Coronavirus Restrictions in Switzerland and Netherlands

[cruisr]

@notamermaidJust want to check in and make sure you are OK.  I have missed your delay updates and information.  If you are on holiday I hope it is somewhere great.

Happy New Year

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, cruisr said:

@notamermaidJust want to check in and make sure you are OK.  I have missed your delay updates and information.  If you are on holiday I hope it is somewhere great.

Happy New Year

Thank you for thinking of me, that is very kind. Just busy with family, neighbour's cats and work. My colleagues have more or less decided to all go on holiday, so I am filling in for them in this quiet time - which has turned out to be busier and more frustrating than expected. New rules and regulations have created changes in my direct field in tourism so I need to rearrange and phone, etc., etc. No holiday for me for several weeks. But I cheer up every time I stroke the cats and am able to see a river cruise ship lit up with Christmas lights! They are still sailing and look lovely.

 

Happy New Year to you, too.

 

notamermaid

 

[BAYA]

Happy New Year to @notamermaid and everyone else. We just had to make our final payment for an Avalon Rhine cruise that begins April 5th in Basel. I already obtained the Swiss vaccination certificate in November. I don't see an expiration date on the certificate but it does show the date of my booster shot, which was in Sept. 2021.

I dearly hope that people are cooperative regarding the vaccination and other restrictions and that we are still able to have an enjoyable trip in April. We are spending a lot of money between air, hotels, and cruise fare plus insurance. I hope we don't regret not cancelling!

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, BAYA said:

Happy New Year to @notamermaid and everyone else.

Thank you. Have a good start to 2022 and I hope your travel plans work out.

 

notamermaid

 

[Psoque]

On 12/30/2021 at 1:29 PM, BAYA said:

Happy New Year to @notamermaid and everyone else. We just had to make our final payment for an Avalon Rhine cruise that begins April 5th in Basel. I already obtained the Swiss vaccination certificate in November. I don't see an expiration date on the certificate but it does show the date of my booster shot, which was in Sept. 2021.

I dearly hope that people are cooperative regarding the vaccination and other restrictions and that we are still able to have an enjoyable trip in April. We are spending a lot of money between air, hotels, and cruise fare plus insurance. I hope we don't regret not cancelling!

I'm not sure if you have already linked your certificate to the Swiss app, but when you click on the first screen with the smaller QR code, you get a second screen with a bigger QR code.  That screen shows  the date of "Validity in Switzerland."  I believe that data is supposed to be one year after your most recent vaccination.

 

I hope your April river cruise will go without a hitch.  We did it on Crystal Debussy in November of last year (2021) and we just lucked out by missing most of the strict restrictions in the Netherlands.  But it was very close.  We were extremely lucky.

[BAYA]

On 1/1/2022 at 12:22 PM, Psoque said:

I'm not sure if you have already linked your certificate to the Swiss app, but when you click on the first screen with the smaller QR code, you get a second screen with a bigger QR code.  That screen shows  the date of "Validity in Switzerland."  I believe that data is supposed to be one year after your most recent vaccination.

Thanks. I haven't loaded the Swiss app yet. Appreciate the info.

[Shmoo here]

On 12/30/2021 at 10:29 AM, BAYA said:

Happy New Year to @notamermaid and everyone else. We just had to make our final payment for an Avalon Rhine cruise that begins April 5th in Basel. I already obtained the Swiss vaccination certificate in November. I don't see an expiration date on the certificate but it does show the date of my booster shot, which was in Sept. 2021.

I dearly hope that people are cooperative regarding the vaccination and other restrictions and that we are still able to have an enjoyable trip in April. We are spending a lot of money between air, hotels, and cruise fare plus insurance. I hope we don't regret not cancelling!

Hmm... don't know what happened to my post, but here goes again:

 

Do you need the Swiss vaccination certificate to enter the Netherlands?  We have a river cruise from Amsterdam in March and I'm trying to figure out what we need to do.

[steamboats]

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Do you need the Swiss vaccination certificate to enter the Netherlands?  We have a river cruise from Amsterdam in March and I'm trying to figure out what we need to do.

 

To enter the Netherlands your CDC card is totally fine. Actually it´s not a Swiss vaccination certificate but a European one. It´s just that Switzerland and France offer you (online) to verify your CDC card and "convert" it into the European certificate. This can be used with any European Covid app. As an example here in Germany the Swiss QR can be scanned and verified that you are fully vaccinated. Same for my German QR code in Switzerland, France, Italy, Netherlands (and all other EU countries plus some more). So we do either have this QR code in an app on our phones or have a print out which can be scanned. But usually you should be fine with your CDC card too.

 

steamboats

[BAYA]

I installed the Swiss Covid Certificate app on my iPhone. Unbelievably easy to scan the QR code on my pdf certificate and load it into the app. The PDF certificate tells you which app to download from the app store. Glad it did since there are so many apps.

[notamermaid]

As I write the live press conference of the Swiss government is still ongoing. It is of course an update on the pandemic situation in Switzerland. Needless to say, the Omicron variant is doing what it is good at, infecting lots of people. This is the government website: https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/situation-schweiz-und-international.html

 

News website covering this in German language: https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/das-neueste-zur-coronakrise-taskforce-rechnet-noch-im-januar-mit-hoehepunkt-der-omikron-welle

Excerpt: "Die Gesundheitsbehörden gehen davon aus, dass auf dem Höhepunkt der Omikron-Welle 10 bis 15 Prozent der arbeitstätigen Bevölkerung gleichzeitig in Isolation oder in Quarantäne sein werden." This means that it is expected that 10 to 15 percent of the workforce will either be in isolation or in quarantine at the height of the Omicron wave ((expected some time in January)). The authorities are discussing reducing the quarantine period to five days.

 

For river cruise travellers to take away from this is that seeing the wave is expected in January, could this be mostly over by April, at least in Switzerland? While the situation is certainly a stressful one and will be even more so in the next four weeks in Europe, in the reports I detect an increasing sentiment/vibe/hope that Omicron is leading our way out of this, if not fully than at least into a better situation than we anticipated when Omicron became first known. That is my impression, echoed by quite a few people I have spoken to. Those that are not "infected" by fearmongering tend to be a bit more upbeat that they were two months ago.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[BAYA]

Thanks for this update, @notamermaid. We are still hopeful that our cruise from Basel to Amsterdam will be a go and not cancelled or modified to make it a huge waste of our money. We are flying from Boston to Zurich on April 4th.

[notamermaid]

The beginning of the end - of the pandemic?

 

How do you get from pandemic to endemic or even "just" a bad flu? A change of mindset and ultimately tactics. It appears Spain is doing so. Now, Spain is not a classical river cruising country but is joining other countries in Europe that are looking beyond a pandemic state/terminology and may lead the way for other nations where we usually cruise. (At this point I throw in a hooray! to the Iberians and a booh! to Prussians and other folks in Berlin, i.e. do not expect my country to follow the Iberians soon, although we Germans love the Spanish sunshine ) So, to the serious question: pandemic or flu? The Spanish health ministry/government now says the death rate went from 13 percent at the beginning of the pandemic to around 1 percent now. In this article https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/presidente/intervenciones/Paginas/2022/prsp10012022.aspx, you can read the question "¿vamos hacia una gripalización de la pandemia?" In the answer you can read the figures I have quoted and the plan, which it is suggested, should be a question raised for not just Spain but also on a European level. Perhaps you can find something in English, if you would like to look deeper into this.

 

Denmark is heading into a similar mindset, in that country Omicron was confirmed in the figures to be the dominant strain on 17 December 2021. Italy has also confirmed that Omicron is now the dominant strain.

 

So, if Omicron is our way out of this, what will happen in the Netherlands where the lockdown is still ongoing? The health ministry there declared on 28 December that Omicron had become the dominant strain. It appears that the Netherlands will now at least ease restrictions on 15 January (tomorrow!), I am not sure that means it is an official end to the lockdown. But the lockdown was supposed to last until today. So, the government is "pleased" with the result of the restrictions, that is what it looks like to me. Original government statement: https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2021/12/18/slowing-the-spread-of-the-omicron-variant-lockdown-in-the-netherlands

 

Ohh, a long post. I promise to try and keep the following updates shorter. Hope this post has shone a bit of light on the situation in Europe beyond scary headlines and gives you a bit more confidence if you are struggling to make sense of what Spring may bring for your river cruise (if you have one planned or booked). These are my impressions as a laywoman of course.

 

How river cruise lines will react is of course another matter, but seeing that river cruise lines in Autumn and Winter have cancelled cruises at short notice usually only in reaction to border restrictions and strict lockdowns (gathered from my intensive reading of the headlines) I am a bit upbeat about Spring. Hope I am proven right... If you have any doubts now, why not talk to your agent or river cruise line to hear what they think of the situation?

 

Will try and find out a bit about the few German language river cruises running January to middle of March.

 

Till then.

 

notamermaid

 

[BAYA]

Thanks for this update! I shall interpret the signs as reason for optimism. 😊

[notamermaid]

New government rulings concerning vaccines and travel to Switzerland. One of several news articles: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/switzerland-eases-covid-entry-rules 

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

And this is the official press release by the Federal Council of Switzerland:

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-86839.html

 

The validity of the certificate for fully vaccinated people has been shortened to 270 days (in line with the recommendation by the EU).

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

This is what life will look like in the Netherlands with restrictions due to the Omicron wave, a bit better than it had been:

https://nltimes.nl/2022/01/25/full-list-dutch-coronavirus-restrictions-january-26

 

notamermaid

 

[Turtles06]

7 hours ago, notamermaid said:

This is what life will look like in the Netherlands with restrictions due to the Omicron wave, a bit better than it had been:

https://nltimes.nl/2022/01/25/full-list-dutch-coronavirus-restrictions-january-26

 

notamermaid

 

 

Many thanks for sharing this, and all the other information that you post.

 

My wife and I (fully vaccinated and boosted Americans) are scheduled for a Viking river cruise out of Amsterdam in April (postponed from April 2020), with a week there pre-cruise on our own, so we've been watching all of this carefully.  So far, as best I can tell, the Netherlands would still require us to quarantine upon arrival, which would be a non-starter for our trip.  Even if that rule is eliminated by April, right now there does not seem to be a way for vaccinated Americans to obtain a "pass" to enter museums, restaurants, etc., and instead a requirement that we would have to be tested daily (which I think would also be a non-starter for us).

 

Thanks again for of your information.   Stay safe.

[notamermaid]

11 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Thanks again for of your information.   Stay safe.

Thank you. I do my best. You look after yourself, too. And keep your spirits up. I am confident your plans will work out. This should help: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/netherlands-to-lift-quarantine-requirement-for-travellers-who-receive-a-booster-dose/

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Turtles06]

30 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you. I do my best. You look after yourself, too. And keep your spirits up. I am confident your plans will work out. This should help: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/netherlands-to-lift-quarantine-requirement-for-travellers-who-receive-a-booster-dose/

 

notamermaid

 

 

Thanks, much appreciated news!  
 

Now if the Netherlands would just make it possible for us to present our vaccination documents and get a pass to enter museums, restaurants, etc. (as we can in France), that would be huge. 

[BAYA]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Thanks, much appreciated news!  
 

Now if the Netherlands would just make it possible for us to present our vaccination documents and get a pass to enter museums, restaurants, etc. (as we can in France), that would be huge. 

Do you know for a fact that they won't accept the Swiss certificate? I applied for and received a Swiss vaccination certificate to use on my upcoming cruise on the Rhine.

[sfocruiser]

1 hour ago, BAYA said:

Do you know for a fact that they won't accept the Swiss certificate? I applied for and received a Swiss vaccination certificate to use on my upcoming cruise on the Rhine.

 

You Swiss certificate should work.    We had a french certificate for a trip last Oct and it worked fine in Amsterdam.    We recently got a Swiss cert and it scans fine into the Dutch  APPs

 

[VirgoJean]

18 minutes ago, sfocruiser said:

You Swiss certificate should work.    We had a french certificate for a trip last Oct and it worked fine in Amsterdam.    We recently got a Swiss cert and it scans fine into the Dutch  APPs

If I may be so clueless as to ask, I'm sorry...How would an American go about getting a French or Swiss certificate? I cruise from Amsterdam to Basil leaving May 1 and then have two extended land days in Paris following the 8 day cruise. I am terribly confused and would love some info from anyone willing to assist with this. Thank you very much!

[sfocruiser]

34 minutes ago, VirgoJean said:

If I may be so clueless as to ask, I'm sorry...How would an American go about getting a French or Swiss certificate? I cruise from Amsterdam to Basil leaving May 1 and then have two extended land days in Paris following the 8 day cruise. I am terribly confused and would love some info from anyone willing to assist with this. Thank you very much!

 

To my knowledge the french site is closed.   The Swiss site asks for travel reservations which show a stay in Switzerland.  Link below.  you can always make a refundable hotel reservation and use that as proof.   there i also a service fee of 30CHF.   I just received my certificate and it is valid for 6 months (we are taking a  Viking Basel to Ams in March)

 

Hope this helps!

 

https://covidcertificate-form.admin.ch/foreign

[Turtles06]

6 hours ago, BAYA said:

Do you know for a fact that they won't accept the Swiss certificate? I applied for and received a Swiss vaccination certificate to use on my upcoming cruise on the Rhine.

 

Looking at the instructions for the Swiss certificate, it says the proof of vaccination you present must contain, among other things, the "Stamp and signature of the person or office that carried out the vaccination."  I'm an American like you.  My CDC card has no stamps or signatures; it shows when I was vaxxed, where (our local health dept.), with what vaccine, and the lot number.    When you applied for the Swiss vaccine certificate, what form of proof of vaccination did you use?  Was their a stamp and signature on it?  (That's just not common here.)

 

Thanks for any info!

[sfocruiser]

13 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Looking at the instructions for the Swiss certificate, it says the proof of vaccination you present must contain, among other things, the "Stamp and signature of the person or office that carried out the vaccination."  I'm an American like you.  My CDC card has no stamps or signatures; it shows when I was vaxxed, where (our local health dept.), with what vaccine, and the lot number.    When you applied for the Swiss vaccine certificate, what form of proof of vaccination did you use?  Was their a stamp and signature on it?  (That's just not common here.)

 

Thanks for any info!

 

i used my cdc card which worked.  My card has the vaccine, date and administering entity (Hospital) no stamp or signature