Cruising choices with an active Pandemic

[Port Power]

We are booked on Viking Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise fo April 2023. Has anyone got any knowledge of how well these cruises are currently operating and whether there is any risk posed in about April 2023?

Just off a Viking A-B river cruise two weeks ago. One couple tested positive on day 2. They’re were isolated in their cabin for 5 days with full room service but no housekeeping. They could put out towels and receive new ones. In second week another lady tested positive but not husband. He was moved to another cabin. After 48 hours quarantine he still tested negative so was allowed to mingle again. The wife did her 5 days and also received full room service. Same meals as dining room. I couldn't help but notice the empty wine bottles outside her door! She was very happy with how she was looked after. None of these passengers was particularly unwell. However there was a lot of coughing around the ship in latter days, but no one else reported for testing.

As for April 2023, it is for you to decide what is an acceptable risk.

 

[drron]

Just back to the Silver Cloud in Antarctica. Silverseas requires you to be fully vaccinated as per the rules of any country you visit. The ships now go from Chile. Chile has no formal requirements for what constitutes fully vaccinated but do require you to be fully vaccinated under the rules of the country where you were vaccinated.
So if the traveller was American, and it does sound like it, then the USA considers you to be fully vaccinated after 2 mRNA shots plus 1 booster or 1 shot of J&J plus one booster. So in this case SS is almost certainly following USA rules.

 

[JohnK]

John Mrsdrron and I picked up covid in Thailand. And we wore masks. I am pretty sure you can put another couple of 0's after the Thai tally. How many tests do they do?
On Worldometers Australia has done 78 million tests,Thailand 17 million. I think they might have missed quite a few cases.

Either way I prefer the Thai attitude towards covid than the Australian attitude towards covid.

As I have said too many times way too many Australians signing up to Telegram and following every dumb conspiracy theory out there and using that as confirmation for their beliefs.

How long have we been vaccinating against covid now? How dumb would you have to be to believe that everyone vaccinated is going to start dropping dead 2 years after vaccinating.

 

[drron]

John your case might be due to your faeces. A study from Hong kong showed that those with less diversity in their faecal bugs were more likely to have severe covid and higher viral loads.

https://dgalerts.docguide.com/ncov-home/article/study-examines-role-of-multi-kingdom-microbiota-and-host-microbial-interactions-in-covid-19-severity-and-post-acute-covid-19-syndrome

 

[woodyren]

We were scheduled to sail on Ovation OTS from Sydney today. A 10 night Pacific cruise followed by an 11 night NZ.

Did our required home RAT test yesterday morning and it was negative. I felt a little off and started getting the sniffles yesterday afternoon and a little bit worse this morning. I decided it was wise to retest. Positive.

As a data point. I called Royal around 9am and after 15 minutes on the phone our booking was cancelled with a future cruise credit will be issued within 15 days.

We still plan to take the second cruise on Nov 26th.

After all our recent travels this year this was a likely thing to happen. The timing was not too disruptive either.

Third infection for me. March 2020, Jan 2022, Nov 2022. Each one milder than previously.

 

[Pushka]

John your case might be due to your faeces. A study from Hong kong showed that those with less diversity in their faecal bugs were more likely to have severe covid and higher viral loads.

https://dgalerts.docguide.com/ncov-home/article/study-examines-role-of-multi-kingdom-microbiota-and-host-microbial-interactions-in-covid-19-severity-and-post-acute-covid-19-syndrome

I'm clearly very diverse then

 

[woodyren]

I'm clearly very diverse then

Cruise food probably increases my diversity in that department as well.

 

[Pushka]

Cruise food probably increases my diversity in that department as well.

And then alcohol consumption kills it.

 

[Port Power]

In September next year I am cruising from Vancouver to Japan and then a circumnavigation. I just had a look at flights. QF now have SYD-YVR direct, which is great. BUT... the J fare is some $18,000!!! That will probably improve as time goes by, but what an outrageous fare. I can book Singapore Airlines with excellent connections in J for less around $6,800. I might leave it until January, but forget status, I'm booking on price.

 

[Port Power]

I received an email from Regent Seven Seas with some interesting information. If a person has been to Cuba in the past, they now need to apply for a full visa to enter the USA, not the ESTA most of us have. The USA administration has reactivated the requirement, evidently because Cuba is on the list of countries that sponsor terrorist activities. I don't know if there is a time limit on how far back you might have visited Cuba, but it will mean a bit more effort for tourists. The requirement does not seem to have been widely publicised, either.

 

[ksthommo]

If you visited Cuba prior to 12 January 2021 you should be right?

Visited USA back in August on ESTA, visited Cuba in 2017, no dramas.

When was Cuba designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism?​

The United States Department of State most recently designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on January 12, 2021.

Just had a look at my saved ESTA application from March 2022.
No mention of Cuba, only:
"9) Have you traveled to, or been present in Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011?"

 

[Port Power]

If you visited Cuba prior to 12 January 2021 you should be right?

Visited USA back in August on ESTA, visited Cuba in 2017, no dramas.

When was Cuba designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism?​

The United States Department of State most recently designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on January 12, 2021.

The status was just reactivated last month, so did not apply to you in travelling in August. Hopefully it will not apply to people who visited Cuba prior to 2021, but that is something to find out during the ESTA application. A lot of people grabbed the opportunity of visiting Cuba on cruises for the period it was open. They will now have to do due diligence.

On the USA government travel website, type Cuba into the search box.

I wonder if this will affect tourists such as yourself with a current valid ESTA? That is, those who may have applied and received an ESTA earlier this year?

 

[ksthommo]

Good luck with this one Port Power, seems to be a lot of conflicting information around.

 

[Port Power]

Good luck with this one Port Power, seems to be a lot of conflicting information around.

No, I’ve seen no conflicting information. The USA Customs and border website is very clear. The only question is how far back a visit to Cuba applies.

I have never been to Cuba, so am not affected. I posted the information as I know other AFFers have. As I said, the change of status was not widely publicised.

 

[Flashback]

Good luck with this one Port Power, seems to be a lot of conflicting information around.

Why not just take the answers from here? Official ESTA Application Website, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

When was Cuba designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism?​

The United States Department of State most recently designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on January 12, 2021.

How does Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism impact my travel to the United States using my approved ESTA?​

If a traveler is found to have visited a country designated as State Sponsor of Terrorism, the traveler is no longer eligible to participate in the Visa Wavier Program and must apply for a visa to enter the United States.

If you then go through the process of applying..... the only question relating the countries visited is:
9) Have you traveled to, or been present in Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011?

Therefore, currently Cuba does not stop you getting an ESTA in theory, but I wouldn't chance it. However, if you've travelled pre-January 2021 I would take the shot. YMMV and always worth contacting an immigration lawyer or the embassy to check.

 

[Port Power]

Why not just take the answers from here? Official ESTA Application Website, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

When was Cuba designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism?​

The United States Department of State most recently designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on January 12, 2021.

How does Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism impact my travel to the United States using my approved ESTA?​

If a traveler is found to have visited a country designated as State Sponsor of Terrorism, the traveler is no longer eligible to participate in the Visa Wavier Program and must apply for a visa to enter the United States.

If you then go through the process of applying..... the only question relating the countries visited is:
9) Have you traveled to, or been present in Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011?

Therefore, currently Cuba does not stop you getting an ESTA in theory, but I wouldn't chance it. However, if you've travelled pre-January 2021 I would take the shot. YMMV and always worth contacting an immigration lawyer or the embassy to check.

An article by The Independent" for UK citizens was published on 28 September 2022 and states "if you have visited Cuba in the last 11 years...". It was picked up in a message issued by the Visit USA Assocation. As mentioned above, the restriction has just been reactivated. I am assuming the 11 year exclusion (since 2011) applies to Australians, too.

I don't know if this link will work. It would not post from my iPad.

travelweekly.co.uk/travel/air/news/visa

 

[Flashback]

An article by The Independent" for UK citizens was published on 28 September 2022 and states "if you have visited Cuba in the last 11 years...". It was picked up in a message issued by the Visit USA Assocation. As mentioned above, the restriction has just been reactivated. I am assuming the 11 year exclusion (since 2011) applies to Australians, too.

I don't know if this link will work. It would not post from my iPad.

travelweekly.co.uk/travel/air/news/visa

Link doesn't work unfortunately.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Link doesn't work unfortunately.

try Visas required for UK travellers to US who have visited Cuba | Travel Weekly

 

[Port Power]

try Visas required for UK travellers to US who have visited Cuba | Travel Weekly

Thanks; that's the one.

 

[Flashback]

Seems interesting though that the ESTA questions specifically mention the list of naughty countries, and if you've visited since 2011 but doesn't list Cuba. An oversight? A loophole to exploit? You are still truthfully answering the question......