Stldan

In my experience there isn't much to do in this small port beyond the typical Diamond International and gift shops. There are a lot of taxi's available so that is usually what we do. We grab a taxi and go over to Emerald beach which is close by but you have to get a taxi back as well. It just sort of works out for us in the past on the taxi back but I wouldn't cut it too close. 

9 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Do you have a Quest Lab or equivalent near you to get a PCR test?

No we don't The local Quest labs (within 4 hours of us) promise 3 to 4 day results for PCR. It's crazy. Who knew there would be a test storage. We are still looking like crazy but I can't even get Carnival to respond to me on this and I'm a travel agent. 

16 minutes ago, travelplus said:

If Carnival can't answer your questions on testing then how can you enforce the policy?

I agree. We can't get rapid testing that works for our August 14th cruise. We will have to cancel if they won't allow Emed Abbott BinaxNow AG test through a proctor.

Enterprise is the only company with an office on Galveston. No one-way rentals available on dates I've searched but you can try to call them. Not likely to provide shuttle so you'll have to uber on the island unless you find a nearby hotel with shuttle. 

While anyone who took a second to research this would know it's fake news I was horrified when this popped up on my phone late last night. My son, his wife and her family are all on the Triumph right now. Trust me this will get your attention. Sure I was able to quickly google this to find it to be fake but for those 20 second or so it was not funny. Then my wife got up early this morning and spotted this before I had told her. She tried to hold back tears while double checking to see if it was true. I am very unhappy that someone would post something like this. 

Many outside groups do tours as well as the cruise line. Limited mobility can be a real issue in Israel. Most areas around Tel Aviv (Joppa) and Ceaseara are OK. Sea of Galilee sites like Capurneum aren't too bad but Jerusalem old City can be tough as it has a lot of crowds, narrow side streets, slops and steps. Western Wall and main areas arent too bad but there is a lot of walking. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem (dead sea scrolls) is OK. All that being said the larger tour companies are experienced with this and can give good advice. I run some small group tours from the USA to Israel a few times per year. It is a walk intensive place generally. You can hire a private car or taxi to do some sites if you are looking to cherry pick certain places. The distances aren't really all that far except Dead Sea, Massada and Eliat. Haiffa is just a city so typical sidewalks. The gardens there are very hilly tough. Bethlehem is harder as the Israeli taxis have a hard time going into that area so you have to walk, bus transfer or go with tour group. You could do Massada on a day trip but it would take most of your time. It all depends on what you want to see there. The main advantage of the ship excursion is that if traffic or something goes bad they won't leave you. It's a more complex port than some but should still be ok.

I've had both for many years. The card is just an extra form of ID. Best plan is to always carry your passport. However I do take the card only when on beach type ports to avoid ruining my passport in the water. It will get you back on the ship. I also have a color photo copy of our passports hidden in our luggage. In addition I keep a photo copy stored on a secure cloud drive. All of this make it much easier if something goes wrong. You can use the passport card to fly domestically but most airlines require the passport to fly internationally.

It also helps to have global entry for some ports and clear for some airports but thatst another issue of course.

I've bought XXL fins from Sea Avenger in the past and have hauled them on several cruises but my fins are long and I'm looking to buy shorter ones. Swimoutlet.com does NOT carry fins for anything over Mens 13 so it's like trying to buy shoes at many stores. Sad. I prefer the closed heel fins but am going with the booty/strap type so I can downsize to travel length fins. I'll post a followup if I can find a good product.

Daily Giveaways this year has a $100 card for $85 on April 24th but it's limited to 2500 people. https://dailygetaways.ustravel.org/OfferDetails.aspx?pid=220a512f-0d6e-464d-9dcb-3986183189c9