MOLAcruiser

Thanks! Yes, Victoria is definitely all decked out for Christmas and you must go to Butchart Gardens one evening anytime from 3:30 -10:00pm to see it all lit up, spectacular. Timed tickets available online. Downtown around the inner harbour is always beautifully lit, too. Enjoy!

Ah, thank you for that. As I said, I am not an expert. In fact, I am arriving in NZ by cruise ship, so I had better double check my requirements.

I am not an expert, but since you will be in Australia for at least 2 days and visiting 2 ports in NZ then you need eTA’s for both of those countries. The only time you don’t is if you are simply transiting through an airport and not leaving the airport. That question is asked during the application process. I do not believe Canadians require a Visa for French Polynesia, and not for Hawaii/USA. eTA’s are not Visa’s per se, merely authority for tourists to enter the country. Visa’s are for people moving there. The eTA will be electronically attached to your passport when you successfully apply. Both Australia and NZ have an eTA App to download and use for your application. As mentioned previously, NZ also charges a tourist levy on top of the eTA, much like a toll on a bridge or highway that helps pay for infrastructure. When it works properly, the application should go through and be confirmed quite quickly, as soon as your payment goes through the confirmation should arrive by email if all is in order. if in doubt, speak to your travel agent.

That is correct. The first time the payment did not go through but it said application submitted. How was I to know that the whole process wasn’t pending? Now I (we all) know that when the system is working properly the money goes through instantly, then the visa goes through, all in a matter of seconds if there are no problems or delays, such as questions answered incorrectly, etc. All’s well that ends well, and yes, nice to have that stress gone! FYI, the fee was AUD$20 pp. I should also say that for NZ it was more expensive. NZ$20 pp for the eTA plus a tourism levy of NZ$35 pp for a total of NZ$110, which came to CAD$88.10.

I am happy to report that I have resolved this problem. I wrote to the Australia eTA query email address separately for my husband and myself yesterday. I received answers within an hour. Different looking answers, but both said that no application had been received and to apply again. Both of the original applications said they had been submitted, that is why I kept waiting. Today I re-applied, and this time the payment went right through and I had the eTA’s within a minute. Glad it all worked out eventually.

Hello! I’m curious to know if anyone here has applied for an Australian eTA in the last couple of weeks. If so, how long did it take to receive your confirmation? It is supposed to take anywhere from a few minutes up to 72 hours, but we are both still waiting after 9 days. I used the App this time. I have applied twice in the past for previous trips with no problem (pre-App), and this week I also applied for the New Zealand eTA which came through in 10 minutes. I can write to them to check on the Australia status, but first, I am just wondering if anyone else has had this issue recently, and did they eventually come through after 9 days? Thank you. Margo

Agree with @sidvan. We also did our testing this morning using our free (BC) BTNX kits, but due to travel issues, our friends couldn’t be here with us. They picked up their own test kits (a different brand) near their hotel in Richmond and joined the same appointment link as us from their location. 4 tests, 15 minutes, $35 total for 4 people, results in 10 minutes, all negative. I highly recommend Lifecenters.ca.

Thank you for confirming your information from them re the link.

When I made my appointment a month ago, there was no link included. I wrote to them and they replied that they were having trouble with their software, and it wasn’t automatically generating links, and they are having to issue them manually. Our appointment isn’t until July 1st so still plenty of time. I just wondered if anyone had been through this recently and knew if the link comes about 1 week in advance or 1 day in advance. If we haven’t received it by 3 days before, I will write to them again. By all accounts they are very good and usually get back to me within 3 hours. I see now that @sidvan is in the same position, still waiting for their link for same day as ours. Thank you.

We are also booked on July 1st. Haven’t received our appointment link yet, have you?

I wrote to them yesterday. It seems their linking system is glitching at the moment, so they will have to do all of the upcoming Google Meet links manually. We will receive ours in plenty of time, just not immediately as others had previously. Good to know!

I made our booking on Thursday afternoon for a July 1 appointment for 4 people. How long should I expect to wait before receiving the meeting link from them? Sister-in-law says she received hers right away when she made her booking a few weeks ago for her appointment today. I didn’t. She thinks I should contact them. Still lots of time, but just wondering what others experience has been with timeline for receiving link after booking? Thanks.

Thank you for your reply @shuyak. Your understanding confirms my original thoughts, that when anyone is testing in Canada, use a Canadian approved test. I found this document also. https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise I now feel confident that we 4 can all safely use my green box BTNX test kits with Lifecenters. Thank you for your help.

Yes, I knew that about Health Canada, and I know from this thread that we will be fine to use the green box BTNX kits. But Princess says FDA approved tests, hence my apprehension for our American visitors being tested while in Canada. Maybe they should just bring and use their own test kits with an American based telehealth company such as Azovo. That might be the best workaround. I know I’m over thinking this!! Thanks.

We are planning to book our virtual tests with Lifecenters for a Princess cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage in July. I will be booking for 4 people, including our friends who will be here from Denver. I had planned to use the free green box BTNX Rapid Response tests for all of us, but now I’m wondering if the American friends need to bring and use FDA approved kits? I always thought you were to test using a test approved in the country of testing. The Princess website continues to say EUA FDA approved kits, but I know from this thread that the green box ones are fine for Canadians.. Perhaps @shuyak or any other American resident reading this can tell me which type of tests they used with Lifecenters. I phoned Lifecenters, and they weren’t sure, either. They said to call Princess. My feeling is that the person on the phone at Princess won’t know the answer either. I would rather hear true experience from someone here who has already been to Alaska from Vancouver this year and used Lifecenters for their test. Thank you.