Europe Staying Closed to USA

[CPT Trips]

On 6/8/2020 at 11:21 AM, CPT Trips said:

I don’t share your optimism. The social hygiene behaviors I see, and I’m in a relatively compliant area, lead me to expect that we won’t get COVID under control by then. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.

 

16 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

In the US, quarantine wouldn't be any different from self-isolation:  we would go out for groceries, because who's going to know you're supposed to be under quarantine?  Do you have to wear a scarlet 'A' [for 'lack of proven antibodies'] on your dress?

That disregard for appropriate social hygiene behaviors is what will lead other countries to keep us out. 

[notamermaid]

If you are just in quarantine due to travels without having been tested positive you are obviously not directly doing harm when going out, but that is not the point, the point is that you could be doing harm. There is a study going on in Asia connected to a research institute in Britain to see how long a quarantine after plane travel makes the most sense. Should be interesting.

 

With so many cases in the US it means more positive people have been missed or are being missed and as we cannot all find them in an adequate time frame, any testing is just a point in time, a snapshot that may be invalid within 12 hours for example - in a bad scenario.

 

It makes sense to me to exclude mass travel coming from some countries to keep transmission in Europe managable.

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

Not right now Kathy, they are letting in immediate family only for cross border visits, however they still have to quarantine and must stay for over 15 days. Some parts of Ontario aren't open yet either.

 

I don't think that this policy is for visits; I thought it was for reunification of families who have been separated by the border (usually due to citizenship).

[Daisi]

23 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I don't think that this policy is for visits; I thought it was for reunification of families who have been separated by the border (usually due to citizenship).

 

No, it's for those who have been separated to have a visit.  They aren't moving here, just for those who live in the US to see immediate family.  I've seen lots of complaints on line saying with all that is going on, who can afford to take over 15 days off work to do this.

 I just kinda find it funny that you can come up from the States to visit your parent, but you can't travel to the East Coast to visit family without applying and hoping the Govt. will let you in.  Not sure how this idea of opening the border will work down there, as they say Ontario & Quebec probably won't be allowed down until Aug at the earliest, so when they will let those from the US in..........

[steamboats]

Yesterdays media announced a new travel warning for Germans ... by June 15th the travel warning for the EU and connected states will be lifted but it still remains for all other countries til the end of August. There might be exemptions for countries which are regarded as "safe for traveling". Plus media said that the two ministries agreed to a travel warning for cruises (not specifying anything about this).

 

steamboats

[franski]

19 hours ago, steamboats said:

Yesterdays media announced a new travel warning for Germans ... by June 15th the travel warning for the EU and connected states will be lifted but it still remains for all other countries til the end of August. There might be exemptions for countries which are regarded as "safe for traveling". Plus media said that the two ministries agreed to a travel warning for cruises (not specifying anything about this).

 

steamboats

Well... this news is disappointing...  I am guessing that this travel warning may well extend to other countries other than Germany. 

 

I was remaining hopeful - based on the projected date of June 15th for the lifting of restrictions within the EU - that travel to the EU from the rest of the world would begin slowly throughout July.  That is why I was going to push to have our final payment date moved back... hoping that we would have a better sense of the feasibility of travel in October by early August.  But, a final payment date of early August doesn't help much if things are still restricted at that time.

 

I am still going to push for a delayed final payment, but, need to wrap my head around the very real possibility that we may have to cancel.

 

Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

Fran 

[steamboats]

As for cruising ... they highly do not recommend going on a cruise... just one sentence ... not differing by the size of the ship or river / ocean cruises...

 

At least they said that they will check country by country which one is regarded safe for travel...

 

But I fear that the US is not on the top of the list... neither for us Germans to travel to or for you to come to Germany. And Canada "goes with the flow" - so same restrictions as for the US.

 

Good for me that Canada has announced the closure of the ports until Oct 31st. So my Sep 6th cruise out of Vancouver has been already cancelled. The travel warning wouldn´t have covered it.

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

Now they´ve changed the travel warning... they still highly recommend not to cruise but river cruises withing EU/Schengen and a special hygiene concept are exempted...

 

steamboats

[franski]

On 6/11/2020 at 9:03 AM, steamboats said:

Now they´ve changed the travel warning... they still highly recommend not to cruise but river cruises withing EU/Schengen and a special hygiene concept are exempted...

 

steamboats

Thanks, steamboats...  will keep watching for your updates!!

 

On a (somewhat) positive note, Avalon has moved the final payment date to 30 days out - so we have until the 1st of September to decide what to do (unless the decision is taken out of our hands...).

 

Fran

[Daisi]

10 hours ago, franski said:

Thanks, steamboats...  will keep watching for your updates!!

 

On a (somewhat) positive note, Avalon has moved the final payment date to 30 days out - so we have until the 1st of September to decide what to do (unless the decision is taken out of our hands...).

 

Fran

 

Wow...glad to hear that Fran.  Hope you get to take your trip.  At least Canada's #'s are low, and seem to be in control, so hopefully borders with Europe will open in time.

[Esilef]

We are in Australia and at the moment it’s feeling like a very locked down island! There is talk of travel bubbles with New Zealand and other like countries with no cases but even that looks like it’s months away.

 

we were river cruising in September this year but the airlines and such are now cancelling up to the end of October 2020. 
 

we have rebooked for April 2021 and hope Europe is open to Australians buy then.

 

our flights were via mainland China and we do not want to travel via China at this stage.

[franski]

Hi - Have also posted this link in the thread about cruise lines restarting...  

 

It was in our local paper - originally published in the NY Times.  Trying to understand who is open - and to whom - looks like it may be a challenge for a while yet.

 

Hope the link opens without a subscription.

 

Fran

 

https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2020/06/09/europes-patchwork-reopening.html

[Lois R]

49 minutes ago, franski said:

Hi - Have also posted this link in the thread about cruise lines restarting...  

 

It was in our local paper - originally published in the NY Times.  Trying to understand who is open - and to whom - looks like it may be a challenge for a while yet.

 

Hope the link opens without a subscription.

 

Fran

 

https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2020/06/09/europes-patchwork-reopening.html

Hi, you are able to read it. (Well, I was anyway).........definitely under the "Patchwork" re-opening. 

[PrettyParrot]

Here is the latest from the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/world/europe/coronavirus-EU-American-travel-ban.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 

 

Edited June 23, 2020 by PrettyParrot

[djh1959]

I would imagine that Australians would be allowed in, judging by that article, but the problem will still be that our government does not allow travel.  There would also be the issue of being able to get travel insurance.

 

I can't imagine any country allowing US citizens in at the moment, it is quite incredible what is happening there.

[d9704011]

2 hours ago, djh1959 said:

I would imagine that Australians would be allowed in, judging by that article, but the problem will still be that our government does not allow travel.  There would also be the issue of being able to get travel insurance.

 

I can't imagine any country allowing US citizens in at the moment, it is quite incredible what is happening there.

Yes, I believe we’re in pretty much the same situation as you, here in Canada.  On top of the Global do not travel advisory we also have a do not cruise until further notice advisory.

[notamermaid]

For us in Germany there is also official advice against travel on a cruise ship, but officially river cruises within the Schengen states are okay when the hygiene rules are implemented.

 

I am sorry to say that the US will in all likelihood remain in the travel warning list of our authorities till the end of the expiry period at the end of August.

 

As regards US citizens coming to Germany, we will probably go with the advice that the EU will give. As from 1 July the situation changes, as it says in the article. Our disease control people already list the countries individually and guess what - New York is not a risk zone anymore, but most of the US is. Theoretically this means after 30 June you could fly into Germany if you live in New York. If you come from another state via New York you probably may not. At least it means that a German could fly to New York (if they are allowed into the country) and return without the 14 day quarantine on arrival at home.

 

I would look into this in detail if you are considering travelling. Do not give up hope yet. Mind you, a Rhine river cruise from Basel to the Netherlands is difficult if Germany's neighbouring countries have tougher restrictions.

 

By the way, the French government does not allow river cruises in the country yet. This will happen on 11 July.

 

https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faqs/EN/topics/civil-protection/coronavirus/coronavirus-faqs.html#doc13797140bodyText3

 

https://de.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

 

notamermaid

 

[pacmom]

As you know from another thread we are considering a land trip in Berlin and Dresden for the Christmas markets if they happen.  DH is doing all his wonderful research.  We need two things to make it a reality--Christmas markets and available flights. 

stay well and safe, Pat

[Roz]

Based on the announcement from the EU today, I don't see how anyone from the US is going to be able to take a river cruise in Europe this year.  I wonder how the cruise lines will handle this?  If they don't cancel the cruise but the passengers from the US aren't allowed to enter, will the passengers get their money back? 

[AnhaltER1960]

It is still not clear, if and how the EU will lift the entry ban for people from outside. Media reports here in Germany say diplomats are looking for a decision until Monday (well, getting just in time then....). Things are bit complicated, as EU and Schengen-Countries are not overlapping one-to-one and in the end it is a decision of every individual member state. And there is diplomacy, this kind of "we let your people travel, if you allow....", which might in the end lead to inconsistent and unlogical solutions. So we have to wait and see.

 

Media reports say, the EU plans a list of countries, whose citizens are allowed entry into the EU. The list which will be revised every two weeks. As a criterion the number of new infections might be defined with a threshold value at the same level as there are new cases in the EU-member states, currently roundabout 16 per 100.000 population plus a stable or downward trend. At a first step only "necessary travel"  might be allowed, which puts touristical travel further into the future.

 

This does not sound good for our US or brazilian friends, better for South Koreans or New Zealanders though. But again, no final decision is met so far.

[franski]

21 hours ago, Roz said:

Based on the announcement from the EU today, I don't see how anyone from the US is going to be able to take a river cruise in Europe this year.  I wonder how the cruise lines will handle this?  

 I have been keeping an eye on the cabin bookings on our cruise in October. At one point, the boat was pretty much completely booked.  If I look at it now, it appears that 40+ cabins are available.  Given the numbers on our past cruises, I would bet a good number of those are booked by US travelers.  So - if people from the US can't travel - how many cabins will actually be occupied?  And, at what point does it become a losing venture and therefore cancelled by the cruise line? 

 

Still watching and waiting...

 

Fran

 

[Roz]

Those are some good questions, Fran.  

[gnome12]

 I have been keeping an eye on the cabin bookings on our cruise in October. At one point, the boat was pretty much completely booked.  If I look at it now, it appears that 40+ cabins are available.  Given the numbers on our past cruises, I would bet a good number of those are booked by US travelers.  So - if people from the US can't travel - how many cabins will actually be occupied?  And, at what point does it become a losing venture and therefore cancelled by the cruise line? 
 
Still watching and waiting...
 
Fran
 

I think since they are trying to socially distance people they definitely won’t be sailing full. The question is, of course, how empty will they accept.

My tulip time cruise with Uniworld in 2010 had only 47 passengers out of a potential complement of 132 (River Queen). This was during the Icelandic volcano eruption. I only just made it, and many other passengers couldn’t.


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[gnome12]

Now that it is official from which countries visitors to the EU will be allowed in this first pronouncement (Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay), how many of those countries still have global travel advisories? I know we in Canada do.

[cruisr]

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Now that it is official from which countries visitors to the EU will be allowed in this first pronouncement (Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay), how many of those countries still have global travel advisories? I know we in Canada do.

Source?