**** CARNIVAL COVID TESTING THREAD #2 **** JANUARY 6, 2002

[Fastman]

22 hours ago, dogtaur said:

 

 

TLDR: iHealth proctored test worked fine and was accepted by Verifly

 

I just had my daughter (11-years old) do the proctored iHealth rapid antigen self-test, the orange box ones we got from the government. Since I already had the unopened test, I only had to buy the testing service. It is $24.99. I selected an online appointment time. They send you a link to click on to start the meeting. They verified my daughter's photo ID with her passport. They tell you exactly what to do. Then the camera has to stay aimed at the test for 15 minutes. When the timer is up, they instruct you to hold the test up to the camera. They confirm the results (negative) and immediately send an email. They confirm that you got the email before they disconnect. I uploaded the results to Verifly, they were accepted! My daughter is "ready to sail" according to Verifly. 

 

Here's the link to the service: https://ihealthlabs.com/products/ihealth-verified-covid-test-service

 

Never used Verifly before. Does the fact that the app accepted the iHealth proctored test results mean that Carnival also accepts it? Or just that "something" was uploaded?

 

Has anyone actually been able to board a ship using the iHealth proctored results? Would be painful if the app says "accepted" then the person checking us in at embarkation reviews and says that test result is not acceptable or something. 

 

[joy15]

Does it matter what time you can take the BinaxNOW home proctored home test?

We are planning to sail on Sat. We had 2 doses plus booster. Planning to do home test Wed morning.

Or is it better to take the home proctored test Wed night or Thursday morning to make sure within 72 hour window? Appreciate any help. Thanks.

Edited March 31, 2022 by joy15

[audcc77]

1 hour ago, joy15 said:

Does it matter what time you can take the BinaxNOW home proctored home test?

We are planning to sail on Sat. We had 2 doses plus booster. Planning to do home test Wed morning.

Or is it better to take the home proctored test Wed night or Thursday morning to make sure within 72 hour window? Appreciate any help. Thanks.

 
See below. Right off Carnival website.  Since you are “up to date,” meaning you’ve had 2 vacs and a booster, you’re good to go. 

 

 Example: If the sailing is on Saturday, guests who are up to date with their vaccines may take their test as early as Wednesday and as late as Saturday, if guaranteed to receive results in time for check-in. A fully vaccinated guest who is not up to date with their vaccines may take their test no earlier than Thursday and as late as Saturday.

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, joy15 said:

Does it matter what time you can take the BinaxNOW home proctored home test?

We are planning to sail on Sat. We had 2 doses plus booster. Planning to do home test Wed morning.

Or is it better to take the home proctored test Wed night or Thursday morning to make sure within 72 hour window? Appreciate any help. Thanks.

Only the date matters, not the time.

[joy15]

2 hours ago, RichYak said:

Only the date matters, not the time.

Thank you.

[joy15]

3 hours ago, audcc77 said:

 
See below. Right off Carnival website.  Since you are “up to date,” meaning you’ve had 2 vacs and a booster, you’re good to go. 

 

 Example: If the sailing is on Saturday, guests who are up to date with their vaccines may take their test as early as Wednesday and as late as Saturday, if guaranteed to receive results in time for check-in. A fully vaccinated guest who is not up to date with their vaccines may take their test no earlier than Thursday and as late as Saturday.

Thanks

[mattag98]

11 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

All this begs the question - what type of certification/approval process is in place for these companies to "officially" proctor tests such that their word is sufficient (to places like VeriFLY)?

 

Tom

So just got back this past Sunday from a 6 day out of Galveston and was wondering about the “certification” of an at-home test also so just did the Quest Diagnostics option straight from the Carnival email (below)

“Guests may also schedule testing with Quest Diagnostics at more than 1,500 locations, including Quest Diagnostics patient service centers and select Walmart and other retail pharmacy locations throughout the U.S. Appointments are required and may be scheduled online via Quest Diagnostic's website.”

I am fully boosted but my wife was not (with a Sunday departure date) so had to do the test on the Friday before and thank God got the results (by email) Saturday night before we flew out early Sunday morning to Galveston. Just printed off the results from Quest and had our VAX cards in hand when going through the terminal and no issues. They did look closely at the cards and one page Quest results for each of us and then on to the ship, might have taken 3 minutes more than submitting all that stuff on the VeriFLY app, but frankly the communication on this from Carnival seemed confusing and didn’t want to risk “not doing it right”

Hope this helps

[nol4am]

So can someone tell me if I order the six quantity test from Emed can both me my husband and my friend who’s also going use those test? Or will each of us have to order separately? Things can be so confusing and there’s so many posts it’s hard to find what you’re looking for. Thank you so much

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

46 minutes ago, nol4am said:

So can someone tell me if I order the six quantity test from Emed can both me my husband and my friend who’s also going use those test? Or will each of us have to order separately? Things can be so confusing and there’s so many posts it’s hard to find what you’re looking for. Thank you so much

The tests are not assigned to anyone. Once you begin the test they'll associate you with that specific test kit.

 

Tom

[nailz]

Test

[Annasreadytocruise]

Does anyone have experience with the unvaccinated protocol?  I know a NAAT is required.  Walgreens offers a rapid NAAT test.  Will this work?   Carnival is saying no rapid test for unvaccinated - even though the website says Rapid NAAT test is okay  ( but the rep kept mentioning antigen).  I am really concerned about this as there is little

to no guidance on this topic for unvaccinated compared to all of the options offered for vaccinated guest.  We also cannot use Verifly, so no way to get sign off before it is too late. This is for a child not eligible for a vaccination so that is not an option.  

[Cruzin' Daddy]

We are on the July 16, 2022 sailing of the Mardi Gras. I know we have to take a COVID test 3 days before our sailing. From what I have read, many of you use the eMed at-home test. I also know Walgreen's can do the rapid tests that are acceptable for cruising, but I live in a small town, and I really do not want to put my trust in Walgreen's.

 

My question is, is it too early for me to order the eMed at-home tests? I read that some of you have gotten tests that expired one month later. Our sailing is still 102 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes away. 

 

Thoughts?

 

-Cruzin' Dad

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, Cruzin' Daddy said:

We are on the July 16, 2022 sailing of the Mardi Gras. I know we have to take a COVID test 3 days before our sailing. From what I have read, many of you use the eMed at-home test. I also know Walgreen's can do the rapid tests that are acceptable for cruising, but I live in a small town, and I really do not want to put my trust in Walgreen's.

 

My question is, is it too early for me to order the eMed at-home tests? I read that some of you have gotten tests that expired one month later. Our sailing is still 102 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes away. 

 

Thoughts?

 

-Cruzin' Dad

 

I ordered the proctored tests in January and got a stack that all expired in November.  I haven't heard of any that ordered after me who received expiration dates earlier than that.  So you should be safe.  Whether you'll have to test at all then, well, that's a different and more unpredictable story...

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

9 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

I ordered the proctored tests in January and got a stack that all expired in November.  I haven't heard of any that ordered after me who received expiration dates earlier than that.  So you should be safe.  Whether you'll have to test at all then, well, that's a different and more unpredictable story...

 

Likewise - we ordered ours (BinaxNOW) in mid-March from Optum Store and they expire in Jan '23, so almost ten months out.

 

Tom

[thekidsandi]

How quickly do the Optum tests arrive? I want to wait until as close to departure as possible to see if anything changes and we don't need them. We cruise in late July.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 hours ago, thekidsandi said:

How quickly do the Optum tests arrive? I want to wait until as close to departure as possible to see if anything changes and we don't need them. We cruise in late July.

It only took a couple of days as I recall.

 

Tom

[Honolulu Blue]

3 hours ago, thekidsandi said:

How quickly do the Optum tests arrive? I want to wait until as close to departure as possible to see if anything changes and we don't need them. We cruise in late July.

 

My two orders arrived the day after I ordered them.  YMMV.

[cheer25mom]

22 hours ago, thekidsandi said:

How quickly do the Optum tests arrive? I want to wait until as close to departure as possible to see if anything changes and we don't need them. We cruise in late July.

It is HIGHLY unlikely that testing will go away before July, I would say odds are pretty much zero. 

[cfdekam]

We are scheduled on the Carnival Liberty on 4/18 for a 4 day leaving out of port canaveral. I was wondering if anyone has traveled lately with kids under 5 and if they could shed some knowledge on testing requirements. I read on carnivals website that my 4 yr old son needs a pcr prior to cruising and that my 20mo old son does not need to be tested prior to departure; however, when I called the very knowledgeable (insert sarcasm here) customer service rep told me both that he had to be vaccinated and tested when I told her the website said different then she told me he didn’t need to be vaccinated but needed a test. Hoping someone can shed some light here tried calling back to get someone else on the phone but have given up after being on hold an hour three separate occasions. Thanks!

[jdevine]

Quick question cruising on carnival and leave on a Sunday. My family is vaccinated does that mean we can test on Thursday? 
 

thanks

 

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, jdevine said:

Quick question cruising on carnival and leave on a Sunday. My family is vaccinated does that mean we can test on Thursday? 
 

thanks

 

If you're fully vaccinated: test no earlier than Friday.

If you're up-to-date: test as early as Thursday.

[jdevine]

14 minutes ago, RichYak said:

If you're fully vaccinated: test no earlier than Friday.

If you're up-to-date: test as early as Thursday.

So if I am fully vaccinated I can test on Thursday?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

17 minutes ago, jdevine said:

So if I am fully vaccinated I can test on Thursday?

 

Apparently if you're fully vaccinated AND boosted, then up to 3 days out (Thursday), if "only" fully vaccinated, then 2 days (Friday). At least that's my understanding - but it seems to change...

 

So, now that a second booster is available for people over 50, is that the bar for the three day window?

 

This is a moving target.

 

Tom

[day-day]

3 hours ago, jdevine said:

So if I am fully vaccinated I can test on Thursday?

 

You can test on Thursday if you were recently fully vaccinated and not eligible for the booster yet or

you have had the booster.

 

Otherwise, you must wait until Friday.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

9 hours ago, day-day said:

 

You can test on Thursday if you were recently fully vaccinated and not eligible for the booster yet or

you have had the booster.

 

Otherwise, you must wait until Friday.

 

We need a flowchart !

 

Tom