Earthworm Jim

I suspect the 90 minutes refers to the time it takes to get there by water shuttle via the "At a Glance: St. Mark's Square" included tour from the link above. (They actually label it as a transfer rather than a tour) As you point out, if you do it some other way that may change the time it takes to get there.

So will our free included excursion for each port of call be an excursion to Venice or an excursion to Chioggia?

Yeah but that form says to use it "If you are arranging your own air and purchased an airport transfer from Viking", which to me implies you should already have purchased the transfer before you use the form. On the other hand, the link to that page from MVJ says "To purchase transfers from the airport to your ship or hotel because you have arranged your own air travel, please complete and submit the Transfer Request Form." Which, in direct contrast to the form itself, sounds like it's a way to purchase your transfer. So who knows. I'll probably just wait a few days for the rush to die down and call them instead to be sure.

Can it be done through MVJ? I couldn't find a way, and the email states to contact the reservations desk to book a Viking transfer.

A 6 week charter? It's not impossible I guess, but seems an unlikely scenario.

This link posted in another thread says Carnival has a 53% risk of bankruptcy: https://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/CCL/Probability-Of-Bankruptcy

That's the crux of the problem and the big question: Would raising prices generate more revenue, or less because fewer people will cruise? And I believe they have to do more than cover the cost of inflation. They need to become more profitable to pay off their debt, not just keep up with inflation. Put another way, the status quo isn't working for them financially, so they have to do something different.

True. If it was only the cost of your actual trip you were insuring, self insuring would make a lot of sense. But unless you're one of the lucky few who's health insurance is good enough to cover you overseas (Medicare doesn't), including medical evacuation, you have the tiny but very consequential chance of having a 5 or even 6 figure overseas medical bill. And how many of us can afford to self insure that?

Of course it's a loss for the vast majority of people. That's the whole idea of insurance, shared risk. Everyone pays a little so the one person who needs emergency medical care and evacuation isn't stuck with a $50,000 bill.

Insurance from a third party, not Carnival. Is the trip insurance Carnival offers backed by them, or is it a third party insurer whose finances are separate and Carnival is just the middle man? If it's the latter that might be OK, but the coverage vs. cost of Carnival's insurance isn't very good anyway. So you probably want to look somewhere else regardless.

While that statement is accurate, I don't know how reassuring it is. While having no ships sailing was definitely worse, an already struggling cruise line heading into a recession is bad too. But the Covid part is looking up, at least for the moment.

Another factor is how a possible bankruptcy goes. Would they be going out of business, or just restructuring?

I get what you're saying, but if they're only buying 100 shares they're only risking ~$700 or so. Less than the price of a cruise for 2. I don't know how much it would cost for a financial consultation, but you know what they'll tell you: As an investment, it's rather risky and there are better places to put your money. Is it worth a maybe $100 (??? I really have no idea) consultation on a $700 roll of the dice?

Good idea! No one will steal that.😉

Another theory: Years ago on one of Carnival's sister lines (Princess) our cruise had a noro outbreak and returned to our home port 2 days early. Princess rearranged our flights to be 2 days earlier for us. (We must have had input and approval on this, though I honestly don't remember) Perhaps Carnival just wants your Pre-Check info so they can include it if they have to rebook your flights for you due to hurricane or other issues?

Years ago we were on the Carnival Miracle due to return to Tampa during Hurricane Katrina. They decided to divert to Miami instead and bused us back to Tampa. Which actually worked out OK. Carnival was pretty organized. Though that route did force the ship to squeeze between Katrina and the coast of Cuba, so we were within 90 miles of the eye at one point. But even that wasn't as rough as you'd expect. Iirc, it turned out the Port of Tampa was open after all, because as we know the storm headed toward New Orleans. But by that time they had already committed to go to Miami.

Lighten up Francis. I wasn't saying it happened. Just speculating on possible motivations one might have to swipe your S&S card. You make it sound like I'm a member of the Illuminati trying to intentionally mislead people. I led with "In theory", and had question marks after each of those theories, so I obviously wasn't trying to claim these had definitely occurred. And no. I don't think picking up your card at your cabin is a big deal.

Huh? The security of your Sign and Sail account is non-important? I could see it if you said my concerns were unwarranted. But non-important?

This part of it is going over my head. What's the connection between whether you get your S&S card in the terminal or at your cabin and FTTF? If people can get to their cabin earlier than they are supposed to, what's the difference whether they got their card in the terminal or it's waiting for them at their cabin?

Well, in theory they could run up charges on the card. But you'd have to look vaguely like the person (not likely) or do something where your picture isn't an issue. Withdraw cash at the Sign and Sail kiosk maybe? Could you use it in the casino? Though the casino wouldn't be open yet.

Not exactly true. You do need to fill out ArriveCan, but it doesn't need to be via the app. There is a website version for people that don't have a smartphone. They suggest having a friend or relative do it for you, or use a library or hotel computer if you don't have a computer either. https://arrivecan.cbsa-asfc.cloud-nuage.canada.ca/en/welcome

Just off Grand Princess Alaska Northbound, August 3 thru 7. Crew was almost always wearing masks. Occasionally someone might have a mask below the nose, but not often. Passengers compliance walking around the indoor hallways was pretty high, say 70% maybe. But once people were seated in a venue, more people took masks off. Particularly if the venue wasn't too crowded. I didn't notice any difference in compliance late in the week.

I imagine the beach vibe is somewhat less than Princess Cays.😉

According to this article, in addition to Royal and Discovery canceling their upcoming Skagway stops, which were already mentioned in this thread, Grand will cancel their July 30th call there and will go to Sitka instead: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/cruise-pier-Skagway-closes-due-to-rockslide-risk That's disappointing. I'm on the Grand the following week so I assume we'll be canceled too.

Thanks for taking the time to give me all this info martincath! Much appreciated.