Heartfelttraveler

Are you still going to go to FP and do a land-based vacation. If you go to the Pacific Islands board on Cruise Critic, there are some very knowledgeable people who can give you some suggestions for land based travel. We have only been to the islands once so far but did do some land-based stay besides the cruise. We are again booked for next year and plan to spend another week on our own. There are some great VRBO and AirbNB options as well as wonderful resorts. Driving is also pretty easy for us USA based tourists. Please come back and update us on what you plan to do about going to FP.

This is a Cruise Critic thread about the Onward and Journey April and May cruise cancellations because the ships now need to go around Africa.

Thanks for your swift response. We sailed Nautica in October. Our Owner's Suite was nice but our friends said the bathroom in the Veranda was miserable. We are leaning towards the Star Breeze.

Have you taken your cruise? Would love to hear your thoughts on this cabin and the ship.

My choice is between Oceania Nautica and Windstar Star Breeze. I was on Oceania Marina in February 2019 and loved it. Perfect cruise and weather. Also perfect days pre and post cruise. I have only been on Windstar Windsurf sailing ship but loved the experience. Was on Nautica with friends in October 2023 and they were not thrilled with the balcony cabin bathroom. From your knowledge, which ship would you choose?

We were on the RA January 2023. We had one landing each day that lasted from 1-2.5 hours, and one zodiak tour that lasted from 30-60 minutes. It was very organized and just right. The ship was constantly in photo-opportunity mode. My husband took about 45,000l photos. It was a surreal trip that I would do again in a heartbeat. Some of the landings were quite strenuous, and some of the zodiak tours were quite wet. You have to gear up for getting off the ship in Antarctica. For us it was long johns (lightweight wool), ski pants (outside the boots), sweatshirt, wool socks, Hurtigruten jacket and boots, hat, and life vest. We actually changed for lunch and then back in the gear for the next landing/zodiak ride. There are also craft classes, science classes, information meetings, meals, games, etc. We were in Suite 856. The suites give you access for no extra charge to the Lindstrom. The cruise/expedition was wonderful. (As you can see by my signature, it took several tries to actually take this trip. Our January 2022 sailing was cancelled as we were loading the car to head for the airport.)

We are doing this in April. We are spending two nights in the Kawaguchiko Lake area.

We booked the Fuji Excursion train each way through klook.com. It is a direct train (with stops but not change trains) from Shinjuku Station to Kawaguchiko Station. It stops at Shinjuku-Tachikawa-Hachioji-Otsuki-Tsurubunkadaigakumae-Shimoyoshida-Mt. Fuji-Fujikyu Highland-Kawaguchiko. It takes about 2 hours. Our prepurchase tickets were $30 USD for reserved seats each way including the small fee that Klook charges. The key to the tickets/train we chose is that we get on the train in Shinjuku and do not have to change trains, cars or seats. Also, the train does not have to deal with traffic.

We pre purchased our Fuji Excursion Express train tickets on klook website. Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko. One month before the reservation the tickets are confirmed and you get a QR code to pick the tickets up at the station. You purchase the to and from tickets separately. https://www.klook.com/en-US/rails-32/1012-japan/route-1372/kawaguchiko-to-shinjuku-trains/ They do sell out fast.

A day or two before you arrive check the hotel website to see availability of your chosen room for the night before you arrive. If there is availability the night before you arrive it means they have rooms that don’t need to be cleaned and may let you check in early.

They were originally going to do it in 26 days going through the Suez Canal with 15 days of ports stops of which 4 were overnight. I am in no way an expert, or even a novice, but looking at the map, taking into account that they will only port to take on supplies etc., those extra 15 days of sailing should get them to Greece in time for the May 29 itinerary. This is the original itinerary on cruise mapper.

Just showing that the ship has 26 days to go around Africa and make it to Greece for the May 29 trip.

No guests between May 3 and May 29.

Were you sick onboard the Pursuit? Did you see the onboard medical team? Were you quarantined? If you were quarantined, did Azamara compensate you? On our January 3 cruise our friend was quarantined for 24 hours which caused him to miss an Azamara excursion. His wife was not quarantined, but opted to not go on the excursion alone. Azamara refunded the cost of the excursion. He (and only he) was also given a future cruise credit for the two days he was confined to his cabin. (Pretty generous considering it was actually only two half days.) He also had extensive testing (even his poop) and all came back negative.

We were on the January 3 cruise. We spent one night at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel. I wiped everything down with Lysol wipes, we only drank bottled water and even brushed our teeth with it, lots of hand washing and sanitizing. Boarded the Pursuit the next day. Same drill with Lysol wipes and bottled water and hand sanitizing. We had stomach issues. Our friend was about seven post major surgery, so he went to the ship doctor. They did Covid, flu and RSV tests, as well as analyzing his poop sample. All negative. He was given antibiotics because of his surgery history. We all took Imodium when needed. We then had eight nights in Victoria Falls, Kruger and Johannesburg. Our stomach issues persisted. Finally, after 24 nights, we boarded our Delta flight home, and after my first bottle of Disani water, magically my stomach issues subsided. (Same for all of us.) I did notice on the ship and at the resorts that if I drank ginger ale my stomach was better. If you go on the NCL, MSC, National Geographic (other cruise lines) and Silver Sea CC boards you will find that they have the same complaint. The bottled water we had the whole trip in SA was from SA. I think that it has something to do with the purification system used to produce the bottled water.