Norway and Americans

[KBs mum]

3 minutes ago, zalusky said:

And do we see any of this standardized/resolved in 6 months?

The variant is creating a situation at least for now that they won't relax things as well.

Not my place to say, I'm in the UK. I said what I think the problem might be, US authorities and citizens might disagree

[zalusky]

17 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Not my place to say, I'm in the UK. I said what I think the problem might be, US authorities and citizens might disagree

 

It's not so much disagreeing but getting together and creating a national standard that the states can submit too and getting it accepted.  I just don't see that by summer.  The only thing I see around it is a relaxing of protocols which I don't believe will happen.

[Twitchly]

It’s sobering to see how much we’ve allowed technology — in this case, a QR code — to control where we can go. A paper vaccination booklet used to be enough. 

[KBs mum]

2 minutes ago, zalusky said:

 

It's not so much disagreeing but getting together and creating a national standard that the states can submit too and getting it accepted.  I just don't see that by summer.  The only thing I see around it is a relaxing of protocols which I don't believe will happen.

If I was a US citizen I would want the CDC (perhaps? I don't know how your government departments work) to issue a QR coded certificate accepted internationally, based on data verified by state authorities. 

However these certify when you had a jab and with what, individual countries have differing requirements for entry re when was last jab and the intervals

 

Please note, I do not want this to be taken as any sort of political statement, I'm not interested enough in politics to have any opinion about any of them in any country

[KBs mum]

5 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

It’s sobering to see how much we’ve allowed technology — in this case, a QR code — to control where we can go. A paper vaccination booklet used to be enough. 

The QR code links to a database that verifies the document is not a forgery, and the identity of who it applies to. 

[zalusky]

22 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

If I was a US citizen I would want the CDC (perhaps? I don't know how your government departments work) to issue a QR coded certificate accepted internationally, based on data verified by state authorities. 

However these certify when you had a jab and with what, individual countries have differing requirements for entry re when was last jab and the intervals

 

Please note, I do not want this to be taken as any sort of political statement, I'm not interested enough in politics to have any opinion about any of them in any country

While I agree with you we seem to have a number of states who are playing the "You can't make me" game.  Some even refused to have records or at least share records.  It is unfortunate but the hatred of the federal government is strong in certain groups.  Either way I just don't expect changes in this area in the next 6 months (especially in a volatile election year).

[safeman]

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

The EU covid certificates are issued by countries in the EU. Norway is not in the EU proper, neither is the UK. We (and others) have reciprocal agreements. 

 

The issue, as far as I can see, is the US not issuing a centrally verified 

vaccine certificate, such as the UK does for NHS England/Wales/Northern Ireland and NHS Scotland 

Exactly!

[safeman]

1 hour ago, zalusky said:

And do we see any of this standardized/resolved in 6 months?

The variant is creating a situation at least for now that they won't relax things as well.

Absolutely!

[safeman]

1 hour ago, zalusky said:

 

It's not so much disagreeing but getting together and creating a national standard that the states can submit too and getting it accepted.  I just don't see that by summer.  The only thing I see around it is a relaxing of protocols which I don't believe will happen.

Sadly I think you’re correct.

[safeman]

41 minutes ago, zalusky said:

While I agree with you we seem to have a number of states who are playing the "You can't make me" game.  Some even refused to have records or at least share records.  It is unfortunate but the hatred of the federal government is strong in certain groups.  Either way I just don't expect changes in this area in the next 6 months (especially in a volatile election year).

Correct 

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, zalusky said:

 

It's not so much disagreeing but getting together and creating a national standard that the states can submit too and getting it accepted.  I just don't see that by summer.  The only thing I see around it is a relaxing of protocols which I don't believe will happen.

 

Don't be discouraged.

 

Our Provincial Govt was one of the first to provide us with a digital vaccine passport with QR Code, which was implemented in 4 to 6 weeks. The Feds initially declined a National version, but with sufficient voter pressure, they eventually backed down.

 

We now have both a Provincial & Federal digital passport with QR Codes.

 

Hopefully, if enough pressure is applied, your State & Federal Govts should get with the program.

[millybess]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Hopefully, if enough pressure is applied, your State & Federal Govts should get with the program.

If you look at the vaccination rates in Canada vs the US it’s obvious that Canada is more pro vaccine by far. Not to mention the difference in the political climate and the power given to the states in their Constitution and also the two different types of government. Pressure on the Executive Branch of the US government is unlikely to result in a vaccine passport. In fact, if a vaccine passport was mandated, it’s likely that the US Supreme Court would find a mandated QR code an invasion of medical privacy. Also, it’s quite possible our Supreme Court would find the same. The difference is that our Court moves so slowly that the pandemic will be a distant memory by the time they get around to it. 😊

 

But I have to say, that I like having the QR code. I enjoy finally being able to dine indoors again, where in our province your QR code is checked against your ID and it is strictly enforced. There are heavy fines if you only scan the code and don’t match it with ID. Paper vaccine certificates are not permitted. There are plenty of forgeries floating around here. 

 

We also have a cruise booked for Norway in May and I hope that by then this situation is resolved for everyone. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by millybess
Edited

[Eastporter]

I am confused about the Norway Covid regs and how they might apply.   I am on a July Homelands booking starting in Stockholm.   Right now, I believe Americans can travel to Sweden without an electronic EU type vaccine card.  So, we could get on the ship.   But, can we get off in Bergin?   Looking at the Norwegian Government's website today, it appears US citizens can travel to Norway in the status of  "fully vaccinated .... without verifiable COVID-19 certificate".   However, this triggers a requirement for testing both pre and post arrival.    There is also today an upto 10 day quarantine requirement for those without verifiable Covid certificates (the EU QR code).   You can PCR test out of this quarantine after 3 days.   If still applicable in July, I wonder if Viking could handle that testing requirement with "quarantine" on the ship for 72 hours before disembarking in Bergin.  

 

Further complicating the above, my home state (Maryland) is about to provide us with state certified QR coded electronic vaccine "cards"  in mid Feb.   Will these be acceptable?  Today we have QR coded cards issued by a third party company (Smart Health Card).   Who knows what will be the case in the Summer.   We booked this trip in 2019 and it has been cancelled the last two years.   Looking forward to it this time.

[Babr]

1 hour ago, Eastporter said:

I am confused about the Norway Covid regs and how they might apply.   I am on a July Homelands booking starting in Stockholm.   Right now, I believe Americans can travel to Sweden without an electronic EU type vaccine card.  So, we could get on the ship.   But, can we get off in Bergin?   Looking at the Norwegian Government's website today, it appears US citizens can travel to Norway in the status of  "fully vaccinated .... without verifiable COVID-19 certificate".   However, this triggers a requirement for testing both pre and post arrival.    There is also today an upto 10 day quarantine requirement for those without verifiable Covid certificates (the EU QR code).   You can PCR test out of this quarantine after 3 days.   If still applicable in July, I wonder if Viking could handle that testing requirement with "quarantine" on the ship for 72 hours before disembarking in Bergin.  

 

Further complicating the above, my home state (Maryland) is about to provide us with state certified QR coded electronic vaccine "cards"  in mid Feb.   Will these be acceptable?  Today we have QR coded cards issued by a third party company (Smart Health Card).   Who knows what will be the case in the Summer.   We booked this trip in 2019 and it has been cancelled the last two years.   Looking forward to it this time.

No, a state issued QR code is not sufficient. It has to be from an accepted source obtained by uploading the required documents to the appropriate website. 
 

The last time I looked, the process was rather onerous. The problem is that the card issued by the CDC is not easily verifiable in a national database. 

[uktog]

Norway announced new restrictions tonight 

 

I cannot see anything saying no to cruises though interestingly all sales of alcohol in hospitality venues are banned.  Certainly no relaxation on entry rules regarding the type of certification required.  Hopefully Viking are working flat out to get a definitive answer on this for US and Canadian guests because there seems to be absolutely no accepted work arounds

[KBs mum]

35 minutes ago, uktog said:

Norway announced new restrictions tonight 

 

all sales of alcohol in hospitality venues are banned. 

Bollocks to them, then 😁🍺🍷🍸🥃🥴

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, uktog said:

Norway announced new restrictions tonight 

 

I cannot see anything saying no to cruises though interestingly all sales of alcohol in hospitality venues are banned.  Certainly no relaxation on entry rules regarding the type of certification required.  Hopefully Viking are working flat out to get a definitive answer on this for US and Canadian guests because there seems to be absolutely no accepted work arounds

 

For us Canadians it should only require our Govt to request EU approval for our National digital vaccine passport, with QR Code. Similar to UK & EU countries, it is based on our NHS database.

[mhb1757]

Quick question here… what if we are US citizens but have obtained an EU accepted QR code (from Switzerland) for a previous trip that will still be valid during our Norway trip?  Would that work?  

[miaf]

Has Viking sailed anywhere where US passengers are not allowed in? Seeing as US customers are the majority of sales I doubt they would continue a sailing as sold with such restrictions.

[OnTheJourney]

On 10/7/2021 at 9:41 AM, Heidi13 said:

Therefore, we have just cancelled the Hawaii cruise,

Andy, sorry to hear of your cancellation. All these ever-changing guidelines, etc. is maddening. I wanted to mention that I posted a link to a rather interesting document over on the Viking Sky Survivor thread that I think you especially would find interesting. It's a thorough and highly detailed report on the Viking Sky incident compiled by the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection. It does not, however, include specific info on what was done on board ship during the event relative to the crew, etc.. All that was pretty much covered in previous literature anyway. 

[Heidi13]

1 minute ago, OnTheJourney said:

Andy, sorry to hear of your cancellation. All these ever-changing guidelines, etc. is maddening. I wanted to mention that I posted a link to a rather interesting document over on the Viking Sky Survivor thread that I think you especially would find interesting. It's a thorough and highly detailed report on the Viking Sky incident compiled by the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection. It does not, however, include specific info on what was done on board ship during the event relative to the crew, etc.. All that was pretty much covered in previous literature anyway. 

 

Thanks, I saw it last night and read the summary, but didn't have the time for reading the remainder of the document. Mind you, the one I'm really interested in reading is the final report from the Norway Accident Investigation Branch, which is still ongoing.

 

Hopefully that one will be posted early next year. 

[Moonlion]

From my reading of Norway's entry regs (https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/koronavirus-covid-19/travel-to-norway/id2791503/), US passengers are allowed into Norway. However, since we can't provide valid documentation of being vaccinated (acceptable to Norway), we have to take a Covid test within 24 hours of flight departure (can be a rapid antigen test), take a test again when arriving in Norway, and quarantine for 10 days.  The passenger can quarantine in a home or "other suitable accommodation;" if not that's not available to passenger, Norway will put you in a quarantine hotel at passenger's expense.  Passenger can end their quarantine early following a negative PCR test taken no sooner than 3 days after arrival. How Viking can/will navigate through these very complex rules is anyone's guess. 

[OnTheJourney]

1 minute ago, Heidi13 said:

the final report from the Norway Accident Investigation Branch, which is still ongoing.

Yeah...that's what got me interested in whether or not there was some sort of update, so I googled something like 'update on Viking Sky incident' and then came across this other thing. From the perspective of the rescue effort and the number of agencies involved, etc. it's a pretty fascinating account. Agreed  that more info on the accident investigation itself would be more interesting. Can't believe it'll be 3 years in March. Time goes fast when you're (not) having fun...lol. 

[OnTheJourney]

3 minutes ago, Moonlion said:

valid documentation of being vaccinated (acceptable to Norway),

Most interesting....thanks. This is craziness....

Edited December 14, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[Moonlion]

5 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

And what does that mean exactly? 

It's described at this website: https://lovdata.no/dokument/SF/forskrift/2020-03-27-470/KAPITTEL_16#KAPITTEL_16, and pasted below:

 

Overview of safe and verifiable ways of documenting status as protected or fully vaccinated, cf. section 3 fifth and sixth paragraphs:

-	Presentation of a Norwegian corona certificate with a QR code that can be verified by the Norwegian authorities.

-	Presentation of a certificate in accordance with the EU digital corona certificate, cf. Regulation (EU) 2021/953 Article 3.

-	Presentation of NHS Covid passports from England and Wales with a QR code that can be verified by the Norwegian authorities.

-	Presentation of COVID certificate from Northern Ireland with a QR code that can be verified by the Norwegian authorities.

-	Presentation of COVID-19 Vaccination certificate from Scotland with a QR code that can be verified by the Norwegian authorities.