We made a short video showing the Princess Cruises COVID-19 testing procedure in Southampton. This was made when we were boarding Sky Princess in September 2021.
Here is the video…
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This was the same COVID-19 testing procedure for both of our recent cruises on the Regal Princess and Sky Princess. I understand the same facility is used for all Carnival brand ships including P&O.
Testing only took 30 minutes the first time, and just 10 the second time and was very well done.
As you never need to get out of your car there are never any accessibility concerns. The results are texted to your mobile phone for you to show during check-in for the cruise.
The three key steps
There are three key steps, all of which are made very clear with very helpful staff. At the first stop the staff check your passport and Covid-19 vaccination certificate. We printed ours off which on both occasions the staff told us they preferred over the app version, but either will do.
You then proceed to drive into the tented area and at a second table, you are asked to confirm your mobile phone number and given a wristband and a card. You then get a text almost immediately to confirm you are registered with the Princess testing system.
Finally, you drive to the staff who are wearing full PPE, they take the card, confirm the digits match those on your wristband and then do a couple of nasal swabs. I was expecting this to be less than pleasant, but it was actually OK and not intrusive at all.
Once Covid-19 testing is complete
Once you have completed the three steps you exit the tent and drive to your cruise ship where you can offload your luggage and say goodbye to your car and enter the terminal where you wait for your results prior to checking in for the cruise. Our results were though both times within 20 minutes, and since it took at least 10 to drive to the ship and offload the bags, the wait did not seem long at all.
I hope this helps anyone else taking a cruise during these testing times!
A few useful links
Would you like to see our blog page on the embarkation/boarding procedure?