No Tests for Costa Rica, Better for the Bahamas and More on COVID

With Costa Rica preparing to open to U.S. visitors from all 50 states beginning Sunday, the country has decided to drop all negative COVID test requirements for incoming visitors. Timeshare owners and travelers looking to visit Costa Rica will still need to complete a Health Pass and take out travel insurance, but they do not have to provide a negative COVID test to enter the country.

Citing the recommendation of the Pan American Health Organization, officials “consider it unnecessary” to require the tests or potential quarantines in order to enter Costa Rica.  

No More Vacation In Place

Starting Sunday, the Bahamas will lift its Vacation in Place requirements for incoming visitors. The term was their way of describing the 14-day mandatory quarantine requirement, which had obligated visitors to remain at their timeshare, hotel or chosen accommodation for 14 days prior to leaving the premises.

After this weekend, visitors will be able to travel freely throughout their destination upon entry. They will still need to present a negative COVID test taken within the prior seven days to enter the country. Visitors will also be given a rapid antigen test once they arrive and another test 96 hours after arrival to prove they remain COVID-free.

Hawaii Picking Up Speed

Great news for Hawaii timeshare operators as visitors are heading to Hawaii by the thousands after state officials lifted the mandated 14-day quarantine requirement on October 15. Nearly 65,000 visitors have flocked to the islands since then, but they were required to present a negative COVID test on entry in order to avoid the 14-day quarantine.

Apparently, not every got the memo since only 41,000 of those entering were allowed to skip the quarantine. Some took the wrong kind of test prior to entering the state while others didn’t take a test at all.

Only U.S. citizens and residents are allowed to enter Hawaii as international travel is still banned to the islands. Information about the new testing requirements can be seen by clicking here.

Live Shows Back in Vegas

Las Vegas timeshare owners are sure to be pleased with this next update, as November 6 is the date that MGM Resorts will reopen live shows at its Las Vegas resorts. Seven shows will come back to the MGM Grand, Luxor and Excalibur resorts, marking another milestone as Vegas continues its recovery from the impact of COVID.

Social distancing and other COVID protocols will be required at the shows, which will have a limit of 250 guests.

Florida COVID Spike?

Recently I started seeing headlines about a COVID spike in Florida, but the numbers still seemed relatively low so I decided to research a definition of the word “spike”. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the relevant definition would be “an abrupt sharp increase”, but is it?

The state of Florida released numbers today showing 4,289 new COVID cases and a net additional 56 deaths, with those individual dates of death stretching back to July. The case numbers are marginally higher than the 3,636 reported over two weeks ago on 10/10. But a spike?

Compare these numbers with the July numbers and it is clear that Florida has been on a downward trend. The single day records continue to be 15,300 cases reported on July 12 and 237 deaths on August 4. Jennifer Haskins Cabrera of the Alachua Chronicle has done some excellent reporting on COVID cases in the state if you’d like to take a closer look.

The state admitted today on its website that the “number of COVID-19 positive patients that are currently hospitalized is down more than 70 percent since July.” In Orange County, the mecca of timeshares in the state, a total of 45,492 cases have been reported resulting in 1,576 hospitalizations and 546 deaths. That’s an infection rate of just over 3 percent in a county of 1.4 million people. Keep in mind these are cumulative numbers which have been tracked since March.  

A key factor that sometimes gets lost is the positivity rate, since that rate tends to compensate for the number of tests conducted and reported on a single day. The average daily positivity rate in Florida over the past seven days is 5.26%, slightly higher than the previous seven day average of 5.10% and 4.76% before that. Is the positivity rate up? Yes, but is it a spike? You decide.

Timeshare Resort Openings

Here is the latest timeshare resort information:

Bluegreen Vacations – All Bluegreen resorts are open. Bluegreen has transitioned its information to highlight amenity details for each resort, so for details please go to https://www.bluegreenowner.com/featured/travel-advisory/amenities.

Capital Vacations – No changes here from last week. Coral Sands resort is still closed as Grand Cayman is open only to returning citizens and residents. Sea Palace in St. Maarten is saying that owners must produce a negative COVID test prior to checking in, even though the resort is still showing as closed on the Capital Vacations website.

All US-based Capital Vacations timeshare resorts remain open, so for further details about any of the Capital resorts please click onto https://www.capitalvacations.com/covid.php.

Club Wyndham – Makai Club and Makai Club Cottage are still scheduled to reopen on Sunday. All other Wyndham timeshare resorts are open, so for more information please go to https://clubwyndham.wyndhamdestinations.com/us/en/covid-19-information/list-of-impacted-resorts.

Diamond Resorts – Alhambra Villas in Kissimmee is due to reopen on Thursday. All other US-based Diamond timeshare resorts are open, so please go to https://www.diamondresorts.com/covid-19-update for further information.

Disney Vacation Club – Aulani is scheduled to reopen on Sunday, which leaves Grand Californian as the last remaining resort with Disney timeshares which remains closed. All other Disney timeshare resorts are open, so for more information please visit https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/.

Divi Resorts – Divi Southwinds Beach Resort in Barbados reopens on Saturday, while Divi timeshares in St. Maarten and Aruba remain open. Divi Flamingo Beach Resort remains closed until at least Sunday pending a change in COVID protocols restricting travel into Bonaire. Divi Carina Bay in St Croix is closed for renovations. Please click on https://www.diviresorts.com/news.htm for further details.

Grand Pacific Resorts – All Grand Pacific resorts are open, so please visit https://grandpacificresorts.com/resort-reopening-updates/ for more details.

Hilton Grand Vacations – Kings' Land by Hilton Grand Vacations Club on the Big Island of Hawaii still shows a reopening date of next Tuesday. Otherwise, the remaining resorts showing as closed are the other five Hilton timeshare resorts in Hawaii, 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. The rest of the U.S.-based Hilton timeshares are open, so please visit https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/travel-alert for more details.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations – all Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts are open. Click on https://holidayinnclub.com/safe-travels/resort-updates for details regarding COVID protocols at the individual resorts.

Marriott Vacation Club –Marriott’s St Kitts Beach Club is listed as 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. For the latest details please visit https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/marriott-vacation-club/.

Vistana Signature Experiences – all Westin timeshares and Sheraton timeshare resorts remain open as well as Harborside Resort at Atlantis. For Sheraton information please visit https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/sheraton-vacation-club/ and for Westin details please go to https://hub.vacationclub.com/brands/westin-vacation-club/.

Westgate Resorts – Westgate has now removed the reopening dates for Westgate Leisure Resort, Westgate Blue Tree Resort and Westgate Towers Resort, effectively closing those resorts for the foreseeable future. Westgate Palace Resort still lists a reopening date of December 21. Westgate New York Grand Central and Westgate Tunica Resort are closed with no announced reopening date. All other Westgate timeshare resorts are open. Please go to https://www.westgateresorts.com/coronavirus-travel-advisory/ for more details.

WorldMark – WorldMark Hawaii timeshare resorts are open with the exceptions of Makai Club and Makai Club Cottage, which are set to reopen on Sunday, and WorldMark Kona reopening on November 30. WorldMark San Francisco is not taking new reservations for stays prior to February 21, 2021. All other resorts in the WorldMark timeshare network are open. Please visit https://www.worldmarktheclub.com/news/covid19_impacted_resorts.shtml for more info.