ilikeanswers

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

I guess it depends a person's definition of easier. Someone mentioned no roads in Juneau.  So, you can fly to a port, board a ship and sail to Juneau.  Or, you can fly to Juneau.  Which is easier?  I would prefer the cruise because I would enjoy it.   Anyway, the current post just reminded me of that old one.   I would delete my comment about it but probably can't at this point.  

I would agree that Juneau is not what I would class as difficult (it is a state capital it shouldn't be difficult😂) but there are destinations that are logistically difficult like the ones I mentioned. Before every thing closed up I was looking at visiting Wallis and Fatuna (I was hoping we could go this year but looks like it will be delayed another year 🙄) While the international flights are pretty easy the accommodation, touring and the inter Island flight are complicated to organise. If there was a cruise that visited these islands I would take it in a heart beat it would be so much easier 🤗. 

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Most states, if not all, have databases on vaccinations. 

But can border authorities in the Bahamas use these databases to check that incoming passengers are vaccinated or cruise lines check that people booking are vaccinated before letting them on board? Cruising at the end of the day is a two way street, you have people coming in and the destinations that receive them. The destinations would like to avoid covid outbreaks too so it wouldn't surprise me if they might like to wait till their people are vaccinated before they let thousands rush in. 

38 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Sure.  But this person I was referring to claimed to dislike everything about cruising.  I think it was more about arrogance, if you know what I mean.   

Well at least you now know that they weren't completely wrong, there are places where cruising is the easier transport, just maybe not for the person you talked to😉

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

History, yes. Waterfalls and thermal pools not so much.

Not even if waterfall is historically significant to a country's history? As fascinating as the geology was to me (I'm absolutely intrigued by the history of Earth probably one v of the reasons for my love of Iceland🤗) in Thingvellir I was pretty amazed to be standing in the birthplace of a country but I am one of those weirdos that get a thrill from standing in a place of historical significance😜. It's never really bothered me if there is man made objects are left, so little is really original anyway so I don't really see the difference though I do appreciate having an example🤗. Thingvellir is probably more authentic to the time period than most buildings I have visited😂. 

4 hours ago, ldubs said:

They claimed the sole reason they set foot on a cruise ship was because it was the only viable transport to some places.  All of which of course, with very few exceptions, is nonsense and I did not believe them.   

When someone says a place is easier to visit with a cruise I usually assume some type of expedition cruising which is obviously not for everyone as they are the styles of cruise that genuinely go to places that are difficult to visit. 

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

Ah you don't know what your missing...sitting in a hot tub with snow falling, get out of hot tub, roll in snow, back in hot tub...wait I was 18 doing that.  Okay, sitting in the hot tub with snow falling😜

When I was in Japan we had an Onsen outside in the snow♨️, really nice 🤗

5 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I think Iceland is dependent on what you are interested in seeing/doing. For me, a cruise that stops in 3 different ports in Iceland with a day to explore each one is fine. I am not one who really appreciates natural scenery/beauty. Not interested in volcanoes or waterfalls or rugged landscapes. For me, I think a day in each of three major but different cities around Iceland is more than sufficient. If I change my mind after going, I can always return and do a land visit.

I might be mixing you up with another poster but I thought I read you saying you had in interest in Viking history😳?

While it is great that the USA seems to mostly have gotten on top of the vaccination program in terms of cruising you still have the problem of destination vaccination rates. From what I know the USA does not have a vaccination database that destinations can check that incoming passengers are fully vaccinated which means they would be fully reliant on the cruise line to do the checks and without uniform certification how to you expect cruise line employees to know of all the different types of certifications. The only way to be truly safe is to make sure that those who live in the cruise ship destinations are fully vaccinated. Starting cruising before that happens I think would be too risky🤔. 

10 hours ago, ldubs said:

I know they exist but I didn't think there were many ports like that.   What are some examples of places where the easiest way to get there is by cruise ship?  

I mentioned the Marquesas Archipelago in another post, another would be the Northwest Passage as a lot of those communities and islands have no roads, flights or ferries. Sub Antarctic islands like Macquarie are pretty difficult to reach. Pitcairn there is a cargo ship but it super expensive and to get to the embarkation is complicated. Islands in the Bering Strait which have limited or no flights. Greenland while there are flights to different communities it can be complicated to organise the logistics yourself. Exploring the Congo jungle is infinitely easier on a river cruise than trekking through the undergrowth which probably also goes for the Amazon rainforest. The Chilean fjords a lot of those places have no road or flight access. 

29 minutes ago, K32682 said:

Three that come to mind are Alaska, Tahiti and Antarctica. Tahiti was less about getting there by ship but being able to see more of it instead of being stuck on one island. Iceland is another example of a place better visited by cruise ship because a day or two there was more than enough.   

I would disagree about Iceland. I spent 10 days exploring the island and there was still plenty I hadn't done😂. French Polynesia is mostly well connected with flights and you get discounts for buying multi inter island flights. The only exception would be the Marquesas archipelago which was why we chose to cruise as half the islands don't have airports and except for Nuku Hiva the other islands have few flights. 

31 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

 Neither Pfizer nor BioNTech took funds from the government to develop its vaccine, only to manufacture and distribute it when and if approved."

They should say not funds from the USA government. Makes it sound as if the Pfizer BioNTech was fully privately funded🙄. I know it is picky but in this world of Covid conspiracy theorists they will jump on every tiny sentence😜. Journalists really can't leave anything for inference. 

26 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Must be nice to find gas at $1.29 we are at $1.54 except Costco at $1.49

That is a good day, petrol has been known to go up to AU$1.70

26 minutes ago, SelectSys said:

It's actually a little more complicated than that.  Pfizer is only a single company and does not reflect the totality of funded by Warp Speed.  Funds went to both development as well as manufacturing depending on the entity.  

 

Here is a summary of warp speed contracts compiled by Time from last December:

https://time.com/5921360/operation-warp-speed-vaccine-spending/

I don't understand why there is a category for Development then Development/Manufacturing and one for Manufacturing? How can you separate the cost if there is a category combining the two? 

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

I do have a flip type cell phone and I do not want to invest into what a smart phone and its service provider is going to cost.  

Invest? You make it sound like you are buying a house 😂. Do you not have budget smartphones in your country or service providers? My dad as a AU$40 smartphone on a AU$120 a year plan giving him 2GB a month internet which is enough for email, basic apps, Google and even YouTube. 

43 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

This is hogwash.  The "previous administration" had zero interest in developing COVID-19 vaccines and in fact touted that theirs would not impact Americans.  Only the scientists at CDC and big pharma pushed forward with vaccine development.

Actually it is a little more complicated than that. Pfizer committed to creating a vaccine because the Trump administration agreed to purchase 100 million doses with an option for 500 million more. So knowing they have a buyer lined up gave them the confidence to pursue the vaccine. No funding came from Operation Warp Speed. Meanwhile the German government did give BioNTech $445 million to develop the RNA technology that Pfizer used to create the vaccine. While it is correct to say Operation Warp Speed did not fund the development of vaccines it did fund the production of vaccines should they pass the trials.

Ready by June is pretty optimistic. Vaccine production is still not high enough to roll out through Europe, even Russia is struggling to keep up with orders and then on top of that suspending Astra Zeneca there is no way they will be ready by June🙄.

2 hours ago, qbay46 said:

Graduation tower in Ciechocinek, Poland

Graduation tower 1 to be exact😛. There are three in total. For those who are curious a graduation tower basically extracts the salt from the saline springs in the earth through an evaporation process. This in turn increases the salinity in the air around the town and as a result Ciechocinek has turned into a health a retreat with people claiming it helps with all sorts of problems especially respitory illness, though I have a feeling the high density of leafy green trees and large parks helps too😄. Ironically at the entrances to the graduation towers there are stalls selling all manner of junk food😂. Here's some more pics of the graduation towers along with a fountain for one of the saline springs, though it wasn't flowing the day we visited:

26 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Despite having travel insurance, I'm always relieved to arrive in Canada from the USA, when anyone is sick.  

There is always a little worry in the back of my mind that something might happen that isn't covered and we're left with one of their famous huge bill 😰. So far no health problems in the US of A so we never had to put it to the test. 

Name the town:

50 minutes ago, gerryuk said:

I do get it about masks, however we are talking about a 4 year old child with a disability. Some (not all) of the replies and the tone on this thread, about that incident, sent chills down my spine.

When you are in a supermarket and a young child is not wearing a mask, would you insist that child is removed from the shop? Do young children even have to ware masks?

But please can somebody show me evidence that young children are spreading covid to the adult population.

The rules of the airline was wear masks no exception. I have a disabled relative and have dealt with logistics of travel with them and unfortunately as much as I might wish, public transport just can't always accommodate his needs. So as much as I feel for the family they should have realised this airline is probably not appropriate for their needs.

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

Where is it?

South Rim of the Grand Canyon/Wikatata? 

I did a 14 day cruise and it worked for me because it was port intensive. There were only 2 sea days which was great as I'm not a big fan of sea days. I couldn't do the same length cruise if there were many sea days.

If it was announced there was a travel bubble with some country I would be on one of the first flights😂. I'm not too fussed if there is cruise available but I'm getting itchy feet and just want to cross an international border. Anyone else feel the same? If a destination opened up would you be happy to just go even if cruises haven't restarted or are you one of those that miss the ship and couldn't imagine a holiday without a cruise?

3 hours ago, lyndarra said:

Thanks.

Next pic.

Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower

1 hour ago, jland said:

It depends on whether the foreign company has an Australian office. Ponant has an Australian office and ABN therefore Australian consumer rules apply. Until ACCC intervened Ponant insisted they could apply French governments rules over ruling the refund clause in our contract.

Good information to know👍 and good to know the ACCC intervened🤗👏