressed out.

 

We once had a flight changed from JFK direct to Fort Lauderdale to JFK to Fort Lauderdale by way of Dallas. And we would have landed in Fort Lauderdale in time to wave goodbye to the ship. Luckily, it was changed well before the cruise date, and we were able to book a different flight. There was a bit of a hassle to get the original flight refunded, but it was when I went through the airline instead of the travel agency (which I cannot name, but let me say is a consolidator).

[fox02554]

14 hours ago, FLcruisergrl said:

You aren’t paranoid! We leave on Sunday and just did a pre-test before our Friday “official” test. Definitely made us feel better!

we have over the counter " pre tests to do before we do our proctored 48 hour " real "   tests , no idea what we'll do if some one test positive 😬 mad dash and name changes ??????? fingers crossed  40 days to go maybe they'll change the rules again by then 🤷‍♀️

[ColbyCarrington]

I sail in 27 days and I have some OTC tests set aside to take the day or two leading up to my online proctored test that I ordered but my goodness it’s the biggest worry I have right now. I’ve basically told everyone I know that my face mask is going to be plastered to my face the two weeks leading up to embarkation day. 
 

what does NCL do if you get a negative test and can’t sail? Anything? FCC? I can’t seem to find a defined answer on the cruise website anymore with regard to that. 

[bigrednole]

Get a free covid test from the gov't. Do it at home a few days before you have to do the real one. Then. you are prepared and ready. In the end, there is nothing you can do for the result. The rapid tests are pretty accurate. However, if positive, get the real full test to verify it was a false positive.

[weltek]

If I had school-age kids, I'd be stressed. With just me and my husband, I'm quite confident we can take enough precautions to avoid it. Between wearing masks, handwashing, sanitizing, and avoiding social gatherings for 10 days pre-cruise, and testing pre-cruise, I'm pretty darn confident we can withstand a boarding surprise. 

 

This also brings up a point...if at all avoidable, it's probably best not to link reservations to others in any way right now and avoid getting together maskless before embarkation.

 

[SLYScorpions]

11 hours ago, mrshorsy said:

We have to test 24hrs before our UK to USA flight and we board the ship the following day so that test will meet the criteria of the ship and we won’t need to test at port. Its nerve racking but at least we would find out before leaving the UK!

May I ask how / where you will do your testing before your flight? We will need to do this also for our flight home to USA from Edinburgh in May. I haven't yet zeroed in on where we will have this done. I have considered a test kit brought from home to do in our hotel night before our flight. Thank you for yours or anyones advice or input. 

[MoCruiseFan]

21 hours ago, nm951 said:

my countdown is on ... 20 days to go! We will be flying in to Tampa 2 days early for our 3/27 Cruise on the Dawn. As excited as I am, I am also so nervous that someone in my group will test positive at the port and ruin it all. Does anyone feel like this or am I the only paranoid one? 

 

If you are "terrified" maybe you should just stay home.  If someone test positive then they do and there isn't anything anyone can do about it.  Get your test two days before you leave and chances are slim it will show up at the port.  It is nothing to worry about or fret over to the point of ruining your own cruise.