Our favorite little ship is on the home stretch ...

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

The PG is currently about 450 miles west of PPT and should arrive around 6 pm local time tomorrow after a 3 week trip back from Singapore for her drydock. Will be nice to see her back in PPT.

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Wander58]

Outstanding!  We still have high hopes that we'll be able to be the first to cruise on June 16!  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

But FP isn't letting tourists in yet, right?

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

But FP isn't letting tourists in yet, right?

All information suggest in the next 30 days FP will open  ... keep out fingers crossed.

[FlightMedic555]

We are also on the 6/16 cruise.  Speculation is that travel will be permitted as soon as May 1 or as late as June 1.  Just speculation but we need something to look forward to. 

[MrRandal]

1 hour ago, FlightMedic555 said:

We are also on the 6/16 cruise.  Speculation is that travel will be permitted as soon as May 1 or as late as June 1.  Just speculation but we need something to look forward to. 

 

I have read where United and Air France have cancelled flights to PPT as far out as May 29th, so they may know more than we do, or perhaps they are just speculating June 1 as well. No idea about Air Tahiti Nui or French Bee.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Air Tahiti Nui has stated May 1st

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

As of 9 pm Pacific time, 6 pm local PPT time.  She is 5 miles out  ...

Edited April 6, 2021 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Sigh. One deterrent is that, as far as I know, the U.S. still demands pre-testing before re-entry, right?  Canada sure does, in spades, and won't accept anything but a PCR test.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

28 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Sigh. One deterrent is that, as far as I know, the U.S. still demands pre-testing before re-entry, right?  Canada sure does, in spades, and won't accept anything but a PCR test.

 

Doesn't effect us who live in the USA  .... antigen test are allowed for USA  

 

"In Los Angeles County, anyone traveling for leisure or recreation, or to visit a family member for a nonessential reason, who enters L.A. County from anywhere outside the Southern California region, which is defined as the counties of Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura must self-quarantine themselves for 10 days."

 

We live in one of the counties mentioned :)

[SWFLAOK]

Hopefully we don't need to quarantine for 10 days when we fly back to LAX. We needed to have an overnight in a hotel in December since we couldn't get a flight back to Florida the same day.

On a happier note, the Paul Gauguin in back at the dock in Papeete.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

6 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Doesn't effect us who live in the USA  .... antigen test are allowed for USA  

 

"In Los Angeles County, anyone traveling for leisure or recreation, or to visit a family member for a nonessential reason, who enters L.A. County from anywhere outside the Southern California region, which is defined as the counties of Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura must self-quarantine themselves for 10 days."

 

We live in one of the counties mentioned 🙂

Trying to follow your double negatives.  So, if I'm reading this right, you would have to have an antigen test in FP before returning, and you'd have to quarantine for 10 days.  Right?  I wonder how easy it is to get a test (and results) in Papeete.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

12 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Trying to follow your double negatives.  So, if I'm reading this right, you would have to have an antigen test in FP before returning, and you'd have to quarantine for 10 days.  Right?  I wonder how easy it is to get a test (and results) in Papeete.

 

Wrong .... 

 

No quarantine for us ... we live in one of the counties considered 'Southern California'.

 

There is a testing station right at the Faaa airport. $59 USD and results in 15 minutes. 

[SWFLAOK]

If that $59 dollar test at the airport gets us through LAX for an overnight at an airport hotel, we'll have no problem getting back into Florida. I did pay extra for our flight back from LAX to PBI for insurance that supposedly has coverage for Covid 19 quarantine, but a long term stay in an LAX hotel doesn't sound like fun.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

19 hours ago, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Wrong .... 

 

No quarantine for us ... we live in one of the counties considered 'Southern California'.

 

There is a testing station right at the Faaa airport. $59 USD and results in 15 minutes. 

Hmm, so let me get this straight.  You can fly into LAX and go home with no quarantine required.  And get tested at Fa'aa before you return.  Lucky you.  Not so simple for those going to other parts of the country perhaps, although the States has opened up pretty wide, so maybe quarantining is not a thing in most places.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

34 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Hmm, so let me get this straight.  You can fly into LAX and go home with no quarantine required.  And get tested at Fa'aa before you return.  Lucky you.  Not so simple for those going to other parts of the country perhaps, although the States has opened up pretty wide, so maybe quarantining is not a thing in most places.

 

You have it correct ...

 

I always remind people that what may be protocol today may be different in the not so distant future 😉

I think much of the country will be open and no quarantine in the near future ... might be 3 - 6 months but hopefully that is what will happen. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[MrRandal]

 

On 4/6/2021 at 9:15 AM, Tahitianbigkahuna said:

 

Doesn't effect us who live in the USA  .... antigen test are allowed for USA  

 

"In Los Angeles County, anyone traveling for leisure or recreation, or to visit a family member for a nonessential reason, who enters L.A. County from anywhere outside the Southern California region, which is defined as the counties of Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura must self-quarantine themselves for 10 days."

 

We live in one of the counties mentioned :)

 

The above quoted text is for domestic travel.

 

Per CDC Guidelines this is not correct if returning from international travel, unless you are fully vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated you still need a viral test 3-5 days after you return, and self quarantine for 7 days,  or 10 days without the test, even if you live in Southern California. If you are fully vaccinated, a viral test is recommended, but self quarantine is not required, unless your state requires it.

 

 

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

12 hours ago, MrRandal said:

 

 

The above quoted text is for domestic travel.

 

Per CDC Guidelines this is not correct if returning from international travel, unless you are fully vaccinated. If you are not vaccinated you still need a viral test 3-5 days after you return, and self quarantine for 7 days,  or 10 days without the test, even if you live in Southern California. If you are fully vaccinated, a viral test is recommended, but self quarantine is not required, unless your state requires it.

 

 

 

Glad you caught that ... the new policy took effect on the 5th of April.

 

Guess we'll just get the vaccine and no problems ... Yesterday the FP government said the country would open on May 1st but they are considering the protocol to be vaccinated prior to entry so we'll need to do it anyway. 

 

From Tahiti yesterday  ...

 

May 1: Reopening of borders to tourism

The President of French Polynesia, Mr. Edouard Fritch traveled to Paris to meet several members of the French government and President Mr. Emmanuel Macron.   The following subjects have been discussed in particular: the COVID-19 pandemic in French Polynesia has clearly improved and is under control with less than 20 new cases per week, thanks to the protective measures enforced; the vaccination campaign is accelerating in The Islands of Tahiti where vaccination against COVID-19 is now open to all; new entry formalities taking into account vaccinated people and immunized travelers are being finalized. the degraded economic and social context of our islands, which are heavily dependent on tourism, has of course been widely debated.   Back in Tahiti, the President of French Polynesia made the official announcement during a press conference this morning, Wednesday April 7, that The Islands of Tahiti will reopen to tourism as of May 1 !   Regarding entry conditions, he said, "We are going to put in place a protocol at the entry of our borders using virological testing, serological testing, vaccine and ETIS (Electronic Travel Information System). We will explain this protocol in detail with the High Commissioner in the coming days”.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Tahitianbigkahuna

[Lord_autolycus]

Anybody considering international travel should definitely get vaccinated well before any possible trips even if where they're going does not currently have a requirement for vaccination. Even if there aren't explicit vaccination requirements when you travel, there will likely be fewer restrictions like quarantines and possibly less strict testing regimes.

 

And remember that the Moderna vaccine takes 6 weeks from first shot to "fully vaccinated", so advance planning is necessary. Most places still do not have enough supply of all three US-authorized vaccines for people to pick and choose, so assume you'll get Moderna for timing purposes. It's always better to be done with it early than to be in a crunch right before a trip.

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

Scheduled for next week 😉

[SWFLAOK]

We already had our first shot of Moderna in January, and our second in February.

We went back to our favorite local restaurant for the first time 2 weeks ago. It was the first time in over a year. We wore masks while being seated, and leaving. All of the staff, as well as those in the kitchen, wore masks, and wore them correctly. We might have been OK without the vaccine, but we felt quite safe with it.

We still have to wear masks in our condo public areas,  such as the lobby and elevator (although spring break brought many younger visitors who ignored that), and almost all stores. But we don't mind, and we hope it allows us to cruise again. I suspect we'll need another shot in the fall,  just like the yearly flu shot.