Has anyone from Canada booked a Cruise recently?

[dogger321]

I am checking into booking a cruise out of Florida and looking for anyone who went thru the experience lately?

[cnd crsr]

Not booked lately, however we do have a cruise from Florida in November. Originally booked  well over a year ago -- a Med, followed by a TA and then followed by 10 days Caribbean. The first 2 were cancelled by the cruise line but not the last one. Final payment is not until late August so we have some time before making a final decision. We are vaccinated and depending on border openings and the testing/quarantine situation we will weigh the pros and cons.

[Sprocket]

We have 6 cruises booked with Alaska fast approaching and not even a hint about when the border will reopen.  Airfare from Vancouver to Seattle is ridiculous but they will give us a credit if we cancel and we still have to buy one way from FLL to Van in February so we would use it no problem.

BC's numbers are very very good and literally no reason not to open IMO.  Even the variant is being managed very well here, what is he waiting for?

[broberts]

45 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

We have 6 cruises booked with Alaska fast approaching and not even a hint about when the border will reopen.  Airfare from Vancouver to Seattle is ridiculous but they will give us a credit if we cancel and we still have to buy one way from FLL to Van in February so we would use it no problem.

BC's numbers are very very good and literally no reason not to open IMO.  Even the variant is being managed very well here, what is he waiting for?

 

Opening the border in one province doesn't make sense. Unless you want to halt travel with all other provinces. The numbers in all provinces have to be reasonable before the border can open fully. 

[westwood65]

We have not booked any new cruises, as we are still holding out on a TransAtlantic this fall (Anthem) and a B2B2B in Feb of 2022.  These cruises where all moved from the canceled 2020/2021 season.  We are not holding out much hope on any of them. Even if the cruises are ago we are concerned about the testing  / Quarantine time that may/would be reqd in the UK and Singapore for travelers. To many unknowns. It may be a while before we see the inside of a cruise ship in person. 

[Magicat]

We recently booked a TA on the Harmony that ends up in Florida (Canaveral).  No issues booking it through our Florida TA.  

[dogger321]

We are looking into medical\travel insurance with covid coverage because the plan we have now will not cover travel to other countries because of the travel advisory by the federal gov. Looking for suggestions.

[karebare22]

Booked on an Alaska cruise from Seattle on Aug 20. Family is fully vaccinated, just waiting to find out what happens with border restrictions, testing requirements etc before finalizing our plans. Fully expecting to take a Covid test before flying into Seattle, and will need to check that the free PCR test performed on the ship the day before disembarking will be acceptable for re-entry to Canada. We are flexible, and willing to cancel the cruise if needed, and enjoy our pre-cruise Rockies vacation.  Just a wait and see situation right now, but getting excited!

[d9704011]

11 hours ago, dogger321 said:

We are looking into medical\travel insurance with covid coverage because the plan we have now will not cover travel to other countries because of the travel advisory by the federal gov. Looking for suggestions.

Try CoverMe with Manulife Canada.  There are others too... I am with Johnson Insurance and it's good for me (group plan).

[matamanoa]

We have two cruises booked for next summer and one for the following year in March.  I wouldn't have booked anything for this year as I believe that there are still too many folks who need to get vaccinated and for the number of Covid cases to decrease without the Delta variant ramping up.  I also look forward to cruising without all the current restrictions which are still in place - mask wearing, social distancing, etc.  

 

Barb

[JillK]

My family of six were supposed to cruise over March Break last year. We cancelled three days before the ship was due to sail not knowing the cruise lines would cease operations two days later.

 

As such we have a credit to use up and have decided to do a cruise to the Med next August with our teenaged daughters and one to Alaska in 2023 with our sons. 

 

I am in the process of booking one for all six of us next March break out of NYC which we hope will be a go but we are prepared to cancel should things not look good through the fall. Also this is with NCL and their current policy is all guests must be fully vaccinated. Our sons are under 12 and if they don't change the policy as things progress, we will have to cancel as they will not be able to sail (unless of course the vaccines become approved for the kids in the interim).

[Fouremco]

On 7/4/2021 at 10:15 PM, d9704011 said:

Try CoverMe with Manulife Canada.  There are others too... I am with Johnson Insurance and it's good for me (group plan).

As am I. We've been very happy with them.

[Thechamp555]

We booked a 9 nights in October from Florida.

Hopefully the PCR tests won't be required at that time.

[TeaBag]

We booked the July 25 Norway intensive on Azamara.

[boone2]

We’ve booked a transpacific from Vancouver to Auckland in sept 22. Hoping NZ is open by then and the cruise lines will have settled down to a new normality whatever it looks like. 

[dogger321]

8 hours ago, Thechamp555 said:

We booked a 9 nights in October from Florida.

Hopefully the PCR tests won't be required at that time.

Let's hope testing will disappear when vaccines numbers are high enough by then.

[Winnigirl]

We are just beginning to think about cruising again, but I am just totally confused about the regulations.  Every day I seem to read something different.  We are fully vaccinated and understand that we will not have to endure quarantine when we return to Canada - but there seems to be a lot of tests to go through.  Testing before we leave the country.  Testing in the country we are flying to (depending on the country), testing when we get back.  Are some countries (I'm thinking the UK) still closed to Canadians?  In Manitoba we are issued a card confirming total vaccination and I have it on my phone, as well.  Do we need more documentation than that?  I'm totally confused.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Winnigirl
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[netpj]

Winnigirl,  as of Juy 19, UK citizens who have been vaccinated by the NHS can enter the UK without quarantine.  Anyone else has to follow quarantine rules.  This may change over the coming weeks.  Yesterday, Cunard announced it was delaying the commencement of their summer cruises around Britain until August because some crew members had tested positive.  Every country has their own criteria for entry and what documentation is required.  There are no standard regulations, it can be very confusing and I think will be for some time to come.

[Sue from Canada]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:49 AM, Winnigirl said:

We are just beginning to think about cruising again, but I am just totally confused about the regulations.  Every day I seem to read something different.  We are fully vaccinated and understand that we will not have to endure quarantine when we return to Canada - but there seems to be a lot of tests to go through.  Testing before we leave the country.  Testing in the country we are flying to (depending on the country), testing when we get back.  Are some countries (I'm thinking the UK) still closed to Canadians?  In Manitoba we are issued a card confirming total vaccination and I have it on my phone, as well.  Do we need more documentation than that?  I'm totally confused.  Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm just as confused as you.  I hope all these tests will disappear in the next couple of months.  In Ontario the PCR test is $199.00.  Ontario didn't issue a card confirming vaccination but a letter size doc.

[Magicat]

I agree with you Sue, these tests are becoming tiresome.  

[MarynotMartha]

On 7/9/2021 at 7:49 AM, Winnigirl said:

We are just beginning to think about cruising again, but I am just totally confused about the regulations.  Every day I seem to read something different.  We are fully vaccinated and understand that we will not have to endure quarantine when we return to Canada - but there seems to be a lot of tests to go through.  Testing before we leave the country.  Testing in the country we are flying to (depending on the country), testing when we get back.  Are some countries (I'm thinking the UK) still closed to Canadians?  In Manitoba we are issued a card confirming total vaccination and I have it on my phone, as well.  Do we need more documentation than that?  I'm totally confused.  Any advice would be appreciated.

We are booked on a Princess cruise out of Southampton in October 2021.  I'm exhausted trying to figure out if we can even get into England to embark on the ship.  There does seem to be an exemption from quarantine for people "in transit" but the practical application of it is confusing.  I don't think I can even book a hotel yet for one night and then the cruise the next day.  Sigh.  We may cancel soon.

[iancal]

The price of PCR tests really vary.  We are considering Greece in Sept.   My understanding is that the Greek Government put a price ceiling of 60E on the them.  Several clinics near Athens and Piraeus are charging 40E according to their web sites.

 

Looking at Mexico for Nov/Dec.   Appears that the going rate there for a PCR test  is $135-199 USD!  I hope that I am misinformed.  These are rip off prices.  We will more research closer to departure if we are able to go. I hope that I misread the pricing info.

 

Like others, we hope that Canada switches from a PCR test to an antigen test.  Much less expensive, much easier to get, and results in a very short time.

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by iancal

[Robjame]

Regarding insurance, we are covered with the health part while on the cruise but I have been having difficulty finding a company that specifically covers your investment from final payment to cruise time.
 

If the medical problem is ours and is unexpected and there have been no Rx changes, etc we can find coverage.

 

However we have been told that the pandemic is not a valid reason for cancellation as this is treated as a pre-existing condition (just like personal medical). We would have known about it as it was in effect at the time of booking. (The example one insurer gave was if your brother is terminal and dies, this is not accepted for reason for cancellation). If the Canadian advisory is not to travel, then insurance is in question. 
The problem we see is if the US is open for cruising and Canada is closed or closes again. Asked our TA if the cruise line would refund in that case (Oceania) and she did not know but was going to ask the question.
My experience with insurance companies is you have to ask the specific question and even then, if it is not in writing ….

 

 

[latebuyer]

I hope to go to the caribbean on rccl next spring however i have the astrazeneca/moderna vaccine mixing. I did hear there was a twitter post from rccl saying they accepted the vaccine mixing however i’m concerned about the caribbean ports. Hopefully people will post here their experiences.

[DirtyDawg]

Nope. No cruising for us for awhile, especially out of the States. The Covid numbers in some of the southern States are growing again.

 

We might sail earlier than 2023 out of countries who have conquered Covid, but I have doubts there will be many.