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... And what about the Christmas market cruises?

notamermaid

By notamermaid,
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notamermaid Excellent Advice! Rare

notamermaid

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On 11/11/2021 at 8:55 PM, Blue Eyes said:

State Department added Belgium to the “red” do not travel area,  too, due to Covid and or “terrorist threats.”    So far no comment from Tauck.  What to do…what to do???

Will your cruise also go through the Netherlands? If so you might want to read the thread on the measures in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Hopefully Tauck will talk to you about this, they should. If not I would contact them.

 

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notamermaid

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Oh, bu**er! I hope it still works out. Perhaps a different hygiene strategy? Something without lingering and glühwein sipping perhaps? A walk-through? I really hope they find a solution.

 

No problems in Rhineland-Palatine yet, a few cancellations of charity operated ones, though. And the one in Rüdesheim of course.

 

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If you are in Speyer, Mannheim or Mainz in the next few days but think you are too early for Christmas markets fear not. Ludwigshafen has already opened its market: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/ludwigshafen/bildergalerie-impressionen-weihnachtsmarkt-ludwigshafen-100.html

 

If you are desperate, grab a rental car from Speyer or discuss with your cruise director what they think is doable and off you go!

 

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steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

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No decision yet for the main market. They first said you don´t have to wear masks but yesterday the major said you definitely have to wear FFP2 masks at the market. They stretched it out all over the pedestrian zone area which covers the St. Mary´s Square, two streets and two side streets. So no way to fence it in and check everyone. A smaller market has already cancelled (one of those maybe 30 plus markets spread all over the town). The closest to my home which focuses on Glühwein is supposed to open by Thursday.

 

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notamermaid

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@rcaruso I am sorry to say that things are not going well. Romania and Bulgaria are abysmal places for holiday now (Germany is taking in Covid patients from Romania). Hungary and Austria are on the high risk list. Bavaria is going down hill and Würzburg Christmas market could be without glühwein or cancelled altogether.

 

I am not going to Würzburg. Current plan is to go to the Vosges mountains. If it gets worse, go to a village in Rhineland-Palatinate. If it gets worse, will hide in the cellar.

 

@sjde Thanks for the article. It is good that they have the quote from this German hospital doctor. He says it is wrong that it is a pandemic of the unvaccinated.

 

Rhineland-Palatinate holding up, but then our state has always done a bit better than others the whole time. I do not know why. Who knows how long that will stay true.

 

I still think Christmas markets are doable. I am more worried about office parties. Many, many are being cancelled (sensible people!) according to the association for the hospitality industry that monitors bookings in hotels and restaurants.

 

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sjde

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Even if the markets and cruises are still on, we are wondering if it's not such a good idea to go, if we were to get Covid over there and the hospitals are so stressed. Or if we weren't able to go home after testing positive and being quarantined in a hotel for 10 days. 

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28 minutes ago, sjde said:

Even if the markets and cruises are still on, we are wondering if it's not such a good idea to go, if we were to get Covid over there and the hospitals are so stressed. Or if we weren't able to go home after testing positive and being quarantined in a hotel for 10 days. 

Indeed. It was this thought that has made me decide not to go to England. Having to be in A&E in a hospital in Kent on a night when they are stretched due to Covid? Not risking that, not for myself or an unlucky Kent citizen. Same now goes for Bavaria which is on red alert for hospital beds.

 

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3 hours ago, steamboats said:

The main market in Munich has been cancelled today 😪!

Really sad. I have read the press release of the Oberbürgermeister. The council really saw no option. I hope people do not all go to Nuremberg now.

 

I hope your local market will be okay. I reckon in these times those with lots of space and in smaller towns stand a bigger chance of happening. Linz on the Rhine decided weeks ago to have a "Christmas village" rather than a Christmas market. The whole town will be a setting rather than a there just being a street containing huts. I hope this will work.

 

Those that are difficult are the charity ones that are indoors. Many are still on in Rhineland-Palatinate, but this may still change. Large ones are still going ahead, but then we hardly get the crowds that Munich attracts. Trier, Mainz and Koblenz are big, but Munich is huge in number of visitors.

 

This is hurting the German soul. Another year without markets, that is too much. :classic_sad: I will go to a market, whatever it takes. If needs be I will stage my own in my backyard, jawoll!

 

notamermaid

 

P.S.: Cannot find a gluhwein emoji in the repertoire, should urgently be added. :classic_wink:

 

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rcaruso

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6 hours ago, steamboats said:

We do have quite a few more markets but currently all are in a limbo. The operators don´t really know how to cope with it. Some tend to cancel, others are still thinking.

 

steamboats

well we are still planning to visit munich but will just walk masked and enjoy the scenery.

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5 hours ago, rcaruso said:

well we are still planning to visit munich but will just walk masked and enjoy the scenery.

Yes, hopefully shops will stay open - you never know from what I have read about Austria  today - and things not get much worse. The streets will be festively decorated and the landscape is beautiful with or without lights.

 

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Ja9Clay

Ja9Clay

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We have a Scenic Danube River Cruise starting on 11/29 for our honeymoon. We are both triple vax and used to wearing masks as we live in California but we are not sure if we should go based on the rising cases.

 

The biggest fear is not being able to come home on time due to a positive covid test.
 

The other issue is are we reducing our experience on a honeymoon trip because of the new restrictions? I am not sure yet if we can get our cruise moved for a later date or if we can switch our flights. 
 

We are pretty independent travelers who have travel to Europe frequently and have had trips from backpacking to skiing in Europe. We did “splurge” for a Christmas River Cruise as it was our Honeymoon and the European Christmas Markets are something different that you can’t get in the states. 

 

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sjde

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We just cancelled ours , which was due to leave on the 27th. The cruise line didn’t announce it would give credit to those who cancelled , but when asked, they said yes. I hate to miss it but we have already done several Christmas market cruises. I doubt we’ll use our credit for a Christmas market cruise next year as they are all going to be 7 nts instead of 10 nts. Tough decision. 

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@Ja9Clay Congratulations! Wedding bells! :classic_smile: I hope you do not mind early congratulations. I am sorry for you that the situation may upend your plans. Much of the Danube and the Elbe around Dresden are the worst places for river cruisers to be right now, if you look at infection rates. Austria, especially Salzburg, are desperate right now, according to German media. Austria has an infection rate of 971. They have locked unvaccinated people down. As I write, they are contemplating a curfew for everyone. They literally segregated society and if you cannot prove you are vaccinated or recovered when the police check you in the street (!) and you do not have a valid reason to be there you are fined. And you cannot get out of the situation with a test as it is 2G (vaccinated or recovered in most of public life). I have left out some details about tests for citizens, etc. The English website is not up to date, this is the German version: https://www.sozialministerium.at/Informationen-zum-Coronavirus/Coronavirus---Aktuelle-Maßnahmen.html

 

If you are fully vaccinated they more or less let you "roam free" in the countries you will be visiting, but restrictions and cancelled markets may be too much for you to put up with.

 

I would talk to Scenic about it all. They will know the situation on the ground.

 

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Thanks for those. Has anyone ever managed to get to emoji no seven I wonder? I mean ten is just unachievable I reckon. Being the small figure that I am I would spell glühwein with two u umlaut after two glühwein, not know what an emoji is after three and not know what a computer is after four...

 

Metz Christmas market in Lorraine/France has opened today! One of my favourites. I may make an effort to get there while I am still allowed to leave the country.

 

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So here in Munich a lot of markets now wait for the conference of the minister presidents today in Berlin. One of my favorites in the Residenz was supposed to start today. They postponed it until tomorrow to wait what decisions are made on the conference.

 

So we might know more by tomorrow. So far - here in Munich - the markets have to be fenced in and check the visitors for 2G (vaccinated/recovered). You have to wear masks and they have to limit the number of visitors. The markets can opt for 2G+ (vaccinated/recovered plus an Antigen test). Then you don´t have to wear masks. Some markets want to build up a test station in front of the entrance.

 

More news maybe tonight or tomorrow...

 

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To put the situation into perspective: according to the Tagesspiegel online newspaper edition, the case numbers when put into relation of population size are about two and half times that of Germany. So the situation as a whole country in Germany is not nearly as bad. But note the vast difference in incidence rates going very roughly Southeast to North/Northwest, with Bavaria the worst affected. We need to be careful. Many people are cancelling restaurant visits, etc. We in Rhineland-Palatinate have never stopped controlling the situation but restrictions apart from mask wearing and 3G, sometimes 2G, were much reduced in September, October and into the beginning of November. Unfortunately, we are loosing control in cities like Ludwigshafen. News is coming in from infections through Carnival indoor activities. Not many yet but the worry of more is there. Koblenz Carnival Prince was routinely tested and found positive, fully vaccinated and asymptomatic. Feeling fine apparently, but it shows that the vaccinated asymptomatic carriers could be a problem. For me the rule still is do not mix with anyone indoors for longer than 10 seconds without a mask on. My chosen bubble of five people excepted. That team meeting last week was too much for comfort.

 

Interesting is that despite all the talks of controlling by turning to 3G and then 2G and things will be okay, it is not working in Austria.

 

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