Josie201

26 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

@Josie201, to continue my response, the current literature seem to suggest that the two are very close in terms of the protection they afford, with Moderna perhaps providing a slightly higher level of protection. On the other hand, there have been indications that after two doses of one, switching to the other for the booster may be beneficial. And because it's so new, there is little information about Omicron and the boosters, although Pfizer said on Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may offer important protection against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.

 

With additional information being reported on a daily basis, particularly with respect to Omicron, my recommendation would be keep track of developments and hold off making a decision until the last minute. FWIW, DW and I went with a Pfizer booster after 2 Moderna shots.

Thanks.  You are always a voice of reason and good intel.  I’m following reports but the constant new info can be tough to keep up with.  By the time we go in early January who knows!   

Fingers crossed for all of you.  We were on the Feb 2 sailing but cancelled.  Too much uncertainty for us to enjoy the planning.  And from Canada our flights to San Diego were getting too complicated with 2 plus connections and a 14 plus hour travel day.   18 months of planning and waiting gone in 20 minutes on the phone.  😞

Just wondering … we have our third shots booked for Jan 4.  Is this a booster dose or a full dose?   We’ve had double Pfizer.  Assume we’ll be offered either Pfizer or Moderna.  Any reason to choose one over the other?   
 

yes I do realize this is a cruise board … lol.  Just thought I’d ask since I was reading this    

For info, celebrity does the chocolate fountain at the lunch gala buffet.  All served to you no self serve.  

Final payment was due for us December 4 for a 25 day Hawaii/Mexican Riviera cruise.  Sadly, we cancelled this morning.  We cruised a few weeks ago from FLL to the Caribbean and it was fine.  Hawaii has been very slow to reopen and at this point remains closed to cruise ships through the end of December.  This new variant won’t speed up any reopening plans ….   Very disappointing.  
 

Also, AC flights that were available last week to San Diego with a stop in YYZ have now disappeared essentially requiring two stops to get there.  

We are back home safe and mostly sound.  I won’t go into details on our Pearson airport nightmare experience.  
 

the cruise was great.  We were at about 45% capacity, 1200 pax.  You can see some growing pains but staff are thrilled to have pax back.  Buffet had about 50% of stations open, it seemed there were fewer activities and production shows.  We had a great party band onboard The Cardinals.  
 

We did Celebrity excursions and it seemed they were mostly required.  But those protocols seem very fluid.  Onboard it was noted you could not go on your own in BArbados but locals told us that had changed earlier in the week.  
 

We were PCR tested onboard on our last day with results in a couple of hours.  
 

We were asked at FLL airport by WestJet agent if we had completed ArriveCAN.  But no one looked at it, nor our vaccine certificate. 
 

My husband was pulled over for a random test in Toronto which was very frustrating as we had  about 20 minutes to make our connection and had just been tested!  And why can’t YYZ get its act together to keep connecting passengers in the secure zone …. 
 

But the cruise was great and we felt very safe and healthy on board 

We board tomorrow and haven’t received any notice of this change.  Will keep you posted! 

A quick update.  We tested today at Fast Test Now (all negative).  Results within 20 minutes on email.  The ship has arrived and we are ready to board!

Also wanted to mention no one asked or wanted to see the famous attestation form.  

Josie201 and crew are on our way. 
we left Ottawa very early this morning and are now in Toronto on the plane waiting to depart for FLL. 
 

We are all fully vaccinated though with some mixed doses.  But thankfully that all got sorted out. 
 

We all got tested on Friday, some at Walmart and some at Costco.  It was painless but appointments were scarce.  I had three back ups in case there were any cancellations.  
 

We have e docs and paper docs for vaccines and tests.  Paper docs were reviewed in Ottawa and then again as we boarded in Toronto.  

We have tests at a clinic on Wednesday in FLL and we board the Celebrity Silhouette on Friday.  
 

Our last trip together was a cruise in March 2020 where our ship got turned around on day 3.  We had a stressful return to home where we’ve anxiously waited to use our FCC.  We were originally booked on the Edge for this week but that was cancelled when the CDC said no cruises longer than seven days. We moved to the Silhouette and crossed our fingers.  

Hard to believe it’s here!   
 

I’ll try to report back in later on FLL testing and ship board life.  
 

Celebrity seems to have changed its search engine.  I was sure that Fall 2023 Caribbean itineraries had been released but I’m not seeing them now.  Anyone know when they will likely be available?  

Captain Kate boarded this am according to her Instagram 

We leave November 8.  Our niece has a duotang with copies of all versions of everyone’s proof of vaccine.  Plus on our phones.  Plus laminated to take to the beach. 

11 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I've never seen place of vaccination as a requirement. As in most cases - flying to US or boarding a cruise in the US - the CDC sets the requirement, here's what it has to say:

All forms of proof of COVID-19 vaccination must have

• Personal identifiers (at a minimum, full name and date of birth) that match the personal identifiers on the passenger’s passport or other travel documents
• Name of official source issuing the record (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider)
• Vaccine manufacturer and date(s) of vaccination

All of that information is available from the current Ontario/Canada receipt and verifiable using the QR code.

 

 

Ok maybe I misunderstood “official source issuing the record”.  It seems then that Province of Ontario is good enough.  On my original Ontario receipt it has the Doctors name and the local public health unit.  

I was also under the impression we don’t need to have the Canada version until November 30.  Also, the Ontario/Canada version doesn’t have details of where the vax was administered which I thought was also required.  
 

I can't put in vaccine information nor do I have any luggage tags!  Sailing two weeks from today.   Winner Winner ! 

25 minutes ago, GeriatricNurse said:

WalMart, (Canada), in the Provinces of Alberta and Ontario, are doing the Covid-19 'Rapid Antigen Tests' with appointments!

 

The cost is (only) $19.97, with no tax!

 

In case you aren’t aware there is a Canadian Cruisers section on CC now where testing options and availability is widely discussed.  

Heads up for those looking for tests.  Check often, specifically I’m referring to the Walmart and Costco options.  Appointments pop up, disappear, reappear, etc.  you might think you’re out of luck and then new slots open up.  

Has anyone seen anything on whether the "attestation form" will still be required as of November 8? 

We are planning on taking our extended family in a cruise.  We will need six or maybe seven cabins.  I know my husband and I can each buy three.  Would I also be able to buy another one (different trip) on a specific sailing in addition to the three each TBD ?  

I like the new competition and love the idea of a direct flight to FLL. However, I believe they have a small fleet so for their twice per week route YOW to FLL I’d be nervous about delays.  (Mechanical, staff,  and weather). 

I feel like we need a(nother) grassroots system set up similar to the one from earlier this year for Vaccine Hunters.  This one could be Rapid Antigen Testing for Travel Hunters.... where can you get it and availability.  These are proving difficult to find.  At some of the local Walmarts I now see appointments, but there is like one appointment at 9:00 a.m., one at 2:00 p.m. and one at 8:00 p.m.  So, I get maybe they are only getting a few tests kits in and want to spread the hours around a bit but ... hope this improves over the next couple of weeks.  Costco is now showing a bit more availability also.  Hope next week sees even more openings as we are travelling early November.  (Coincidentally planned and our fingers had been crossed for several weeks/months!) 

14 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Are you talking about testing at a Walgreens or CVS in the US or in Canada? I believe Don from Don's Family Vacations on YouTube said that, as a Canadian, free testing was not available to him at CVS or Walgreens in the US.

Yes in the US.  We don’t have CVS or Walgreens in Canada.  

I am Canadian so no Medicare or Medicaid.  Can I use these tests, with or without paying a fee?   I think we will book at a private lab as I am concerned about a last minute cancellation which I have been reading is quite common, especially at CVS.  But just wondering if I should consider these free/cheaper test options.  

1 hour ago, NB_Parrotheads said:

We are considering purchasing and shipping them to our hotel in Port Canaveral,(currently they do not ship to Canada) in anticipation of our arrival pre-cruise.  We are sailing on the Mardi Gras on the 11th of December but plan on arriving in FL on the 7th so our pre-flight test will not be valid.  That is unless we can find a location in the area to do our tests beforehand.  We had also contemplated heading back to MCO on the Thursday before to have the tests done there as well but when you factor travel, time and cost. It is cheaper to ship these... unless any of you have a suggestion on how fellow Canadians can get a test somewhere on the space coast.

There have been others who reported this wasn’t easy to do with a Canadian bank issued credit card.  Let us know how it goes if you do try to order.