River Cruise Lines Scramble to Change Itineraries After The Netherlands Tightens Restrictions on U.S. Travelers

[Host Jazzbeau]

New article on Cruise Critic:

River Cruise Lines Scramble to Change Itineraries After The Netherlands Tightens Restrictions on U.S. Travelers

[Roz]

@Host Jazzbeau, thanks for the link to the article.  I can see how lines who are embarking in Amsterdam and then heading to Germany can reconfigure their itineraries, although to me not being able to tour Amsterdam, either with the cruise line or independently, is a loss.  

 

My Tauck cruise in December only covers Holland and Belgium, so I don't see how it can be reconfigured.  

[Shmoo here]

18 minutes ago, Roz said:

@Host Jazzbeau, thanks for the link to the article.  I can see how lines who are embarking in Amsterdam and then heading to Germany can reconfigure their itineraries, although to me not being able to tour Amsterdam, either with the cruise line or independently, is a loss.  

 

My Tauck cruise in December only covers Holland and Belgium, so I don't see how it can be reconfigured.  

Same problem for us.  I'm concerned about our March tulips cruise, primarily Netherlands and a couple of days in Belgium, (already postponed twice).  We arrive direct from US and the first 4 days of the trip are Netherlands.

[cruisr]

So if you start your holiday in Europe 10 or 11 days before your riverboat arrives in AMS and you were not in the USA for 11 days before arriving by riverboat in AMS you should be ok.

[Shmoo here]

3 minutes ago, cruisr said:

So if you start your holiday in Europe 10 or 11 days before your riverboat arrives in AMS and you were not in the USA for 11 days before arriving by riverboat in AMS you should be ok.

If that response was for me, it's not going to happen.  We can't arrive 10 days prior to trip.  In fact we can't arrive a day before the trip by landing in, say, Germany, and the traveling to Netherlands.

[cruisr]

20 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

If that response was for me, it's not going to happen.  We can't arrive 10 days prior to trip.  In fact we can't arrive a day before the trip by landing in, say, Germany, and the traveling to Netherlands.

No, not for you, just a generic question as many cruises end in AMS after 7 days and I always do 3 or 4 nights pre river cruise.  I have friends who are starting their trip in Italy and then going to Basel for a Basel to AMS cruise so hopefully they will be fine.  Crazy times.

[CILCIANRQTS]

1 hour ago, cruisr said:

No, not for you, just a generic question as many cruises end in AMS after 7 days and I always do 3 or 4 nights pre river cruise.  I have friends who are starting their trip in Italy and then going to Basel for a Basel to AMS cruise so hopefully they will be fine.  Crazy times.

Individuals may be fine, but the ship will still stop in Germany and ALL passengers bussed to AMS. Also, since MOST passengers on the ship will not be fine, it’s likely all post-cruise stays in AMS that are sponsored by the cruise line will be cancelled, so not sure what good being fine will do you.

[cruisr]

1 hour ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Individuals may be fine, but the ship will still stop in Germany and ALL passengers bussed to AMS. Also, since MOST passengers on the ship will not be fine, it’s likely all post-cruise stays in AMS that are sponsored by the cruise line will be cancelled, so not sure what good being fine will do you.

I will let you know when they let me know.   They are doing the post cruise stay in AMS n their own.

[Host Jazzbeau]

10 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Same problem for us.  I'm concerned about our March tulips cruise, primarily Netherlands and a couple of days in Belgium, (already postponed twice).  We arrive direct from US and the first 4 days of the trip are Netherlands.

Next spring is the once-a-decade Floriade expo (postponed from last year) along with all the usual Tulip Time cruises on multiple river cruise lines.  I can't imagine that the Netherlands won't allow US tourists in by then.  [Including, of course, me!]

[Southack]

19 hours ago, cruisr said:

I will let you know when they let me know.   They are doing the post cruise stay in AMS n their own.

If we take a Covid test while on the ship, would the 5-day limit apply instead of the 10-day limit?  That might allow a normal debarkation in Amsterdam.

[lindalouT]

43 minutes ago, Southack said:

If we take a Covid test while on the ship, would the 5-day limit apply instead of the 10-day limit?  That might allow a normal debarkation in Amsterdam.

ooohhhhhhh that is such a GOOD question!!!

 

[Psoque]

3 hours ago, Southack said:

If we take a Covid test while on the ship, would the 5-day limit apply instead of the 10-day limit?  That might allow a normal debarkation in Amsterdam.

If I am reading what's on the Dutch website correctly, I think the answer is no.  It says that the 10 day quarantine starts when someone enters Netherlands, and a negative test during the quarantine could shorten it to 5 days.  I guess if the cruise enters Netherlands more than 5 days before arriving in Amsterdam, it is possible that you can "quarantine" on the ship, if that's even considered quarantine by the Dutch authorities, then this approach may work, but based on what I read, it is unclear if taking a river cruise in Netherlands can count as quarantine.

[5waldos]

I wonder what this means for those of us who will be onboard a ship for 13 days prior to landing in UK and flying immediately to Amsterdam. Leaving from US. This could get very very interesting. Not til April so almost certain that things will change by then