RazorPokesHoney

We board Saturday and received a reminder email to complete yesterday around 5:00. There is no option on the Carnival page to do this but we are using Verifly so maybe they already know that.

I appreciate the great review. We board the Magic on Saturday and the insight on what to expect will be helpful. Glad you made it home safely and look forward to your next adventure. 

Looking forward to your review of the Magic. We'll be on her in 3 weeks except going to Canada and first time sailing out of New York. We did visit in 2019 and saw Wicked for my birthday. It was excellent. 

Thanks for the review! We'll be on her next month for our anniversary except we're going north.

2 hours ago, kona_wahine said:

You may not be aware but there are smaller boats that go farther up to the glaciers. They are excursions that are booked from your starting port, such as Seattle. (Not Tracy Arm) Just an FYI….

We did this at the beginning of May. The views are so much better. I'd highly recommend it. 

9 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I think I could still test positive. Spicy ketchup still smells and tastes bad. Something is wrong.

The day after we got back from the 5/2 Splendor sailing, I had a sore throat and tested positive the next day. I only had mild cold symptoms for a couple of days.  It took almost 3 weeks to test negative on an antigen test for me. Hubby never got it. Glad you're feeling better and enjoyed the great review. 🙂 

15 hours ago, dgoz said:

Did you signup in advance for this?

No, we just walked off the ship and they were waiting in the taxi area.

It should level out once you get into the Inside Passage. We were on the 5/2 Splendor and the first day at sea was rough. After some ginger ale, Dramamine and the wristbands from the gift shop, I was good by the evening. Hang in there, it'll get better!

We were on the 5/2 Splendor and we did not receive any port valet info in our cabins either but it would have been nice. We did the self-assist debark and was able to get a taxi and was at the airport around 8:30. It all went fairly smooth.  But they really need to take Carnival off the site as an option since they're not participating to avoid the confusion. 

8 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Wait. You were 2 days out. We know the rapid naat is good 2 days out. The question is 3 days out for Canada. 

This is what we’re concerned about.I’m going to be in Seattle two days out so my preference would be a Saturday test in Dallas which is three days out. I’ve seen a random person on social media say the 72 hour thing means they won’t take a morning test if you board in the afternoon. I don’t know whether it’s true or not but until I see someone say they took the rapid naat on Saturday morning and boarded Tuesday afternoon, it seems risky.

Sorry, I misunderstood. I agree that it could be risky. I've seen the claims that the rapid naat is a pcr and would work for the 72 hours but we wasn't willing to risk it. If all else fails, several in our group made appointments with a mobile testing service in Seattle that came to them but it was a bit pricey.

As for the ArriveCan, I only showed the qr code at the port on my phone. I did however print our the receipt from them and did a screenshot of the code as a backup. There was so much involved plus the uncertainty with it being the first cruise, I was paranoid. 

8 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

Now with Canada  I’m thinking of playing it safe with the full pcr and just do my home one if I don’t have results by the time I get to my hotel in Seattle. Now I’m wondering because I’ve seen people say the Canada thing says 72 hours before boarding so are they going to deny me if it take a test at 9am on saturday and try to board at noon on Tuesday?

 

 

The rapid NAAT at Walgreen's works. I not so sure they care the time of day. We tested on Saturday morning and boarded on Monday. I put everything into the Verifly app and it was accepted within an hour. I showed the app when we checked in and was sent through. I did have hard copies just in case we had any issues. 

8 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

St Greg, what type of Covid test are you getting at Walgreen's?  I'm scheduled at Walgreen's for a Rapid NAAT, which I usually have gotten a Rapid antigen at CVS but CVS isn't doing tests currently.  Thanks for your feedback!

We were just on the Splendor and did the rapid NAAT with Walgreens so it will for sure work.

On 5/16/2022 at 1:10 PM, gatec1008 said:

We'll be visiting ISP in end of June 2022.  Most of the tours/activities are sold out since we booked this cruise last minute.  We would love to go whale watching at ISP but can't find availability for our group of 8 adults.  Most boats only hold 6 as we learned.  Does anyone have other suggestions or recommendations?  We booked this cruise itinerary because of ISP.  We might just have to spend the day visiting Hoonah.

We just got back last week. We did the whale watching with Hoonah Travel Adventures and they were wonderful. Their boat would easily fit your group if it's not sold out.

11 hours ago, Reds4life said:

Looking for suggestions on the cheapest way to get from Pier 91 to Sea-Tac. Not interested in buses or much walking since my 81 yr old mother will be with us. TIA

When we debarked last week, there were taxis and vans lined up when coming out of the terminal and someone directing the traffic flow. We were directed to a van and paid $20 each. We did self assist so it was early but it was a fairly quick process.

13 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

So we are arriving the day before our cruise and staying at the Marriot Waterfront, across the street from Pier 66, is it cheaper for us to get a yellow taxi and take it to Pier 66 vs an Uber XL or Lyft to the hotel? There will be 4 of us 

We took an UberX from Sea-Tac to our hotel around the Space Needle 2 weeks ago. It cost us almost $70 plus tip but I'm sure an XL would be more. We heard later that a taxi would have been half that but I'm not sure about that. There was 2 of us but I hope that gives you some reference.

We caught a taxi shuttle from Pier 91 to Sea-Tac and it cost us $20 each plus a tip. This was this past Tuesday.

I look forward to your journey. Being on the first sailing out, there was some bumps but overall we had a wonderful time. That first day at sea was a little rocky so some Dramamine on hand might not be a bad idea. Tracy Arm was the first thing we bought. It did sell out and they added another boat, it's well worth the money. We did the train in Skagway, whale watching in Icy Straight, and bought tickets to Mendenhall on the dock so we'd have enough time to explore. 

Bought my gift card through AARP since I'm hoovering around that 50 mark and saved 10%. 

On 5/14/2022 at 10:51 PM, b8nkr said:

We will be on the spirit 5/18. Can you tell me if carnival is for sure offering port valet this year? 

We were on the 5/2 Splendor and they are not offering it yet. I had previously ask JH and he had said no so I cancelled my reservation. 

On 5/12/2022 at 2:31 PM, Italy52 said:

Oh no!  Was it Cpt. Shawn or Cpt. Casey that tested positive.  Sorry you didn't get to go out with Glacier Wind as they are wonderful.  Glad to hear that you were able to go with another vendor.

It was the son, I'm guessing that is Casey. We'd like to go back so if we're able, we'd give them another try.

We was there last week. We were originally booked with Glacier Wind but our captain tested positive and we had to rebook. They were excellent with communicating with us and recommended Hoonah Adventures. They were wonderful and the whale watching was great. I don't think you could go wrong with either of them.

We were there last week. I saw many people walking but I do not remember seeing any shuttles other than those who'd booked excursions. We did whale watching there so we shuttled to town.

I'm with tx121, I never saw them when we explored the ship but could have missed them.

We were on the 5/2 Splendor. I had everything ready, showed my verifly when we checked in, past that there were people checking to make sure we had the qr code and there was a great number of people who had to step out of line to download the app. We did get off in Victoria just to go to the gift shop and they did not ask to see anything there but some of our table mates rented cars in Skagway to cross the border did and didn't have any issues. 

2 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Just wanted you to know that I also was able to complete my ArriveCan more than 72 hours out.  It surprised me.  I wonder if they (Canadian Gov't) are finding it is more complicated to make people wait, rather than just complete it all at once, especially when the cruise date is firm.

Maybe, 4 days seems like ample time. I wonder if the 72 hours is linked to a getting a PCR test since  they previously did require you to test before entry. It really does seem a little silly though for cruises since the days in port are set and are sailing as a vaccinated cruise minus the exempted kiddos.

I'm in no hurry, I'll wait until tomorrow. I just thought it was interesting and will be curious to see if she has any issues.