Iceland and Covid

I'm booked for an end of June trip to Iceland so I've been monitoring Iceland's Covid news. Found this article (see link) that states that tour companies must pay for tourists Covid test on entry. Will be interesting to see how this changes over the next few months and how Tauck addresses it.

https://totallyiceland.is/local-life/tour-companies-iceland-pay-covid-test/

Comments

  • Iceland's COVID policy as of Dec. 10, 2020 makes it impossible to conduct tours there. I, too, an booked on the June 30 cruise. Iceland's web site says they require 2 (Two!) negative tests 5 days apart with quarantining in between. They further state that they will only accept tests done by Iceland personnel! I can only see this situation getting worse.
    Unless they make some accommodation with Tauck, this cruise seems to be unlikely. Tauck already cancelled my Norway/Arctic cruise after our Iceland cruise. Same cruise line - Le Ponant.

  • edited January 2021

    I get constant emails from Ponant asking me to book their tours. I would not be surprised if they are in a really bad way. The company is owned by a small number of captains and they have launched quite a few new ships in just the passed couple of years. Tauck is smart, they don’t own any boats or ships or even Safari vehicles any more, they just lease them.

  • With respect to our June 30th Iceland tour I remain hopeful. In Biden hits his goal of vaccinating 100 million people in his first hundred days in office (which would be about May 1st) then these polices could turn around quickly. The countries and companies all want tourism to return if it can be done safely. The policies could change from requiring test results to requiring a vaccination card. If millions (a big if) of people around the world have been vaccinated by May 1st, then I (being optimistic) could see some tours/cruises starting again by June 1st, with having been vaccinated being a requirement. If a large enough number of people haven't be vaccinated by May 1st, then my hoped for June 1st date will be delayed.

    What would be the worst is if they start touring again on July 1st and since our tour starts on June 30th we get cancelled.

  • In the USA alone, 100 million vaccinations is statistically insignificant. Millions, worldwide is even less. Vaccination cards/[passports are another issue. 1.4% infection rate in the USA is also miniscule. The closer we get to cruise date, the more likely many people are going to eat their airfare. I'm keeping my powder dry for now. But, I fully intend on cancelling if it goes on too long. After 13 Tauck tours, I am disappointed regarding Tauck's communications on this subject. I have communicated to Tauck that masks/social distancing, etc. destroys most of the joy of travel and I do not intend on booking anymore tours unless and until ALL restrictions are removed.

  • edited January 2021

    Ray, f you do not intend to travel, why not wait for Tauck to cancel so you have more options with your funds they have?
    There are Tauck customers who do not want Tauck to cancel too early, just in case. I expect more than you think.

  • RayFFoster
    11:18AM
    In the USA alone, 100 million vaccinations is statistically insignificant.

    Please help me understand your statement. Insignificant from what respect? The USA number would be a little less than 1/3 the total population, a much higher percentage presumably of the people 65 and older. Once vaccinated, is it true that you have slightly better than a 90% chance of not catching Covid? I also assume it is true that you can't transmit Covid if you don't have Covid? So if, in the case of the Iceland tour, you had a boatload of vaccinated passengers. Would that not be a relatively safe environment (from both the passengers perspective and from the perspective of the native population), especially if everyone still followed the current masking protocols and social distancing protocols (I understand that those are no-gos for you, but I'm just trying to understand the safety issue)?

    If this environment is deemed "safe" it seems like there would be tremendous motivation from the various companies and countries to start allowing travel. Perhaps I'm just being optimistic.

  • 100 million vaccinations means 50 million can get their two doses. It has not been proven at all that you cannot get Covid once you have been vaccinated. You may have it but not become very ill, or you can be totally symptomless but still be able to transmit it to others. That’s why clinical trial participants will have to be followed up for a while. The Pfizer protocol is usually two years, that’s why the FDA approval now is classed as an emergency approval. Unfortunately, the fact that Covid is going to be less prevalent means it’s going ot be harder to get real data that hasn’t been affected from so many being vaccinated. Hope this helps Sam. I love science!

  • British, that is why I'm "keeping my powder dry". I'm waiting for Tauck to make a decision. If they don't, I will.
    Politicians in the USA continue to politicize the whole COVID thing. President-elect went from less than a month ago criticizing the vaccine role out was too fast enough to criticizing that it was not fast enough.

  • And current president sat on his thumb

  • Can you blame him for trying to protect his brain?
    BKMD does he have one?

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file