Carnival cant answer our covid testing questions

[alyssamma]

16 minutes ago, Shayhooper said:

Agreed, however they are only sailing from Miami right now and I believe their first cruise from there was a few days ago.  They have had the time to set up the required vendors and space.  Additionally they are slowly starting cruising from other American terminals, so they can set it up.

 

With Carnival doing this on the fly, I'm not sure they have had the ability to do this from all the cities they are sailing from.  Again though, I'm just speculating.  

All excellent and valid points...

[Brew12]

17 minutes ago, Shayhooper said:

With Carnival doing this on the fly, I'm not sure they have had the ability to do this from all the cities they are sailing from.  Again though, I'm just speculating.  

This definitely comes into play. As part of the CDC CSO's, Carnival had to negotiate a lot of Covid related policies with each individual port. Embarkation, debarkation, and removal of positive Covid cases were all part of those agreements. 

Carnival only has leeway within those agreements to make changes. Anything substantive would only be allowed after new agreements were in place.

[SNJCruisers]

37 minutes ago, chefchick said:

Please be aware that depending on where you are located, both tests (PCR or antigen) may not be available.  I live in Seattle and I was able to schedule an appointment but for PCR only…so speaking as someone from a metropolitan area it wasn’t so “easy peasey” if I wanted an quick turnaround antigen test…I can only imagine what it might be like for someone in an area where less pharmacy options might be available.

Having lived in metro Philly my entire life, I take many things for granted.   I did a search and had 25 CVS's come up within 15 miles of my house.  18 provided PCR tests, 6 provided Antigen and 1 location was temporarily closed.  Our cruise is on a Sunday.  I will schedule us for the first appointments on Thursday.  If by some chance it comes back false positive, I'll attempt to get a PCR test that afternoon.   Hopefully I don't have to cross that bridge.

[LHARTWICK]

1 hour ago, MT_Sea_Cruisers said:

easy peasy for those that don't live in a remote area of the US 😞

Same result for me. We are in one of the handful of states where CVS does not offer the tests needed. I found a map on their website that gave the info. Very disappointed, as others are saying CVS is they way to go.

[Joe817]

2 hours ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

Joe I am almost at tears for me (5 weeks away) & in so many ways for you and other Carnival cruisers. We deserve better but are trying our best to meet the requirements & our hard earned money is in the balance.  Do your best and exhale once on board.  You deserve and at this point will have earned a vacation.

TooMany, many thanks for your kind words. They are appreciated. An old saying popped up in my mind just now. I've heard it all my life, and I still hear it to this day: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." And: "Never, ever, ever give up."  Now is the time to press on, make the best of what we have, and be kind to each other. 

 

And we ALL deserve better. The requirements almost did me in yesterday. But with careful planning, we can pull this off. We finally did find a covid testing location here in my city, for Aug. 18 at 1:10 pm through CVS. So we are good there. Secondly, Cindy called our county health department and explained to them that our Vaccination Card did NOT have our birthday's on it, which is one requirement that Carnival specifically mentioned. The guy she spoke to said, "that's not right. It should have been filled in completely. So come on in, and bring your defective vaccination card, and we will issue another one with all the existing information on it, plus your d.o.b. So we are going in this next Monday to get a valid one. 2 HUGE hurtles out of the way. Phew. What an ordeal.

 

I genuinely hope that you can fair better than we did. IMHO, by sharing our information about all ordeals, we can lessen the stress levels....a little bit. I wish you, and everyone to have a safe, successful and enjoyable cruise! 🥂

 

 

[undertoes10]

Since no one can reach Carnival including my TA, can someone venture to guess when the 72 hour covid test begins and ends?  If cruise is on Saturday, can test be taken Wednesday for Saturday arrival onto Ship which is 4 days from test date to Sail date or must it be done on Thursday which would make Saturday the 72 hour window.?  Is it 72 hours from the results or the actual date of the test?

 

And B2B, will test be done at port free since we can't get a 72 hour test in the middle of the ocean.

[jus4fun]

As of today my husband and I are sailing on the Mardi Gras, 8/21.  I was able to schedule the rapid antigen test with CVS for both of us on Wednesday, 8/18 in the evening.  We will have to traveling about 50 miles; however, this is the closest site that offers this particular test. I guess it is what it is.

On a side note, we are still waiting on our email from Carnival letting us know about the recent changes/requirements for cruising - lol.

Edited August 5, 2021 by jus4fun

[Joe817]

23 minutes ago, LHARTWICK said:

Same result for me. We are in one of the handful of states where CVS does not offer the tests needed. I found a map on their website that gave the info. Very disappointed, as others are saying CVS is they way to go.

Have you tried your County health department? Or your local hospital; or your doctor; or the minor emergency centers(not sure what they are called), even your State Health department. Just don't give up! Never, ever give up. Good luck to you!

[mrpayroll]

Wednesday is fine per John Heald.

[tallnthensome]

This has been discussed extensively in all the active threads below .

[bafinegan]

I have posted this info on several other threads too. Info is from CDC website, Carnival website and a google search  comparing PCR/antigen tests

Edited August 5, 2021 by bafinegan
clarification

[stellarose]

of course we leave around christmas that should make things fun....  Sunday leave Saturday flight so testing... Thursday??? (if we are still in that protocol in December.). 

 

flexible thinking!!!!!!

[csm5986142]

We had to do the same thing when we went to Hawaii in April.  We were told test had to be performed 72 hours prior (not results).  So I made appointments for our tests to be performed exactly 72 hours prior to our flight departure time (for Hawaii).  Back then, they were forcing you to re-test if you were off by even an hour.  

I have already made appointments for our test being done for our cruise 8/21 (we will have the test performed exactly 72 hours prior to our 10:30 embarkation appointment time). 

As you might have guessed, I'm pretty obsessive.  🙂

 

[jsglow]

16 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

We had to do the same thing when we went to Hawaii in April.  We were told test had to be performed 72 hours prior (not results).  So I made appointments for our tests to be performed exactly 72 hours prior to our flight departure time (for Hawaii).  Back then, they were forcing you to re-test if you were off by even an hour.  

I have already made appointments for our test being done for our cruise 8/21 (we will have the test performed exactly 72 hours prior to our 10:30 embarkation appointment time). 

As you might have guessed, I'm pretty obsessive.  🙂

 

We went to Hawaii in April too.They had the 'eligible list' of vendors and we paid for the test.  We tested Tuesday morning for a Thursday evening departure.  For that purpose back then, an antigen test was not acceptable.  Good news that it is for Carnival's purposes.

[sanger727]

2 hours ago, alyssamma said:

MSC is doing this without problem...and paying for it...it doesn't cost the passengers anything (yes, I know, prob buried in the cruise cost)

 

While it would be convenient from the standpoint of arranging a test, this brings it's own set of challenges. 

 

Option 1: Planned flight to Florida on Friday with cruise Saturday. Get antigen test Thursday and test positive. Call airlines and get a voucher. Call Carnival and get FCC. stuck at home for 10 days but that is what it is.

 

Option 2: Take flight to Florida on Friday and arrive at cruise terminal Saturday. Get rapid test at pier and positive. Already taken the flight so can't get a voucher on that. Cruise line should give you a voucher but now you are either stuck in Florida in a hotel room for 10 days or taking an expensive medical flight home. 

 

between those two I pick option 1

[alyssamma]

10 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

While it would be convenient from the standpoint of arranging a test, this brings it's own set of challenges. 

 

Option 1: Planned flight to Florida on Friday with cruise Saturday. Get antigen test Thursday and test positive. Call airlines and get a voucher. Call Carnival and get FCC. stuck at home for 10 days but that is what it is.

 

Option 2: Take flight to Florida on Friday and arrive at cruise terminal Saturday. Get rapid test at pier and positive. Already taken the flight so can't get a voucher on that. Cruise line should give you a voucher but now you are either stuck in Florida in a hotel room for 10 days or taking an expensive medical flight home. 

 

between those two I pick option 1

This is why you get good insurance 🙂

 

It's needed in the times we are currently living in...

[Oceansaway17]

9 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

You apparently missed my inserted screen shot of what the CVS site says. It just says "Rapid-result test". it doesn't specify that it's antigen. The NAAT test is also a form of rapid test.

 

correct both are quick rapid tests.  check out www.health.com

[Oceansaway17]

6 hours ago, rtazz17 said:

Naat is a form of pcr test(molecular)

rapid is antigen.

naat is not rapid

but NAAT is the slower than antigen but quicker than regular PCR.  I think it is the 24 hr one rather than 1 hr or 3 days.  

[LHARTWICK]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Have you tried your County health department? Or your local hospital; or your doctor; or the minor emergency centers(not sure what they are called), even your State Health department. Just don't give up! Never, ever give up. Good luck to you!

I have a list of places I'm going to call - not giving up just yet.  We want to carefully think all of this through before making a final decision as to moving our money paid over to one of our future bookings or keeping our September 4 reservation in tact. I'm an OCD planner so these new protocols have done a number on me! LOL!  Thank you, Joe! 🥰

 

1 hour ago, mrpayroll said:

Wednesday is fine per John Heald.

And this is directly from the CCL protocols page, so yes Wednesday, Thursday or Friday for a Saturday sailing - if both John AND the CCL page say so, it's so:

For example, if the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken any time from Wednesday through Friday. Guests may also take the test on the morning of embarkation so long as they are guaranteed to receive their test results before their time of check-in.

[TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail]

1 hour ago, Joe817 said:

Vaccination Card did NOT have our birthday's on it, which is one requirement that Carnival specifically mentioned

Good catch on that.  My vax card DOES have DOB on it; will verify with my better half that she has that too.  I’m the planner/executor/worrier (sigh) of our party.  She doesn’t check regs or plan.  We had a blast 2 years ago mostly based on my knowing every step needed before and on our ship.  I’m now considering this weakness as a strength.  Worry until I simply have fun.

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

2 hours ago, Shayhooper said:

Agreed, however they are only sailing from Miami right now and I believe their first cruise from there was a few days ago.  They have had the time to set up the required vendors and space.  Additionally they are slowly starting cruising from other American terminals, so they can set it up.

 

With Carnival doing this on the fly, I'm not sure they have had the ability to do this from all the cities they are sailing from.  Again though, I'm just speculating.  

 

What part of Carnivals Restart has been on the fly? When they announced their restart months ago they said it would be from Miami and Galveston and then PC With MG At the end of July? Also announced that they would be sailing from Seattle for the Alaska cruise season way ahead of those plans due to the Bill passed by congress. 

 

Just fail to see how this was done on the fly or rushed. 

[SCBarker]

28 minutes ago, TooManyWakeUpsTilWeSail said:

Good catch on that.  My vax card DOES have DOB on it; will verify with my better half that she has that too.  I’m the planner/executor/worrier (sigh) of our party.  She doesn’t check regs or plan.  We had a blast 2 years ago mostly based on my knowing every step needed before and on our ship.  I’m now considering this weakness as a strength.  Worry until I simply have fun.

If it doesn't, you could just write it in. Mine didn't have my name on it until I got home and filled it in.

[SheSailsFL]

3 hours ago, undertoes10 said:

Since no one can reach Carnival including my TA, can someone venture to guess when the 72 hour covid test begins and ends?  If cruise is on Saturday, can test be taken Wednesday for Saturday arrival onto Ship which is 4 days from test date to Sail date or must it be done on Thursday which would make Saturday the 72 hour window.?  Is it 72 hours from the results or the actual date of the test?

 

And B2B, will test be done at port free since we can't get a 72 hour test in the middle of the ocean.

72 hours from date of test.  And per John Heald , they will count days - not hours. So for a Saturday sailing:  Friday = 24 hours; Thursday = 48 hours; Wednesday = 72 hours.  
the test can be done as early as Wednesday and as late as Saturday (if you like to live dangerously).  
 

Their unclear communication is making this a lot of complicated than it needs to be. 
 

 

[crisstyd]

http://www.carnival.com/legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-guest-protocols

 

Here is the link to Carnival info on PCR tests. My grandson had one at Walgreens a few weeks ago for another reason and got results in 24 hours via email. Actually it was more like 12.

 

We leave Aug 14 on Horizon and haven't gotten any emails on from Carnival my husband saw an artical on CNN. They need to do better.

[roboref]

14 hours ago, Mikeandliz said:

It takes up to 2 days to get PCR Test results. Our Cruise is in 2 weeks on the 21st.  If I take the test on that Tuesday assuming the results will be available  on  Thursday , does that meet the 72hr requirement?

 

No. John Heald put it very clearly Wednesday, Thurs, or Fri. for Saturday cruise. Not exactly 72 hours but that time frame. Tuesday would not meet requirement for Saturday.