infoseeking

11 minutes ago, scottraveller said:

Thanks for that. It states departure at 07.15. Is that actually when the coach leaves or is it when you leave the ship to head to the coaches please

The time on the sheet was when we were called to leave the ship. It was pretty fast to leave the ship, gather luggage, pass through customs (just a constant flow of people through the nothing to declare line), get on the bus. We were almost the last on our bus. Our listed departure time was 8:45 a.m. The bus pulled out at 9:05 a.m.

47 minutes ago, scottraveller said:

Ok thanks. Does the coach arranged by RCI leave at 07.00. The cruise planner document I seen posted on here suggested 7.45 which would be leaving it a bit tight I think

We were on the June 5 Brilliance out of Ravenna. This was our departure sheet (we took the late transfer to Venice city center.)

For follow up, we made it on the cruise today without the agent looking for a CLIA number. She looked for the negative result and specifically for the date the test was taken.

Two of us had tested through  Rapid Test and Trace and two through Emed.

Our vaccine cards were checked. They even took a new picture of my 10 year old's card since she got a booster shot since I originally uploaded it. Even though the booster isn't required for her.

33 minutes ago, BND said:

My PDF from March 31 that I printed out and took to the port didn't have the CLIA #.  Your report looks very different than ours did.  Ours was printed from what was emailed to us.

Hmm, the results I posted above were from clicking through an email from Navica saying to log on to our account for results. 

I just searched through our emails. I found the one directly from emed with a PDF attached. That document does not have a CLIA number, for the same test reported by Navica. I feel much reassured that a CLIA number is not necessary.

The emed test my husband did this morning has a CLIA number.

Hopefully the picture will upload. I erased the personal info and part of the CLIA number. Little messy since I'm doing it on my phone.

4 minutes ago, tj_shopper said:

Any response yet on this?  It would be great if they could add it.  
 

there are no Walgreens in New York but there are some in New Jersey.  There are CVS in New York and they do have appointments available tomorrow but if their results don’t have the CLIA number, then I don’t think it would be helpful to get retested there.

They responded that they do not provide the CLIA number. They said they provide all CDC required information and the CDC does not require the CLIA number.

I have decided not to worry about it. Hopefully there would have been some reports of people being turned away if Royal were really so picky.

I am not so sure that any of the pharmacy testing places provide the number either. I have not tried them.

I agree, super stressful. I'm thinking the CLIA number is not an important detail, even though it's listed by Royal Caribbean.

I checked the official reports we've gotten on other Covid tests through our community testing sites over the past year and no CLIA number is on them either. I know a family cruised over spring break on Royal Caribbean with those community test reports.

My husband tested this morning with the emed Binax Now test. (He had to do it early, before the Rapid Test and Trace hours.) That report does include the CLIA number.

At least you've heard of people being able to board with results from that company.

I would think the most important bit the agent looks for is the negative result.

My proctoring session had a snafu. The assigned agent didn't log on. I just had a "waiting for meeting to start" message for the duration of my scheduled session.

I called customer service, then 5 minutes past my scheduled time block, a different proctor than the one I was supposed to have showed up on screen. Customer service did answer the call right away.

1 minute ago, tj_shopper said:

My family (4 of us) just used Rapid Test and Trace this morning to do our COVID test.  Very efficient and quick.  We are boarding on Sunday, June 5th.  The email results in PDF has everything on there so I am confident this will be good.  If I remember, I will come back on here to let you know how boarding went.  I did chat with another person although through the Facebook group that said she used this service and had no problems boarding Royal Caribbean cruise with it.  The company was very professional and I kept getting reminder emails for my test.  I got a reminder two days before, one day before and then at 6:30 a.m. this morning.  My test was at 7:00 a.m.  

That's reassuring. I ended up doing a chat with Rapid Test and Trace. They said they do not provide a CLIA Lab number on the results. I hope our boarding agent is not nit picky.

Has anyone successfully boarded with the Rapid Test and Trace documents? 

https://rapidtestandtrace.com/

My daughter and I both just tested with them and I noticed the results documents they emailed us don't list the lab CLIA number or certification number.

Per Royal Caribbean "You must receive a valid results document from your test provider that includes the name of the lab that processed the test, the lab’s CLIA Lab Number or Certification Number, the address of the lab, your name, the date the test was taken, type of test, and your negative result."

I have an email out to Rapid Test and Trace asking if this information can be added.

We haven't traveled by train in Italy before so weren't sure how manageable it would be with kids and luggage.

It's good to see some recommended private transfers. When we were initially looking online, it was hard to figure out which companies were reputable/reliable. Some companies had good reviews from before the pandemic but recent reviews complained of the driver not showing up. Not clear who might be having hiring shortages. Didn't even think of getting a recommendation from the Ravenna Tourism Authority.

For now we'll keep the excursion/transfer combo through Royal Caribbean. It's easy, can book through the Cruise Planner. I wish all the Royal Caribbean transfer options could be seen and booked that way.

16 minutes ago, 24acorns said:

 

Not sure about the return transfer being full. 

I called earlier this week to book transfer from Venice to Ravenna and was told just to turn up anytime for the coach. I arrive the evening before but a late flight and have booked an airport hotel. I asked twice if I needed to book a time but she said no they run every 30 minutes. Thought the cost was quite reasonable (for RC) includes phone charge point, free Wi-Fi  and bottled water. Coaches only filling to 50% capacity. She asked if I wanted to book the return transfer, however I left it as I thought I would maybe do the Padua transfer (Although that is a steep price). 

Maybe call RC to book although it looks as if return transfer is bookable on board. 

Thanks for the info. I called Royal Caribbean today and they told me the transfer from the ship in Ravenna to VCE is currently wait list only.

The agent couldn't find the transfer to Venice City center as an option to book.

I don't want to risk not having a transfer since I will have kids with me, so I reserved the combined Padua excursion and airport transfer. It is spendy!

Hoping once on board I can switch that to drop off in Venice city center. Otherwise, I guess we'll see Padua. It just cuts into our Venice time.

I'm on this cruise in a couple weeks and my TA said the Royal Caribbean Ravenna to VCE transfer was already full, wait list only. 🤔 Maybe are spots reserved to book once on the ship?

I would prefer the transfer to Venice city center but didn't know it was an option.

Thank you for the information. I am now thinking to have plans in place for passive entertainment if one of my kids needs to be quarantined (with a parent).

Glad your symptoms are mild.

I am interested in your experiences in quarantine. My family is scheduled on the Brilliance in a few weeks. We are vaccinated, but none of us have been diagnosed with Covid.

I would also like to know if you have a window and movies in quarantine. Please continue posting if you are able.

Hi,

I just registered. I am trying to clarify when the Cruise with Confidence program terminates.

Today on 2/22/2022, on the Royal Caribbean homepage, it says "program applies to bookings made on or before March 31, 2022 that depart before September 30, 2022; additional terms and conditions apply." Sounds pretty clear cut, but then when I click on  "See our COVID-19 Refund and Cancellations Policy" which is a little further down the page, a pdf file opens up titled "ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL REFUND* AND CANCELLATION POLICY FOR COVID-19" and says the policies are "effective September 20, 2021 and apply to all RCI cruises scheduled to sail between August 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022." The two termination dates don't match up.

I tried to clarify with my TA, but was directed to refer to the Royal Caribbean website. I tried calling Royal Caribbean but they wouldn't specifically discuss my cruise and directed me back to my TA.

I am hoping this is a case of where the document linked has not been updated, but I don't want to be burned by the small print. Screenshots attached.

Opinions? Should I disregard the pdf linked on the homepage?