tarzana traveler

We just got back from Riviera Cruise - Greece and Israel - we found the free laundry service perk failed to meet the time for return as advertised. They don't count the day you turn in the laundry as Day 1, so it really took 4 days to get the laundry back. Thus, you need to be careful as to what you turn in. We found ourselves out of clean clothes and didn't get back what was turned in Weds. morning until Saturday evening.

Maybe it was just the ship as we have had the service before and it was returned to us on the 2nd day

We took a van tour around the island. Saw many uprooted trees, open and damaged roofs, etc. Damage seemed worse in some areas than others. Saw very little damage in Gustavia on the streets at the pier. Did not go to the beach. Almost all the hotels were still closed.

We'll know on Nov. 5th when we are scheduled to be there. I'll post the answer on this thread then.

Today is Nov. 5 and we did arrive in St.Bart's this morning. We were the second ship to arrive since the hurricane. However it is Sunday and almost everything including most stores and the hotels are closed. Little to do, probably would have been smarter for O to have changed the itinerary to a different port.

The island seems to be recovering and should be in better shape in the near future for those of you going there later this year or early net year.

Well let us know if you get there

We are schedule to stop there in Dec

We'll know on Nov. 5th when we are scheduled to be there. I'll post the answer on this thread then.

found this report

https://www.caribjournal.com/2017/09/22/st-barth-2-0-moving-ahead-island-continues-recovery/#

Thanks for your input. I've seen this post, however it is dated "09/22/2017" which is over a month ago. Again, today's CC post in the news section (the latest info I could find) still lists St. Bart's as closed.

We're also on the Oct. 30 cruise. As of this morning however, the CC update on Port status indicates St. Bart's is still closed. I have previously posted the St. Bart's question on the Cruise's roll call. O says we are going there, but there are continuing mixed signals.

I don't have the text of the PVSA, but the fine is part of the US Code: 46 US Code #55103 (so my understanding is that this is the law as passed by Congress) as well as in the CFR: 19 CFR 4.80 (which are the enabling regulations).

It seems that the law authorizes the imposition of fines and the regulations set the criteria and amount. I think this problem (emergency medical disembarkation) could be corrected simply by CBP amending the regulation to exempt medical emergency disembarkation from the fine. No need to reopen the statute in Congress.

However there would not be much demand for the making a change as the cruse lines are really not impacted as they simply pass the costs on to their clients. The work involved to get such a change would be time consuming and costly, thus nothing will be done

Just another example of a silly regulation that serves no good purpose.

In fact, the last time the PVSA was addressed, it was merely to enforce the intent of the existing law. CBP went overboard in response to NCL's application for enforcement, and in the end, even NCL disagreed with the proposed changes.

I appreciate all the comments responding to my posting. There is at least one of you (Chengkp), maybe others too, out there that has a good knowledge and understanding of Maritime law and this issue. Do you know if this provision for a fine is written into the statute itself, or is it part of the implementing regulations? If it is the latter, then changes could be made without going back to Congress to change the law itself; a less complicated procedure

In either case, without support from the directly affected parties (Cruise Lines) any changes would be difficult to make. Changing regulations and laws is a very complex process, but given the purposes of the Act and this particular unintended consequence from an old law, a good case could be made.

Glad that your wife is O.K. Were you able to rejoin the cruise in Halifax?

We were also on this cruise and had a friend on board who also had to leave in Boston with a Heart Attack. He had a similar experience to you. He did make it home after 5 days in Mass. General Hospital. Unfortunately he passed away last Wednesday.

Thanks for advising about the possibility of getting exempted from the fine through dealing with CBP. I will advise his family as they probably could use a refund of this fine.

This is another example of a silly regulation. Do these bureaucrats actually believe this is a reasonable action (the Fine) under the circumstances involved, and that someone paid thousands of $ to board a cruise to intentionally travel only from NY to Boston.

Just happen to double check my GRF as it is in the computer. It now says my language preference is "Francais". I don't speak French. Tried to change back to "English" but it won't save it.

Come on guys, can't you fix this problem so it works properly for more than just a few weeks. Most frustrating.

TT

The issue with the language preference causing problems when completing the Guest Registration Form has been resolved. Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you again for your patience.

Just checked out my GRF status and it has saved the correct info and indicates complete.

Thanks for fixing the issue.

I just checked again and the language setting is still not being saved. Have entered it countless times, but it never remembers.

 

Here's a question: We are supposed to select our dining reservations in a couple of weeks for our Mediterranean cruise. Is that going to work? Will those choices be immediately forgotten as well?

I made our dining reservations on line last week. No problems (yet, - keeping my fingers crossed).

We are aware of that bug and hope to have it resolved soon.

Hope you can resolve this soon. Can you please leave post on this thread when it is fixed so I can finally complete the GRF process. Thanks

Website Problems in California also:

I completed the Guest Registration Form way back in January. Now every time I go on my account at the Oceania website it asks me to again complete the GRF. It specifically asks me for a "language Preference" which I have entered and saved numerous times over the past week and it still doesn't take the info and show my GRF as complete.

I have spoken to Oceania reps who have tried to help me but with no results.

I'm getting tired of this and hope someone from Oceania's website management team get this post and fixes this issue.

You should check with NCL re: shuttle to city center. As for visiting the Goal, we were in Dublin the last week of August. We took the Hop-On Hop-Off RED line, which is available at multiple locations in the city to get to the gaol as well as around the city. The Gaol was very crowded with a long wait time (1-2 hour wait) if you want to tour the interior - get there as early as possible if that's your main stop. The HOnHOff bus would also give you a good overview of Dublin's Highlights. The Guiness storehouse is another potential stop to consider, we enjoyed it.

Dublin is a great city to see, you'll enjoy it no matter which sites you visit

Arriving into Shanghai (PVG) on June 20, 2013 need any information as to location of Visa ATM's and amounts you can draw per day. Appreciate any and all input.:)

Just got back from "Cultural Delights" cruise and tour. Great trip, but more about it later. As to ATM's, don't worry, they are all over the place in Shanghai and elsewhere. I looked for ATM's from "China Construction Bank (CCB)" which is a Bank of America partner, thefore there were no ATM fees for using them. I found enough CCB ATM'S throughout China that I had no problem getting as much local currency as I needed. I don't know what the limits were, I never took out more than US $200 at a time.

The hotels we stayed at all had ATM's in their lobby, so even if I couldn't find a CCB I could have still accessed the other machines. There were also ATM's from numerous banks on most streets. Make sure you have a 4 digit pin code to access the system.

This may sound like a stupid question but my wife uses "Sweet and Low" (the pink packet) for her coffee. Is this available on the Emerald? and in the hotels? thanks for your feedback.

TT

Kohola - Thanks for your post on Xian. You've given me some ideas. We will also be staying at the Hilton, so it looks like we will have a number of options available to us. I don't think we want a undertake a10 mile walk, however a short walk through the neighborhood might be very interesting. Is it safe to wander around the immediate area of the hotel? Would you recommend a guide, since we don't speak Chinese?

TT

Thanks for your info, I'll keep the timing of the decision in mind.

TT

Thanks for your thoughts on this event. As this event comes late on our itinerary we will defer making a decision on whether to go until later on.

While we don't want to miss something unique, we don't usually care for tourist driven type shows. Also, we want good meals.

One of you mentioned seeing the city walls as a possible alternative. Is this a real possibility for an evening outing? I'm sure we would be able to get guide if we chose this as an option.

TT

I'm in the process of reviewing our final documents for our trip starting March 27. I have a few questions that someone probably can answer. Pleeease

1. Can we put tips for the ships staff on our shipboard account? I'd like not to have to carry cash for this purpose.

2. Opinions on the Tang Dynasty event. Is it worth going?

I realize these questions may have already been addressed in the past but your perspective would be appreciated.

Thanks, Tarzana Traveler

I've been tracking the Roll Call thread for the Cultural Delights Cruise starting March 27, hoping to fing others taking that cruise. So far only 1 other person has posted to it.

Abyone out there going on this trip?

Thanks Kohala, I'm sure I'll find one when I'm in Shanghai. Since I've got pick uparrangemnets at Pudong I won't need any Yuan until I've checked into my hotel

I would like to avoid ATM fees by using my Bank of America card at their partner China Construction Bank (CCB). Are their any CCB ATM's at Shanghai Pudong Airport or in Shanghai?

Which cruise are you going on? We are on "Cultural Delights" starting in Shanghai March 27