Luv2Cruze4

Hi All,

Would really like to take a catamaran cruise out to snorkel over this wreck during our cruise in September.  Has anyone used a great company that they recommend?

thanks!

j.

On 7/13/2023 at 7:49 PM, amcankid said:

Have you joined our Facebook group?

Carnival Miracle August 7, 2023

We have! Its a great group!

Thanks for this! We leave for the same cruise on Aug 7th - and we do have kids! They are an bit older now, but this has some extremely helpful things that as a parent I would of appreciated hearing a few years ago. So, thanks for taking the time. 🙂  I also had one of those kids that would of needed a hand hold on the glacier. 😛 And at 17, not sure much has changed...LOL

Agree with Prince Rupert. We are Canadian and were not happy with the change from Victoria.

J.

Thanks for posting this review! We head out on this exact same cruise Aug 7th and are so looking forward to it. Haven't see many reviews. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express for a couple of days prior and I did book Alcatraz months earlier as I did hear it would be sold out. My daughter is 17 and son 22 so we can relate to all the aspects as your family seems really similar to ours especially in personality. Bruh! MOTHER! LOL

Glad to see the karaoke was enjoyable as well - that is a favourite for us!

J.

We are heading to Belize next week on the Pride. We booked directly with BUTT'S UP CAVE TUBING. Such great reviews!! And much cheaper than the ship.

We are in the same spot. We decided to rent a car for the half day to do some shopping and sightseeing. Luggage goes with us.

Hi All,

Has anyone done cave tubing this year since the Pandemic started? Just wondering what the excursion looks like now.

thanks!

Hi All,

Has anyone done cave tubing this year since the Pandemic started? Just wondering what the excursion looks like now.

thanks!

30 minutes ago, kimlet said:

Are you able to get it there for travel. thanks

We are using the service before we cross the border and board the ship.Rapid antigen.

7 minutes ago, stefndoug said:

book as soon as you are able to make a booking for that day.  Appointments go quickly.  I think Walgreens is 7 days in advance now.

We would literally have to book the day we board the ship.

18 minutes ago, stefndoug said:

When you make the appointment you put your name, address and birthdate on it.  It has all the information required for crossing.

I like it!!!  Going to give it a GO and make a reservation for after we disembark. We have the back up Switch tests we will take if it doesn't work in FL.

59 minutes ago, stefndoug said:

just made another booking for Walgreens for next wednesday.  Every other day before that is all booked up (Rapid ID Now).  Gotta do some shopping and get gas.

If they don't ask for ID....how do they put your name on the results email?  We are looking at walgreens for when we get off our cruise ship but we need to make an appt ahead of time. I CALLED them and they told me Canadians are $130...but free is much better!!

I wish Carnival would take this on. Would make my life a whole lot easier in 2 weeks.

19 hours ago, jy_cruisefan said:

Hello again. Where are you getting your tests done? 

Thank you

Walmart Pharmacy, with a back up at SDM. Walmart is only $19.97.

15 hours ago, bookbabe said:

Thousands of Canadians have gotten them for free, myself and DH included.  However, if you ask them for an official answer, you’re going to get an official corporate policy that varies quite a bit from the reality at the individual locations.

Noted, thanks!

14 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

The Switch Health and Azova tests can absolutely be purchased ahead of time and shipped to your house, then you take them with you on vacation and do the telehealth visit at the appropriate time while you are away.

 

Emed and the other US vendors will only ship within the States, so you’d have to get those shipped to your hotel.  Bringing some Switch/Azova tests with you seems easier.

 

If you have a car (rental or willing taxi?) you can get a free test at Walgreens.  They are available for Canadians, just use your hotel address.

https://flytrippers.com/update-on-free-testing-at-walgreens-in-the-us-my-february-12-2022-test/

 

There are also free and paid testing concierge services such as BeeperMD that will come to your hotel and test you, reviews for those vary.  I haven’t tried them myself since Walgreens is free and so easy.

Walgreens just told me on a message that the test for Canadians is $130 US. Not free.

22 hours ago, Capt_BJ said:

Airport to cruise port is flat rate $30 for a taxi ... get a van type and done . . .

https://tampaairport.com/ground-transportation

 

I just ran UBER numbers and an XL would be $50 .....

 

 

Thanks for the good info!!! Noted!!

13 minutes ago, DHP1 said:

You could get tested at Buffalo airport assuming there open or, get tested at FLL. 

It's Tampa International - and they no longer offer on site testing. <sigh>

1 minute ago, DHP1 said:

You could get tested at Buffalo airport assuming there open or, get tested at FLL. 

That is our back up plan now. They are open until 1:00am and we land at 11:57pm.  

12 minutes ago, jy_cruisefan said:

Hello. Apologies,  I'm sure this question has been answered before. We are departing on the Carnival Horizon on April 10th, so we plan on taking our pre-departure test on Friday April 8th here in Ottawa (Kanata), at our local SDM. The issue we have is that the last time we were on a cruise was with Celebrity in December 2021, we did our pre-departure test at SDM in Kanata. The results were hand written on the form. Fortunately, Celebrity accepted the hand written test results. Carnival however explicitly mentions in their FAQ  that hand written results are unacceptable. Does anyone know if Rexall or other places will provide digital (I.e. not hand written) results on their form?

Thank you.

We are getting our tests done in 2 weeks time and were told that the results were going to be emailed. That should be the norm now.

2 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

 

You could ask the ship for a PCR test with the 3D validity?

Carnival will not offer testing after the cruise. We called.  I may need to pose the question to John Heald....

This sounds like a great option, however......  When we get off the ship Sunday morning we head to Buffalo from FL that night but don't arrive until midnight. When we cross the border with our car to Toronto it will technically be Monday morning. This means that we cannot do the test Saturday night on the ship. We need to stay up and do it in the wee hours of Sunday morning. AGH!

6 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

Buy a SwitchHealth kit.  or one of the others. Azova or something like that.  That's our plan. 

Do you plan to do the test on board the ship before you get off?

10 minutes ago, CKCruising said:

Still is an odd word?  Antigen was just added today.

As of today you can use an antigen test one day prior OR a PCR (molecular) test 72 hours prior to return to Canada via Air or Land.

Not odd in the sense that I have been "aware" of this change coming for the last few weeks and was still HOPING that they would get rid of the test needed to return home. We are sailing in 2 weeks. And they now say that the mayors of the border towns are asking to have this removed...  

Getting a test in FL when we get off the ship if becoming increasingly complicated. Walgreens and CVS - very pricey for Canadians. I was hoping that Carnival would do the test for us if we ask, but they will not.

ok....so we STILL have to have an antigen test to COME BACK INTO CANADA, correct?