simmingdenise

You are not paying for cheers the day you leave. If you board on Sat in Miami you pay for 7 days which gets you through Friday. If you’re in a place that it starts on day 2 you’re paying for 6-days of Cheers. I’ve never tried but I don’t believe you can order drinks on Cheers on the last morning. Services are very limited because they are prepping for the next group.

With soda I’ve always had them pour a warm soda over a glass of ice so it’s pretty flat when you get it. They don’t give you the entire can. Some bartenders may be more rule-friendly than others so someone may have gotten the can but that is generally not the rule.

12 hours ago, DanBoy said:

Ok.. Even more stress. I ordered  the 3 pack of Binax Proctored test through Optum Tues Sept 7. Said expedited shipping with Fedex. Email received on Sept 8 from Optum saying order was being shipped. I cannot get any updates since the  then with Fedex. I called Optum just a while ago (Sunday Sept 12) He said  Can't find any updates either. I said I am cruising on the 27th and I need to know if I am getting this or should I cancel and just order from EMED instead. He said "Oh, EMED has to go thru us anyway".. I don't know if that is true. He said they will resubmit the order and I will have it by the 24th!.. I said that is really cutting it close. Yada yada yada.. what happened to "expedited" shipping?.. and if Emed goes through you why do they charge an extra 17  for shipping.. So I guess I will wait til tomorrow or no later than Tuesday to get confirmation.. If nothing by then I will probably cancel the order and go directly to EMED website..  It seems  some of my Walgreens now have the Rapid test but you can only book appoitment about 2 days out.. I tell you looks more and more like this cruise may not happen.. Anyone have recent experience with Optum/EMed??

Emed does not go through Optum. Emed is the company who provides the proctored testing and lab results. The order screen with Optum specifically says “This test combined with emeds telehealth services and emeds lab results…”

The value plan is very slow and in my experience only worked for social media sites with any reliability in the early morning hours. The mid range plan is a little faster which is why it’s recommended if you need access to things like news or email. The top tier is the fastest and somewhat works for people who are working, doing schoolwork, uploading videos etc. None of the internet is fantastic and you likely won’t see speeds you’re used to on land. It also depends on how many of your fellow cruisers are accessing it at the same time you are which is why early morning tends to work a little better.

Many people have reported that a digital copy of lab results are fine. John Heald has also confirmed. The hotel desk should be able to print your results for you if that makes you feel more secure.

John Heald has stated most cruises are around 70%  occupancy.

14 minutes ago, Ellusionz said:

I don't know if I missed it in this thread, but where does Carnival show it accepts the home kits? And has this changed with the recent updates to their policies? Just don't want to buy something that ends up not being allowed. Thanks!

If you read Carnival’s home testing guidelines the home proctored tests meet all of the requirements.

1 minute ago, Seattitude said:

Does anyone know if we will have to be tested after we get off the ship and before we get our flight home?

There is no current requirement to have testing done for domestic flights.

8 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

For anyone that has done the eMed version, can you share (with pertinent information blocked out) that it has all the information Carnival requires on the results sheet?

Post #55 has my lab results. 

I’ve never had a good margarita on a cruise ship. They just don’t taste right to me, too sweet maybe? I usually just stick to shots of patron when I feel like tequila.

On 8/27/2021 at 4:24 PM, tlombardo77 said:

This is only happening thanksgiving week, 2021 and 2022. It’s shady.

That isn’t accurate. My Freedom cruise on 10/17/21 also won’t allow bookings with 3-4 passengers.
My friend removed one person that can’t sail and tried to replace them with someone else and Carnival said they are not allowing any 3-4 person bookings for the time being. For those that are already booked it’s fine but you can’t change existing bookings or do new bookings.

1 minute ago, Brew12 said:

 

You are correct, but it can be legally approved by a doctor now that it is a fully approved vaccine. Doctors have leeway on how and who to use fully approved drugs on. If a doctor feels an 10 year old would benefit from the vaccine, he can legally administer it. 

It doesn’t shield a Dr from liability for prescribing off label use of an approved drug. No Dr is going to give a 10 year old a vaccine not yet approved for their age group so they can go on a cruise.

I bet none of the cruise lines will require it until it has the emergency use approval for under 12.

It is not approved for kids under 12.

I purchased these tests from emed for an upcoming cruise. We’ll, I hung out with a neighbor who had a “head cold” 2 weeks ago for a few hours on Friday and wouldn’t you know it…I came down with a head cold on Sunday. *insert eye roll here*
She didn’t get tested so I decided to test this morning since I’m vaccinated and the Delta variant can appear as a head cold.

It was so easy! I got connected right away and she walked me through the test. You’ll need to use both the front and back camera of your phone to scan the QR code of the test and your photo ID. 
My results were negative and the lab report was received in the app and as a PDF in my email immediately. It has all of the required items that Carnival requested so I’m very confident it will be accepted. The PDF document does say BinaxNOW Covid19-AG Card Home Test as the title but the screenshot version does not include the words “home test” and it says it was proctored which is one of Carnival’s requirements so I’ll try to show that version to the Carnival employee first. I’ve attached some screenshots with my info blacked out.

I'm curious that if I'm holding a gift card and Carnival files a Chapter 11 reorganization I'm pretty sure my cards will be pretty useless. BUT if I apply them to future cruises will the value hold? It seems as if their goal is to cruise and create revenue so anyone with future cruises paid in full should be protected. Am I logical in my thinking? Does anyone have experience with this?

53 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Come on folks, it is an expression not to be taken literally.  Like "A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work".  Well, maybe that one should be taken literally, but you know what I mean.  Too much fussing & judging.  I think we must all be going a little stir crazy.  

I agree. Just because someone caught covid and died on a cruise ship or the Titanic sunk and people died doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to say you had a great time on a cruise ship or that cruises are a great way to vacation. It doesn’t take away from the tragedy they experienced.

Mine was canceled on March 26th for a May9th sailing and the refund took about 60 days.

I’m on the Magic for the August 1st sailing. It was a rebook from a canceled May 9th sailing. 
At the time I rebooked I didn’t imagine the shut down would go on this long. I’m not thrilled about being the test subjects for the return to cruising but I’m thankful I’m booked in a balcony on deck 11.

I sincerely hope masks will not be required of passengers. The rest of it I’ll just roll with whatever happens. I’m holding off on rebooking Cheers because it took 60 days to get the last one refunded and at this point Carnival has enough of my funds tied up. I have 4 cruises booked over the next 2 years and two are paid in full.

Since we’re a rebook we don’t fall under the Covid cancellation policy with Carnival and since we made a fee-free change to our AA air tickets once we can’t do another....so if she sails then we sail and just make the best of it.
If she cancels then we do a land trip to Miami and wing it.

For what it's worth I spoke to the Fun Shop this morning and they said it's expected to be working by 5 PM Eastern time today.

My husband drinks whole milk to help with heartburn at all times during the day. He has always been able to get it at the buffet in the morning or by asking a staff member at the buffet at any other time of the day.

Cheers is purchased from the Funshops and is always due in full at the time you purchase.

I don’t know the recipe but it’s definitely what they’re called. I had them on the Magic last November. The ones I had were a carrot cake muffin.

I've cruised twice on Halloween and both times they've had all the decorations down and everything back to normal by the following morning.

I’ve cruised 7 times from Long Beach and boarding usually starts around 11 AM -12 Noon.

I should add that we have always had FTTF and arrive to check in between 10-11.

I’ve cruised on both the Inspiration (2017) and Imagination (2015) on Halloween and this was not a service offered.

Great idea though!

You can change your online check in info after you initially complete it. If you do it with your DL & BC when it opens you can go back in and edit it when you get your Passport.

It seems like that is what you were asking.