stowite

Looks like Silhouette has a gap in August 2025 between the 15th when it finishes its run of 7 night Iceland itineraries and August 28 when it is doing a New England/ Canada cruise out of Boston.  I wonder when the Iceland to Boston itinerary will be available to book as this it one I would like to do.

3.5 weeks last fall. You can log in and see where it is in the process.

While it is obviously a personal choice, I do plan to mask in crowded areas on our next cruise which is in Italy and Greece.  I also intend to mask for the flights to and from our cruise as I do not want anything to disrupt our trip.  I already am required to mask at work but I will be masking everywhere for the last 2 weeks prior to our trip as I do not want to catch it before we go.  Certainly the need to test negative prior to our return home is a factor as well in my plans.  

I am currently not masking some of the time in public settings as we are far enough out from our trip that getting Covid now would most likely just mean that I would be off work for 5 days and miserable for a bit but  qualify for the certificate of recovery for  our trip.  Definitely not trying to catch it but at this point it would not be too likely to jeopardize our trip.

14 minutes ago, BND said:

Confused lol.  Hawaii is part of the US.  

To  be fair until March 26, 2022 Hawaii did have some travel restrictions when going to the Islands even from the mainland, similar to restrictions that other countries have/ had.  Since in that regard Hawaii  was similar to other countries it is not too big of a stretch to think the rules for international flights could apply.  

6 hours ago, twangster said:

 

That's what I asked.  She said it's been around awhile.  She even went through my other bookings to make sure I wasn't lying when I said I only booked two so far.    🤷‍♂️

Since you will be on an entirely new cruise on the second leg of your back to back you should be able to book 3 more cruises.

Non expedited this past Sept- Oct passports were renewed in 3.5 weeks.  Our passports went to Philadelphia.

I would do a one way itinerary as you will see more of Alaska that way and you could add some time on land to the interior of Alaska.  Our friend's 10 year old was not bored on the Serenade in the Mediterranean, particularly with a very limited number of sea days.  The solarium pool may be open to the kids given the potential for weather on this itinerary and the minigolf is fun on this ship too.  Having been on Anthem with 3 sea days, I don't think you would have enough time to fully enjoy the features of a Quantum class ship without missing out on a lot of why people go to Alaska

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

So.... I'm expecting to hear about 6 passengers who will not be able to board on Oasis sometime this month.  A women came to the store to buy the over the counter covid tests boasting that she needed them for her cruise. I explained to her, until I was blue in the face that the cruise lines won't accept that test and I explained why. I don't know when she and her family will be sailing but she told me she was sailing on Royal Oasis.  I told her to check Royals website or call because these are the wrong tests. She was still insistent. I told her to save the receipt in case she changes her mind.  We can't keep those home tests on the shelf. I hope they aren't all being purchased for a cruise. 

She was fortunate to encounter someone knowledgeable about what she really needed. Hopefully she at least heeds  your advice to double check the information with Royal since she wasn't willing to take your word for it.

4 minutes ago, Globalfish said:

Oh no!  Latest version of Ohio River Planned Itinerary dated today has Queen of the Mississippi still leaving Pittsburgh at 1:30 PM on Sept. 9, but skipping Marietta, OH altogether.  We arrive in Maysville, KY on Sept. 11 at 8:30 AM.  That means that Sept. 10 is a wasted day not spent in any port.  Goes to show that no cruise itinerary is final until it actually happens.

Ugh. You posted while I was replying. Sorry you will miss my historic hometown. You should plan to be outside as you pass Marietta as the sight of the boats will still be cool to see and you should still be greeted by the boats in for the festival   

3 hours ago, Globalfish said:

Thanks for the heads-up.  We’re due there on the 10th.  Sternwheeler festival sounds like fun in spite of crowds.

It is fun although I wonder where they will have you dock as most of the levee will have sternwheelers docked there. The festival starts at 6 PM on Friday.  You may get a greeting from the other boats as you are coming and going. The captains love to blow their horns for any reason. LOL. Have a wonderful trip. 

On 9/2/2021 at 9:29 PM, Globalfish said:

Great to know!  In a previous response to Host Jazzbeau I wrote that I will not report about the  comings and goings of Queen of the Mississippi anymore as listed in marinetraffic until it returns to Pittsburgh.  Heck, now I won't even look at that site anymore!  It's BS!  Thanks for confirming it.

 

Glad that the dining room service has improved markedly since earlier this summer.  If the dining room staff is all college students, now let's hope that they don't all quit next week to go back to school.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

I saw the QoM was in Marietta today. If you are stopping there on the September 9 sailing it could be a little busy as they are having a sternwheeler festival from the 10 th to the 12th.

4 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

Just to be clear, I'm in no way lobbying to let a bunch of 18 year olds drink on my next cruise.  All I'm saying is that telling a legal adult that they can only do something if another legal adult says they can is kinda sketchy at best.

Think of it more like being a cosigner on a loan.  If the person you are cosigner for doesn't make the payments on the loan, the bank will expect you to pay up for that other legal adult.  The cruise line is just trying to make sure that a theoretically more mature adult is taking responsibility that the younger adult doesn't get too out of control.

21 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

I think they were called because each of the three cabins has an unvaccinated child. 

I agree.  This factor is what jumped out at me.  Since they want to get capacity down anyway why not start with cabins with unvaccinated people in it.  Even though they are not going for 95% vaccinated I am sure the more vaccinated passengers the better in the eyes of the cruiseline.

We had a Grand Suite on Anthem.  I liked the layout of the room and the bathroom which are well described above.  For 2 of us it felt very spacious.

1 hour ago, SailorMan98 said:

Looks like were back everyone!! I just have a few questions about the sailing on the AOTS for those onboard. Any feedback or answers are greatly appreciated. 👍🚢

 

1. During check-in in Nassau, were suites allowed to board outside of the boarding time, and what time were the staterooms ready? (I have seen videos online that they were allowed to board at 11am even though they had a 2 pm check in time and the rooms were ready)

 

Since there were not prior guests getting off the ship, it isn't a surprise that rooms were ready immediately.  The next sailing and those following will likely be more indicative of what you can expect for when rooms will be ready.

Sorry the webcam does not seem to be updating. Photos of American  Duchess in Marietta from Visit Marietta FB page.  

American Duchess is supposed to be in Marietta, OH on June 12.  This webcam should show it.  http://bestonecomputers.com/OhioRiverEast.html

40 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

They could say "if you would like to avoid this $350 COVID test, we will accept your vaccine card as a waiver; by the way there will be another $350 COVID test on days 3 and 6 as well."

Actually I think this is how they are going to get around the vaccine passport issue in FL.  The policy will be that everyone gets COVID tested to board but you can be exempted from the testing if you choose to show your vaccine card.  I also think the unvaccinated will have additional COVID testing and that there will be a charge for the testing if you were eligible to be vaccinated and chose not to be vaccinated.

10 hours ago, twangster said:

Grease would make a lot of sense given the ship was initially supposed to sail often to Greece.

In that case Mama Mia would make even more sense since it is set on a fictional Greek Island and part of  the movie was filmed in Greece.

On 3/1/2021 at 4:46 PM, dani negreanu said:

 

Imagine 😁

 

The travel agents are already overwhelmed with hundreds of people asking to book, and it was published here only in the afternoon....

 

We don't have many options to travel (only flying out anyway), but a round trip cruise [starting and ending in Israel] was very much in demand in the last years, but absolutely no cruise line was interested 😅.

 

I am happy to hear this.  One potential benefit of this is that more people will be introduced to cruising and decide  they like it.  Then perhaps cruiselines will be more willing to use a bigger variety of home ports.

On 2/17/2021 at 9:44 PM, AF-1 said:

Hello,  Jimbo;  I see you spent ten nights on Jewel.  I have never been on a Radiance Class ship; we have Jewel booked for 12 night British Isles Cruise next year.  What can you tell me about this ship?   Thanks for your time.  

It wasn't Jewel but one thing I really enjoyed on Serenade was they opened up the helipad area at the front of the ship while sailing in and out of Venice and while sailing through the Strait of Messina.  I don't know if your itinerary has any especially scenic areas that you sail through where they might open this area up but we did find it had wonderful views.

I have many reasons for getting the vaccine other than just the ability to cruise but if it helps to allow me to travel to other countries that is a bonus. 

I am not afraid to cruise but I am concerned that too  quick of a restart to cruising could actually set the industry back if too many outbreaks occur.  So far it seems like things are overall going OK with the European cruises but the countries they are sailing from seem to have a better handle on Covid than the US does.  Since I want to go on cruises in Europe, I am anticipating a long wait before I will be permitted to go to Europe to take those cruises.  I am content to wait til 2022 to cruise next.

I have been wearing a mask at work for over 2 months now so this is not that big of a deal to me.  As long as I don't need to wear an N95 or KN95 I am fine with it.  My bigger problem with getting back to cruising is the next few cruises I would like to do are in Europe and I will be waiting until the historic sites I want to see are reopened and staying open.

It depends upon the type of sailing.  For port intensive cruises or cruises that have very scenic spots to sail in and out of I liked Serenade or Radiance class the best.  I especially liked being able to be out on the front of the ship going in and out of Venice.  For sailings with more sea days, I like the activities and entertainment on Oasis and  Quantum classes.