Cannot find rapid test...

[momrox1]

I have friends joining me on a cruise in two weeks.  I cannot for the life of me find a rapid antigen or rapid naat test appt. within 50 miles of their residence as I try to make a mock appt.  I try cvs and walgreens with no luck.  they only have the pcr which is running beyond two days.   My question is will MSC test them at the pier if they have no other options?  And what would the charge be?  Please only respond if you know first hand...things change .. I was on MSC this past week and also in January...in January with 500 guests they tested us at the pier but last week there was no testing with 3500 guests.  I was told it was because there were "too many people".  So that is not the test I'm inquiring about...I'm asking about the required test results taken within 48 hours that you do on your own. Thanks! 

[ddlb]

I get my rapid test at my urgent care just a suggestion in case you didn’t try it.

[paceyswife]

47 minutes ago, momrox1 said:

I have friends joining me on a cruise in two weeks.  I cannot for the life of me find a rapid antigen or rapid naat test appt. within 50 miles of their residence as I try to make a mock appt.  I try cvs and walgreens with no luck.  they only have the pcr which is running beyond two days.   My question is will MSC test them at the pier if they have no other options?  And what would the charge be?  Please only respond if you know first hand...things change .. I was on MSC this past week and also in January...in January with 500 guests they tested us at the pier but last week there was no testing with 3500 guests.  I was told it was because there were "too many people".  So that is not the test I'm inquiring about...I'm asking about the required test results taken within 48 hours that you do on your own. Thanks! 

I am somewhat in the same boat leaving in three weeks. We are driving from western New York to Miami with a limited time frame and concerned about not getting the results in time (turnaround is 1-2 days but not guaranteed). 
You can purchase Abbotts Binax home monitor test at eMed.com. Six tests are $150. You have your results in 15 minutes and it’s proctored. We recently did this for a trip to Hawaii but tests were provided by my husband’s employer. I’m leaning towards doing this for the cruise … I think the cost is worth avoiding my increased anxiety. 🤣

[mscdivina2016]

Both of those in the same boat...

 

All major airports have testing sites in them.

I just paid $110 each at SXM.

 

We did fly out of MIA and they have it in the airport as well

 

[deliver42]

Most urgent care centers give the rapid antigen test.

[fish_guru]

Miami Dade has several testing sites available.  The rapid test took about an hour to get results. 

 

If you're leaving from Miami and in a bind, that's an option for you. 

 

You can find info on www.miamidade.gov

Edited March 18, 2022 by fish_guru
Added web address

[cherylnj]

7 hours ago, paceyswife said:

I am somewhat in the same boat leaving in three weeks. We are driving from western New York to Miami with a limited time frame and concerned about not getting the results in time (turnaround is 1-2 days but not guaranteed). 
You can purchase Abbotts Binax home monitor test at eMed.com. Six tests are $150. You have your results in 15 minutes and it’s proctored. We recently did this for a trip to Hawaii but tests were provided by my husband’s employer. I’m leaning towards doing this for the cruise … I think the cost is worth avoiding my increased anxiety. 🤣

I just ordered a new 6 pack of these. I received them in 3 days. I've been using them for my past cruises. They're easy and results are quick. 

[CampNCruise74]

4 hours ago, cherylnj said:

I just ordered a new 6 pack of these. I received them in 3 days. I've been using them for my past cruises. They're easy and results are quick. 

Amen to that.  It is so worth it to reduce the anxiety.

[ready2cruzagain]

I am guessing you are leaving from Florida.  Here is a link to all of the testing sites that Florida has to offer.  We had several as a back up in case we missed our appt. that we had.  Most of the sites in FL are walk in.

 

https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/testing-sites/

 

 

[cherylnj]

17 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I am guessing you are leaving from Florida.  Here is a link to all of the testing sites that Florida has to offer.  We had several as a back up in case we missed our appt. that we had.  Most of the sites in FL are walk in.

 

https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/testing-sites/

 

 

Alot of them are closing down. If you go this route, make sure you have a good backup plan. 

[8420PR]

46 minutes ago, CampNCruise74 said:

Amen to that.  It is so worth it to reduce the anxiety.

For those living in Europe, there are many equivalent services that are comparable to the Abotts test available in US, but a lot cheaper (i.e. without the US healthcare markup).

 

My routine for travel & cruising where an antigen test is required (and not available for free locally):

1. Purchase a covid rapid test-kit from a supermarket - I purchased 3 yesterday that cost €1.59 each in Aldi.

2. Use an online video monitoring service that confirms you have done the test correctly and issues a certificate with the result.   In the past I used covidtestonline, but now I am using testifly from lufthansa that charges €4.99 a certificate. 

 

Using these I can get a test result anywhere in the world for under USD10 a certificate.  My tip would be to carry more tests with you that you actually need, as if they cannot validate the test result they will ask you to do the test again (without paying for the service, but you need an extra test on hand).

[blueslily]

I live in the US. I have tested at urgent care clinics for each cruise I've taken as well as for other reasons. I have BCBS insurance. The rapid antigen tests are covered by my insurance at 100%. So, I'm free to test whenever I want. I just go in 2 days before the cruise. Printed results within 15 minutes of the swabs. 

[juancarlosgarciasanchez]

If I may suggest. Most Walgreens in Florida have Rapid COVID test centers via their drive-up pharmacy service  window.  The online appointments open exactly seven days @ midnight and you will have the opportunity to secure an online appointment for all your friends for free. Additionally, Walgreens is a very reliable pharmacy chain and your rapid test results will be available by the end of the business day. Just load-up your car, save your time, energy and money and make the drive to Walgreens and avoid these profit-for-covid test centers. 

[Homosassa]

44 minutes ago, juancarlosgarciasanchez said:

If I may suggest. Most Walgreens in Florida have Rapid COVID test centers via their drive-up pharmacy service  window.  The online appointments open exactly seven days @ midnight and you will have the opportunity to secure an online appointment for all your friends for free. Additionally, Walgreens is a very reliable pharmacy chain and your rapid test results will be available by the end of the business day. Just load-up your car, save your time, energy and money and make the drive to Walgreens and avoid these profit-for-covid test centers. 

Walgreens appointments open three days before your desired test date here in Florida.

 

And be careful, many of the Walgreens are cutting back on the days they will test and the hours (our local county Walgreens no longer test o the weekend).

[cherylnj]

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

Walgreens appointments open three days before your desired test date here in Florida.

 

And be careful, many of the Walgreens are cutting back on the days they will test and the hours (our local county Walgreens no longer test o the weekend).

Rapid tests are getting pretty scarce around here (Sumter County). Not taking any chances and ordered more Emed tests. I sail on the 27th. 

[paceyswife]

2 hours ago, cherylnj said:

Rapid tests are getting pretty scarce around here (Sumter County). Not taking any chances and ordered more Emed tests. I sail on the 27th. 

Appointments around us are getting scarce as well as places are cutting back on testing. The trying to find an appointment for four, worrying about getting results in time or driving 23 hours to take a chance and get tested morning  of cruise (when we get to Miami) are not worth the anxiety. I decided to order from Emed for my sanity (and avoid driving husband and kids crazy). 

[paceyswife]

5 hours ago, juancarlosgarciasanchez said:

If I may suggest. Most Walgreens in Florida have Rapid COVID test centers via their drive-up pharmacy service  window.  The online appointments open exactly seven days @ midnight and you will have the opportunity to secure an online appointment for all your friends for free. Additionally, Walgreens is a very reliable pharmacy chain and your rapid test results will be available by the end of the business day. Just load-up your car, save your time, energy and money and make the drive to Walgreens and avoid these profit-for-covid test centers. 

Most of our Walgreens are  24-48 hour returns. I’ve tried. 

[Oceans 818]

5 hours ago, Homosassa said:

Walgreens appointments open three days before your desired test date here in Florida.

 

And be careful, many of the Walgreens are cutting back on the days they will test and the hours (our local county Walgreens no longer test o the weekend).

Hi, just checked the Walgreen's we plan to use for our test in Florida and they are booking a week at a time as per the booking site. The only thing is that I'm not seeing any rapid antigen testing only PCR & IDNow (NAAT) testing. I did call MSC and the woman said she believed the NAAT are still acceptable, being molecular. They are FDA & CDC approved. The store said we'd have to book online and to use our address where we are staying to register and there'd be no charge (being Canadian). 

Of note to those booking more than one appointment; you will need a Walgreen's account for each person. I use the same cell to recieve text updates to keep track. I've also downloaded the app CommonPass and use it to show the test results as it's more concise than showing the printout. We've used Walgreens several times for returning to Canada, with no trouble and the resluts are usually less than an hour.

[juancarlosgarciasanchez]

3 hours ago, cherylnj said:

Rapid tests are getting pretty scarce around here (Sumter County). Not taking any chances and ordered more Emed tests. I sail on the 27th. 

Sumter county, I assume The Villages. Check Walgreens on Kristine Way. You can book seven days out and they do the rapid covid test. Just completed mine yesterday and received results in 45 minutes for free. 

[cherylnj]

1 hour ago, juancarlosgarciasanchez said:

Sumter county, I assume The Villages. Check Walgreens on Kristine Way. You can book seven days out and they do the rapid covid test. Just completed mine yesterday and received results in 45 minutes for free. 

I work in the Villages but live in the South end (Bushnell). I already have the Emed tests. Way less aggravation. Have a great cruise! 

[momrox1]

Thank you everyone for your comments and info.  I got my friends a test at CVS an hour drive from their house but at least it was available.  I will try that morning at their closest cvs which seems to be booking the rapid tests on a daily basis...in other words you can book a rapid test today for today...makes no sense but at least we have the backup plan.  Walgreens was a bust for them...too far away.

[blueslily]

2 hours ago, momrox1 said:

Thank you everyone for your comments and info.  I got my friends a test at CVS an hour drive from their house but at least it was available.  I will try that morning at their closest cvs which seems to be booking the rapid tests on a daily basis...in other words you can book a rapid test today for today...makes no sense but at least we have the backup plan.  Walgreens was a bust for them...too far away.

 

I'm curious, where are you located and where is your friend located? 

[momrox1]

9 hours ago, blueslily said:

 

I'm curious, where are you located and where is your friend located? 

they are in Southern Mass, near Cape Cod and had to get them an appt. in Pawtucket RI...only wanted the rapid test. 

I'm in FL  ...easy for me   😎

[Homosassa]

18 hours ago, juraspark said:

Hi, just checked the Walgreen's we plan to use for our test in Florida and they are booking a week at a time as per the booking site. The only thing is that I'm not seeing any rapid antigen testing only PCR & IDNow (NAAT) testing. I did call MSC and the woman said she believed the NAAT are still acceptable, being molecular. They are FDA & CDC approved. The store said we'd have to book online and to use our address where we are staying to register and there'd be no charge (being Canadian). 

Of note to those booking more than one appointment; you will need a Walgreen's account for each person. I use the same cell to recieve text updates to keep track. I've also downloaded the app CommonPass and use it to show the test results as it's more concise than showing the printout. We've used Walgreens several times for returning to Canada, with no trouble and the resluts are usually less than an hour.

Yes, you are correct on the one week time frame.

 

That is a recent change from a month ago.

 

I checked because we need to test for a cruise in June.

 

We will do the rapid NAAT test. Walgreens website says result within two hours.

 

It is a molecular test and acceptable.

 

Be careful of the day of the week that you book an appointment at Walgreens.  For our February cruise, we needed to test on Saturday (boarding on Monday). On Friday night before our appointments, I received a phone call that said, "So sorry, so sad. Walgreens in Citrus County has dropped weekend testing; your appointment is cancelled."

 

Luckily we had back up appointments at a CVS.