My Experience Cruising with an Unvaxxed Kid - from Vancouver to Port Canaveral

[Djsmrs]

Thought I'd throw a little light on this as I was definitely looking for this type of information before we sailed on our cruise with our kiddos.

 

About us - me, my husband, 13yo son, 11yo son.   All vaxxed, except the 11 year old who has had one shot (so is considered unvaccinated).

 

Cruise out of Port Canaveral on Harmony for 7 nights - travelling from Vancouver.

 

Flying to Orlando:  Dec 11 - 6am from YVR to Calgary.   9:15am YYC to MCO.

 

Testing:   We all required an antigen test to enter the states and to board the ship (Sunday boarding day), so we opted to have our testing done on Friday, December 10th.   My husband and I did the at-home tests purchased through the Air Canada Travel Hub.  Cost was $79 for a kit with two tests, and I ordered them a few weeks prior.   We did our tests at home and it worked pretty well.   I thought I'd be able to do it on an ipad, but it made me access the login through my iphone.   We did one login and both tests were done one after the other.   I had a typo on my husband's name and they were great about fixing it right away.   Double check all your information when you register your account.  It has to match your documents.

 

My 11yo couldn't do the at-home test, so we decided to have both boys done at the airport the night before our flight.   We stayed at the YVR Fairmont the night before as our checkin time was 4am (yikes).

 

Booked the kids' tests through CVM at YVR and it was a zoo!   I booked the latest times possible (8:00pm) because I wasn't sure what our day/evening was going to be like.   This allowed us to grab dinner on the way to the airport and was nice because we weren't rushing to get there.   It was very busy and the stress level in the line was pretty high as people were missing flights due to the waiting times.   Highly recommend doing this the day before your flight (or morning of for a late afternoon/evening flight).   Both boys tested.  All four of us negative.  Cost was $79 per test.  In the future I won't book this at the airport - I'll do it closer to home, but this is a great option in a pinch.

 

Departure Flight Checkin at YVR:

Piece of cake - gave each family member their passport with their negative tests and vaccine status printed out, folded, and included with the passport to expedite things.   This was really helpful.   I brought backup copies of proof of vaccine just in case one was lost - plus we had access to online emails with results.  Was a domestic flight - so pretty basic.   Security was busier than normal - allow extra time.

 

Connecting flight at Calgary - had to leave secure area and come back through international security.   Bit of a gong show - then had to wait in the baggage clearance area for confirmation that all our bags made it through to the aircraft (note - mine didn't make it, even though they said it did - but that's another post).   Again, had printed boarding passes, test results and vaccine status with each passport for ease of access.   

 

Boarding the ship:

We had an 11:00 boarding time and I had planned to arrive at 10:00 for testing for the 11yo - but due to lack of baggage had to make a couple stops and we arrived at 11:00'ish.   The testing was VERY efficient.   They took us through, youngest had his swab and we were led to a waiting area where we waited about half an hour for our results - again got  the all clear and we were on our way onboard.

 

Once on board - things were pretty much the same as at home.   Masks inside.  Giving people distance.   We didn't dine in the MDR so I can't give feedback on that, but Chops, Jamie's, Johnny Rockets, Sabor were all amazing and offered lots of spacing.   Kids had room service a couple of nights while we went out for dinner, which made it easy to maintain physical distancing.    We didn't feel there wasn't anywhere on the ship we couldn't go with an unvaxxed kid that we would have wanted to go, and as such didn't feel that we were missing out on anything because he wasn't wearing his vaxxed wrist band.  

 

I'd say our cruise experience was pretty much the same as pre-covid, with the exception that we couldn't go and wander around at the ports.. but it wasn't really that big of a deal.   We did one excursion at Cozumel (Punta Sur - HIGHLY recommend) and he could get off at CoCo Cay.

 

Flying home Dec 21 - MCO - Toronto and then connecting to Vancouver.

 

PCR test needed for the four of us - RCCL tested us on board (which I think they are discontinuing in January, so plan flight times accordingly).   All tests came back negative.  Got print outs and emails.

 

Arrive CAN app - had it downloaded and we completed everything on it before heading to the airport.  YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR ARRIVECAN DONE SO YOU CAN PRESENT IT AT CHECKIN.   Please have it done ahead of time it will save a tonne of time.  The check in agents can not do this for you.

 

Also at check in - tucked in each passport - negative test result, proof of vax, boarding pass.   Pro tip - go to the kiosk while your family waits in the checkin line.   Print off your boarding passes and baggage tags.   This will really speed up  your checkin process.   We were checked in and bags dropped in about 5 minutes because we had everything ready to go - and it made it much less stressful.   

 

Flight from MCO to Toronto - quick and smooth.

 

Canada - entry testing for my youngest - Toronto - the youngest had to be tested.   We only had one hour to make our connection to Vancouver - so this was STRESSFUL.   Took us 30 minutes to get through customs because it was so busy (we were flying on the 21st - so was a busy Christmas travel day).   Got through customs, then youngest was redirected to the testing area.   I told them our flight was boarding in five minutes and they whipped us through and were absolutely amazing.   We were in and out of testing area in about 15 minutes.

 

Off to security and on board the flight home.    Had his test results 28 hours later - all negative.

 

 

Key points that I think saved time and frustration:

 

1.  Have printouts of everything if you can.   I had a folder with dividers in it that had all our paperwork, test results, reservations - everything just in case it all went sideways.  Didn't need much more than the copies we used, but was a relief knowing I had backups just in case.

2.  Use the check-in kiosks to get your boarding passes and baggage tags - this will save time at the counter for check-in.   I cannot tell you how many people did not have this done and it was so frustrating to stand there waiting for something to be done that they could have done themselves.

3.  ArriveCan needs to be done to be presented for check-in when you're leaving the states.   Do it the day before if you can.  Not at the airport.   Please don't do it when you get up to the counter.

4.  If you have to be tested upon arrival in Canada and have a connecting flight - tell them.  They will rush you through.   The staff was amazing.  If not - don't stress too much about it.   Pearson airport had it dialed in and I was really impressed.

5.  Give yourself ALL the time.  Check in EARLY.   Everything is taking twice as long as it used to.   I think we've all forgotten how to travel - lol, and silly mistakes are being made that slow down check-in, and security.   Lots of shoes off and belts off - which was weird for us because we have TSA pre-check, but that didn't seem to matter.

 

Bring patience.   Bring snacks for kids.  Give yourself time.   You're better off sitting at the gate for an extra 30 minutes than having a stroke in security because the lines are so long and everything is moving so slowly.

 

Be kind - people are really doing their best, and I found a simple "hi - how's your day going" gave customer service reps a minute to take a breath.   People's stress levels are high with all the unknowns.

 

All in all everything went pretty well and smoothly and I'm not deterred from traveling again.   We're looking forward to a trip to Mexico in a couple months provided the world doesn't all fall apart between now and then... and then another cruise in April!

 

 

[Fouremco]

Many thanks for an excellent, detailed post! So helpful for those who follow.

[eyeseeu]

Yes, thank you!  We have a Holland America cruise booked in January; family and friends are more concerned about us going than we are.  
 

Reading reviews liked yours allows us to feel confident in our decision to go - especially when taking the right precautions and doing the pre-planning you mention that we also do. Although I’d like to ask them to back off, I instead say - we are prepared and if something unexpected happens, we’ll deal with it at the time.  We pack 2 weeks extra of medication should we be delayed or need to go into quarantine (like taking an extra  pair of eyeglasses if they break or get lost). 
 

I hope your luggage was located and presented to you in a timely manner.  We always pack 1/2 and 1/2.  Each bag has half of my clothes and half of my husbands - that way we can still manage if one goes astray; as well as take an extra set of clothes in our carry-on bags.  (DH worked as a driver from London - Toronto airport and has heard every possible story about luggage loss.). 

 

Covid-19 and it’s variants, Omicron especially, are showing numbers climbing by the hour. Being vaccinated, wearing masks, keeping distance and hand-washing often are the best we can do, while realizing nobody is invincible.  
 

Wishing safe travels to all -

   and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. 

[gubby]

Even though we have canceled our spring cruises and flights, I truly appreciated reading your detailed account. You said that you think we may have forgotten how to travel. That is why reports like yours are so helpful. I picture what you write about and it is easier to remember what to do in a given situation. 

Thanks once again. Have a great holiday.

[TeaBag]

Thank you so much for all your great tips. 

While we could take advantage of the relaxation of the PCR test needed on return to Canada for trips under 72 hours, we drove down to the US 4 times!! We printed out our ArriveCan (can they not manage to make it simpler?) and presented it when crossing into Canada.  The border guard told us, as Nexus people, we don't have to print it because it is already in their system when you submit it.  He could see it on his screen.  Hopefully this will apply at the airport also.  We won't be flying till May, sadly.

I bet all the agents you had to deal with, to and from the cruise, loved your organizational skills!  We always seem to get behind the people who are like deer in the headlights and have nothing ready.

Happy Holidays to you all.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for sharing your experience and advice.

[K_e_short]

Thank you.

 

Took notes for my trip home in a week.

 

Very helpful the process to check in for flights home.

 

[dog]

Appreciate the details. Thanks 

[thon]

Really appreciated your account.  I’m an organized traveller too so I will keep all this in mind as I get ready for our cruise in late March (unless I am forced to cancel before final payment).

[Djsmrs]

20 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Thank you so much for all your great tips. 

While we could take advantage of the relaxation of the PCR test needed on return to Canada for trips under 72 hours, we drove down to the US 4 times!! We printed out our ArriveCan (can they not manage to make it simpler?) and presented it when crossing into Canada.  The border guard told us, as Nexus people, we don't have to print it because it is already in their system when you submit it.  He could see it on his screen.  Hopefully this will apply at the airport also.  We won't be flying till May, sadly.

I bet all the agents you had to deal with, to and from the cruise, loved your organizational skills!  We always seem to get behind the people who are like deer in the headlights and have nothing ready.

Happy Holidays to you all.

I’d be careful of this when flying.  It’s the checkin agent that needs your ArriveCAN QR code - not the customs agent.   Customs didn’t even ask for our ArriveCAN.     If it was me I would still bring a printed copy if I didn’t have it on my phone.   

[TeaBag]

3 hours ago, Djsmrs said:

I’d be careful of this when flying.  It’s the checkin agent that needs your ArriveCAN QR code - not the customs agent.   Customs didn’t even ask for our ArriveCAN.     If it was me I would still bring a printed copy if I didn’t have it on my phone.   

Thank you for your advice.  We still do the print out every time.  I'm sure you are absolutely right about check in at the airport as we had to designate which border crossing we were using.  We won't be flying out of YVR till end of July, so hopefully things will be better by then.

[Fouremco]

4 hours ago, Djsmrs said:

I’d be careful of this when flying.  It’s the checkin agent that needs your ArriveCAN QR code - not the customs agent.   Customs didn’t even ask for our ArriveCAN.     If it was me I would still bring a printed copy if I didn’t have it on my phone.   

If you are flying to a foreign country, the check-in agent will not allow you to fly without a passport or other acceptable document, but the customs/immigration officials in the destination country will want to see it too. Similarly, when returning to Canada, the airline will need to see your ArriveCAN QR code. The difference from the passport scenario is that the CBSA officer may or may not ask to see your QR code, but is fully entitled to do so and it is the official who determines whether or not there is a need. Anyone deleting it or throwing away a printed copy once they've checked in for their flight risks problems upon arrival.

[RLK33853]

Great review and advice.  

 

thanks

[K_e_short]

@Djsmrs

 

Did you have any issues checking in online with your kids?

I have to see an agent tomorrow as I can't check my 14 year old online.

 

I called and they said it was a glitch but still worrying.

 

[Djsmrs]

On 12/25/2021 at 1:32 PM, K_e_short said:

@Djsmrs

 

Did you have any issues checking in online with your kids?

I have to see an agent tomorrow as I can't check my 14 year old online.

 

I called and they said it was a glitch but still worrying.

 

Nope.   We were on WestJet. Not sure which airline you’re with.   I’ve had it happen on other flights pre-Covid though where we couldn’t check in online and had to do it at the airport.