Flying home to US from Vancouver-covid test needed?

[erber]

Anyone know if the wifi at Vancouver airport would support the emed testing?

[dog]

5 hours ago, DirtyDawg said:

My son works for CRA. I'll call him this morning and tell him he hasn't been working for the last 2 years.  I wonder what he has been doing in his home office all that time. 🤔

I am sure your son and other government employees Have been working. I have dealt successfully with several over the last 2 years.

[dog]

32 minutes ago, erber said:

Anyone know if the wifi at Vancouver airport would support the emed testing?

It worked fine when I was there recently. Much better then on Discovery Princess while docked in Vancouver.  And we had good wifi most of the cruise , otherwise.

[ebeluga]

41 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

"Live with fear" is a more proper approach.  Just a reminder - "Anticipation of death is worse than death itself."

I have done 3 cruises in the past 6 months.  I think most reasonable people would agree that vacationing with stress is not a preferred way of vacation.  Not about "living with fear".  Judging from this thread, it is about stress on a vacation.

[erber]

So maybe the answer is we try using the emed test on board (unless we find out between now and our voyage it won't work) and then either book at test at the pier/airport, or do emed at the airport or at Canada Place with their wifi.

[Steelers36]

8 hours ago, erber said:

Canada regulations say within 72 hours of "scheduled boarding". I take that to mean the time on the Princess  itinerary it says boarding will begin, which in my case is 12:30 Alaska time...which is 4:30 p.m. EDT. 

There is another whole problem to for some folks.  You sort of gain hours is flying west, but lose flying east.  So, if they just look at clock time and don't adjust for time zones, could be different.  And boarding usually begins an hour earlier.  In practice, whoever is checking your test result is going to judge the time passage and that is going to be at check-in and they won't even know the exact time you will be on board.  My point is that the whole thing is stupid because what's an hour give or take?

 

[five.]

Keeping up with all the various apps we will need for our cruise. Does the US have something like ArriveCAN that you have to upload the test to, or is it enough just to show the results on phone or a print out?

[cal56girl]

20 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Follow the crew leaving the ship in Victoria. They usually head for the best free WiFi service.

If someone does this, and has good places, please share!

 

[travelbuds]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

You may have issues with the WiFi on our latest cruise it dropped us numerous times. Worse the further north we got. Disembarked in Vancouver

That doesn't sound promising.

[highloyo]

6 hours ago, memoak said:

You may have issues with the WiFi on our latest cruise it dropped us numerous times. Worse the further north we got. Disembarked in Vancouver

Agree. We were suppose to arrive in Victoria at 1pm. It was delayed until 3pm. That morning I tried to read and answer emails. Internet connection was very slow downloading messages (about 15), sending was a problem as well. Internet disconnected and took awhile to connect again.

[Mike & Zen]

9 hours ago, five. said:

Keeping up with all the various apps we will need for our cruise. Does the US have something like ArriveCAN that you have to upload the test to, or is it enough just to show the results on phone or a print out?

You cannot enter “tests” in ArriveCAN effective 1 April, 2022.

 

Since 1 April, 2022, there is no COVID test requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to enter Canada by air, land, rail, or water (marine).  And effective 25 April, there is no requirement to submit a quarantine plan in ArriveCAN.

 

Therefore, you only need to scan in your passport (travel docs) and proof of vaccination when you sign up for your mandatory ArriveCAN account in advance.  COVID test results were eliminated from ArriveCAN on 1 April, 2022, and the next ArriveCAN version on 25 April, eliminated entering a quarantine plan.
 

Then when you are within 72 hours entering Canada by air or land, or 96 hours of boarding your cruise ship that will eventually have a port of call or disembark in Canada, the ArriveCAN app will allow you to enter the rest of the required data, submit, receive your receipt in ArriveCAN and by email, take a screen shot of your receipt in your device, and print out your email receipt as a back up.  The last part takes no more than 1 minute to complete.

 

However, if you enter Canada by air or land, you might get selected for random COVID testing.  We were randomly selected twice when we entered by air…delayed us by about 15 minutes.  Your mileage may vary.  And there are other reasons you need a COVID pre-entry test such as not fully vaccinated, medical, etc.

 

Also, if you are doing a one way cruise originating in Canada and sailing to a foreign country, for example USA, Japan, etc, and disembarking and ending  your cruise in that foreign country, ArriveCAN is not required. Simple one way West coast examples are sailing from Vancouver to Whittier, Seattle, California, Hawaii, Asia, etc, where you end your cruise.
 

Do not confuse a pre-entry COVID test, which is no longer required for fully vaccinated travellers to enter Canada, with a pre-embarkation COVID test, which is required to embark your cruise ship for a cruise that originates in Canada, for example in Vancouver, Quebec City, Montreal, etc. 
 

ArriveCAN is so easy to do in the app, but you will find a few posters over thinking and complicating this simple process.

 

ArriveCAN website

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/arrivecan.html

 

ArriveCAN help

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/arrivecan/help.html

[five.]

Thank you for that detailed response. I knew that the covid test was dropped for Canada, so maybe that wasn't the best way to word the question. I am going Vancouver to Vancouver and have to do two ArriveCAN passes (once when I fly in and once when we embark on the cruise) from what I understand as well as uploading my covid test to VeriFLY (the app that HAL is using). And I know I will have to have a covid test for re-entry to the US, just haven't heard if there is some app for that, or if it's just showing the results on phone or a printout.

[milolii]

17 hours ago, five. said:

Keeping up with all the various apps we will need for our cruise. Does the US have something like ArriveCAN that you have to upload the test to, or is it enough just to show the results on phone or a print out?

We are flying United home in June to the US from London.  You can upload the test in their app, but it has to be done within  the time frame.  

[five.]

Ah thanks. That makes sense. We are flying Alaska Air and according to their website they are using VeriFLY, but in the VeriFLY app that is not one of the airlines available for trips into the USA. I only see the option to add flights from American Airlines, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Japan Airlines, ZipAir. I also checked Alaska Air's on app to see if there was any place to upload test results, but only see Contact Tracing information as different on the return trip.

 

Oh well, I'll ask when we leave out to Vancouver, I'm sure they'll know.

[Yehootu]

Found this on another thread onboard the Royal.

 

COVID TESTING INFORMATION

Just spoke to a Princess rep who, at my request, confirmed the following information with her supervisor:

 

1) The email sent informing travelers Princess will no longer give Covid tests to disembarking passengers did not mention reimbursement; however, the website does. Princess has left passengers to fend for themselves regarding how to get tested but they are trying to help as much as possible. To be reimbursed for Covid testing needed to fly back to USA, go to princess.com/refund-request  You will need to upload a pdf or jpeg of the receipt. (Take a photo of receipt with your phone and send as jpeg or save emailed receipt as pdf)

 

2) It has been frequently reported that Internet is slow or not working on the Royal Princess. So, if you have brought with you the Covid tests that need to be observed online, make an appointment at the ship's Health Center and a medical employee will be the "observer" and will give you written proof needed to board your flight to USA.

 

We will be on the June 11-25 voyage, RT from Vancouver so I needed to get clear information. I appreciate the insights and details of the challenges and highlights from fellow cruisers.

[travelbuds]

13 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

Found this on another thread onboard the Royal.

 

COVID TESTING INFORMATION

Just spoke to a Princess rep who, at my request, confirmed the following information with her supervisor:

 

...... make an appointment at the ship's Health Center and a medical employee will be the "observer" and will give you written proof needed to board your flight to USA.

 

Do you know what Princess will be charging for this medical service onboard the Royal? Can appointment be made prior to leaving home? Thank you.

 

[Mike & Zen]

4 hours ago, five. said:

Thank you for that detailed response. I knew that the covid test was dropped for Canada, so maybe that wasn't the best way to word the question. I am going Vancouver to Vancouver and have to do two ArriveCAN passes (once when I fly in and once when we embark on the cruise) from what I understand as well as uploading my covid test to VeriFLY (the app that HAL is using). And I know I will have to have a covid test for re-entry to the US, just haven't heard if there is some app for that, or if it's just showing the results on phone or a printout.

You are welcome.

 

You didn’t mention if your cruise ship is coming directly back to Vancouver or if you are re-entering Canada in Prince Rupert, Victoria, etc, first.  ArriveCAN asks for your FIRST port of entry in Canada.  For example, if it is Victoria then that is the port you enter.  Nothing for Vancouver is required as you have already Arrived in CANada.  Of course if your arriving directly back to Vancouver, then that is your first port of entry.  You have a good grip on how to use ArriveCAN, and I commend you on that as most don’t.

 

We are currently sailing in CROWN Princess out of Seattle, and have flown from Canada to the USA a few times to board our cruises starting in Seattle and San Pedro near Long Beach.  I don’t know of any app your country uses to enter COVID tests (or proof of vaccination), or we would have used it.  The US immigration/customs agent at YVR did ask to see our negative COVID test result that we had printed out that was within one day of boarding our plane.  I also took a picture of it, too.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[TVlife]

On 5/6/2022 at 11:02 AM, san diego sue said:

I wonder if cruises ending in Vancouver still have the option of busing to Seattle Airport. We did that  several years ago. We got on the bus at the terminal, and they sealed it. So at the border for U.S., we didn't need to get off the bus.  So if you could fly home from Seattle, it isn't international travel and wouldn't require a test. Makes for a longer trip in some cases. For us, actually was shorter because flight from Seattle got us home earlier than if from Vancouver.

Who provided the bus?  Cruise line transfer or something else?  When you say you got on the bus at the terminal, was this the cruise terminal?  Need to figure out best options for our cruise ending in Vancouver. Thanks 

[TVlife]

On 5/6/2022 at 1:21 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I just spoke to my brother who travels between US and Canada frequently.  He opted to drive from Vancouver to Seattle instead of taking the test to fly out.

How is he traveling across the border?  Car, bus, train?  Any info on car rental companies that will allow one way from CA to US?  Thanks 

[dog]

Just looked it up- do a mock booking. As far as filling in passengers. Next page sells transfers. Vancouver to Seattle airport Princess offers a coach transfer for $99. Canadian .  To enter US by land no Covid test is needed. 

[TVlife]

On 5/6/2022 at 8:57 PM, mjmalino said:

I looked into taking a bus (not Princess) or ferry from Vancouver to Seattle when we disembark on the 21st. Given that we want to spend the day in Seattle, we decided to rent a car and drive to Seattle. It is on the pricy side, but given the more expensive fare to fly home from Vancouver compared to Seattle (plus the much easier flights) it is a no-brainer. 

Can you please tell me what car rental company you have your reservation with?  I haven’t been successful in finding information on a bus either. Thanks 

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, TVlife said:

How is he traveling across the border?  Car, bus, train?  Any info on car rental companies that will allow one way from CA to US?  Thanks 

 

He just told me that he will be traveling in a private vehicle.  Sorry I couldn't help you out more.  

[doctoranna]

On 5/10/2022 at 8:40 PM, travelbuds said:

How much time between the COVID test and flight do you think you need  so you can get through customs and security?

I don't know for sure.  Our flight is at 2 PM and we booked our tests at the convention center at 9AM.  We plan to take the SkyTrain to the airport after our tests.  They will email us the results within 30 minutes and they have a site at the airport also if there is any problem getting results.