EU considering banning tourists and other "non-essential" travelers from U.S. due to Covid

[markham]

Until we see signs that the BIden administration announces on what basis it will allow in Europeans ie vaccinated or not, what vaccines are acceptable or not eg AstraZeneca, and how the US will verify whatever type of evidence of vaccination you might supply, the US will likely remain severely restricted.
 

Tony Blair in today’s NY Times wrote an article “We need to start traveling again. Here’s how” about what it will take to stimulate travel. We have too many loose ends hanging about now to make much sense of a more open, robust and newly liberalized travel dynamic.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[mcondition]

As for vaccination verification, for the EU tourists it will be very simple, they just have to scan the barcode

[SLSD]

I just read that The Netherlands is only going to admit Americans who are vaccinated and have a recent Covid test AND will require them to quarantine for 10 days.  https://thepointsguy.com/news/airlines-cancel-flights-eu-entry-changes/?utm_term=Editorial&utm_content=349F7398-0CDA-11EC-9B55-C3F1923C408C&utm_campaign=facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2VbzUv-LCRJKPrJO9VK3eWIeBUzldgf7yXq9hTSkha6jnnkiIjnPLu-sw

 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by SLSD

[SLSD]

33 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I just read that The Netherlands is only going to admit Americans who are vaccinated and have a recent Covid test AND will require them to quarantine for 10 days.  https://thepointsguy.com/news/airlines-cancel-flights-eu-entry-changes/?utm_term=Editorial&utm_content=349F7398-0CDA-11EC-9B55-C3F1923C408C&utm_campaign=facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2VbzUv-LCRJKPrJO9VK3eWIeBUzldgf7yXq9hTSkha6jnnkiIjnPLu-sw

 

 

The article goes on to say that The Netherlands is the only country to adopt such restrictions. I haven't checked to see when SB planned its first cruise including Amsterdam.  

[Hlitner]

16 hours ago, SLSD said:

I just read that The Netherlands is only going to admit Americans who are vaccinated and have a recent Covid test AND will require them to quarantine for 10 days.  https://thepointsguy.com/news/airlines-cancel-flights-eu-entry-changes/?utm_term=Editorial&utm_content=349F7398-0CDA-11EC-9B55-C3F1923C408C&utm_campaign=facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2VbzUv-LCRJKPrJO9VK3eWIeBUzldgf7yXq9hTSkha6jnnkiIjnPLu-sw

 

 

I cannot help but wonder how each country having different rules will work within Western Europe.  If we rent a car in France and drive to the Netherlands (we have done this a few times) are they going to have roadblocks and health checks on the various highways.   While the EU has spent many years trying to remove borders and show unity, this COVID thing is undoing the attempts of a United Europe.  

 

Hank

[markham]

Each country makes its own choices about inward tourism and returning citizens as far as health matters are concerned, as it should be. The EU vision never contemplated the consequences of a deadly virus. Tourism is hardly an important issue in this context.

 

On balance, you may recall that in second quarter 2020 certain states in the US created restrictions and guidance relating to visitors and travel from states outside their region in order to reduce movement between regions. If the US took its responsibilities further than it appears willing to do now it might be well served to impose restrictions and limits on inward travel from states whose vaccination rates are relatively poor versus the states/regions with better rates. There is a world of difference between the performance of certain southern states and NY/New England.

 

That’s the bigger picture, and one casualty of all this remains the cruise industry. I mean really, what country coping with this virus would choose to open its ports even for a few hours to throngs of unvaccinated and/or careless people? Global vaccination rates and smart behaviors eg masking indoors including covering the nose are just not there yet.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited September 4, 2021 by markham

[cruiseej]

Yes, there are problems galore with the way rules on travel are being decided and imposed around the world, with the interests of science, local political, international politics and practicality colliding in a variety of ways.

 

For instance, one could argue that treating the United States as one entity doesn't make sense. There are some states which have nearly double the percentage of people vaccinated than others. My home state, Pennsylvania, reported 44,000 cases in the past 14 days, while Florida reported 281,000 cases; while Florida has 70% more people, it had 540% more Covid cases in that time. (Expressed another way, Pennsylvania reported 340 cases per thousand people, while Florida had 1,310 cases per thousand -- about 4 times as many.) But we're lumped together, even though Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is as far from Miami, Florida as London is from Rome. Yet there's probably no practical way to police with international travel except by country boundaries; I'm just illustrating that it's an imperfect system -- even before politics gets into it.

 

Layer on top of that that there is no agreed-upon standard for what constitutes safe entry into a country. Proof of full vaccine? Covid test? Both? Covid test 72 hours in advance, or 48? PCR test or Antigen test? Nasopharyngeal swab or saliva test? RT or LAMP or rapid? Every country's health officials create their own rules, which make traveling in the world between more than any two countries a challenge to navigate.

 

And there are no easy solutions. Both Covid and the craziness of travel rules will be with us for quite a while longer.

 

 

[markham]

My point was and is that you don’t have to worry about the cohesion of the EU. We live in difficult times and most national governments are coping as well as they can, as can be expected and that bubbles up to the international level eg the EU.

 

Things would certainly improve with more and better vaccination rates in all countries and if the citizenry would be more respectful of science. Simple as that.

 

We will live with the consequences of our individual and group decisions for many years to come. Whether “full American football stadiums” represent anything positive and favorable relative to reducing the threat of this virus remains to be seen. Millions have already died, 35-40 million doses of vaccines are distributed per day, but we have a long journey. Nothing to do with North Korea. More about staying the course.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[fudgbug]

On 9/3/2021 at 8:29 PM, SLSD said:

The article goes on to say that The Netherlands is the only country to adopt such restrictions. I haven't checked to see when SB planned its first cruise including Amsterdam.  

Our TA told us that Sweden has done the same.

[Hlitner]

20 hours ago, fudgbug said:

Our TA told us that Sweden has done the same.

Following the Oceania Marina voyage (currently underway) is a lesson in the new flexibility.  That ship was supposed to end its cruise in 2 days in Stockholm.  They have now been forced to revise their itinerary (with 2 days notice) to Copenhagen.  Folks who had air to Stockholm have to scramble to get rebooked on flights to CPH not to mention changing their hotel reservations, etc.  The next cruise includes ports in both Sweden and Norway....which are questionable (one post says an Oceania agent told them yesterday that Oslo was a 50-50 chance).  Interesting times.

 

Hank

[cruiseej]

I feel like our two upcoming cruises (Seabourn later this month in the Caribbean, Silversea in December to Antarctica) are in a race against time as the world seems be be closing up again due to Covid case counts continuing to soar when we expected them to be falling. Sigh.

[SLSD]

55 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

I feel like our two upcoming cruises (Seabourn later this month in the Caribbean, Silversea in December to Antarctica) are in a race against time as the world seems be be closing up again due to Covid case counts continuing to soar when we expected them to be falling. Sigh.

I know.  It is just so incredibly frustrating (and sad).  I just asked my husband to check the Covid infection rate in the city where we live (Dallas) and infections are still increasing.  While we are TRIPLE  vaccinated now (on doctor's advice) , we have still been warned by our physician that "now is not the time for socializing".  While I had kept my spirits up for 18 months or so, it is hard to continue being upbeat.  The CDC (and I will admit that their pronouncements have been all over the place) is currently warning against cruising--and especially for those of us over the age of 65.  I am so envious of those of you who have gone successfully on  cruises during this pandemic and hope that your future cruises go-- and are uneventful when it comes to illness.  

Edited September 6, 2021 by SLSD

[cruiseej]

2 minutes ago, SLSD said:

It is just so incredibly frustrating (and sad).

 

The really sad part is that it's hard to look forward and see what will turn the tide. From close to the start of the pandemic, out hope was that a vaccine could be quickly developed, and then what it was, the hope was that we could get vaccinated before too long. And then when we did, the hope was that as soon as most people got vaccinated, the virus would lose the ability to spread, and things would return mostly to normal. But because many people have refused to get the vaccine even in countries where it was readily available, it hung around; because it hung around, a mutation occurred and became significantly more transmissible, so more and more people got it. If cases are rapidly rising in the summer, when people are outdoors, what will happen as we go into fall and winter and people spend more time indoors? This was the fear last year, and it proved to be a well-placed fear, as the virus surged in the winter. Now, because the virus has hung around and the delta variant has predominated, more and more people who are already vaccinated are getting the virus. If boosters become available -- and scientists and government officials haven't yet agreed on if or when -- we'll see some people rush to get them, but not everyone who got the original jabs, so more people will become vulnerable.

 

I'm trying to remain hopeful and optimistic, but unlike the past year, I don't know what to pin those hopes on. There isn't going to be a better vaccine. If people continue to resist getting the vaccine, and people are tired of masks and social distancing after trying so hard for so long, it's just hard to see what's going to drive things to get appreciably better. 😞 

 

So if we're able, we're hoping to go through with our cruise this month and the one in December, because all the hopes that in 2022 things will be much better currently seem mostly wishful thinking. Sigh.

[markham]

Cruiseej,

You are so right!

I hope that you have a chance to take those cruises and remain healthy up to, through and after them. We are all due for a break.

Happy and healthy sailing!