Feeling more optimistic about cruising Europe in 2022

[gordylad]

We live in the UK [Scotland to be precise] and today we received some good news which is:

People who test positive for Covid in Scotland will be allowed to exit self-isolation after seven days [WAS 10 DAYS] if they have no fever and record two negative lateral flow tests.

The move brings Scotland into line with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Household contacts of people with the virus will be allowed to take tests rather than going into quarantine, [WAS 10 DAY QUARANTINE] so long as they have had a booster shot.

 

This might not mean a lot for some people but for us its about turning a corner, especially in light of the new variant. 

 

We are due to sail Europe in June and when I look at Italy "covid numbers" we have the following: Note MILD CONDITION.

 

1,421,117

Currently Infected Patients

1,419,689 (99.9%)

in Mild Condition

1,428 (0.1%)

Serious or Critical

 

Worldwide Chart: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

[FirstTeacher]

12 minutes ago, gordylad said:

We live in the UK [Scotland to be precise] and today we received some good news which is:

People who test positive for Covid in Scotland will be allowed to exit self-isolation after seven days [WAS 10 DAYS] if they have no fever and record two negative lateral flow tests.

The move brings Scotland into line with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Household contacts of people with the virus will be allowed to take tests rather than going into quarantine, [WAS 10 DAY QUARANTINE] so long as they have had a booster shot.

 

This might not mean a lot for some people but for us its about turning a corner, especially in light of the new variant. 

 

We are due to sail Europe in June and when I look at Italy "covid numbers" we have the following: Note MILD CONDITION.

 

1,421,117

Currently Infected Patients

1,419,689 (99.9%)

in Mild Condition

1,428 (0.1%)

Serious or Critical

 

Worldwide Chart: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

We’re also feeling SOMEWHAT optimistic about the summer in Europe. While we canceled our Baltic cruise- I don’t trust Russia to control COVID- we switched to a cruise to Iceland and Ireland in late June. We’ll be flying into Amsterdam from the U.S.- Fingers crossed!

[Macadian]

We have a Baltic Cruise later this year and crunch will come when final payment due.  Not confident at this time....

[Virginia100]

I go out of Rome to the Greek Islands4 on august 8 snd hope this is all resolved by then. Europe seems to move so slowly and regress quickly. Wished they were a little less nutty over all this.

[rch3]

The bigger problem for us here in the U.S. is the requirement of a negative antigen test within a day prior to boarding an aircraft to return home.  Hoping things change (likely when the “authorities” come to grips with the endemic nature of the virus) but right now, Covid is Covid without regard to symptoms, mild or otherwise.  Should take our lead from Italy.  Since we are asymptomatic yet quarantined in Mexico for 5 days, not sure I’d take that risk in relation to our 10-day Med sailing in June.  Fully-vaccinated and boosted, yet here we are because one of us tested positive despite no symptoms whatsoever.  

[LWeiler77]

1 hour ago, rch3 said:

The bigger problem for us here in the U.S. is the requirement of a negative antigen test within a day prior to boarding an aircraft to return home.  Hoping things change (likely when the “authorities” come to grips with the endemic nature of the virus) but right now, Covid is Covid without regard to symptoms, mild or otherwise.  Should take our lead from Italy.  Since we are asymptomatic yet quarantined in Mexico for 5 days, not sure I’d take that risk in relation to our 10-day Med sailing in June.  Fully-vaccinated and boosted, yet here we are because one of us tested positive despite no symptoms whatsoever.  

Yeah, I'm concerned about this too, as we have a sailing for Italy and Greece in June as well.  My husband and I are thinking of moving that to 2023, and doing an Alaska cruise this year, since if something happens, we'll still be in the U.S. (we're from California).  The idea of having to shell out a lot of money for a cruise we can't take because we may or may not have COVID and have to quarantine for any length of time is not something we want to do. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by LWeiler77
correcting information

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, rch3 said:

The bigger problem for us here in the U.S. is the requirement of a negative antigen test within a day prior to boarding an aircraft to return home.  Hoping things change (likely when the “authorities” come to grips with the endemic nature of the virus) but right now, Covid is Covid without regard to symptoms, mild or otherwise.  Should take our lead from Italy.  Since we are asymptomatic yet quarantined in Mexico for 5 days, not sure I’d take that risk in relation to our 10-day Med sailing in June.  Fully-vaccinated and boosted, yet here we are because one of us tested positive despite no symptoms whatsoever.  

The proctored self test may be a good option.   Buy in advance via the Celebrity Link and you can take the test using you PC or Smart Phone.  I've done 4 of them and if you can order something on Amazon you have the skill set required to perform the self test.

 

******  From the PointsGuy

 

As of Monday, Dec. 6, the U.S. is requiring all incoming air travelers over the age of 2 to submit a negative COVID-19 test taken within one day of departure. To ensure you get test results in time, consider using an at-home COVID-19 that can be administered remotely while abroad.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently accepts three major at-home tests for use by inbound passengers: Abbott’s BinaxNow COVID-19 Home Test, Ellume’s COVID-19 Home Test and Qured’s video-supervised rapid antigen test.

 

Each test can be taken from wherever you are in the world, as long as you can access the internet to have your test proctored.

[BigAl94]

Not sure that 2022 will be much different, a friend who works for a major international pharma told me their expectation is that the next mutation will be much more serious than omicron. Experts are now worried about a new mutation identified in France.

Edited January 6, 2022 by BigAl94

[rch3]

10 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

The proctored self test may be a good option.   Buy in advance via the Celebrity Link and you can take the test using you PC or Smart Phone.  I've done 4 of them and if you can order something on Amazon you have the skill set required to perform the self test.

 

******  From the PointsGuy

 

As of Monday, Dec. 6, the U.S. is requiring all incoming air travelers over the age of 2 to submit a negative COVID-19 test taken within one day of departure. To ensure you get test results in time, consider using an at-home COVID-19 that can be administered remotely while abroad.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently accepts three major at-home tests for use by inbound passengers: Abbott’s BinaxNow COVID-19 Home Test, Ellume’s COVID-19 Home Test and Qured’s video-supervised rapid antigen test.

 

Each test can be taken from wherever you are in the world, as long as you can access the internet to have your test proctored.

Yes, and we took advantage of this before departing.  Somewhere between boarding the aircraft for departure, and the expiration of 4 days (5 day trip), Omicron (I think) made an unwanted appearance.  We are in that susceptible age group and completely symptom-free.  To the extent we didn’t avoid one-another during the pre-quarantine period, it is curious indeed that only one tested positive.

[gordylad]

and even more good news.............

The rules on testing are to be eased for people travelling to Scotland from abroad.

People who are fully vaccinated or under the age of 18 will no longer need to take pre-departure Covid tests from Friday.

Passengers will also no longer be required to self-isolate on arrival until they have received a negative result.

The same changes for people travelling to England were announced on Wednesday.

[Cruising89143]

We’re due to fly to Naples the third week of May. We’re planning four nights on the Amalfi Coast, one night in Civitavecchia pre cruise before we board the Edge for seven nights to Greece. We finish up with three nights in Rome before flying home. We will decide in early April if we go. Depends on the testing requirements. The biggie is the test in order to fly back to the U.S. Having to quarantine is not something that we want to do. Luckily we have CWC that we can use to move the cruise to a later date or find something sailing out of a U.S port. 

[larry_s_taco]

For those of you who have traveled to Rome recently: Is it hard to find a testing site in Rome? We are going to spend 3 days prior to our cruise in Oct. and are trying to figure out how to get the test in Rome prior to cruising. We are total newbies to Rome, so any help will be appreciated. 

[Bugsy1966]

15 hours ago, larry_s_taco said:

For those of you who have traveled to Rome recently: Is it hard to find a testing site in Rome? We are going to spend 3 days prior to our cruise in Oct. and are trying to figure out how to get the test in Rome prior to cruising. We are total newbies to Rome, so any help will be appreciated. 

Google is your friend! Or, more reasonably, I am sure there are numerous places available - I doubt you will have any trouble finding one.

 

Approaching this from another angle though (a glass half full one), there is every chance that no tests will be required by October anyway.

[larry_s_taco]

1 hour ago, Bugsy1966 said:

Google is your friend! Or, more reasonably, I am sure there are numerous places available - I doubt you will have any trouble finding one.

 

Approaching this from another angle though (a glass half full one), there is every chance that no tests will be required by October anyway.

I really hope you are correct about the possiblity of no testing by October. When cruising restarted out of St Maarten (we were on the second cruise out) we had a really hard time in our area finding testing sights that met the requirements. We ended up paying over $500.00 for the two of us to get a PCR test in our area. 

[ncgolferette]

For those staying in a hotel prior to flying home to the US from abroad your hotel will likely arrange a test or direct you to a nearby Covid testing facility.  I have been in touch with the Barcelona hotel I will be staying at in May and they are going to arrange a Covid test for me the day before I fly back to the US if still needed then.

[LGW59]

18 hours ago, larry_s_taco said:

For those of you who have traveled to Rome recently: Is it hard to find a testing site in Rome? We are going to spend 3 days prior to our cruise in Oct. and are trying to figure out how to get the test in Rome prior to cruising. We are total newbies to Rome, so any help will be appreciated. 

a lot is going to change in the next 9 months, check back later.

[Lastdance]

59 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

a lot is going to change in the next 9 months, check back later.

I totally agree; we do not have all of the pieces, as this puzzle is not close to being solved, but it needs to get easier as we go forward.  I have a b2b/TA in Oct/Nov; still not sure about Galapagos end of May, but not final payment yet either.  

Edited January 7, 2022 by Lastdance

[Macadian]

Would help if final payment date was reduced to 60 days out rather than the current 90 for our Baltic Cruise in August. May is our current final payment....another month could make a difference to our decision, depending what's going on.

[Virginia100]

48 minutes ago, Macadian said:

Would help if final payment date was reduced to 60 days out rather than the current 90 for our Baltic Cruise in August. May is our current final payment....another month could make a difference to our decision, depending what's going on.

Agree, my August 8 out of Rome for 10 days has final payment in early May, and that is way too early to commit to these days. If kept at 90 days by Celebrity I’ll probably cancel and switch to an Alaska cruise here unless by then things are considerably better and protocols changed.