Several cruise lines have cancelled planned visits to Russian ports following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, announced yesterday (Feb. 24) that it’s adjusting its itineraries and pulling out of Russia for 2022. Both Viking and Atlas Ocean Voyages also are adjusting their plans for Russia, while Royal Caribbean says it’s got a back up plan in place should it be needed. “The safety and security of our guests, crew and communities we visit is our top priority,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in an email Read more
Europe
Brussels in Belgium has been revealed as the city offering the greatest amount of culinary choice, by a new Remitly study that looked at close to one million restaurants worldwide. Vancouver was the highest ranking Canadian city, finishing 19th overall, with an impressive 2,372 international restaurants versus its population of 697,266 (= 3.40 foreign restaurants per 1,000 people). “With eating out being something the whole world enjoys doing, Remitly wanted to discover which city offers the most diverse food options per person, when it comes to options outside of the city’s home cuisine,” officials said. “This was achieved using Tripadvisor Read more
The Canadian travel surge is here, and Canadians are booking trips around the world. Canadian agents say they’ve definitely seen a bump in requests since the federal government announced last week that, as of February 28, it would no longer require expensive PCR-style/molecular tests for people coming into Canada. Instead, Canadians and visitors will be able to show negative rapid antigen test results taken within 72 hours of their scheduled departure, or their arrival at a Canadian land border. “For sure removing the PCR Test was the catalyst. It was not only costly; it was time consuming running around trying Read more
Travel to Europe could get a lot easier very soon. The European Council has recommended that EU members ease travel restrictions on passengers arriving from “third” countries, such as Canada and the U.S., starting March 1. Business Travel News Europe said the council recommends that member states allow non-essential travel for people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or who have recovered from the virus. To qualify as vaccinated, travellers must have had their last dose of their primary vaccination “at least 14 days and no more than 270 days before arrival or they have received a booster dose,” Read more
By Jim Byers Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) There’s further evidence of a travel rebound in Canada and around the world. Air Canada today announced an expanded Summer 2022 international schedule with 34 routes relaunching across the Atlantic and Pacific. Starting next month, non-stop services will begin resuming from Toronto to Tel Aviv, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna and Edinburgh, signs that recovery is well underway. Service from Montreal to Casablanca, Nice, Rome, Tel Aviv and Tokyo will also be resuming. From Vancouver, Air Canada will be offering service to Frankfurt, Dublin, and Zurich. Air Canada is also relaunching Read more
