ighten

Just as a rare addum where it can work the other way we had a saving on NCL by using a US TA site (usually use UK direct)  but the free perks were no longer what is technically free as grats were added every time they were used which wiped out the saving and more .. oops. Plus the saving wasnt quite what I thought in the first place due to the taxes  being kept out until the last moment.

My mistake but you have to remember there are swings and roundabouts - someone once put a calculator up to show what you would have to save for it to work (based on the perks etc)  but I cant find a link.

Saga/or Cunard  - the new ships (re Saga) look nice and I think the days of huge ships  are perhaps a thing of the past for me (And Im  only early 50's !!!!).. I think I have reached  point where Im willing now to pay more if the value and quality is there)..   I think Im also now reaching a point where flying to get on a  cruise is just another pain in the ass rather than an exciting start to a holiday..  

I think the real ? is more how than when; as I cant really see any cruising till late 21 other than UK only  - EU only - US/Carib only - or Scenic Nordic/Scotland etc from one port and back again.. HAlf capacity/residents only/ with masks still in place in public areas..

I'll be jumping on the first and I am hopeful for June - if its sooner then all the better but I think by March we may see a lot more cancellations of normal port cruises that are listed for the spring summer season and start seeing more new  scenic/one area only types listed..

I think some lines wont be interested as it will be more cost effective to stay cold and sit empty.. I expect Cunard/Fred/Saga/ and possibly NCL if the JAde sized ships are in position or possibly Celeb  will run UK - Nordic Scenics... I think MSC/Aida/Costa/MEin will continue the EU type they have been doinf with success (though by now they will have worked out the balance of cost effectiveness which will be interesting) and scenics.... Not sure about the US the situation there seems more confused than before.

Other than that it looks like RIver cruising in EU may be the way to go - but with so much rain this year the risk of that being on a stationary floating hotel and mainly bus increases... Spring on Canal's may be the best bet.

Had Mays QE cancelled -  which now becomes about the 6th cancellation..Have my eye on several QV Nordics and others but I think my new policy is now going to be wait until we know a little more and then get on the first ship - I dont care where its going 🙂

I keep thinking - "But its 6 mths away" - but then again I have been thinking that since last March.

Blossom and flowers are superb in May and June and tbh the weather can actually be better (maybe cooler but less rain and mist) - Also the falls are fuller.. But the top roads can be closed.

However if it does rain or a low front moves in it may get stuck there - had good luck so far... 

Its warmer in July but busier and too many families and children.. And when it rains it rains like crazy and then mists over.. The roads can also be blocked.. this time by caravans 🙂

More snow here - good job the larder is full..

I think we will see scenic/local cruising in the UK around June - Europe may start this up again before (mid May) us with Aida Costa MSC and Mein .. I expect them to be ltd to only the residents of the country which means smaller ships and some lines not taken part.. (I can see Fred Olsen and Cunard being definates - not sure about anyone else).. I also suspect these will still be  run as they were in Europe in October  with masks in public areas, bubble tours only (if any) - and no buffet self service (not a bad thing IMO and well overdue)

Wouldnt book though till I knew they were going

Personally not sure we will see anything in the US for quite a while but its too soon to tell until the new admin gets involved and we see how it pans out...  

I do suspect another year is just too long for the market to support a few of the cruise lines any longer though..

22 hours ago, lindylooellalouise said:

Hi just noticed on Cunard website that our  9th June 21, 14 day transatlantic cruise is now on hold but Cunard are still selling them as individual 7 day cruises what’s happening?

Could this be related to the 10 day rule the US seem to have placed on initial cruises.. Splitting it into two would ensure no one is actually on a longer than 10 day cruise that visits an American port

If its an early cruise this year I wouldnt worry about it due to the lower capacity - 

IM not quite sure how the cruise lines will enforce this other than adding to  the usual current means of a bit of paper at the dock asking have you been ill recently with have you been vaccinated recently tick box.

I have yet to see any country agree on any offical passport register other than Spain and even they have said that this was taken out of context this morning and wont be registered at all.

2 points occur - If I choose to tour/visit a country/cruise with the vaccination and some person for whatever reason (from idiocy to validity) then catches it that should not invalidate the cruise..  Its currently not an issue if I visiit/tour/cruise in countries where yellow fever,malaria etc are required.. Its the persons fault not mine or the cruise lines..

The other though is we are going to have a lot of govts for a few years all trying to implement different rules - I think this is going ot be the bigger problem for cruise lines especially as some countries are going to be years behind on the vaccination system.

Civitavecchia is one of the best places to start a "not going to Rome tour" -

For my choice Nassau - though personally I find most of the Carib dull..

Too hot - All looks the same - SHOPPING.... Argghhhh.. (Only joking but I'm British we're allowed to be grumpy)

Last deposit refund was 2 weeks from the cancel email

At the moment the value in the shares (of the main players) is good value based on the expected recovery and the fact the current price reflects the current situation... What will have to happen is a lot of trimming and a lot price rising on those fewer ships.. If they get this balance right then they will survive (albeit with a lot of debt and no dividend payout for years (possibly many) to come - But your % gain should cover that especially if you can keep it free of as much tax as possible and are happy to sell when the % gain suits you)

Some of the smaller companies may struggle - especially those who dont have other major incomes such as cargo/ferry/insurance etc (Such as Olsen and Saga, MSC) --- I cant really think of an example of the former off hand other than CMV who have already folded but TBF they were is serious trouble before..

The worst that could happen re the giants such as Carnival is we see a merger of a brand.. NCL and Celebrity I must admit are more tricky - but they still have multiple sources of money yet and they still can trim fleets and (for those that haven't look at cooperate actions) and split shares with new bank support.

SAdly in the last 6 years or more clickbait has become the norm as media sites now take a huge part of the revenue this way (both from positioning and actual clicking through).. Its more important financially  that your first on google than that you actually report a fact and if your headline has to manipulate the facts to make the headline move up to the top then its  all that matters..

It wasnt so bad when this was restricted to red tops, free press and certain serious dailies but Sky started this practice over 6 years ago and the BBC has slowly got more agressive in its manipulation of headlines (presumably as it starts to worry that it may have to look at advertising as a vital income rather than a licence fee).. 

Ah OK thats good to know.. I am presuming then that they just send a voucher to use with Flight Ease 

Still after all these years never got around to writing the Blog up fully so this is mainly pics - but our first cruise on the Ryndham.. Nice sized ship - great itin - but I think the staff were a little down and off (perhaps because this was one of her last voyages)

HAL Ryndam - Istanbul to Athens 2014

It says a 350 credit so is this a voucher I use to book my own flights directly  or do I have to arrange my flights through HAL -- I tried a mock booking for Norway but it gives no indication how it works.

The former sounds like more than enough credit as Amsterdam is literally a  45min flight of which there are many available- the latter sounds like they would just charge you more than the £350 for the same flight so it becomes no offer at all.

Im not holding out much faith for our Sagas new boat and thats a late May/June...  My hope in my head is that  its 6mths away and  we should be moving somewhere- - But I was telling myself this when I was booking or moving things 12mths ago and little has changed other than a vaccine announcement last week or two ago  that -lets be honest-  has basically been followed by ineptitude and more farce..  

My new policy is refund the lot now as it cancels (thats over 9 now) and then sit and wait till the last minute then just go on the first thing that gets me out of this direness..... I dont care if its on a river or a scenic ocean tbh

Other than that merry christmas

Even though the 23rd April is technically listed as a scenic cruise at the current moment I cant see that happening.. One to watch though and hope for just to escape this madness.

Technically at an airport airside is not landside when it comes to flight from international zones; though quite how a long haul flight captain could stay airside on arrival is a different matter (as he would need a rest period)..  As this is already happening though with International flights (as can be seen on daily tweet feeds from various international airlines/pilots) I presume they are simply included in the essential part of any rules (I suppose you cant get less essential 😉) along with the crew as long as they stay in there own bubble and quarantine.

We were also on the Isla for December and were also very impressed.. Money back in the bank account within two days followed by the trip excess.. Well done TUI

Its not a dead line at 250 -  when we asked what alternative would be offered as we are (by google maps 290 miles from Dover) they talked about discount train tkts before a supervisor  interrupted and confirmed the car would be included.

We were on board the last Epic TA from Barcelona to San J - Boarding was an avoidable nightmare and this included Haven as we were in line with a US cpl in the Haven..  Weirdly if you were EU and in the HAven you could skip the line because they had split the check in procedure into EU & Not EU and the EU side was empty.. If they had moved all EU to a separate line they could have solved half the problem instantly, here's hoping they learnt something  from the day...

S.J. disembark was also a disaster but this was more due to the Epic berthing at an unsuitable dock - she couldnt get alongside due to the cranes proximity and the way the Epics lifeboats jut out - so a temp pontoon had to be built for the forklifts to take the luggage off.

Other than that the trip was superb (even though it was the EPIC 😉 )- full report here  https://notesfromthebarn.blogspot.com/2020/01/ncl-epic-transatlantic-2019-bareclona.html

Thanks for this Petra .. Excellent.. I think you will always get a % of unavoidable disrespectors but tbf I see this in Supermarkets now  Art galleries, Cinemas and Museums.. And dont mention pubs and bars which are packed shoulder to shoulder with facemasks not required.

Itstime to get back on a cruise 😉 I think I would feel safer there

So you can now travel from the UK on the 27th September but one thing confuses me.. Does the orange list(when you click the drop down list)  mean you have to present the results of a swab or does it mean you have to have a swab on embarkation.. Im guessing the former as it also mentions a test time of 72 hours at the latest..

So you will have to add the cost on of a quick turnaround private swab test.. Other than that it seems a great little itinerary for the East Coast of Italy.

Quite a few no sail rules  though including no one over 65