Covid - Medallion App requirements differ to the Princess web site.

[YORKI1]

I am sailing from Vancouver on Wednesday & my Medallion app requires me to submit a negative Antigen test 48 hours before sailing, but the Princess web site states 2 days. I have plans for when we are in Vancouver and have scheduled our test’s accordingly, ie 2 days before we sail. Has anyone else noticed this discrepancy?

Edited July 14, 2022 by YORKI1

[JimmyVWine]

Can you elaborate on what the discrepancy is?  I think most people would read "48 hours" and "2 days" to be interchangeable.

[YORKI1]

No, it’s not interchangeable.
 

We sail on Wednesday at 4pm, so I could take a test any time on Monday, if the requirement is 2 days. However, if 48 hours is the requirement my test would have to be after 4pm on Monday.

[memoak]

13 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Can you elaborate on what the discrepancy is?  I think most people would read "48 hours" and "2 days" to be interchangeable.

The are not. If your sip is sailing at 4:00 a 48 hour rule would mean after 4:00 2 days prior anything earlier would be within 2 days but over 48 hours

[PacnGoNow]

35 minutes ago, YORKI1 said:

I am sailing from Vancouver on Wednesday & my Medallion app requires me to submit a negative Antigen test 48 hours before sailing, but the Princess web site states 2 days. I have plans for when we are in Vancouver and have scheduled our test’s accordingly, ie 2 days before we sail. Has anyone else noticed this discrepancy?

Its 2 days before. Go by the website.

That’s more official.  A lot of discrepancies on the App.  

Voyages Departing from Canada

Updated: June 24, 2022

Vaccination Status	Definition by Country's Health Authority	Pre-Travel Test Type &  When to Take Test Before Boarding
		Age: 5 Years and Up
Fully Vaccinated	Received primary series of COVID-19 vaccines with final dose at least 14 days before embarkation.	Antigen within 2 days OR
		PCR within 72 hours
Up to Date	Received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible at least 7 days before embarkation.	Antigen within 2 days OR

Edited July 14, 2022 by PacnGoNow

[azbirdmom]

I wish they would just remove that language from the app because it just continues to confuse people.  What matters are the timelines specified on the Princess website.  If it says 2 days for your situation, then you can do the test any time two days prior to embarkation - the number of hours does not matter.

[JimmyVWine]

26 minutes ago, YORKI1 said:

No, it’s not interchangeable.
 

We sail on Wednesday at 4pm, so I could take a test any time on Monday, if the requirement is 2 days. However, if 48 hours is the requirement my test would have to be after 4pm on Monday.

I think they look at the check-in time.  If you check in at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, but passed your test at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, and the rule was 48 hours, do you think that they would not accept the test? I suppose it is possible, but the goal of the cruise line is to get you on the ship, not keep you off of it, especially if you passed the test.  

[Moondogy]

I haven't had to take a monitored test yet.....does it state what time you took it?

 

[redtop101]

I’m pretty sure it’s 2 days before boarding as per the Princess web site - not 48 hours. 

[YORKI1]

Further to my original post, I telephoned Princess today and they confirmed that we need to take our Antigen test 48 hours before the cruise departs. I asked why their web site states 2 days, the representative didn’t know. Useless! I am not convinced I am being given the correct information, but I am going with 48 hours.

[YORKI1]

17 hours ago, Moondogy said:

I haven't had to take a monitored test yet.....does it state what time you took it?

 

Yes.

[wallyj]

19 hours ago, YORKI1 said:

I am sailing from Vancouver on Wednesday & my Medallion app requires me to submit a negative Antigen test 48 hours before sailing, but the Princess web site states 2 days. I have plans for when we are in Vancouver and have scheduled our test’s accordingly, ie 2 days before we sail. Has anyone else noticed this discrepancy?

Hi @YORKI1, I am currently on the Grand and I boarded on Wednesday July 6 in Vancouver. If you look at the Princess website, you need to scroll down a little as they have specific differences if you are embarking in Canada. Yes, it does state 48 hours instead of 2 days. I took it as 48 hours from check in which for me was 10:30 am, not expected ship departure time. 
 

I did my antigen test at about 11am on Monday, July 4th. I do not think the person checking my test result really paid attention to the time, but YMMV, but know you do not have to wait till 4pm or after the Monday before you embark on Wednesday to test. I would say anytime after 10:30 am  on the Monday would be fine as official check in started at 10:30, but I showed up at 10:10 and about 100 passengers had already checked in, so they started early, and they were not checking what boarding/check in group you had on your medallion app.

[lx200gps]

11 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Hi @YORKI1, I am currently on the Grand and I boarded on Wednesday July 6 in Vancouver. If you look at the Princess website, you need to scroll down a little as they have specific differences if you are embarking in Canada. Yes, it does state 48 hours instead of 2 days. I took it as 48 hours from check in which for me was 10:30 am, not expected ship departure time. 
 

I did my antigen test at about 11am on Monday, July 4th. I do not think the person checking my test result really paid attention to the time, but YMMV, but know you do not have to wait till 4pm or after the Monday before you embark on Wednesday to test. I would say anytime after 10:30 am  on the Monday would be fine as official check in started at 10:30, but I showed up at 10:10 and about 100 passengers had already checked in, so they started early, and they were not checking what boarding/check in group you had on your medallion app.

It appears that there are different versions of the Princess Website?  I screen-shot this two minutes ago:

 

[wallyj]

Hi @lx200gps, thank you the updated screenshot. 
 

it HAS been updated since I last checked. The date says June 24, 2022, but I know the website was not when I last checked in early July as I was hoping the language would be updated to ‘days’ instead of the ‘48 hours’ as I could have had a little less stress of being able to have 3 days instead of ‘48 hours’.

 

It appears Canada is reinstating  ‘random testing’ effective July 19, on arrival, but you do not have to test immediately? Something about they are trying to track variants?

[lx200gps]

6 minutes ago, wallyj said:

Hi @lx200gps, thank you the updated screenshot. 
 

it HAS been updated since I last checked. The date says June 24, 2022, but I know the website was not when I last checked in early July as I was hoping the language would be updated to ‘days’ instead of the ‘48 hours’ as I could have had a little less stress of being able to have 3 days instead of ‘48 hours’.

 

It appears Canada is reinstating  ‘random testing’ effective July 19, on arrival, but you do not have to test immediately? Something about they are trying to track variants?

No worries. I believe the 2 days and not the more restrictive 48 hours is pretty standard right now. Interestingly, the same page on the Princess site gives us THREE days for sailings out of the US, which will come in handy for us when we board the Enchanted in mid-September in Brooklyn.

 

The random testing at airports came back a few days ago. If you win the lottery (and the % is apparently small), you are given instructions on how to complete the test and sent on your way to complete it within a certain amount of time. AFAIK it can be virtually, or at a designated third party site like a pharmacy. Not sure how it applies to "transients" like folks immediately heading to a cruise ship, I don't know if they would be subject to testing, I suspect the testing is for arrivals staying in the country

[bagney]

This may help for cruises embarking in Canada (from Canadian Government's website) https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/cruise

 

See the section titled: Pre-embarkation COVID-19 testing

[NavyVeteran]

The rules for Canada are set by the Canadian government, so they are different from the rules from the US.

 

Note that the rule for Canada states "When to Take Test Before Boarding" - not "Before Sailing". That is a significant difference - especially for a cruise overnighting in Quebec City and sailing the day after boarding.