Hawaii COVID Restrictions Extended and USVI Closes

It appeared inevitable with COVID cases on the increase in Hawaii, so the announcement from Hawaii Governor David Ige that 14-day quarantine restrictions would continue for inbound visitors came as no real surprise. Arriving Hawaii timeshare owners and all other inbound visitors will need to continue to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival at least until October 1. The current restrictions were due to be lifted at the end of August.

Oahu has borne the brunt of the majority of cases, with a ban on social gatherings and additional restrictions now in place for everyone on the island. The total COVID cases in Hawaii stood at 5,349 as of Tuesday, with 134 new cases announced on Tuesday alone. The current COVID deaths in Hawaii stand at 41.

Coming on the heels of last week’s ban on inter-island travel, it appears that visitation to Hawaii will essentially be shelved for most of 2020, as the state has been basically closed to tourism since late March.

U.S. Virgin Islands Reinstate Border Closure

Effective yesterday, the U.S. Virgin Islands, which are made up of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, are closed to inbound visitors for the next 30 days. Officials have ordered vacation accommodations, including timeshare resorts, to not take bookings for leisure travelers for the next month, nor can they check-in guests during that time.

Many resorts are reportedly still open and these restrictions may be lifted sooner at the discretion of Governor Albert Bryan Jr., but as of now consider the islands off-limits. As of last week, the USVI had 682 positive cases and nine deaths since the beginning of the COVID pandemic in March.

Meanwhile, the on-again, off-again status of Puerto Rico tourism appears to be off-again as officials are encouraging only essential travel to the island. While the island is technically open, and timeshare resorts are reportedly open, the official tourism reopening has been postponed. Casinos, bars, and attractions are closed and beaches are only open for exercise purposes.

Canada/U.S. Land Border Closure Extended

Officials from the United States and Canada have announced the extension of land border closures for non-essential services until September 21. The border has been closed since March 18 and the agreement is reviewed on a monthly basis. While flights from the U.S. to Canada are still operating, Americans are barred from leisure travel to Canada unless they meet specific criteria.  

On a Brighter Note, There’s Florida

Florida has seen COVID positivity numbers drop significantly over the last two weeks, with 14 consecutive days of daily positive cases below 10,000 and eight straight days of positivity rates under 10 percent. Yesterday, there were 4,605 positive cases reported and the daily average over the last 14 days stands at just over 5,600. Yesterday’s positivity rate dropped to 6.78 percent.

For Orange County, the theme park magnet and primary hub of Orlando timeshares, the average daily number of positive cases for the past two weeks stands at 240. The recovery rate is 99 percent.  

What all of this means is that Florida appears to be trending in the right direction. For example, the average daily number of reported COVID deaths over the last seven days of July was 158. Over the past seven days, it is 51. While any deaths are tragic, the drop in deaths is an indication that current containment measures appear to be working in Florida.  

Timeshare Resort Openings

Apart from the discouraging news out of Hawaii, there hasn’t been much change for the timeshare resorts in the U.S. Below is the latest news regarding branded timeshares:

Bluegreen Vacations – Bluegreen timeshare resorts remain open with the exception of Pono Kai Resort, which had planned to reopen at the end of the month. However, look for that to be delayed with the extension of Hawaii COVID quarantine restrictions mentioned above. Please go to https://www.bluegreenowner.com/featured/travel-advisory-resort-status for the most recent resort information available.

Capital Vacations – Some good news for Capital Vacations timeshare owners as Capital has added central Florida resort Calypso Cay to its network of resorts. Capital only had one resort in the Orlando/Kissimmee area prior to adding Calypso Cay, so this will provide more choices for Capital Vacations Club members.

Regarding resort closures, the only two closed Capital resorts listed are located in the Caribbean. Sea Palace in St. Maarten and Coral Sands on Grand Cayman remain listed as closed, but online bookings are available for Sea Palace so you will want to check with Capital for the latest details. Cayman is scheduled to reopen on October 1. More information is available on https://www.capitalvacations.com/covid.php.

Club Wyndham – the reopening of Wyndham timeshares in San Francisco have been pushed out to August 31, while most Hawaii resorts will likely be looking to open at the end of September. Wyndham Midtown 45 at New York City is now listed as open. Otherwise, only five Wyndham resorts are showing as closed. Please visit https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/covid-19-information/list-of-impacted-resorts for the latest information.

Diamond Resorts – The five Diamond timeshare resorts in Hawaii are still showing an August 31 reopening date at the time of this publishing. Look for that to be extended. Meanwhile, October 29 is still the reopening date for the Alhambra Villas, with Marquis Villas Resort in Palm Springs stating a September 30 opening date. For more details, click on https://www.diamondresorts.com/covid-19-update.

Disney Vacation Club –Nothing new to report on the status of Grand Californian in Anaheim or Aulani in Hawaii, as they remain closed until further notice due to government COVID restrictions. Online rental bookings for Grand Californian are now pushed out until September 16. Disney timeshare resorts elsewhere in the DVC network are open. For more details, please visit https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/.

Divi Resorts – Divi Southwinds Beach Resort in Barbados will be closed until October 2 due to changes in the government’s COVID quarantine policy. Divi Flamingo Beach Resort in Bonaire is closed until August 31 for similar policies in Bonaire. Divi Carina Bay in St Croix is still showing as closed for renovations, but the COVID closure of the USVI may impact this resort as well. Divi timeshares in St. Maarten and Aruba (including Divi Aruba Phoenix Beach Resort) remain open. For the latest information, please visit https://www.diviresorts.com/news.htm.

Grand Pacific Resorts – the reopening of Indian Palms Vacation Club is now extended to October 1. The rest of the Grand Pacific timeshare resorts are open. Please go to https://grandpacificresorts.com/resort-reopening-updates/ for more information.

Hilton Grand Vacations – Reopening dates have been removed for the remaining Hilton timeshare resorts that are still closed, including The Quin Central Park by Hilton Club, The Hilton Club – New York, the Residences by Hilton Club and Hilton Grand Vacations Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile. This also applies to the six remaining Hilton timeshare resorts in Hawaii which are closed. All other U.S.-based Hilton timeshares are open, so please click onto https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/travel-alert for more info.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations – No changes with HICV as Holiday Inn Club Vacations timeshare resorts are all open, per COVID protocols. For more information please go to https://holidayinnclub.com/safe-travels/resort-updates.

Marriott Vacation Club – With the new USVI travel restrictions, Marriott’s Frenchman’s Cove on St. Thomas is closed through September 18. Marriott Vacation Club Pulse at The Mayflower, Washington, D.C., is due to reopen this Sunday, which was extended from last Sunday so stay tuned on this one. Marriott’s Waikoloa Ocean Club is still closed as are Marriott Vacation Club Pulse San Francisco and Marriott Vacation Club Pulse New York City. All other U.S.-based Marriott timeshare resorts are open. Please visit https://hub.vacationclub.com/resort-updates/ for more details on opening dates and COVID protocols at the resorts.

Vistana Signature Experiences – Westin St. John Resort Villas is now closed until at least September 18 due to the new USVI COVID restrictions. All other Westin timeshares and all Sheraton timeshare resorts remain open.

Westgate Resorts – No changes from last week as Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Blue Tree Resort, Westgate Palace Resort and Westgate Towers Resort remain closed until November 19. Westgate New York Grand Central and Westgate Tunica Resort are closed with no announced reopening date. All other Westgate timeshare resorts are open. Click on https://www.westgateresorts.com/coronavirus-travel-advisory/ for more information.

WorldMark – WorldMark timeshare resorts in Hawaii have extended their reopening dates to September 30 per the extension of the new COVID travel restrictions. WorldMark San Francisco remains closed until February 21, 2021. All other resorts in the WorldMark timeshare network are open. For more info, please visit https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/news/covid19_impacted_resorts.shtml. 

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