Restrictions in Italy

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

You seem to assume that Azamara know the situation in every country all the time and that this does no change. In fact the situation seems to be pretty fluid. Let’s face it, Azamara could have made things easy for themselves by simply saying that passengers can only go ashore on ships excursions whatever country they are in,  instead they are doing their best to allow people off on their own wherever possible. I think that deserves plaudits rather than complaints.

Or cancelled completely

 

Well said Grandma!

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

You seem to assume that Azamara know the situation in every country all the time and that this does no change. In fact the situation seems to be pretty fluid. Let’s face it, Azamara could have made things easy for themselves by simply saying that passengers can only go ashore on ships excursions whatever country they are in,  instead they are doing their best to allow people off on their own wherever possible. I think that deserves plaudits rather than complaints.

Hello, Fellow cruiser from Viking Ocean. I will be on Viking cruise  in October, ports of Malta , Sicily, Sardinia and Spain.  This will be my second cruise in the Time of COVID. Flexibility is the key. Protocol  can change in a day. It is what the host country requires at any given time. Watching the surge of COVID and then abating, things change.

 When I was in Bermuda in July ,we  got a open window from Government that we could walk around on our own. The weeks before not so much. 

Currently, Malta will allow us to  walk off ship. But that is new  in the last week or so.

 I  am watching the Azamara forum because I am interested in sailing on the Pursuit in 2023  in Northern Europe.

Everyone  relax and enjoy being back on the water , sailing on a wonderful ship, and seeing interesting ports and countries  again.

Cheers! 

[sleeg]

Seems that #74 speaks of transparency and clarity.  Yes, things are fluid, and to me transparency and clarity are symptoms of good customer service.  It is difficult to provide good customer service these days. But CS management's job is to track and communicate information to the customer, even if it is "...I don't know; I'll get back to you."  This is hard. The easy thing is to not communicate, or 'apologize', or refer and refer until the customer capitulates.

 

"Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten."  My wife and I are fortunate enough to afford cruising; I would hope to pay more so a service meets my expectations.

[LT Hambone]

Now, I know there are folks out there right now who saying, "Just cancel!", or "What do you expect, this is a fluid situation in a pandemic!". But I think everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room.

 

So this restriction has been in place for SIX months, and this is the first mention of the restriction by Azamara. My expectation would be that months ago Azamara would have informed everyone of the restrictions and offered additional tours which met those restrictions. If they would have done that, then yes, I would have been throwing plaudits at them hand over fist.

 

Instead, the Quest will be docked in Livorno for 36.5 hours, and Azamara is now only offering seven shore excursions in Livorno, five of which are private guides and two are guided tours. For a cruise line which prides itself as Destination Immersive, this seems to be going in the opposite direction.

 

 

 

[uktog]

All the communications I have seen for the last six months have warned me things might change.  Its very hard to be Destination Immersion just now - no cruise line could achieve that.  Perhaps Azamara held off until the last minute before communicating because they hoped for a change of heart from the various owners of the road blocks that are giving issues.  

Maybe because some of us have lived under months and months of lockdowns and are still subject to limitations and restrictions and we have changing decisions from our devolved government and national government every week the UK/European guests are more tolerant of the current Azamara situation.

[laurieb]

6 hours ago, Dr H said:

RE Trieste turn around day. I've got a private tour booked. Technically, Aza wants us off the boat. I'm planning on getting off the boat, since it is the end of my cruise, going to the caves, returning to the boat as a new customer, boarding pass in hand. If that changes, I can cancel the tour days before the Trieste arrival, but I cannot imagine how they can possibly enforce that! 

I haven't yet seen anything to that effect; did you get an email from them?

[Cruizer Diana]

1 hour ago, LT Hambone said:

Now, I know there are folks out there right now who saying, "Just cancel!", or "What do you expect, this is a fluid situation in a pandemic!". But I think everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room.

 

So this restriction has been in place for SIX months, and this is the first mention of the restriction by Azamara. My expectation would be that months ago Azamara would have informed everyone of the restrictions and offered additional tours which met those restrictions. If they would have done that, then yes, I would have been throwing plaudits at them hand over fist.

 

Instead, the Quest will be docked in Livorno for 36.5 hours, and Azamara is now only offering seven shore excursions in Livorno, five of which are private guides and two are guided tours. For a cruise line which prides itself as Destination Immersive, this seems to be going in the opposite direction.

 

 

 

BINGO!! That is exactly the point.

[Dr H]

Laurie, no e mails. I booked the caves with Viator prior to the bomb shell. I will have my laptop on board the Oct 9th trip, if things change, I can change. If I'm correct, and I'm pretty sure I am, I should be free to go wherever I want.  Trust me, I will be keeping everyone one posted from day 1/ Oct 9.  David

[Huntingdon1701]

It is hard for cruise lines, and I've accepted that things can change last minute - like having a PCR test added at the last minute by MSC. 

 

Where Azamara fell down, and still have a problem, is not proof reading things they post on the website. There is no excuse for having contradictory information on the same page - that's not a facet of changing regulations, that's plain incompetence and lack of care from those responsible for drafting, editing and proof reading. They are not working at the level of speed that might excuse mistakes, and some of them have been on the website for weeks before they correct them.

 

There are also elements of wishful thinking here - not communicating the shore excursions in Italy strikes me far more as a hope that they would be removed by the time of sailing, as had many other restrictions, rather than a desire to mislead people booking. I think it's a mistaken attitude and that passengers would prefer them to be upfront, but I can also understand how important it is for them to get their business back up on their feet - and you don't do that as effectively by frontloading people with negative information that will probably disappear by the time they sail. And I do think it was a reasonable expectation that this restriction would be removed, because it was introduced right at the start of the pandemic alongside the ban with cruising, and is now out of step with every other country. 

[uktog]

21 hours ago, Dr H said:

 If I'm correct, and I'm pretty sure I am, I should be free to go wherever I want.  

FYI

A cruiser on the 9th October received this from their tour provider which I think fully clarifies why these restrictions exist.  Unfortunately as its nearing the end of the cruise tourist season its probably not a high priority right now and the changes will come for 2022

 

Yes, there is a provision in the current Italian Covid decree that prohibits any sort of private excursion, even touring on your own, as far as we understand it.  This was my big project the past few days.. 

 

Roberto talked to the head of security at the port of Livorno about it last week.  Apparently you can use private transfers when boarding and disembarking from the cruise but it will surely be a snafu of red tape to arrange. 

 

I wouldn't blame you for cancelling or changing your cruise.  And you won't be the only one.  Hopefully enough clients will cancel that the cruise lines will get the message, and step up to pressure the Italian government not to renew these absurd restrictions come Oct 25.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Remember that Azamara is just starting up, so they need to be extra careful.  The Noble Caledonia cruise I am presently on is their first International cruise, but they have been sailing in Britain for months. Their initial protocols were very strict (e.g. assigned tables at dinner) but with a successful track record they have loosened up considerably. EXCEPT in Italy, where the government clearly surprised them - all the shore excursion descriptions include free time on your own, but that is strictly not allowed. 

[Mrs Miggins]

Thanks for the update.  A friend was on Noble Caledonia to the Scilly Islands last month and loved it.  Just looked at their website.  Looks lovely but very expensive -  No cruise critic section so guess we won't be able to see how you get on.

I am in Italy on Viking over New Year and on Azamara in April - keeping fingers crossed that everything loosens up before then.

[Host Jazzbeau]

16 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Thanks for the update.  A friend was on Noble Caledonia to the Scilly Islands last month and loved it.  Just looked at their website.  Looks lovely but very expensive -  No cruise critic section so guess we won't be able to see how you get on.

There is a forum called “Other cruise lines.”  I will post a full review there when we are home- internet too slow to do a “live from.”

[laurieb]

For any of you from the US, traveling to Italy for your cruise, which type of covid test are you getting?  

[Tripgalrf]

1 hour ago, laurieb said:

For any of you from the US, traveling to Italy for your cruise, which type of covid test are you getting?  

Hi Laurie. I am planning on the rapid antigen test (Binax Now) which is still swab based and meets all the other requirements for Delta/Italy. I can have it done at the local Walgreens but I know in some areas it is tough to get an appointment. 
Still trying to understand when I need to complete it if I am flying Tuesday night and getting on the ship Thursday. I think I will need to do Tuesday morning to meet the AZ requirement. Let me know if you have heard differently.

 

Rebecca

[sleeg]

We got a rapid test at the local pharmacy ($65); Delta Airlines (no pun intended) requires a negative test within 72 hours of departure for any USA>Europe flight.  We were going to Greece, which did nor require a test in our situation, but did not matter.  Check your airline.  Recommend you get tested as close as possible to departure so the test doesn't time out before embarking.  Our cruise line (Holland America) requires a negative test result at embarkation.

 

BTW, Italian ports require cruise sponsored shore excursions only at this time.  We are arriving in Venice a few days early so we can excurse on our own.  Our CDC card will suffice.  So, we'll get another test at embarkation.  No big deal.

[laurieb]

3 hours ago, sleeg said:

We got a rapid test at the local pharmacy ($65); Delta Airlines (no pun intended) requires a negative test within 72 hours of departure for any USA>Europe flight.  We were going to Greece, which did nor require a test in our situation, but did not matter.  Check your airline.  Recommend you get tested as close as possible to departure so the test doesn't time out before embarking.  Our cruise line (Holland America) requires a negative test result at embarkation.

 

BTW, Italian ports require cruise sponsored shore excursions only at this time.  We are arriving in Venice a few days early so we can excurse on our own.  Our CDC card will suffice.  So, we'll get another test at embarkation.  No big deal.

I'm happy to hear that a rapid test should suffice!

[Cruizer Diana]

18 hours ago, sleeg said:

We got a rapid test at the local pharmacy ($65); Delta Airlines (no pun intended) requires a negative test within 72 hours of departure for any USA>Europe flight.  We were going to Greece, which did nor require a test in our situation, but did not matter.  Check your airline.  Recommend you get tested as close as possible to departure so the test doesn't time out before embarking.  Our cruise line (Holland America) requires a negative test result at embarkation.

 

BTW, Italian ports require cruise sponsored shore excursions only at this time.  We are arriving in Venice a few days early so we can excurse on our own.  Our CDC card will suffice.  So, we'll get another test at embarkation.  No big deal.

Italy requires the test within 72 hours of ARRIVAL, so be careful to not take it too early.

[sleeg]

Exactly.

 

Delta=72 hrs before Departure

Italy=72 hrs before Arrival

Cruise=72 hrs before embarkation

 

That was us.  My nose is sore.

[Cruizer Diana]

3 hours ago, sleeg said:

Exactly.

 

Delta=72 hrs before Departure

Italy=72 hrs before Arrival

Cruise=72 hrs before embarkation

 

That was us.  My nose is sore.

Are you saying that if you arrive in Italy and stay in Rome for four days,  you MUST take another test before you show up at the port to take the test for embarkation? I know it mentions that in the Azamara protocols page, but that page for Italy isn't written clearly and has had many contradictions. Is there another source that says the additional test for VACCINATED passengers is required?

[auger69]

15 minutes ago, Cruizer Diana said:

Are you saying that if you arrive in Italy and stay in Rome for four days,  you MUST take another test before you show up at the port to take the test for embarkation? I know it mentions that in the Azamara protocols page, but that page for Italy isn't written clearly and has had many contradictions. Is there another source that says the additional test for VACCINATED passengers is required?

I may be wrong but I believe they are testing at boarding.

[Cruizer Diana]

1 minute ago, auger69 said:

I may be wrong but I believe they are testing at boarding.

Yes. I am positive that they are testing at boarding, which is why I wonder if we really need to test before we arrive at the port. Seems a bit redundant and I have not seen that on any other documentation.

[sleeg]

37 minutes ago, Cruizer Diana said:

Are you saying that if you arrive in Italy and stay in Rome for four days,  you MUST take another test before you show up at the port to take the test for embarkation? I know it mentions that in the Azamara protocols page, but that page for Italy isn't written clearly and has had many contradictions. Is there another source that says the additional test for VACCINATED passengers is required?

With us, yup and yup.  Delta: needed test/CDC card to get on the plane to ANYWHERE in Europe.  We went to Greece, spent 14 days on the islands and planed to Venice; no test required (CDC card, yes) because we were US citizens staying in an EU country more than 10 days.  Less than 10 days, test required.  Stayed in Venice 2 days, got tested at Holland America embarkation (CDC card, yes).   So, if we stayed in Greece for a week it would have been test/test/test.

 

Good for you if you are in Rome 4 days. Theoretically, you are free to enter restaurants, etc with your CDC card; actually, you can if the proprietor knows for US citizens the CDC card = Green Pass.  Then, on shipboard, it is only cruise sponsored shore excursions in Italy (at this time). 

[floridafolks]

44 minutes ago, sleeg said:

With us, yup and yup.  Delta: needed test/CDC card to get on the plane to ANYWHERE in Europe.  We went to Greece, spent 14 days on the islands and planed to Venice; no test required (CDC card, yes) because we were US citizens staying in an EU country more than 10 days.  Less than 10 days, test required.  Stayed in Venice 2 days, got tested at Holland America embarkation (CDC card, yes).   So, if we stayed in Greece for a week it would have been test/test/test.

 

Good for you if you are in Rome 4 days. Theoretically, you are free to enter restaurants, etc with your CDC card; actually, you can if the proprietor knows for US citizens the CDC card = Green Pass.  Then, on shipboard, it is only cruise sponsored shore excursions in Italy (at this time). 

Did your trip to Greece on Delta happen to have a connection? When I put in direct flight from JFK to Ath on Delta, I cannot see a covid test requirement to board plane if you have vaccine proof. Could you point to where Delta says a test and CDC card for Greece( when not connecting in another airport that requires test.  Things are so confusing. Thank you.

[Cruizer Diana]

2 hours ago, Cruizer Diana said:

Yes. I am positive that they are testing at boarding, which is why I wonder if we really need to test before we arrive at the port. Seems a bit redundant and I have not seen that on any other documentation.

This requirement didn't sound right to me. So, I just called Azamara and spoke with Shelby. She said that we need to take the test to enter Italy and Azamara will test us when we board. No test required prior to boarding in Italy.

 

I'm thinking that this was a requirement before they tested to enter Italy when you are not vaccinated. Now you have to be vaccinated to enter Italy.