Canadians cruisers - beware of the post-cruise PCR test timing and your flight !!!

[Sn0cruiser]

We got off the Sky sat morning at 8am and into the Covid PCR test line at 8:13.  We finally got to the front of the line at 9am and took the test (they were writing everyone’s info on paper by hand - complete unorganized chaos !).  They told us the results would take 2 hours not the 1 hour advertised.  Our flight was at 1:35pm - plenty of time we thought.  
 

At just before 11 and my result showing pending and my husband showing « no results » I decided to bail and call ezair to move our flight to the next day.  Good thing because the results came at 9:39pm that night - over 12 hours later !

We were not alone and I don’t know what people who didn’t have flexible air or ezair did !
 

Luckily all the press around new arrival requirements meant we had already extended our pet sitters so we didn’t have to worry about our cats.

[cr8tiv1]

Good call.  I don't understand how a 1 hour test turned in to over 12 hours.  It is not going to get easier moving forward.  

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, Sn0cruiser said:

We got off the Sky sat morning at 8am and into the Covid PCR test line at 8:13.  We finally got to the front of the line at 9am and took the test (they were writing everyone’s info on paper by hand - complete unorganized chaos !).  They told us the results would take 2 hours not the 1 hour advertised.  Our flight was at 1:35pm - plenty of time we thought.  
 

At just before 11 and my result showing pending and my husband showing « no results » I decided to bail and call ezair to move our flight to the next day.  Good thing because the results came at 9:39pm that night - over 12 hours later !

We were not alone and I don’t know what people who didn’t have flexible air or ezair did !
 

Luckily all the press around new arrival requirements meant we had already extended our pet sitters so we didn’t have to worry about our cats.

OMG, what a mess.  That many Canucks, huh?  Did you have the opportunity to get off sooner to go to the test site?  Your ship would have had a 6am arrival time.  What time did they say the test site would be open?  

 

Princess needs to be asked about this situation.  Unacceptable service level.

 

I wonder if you had waited if they would have paid for your hotel?

 

Who knows what was going on, but they are supposed to be processing tests much faster.

 

ETA: PS ... Flexible EZ-Air means nothing after you are ticketed.  But having EZ-Air booking helps in these situations.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Steelers36

[Sn0cruiser]

They had grouped all Canadians together to get off at 8am.  Since they created an actual named « Canadian » disembarkation group they knew precisely how many people would be going through testing and when.  
 

I’ll be contacting customer service to let them know their third party testing company choice should be reconsidered and putting in a request for full reimbursement for the hotel. I didn’t want to wait too long because flights to our city were already close to full for the next day.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Sn0cruiser
Clarification

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, Sn0cruiser said:

They had grouped all Canadians together to get off at 8am.  Since they created an actual named « Canadian » disembarkation group they knew precisely how many people would be going through testing and when.  
 

I’ll be contacting customer service to let them know their third party testing company choice should be reconsidered and putting in a request for full reimbursement.  I didn’t want to wait too long because flights to our city were already close to full for the next day.

Thanks for that.  Seems like a stupid thing on their part.  It should have been organized by onward travel plans and spread out.

 

If I was sailing next week, I'd just get off at 7:30 and beat the crowd.

 

Hope you get results.  At least some FCC.

[CruisinFinsUp]

Wow.   Just Wow.   

 

This is nuts.   

[GonzoWCS]

Hang in there our Northern Brothers and Sisters! 

 

And a great heads up Sn0cruiser!!

[retiredyoungLV]

What did they charge for the test?

[CruisinFinsUp]

 

12 minutes ago, retiredyoungLV said:

What did they charge for the test?

 

From Princess' website FAQ:   

 

[lx200gps]

17 hours ago, Sn0cruiser said:

They had grouped all Canadians together to get off at 8am.  Since they created an actual named « Canadian » disembarkation group they knew precisely how many people would be going through testing and when.  
 

I’ll be contacting customer service to let them know their third party testing company choice should be reconsidered and putting in a request for full reimbursement for the hotel. I didn’t want to wait too long because flights to our city were already close to full for the next day.

We disembarked off the Sky on the 27th. The day before arriving, the Disembarkation group tags were given out, and we were in the "Canadian" group scheduled to disembark at (8AM?). We always do very early self-walkoff, didn't inform them beforehand, and so were among the the first off the ship around 7:15 and the very first in the line dealing with those testing contractors. They were not ready and took another 15 minutes setting up. We were the first ones tested and it still took us almost 2 hours to get our results. From what I'm reading in various threads, that contracted company isn't doing any better now than when we endured them.  At least it's (still) free.

Edited December 6, 2021 by lx200gps

[CineGraphic]

There's a much quicker option near the port. Youtube creator, Don of "Don's Family Vacations" got tired of waiting and found this gem on 17th Street. He said even with a line, everything moved fast.

 

 

Here's his vid detailing what's wrong with the Princess site and info about Lab Doctor.

https://youtu.be/eHruPjhp0ew

 

[JF - retired RRT]

13 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

There's a much quicker option near the port. Youtube creator, Don of "Don's Family Vacations" got tired of waiting and found this gem on 17th Street. He said even with a line, everything moved fast.

I saw that, too and was going to post the info here, but yours in much better. I hadn't even thought about posting links and pix.

[Joywrk]

We disembarked Enchanted on Wed. Waited for 15 minutes for test which was fast and efficient. Results in 40 minutes. We had booked a hotel night to be safe and would do it again. Princess is doing the best they can.

on a cruise late summer on Crystal we had to arrange our own test at a cost of $165 US including a 3 night hotel stay to endure results which took 48 hours.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Joywrk said:

We disembarked Enchanted on Wed. Waited for 15 minutes for test which was fast and efficient. Results in 40 minutes. We had booked a hotel night to be safe and would do it again. Princess is doing the best they can.

on a cruise late summer on Crystal we had to arrange our own test at a cost of $165 US including a 3 night hotel stay to endure results which took 48 hours.

What was the physical setup?  Don did not mention in his video which PE Terminal he was at, but just having a desk outside the building where vehicles are passing is not a secure environment for doing tests IMO.  I can also see if a closed tent is used in FL, it would get too hot.  Can you elaborate a bit as to which terminal (guessing T2) was used and exactly what the setup was?  TIA.

[Mud_Shark]

We also got off Sky on Nov 27th.  We also chose to walk off, so got a little ahead of the 8 am "canadian" debarkation group and were about 7th or 8th in line.  

 

The setup was outside of terminal 2.  It looked like 2 people were assigned to check people in on the computer, but one was fiddling with her computer for the best part of an hour and was not taking people from the growing line, so things bogged down.  

 

Once through the computer check in line, the test itself was fast - about 2 mins (PCR).  They have a table full of the devices to analyze your swab,  like they could be analyzing 30 samples at a time, but the backlog was at check-in so there were never anywhere close to 30 samples being analyzed.  It took about 10-12 minutes for each sample to be analyzed, but the test results were recorded on a piece of paper and then the papers were stacked up - needing the results to be manually input into the computer.  But there was no one doing this at the time.  They were trying to work on getting the check-in line manageable.  Although our results were done and on the table an hour from when we got off the ship - we could not access them until they were inputted and an email sent.  The pile of results just kept getting bigger and bigger on the table.  We were instructed to head to the airport and trust the system - they would get the results to us in time.  So we left and went to the airport and the results did come through about an hour later, but seeing the operation in progress, I was not 100% confident.

 

Hopefully there is some improved efficiency in the system as time wears on and lessons are learned.

 

Don

[nini]

Well, guess what I just found? This is part of an article by "The Points Guy".

 

All travelers coming to the U.S., whether they are vaccinated or not, must produce a negative COVID-19 test taken within one calendar day of their departure. This replaces the previous policy where vaccinated international travelers could show a negative test taken within three days before departure.

The new policy will almost certainly impact all travelers, who will now need to be even more diligent in getting a negative COVID-19 test before flying back to the U.S."

 

Geez! So......................... this is quite a hassle! We will need to get tested on the last cruise day as we plan to fly home on disembarkation day.

Edited December 7, 2021 by nini
changing font color

[waterbabyfish]

I was under the impression that they were doing the testing onboard the day before, not the day of debarking!

[Steelers36]

22 minutes ago, nini said:

Well, guess what I just found? This is part of an article by "The Points Guy".

 

All travelers coming to the U.S., whether they are vaccinated or not, must produce a negative COVID-19 test taken within one calendar day of their departure. This replaces the previous policy where vaccinated international travelers could show a negative test taken within three days before departure.

The new policy will almost certainly impact all travelers, who will now need to be even more diligent in getting a negative COVID-19 test before flying back to the U.S."

 

Geez! So......................... this is quite a hassle! We will need to get tested on the last cruise day as we plan to fly home on disembarkation day.

As I mentioned on the other thread, cruise ship arrival is exempt.  The above notice and change is for arrivals INTO the US by air.  Does not affect a cruise and does not affect flying FROM a US airport home.

 

No change for Canadians - still need the PITA PCR before flying.

[nini]

9 minutes ago, waterbabyfish said:

I was under the impression that they were doing the testing onboard the day before, not the day of debarking!

That is what it said.

[nini]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

As I mentioned on the other thread, cruise ship arrival is exempt.  The above notice and change is for arrivals INTO the US by air.  Does not affect a cruise and does not affect flying FROM a US airport home.

 

No change for Canadians - still need the PITA PCR before flying.

And as I mentioned to @Steelers36 on the other thread... this is a breath of fresh air!

[CruisinFinsUp]

13 minutes ago, waterbabyfish said:

I was under the impression that they were doing the testing onboard the day before, not the day of debarking!

For cruises in and out of Port Everglades, per the Princess website,  the testing is after disembarkation, after after luggage pickup & immigration, outside the cruise terminal.  

I have not seen anything on the Princess website about testing for travel before disembarkation.   Where did you get your info?   Is this an alternate offering? 

[waterbabyfish]

2 minutes ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

For cruises in and out of Port Everglades, per the Princess website,  the testing is after disembarkation, after after luggage pickup & immigration, outside the cruise terminal.  

I have not seen anything on the Princess website about testing for travel before disembarkation.   Where did you get your info?   Is this an alternate offering? 

I had a transatlantic booked, the TA told me that. So now I've booked a coast to coast cruise which ends in Vancouver, so now not sure when the testing will be done! I'm booking a night owl back to Florida to be safe!

[flyboy88]

We got off the Sky Nov 20th, and testing was also a bit of a mess.  We did the walkoff group at 07:30 to get a head start with the rest of the Canadian's disembarking at 08:00. We had 4 people in front of us, and when we registered for the test the person was misspelling names and putting in incorrect birthdates. Thankfully the people we saw caught the mistakes and the agent 'fixed' it, and printed off a new paper which had the same errors. Apparently, the paper will only print out the originally inputted info, but we were assured when the emailed results arrived the info would be correct.  
A few of us didn't trust this and we had time before our flights so we waited.  Our actual results were done in about 20 minutes, however they won't email results off until the whole line of people waiting to get tested is registered in. We continued to wait, and a port supervisor for Princess came out and just told us all to continue on with our travels and the email would arrive in about 2 hours... we expressed why we didn't want to leave as we didn't trust the process due to all the name and birthdate errors originally inputted, she apologized and spoke with the testing people.   

Anyways we waited, and about 2.5hour after our test we had the results in our emails. 

I really wish they went back to completing the testing onboard during the last couple days of the cruise, this way you know you have your results. At the same time, I understand why they made the change.
It was explained to me that if they test onboard and you're positive; it happened on the cruise. If you get tested after the cruise at the port and are positive, you're a case for the city.

Edited December 7, 2021 by flyboy88
New info.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

For cruises in and out of Port Everglades, per the Princess website,  the testing is after disembarkation, after after luggage pickup & immigration, outside the cruise terminal.  

I have not seen anything on the Princess website about testing for travel before disembarkation.   Where did you get your info?   Is this an alternate offering? 

Testing before disembark day is for cruisers who are doing B2B.  The test is in order to continue on the next voyage.  I think some are confusing that with onward travel testing.

[Joywrk]

Testing off the Enchanted was well organized. There were 2 people on computers entering data. It was definitely easier if you pre registered. Info is at the service desk on the ship. There were cubicles for the test administration, somewhat like voting cubicles. The location was just outside the terminal. Results in less than an hour