Travellers still expected to see mandates for cruise ship vacations

Although the feds are suspending the travel mandates for airlines and trains on June 20th, travellers will still be faced with the COVID-19 mandates if they are planning on going on a cruise. Proof of vaccination and a negative test is still required and an official with AMA Travel says the requirements could be different depending on which cruise line you are on and which country you are in.

“We’ve even seen that recently in the announcement from the Canadian Government as to what are the health and safety and COVID related travel requirements when getting on a cruise leaving Canada or returning on a cruise into Canada. A lot of people book their cruises quite far out, but those rules can change between the time when you booked and when you depart, and you will have to adhere to what the rules are at the time you are leaving on your cruise. Really what it comes down to now, is are people going to be comfortable with understanding that the testing requirements might change, or if you do contract COVID on board, yes you could be quarantined into your cabin,” said Nikola Berube, Director of Sales for AMA Travel.

A number of travel agencies including Trip Central say they expect demand for vacation packages to increase following Ottawa’s decision to end the mandates for domestic and outbound international travellers.