Know Before You Go Updated - May 17 - Testing rule changes

[CaptainAmerica]

which may be difficult for people traveling.

And expensive. Difficult and expensive.

 

[Cfudge]

It's not convenient for foreigners - my sailing is full of Canadians and Brits.

Canadian here...depends on the timeline really. We sailed the Magic from Miami last month, had to test on Saturday to be clear to fly to USA on Sunday, then test at the port on Monday. In the new scenario, our monitored test on Saturday could have been used for both flight to USA AND DCL...that would have been nice.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Wow - just checked a couple of places near us, and the cost for rapid PCR test for travel was $220 per test at one and $149 at another. CVS showed limited availability of rapid PCR and did not indicate cost.

At that price, just buy the kit from Disney.

 

[Cliffside]

So if my cruise leaves Thursday…I hope I can test any time Tuesday or Wednesday before I get on a flight to Florida…that is what I have done on Celebrity with the home proctored test.

 

[Madame]

Canadian here...depends on the timeline really. We sailed the Magic from Miami last month, had to test on Saturday to be clear to fly to USA on Sunday, then test at the port on Monday. In the new scenario, our monitored test on Saturday could have been used for both flight to USA AND DCL...that would have been nice.

We drive and even if we didn't, we fly from Detroit.............. I wasn't testing to get into the US in the first place.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Our June cruise is almost fully booked - I don't think this is going to stop folks from sailing. It's so much more convenient.

This is infinitely less convenient. At best, it's equally convenient... but now it costs $95 CAD.

 

[Joel0917]

It’s not clear if 90’day. Recovery is still allowed? So If you have 90 day recovery are you excluded from uploading.


Also what about B2B cruisers? What do we do when we get off the one cruise? Do we have to pay then?

 

[Cfudge]

Why should I have to pay for something that others have been getting as part of their cruise? Serious question, no snark. And if they've changed the refund policy if you test positive, well.....

I guess you'd have to look at it that most other cruise lines have been operating on this "Test yourself and upload it and your own cost" policy for months. Disney stayed with the test at the port and we'll pay for it method all on their own for a long time. So, now they are going with what the others are doing but still offering the option to test at the port, which...is honestly just going to cost a lot of money for a bunch of health care staff to stand around and deal with the odd guest i would think.

 

[Cfudge]

We drive and even if we didn't, we fly from Detroit.............. I wasn't testing to get into the US in the first place.

Come on Ontario...think of the rest of us to your left and right

 

[Billybob7]

It’s not clear if 90’day. Recovery is still allowed? So If you have 90 day recovery are you excluded from uploading.


Also what about B2B cruisers? What do we do when we get off the one cruise? Do we have to pay then?

No. the test between the two cruises is free for back to back cruisers. See the bottom of the announcement.

 

[kathi]

This is infinitely less convenient. At best, it's equally convenient... but now it costs $95 CAD.

I suppose every family will have different circumstances. We have sailed 4 times since reopening and always tested at home before we flew to Florida as a precaution anyway. So now that testing will count for our boarding. It will also speed up the boarding process, which will be nice.

 

[indylaw99]

It’s not clear if 90’day. Recovery is still allowed? So If you have 90 day recovery are you excluded from uploading.


Also what about B2B cruisers? What do we do when we get off the one cruise? Do we have to pay then?

They do say on the Disney site that for those of us on B2B, Disney will do the testing in between at no charge just like cruises prior to the change. This was my first question as well!

 

[Madame]

I guess you'd have to look at it that most other cruise lines have been operating on this "Test yourself and upload it and your own cost" policy for months. Disney stayed with the test at the port and we'll pay for it method all on their own for a long time. So, now they are going with what the others are doing but still offering the option to test at the port, which...is honestly just going to cost a lot of money for a bunch of health care staff to stand around and deal with the odd guest i would think.

I'm going to talk to DH, but I'm pretty sure we're canceling - I just can't anymore. First it was testing to get across the border, then to get back into Canada now it's find and pay for your own testing. Triple vaccinated and want to RELAX on vacation. I can get a week at a DVC studio with our points and we can pretend we're cruising lol.

 

[Joel0917]

thanks. for B2B and 90 day recovered. do you not test then for B2B?

 

[princesscinderella]

I’m happy about this change. We did testing at the port in April and I was so anxious to be turned away at the port, the internet signal was horrible there and had a hard time loading my emails to see if we were clear to sail. Now we just have to drop our bags, park and walk into the port to get on the ship

Thanks for the link to embed I ordered the 6 pack for our family of 5 so we are all set for our June 11th sailing on the fantasy.

 

[ScrapHappy]

For those in the US, the BinaxNOW Covid tests for travel are FSA/HSA eligible, so if you have an FSA or HSA you can use those funds to pay for those tests. I just purchased them for my upcoming cruise (using the link provided in a previous post) and was able to use my FSA card. Optum administers my FSA account and it said right in the checkout box that the item was FSA/HSA eligible. At least if I have to pay for the test I'm using pre-tax dollars to do so!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I suppose every family will have different circumstances. We have sailed 4 times since reopening and always tested at home before we flew to Florida as a precaution anyway.

I mean yeah, if you were already voluntarily doing a thing that wasn't mandatory and now it is, that's not going to affect you. But that's like saying I stop at Target on my way to Old Key West Resort, so now when Disney makes it mandatory for EVERYONE to stop at Target on their way to Old Key West Resort, that makes it more convenient.

So now that testing will count for our boarding. It will also speed up the boarding process, which will be nice.

The problem is that there's a narrow band of the types of tests that will be accepted and the window is only 2 days, which is very very difficult. We've done two post-reopening cruises and I have unvaccinated under-5s. Their testing was very convenient. Swab at home on Friday, overnight to the lab, results on our account by Saturday, fly Sunday, sail Monday. That timeline doesn't work if they've shrunk the window from 3 days to 2 days, meaning mail-in kits are pretty much off the table. They're not fast enough.

 

[Doingitagain]

I’m happy about this change. We did testing at the port in April and I was so anxious to be turned away at the port, the internet signal was horrible there and had a hard time loading my emails to see if we were clear to sail. Now we just have to drop our bags, park and walk into the port to get on the ship

Thanks for the link to embed I ordered the 6 pack for our family of 5 so we are all set for our June 11th sailing on the fantasy.

Me, too! I was worried about flying to Canada and testing positive and not being able to cruise. Now we can all test before we fly out. If we test positive after the cruise and can't fly back to US, at least we got the cruise!

 

[Doingitagain]

For those in the US, the BinaxNOW Covid tests for travel are FSA/HSA eligible, so if you have an FSA or HSA you can use those funds to pay for those tests. I just purchased them for my upcoming cruise (using the link provided in a previous post) and was able to use my FSA card. Optum administers my FSA account and it said right in the checkout box that the item was FSA/HSA eligible. At least if I have to pay for the test I'm using pre-tax dollars to do so!

Be careful what tests you purchase. Some are proctored (monitored) and some are not.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Be careful what tests you purchase. Some are proctored (monitored) and some are not.

Only rapid antigen needs to be proctored. The other types do not.