Covid test on b2b

[carbon]

How is RCCL handling covid testing sailing B2B cruises on Oasis?  I am sailing February 20 and 27 in same cabin.

[NANAGOESAILING]

1 minute ago, carbon said:

How is RCCL handling covid testing sailing B2B cruises on Oasis?  I am sailing February 20 and 27 in same cabin.

Good question.  I go on six b2b starting January 22 on Allure.  I can let you know.

[carbon]

Just now, NANAGOESAILING said:

Good question.  I go on six b2b starting January 22 on Allure.  I can let you know.

Great!  6 sailings back to back? wow that is awesome.  Please let me know. It may even change over time.

[Ubiquitous Cruiser]

We just did a B2B on Indy, and we received a notice in our stateroom that we were scheduled for a test the morning of the last full day of the first cruise. We reported to the conference center (deck 2) and were in/out in no time. The only stress point is that we never received our results in e-mail, so I went to customer service that evening, and they handed me the printed results.

 

Later we were chatting with diamond concierge and told her about the delay in obtaining the results. She said had we tested positive that we would have known it well before I picked up the results.

[BND]

We just did a b2b on Harmony (Sun-Sun Nov 28 and Dec 5).  A couple of days before the end of the cruise we were instructed to register for our covid test on an app (RCI uses Erofins) and then instructed to go on Sat am to a conference room between 8-10 am where they tested us.  We went at about 815 and while eating breakfast in the MDR at around 830, we got our results via email and app.  Very easy.  They also told DH that if anyone was positive they would be found quickly.  

Edited December 22, 2021 by BND

[Psycho and Barb]

We did a B2B on the Explorer of the Seas Nov-Dec.  Had to signup which was registering for a account on Erofins to get tested Saturday mourning...Long lines due to lots of people not registering and slowing the check-in process.  They fixed it the next week by having two lines...One for registered and one for not.  We got there early...Had test results with 30 minutes by checking our accounts on Erofins...Didn't receive email notifications till late afternoon.  On turnaround day, all B2B cruisers met in the star lounge and sat individual tables.  Different Royal personnel came around to each table to take pictures, issue our new cards, etc.  When everyone was done, we walked by the two Custom individuals in the lounge who looked at our passports.  We then had our new cards scanned...Checking us in for our next cruise and we were free to roam the ship.  The whole process took a little bit over an hour.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Psycho and Barb
edit

[jimdalva]

We cruised on Oasis in Nov. with a Side by Side to the Independence the very next day.

 Royal had published that they would test if you are boarding a RCCL ship within 2 days (which we were), But we were told "we are not doing it this week" WHAT!. No reason given , just a 'No, Sorry.' We had to scramble to find a test.

[NANAGOESAILING]

2 hours ago, Psycho and Barb said:

We did a B2B on the Explorer of the Seas Nov-Dec.  Had to signup which was registering for a account on Erofins to get tested Saturday mourning...Long lines due to lots of people not registering and slowing the check-in process.  They fixed it the next week by having two lines...One for registered and one for not.  We got there early...Had test results with 30 minutes by checking our accounts on Erofins...Didn't receive email notifications till late afternoon.  On turnaround day, all B2B cruisers met in the star lounge and sat individual tables.  Different Royal personnel came around to each table to take pictures, issue our new cards, etc.  When everyone was done, we walked by the two Custom individuals in the lounge who looked at our passports.  We then had our new cards scanned...Checking us in for our next cruise and we were free to roam the ship.  The whole process took a little bit over an hour.

So if you tested on Saturday, which day did you disembark?

[Cigar King]

2 hours ago, BND said:

We just did a b2b on Harmony (Sun-Sun Nov 28 and Dec 5)

We were on the same cruise and had basically the same experience.

 

The one thing I would say is the app wanted you to choose a time, and that part did not work.  We called and were told you just need to complete the registration in the app, nothing else.  Other than that it was super easy and the testing was quick and painless.

[Flygirl1999]

3 hours ago, Psycho and Barb said:

Had to signup which was registering for a account on Erofins to get tested

Hi,

when I search for the Erofins app this is what comes up…..which one is correct?  Or is it just we need to create an account on line?
thanks!

[BND]

1 minute ago, Flygirl1999 said:

Hi,

when I search for the Erofins app this is what comes up…..which one is correct?  Or is it just we need to create an account on line?
thanks!

When you are on the first leg of a b2b, they will provide the correct link.  It's very quick and you don't have to buy wifi to use it onboard.

Edited December 22, 2021 by BND

[brillohead]

I just did five cruises in a row, mostly S2S with one B2B (Freedom, Symphony, Allure, Allure, Jewel).

Nobody told me that I needed to register to test on any of the cruises. Fortunately, I knew what to expect from reading others' posts here on CC. 

 

On most ships there was a QR code in the Cruise Compass that you scanned to get the link to register for the test with Bio-Reference, but if you didn't know to look for it, you would have easily missed it unless you read the Cruise Compass religiously every day.

On Allure, they're not giving out Cruise Compasses at all unless you're "old" or "in a suite". They did have me on the Consecutive Cruiser list for the first cruise, and the info to register was in the Consecutive Cruiser letter. But for the second cruise, I had to go to guest services to request the QR code to test for my S2S on Jewel.  

 

 

 

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, jimdalva said:

We cruised on Oasis in Nov. with a Side by Side to the Independence the very next day.

 Royal had published that they would test if you are boarding a RCCL ship within 2 days (which we were), But we were told "we are not doing it this week" WHAT!. No reason given , just a 'No, Sorry.' We had to scramble to find a test.

I would have asked to speak to a supervisor.  Because this is absolutely a service that they have confirmed, in writing, that they do provide.

 

[orville99]

On both of our b2b’s - one on allure and one on harmony, the QR code to register for the tests was in our consecutive cruiser letter. When you scan the QR code you get a pop up dialog box that you tap and that opens up the registration screen. We were able to book appointments for our tests on both cruises. In, tested, and out of the conference center in 15 minutes. We got our results both as texts and as emails within an hour.

[Psycho and Barb]

On 12/22/2021 at 11:05 AM, NANAGOESAILING said:

So if you tested on Saturday, which day did you disembark?

Sunday

[Psycho and Barb]

On 12/22/2021 at 12:00 PM, Flygirl1999 said:

Hi,

when I search for the Erofins app this is what comes up…..which one is correct?  Or is it just we need to create an account on line?
thanks!

We didn't use a app...We just scanned the code on the provided page which took us to their webpage.  We had  to created a account to registered for our test.  We then just logged back on our accounts on the website and found our results. 

[Psycho and Barb]

On 12/22/2021 at 1:38 PM, brillohead said:

On Allure, they're not giving out Cruise Compasses at all unless you're "old" or "in a suite". 

 

 

 

They started this on our second part of our cruise.  Said it was because everyone was using the app so you didn't need the paper copy of the cruise compass anymore.  We requested a hard copy and our room attendant put one in our every night.

[RETCOL]

On 12/22/2021 at 9:05 AM, jimdalva said:

We cruised on Oasis in Nov. with a Side by Side to the Independence the very next day.

 Royal had published that they would test if you are boarding a RCCL ship within 2 days (which we were), But we were told "we are not doing it this week" WHAT!. No reason given , just a 'No, Sorry.' We had to scramble to find a test.

What did you end up doing?  I have a B2B in Jan.  Thanks

[BND]

7 hours ago, RETCOL said:

What did you end up doing?  I have a B2B in Jan.  Thanks

B2B are being tested onboard.  Side to side and testing for international travelers is being discontinued.  I've been trying to find the post that talked about it a week or so ago, but I can't.  I know it was on the RC Blog (unofficial blog).

[NANAGOESAILING]

6 minutes ago, BND said:

B2B are being tested onboard.  Side to side and testing for international travelers is being discontinued.  I've been trying to find the post that talked about it a week or so ago, but I can't.  I know it was on the RC Blog (unofficial blog).

Thought I just read they were going to test international travelers now!  I’m glad I ordered more tests.  

[BND]

13 minutes ago, NANAGOESAILING said:

Thought I just read they were going to test international travelers now!  I’m glad I ordered more tests.  

I found the RC blog site that says the updated announcement is that they will cover the cost of the test shoreside Jan 5 through Jan 31, but not that they are testing onboard.   It says starting Feb 1, guests will be responsible for the cost.

Edited December 27, 2021 by BND

[NANAGOESAILING]

12 minutes ago, BND said:

I found the RC blog site that says the updated announcement is that they will cover the cost of the test shoreside Jan 5 through Jan 31, but not that they are testing onboard.   It says starting Feb 1, guests will be responsible for the cost.

I’m just going to wait till I’m there and they give me first hand information!  
Things are so fluid. 

[brillohead]

9 hours ago, BND said:

B2B are being tested onboard.  Side to side and testing for international travelers is being discontinued. 

Where has it been published officially that S2S testing is no longer going to be offered? Because they have stated in the past that they WILL be offering S2S testing for anyone going on any "sister" ship/line.

[BND]

4 hours ago, brillohead said:

Where has it been published officially that S2S testing is no longer going to be offered? Because they have stated in the past that they WILL be offering S2S testing for anyone going on any "sister" ship/line.

I saw a post a couple of weeks ago about this announcement coming out but can't find it now.   It was supposed to be part of the announcement for international travelers but it may have been addressing individuals who were cruising on another line that isn't a sister line.  Regardless, I've seen several Canadians on FB talking about cancelling because of Royal doing this to them.   RCI will pay for foreign travelers's tests through Jan 31.  That was a change as of a couple of days ago.

 

Although, I did see a couple of posts where RCI told s2s cruisers that they weren't doing those tests that week, so being prepared is the best way to go.

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by BND

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, BND said:

I saw a post a couple of weeks ago about this announcement coming out but can't find it now.   It was supposed to be part of the announcement for international travelers but it may have been addressing individuals who were cruising on another line that isn't a sister line. 

I've never seen anything official about B2B/S2S testing not being provided, although people post all kinds of stupid/fake information.

 

7 hours ago, BND said:

Although, I did see a couple of posts where RCI told s2s cruisers that they weren't doing those tests that week, so being prepared is the best way to go.

I saw one single post here where someone said that, but they also didn't clarify if they asked a second person at Guest Services, or if they went up the chain of command.  The official Royal policy that's been released does provide for free testing for consecutive cruisers, and that's been my personal experience as well.