COVID testing required??? Very confusing!

[Work in to Cruise 2023]

Sailing on the January 18th Canary Islands, we are departing Toronto with connection in Montreal to Lisban to Gran Canaria.  Do any other Canadians know if we must have a COVID test (either PCR or Antigen) prior to Toronto departure?

[nordski]

1 hour ago, Work in to Cruise 2023 said:

Sailing on the January 18th Canary Islands, we are departing Toronto with connection in Montreal to Lisban to Gran Canaria.  Do any other Canadians know if we must have a COVID test (either PCR or Antigen) prior to Toronto departure?

My understanding is that you need a Covid test (72 hours before departure if PCR or 48 before if rapid) to land in Portugal but not in Spain.

 

The rules tend to be the same for arrivals from the UK so posters who are familiar with those may correct this.

 

As you probably know, at this time the Canadian government is warning specifically against cruising. 
 

This might affect your insurance coverage.

[laurieb]

Check with your airline; their website will have all of the current rules and regulations posted by country.

[peyroutous]

https://www.spth.gob.es/
 

this is a useful source of info for visitors to Spain and to obtain the entry QR code for Spain.

[oddjob16]

20 hours ago, nordski said:

My understanding is that you need a Covid test (72 hours before departure if PCR or 48 before if rapid) to land in Portugal but not in Spain.

 

The rules tend to be the same for arrivals from the UK so posters who are familiar with those may correct this.

 

As you probably know, at this time the Canadian government is warning specifically against cruising. 
 

This might affect your insurance coverage.

I read the part where they advice against cruising. I find it very strange that they keep Canadian ports open for cruising, but strictly warns their citicens about going abroad for cruising. Double standards in my opinion. 

[nordski]

3 hours ago, oddjob16 said:

I read the part where they advice against cruising. I find it very strange that they keep Canadian ports open for cruising, but strictly warns their citicens about going abroad for cruising. Double standards in my opinion. 

Double standards may well be in play, but the reasons given for advising against going abroad to cruise referred to issues of quarantining, the difficulty of organizing repatriation flights if needed, and possible limitations on consular service. The border has recently tightened for even short trips to the USA.

 

Thus, with Omicron in play, one needs to make certain that travel insurance will cover any exigency.

 

As for allowing cruises from Canadian ports starting in November, that was always more notional than actually a change in policy.

 

Any large scale cruising won’t start until late next spring. The announcement was likely a bit of “realpolitik” in order to keep Vancouver in play as a possible departure port for Alaska during the next cruising season.