jrcooper

Martincath, thank you so much for all the helpful information! You went above and beyond including the map link! I may have to try your Bodacious wine, as I don't think I will be able to find the wine I mentioned. I really do appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

We will be arriving in Vancouver and staying at the Hyatt Regency one night before our Sept. 10, 2024, cruise and will be looking for a grocery store and wine store. I was wondering if anyone who is familiar with Vancouver would know if any of the wine stores or grocery stores happen to carry Stella Rosa semi-sweet Italian wines. I am looking for the Stella Rosa Original or Black. So far, I haven't been able to find it, but was hoping someone here might know. 

I had already planned to get Apple tags.

techteach, I think the Uber or Lyft idea is a good one. We are going to have about the same amount of luggage as you did. I don't believe I want to sit on our luggage either!

Thanks for the info. I had read that it was a long wait to get a taxi at the port, so that was why I was asking about a transfer. However, it sounds like the transfer is a hassle as well. I may just stick to a taxi or Uber. Our flight is at 2:00 pm out of LGA, so hopefully, we shouldn't have problems making it.

Does anyone know whether the QM2 offers a transfer service from the port in NYC to the airport?

Do they refill the ice bucket both times a day, or do we need to request it?

We returned from the Christmas Market Cruise on the Rhine (Dec.7-14) on the AmaLucia. As with most of you, we considered cancelling or postponing the cruise until next year, but decided to go ahead and go. I am really glad we did! We compared the pros and cons of "to go or not to go", and the "to go's" won. Since this was my first river cruise, I can't compare experiences on prior cruises, however. For those of you that have upcoming cruises here are some things that might help you a little bit.

1. Masks are worn everywhere and these must be either the surgical type, KN95, or N95 masks-no cloth-except when you are eating or drinking something. That is on the ship, outside on tours, on excursions, in the markets, etc. They are very strict about enforcing this, and if you forget yours when you leave your cabin, they will hand you one. I know because we forgot ours several times!

2. All Christmas markets had one entrance ,and you were required to show your Swiss COVID certificate as well as a passport to enter. Even some vendors asked to see it before serving you. Restaurants and shops required it as well. The Swiss certificate was excepted in Germany and France, as well.

3. All Christmas markets were open on our cruise except Rudesheim- which we knew was closed before we left. The Heidelburg market was closed, and if you wanted to take the tour to Heidelburg, you were required to take a COVID test before going. We went to Speyer instead, and at that time, the Speyer market was open.

4. Most markets were not too crowded, which we were happy to see, except for the train market in Zurich and the markets in Cologne. They were both very crowded!

5. One word of advice: be sure and take walking shoes that have a good, sturdy, heel support. I took warm, fur lined snow bootie type shoes, and found that they were really warm, but did not provide enough support on the uneven, cobblestone streets, resulting in back and hip pain, so I ended up buying a better pair of shoes while in Lucerne.

6. While we were on the cruise, the US changed the COVID test requirement from 48 hrs. before your flight home to the 24hr. time frame before your departure flight. AMA quickly changed their testing procedures that are usually done in Cologne to bringing a testing crew onboard ship when we arrived in Amsterdam in order to meet the new requirements. We got our results back quickly, and everyone onboard the ship passed with flying colors!

As I said at the beginning, we were glad we decided to go ahead and take this trip. We had a fabulous time, and the weather cooperated with us. We had a mixture of weather- some cold temperatures, a little rain, sunshine, snow showers, and a drenching rain in Cologne, but very little wind which made it all bearable!

If I am understanding it right, you get tested and have results back within 72 hours before your first flight out of the US --is that right? We are scheduled to fly from DFW on Dec. 2 and arrive in Zurich on

Dec. 3. American Airlines will accept the rapid test, but what about Switzerland and AMA? Is there a "rapid PCR" test that is accepted by all three, or should it be the regular PCR test that takes from 3-5 days or 1-3 days depending on where you look? I have researched and the info is so confusing as to which test to get! If anyone can clarify this for me, I would really appreciate it. Also, do you know if Medicare covers the COVID travel test?

Classyshots, do you know if the Coast Plaza has a laundramat? I didn't see one listed on the hotel amenities list, but on betterbidding it shows that icon on their list of hotwire hotels. After a week of traveling before we get on the ship, it would be nice to get some things washed before we board. I know that we could wait until we get on the ship and then do it, but having an iron and ironing board in the hotel room would be handy--and I wouldn't have to "do laundry" when I would rather be exploring the ship!

jan

I also called and booked the Coast Plaza yesterday because of the parking and pretty good reviews. We booked one night pre-cruise on 5-16 and will have 14 days parking as we are doing the B2B on the Island Princess. I started to go ahead and book our one day post-cruise stay there too, but for that one night (5-31) it was almost as much as the entire "cruise package!" That increase must have gone into effect! I think I will wait until after the olympics are over and then try to get a good deal on priceline for that night!

I love this Canada board! Everyone is SO-O-O helpful with useful advice!! Thank you!!

jan

We are driving to Vancouver for an Alaskan cruise in May, and I have been following this thread gathering "tons" of useful info. I am especially interested in finding out more info on the Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites since we have to find parking, and I like their "cruise package." First, is it a pretty nice hotel, and second, is it located in a safe and good part of town? Is it close to restaurants and access to transport systems?

This thread is full of very helpful info, and I know that someone will be able to help me!

jan

Hi Ron,

I don't know if you saw my post on the other thread before it was moved to this one, but I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your videos!! I also posted videos of the KOALA cruise on http://coopercornertx.tripod.com/index.htm . Ya'll are in quite a few of those!!

How are you and Carol doing? We really enjoyed meeting ya'll, and I hope we get to cruise together again sometime. I promise that if we cruise together again sometime, I'll be sure and let Jody know when and where the sail-away parties are going to be!!:D

We are going on the Diamond Princess repositioning cruise from Bangkok to Anchorage in April, and we are really excited! We have a large CC group on this cruise too, and I hope we will have as much fun as we did on the Sapphire cruise.

It was great to relive some great memories thru your videos!!:)

Tell Carol we say, "Hi!!"

Jan and Jody (jrcooper)

Wow! Thanks for the info. We will be in Bangkok 4 days precruise, and we also go to Shanghai. I wonder how long it takes for them to make a pair of glasses?

It seems like I remember reading on some thread that you could get pretty good deals on glasses in Hong Kong if you brought your prescription with you. Does anyone know anything about this? If so, where is the best place to go, etc. and how long does it take to get your glasses?

We will be overnighting in Hong Kong on our Diamond Princess cruise in April.

jan