sippican

Have you considered purchasing private insurance (which is the most value for your cost)? 

Using websites for third party vendors will allow you to compare and customize to fit your needs. You should also include airfare and hotel if applicable.

scottjean - Where you originally scheduled for Port Stanley?

I know there was a ban on cruise ships carrying more that 250 passengers, along with a stipulation that the ships could only call if they had spent more than 10 days at sea.

Friends just booked a large ship drive-by Antarctic sailing with The Falklands on the itinerary. They were told that the rules have been dropped.

Can anyone confirm that, or point me to a source of reliable information?

17 hours ago, mom says said:

Does the website say it's sold out? Some cabins will be witheld for quarantine protocols. But this far out, it's likely that TA companies are still holding blocks of cabins.

Travel agencies typically purchase their blocks of inventory when the itineraries are first released. They can hold them almost to the final payment date.

36 minutes ago, Nitemare said:

Google Maps is telling me 13 minutes from Logan to this hotel right now (noon) on a Wednesday.  I stand by my "good 15 minutes" away.  Worse in rush hour, plus you have to wait for the shuttle

I'd suggest the 2 on property hotels, the Embassy Suites just off the grounds, the Garden Inn or the Courtyard just to the north on 1A or the Hampton Inn on 1A before I'd suggest the Comfort Inn, which is likely the next closest hotel.

Of course you are right again.

It depends on which side of 1A and which direction, at which time. 

Mapquest 8 minutes at 12:46

You need to wait for a shuttle from any hotel.

3 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

I know many people agree with this; we've been there several times, and have yet to see what the attraction is. We do love the outdoors, trees, vistas, but Acadia just did not fulfil any of that for us.

Where exactly did you go in Acadia that did not have tress and vistas?  We go every year and the views just take my breath away.

I can understand those who are not nature fans, feeling it's not their cup of tea. Strangely, when you do a search of "most visited", "most Popular", "prettiest" , Acadia is always pretty high on the list. Sorry you were disappointed. What is your favorite National Park?

We've always tried to arrange private tours for ports as we much prefer them to ships' excursions. I'd say I've successfully organized over 20 at this point. On our upcoming fall New England/ Canada cruise (which is showing as sold out), I've posted 2 private tours on our Roll Call. Not a single bite.

Take a look at the New England Canada fall cruises, Two full.

12 hours ago, sullyd said:

Just wandering if summit is at full capacity yet?

Which date?

The 9/11 New England Canada date is showing sold out, but that could mean it’s reached the cap. 
 

On 3/29/2022 at 6:47 AM, Nitemare said:

Boston Logan Marriott doesn't exist.  Courtyard Marriott Logan does and is one of the three "near" hotels.  Comfort Inn is a good distance away.  A good 15 minute ride to the airport or a 25-30 minute "T" ride to Faneuil Hall

Comfort Inn & Suites Logan International Airport. Certainly not 15 minutes from the airport unless sitting in standstill rush hour. It's one of our three "go to" airport hotels along with Courtyard and Hilton Garden.

21 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

That sounds easier than having a reservation already made. Where did you find that list? 

We traveled to Vancouver, and found a list through Google. I just checked St John, since its our first port. The rules have relaxed significantly this spring and I can find no such resource.

I think we'll just choose a hotel that has room service, and write that down. 

When we visited a few moths ago, I found a list of hotels online that accepted Covid positive visitors, and just listed that.

1 hour ago, CharTrav said:

I have a question for those who've done the Antarctic trips. We are doing Arctic Adventure this Summer and I'm trying to plan for the medical form that needs to be signed by our doctor. The Viking site provides no information about it at all beyond saying we'll get it shortly before our departure date. What I'd like to know is what is the nature of this form?  If it involves making an appointment with our doctor will this be simply to get it signed - no physical exam - or will this form require an actual physical exam? If the latter, would like to be able to plan for the appointment now rather than getting one on short notice. Thanks!

I'd am interested in this as well.

20 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

  Plus, there is no way we can meet their testing requirements unless Celebrity decides to test us on board.

 You can absolutely meet the requirements if you care to do so by  purchasing a proctored test and use the internet onboard.

On 3/11/2022 at 1:55 PM, Treasure Hunter said:

If you aren’t a hiker, Bar Harbor is a charming little town with great lobster rolls and ice cream. Easy walk up from the tender. There is a dock with a whale watching boat. I asked the captain where to sit where it wasn’t bumpy and he pointed to the dock( Maine humor). Try to take a private tour in Newport so you can see more than one mansion. They are spectacular. We will just browse the shopping village downtown as we have been to Newport many times. 

If you decide to skip Acadia National Park, you will miss one of the most gorgeous national parks in the world! It is so much more than a hiking destination. At minimum I would suggest a trolley or bus tour of the Park Loop road. 

14 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Garden Inn? Comfort Inn? Distant from the port?
As I said in my previous post: “You get what you pay for.”

Obviously you can get that information for yourself but I'll help you out. Within about 5-10 minutes of travel time you can be at the port from the ones I suggested. They are clean, modern and used as preferred hotels for the flight crews. 

The OP did not specify the need for 5* accommodations. Perhaps you'd care to be helpful and suggest some hotels you've stayed at near the cruise port.

On 3/22/2022 at 12:26 AM, Flatbush Flyer said:

Travel much? A good hotel (e.g., an Intercontinental) in a major cosmopolitan city like Boston will generally cost about $300+\- per night. Convention in town when you’re trying to get a room? $400 would not be unusual. 
Bottom line: “you get what you pay for.”

Yes, we do travel much!

Boston it's the major hub we fly in and out of for most of our travel. We always stay the night prior to a big trip and have never paid more than $300 a night (and that usually includes free parking for the duration of the trip, as well as free airport shuttles)!

However, there may be specific times when s special event blocks out many hotels.

As someone helpful noted, staying nearer to the airport is the good strategy. 

Hilton Garden Inn, Boston Logan Marriott, Comfort Inn are some very nice, modern, clean choices near the airport - with free shuttles to/from Logan.

You will need to taxi or Uber to the port.

Thank you for your review!

Do you recall the showtimes?

Only you can determine what your priorities are. I've sailed on Xpedition twice. It was comfortable when it was at full capacity, but purely luxurious with only 35 onboard (October 2021).  I cannot compare it to Flora, other than to say some of my clients have sailed Flora and have been very happy. We stayed in an Xpedition suite on both sailings and found it to be spacious. 

Honestly, if I were to go again, I'd probably choose the Xpedition. If, as you say, it was only a couple of hundred more, I'd probably choose Flora, just to see what it's all about. If "new" is important to you, go in that direction.

You are going to hear from both the Flora and Xpedition passengers and am doubtful you'll hear negatives from either.

As you seem to already know, the trip is all about the Galapagos and you're in for the trip of a lifetime no matter which ship you choose.

9 minutes ago, rim140 said:

Couple of our friends boarded Oceania ship yesterday, they were required to complete the form for Bermuda and pay $40 fee. But no one checked and asked for the form during the boarding process. And...after all that, yesterday afternoon passengers were notified they were no longer going to Bermuda, instead replaced by Bahamas. Huh! Interesting!

Wow!

I wonder if they're getting their $40 back, lol!

I have a feeling that may happen to us on the Silhouette TA in April.

10 hours ago, May B said:

One way to avoid testing positive is to avoid catching it! 
 

I don’t know of any way to prevent a false positive. I do think they’re more likely with a PCR test than an antigen test.

Agree! But the only sure way of doing that is complete isolation from the world. I know many who have caught it despite being diligent in their efforts and precautions.

41 minutes ago, D C said:

If you're not sick, at worst you're not very contagious. Go do whatever and assume others are protecting themselves. If you are sick, stay home, covid or not. 

Degree of sickness equates to how contagious you are?

Kind of like DUI driving and assuming others are protecting themselves from you by wearing seatbelts.

39 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Being symptomatic would indicate a reasonable expectation that I might have covid. You would test 2 times for no apparent reason after returning from Iceland but wouldn't test when you have symptoms on a random Wednesday? You don't think the likelihood of covid is far greater when you're running a fever? You really are confused.

Now look who's making assumptions!!!!!

Where on earth did I say I wouldn't test if I had symptoms, particularly on a random Wednesday, lol! Now that's funny!

I'm not confused at all. 

Perhaps you missed the point that there was a reason for testing, to protect others from asymptomatic spread.

Having someone in my home undergoing chemotherapy, we are very well aware of how important it is to behave cautiously and thank goodness our family and friends are willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to protect them.  They know that, fever or not, they may have covid. Three of them test every single week so they won't expose him. 

Happy Cruising!

22 minutes ago, RichYak said:

So if I take a bus and a train to and from work everyday, you think I should test everyday?

 

And don't try to make this personal, you have no idea who I'm close to or who I've lost. 

So what difference would it make to test if you're sick?

12 minutes ago, RichYak said:

So can you, right now. Did you test yourself today? How about yesterday? And the day before that?

When I return from a situation that has put me at risk for increased exposure to covid (mass transportation, travel situations, etc) YES, I have tested. I returned from Iceland 11 days ago. I have tested twice since leaving.

Perhaps if you had close contact with someone at increased risk, or have lost someone to covid, you might understand the importance of being responsible, not only to yourself, but to others more vulnerable.