Cruising Is Bliss

Also I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised by the Icelandic medical system.  Science fiction writer Mary Robinette Kowal was living in Iceland working on a TV production when she found a lump in her breast. She had no idea what to expect and what she got was, no appointment needed, just go to the cancer center without an appointment.

In 45 minutes she was in and out, all done. The nurse she first saw was very apologetic that since she was not an Icelandic citizen the appointment would cost her the equivalent of US$3. In those 45 minutes she saw a nurse, a doctor, had a mammogram, had an ultrasound, and got a diagnosis of a cyst that was nothing to worry about.

Sympathies from someone with recurring middle ears from h*ll.

This is from the  US Embasy website. Hope you can get some help.

https://is.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/doctors/

If you are in Reykjavik and have an urgent medical problem, you may also go straight to the emergency room at Landspitali University Hospital located in Fossvogur.  It is open 24 hours a day.  Telephone +354-525-1700 or 543-1000.

After Hours Care

For urgent after-hours primary care, call 1770.  After-hours care is provided through a central primary care clinic located at Laeknavaktinn, staffed on a rotating basis by physicians from local clinics.  House calls can sometimes be arranged.  A nurse will answer, gather some information, and either:

• Offer advice on how to handle the problem.

• Suggest the patient come to the clinic to be seen.

• Send a physician to make a house call.

• Refer you to a hospital emergency room

You can visit the central primary care clinic without an appointment from 17:00 23:30 on weekdays and 9:00 to 23:30 on weekends. From 23:30 to 8:00 you should call 1770 as described above.

8 hours ago, twincheryl said:

Wondering what I am missing here... the itinerary is Los Angeles, sea day, Cabo overnight, sea day, San Diego, Los Angeles.  There are several of them in Oct/Nov 2023.  If Mexico does not qualify as a distant foreign port, how would this cruise be allowed, and why would it be impossible to debark in San Diego the day before Los Angeles?  They aren't stopping anywhere else...

LA to LA is start and end in the same port, which only requires a visit to *any* foreign port.  When it's different start port and end port (LA to San Diego) there the requirement is a visit to a *distant* foreign port.

Cruises to Hawaii that are round trip to/from the same southern California port don't require a distant foreign port, so are able to satisfy the PVSA by stopping in Ensenada very late the last evening for an hour long "service call" with no passengers allowed to go ashore.

12 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We are also looking at other lines for itineraries as well. The 18 day Oceania cruise of South America in March 2025 was so much better than what Celebrity is doing for only 14 days. The August 2024 Volendam HAL cruise of NE and Canada has an itinerary and small ship that Celebrity and even Oceania can match, so we are straying too, After making Elite with Celebrity and no longer wanting to cruise the Caribbean after next week, we find Celebrity's itineraries are getting too boring and repetitive. Also Celebrity has too many shorter cruises unless you pay more and do B2B cruises.

 

I hope you will comeback here and do a comparison of Celebrity to Ponant.

Oh yeah, the sweet spot for me is HAL's R class ships, Zaandam & Volendam. Small enough to get in to many more ports, big enough for good sea days. I started out on RC, switched to Celebrity for a itinerary, then to HAL for an itinerary, both for a while, since then it's just been HAL because of their more interesting itineraries and longer cruises. I'm doing two cruises next year and really looking forward to both of them.

2024 Grand Australia & New Zealand, RT San Diego, 94 days, on Zaandam.

2024 Alaska, RT Seattle, 28 days, summer solstice at the Arctic Circle, on Westerdam. More than a year away and it's completely sold out.

Safe travels home. Thank you for taking us along!

Still have nightmares about my one Vancouver airport experience. If everything went absolutely once in a lifetime perfectly, the answer would still almost always be no.

Thank you for taking the time to bring all of us along. I've really enjoyed your posts!

I've enjoyed reading your posts so much. I've been reading several blogs and

have been happily reading them with my afternoon cup of tea. I also really want to thank you for your website. In the back of my mind I always thought of doing a world cruise someday but my longest cruise so far was 15 days and the logistic were really daunting. And now I'm booked next year on the 94 day Grand Australia, the 28 day Alaska, and I have a future dam on the 2025 GWC. Yay for long cruises!

I've really enjoyed reading your posts, thank you for doing them! I never expected to do a grand voyage and you've always allowed me to fell like I was there.

On 4/23/2023 at 8:01 AM, The-Inside-Cabin said:

A few points to ponder on the pole to pole - rough count 83 port days - 50 sea days - pretty port intensive - this can be good or bad depending on your POV.  

 

A lot of time in cooler climates - again - good or bad.

 

Seeing Antarctica March 2-5 is at the end of the season - chances of less than optimum conditions are higher.    Do your research on March conditions in Antarctica to ensure your expectations are calibrated.    If you want to see Antarctica, keep in mind that it's possible the entire Antarctica Experience could get scrubbed or significantly reduced due to weather.   Don't be one of those people who say - the only reason I booked this cruise is to see Antarctica.  

 

So.....keep your eyes open when looking at the pros/cons.

Pete, thank you. I took a good hard look at both cruises. Spent a week considering the pros & cons of both and then switched my future dam back to the GWC.

Looking forward to reading, thank you for taking us along!

Fabulous deal. I have it on the 28 day Alaska cruise next year.

You asked why you can't stay on for the following Vancouver to Seattle cruise. If you did that, your combined feet-on-the-ship trip would then be Hawaii to Seattle *on the same ship* and the PVSA covers the transport of passengers from one US port to another US port *on the same ship* and that would be a violation.

Disembarking means close out your shipboard account and walk off the ship with all your baggage. And you can't turn right around and get back on. A break in your trip, to satisfy the PVSA, would require spending at least one night ashore before the start of a next cruise *on that same ship*.

If there was another ship in port sailing the day you disembark in Vancouver, even if it's the same cruise line, no problem, take your bags across the port to board a different ship for a Vancouver to Seattle cruise and the PVSA could not care less. You could have breakfast on one ship and lunch on the other ship.

On 4/30/2023 at 2:31 AM, Lastdance said:

I love Europe; have not been in the Caribbean for decades, but December 1, I have a 10 day southern Caribbean on Beyond.  Also, I am currently on her at the moment; we could not dock in Azores due to bad weather!

Caribbean is too hot and humid for me. I saw Capt Kate's instagram post of the harbor pilot boat coming along side and taking the harbor pilot off.  YIKES. Somebody asked in the comments why Capt Dimitrios didn't have them approach Beyond on the leeward side. Capt Kate said that WAS the leeward side.

44 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

Longer cruises, more expensive cruises, and transoceanic cruises tend to have very few children.

Oh yeah. Years ago I did a 15 night Hawaii cruise on HAL in October and there was ONE passenger under the age of 18. She was 17.

2 hours ago, swigso said:

So that is why when we sailed from Los Angeles round trip to Hawaii the ship pulled into Ensalada for an hour. However I will be booking 2 separate cruises which will have different booking references. This just does not make sense

It doesn't matter how the cruise line chops up the voyage into separate cruises for booking purposes because that's not what the PVSA covers. It's specifically about transporting passengers, on the same ship, from one US port to another US port. A passenger vessel that onboards you in Hawaii and disembarks you in Seattle would be in violation of the PVSA. It would still be a violation of the PVSA if you boarded in Hawaii and then stayed on to do the entire season of Alaska cruises before you disembarked in Seattle.

Thank you for taking us along!

15 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

From what I read from HAL, isn't it a "request" for  a particular cabin number pending the actual opening of the cruise, but understanding that it would likely be honored?   

No. Getting any specific cabin would be pretty unlikely until booking opens because every cabin is subject to the first dibbs rule. Anyone already booked on the previous world cruise (in this case 2024) has their same cabin for the following year (2025) if they want it.

On 4/17/2023 at 12:50 AM, Cruising Is Bliss said:

There's a decent possibility that HAL may do a 2025 grand voyage that along the way spends 4 days drive-by cruising Antarctica. One of the four options HAL polled for the 2025 world cruise is not actually a world cruise. That potential itinerary is Jan 25th to June 7th, round trip Fort Lauderdale, includes all the way down to Antarctica and all the way up to the Arctic Circle.

 

YAY! Pole to Pole 2025 grand voyage, on Volendam, 133 days (4 drive-by days in Antarctica), booking opens in May. For now, HAL will only be booking the full voyage.

Pete (the-inside-cabin) posted a link to both itineraries on his blog.

I'm doing the Pole-to-Pole.

HIA on some cruises is an upgraded version. That may be one of them. On my 28 day 2024 Alaska cruise this is my HIA:

26-31 Day Premium Wifi HIA Promo

Elite Beverage Pkg HIA Promo

Shore Excursion Discount $100

Shore Excursion Discount $100

Shore Excursion Discount $100

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

Canaletto HIA Promo

Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo

$160 Shore Excursion Credit

Low Price Guarantee

YAY!!!  Pole to Pole on Volendam for me 🙂 I called my travel agent and she says HAL is going to be sending out a form to Future Dam holders asking everyone to pick whether they want their Future Dam applied to the GWV or to the Pole-to-Pole.

8 minutes ago, cccole said:

For those "in the know" do they wait to offer segments of these cruises?  Both have interesting itineraries.  Thank you, Cherie 

They do.

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Please do one.   So many CC members including myself live reading them. 

I've been thinking about doing a live blog for my next cruise. For such a long cruise (94 days) I'll be keeping a personal travel diary anyway. Could you estimate about how much time it takes you each day?

There's a decent possibility that HAL may do a 2025 grand voyage that along the way spends 4 days drive-by cruising Antarctica. One of the four options HAL polled for the 2025 world cruise is not actually a world cruise. That potential itinerary is Jan 25th to June 7th, round trip Fort Lauderdale, includes all the way down to Antarctica and all the way up to the Arctic Circle.

Bloggers on the current world cruise reported that the hotel director said at a morning coffee chat that he personally thinks the 2024 & 2025 world cruises will both again be on Zuiderdam, and that HAL will also do the polled "Pole to Pole" 2025 cruise, on Volendam. HAL's website currently has Volendam's last scheduled cruise ending in Fort Lauderdale on Jan 25th 2025.