help with proctored Covid test

[BND]

2 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

Just a word of caution, I used the e-med Navica test/app on my phone day before a Jan 2022 planned cruise.  I loaded the app, called the phone number as instructed, waited an hour and one half on the phone.  Finally an agent picked up the phone.  She told me to add liquid into a little receptical provided.  The liquid was dryed up!!  Couldn't use it.  Fortunately my DH and I purchased extra sets of the test.  However, the agent told me I would have to hang up and start over again!  Yes, wait another 1 1/2 hours or more!   

 

A word to all, make sure you have extra tests in the event you have a defective test.

We used it March 31 2022.  DH got on his laptop at 6 am and I got on mine at 7.  We waited two minutes.  We were done and had our results in less than 40 minutes.    You "called" the phone number?  It's all done on the website.   We'll be using it again for our July 22 cruise.  In fact, we have two tests left (I always have backups) and DH's officemate is selling us two because they had to cancel their June cruise due to a medical issue.  Always have a backup of some kind.

Edited May 20, 2022 by BND

[Cruise a holic]

25 minutes ago, BND said:

We used it March 31 2022.  DH got on his laptop at 6 am and I got on mine at 7.  We waited two minutes.  We were done and had our results in less than 40 minutes.    You "called" the phone number?  It's all done on the website.   We'll be using it again for our July 22 cruise.  In fact, we have two tests left (I always have backups) and DH's officemate is selling us two because they had to cancel their June cruise due to a medical issue.  Always have a backup of some kind.

Not staffed up back in January 

[njkruzer]

7 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Not staffed up back in January 

We did it in December.  No problem with a wait.

[Cruise a holic]

37 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

We did it in December.  No problem with a wait.

Lucky you!  Unlucky us!

[britty1]

On 5/19/2022 at 1:37 PM, OCSC Mike said:

 

There are other sites you can use besides the actual iHealth site...

 

https://rapidtestandtrace.com/product/observed-test-for-travel/

I just booked this proctored site for our testing and will be using IHEALTH free tests with the proctor. My kids were scheduled with Sacramento airport but it shut down yesterday so decided I was done being stressed. Royal accepts this testing proctor.

[BND]

I have read lots of reports from people who did it from last year on and very, very few had more than a few minutes wait, even in Dec/Jan.

Edited June 8, 2022 by BND

[njkruzer]

We've used emed proctotests bought through Royal link 3 times.  No appointments.  Easy. 

[Cruise a holic]

11 hours ago, njkruzer said:

We've used emed proctotests bought through Royal link 3 times.  No appointments.  Easy. 

When we used the test last January a nightmare- waited on the phone about an hour, when the test began the liquid was dried up!  We had to call back.  Fortunately we had extra tests.  We did the test again for a March and June cruises and that was much faster and easier-  Make sure you each purchase an extra test if you have the same problem we encountered.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Cruise a holic

[bjlbbk]

Does anyone have any experience using a proctored service with the QuickVue home test shown here? We are planning to schedule our covid tests at a local Walgreens, but as a back-up plan I ordered enough free government tests to cover our group of 12 that will be cruising July 9th. I was expecting iHealth test kits since that is what I have heard others mention, but of the 8 boxes (16 individual tests) I received only 2 boxes (four tests) were iHealth . I can't find anything on the QuickVue box that indicates it is FDA approved. Just curious if anyone else has used QuickVue tests or knows if they will be accepted? Thanks!

[Coralc]

1 hour ago, bjlbbk said:

Does anyone have any experience using a proctored service with the QuickVue home test shown here? We are planning to schedule our covid tests at a local Walgreens, but as a back-up plan I ordered enough free government tests to cover our group of 12 that will be cruising July 9th. I was expecting iHealth test kits since that is what I have heard others mention, but of the 8 boxes (16 individual tests) I received only 2 boxes (four tests) were iHealth . I can't find anything on the QuickVue box that indicates it is FDA approved. Just curious if anyone else has used QuickVue tests or knows if they will be accepted? Thanks!

 

Quick Vue at Home OTC Covid 19 test is on the FDA approved list. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests

[Gray Lady]

There are many proctored services out there that one can use with the free government FDA approved tests. They cost between $15 to $20 each. Each one operates on a different system for internet use. Emed uses an app. OnPoint uses Zoom. Total Testing Solutions uses a web-based video call. You need to decide who you are going with and then you can connect that way. Many of these services require an appointment, but they are easy to get. I know Total Testing offers 24 hour appointments and you schedule according to your time zone. Very easy to do.

[julielouhoo]

On 6/8/2022 at 6:55 PM, njkruzer said:

We've used emed proctotests bought through Royal link 3 times.  No appointments.  Easy. 

What are the hours they are available?  Can you just do it any time?

 

Thanks

[njkruzer]

7 minutes ago, julielouhoo said:

What are the hours they are available?  Can you just do it any time?

 

Thanks

Yes, anytime.   The first time, shortly after midnight cst. Morning the 2nd time.  Morning from our hotel in Amsterdam.  No appointments.  Just log on, answer questions and never waited more than a couple of minutes.  

[julielouhoo]

13 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Yes, anytime.   The first time, shortly after midnight cst. Morning the 2nd time.  Morning from our hotel in Amsterdam.  No appointments.  Just log on, answer questions and never waited more than a couple of minutes.  

Thanks so much!!

[Tlbecker1]

13 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Yes, anytime.   The first time, shortly after midnight cst. Morning the 2nd time.  Morning from our hotel in Amsterdam.  No appointments.  Just log on, answer questions and never waited more than a couple of minutes.  

Be really careful if you are going to test in the UK.  Emed uses GMT time and I used a test in Venice at 8:30AM Venice time.  The test date came back 11:38PM the day before.  It was a huge mess with 3 phone calls.  One person did change the date for me and I was super thankful that I took a screenshot of it, because it switched back to the wrong date about an hour later.  

[njkruzer]

4 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

Be really careful if you are going to test in the UK.  Emed uses GMT time and I used a test in Venice at 8:30AM Venice time.  The test date came back 11:38PM the day before.  It was a huge mess with 3 phone calls.  One person did change the date for me and I was super thankful that I took a screenshot of it, because it switched back to the wrong date about an hour later.  

Wierd.  That doesn't make sense.  I know it shows GMT, but it always shows local date. Also Venice is GMT +2, so GMT should've shown as 6:30 am.  What time was your device on?  Maybe that was the problem.  As long as it had the correct date you should've been ok.  Of course no longer needed to fly back to US as of Sunday. 

[Tlbecker1]

1 minute ago, njkruzer said:

Wierd.  That doesn't make sense.  I know it shows GMT, but it always shows local date. Also Venice is GMT +2, so GMT should've shown as 6:30 am.  What time was your device on?  Maybe that was the problem.  As long as it had the correct date you should've been ok.  Of course no longer needed to fly back to US as of Sunday. 

Sorry, the time zone they recorded was PDT and I wanted GMT, my device had the correct time, I can assure you.  I am a stickler about that and we had been in Venice for 2 days prior. My husband waited for an hour and his showed The correct date an hour later than mine. So his was ok.  I spent 2 hours on the phone, it wasn’t fun.  Weird things happen and I just want to make sure that folks are aware…

[njkruzer]

15 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:

Sorry, the time zone they recorded was PDT and I wanted GMT, my device had the correct time, I can assure you.  I am a stickler about that and we had been in Venice for 2 days prior. My husband waited for an hour and his showed The correct date an hour later than mine. So his was ok.  I spent 2 hours on the phone, it wasn’t fun.  Weird things happen and I just want to make sure that folks are aware…

Ok.  Just wierd, as you say.  I know the one I did in Amsterdam was ok for our flight home. I can't find the printout for my Amsterdam test but on the Navica app it shows 1:19 am CST!    Ok.  Found the printout.  Shows 6:19 AM UTC.  About right.