Keys2Heaven

On 9/26/2021 at 10:04 AM, vlynn said:

On a different page, someone mentioned that John Heald will be on this cruise, is this true? Doesn’t matter either way, just curious. Thanks!

Yes, he will be on this cruise. I know of several more well-known content creators on YT who will be on this cruise as well.

Yep, have an awesome travel agent who was able to get us an 8K balcony on deck 7. Looking forward to the cruise!

36 minutes ago, CeeJayPonz said:

For those of us who carry our own bags onto the ship, what is the earliest time you are allowed to enter your cabin? I want to choose a check in time accordingly.

If you are not in a suite, then 1:30 PM. I believe John Heald indicated Diamond/Platinum could drop carry on baggage off but the cabin may not be ready.

9 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

CDC says 10 days right on the site. Carnival is using different rules for this one.

I guess I'm arguing semantics then. What difference does it make if someone were positive 10 days or 14 days ago if they no longer have symptoms and test negative? In fact, I'd argue that I would probably prefer to cruise with someone in this situation as their antibodies are much higher than someone who has been fully vaccinated more than 6 months.

On 9/21/2021 at 2:24 PM, Woodfaerie said:

UPDATE:  1st Carnival rep I just talked with said, AND I QUOTE HER

 

rep said: "if she i has a negative test dated 48 hours or less, she can cruise.

 

I replied "are you aware that on the CCL website it states that if you are positive within 14 days of sailing you must cancel?"

 

rep said: ( hesitated. on answering, there was a pause...)  "well it is up to her if she wants to go"

I said:  "are you serious? do you know anything about these protocols? You are telling me that its up to her?"

 

rep said: "yes, because no one will know she had a positive test"

 

I hung up on her.  Unfreaking real. As God is my witness, this conversation just took place.

 

I guess I don't understand why it matters if someone was positive 14 days ago if they are negative now. Isn't that what really matters?

So far, the only question I've been asked is if I am full vaccinated per WHO and CDC guidelines 14 days before by cruise. Aside from that, we only need to provide a negative test within 2 days of our sail date.

Are you saying there are now additional questions being asked that we should be aware of? I'm really not sure why Carnival would know about a positive result 11 days ago unless you told them. Seems like everyone is negative now and should be fine to board.

She's moving now.

Carnival is aware of these expiration date issue. I would think if this was a huge deal, they would immediately stop accepting this test as proof.

We bought the 6-pack from eMed after watching the video from Parodeejay. eMed only offers the 6-pack and we were under the impression that we could use these for our 2022 cruise as well.

A few days after our purchase, JH made the announcement about the Optum site where you could order 2 & 3 packs of tests, which would have been more convenient for us.

Hopefully, there will be another extension where we will be able to use those "extra" tests. I don't mind having an extra in the event of a mishap (see La Lido Loca where Tony dropped his test card during the proctored session).

After 2 opened service tickets and an ultimatum to ship by Friday and either cancel my order or I will file a dispute with my CC company, I had some dialogue with a CS rep who "reprocessed" my original order and compensated my shipping charges. They chalked this up to a "logistical" issue. I received an email this evening that the items are being FedEx'd overnight and actually received a tracking number.
 

Woo hoo!

Looks like I'll have a couple extra tests I won't need. Wonder if I can offer these to anyone in our cruise group in December.

Called eMed...on hold for 35 minutes. Talked to someone who indicated there was an issue with orders placed over the holiday. She opened a ticket with eMed support to find out why a tracking number wasn't provided. I've written to their support twice, but never received a response. My confidence level with eMed is very low at this point. Extremely difficult to understand agent and not sure if I will receive my tests anytime soon. Good thing cruise isn't until December.

Oh, she did make a point in saying that I may receive kits that show expired in Oct/Nov, but that they have an extension and are good for 1 year from date of manufacture.

Asking for my own curiosity. I ordered a 6 pack of tests on Sept 5th. Order was approved but still not shipped. How long did you have to wait before your tests were shipped?

Question: I ordered the 6 pack from eMed on Sept 5th. Still no shipping notification. How long does it take to receive these? And their customer service is all but unresponsive,

3 minutes ago, Bookbug53 said:

OK. One small thing I cannot figure out and I know the answer is simple. I watched the video on how to do the test and when complete, and hopefully negative, you throw it away.

 

How do you keep negative results and present to Carnival when checking in? I think I missed that part. 

You should have a proctored test, where someone will watch you perform the test and then check the result. Your result will be emailed to you.

Sgt. Jeff

Found this link:

eMed extension

Looks like your lot number is extended until 1/5/2022

I ordered tests for a December cruise. How long are tests good for?

Appreciate the tip, as I was able to knock $120 off our cabin.

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

You can get a real at home test, too. or on the road.

 

 

Yep, thanks to Parodeejay, we ordered our tests.

Yep, kinda figured our Ecstasy cruise in December was toast.

Yeah, I'm well over 75% sure that our 5-day Ecstasy cruise early December is going to be toast. About a month ago there were plenty of cabins left for all Dec. Ecstasy sailings and then a couple of weeks ago sailings up through mid-December were closed. I called Carnival to inquire, but they wouldn't tell me much, other to say that our particular sailing was closed to new bookings.

Just noticed yesterday that now ALL Ecstasy sailings for December are gone.

I figure the handwriting is on the wall at this point. Our final payment is scheduled for Saturday. So, once again, we'll do the dance of making final payment, waiting for the cruise to be cancelled, then going the FCC/refund process and move funds to a booking for next year.

6 hours ago, BrotherCraig said:

 

I agree.  Love that itinerary.  Roatan has one of the best beaches in the world, fun and excellent bar hopping, amazing restaurants, some of the best snorkeling in the world right from the beach, Friendliest and phenomenal people, and world class zip lines.  Throw in Sloths and monkeys too.  I can't get enough.  Cruise to there three times in a row - that is how much I loved it.  We also spend a week there for a land vacation.  Belize is great too if you do it right - amazing islands and snorkeling.

We really enjoyed Roatan.

1 hour ago, Alibaster McGillicutty said:

Correct, testing positive and still able to spread.

Even if it is "100% vaccinated", don't be surprised if masking remains in place or tightens even further.

 

 

I don't expect masks to tighten even further. Statistically speaking, you are less likely to have a severe medical crisis if vaccinated vs. unvaccinated. I think masks will remain until there is no longer a public emergency.

In order for cruising to remain operational and safe, I really don't see any other way than to sail fully vaccinated. Now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval, I expect that this will become commonplace for many things aside from cruising.

Yes, always have travel insurance, especially at this time.

We haven't cruised since the restart began, so I can't answer that question except to say that we have a cruise booked in December and I believe we're probably safer on a cruise ship than most places on shore.

We'll wear masks in accordance with the cruiseline's protocols.

2 hours ago, LOWTYD said:

I am not having luck finding this on my own.  I am sailing on the Valor in 2022.  I noticed when researching the extended aft balconies, that some have couches and some do not.  Some  of the photos and videos were older so  I am not sure if they were upgraded to couches  or they were taken away or is there really a mix.  ( and wondering why some would have them and some would not) I feel like I am being gipped for  not having a couch, but I don't know how real that is.  Any recent Deck 7 Extended Balcony people out there who can shed some light on this? I was looking at 7447 and 7448. Both show no couches in their photos/video.

We were in 7442 on the Valor and it had a couch.