Kellie in Texas

I am confused as to whether Covid testing is required before a cruise from Vancouver. Canada's travel website -- and recent travellers -- say that testing is not required, but there's a cruise travel page on Canada's website that says testing IS required if you are cruising from Canada. It's somewhat of a moot point because RCCL is still requiring testing prior to boarding, but here are my specific questions. We are flying from Texas to Vancouver on June 4 to board Serenade on June 5. We will do our pre-cruise testing on Friday, June 3 at a local Walgreen's with emailed results sent quickly. We have to complete ArriveCAN 72 hours before boarding. Question 1: We have an 11:00 am boarding time for June 5, so am I correct that we can complete ArriveCAN anytime on Friday (because we will be within the 72 hours)? Or do we have to complete ArriveCAN within 72 hours of our FLIGHT and then complete a second ArriveCAN for the "marine entry"? Question 2: When you enter your arrival location in ArriveCAN, I've seen that most people are entering the address for Canada Place cruise terminal and the name of the ship. If we are spending one night pre-cruise in Vancouver, do we enter the hotel name? Or still Canada Place/the ship? I have purchased six eMed online proctored tests to take with us (there are 4 of us). When we get off the ship on Sun. June 12, we are spending that night in Vancouver before flying back to Texas on Mon. June 13. To satisfy the U.S. requirements for testing one day prior to a flight returning to the U.S., I plan to use the eMed tests while we are at our post-cruise hotel. Question 3: Do we have to do another ArriveCAN before departing the ship on June 12 or does the original ArriveCAN (which includes the start and end dates of the cruise) suffice? Question 4: Can you start ArriveCAN on a computer and finish on a phone? I type so much faster on a computer. What else am I forgetting or misunderstanding? Please be specific! These are the things that keep me awake at night. 🙂

This won't be much help after all the previous replies but we did a Baltics cruise from Copenhagen in June 2016 and it was hot everywhere we went and most places had no A/C. I have a small folding fan that I take in my purse everywhere, no batteries, just wrist-powered. 🙂 But at least it helps move some air around.

There are websites that tell you how many ships are in port on a particular day. We'll be in Sitka in early June on Serenade. Radiance will be there too, but Radiance gets there an hour before Serenade, so we may be tendering. I bet they get the damage fixed asap though.

Posted yesterday on the main RCCL forum but no answers yet. We are cruising on Serenade in three weeks to celebrate youngest son's high school graduation ... which was in 2020 and thanks to Covid, this cruise got postponed twice. But now at three weeks, I think it's finally going to happen! And we'll celebrate his first two years of college too. While at his college, he has gotten really into the rock climbing wall they have at the rec center. I found a rock climbing excursion in RCCL's list for Skagway; it's three hours and $112/per person. Part of the time is driving to the place and it says you get three climbs and even people with no experience can do it. I think he would love this excursion; however, me and dad are definitely not climbing! The excursion description says you can just go and enjoy the scenery and you don't have to climb. I would want to go to take pictures and videos. Has anybody been on this excursion? If so, if we were to go but not climb, would we be able to see enough of him to get some pics and videos?

Thanks for that info, @NavyCruiser. I've been looking at that excursion when signed into RCCL for a few weeks now and it never would let me select it; today -- for the first time -- it show as "online booking not available; check onboard". Maybe they'll get another bus. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

@hlfrpshave you downloaded the Royal app? You can upload a picture of yourself in the app and that's what they use for your boarding photo. You could try it and, if for some reason they don't like it, then you can re-take a photo during the boarding process. And like others have said, I bet they won't quibble when you explain the reason. Congratulations and hope you have a great trip.

We are cruising on Serenade in three weeks to celebrate youngest son's high school graduation ... which was in 2020 and thanks to Covid, this cruise got postponed twice. But now at three weeks, I think it's finally going to happen! And we'll celebrate his first two years of college too. While at his college, he has gotten really into the rock climbing wall they have at the rec center. I found a rock climbing excursion in RCCL's list for Skagway; it's three hours and $112/per person. Part of the time is driving to the place and it says you get three climbs and even people with no experience can do it. I think he would love this excursion; however, me and dad are definitely not climbing! The excursion description says you can just go and enjoy the scenery and you don't have to climb. I would want to go to take pictures and videos. Has anybody been on this excursion? If so, if we were to go but not climb, would we be able to see enough of him to get some pics and videos?

We are also wanting to see the Fortress of the Bears and the Raptor Center. Our ship, Royal's Serenade, offers an excursion that includes both plus the totem pole park, but for some reason, when you try to book it, the selections are grayed out. We may try to book it once we get on the ship.

@twangsterto say your pictures are stunning is a gross understatement! Absolutely gorgeous shots. We are on Serenade in a few weeks; our itinerary is depart Vancouver, sailing, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway and Haines (same day), Tracy Arm fjord, sailing, and return to Vancouver. I have questions about the ArriveCAN app. As I understand it, you can't start filling out the information on a computer and then finish on the app on your phone, is that correct? I guess I just need to do everything on the app to be safe. You also mentioned needing two different ArriveCAN applications, one to enter Canada by plane, a second for a cruise that involves Canada. You said you can only have one active at a time so I had to wait until I arrived in Vancouver and cleared CBSA to create my second one for the cruise. That is helpful to know. We are arriving in Vancouver the day before the cruise, so we'll have time to do this. You also said once you have successfully submitted an ArriveCAN form you will get a copy by email which you printed out for presentation at the border. I guess we can do this while we are still at home for the flying-into-Canada part, and then just have the confirmation on the app/phone for the cruise part. Final question, you said in the YVR airport you are processed by Canada for immigration and customs purposes. It starts with a kiosk where you make your declarations which prints out a form you'll use at the following immigration and customs steps. After going through immigration you collect your luggage. Upon exiting the baggage claim area where you hand over your CBSA kiosk printout you will be directed into a queue for COVID testing if selected, or if not selected for testing you'll be directed into another queue that leads to the actual exit. First off, we haven't flown anywhere since 2016, so I feel like this is my first flight ever. What are you "declaring"? Is this like expensive jewelry or cameras or stuff like that so we are declaring that we are bringing it with us into Canada as opposed to purchasing it in Canada? (If that's correct, our answers will be "nothing". LOL) Thanks again for the great photos. We are lucky to also have an aft balcony on Serenade, although not one of the corner ones.

We'll be on Serenade. He will not have to "participate" in the videos (they are all pre-recorded), he'll just have to watch them. I have also read about the reception being slow or dropped in some locations. We'll spring for the Surf and Stream. Thanks for the replies.

My son is going to need to watch some summer class videos online on our Alaska cruise in a few weeks and will need internet access on his laptop. I'm thinking he needs Surf and Stream rather than just Surf. Correct?

Where is this photo taken? On the way to Sitka? We're on Serenade in a few weeks and Sitka is the first stop. I want to know when/where to look out for this amazing site.

@Live in the momentthe proctored tests are done online, either with a laptop or a phone that has a camera. You have to have internet access. I ordered some of the eMed test kits to take with us for the purpose of testing when we get off the ship before we fly home. You actually log in to the eMed website and follow the instructions while a live proctor watches you do the swab, then you stay online with the camera on for the 15 minutes or so until the results are in. Then you get an email with your test results.

@MichFishwe are also staying at the Fairmont Waterfront for one night post-cruise. Good to know about the testing there, but I did order a 6-pack of the eMed tests which are supposed to be arriving at my house today. At least the hotel testing location will be a good Plan B.

Several years ago, we booked with Chilkoot for a van up and down (no train). We had a lovely guide and stopped several times to take photos, including one of a black bear having his lunch in a meadow of yellow flowers. This was the trip that went up to the place (Caribou Crossing, I think?) where we had the BBQ chicken lunch and got to pet the sled dog puppies that were next door. It was a lovely tour but a long day. Our problem this year is our ship is only in Skagway until 3:00 pm so these longer independent company tours make me a little nervous. We'll most likely book a Skagway excursion through the ship, simply because we're only there until 3:00.

@NavyCruiserI just ordered the 6-pack of the emed tests from the link you posted. I was trying earlier today to order off RCCL's website; they use Optum for people to order tests for use at home before a cruise or before a flight. However, the Optum site looked like it was down for awhile this afternoon. I compared the photo of the emed test boxes from their website with the name of the test that RCCL sells off their website ... they are exactly the same. Ordering directly from emed was about $50 cheaper than ordering through RCCL. Not including the $22 FedEx charge for overnight delivery. We are one month out, so I'm glad to have this chore done!

You'd definitely want to book the ship excursion for that one, so you don't miss the ship. 😉

@martincathhas been a very helpful poster on this board but I haven't seen anything lately. Is he still around?