naburleson

One more question, to your knowledge, were any passengers who tested positive before one of the port stops made to disembark at that port and find a way home?

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Hi @kearney, for that same cruise on the Silhouette in early December, we, like you, had backups to our backups, and I also recommend that to anyone traveling in the near future. We had an appointment early in the morning in Fort Lauderdale at Fast Test Now, (since we were able to make that appt well in advance), a backup appt that afternoon at a CVS, and the proctored BinaxNow home test as a final backup.  Fast Test Now worked fine and we had results in about 20 minutes. We then immediately cancelled CVS. And we used two of the BinaxNow tests (without logging on for a proctor) when we disembarked, before seeing my elderly Mom, and two more several days after we got home from Florida. (They were expiring in January anyway.)

 

I’d strongly recommend to you and anyone else to at least have the proctored home tests on hand as a backup for travel requirements.  
 

Happy New Year, and stay safe!

Thanks Turtles06 for your response.  We have an appointment with FastTestNow on Jan 7, which we also made well in advance.  Just nice to hear all went as planned with you!

On 12/22/2021 at 9:47 PM, lifeisrealygood said:

My wife and I have a March 13th cruise out of Fort Lauderdale.  We are flying into Fort Lauderdale on Thursday for a Sunday sailing.  So, we need to be tested in Fort Lauderdale.  I have been calling around, and up until yesterday, everyone I called said to just come on in, no problem.  Many said you do not even need an appointment.

 

I called many of those same establishments today, and received a completely different answer.  They all stated now that March is still a ways off, but there may be shortages of tests in the future and they can no longer guarantee that they can perform the tests in March.

 

So, this is a BIG deal for cruisers.  I guess I should start looking into the tests I can do from my hotel room.  

 

Anyone else getting nervous about the testing requirement for January, February or March cruises?

We are booked for Jan 9, flying into Ft Lauderdale on Jan 6.  Booked rapid antigen tests with FastTestNow.com,1008 W Oakland Park Blvd, Ft Lauderdale early morning on Jan 7. They charged our credit cards $89 each when we made the reservation, so they had better have tests available for us!  But in light of possible shortages of tests, we also ordered the proctored tests from Celebrity and had them shipped to a friend's house (where we are staying pre-cruise).  Hope it is all  worth it, travel is so stressful these days!

Thanks for your post. I am traveling solo for the first time and am a little anxious. I am recently widowed and need to spend some time by myself to figure out who I am as well as to relax after my husband's illness and subsequent passing.

 

I fully expect to enjoy myself, but am more concerned about not wanting to eat at a table for 1! I have booked excursions and look forward to 'me' time.

 

Debbi

Hi Debbi, I am in the same position as you are, and I can think of nothing better and more relaxing that some sea days on a cruise to get back into the swing of life. So sorry about your loss - I was a caregiver for several years as well - but we are not alone, and congratulations on your upcoming cruise! Hope you have a wonderful time! - Nancy

Thanks for this thread. I traveled solo many times prior to meeting my late husband and had a great time. I'm a bit hesitant to cruise solo since my TA has offered me cruises that seem even more than double what we'd pay as a couple.

 

Perhaps I need to go back to doing my own research. I'm happy to hear/read that you all seem satisfied with cruising solo since I love cruising in any form.

 

I guess I'm looking for any advice you might have for someone my age (almost 70 but not sure I beleive my birth certificate :p ) and which ship I'd be most comfortable cruising on... I am Platinum on NCL and Black on MSC...

 

Any thoughts?

Hi Connie - My husband passed away in March after a long illness. We cruised a lot early in our marriage, and I missed it so much in recent years. So the first thing I did was book two solo cruises... Alaska in August, and So Caribbean next March, on Celebrity. True, you don't get much of a break on prices, but the cabin pricing is based on 2 people in a cabin. I am your age, and I say go for it!