Host Jazzbeau

I am on a Noble Caledonia cruise in the Med right now. We are calling on our first Italian port tomorrow. We have all had COVID tests done on board in preparation for entry into Italy. And today they announced that only ship tours are allowed in Italy. Note: Noble Caledonia includes all shore excursions in the cruise fare, and there are no optional or private tours for them to sell - so they have no incentive to lie about this. Give Azamara some trust - they are following the rules they are getting direct from the Italian authorities.

The puffins were gone when we were there, and we didn’t see whales from the ship. Might be different on other sailings. But the Captain seemed more concerned with keeping to schedule than stopping to watch a pod of whales.

Tried to 'like' the post about Verify success and new shower curtains, but the website won't even try. [Don't know whether to blame Azamara or our Portsmouth hotel's wonky wifi.] We will be taking our UK day 2 tests tomorrow and putting them in the Royal Mail just as we leave for Mallorca on Sunday – another bureaucratic oversight that cost us a lot of money and won't tell the UK government anything since by the time the tests are processed we will be long gone. Hopefully this is another hoop that is about to be made redundant.

That’s the one. We’re at Heathrow now, in a long line for Immigration.

UPDATE: new article on Cruise Critic says Netherlands is dropping quarantine requirement for vaxxed tourists. https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6473/

If they cancel the combined voyage when IT gets to it, I’m expecting a bunch of apologies from those so quick to allege malfeasance.

Thanks for the tip about the Centurion Lounge speakeasy bar, but we were able to get a 2top on the window right at the food and bar on the main floor. Dangerous with a tray of cookies calling out to me!

I agree with Jeff and the others about bullying, which has been really nasty on some other CC boards. And as a citizen I agree that it is necessary to stand up to bullying. But as a Host I have to point out that CC asks you not to respond but rather to Report the offending post [first option in the three dot drop-down menu at top right of each post] with an explanation of why it upsets you. A host will then review it, remove it [not always, as mysty said it's not always clear to others that offense is justified] – and most importantly, when serious enough or when a pattern emerges, give the bully a Guideline Reminder [like a yellow card] or a time out [red card]. I have seen several bullies banned for life, with very positive results for the Boards they were terrorizing. And BTW, nasty, snarky and passive-aggressive bullying are all grounds for post removal.

Nope – more royalties for Bob Thiele and George David Weiss.

Just read a live from about embarking in Fusina [the closest possible Venice lagoon option], and it didn't sound that appetizing. Passengers gather at the Marittima port in Venice for Covid testing and immigration, then take a bus to Fusina – where there is no passenger terminal. Also the ride was described as the opposite of scenic. A free shuttle to Trieste will take longer but should be more scenic – and future itineraries might start with an overnight in Trieste so you can see that area's attractions. The only tweak I would suggest is a second free shuttle from Marittima for those who choose to arrive early and stay in Venice.

I've never had that dish, but it sounds wonderful. One thing is sure: we won't get that in the Caribbean!

I think the 'domestic' in the thread title applies as intended to Canadians cruising in Canada, Brits cruising in England and Scotland, and even Germans cruising in Germany – the point is to avoid international travel restrictions by staying in your own country, whatever country that is.

I bought the kits from this link from the Delta website: https://www.azova.com/testing/ellume/delta/

I am very happy with Azova's testing protocol. It is more expensive than the other brand, but based on a video I watched of how that one works I feel more confident with Azova. [Plus Delta recommended it and provided a link, so I knew they would accept the results.] You book your appointments when you order the kits and they send a machine-gun stream of reminders so you don't forget. Then you log in on your phone or computer – the computer link didn't seem to work, but the phone did; the nice young lady agreed that having the computer link would make it easier when we needed to do things on the phone, so she called me back and we eventually got the computer link working – she was very patient. DW and I had separate appointments, but she combined them and did both of us at once. You have to establish a bluetooth link between your phone and their test gizmo [technical term - not!] into which you will insert your nose swab. The gizmo takes 15 minutes to evaluate your test, which your phone counts down, and then a message pops up with your results: negative! Then you get an email which lets you link to the Azova website where your detailed results and a QR code can be downloaded as a pdf and [here's the answer you're waiting for:] printed out. It was that pdf that I was able to upload to Delta, but I also made a hard copy which I will bring to the airport. We have to do this again on Friday at our Portsmouth hotel, to assure the cruise line that we are still clean. And they will do a last-minute test on Sunday before letting us on the charter flight. All this testing is very reassuring.

Very stressful 24 hours, leading up to our Covid test appointments at 2 pm today. [Self-inflicted stress, but what can you do?] Anyway, good news!: we both got negative results from Azova and were able to upload them to Delta and we are certified FlyReady for Wednesday. Off to London, then more tests for our charter flight to Mallorca and 15 night cruise to Malta. Woo hoo!