State Dept travel warnings

[Arlopop]

The State Department will update its travel warnings this week to bring 80% of countries to level 4 (do not travel).
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/19/politics/state-department-travel-advisories/index.html

[cece50]

5 hours ago, Arlopop said:

The State Department will update its travel warnings this week to bring 80% of countries to level 4 (do not travel).
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/19/politics/state-department-travel-advisories/index.html

As much as it pains me to not travel

abroad (one cruise and villa rental canceled two years in a row), this update confirms our decision to stay put here in US for at least this summer.  My TA extraordinaire, reminds me often that nothing outside the US for US citizens can be counted upon for certain.  Governments can change their minds & restrictions at the drop of a hat.  We are not overly concerned about the virus, but the uncertainty of conditions for restricting our travel in another county looms large.  It’s hard to be patient when you have a wanderlust.  Fortunately for us, our beautiful American West beckons. Plans underway!

Edited April 20, 2021 by cece50

[mrlevin]

State Department has raised Antarctica to Level 4 - DO NOT TRAVEL; citing COVID.  🤫. Here is direct link to DoS site:

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/

[Mauipat]

Always knew those penguins were trouble!  What joke to make Antartica a level four.  It’s beautiful and pristine.  We were there four glorious days last year during the Silversea World Cruise.  Zodiacs took us to land.  Only thing we found not great was the smell from some penguin colonies.  Can’t wait to return 

 

[Randyk47]

I just casually looked through the countries on the “Do Not Travel” list.   Good thing we had no plans to go anywhere soon as virtually every country we have been any interest in visiting is on the list.   It doesn’t help that Mrs K Federal civil servant in a sufficiently high enough position that her foreign travel has to be reviewed and approved.   Any trip that included any country on the “Do Not Travel” list would automatically be disapproved.   She graduates from her masters program in late July and we had thought about maybe an escape to a resort in Mexico or one of the Caribbean islands in the early fall but Mexico and many if not most of the islands are basically “off limits” for us.  Maybe that will improve by the fall but it’s not looking good.

[Stumblefoot]

44 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

It doesn’t help that Mrs K Federal civil servant in a sufficiently high enough position that her foreign travel has to be reviewed and approved.

The Feds can stop personal travel on your own dime?

[Randyk47]

2 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

The Feds can stop personal travel on your own dime?

Yes.  My wife is the chief of staff for a 3-star general.  Because that is a sensitive position with advanced security clearances, etc., they have to approve all of her travel outside of the US.  Typically most countries aren’t an issue though getting clearance for the Middle East a couple of years ago was a bit challenging.  

[drron29]

Maybe all Governments should be sent this article when considering cruises.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/more-than-120000-have-taken-cruises-to-nowhere-with-no-covid-19-cases-on-board

[Randyk47]

9 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Maybe all Governments should be sent this article when considering cruises.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/more-than-120000-have-taken-cruises-to-nowhere-with-no-covid-19-cases-on-board

It is a complicated and confusing situation.   Certainly if we are dealing with bubble cruises within a constrained environment then yes the experience is valid for those cruises.  If we start talking about passengers flying in from diverse and several countries then we have a whole different set of circumstances.  It’s not easy.

[drron29]

I was interested just what countries were on the list.Apparently only 4 countries are at a Level 1 advisory so they don't make this list.137 countries are on Level 4 do not tral advisories.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/

 

Australia and NZ are level 3.

But Antarctica is at level 4 because of extreme and unpredictable weather.So I guess any US citizen who hasn't been to Antarctica now won't be able to get insurance for an Antarctic cruise as I don't think the weather is going to change that much.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/antarctica-travel-advisory.html

[FlyingScotSailors]

21 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

   It doesn’t help that Mrs K Federal civil servant in a sufficiently high enough position that her foreign travel has to be reviewed and approved.   

 

17 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

Yes.  My wife is the chief of staff for a 3-star general.  

Off topic, (if that is possible here 🤔), the chief of staff for a general is a civil service and not a military position?

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

 

Off topic, (if that is possible here 🤔), the chief of staff for a general is a civil service and not a military position?

Yes.  It is an administrative command not a tactical field command and it’s about 75-80% civil service and contractors.   Some 15+ years ago the position was changed from military to civilian to use the military authorization in a more needed place.   

Edited April 22, 2021 by Randyk47

[ddpe]

It looks like another case of hyperbole.  To equate Antarctica with North Korea, Yemen, etc. just invalidates their warnings.  This will create a system where people ignore the warnings.

[cruznmore]

Speaking to travel to Antarctica, most people have to go through Santiago or Buenos Aires before going through Ushuaia and on the ship to Antarctica......   Santiago is back on lock down. 😞

 

[Stumblefoot]

19 minutes ago, cruznmore said:

Santiago is back on lock down. 😞

Considering Chile has been South America's front-runner in Covid vaccinations, vaccinating its population much faster than all other Latin American countries, this is not good news as they head towards winter.

[cruznmore]

We are looking forward to our Antarctica trip in January, but also realize it can also be cancelled as all our other trips since March 2020's India trip.  That trip we got out of India on the last day planes were flying back.  Heard the lockdown news in Santiago from a friend who lives there.  Discouraging for them.  

[cruiseej]

We're booked on a cruise to Antartica in December-January, flying via Santiago. While it's hard not to be concerned by these latest developments, it's also hard to anticipate how much these parts of the world will have changed 8 months from now. (Remember that 8 months ago, we didn't even know if or when vaccines would happen.) We've been vaccinating people for only 4 months, and the first two had limited supplies -- so there's potential for considerable change by 8 months in the future.  It certainly seems most adults in the US, the UK and most of Europe will have been vaccinated by 6 months from now. And the cruise lines seem to have already demonstrated they can assemble vaccinated crews. The situation in Santiago and Ushuaia could be considerably improved by their summertime in December. The US State Department will update many travel restrictions over this period of time.  So cruising this winter in Antarctica seems like it could be feasible.

 

To me, the bigger unknown is how far in advance Silversea will need to make its go/no-go decision about the winter season in Antarctica. October? September? August? Sending provisions -- from parkas to caviar to champagne -- to Ushuaia undoubtedly requires significant lead time. The earlier they need to make a decision, the more uncertainty there will be about the state of COVID in those cities, and the greater the likelihood that they might need to pull the plug.

 

P.S. The language in the State Department travel advisory about "Exercis[ing] increased caution in Antarctica due to environmental hazards posed by extreme and unpredictable weather" is standard language which long predates COVID-19. Checking a web archive, the travel advisory for Antarctica in April 2018 was almost identical to the current one, except for the addition of COVID-19. The current notice also states that "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not issued a Travel Health Notice for Antarctica due to COVID-19, indicating an unknown level of COVID-19." Since we're not going to stay at a base in Antartica, and we'll be traveling as an isolated group on a cruise ship, I don't even know how relevant any of this is. Traveling through Ushuaia and Santiago are potentially more problematic as pertains to COVID risks. (I, for one, would volunteer to be completely sequestered in a hotel in Santiago if that reduced the risk of exposure and enabled us to go!)