donaldsc

We always carry a copy of our vaccination card w us at all times. Seems like an obvious and simple solution. I also have a link on my phone that connects me with our state vaccination record WEB site. DON

Any of the American riverboat cruises if she does not want to travel. If she can handle an airplane trip do any of the riverboat cruises in Europe. DON

Cruise lines often mess up their scheduling so there may not really be a problem so wait a few days and check again Then call Seabourn or your TA if you have one. Not e-mail them but call them. DON

I typed "really good photo spots" into Google and got a bunch of hits. I have no idea of how good they are. DON

This happens lots of times. DON

Just remember that we can not recommend TAs. DON

This is a direct quote from the Princess FAQ page when I typed in "Passport" "A valid passport is required for all international itineraries including Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, India, Central and South America, Panama Canal (partial and full transit), Caribbean voyages that visit Martinique or Guadeloupe, South Pacific, Tahiti and World Cruises. Although US and Canadian passport holders are not currently required to sail with a passport on most domestic itineraries (including Alaska, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mexico), Princess highly recommends they are carried" Also "PASSPORT REQUIREMENT WHEN MINORS TRAVEL WITH ONE ADULT ON VOYAGES GOVERNED BY THE U.S. WESTERN HEMISPHERE TRAVEL INITIATIVE (includes travel within BERMUDA, CANADA, CARIBBEAN, HAWAII, MEXICO, UNITED STATES) When minors are traveling with only one adult 21 years of age or older, Princess requires that all guests must be in possession of a valid passport. We have implemented this requirement because we want to ensure that your party remains together should an emergency arise that requires one or more in your party to be disembarked in a non-U.S. port. We cannot guarantee that all members of your party will be allowed to disembark with just a WHTI-compliant document or birth certificate. Failure to present a valid passport for all guests traveling together will result in denial of boarding without refund of the cruise or cruisetour fare. I will bet that the average American thinks that any place and definitely any island south or not necessarily even south of the US is the Caribbean. For example we have seen many posts on CC where the OP did not realize that Bermuda is not in the Caribbean. Americans do not have a great knowledge of geography. Witness the person-on-the-street interviews that one used to see on the late night talk shows where they asked people geography questions. Yes they select the clips to only show people who had a minimal knowledge of geography but I would bet that it was not hard to find such interviews. Now this does not excuse the people who did not read their cruise documents. Also Princess is not off the hook on their reply that question since I believe that since there are some Caribbean islands that do require a passport. Bottom line is to be safe and just get a passport. DON

They are too frugal to spend the money. DON

It was probably from a Princess employee who was sick and tired of dealing with self entitled customers who could not be bothered w reading their cruise documents and just had to say what he was really thinking when he had to deal with these people all day. His coworkers are probably cheering him. DON

Where? When? Budget? Interests? How long? Etc. Maybe you could provide us with just a bit more info. DON

Until the delay the Real ID Drivers License yet again. How many times has it been postponed. DON

I believe that I read once that some overseas excursions or tours will not take Americans because of our tendency to try to sue for any problem. I may be wrong on this however as I tried to find the link on the WEB and could not find it. DON

I just got this in the e-mail. https://destinationalaskacharters.com/. Don't know anything about this company and I don't currently have any trips to AK planned but their trip options look intriguing. DON

I have not plowed my way through this entire thread but did the OP's parents book the cruise directly with Viking or with a good TA. If it was Viking this is yet another reason why you should book with a good TA. DON

I have not read all the posts but one of the big advantages of Azamara over the Genormous of the Seas monstrosities is the small size of the ships and the fact that they can get into ports that the large ships can't get into. Even if the large ships claim that they get into a port often it is in an industrial area far away from the tourist area where you can't even walk off the ship because you might get hit by a big crane. Often Azamara can dock right in the center of town. As an example and this was before Venice thankfully closed down to large ships our Azamara ship docked at the San Basilio Cruise Terminal (look it up on Google maps) which meant that we stepped off the ship and we were right in Venice instead of being in a large cruise terminal. This type of thing happens in many towns. Another thing. Azamara can get into a lot of places where the large ships are not welcome. To me the difference is that with Azamara the destination is the point of the cruise. On the large ships the ship and not the destination is the point of the cruise. Different strokes etc. To me if my only cruise ship options were on one of the Genormous type ships I would stop cruising. My last 2 cruises were an AK cruise on a ship that held 180 passengers and a full rigged barkentine sailboat that had about 120 passengers. DON

All of the ships and lines that you have mentioned are way too big for AK. There are lines that do AK on ships w <1000 passengers and you can even find cruises on ships that have only a few hundred passengers. On our last AK cruise we were on a ship that held 180 passengers and we have even done an AK cruise on a 50 passenger ship. As one of the other people who replied on this thread sort of alluded to - you have to decide whether you are going to AK for the Alaska experience or for the on board experience. The big ships will take you to a port that lives and dies for tourism and you will join with the other 10,000 or 15,000 passengers from a Genormous of the Seas ship who over run the town. If you do AK on a small ship where you may be the only ship in town you will have a completely different experience. Check out small ship AK cruises before you make a decision. DON

I do not cruise Princess but let me make sure that I have this correctly. They charge you to enter some sort of contest where you can win prizes of undefined value or maybe nothing at all. Do I have it write as it isn't clear from reading the contest rules. Does anyone win anything of value. DON

WeatherSpark is my go to climate (not weather but climate) site. DON

I do not know how thing s work in the UK but are you working w Princess directly or do you have a TA. A good TA might be able to access stuff that you can not do directly. DON

You can almost always assume that any art that you purchase will cost you more to frame unless the art is already framed. One way to reduce your costs a bit and more important to have your framed pictures look their best is to cut your own mats with a mat cutter. This one is only $140 at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Logan-350-1-Compact-Elite-Cutter/dp/B004J1EULG/ref=sr_1_2?gclid=CjwKCAiAhqCdBhB0EiwAH8M_Gub1Dcv__4T-2Ds5-_MP383-243X1RX-ixEdSfax6G5KZgjysJEX5RoCf6cQAvD_BwE&hvadid=174230162631&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9028730&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1945004475725555341&hvtargid=kwd-89456681&hydadcr=28960_9847236&keywords=mat+board+cutter&qid=1672005531&refinements=p_72%3A2638180011%2Cp_36%3A2638329011&rnid=2638325011&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0 You can get a frame of the proper size at your local Michaels and then cut a mat to the proper size w the mat cutter. The mat cutter lets you cut a hole in the mat that is just the proper size for the picture instead of being stuck with one of the precut mats that are available at Michaels. Another advantage is that instead of buying one of the expensive precut mats you can buy a large sheet of matting and use it for several pictures. One more advantage is that if you have the framing store do the work when they cut your mat they keep the inside of the mat. I have always assumed that they keep these remnants and use them for other pictures. With my mat cutter I get to keep the inside of then mat and can use it for a smaller picture. I have covered the cost of my mat cutter many times over. Hope that this idea helps. It works for me. DON

I always try to buy a piece of art on every cruise to a new place but my problem is that I am running out of wall space to hang the stuff. However I do not buy any of the cr** that they sell on the ship. I try to find something done locally so it reminds me of where I was and also supports a local artist. The artwork may not be high class artworks but it is a reminder of the places that I have visited. Some of the stuff that I have bought may have cost me only $10 to $20 and some may be as much as a few hundred dollars but it is meaningful to me. DON

Wasn't Princess fined for illegial dumping into Glacier Bay - https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2013/01/articles/cruise-pollution/princess-cruises-fined-for-dumping-66000-gallons-of-chlorinated-water-into-glacier-bay-in-alaska/. Then fined $40,000,00 for a 2nd illigial dumping. "Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. (Princess) has agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges stemming from its deliberate pollution of the seas and intentional acts to cover it up. Princess will pay a $40 million penalty– the largest-ever criminal penalty involving deliberate vessel pollution – and plead guilty to charges related to illegal dumping of oil contaminated waste from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship. " And then a 3d time "Today, Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. (Princess) and its parent, Carnival Cruise Lines & plc (together “Carnival”) were ordered to pay a $20 million criminal penalty and will be subject to enhanced supervision after admitting to violations of probation attributable to senior Carnival management in a case in which Princess had already paid $40 million." And yet another time "Princess Cruise Lines Pleads Guilty to Second Probation Violation Stemming from Historic 2017 Criminal Conviction" In another post Princess was tied for being the worse cruise line in terms of pollution violations Does anyone see a pattern here? DON

Why does accepting a cash tip make a person a prostitute? If you feel that way you are tagging a vast number of Americans as prostitutes as tens of millions of Americans depend upon teps to make a living. I do agree w you that treating them with respect is just as important as providing them with proper remuneration. DON

There is a risk to doing anything except maybe spending your entire life in bed - and then you will die in bed. If you leave your home you might get hit by a bus. I would assume that the people who visited White Island had to sign some sort of release and even if they did not they should have known that there was a risk in visiting a live volcano. Many years ago I did a Grand Canyon raft trip and this was before cell phone or emergency locator beacons. The only way that the guides had to communicate w the outside world was with a small radio that would hopefully communicate with an airplane that might be overhead. The release we signed started with "You are not going on a trip to Disneyland. You could die on this trip" and continued with the other things that might happen to us. We obviously did not die but we were clearly aware that if an accident occurred it might be a while before any help could get to us. In life stuff happens and sometimes really bad stuff happens. DON

I always have my Kindle w me on a cruise so I can always kill 30 to 45 minutes reading. I am not willing to spend all that money just to get a seat at a show. Just my opinion. DON