Has anyone have a +PCR and tried to come back to Canada?

[wendycook22]

Just now, lots-of-km2 said:

Thanks, @Sprocket.  Do you know which insurance company (as opposed to insurance broker) is underwriting the policy? (for example - Allianz, Green Shield, Blue Cross) 

I may be wrong, but I am thinking it is Allianz based on the NOTE section of the post. 

[Sprocket]

2 minutes ago, lots-of-km2 said:

Thanks, @Sprocket.   So it's Allianz  insurance company that is underwriting the Covid-only policy? 

Yes it is which I found surprising but its who Princess uses so I would be comfortable purchasing it through them.

[wendycook22]

Update:My friend reported when they crossed the border they were made aware of the possibility of being fined 5000.00 per person. They had to agree to being aware of the potential fine, and was provided tests for day 1 and day 8.  They were release and was informed their applications on ArrivCan will be reviewed.  Fines are assessed on a case by case basis but were told that they are taking the approach of awareness, education and the importance of isolation.  
 

This may not be extremely useful as your mileage may vary.  I am passing on their experience.I will follow up to see if they receive any further correspondence. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by wendycook22

[waiting2retire]

Thanks very much for reporting back to us Wendy. I suspect the key here will be to claim ignorance and be very apologetic, polite and respectful of the CBSA officers!

[edrussell]

Thanks for feeding this back.  This is actually what I had expected that the fines were more for effect than anything else.  Sure you 'may' be, but if you approach the situation with grace it is much less likely that you actually will be fined.  Our plan is to do just that should the eventuality of us actually having to face the situation.

 

[KanataCruise]

10 hours ago, wendycook22 said:

Update:My friend reported when they crossed the border they were made aware of the possibility of being fined 5000.00 per person. They had to agree to being aware of the potential fine, and was provided tests for day 1 and day 8.  They were release and was informed their applications on ArrivCan will be reviewed.  Fines are assessed on a case by case basis but were told that they are taking the approach of awareness, education and the importance of isolation.  
 

This may not be extremely useful as your mileage may vary.  I am passing on their experience.I will follow up to see if they receive any further correspondence. 

Thanks for sharing this - just wondering how your friends would have completed the ArriveCan form?  From what I understand, the form only allows 2 options:  

1) negative test result

2)positive test result from at least 11 days prior to arrival at border up to 180 days

 

how did they circumvent this requirement? Did they not complete the forms on thr Arrivecan app?

[MaddyandMax]

11 hours ago, wendycook22 said:

Update:My friend reported when they crossed the border they were made aware of the possibility of being fined 5000.00 per person. They had to agree to being aware of the potential fine, and was provided tests for day 1 and day 8.  They were release and was informed their applications on ArrivCan will be reviewed.  Fines are assessed on a case by case basis but were told that they are taking the approach of awareness, education and the importance of isolation.  
 

This may not be extremely useful as your mileage may vary.  I am passing on their experience.I will follow up to see if they receive any further correspondence. 

Another Hamiltonian!  This is somewhat good news.  I'm not surprised that you don't get fined right at the border.  I suspect that a lot of this is a deteriorate to travel.  Look at how many on this board have already cancelled vacations...

 

We have a March break cruise that we are going on as long as the border remains open.  Hopefully this will change by then.  But my parents are coming back across positive or not.  My husband and I will bring our work laptops and if Royal will cover our quarantine costs we will stay in the US. I'm still on the fence whether any cruise company will do this once you are off their ship...

 

On another note I'm frustrated.  My family and are have done everything we were told to do.  We are all vaccinated, even my children, boostered, wear N95's and have done every lock down with no complaining.  I work from home and do everything we can to be safe.  Covid is something we will have to live with forever and in no ways am I not saying it's dangerous.  My father has COPD and my mother cancer.  We have done everything we can to stay safe.  But at what time do we have to continue with our regular lives (safely).  It's been 3 years now.  I feel like this cruise has been the only bright spot to think about the past 2 years and now I feel like the government is penalizing me for doing every single thing they asked of us gladly... I'm frustrated.  I feel horrible for the nursing shortages and everything single surgery that is being delayed. But the provincial government could have fixed this 2 years ago already. And I'm not interested in a political debate so save it for anyone roaring to go - lol.  I don't know what the right answer is but I need something to look forward to after all this time.  My own mental health is suffering.

[wendycook22]

41 minutes ago, KanataCruise said:

Thanks for sharing this - just wondering how your friends would have completed the ArriveCan form?  From what I understand, the form only allows 2 options:  

1) negative test result

2)positive test result from at least 11 days prior to arrival at border up to 180 days

 

how did they circumvent this requirement? Did they not complete the forms on thr Arrivecan app?

Unfortunately, I am not certain how they responded to the ArriveCan question.  I was appreciative of the information they did provide during what I would imagine being a very stressful time.  

 

16 minutes ago, MaddyandMax said:

Another Hamiltonian!  This is somewhat good news.  I'm not surprised that you don't get fined right at the border.  I suspect that a lot of this is a deteriorate to travel.  Look at how many on this board have already cancelled vacations...

 

We have a March break cruise that we are going on as long as the border remains open.  Hopefully this will change by then.  But my parents are coming back across positive or not.  My husband and I will bring our work laptops and if Royal will cover our quarantine costs we will stay in the US. I'm still on the fence whether any cruise company will do this once you are off their ship...

 

On another note I'm frustrated.  My family and are have done everything we were told to do.  We are all vaccinated, even my children, boostered, wear N95's and have done every lock down with no complaining.  I work from home and do everything we can to be safe.  Covid is something we will have to live with forever and in no ways am I not saying it's dangerous.  My father has COPD and my mother cancer.  We have done everything we can to stay safe.  But at what time do we have to continue with our regular lives (safely).  It's been 3 years now.  I feel like this cruise has been the only bright spot to think about the past 2 years and now I feel like the government is penalizing me for doing every single thing they asked of us gladly... I'm frustrated.  I feel horrible for the nursing shortages and everything single surgery that is being delayed. But the provincial government could have fixed this 2 years ago already. And I'm not interested in a political debate so save it for anyone roaring to go - lol.  I don't know what the right answer is but I need something to look forward to after all this time.  My own mental health is suffering.

We have a sailing booked Feb 19 on Celebrity Reflection and plan to go as long as everything isn't shut down (borders/cruises).  We can't get the testing by Celebrity pier side because we are outside of their 1 day window (not the policy when booked but we all know it is a very fluid situation right now -we have to roll with the punches as are the cruise lines).    We will double check once on board, but will be prepared with a plan b/c/d (CVS books 2 weeks out in Cooper Town for rapid PCR, Walgreens 5 days out for LAMP, or pay for rapid testing if necessary).  We will get ourselves tested as soon as we leave the pier Saturday after disembarkation (we fly out Monday afternoon - so we plan to get it before enjoying our time in Florida).  We are also going to carry Manulife Covd-19 Pandemic Plan to assist with quarantine costs in the hopefully unlikely event they will be needed.  I am also going to bring my laptop, as I can work remotely from Florida.  Hubby being in construction - not so much.  

[Sprocket]

15 hours ago, wendycook22 said:

Update:My friend reported when they crossed the border they were made aware of the possibility of being fined 5000.00 per person. They had to agree to being aware of the potential fine, and was provided tests for day 1 and day 8.  They were release and was informed their applications on ArrivCan will be reviewed.  Fines are assessed on a case by case basis but were told that they are taking the approach of awareness, education and the importance of isolation.  
 

This may not be extremely useful as your mileage may vary.  I am passing on their experience.I will follow up to see if they receive any further correspondence. 

 

Attached to the test kit boxes is an information pamphlet regarding procedures they will have to follow on their arrival.  Easy to miss are instructions to call a toll free number every day until they get their results.  Threats of another $5000 fine for non-compliance, could be an expensive trip.

[wendycook22]

6 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

 

Attached to the test kit boxes is an information pamphlet regarding procedures they will have to follow on their arrival.  Easy to miss are instructions to call a toll free number every day until they get their results.  Threats of another $5000 fine for non-compliance, could be an expensive trip.

I have passed along your advice/comments.  Thank you. 

[LuCruise]

 

14 hours ago, wendycook22 said:

Update:My friend reported when they crossed the border they were made aware of the possibility of being fined 5000.00 per person. They had to agree to being aware of the potential fine, and was provided tests for day 1 and day 8.  They were release and was informed their applications on ArrivCan will be reviewed.  Fines are assessed on a case by case basis but were told that they are taking the approach of awareness, education and the importance of isolation.  
 

This may not be extremely useful as your mileage may vary.  I am passing on their experience.I will follow up to see if they receive any further correspondence. 

Really appreciate you reporting back.  I'm not clear though...did they avoid the fine as long as they follow the quarantine?  Or it is still TBD and they could be sent a nasty bill to pay?

 

5 hours ago, MaddyandMax said:

Another Hamiltonian!  This is somewhat good news.  I'm not surprised that you don't get fined right at the border.  I suspect that a lot of this is a deteriorate to travel.  Look at how many on this board have already cancelled vacations...

 

We have a March break cruise that we are going on as long as the border remains open.  Hopefully this will change by then.  But my parents are coming back across positive or not.  My husband and I will bring our work laptops and if Royal will cover our quarantine costs we will stay in the US. I'm still on the fence whether any cruise company will do this once you are off their ship...

 

On another note I'm frustrated.  My family and are have done everything we were told to do.  We are all vaccinated, even my children, boostered, wear N95's and have done every lock down with no complaining.  I work from home and do everything we can to be safe.  Covid is something we will have to live with forever and in no ways am I not saying it's dangerous.  My father has COPD and my mother cancer.  We have done everything we can to stay safe.  But at what time do we have to continue with our regular lives (safely).  It's been 3 years now.  I feel like this cruise has been the only bright spot to think about the past 2 years and now I feel like the government is penalizing me for doing every single thing they asked of us gladly... I'm frustrated.  I feel horrible for the nursing shortages and everything single surgery that is being delayed. But the provincial government could have fixed this 2 years ago already. And I'm not interested in a political debate so save it for anyone roaring to go - lol.  I don't know what the right answer is but I need something to look forward to after all this time.  My own mental health is suffering.

Feel 200% the same.  I think from our roll call we're booked on the same cruise (Anthem).  Like you, we have done everything we were told, as vaccinated as we can be (booster for us, double vaxed for our kids)...We have pretty much quarantined ourselves for the past two years.  Really angry about this.

 

When we saw this new border threat, our response was "well there goes March cruise".  Now we are rethinking and not sure what to do.  We feel that cruises are safer than any other holiday, but do know that people are still getting covid no matter how careful.  Not worried about getting covid but at least if we can drive ourselves home and quarantine there, that's more manageable (plus financial).

[wendycook22]

Just now, LuCruise said:

 

Really appreciate you reporting back.  I'm not clear though...did they avoid the fine as long as they follow the quarantine?  Or it is still TBD and they could be sent a nasty bill to pay?

 

Feel 200% the same.  I think from our roll call we're booked on the same cruise (Anthem).  Like you, we have done everything we were told, as vaccinated as we can be (booster for us, double vaxed for our kids)...We have pretty much quarantined ourselves for the past two years.  Really angry about this.

 

When we saw this new border threat, our response was "well there goes March cruise".  Now we are rethinking and not sure what to do.  We feel that cruises are safer than any other holiday, but do know that people are still getting covid no matter how careful.  Not worried about getting covid but at least if we can drive ourselves home and quarantine there, that's more manageable (plus financial).

It is yet to be determined if they have fully escaped the fines.  They were advised that they do not assess/apply the fines at the boarder and the did not receive a timeline on if they were to receive fines, when they would be notified. 

 

This leaves me the impression (solely my thought and opinion for what it is worth) to believe the comments made by one of the CBSA agent that the government is trying to take a more educational approach and perhaps are observing whether or not travelers returning home abide by the testing, isolation and daily check in requirements before they decide if fines will be given.  But I am not sure I would be willing to hedge my bets on it.  🙂 

[1kaper]

5 hours ago, wendycook22 said:

Unfortunately, I am not certain how they responded to the ArriveCan question.  I was appreciative of the information they did provide during what I would imagine being a very stressful time.  

 

We have a sailing booked Feb 19 on Celebrity Reflection and plan to go as long as everything isn't shut down (borders/cruises).  We can't get the testing by Celebrity pier side because we are outside of their 1 day window (not the policy when booked but we all know it is a very fluid situation right now -we have to roll with the punches as are the cruise lines).    We will double check once on board, but will be prepared with a plan b/c/d (CVS books 2 weeks out in Cooper Town for rapid PCR, Walgreens 5 days out for LAMP, or pay for rapid testing if necessary).  We will get ourselves tested as soon as we leave the pier Saturday after disembarkation (we fly out Monday afternoon - so we plan to get it before enjoying our time in Florida).  We are also going to carry Manulife Covd-19 Pandemic Plan to assist with quarantine costs in the hopefully unlikely event they will be needed.  I am also going to bring my laptop, as I can work remotely from Florida.  Hubby being in construction - not so much.  

 

 

Do you know when the latest you can purchase the Manulife Covid plan is?
We have our own health/travel insurance through work.  We have adjusted our plans and are going to still try to do our cruise but we are dropping the AI we booked.  We had planned to do the AI with friends, fly to port, spend 4 days there, then cruise.  Since we aren't doing that, that gives us the free time to use if we do end up positive. 
I'm planning on buying the Switch Health tests for return.  Haven't started to figure out the pre-cruise test yet. 

[LuCruise]

3 minutes ago, wendycook22 said:

It is yet to be determined if they have fully escaped the fines.  They were advised that they do not assess/apply the fines at the boarder and the did not receive a timeline on if they were to receive fines, when they would be notified. 

 

This leaves me the impression (solely my thought and opinion for what it is worth) to believe the comments made by one of the CBSA agent that the government is trying to take a more educational approach and perhaps are observing whether or not travelers returning home abide by the testing, isolation and daily check in requirements before they decide if fines will be given.  But I am not sure I would be willing to hedge my bets on it.  🙂 

Thank you. I do hope they don't get charged and they recover quickly.

Hopefully you are right...and of course, people follow the quarantine.  If someone is positive, then definitely should be staying at home during the required time to avoid infecting others.

[wendycook22]

2 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

 

 

Do you know when the latest you can purchase the Manulife Covid plan is?
We have our own health/travel insurance through work.  We have adjusted our plans and are going to still try to do our cruise but we are dropping the AI we booked.  We had planned to do the AI with friends, fly to port, spend 4 days there, then cruise.  Since we aren't doing that, that gives us the free time to use if we do end up positive. 
I'm planning on buying the Switch Health tests for return.  Haven't started to figure out the pre-cruise test yet. 

Yes, we have our own health/travel insurance, but nothing for covid19 coverage so we will be purchasing the Manulife plan prior to our travel. You can purchase the plan as long as you’re in Canada and it’s added before your travel dates.

[1kaper]

7 minutes ago, wendycook22 said:

Yes, we have our own health/travel insurance, but nothing for covid19 coverage so we will be purchasing the Manulife plan prior to our travel. You can purchase the plan as long as you’re in Canada and it’s added before your travel dates.

 

Thanks!

I did make sure our health plans covered Covid (they do).  So I'm really just worried about getting stuck there with a positive test. 

[MaddyandMax]

40 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

 

Really appreciate you reporting back.  I'm not clear though...did they avoid the fine as long as they follow the quarantine?  Or it is still TBD and they could be sent a nasty bill to pay?

 

Feel 200% the same.  I think from our roll call we're booked on the same cruise (Anthem).  Like you, we have done everything we were told, as vaccinated as we can be (booster for us, double vaxed for our kids)...We have pretty much quarantined ourselves for the past two years.  Really angry about this.

 

When we saw this new border threat, our response was "well there goes March cruise".  Now we are rethinking and not sure what to do.  We feel that cruises are safer than any other holiday, but do know that people are still getting covid no matter how careful.  Not worried about getting covid but at least if we can drive ourselves home and quarantine there, that's more manageable (plus financial).

We were on the fence too and still are but I think we've 99% decided to go as long as the border is open.  We also plan to bring rapid tests to take on day 5 so there are hopefully no surprises.

 

My parents are willing to go home even with a positive test but I think my husband and I will come prepared to work remotely from a hotel if needed.  We do have a dog but will deal with that if needed.  If it appears that people crossing who are positive aren't getting fined when they follow the quarantine rules we will also come back right away. I suspect this is how it will be and if you follow quarantine rules you will not get fined.  The government is taking the chance of having "compliant" people revolting if they do.  It's all very frustrating. 

 

It will be nice to see a fellow Canadian on the ship hopefully!

 

But it sure has taken the enjoyment out of planning and the feeling of knowing we always followed the rules and did what was right.

[GrannyGear]

6 hours ago, MaddyandMax said:

Another Hamiltonian!  This is somewhat good news.  I'm not surprised that you don't get fined right at the border.  I suspect that a lot of this is a deteriorate to travel.  Look at how many on this board have already cancelled vacations...

 

We have a March break cruise that we are going on as long as the border remains open.  Hopefully this will change by then.  But my parents are coming back across positive or not.  My husband and I will bring our work laptops and if Royal will cover our quarantine costs we will stay in the US. I'm still on the fence whether any cruise company will do this once you are off their ship...

 

On another note I'm frustrated.  My family and are have done everything we were told to do.  We are all vaccinated, even my children, boostered, wear N95's and have done every lock down with no complaining.  I work from home and do everything we can to be safe.  Covid is something we will have to live with forever and in no ways am I not saying it's dangerous.  My father has COPD and my mother cancer.  We have done everything we can to stay safe.  But at what time do we have to continue with our regular lives (safely).  It's been 3 years now.  I feel like this cruise has been the only bright spot to think about the past 2 years and now I feel like the government is penalizing me for doing every single thing they asked of us gladly... I'm frustrated.  I feel horrible for the nursing shortages and everything single surgery that is being delayed. But the provincial government could have fixed this 2 years ago already. And I'm not interested in a political debate so save it for anyone roaring to go - lol.  I don't know what the right answer is but I need something to look forward to after all this time.  My own mental health is suffering.

I feel your pain. Our health minister as an app to cure your mental health apparently. 

 

I am beginning to think that Canada's approach is akin to parents isolating young children from everybody , only to send them to public with no acquired immunity. So silly at this point.

[LuCruise]

1 hour ago, MaddyandMax said:

We were on the fence too and still are but I think we've 99% decided to go as long as the border is open.  We also plan to bring rapid tests to take on day 5 so there are hopefully no surprises.

 

My parents are willing to go home even with a positive test but I think my husband and I will come prepared to work remotely from a hotel if needed.  We do have a dog but will deal with that if needed.  If it appears that people crossing who are positive aren't getting fined when they follow the quarantine rules we will also come back right away. I suspect this is how it will be and if you follow quarantine rules you will not get fined.  The government is taking the chance of having "compliant" people revolting if they do.  It's all very frustrating. 

 

It will be nice to see a fellow Canadian on the ship hopefully!

 

But it sure has taken the enjoyment out of planning and the feeling of knowing we always followed the rules and did what was right.

That's great.  Let's hope border remains open.  Hopefully they keep with just a warning and it's ok if we follow quarantine if needed.  If we come, we will bring our laptops just in case we hear people are in fact getting fined if positive and try to return home.

Am also not getting too excited...even if we decide to go.  We were going to go on Anthem in December but never made it due to a "close" contact (not actually close but a kid in our son's class).  He was fine and we could have gone on our side, but from Royal's rules it wasn't 14 days of no contact.  So many hurdles....(but still worth it)

[JessyCruises]

Hubby tested positive onboard Odyssey of the Seas on 1/13/22 and we have been in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale since 1/15/22.  Day 11 after the positive test was today and we were able to fly home with no issues.  I was flagged for a PCR test in Montreal.  I should get results within 5 days.

 

[Sprocket]

59 minutes ago, JessyCruises said:

Hubby tested positive onboard Odyssey of the Seas on 1/13/22 and we have been in a hotel in Fort Lauderdale since 1/15/22.  Day 11 after the positive test was today and we were able to fly home with no issues.  I was flagged for a PCR test in Montreal.  I should get results within 5 days.

 

Do you have to quarantine until you get your results?  

[JessyCruises]

3 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

Do you have to quarantine until you get your results?  

They did not tell me I had to and there was no paperwork provided to me.  I was only told I would get the results within 5 days.

Edited January 25, 2022 by JessyCruises

[Sprocket]

1 minute ago, JessyCruises said:

They did not tell me I had to and there was no paperwork provided to me.  I was only told I would get the results within 5 days.

Weird when I flew I was given instructions from CBSA (no test given)  and when I drove they were on the testing kit.  You can find the information on the ArriveCan app I believe, but I had to quarantine until I had a negative result thankfully it was emailed the next day.  Pretty sure you also have to call them  and check in every day until you get your results.

How the heck do they do expect people to follow all these new rules if they don't provide us the information???

[gnome12]

44 minutes ago, Sprocket said:

Weird when I flew I was given instructions from CBSA (no test given)  and when I drove they were on the testing kit.  You can find the information on the ArriveCan app I believe, but I had to quarantine until I had a negative result thankfully it was emailed the next day.  Pretty sure you also have to call them  and check in every day until you get your results.

How the heck do they do expect people to follow all these new rules if they don't provide us the information???

That's what the email (3 or 4 days or whatever later) is for! 😀

[potsie1969]

If flying from Barcelona to Toronto do you need to have a PCR test to board plane or can you wait till arrival in Toronto.thanks for ant help