Rejected for doctor's signature on test results?

[nlktx49]

A friend will be on the same cruise we're going on, leaving Saturday. He went to his doctor for the COVID test, was negative, all info printed out, and the doctor signed it.

 

My friend just texted me, freaked out, because his doctor's office called him, said two patients of his were not allowed to board their ship on a previous cruise because the doctor's signature was on the test results. What????  I know the regulations say the results can't be handwritten, but nothing about a doctor's signature not being allowed.

 

Was the person at the terminal checking paperwork just being over-zealous or is this really grounds for rejecting the test results?

 

Has anyone heard of this happening? This was at Galveston.

[dallasdan]

I have gone on 2 cruises out Galveston since the restart and both cases the doctors signature was on the letter saying I tested negative.

[Eli_6]

That story seems strange to me. If anything, I would think they would NEED the doctor's signature on the test.  With that said, last time my husband and I cruised out of Galveston we got this lady checking us in who was really difficult and made us show her BOTH verifly and our physical documents.  Thankfully, we had both. The darndest thing is that I showed her my documents and she wouldn't us board with JUST the documents.  She wanted the Verifly, too!  I think the rule is that you need one or the other--not both--but this woman seemed to think you had to have BOTH.  And she had a really unpleasant attitude to boot and was super rude.  My husband (thankfully) is a psychiatrist who literally is trained in dealing with difficult people, but I could see her actually getting nasty with someone and preventing them from boarding based on my interaction with her.  

[pe4all]

2 hours ago, dallasdan said:

I have gone on 2 cruises out Galveston since the restart and both cases the doctors signature was on the letter saying I tested negative.

Same out of Miami.  Had no problems. 

[nlktx49]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

That story seems strange to me. If anything, I would think they would NEED the doctor's signature on the test.  With that said, last time my husband and I cruised out of Galveston we got this lady checking us in who was really difficult and made us show her BOTH verifly and our physical documents.  Thankfully, we had both. The darndest thing is that I showed her my documents and she wouldn't us board with JUST the documents.  She wanted the Verifly, too!  I think the rule is that you need one or the other--not both--but this woman seemed to think you had to have BOTH.  And she had a really unpleasant attitude to boot and was super rude.  My husband (thankfully) is a psychiatrist who literally is trained in dealing with difficult people, but I could see her actually getting nasty with someone and preventing them from boarding based on my interaction with her. 

 

Wow! That's just way out of line. It's quite clear on Carnival's website that Verfly is optional, that you can still use the usual paper documents. I pulled up Verifly yesterday but after reading all the fine print decided I wasn't comfortable with what they would do with all my info, so I'm only using the paper documents. That was certainly uncalled for for this person to be rude to you. Doubt there was any supervisor around, but if there was I'd certainly report this woman. Most of the terminal employees are super nice and helpful, I'm sorry you got the bad apple!

[Ferry_Watcher]

A check-in agent alone can not deny a passenger boarding.  If there was a problem with documentation, it would be turned over to a supervisor, or more likely a pair of supervisors.  Passengers are not denied boarding willy-nilly.  The shore side personnel and the ship staff want passengers on the cruise but if there is a document problem, or if the requirements for testing/vaccine dates, etc are not met, then unfortunately there can and will be a boarding denial.

[csm5986142]

We have been on 7 cruises since covid testing has been required (from Galveston twice) and I just pulled up our electronic copies of the covid tests we took to each one.  They were signed by an MD most of the time, and we had no questions/issues at all.  

[AQW]

On our B2B last month they tested us on board between the sailings... and the Carnival doctor signed the results. 

[Ilovesailaway]

7 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

We have been on 7 cruises since covid testing has been required

Nice!!!

I only have 2 since the restart but have 3 more booked. 

[Carla in Texas 61]

This will be my first cruise since 2019 and am needing some info please.  Can I go to CVS or Walgreens for the Covid test 2 days prior to our embarkment date or do I have to go to a MD office and get an MD signature on the test result form?  Thank you

[SmoothFlying]

4 hours ago, Carla in Texas 61 said:

This will be my first cruise since 2019 and am needing some info please.  Can I go to CVS or Walgreens for the Covid test 2 days prior to our embarkment date

My wife and I did the Rapid antigen test at CVS on 9/10/21before we drove down to Port Canaveral for our Mardi Gras cruise on 9/11 took all of ten mins and at 30 min drive back home and by the time we got home we got a message by E mail that our results were on line on 'My Chart'. BUT...

 

Now I'm reading here that a lot of local CVS MINUET CLINICS (near their house) that used to give this test have either stopped OR cut down on this test. So the best thing , in that case, is to check withthat clinic you plan to use and make sure they still offer the test for travel purposes. Our next cruise is not till August, so calling now, wouldn't accomplish much because things are so fluid with what is needed for a cruise. We are flying to the west coast for a cruise out of Canada ona Monday so we ony have 2 days( IF I'm understanding this crazy quilt theory correctly too 1) Get the test BEFORE the cruise departs and 2) Make sure the local CVS/Walgreens does give the test on Sat. NO wonder a lot of folks say 'The STRESS is NOT worth it, having to jump through all the hoopsto cruise'. Makes one wonder sometimes if they've got a good point.

 

Mac