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Canada announces Covid 19 rules for return of cruise ships to Canadian ports


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If I am reading this right, it sounds like testing will be required prior to disembarkation at a Canadian port???? 


“Passengers, he added, will need to take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours before they board or take an antigen test within one day of boarding. They will also need a negative molecular test result within 72 hours before their return to Canada or an antigen test result within one day of their arrival, he said.”

https://trib.al/oaSNWu0?fbclid=IwAR19zcxvYeAVzlB5bkhQfFQRFLGN_Mu1d0XOqn9PWcSiDPXWvEAZhDmzRRk

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Seattle round-trip Alaska cruises that meet the PVSA by stopping in Victoria would require tests for everyone who will get off the ship unless they change the itinerary to start with a stop in Victoria rather than that being the last port (short overnight hop to Seattle for disembarkation).

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7 minutes ago, Toby said:

If I have to produce 1 day old antigen test results to get off the ship I'm not getting off.   I really like to chill on the last day of a cruise anyway.

I feel the same way.  We will stay on the ship if Canada is requiring additional testing.  It would be nice to see Victoria, but no loss here.

My husband is half-Canadian, courtesy of his parents border romance.  🙂  He has Canadian relatives that have stayed in the US for months to get some relief from the hoops the Canadian govt makes them jump thru.  

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15 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

I feel the same way.  We will stay on the ship if Canada is requiring additional testing.  It would be nice to see Victoria, but no loss here.

My husband is half-Canadian, courtesy of his parents border romance.  🙂  He has Canadian relatives that have stayed in the US for months to get some relief from the hoops the Canadian govt makes them jump thru.  

That is fine for the cruises that sail from Seattle and make a technical stop in Victoria. People can make the choice to stay on-board and not get tested. What worries me is how this affects the 20+ ships scheduled to homeport from Vancouver this summer.

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I think the feeling here is that we're not too far away from entry testing going by they wayside, as it has done in many countries (but not the US yet either).   It's so ridiculous - and clearly doesn't work to keep the virus out of the country.   Random testing makes sense so they can keep an eye on new variants coming in so preparations can be made.. but yeah, we are all done with it.   Although I'm happy an antigen will be accepted, it's still a royal pain to have to get tested.

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8 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

That is fine for the cruises that sail from Seattle and make a technical stop in Victoria. People can make the choice to stay on-board and not get tested. What worries me is how this affects the 20+ ships scheduled to homeport from Vancouver this summer.

Plus the open jaw sailings from from/to Seward to/from Vancouver.

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I see Canada is still intent on making it difficult for the cruise industry and passengers looking to go ashore.  I completely understand the need for the negative test prior to boarding and the vaccine requirement but the need to test again before disembarking (whether it is the end  of the cruise or simply a port of call/shore excursion) outside of the 72 hour window is absolutely ridiculous.  Congress needs to step in and allow cruises to bypass Canada again in 2022 if cruise operator chooses to do so.

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6 hours ago, Toby said:

If Congress does act it needs to address the east coast cruises as well.  We have wanted to book the eastern cruise from Quebec to a US east coast port but have been stymied by Canadian restrictions.

Any action US congress takes will not have any impact on a cruise originating in Quebec. It would only allow ships to bypass Canadian ports. A cuise originating from Canada is at the mercy of Canadian regulators.

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1 hour ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Any action US congress takes will not have any impact on a cruise originating in Quebec. It would only allow ships to bypass Canadian ports. A cuise originating from Canada is at the mercy of Canadian regulators.

You are correct on origination from Canada.  With the age of COVID test results (72 hour PCR and 24 hour antigen) I would think those itineraries and the opposite ones that originate in the USA would problematic.

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I am really hoping it goes away...for Canadians loooking to ceruise with Royal too its a pain......looking at a great deal on a cruise out of San Jaun...but Royal wont accept our tests in Canada and I am not flying all the way to San Juan to get a positive test and miss the cruise....

 

Testing needs to drop to make it enjoyable and less stressful at this point.

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20 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

I am really hoping it goes away...for Canadians loooking to ceruise with Royal too its a pain......looking at a great deal on a cruise out of San Jaun...but Royal wont accept our tests in Canada and I am not flying all the way to San Juan to get a positive test and miss the cruise....

 

Testing needs to drop to make it enjoyable and less stressful at this point.

I have cruised multiple times with tests I have gotten in Canada. 

I do though agree that testing needs to go. It does put a damper on the pre cruise buildup.

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18 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

It stipulates on Royals site that to board a ship out of the US or San Juan, it has to be a test done in the USA.....international tests are not accepted.....

 

Am i missing somethin here?

I have not sailed out of San Juan but for my cruises out of the US I got tested at Vancouver airport before boarding US bound flights and that result was accepted at port for boarding the cruise 

17 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Good to see you on the boards again, @monctonguy.  It’s been a while

I was thinking the same thing but just thought maybe I had missed @monctonguyposts. Welcome back

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1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

It stipulates on Royals site that to board a ship out of the US or San Juan, it has to be a test done in the USA.....international tests are not accepted.....

 

Am i missing somethin here?

Welcome back @monctonguy!  We sailed Allure in December.  Got our antigen tests at Shopper's Drug Mart here in Ontario and they accepted that at the terminal.

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2 hours ago, monctonguy said:

It stipulates on Royals site that to board a ship out of the US or San Juan, it has to be a test done in the USA.....international tests are not accepted.....

 

Am i missing somethin here?

Welcome back.  We obtained our antigen tests in Canada for our December cruise out of Florida and they were accepted without a problem. 

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Thanks for all the welcome backs!...ha

 

I would have thought the same, but it says on the Royal site that the tests have to be American though, unless I am really missing something.

 

I would be flying from the US....(way cheaper) and we don need a test to drive across the border so not really sure what to do.

 

i guess I need to do some more reading of the small print!...ha

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Not only did we sail - we used the switch home test for my husband and I, and then had kids tested at the airport at YVR for our sailing out of Port Canaveral in December.

We sail again in April and will use the home switch test.

I'm not sure where you're seeing that the test must be completed in the US, but I cannot see anything on their website that says the test must be taken in the US.

Was looking here - https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-need-an-rt-pcr-test-before-i-cruise-where-should-i-go

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20 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Royals site that to board a ship out of the US or San Juan, it has to be a test done in the USA

Welcome back @monctonguy

Royal site says Rapid Antigen tests completed within 2 days of sail date are accepted.  We used SDM for our sailing back in February.  We drove from Canada to DTW and flew to FLL. 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-need-an-rt-pcr-test-before-i-cruise-where-should-i-go

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https://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/princess-cruises-unveils-canada-plans-as-market-reopens/

 

Like Holland America, Princess seems undeterred by the Canadian regulations.

 

P.S. I know this is a Royal Caribbean board but I feel these articles are relevent to the topic of this thread.

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Am I understanding the Canada cruise requirements right that were released a few weeks ago? 100% vaccinated regardless of age? First of all 100% of anything is a pretty large burden. Second, kids under 5 can't be vaccinated and honestly don't think that will ever change. We are Booked on Adventure July 26th, we are vaccinated but of course our 7 month old will not be. To be honest as pro vaccine as I am I would not get him vaccinated at 7 months or before 5 years old at all. Our 8 year yes, but not at this infant age. So am I understanding the requirements right? If that does not change we will just have one more cruise cancelled in this god awful time. 

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I can see it being no big deal to skip Vancouver on a closed-loop, Alaskan sailing from Seattle.

But for a Canada/New England trip - if you can't get into Canada (or don't want to get off at the Canadian ports), there's zero point doing the cruise.  Sure, Portland, ME is pretty cool, and one of our favorite ports, but Bar Harbor is a nothingburger.  And the weather isn't like the Caribbean, where you can just say screw it, no ports are fine, and hang out on the pool deck.

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Easy answer to the Extension of the law or not, COVID test required or not, if a test is required and no extension to the law is made, let the ship dock in the foreign country (Canada) but don't get off.  I don't need to get off the ship to have a great time and I'm not going to get another test, again, anyway.  In fact, for many reasons I won't get into here, I won't get off in Canada anyway and I'm originally Canadian.

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On 3/12/2022 at 3:10 PM, SpeedNoodles said:

I can see it being no big deal to skip Vancouver on a closed-loop, Alaskan sailing from Seattle.

But for a Canada/New England trip - if you can't get into Canada (or don't want to get off at the Canadian ports), there's zero point doing the cruise.  Sure, Portland, ME is pretty cool, and one of our favorite ports, but Bar Harbor is a nothingburger.  And the weather isn't like the Caribbean, where you can just say screw it, no ports are fine, and hang out on the pool deck.

 

The closed loop Alaskan sailings usually stop in Victoria. Vancouver is a homeport for many ships, including Serenade, which we are sailing on in July. Between the testing and red eye flights back from Vancouver, I almost wish we booked out of Seattle. Except we did that already, and really wanted different ports and glaciers. 

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Cruising on Radiance from Seward to Vancouver in July, hopefully (3rd times the charm).  I have to have a test to get on board but will be on 7 nights so the original test will be too old. How will we get off the ship?  Really want to go to Vancouver that is part of the attraction of the trip 

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