richmke

Move the two Israel ports to Egypt. Rest of the itinerary can stay the same.

What gets me annoyed is that on-ship stuff should be wicked fast. They should have a server that can service the medallian app for on-board stuff like menus, ordering, communicating between passengers, etc. But no (or they had a 3rd grader design their wifi system using surplus radio shack parts). Seems like the panels by the elevators work ok. Don't know why they can't get the app to work on-board.

Paxlovid was discussed for my wife on the Majestic. Princess would charge ~$700 for it. So it seems available. Given that Princess says they cover all the charges relating to treating covid, the price should be free anyway. In reading about it, rebound is an issue, but so far it is not materially different from the control group (control group had rebound at a similar rate). If you are unvaccinated, it is a no-brainer. The main goal is to avoid the hospital, and even if you rebound, the rebound is even less likely to end you up in the hospital. Less clear for vaccinated people. Given the long-term effects of COVID, I'd go for the Paxlovid even with the rebound to minimize the worst risks of COVID.

If you test positive on the ship, Princess will isolate you, and quarantine your companion. My wife tested positive on June 3, day before debarkation, and could not debark on June 4. They let me off the ship, although I think they were not supposed to. Since they kept her on the ship, the current plan is to debark her in Whittier on June 11, and complete the isolation in a hotel (Anchorage?) and fly back from there. Majestic Princess crew has no idea what they are doing. They first thought she could stay in her cabin (balcony) for the return to Whitter, but ended up moving her on Sunday to the isolation floor (Dolphin deck). The best I can describe it is: The ship was in mothball for 1+ years due to covid. When taking out of mothballs, they freshened up the decks they were going to use (roughly 50% occupancy). Due to Vancouver hotels filling up with isolated passengers, they developed a protocol to isolate on the ship. They re-opened the deck, but did not freshen it up. They also don't have the staff (or are not willing to provide the staff) to take care of the passengers in isolation with any reasonable level of service. So, your choice if you want Princess to pay for your isolation on a sub-standard cruise experience, or figure out something else. In my opinion, plan to get a transfer to Seattle, and take a flight from there (no requirement to test negative if your flight is a domestic flight). And, hope you don't develop any symptoms that would require you to be tested for covid.

Disembarked June 4th in Vancouver with flight to USA. In order to on-line check-in on an American Airlines flight, I had to provide proof of negative test. That was the only time I had to provide the proof. FYI: If you have Global Entry, you need your Global Entry Card to use the equivalent of TSA Pre-check at Security. There is a Global Entry line at USA Immigration, so I was able to avoid that long line. More FYI: I did my emed monitored test on-board June 3rd (5am to avoid the internet crowd), and got my negative test. Companion tested positive later that day with Princess PCR test, so Princess wanted to test me. PCR test was negative. They wouldn't provide me with a proof of negative test. If they had tried to charge me for the PCR test, I would have refused to pay since they wouldn't provide the results. More FYI: Information I found has a Canadian mandatory quarantine for "close contact" with persons testing positive. No one told me on Princess I had to quarantine, nor couldn't disembark. We were on the same ArriveCan record, so I thought Canada might flag me on Disembarkation. Didn't disembark until 9am, so lots of time for them to flag me (wife was reported to CA with her ArriveCan #). Canadian immigration was limited to looking that I filled out the forms, had a passport, and that I had an ArriveCan number. They never scanned the number to see if I was flagged. So I left the ship and boarded my flight back to the USA. The next day, Guest Services and Security called my wife to ask if I was on-board.

I was on the Majestic with a Saturday June 4, 2022 Disembarkment Date. Got the Binaxnow/Emed covid test in advance. Needed it for Embarkation, and had extra in the 6-pack, so that covered the surpirse Disembarkment test. Friday was a sea day, so could not test in port prior to the Saturday Disembarkation/flight back to USA. All week, the internet on the Majestic was barely usable at best when everyone is asleep. I tend to be an early riser. at 5am, Speed test showed a 1mbps upload and 2mbps download speed. I was barely able to test at 5am. The emed person says the video was fuzzy, but was eventually able to make out the expiration date, and the QR code on the test book. When my travel companions tried at 7am, they couldn't connect. One person said they tried all day Friday, and was finally able to get it done. I wouldn't waste a day trying. Backup plans: 1) One travel companion was able to do it at 3am Saturday morning. 2) I have roaming in Canada, so could use cellular internet once the ship was docked. 3) I think the port has free wifi, so could have used that immediately after disembarking. 4) Airport has free wifi, and could have done it there (had enough time before the flight).

Just did that bus tour in Skagway on May 31. Currently the Bus and Rail Tours are NOT going into Canada. Canada is making any bus/train that enters Canada to go through customs. The tours don't have the time for that, so turn around at the border. Covid test for USA residents is only when flying into USA from an international destination. The only testing requirement (currently) for those entering by ship is at Embarkation, and not at Debarkation..