new_cruiser

Two people in our party have tested positive for COVID. Two more may have it. Our cruise ends in Vancouver on Friday. They have hotel reservations for two nights and a flight back to the US on Sunday. How is Canada/Vancouver currently handling people who arrive with COVID? I'm currently fine. Because I'm over 70, I had another booster a couple of weeks ago so I'm hoping to stay that way.

A passport card is valid for a cruise like that. We used our passport cards to board a Vancouver to Seward cruise some years ago. We had our passport books with us because we had flown into Vancouver but passport cards were new to us and I wanted to see if it worked. Yes, I hope they get wait times down to more normal soon.

No one knows. Permanent is a long time.

Was the repositioning from one US port to another or ending in Canada or Mexico where one might come back to the US by land (e.g. by car or train) or sea? In that case, a Passport Card would be fine. You can't use one for crossing the border by air but for land or sea crossings from Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and Bermuda, it is a passport. Calling within 14 days of travel is to get an in-person passport appointment. Note, within 14 means travel needs to be less than 14 days away. So if you call, for example, on the 1st to leave on the 15th they will tell you to call back tomorrow. That's what happened when I called. I didn't get any pushback when I called the next day. They gave me an appointment at the nearest passport office for two days before my departure. People who have called closer to departure have in some cases not being able to get an appointment or only having one available at an office far away.

None of those reasons seems to fit needing a passport to travel with while your main passport is being renewed.

Renew with the urgent process. To do that yourself, call for an in person appointment when within 14 days of departing on a trip (i.e. call on the 1st if departing on the 14th). You will either pick the passport up later on the day of the appointment or have to come in the next day. If you don't want to go in person, you can pay an expeditor to do it for you. Or wait for now and hope renewal times will go down before you need to renew.

And I saw bear 🐻 cubs by Steep Creek at Mendenhall Glacier in August. Also saw bears on a trip in May on meadows in Kenai and Misty Fjords. Seeing bears isn't unlikely but It's hit or miss. Whale sightings on a whale watch are nearly 100% sure. Seeing a bear is more chancy.

I've often heard this, but never have seen the claim accompanied by a scientific research paper. My own broken 2 broken bone injuries in my 60's healed no slower than the one I had in middle age. Indeed, no slower than my children's childhood breaks.

Her circumstances may vary, but in my late 60s, I broke my arm in Thailand - complex fracture so surgery and a 3-day hospital stay was needed. With doctor's okay, I flew back home to California right from the hospital. So.e years before. I broke my leg ankle a couple of days before a business trip and was able to fly to the meeting. My leg did swell a bit in the flight but that was just a couple of days after the injury. Perhaps a leg surgery changes the issues but it seems hopeful that 4 weeks after it will be okay with the Dr.

I understand completely. Most of my cruises are on a small ship line, Windstar, where everything seems much simpler. Nothing to reserve ahead unless there's a particularly special excursion. All non-alcoholic beverages included and we don't drink enough for the alcohol beverage plan to be worth it. I'm going on this ship to be with family but I'm a bit nervous about it after reading the comments here about the food especially since I have some foods I have to avoid. BTW, the price drop I got was about 16 days before my cruise.

You don't mention when the cruise is. If it's more than a few weeks away, you could continue to watch the prices and call to request an upgrade if there is a price drop/sale. I'm on my way to an Alaska cruise now. I'd initially booked an ocean view guarantee. The balcony guarantee price dropped to about $200 pp but that was gone a couple of days later when I'd decided to go for it. Price was way up but I kept checking it and one day the price was down even lower so I called and they changed me to a balcony guarantee for an extra $120 pp. This is on a fairly full sailing after final payment. There were times when one class or another showed as sold out.

I sometimes like a Gin Rickey which is gin, lime juice and soda water served over ice with a lime garnish. Almost no bartenders today know what that is. I have to ask for gin, lime juice and soda water. Even ordering it that way, I had once where it was sweet and I sent it back being specific that it shouldn't have any simple syrup or other sweetener. What came back was still sweet - I suspect that they were using a sweetened lime mixer instead of plain lime juice. Many of the modern drinks are too sweet for my tastes. I sometimes like a mildly sweet drink with sour components like a margarita but I don't enjoy a very sweet drink.

However, questions do usually get helpful answers so if you have a question, post it.

I guess gloves may be less of an issue in August and perhaps also less important for the zodiac where you can put your hands in your pockets some of the time. I was on a kayak in May. Probably still nice to have in August if you hit a cool spell.

Either that deal has gone or the price isn't available booking from the USA. When I check their website, it shows $9438 for a solo port-to-port (i.e. just the cruise, no airfare, no transfers) and $7550 pp double occupancy. Your price is much better than the current per person double occupancy price in the US.

Sounds like it's time to call the passport agency to see what's going on. I was amazed how quickly my Global Entry card arrived. Especially since I'd received emails from them that my card was expiring which included: "Due to a significant increase in application volume, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is extending the grace period from 6 months to 1 year for any Trusted Traveler member who has a valid membership and who has submitted a renewal application. This means you will continue to receive full benefits for 1 year while U.S. Customs and Border Protection is finalizing your renewal application." That made it sound like renewal could take months or even a year. Mine came quite quickly like yours. On the other hand, when my husband renewed, he got a letter saying it was approved but that he would have to go in for an interview again to pick it up. We tried doing the interview on the way back from an international trip when we arrived in Dulles, but were told that that terminal didn't have it. In the end, he had to schedule an interview and drive to SFO for it. I've no idea whether needing to go in person to complete the renewal is a random thing or based on some criteria. My husband has a very common name so that might be a reason. I've renewed multiple times and never had to go in person. It would be great if passport renewal was more like Global Entry.

They can invoke the same urgent process that the OP can use by going to the passport office in person. It won't be faster than going in person - it may be slower because of the overnight mailing times to and from the expediter. What it would save is flying to Denver and possibly an overnight hotel stay there. In any case, a call to an expediter to see what they can do hurts nothing and the OP can decide based on the answer whether it is a better option or not in their case.

Thread about the urgent passport process including details of my same day passport experience: Another option would be to contact a passport expediter (e.g. CIBT) to see if they can do the process for you. Their fee is pretty hefty - about $600 to $700 for ones I checked - not worth it in my case given the cost of going to San Francisco for the day, but might make sense instead of flying to Denver in your case.

Only children under 16 (in some circumstances 19): https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative A US adult needs a passport or other ID that proves citizenship (e.g. an enhanced driver's license but I think currently only some states on the Canadian border issue those).

Windstar provided waterproof pants. I wore my waterproof Merrill Moab hiking shoes. Windstar also provided waterproof gloves. I didn't use their gloves. My fingers are short so non-stretchy gloves never fit right - lots of finger left over. Also, I wanted to be able to use the touch screen on my camera. So I brought wool fingerless gloves with mitten tops that fold back to expose the fingers. The wool got damp but stayed warm enough and I could use my camera with the gloves on, just flipping the mitten top back. My cruise was in May and there was often drizzle so the waterproof pants made the kayak and zodiac comfortable.

How is this excursion for someone without much kayak experience? My only prior experience with a kayak is some excursions from a Windstar ship in Kenai Fjords, Endicott Arm and Misty Fjords.

Some Alaskan small ship lines sail out of Juneau. E.g. Alaska Dream, Uncruise, and Lindblad have itineraries that sail terminate in Juneau.

Have you considered leaving from Vancouver instead of Seattle? The itineraries out of Seattle are a compromise to leave from a US port. Leaving from Vancouver, you get more time in Alaska ports or a second glacier visit, Hubbard Glacier.

She can also google for videos to help with how to do things with one hand. I broke my wrist on a cruise in Thailand. It was my dominant hand. I was solo on that cruise. Mine was a compound fracture and needed surgery so I was in a hospital for 3 days before returning home. I watched videos on line for things like how to tie shoes with one hand. I had shortish hair at the time. Maybe she can find something on how to do long hair with one hand.

Wind Surf seems to be slightly longer than the regulations - Wind Surf at 187 meters vs regulation at 180 meters. Also the mast height is way higher than the height limit.