When will your vaccination card be invalid for foreign travel, what policy update did Disney Cruise make, and what’s happen in New Orleans?
Austria and Croatia Update COVID-19 Policies
Two European Union countries, Austria and Croatia, have updated their COVID-19 policies. To now enter these countries without quarantine you must have been fully vaccinated for no more than 270 days, which is just under 9 months. You are considered fully vaccinated 14 days after the final dose of the vaccine.
This means that if you fall outside of the 270 day window you will be treated as if you are unvaccinated. Which includes, among other things, mandatory quarantine. At the moment there are procedures in place to help avoid quarantine if you fall outside the 270 day window, the primary one is to get tested on arrival.
Right now this only affects those that were vaccinated as part of a clinical trial, so most vaccinated U.S. travelers don’t have to worry about this just yet. With boosters scheduled to become available in mid-september, if you maintain full vaccination status then this just becomes additional paperwork that needs to be submitted before your trip. Your Travel Advisor can assist you will this.
Personally I believe that if countries do follow in the footsteps of Austria and Croatia, and there are many considering it, they will probably implement very similar programs. Much like how the 72 hour window for covid testing has sort of become a standard across numerous countries.
Disney Cruise Line Updates Vaccination Policy
Since we are talking bout vaccination requirements let’s talk Disney for a minute. When people think of a Disney experience they think Disney World or Disney Land. But there is another experience that people tend to overlook and that’s their Cruise line. Well now Disney has become the latest cruise line, following Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and others, to update it’s vaccination policy. Their new policy conforms to updated requirements from the Bahamas which require all passengers ages 12 and older to be fully vaccinated. Disneys Cruise Policy requires that proof of vaccination be provided for all passengers 12 and older, no later then 24 hours before boarding. Passengers 12 and younger must still provide proof of a negative covid test taken no later than 5 days before boarding.
New Orleans Recovering from Hurricane
And finally, checking in with New Orleans, there is a little good news. We talked yesterday about Hurricane Ida hitting the Big Easy on the 16 year Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. This has many people concerned that the city could see a repeat of the devastating floods brought by Katrina.
We do have good news. It looks as if the New Orleans flood protection system, which was designed and installed after Hurricane Katrina, has worked as planned. Currently there is no flooding and there are no rescue operations underway.
Many hotels in New Orleans do have power, provided by generators, and have been serving guests and first responders. Currently crews are assessing the damage to the electrical grid, it’s expected to be a few more days until the extent of the damage is known and then for repairs to start.
New Orleans airport has canceled all flights both Monday and Tuesday, but they are working with commercial carriers to resume service as soon as possible.