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Interesting. I googled it and there are a number of articles about the change. https://cruisefever.net/royal-caribbean-stops-downline-embarkation-early-disembarkation/ What is more concerning is that the RCI will not allow you to join the cruise downstream as well if your flight is delayed unless you purchase your flight from RCI. That tells me the reason they give "COVID restrictions" is simply not genuine. If it were joining the cruise late due to airline issues would be treated the same if you booked your flight through the cruise line or not.

What do you like? The mainstream tour in Victoria is a visit to the Butchart Gardens. It is a bit of a drive out into suburban Victoria to get there. Good visit if you like gardens. Ogdon Point (where the cruise ship docks) is a pleasant 20 minute walk into downtown Victoria. By that time of day many museums etc will be closed. Lots of restraints will still be open. There is fairly impressive architecture around the inner harbor. In google maps if you type Odgen Point to Legislate Building it will give you a good fell for what the walk is like.

That is done by the ship purser. When a ship enters a new country and local authorities come abord the ship they meet with the purser and ships port agent who presents all the paper work required to clear the ship and any passports that need to be stamped etc.

I did this a few years ago on NCL. It was a cruise that started in Rome and originally planned to end in Venice. I was then going to fly to Paris for some business meetings. My business meeting were moved up at the last minute. I had to shorten my Vacation. Learned of the change about a week before the trip. Called NCL to ask if I could leave in Istanbul instead of returning back to Italy. NCL rep basically said, they did not know and it was subject to local immigration rules; it is discouraged. They would need to relay the question to the ship pursers office. No one at corporate is going to answer the question, it would need to come from the ship. A few days later NCL got back to me and said it could be done, but I would need to call down to the purser office as soon as I got on the ship. I was traveling on a Canadian passport, Turkey at the time required a visa for Canadian's entering the country unless they are part of an organized group such as a cruise ship. The day before we entered Turkey, I needed to provider the purser with my passport and the $50 visa fee in cash. She indicated they had quite a few people leaving in Istanbul. Some were crew, there was a group from the insurance company on the ship doing a safety inspection and a few passengers. She would be presenting all the passports that required specially processing to the authorities when clearing the ship. I would be able to pick it back up from her office later the following day. Spent the day in Istanbul, came back to the ship before disembarkation to settle the account, pickup my bags and leave the ship. When ship security scanned my room card it showed that I was leaving in Istanbul and they just asked if I had everything and had settled my account. That was it, I was done. P.S. One item to note, is Itineraries are not guaranteed. The start and end port are fixed to the extent they can be, but everything else is subject to last minute adjustment.

It has been some time since I have been on the EPICS. However there was always that top deck above the buffet. Only one of the outdoor elevator goes up there from the main deck and on set of stairs. It is quit up there.

Many parking lots in Vancouver have moved away from gates and attendants. Hard to find staff these days. They usually have vehicles with cameras that they will drive up and down the lanes. The computer checks the plates against the database.

In Canada, CASTA is our equivalent to TSA. They do the security screening going into the gate area. CASTA normally does not care about shoes unless you have metal in your shoes and it sets off the metal detector. The one exception to the larger airports in Canada has US pre-clearance where you go through US passport and customs procedures in Canada before getting on a flight to the US. In this case they require you to take off your shoes if it is going into the area where the US flights depart from. CASTA also does not do ID checks the way TSA does in the US. CASTA just wants to see that you have a valid boarding pass. The airlines in Canada are required to do a photo ID check at the gate before your get onto your flight. In Canada some airports are setup where you do a metal detector check, if that goes off they take you over to a whole body scanner otherwise your good. In the US they will do more body scanner and sometimes switch to using the metal detectors when TSA feels like it. Liquids have to be in a little bag. The limit is 100 mL or 100 grams packages and up to the number you can get into a 1 L bag. We use the metric system is Canada for some things. Slightly more than 3 oz in Canada. Bags are on a stand near the entrance to the security area.

Lufthansa is having labour issues and Frankfurt is the main hub. i think you go through passport control, then claim bags, then customs. Exit follow signs to the train station. There are walkways from both terminals to the stations.

WestJet is still flying to Heathrow but it looks like only out of Calgary. They are scaling back their Toronto operations.

I use RBC Avion Visa card personal card and the AMEX Platinum as a small business card. The Avion points can be spent on any airline. However the special deal RBC has with Air Canada is they don't earn Aeroplan points. Still find the AMEX does. The RBC Avion does still earn Aeroplan points on TAP Air Portugal and United issued tickets, Not certain if that is by design or something not getting coded correctly. As for Aeroplan, my strategy has been to put the Aeroplan number of the booking and earn whatever I earn. I am not going out of my way to earn them.

It is unlikely they would be blocked at disembarkation. If CSBA has an issue with the person they would be forced to stay on the ship. while in port.

The Sheraton Gateway that xcell recommended is great hotel, it has a nice restaurant. It is connected to Terminal 3. No need for cars etc. If your arriving in Terminal 1 there are free shuttle trains between terminals every few minutes. The free shuttle train also takes you to the Alt Toronto Airport Hotel that is located next to the parking lot station. They have a more limited menu. They have a wood oven pizza place in the hotel. Dixon Road has all the major airport hotels brands you would expect. Most of these have shuttle busses. The Crown Plaza Toronto Airport was recently remodeled just before COVID. There are a number of mid-market chain restaurants in the parking lot. Jack Astro Bar/Grill and Boston Pizza are two examples. Should mention Boston Pizza has a very diverse menu and is part of national chain in Canada. It is split into a Sports bar on one side and casual dinning on the other side. Across the intersection is Sheraton Airport Hotel. Also a nice hotel. In their parking lot they have a Chop Steak House which is nice. Montana's is a more kids friendly steakhouse chain in Canada that is across the street. Delta by Marriot Toronto Airport Hotel and Convention Center is also just down Dixon St and is nice. It has a Japanese restaurant and a Lots 41 Bar and Grill. I have stayed at the Radisson Suites on Dixon or the Holiday Inn East along Dixon. It is cheaper, the rooms are fine. The restarts are ok. The one connecting to the Holiday Inn is more like Denny;s,. I would walk down to one of the others like Millstone which casual dinning. The Bar & Grill style restraints like Lots 41, Boston Pizza and Jack Astro will likely be open until midnight. The other ones may be closing an hour or two earlier.

That comes down to the deal the consolidator made with AC. These are generally unpublished fares and subject to the terms the consolidator and AC agree on. I use to use RBC Avion Visa points for booking trips. When RBC and AC negotiated their last deal it included dropping all Aeroplan points. When I log into Avion Visa portal I can book AC flights with either cash or Avion points. It is almost always cheaper than buying direct but without the points. In the case of AA and Viking, the two likely have some deal to gets Viking cheaper fares but excludes points.

Usually when the airline a schedule change , then all the repricing goes out the window. The agent can book you into nearly any flight with space, within reason, at no cost.

Detroit is a hub for Delta. Miami is a hub for American. I generally like Delta and fly them more frequently than American. That said, they are both about the same especially on that route. Delta and WestJet partner with each other. If your in WestJets loyalty program you can credit points to your WestJet program. However don't expect a lot from that loyalty program.

It is going to be wholesale conversion rate + a fixed percentage that the bank is using as its markup. Those markups are almost always through process that do not involve human interaction such as an ATM machine. Canadian credit cards usually add 2-3% margin on top of the wholesale rate when you pay for something using your credit card in foreign currency. There are very few credit cards in Canada that don't have these hidden fees. Those exchange places, especially the ones in tourist locations can be hit and miss. Some are good other have service fees and other things they hid in the transaction.

Looks like a fantastic cruise. I will toss my 5 cents in (since we don't cent coins in Canada anymore). I live in Canada, very rarely use cash these day. I use credit cards everywhere I go. That includes to pickup a coffee.

Copa is an airline I gave flow aw well as well at work being a company we have had as a customer. They are a good airline and well run and are part of star alliance so partners with United and Sir Canada. Around the same size as WestJet and the operate the same type of aircraft. Avianca is probably a larger more complex operator. I would chose Copa and a transit through Panama City over anything that involves a transit through the US. US is a great country to visit but it clearing US customs to turn around a leave a few hours later is a pain and schedule risk.if things get backed up on customs inspection for some reason.

Pre-covid one time I did a Munich with a 30 minute layover. That was connecting from Adria Airlines onto Air Canada and involved a security check. Munich is much more efficient airport. It is smaller and if your staying in the same alliance your staying in the same terminal. I would be ok with either option, especially if you have the extra hour in Frankfurt.

Ogdon Point is the cruise ship terminal. Media is reporting that the app is down due to the Rogers outage. For those that are following, there was an interview with a SWP done mid afternoon. Where he basically said he is not certain if things will be back to normal today and they are getting close but not certain of the cause.