Just Back from the Celebrity Equinox

[AlbertaCruisers]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are just back from the August 27, 2021 sailing of the Equinox.  We are from Edmonton, Alberta, so I thought some of this information could be helpful to other Canadians.

 

1.  The Shoppers Drug Mart $40 Rapid Antigen Test (Alberta and Ontario) worked perfectly for both our flight to the US and to get on the cruise.  Our local Shoppers does walk ins, we went in at 8:00 am and were walking out with our test results within 30 minutes.  As long as nothing changes, we will do this again, but will have to do it 2 days before sailing now, instead of 3.

 

2.  Getting on the ship, they needed confirmation of both doses.  They had to input into their ipad the type of vaccine and the date of each of the doses and made sure the second dose was at least 14 days before the date we got on the ship.  I do not believe they counted days between the doses.  We both have double Pfizer.  As of now, Celebrity out of the US is not accepting any mixed vaccinations.  In Alberta, we have some pretty unofficial documents.  We gave them the original document we received, which for my husband is the Alberta Health forms that were completed when he got his doses and I had my letters from the pharmacies where I got mine.  The one letter is just printed off a computer, but they accepted them.  It did take more time for them to review everything, as it wasn't what they were looking for and they asked us to point out the dates each dose was received, as they couldn't find it.

 

3.  When we got on the ship, the first night I called front desk to let them know we are Canadian and needed PCR tests to fly home.  She confirmed that we for sure needed PCR and not Antigen and once I confirmed that she said no problem, she would put me on the list and I would get information later in the cruise.  I believe you need to let them know you need a test and they don't automatically put you on the list.  

 

I believe it was Tuesday, August 31 that we got a call from the Events Coordinator confirming we would have our PCR test at 4:00 pm on Friday night (the second last day of the cruise, as we got off the cruise on Sunday).  There was no choice as to the time or the date, but the timing worked in our 72 hour time frame as we flew home Monday at 1:05 pm.

 

They had the test process set up in the meeting rooms on Deck 14, the same place that all the crew are getting their tests done weekly.  It was well organized and fast.

 

We got the results about 2:00 pm on the last day, they emailed them to us and the original showed up at our door a few hours later.  It was all fine, except it didn't show the date the sample was taken just the date (so just September 3).  The ship said it was a set form for all the Royal family of ships and they never put the date in and that it was the date the test was actually run (which is on the second page), which was Saturday that matters.  I don't believe that is true and I believe that it is the date the sample is taken that matters (if they take the sample on Wednesday and keep it on ice and don't run the test until Saturday, it seems that really we had COVID or not as of Wednesday, not Saturday?).  I called the Canada Health number in the ArriveCan help information and they advised that it was the date the sample was taken that mattered, not when they actually run the test.  The ship did not really believe me on that point, but they were able to add the time on my test result sheets, they just handwrote in the time and the doctor initialed in and affixed a seal.  

 

I believe, if you were flying home the date you get off the ship, this would not have been as big of an issue as a test any time on Friday would have been fine, as your 72 hour time frame would have started from your flight departure time on Thursday.  Since we were flying out on Monday, our 72 hours started from 1:05 pm on Friday, so I'm not sure that the result showing the test was taken on Friday would have been sufficient, because any time before 1:05 pm on Friday would have been too early.

 

Everything went fine for the trip home, but I'm not sure at this point if the 4:00 pm time being written in was necessary or not, as no one said anything.  The Air Canada representative that checked us in at Fort Lauderdale looked closely at the tests and seemed a bit confused.  She took a lot of time to review it, but didn't say anything and in the end approved it and stamped our boarding passes with the documents approved stamp.  No one in the Toronto Airport even asked for or looked at the tests at all in Customs, which I believe is unusual.

 

We go back at the end of October, and again, we are staying a day after the cruise.  I will be asking them to add the time the sample was taken, just in case, or asking if they can do our test the morning of the last day (but, since there was an entire process set up of all the people that needed tests, I'm not sure they would be willing to do ours on a different day).

 

I have since found this: https://tc.canada.ca/en/initiatives/covid-19-measures-updates-guidance-issued-transport-canada/covid-19-guidance-material-air-operators-managing-travellers-coming-canada-transborder-international-airports#annex_d - which suggests no time would have been fine, but I could no find it when I was on the ship!!

 

4.  We had to wear the tracklets, which, from the people onboard now, sound like they have been discontinued and they are just using facial recognition on the video camera system (like they have been doing on the Edge all summer).  I was unfortunately caught in the 6 feet/15 meter close contact zone (my husband, who was with me all the time was not).  I was informed on the night of Day 3 that I had to quarantine for 24 hours and get 2 negative PCR tests.  They came for the first one quickly and it was negative and the second one was 24 hours later and we had the negative result within 2 hours and were free to head out for supper.  They ended up asking for one more test 2 days later, it was also negative and I got the negative test to go home.  I'm pretty sure I was caught at the martini bar, and the people had to be a few people over to my right (as my husband was to my left) and I never even turned that way let alone interacted with anyone that way, so at least all was good.  The martini bar crew was also caught and had to quarantine for the rest of our cruise, because the people had sat their for 2 hours the night before.  During the quarantine, we got free room service, including supper from Blu (we were in Aqua), and drinks (such as mojitos) (we had the premium drink package).  If you didn't already have it they would upgrade your wifi to stream and we got all the movies on the TV for free (there was not much).  Front desk called often.

 

The cruise was amazing and it was great to be back!!

 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

[brontravel]

Thank you for sharing. I just got my negative antigen test results from Shoppers and it’s a little less official looking than I expected. Just a form with written out personal information and then the pharmacist wrote the testing info, result and signed. There is a Shopper’s Drug Mart sticker on it with my name and receipt of payment that makes it seem a bit more legit. Just wasn’t what I was expecting. Is this what you had as well?

[AlbertaCruisers]

3 minutes ago, brontravel said:

Thank you for sharing. I just got my negative antigen test results from Shoppers and it’s a little less official looking than I expected. Just a form with written out personal information and then the pharmacist wrote the testing info, result and signed. There is a Shopper’s Drug Mart sticker on it with my name and receipt of payment that makes it seem a bit more legit. Just wasn’t what I was expecting. Is this what you had as well?

 

No, she did our form all on the computer, so all information was typed in.  I have attached what our form looked like.  All the blacked out information was inputted in the computer, so was typed into the form and she signed after it was printed.

 

 

[brontravel]

Well here’s hoping mine is okay. It looks just like that but all hand written. My husband had the same thing last week and was able to use it to fly so I think I’m fine there. 

[ilovetotravel1977]

So glad you had an amazing time! Even with the bumps along the way.

 

Youtubers JJ Cruise are on the Equinox now for the 12-day sailing and they said the captain announced a case and they were flown home and their travel party was being quarantined (the same procedures you went through).

 

45% capacity (1300 people, I believe) are on board.

[Evilmuffin]

12 hours ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

So glad you had an amazing time! Even with the bumps along the way.

 

Youtubers JJ Cruise are on the Equinox now for the 12-day sailing and they said the captain announced a case and they were flown home and their travel party was being quarantined (the same procedures you went through).

 

45% capacity (1300 people, I believe) are on board.

If there was a case and they were flown home, how does that work?   I thought as one has to quarantine immediately after testing positive.   

[ilovetotravel1977]

5 minutes ago, Evilmuffin said:

If there was a case and they were flown home, how does that work?   I thought as one has to quarantine immediately after testing positive.   

Both Celebrity and Royal are flying home positive cases on a private plane. Their close contacts are being quarantined on the ship until found negative.

[Evilmuffin]

1 hour ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Both Celebrity and Royal are flying home positive cases on a private plane. Their close contacts are being quarantined on the ship until found negative.

 

Is it at the passengers expense or the cruiseline?   Do you happen  to know if HAL is doing the same thing?   And is “home” classified as the port of embarkation or their actual home?  

[ilovetotravel1977]

Just now, Evilmuffin said:

 

Is it at the passengers expense or the cruiseline?   Do you happen  to know if HAL is doing the same thing?   And is “home” classified as the port of embarkation or their actual home?  

At the expense of the cruise line until Oct 31. Details are on their websites' Covid procotols FAQs.

Not sure about HAL.  From the experiences I have read online/cruise critics, "home" for Americans is "home".  I haven't heard of any Canadians requiring this service yet.

[Fouremco]

Under the current GOC regs, you can not fly into Canada for 14 days if you have tested positive. So if a Canadian passenger tests positive, I really don't know what Celebrity would do. As you can enter Canada by land, I'd ask them to fly me to the airport closest to the port of entry nearest my home. I could then cross into Canada, get a ride home from a family member and go through the mandatory self-isolation period at home. That approach, of course, isn't feasible for those living far from a port of entry. Then the options for both you and Celebrity become far more limited.

 

Like @ilovetotravel1977, I've seen no reporting as yet of any Canadians faced with this predicament.

[ilovetotravel1977]

But it's a private plane with the pilot, you and a medical attendant (Likely), that's it.  You would then be transported from the airport in a private vehicle to your home (that's what happened for the US cruisers).

 

Some lines are also assisting with the quarantine part as well.

 

NCL for example. They are doing testing at the port before boarding. However, if you test positive, you get no assistance, etc. 

 

If you bring a negative test taken 3 days prior, but you test positive at the port, they will assist with quarantine, etc.  If you did not bring a 3-day negative test, you are on your own.

 

It's all about doing TONS of research constantly.  That is why I follow the big cruise vloggers channels as they have all the updated info asap and make videos every single day.

 

 

 

 

[brontravel]

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Under the current GOC regs, you can not fly into Canada for 14 days if you have tested positive. So if a Canadian passenger tests positive, I really don't know what Celebrity would do. As you can enter Canada by land, I'd ask them to fly me to the airport closest to the port of entry nearest my home. I could then cross into Canada, get a ride home from a family member and go through the mandatory self-isolation period at home. That approach, of course, isn't feasible for those living far from a port of entry. Then the options for both you and Celebrity become far more limited.

 

Like @ilovetotravel1977, I've seen no reporting as yet of any Canadians faced with this predicament.

I believe that the rule only applies to commercial airlines. I’m sure they wouldn’t deny a Canadian coming in via medical transport, or a private plane. Whether or not you are actually allowed to go home from the airport you land in would be another question. You might be stuck going into a quarantine hotel. 

[Fouremco]

56 minutes ago, brontravel said:

I believe that the rule only applies to commercial airlines. I’m sure they wouldn’t deny a Canadian coming in via medical transport, or a private plane. Whether or not you are actually allowed to go home from the airport you land in would be another question. You might be stuck going into a quarantine hotel. 

I believe that with the further relaxation of entry requirements earlier this week, quarantine hotels are now a thing of the past. As for private versus commercial airlines, I've not seen anything suggesting that private planes or medical transport can operate under a different set of rules. Maybe I just haven't dug deep enough. 🤷‍♂️

[ilovetotravel1977]

Sorry to hijack your thread @AlbertaCruisers!

[ilovetotravel1977]

3 hours ago, brontravel said:

I believe that the rule only applies to commercial airlines. I’m sure they wouldn’t deny a Canadian coming in via medical transport, or a private plane. Whether or not you are actually allowed to go home from the airport you land in would be another question. You might be stuck going into a quarantine hotel. 

Vaccinated Canadians no longer have to do the quarantine hotels, has been that way for a while.

 

I would consider this private plane to be equal to a med-evac.

[LuCruise]

Thank you for sharing your experience.  We are looking at cruising (Royal) in Dec.

 

One question that may seem silly/  Do you know if you have the option to get a paper printout of the PCR test?  The reason I ask is that we don't get internet package...so we would have no way of knowing the results.

[Ginnyfyr]

Thank you for mentioning that your SDM tests were sufficient to get you on the ship! 

[AlbertaCruisers]

11 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Thank you for sharing your experience.  We are looking at cruising (Royal) in Dec.

 

One question that may seem silly/  Do you know if you have the option to get a paper printout of the PCR test?  The reason I ask is that we don't get internet package...so we would have no way of knowing the results.

They did both without asking. They emailed the result and sent the paper copy to our room. 

[LuCruise]

37 minutes ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

They did both without asking. They emailed the result and sent the paper copy to our room. 

Perfect thank you for letting me know. I mean, I know they will let know if you test positive, but good for negative result you also get a paper copy.  We are cruising Royal but I would assume it's the same.

[AlbertaCruisers]

1 hour ago, LuCruise said:

Perfect thank you for letting me know. I mean, I know they will let know if you test positive, but good for negative result you also get a paper copy.  We are cruising Royal but I would assume it's the same.

 

Yes, it looks like Royal is similar.  Our paper work actually mentioned Royal and I understand it is Royal Caribbean wide.  Just make sure they know you need it for travel home to Canada and they have a form they do for you and they already know you need the actual results.

[Plato123]

Thanks for all this good information.  We plan to be on the Reflection out of FLL in January and have been a bit anxious about how things work with COVID.

[abby1257]

On 9/8/2021 at 3:30 PM, AlbertaCruisers said:

Hi Everyone,

 

We are just back from the August 27, 2021 sailing of the Equinox.  We are from Edmonton, Alberta, so I thought some of this information could be helpful to other Canadians.

 

1.  The Shoppers Drug Mart $40 Rapid Antigen Test (Alberta and Ontario) worked perfectly for both our flight to the US and to get on the cruise.  Our local Shoppers does walk ins, we went in at 8:00 am and were walking out with our test results within 30 minutes.  As long as nothing changes, we will do this again, but will have to do it 2 days before sailing now, instead of 3.

 

2.  Getting on the ship, they needed confirmation of both doses.  They had to input into their ipad the type of vaccine and the date of each of the doses and made sure the second dose was at least 14 days before the date we got on the ship.  I do not believe they counted days between the doses.  We both have double Pfizer.  As of now, Celebrity out of the US is not accepting any mixed vaccinations.  In Alberta, we have some pretty unofficial documents.  We gave them the original document we received, which for my husband is the Alberta Health forms that were completed when he got his doses and I had my letters from the pharmacies where I got mine.  The one letter is just printed off a computer, but they accepted them.  It did take more time for them to review everything, as it wasn't what they were looking for and they asked us to point out the dates each dose was received, as they couldn't find it.

 

3.  When we got on the ship, the first night I called front desk to let them know we are Canadian and needed PCR tests to fly home.  She confirmed that we for sure needed PCR and not Antigen and once I confirmed that she said no problem, she would put me on the list and I would get information later in the cruise.  I believe you need to let them know you need a test and they don't automatically put you on the list.  

 

I believe it was Tuesday, August 31 that we got a call from the Events Coordinator confirming we would have our PCR test at 4:00 pm on Friday night (the second last day of the cruise, as we got off the cruise on Sunday).  There was no choice as to the time or the date, but the timing worked in our 72 hour time frame as we flew home Monday at 1:05 pm.

 

They had the test process set up in the meeting rooms on Deck 14, the same place that all the crew are getting their tests done weekly.  It was well organized and fast.

 

We got the results about 2:00 pm on the last day, they emailed them to us and the original showed up at our door a few hours later.  It was all fine, except it didn't show the date the sample was taken just the date (so just September 3).  The ship said it was a set form for all the Royal family of ships and they never put the date in and that it was the date the test was actually run (which is on the second page), which was Saturday that matters.  I don't believe that is true and I believe that it is the date the sample is taken that matters (if they take the sample on Wednesday and keep it on ice and don't run the test until Saturday, it seems that really we had COVID or not as of Wednesday, not Saturday?).  I called the Canada Health number in the ArriveCan help information and they advised that it was the date the sample was taken that mattered, not when they actually run the test.  The ship did not really believe me on that point, but they were able to add the time on my test result sheets, they just handwrote in the time and the doctor initialed in and affixed a seal.  

 

I believe, if you were flying home the date you get off the ship, this would not have been as big of an issue as a test any time on Friday would have been fine, as your 72 hour time frame would have started from your flight departure time on Thursday.  Since we were flying out on Monday, our 72 hours started from 1:05 pm on Friday, so I'm not sure that the result showing the test was taken on Friday would have been sufficient, because any time before 1:05 pm on Friday would have been too early.

 

Everything went fine for the trip home, but I'm not sure at this point if the 4:00 pm time being written in was necessary or not, as no one said anything.  The Air Canada representative that checked us in at Fort Lauderdale looked closely at the tests and seemed a bit confused.  She took a lot of time to review it, but didn't say anything and in the end approved it and stamped our boarding passes with the documents approved stamp.  No one in the Toronto Airport even asked for or looked at the tests at all in Customs, which I believe is unusual.

 

We go back at the end of October, and again, we are staying a day after the cruise.  I will be asking them to add the time the sample was taken, just in case, or asking if they can do our test the morning of the last day (but, since there was an entire process set up of all the people that needed tests, I'm not sure they would be willing to do ours on a different day).

 

I have since found this: https://tc.canada.ca/en/initiatives/covid-19-measures-updates-guidance-issued-transport-canada/covid-19-guidance-material-air-operators-managing-travellers-coming-canada-transborder-international-airports#annex_d - which suggests no time would have been fine, but I could no find it when I was on the ship!!

 

4.  We had to wear the tracklets, which, from the people onboard now, sound like they have been discontinued and they are just using facial recognition on the video camera system (like they have been doing on the Edge all summer).  I was unfortunately caught in the 6 feet/15 meter close contact zone (my husband, who was with me all the time was not).  I was informed on the night of Day 3 that I had to quarantine for 24 hours and get 2 negative PCR tests.  They came for the first one quickly and it was negative and the second one was 24 hours later and we had the negative result within 2 hours and were free to head out for supper.  They ended up asking for one more test 2 days later, it was also negative and I got the negative test to go home.  I'm pretty sure I was caught at the martini bar, and the people had to be a few people over to my right (as my husband was to my left) and I never even turned that way let alone interacted with anyone that way, so at least all was good.  The martini bar crew was also caught and had to quarantine for the rest of our cruise, because the people had sat their for 2 hours the night before.  During the quarantine, we got free room service, including supper from Blu (we were in Aqua), and drinks (such as mojitos) (we had the premium drink package).  If you didn't already have it they would upgrade your wifi to stream and we got all the movies on the TV for free (there was not much).  Front desk called often.

 

The cruise was amazing and it was great to be back!!

 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

How much is the test at Shoppers Drug Mart

 

[AlbertaCruisers]

3 minutes ago, abby1257 said:

How much is the test at Shoppers Drug Mart

 

 

We did the $40 per person rapid antigen test at Shoppers Drug Mart.  It worked for both the flight down and getting on the ship.

[abby1257]

1 minute ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

 

We did the $40 per person rapid antigen test at Shoppers Drug Mart.  It worked for both the flight down and getting on the ship.

I'm confused....a friend of mine's son went to Nashville and it was $180 to enter the US...

 

[gnome12]

1 minute ago, abby1257 said:

I'm confused....a friend of mine's son went to Nashville and it was $180 to enter the US...

 

$180 is a PCR test. It isn't necessary to enter the US. (Some cruise lines however want more than an antigen test.)