Resuming Travel, But With a Few Extra Requirements

It has been nearly twenty-one months since my last big trip ended: a Pacific Ocean cruise that found our ship sailing aimlessly around the South China Sea for two weeks as port after port closed to us because a new virus was raging across Asia and would soon infect the rest of the world.  For the past year and a half, much of the world has been shut down, more than five million people have died, and international travel has been at a near standstill.  And even though rates of new infection continue to soar, vaccinations have been discovered and deployed, and some governments are relaxing border restrictions for those who have been fully vaccinated or had recent tests indicating that they are not ill.

My retirement vocation was focused on travel with a goal of seeing as much of the world as possible before my health and money ran out.  I had scheduled and paid for several trips that were cancelled during 2020 and 2021 and have accumulated a fairly large stash of credits with airlines, tour companies, and cruise ships.  Throughout the covid pandemic, I remained optimistic that some day the virus would be controlled well enough that travel could safely begin again, and I have continued to schedule and rescheduled a variety of trips. 

Now, with my husband Scott, I am cashing in some of those credits.  We are on our way to Europe for two cruises—the first an ocean cruise around the Aegean Sea which lies between Greece and Turkey, followed by a cruise down the Rhine River which forms the border between Germany and France.  But travel in the time of covid is not without its difficulties.

Both of our cruises are with Viking, the company that supports many Public Television programs we watch at home.  Viking requires that all passengers and crew members present evidence of having been fully vaccinated.  In addition, the line requires a negative covid PCR test result obtained no more than 72 hours prior to embarkation (getting on the ship).  In addition, passengers and crew are frequently tested on the ships and must pass temperature screenings when returning to the ship after shore excursions.  We appreciate those restrictions and feel more comfortable traveling because they are in place.

Scott and I have been fully vaccinated and have received our third booster shots, and we have the required vaccination cards to prove it.  Both American Airlines and Viking required us to upload copies of those cards through a smartphone application known as Verifly.  We did that and received “approved to travel” checkmarks in the app.  In addition, Viking required us to complete health questionnaires five days prior to embarkation.  We did that.  We are flying through London, catching a connecting flight to Athens in Heathrow Airport.  That required completion of a United Kingdom passenger locator form and then a Greek contact-tracing form listing all the places we plan to visit for the fourteen days after arriving in Greece. 

The most daunting requirement for us, however, was obtaining the PCR test results prior to leaving town.  These are the saliva tests that typically require 24 to 48 hours to process.  Figuring out when to give up our spit and how to get results proved somewhat daunting.  As an ASU employee, Scott can get tested as often as he wants.  ASU added tests for employee dependents just a few weeks ago.  Based on the advice from friends and travel articles, we have each had multiple tests in the past couple of weeks.  But timing is critical given the timelines mandated by agencies and organizations.  We hope to receive the results from our last test when we arrive in London and have internet access at the airport as this is the one that will meet the Viking requirement for getting on our ship.

This morning when we went to the Phoenix airport to begin our journey, in addition to our passports and e-tickets, we carried our phones with our Verifly passes, our vaccination cards, the results of our most recent negative covid tests, our UK passenger entry form, and our Greek passenger locator form.  No online check-in was available, and we spent nearly ten minutes with an agent verifying that everything was in order for today’s flights.

There is one more requirement not to be messed with:  wearing a mask that covers your nose, mouth, and chin.  The lead flight attendant on our flight out of Phoenix reminded passengers twice that this was a rule that would be strictly enforced.  When we departed about ten minutes after our scheduled time, she apologized for the delay and announced that it was due to having to remove a passenger who refused to comply with the mask rules.

When boarding the flight to London, checking in for the flight was completed via biometrics.  We did not have to present a boarding pass or passport at the gate, but we did have to remove our masks (briefly) for a photo and somehow our names and seat assignments popped up on the screen along with a big green checkmark indicating that we had passed muster.  The gate agent told us that this biometric information would be forwarded electronically to Britain.  Perhaps customs and immigration will be improved with the addition of this biometric information.  We can but hope.  And we hope that we will stay well and continue to receive negative test results, including the one required for us to return to the United States.  Meanwhile, here’s to returning to travel and to negotiating the new world of requirements.