Federal government to end pre-arrival COVID testing for travellers entering Canada

[Liverpoolfan181]

42 minutes ago, bebe08 said:

Interesting...so the way I see this as a Canadian if I take a cruise round trip Ft Lauderdale I can fly home at the end of the cruise without being tested, but if I take a cruise round trip Vancouver then I need a test at the end of the cruise before getting off the ship and  before flying back to Ottawa?  Ironically we just cancelled a cruise out of FLL and replaced it with an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver.  

As per the media quote, that's how it reads, however I think will be cleared up with the press conference tomorrow. Could have been the journalist not having all info or brief summary. We shall stay tuned!

[1kaper]

18 minutes ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

LOL it figures.  We are off the ship March 30, test on the 30th,  booked to fly home March 31.   

I guess if we are positive we wait til Apr 1 then can fly home?  Rather than waiting 5 or 10 days???

I wonder how long the airlines will wait to change their policies.   

 

And before anyone comments on us flying home with a positive, think about all the folks flying starting April 1, who may be positive but haven't tested cause they don't have to, so they just don't know.   

No test, no positive!  

 

This is a mess.   

 

I'm not sure that argument will save you.  I'd say people will argue there is a difference between knowing you are positive and not.  
But not me, no arguing on the internet for me today.

[ALD18]

Not sure how I read the US fly arrangements and the ship policies.  I could see the flight test disappear, but would not be surprised to see the cruise lines keep testing for another month......maybe?

[loman]

I booked a cruise last september one year prior to my cruise date this september 

hoping all these restrictions would be lifted. 

So far , So good.🙂

[dawnvip]

42 minutes ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

LOL it figures.  We are off the ship March 30, test on the 30th,  booked to fly home March 31.   

I guess if we are positive we wait til Apr 1 then can fly home?  Rather than waiting 5 or 10 days???

I wonder how long the airlines will wait to change their policies.   

 

And before anyone comments on us flying home with a positive, think about all the folks flying starting April 1, who may be positive but haven't tested cause they don't have to, so they just don't know.   

No test, no positive!  

 

This is a mess.   

Is it possible to change your flight to April 1st? If the US doesn't require disembarking tests then you are in the same "boat" as everyone else (pun intended)

[tottenhamfc]

1 hour ago, Liverpoolfan181 said:

Perfect- that's how I interpreted- will be interesting to see if cruises will be further elaborated when the announcement is made tomorrow. 

The cruiseline will do the testing. Dont stress on that. I just saw on BNN that it does include cruises. Lets see tomorrow. Either way your only concern right now is US entry and boarding.

[jy_cruisefan]

Game Changer for sure... Glad we held off ordering our Switch Health Kits through Aeroplan for our upcoming cruise on April 10th out of Miami. This removes a lot of the stress for returning cruisers from the US

[tottenhamfc]

Just now, jy_cruisefan said:

Game Changer for sure... Glad we held off ordering our Switch Health Kits through Aeroplan for our upcoming cruise on April 10th out of Miami. This removes a lot of the stress for returning cruisers from the US

Right now you still require it as an entry into the US though. What am I missing here unless you are talking about not ordering two kits?

[jy_cruisefan]

Just now, tottenhamfc said:

Right now you still require it as an entry into the US though. What am I missing here unless you are talking about not ordering two kits?

Yes I meant no testing required for re-entering via air from the US. We will take our US entry and pre-cruise Antigen test at our local SDM the day before we leave.

[tottenhamfc]

2 minutes ago, jy_cruisefan said:

Yes I meant no testing required for re-entering via air from the US. We will take our US entry and pre-cruise Antigen test at our local SDM the day before we leave.

Ah ok. Thanks for clarifying. Travel certainly requires lots of clarity these days.

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, Josie201 said:

Planning a cross border shopping trip next weekend, hope this takes effect by March 28!  My luck, it will be March 29....

The date given is April 1. 

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, Josie201 said:

Planning a cross border shopping trip next weekend, hope this takes effect by March 28!  My luck, it will be March 29....

April 1st, really

[Fouremco]

According to this article from CTV, the press conference will be held on Thursday, not Tuesday. It doesn't shed any light on arrivals in Canada by cruise ship.

 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/canada/canada-lifting-pre-arrival-covid-19-testing-requirement-as-of-april-1-1.5821622

[LouCoop]

1 hour ago, bebe08 said:

Our thoughts exactly!  Hope this doesn't come back to bite us...

OMG we have done the same! 

[gnome12]

Despite no mention of cruising, I doubt that they would treat passengers arriving by cruise ship more strictly than those arriving by air or land; it really doesn't make any sense. However, it is the government, so who knows.

 

We should know for sure in a day or two, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was no mention of people arriving by ship in either the press conference or in the press release tomorrow.

Edited March 16, 2022 by gnome12

[broberts]

2 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

LOL it figures.  We are off the ship March 30, test on the 30th,  booked to fly home March 31.   

I guess if we are positive we wait til Apr 1 then can fly home?  Rather than waiting 5 or 10 days???

I wonder how long the airlines will wait to change their policies.   

 

And before anyone comments on us flying home with a positive, think about all the folks flying starting April 1, who may be positive but haven't tested cause they don't have to, so they just don't know.   

No test, no positive!  

 

This is a mess.   

 

Looking down and shaking head, thinking how truly sad it is that some cannot understand the immorality of knowingly imperiling others.

[tottenhamfc]

2 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Looking down and shaking head, thinking how truly sad it is that some cannot understand the immorality of knowingly imperiling others.

What on earth are you on about. It is the science that decides whether the rules change. What particular post are you taking issue with? I have seen nothing that remotely implies anyone tying to imperil anyone. All I see is relief that we can travel with a bit of normalcy.

[Luckysll]

I am doing an Alaska cruise out of Seattle on May 24.  I had booked a return flight from SeaTac at 6 p.m. to allow me time to get the antigen test done near the airport.  Cost would have been $69 US.  I just changed my return flight to noon at a cost of $41 US.

 

Still have a pre-cruise antigen test booked the day before the cruise here in Victoria, but I'm happy to have one less test to worry about.

[skatie]

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Despite no mention of cruising, I doubt that they would treat passengers arriving by cruise ship more strictly than those arriving by air or land; it really doesn't make any sense. However, it is the government, so who knows.

 

We should know for sure in a day or two, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was no mention of people arriving by ship in either the press conference or in the press release tomorrow.

I think the issue with cruise ships is that there is a high concentration of people in a relatively small space on a ship so GOC see that as higher risk of possible covid cases walking into the general public.  I get it that all people on board would be vaccinated, but it just feels like a higher risk of people entering the Canadian port.  The US has no tracking of their citizens coming off the ships and they stopped testing on board for Canadians so there is really no good measure of how many covid cases are now on board any given sailing. 

 

Are there any indicators/rumours from there cruising industry about dropping the pre-boarding tests - this test exists right now for all people boarding in US not just "international passengers" correct?  So I wonder what indicators they are waiting for to remove the pre-boarding testing?

[tottenhamfc]

5 minutes ago, skatie said:

I think the issue with cruise ships is that there is a high concentration of people in a relatively small space on a ship so GOC see that as higher risk of possible covid cases walking into the general public.  I get it that all people on board would be vaccinated, but it just feels like a higher risk of people entering the Canadian port.  The US has no tracking of their citizens coming off the ships and they stopped testing on board for Canadians so there is really no good measure of how many covid cases are now on board any given sailing. 

 

Are there any indicators/rumours from there cruising industry about dropping the pre-boarding tests - this test exists right now for all people boarding in US not just "international passengers" correct?  So I wonder what indicators they are waiting for to remove the pre-boarding testing?

I would say if testing is taking place on embankment then there is less risk than thousands coming into an airport with no testing whatsoever. Also if all persons coming in are vaxxed, what difference does it make? I have more concern with Canadians that are not vaxxed causing spreading.

[Liverpoolfan181]

1 hour ago, tottenhamfc said:

What on earth are you on about. It is the science that decides whether the rules change. What particular post are you taking issue with? I have seen nothing that remotely implies anyone tying to imperil anyone. All I see is relief that we can travel with a bit of normalcy.

He quoted the post- perhaps it's not showing on your end 🙂 

[tottenhamfc]

1 minute ago, Liverpoolfan181 said:

He quoted the post- perhaps it's not showing on your end 🙂 

Ah see it now. Missed that. Agree with Broberts.

[Froufie]

This is great news as we are flying home April 1st!  (anyone want a couple boxes of Switch antigen tests - going cheap!  LOL)

[ehogan]

Read this a minute ago:

 

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

On Wednesday, CTV News learned that Canada was planning to lift its pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers as of April 1 at all points of entry, including sea. An official announcement from the federal government is expected Thursday.

[d9704011]

7 minutes ago, ehogan said:

Read this a minute ago:

 

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

On Wednesday, CTV News learned that Canada was planning to lift its pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers as of April 1 at all points of entry, including sea. An official announcement from the federal government is expected Thursday.

I haven't seen the 'including sea' part previously.