Need Assistance with Miami or Fort Lauderdale Covid Testing Locations

[michigal]

Hi. We’re currently on Freedom, disembarking Friday Jan. 14 in Miami and boarding the Allure on Sunday Jan. 16 in Port Everglades.  Guest Services, while very helpful, stated they can't offer onboard testing for us because it would occur on January 13, falling outside the 2-calendar day rule.  I need to schedule a location either in Miami or Fort Lauderdale on Jan 14 or 15, which should be easy.  However, we had a bad experience last week when we got tested at a CVS in Florida at 9:00 a.m. 2 days prior to our Freedom cruise, and didn’t receive our results (via email) until 2:00 a.m. the morning of embarkation, which was cutting it way too close for me.  We ended up using our self-test kits (ordered as backup) at 10:00 p.m. in our hotel room the night before our cruise.  So, we ended up having 2 sets of results, but it used up the kits I had ordered for our next cruise.

So, I’m reaching out to Floridians familiar with this area for recommendations on the best place to try to book tests.  Most CVS and Walgreens are completely booked.  Will a rapid antigen test be acceptable?  I’m a little leery of a PCR test unless they can guarantee same-day results. Thank you for your help with this request!

 

p.s., we had originally booked Allure for January 22, which would have given us plenty of time for testing.  We added the January 16 sailing today onboard to take advantage of some great perks, which has caused this timing issue regarding testing.

[FOPMan]

You might want to take advantage of testing provided shoreside through RCL’s contractor, if you are vaccinated.  It looked like there was still space available. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-if-i-dont-find-a-pre-cruise-test-or-get-test-results-in-time

[michigal]

Thank you for the link!  Much appreciated.  I knew there was an option there, but had heard it was a little pricey.  But, it certainly gives us a plan to ensure timely testing.  Thanks again.

[nhraformula00]

There are 2 testing places on 17th. street in Lauderdale. 1 is next door to Panara Bread and 1 farther down by Embassy Suites. We walked by them in early December, not sure of their names.

[roydio1948]

We were on Odyssey of the Seas 8 day cruise December 4-12, 2021 from Ft. Lauderdale FL. A cruise critic or tripadvisor member suggested 

Pines Health Mart Pharmacy, 2301 N University Dr #112, Pembroke Pines, FL 33024 not far from Ft. Lauderdale cruise port.

We were the only people there, took 15-20 minutes and we got our negative test certificates and it was perfect! 

[nhraformula00]

https://labdoctor.org/

on 17th. street Fort Lauderdale next to Panera Bread. 

[nhraformula00]

https://www.urgentcareflauderdale.com/

one more by Embassy Suites

[michigal]

Thank you all for your responses!  I wanted to circle back and report what we ended up doing.  Guest Services on Freedom provided me a link to Miami Dade testing locations, and indicated we could use the one right at the Terminal at Port of Miami.  Before disembarking, I registered us online.  We disembarked at Terminal A and had to drive to Terminal E.  Nomi Health (a certified testing agency) administered the tests in a small tent on the sidewalk.  They offered us the PCR or the Rapid Antigen, or Both.  We took both; we received the rapid results in about 15 minutes, and the PCR results in about 7 hours.  We were not charged for the tests. 

[nhraformula00]

Thats GREAT