Travel Tips and Trends

While many parents worry about the mental and physical health risks associated with kids’ screen time, a new study conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institute may make some parents feel better about their kids playing video games. 

According to the findings, kids who spend a lot of time playing video games may also have higher intelligence levels. 

“We didn’t examine the effects of screen behavior on physical activity, sleep, well-being, or school performance, so we can’t say anything about that,” said researcher Torkel Klingberg. “But our results support the claim that screen time generally doesn’t impair children’s cognitive abilities, and that playing video games can actually help boost intelligence. This is consistent with several experimental studies of video-game playing.” 

Positive effects of video games

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 10,000 children enrolled in the ABCD study in the U.S. At the start of the study, parents answered questions about how often their children were in front of screens using social media, watching TV, and playing video games. The children also completed several different assessments to measure intelligence. The team then followed up with the children over the course of two years to measure changes over time. 

The study showed that the kids involved in the study spent an average of an hour playing video games each day. However, kids who surpassed that were also likely to have higher IQs. Playing video games for an hour or more every day was linked with raising IQ scores by as many as 2.5 points. 

It’s important to note that this same trend wasn’t observed for the other forms of screen time, including watching TV or being on social media. 

While the team plans to do more work in this area to better understand what other influences can affect kids’ intelligence, these findings highlight one way that kids can benefit from playing video games. 

“We’ll now be studying the effects of other environmental factors and how the cognitive effects relate to childhood brain development,” Klingberg said. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added 16 destinations to its "Level 4: Very High" COVID-19 risk level, including three popular travel destinations for Americans -- Greece, Ireland, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Those countries join other frequent international destinations like the United Kingdom, Spain, and The Netherlands. Destinations that fall into the "very high" risk category have had more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

The agency emphatically stated that everyone should “avoid travel to these destinations. If you must travel to these destinations, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel.”

"Fully vaccinated travelers are less likely to get and spread Covid-19. However, international travel poses additional risks, and even fully vaccinated travelers might be at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading some Covid-19 variants," the agency said.

How will this affect people with travel plans?

The CDC’s new advice will certainly get the attention of anyone who plans on flying -- or cruising -- anytime soon. In particular, cruisers need to be aware that a number of stops on European and Mediterranean itineraries are impacted: Portugal, Spain, the U.K., the Netherlands, Greece, and Gibraltar. 

There are also several “Level 3” countries that could affect stopovers if the virus continues to spread. Those include Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, and Estonia in Europe, as well as most of the Caribbean nations.

What can travelers do to protect the cost of their trip?

The pandemic continues to create unique, troubling, and shifting scenarios that travelers have to face. Besides local restrictions and mandates that cruise lines and airlines might put into place, there is a slew of travelers who have made reservations and paid for vacations.

Is there anything a traveler can do to protect their investment? ConsumerAffairs reached out to insurance expert Michael Giusti of InsuranceQuotes.com to get his advice.

“Make sure to book your insurance policy early,” Giusti said. “Once you pay your deposits, the clock starts ticking. Many companies won’t write policies if you don’t buy it within just a few days of the trip being purchased. So, if you booked your trip in April but are now worried about the Delta variant, it is likely too late for travel insurance now.”

How does that affect the new CDC guidance? Giusti said government shutdowns typically aren’t covered by standard travel insurance policies. However, there is one insurance option that travelers can take called a “Cancel For Any Reason” policy. 

“These are more expensive, and they pay out a smaller percentage of your costs, but just like their name implies, they pay out for almost any reason you chose,” Giusti said. “This can be a great option if you are a timid traveler, or if you have a lot of unknown variables to consider.”

Travel insurance can really pay off

While travelers usually don’t have to file a travel insurance claim, it’s those you-never-know type of things that make travel insurance worth the investment. Corie from Nampa, Idaho, said it certainly paid off for them.

“I purchased flight protection on my flight just in case, my traveling partner ended up getting seizures and being admitted into the hospital, it was horrible we were all so stressed out and didn’t know what to do because we couldn’t go on our planned vacation,” they wrote in a review of Allianz Global Assistance. “The customer service and help that I got was awesome, it helped me so much and I definitely recommend this company for travel insurance!”

ConsumerAffairs has prepared a guide on travel insurance that might be worth reviewing if you’re planning a trip anytime soon. It’s available here.

A trial cruise filled with about 600 vaccinated passengers departed from Miami on Sunday evening. The cruise will span two nights, and the ship will dock at CocoCay in the Bahamas.

Cruises with volunteer passengers are intended to help pave the way for cruise operations to return to normal in the U.S., as they’ll help cruise lines test the efficacy of COVID-19 health and safety measures. Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas set sail from PortMiami at 7 p.m. on Sunday with a representative from the CDC on board. 

Under the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order, a trial cruise is one of two options for a cruise ship to resume sailing. The agency said last month that a ship can either perform a trial cruise or agree to set sail with almost all fully vaccinated passengers and crew -- 95% for both groups. 

Vaccines strongly recommended

The entire cruise industry was forced to halt operations for about 15 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Royal Caribbean officials said the two-day voyage will serve as a way to observe quote “multi-layered health and safety measures” put in place by the CDC.

Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean announced that two passengers aboard another trial cruise tested positive for COVID-19. The passengers were asymptomatic. The company said it isolated the individuals and had them monitored by medical professionals. All close contacts of the individuals were also tested. 

“This situation demonstrates that our rigorous health and safety protocols work to protect our crew, guests and the communities we visit,” the cruise company said at the time. 

Royal Caribbean recently updated its website to state that vaccinations are strongly recommended for Florida sailings and "unvaccinated guests must undergo additional COVID-19 testing at their own expense.” 

"We do strongly recommend all the guests be vaccinated for sure for those who are eligible, but we have measures in place to keep the cruises safe," said Patrik Dahlgren, senior vice president of global marine operations for Royal Caribbean Group.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its international travel advisory. As vaccination numbers grow and the spread of COVID-19 becomes better contained, travelers now have access to more countries that they were advised not to visit just a week ago.

Overall, the CDC’s revised list includes new travel advice for more than 120 countries, moving 33 countries where the pandemic is "sustained, but controlled” into the lowest risk category. Those nations include Israel, where there’s a 99.2% recovery rate; Iceland, where there are only 52 current COVID-19 cases; and Singapore, which recently reported only four new cases. 

Other frequently visited international destinations at Level 1 include Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, China, and Caribbean countries like the Cayman Islands and Belize.

Countries the CDC says travelers should avoid

Even though the CDC may have updated its travel advice for more than 120 countries, that does not mean that there are now 120 additional places travelers can visit. Things are a little more complicated than that.

There are still 85 Level 2 and Level 3 countries, which the CDC says travelers should be fully vaccinated before visiting. That includes many tourist destinations in Europe like France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. At the top of the pecking order on the CDC’s warning list -- Level 4 -- there are 61 countries that the agency says travelers should avoid altogether. However, it leaves the final determination to the traveler. 

“If you must travel to these destinations, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” the CDC warns.

Tourist favorites at Level 4 include The Netherlands, Sweden, Jamaica, Egypt, and the Czech Republic, as well as many South American countries such as Brazil, Colombia, and Chile.

Countries where its citizens aren’t permitted to come to the U.S.

The CDC notes in its advisory that there are still citizens of other countries that are currently prohibited from entering the U.S. because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

With some exceptions or presidential proclamations, immigrants or nonimmigrants who were physically present in eight areas/countries within a 14-day period of trying to enter the U.S. will not be allowed entry. 

Those areas include China, the U.K. (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), Brazil, India, Iran, and European nations that are a part of the European Schengen area. Countries found in that last area include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The U.S. vs. U.K. stand-off

Particularly troubling to airline executives is that the U.S. and U.K. appear to be having a stand-off about allowing each other’s citizens to visit. Just as the CDC has visitors from the U.K. on its prohibited list, the U.K. has visitors from the U.S. on its Amber list. That leaves a lot of empty seats that airlines would like to fill. 

Before the pandemic, the number of visitors to the U.S. from the U.K. was around 4.75 million, and an estimated 4.6 million Americans visited the U.K. in 2019.

"As we see people reclaiming their lives and reconnecting with loved ones, it’s clear that the infection rates of our countries indicate an extraordinarily low risk to travel between the US the UK, provided travelers are vaccinated or can produce a negative PCR test prior to boarding a flight,” Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, said at an airline summit at London Heathrow on Monday. “Our modeling studies conducted with Mayo Clinic put the risk of transmission on a plane traveling between the UK and US at 1 in 1 million.”

The scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep the travel industry -- in particular, cruise lines -- on a rollercoaster ride. 

Just last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifted its “no sail” order,” but when Royal Caribbean set out on a test cruise in hopes of proving all was safe, it found itself headed back to port when a passenger tested positive for coronavirus aboard its Quantum of the Seas ship.

Is cruising safe again?

In all candor, the CDC’s risk assessment for cruise travel is “very high” at the moment. Typical cruises are comprised of more people from different countries in a setting that’s more densely populated than cities and most normal living situations. Add to that the fact that the average age of people who take cruises tends to be higher than other travel modes, and older adults are at a higher risk for severe illness with COVID-19.

When hit with the question of whether decreasing the number of passengers would help, the CDC said that “drastically decreasing population onboard without additional mitigation measures does not end transmission.” The agency warns that any cruise -- whether staying domestic to the U.S. or going abroad -- is very risky right now.

Nonetheless, cruise line companies aren’t sitting around and waiting for the coronavirus to go away. Their itineraries and policies change often to try to stay one step ahead of the pandemic. ConsumerAffairs did some homework on the situation, and here’s where things stand as of December 14.

When will cruising restart?

Silversea Cruises: Suspended through April 1, 2021, except for the February 6, 2021 sailing of Silver Origin.

Azamara: Suspended sailings through March 20, 2021.

Carnival: All cruises are paused through the end of February, 2021.

Celebrity Cruises: All global sailings suspended through February 28, 2021; South America sailings suspended through April 7, 2021.

Norwegian: The company has paused all voyages through February 28, 2021 on its own namesake line and through March 31 on its company-owned Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Princess: The company is pausing all cruises through March 31, 2021, and all cruises longer than seven days sailing in and out of United States ports will be postponed through November 1, 2021.

Royal Caribbean International: Most global sailings are suspended through February 28, 2021; Australia sailings are suspended through April 30, 2021; and Spectrum of the Seas China sailings are suspended through January 20, 2021.

Seabourn: To meet new CDC requirements, the line has changed its deployment to rotating seven-day north and southbound itineraries that include U.S. port calls. To make that happen, departure dates for currently available cruises have been moved to late May through July.

The new face of cruising

When cruising gets going again, it is going to be vastly different than what it has been in the past, at least in the United States. New protocols issued by cruise line trade group The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the CDC, and the cruise lines themselves include the following: 

COVID-19 Testing: Passengers should expect that getting tested for the coronavirus will be mandatory. “Testing must be performed using tests that are approved, cleared, or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as specified by CDC in technical instructions or orders,” the CDC said.

Face Coverings: If you’re not going to mask-up, then you won’t be going on a cruise anytime soon. CLIA says that mask-wearing is also a must.

Shorter Trips: The CDC’s new rule is that initial itineraries can’t be longer than seven days.

Reduced Capacity: Expect reduced capacity on all cruises. 

Social Distancing: Expect socially distanced seating everywhere, but particularly on pool decks and in restaurants.

Goodbye Buffets: The CDC’s mandate now requires ships to alter their meal service to maximize physical distancing. That probably means no buffets in dining rooms until things are 100 percent safe.

Limited Itineraries: One of the best parts of cruising to other parts of the world were the local itineraries that passengers could take when the ship dropped anchor in ports along the way. That aspect is in limbo because some ports won’t let passengers and crew disembark. The companies that are in luck are the ones who own their own private islands -- albeit in the Caribbean -- like the Disney-owned Castaway Cay in the Bahamas, and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, which is Holland America’s own private island.

An update on refunds

Refunds have proven to be a sticky wicket for hopeful cruise travelers. After cruise lines first shut down, months went by and frustrations mounted as customers tried to get a straight answer on refunds for cruises that had been cancelled. 

“We have been getting a stunning amount of complaints from readers about this,” Gene Sloan, senior cruise and travel reporter for The Points Guy, told the Sun Sentinel in August. “They come in over our tips line and directly to me by email. At least two of every three emails I get from readers these days are about missing refunds.”

Thankfully, the major cruise lines got the message and went to work on the frustration of their customers, and they seem to have gotten their act together regarding refunds. The most important change for consumers is that the cruise lines have made their cancellation policies more flexible, offering cash refunds or credits toward future trips. 

Some specific examples include:

Carnival Cruise Line: Carnival now offers travelers whose cruise has been canceled the chance to get a refund as 100 percent credit toward a future cruise, plus a voucher for onboard spending of up to $600 per stateroom (based on the length of the trip). The voucher can be used for the passenger’s next cruise booked by May 31, 2021 for trips departing at the latest by April 30, 2023.

Royal Caribbean (including Celebrity, Azamara, Silversea): All cruise lines owned by Royal Caribbean are extending the company’s “Cruise with Confidence” program. For all bookings created by January 31, 2021, guests have the flexibility to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours prior to sailing and receive a full credit of the cruise fare paid for a future cruise through April 2022 and May 4, 2022 for Celebrity Cruises. The cruise company will also continue to offer its “Best Price Guarantee” and “Lift and Shift.”

Norwegian Cruise Line: Guests who had an active reservation on any cruise suspended through March 2021 will “automatically receive a refund of their cruise fare in the original form of a payment for the amount paid by January 7, 2021,” the company said. 

Additionally, it’s tossing in a 10 percent off coupon that will be automatically added to the guest's account. That coupon is valid for one year from date of issuance and can be used for any Norwegian Cruise Line voyage embarking through 2022; it’s also combinable with any future cruise credit and all future promotions at the time of booking.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended its “no sail” order for U.S. ships, which previously expired September 30. The CDC said on Wednesday that the new order will last until October 31.

With no vaccine available, crowded spaces like cruise ships remain risky -- particularly for seniors and other vulnerable members of the population. After evaluating the outcomes of cruises that took place overseas, the agency concluded that cruises still aren’t completely safe. 

"Recent outbreaks on cruise ships overseas provide current evidence that cruise ship travel continues to transmit and amplify the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,” the CDC said.

Those outbreaks occurred in spite of new health and safety measures enacted by the cruise lines, the agency added. At this point, the CDC said there is a need for additional testing, isolation, and contact tracing efforts.

White House overrules CDC

While the no-sail order will effectively last until the end of the month, the CDC said it would also lift it if the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ declared that COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency or when the CDC director “rescinds or modifies the order based on specific public health or other considerations.” 

The New York Times reported that CDC Director Robert Redfield originally wanted to extend the order to next February, but the Trump administration overruled that decision. White House officials hope that the cruise industry can demonstrate that it has a plan to ensure the safety of ships “and that the companies assume the burden of dealing with any possible outbreaks” before October 31. 

A panel of medical experts formed by Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line recently submitted more than 70 recommendations to federal regulators on how safe cruising could be made possible during the pandemic. 

“We know that both authorities around the globe and consumers expect cruise lines to provide the safest, healthiest vacations we can, and this work demonstrates our commitment to doing just that,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line.

Otto Warmbier, the American college student who spent 17 months in detention in North Korea, has died, his family said Monday. Warmbier was detained at the end of a group tour he booked to North Korea and later sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, allegedly for “crimes against the state.”

The North Korean regime released him last week to his family, but doctors said he had suffered a severe neurological injury and was not responding to verbal cues. In a public statement, the Warmbier family said the 22-year-old appeared to be at peace in his final days.

“He was home and we believe he could sense that,” the Warmbiers said. They described their late son, who was the salutatorian of his high school class and a homecoming king, as "a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds."

Travel restrictions

U.S. lawmakers are now considering legislation to discourage Americans from visiting North Korea, which depends on tourism to boost its isolated economy but is also what the Department of State warns is a dangerous destination

“Let us state the facts plainly: Otto Warmbier, an American citizen, was murdered by the Kim Jong-un regime,” Senator John McCain said in a statement. “In the final year of his life, he lived the nightmare in which the North Korean people have been trapped for 70 years: forced labor, mass starvation, systematic cruelty, torture, and murder.” 

Youg Pioneer Tours no longer says North Korea "Extremely Safe!"

Warmbier’s release from prison has put fresh scrutiny on Young Pioneer Tours, the company that Warmbier has traveled with.

During Warmbier’s detention and even following his release from prison, Young Pioneer Tours continued to market its trips to Americans without referencing Warmbier on their website. The company’s website as of last week still claimed that North Korea is “Extremely Safe!,” among the safest places on earth and “Absolutely not!” a problem for Americans.  

The company has since slightly toned down some of its more bombastic claims about North Korea being safe. Now, the Young Pioneer Tours website says: “Despite what you may hear, for most nationalities, North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit provided you follow the laws as provided by our documentation and pre-tour briefings.”

American tourists no longer allowed

Young Pioneer Tours finally addressed Warmbier in their marketing materials after his death on Monday.  “Our deepest sympathies are with Otto Warmbier and those who loved him. We had held onto hope that he might recover, and have the life that he should have had, but now those hopes are gone, and we too are reeling with the shock of a young man's life taken well before his time,” the company’s statement reads.

Warmbier’s death has prompted the company to no longer accept Americans on their trips, they added. “Now, the assessment of risk for Americans visiting North Korea has become too high. The way his detention was handled was appalling, and a tragedy like this must never be repeated.”

The Instagram accounts belonging to the people behind Young Pioneer Tours depicted its leaders partying shortly after Warmbier was detained, but the company says in their new statement that they made “constant requests” to see him.

US-based tour company says no new American applications allowed

Young Pioneer Tours is not the only company reconsidering its policy for American tourists in the wake of Warmbier’s death. 

The company New Korea Tours--advertising itself as “Most experienced US based DPRK Travel Specialists since 2005”--tells ConsumerAffairs that they will no longer accept travel applications from American tourists. 

But New Korea Tours did not say whether they would pull Americans from trips that they had already booked. “That will be decided on case by case basis,” the company’s general manager says via email.

What’s more, it’s not just Americans who experts say face risks when visiting North Korea. Other foreigners are also detained in the country's notoriously brutal prisons. And a British customer who traveled with Young Pioneer Tours in 2013 told ConsumerAffairs Monday that his guide was drunk throughout their trip and that his whole group nearly got detained on their way home. 

Other sources told the Washington Post that one tourist--it's not clear which company this tourist was with--did a handstand in front of a mausoleum, an offense that resulted in the local tour guide losing their job. It’s just one of the many strict laws that has led officials to deter tourism to the area. 

Among other acts apparently banned in North Korea is capturing a photograph of a statue in which its face is covered in snow or not capturing a statue's entire body in a photograph.  The general manager of New Korea Tours, the company based in the United States, writes to ConsumerAffairs that photographing a statue covered in snow “is not possible as the statues are being cleaned immediately after snowfall.”

Additionally, “It is prohibited to make photos of the statues not in full height (partial cut-off image). If you make a cut-off shot by mistake, the guide will delete this image, no punishment will follow☺.”

Three Americans currently remain detained in North Korea. 

The airport security lines are long with no end in sight. Is there a way to cut your wait time? If you are traveling outside the United States, Global Entry, a pre-approved U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program for low-risk travelers, will help you move swiftly through the lines upon re-entering the United States.

Here's what you need to know:

You apply online and pay a $100 non-refundable fee, undergo a background check, and participate in an in-person interview at a Global Entry Enrollment Center.

While it is intended to expedite your re-entry into the United States, it is no guarantee that you won’t be selected for further scrutiny upon your return.

The program is available at major United States airports, but not all airports. Check here for select airports.

Global entry members are pre-approved for TSA Precheck; the membership fee for this program is $85, so for the additional $15, you get Global Entry too.

Use the TSA Precheck for domestic travel and when you depart from a U.S. airport to a foreign country.

To expedite your return from a foreign country you’ll need to use Global Entry.  

Global Entry provides access to expedited entry benefits in other countries if they are available. According to the Department of Homeland Security, they envision the further development of reciprocal Global Entry programs with additional countries, and their conversations with foreign partners are ongoing.

How it works

Avoid the long lines for passport control and make your way to the Global Entry kiosks. Scan your passport or U.S. permanent resident card, position your fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification, and complete a U.S. customs declaration. Take the machine-generated transaction receipt and proceed to baggage claim and the exit.

If your receipt has an “X,” you must report to a CBP officer in the passport control booth. They’ll review your documents to determine the reason for the "X" and either release you or refer you to "secondary" for additional processing.

If your receipt has an "O," it indicates you’ve declared something. Collect your luggage and continue to the exit where you’ll meet with an officer to discuss your declaration.

Global Entry membership is valid for five years. You’ll find your program membership expiration date on your Global Online Enrollment System (GOES) home page.

You are eligible to renew your Global Entry membership six months prior to its expiration.

If you do not renew your membership and it expires, you will need to reapply.

Your membership can be revoked if you are proven guilty of a criminal offense, charged with a customs or immigration offense, or declared inadmissible to the U.S. under immigration law.

If you take just one trip outside the United States annually, the convenience of Global Entry is worthwhile.