Protocol if PCR test positive after vaccination

[lovetocruise/diamond]

I apologize if this has been addressed but just curious what happens if you have been vaccinated, then your PCR test comes back positive within the 3 day window of sailing from Miami.  Can you still board the ship?  Thank you 

[rtazz17]

No,not a chance. I would retest to be sure … with an antigen test because you will be very short on time. I would not worry if you are vaccinated. 125,000 break through cases out of 150 million vaccinations. Thats a .0008 % chance of popping positive. The news will make you lose your mind but thats the numbers. Play the lottery,better chance of winning

 

ENJOY YOUR CRUISE! You will be boarding

Edited August 2, 2021 by rtazz17

[lovetocruise/diamond]

Thank you 

[smplybcause]

5 minutes ago, rtazz17 said:

I would retest to be sure … with an antigen test

 

Antigen tests have a very high false negative rate while PCR tests are the gold standard. In other words if you have a negative antigen test and a positive PCR test - you have covid. It'd be ridiculously irresponsible and selfish to board a cruise ship or really go out anywhere after a positive PCR test because you can infect others even if you happen to test negative on an antigen test the next day.

 

Royal will give you a full refund if you or someone in your traveling party tests positive within 14 days of the sail date. 

[rtazz17]

5 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

Antigen tests have a very high false negative rate while PCR tests are the gold standard. In other words if you have a negative antigen test and a positive PCR test - you have covid. It'd be ridiculously irresponsible and selfish to board a cruise ship or really go out anywhere after a positive PCR test because you can infect others even if you happen to test negative on an antigen test the next day.

 

Royal will give you a full refund if you or someone in your traveling party tests positive within 14 days of the sail date. 

I think you should relook up that. Antigen tests are very accurate as of now. I wont argue with you. But a pcr test can be false positive as well. I test people all day long. Current antigen tests are highly accurate. The ones in the beginning were not. But you seem to be the holy grail of test results 

 

I only said that because it was an option. Pcr tests are accurate as well. I am only getting an antigen test for my cruise next sunday.

Edited August 2, 2021 by rtazz17

[BirdTravels]

18 minutes ago, lovetocruise/diamond said:

I apologize if this has been addressed but just curious what happens if you have been vaccinated, then your PCR test comes back positive within the 3 day window of sailing from Miami.  Can you still board the ship?  Thank you 

If you test positive:

• You can not board an aircraft to fly from Maryland to Miami.
• You can not board a train to Miami.
• You can not board the ship. 

[mauraoel]

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

If you test positive:

• You can not board an aircraft to fly from Maryland to Miami.
• You can not board a train to Miami.
• You can not board the ship. 

I agree that they should not do any of these things but Airlines are not asking for negative COVID Tests so I unfortuately they can fly.

[smplybcause]

4 minutes ago, rtazz17 said:

I think you should relook up that. Antigen tests are very accurate as of now. I wont argue with you. But a pcr test can be false positive as well. I test people all day long. Current antigen tests are highly accurate. The ones in the beginning were not. But you seem to be the holy grail of test results 

 

I only said that because it was an option. Pcr tests are accurate as well. I am only getting an antigen test for my cruise next sunday.

 

No you are the one that's incorrect. 

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-accurate-are-rapid-covid-tests#how-accurate-is-it 

 

If you scroll down to the table antigen tests are accurate at saying you're negative when you are negative, but the tests only show positive when you are positive about half the time. That means half of the time the tests INCORRECTLY show negative when a person is in fact positive. 

 

In other words if the antigen test says you're positive - you have covid because it has a really low false negative rate. But an antigen test saying you're negative can't be relied on because it has a really high false negative rate. 

 

If you keep scrolling it says how PCR tests correctly diagnose positive in 97.2% of the cases. That means it has a very low false negative rate. 

 

This is why the PCR test is the gold standard for Covid. It rarely gets the answer wrong - if it says you have covid you have covid. While antigen tests frequently give the incorrect result. 

 

And there's plenty of other places out there that can confirm the high false negative rates of antigen tests if you want to do your own research .

[Midwestgal]

Not to be a jerk here but why would you even have to ask? 
It’s behavior  like this that are adding to to spread. 

[lovetocruise/diamond]

Thank y’all for the information. Since we are flying to Miami 5 days prior to the cruise we will have to schedule our PCR test in Florida.  

[livingonthebeach]

2 minutes ago, lovetocruise/diamond said:

Thank y’all for the information. Since we are flying to Miami 5 days prior to the cruise we will have to schedule our PCR test in Florida.  

 

Here’s a link to testing sites in Miami.  Just type the zip code of where you will be staying and you’ll get a list of testing sites nearby.

 

https://www.miamidade.gov/global/initiatives/coronavirus/testing-locations.page

[RFerrington]

After December 31, 2021, CDC will withdraw the request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel, the assay first introduced in February 2020 for detection of SARS-CoV-2 only. CDC is providing this advance notice for clinical laboratories to have adequate time to select and implement one of the many FDA-authorized alternatives.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/locs/2021/07-21-2021-lab-alert-Changes_CDC_RT-PCR_SARS-CoV-2_Testing_1.html

[lovetocruise/diamond]

Thank you for the info,  you are a kind and helpful person.  

[kearney]

Because of tight timing... I am going for the antigenic test... results available in minutes vs hours... if something happens...like my test results are lost... I still have time to try again. I know this does not sound like a likely risk...but after that Vlogger on Edge had his results lost... I decided to go ahead with a faster test.

[Sherri914]

I asked this on another thread but thought I'd ask here since there seem to be some people in-the-know about tests/results on here.   

 

I'm recovered from COVID (had it in February).  I've also had both doses of the Pfeizer vaccine.   Which type of test should I get prior to boarding - or does it matter.  Just curious about the antibodies from having COVID causing a positive result.  I was told on the other thread that it doesn't look for antibodies in the test.  I hope that's the case.  I've been googling but can't seem to get a solid answer. 

[BirdTravels]

6 hours ago, mauraoel said:

I agree that they should not do any of these things but Airlines are not asking for negative COVID Tests so I unfortuately they can fly.

You must verbally affirm to airlines that you are not covid positive. And notify them if you are covid positive... at which point they will deny you boarding. To travel with COVID is a violation of airline policies and an irresponsible act endangering all of the passengers on your flight and the crew who will have close contact with many other passengers on future flights. 

 

United: "You have not tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 10 days and are not awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test."

 

Delta: "We are also requiring all customers to confirm at check-in that they and any persons in their itinerary do not have symptoms of, have not knowingly been exposed to, and have not been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 10 days"

 

American "When you check-in you'll be asked to confirm you've been free of COVID-19 symptoms for the past 10 days. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting sick."

Edited August 2, 2021 by BirdTravels

[mavo68]

18 minutes ago, Sherri914 said:

I asked this on another thread but thought I'd ask here since there seem to be some people in-the-know about tests/results on here.   

 

I'm recovered from COVID (had it in February).  I've also had both doses of the Pfeizer vaccine.   Which type of test should I get prior to boarding - or does it matter.  Just curious about the antibodies from having COVID causing a positive result.  I was told on the other thread that it doesn't look for antibodies in the test.  I hope that's the case.  I've been googling but can't seem to get a solid answer. 

You should be fine with either test. I’m in healthcare and get tested weekly. Both tests. I had Covid June if 2020 and both Vaccines in February. I have heard that people who had Covid and have had the vaccine are”bullet proof”. 😂😂 I hope that is true. Lol

[Sherri914]

2 minutes ago, mavo68 said:

You should be fine with either test. I’m in healthcare and get tested weekly. Both tests. I had Covid June if 2020 and both Vaccines in February. I have heard that people who had Covid and have had the vaccine are”bullet proof”. 😂😂 I hope that is true. Lol

I hope we are bullet proof!   I honestly worried more about a "false positive" than anything else.  It would really suck to get all the way to three days till cruising only to have that happen.

 

Thanks for the pep talk.  It made me feel a little better.  Things will surely change a dozen times before November too I'm sure. 

[smokeybandit]

7 hours ago, RFerrington said:

After December 31, 2021, CDC will withdraw the request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the CDC 2019-Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel, the assay first introduced in February 2020 for detection of SARS-CoV-2 only. CDC is providing this advance notice for clinical laboratories to have adequate time to select and implement one of the many FDA-authorized alternatives.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/locs/2021/07-21-2021-lab-alert-Changes_CDC_RT-PCR_SARS-CoV-2_Testing_1.html

 

All this means is that they'd prefer people to use the test that can test for multiple things at once (covid, 2 main flu strains and RSV) instead of individual tests.

It has nothing to do with the reliability of the test. Just that the covid-only test has become obsolete.

[tserface]

Maybe a redundant question, and I know obviously you would not board if you test positive for COVID, but what happens?  Do, you get FCC or a reschedule?  Do you just lose all your money and don't get to cruise at all?  Is there a special COVID insurance you can get in case you test positive?  From what I understand, it's possible to test positive and either not have symptoms or not really have the disease (false positive).  Can you just get another test to be sure? Like a second opinion?

[tserface]

Never mind... I found the answer.  Seems pretty fair.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-i-test-positive-for-sars-cov-2-what-is-your-refund-policy-and-costs-covered

 

[Jasukkie]

The CDC changed the definition of "breakthrough" back in March. That requires symptoms in addition to a positive covid test despite full vaccination. The number of people simply testing positive after full vaccination is not known. 

 

We are seeing fully vaccinated people test positive on many cruises this summer. The risk is real that you could have your trip cancelled or interrupted by testing positive. Those aren't considered breakthrough cases if asymptomatic.

 

 

[RedIguana]

20 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

All this means is that they'd prefer people to use the test that can test for multiple things at once (covid, 2 main flu strains and RSV) instead of individual tests.

It has nothing to do with the reliability of the test. Just that the covid-only test has become obsolete.

What this means is that they can no longer use the assay test that is under just emergency use authorization, and must migrate to a test method that has received full authorization. They would prefer labs to use an assay panel that also can detect influenza, but it is not required.