8/12/22 PRINCESS CRUISES REMOVES VACCINE REQUIREMENT FOR MOST VOYAGES, ELMINATES PRE-CRUISE TESTING FOR VACCINATED GUESTS

[Carnevale]

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Well, guess what?  The page added yesterday has just been updated to AUG 13 (it was not changed earlier this morning).  Check it out again:

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/vaccine-testing-requirements/

 

Thx for posting this link and what you learned via your chat Steelers36.  You have often provided very helpful information that is really appreciated.

 

[lx200gps]

16 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Well, guess what?  The page added yesterday has just been updated to AUG 13 (it was not changed earlier this morning).  Check it out again:

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/vaccine-testing-requirements/

 

Thanks for the update. We're on the Enchanted out of Brooklyn next month on a Canada/New England. Obviously, per our gvt, we need to test within two days of embarkation. According to the page you linked, Princess seems to say that we don't need to test, as they state that the only exceptions to NOT needing testing for US departures are "^Voyages 16 or longer, as well as full Panama Canal transits, Trans-Ocean crossings, voyages ending in Canada and other special itineraries."  Our trip doesn't END in Canada, Halifax and St John are intermediate stops and we end back in Brooklyn, so presumably we fall under "special itineraries"  Very unusual that Princess would make things so confusing ;o)

[EllieinNJ]

28 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

Thanks for the update. We're on the Enchanted out of Brooklyn next month on a Canada/New England. Obviously, per our gvt, we need to test within two days of embarkation. According to the page you linked, Princess seems to say that we don't need to test, as they state that the only exceptions to NOT needing testing for US departures are "^Voyages 16 or longer, as well as full Panama Canal transits, Trans-Ocean crossings, voyages ending in Canada and other special itineraries."  Our trip doesn't END in Canada, Halifax and St John are intermediate stops and we end back in Brooklyn, so presumably we fall under "special itineraries"  Very unusual that Princess would make things so confusing ;o)

According to the Govt. of Canada, all persons on cruise ships docking in Canada anytime must have a Covid test and ArriveCan.

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

[lx200gps]

7 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

According to the Govt. of Canada, all persons on cruise ships docking in Canada anytime must have a Covid test and ArriveCan.

 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

That's why I questioned the Princess posting, which seems to contradict the official rule by stating testing only applies to cruises ENDING in Canada. IOW they need to clarify their site.  Again.

[travellingnana]

And yet...

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/covid-vaccinated-travellers-entering-canada#determine-fully

Scroll down to:

Pre-entry testing is not required

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

And yet...

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/covid-vaccinated-travellers-entering-canada#determine-fully

Scroll down to:

Pre-entry testing is not required

Cruise ships are treated differently and the website steers you in that direction.  Note that 'entry by water' is not the same as entry by cruise ship.  Entry by water is meant for boats, ferries, canoes, surfboards, etc... 

[travellingnana]

I agree with you.  But

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise Contains both:

 

On this page

Vaccination requirements

Entering Canada by land or air before embarking on a cruise

Boarding cruises and shore excursions

Providing proof of vaccination

Pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing  (which says you must test)

If you test positive or have symptoms of COVID-19 on your cruise

Advice for planning cruise ship travel

Vaccination requirements

To embark on a cruise ship that will start, dock or end in Canada, if you’re 12 years of age or older, you must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with very few exceptions.

Note: many cruise lines require vaccination for children 5 years and older.

And

Check if you qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller

which leads you back to the same page I referenced before. (which says you don't have to)

 

Hopefully it's clearer before I head up there.

 

 

[Daniel A]

5 minutes ago, travellingnana said:

I agree with you.  But

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise Contains both:

 

On this page

Vaccination requirements

Entering Canada by land or air before embarking on a cruise

Boarding cruises and shore excursions

Providing proof of vaccination

Pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing  (which says you must test)

If you test positive or have symptoms of COVID-19 on your cruise

Advice for planning cruise ship travel

Vaccination requirements

To embark on a cruise ship that will start, dock or end in Canada, if you’re 12 years of age or older, you must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with very few exceptions.

Note: many cruise lines require vaccination for children 5 years and older.

And

Check if you qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller

which leads you back to the same page I referenced before. (which says you don't have to)

 

Hopefully it's clearer before I head up there.

 

 

That same page says this about shore excursions:

 

"Shore excursions in Canada during the cruise

• there is no arrival testing for passengers entering Canada for shore excursions
• you may be asked to show your ArriveCAN receipt from your initial embarkation
  • you won’t have to resubmit ArriveCAN
• if you aren’t fully vaccinated due to medical reasons, you’re allowed to join a shore excursion. You must have proof of a valid medical contraindication and a valid ArriveCAN submission.
• if you aren’t fully vaccinated due to a sincerely-held religious belief, you aren’t allowed to disembark the ship in Canada except in a medical emergency."

[dog]

24 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

That same page says this about shore excursions:

 

"Shore excursions in Canada during the cruise

• there is no arrival testing for passengers entering Canada for shore excursions
• you may be asked to show your ArriveCAN receipt from your initial embarkation
  • you won’t have to resubmit ArriveCAN
• if you aren’t fully vaccinated due to medical reasons, you’re allowed to join a shore excursion. You must have proof of a valid medical contraindication and a valid ArriveCAN submission.
• if you aren’t fully vaccinated due to a sincerely-held religious belief, you aren’t allowed to disembark the ship in Canada except in a medical emergency."

So, my understanding is:

 

Embarking in NYC- for cruise docking in Canada- Covid test required to embark.

 

For shore excursions - no Covid test required when you dock at each Canadian port upon arrival.

 

is this correct?

 

 

[AZjohn]

12 minutes ago, dog said:

So, my understanding is:

 

Embarking in NYC- for cruise docking in Canada- Covid test required to embark.

 

For shore excursions - no Covid test required when you dock at each Canadian port upon arrival.

 

is this correct?

 

 

I thought I understood the requirements for our NE cruise round trip from NY but, reading the last half dozen posts I'm really confused now.

 

One sentence says yes to test, next place says no to test????

 

When someone here figures it out, please let me know 🙂

 

Cheers,

John

[memoak]

15 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

Yes, but watch out if boarding time is delayed.

To be safe we are using time of sailing. We sail on 4:00 on Saturday so we have scheduled our PCR test for 4:30 on Wednesday 

[beg3yrs]

21 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Well, guess what?  The page added yesterday has just been updated to AUG 13 (it was not changed earlier this morning).  Check it out again:

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/vaccine-testing-requirements/

 

What I personally find the most amazing about this is someone at Princess was working on the weekend! 🤣 Good for them!

[Tedferg]

Conflicting information for Canada. I just did a Princess Chat and she went off for a long time and returned to say testing is only needed for cruises EMBARKING in Canada.

 

ETA if you follow https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/wizard-start and answer questions about covid vaccination it says you will probably be OK to enter, subject to questions at boarder.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Tedferg

[cr8tiv1]

4 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Conflicting information for Canada. I just did a Princess Chat and she went off for a long time and returned to say testing is only needed for cruises EMBARKING in Canada.

 

I can verify through my live chat conversation that testing is required for EMBARKING in Canada. 

PCR 72 hours

Rapid Antigen 48 hours

neither considered 3 days

 

Do not have information regarding cruising through or ending in Canada.  

[Tedferg]

3 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Do not have information regarding cruising through or ending in Canada.  

My Chat went off to verify and said 'Only needed for Embarkation' I don't know how authoritive her source was.

[Ombud]

Think Canada is confusing? UK had updates Aug 9 (no test), Aug 10 (self test unless PCR), and Aug 13th (1 reg through Sept 5th, different reg Sept 6th) and apparently not all port employees are aware of any changes. Ah well, I don't board until Sept 2nd so I'm sure that page will be updated yet again. 

[AF-1]

Here is the link to Canada's cruise line travel.  My cruise starts in NY; I still have to take a covid test 2 days prior to my cruise. 

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

Edited August 14, 2022 by AF-1

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I can verify through my live chat conversation that testing is required for EMBARKING in Canada. 

PCR 72 hours

Rapid Antigen 48 hours

neither considered 3 days

 

Do not have information regarding cruising through or ending in Canada.  

Nope.. 2 days - not 48 hrs for Antigen.  It's in the Princess guidelines for Canada.

[cr8tiv1]

16 minutes ago, prmssk said:

NCL's Pride of America has to employ US citizens, follow US Labor laws, and had to meet other requirements as a US flagged ship.  The PSVA doesn't apply in that case because the PSVA only applies to foreign flagged ships.  So this wasn't anything Congress carved out for NCL (although I think there were some exceptions to where the ship was built because normally US flagged ships almost must be built in the US and the US didn't have the means to build a whole ship from the ground up).  

 

So in order for another cruise line to do a RT from Anchorage and avoid Canada, their ship would also have to become a US flagged ship and meet all the requirements of a US flagged ship.

 

I always have to look this up before I refer to the Passenger Vessel Service Act (PVSA).  

 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-23?language=en_US

[prmssk]

2 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I always have to look this up before I refer to the Passenger Vessel Service Act (PVSA).  

 

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-23?language=en_US

Thank you for the correction!  I should have looked it up myself before posting.  🙂

[Steelers36]

If this thread isn't kept on Page 1 a bit longer, folks are going to be starting even more duplicate threads. 

[LACruiser88]

On 8/13/2022 at 12:28 PM, Steelers36 said:

So, it does bear the obvious question.  Guest #1 boards the ship having booked 7+7+7 and requires no test.  Guest #2 boards the ship having booked 21-night and they do require a test.  Both guests on the ship for the same amount of time.  Doesn't quite make sense.

 

I would not be surprised to see this changed/clarified in FAQ's.  But the above is what I got today.

Totally agree.  Hopefully, they will clarify as the new protocols go into affect.  

[cr8tiv1]

3 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

If this thread isn't kept on Page 1 a bit longer, folks are going to be starting even more duplicate threads. 

 

Why do people only look at Page 1 before starting a similar thread?  "I looked, but could not find...."

[mthomp5]

So….I checked with Princess using Live Chat today about 7 day Alaska cruise departing 9/11 round trip out of Seattle that visit a Canadian port.  Princess rep said pre-embarkation COVID-19 test is not needed.  We do still need to do ArriveCan.  But no test.  

[MileHighAko]

4 minutes ago, mthomp5 said:

So….I checked with Princess using Live Chat today about 7 day Alaska cruise departing 9/11 round trip out of Seattle that visit a Canadian port.  Princess rep said pre-embarkation COVID-19 test is not needed.  We do still need to do ArriveCan.  But no test.  

Thats right. According to the updated requirements posted on Friday on the Princess website, stopping in Canada is okay, but ENDING in Canada requires a test.  I'm waiting for someone to tell me how that makes any sense. :)