mz13

We are pretty early risers too. If walk off with your luggage is supposed to start at 6:45 how early do you think people start lining up? 6-6:15?

Thank you all for your help, as of right now my husband wants to keep the morning flight. We do have tsa precheck and haven't been out of the new Miami terminal yet so hopefully everything goes as smooth as it sounds it normally does!

Yea nonstop all the connecting flights still get us back to Cleveland 8 or later so I figured if I change I may as well go with the direct flight.

The next flight out is 9pm, but i'm leaning towards trying to get it switched to that. I think the earlier flight would end up stressing me out too much to enjoy our last night of the cruise. Our poor dogs will just have to be boarded one more night. 

Any ideas of what to do that day in Miami with our luggage? 🙄

We are on RCCL Symphony in September out of Miami. I just recieved an email that American moved out flight from 2:20 until 10:20 am out of MIA. Is that too early? Last time we were on Allure and did the carry our own luggage we couldn't get on an elevator and ended carrying down 14 flights of stairs. So we really didn't want to have to do that again. Also we did an NCL cruise from Miami and it took hours to get off, to our luggage, and through customs. We ended up stressed out and running to our plane, not the way I want to end a cruise! 

Just wanted to see what everyone thought!!

I contacted the tour company we are booked with in April and this is the document they sent to me, sounds like the only way to travel with them is to make it fit into "professional research". I'm extremely confused and because of that debating cancelling. :mad:

Trump´snew rules regarding travel to Cuba

TheTreasury Department published on November 9th, 2017 new restrictions on American travel to the island andplaced dozens of military-owned hotels and shops off-limits. These are the mostimportant things you should know when planning your trip to Cuba:

1.When did you book your trip?

If youbooked your trip to Cuba before June 2017, you do not have to worry about theTrump´s announcement regarding Cuba. Just make sure you have proof when youbooked your ticket to Cuba to show it was done before the June announcement.The rules, announced in June, come into force on Nov. 9, but do not affecttravel plans already in process.

2.Key points of the restrictions:

-Under the new rules, Americans will no longer be permittedto visit Cuba on individual “people-to-people” trips. Still, there are manyways to travel legally to Cuba. People-to-people trips will still be legal, butvisitors must travel as part of an organized group, which will make travel moreexpensive.

-Americans should continue to visit, but they must pay close attention to therules, travel experts said.

-There is a long list of hotels and business in which Americans cannot staybecause of their ties with the government. Airbnbseems to be the best option at the moment for American guests traveling toCuba.

-According to a fact sheet published on Nov. 8 by the Treasury Department,individual travel will still be allowed within 12 categories, includinghumanitarian and religious travel; family visits; journalistic activity; professional research; and participation inpublic performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions.

Thosetraveling in these categories will still be able to book a flight and reserve aroom online and they will not be required to apply for a specific license.However, they should pursue the activity inCuba for which their license is granted, whether it be helping areligious group or bringing humanitarian aid, and keeprecords of their visit for the requisite five years.

3.How can Havana Journeys help with yourtrip to Cuba?

-We are a team of chauffer-guides who work privately so we are not part of thelist of business and shops that were blacklisted.

-We are based in Cuba so we are not under US jurisdiction that means we cannotorganize "individual people to people travel to Cuba" under the newrestrictions.

-We can help with organizing itineraries thatcomply with "professional research" which is one of the possibilitiesof individual travel to Cuba. See the description below please:

Whatconstitutes generally authorized travel-related transactions for “professionalresearch”in Cuba?

OFAChas issued an expanded general license that incorporates prior specific licensingpolicy and authorizes, subject to conditions, travel-related transactions andother transactions that are directly incident to professional research in Cuba.

Amongother things, this general license authorizes, subject to conditions,professional research in Cuba relating to atraveler’s profession, professionalbackground, or area of expertise. In accordance with the NSPM, OFAC isamending this general license to exclude from the authorization directfinancial transactions with entities and sub entities identified on the StateDepartment’s Cuba Restricted List.

Thetraveler’s schedule of activities must not include free time or recreation inexcess of that consistent with a full-time schedule. An entire group does notqualify for the general license merely because some members of the groupqualify individually.

Werecommend reading the full article:

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_faqs_new.pdf

How much time do you have between the time they announce a landing and the zodiacs leaving? It took me almost 15 minutes to put all my stuff on!

That sounds amazing!! It would make my trip to see Orcas in their natural habitat.

Sounds like we need to be prepared for every type of weather. I plan on following the packing list, but still can't figure out how I'm going to get it all to fit in a suitcase!

That is very interesting. I honestly didn't even think about other ships being there!

So how cold does it feel when you are on all that ice? I know when we just cruised by the glaciers in Alaska it was freezing (although I definitely will have warmer clothes with us for Antarctica).

The NEOS look like they may not take up as much room and weight as regular boots. I like that I can wear shoes that I know are comfortable with them also, looks like we are going to have to make another trip to Lake Erie to walk around in the water to test waterproofness.:)

I imagine the lighter the boots the easier it is to hike in them. How long does a landing normally last? I thought I read somewhere that it was about a hour on land and a hour in the zodiac. Is it dependent on how many people are on the ship?

I don't actually know what hotel we are staying in. The website states "Sofitel Buenos Aires (or similar)" and the guidebook has M Gallery. Hopefully we find out for sure soon!

I am definitely getting great advice from experienced travelers. I may almost be out of questions (at least for now, but we have about 10 months before we go)! We don't get to go to South Georgia, it was a battle I was having with myself when booking. In the end I decided I wanted to go over the actual day of my husband's b-day, but maybe next time.

I just finished reading Endurance (on a beach in St Martin). I think that made me realize this is like no vacation I've ever been on. I'm not as adventurous as you all are, I will happily take no rough waters crossing the Drake! I will get a script for some meds, I don't want seasickness to ruin the trip.

I ended up booking our airfare yesterday directly through Lindblad, so now I just have to get us to Miami. We were planning on going the day before the flight to BA just in case the weather is bad. And as a bonus we can thaw out for a day.

I've never heard of NEOS, but just looked them up. They may be just want I need, thank you!

Now for my questions of the day, how casual are dinners on the ship? Are jeans and sweaters acceptable? Any suggestions for a place to have dinner in BA?

Awesome! Thanks again for all your advice, it is very much appreciated. I was wondering about the laundry service since I figured we weren't going to be able to pack two weeks of clothes.

On the thought of wind/waves, how was your crossing of Drake's Passage? We've never gotten seasick, but I'm thinking out of precaution I need to bring something. Also did the waves make it hard to get in and out of the zodiacs? How about kayaking?

Ok, so it sounds like I have to worry more about getting everything to fit in the luggage than the weight? I do like the idea of not having to lug boots around or at least only one direction!

How much ocean spray is there on the zodiacs? I want to be able to take pictures when we are cruising around, but worried about my camera getting wet. I can't bring myself to spend $ on a waterproof camera since I don't have any other need for one.

Also about how many landings did you do a day? I'm a huge planner and can't even begin to imagine a normal day cruising around Antarctica!!

Thanks for the great info! I think I am going to try and call the Air Dept this week and hopefully be able to book our airfare. I was wondering about how dirty the boots got after walking around with the penguins (esp. since I was thinking I would need to pack them in our carry-ons)! Being from Cleveland we have boots already, but I may have to look into renting them since that will save us about 10lbs.

Another question with the weight of the carry-ons did the charter flight weigh yours? I don't really want to bring our laptop but may need to so I can download our pictures. I will try to come up with an alternative if I need to worry about the weight.

My husband and I are going December 27th of this year for his 40th birthday and I have been scouring everything I can for info. I've read Turtles06 awesome review and have already purchased our LL Bean snow pants! I have a lot of questions but my top one right now is about airfare, did you go with the flight that NG suggests? I was going to because I was worried about transfers to the hotel and on the way home my concern is over a delay on the charter flight causing us to miss our return flight to MIA. BUT I don't want to wait until 5 months out when they release that info because I want to make sure to get a row with only two seats. I think that is the only way I will be able to sleep on the flights! I will take any advice you have. We travel a lot but never on a trip of this magnitude, which is causing me anxiety for fear of the unknown!