Testing for B2B Cruises - Canada

[Fouremco]

As some cruise lines started to drop the requirement for testing for the second leg of a b2b cruise, the question arose whether or not Canadian regulations dictating the requirement for all passengers to submit a negative test prior to embarkation would still apply to b2b. Transport Canada has now published a revised Ship Safety Bulletin: Measures to Support Safe Cruise Travel in Canada - SSB No.: 18/2021 (modified May 6, 2022). While there is no specific mention of b2b cruises, the revised bulletin does include the following the following with respect to testing:

Pre-Embarkation Testing Requirements for Passengers

To fulfill the above requirements, passengers requiring a pre-embarkation test will need to provide one of the following:

• Evidence of a negative COVID-19 molecular test (e.g. PCR test) – performed on a specimen collected from the person no more than 72 hours prior to their initial boarding of the cruise ship.
• Evidence of a negative COVID-19 antigen test (e.g. RAT) – performed on a specimen collected from the person no more than 2 days before initially boarding the cruise ship.
• Evidence of a positive result for a COVID-19 molecular test that was performed on a specimen collected from the person at least 10 days and no more than 180 days before the person initially boards the cruise ship.

 

This would appear to enable b2b cruisers to forego testing for the second or subsequent legs, as they would have provided a negative test prior to their initial boarding of the cruise ship for the first leg. Whether this was the intention of the drafters of the revised bulletin remains to be seen, but it certainly seems to be the case. Moreover, the timing of the revision, just as cruiselines were making the change, suggests that they were working in concert.