Bermuda Travel Form

[CILCIANRQTS]

3 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

 

The petition was origionated by a Bermuda resident. If a Bermudain  is returning from a trip abroad, and many do travel,  they must do the form and pay the $40. Plus many in Bermuda fear the effect on thier tourist industry. So there is opposition to the the form in Bermuda. I think most of the signatures will be from Bermuda locals not foreign nationals as only a few foreign nationals will be aware of the form and impacted by it or aware of the petition. 

 

As to whether the Bermuda government will change it's policy the current governrnment won the last election in a landslide and pretty much does what it pleases. With that plus the $22 million revenue.......their premier says he expects the form to be in place until April 1, 2023. Recieving those fees are in their national budget. 

Got it.

Thanks for the insight!

[njhorseman]

An association representing the owners of more than 600 vacation rental homes has also petitioned the government to scrap the Travel Authorization form. Interestingly they seem to be willing to have the government continue to charge the $40 fee if the government insists on continuing to charge it, but wants it to be collected at the airport when people arrive. For cruises I suppose the government could just ask the cruise lines to collect it as a surcharge on port fees.

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20220427/scrap-ta-form-now-vacation-rental-owners-tell-government/

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

I just booked an April 23 sailing to Bermuda (never been!) on NCL Prima. I don't mind the $40 pp, but I hate hate HATE having that swab stuck up my nose.

 

I'm really hoping the test requirement gets rescinded before my trip!

[njhorseman]

30 minutes ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

I just booked an April 23 sailing to Bermuda (never been!) on NCL Prima. I don't mind the $40 pp, but I hate hate HATE having that swab stuck up my nose.

 

I'm really hoping the test requirement gets rescinded before my trip!

The testing for Bermuda is nothing more than the testing required for any cruise at this time.

Many passengers use one of the video proctored antigen self tests in which you do the swab yourself while being observed by the proctor.  In my experience self swabbing isn't nearly as aversive as having someone else doing the swabbing because you're in control of what's being done.

[molly361]

19 hours ago, njhorseman said:

The testing for Bermuda is nothing more than the testing required for any cruise at this time.

Many passengers use one of the video proctored antigen self tests in which you do the swab yourself while being observed by the proctor.  In my experience self swabbing isn't nearly as aversive as having someone else doing the swabbing because you're in control of what's being done.

The date listed this morning for Mariner May 28 sailing on the Bermuda website is listed as May 30  Do you know if that date difference will matter?  Should people wait to see if it gets fixed before filling it out?  Thanks

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, molly361 said:

The date listed this morning for Mariner May 28 sailing on the Bermuda website is listed as May 30  Do you know if that date difference will matter?  Should people wait to see if it gets fixed before filling it out?  Thanks

 You can wait a bit to see if the discrepancy is corrected. If you booked through a travel agent I would suggest asking them to contact Royal Caribbean so that they're aware of the problem.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

 You can wait a bit to see if the discrepancy is corrected. If you booked through a travel agent I would suggest asking them to contact Royal Caribbean so that they're aware of the problem.

Bermuda has the embarkation port as Nassau which is the second port and is using that date. That happened on another sailing and they corrected it after they were made aware of it. 

[Cadeleon1]

IMO this is definitely a money grab.  If Bermuda is the first stop on a Cruise and cruise is sailing with fully vaccinated and tested passengers there is no reason to have to submit and pay $40 for form.  I would understand if there were other stops before Bermuda, and passengers disembarked at other ports, risking getting virus in those location, but for those making Bermuda their first and only stop like myself, there should be no need for this form.  And for those who argue that Bermuda can use the money, every country can use the money, that’s no excuse.  We can all use the money, we have all been hit hard financially by this pandemic.

[bhall98092]

Their travel authorization form is similar to travel visas that many other countries make you get before going there.  Usually it is a result of the US charging people to get visas to come to the US.  Tit for Tat.

 

I don't mind it because if they didn't do it this way, they'll just raise their port fees and make you pay anyways.  

[njhorseman]

7 minutes ago, bhall98092 said:

Their travel authorization form is similar to travel visas that many other countries make you get before going there.  Usually it is a result of the US charging people to get visas to come to the US.  Tit for Tat.

 

I don't mind it because if they didn't do it this way, they'll just raise their port fees and make you pay anyways.  

Except this one isn't a "tit for tat". The US doesn't charge a fee to anyone who has to get a negative COVID test to enter the country. Bermuda's fee is strictly a one sided deal.

[joyandjerry]

Also, I believe this applies to their own citizens if they leave, upon returning. And if they increase the port fees instead, people would not have the aggravation of filling out forms and uploading COVID tests.  Major hassle for everyone involved.

[rjrpar]

15 hours ago, bhall98092 said:

Their travel authorization form is similar to travel visas that many other countries make you get before going there.  Usually it is a result of the US charging people to get visas to come to the US.  Tit for Tat.

 

I don't mind it because if they didn't do it this way, they'll just raise their port fees and make you pay anyways.  

You’re wrong, this is a money grab by Bermuda. 

[joyandjerry]

Would have been nice of cruise lines insisted on an exemption to this, as all precautions are taken prior to boarding. Especially with the negative COVID test - one cannot sail without it.

[Charles4515]

30 minutes ago, joyandjerry said:

Would have been nice of cruise lines insisted on an exemption to this, as all precautions are taken prior to boarding. Especially with the negative COVID test - one cannot sail without it.

 

I suspect that cruise lines with Bermuda sailings have attempted to negotiate a better solution. 

[joyandjerry]

On 4/29/2022 at 11:23 AM, Charles4515 said:

 

I suspect that cruise lines with Bermuda sailings have attempted to negotiate a better solution. 

 

I agree. Our travel agent is very concerned that Carnival has not contacted anyone yet about the Bermuda sailing, and our group is to sail 22 May. Many are older folks that have no idea how to scan, upload, etc. But she can hardly collect $40 pp and do it for them yet unless Carnival is definitely going to Bermuda. It is possible they may substitute some other ports entirely. This is the first time Carnival has been permitted to dock in King's Wharf.

[njhorseman]

16 minutes ago, joyandjerry said:

 

I agree. Our travel agent is very concerned that Carnival has not contacted anyone yet about the Bermuda sailing, and our group is to sail 22 May. Many are older folks that have no idea how to scan, upload, etc. But she can hardly collect $40 pp and do it for them yet unless Carnival is definitely going to Bermuda. It is possible they may substitute some other ports entirely. This is the first time Carnival has been permitted to dock in King's Wharf.

I'm sure I saw a Carnival ship docked there a couple of days ago. Perhaps the Carnival Pride ?

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, joyandjerry said:

 

I agree. Our travel agent is very concerned that Carnival has not contacted anyone yet about the Bermuda sailing, and our group is to sail 22 May. Many are older folks that have no idea how to scan, upload, etc. But she can hardly collect $40 pp and do it for them yet unless Carnival is definitely going to Bermuda. It is possible they may substitute some other ports entirely. This is the first time Carnival has been permitted to dock in King's Wharf.

Carnival has docked at Kings Wharf many times. 

[1025cruise]

I don't understand why Carnival is not advising their customers to do the form. I wonder if they are planning to just reroute versus go to Bermuda.

[joyandjerry]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

Carnival has docked at Kings Wharf many times. 

Thanks for the info, I thought the TA said not.

[joyandjerry]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

I'm sure I saw a Carnival ship docked there a couple of days ago. Perhaps the Carnival Pride ?

Maybe she meant the Legend, which replaced the Pride sailing from Baltimore. The Price's home port is Tampa now.

[njhorseman]

16 minutes ago, joyandjerry said:

Maybe she meant the Legend, which replaced the Pride sailing from Baltimore. The Price's home port is Tampa now.

Regardless of which ship was there, I saw a Carnival ship at Kings Wharf on Thursday when I looked at the port's webcam, portbermudawebcam.com .

Edited May 1, 2022 by njhorseman

[joyandjerry]

15 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Regardless of which ship was there, I saw a Carnival ship at Kings Wharf on Thursday when I looked at the port's webcam, portbermudawebcam.com .

Thanks for the correct info.  Sorry for any confusion.

[Charles4515]

55 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Regardless of which ship was there, I saw a Carnival ship at Kings Wharf on Thursday when I looked at the port's webcam, portbermudawebcam.com .

 

Carnival Pride was scheduled to be at Kings Wharf on Thursday Pride was the ship you saw.  

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, joyandjerry said:

Maybe she meant the Legend, which replaced the Pride sailing from Baltimore. The Price's home port is Tampa now.

 

The Pride was sailing from Tampa to Barcelona. Bermuda was a port stop. I found the below quote on the CC Carnival board from a live report thread..  If there was any Carnival sailing that might have skipped Bermuda it most likely would have been that transatlantic. But Carnival did not skip it. Note what they say about the Bermuda Travel Authorization.  

 

 

"The COVID-19 procedures for this cruise require vaccinations, and a Booster if it's been more than 6 months since your last regular injection.  We also needed to apply for a Travel Authorization from Bermuda ($40 pp), and upload vaccine and testing results to Bermuda, and to Carnival using the VeriFly app.  The mask orders will still be in place for embarkation and the flight to Tampa."

 

And in a later message.they posted:

"Yesterday we were in Bermuda and the weather cleared for a perfect day.  Gotta run to dinner now." 

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Charles4515

[joyandjerry]

Thanks, Charles!