Earlier this week, Canada’s Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced all of the details on the public health framework that the Canadian Government will be putting in place in order to restart cruise ship activity in 2022.
If you’d like to look over Canada’s extensive guidance, you can find it on their government’s website here: Preventing or limiting the spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships.
The recommendation for Canadians to avoid cruise travel has been dropped and Ottawa has adjusted its former guidance to a more lower-risk “proceed with caution.”
Included in the public health plan linked above are the following highlights:
- Crew and passengers being required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19;
- Crew and passengers being required to self-monitor for symptoms;
- Passengers being required to take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72-hours before boarding a cruise ship OR take an antigen test within one day of boarding a cruise ship; and
- Passengers being required to take a COVID-19 molecular test within 72-hours before arriving in Canada or taking an antigen test within one day of the scheduled arrival.
According to an article on OpenJaw.com, the Canadian “government acknowledged the cruise ship industry represents more than $4 billion annual input into the Canadian economy and directly and indirectly generates approximately 30,000 jobs.”
Although the above information has been released by the Canadian government, it is imperative to pay close attention to any and all official announcements from Disney Cruise Line in regards to cruises that arrive and depart from ports in Canada.