There’s good news for cruise fans and lovers of the Caribbean. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered its risk assessment rating for cruise ships, as well as for such popular Caribbean destinations as Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and The Bahamas. The CDC’s website says it bumped cruise travel from level three (high levels of COVID) to level two (moderate levels) on Monday, March 14. The centers’ level three warning says travel should be avoided to those destination unless a visitor is fully up-to-date with their vaccines. Level two is much more mild, simply stating that Read more
Jamaica
Jamaica lovers, rejoice. Effective March 1, 2022, international visitors to Jamaica will no longer be required to obtain travel authorization to enter the island. Travellers 12 years of age and older will only need to provide a negative result from a COVID-19 Antigen or PCR test conducted within 72 hours prior to their travel. Additionally, travellers to Jamaica will no longer face travel-related quarantine measures. “Eliminating travel-related quarantines and the need for travellers to fill out and receive approval of the Travel Authorization form are key steps in relaxing our travel protocols as the global spread of COVID-19 declines,” said Read more
The first ever Global Tourism Resilience Day is set to be launched at Expo 2020 Dubai by Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Edmund Bartlett, and Co-Chairman of his brainchild, the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC). “Jamaica is pleased to launch Global Tourism Resilience Day on February 17″ Bartlett said. “The focus will be on the ability of countries to build capacity to respond to international shocks and to be able to predict with greater certainty their responses “It will also aid countries in understanding and mitigating the effects of these shocks on their development, but most Read more
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging governments to accelerate relaxation of travel restrictions as COVID-19 continues to evolve from the pandemic to endemic stage. IATA this week called for removing all travel barriers (including quarantine and testing) for those fully vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine, enabling quarantine-free travel for non-vaccinated travelers with a negative pre-departure antigen test result, removing travel bans, and accelerating the easing of travel restrictions in recognition that travelers pose no greater risk for COVID-19 spread than already exists in the general population. “With the experience of the Omicron variant, there is mounting scientific evidence Read more
This was from a visit to Sandals Royal Caribbean a few years ago. It wasn’t the chilled Champagne. It wasn’t the hammock suspended over the lagoon. And it wasn’t the see-through glass floor in my room that allowed me to peer down into the warm Caribbean. Those were all great. But the biggest thrill of staying at Sandals Royal Caribbean overwater villas or bungalows, the first in Jamaica – and in the Caribbean – was the joy of silence and space; of soaking in my private pool and sipping an adult beverage as the sun dipped into the inky Caribbean while Read more
