Travel hopes for 2022

I cancelled out of a mid-February Mexican Riviera cruise last week. But, for now, I'm not altering the flights to Los Angeles. If my travel buddy and I feel comfortable enough, we'll fly out and explore southern California some. He's never done that. So it will still be a fun trip.

My additional currently booked 2022 trips that remain and I'm keeping an eye on are:

March - Spain
May - Ireland/Scotland
September - Back-to-back Mediterranean cruises
October - Back-to-back England/France/Portugal/Spain cruises

We will see how it all goes.
 
Here is a friend's message:
"if you read the details of CDC, you will see that almost all cruise ships are in yellow status (meaning that 0.1% of passengers on a ship have been reported as covid positive; that means 2 people on a 2000 passenger ships have reported positive OR 1 or more crew have reported positive). those are much smaller numbers than going to the grocery store and I am less likely to encounter one of those people in close proximity"
 
Do those cruise ship cabins have independent HVAC from other cabins?

Or maybe you can just keep the window open?

But some cabins don't have windows?
 
I'm not overly worried about catching Covid while on a cruise ship. However, the logistics of staying on top of the pre-cruise testing/paperwork requirements couple with the uncertainty of what happens if/when you come down with symptoms or are identified as having been in contact with an infected passenger are not pleasant to me. I don't need to go on a cruise ship and be confined to my cabin for 3/4 of the trip because the person next to me at dinner last night tested positive for Covid. Also, the cruise lines have been getting very mixed reviews on how they deal with these situations.

As of right now, when you get on a ship, you have no real idea where it will actually be going and stopping. Itineraries are being changed daily. Even once the cruise is underway.

More volatility than I wish to deal with on a vacation. Vacations are not intended to be stressful.
 
Still doing a road trip to Arizona in early March, and NYC in April. May cancel the NYC trip if Covid, Covid restrictions, and crime don't lighten up.
 
Currently on 2 week trip in Cozumel. Masks technically required not only indoors, but outdoors and in between dives on the boat (same rules on playa and Cancun, as they are Q. Roo issued.). Temperature check and disinfect hands at some stores. :angel: Sort of like a warm weather version of San Francisco, but the outdoor compliance is less than full.

Restaurants are open, and there are a good number of dining additions to the scene in the past 3 years. Most dive boats and the sites are blissfully uncrowded.

After this, in USA visiting relatives for a week, then Colombia for 5 weeks. Nothing more scheduled internationally until Oct-Dec, but we'll likely get a couple more month long trips overseas in before then, as long as we are allowed to. Really expected international destinations to be more crowded by now, but so far, not anywhere near normal that we've seen.
 
Nervous about my planned transatlantic cruise in April followed by some time in Italy before flying home.

Some things have me thinking the cruise line may cancel it.
1) They unselected our stateroom. I called and they could offer not explanation, just that they would give me as good or better of a state room.
2) the cruise no longer shows on the schedules for vacations2go or msccruise. If I search on the cruise ship on any site it is blank for the entire length of the trip... It was supposed to leave Florida 4/7 and arrive in Genoa on 4/26. MSC shows the carribean stuff up through 4/3, then cruises starting in May in the Med... so the ship is transiting...

We have trip insurance for all but the return flight. So we'll figure out something else - even if it means flying to Italy... but we really were looking forward to trying a repositioning trans Atlantic.

Not as worried about our fall Machu Picchu/Galapagos trip. Both countries require testing and vaccination - but that's doable. So far OAT, the tour group, seems to have their act together. Again - I purchased trip insurance...
 
With the way things are going with Omicron, maybe we should start a thread for travel hopes for 2023.
 
rodi said:
Nervous about my planned transatlantic cruise in April followed by some time in Italy before flying home.

Some things have me thinking the cruise line may cancel it.
1) They unselected our stateroom. I called and they could offer not explanation, just that they would give me as good or better of a state room.
2) the cruise no longer shows on the schedules for vacations2go or msccruise. If I search on the cruise ship on any site it is blank for the entire length of the trip... It was supposed to leave Florida 4/7 and arrive in Genoa on 4/26. MSC shows the carribean stuff up through 4/3, then cruises starting in May in the Med... so the ship is transiting...

We have trip insurance for all but the return flight. So we'll figure out something else - even if it means flying to Italy... but we really were looking forward to trying a repositioning trans Atlantic.

Not as worried about our fall Machu Picchu/Galapagos trip. Both countries require testing and vaccination - but that's doable. So far OAT, the tour group, seems to have their act together. Again - I purchased trip insurance...
Click to expand...

That is a pretty fluffy response and has some issues. A big issue is that a better room can be worse for you, but they consider it "better" due to proximity to the elevator or a larger room right under the noisy dance floor.

When I had Carnival canceled my room choice, they said they moved me. So I called and found out they moved me from an interior room because a staff person needed it to a balcony. :dance:
 
We are starting to look at taking our 5th wheel camper on a trip out west from Ga. wife is wanting to go to Yellowstone but hasn't really much about anything else. I need to get a plan together on where to stop along the way and then what all there is to do in the area if we stay for a while. Then the best return route home. Hopefully we will be able to get into campgrounds.
 
Venturer said:
We are starting to look at taking our 5th wheel camper on a trip out west from Ga. wife is wanting to go to Yellowstone but hasn't really much about anything else. I need to get a plan together on where to stop along the way and then what all there is to do in the area if we stay for a while. Then the best return route home. Hopefully we will be able to get into campgrounds.
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NP campground reservations book six months out, and fill up fast, so you might want to make a note on your calendar as to when that is. We've stayed twice at Fishing Bridge RV Campground, near Yellowstone Lake. It's the only campground with hookups in the park and it's very popular as a result.
 
Just booked a trip to Alaska for May. I did this trip last year and had a fantastic time so this will probably become an annual trip. Also going to Mexico in March, same as last year (went twice in 2021). DW also wants to do a "Keys Trip" (road trip through Florida Keys) with some friends so will probably do that in late February. We would like to get to New Zealand this year as well, but it's tough to plan with ever changing COVID restrictions. We are trying to live life as best as we can while being prudent.
 
Eucerin said:
Still can't quite hit the "cancel" button yet:( but the omicron situation isn't look good. Our cruise date 1/29 to Caribbean, we will have to make a decision soon. Those experts predicting the peak will be around end of January which is right around cruise date:mad:
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Actually, what I've heard is that, due to the incredibly rapid spread of omicron, the peak will happen in the first half of January (i.e., now) and will begin to wane in late January. This is highly localized, though. Metro Atlanta (where I am) is experiencing a huge surge right now, so I'd expect things to be looking much better in 3-4 weeks.
 
Sojourner said:
Actually, what I've heard is that, due to the incredibly rapid spread of omicron, the peak will happen in the first half of January (i.e., now) and will begin to wane in late January. This is highly localized, though. Metro Atlanta (where I am) is experiencing a huge surge right now, so I'd expect things to be looking much better in 3-4 weeks.
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Until the next variant comes around. :hide:
 
ExFlyBoy5 said:
Until the next variant comes around. :hide:
Click to expand...

My very basic understanding of these things, is that it is normal behavior for successive variants of a virus to be more contagious, yet less serious in terms of symptoms and outcomes. Omicron appears to be a good example of this. Hopefully, future variants will continue the trend.

As for travel plans, I haven't been out of the country in over 10 years. I do plan on exploring the SW deserts in my campervan over the next few months though. (I just got a modest suspension lift to help with driving the dirt roads to primitive camping spots!) Campervan travel seems to be a good way of effectively controlling my contact with others.

EDIT - I just noticed that a new variant, B.1.640.2, has been identified in France. This report from Germany's Deutsche Welle -

https://www.dw.com/en/new-coronavirus-variant-identified-in-france/a-60329823
 
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So, my sense is that many believe we will be past O within a month or so?

We have Portugal for a month Apr/May and then 10 days river cruise, back late May 2022 ... just now getting ready to make airline restorations.

Thoughts on best carriers for: (1) Pensacola to Porto, (2) Lisbon to Munich, (3) Amsterdam to Pensacola? :)
 
ExFlyBoy5 said:
Until the next variant comes around. :hide:
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Yeah, there is always that worry. But the next variant will have to outcompete omicron to get a foothold, and that will be quite a feat considering omicron's extremely high infectiousness.

We are getting to the phase of the pandemic now where we all have to figure out how to live with the (seemingly) ever-present threat of getting infected and getting sick—but probably not getting severely ill—from COVID. Once omicron subsides, I don't think DW or I have much more tolerance for canceling or postponing any more of our travel plans. But... I remember thinking the same exact thing about delta just a few months ago! :facepalm::confused:
 
We are flying to Florida this Sunday and plan to keep our N95 masks on all the time and skip the meal and drink service. I hope they don't cancel the flight.
 
A combination of significantly increased lodging costs and Covid have made me decide not to go to Florida this Winter. I'm just hibernating in my home in Wisconsin. Put my mail on hold for 28 days at a time which is how long I can go between taking out the garbage and recycling. I'm stocked up for groceries so don't need to leave the house more than twice until March. Looks likely I will only spend $80 for the whole month of January.
 
As COVID dangers change, I recall my outing with norovirus while in Bordeaux two years ago ...
 
Sojourner said:
Yeah, there is always that worry. But the next variant will have to outcompete omicron to get a foothold, and that will be quite a feat considering omicron's extremely high infectiousness.

We are getting to the phase of the pandemic now where we all have to figure out how to live with the (seemingly) ever-present threat of getting infected and getting sick—but probably not getting severely ill—from COVID. Once omicron subsides, I don't think DW or I have much more tolerance for canceling or postponing any more of our travel plans. But... I remember thinking the same exact thing about delta just a few months ago! :facepalm::confused:
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Yes, and we have been trying to adjust accordingly since mid 2020. It's nice to be retired, it's easier to adjust as needed. BUT...I do like to plan and COVID seems to do a GREAT job of throwing wrenches into everyone's gears.
 
We had hoped to spend 6-8 weeks in Panama and Costa Rica this winter. Not so sure now. Will wait for a few weeks to see what happens with 'O'.

Still want to get to Greece and Cyprus in the sping. Not certain about that either.

Nothing booked. No plans to do so until a week or less prior to our planned departure. The closer the better.
 
luckydude said:
With the way things are going with Omicron, maybe we should start a thread for travel hopes for 2023.
Click to expand...

ExFlyBoy5 said:
Until the next variant comes around. :hide:
Click to expand...

Major Tom said:
My very basic understanding of these things, is that it is normal behavior for successive variants of a virus to be more contagious, yet less serious in terms of symptoms and outcomes. Omicron appears to be a good example of this. Hopefully, future variants will continue the trend.

As for travel plans, I haven't been out of the country in over 10 years. I do plan on exploring the SW deserts in my campervan over the next few months though. (I just got a modest suspension lift to help with driving the dirt roads to primitive camping spots!) Campervan travel seems to be a good way of effectively controlling my contact with others.

EDIT - I just noticed that a new variant, B.1.640.2, has been identified in France. This report from Germany's Deutsche Welle -

https://www.dw.com/en/new-coronavirus-variant-identified-in-france/a-60329823
Click to expand...

stephenson said:
So, my sense is that many believe we will be past O within a month or so?

We have Portugal for a month Apr/May and then 10 days river cruise, back late May 2022 ... just now getting ready to make airline restorations.

Thoughts on best carriers for: (1) Pensacola to Porto, (2) Lisbon to Munich, (3) Amsterdam to Pensacola? :)
Click to expand...

South Africa is seeing declining cases so the hope is that Europe and the US will hit that point in the next 3-4 weeks. Their Omicron wave started maybe mid to end of November.

Yes the next variant is always hanging over us. I saw one speculation about a variant having the infectiousness and antibody-evasion of Omicron along with the severity of Delta, which attacks the lungs and other organs more than Omicron.

There will probably be a slowdown in the summer months, as Omicron is seasonal, though Delta started growing in the summer and by the fall, it was peaking in the southern states and then rolled over to the colder northern states in the fall and winter.

There are no guarantees that we won't see another big winter wave a year from now, though some "experts" were hoping that we weren't going to have any more big waves, just before Omicron was discovered.

If things are quiescent in the summer and countries open up to tourism, I'm going, because waiting until spring/summer/fall of 2023 isn't going to be certain to be safer.


Israel is giving out 4th shots right now, so that may be coming to the US in the spring.
 
We're booked on a Baltic cruise for the end of May. We recently returned from Germany, and found Germans to be much more serious about Covid than Americans.

The political climate concerning Russia/Ukraine and Israel/Iran is of great concern. It's the unknown that makes us be hesitant to get our plane reservations for a while. We're supposed to be going to St. Petersburg and Estonia.
 
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