TakingFlight

Tahiti will happen for us this summer, Petoonya. Hang in there!

Silversea does a great job with their expeditions-we went to Antarctica with them, too. I'm sure I'll have a few pictures for your viewing pleasure in August.

2 hours ago, Petoonya said:

@TakingFlight

What a holiday treat- the Galapagos. Was it fantastic? You are a trooper to be wearing your mask on zodiacs, Did you do it with a cruise line or on your own?

We went with Silversea on their new ship Silver Origin. We saw some incredible things and enjoyed ourselves in spite of the masks.

Oh Petoonya, don’t give up the good fight! God willing we will meet on the Spirit in August. We just got back from the Galapagos where it was mask wearing almost 24/7, even outdoors on the zodiacs. We endured, in spite of continuous fogging of my glasses, and saw some amazing sights. Covid testing requirements changed less than a week before our flights yet we managed to get it all done.

2 hours ago, Petoonya said:

Period-exclamation point, my TA spoke with WS and it truly can be one person. Thanks for the thoughtful replies Strenz and Pudgesmom. I'm the wino of the two of us and might work for me alone.

You’re a gal after my own heart, Petoonya. I have some good OBC on both of my 2022 cruises and am considering the package for just me. I am tired of having to “do the math” and just want to be able to enjoy an adult beverage whenever the occasion arises.

I knew you were a smart one, Lois! Best of luck to you with all your travels.

6 hours ago, Lois R said:

I have been researching multiple lines today for the Douro.......Scenic, Uniworld,......Tauck is sold out.

I know most folks don't talk price on here but the 10 night on AMA is about 5 grand less than Scenic and Uniworld.!  That is ALOT of money to me.  I know the other 2 lines are "higher end" but I sailed with AMA once and really loved it. 

 

Lois, I’m sorry that your experience is the same as mine. If you’ve found an AMA cruise that works for your schedule, may I suggest that you call and hold a reservation. They will hold it for a week and meanwhile you can research all your options to find what’s best for you. If you change your mind or find something better you can cancel the AMA ressie with no repercussions. 

Scenic would have been my top choice if they had availability on the dates I need. Alas, it's not to be. I will be booking on Ama Waterways.

Hi Lois. Love your posts on the SS boards. Just want to interject here to say you may not get to sail your line of choice because almost everything on the Douro is booked full for next year. I went through this exercise last week as I’m looking for a specific time frame to book this river cruise in early October. In most cases if there was availability there was only one cabin left and it was the lowest category. Happy hunting, Lois! 

The answer to Question 2 is Yes. We are doing the same in December.

3 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

@TakingFlight, the two restaurants that we ate dinner at in Quito, when we were there for the long weekend trip, were Zazu (very well-known place, upscale, really nice) and Miskay, a place that was more difficult to find but worth the hunt. The food is excellent and fairly inexpensive.

 

I agree with you - so many places are Level 4 these days; Level 3 is pretty good! When we went to France a month ago it was Level 4 I think. We went to a quiet part of France so we weren't too worried.

Thanks, JP.  Much appreciated. 

Thanks for your suggestions, jpalbany. I will check out your blog. I know you are a foodie so I know you’ll have some good restaurant recommendations. 

cool cruiser: I’m not too worried about the Level 3. I’ve been watching the covid levels in Ecuador and they haven’t had a big spike like so many other countries. We went to the Bahamas in July when it was Level 3 and felt pretty safe. Only 4 countries are Level 1 and 15 countries are Level 2, all the rest are 3’s and 4’s. So many places where cruising is happening right now are 4’s including Bahamas, Bermuda, Iceland, Caribbean, French Polynesia. I think it’s a decision you have to make for yourself whether you want to travel given your risk tolerance and desire to travel. For myself, if Silversea is going to take me to the Galapagos I’m ready to go. Our travel clock is ticking. 🤗

We will be on the Silver Origin in early December. We arranged our flights with frequent flyer miles and it worked out that we have an extra day in Quito and an extra day in Guayaquil. Are there any must-do, must-see things in either city? Or even an enjoyable way to idle away a few hours? I'm not seeing a lot in Trip Advisor that piques my interest.

I have read everything on the website and my booking documents and was still confused. I think the answer to my question is "No". I will need to select Your World when I book my 6 shore excursions and I will be charged the discounted price. There will be no additional charge for the Your World package. That's what's not clear on the website. Also, the different areas in the website show different dates when the shore excursions open for booking. Verified by two Oceania reps they have changed their policy and all shore excursions for all cruises can be booked 365 days out.

Oceania newbie here with a question about the "Your World Collection Package". Is there a charge for this package as there is for the Unlimited Passport Collection? Or is the 25% discount automatically calculated when I purchase 6 qualifying shore excursions? (6 is the minimum number of shore excursions required for my cruise for the World Collection.)

2 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Sipping Chardonnay and listening to Van Morrison tonight. A lovely evening. 🙂

And I’ll be sipping Chardonnay Sunday night listening to Van Morrison LIVE at the Santa Barbara Bowl.  So excited—can’t wait!

45 minutes ago, pugetmandm said:

The more strenuous itinerary starts in Baltra and ends in San Christobal which I think is the first one you mentioned—“the one that goes up to Genovesa and down to Espanola“ —but please double check to be sure. 

I’m confused. The itineraries for the rest of this year have been adjusted to sail from San Cristobal to San Cristobal based on Galapagos entry requirements. My SS agent says that the new itinerary combines some of both of the previous itineraries. Is this not the experience of those who have sailed this year?

I have a question about the deep water snorkeling. Did your husband see fish and other wildlife while snorkeling on the surface or did he need to dive down to see them? I am fine while surface snorkeling but I’m not confident with diving under the water. Will I be able to see anything?

Thanks, Rachel. This helps a lot.

Hi Terry. Thanks for passing this information along. Can you ask your friends what the general attire was in the dining room at dinner? I was reading a thread about the Celebrity Flora and some of those folks basically ended up wearing whatever they were wearing all day to dinner—shorts and jeans. Seems a bit odd to me but I don’t want to pack fancy duds if I don’t have to.

7 hours ago, ravinblue said:

By rescheduling (versus cancelling), did you lose any money already paid?

No.

 I heard from someone at Windstar this week that they will not be canceling the Tahiti cruises because the Tourism Board is allowing visitors into FP. Although that is true it’s not the way I want to see Tahiti-masked and under lockdowns and curfews. I rescheduled next week’s trip to next year.

French Polynesia is now at State Department Level 4: Do Not Travel. Oh my.

Thank you for all the positive vibes, Petoonya.  I can always count on you! By nature I do worry about all the big things and all the little things, too. I am astounded by the number of new covid cases that French Polynesia is experiencing daily so expect that some modification of the tourism policy will be forthcoming. Nevertheless, I have done everything I need to do on the front end for this trip so I will attempt to clear my mind and take what happens one day at a time. I have my flights, cruise, hotel reservations, tours and shore excursions, my French Polynesia Vaccine Health approval and my ETIS approval AND my covid antigen test scheduled at LAX.  After double checking everything today it's time to let it rest and just go with the flow.

I am starting to get very nervous about our trip to Tahiti. We depart LAX on 8/22. Covid cases are rising dramatically and yesterday the US State Department Travel Advisory was increased from Level 1 to Level 3 “reconsider travel”. It remains to be seen if French Polynesia will continue to allow vaccinated tourists into the country and if the cruise lines (Windstar in my case) will be able to continue to sail. I need a bit of encouragement at this point.