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COVID 19 Testing For A Cruise

For those of you who have never cruised, you may not completely understand just what kind of COVID 19 test you need or how close to your cruise you need It. For the purpose of this article, I am going to focus on Carnival but many of the other cruise lines are much the same. 

Since the start of the COVID pandemic and the reopening of the Cruise lines, The CDC requires that Cruise Lines have each passenger to present a negative COVID 19 test prior to boarding. For each cruise line and each passengers vaccination status this can vary. 

For example Carnival's guideline are as follows:

TESTING REQUIREMENTS

Except where destination requirements differ*, guests who are up to date with their vaccines may take their test within three days prior to sailing. Up to date means a guest has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccinations, including any booster dose, when eligible.
Example: For a sailing departing on Saturday, guests may take their test as early as Wednesday and as late as Saturday morning, if guaranteed to receive results in time for check-in.

If a guest is fully vaccinated but not up to date with their vaccines, they must take their pre-cruise COVID-19 test within two days prior to sailing. If you are eligible for a booster and have not received one, you are not considered up to date.
Example: For a sailing departing on Saturday, guests may take their test no earlier than Thursday and as late as Saturday morning, if guaranteed to receive results in time for check-in.

* BERMUDA AND CANADA: Fully vaccinated guests traveling to Bermuda and Canada, including those who are up to date with their vaccines, can take either a PCR test within 72 hours prior to sailing, or an antigen test no earlier than two days prior to sailing, in order to comply with CDC and destination regulations.

Prior to traveling to the cruise terminal, guests should review their test results to ensure they include their full legal name, date of birth, type of test, date and time sample was taken, test result stating “NEGATIVE” or “NOT DETECTED” and laboratory, testing site, and/or healthcare provider details. Handwritten test results are not acceptable. Please refer to Carnival's COVID-19 FAQs for complete information on testing requirements and resources.

What kind of pre-cruise COVID-19 tests are acceptable?

Guests must be tested with a COVID-19 viral test that is either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

Antigen tests include (acceptable for fully vaccinated guests only):Rapid antigen test
Viral antigen test
Antigen Chromatographic Digital Immunoassay
Antigen Chemiluminescence Immunoassay, or
Antigen Lateral Flow Fluorescence

NAAT include (acceptable for vaccinated and unvaccinated guests):PCR - Polymerase chain reaction
RT-PCR - reverse transcription real time PCR
Quantitative PCR (qPCR)
Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) test
Transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) test
Molecular test or molecular diagnostic test
Isothermal amplification
Droplet Digital PCR or digital droplet PCR (ddPCR)
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)

A rapid antigen or rapid PCR test is acceptable (of the test types listed above).

Where To Get Tested

Now your probably wondering where you can get tested and exactly what kind of test you need to meet the Cruise Lines Requirements. You CANNOT take a test yourself and just show them the test or a picture of the test. You must have the proper documentation with all your information (Name, DOB, etc.) and the facility or telehealth company on it. The test also has to be administered or witnessed by another party.

Option 1

The easiest way to achieve this goal is to simply make an appointment online With CVS Or Walgreens for your test. You will then go into the Pharmacy and they will give your test. Depending on which test you take you will have your results either in a few hours or in a few days via email. 

Once you get your results simply upload them to Verifly and print a copy to take with you when boarding just in case.

Option 2

Now if you are afraid you will not get the result back in time, you are traveling, or the pharmacy is not able to do the test (For whatever reason) you can do a proctor test with a telehealth service. With these services you buy the kit through them and do the test while on the computer with a proctor. You will follow the instructions given to you and complete each step as they instruct you too. The test will take you about 15 minutes to complete and 15 minutes to read the results. Once your 15 minutes timer is up the proctor will ask you to show them your results. They will confirm if your negative or positive and then will get the results to you via email. Same process you will need to upload you results to Verifly and then print a copy to take with you when boarding just in case.

There are two Companies that I know Carnival will accept for these tests.

OnPoint

$21.99 For 1 Test & Telehealth Services, This company also offers just a telehealth services where if you have your own test such as the free test that can be ordered from the USPS you can use those tests. It costs $14.99. Keep in mind that with this services however you will need to book an appointment in advance.

Optum Health

$69.99 for 2 tests & Telehealth Services

$99.99 for 3 tests & Telehealth Services

I have yet to use OnPoint but have used Optum Several times. I like these telehealth options as it makes it much easier to test when traveling as you can test just about anywhere you have access to a computer. It can be a Jacks parking lot on our way traveling (especially if your pushed for time, like you have few days drive and you need the test within 48 hours perhaps) or in your hotel room.

We also used Walgreens to test which worked out pretty well to plus they are free to test at least here in Alabama. However, when we cruised the last 2 times COVID rates were pretty high and they had limited test results or it was taken awhile to get the test results back and we were afraid we wouldn't get them in time. On our last cruise we also had to travel a distance and if we tested before we left home it would have been to far out so we tested a little closer to our embarkation date (In a Jack's parking lot with our phones). We were able to just show them the results on our phone but at some ports if you arrive early they do not so Verifly which is why I suggest you print the results too. Plus in case there is an issue with your phone, phone services, or even the app.

What companies have you used to test? Did you have any issues at the cruise port when boarding with them?

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