Been There, Planning That

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

 

If I had a Sugar Daddy, there's a nice Canada Goose parka that I'd love to have. 😉

Th is Moose Knuckles brand is supposedly the same as the Canada Goose ones, but the hood is detachable which is an option I prefer.

Since we had THREE cruises cancelled I .easily justified the expense.

Stay warm until we can cruise again,

Ruth

1 minute ago, ger_77 said:

 I expect it will get a lot of use this year, as we won't be taking a mid-January or mid-February or mid-March cruise to anywhere except our driveway to shovel it off.

 

Smooth Sailing! 🙂🙂🙂

We're now live in a condo so mine won't be near a shovel.  And with car seat heaters, the longer length is a luxury.

But we northerners in both Canada and USA need to be comfortable when we 'cruise' thru' snow drifts.

Ruth

41 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

I recall, now, that we went straight from winter to summer here a few months ago.  I wonder if we'll do the reverse soon.  I did have to wear my heaviest fleece yesterday.

I'm still hopeful of being able to cruise in the foreseeable future.  I just bought new white pants and a great halter top, along with a wool jacket for home use.

You're more optimistic than I.  We've wiped 2021 off our cruising plans and will only book winter 2022 when we have a clearer picture of any risks we're willing to take.

We've been promised a mild autumn and are sure hoping such a long range forecast is correct.  

That's quite the seasonal range of your recent purchases.  You'll be 'covered' for all eventualities.

Ruth

This will be our first winter in a couple of decades since we haven't enjoyed a 5-6 week escape, most recently on longer cruises.

As compensation I treated myself to a genuine, made in Canada, Canadian down filled Parka with the most unfashionable name Moose Knuckles.  What it lacks in style it more than makes up for in warmth.  

I chose fire engine red rather than more sophisticated black.  I haven't owned a coat like this since days of yard duties in frigid temperatures.  

The clerk commented that I wasn't the first person preparing for an uninterrupted stay in our great white north.  I suspect I'm not alone among fellow cruisers.

I wonder if winter weight masks will soon appear in stores!

Ruth

22 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

 

Bringing politics in is a two-edged sword -- better to leave political impressions out.

I completely agree.  Politics seems to creep into too many CC threads.

Ruth

Princess Pete,

• We sailed on the Emerald this February in a standard balcony and requested and rec'd a barrel chair - much the worse for wear, but it was another seat.  Our cabin steward was less than stellar and wasn't at all pleased about the request.
• Our second sitting was at 7:30 PM, though it was listed as 7:15 when we selected it on line,  and we went to the early productions and had plenty of time to stroll slowly to the dining room.  As I recall the productions were only about 45 minutes in total, but quite good.

Ruth

On 7/31/2020 at 10:08 AM, DaveOKC said:

Has anyone received any credits or refunds for the cruises HAL recently cancelled due to them selling 4 ships?  I would like to reuse some credits I have on my Aug, 2021 Rotterdam cruise.

 

 

Just this week we rec'd refund for all shore excursions for the August '21 Rotterdam cruise.  Each one was refunded individually for a total of $1 400.

We opted for a full refund of deposits but they were only $50 for each of us.  We doubted we would sail before any FCC expired.  

Ruth

4 minutes ago, drsel said:

I think that only Hurtigruten, which belongs to Norwegian, is to blame for having hastily restarted cruising.
We cannot fault all Cruise lines for the mistakes of a few

I agree their restart was a hasty one, but I fault their lack of transparency when crew were first identified as being sick as being the greater 'sin.' 

cbr663, 

I agree completely, much is at stake for any cruise line, but more is at stake when it comes to our health.

We have no plans to rebook three cancelled cruises in either the short or long term.

Ruth

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

  Generally speaking, the country has come together to fight the virus.  

Or more accurately stayed 'apart' to combat COVID.  Why the other day I imagined cars 'socially distancing' as they neared a stop -- rather like any good Canadian during the winter.

Ruth

413 and even then not overly optimistic either it or we will sail.

4 hours ago, RuthC said:

Path Between the Seas is over 600 pages, and fairly dry reading. But the author makes it interesting, and the history is fascinating. 

It took us both a partial and full transit as inspiration to finally finish one great but long book.  We were as well prepared as the commentators on both HAL and Princess in the end.

Ruth

14 hours ago, Reagan0712 said:

The guy at HAL that I talked with last night said they were up to the beginning of May with refunds.  

We cancelled both an August and February '21 cruise early March with only deposits of $780 each owing so these were straight forward refunds.  

One deposit was refunded this week but we have no way of confirming which one, though I assume it was for the August cruise.

Ruth

8 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

 

If I wear my Canada Maple Leaf toque, my Canada Olympic Team jacket (gifted from one of my friends on the team back in 2002 and 2006), do you think they'd let me cross the border and not do a quarantine??? 😉

Nice try but even Canadian passport holders must do their 14 day sentence in self isolation!  And I don't think camping would count. 🤤

Otherwise we'd love to have you visit.

Ruth

15 hours ago, LHT28 said:

 

No one really knows why others  book things  that they do

 

After decades of independent travels around the world, often staying in three star hotels where little English was spoken, we have reluctantly graduated to the stage of life and mobility issues where we need to keep things easy, and convenient and therefore much more expensive. 

After independent travels our next step was bus specialized tours where others arranged everything.  Then river cruising and the comfort of one unpacking and great tours.

We're now at the hand-holding cruise hotel and ship excursion stage and are content.

We agree, cruise line hotels are usually chains either at airports or well away from city centres and pricier than on line.  But our goal is to enjoy a couple of nights pre cruise in warmth and sunshine.  We manage on usually expensive and limited hotel dining.

I should add we started travelling in the early 60s long before the ease of internet searches.

Ruth

3 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

Canadians being deferential people, I thought they deferred to their politicians.  "Peace, order, and good government," or something like that.

In this case I for one prefer to defer to our medical professionals who put our health first whereas politicians are more concerned with their political health as they do their bit to protect citizens.

We cancelled two cruises with $750 deposits each on  March 15.  One was to sail late August and the other February 2021.  Subsequently HAL cancelled all Alaskan cruises which would have been our August sailing.

I had first cancelled almost $2 000 in paid shore excursions and this money was promptly returned.

Unlike so many we feel fortunate that just deposits had been made and not full payments.

Fearing that refunds were being handed out in order of sail dates we went the CC route to ensure refunds which were made promptly by CC.

Ruth

1 hour ago, crunchii said:

1.  And I hope I'll be able to see some of you!

And when it's safe we'd sure LOVE to have you visit us.

Ruth

5 hours ago, d9704011 said:

 Canada is not spooked....

I'd beg to differ and say we are spooked and I'm happy to live with spooks until this pandemic is defeated or at least controlled.

Ruth

27 minutes ago, DaveSJ711 said:

 

Our Canadian friends never seem to mention Quebec.  That province is not doing well.

I agree that it is not doing well at all.  Ruth

2 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

 

Alberta is going a good job of this.  I'd like to see BC do the same.

Better than Ontario at this point.

Ruth

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 We did not receive any HAL offer (increase payment to get an OBC) so apparently they have not gone that far into the future with their appeal.  

 

Hank

We declined this offer for our August '21 cruise and are content to have just a down payment invested until things settle down.

In fact we rec'd it twice, once linked to our specific cruise and again as a general offer.

Ruth

1 minute ago, ski ww said:

We rebooked for Jul 2021, hopefully the world will have returned to some what normal by then.

We too hope our August '21 17 day cruise will safely happen.

Ruth

In an excess of senior's caution we have already cancelled our booked 21 day cruise for February '21.  We hope we've marked a secure place in the deposit return line-up for this cruise.

Everything's too uncertain for our "peace of cruising minds'.

Ruth

We disembarked March 1 from a 28 day COVID19 free cruise on Emerald.

Since then we have rec'd frequent Emails from Princess but I was impressed with the latest one which offered the option of a 30 day marketing hold.  We chose this option as we have neither FCC with Princess  not deposits for future cruise.

Since returning home we've cancelled both an August and Feb. '21 cruise with HAL but continue to receive almost daily 'keeping in touch' Emails.  And like most on all lines awaiting our 60 day promise of refunds.

We have a cruise booked for August '21 but for the time being have no interest in booking on any line and so appreciated this clever marketing offer.

Ruth