Occasional callers make up high proportion of 2023 cruise visits

[Charles4515]

 

FYI. Royal Gazette article.

 

https://www.royalgazette.com/tourism/news/article/20221029/occasional-callers-make-up-high-proportion-of-2023-cruise-visits/

 

http://www.marops.bm/Documents/Shipping_schedules/2023 Cruise Ship Schedule.pdf

Edited October 29, 2022 by Charles4515

[Turtles06]

Interesting.  Re those "occasional callers" -- we are booked on one of those cruises, the Celebrity Beyond westbound transatlantic leaving Italy a year from today.   I find the Bermuda stop on TAs to be a throwaway; it doesn't affect my booking of a TA one way or the other.

 

But NCL just a few weeks ago (right after final payment) *added* Bermuda as a port call to our Panama Canal cruise on the Gem leaving NY on Jan. 25, 2023.   No one who booked that cruise signed up for Bermuda.  I'll be pretty ticked if Bermuda will still be requiring Travel Authorizations then; I rather suspect it will, since I've read that the money they are collecting for the TA applications is in their budget until next March.  And while I've previously defended Bermuda's right to protect its citizens from covid as it sees fit, I think that the TA has, at this point, with its watered-down requirements, including no testing, really seems to have become just a money grab. 

 

 

 

[njhorseman]

17 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Interesting.  Re those "occasional callers" -- we are booked on one of those cruises, the Celebrity Beyond westbound transatlantic leaving Italy a year from today.   I find the Bermuda stop on TAs to be a throwaway; it doesn't affect my booking of a TA one way or the other.

 

But NCL just a few weeks ago (right after final payment) *added* Bermuda as a port call to our Panama Canal cruise on the Gem leaving NY on Jan. 25, 2023.   No one who booked that cruise signed up for Bermuda.  I'll be pretty ticked if Bermuda will still be requiring Travel Authorizations then; I rather suspect it will, since I've read that the money they are collecting for the TA applications is in their budget until next March.  And while I've previously defended Bermuda's right to protect its citizens from covid as it sees fit, I think that the TA has, at this point, with its watered-down requirements, including no testing, really seems to have become just a money grab. 

 

 

 

My impression is that the TA will be eliminated when the COVID emergency expires in late November. 

[Turtles06]

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

My impression is that the TA will be eliminated when the COVID emergency expires in late November. 

 

I hope you are correct!  🙂 

 

In the meantime, we're leaving in two weeks for an actual "Bermuda cruise" aboard the Joy.  Submitted our TA applications at the 30-day mark, and since we cruised to Bermuda a year ago, the application form not only populated with that info, but it also said we didn't need to upload our vaccine cards again.  So there was nothing for them to do but take our $40 each, which they did immediately.  Although there's nothing for them to approve, we still haven't received the actual TAs.  I called them yesterday just to inquire, and they said the system randomly pulls guests from each sailing to "approve," and that if we haven't rec'd the TAs in a week, to call them, as they can't do anything manually until seven days out.

 

I realize they didn't set up the TA system this way to start, but for folks who are returning, vaxxed travelers, since they specifically said they don't need our vax cards again, the TAs should be issued as soon as the $40 are paid.  Total PITA at this point for vaxxed travelers.

[Turtles06]

Just to close the loop on my post above: early this morning, both my wife and I received our TAs for our Nov. 12 cruise.   (We'd submitted the applications on Oct. 12.)  I guess they are now getting to our cruise. 

[Turtles06]

On 10/30/2022 at 2:02 PM, njhorseman said:

My impression is that the TA will be eliminated when the COVID emergency expires in late November. 

Even sooner! 😊

[kochleffel]

Tying up the loose end for anyone reading this thread now.

 

Effective November 14 2022, travel authorizations will no longer be required to enter Bermuda. Visitors (arriving by air or yacht) travelling to Bermuda from November 14 onwards do not need to apply for a travel authorization. In its place, the Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) will reinstate the Bermuda Arrival Card, a digital form for visitors only, which was in place before the onset of the pandemic. Cruise visitors are not required to complete any entry form.

 

https://www.gov.bm/coronavirus-travellers-visitors