Any Canadians now cruising

[trtog7]

Are then any Canadians on a cruise right now?

Interested in what was accepted as proof of Vaccination?

Where did your cruise start and what would I need to know to male travelling to embarkation easier?

[broberts]

 

[Russ Lomas]

We plan to fly to Florida this Wednesday morning from Toronto and cruise on Saturday.  I will be happy to report back after we complete our cruise.  Now we cross our fingers and pray all our Covid tests come back negative.  So stressful.

[trtog7]

32 minutes ago, Russ Lomas said:

We plan to fly to Florida this Wednesday morning from Toronto and cruise on Saturday.  I will be happy to report back after we complete our cruise.  Now we cross our fingers and pray all our Covid tests come back negative.  So stressful.

Hope all goes well Have a great cruise

[MStarzky]

What insurance did you get?

[Russ Lomas]

51 minutes ago, MStarzky said:

What insurance did you get?

No insurance required. Only needed for unvaccinated passengers. My wife and I both have coverage through work though that they told me would cover us when traveling if needed

[MStarzky]

Which cruise line? MSC, Holland? Im going on MSC cruise in September.

[Russ Lomas]

Well, we made it to Florida. We got up at 2:30 am and did the drive from London, Ontario to Toronto. We had 5 am Rapid Covid tests booked with Switch Health at Pearson airport. The six of us took the rapid tests ($60 plus tax - Shoppers is $20 cheaper but we needed to get the tests done Wednesday to be valid for both our 8 am Air Canada flight today and our Saturday morning cruise out of Florida.)

 

The test for the six of us took a total of about 15 or 20 minutes. Within 15 minutes we had an email and a text that our results were ready. We logged into their portal and I took a screenshot of each negative test. 
 

when checking in at Pearson airport we had to hand in a pre-printed page we did from customs declaring we had taken a Covid test.  The agent working the airport briefly glanced at our six negative test but did not bother to look at dates or names on them. It took a total of 35 minutes from drop off at the airport until we were sitting at the gate for our flight. We do have Nexus passes so that probably saved us about 30 minutes.

 

We are now staying in Florida for three evenings before boarding our ship on Saturday. We will use the negative Covid test that we got in Canada to board the ship on Saturday.  I do not use the Internet while on the cruise but will be sure to report back afterwards letting people know what it was like showing our Ontario vaccination print outs and the digital copy of the rapid test I got in Ontario.

 

I have printed both the first and second dose receipts on one page and on a separate page just the second dose. I am going to try to show them just the second dose page and see what they say and if that is enough to board with. If they ask for proof of the first dose, I will pull out the other sheet to show them.

 

Hopefully this information will be helpful to the rest of you who hope to travel in the near future.

[AlbertaCruisers]

Thank for the update @Russ Lomas, I look forward to hearing more.  We leave on August 25 for an August 27 cruise on the Celebrity Equinox!  What ship are you going on?

[K_e_short]

@Russ Lomas Thank you as well. Specificially about showing only your second dose proof.

 

[RLK33853]

Thanks for the info - that is great news Russ.  Keep the particulars coming!

[xcell]

Thanks for the info.  I am curious if coming back ...

 

1. You get the PCR on the ship

2. How busy is customs at Pearson (as bad as the news have been reporting)

[Russ Lomas]

11 hours ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

Thank for the update @Russ Lomas, I look forward to hearing more.  We leave on August 25 for an August 27 cruise on the Celebrity Equinox!  What ship are you going on?

We are sailing on the Odyssey of the Seas. So excited to be on any ship, but to be on just the third sailing ever in this ship makes it even more special. 
 

9 hours ago, xcell said:

Thanks for the info.  I am curious if coming back ...

 

1. You get the PCR on the ship

2. How busy is customs at Pearson (as bad as the news have been reporting)

I know a Canadian who was on the Odyssey last week and he got his free PCR test done on the ship the last night if the cruise. He said guest services kept telling him he only needed a rapid teat so he insisted on a PCR test and the people conducting the tests said they only do PCR tests anyways. Sounds like the crew are not used to this yet and do not know how to respond as of yet. 
 

we are actually flying back to Detroit and taking a limo back across the land border, so I will not be able to help with your second question. I too have heard customs entering Canada at Pearson is very slow and backed up though.

[trtog7]

Thank you for all the information and have a great cruise.

Very jealous

[puppycanducruise]

@Russ LomasThanks for the detailed information.  Hope you have a wonderful cruise.  Looking forward to any more comments from you when you return home.

[hancogran]

Thanks so much for the update!  Hope you and your family have a fantastic cruise.  

[Russ Lomas]

For anybody wondering, I would estimate about 70% of people we have seen are wearing masks indoors in and around the area we are staying, Dania Beach.

 

That said, more than half of the mask wearers are wearing them over their mouth with their noses fully exposed. Guess they do not realize people breath through their noses as well, or they are only wearing them to comply with signs on entranceways recommending the wearing if masks indoors.

[StanleyandGus]

Have a great cruise!
 

If nothing changes, I will cancel my b2b out of Galveston because I received mixed doses (and was happy to get them!)

[vicruiser2013]

Unfortunately had to cancel a November Princess cruise today due to being mixed vax'd, since final payment was due this week.

 

I realize everything is a moving target, but hoping the black sheep (Us mixed vax'd folks) will be allowed to cruise this winter. 

I find it frustrating the Canadian government said they are actively engaged in having mixed vaccinations recognized, and then not a word for weeks on end.

 

Good luck to all those that can get back to the seas!

 

[Russ Lomas]

I thought I would let people know in case they thought about trying to obtain a free PCR test at a government testing centre in Ontario and using that for their flight to the US or to board the cruise, that will not work.

 

The Ontario government blanks out a portion of your personal info when you check online for your test results, making a copy of these results in adequate for travel purposes.

[brockmom]

Definitely following !

safe travels and here’s hoping the storm doesn’t bother those ships sailing 

this weekend !

cheers

Brockmom

[Russ Lomas]

4 minutes ago, brockmom said:

Definitely following !

safe travels and here’s hoping the storm doesn’t bother those ships sailing 

this weekend !

cheers

Brockmom

It appears that the Fred has slowed down so this morning in Florida is still nice and sunny. No delays on any ship arrivals for tomorrow but we will get a bit wet later tomorrow so sailaway may not be what I envisioned but just to be on a ship finally will be reward enough. 
 

Grace is picking up steam and could be messy mid-week coming up but our ship should hopefully get ahead of it and we are supposed to be in Aruba and Curacao as it passes. Hopefully it is out of the way by the time we disembark on the 22nd or they may have to keep us onboard a few extra days. 

[trtog7]

1 hour ago, Russ Lomas said:

It appears that the Fred has slowed down so this morning in Florida is still nice and sunny. No delays on any ship arrivals for tomorrow but we will get a bit wet later tomorrow so sailaway may not be what I envisioned but just to be on a ship finally will be reward enough. 
 

Grace is picking up steam and could be messy mid-week coming up but our ship should hopefully get ahead of it and we are supposed to be in Aruba and Curacao as it passes. Hopefully it is out of the way by the time we disembark on the 22nd or they may have to keep us onboard a few extra days. 

Wouldn't that be a shame!

[Russ Lomas]

10 minutes ago, trtog7 said:

Wouldn't that be a shame!

Not really. It would make up for some of those days we lost due to cancellations.

 

Now if they would only give loyalty credit (at double points of course) for those extra days we would be forced to “endure” on the ship…if it happened. One can always dream, right?

[lots-of-km2]

23 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

... more than half of the mask wearers are wearing them over their mouth with their noses fully exposed. Guess they do not realize people breath through their noses as well...

 

No accident.   Governor DeSantis caters to the mouth breathers of society.

 

Have a fantastic, safe vacation.