COVID testing in Rio?

[wjcollum]

It looks like MSC requires a COVID test to be performed for all guests, vaccinated or not, within 24 hours before boarding the ship (in this case, the Seaview) in Rio de Janeiro. OK, a bit pointless, but OK. The problem is that it can't be an Antigen "Rapid Test". I have found some clinics that will do the tests (we need 6 of them) at a reasonable price ($50 USD or so), but as they are not rapid tests so the results will take 2 business days to receive (we board the ship on Sunday, so the tests will have to be done on Saturday, and two business days puts us into Tuesday). MSC does not provide the tests, at any price, either at the pier or on the ship. It seems like MSC has set up an impossible situation. Has anybody managed to navigate this requirement in Rio? Any suggestions? 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, wjcollum said:

It looks like MSC requires a COVID test to be performed for all guests, vaccinated or not, within 24 hours before boarding the ship (in this case, the Seaview) in Rio de Janeiro. OK, a bit pointless, but OK. The problem is that it can't be an Antigen "Rapid Test". I have found some clinics that will do the tests (we need 6 of them) at a reasonable price ($50 USD or so), but as they are not rapid tests so the results will take 2 business days to receive (we board the ship on Sunday, so the tests will have to be done on Saturday, and two business days puts us into Tuesday). MSC does not provide the tests, at any price, either at the pier or on the ship. It seems like MSC has set up an impossible situation. Has anybody managed to navigate this requirement in Rio? Any suggestions? 

You should post this on the MSC board because it's more likely to catch the eye of MSC cruisers who are familiar with their requirements...but as I read MSC requirements for South America you can take either a PCR test or a rapid antigen test...you just can't use a rapid antigen self test:

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/health-and-safety-measures/south-america

 

 

 

 

COVID-19 TEST REQUIREMENTS:
 

For Cruises less than 6 nights:

- For fully vaccinated guests a COVID-19 antigen or RT-PCR test is strongly encouraged but not required.

- For non-vaccinated guests (ages 3 years old or older) a COVID-19 antigen or RT-PCR test is required 24 hours before embarkation.

For Cruises longer than 6 nights:

- All guests (ages 3 years old or older) are required to provide a COVID-19 antigen or PCR-RT test 24 hours before embarkation.

 

A rapid antigen self-test is not valid for travel purposes.

The original test results certificate and vaccination certificate must be presented at the terminal (paper or electronic format) and must be in one of the following languages: English, Italian, German, French or Spanish.  The COVID-19 test certificate must contain the guest’s data (verifiable with the other travel documents), date of the test, identification/contact details of the center that performed the analysis, technique used, and negative test result.

All crew members are required to be fully vaccinated and are regularly tested according to MSC Cruises' health and safety protocols.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by njhorseman

[wjcollum]

Thanks much, good catch. We will make reservations for on-line proctored tests since that seems to be the only option open to us in Rio that I can find.

While I am an experienced cruiser, I am not adept at "Cruise Critic", which for the uninitiated is not very intuitive. It took me 10 minutes just to figure out how to make my original post above. I'll try to duplicate it on the "MSC board", if I can find it.

Thanks again!