Egypt Meets Thread

I see on this thread people who are moving their trips or how the number of people on their trips is now very small. Ours is October 20 2020 and is still listed as accepting for a waiting list. I just heard back from my email to my vacationista (Enid, who I think is incredibly helpful and I really like) that our trip has 40 guests confirmed.

So apparently we are not the only ones who still hope it is safe to go, and are trusting Disney to guide us.

We have NO issues wearing a mask.

We are also on an October departure and I don't fancy wearing a mask in Egypt. We live part of the year in Florida, and even though summer is not quite yet here, I find wearing a mask outdoors akin to having a sauna attached to my face. I only wear it outside when absolutely necessary (on property at our country club from my car to one of the clubhouses for example, or heading to the pickle ball courts -- places it is required). I have no issue wearing one inside and do every place that I go, but outside is massively uncomfortable in the heat and humidity. If we were traveling in a tour group of 40 (gasp -- that is *way* too big in this environment) I would want to wear one outside for protection at tourist sites where social distancing isn't possible. Another thought that pops into my mind is how will ABD protect their guests on the cruise and the bus and plane rides. Basically there's just way too much uncertainty for me to put myself in this kind of situation presently. Add to the fact that dd's first semester of uni will now (unless they change their minds) be online (which makes me incredibly sad for all she's going to miss out on, but I digress) and there is no chance that we will be going on this trip. I believe we are on the same departure, so you can count 2 less travelers :).

I was just reading an article on group travel and it was mentioning that a few of the effects of this is that we can expect that group sizes will be much smaller and more people will be looking at traveling on their own, where they can mitigate their risk instead of leaving it to others. Also they expect a boom in domestic travel and more people putting together their own groups to travel with. I certainly agree with this -- I just can't bring myself to even consider booking another group trip currently or traveling anywhere where I can't control my environment (i.e. leave if I find the crowd level is higher than I'm comfortable with), especially with ABD where group sizes are too big.
 
We are also on an October departure and I don't fancy wearing a mask in Egypt. We live part of the year in Florida, and even though summer is not quite yet here, I find wearing a mask outdoors akin to having a sauna attached to my face. I only wear it outside when absolutely necessary (on property at our country club from my car to one of the clubhouses for example, or heading to the pickle ball courts -- places it is required). I have no issue wearing one inside and do every place that I go, but outside is massively uncomfortable in the heat and humidity. If we were traveling in a tour group of 40 (gasp -- that is *way* too big in this environment) I would want to wear one outside for protection at tourist sites where social distancing isn't possible. Another thought that pops into my mind is how will ABD protect their guests on the cruise and the bus and plane rides. Basically there's just way too much uncertainty for me to put myself in this kind of situation presently. Add to the fact that dd's first semester of uni will now (unless they change their minds) be online (which makes me incredibly sad for all she's going to miss out on, but I digress) and there is no chance that we will be going on this trip. I believe we are on the same departure, so you can count 2 less travelers :).

I was just reading an article on group travel and it was mentioning that a few of the effects of this is that we can expect that group sizes will be much smaller and more people will be looking at traveling on their own, where they can mitigate their risk instead of leaving it to others. Also they expect a boom in domestic travel and more people putting together their own groups to travel with. I certainly agree with this -- I just can't bring myself to even consider booking another group trip currently or traveling anywhere where I can't control my environment (i.e. leave if I find the crowd level is higher than I'm comfortable with), especially with ABD where group sizes are too big.
I also worry about the packed bus transportation and the buffet meals. I would think they would have to reconsider most of the group buffet and family style meals.
I would not be opposed to breakfast room service though 😊
 
I see on this thread people who are moving their trips or how the number of people on their trips is now very small. Ours is October 20 2020 and is still listed as accepting for a waiting list. I just heard back from my email to my vacationista (Enid, who I think is incredibly helpful and I really like) that our trip has 40 guests confirmed.

We are all set to go as well - we were wondering if they were still full at 40. We are a party of 2 on that trip. Can’t wait, I am pretty optimistic it will work out for our date. Time will tell :) We will go anyway ABD or not. Egypt is once in a life time for us and if we don’t do it now, never know when the opportunity will present itself again.

So apparently we are not the only ones who still hope it is safe to go, and are trusting Disney to guide us.

We have NO issues wearing a mask.
 
I see on this thread people who are moving their trips or how the number of people on their trips is now very small. Ours is October 20 2020 and is still listed as accepting for a waiting list. I just heard back from my email to my vacationista (Enid, who I think is incredibly helpful and I really like) that our trip has 40 guests confirmed.

So apparently we are not the only ones who still hope it is safe to go, and are trusting Disney to guide us.

We have NO issues wearing a mask.
Regrettably, I now see our trip is no longer waitlisted and is now accepting new reservations, so clearly a number of people have dropped off in the last ten days.
 


Maybe it will just be your group and ours on the trip :)

I just called ABD and they have 38 people booked on the October 20th Egypt trip. They said since their maximum is 40 they have room for 2 more guests. They are working "diligently" to come up with protocols for group travel once it is safe to resume. I am shocked that they would still be willing to add 2 more guests to the trip. I very likely won't make my final payment -- I will move the deposit to another trip.
 
I just called ABD and they have 38 people booked on the October 20th Egypt trip. They said since their maximum is 40 they have room for 2 more guests. They are working "diligently" to come up with protocols for group travel once it is safe to resume. I am shocked that they would still be willing to add 2 more guests to the trip. I very likely won't make my final payment -- I will move the deposit to another trip.
If they are planning to run it with 38, and someone wanted to join in, why wouldn't they allow 2 more guests to sign up?

Sayhello
 


I just called ABD and they have 38 people booked on the October 20th Egypt trip. They said since their maximum is 40 they have room for 2 more guests. They are working "diligently" to come up with protocols for group travel once it is safe to resume. I am shocked that they would still be willing to add 2 more guests to the trip. I very likely won't make my final payment -- I will move the deposit to another trip.
Good idea to call ABD. I just called about our Sept. 15, 2020 Egypt ABD. We are at 32, so the trip is a go as far as they know. I asked about the bus and social distancing protocols and she said they are working on it and will let us know.
 
I would guess that the OP is concerned with proper social distancing and health safety issues with a group of 40 in October.
And I get that, but I don't think 2 more people is going to make *that* big of a difference. I guess I could be wrong!

Sayhello
 
If they are planning to run it with 38, and someone wanted to join in, why wouldn't they allow 2 more guests to sign up?

Sayhello
My thinking is that if ABD hopes to travel this year, it would be a good idea to keep their groups as small as possible. If they are currently at 38 then I think they should cap it there, not be willing to add more people. Of course this is just my opinion and I'm sure many others would be fine traveling with that many in a group -- as @Calfan speculated I am not. I was hoping ABD would use this as an opportunity to lower their group numbers.
 
My thinking is that if ABD hopes to travel this year, it would be a good idea to keep their groups as small as possible. If they are currently at 38 then I think they should cap it there, not be willing to add more people. Of course this is just my opinion and I'm sure many others would be fine traveling with that many in a group -- as @Calfan speculated I am not. I was hoping ABD would use this as an opportunity to lower their group numbers.
Yep, obviously that ain't happening.

Sayhello
 
They could be filling it up with the expectation that people will cancel and the group will end up being much smaller. I could be wrong, though.
 
I can't see any group travel happening this year anymore. There are so many rules and regulations and it's hard to navigate. Some borders are still closed. Travel in the US, esp Hawaii and Alaska has restrictions. And I was shocked to read that Cambodia has a $3000 mandatory deposit for COVID testing for arrivals!
 
I can't see any group travel happening this year anymore. There are so many rules and regulations and it's hard to navigate. Some borders are still closed. Travel in the US, esp Hawaii and Alaska has restrictions. And I was shocked to read that Cambodia has a $3000 mandatory deposit for COVID testing for arrivals!
Yikes! $3,000? What does that cover? If it's a deposit, do you get it back? Under what conditions?

I know that currently, Iceland will be requiring tourists to either quarantine in place for 14 days or have a COVID-19 test (unless you can prove you had a test right before flying to Iceland). For a period of time, they'll be free, but after that, the passenger is expected to pay for it. But it's under $125, not $3,000!! I've also been reading there's a lot of gaps in Iceland's plan, so things might end up changing.

Sayhello
 
Yikes! $3,000? What does that cover? If it's a deposit, do you get it back? Under what conditions?

I know that currently, Iceland will be requiring tourists to either quarantine in place for 14 days or have a COVID-19 test (unless you can prove you had a test right before flying to Iceland). For a period of time, they'll be free, but after that, the passenger is expected to pay for it. But it's under $125, not $3,000!! I've also been reading there's a lot of gaps in Iceland's plan, so things might end up changing.

Sayhello
posting reply under "Travel Changes"

https://www.disboards.com/threads/travel-changes.3793682/post-61992478
 
Some progress on Egypt opening up!
From the US Embassy in Egypt:
  • Starting June 14, the curfew hours will change to 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.
  • Places of worship, public parks, and beaches remain closed through the end of June.
  • Multiple direct and indirect flight options to the United States appear to be available from EgyptAir, Air France, Lufthansa, and others.
  • Domestic flights and tourism to areas with low COVID-19 infection rates are expected to resume on July 1.
 
Still not sure if our trip will be a go, but I did notice on the ABD website that we are now the inaugural Egypt ABD starting Sept 15. Ha, ha! They cancelled the July dates and I am not sure if there were August ones. In any case, they no longer appear on the website. We went ahead and booked our air through ABD assuming we will get full refunds should the trip be cancelled. At this point, even if the trip is a go regarding COVID-19, there may not be enough people on it for it to be a go due to cancellations. Right now any foreign travelers who arrive in Egypt must self-quarantine for 28 days! We are still hanging in there but are really not sure if this trip will happen. How about you? Paid in full date is coming up in June!

I think we're going to change the date on this one and try for a winter '21/'22 trip...! How about you?

Edit to update: We did change the date since ABD updated their policies today to allow for Sept 2020 trips to rebook with a 100% credit. We took advantage and moved to a Feb 2022 trip for a variety of reasons. So relieved. We had put a lot of money into airfare through ABD that I was worried about losing if we moved the date, and today was PIF day for our original Sept date.
 
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I think we're going to change the date on this one and try for a winter '21/'22 trip...! How about you?

Edit to update: We did change the date since ABD updated their policies today to allow for Sept 2020 trips to rebook with a 100% credit. We took advantage and moved to a Feb 2022 trip for a variety of reasons. So relieved. We had put a lot of money into airfare through ABD that I was worried about losing if we moved the date, and today was PIF day for our original Sept date.
That's great! Good decision. We decided to ride it out knowing that we fully expect this trip to be cancelled. We booked air, insurance and our pre-night through ABD so we can get a full refund. At this point, we are not sure when or what we will be booking in the future in lieu of this trip with our adult children.
 

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