Flying home to US from Vancouver-covid test needed?

[Buckeye10640]

40 minutes ago, ebeluga said:

The program should be renamed to "Cruise with No Confidence". Lol.

You know I think thats what bother me the most.  We hung on at the 30 day mark and did not cancel (we considered it) with the understanding that  under Cruise With Confidence testing would be offered at disembarkation AND if we tested positive at disembarkation we would be taken care of.  If the rules need to change then give people enough notice so they have the option to cancel before they hit 30 days. 

[Yehootu]

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, I believe the key is to have the test done before disembarking.  I don't see anywhere in the health protocols where Princess will not cover quarantine expenses after the cruise when test positive, but seems cloudy if you don't test until after leaving the ship.  Perhaps less hassle to take a land trip to Seattle and then fly.  Seems to me another barrier to travel going on here.

We've done the train trip south once before after getting off in Vancouver. After 35yrs leaving in hotels as an airline crew and now just a babysitting Grandpa ( aka Grumps.. a local term of endearment for grandpa) I wouldn't mind just relaxing. Life is full of variables just gotta roll.

[Yehootu]

12 hours ago, d9704011 said:

I never got the chicken pox although I suppose there's still some time left.

Wow, growing up in Hawaii, I'm TH, everyone got da pox. Check on the shingles shot, kinda hurts but only gotta do twice. My wife said she had ham hock arm cause it hurt so bad she couldn't feel nothin. Like getting punched real hard.

[Happiest when cruising]

19 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

We've done the train trip south once before after getting off in Vancouver. After 35yrs leaving in hotels as an airline crew and now just a babysitting Grandpa ( aka Grumps.. a local term of endearment for grandpa) I wouldn't mind just relaxing. Life is full of variables just gotta roll.

Sadly, the train isn’t running yet. There is currently only the bus option.

[ebeluga]

Come to think of it, not providing test for flying back to home country perhaps is a deliberate way to steer US pax (which is probably a majority on board) to cross the border on land so that neither pax or cruise line has to deal with all the logistics and financial headache associated with what a (+) test would bring upon pax and the cruise line.

[Buckeye10640]

4 hours ago, ebeluga said:

Come to think of it, not providing test for flying back to home country perhaps is a deliberate way to steer US pax (which is probably a majority on board) to cross the border on land so that neither pax or cruise line has to deal with all the logistics and financial headache associated with what a (+) test would bring upon pax and the cruise line.

Perhaps, but I would think many  Alaska cruisers this summer would already have transportation plans/flights that are not easily (or inexpensively) cancelled. Certainly if I were booking now for this summer,  I would not be flying out of YVR. I have decided this may be the cruise lines way of minimizing the cost of testing and on shore quarantine for positive passengers. Which might financially make sense...push the cost to the travel insurance providers. But not giving any advance notice of the changes to their 'Cruise with Confidence' promise is not cool. 

[travelbuds]

17 hours ago, pattycruisealot21 said:

 

Yeah from what I have learned through my research is that the US is still requiring a COVID-19 viral test no more than 1 day before you travel by air into the United States. Here is the link to the CDC website that I've found tons of helpful information https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html. 

I was having a hard time trying to find a testing clinic nearby but I was so happy when I found a clinic that is actually right next to the cruise ship terminal in Vancouver which is soo convenient!!  It's located in the Vancouver Convention Centre, I booked my test online but I heard that they also accept walk-ins. Here is the link in case it may helpful to anyone: https://covid-medical.ca/covid-19-test-book-online/  Prices are also pretty decent! Hope it helps save some stress 🙂

When you go for testing at the Convention Center, what will you do with all of your luggage? Will you be able to then take the Princess shuttle to the airport? I assume the prices listed are Canadian dollars.

[travelbuds]

13 hours ago, Babr said:

I think that is a question for Princess. Once you leave the ship, collect your luggage, and exit the terminal for testing, it depends on where the shuttle would board and how long it could wait for people who are testing. The purpose of the shuttle is to get people to the airport in time for their flights. Since YVR is recommending arriving three hours before your flight, that leaves a narrow window for shuttles to operate except for flights around noon or later. A lot depends on the number of ships in port.

Here is 2022 schedule for ships in port. https://www.portvancouver.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Cruise-Schedule-as-of-April-29.pdf

[dog]

4 hours ago, travelbuds said:

When you go for testing at the Convention Center, what will you do with all of your luggage? Will you be able to then take the Princess shuttle to the airport? I assume the prices listed are Canadian dollars.

You take your luggage. Take a taxi to airport after testing. $40 CAD. Approximately.  Ask for refund of transfers while on-board.

[ebeluga]

7 hours ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Perhaps, but I would think many  Alaska cruisers this summer would already have transportation plans/flights that are not easily (or inexpensively) cancelled. Certainly if I were booking now for this summer,  I would not be flying out of YVR. I have decided this may be the cruise lines way of minimizing the cost of testing and on shore quarantine for positive passengers. Which might financially make sense...push the cost to the travel insurance providers. But not giving any advance notice of the changes to their 'Cruise with Confidence' promise is not cool. 

Alaska cruises summer season would be running at near if not at full capacity. You can bet there would be a lot of (+) cases if you test the pax and it would be a nightmare to manage their quarantine care given Canada's quarantine requirement from cruiselines' perspective. Yes it is US test requirement but it is Canada's quarantine requirement (10 or 14 days?). And the cruise lines really need to make some profit after the last 2 years.

[d9704011]

6 hours ago, ebeluga said:

Yes it is US test requirement but it is Canada's quarantine requirement (10 or 14 days?). And the cruise lines really need to make some profit after the last 2 years.

If a person tests positive for Covid-19 they have to self-isolate for about five days or until they test negative (this is for British Columbia, other provinces may be different).  Once they test negative, they can then leave the self-isolation and fly to the US.  There is no quarantine requirement in place.

[Babr]

59 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

If a person tests positive for Covid-19 they have to self-isolate for about five days or until they test negative (this is for British Columbia, other provinces may be different).  Once they test negative, they can then leave the self-isolation and fly to the US.  There is no quarantine requirement in place.

But the problem is that if one does not test negative in X number of days, he still can’t board a plane for the US regardless of quarantine requirement. At that point, he’d have to find ground transportation to the US.

 

So I suppose it is self-isolation on the honor system - or make a run for the border.

[Happiest when cruising]

2 minutes ago, Babr said:

But the problem is that if one does not test negative in X number of days, he still can’t board a plane for the US regardless of quarantine requirement. At that point, he’d have to find ground transportation to the US.

 

So I suppose it is self-isolation on the honor system - or make a run for the border.

Please tell me no-one would intentionally cross the border knowing they are are still positive without doing the required isolation time. 

[Babr]

40 minutes ago, Happiest when cruising said:

Please tell me no-one would intentionally cross the border knowing they are are still positive without doing the required isolation time. 

Intentionally is the key word. Seems it would be simple enough to lay out the guidelines somewhere easily accessible to those affected. Who communicates that information to those who test positive at the Convention Centre or the airport?

Or even people here looking for information so they can plan for contingencies?

[highloyo]

21 hours ago, Yehootu said:

We've done the train trip south once before after getting off in Vancouver. After 35yrs leaving in hotels as an airline crew and now just a babysitting Grandpa ( aka Grumps.. a local term of endearment for grandpa) I wouldn't mind just relaxing. Life is full of variables just gotta roll.

@Yehootu Were you with HA?

[d9704011]

1 hour ago, Babr said:

But the problem is that if one does not test negative in X number of days, he still can’t board a plane for the US regardless of quarantine requirement. At that point, he’d have to find ground transportation to the US.

 

So I suppose it is self-isolation on the honor system - or make a run for the border.

The real problem is the US requirement for testing to enter the United States by air.  It certainly has nothing to do with Canada.

Edited May 7, 2022 by d9704011

[Babr]

3 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

The real problem is the US requirement for testing to enter the United States by air.  It certainly has nothing to do with Canada.

You are correct. It makes no sense at all when people can cross the border by any other means without testing. Canada has made efforts to facilitate the return to cruising, but the US testing requirement is the sticking point.

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, Happiest when cruising said:

Please tell me no-one would intentionally cross the border knowing they are are still positive without doing the required isolation time. 

Can't truthfully do that. Not that I would but, just take a look at what's happening on the US southern border. Happens every day there and probably happens on the northern border, just on a smaller scale.

[Yehootu]

1 hour ago, highloyo said:

@Yehootu Were you with HA?

Yes for awhile. Left in early 90s and spent 32yrs with UAL.

[Willwils]

The sticking point now is with Princess. Until about  a week ago Princess was offer the covid test for FREE when disembarking in Vancouver if you had a Princess EZ-Air flight back to US. Now you have to pay for it, whether it's  the video self test/cell phone test on board(requires wifi pkg) or at cruise terminal getting off ship. Why don't  they Grandfather anyone who booked with the previous free testing  promise. 

[Happiest when cruising]

31 minutes ago, Willwils said:

The sticking point now is with Princess. Until about  a week ago Princess was offer the covid test for FREE when disembarking in Vancouver if you had a Princess EZ-Air flight back to US. Now you have to pay for it, whether it's  the video self test/cell phone test on board(requires wifi pkg) or at cruise terminal getting off ship. Why don't  they Grandfather anyone who booked with the previous free testing  promise. 

I just feel there has to be a reasonable explanation why this happened, and that’s why they can’t grandfather it in. Could be something between the countries.
And..people book years ahead of time, so how long should Princess reasonably expect to pay? Everything is “ subject to change” these days. 
I feel bad for anyone caught in this mess. 

[highloyo]

2 hours ago, Yehootu said:

Yes for awhile. Left in early 90s and spent 32yrs with UAL.

Wife retired from HA and was based at LAX. 

[ebeluga]

8 hours ago, d9704011 said:

If a person tests positive for Covid-19 they have to self-isolate for about five days or until they test negative (this is for British Columbia, other provinces may be different).  Once they test negative, they can then leave the self-isolation and fly to the US.  There is no quarantine requirement in place.

Well, according to this link https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/isolation

You must go directly to the place where you will isolate and stay there for 10 days. This is mandatory and starts the day you arrive in Canada. If you test positive in Canada (for example, when you arrive or on your Day-8 test), you must isolate for 10 days starting on the date you took that test.

 

Does this apply upon cruise disembarkation if test (+)ve?

[d9704011]

5 hours ago, ebeluga said:

Well, according to this link https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/isolation

You must go directly to the place where you will isolate and stay there for 10 days. This is mandatory and starts the day you arrive in Canada. If you test positive in Canada (for example, when you arrive or on your Day-8 test), you must isolate for 10 days starting on the date you took that test.

 

Does this apply upon cruise disembarkation if test (+)ve?

That website is aimed at people arriving by air (Canadian citizens and vaccinated/unvaccinated travellers).  Really, it's not overly helpful for cruise ship passengers wishing to fly to the United States.  This situation is one reason people are still hesitant to cruise.... the possibility they may have to put themselves up in a hotel room for a period of time before being able to board an airplane back to the US.  Make sure you have good travel insurance, don't count on the cruise line to manage your problem and think hard (especially if you are in Vancouver) about taking a bus to Seattle rather than booking a flight out of Vancouver.  Oh.... contact your Senator and Congressman/woman to get the rules changed to join most of the rest of the western world on this.

Edited May 8, 2022 by d9704011

[ebeluga]

4 hours ago, d9704011 said:

That website is aimed at people arriving by air (Canadian citizens and vaccinated/unvaccinated travellers).  Really, it's not overly helpful for cruise ship passengers wishing to fly to the United States.  This situation is one reason people are still hesitant to cruise.... the possibility they may have to put themselves up in a hotel room for a period of time before being able to board an airplane back to the US.  Make sure you have good travel insurance, don't count on the cruise line to manage your problem and think hard (especially if you are in Vancouver) about taking a bus to Seattle rather than booking a flight out of Vancouver.  Oh.... contact your Senator and Congressman/woman to get the rules changed to join most of the rest of the western world on this.

Another case of well intended public health rules with unintended consequence.