Cruizer Bill

The "cruise bubble" restrictions in Italy are still in affect and we were told by our Captain they will remain so the rest of 2021.  So this will impact the November 6 and 21 cruises of Azamara Journey.  

We flew home yesterday through FCO airport in Fumicinco Airport.  It was very frustrating, took about 75 minutes to get through check-in, security and walking to our gate.  We had to show our passport 7 or 8 times.  We had to show our test results and I was singled out for random additional security screening.  Half the seats were taped off for social distancing.  We live it the Seattle area and had planned to fly to Atlanta and on to Seattle.  Our flight on Delta was rescheduled to take off 4 hours late and this wiped out our connecting flight to Seattle, so we re-booked to go thru JFK in New. York and then on to Seattle.  

2021 has been a frustrating year for cruise travel.  Let's hope 2022 will be MUCH better!  

Sorry to report this but on October 25th one woman tested positive for COVID and was quarantined.  I have no idea if anyone else was quarantined.  She was completely asymptomatic and no one else had it.  They have no idea how she got sick.  Perhaps Azamara can update us on this.  I just checked the CDC web site and no Azamara ships are on their list yet.  Perhaps they wait until a ship arrives in USA waters?

On 10/20/2021 at 1:49 PM, BritishLandS said:

So, how often are they testing onboard?

They test before you are allowed to embark the ship and then the day before you disembark.  If doing a back to back cruise they test you anyway the day before turnaround.

Portia,

We are on the Quest and we sailed back into Trieste at 10 PM on October 18th.  I did not think to look for the Eurodam in port as you were supposed to be gone before 6 PM.  Our ship docked right downtown just diagonal from the main downtown square.  That area is not subject to the demonstrations that have been going on.  The Eurodam must have docked in the industrial area.  I heard the demonstrations were so bad the police had to use water cannons to move the crowds back and had to send convoys of busses five at a time with a motorcycle cop leading the way.  
 

Apparently, some of your busses did not make it thru that mess until sometime around midnight.  Were you trapped in your busses or were you waiting at another place for things to quiet down?

Yesterday, everyone on the Quest was given a COVID test and not one person tested positive.  We were told thus far no one has tested positive on the Quest and it is classified a “Green” under the CDC rules.  Let’s hope it stays hat way,specially when it returns to Miami.

Thanks for your daily report.

We are on the Azamara Quest and all I can say is WOW!  Beautiful ship, incredible food and there are exactly 268 cruisers on board.  Very few people on board because Italy is insisting on a cruise excursion bubble. Amazing ship and we really like the entertainment too.

The Rotterdam sails on October 20th, two weeks from this Wednesday!  

Thanks for the Daily Report Rich.  

Rich,

Thanks for your daily report!  

Our flight on October 28th leaves at 11:55 AM.  We will be sweating it out!!!  Not much choice unless we wait until the next morning and spend the night at FCO.  We did that in 2018.  

Thanks for the daily report.  

We will keep an eye out for her too...

Thank you for the daily report! 

Thanks again for your updates.

Look at this from Azamara's "Explore Well at Sea Travel Requirements" !!!

WHAT TO EXPECT ON BOARDING DAY

Please wear your face mask at all times during the boarding process and maintain social distancing.

TESTING & SCREENING REQUIREMENTS

Pre-Arrival Testing

• Country Entry: Travelers arriving from Canada, Japan and USA must provide evidence of a negative result from a PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 that has been conducted within the 72 hours period before your arrival time in Italy. Proof of a negative molecular or antigen swab test is required. Children that are of age 5 and under are exempt from the pre-departure swab test. There currently is no requirement for testing prior to arrival for Israeli citizens. Isolation for 5 days and subsequent testing is required if travelers arrive without proof of a negative test.
• Early Country Entry: If visiting Italy earlier, be sure to comply with the 72-hour time period or a second test may be required prior to boarding.
• Boarding the Ship in Italy: An additional SARS-CoV-2 rapid test will be conducted upon arrival for guests 2 years of age or older.

Now, what do they mean when talking about Early Country Entry?  We will get our test on Sunday for a Tuesday flight, and arrive in Italy on Wednesday.  Our cruise starts on Saturday, we are tourists in Rome from Wednesday until Saturday morning.  I see Azamara will be testing us at the port.  Are they talking about some other testing requirement?  This is way too crazy!!!

This is fun, thanks for taking us along with you!

Thanks again for your updates!

1 hour ago, aliaschief said:

There have not been many nice days in Juneau this season.

The weather was excellent when Sharon in AZ, Cruizer Diana and I were there!  We got lucky.  You guys have fun on your Panama Canal cruise!

Looks like it is raining there again today.  

Thanks for your daily update.

Magnets work great on the Nieuw Amsterdam.  We used a bunch of them 3 weeks ago.

Thanks for the daily update!

Have fun!

We tip our Room Steward(s) some extra at the end of the cruise.  If it is a short cruise we give them an extra $10 each and on longer cruises $20 each.