Partner desperate to go abroad ...

rosiesposies

With Spain looking more and more risky for lockdown we have also started looking elsewhere, first 2 weeks of September. Who did you book with? 

lady1964 said:

So I bit the bullet last night and booked 11 days in the Dominican Republic, leaving the day after we should have left for Sydney. As it stands now, we have the option of getting a PCR test, although if we don’t, we will get tested on arrival so I think we’ll get the test, although it’s not cheap but I got a good deal on a hotel, which I booked separately to the flights and we can cancel the hotel up to the night before we’re due to arrive.

_TinRibs_

The (Blue Chip) company I work for have said people coming back from abroad WILL self isolate for 14 days. If the person has no leave to cover this, they will be on unpaid time off. 

lady1964

rosiesposies said:

With Spain looking more and more risky for lockdown we have also started looking elsewhere, first 2 weeks of September. Who did you book with? 

lady1964 said:

So I bit the bullet last night and booked 11 days in the Dominican Republic, leaving the day after we should have left for Sydney. As it stands now, we have the option of getting a PCR test, although if we don’t, we will get tested on arrival so I think we’ll get the test, although it’s not cheap but I got a good deal on a hotel, which I booked separately to the flights and we can cancel the hotel up to the night before we’re due to arrive.

I booked directly with the hotel and directly with BA, it’s odd because I was going to do a BA holiday but we’re a little restricted with dates due to annual leave and BA didn’t have a ‘holiday’ going on the day we wanted, they were either several days earlier or later. I did notice too that the cost of BA holidays to parts of the Caribbean are becoming very expensive. For example, I looked at Grenada a few weeks ago and it was just about within our budget, when I looked 2 days ago, the cost had almost tripled, which is why I bit the bullet.

Thrugelmir

lady1964 said:

So I bit the bullet last night and booked 11 days in the Dominican Republic, leaving the day after we should have left for Sydney. As it stands now, we have the option of getting a PCR test, although if we don’t, we will get tested on arrival so I think we’ll get the test, although it’s not cheap but I got a good deal on a hotel, which I booked separately to the flights and we can cancel the hotel up to the night before we’re due to arrive.

Are the curfews still in place?

rosiesposies

I imagine going somewhere like DR you are likely to stay in the resort from dinner at the latest onwards 

lady1964

rosiesposies said:

I imagine going somewhere like DR you are likely to stay in the resort from dinner at the latest onwards 

We will probably spend almost all of our time on resort, we may venture out once or twice depending on what there is to see and what’s available, we have time before we go to research that. This is purely a rest and relax holiday as we’ve had a fairly hectic year so far with more to come later in the year.

@Thrugelmir, I haven’t read anything about curfews, care to enlighten me? Thanks

Thrugelmir

"A national State of Emergency was declared on Monday 20 July for a period of 45 days and curfews are now in place nationwide. The curfew times vary for different regions of the country"

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/dominican-republic/staying-during-coronavirus

lady1964

Thrugelmir said:

"A national State of Emergency was declared on Monday 20 July for a period of 45 days and curfews are now in place nationwide. The curfew times vary for different regions of the country"

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/dominican-republic/staying-during-coronavirus

Thanks, I hadn’t read that. Unless the 45 days is extended, curfew will be over by the time we go.

rosiesposies

Unless you are planning on going outside the resort after 5pm then it won’t really affect holiday. I am looking at DR now as both partner and I are desperate for exactly the same type of holiday you describe. We would’ve been in Vancouver if the quarantine on arrival wasn’t a factor (which no doubt it will be) but moved that holiday to Xmas now. Both myself and my partner have worked the entire time with no breaks (him since June 2019 me since July 2019) and lying beside a pool in the hot sun is needed. Looks like quarantine still applies to DR on return, but I work from home and he has enough leave to allow for that if we are back in the U.K. by sept 10/11. Only issue will now be if BA cancel their flights due to resume to DR early sept! 

lady1964

Sadly, I’ve cancelled the DR trip as DH is wary of going somewhere that’s not on the exemption list yet, he doesn’t want to take the chance of it not changing by mid September as he can’t take an additional 14 days off work if quarantine is still in place on our return.
Fortunately the hotel was cancellable for free and BA will issue us with a voucher, so it’s back to the drawing board 😂