South Africa January-March 2022 Proceeding?

[Shazaam]

I just received the following message from Azamara that strongly suggests they will be moving ahead with their Pursuit South Africa cruises.

 

"Dear Azamara Guest,

We would like to provide you with an update regarding our Africa sailings departing between January 3, 2022 and March 4, 2022.

At present, we're only pending confirmation from the South African Government regarding the formal opening of ports. Our intentions are to move forward with our planned voyages to this bucket-list destination once we obtain this formal approval in the coming days. To help alleviate any uncertainty, earlier this summer we extended final payment to 90 days prior to your voyage. Please note that this extension is applied automatically to your booking and you should expect to receive an updated invoice soon, if you have not already received it. If you have specific questions, please contact your Travel Advisor or visit https://www.azamara.com/contact-us for your local Azamara call center number.

As we monitor global developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19), our priority remains the health and safety of our guests and crew, as well as providing amazing vacation experiences. We've enhanced our health and safety standards through our new Explore Well at Sea program including vaccination of guests and crew, advanced testing and screening protocols, more rigorous sanitation measures, and innovative medical services - to ensure a care-free Azamara experience. In addition, we are continuously evaluating all travel requirements based on local conditions from government officials and local port authorities.

We greatly appreciate your understanding and thank you for your cooperation throughout our journey as we have worked to manage this very fluid situation. Please be assured that we will keep you up to date as soon as we have more information.

Thank you for choosing Azamara®. We look forward to seeing you onboard soon!

Sincerely,

AZAMARA®

 

Given the continuing Covid situation in South Africa and their low rate of vaccination, this strikes me as a very risky decision/gamble that they are taking. 

 

[jelayne]

Apparently hope springs eternal❗️
We are booked on the 1/27 sailing and with only 14% of the population currently vaccinated we don’t plan on going.  We booked a package with a TA Azamara used to fill cabins.   We have a hefty deposit (3x+ the norm)  which will turn into a FCC if we cancel so we have been hoping they cancel and we get a refund.  
 

We have 1 other Azamara cruise booked but that is in May 2023 so it is beyond the time to use the FCC.  

[Riocca]

Quite surprised at this, South Africa is on the UK’s red list which would make leisure travel untenable and it doesn’t look like changing any time soon.

Fortunately we’re not booked on any of these cruises having done SA in 2018 but if we were, we would be reluctant to go even if it was removed from the red list by January.

 

[Huntingdon1701]

4 hours ago, Riocca said:

Quite surprised at this, South Africa is on the UK’s red list which would make leisure travel untenable and it doesn’t look like changing any time soon.

Fortunately we’re not booked on any of these cruises having done SA in 2018 but if we were, we would be reluctant to go even if it was removed from the red list by January.

 

 

Based on the South African Dept of Health tweet yesterday, it's likely to change at the next UK travel review, along with quite a few other countries. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/south-africa-could-come-red-list-next-week/ 

 

But what the UK does is immaterial if South Africa doesn't change the ban on cruise ships - which it's currently got banned even on the lowest level of Covid alert, which they're not close to at the moment.

 

The email above sounds quite hopeful, and I'm tracking an NCL cruise there also in January which is not yet cancelled. However, MSC have just pulled their repositioning cruise to there, so they've obviously given up waiting. 

[BlueLady2019]

7 hours ago, Shazaam said:

I just received the following message from Azamara that strongly suggests they will be moving ahead with their Pursuit South Africa cruises.

 

"Dear Azamara Guest,

We would like to provide you with an update regarding our Africa sailings departing between January 3, 2022 and March 4, 2022.

At present, we're only pending confirmation from the South African Government regarding the formal opening of ports. Our intentions are to move forward with our planned voyages to this bucket-list destination once we obtain this formal approval in the coming days. To help alleviate any uncertainty, earlier this summer we extended final payment to 90 days prior to your voyage. Please note that this extension is applied automatically to your booking and you should expect to receive an updated invoice soon, if you have not already received it. If you have specific questions, please contact your Travel Advisor or visit https://www.azamara.com/contact-us for your local Azamara call center number.

As we monitor global developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19), our priority remains the health and safety of our guests and crew, as well as providing amazing vacation experiences. We've enhanced our health and safety standards through our new Explore Well at Sea program including vaccination of guests and crew, advanced testing and screening protocols, more rigorous sanitation measures, and innovative medical services - to ensure a care-free Azamara experience. In addition, we are continuously evaluating all travel requirements based on local conditions from government officials and local port authorities.

We greatly appreciate your understanding and thank you for your cooperation throughout our journey as we have worked to manage this very fluid situation. Please be assured that we will keep you up to date as soon as we have more information.

Thank you for choosing Azamara®. We look forward to seeing you onboard soon!

Sincerely,

AZAMARA®

 

Given the continuing Covid situation in South Africa and their low rate of vaccination, this strikes me as a very risky decision/gamble that they are taking. 

 

 

[BlueLady2019]

Thank you for this. We are in a similar position, and will watch updates here. We have not heard from Azamara directly, as we booked through a travel agent. Your message was helpful

[AtlAllie]

We just received the email below confirming the January 3-March 4  South Africa sailings are on!

 

Dear Azamara Guest,

We would like to provide you with a highly anticipated update regarding our Africa sailings departing between January 3, 2022 and March 4, 2022.

We are very pleased to inform you that we have received formal approval from the South African Government to sail as planned to our scheduled ports in Africa. We're working with local and national authorities to confirm the latest protocols as public health situations evolve. We will provide information specific to your ports of departure and itinerary prior to sailing; however, this information is subject to change.

As we monitor global developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19), our priority remains the health and safety of our guests and crew, as well as providing amazing vacation experiences. As a reminder, we've enhanced our health and safety standards through our new Explore Well at Sea program including vaccination of guests and crew, advanced testing and screening protocols, more rigorous sanitation measures, and innovative medical services - to ensure a care-free Azamara experience.

We greatly appreciate your understanding and thank you for your cooperation. Thank you for choosing Azamara®.

If you have specific questions, please contact your Travel Advisor or visit https://www.azamara.com/contact-us for your local Azamara call center number.

We look forward to seeing you onboard soon!

Sincerely,

AZAMARA®

[phe8800]

What about the March 4th Cape Town to Lisbon? South Africa may be OK, but what about all the stops enroute up the west coast of Africa? 

[Shazaam]

Azamara have now announced that they will be proceeding with their 2022 South Africa cruises. As such, we have decided that the health risk is too great to go there in either 2022 or 2223, so we are pulling the plug on our February 20th one.

 

Winter 2024 cruises are now live on their website.