AlbertaCruisers

24 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 Reading is hard you know.

It's not like your nickname on here is clear about where you are from. 🙂

 

Woohoo! Go out! Enjoy!

 

Don't come to Ontario. It's a bit of a disaster right now 🙂

The funny thing is I don't really go out - too scary!!  I work from home and cruise - 🙂!  Got a bit lucky this time I think.  Cruising was much less stressful in August and Oct! 

3 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 Oh thank goodness.

 

So glad you got your results and can go outside and do things now.. or wait everything is closed 🙂

 

 

I think we are a bit less closed here in Alberta!

I finally got my results this morning, so approximately 160 hours from when the test was administered (Air Canada terminal at Pearson).

I don't think anyone cares about the lab location, it is just interesting.  People who were tested Friday got one of their results today, from a lab in Toronto.  We got tested on Monday, looks like our tests were flew to Ottawa, my husband got his result today (after approximately 134 hours) and I'm still waiting - I will be at 6 days waiting in 2 hours.  

22 minutes ago, cruzn1974 said:

Thanks for the response @AlbertaCruisers but with the new policy I didn't expect the onboard testing  would be acceptable for travel.  The question was really about not taking any symptoms for granted.  

Yes, now that you have clarified, I agree. It would be better not to ignore symptoms and test positive the next day. Better to test positive on the ship and hopefully have some people to help you figure out what to do. In general, they say they don’t want people to ignore symptoms, so I believe they would test you, even if your symptoms are mild. 

I agree with @Fouremco.  When I was a close contact in the summer on the Equinox (caught as a close contact because of tracking bracelets at that time, but based on what we found out after, I don't think I was really a close contact, as it was a person behind my back and a number of people over from me, I just got caught in the random radius of the bracelets), I had 3 PCR tests and was never provided any written results, just a call to confirm the tests came back negative.  I doubt they would want to give you results sufficient for travel if you are asking to be tested because of symptoms.  

27 minutes ago, Atlantic Girl said:

Just went through Pearson last night after returning from the Allure. They let everybody who had connections off the flight from Florida first. Glad I didn’t listen to the flight attendant that said that we would have plenty of time to get to our connection to Halifax. We pretty much got out in front of everyone off our flight and stayed there and otherwise we wouldn’t have made our connection. The problem was they forced everyone to go to the testing area which sent us out of security. The testing queue was fairly short but filled up really fast behind us. After our really quick swabbing we then had to navigate back through security. Of course we had a water in one of our bags, because we had no idea that we were going to have to do security again. So that got our bags hand searched, plus we had duty free from Florida too. They took the duty free all out , checked the seal and then put the bottles through a machine . Then he had to repackage them in sealed duty bags. All this while the clock ticked down for a possible missed flight. Agonizingly slow. They were searching about 75% of everyone’s bags, I think, because of items that we weren’t supposed to have. Got to the gate with 5 minutes to spare, and did I mention that we had 3 hours between flights! No time for a meal either. Really terrible process. When we arrived in Halifax  they gave us 2 home kits to do also. Allure disembarkation  to our home a total of 23 hours. 

That is weird, we went through Pearson on Monday and we were tested and did not have to go out of the secured area or do security again.  We were on Air Canada.  The testing area for that terminal is outside of the connecting customs area and then you just walk to the gate area.

18 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

It would be interesting to know what daily volume of tests Switch Health initially contracted for when taking on the airport arrivals, and what lab facilities and personnel they had at that time. Obviously, with the GOC's massive increase in testing, I'd be very surprised if Switch Health has anywhere near the capacity to handle current volumes. As it is unlikely that testing at this level will continue unabated in the long term, I can't see Switch Health procuring additional lab facilities and equipment now when they may not be needed six months down the road.

 

I'm just annoyed there is not some way for them to make sure it is done in order.  Someone getting their results from Friday while we still wait makes me mad.  I asked them and they said it is based on the lab it is sent to.

We just got my husband's result - negative - and waiting on mine.  His result shows a Bio-Test Lab at 2006 Robertson Road, Nepean.

41 minutes ago, netpj said:

A question for anyone (at least two people travelling together) who were tested on arrival at Pearson.  If you were all tested at the same time, did you all receive your results at the same time?  We were tested on Friday evening, I received my results this morning, hubby still waiting.

Wow!! Switch Health is a mess.  Me and my husband tested on Monday at 6:30 pm at Pearson and neither of us have our results yet!

I don't think they really care about doing couples together.  Our swabs were all put in a box, and I'm sure they get separated.

19 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Someone posted that an agent told them they were trying to test 75% of arrivals. It's in one of the several threads in this section.

 

When I read it, I figured it was a joke. Guess not.

I think unfortunately for us, when we were in the connections customs there were not many people and not many people in line to be tested in front of us (which was good in that the test line and testing process didn't take us long).  We were near the front of our plane, and as we stood in line, everyone coming out of the customs area had the pink sticker and was sent to our line and the testing line got a lot larger.  I would guess that some people after that point may not have been selected until the line shortened a bit again (but maybe not, who knows).

6 minutes ago, hubbards said:

I’m curious if you offered up the info that you were on a cruise, or if they knew.  If you hadn’t said anything you wouldn’t have had to test.

We are Nexus, the custom guy said absolutely nothing, just slapped pink stickers on our Nexus cards and sent us on.  Everyone that came through at the same time as us got pink, we saw no one with green. 
 

I did put in ArriveCan everywhere we had been on the cruise based on the questions asked. I was not comfortable lying in that app. 

15 minutes ago, hubbards said:

Pardon me if I missed something earlier.  You had your test at the airport for an upcoming fight?  Wouldn’t this delay now disqualify you from flying?

No, we got randomly selected for testing on our way home from the cruise on Monday. Since the cruise was outside of the US we have to quarantine at home until we get a negative test or 14 days. 

1 minute ago, K_e_short said:

 

I would message them on Social Media (Book of Faces and the Bird one 🙂

I messaged them with my testing codes and magically the next day the results showed up.

 

I also posted on their social media directly.

 

My results took 5 days, so 114 hours.

 

I read online really bad reviews of Switch Health and the turn around times. Things like some people never got their results and waited 10 days at home. Some people who knew someone who went in and paid for a pcr test and got results the next day (aka if you pay them the results are quicker).

Thanks.  The response above was from the bird one.  Took them forever to respond.  We are at 113 hours!  They looked at our account and said our tests are in the line, so hopefully we will get results today.

So, the below is the response I got from Switch Health.  I've asked if they can confirm when our results were received in the lab.  I will see if they respond.  Today at 6:30 would be 5 days from when we were tested.

Hello, we apologize for the delay in reply, we are currently experiencing a high volume of messages.  I can confirm that your tests are currently processing at the lab. Due to a surge in demand for testing across Canada, caused by the rising cases of Omicron variant of Covid-19, all jurisdictions are currently experiencing longer than normal wait times for results. Our laboratory partners are working around the clock to process results as quickly as possible. Please note that it could take 3-5 days from the time of arrival at one of our labs, to receive your results back in exceptional circumstance. We appreciate your patience while we work together to limit the spread of Covid-19.

As a note, we had our test last Monday at 6:30pm at Pearson airport. We are still waiting for our results. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Switch Health with no luck. Will wait on hold today. 
 

We were told 48 to 72 hours. 

FYI, the other part of the website has also been changed (under US departures).  Disembarkation is spelled wrong once, but the part with the paid testing no longer says it is onboard.

All fully vaccinated guests requiring a COVID-19 test to return to their home country will be provided the opportunity to receive testing in the cruise port during disemberkation. Proof of return travel scheduled within 24 hours of disembarkation will be required. Details on testing registration will be provided onboard. Testing will be complimentary for guests with cruise reservations booked and paid in full prior to November 16, 2021.  For new bookings made on or after November 16, 2021, testing will be available for a per person fee. The cost for onsite cruise port testing starts at $99 per person.  Prices vary by port and test type. 

*Test prices are set by each vendor and not by Celebrity Cruises. Payments will be made directly to the vendor providing the service. Celebrity Cruises will not collect or retain any portion of this payment.

Isn't the below wording on the Celebrity site in Frequently asked questions new?

All fully vaccinated guests requiring a COVID-19 test to return to their home country will be provided the opportunity to receive testing in the cruise port during disembarkation. Proof of return travel scheduled within 24 hours of disembarkation will be required. Details on testing registration will be provided onboard. Testing will be complimentary for guests with cruise reservations booked and paid in full prior to November 16, 2021.  For new bookings made on or after November 16, 2021, testing will be available for a per person fee. The cost for onsite cruise port testing starts at $99* per person.  Prices vary by port and test type.

*Test prices are set by each vendor and not by Celebrity Cruises. Payments will be made directly to the vendor providing the service. Celebrity Cruises will not collect or retain any portion of this payment.

On 12/22/2021 at 7:28 AM, D C said:

Is Celebrity still offering the tests (even for $$) at/before disembarkation as of right now for late January sailings?
Asking for a Canadian friend who was getting a "no...yes...no...maybe...yes" runaround on the phone with X last night. 

The tests are not onboard any more with Celebrity.  We just got off the Constellation and they informed us on Sunday that we would not be tested onboard an instead the test would in the terminal the next morning.  They said this would be in place for all Celebrity ships as of January 5 and no more testing for return home would be done onboard.  The terminal testing was a mess (it was actually beside a mini-van in the parking lot, they were supposed to start testing at 7:30 and didn't show up and get started until 8:30).  The new wording in the Frequently asked questions on the website is as follows:

All fully vaccinated guests requiring a COVID-19 test to return to their home country will be provided the opportunity to receive testing in the cruise port during disembarkation. Proof of return travel scheduled within 24 hours of disembarkation will be required. Details on testing registration will be provided onboard. Testing will be complimentary for guests with cruise reservations booked and paid in full prior to November 16, 2021.  For new bookings made on or after November 16, 2021, testing will be available for a per person fee. The cost for onsite cruise port testing starts at $99* per person.  Prices vary by port and test type.

*Test prices are set by each vendor and not by Celebrity Cruises. Payments will be made directly to the vendor providing the service. Celebrity Cruises will not collect or retain any portion of this payment.

57 minutes ago, bookitdanno said:

Sorry, but that may only be on the Canadian web site. At least I cannot find it on the US site.

More importantly, has anyone on a January sailing received an email notification of this change?

We are booked on the Jan 19 Reflection sailing, and get at least one marketing email a day for shore excursions, drinks packages, specialty restaurants and the like, but NOTHING about masking.

I realize they are afraid of cancellations, but better that than having a group of disgruntled passengers that were unaware of this policy (how many really check the app or even the web site for this information), passengers who may resist wearing masks.

Celebrity owes it to its guests to directly inform everyone of all conditions as those conditions change.

29 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

I also don’t see it updated on the website. This is a big change since many people booked Celebrity because of their mask policy. I totally under the need for it but their communication with their guests is discouraging. My cruise is on 2/6 and are still deciding what to do. It seemed like when Royal made a big change to their protocols they gave people an option for a refund. I guess time will tell, but an email to impacted passengers would be helpful.

Here are the links form the US website.  For the first, about half way down under "While on Board"

https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/us-travel-requirements

For this one, last entry under "While on Board":

https://www.celebritycruises.com/healthy-at-sea/faqs

As a result of increased COVID-19 cases associated with the Omicron variant, masks will be required for all guests (regardless of vaccination status,) at all times indoors except while eating or drinking.  Note that this policy is currently in effect and will be re-evaluated on a continuous basis.

The website has been updated with the below:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/healthy-at-sea/us-travel-requirements

As a result of increased COVID-19 cases associated with the Omicron variant, masks will be required for all guests (regardless of vaccination status,) at all times indoors except while eating or drinking.  Note that this policy is currently in effect and will be re-evaluated on a continuous basis.

47 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I suspect that this is yet another example of website confusion due to sloppy editing of the original policy. I suppose that it's possible that Celebrity will allow those who booked after November 16 of last year to choose between free shoreside testing and paid testing aboard, but I doubt that's what Celebrity intends. 

Funny, I only read the free part.  Yes, I think the second part is a mistake.  They don't want to do any of this testing onboard anymore.

The wording on the website has now been changed. this is in the US departures section. 

It also now confirms the mask requirement. 
 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/healthy-at-sea/us-travel-requirements

We flew from Tampa to YYZ to Edmonton yesterday.  We got our RT-PCR test at 9:00 am in Tampa (see the other thread for details) from Celebrity.  Got to the airport and our flight was delayed about just over 1 hour because of weather issues for the incoming flight from Toronto.  We landed in Toronto somewhere around 6:00 pm.  We were connecting so followed those signs, the customs hall was pretty empty and we were able to walk right up to the Nexus machine.  No line to see an officer, he said nothing but put pink stickers on our Nexus cards, which meant we were getting tested.  The lady directed us to the testing line, which was not too long, but about 10 people in front of us.  I asked if there was a separate line if you had pre-registered for the Switch Health account and there was not.  There were QR codes throughout the line for people to use to register for an account.  When we got to the front the first table took our passports and flight information and gave us a bag with the test in it (Swab, etc.).  You then walked to a section of cubicles to get tested.  Very easy and organized process.  I think it helped to be registered though as some people seems frantic trying to register and were having issues.  We walked out of there and could have been at our next gate by 6:40 pm.  No one gave us any information or told us anything, so I'm not 100% clear if we are considered to have been out of the US because we were on a cruise, but I'm assuming we are, so I'm following the rules on the Canada website on that basis, and we are currently quarantining at home, waiting for our results.

Our first flight, which was at 9:00 pm had been cancelled by Air Canada (email mentioned COVID issues), while we were in the air and they had automatically moved us to the 10:30 pm flight, which was fine.

The Air Canada terminal was a mess.  Almost all flights were delayed in some fashion and there were lots of cancellations.  The line up for the guess services was hundreds of people long all night.

Our flight was then delayed until 11:10, again noting COVID issues.  We boarded at 10:30 and around 11:00 the captain announced that there was no ground crew available to load bags, etc., but they hoped to have us a crew by midnight.  At midnight the captain accounced a crew would be coming to load bags shortly but that the other pilot was now past her daily hours and had to leave but they had another pilot on the way.  We finally took off at around 2:00 am.  We did manage to get home this morning.  We were originally scheduled to be home just after 11:00 pm (MST) last night and ended up landing in Edmonton at 3:34 am!

19 minutes ago, randomletters said:

Can anyone tell me, if you do have to quarantine at a hotel (Ft.Lauderdale), are there specific “quarantine” hotels that one would book? That is, if you test positive and are flying back to Canada, you’re not allowed to enter and must quarantine in place (U.S.). Ive done a search on Google and couldn’t find any hotel addressing this issue. Anyone have concrete information, or experience having done this? 

My understanding is there is no required quarantine hotel.  The Celebrity guy told me they would prefer that we pick the hotel we wanted to and then told me the amounts they would reimburse us for. 

We know someone that tested positive this past Sunday on the Equinox.  They said they were given a private escort off the ship on Monday and they are now at the Hilton Bentley, Miami Beach quarantining.  I believe they picked that hotel.  I don't know them well enough to ask more questions, but they have said they are happy with how Celebrity is treating them.

3 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Just so there are no surprises, even with a negative result you can still be randomly selected for a further test when flying or driving back.     

Yep, we were both selected to be tested yesterday afternoon in Toronto airport (pink sticker placed on our Nexus card), even though our cruise test was only a few hours earlier. The process wasn’t bad and we are now home awaiting the results. No one made it clear whether our cruise was considered being outside the US, so I’m treating it as if we were and following those rules.