Princess cruise round trip from SF with stop in Canada - Covid test question

[FriendOfDorothy012]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have information about Covid testing before arriving the ports in Canada from the U.S?

We are fully vaccinated, and will be on a 7 day cruise on Sept 17, round trip from San Francisco with 2 stops in Canada. According to Princess rep, we need to take a PCR test 72 hrs before boarding at SF. However,  the ship won't stop in Canada til the 5th day of the cruise so the 72 hrs test before boarding does not valid for anything. The travel.gc.ca website from Canada was very confusing, one page said we only need to upload the vaccine card through the ArriveCAN app, and another page said about pre-embarkation test before boarding on the ship that stops at Canada at any point on the itinerary.  We greatly appreciate if someone can shed more light on this pre-cruise Covid test.  Thank you.

[mom says]

The testing requirements and the Arrivecan requirements are separate entities, but both are required before boarding if the ship starts, visits, or ends in Canada. Both the test and completion of the ArriveCan must be completed within the 72 hours before boarding. I'd double check on the testing, though. My understanding is that only an antigen test is needed, not a PCR.

Edited August 15, 2022 by mom says

[CruiserBruce]

@mom says is correct. On our recent Copenhagen-Boston cruise (with two Canadian ports), we got tested 16 days before we touched Canadian soil. 2 days before we boarded. We created our ArriveCan account about 10 days prior to boarding, but completed the info in Copenhagen after we got the negative results.

 

You can do a PCR or antigen test.

[Aquahound]

I’ve done a few AK cruises since this ArriveCan mess began. I can confirm the test and ArriveCan completion pre-cruise is all you need. You will not need to resubmit prior to your arrival in Canada. 

[CruiserBruce]

3 hours ago, FriendOfDorothy012 said:

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have information about Covid testing before arriving the ports in Canada from the U.S?

We are fully vaccinated, and will be on a 7 day cruise on Sept 17, round trip from San Francisco with 2 stops in Canada. According to Princess rep, we need to take a PCR test 72 hrs before boarding at SF. However,  the ship won't stop in Canada til the 5th day of the cruise so the 72 hrs test before boarding does not valid for anything. The travel.gc.ca website from Canada was very confusing, one page said we only need to upload the vaccine card through the ArriveCAN app, and another page said about pre-embarkation test before boarding on the ship that stops at Canada at any point on the itinerary.  We greatly appreciate if someone can shed more light on this pre-cruise Covid test.  Thank you.

By the way...only a 7 day out of SF? Usually that is a 10 day, sometimes 11 or 12 days. 7 day would barely allow you to touch Canada and get back to SF.

[ldubs]

I was just at the Princess site confirming similar info for a different cruise.

 

The Princess website, updated today, says the following:

 

For cruises arriving, departing or visiting Canada:  For fully vaccinated (age 5 years and up):  Antigen within 2 days.  Or, PCR within 72 hours.   

 

Hope this helps.   

[wheezedr]

36 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

By the way...only a 7 day out of SF? Usually that is a 10 day, sometimes 11 or 12 days. 7 day would barely allow you to touch Canada and get back to SF.

It is a coastal , not an Alaskan. So stops in Astoria, Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria.   

[FriendOfDorothy012]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information.

[SiliconCruiser]

I think a lot of the conflicting information may arise from the Canadian government indicating that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to undergo pre-entry testing, but someone from Princess has chosen to interpret that differently.  That same misinterpretation from Princess employees cost me hundreds of dollars for a China visa for a Shanghai port call, when Shanghai clearly stated that they had a 96 hour free transit policy where visas were not required.  Talking to Princess was like talking to a wall where they could only parrot what they were given.  Calls to the Chinese consulate were even less informative when they said "you need to call Shangai".  I must have been a total idiot to think that Shanghai was part of China. The reality of it all was that the Chinese were on the ship from Hong Kong gorging themselves in the buffet, and when we got to Shanghai, we found that the entire port was unmanned (yup, including the 96 hour free-transit lane.)  But the contractors that had control of the port had the port shut down to most who were attempting to pick up people from the port and had not paid their bribes.  So when you hear of that $7M estate that was purchased by a Chinese national for $12M site unseen, you can probably guess where the money came from (this information was relayed to me by a Taiwanese contractor working in Shanghai.)  Simply stated as "bribe money".

 

[caribill]

13 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

I think a lot of the conflicting information may arise from the Canadian government indicating that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to undergo pre-entry testing, but someone from Princess has chosen to interpret that differently. 

 

 

The problem is that the official Canadian web site has different requirements on different pages.

 

One page says what you indicated if you "arrive by sea".

 

Another page says that if you "arrive by cruise ship" the testing is still required.

[dog]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:15 PM, mom says said:

The testing requirements and the Arrivecan requirements are separate entities, but both are required before boarding if the ship starts, visits, or ends in Canada. Both the test and completion of the ArriveCan must be completed within the 72 hours before boarding. I'd double check on the testing, though. My understanding is that only an antigen test is needed, not a PCR.

This is the correct information that was posted on the Princess website August 15/22, as an update.

 

There have been some people posting misinformation, disagreeing with the requirements,.

 

If in doubt do the Covid test before embarking on a cruise visiting Canada.