covid testing before being able to get off ship in Nova Scotia

[getawaygirl]

Please help my confusion. We are taking a 7 day cruise out of New York.  We have been fully vaccinated and boostered.  I know we don't have to take a test for boarding in New York, however, it looks like we still have to show proof of negative test to get off ship in Canada. So do we take tests on the cruise? It's very confusing...Has anyone dealt with this? Thanks for any help.

[BirdTravels]

 

50 minutes ago, getawaygirl said:

Please help my confusion. We are taking a 7 day cruise out of New York.  We have been fully vaccinated and boostered.  I know we don't have to take a test for boarding in New York, however, it looks like we still have to show proof of negative test to get off ship in Canada. So do we take tests on the cruise? It's very confusing...Has anyone dealt with this? Thanks for any help.

Please please please read the information that the cruise line provides you for your cruise. 
https://www.ncl.com/travel-requirements-by-country

 

You are required to test for your cruise. If you do not provide a negative test in New York, you will be denied entrance to the terminal and will watch your ship leave without you. 
 

You also need to do your ArriveCAN registration with the Canadian government. 

Edited September 4, 2022 by BirdTravels

[Treasure Hunter]

Canada requires pre cruise testing whether you get off the ship or not. We are doing the New England/ Canada cruise September 18-25 from New York. Also you have to fill out the ArriveCan info to get permission to go. Can be filled out online or on the app and must be completed ( last little bit of info within 72 hours of the ship leaving.)  Caribbean cruises and most European destinations have dropped pre cruise testing except ( and this will impact us for two future cruises) Bermuda and Greece. But requirements are changing every day so you have to keep on top of it. We are taking  an antigen test at our pharmacy two days before the cruise like we have for all our past winter cruises. Hope this helps. I’m happy that the ship still needs to be fully vaccinated.

[getawaygirl]

Thanks for the explanations and clearing things up for me.

 

[julig22]

1 hour ago, getawaygirl said:

Please help my confusion. We are taking a 7 day cruise out of New York.  We have been fully vaccinated and boostered.  I know we don't have to take a test for boarding in New York, however, it looks like we still have to show proof of negative test to get off ship in Canada. So do we take tests on the cruise? It's very confusing...Has anyone dealt with this? Thanks for any help.

Absolutely incorrect

If you are sailing soon, you should have received one or more letters from NCL regarding the requirements.  If sailing later, the rules may change so keep watch.

And you will also have to fill out the ArriveCan application within 72 hrs prior to boarding.

Edited September 4, 2022 by julig22

[shof515]

I am doing a Canada cruise next month, on Thursday i get an email about the protocols for Canada cruises:

 

as you can see, a covid test is still required

[rugerdog]

4 hours ago, getawaygirl said:

Please help my confusion.

It is pretty confusing.  One one hand, NCL states:

 

Given the relaxation of global protocols and travel requirements, we have updated our health protocols to welcome all guests to sail with us, regardless of vaccination status.

 

Then, a few paragraphs later is states:

 

While we welcome unvaccinated guests, it is the responsibility of the guest to be aware of any local protocols and/or travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations at the time of sailing.

 

I understand that to mean that although NCL doesn't require vaccinations, the ports of call may indeed require them.

 

For Canada, it states:

 

Proof of completed series of one-dose or two-dose primary vaccination regime at embarkation - 

And-

Provide proof of one of the following: 1. Negative COVID-19 antigen test within two days of the embarkation date

 

So, for me to embark in Seattle on a cruise that stops in Canada, I will need to be fully vaccinated and show proof of recent negative test.  ( I think.)

 

It seems less effective to take a test within two days of embarking, since we won't be in Canada until 10 days later.  Or am I incorrect, and the test needs to be taken within two days of the Canadian port stop?

 

😌

[BirdTravels]

6 minutes ago, rugerdog said:

It is pretty confusing.  One one hand, NCL states:

 

Given the relaxation of global protocols and travel requirements, we have updated our health protocols to welcome all guests to sail with us, regardless of vaccination status.

 

Then, a few paragraphs later is states:

 

While we welcome unvaccinated guests, it is the responsibility of the guest to be aware of any local protocols and/or travel restrictions in place at the visiting destinations at the time of sailing.

 

I understand that to mean that although NCL doesn't require vaccinations, the ports of call may indeed require them.

 

For Canada, it states:

 

Proof of completed series of one-dose or two-dose primary vaccination regime at embarkation - 

And-

Provide proof of one of the following: 1. Negative COVID-19 antigen test within two days of the embarkation date

 

So, for me to embark in Seattle on a cruise that stops in Canada, I will need to be fully vaccinated and show proof of recent negative test.  ( I think.)

 

It seems less effective to take a test within two days of embarking, since we won't be in Canada until 10 days later.  Or am I incorrect, and the test needs to be taken within two days of the Canadian port stop?

 

😌

The table in Post #6 is pretty clear. Two days before embarkation. Doesn’t matter what you think is effective or not. That is what the Canadian government requires.

[epanchenko]

33 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The table in Post #6 is pretty clear. Two days before embarkation. Doesn’t matter what you think is effective or not. That is what the Canadian government requires.

Canada doesn’t want you to spread covid to other passengers that will eventually disembark in Canada.  They also realize the difficulty of testing everyone on a cruise ship.

[rugerdog]

39 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Doesn’t matter what you think is effective or not.

 

You mean my "opinion" won't override government regulations of an entire country?  😉

 

6 minutes ago, epanchenko said:

Canada doesn’t want you to spread covid to other passengers that will eventually disembark in Canada.

 

Thank you.  This makes perfect sense, which is why I've been fully vaxxed and double boosted and follow all protocols, because I want to minimize the chances of infecting someone ELSE.  I'd not consider it unreasonable for Canada to require a negative test two days to prior to stopping in Canada.  We'll take along extra tests just to be extra careful.

[BirdTravels]

28 minutes ago, epanchenko said:

Canada doesn’t want you to spread covid to other passengers that will eventually disembark in Canada.  They also realize the difficulty of testing everyone on a cruise ship.

It is the Canadian rules. They actually could care less about cruise ship difficulties. They have determined that the current protocol provides sufficient risk mitigation. They had another protocol until late last year. 

[Ken the cruiser]

We just got off a Celebrity Summit B2B cruise that went from NJ to Reykjavik and then from Reykjavik to Boston. On both legs we stopped at Canadian ports which included both St John’s and Halifax. 
 

Here’s what happened on our cruise. We had to show our CDC vaccination record as well as a negative antigen test administered within 2 days of boarding prior to embarking on the ship in NJ (required by Canada). We also had to fill out the online ArriveCan information within 3 days of embarking on each leg of our cruise, which includes which ship you will be arriving on at the first Canadian port to be visited. But, Celebrity did not ask to see the ArriveCan QR code on embarkation day.
 

But what will happen next is this in all likelihood. The ship, in your case, will arrive at St John’s. The NCL ship management will provide the guest roster, which will include names, passport numbers, and negative covid test results, to Canadian Customs who will in turn cross reference that information with that which has been recorded in the ArriveCan database associated with those passengers who listed that cruise ship in the application process. Any discrepancies will be provided back to the ship with the instructions those folks will not be allowed to disembark until they fill out the ArriveCan information.
 

At least that’s how it was explained to me when we were arriving at St John’s.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Ken the cruiser

[Holly g]

When we went to Bermuda last month the rules were very specific regarding Covid testing.  It was stated we had to have proof of a MONITORED Covid test but from what I’m reading for testing for NCL just says proof of a negative Covid test. So it doesn’t have to be monitored?  So don’t understand what that proves. Am I missing something here?  We are going on Joy in October to Canada so it would be good to know what they actually want..if the test doesn’t have to be monitored with results sent to you by the monitoring company then actually the testing means nothing!

[ByThePond]

The COVID tests for cruising to/from Canada must be monitored. That is a Canadian government requirement. 

[d9704011]

6 hours ago, Holly g said:

When we went to Bermuda last month the rules were very specific regarding Covid testing.  It was stated we had to have proof of a MONITORED Covid test but from what I’m reading for testing for NCL just says proof of a negative Covid test. So it doesn’t have to be monitored?  So don’t understand what that proves. Am I missing something here?  We are going on Joy in October to Canada so it would be good to know what they actually want..if the test doesn’t have to be monitored with results sent to you by the monitoring company then actually the testing means nothing!

How would you provide 'proof' of the negative test without having it done by an independent and qualified third party?

[shof515]

15 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

How would you provide 'proof' of the negative test without having it done by an independent and qualified third party?

on another cruise lines, Carnival is now accepting self tests negative tests without it being proctored. You take a picture of the test kit to show the negative result and use that to board the ship

 

 

this is not ACCEPTED for specific country like Bermuda and Canada that still required a proctored self test

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by shof515

[phillygwm]

15 hours ago, rugerdog said:

I understand that to mean that although NCL doesn't require vaccinations, the ports of call may indeed require them.

 

Exactly right.  If you're not visiting a port with vax/testing requirements, you don't need them.  But many ports still do and that trumps NCL's rules.

 

Testing 2 days before embarkation doesn't accomplish much when your first Canadian port may be a week later (6 days in my case.)  I understand they don't want people embarking the ship while positive but that's likely to happen in any case, given people are testing 2-3 days before and incubation periods.  But Canada can make its rules, and it's not terribly onerous, especially compared to what was in place previously.