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EU to discuss reintroducing travel restrictions on visitors from the U.S

AlanS

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union will likely discuss reintroducing travel restrictions on visitors from the U.S. next week amid rising coronavirus case numbers.

The U.S. has breached the threshold to be included on the list of non-EU countries that enjoy unrestricted travel into the bloc, according to a person familiar with the situation. The latest data show the U.S. is now well above that EU limit -- of no more than 75 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days -- with the rate just under 270 and increasing. Removing the U.S. from the list would require agreement among a qualified majority of member states.

Comments

Claudia Sails

A collective ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just went up from everyone with European trips in Sep and beyond. Fingers crossed that they just up the requirements i,e, have to test negative before going.

Exlandlubber

Oh no, this is terrible news! I’m hoping that as Claudia suggested, we can still go with all the test and vaccination protocols in place. AlanS, any idea when we might know for sure?

Claudia Sails

I read the piece in Forbes and it offered some hope. One line "The restrictions would apply to non-essential travel. However, fully vaccinated people should still be able to enter EU countries, the person said". Also the article noted how much the airline industry in europe has rebounded (70% of prepandemic capacity) so there is likely to be pressure from them not to slam the door.

Patrice

Tauck's Treasures of Spain/Portugal cruise begins today, Aug 6 in Barcelona. I'm on the same (eastward) cruise beginning in Lisbon Aug 14. Portugal and Spain have much higher "full/double" vaccination rates compared to the US and increasing at a faster pace than the US. Portugal's case numbers (rate per 100,000) are better today than the US and still dropping. Spain's case numbers are higher than the US but dropping precipitously. Portugal already requires a negative test AND proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid for entry. Fingers crossed the cruise is not cancelled.

British

I’ve been so jealous of all you people a out of do tours, but now it must be driving you crazy. Maybe my husband’s refusal to be messed around right now was the correct decision.

Claudia Sails

You pay yur money you take yur chances. And 2022 might not be any better. Corona virus is likely a part of our lives one way or another for some time to come.

Smiling Sam

British - Aren’t the Irish noted for their red hair? That cute red haired girl in your photo must have Irish blood in her, not British. 😀

kfnknfzk

Patrice - Good luck. Please be sure to post a review. I'll be on the Douro River tour this November. Safe, happy and healthy travels!

mfrancis

We’re scheduled for the Rendezvous on the Seine river cruise in 3 weeks. I spoke with Tauck earlier today. They’re being so flexible, one of the reasons we won’t travel with anyone else. Not just rising Covid cases, but we’re also concerned about the protests in Paris. We know they’ll take care to avoid those areas, but we don’t want to have our itinerary disrupted. I’ve been to Paris a number of times but my husband and the other couple have never been. With Tauck’s Flexible Payment Terms, we have up until the day of departure to cancel and apply all our payments to future bookings…we have 3 more thru the end of 2022. We’re going to keep an eye on it for another week, then decide.

kfnknfzk

Best of luck to you, too, mfrancis. And I wholeheartedly agree with you about not traveling with anyone else. I look forward to your review.

Claudia Sails

I'm not worried about me canceling the trip but am worried Tauck may. I don't think some additional entry restrictions - masks, testing before arrival, etc. will kill it but if facilities aren't open like hotels, museums, etc that will do it. No use going if you can't see what you came to see.

mil

If I cannot travel this year....I'll be in the latest newsbreak !! ((((

AlanS

Exlandlubber
1:39PM
AlanS, any idea when we might know for sure?

I think the key phrase is ". . . will likely discuss . . . . " This speculation might also be bit of tit-for-tat and an effort by the EU to get the US to reduce its restrictions. No date was given and I couldn't find one in other articles.

While the site is mostly numbers, the EU CDC website at this link shows the status of what is happening there:

Virginia_Travelers

British - I see that you are reading a Levison Wood book. He's a premier travel writer and I've read 3 of his books. Walking the Amazon, walking the Nile, and walking Arabia ! Next in line walking the Americas and walking the Himalayas. I think being ex-British Special Forces developed many of his independent traveling skills.

British

Yes, great book on elephants, great for all opinions on everything from ivory trade to hunting, almost finished the book, I have some other of his books to read and have seen his Tv show on Arabia.

Patrice

Tauck emailed guests on the Treasures of Spain/Portugal cruise... "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." I am still looking forward to my August 13 flight to begin this cruise. Just anxious that my Wednesday CPR test results at CVS pharmacy are not delayed.

mfrancis-I've been to Paris at least 14 times since the 80's and EVERY time there were protests/strikes affecting museums, métro, and the itinerary. I was there in September 2019 when some metro stops were closed due to striking employees. We just had to figure out a different route/connection and walk a few more blocks than planned. I've learned that to expect delays and changes to the original plan makes travel easier in Paris and France. Once we had to change the date of our Versailles palace tickets due to striking museum employees.

kfnknfzk-I'll post some comments when I return. I'm scheduled for Tauck's Douro in June 2022. Will look forward to your comments.

kfnknfzk

Patrice - Thanks for the information regarding "closed groups." I believe it to be a very wise decision on Tauck's part.

I, too, was in Paris in 2019 and saw some of the disturbances. Never did I feel threatened. We were fortunate to still be able to have our welcome reception at Fouquet's even though several of their windows had been shattered earlier in the day. The escargot was glorious!

Again, have a wonderful trip!

Sealord

We just did a cruise with “closed” excursions. It’s a ‘cruise line international association’ (or something like that) rule. The cruise lines are experiencing a steep learning curve. We did two back to back cruises, and the second was quite different from the first. The cruise lines are operating in a ‘scared to death’ mode. Things will loosen up over time. On our first cruise there was no beach BBQ. On the second there was one, and we were pretty much free to roam. If you left our private BBQ area, you had to mask up.

Patrice

I agree. The closed group excursions are an added level of comfort, which is more important to me than the dissapointment of less independent time to explore. And BTW...actually I'm getting the required PCR NAAT test Wednesday for entry to Portugal... not CPR!

sudhamali

We postponed our Royal Danube cruise to next year;the trip was supposed to start in October;but we talked with Tauck just before the final payment was due just to be sure if we paid the fund would be transferred over if we went next year.We we’re told that in spite of their insurance if we paid in full that included airfare we would still lose about $1000.00 for the airline tickets.We decided not to pay in full and postponed to next year.The trip insurance went up by $100.00 per person.Too many variables to deal with because of Delta surge including waning immunity and travel uncertainties.

British

I’m thinking Tauck are being driven crazy by all the people canceling at the last minute. It must be making the logistics very difficult for them. Many months ago, when I asked at what point they would cancel a tour purely because of lack of numbers, they assured me that the tour would go ahead with quite a small group. But, our original tour date for Singapore Bali, this is before Covid came on the scene, Tauck called us and asked us fo change our date because that date had not sold well. We accepted the date they offered us but were concerned that was into the start of the wet season. We met another person on our next tour who had also been asked to change her date for Singapore . She was offered a date we would have found more attractive. Ultimately, of course, our tour was canceled be caused of Covid and we don’t go for another year.
Throughout our time traveling with Tauck ,we have come across people who have been asked to change dates. Tauck have been generous in all cases, by offering incentive to oblige, including us.
So my question again is, will those people who are determined to hold onto their travel plans eventually have their tour canceled because others have canceled when the tour could have gone ahead safely and Tauck would make a loss continuing with it. The TD would also lose a big part of their income from tips with a small group.

Kathy0529

I understand what you're saying regarding tips for the TD, but, if the tour doesn't happen, I would assume that the TD does not get paid from Tauck. So while they take a loss based on the number of people tipping, they take a bigger loss if the tour doesn't happen. Maybe I'm wrong???

Sealord

Portugal and Spain may be level 4, but the “Wind Surf” (Treasures of Spain and Portugal), just departed Barcelona for Mallorca.

sudhamali

Regarding last minute cancellations:I am so thankful that we have that flexibility;vacations are for relaxation and enjoyment;it is not worth anything if your health is jeopardized.Last year we were the last tour for VCT before the pandemic;we were only 5 couples on the tour.Many cancelled just before the trip even when COVID-19 was just beginning to establish as a pandemic. The group that was about to start in Hanoi after us were sent back because there was someone who had COVID-19 in the hotel and they had to quarantine before their return.Business loss is something companies can recover from.

AlanS

Kathy0529
8:26AM edited 8:27AM
I understand what you're saying regarding tips for the TD, but, if the tour doesn't happen, I would assume that the TD does not get paid from Tauck. So while they take a loss based on the number of people tipping, they take a bigger loss if the tour doesn't happen. Maybe I'm wrong???

Not necessarily. As I understand it, Tauck has a complex compensation schedule. Some TD's are equivalent to private contractors, while others, depending on their contract, the number of months they work, or the number and variety of tours they lead, benefits package, etc. may fall on a sliding scale from partial to full-time employees. Some TD's also work in reservations from home (like many reservations sales agents) while not leading tours. We had one of those for one tour. Some TD's also work on tour development teams, etc. I'm sure most employees have been affected, but the situation is complex so there is no way of knowing to what degree an individual TD has been affected. Last year Tauck received a several million $ stimulus loan based on their number of employees.

Kathy0529

Alan - My TD from London/Paris told us for a few months (November/December around there) she works doing reservations and one time when I called to book a River Cruise, she was my reservation agent. I recognized her voice, it was very funny to get her on the phone. That is interesting info as I wasn't sure if they would get paid for a cancelled tour that they were scheduled to lead.

Also - not sure why your response was flagged since it's about Tauck??? Very odd.

AlanS

I ignore the flags. I think someone is trying to "build" my spam profile, and may even be going back and flagging my old posts- I now have 378 Spam Flags!! Most of them are single flags against informative posts- there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason or common theme.

It could be a current member or one of the true spammers who I have identified to others and Tauck IT. If Tauck blocks them I don't know if they can just creat a new identity and get back on and start flagging away again, or if they need to get a new IP and email addresses. I hope is is more difficult than just creating a new identity.

FYI, if anyone is interested, you can check the flags recorded against you (and anyone else) by clicking on your name (or their name) in any post or at the upper right of the forum page. That will take you to your (or their) profile page. When you click on "Like" "LOL" or "Spam" you will be presented with all your (or their) posts that received that particular "reaction."

Sealord

I’m disappointed. I only have 51 spams. I guess I’m not informative enough. (;-)

BSP51

Alan - you are #1. Congrats!

Smiling Sam

AlanS - Don't feel bad. If you only have 378 Spam Flags, that means only 0.000001 % of your posts are getting flagged.