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

[dog]

23 hours ago, MileHighAko said:

 

Updated August 15/22 for correct information above.

 

1 hour ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Actually Canada offers an exemption from testing to fully vaccinated passengers.

"Pre-entry tests are not required for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada by land, air or water. You must still use ArriveCAN within 72 hours before your arrival to Canada."

from https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/covid-vaccinated-travellers-entering-canada#pre-entry

 

While we had to be tested for an Alaskan cruise last month, there was no additional testing 2-3 days before we docked at Prince Rupert.  No one there to there to check the ArriveCan (the Canadian officials would have already received that information when the app was completed.)  And all passport information would have been transmitted from the ship.

 

[LACruiser88]

2 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

This Greece change, quietly made, needs a lot of explaining IMO.  This is because of the in-person test requirement.  Now, it could be some over-zealous PCL employee has it wrong.  The practicality of the requirement is even beyond what Canada asks for.

This Greece change is crazy!  On our October Regal cruise we have 3 or 4 Greece ports.  Will Princess test everyone onboard 2 days before each port or just delete ports in Greece?

[Steelers36]

1 minute ago, LACruiser88 said:

This Greece change is crazy!  On our October Regal cruise we have 3 or 4 Greece ports.  Will Princess test everyone onboard 2 days before each port or just delete ports in Greece?

I am trying to figure out if this can even be real.

[PacnGoNow]

7 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I am trying to figure out if this can even be real.

It says test 2 days before BOARDING…

so you may have to do an in person test 2 days before boarding ship in Rome, if that’s where your boarding.  Not sure how they will handle b2b’s but that should be done by PCL. 
Really brings up questions…

 

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

It says test 2 days before BOARDING…

so you may have to do an in person test 2 days before boarding ship in Rome, if that’s where your boarding.  Not sure how they will handle b2b’s but that should be done by PCL. 
Really brings up questions…

 

The headline section mentions Arriving, Departing, Visiting.  I don't see the "boarding" word as significant - they use the same terminology in the Canada section. 

 

 

[Steelers36]

23 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I am trying to figure out if this can even be real.

I am calling this another Princess screw up.  I have searched on several other travel sources and other cruise lines and not one mentions anything special for Greece outside of originating a voyage there.

 

I cannot even find official Greece government details on visiting ships, other than they removed restrictions. 

 

I am in the camp of another PCL screw-up 75%.  I will keep looking a bit longer, but this doesn't compute.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Steelers36

[PacnGoNow]

8 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

The headline section mentions Arriving, Departing, Visiting.  I don't see the "boarding" word as significant - they use the same terminology in the Canada section. 

 

 

I checked other cruise lines and NCL says ONLY for embarkation ports in Greece (Athens) and it is 2 days before embarkation, covid in person test, not proctored.

 

So, if you have more stops in Greece you would be fine. 
 

I still think it’s the city where you’re embarking or boarding the cruise.  But, if it were me, I’d probably do the in person test instead of proctored.

 

Until they change it again.😳

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by PacnGoNow

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I am calling this another Princess screw up.  I have searched on several other travel sources and other cruise lines and not one mentions anything special for Greece outside of originating a voyage there.

 

I cannot even find official Greece government details on visiting ships, other than they removed restrictions. 

 

I am in the camp of another PCL screw-up 75%.  I will keep looking a bit longer, but this doesn't compute.

I cannot find a thing anywhere where Greece requires some special testing to disembark there or for a port-of-call stop mid-voyage. 

 

I will leave it at 75%, but I think Princess has got it wrong (I am not infallible of course, but let's see if we don't get yet another update to all this).  If anyone out there is talking to Princess agent, ask them about this Greece change and they should run it up the pole to someone in-the-know for review.

[SiliconCruiser]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I will leave it at 75%, but I think Princess has got it wrong (I am not infallible of course, but let's see if we don't get yet another update to all this).  If anyone out there is talking to Princess agent, ask them about this Greece change and they should run it up the pole to someone in-the-know for review.

I think your reference to an over-zealous employee in an earlier post might explain much of the information that is on the Princess web site; that's the person they probably ran it up the pole to.  There are some people that may be misled by incorrect information just because of it.

 

I had Princess cancel a cruise that I had booked from Vancouver to Seattle (repo) b2b2b2b.  They said that it would be in violation of the PVSA because of the other legs that I had booked, but couldn't give me any more information.  Then they said it came from their legal department, but when I asked to speak to the individual in their legal department I was told that they would not speak to me.  I finally did pull out the PVSA (DHS site) and it took a little digging, but I found an example that might have been applicable (San Diego-Ensenada.)

[caribill]

1 hour ago, SiliconCruiser said:

 

 

I had Princess cancel a cruise that I had booked from Vancouver to Seattle (repo) b2b2b2b.  They said that it would be in violation of the PVSA because of the other legs that I had booked, but couldn't give me any more information.  Then they said it came from their legal department, but when I asked to speak to the individual in their legal department I was told that they would not speak to me.  I finally did pull out the PVSA (DHS site) and it took a little digging, but I found an example that might have been applicable (San Diego-Ensenada.)

 

On your b2b2b2b, what matters is the starting port for the first b and the ending port for the last b.

 

Those two cannot be different USA ports unless sometimes in the entire cruise the ship went to a distant foreign port such as Aruba if this was on the east coast. (No port in Canada or Mexico is a distant foreign port.)

 

Since you would end in Seattle, the first embarkation port would have to either be Seattle or in a foreign country to avoid violating PVSA.

[caribill]

I have not seen anything from Princess about this, but Carnival says that books have increased since the test requirements have been relaxed:

 

August 16, 2022 12:05 PM EDT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE SAYS BOOKING ACTIVITY NEARLY DOUBLES 2019 COMPARISON AFTER COVID PROTOCOLS SIMPLIFIED MIAMI, Aug. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After announcing last Friday that it was revising pre-cruise vaccination and testing requirements that will allow more guests to sail, Carnival Cruise Line said today that its booking activity for Monday, Aug. 15 was nearly double the level for the equivalent day in 2019.

[cr8tiv1]

4 minutes ago, caribill said:

I have not seen anything from Princess about this, but Carnival says that books have increased since the test requirements have been relaxed:

 

August 16, 2022 12:05 PM EDT CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE SAYS BOOKING ACTIVITY NEARLY DOUBLES 2019 COMPARISON AFTER COVID PROTOCOLS SIMPLIFIED MIAMI, Aug. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After announcing last Friday that it was revising pre-cruise vaccination and testing requirements that will allow more guests to sail, Carnival Cruise Line said today that its booking activity for Monday, Aug. 15 was nearly double the level for the equivalent day in 2019.

 

Conclusion:  Carnival (CCL) is all about the bottom line (I don't fault them for this...just saying).  I would like to get a news briefing after a month of no testing.  How many covid cases onboard?  How many in quarantine?  and a bonus...how many after they got off the ship tested positive?

 

I'll let the dust settle before getting on a no-testing required cruise.

[SiliconCruiser]

13 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

On your b2b2b2b, what matters is the starting port for the first b and the ending port for the last b.

 

Those two cannot be different USA ports unless sometimes in the entire cruise the ship went to a distant foreign port such as Aruba if this was on the east coast. (No port in Canada or Mexico is a distant foreign port.)

 

Since you would end in Seattle, the first embarkation port would have to either be Seattle or in a foreign country to avoid violating PVSA.

That is not the way that Princess interpreted it according to their "legal" dept.   I had to dig a lot to find something that might even be appropriate, but their justification was that sailing from San Francisco to Victoria/Vancouver, and then sailing from Vancouver to Seattle on a separate booking, albeit on the same ship did not satisfy the PVSA requirements.  I actually found something that might be applicable, perhaps that is also where the legal-beagle arrived at their conclusion as well.  But if the only cruise that I was booked on was YVR-SEA, then it would have been okay.  Go figure.

 

[caribill]

5 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Conclusion:  Carnival (CCL) is all about the bottom line (I don't fault them for this...just saying).  I would like to get a news briefing after a month of no testing.  How many covid cases onboard?  How many in quarantine?  and a bonus...how many after they got off the ship tested positive?

 

I'll let the dust settle before getting on a no-testing required cruise.

 

Unfortunately, what is in red is something CCL would never know and thus be able to tell anyone.

 

Of course, they will also not tell anyone what they do know: how many onboard cases and how many in quarantine.

[caribill]

1 minute ago, SiliconCruiser said:

That is not the way that Princess interpreted it according to their "legal" dept.   I had to dig a lot to find something that might even be appropriate, but their justification was that sailing from San Francisco to Victoria/Vancouver, and then sailing from Vancouver to Seattle on a separate booking, albeit on the same ship did not satisfy the PVSA requirements.  I actually found something that might be applicable, perhaps that is also where the legal-beagle arrived at their conclusion as well.  But if the only cruise that I was booked on was YVR-SEA, then it would have been okay.  Go figure.

 

 

Legal department 100% correct. Boarding in San Francisco and leaving the ship in Seattle is a PVSA violation as they are different USA ports.

 

To be legal you would need to either board the ship in Seattle or in a foreign country.

 

It does not matter if you tried this with a single booking or multiple bookings. What counts is where you first set foot on the ship and where you last leave it.

 

What would be legal in your b2b2b2b if ship schedules permit: Switching to a different ship on turnaround day (or any following day) in a Canadian port.

 

For example, if instead of starting in San Francisco, start in Los Angeles on a different ship (Princess or any other cruise line). Then for the final segment of Vancouver to Seattle, switch ships.  Of course, this only works if, as I mentioned, the various ship schedules line up.

 

[SiliconCruiser]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

Since you would end in Seattle, the first embarkation port would have to either be Seattle or in a foreign country to avoid violating PVSA.

The first embarkation point would be San Francisco the disembarkation point would be Vancouver, and then the embarkation for the final leg would be from Vancouver to Seattle.  I thank you for your offerings, but I suspect that Princess' expertise or lack thereof is the final determining factor.

 

[caribill]

35 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

The first embarkation point would be San Francisco the disembarkation point would be Vancouver, and then the embarkation for the final leg would be from Vancouver to Seattle.  I thank you for your offerings, but I suspect that Princess' expertise or lack thereof is the final determining factor.

 

 

If it is on the same ship leaving arriving and leaving the same day, Vancouver would not be considered a disembarkation point if you stayed on the same ship for the next segment.

 

PVSA is all about what port your entire cruise started and what port your entire cruise ended. Intermediate turnaround ports during the cruise do not matter.

[SiliconCruiser]

9 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

If it is on the same ship leaving arriving and leaving the same day, Vancouver would not be considered a disembarkation point if you stayed on the same ship for the next segment.

 

PVSA is all about what port your entire cruise started and what port your entire cruise ended. Intermediate turnaround ports during the cruise do not matter.

I'm beginning to think that you will be a great resource to the Princess Legal department..

 

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, SiliconCruiser said:

The first embarkation point would be San Francisco the disembarkation point would be Vancouver, and then the embarkation for the final leg would be from Vancouver to Seattle.  I thank you for your offerings, but I suspect that Princess' expertise or lack thereof is the final determining factor.

 

@caribillis correct.  In the eyes of Customs and Border Patrol, you embarked in San Francisco and disembarked in Seattle.  That constitutes 2 different cities.  It doesn’t matter where you “stopped” unless it was a DISTANT foreign port. 
 

If you did a closed loop Seattle round trip/Hawaii round trip from San Francisco or LA, then you do not have to visit a distant foreign port.  In this case, Victoria or Ensenada count.
 

But if you did a Panama Canal ocean to ocean full transit, then you would need to stop in Aruba (or one of the A, B, C islands…I think).
 

PVSA is archaic at best, has a lot of history, and does has a few benefits protecting the US (Except for cruisers).  
 

I am adding my 2 cents, although I am fully aware this is a tangent off the original thread. My apologies to the OP.

[PacnGoNow]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Conclusion:  Carnival (CCL) is all about the bottom line (I don't fault them for this...just saying).  I would like to get a news briefing after a month of no testing.  How many covid cases onboard?  How many in quarantine?  and a bonus...how many after they got off the ship tested positive?

 

I'll let the dust settle before getting on a no-testing required cruise.

But remember, CCL has a huge amount of short cruises, 3nt, 4nt, 5nt etc. So, you will never know about the spread of these very short cruises.  Most are only up to 7nt cruises.  Those guests are most likely home already before symptoms.  

 

[AF-1]

21 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

I know that PacnGoNow already answered this but from the answer it could still have been a paper form you download and fill out.

 

It isn't paper, it's an App you need to load onto your smart phone and then answer its questions. Once complete you'll have a QRR code as well as an alphanumeric code you can display to whoever requests it.

thank you I have downloaded the form on my iphone.  Cheers

[nbsjcruiser]

On 8/13/2022 at 8:14 PM, caribill said:

 

Some very interesting points at the start of that link:

 

COVID-19 continues to circulate in Canada and internationally. The virus can spread easily between people in close quarters, such as on cruise ships. The chance of being infected with COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you’re fully vaccinated.

 

Follow individual public health measures such as wearing a mask and physical distancing, even if it’s not required.

 

If you aren’t fully vaccinated, or if you’re at higher risk for developing severe disease from COVID-19, you should avoid cruise ship travel.

 

 

Canadian here. Many orgs and people in Canada are pushing the government to get rid of many of the rules they have in place that are now obviously useless or causing more grief. ArriveCan is one of the targets. As far as travel on a cruise ship is concerned, Covid is EVERYWHERE not just on a cruise ship that, fwiw, might be one of the cleanest places you could possibly be at this time.

 

It was not so long ago that Canadians in major cities were sitting with 18,000+ of their fellow hockey fans watching NHL games, maskless. Our provinces have moved on but our Federal government has not. Insisting that someone have 2 vaccines that were administered over a year ago before entering Canada is now a laughable joke. It makes no sense whatsoever to warn about travelling with 2-3K people while doing a massive shoulder shrug as thousands of people gather, maskless, to watch hockey games, baseball games, NBA, Football, gather at concerts, go to the movies and so on. I don't want to get political, but the rules our leader at the Federal level still insists on, are purely based on political science and he's single handedly destroying the tourism industry in our country. US visitors to Canada are down near 50% from 2019 while people like me have decided its easier to drive to the US to fly to my port of embarkation rather than put my dollars into Canadian airlines. 

 

I live in a city that relies on cruise ship travel for millions in travel dollars every year and the Federal government has invested tens of millions of dollars in harbour infrastructure and improvements and the waterfront is going to be a beautiful place and something to be proud of in the coming years but if they continue to get in the way of tourism, it will all be for naught.

 

In truth, I find it embarrassing that this country can't get it together at rhe Federal level. 

[Daniel A]

14 hours ago, SiliconCruiser said:

Actually Canada offers an exemption from testing to fully vaccinated passengers.

"Pre-entry tests are not required for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada by land, air or water. You must still use ArriveCAN within 72 hours before your arrival to Canada."

from https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/covid-vaccinated-travellers-entering-canada#pre-entry

If I remember correctly, Canada treated arriving on a cruise ship as a separate category, and when they say here arriving by land, air or water, they meant arriving by a privately owned yacht or a ferry, not a cruise ship.  Canada has a different web page for cruise ships : 

 

COVID-19: Cruise ship travel requirements – Travel.gc.ca

 

 

[ceilidh1]

41 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Canadian here. Many orgs and people in Canada are pushing the government to get rid of many of the rules they have in place that are now obviously useless or causing more grief. ArriveCan is one of the targets. As far as travel on a cruise ship is concerned, Covid is EVERYWHERE not just on a cruise ship that, fwiw, might be one of the cleanest places you could possibly be at this time.

 

It was not so long ago that Canadians in major cities were sitting with 18,000+ of their fellow hockey fans watching NHL games, maskless. Our provinces have moved on but our Federal government has not. Insisting that someone have 2 vaccines that were administered over a year ago before entering Canada is now a laughable joke. It makes no sense whatsoever to warn about travelling with 2-3K people while doing a massive shoulder shrug as thousands of people gather, maskless, to watch hockey games, baseball games, NBA, Football, gather at concerts, go to the movies and so on. I don't want to get political, but the rules our leader at the Federal level still insists on, are purely based on political science and he's single handedly destroying the tourism industry in our country. US visitors to Canada are down near 50% from 2019 while people like me have decided its easier to drive to the US to fly to my port of embarkation rather than put my dollars into Canadian airlines. 

 

I live in a city that relies on cruise ship travel for millions in travel dollars every year and the Federal government has invested tens of millions of dollars in harbour infrastructure and improvements and the waterfront is going to be a beautiful place and something to be proud of in the coming years but if they continue to get in the way of tourism, it will all be for naught.

 

In truth, I find it embarrassing that this country can't get it together at rhe Federal level. 

As a fellow Canadian, I agree 100%! I'm in Vancouver and find it completely baffling that I can do anything/everything without showing proof of vaccination/testing (and, here in BC, we are still not able to get 4th boosters if under 65 so the majority of fully vaxxed folks are well past 6 months at this point) but I can't take a cruise without doing so. Equally baffling is the fact that I could take a 7 day cruise Vancouver-Anchorage, would need to test negative prior to boarding but could pick up the virus either on the ship or in port. I could then fly back to Canada without any test...

 

I'm not saying I'm against the testing, etc. I just want it to make sense and be consistent with what is going on everywhere else!

[cwaters32]

I think it is stupid that the vaccinated still need to test on longer cruises, I am going on a 29 day cruise in October and will have to waste my time when I am trying to get ready for the cruise to find somewhere to test.  I can’t believe that they are even letting the unvaccinated do a self test on shorter cruises.  Where they want the vaccinated to get medically supervised test for longer cruises.