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French Covid Certificate for Americans
Someone on the Rick Steves forum posted this link to the French government on how Americans can get their certificate needed as of yesterday to go into restaurants, museums, public transport, etc. NOTE: Right now they only want people to use the link IF they will be arriving on or before August 15th. It requires downloading a form, filling it out then making electronic copies of it, your passport, CDC card and ticket to email to a specific cite. Even if it's too soon to submit, I know I'll be starting the process this week to have it all ready to go for my husband and I.
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I think we may need Alan to tell us how you do this.
I completed the form and attached the required documents but the first attempt generated a response that my message was over the 10 MB for file size. I resized the attachments but now the message says the email address is not accepting messages.
Sorry Patrice. I suspect they got over whelmed with the response. Was thinking of scanning the passport and cdc card in the same document to save on file size. Our tickets I got a pdf generated by Delta that has the itinerary, confirmation number, and eticket numbers. Quit a few people on the Rock Steves forum are doing this so they may have some useful tips and things to avoid.
I just talked with Tauck and she did know about the certificates, but said all we need it the CDC vaccination card cuz ‘all’ Tauck people will be vaccinated. We are back in “Casablanca”. ‘Show me your papers.’
We haven't received the digital green book for this one. Expecting it this weekend. I'll be interested to see if this is mentioned. I can see it's not a problem when in group activities or meals, but what happens if you're off on your own? I'd rather have all the documents ready to go and if so send it all off next week.
I’ll be asking this question again and see I get the same answer. Sint Maarten responded to our entry permit request in twelve hours, but American permits for all of France are going to take a while.It will probably keep the crowds down.
When you get that pile of pqper down below 10MB how about telling us how to do it.
Claudia, someone can correct me if I'm wrong (I couldn't find the post), but I believe I read that someone posted here that their digital green book or a Tauck email about an upcoming tour/cruise said that excursions may be closely controlled- "everyone will leave the boat together in a group and return together as a group. There will be no wandering off on your own."
Again, I don't know what tour it was or who posted it, but it is certainly something that needs more investigation. If that becomes official policy and is applied to other (most?) tours, failure to comply (wandering off) could result in being in violation of the Travel Well Pledge which says in part, ". . . . I agree to take personal responsibility for my health and well-being, to practice social distancing in public spaces, and to follow the instructions of Tauck staff and their supplier partners regarding health protocols. I understand that noncompliance with these measures by myself or my traveling party will result in our party not being able to continue on this Tauck journey."
Unless they specify a certain format, I find the best ways to combine forms and documents, that may have been created with different software, into something that can be emailed, is to just attach the digital documents to the email if possible and/or do a screen capture of those documents. You'll need to take photos of paper documents (CDC card, Passport, etc.) and attach the images. If you want everything on a single document, paste everything into an MSWord document which can be attached to the email. Doing it that way makes it convenient if you want to carry a paper copy- you only need one Word doc.
As Patrice found out, you'll need to ensure the combined file size of the attachments doesn't exceed 10 MB.
Yes, I remember the post stating about not being able to go off on your own.. I think it was for a river cruise though, so it may be different. The ships appear to have a simple policy.If this applies to a land tour, Tauck will seriously have to change their tour strategies because there is so much free time they give you to explore things you may have an interest in seeing and doing. Some enjoy the down time.
When I first started traveling with Tauck, there was little free time that I recall and far fewer meals to find on your own, I’m sure I’m remembering correctly because people were complaining they would like to be able to go to their own choice of restaurants and I think Tauck listened….or maybe it was a way of keeping the cost of tours down.
Anyway, I hope this is not permanent. Tauck will have to change the way they make up a tour.
Reading the information from the few people who have been on a resumed tour, I really feel Tauck are doing the best they can to get tours started again because they had such high demand from customers to do so. Didn’t they do a survey about this? There are people on the forum who just want to get out there and travel, even if it is modified.
I am so eager to get back to foreign travel, one just doesn’t know how long physically one has to do this. I’ve been semi content to travel within the US this past couple of months. We just booked another road trip, so we have three vacations between now and December to look forward to. I’m so grateful to have the changes of scenery and mental stimulus seeing things like museums and learning new history. Our next Tauck tour is not until next March.
Alan, the post on staying in groups was regarding Portugal and a cruise lines rules which someone received from Tauck. I'm not expecting this for France and it definitely wasn't in our green book from Switzerland which I have received. I plan to get the French passes for my husband and myself whether Tauck recommends or not. There isn't a charge for them. Will just wait until next week.
I believe you are correct that this applies at this time only to Portugal Gibraltar & Spain. The update/message came in a separate email on August 4th, just before the westbound Barcelona to Lisbon tour began August 6. My eastbound tour begins August 14, Lisbon to Barcelona. Here it is again(read on).. I too find it difficult at times to find the thread with the comment/information I am seeking! And BTW.. I re-sized my documents (iMac) and successfully sent the required information to request an EU digital Covid card and subsequently got an automatic response that my email was received... hopefully all is in order/accepted as sent.
Here is the Email message to Tauck cruisers of Treasures of Spain & Portugal (not sure if Douro river must adhere to same protocol):
"Tauck has just received notification that Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) is requiring all cruises in Portugal, Spain and Gibraltar to adhere to association regulations that require all touring from the ship be done in closed groups in order to keep the local communities, yourselves and the ship staff safe from COVID-19. What this means is that all shore excursions will operate as planned, but guests now must disembark and return to the ship together at the end of each excursion. While this regulation remains in place, your opportunities for independent exploration will be restricted. Please note that this applies to your shipboard excursions only; your stays in Lisbon and Barcelona will not be affected."
This is a CLIA (Cruise Line International Assn.) rule. It applies to all boat trips while you are ‘attached’ to the ship. It does not apply to the before and after ‘land’ portion of the trips. We had this same rule applied on our recent ‘Star Breeze’ voyage, but we could do ‘whatever’ before or after. We could also see some signs of the policy ‘loosening up’, I won’t bother with those details, as it is a work in progress. They were pretty clever with the shore excursions. We had ‘private’ beaches, and ‘shopping’ excursions in addition to all the ‘normal’ stuff.
It was quite a show when we first arrived in Antigua … we were the first ship to go there in a year and a half. Fire boat escort with nozzles streaming, horns, a band and dignitaries on the pier, their national anthem, prayers, and speeches. I think they were happy to see us.
Thanks all. What scares me, is as Sealord says, this is a work in progress. It doesn't take much imagination, however, to see a similar policy extended by other associations, cities, countries, etc. As British says, there is typically a lot of free time on land tours, and we like to take advantage of it, either on our own or with a local guide. Since we are still almost 8 months out from our next tour, I guess it doesn't make sense to worry about it yet.
On a different, but related note- other than to hear about the wonderful places and boats/ships, etc., how will what is happening affect reviews when we finally start getting them and will they even apply to future trips?
I think the spreading of the policy is not likely, just the opposite. The cruise lines are operating ‘scared’. If they are able to go covid free on the fully vaccinated cruise lines, they may soon realize people can ‘go on their own’ and be free to roam, but on a cruise ship their roaming will be limited. That may start to affect current bookings as well as future cruises. I think they will lighten up after they gain some more experience. As said elsewhere, we are fully vaccinated but we got tested twice before leaving the U.S., and we were tested five times by the ship.
One of the things the Swiss government discussed today was emphasizing getting the vaccine and putting personal responsibility on people. They didn't lighten restrictions (though it had been thought previously that this would be the next step) but didn't reverse anything. So much of the Swiss Crown Jewels tour involves outdoor activities except meals that I don't think it will be impacted much. Primarily riding public transport.
AlanS hello!!!!!!!!!
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Question... are you traveling before Sept.20th 2021? I might need your help obtaining the QR.I have read the instructions but still getting nervous about it.
We leave in two weeks for a one week trip, but aren't scheduled for a Tauck tour until March.
The QR is just a fancy bar code. It is a square, pixelated printed or computer/phone screen image that contains coded information which can be optically scanned and interpreted. It is treated like any other image/image file- special software is not needed unless you want to de-code and read it yourself or create your own QR from scratch. Let me know if you have specific questions or issues.
Here is some great info about the French QR PASS
https://thepointsguy.com/news/how-americans-can-apply-for-french-digital-health-pass/
British, that's a great article. I subscribe to The Points Guy and saw that article this morning. Such a "hassle". Personally, this is just one of many reasons I refuse to travel overseas this year. I want to be able to relax on my vacation and not have to continuously jump thru hoops in order to have a more normal travel experience, as in the past. I know that traveling overseas at this time is a personal choice and kudos to those that do decide to proceed. I enjoy reading about your experiences. As for me, I have been fortunate to be able to see much of the world and can wait out this epidemic until travel returns to a more normal manner, however that will be defined. I am so happy I didn't wait until I retire to begin my overseas travels as the World can change on a dime, so the saying goes. I do regret not traveling to a couple of countries when I had a chance, either due to lack of time off from work or the cost of the trip was a factor at the time. In the meantime I am enjoying travel in the good old USA, there is so much to explore and enjoy in our own Country.
Yes, also seen much of the world. Not traveling out of the county either, but three US trips September October and November. Right now, I’m feeling our world is closing in again. Who knows how we will be by the end of the year with the non vaccinated ruling us.
Excellent article though you need to read thru about halfway until you get to the current situation. There are also multiple threads on this on Rick Steves forum with the same mix of success and confusion. Will be submitting ours early next week. Did get our Swiss Entry Forms submitted online with success so that's done.
Claudia, it is obvious you are checking many sites for information. If interested, in Flyertalk, under France, then Expansion of the pass sanitaire there are more datapoints. We are a month behind you, so best of luck and safe travels!
taxare, I read and then hope to avoid any problems. I've looked on that site a few times. Will add to the list. Thanx.
I was about to go through the ‘procedure’ to get this certificate when on the third or fourth reading I saw that it is only for those arriving in France on August 15 or earlier. Later arrivals may have to do something else?
I think they just want to process those who are there already or arriving by the 15th. Not that it will be different after that. We don't arrive til the 11th of Sep but leaving for Switzerland before that. That's why I've got my files all ready to go (a learning experience with our scanner on how to reduce the resolution) to send in next week. If I don't get ours back in time, I'll take a thumb drive with me and beg for help resubmitting from a hotel. Hopefully will go as smoothly as the Swiss online Entry Form went.
After submitting my application, I received an automated reply saying they (the French authorities) are swamped and that a Covid test at any French pharmacie would provide a 3day pass.
Yep, that's the standard auto response. Have also read on the Rick Steves forum from people there this past week that they have had good luck just showing their CDC card. We submitted our applications for an 11 Sep arrival and have not yet received either. Waiting in hopes.
Claudia Sails, We are on the Normandy, Brittany tour that begins on 9/19 (but we’ll be arriving a day early with the “gift of time”. May I ask you when we can expect travel docs? Like you, I generally try to prepare for all contingencies and was hoping to get the QR code France is now requiring. Sounds like I better get my application in ASAP. Thanks for all your good info! Kim
Kim, Our tour start is 12 Sep and the book just arrived this morning. So you may have another week to wait. See my comments in the green book thread. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know from the book (but then I'd already gotten my green book for Switzerland which starts next weekend). No additional details on itinerary, no mention of the QR code, etc.
Just make sure to send your applications from different email addresses that you can access while you're on tour. I wish I'd done that but maybe it won't be an issue. Can't tell right now.
I have a Cousin who is currently traveling in France with her husband on an independent trip. She arrived on August 15th and spent about 4 days in Paris and they will then rent a car to tour some other cities. I asked her if she had acquired the Digital Health Pass in order to have access to Restaurants, Museums, etc. She said that she did not apply and has been able to get into most Restaurants, thus far, with only her proof of vaccination card and also a recent Covid test result. There was only one restaurant that would not allow them in without the pass. They did visit the Bourse de Commerce Art Museum and also had no problems getting in.
From a Covid perspective, she said it seems just like the US. The big difference is that the French seem really happy to see Americans. She also mentioned that many shops, restaurants and museums were closed.