milolii

@cashmeremypuppydog and/or @Margarita Jane How did you contact  him?  The social media site I tried to use doesn’t work. Interested in booking for January 2025.  I can book via Viat….r but I’d like to book with him directly. Ty 

6 hours ago, Marylebone37 said:

I just can't imagine uploading bank statements or pay stubs to a foreign web site.  Talk about the risk of fraud or identity theft!  OMG.  But I understand that travelers will make their own decisions based on their individual risk tolerances.

I agree, we had decided not to visit Rio de Janeiro and Iguazu Falls ahead of our January, 2025, Buenos Aires RT cruise.   That bank statement requirement was a big part of our decision. Now we are reconsidering the pre cruise trip.  

3 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

I believe this applies only to Elite - not to suites. Suite laundry has priority over Elite laundry, so its turnaround time is not affected much by the number of Elites onboard. When I send laundry out in the evening from a suite, I've nearly every time received it back the next day - even on cruises when Elite laundry was taking several days.

Ok, I will speak up if I see that notice again.  I had the notice in my cabin on the Island and the Royal. 

@njhorseman, no worries.  This is good news for those completing their traveling before April 10, 2025. 

@Marylebone37 The US has similar requirements for citizens of Brazil requesting US visas, including proof of financial stability.  Who knows what will happen, but some of the main reasons for the delays seem to be  difficultly navigating and errors with the application process. Those are well documented in the other thread mentioned above. 

I’ve never seen a limit. At times, we’ve received a noticed that laundry may take up to 72 hours, and it did.  Other times, laundry returns the next day; or even that night. I think this depends how many elites members on board and the number of suites, plus the capacity of the laundry facilities. You can get free tokens for the self service laundry from guest services. 
 

We usually travel pre cruise and have laundry on the first night.  We carry extra gym clothes and use the self serve laundry at times. 
 

We take pictures as well, but unlike at home, never lost anything.  

This is good news as the original date was January 1, 2024; then April 10, 2024.  We will see what happens in 2025.  The delays affecting January 1 and April 10, 2024 were last minute announcements. The most recent decree was signed on April 9.  
 

St John, New Brunswick:  I think this is the port you mean, as there is also a St.John’s Newfoundland. We went with Alexi , wonderful day out. 

https://gofundytours.ca

We booked a trolly tour for Newport and a rental car with another couple for Halifax. Both were cancelled due to Hurricane Fionna and related weather.  I always stress to check the operator’s cancellation policies. Some require 24 hours notice.  

You  might also try the Cruise Critic port of call boards or your roll call. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/9-canadanew-england/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/2437-enchanted-princess-roll-calls/

1 hour ago, Senga said:

Independent, Golden Circle.

Hi, not sure which company you are booked with.  We did an independent excursion with Iceland Everywhere last year.  We stopped after about an hour.  There was a bakery/ deli where we all purchased all kinds of food.  We had lunch about 1pm at the visitors center for the Great Geyser.  Many options there. Tour operators mix things up to avoid the large crowds. 

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

How is it possible to not being shoes you’ve worn outdoors?

We just returned from a land trip to Australia & New Zealand. I don’t remember specifically about the shoe examination at Sydney, ( I think it did occur) but this definitely happened  when we landed at Queenstown, New Zealand.  The focus is on shoes exposed to soil, such as on a farm, or other outdoor activities and hiking.  
 

You step onto a marker and your shoes are examined.   Additionally,  we had to open our luggage so they could examine our boots.  We had cleaned them throughly before the trip, so she was satisfied.  They are very serious about this as their ego system is fragile.  Not sure what happens from a cruise ship.  

I think immigration is primary looking  for microorganisms picked up in soil from activities like hiking, working on a farm, etc.  They are very serious about this. 

My suggestion is just make sure your shoes, particular the bottom, are clean.  If you’ve used shoes / boots on a farm or for hiking, tell them. When in doubt, just declare it. 
 

As I said, I’m not sure of the exact process when coming off a cruise ship. 

You can bring a small fan, here is the notation in the FAQs at the end of the questions.

https://www.princess.com/en-us/faq/pre-cruise

I saw this scenario with a Princess excursion earlier this year. I sent an email to my cruise vacation planner and it was corrected a few days later.  The excursion was dropped, as the departure time was correct.  I’d get an answer from the cruise line before you book the excursion. 

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

We did both and it was a lovely day!  Hope it all works out well for you!

 

Ty, I will report back. 

On 1/22/2024 at 4:04 AM, JHCruiser123 said:

I would be interested to hear about your experience with this tour.  When do you arrive in Olden? Keep us posted!

Sorry, I missed this post.  We are in Olden on May 30.  

We are on the Sky Princess in late May and doing both the Briksdal Glacier and the Loen Skylift.  I finally found this person who is from Alesund. She is also booked the day before  with our stop for Geiranger.  Someone else booked her or we might of booked her for both days.  She has a FB page with some good reviews.  We are sharing with another couple. Due to timing, this is the only way we can do both.  

https://uniktur.com/shore-excursion-in-olden/

15 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

Thank you for posting this. That was my choice for Medicare and it is reassuring to read. 

I’m a retired employee.  I once authorized an air ambulance from Cabo back to the SF Bay Area. $ 55,000. That was several years ago.  
 

I’ve used the app to submit for reimbursement for Covid tests(in London) and medications. Very easy and check comes quickly.  Uploaded part of CC statement showing conversion from £ to $.  

Kaiser recommends carrying a small travel medical policy to show if needed at a foreign hospital; clinic, etc.  but will absolutely reimburse. 

On 3/10/2024 at 10:53 AM, Kristelle said:

Thanks for the update. 

We will be staying in Cairns early October and planning to do a day trip to Kuranda.

Whilst sky cable one way, train the other,  would obviously be the best, if we do one way by bus that would be OK.

 

But another 7 months till then.

Hope it works out for you. 

Kurada Railway:  We are in Cairns now as part of a DYI land trip.  I had committed to reporting back on the status of the railway.  There was another slide last night and  the railway is closed again.  We’ve been here two days and  the rain is very heavy with localized flooding.  We took the Skyrail up and bus back down through a private tour company.  Very enjoyable day.  Parts of the road also have heavy damage. Parts were washed away leaving one lane.  

13 hours ago, cherylandtk said:

Delta yes. (Note that American has recently announced changes to their program which will disallow points if booked via a third party.)

AA changes take effect for tickets purchased on May1, 2024 and beyond.  So if you have an EZ Air reservation, and want the miles, you probably will need to actually purchase the tickets by April 30, 2024, and not wait for final payment.
 

 AA has stated that in order to earn miles, tickets must be purchased on its website, a One World Partner website, or one of their approved travel agencies.  The list of approved travel agencies will be published in April.  It’s doubtful EZ Air will be one of them. 

2 hours ago, Teechur said:

In July, I will be flying (EZ Air) from Montreal to Maui on United Airlines. The first flight (co-branded) is operated by Air Canada to Denver, and the second flight is operated by United to Maui. I wonder if I can use United points to upgrade both flights, or even just the second flight? Anyone know? TIA!

Here is a link to United‘s  information on flight upgrades.  At the bottom is the link to Star Alliance upgrades. You can bring up your reservation and  view your  options. You should see offers.  The website will default to money, but click on the miles option.
 
 https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/upgrade.html

We were on the Royal last year and got access to the Enclave.  There was a letter in the cabin that said we had this access.  I haven’t seen that before on the Royal Class ships.  The letter was from the concierge.  I’ve read other reports of people getting access as well, but it’s not a listed perk.  I was surprised. So maybe…? 

You need to check your documents.  For the January 21, 2025 voyage, the departure time is 1600, so would need to be onboard by 1530.  

We’ve sailed on the Enchanted in one of the forward window suites and an aft suite.  The aft suites do have warp around balconies.  The ones on Dolphin and Emerald are quite large.  The aft suites are close to the suite lounge which is Mid aft Riviera deck.  Aloha or Baja, are good choices, if you can’t get Riviera,  I think the owners suite is on Emerald, so not sure about noise from club below.  But all are nice.  The side penthouse cabins are nice and across from the suite lounge.  It’s a good size.  Two balcony cabins, basically with small balconies, but two of them. 
 

The forward suites are near the retreat pool, up a few decks.  Also easy to get down to Sabatini’s for breakfast - deck 5.  It far from other things, like the suite lounge, main dining rooms.

@riffatseathink some are still using this.  
 

Question: what is the latest on how far out you can submit ? I have 2023 dome, but just booked a cruise for January 2024?

@VJWcruiseryes, there are groups of passengers who take this cruise specifically to visit the Falklands.  Evidently on NCL they represent a large guest base. 
 

There are many reports from passengers on the roll calls from the February 2 and February 18 cruises on another social media site.  Many of these reports(over 30) are long, detailed and thoughtful. Some include conversations with the Captain, stating the orders came from Miami.  Many believe the changes were aimed at avoiding (as best as possible) missing the Falklands Islands stop in the future and a repeat of the “gathering” in the Atrium on the January 21 sailing. I think that was the evening of January 30th.  

Passengers from that sailing knew the reason for missing the port was not weather related as they were told.  How?  Folks had communication with passengers on the Sapphire Princess, on island tour operators; and even port staff in Stanley. The Sapphire Princess and the Azamara  Quest both successfully called at the port in what was described as a beautiful calm day.  
 

The changes came a few days later on the Feb 2 sailing, with the Falkland stop being moved up by one day from the second Friday to Thursday.

So, I do think it is possible this had more to do with port congestion at the Falklands than speeds in Antarctic Waters. 

Ah!  Thanks.  We are using Edson, based on your  recommendation.  Yep, I use my Gmail account.