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Huge sigh of relief heard in Carnival House

exlondoner

By exlondoner,
in Cunard Line

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bluemarble

bluemarble

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

US lifts ban on travellers from EU and UK.

 

Yes, indeed. Various news sites are reporting that the US is planning to ease travel restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors starting "early November". That's one major hurdle being removed that had been in the way of Cunard resuming transatlantic crossings. I don't know what other details are yet to be resolved but at least this is a hopeful sign that QM2's December schedule, including the Christmas cruise, can now go on as planned.

Edited by bluemarble
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frankp01

frankp01

Posted
Posted

Yes, this is tremendous news. Fortunately, the UK has lifted the test requirements for inbound US passengers. I was concerned about how we'd meet that. But now the US has imposed something similar: a test 3 days prior to entering the country. I'm wondering if the ship's medical facility will be able to offer that service?

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ace2542

ace2542

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, frankp01 said:

Yes, this is tremendous news. Fortunately, the UK has lifted the test requirements for inbound US passengers. I was concerned about how we'd meet that. But now the US has imposed something similar: a test 3 days prior to entering the country. I'm wondering if the ship's medical facility will be able to offer that service?

They will have to offer it. Cunard were not going to do so because we needed a PCR to get on the Anthem for Nov 14 linked sailing before they cancelled it which would have been a massive problem for us.

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frankp01

frankp01

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None of the news stories I've seen have mentioned a specific date. This is a quote from the NY Times:

 

The Biden administration will lift travel restrictions starting in November on foreigners who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus

 

And this is one of the reader comments in response to that article:

" "November" is only 6 weeks away. Could we have a specific date please?"

Edited by frankp01
To add the NY Times citation
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bluemarble

bluemarble

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, samarai27 said:

The Washington Post is saying its flights only...Hopefully Cunard will clear this up for us really quickly.

 

That's a fair point and one that does require further clarification. The White House statement some sources are quoting can be found on "whitehouse.gov" within this longer press briefing about this week's meeting of the UN General Assembly.

 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/09/20/background-press-call-by-a-senior-administration-official-previewing-the-76th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly/

 

That White House press briefing talks about new protocols for "passengers flying internationally into the United States" and "moving to a consistent requirement for all international air travelers coming to the United States." (emphasis mine).

 

And as far as the date is concerned, that press briefing does simply state "beginning in early November".

 

10 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

I believe that's because it doesn't apply to ground crossings from/to Canada (and probably Mexico, but I'm not as sure about Mexico as Canada). 

 

Let's hope that is indeed an accurate interpretation of the new US travel policies regarding a distinction being made between land crossings and other modes of entry.

Edited by bluemarble
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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

Posted
Posted

I'm sure it was a HUGE sigh ... or we would be seeing a slew of new QM2 transatlantic cancelations.  I'm still not sure how they are getting around the 14-day ship quarantine requirement for cruise ships entering the US market for the first time from a foreign market.  

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frankp01

frankp01

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This was the quote I saw in the New York Times. Jeffrey D. Zients, is the White House pandemic coordinator:

The changes announced on Monday apply only to air travel and do not affect restrictions along the land border, Mr. Zients said. 

 

I am hoping that passengers arriving by ship are classified closer to those arriving by air than by a land-crossing.

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frankp01

frankp01

Posted
Posted (edited)
22 hours ago, ace2542 said:

Have they said what date in November ban will be lifted?

I still haven't seen a date in any of the official announcements. But the Cruise Lines International Association's headline in response to the lifting of the restrictions is:

CLIA Welcomes White House Plan to Lift International Travel Restrictions Beginning 19 November 2021

That might be a good clue as to the date. That CLIA responded so positively is also a sign that they assume cruise ships will be treated as air travel. The date is one week before the US Thanksgiving day.

 

The one thing that is still not clear is the ship 'quarantine' period when returning to US waters. I have to assume that Cunard knows something, or they wouldn't have simply and arbitrarily added 2 days to the first crossing.

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ace2542

ace2542

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, frankp01 said:

I still haven't seen a date in any of the official announcements. But the Cruise Lines International Association's headline in response to the lifting of the restrictions is:

CLIA Welcomes White House Plan to Lift International Travel Restrictions Beginning 19 November 2021

That might be a good clue as to the date. That CLIA responded so positively is also a sign that they assume cruise ships will be treated as air travel. The date is one week before the US Thanksgiving day.

 

The one thing that is still not clear is the ship 'quarantine' period when returning to US waters. I have to assume that Cunard knows something, or they wouldn't have simply and arbitrarily added 2 days to the first crossing.

It seems like they probably did know something. Maybe that is another reason they axed the November 14th sailing.

Edited by ace2542
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frankp01

frankp01

Posted
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43 minutes ago, ShipFan13 said:

Doesn't the CDC CSO for cruise ships end November 1st?

Yes, you're right. I had forgotten that. A few months ago I was expecting it to be extended. However, the cruise lines have implemented the CDC's recommendations, and then some, so we'll that I think it will be allowed to gracefully expire.

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ShipFan13

ShipFan13

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 9/20/2021 at 8:23 PM, eroller said:

I'm sure it was a HUGE sigh ... or we would be seeing a slew of new QM2 transatlantic cancelations.  I'm still not sure how they are getting around the 14-day ship quarantine requirement for cruise ships entering the US market for the first time from a foreign market.  

The way the current schedule is.. It departs Southampton, two days early and arrives in New York on December 20th. Then it does a quick trip to the Caribbean and back before sailing TA to Southampton and then onto Hamburg.

 

If for the CDC extends this CSO and they have to do a 14 day quarantine of the ship. How would that work out with the schedules? Could they possibly scrap the Caribbean portion since its 12 days and they are staying an extra 2 days in New York? That would be 14 days.

 

I really hope they don't cancel any more trips.

Edited by ShipFan13
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bluemarble

bluemarble

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Concerning the CDC's requirement for a ship that has been operating outside the U.S. to go 14 days without passengers before returning to the U.S., there is this interesting nugget in the CDC's Technical Instructions for Mitigation of COVID-19 Among Cruise Ship Crew.

 

"CDC has provided an alternative to ships sailing out of foreign ports with passengers and repositioning to the U.S., in lieu of operating with no passengers for 14 days prior to resuming passenger operations in U.S. waters. Cruise ship operators may contact CDC at eocevent349@cdc.gov to request this information."

 

This has me wondering if those two extra days of inspections in New York is what Cunard has worked out with the CDC "in lieu of operating with no passengers for 14 days".

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eroller Great Review Rare

eroller

Posted
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38 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

Concerning the CDC's requirement for a ship that has been operating outside the U.S. to go 14 days without passengers before returning to the U.S., there is this interesting nugget in the CDC's Technical Instructions for Mitigation of COVID-19 Among Cruise Ship Crew.

 

"CDC has provided an alternative to ships sailing out of foreign ports with passengers and repositioning to the U.S., in lieu of operating with no passengers for 14 days prior to resuming passenger operations in U.S. waters. Cruise ship operators may contact CDC at eocevent349@cdc.gov to request this information."

 

This has me wondering if those two extra days of inspections in New York is what Cunard has worked out with the CDC "in lieu of operating with no passengers for 14 days".


 

Good find. What that actually entails would be interesting to find out.  Next month CELEBRITY APEX repositions from Europe to the US and the crossing is with revenue passengers.  I think this is the first crossing to the US with passengers since Covid. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I know they canceled all the non-US passengers from the manifest so all pax onboard will be US citizens.  

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Underwatr

Underwatr

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14 hours ago, ShipFan13 said:

If for the CDC extends this CSO and they have to do a 14 day quarantine of the ship. How would that work out with the schedules? Could they possibly scrap the Caribbean portion since its 12 days and they are staying an extra 2 days in New York? That would be 14 days.

 

It  wouldn't accomplish anything to do the 14 day quarantine only to return to Europe. They'd have to repeat a quarantine upon their next transatlantic if the rules aren't changed. The CDC's CSO assumes closed-loop cruises operating out of US ports and ignores itineraries like QM2's in which point-to-point cruising is largely the rule and not the exception.

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