Live Cruise Reports

I haven’t seen a ‘live from…’ thread for the Solstice on the Mexican Riviera yet this season, so I figured I’d do one… 😉

Flew down this morning from Vancouver (BC, Canada) to LAX to embark on  the 7-day Mexican Riviera itinerary with stops in Puerto Vallarta, Cabo san Lucas and Ensenada.

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Welcome to my first Live report! We're less than a week from departure, so I figured I'd get this started. I debated doing this report but ultimately decided to go ahead since there aren't many out there for Voyager so hopefully this will benefit some.  I'm pretty tech challenged so this is a stretch for me.  I also don't have the writing skills of some of the well-known posters, nor do I have a fancy camera or GoPro.  It'll just be my I phone and my 2 cents worth.  My photography skills consist of point, shoot and hope for the best. 

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Hello cruisers!
I thought I would attempt a live review of my forthcoming Transatlantic Cruise on the Jewel of the Seas which leaves Barcelona on Tuesday 25/10.
 
Now I know that I am going - Covid test done by Zoom this morning and NEGATIVE! Thank goodness - I am now officially in holiday (vacation) mood.
 
Today will be all about finishing off packing, I always pack too much, ensuring all my documentation is ready and getting some sleep.
 
I have a taxi booked for 3 a.m. to get me to Leeds Bradford airport for my 6 a.m. flight to Barcelona - one of my favourite cities.

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Hi all.  Hopefully the internet service remains good and I will post as we go along.
 
on Friday October 21, Mrs Banjo and I did a one way rental car and drove from Boston through New Hampshire and Vermont and into Canada.  It was an easy and beautiful 7 hour drive.  Leaving Boston at 7:30 am we arrived in Quebec City and found our Boutique hotel right next to the Château Frontenac and with plenty of daylight left, went out to enjoy a perfect sunny day in old town Quebec.

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Stayed in San Pedro where the LA cruise port is located.  Stayed at Crowne Plaza San Pedro and had a room with 2 double beds for  around $300 including all taxes. Many great eating places within walking distance.  Hotel offers bar and restaurant.  No free morning breakfast. We elected just to have the kuerig coffee in the room for breakfast and save our appetite for ship.  The transfer shuttle for port was $5.50 each so we signed up and they gave us the voucher. Shuttle was prompt for 11a pickup. ( We had 11:30a boarding) and from the time we got off shuttle to on the ship was 17 min and 30 sec.

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...... welcome to about 380 newbies for the next segment.

Well having been a long time lurker I thought that I would give my thoughts on a cruise for the benefit of this board. Happy to take questions. We are in our early 50s and have sailed about 12 times across Seabourn, Silversea and Crystal. I think it a little redundant comparing the three as, well, much has changed in the last few years but we have enjoyed all of them. We do think Silversea have made a mistake for us at least by “including” excursions - we are independently minded and like the option of doing what we want to do - which might include a tour , this to us makes Silversea significantly more expensive for not any real benefit.

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I am currently on the Sapphire.  I'm going to try posting in small chunks.  We booked the 4 night when the summer/fall schedule first opened up with the $1 deposits.  This is a 3 generation  "girls" cruise with my 26 yo daughter and 84 yo m-i-l.  After the first group of Diamond Princess cruises were canceled we were worried that this would be too, since it showed "unavailable for about a month. 

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In preparation of our scheduled departure from Southampton tomorrow, I thought I'd set this thread up.
We've all had our "observed" Covid LFT's and all, thankfully, are negative. Fit To Travel Certificates received within 5-10 minutes of completing the video call (good service). We then received an email from P&O advising that, "for a few days initially" (exact duration to be announced on board the ship), all pax will be required to wear masks, except when eating or drinking, exercising in the gym, or when in their cabins. I guess that means that all the crew will also have to wear their masks (so soon after having the mask mandate lifted).

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Day 1
Hi Everybody,
This is our second Regent cruise, I thought it would be nice to write a live blog.
So, where do I start, well, Mr Fudge is a young 72 yr. old, well he thinks he is, Mrs Fudge is an even younger 59 yr. old.
20 yrs. ago we emigrated from the UK to a lovely Mediterranean island call Cyprus. Living there makes these kinds of cruises great for us, we are only a one-hour plane ride from Istanbul.

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Now that I have passed my Covid test, it is time to start this thread (didn't want to start it if I wasn't able to be on the ship!).  On Monday, October 10, Zaandam will be leaving Port Everglades on her 71-day cruise around Africa, the first "Grand" voyage since the pandemic.  As I have done in the past, I will be posting a copy of my blog minus the pictures (takes too long to upload them twice with spotty internet service).  If you are interested in the pictures, you will need to go to the blog here.  I will be glad to answer any questions you might have as the cruise progresses.  I am also asking fellow cruisers to contribute anything they might want to share.

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Come along for 3 weeks of virtual cruising on the Oasis of the Seas!  You got questions about the ship I will probably have an answer from someone onboard 😆 
 
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Back on MSC and a quick and efficient embarkation after an horrendous journey south. Closed  roads and detours adding hours to the journey.
 
The weather here is just lovely, so much warmer than at home.

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So excited to be heading out on my very first cruise with my sister who also has never cruised before. After these past two years which have been very difficult, we are taking our very first vacation together where we actually leave the state and the country! We are both workaholics, so we are going to do our best to relax. I do have to do some work, but have it planned out, so it doesn't take all my time. 

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Booked this trip eons ago when first announced. It's a fairly unique itinerary out of PC. Three days in Bermuda plus Nassau and Coco Cay. Mariner has been doing it all summer as far as I know.

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I’m going to do it !
Thanks to everyone for your fantastic comments on my Symphony review. You have encouraged me to take it one step further, a live review. We are going on Liberty of the Seas out from Galveston. I'll have more details on that later.

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Hello, everyone! You are all invited to join in on the fun as I single-handedly bring the Anthem across the Atlantic (well…almost single-handedly). 
 
I am fully paralyzed from the waist down, so I use a wheelchair full time to get around. This review will address the accessibility aspect of my trip and hopefully my experience will be helpful to someone with mobility issues looking to book a trip on the Anthem. 

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On the road again.   Sure is good to be on the road again.  I just love going cruising with my friends....

Hello friends! We are on our way to Ft Lauderdale to board the Allure.   Our last cruise was Alaska so I am looking forward to a warm cruise.
We will be cruising with our usual cruise couple and we will be joined by a solo cruiser who be cruising RC for the first time. 
Here are the ports we will visit.

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For no apparent reason it was time to go back to sea.  The key to this is to clear your calendar (or toss it out- easier if you are retired) and find cruise deals online.  In driving distance for us are a few ports.  New Orleans is nice - it was time for new options. 
 
Prices in October were lowest on RCCL short runs out of Galveston  and inspired by @MeganGC1983we found a pair of silly cheap inside back to backs for $170 each.  This will be a trip in steerage.  More on that later - I am a price buyer 🙂

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Hi.  Coming this Saturday, my wife and I will be board Constellation for her sailing across the Atlantic from Civitavecchia to her winter home port in Tampa (15 nights).  Constellation will be the 4th of 7 Celebrity ships that will be coming back from Europe.
 
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Join The Bird on the inaugural US voyage of NCL’s newest and first-in-class Norwegian Prima.This 5-day short break from New York features port calls in Virginia Beach (Norfolk) and the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. 

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We'll be doing our fifth cruise on Coral since the restart. We really love this ship. In my opinion she's as close as we'll get to the perfect cruise ship - small enough so there aren't too many passengers on board yet big enough to have plenty of choice of restaurants, bars and lounges.

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Hi all,

Figured I start a new topic documenting NCL Prima's first revenue sailing out of NYC for everyone.  This is my first time on a cruise since January of 2020 when I had a 14-day trip on the Bliss out of NYC.  14 days and it was my second cruise ever.  Oh well, jump in with both feet I guess.

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We have just finished packing in plenty of time for a train to Sydney tomorrow. We will spend a night at the Marriot, and board on Thursday. I am hoping to catch some movements of Pacific Adventure, Pacific Explorer and Carnival Splendor during our time in Sydney.
 
We have 11 nights this time, our first real holiday in a while. Number one priority is to chill, relax and enjoy our trip, but will have much more time to get around the ship and get plenty of photos. Also looking forward to our day in Port Douglas. With cruising shut down in 2020, we were going to take our Hawaiian cruise refund up there for a holiday, until Annastasia locked us out on short notice.

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Hello.
 
I'm going to do another one of my live threads, so here goes.
 
This cruise starts on 10/20, but we leave for London on the 16th.  Tomorrow, now today here as of 4 minutes ago, is pack day.
 
It's been quite a lead up week  for us.  As most US residents know, Election Day is 11/8.  We're on this cruise until the 3rd, then we fly to Los Angeles, stay two days, and get on the Discovery Princess for 5 days, until the 10th.  So voting could be a problem.  But wait, we live in California, so our ballots were mailed out on the 10th.  Would we get them in time?   Glen's (DH) showed up Tuesday, but mine didn't.  It also didn't on Wednesday.  Finally did yesterday, so we filled them out and took our ballots to one of two nearby drop boxes that were set up on the 10th.  Otherwise, it would have been an hour or so round trip to the County Registrar office to vote in person.

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