jsn55

I know how you feel about this new experience. It can be an ordeal, or it can be a satisfying exercise in research and planning. Picking might be slim this close to the holidays. Normally I would never advise booking air through a cruise line (they come up with itineraries that depart at midnight with 3 connections) but if it's a charter, that would probably be fine. Read the reviews here on CC and you'll absorb a great deal of knowledge. If you can find a real TA that's a cruise expert, you'd be pretty happy ... just be sure that the TA knows what they're doing. Booking cruises yourself is a lot of work ... I happen to enjoy it but many people don't. Does the UK have any groups of professional TAs like we have in the US? That would be a good place to start. Cruising at Christmas is magic and well worth the effort.

Wow, I'd KILL to have those three ports on a cruise!!

You might have noticed that I already said there might be a flag in his keycard in my initial post.

So the same people write the rules for Churchill's and for virus protocols. The only reason I even knew the rules (or some version thereof) was that I think it's hilarious that cigar smokers object to the smell of cigarettes. I'll think of you when I march in there in December and light up.

It's no wonder people are losing their minds over the virus. For our 23 September departure from Quebec City, NCL doesn't require a test. But Canada does, at least for today. What a bunch of baloney this all is! So a word to the wise ... no matter who/what/where, be sure to scrutinize the requirements of both your cruise line AND the country of your embarkation.

Yes, you are RIGHT. See where wishful thinking got me? I could make up some kind of excuse, but I just didn't read it 'right'. I apologize to anyone who thought I knew what I was talking about. Since we're in Quebec for 3 nites before boarding Pearl, so looks like we'll have to test in Canada to met the time requirement. Oh how I love stuff like this, last-minute uncertainty ... detracts from my excitement of actually being able to take a cruise.

No, of course not. But often it's not 'what you know' but 'who you know' and your local branch manager may know a way into Chase' travel department.

Yeah, I've been eyeing those 'local cruises' for a long time, especially the Mississippi. It's been even more interesting to us, as air to Europe has gone through the roof. But I grew up midway between Fargo and Minneapolis, and I just can't get energized about most of the ports on the Mississippi. The Great Lakes might be more interesting, have to read up on that one. Thanks for the reminder.

Agree on the 'test results'. I've been following this thread because we have a Princess Hawaii cruise at Christmas and I like to be prepared, especially in these insane times. We sail NCL out of Quebec City on 23 September and we are not required to test to enter Canada. As of yesterday, at any rate!

ArriveCAN needs to be done within 3 days of sailing.

I'm told that you can only smoke cigars in Churchill's.

I'm glad I have a couple more years to go with our passports. Getting involved with any new plan by the Feds is never a winner for the citizen.

From what I read about the Medallion app, this oughta be a real circus.

Look on the bright side ... it could have gone the opposite way! My take on travel now is just have NO expectations. Read all the rules, do the best you can, and be grateful for whatever good stuff happens. Nobody knows up from down anymore, I pity the people who actually work for travel providers, they're first in the line of fire when it's all screwed up. We cruise mid-September and I just want to BE ON THE SHIP. Put up the obstacles, all you bureaucrats and politicians, I'll jump 'em or go around.

An 'online travel agent' is someone who takes your booking order and books the cruise. That is the extent of their expertise. If you have issues with your cruise, they're of little help, just another layer to wade through. I think it's awful that they're allowed to refer to themselves as travel agents. Cruise lines pay commissions, so find a real travel agent who specializes in cruises. Doesn't have to be local to you, communication is easy via email and phone. ASTA is an association of professional travel agents, you might start there. I echo the earlier advice about the deck plans ... sit down and study them on the big screen of a computer. Use the enlarge feature to really scrutinize them. Read all the fine print. Spend a little time and you'll be able to learn a lot. You can often do a search for 'Princess Royal Cabin 1234' and some kind soul has posted photos and descriptions of of that exact cabin. We sailed on Queen Victoria a few years ago, my TA had booked a cabin that was the same price as all the others in that category. But studying the deck plans, I could see that there was a little jog out ... didn't look like much, but that added quite a lot of extra space to our cabin. Read all the reviews you can find about the ship ... that's where I glean most of my real information when planning a cruise. Ask specific questions on the forum. CC people love to help!

I'm laughing ... how many joints have you had replaced? I climbed Marksburg Schloss on the Rhine when my left knee was 6-months old ... good thing that I didn't know it's supposed to be the toughest access of any of them. No idea how long it took me, but the guide was dumbfounded. She arranged for a car to come and get me for the return, bless her.

I can't imagine that Chase Travel can't do this for you very easily. I hope by now you have phoned back and gotten an agent with some training, or one who knows her limitations and will transfer you to a more senior agent. As for the 'promotional rate', don't let that stampede you into doing anything unless you're sure. Cruise lines are awash with freebies, credits and promotions. Use the 'phone agent rule' ... if you get an agent that you don't want to deal with for whatever reason, politely excuse yourself, hang up and call back in ten minutes. Don't ever take the word of an agent who is telling you something negative ... always assume that Chase wants you to be happy and will fix it all somehow. I have not had many problems with Chase Travel and my Reserve CC over the years, but what I've experienced has been exemplary customer service. If this is a 'booze cruise', read the terms & conditions, cancel it; just don't book it at all.

Why would this bother you? People are weird, people are wonderful, and yes, people can be stupid. But why would you care? I happen to think that spectator sports are mind-numbing ... but sports freaks don't insist that I partake, so it doesn't bother me. My husband LOVES baseball and likes a couple of other sports somewhat, but he would never insist that I join him. Why would anyone care about someone dumb enough to cancel a cruise because some game can't be seen out on the open ocean?

"But there is a lot of pressure to make those reservations for everything"... what kind of pressure, from whom? There are rarely appealing ship's activities; I'll make arrangements for anything that's important, like a tour of the bridge or a painting class. The few ship's activities I've tried have been quite lame, we do book our ShoreX to be sure we see and do the good stuff. Otherwise, we wander around, doing whatever we wish whenever we wish. We'll go out in the morning, come back to have a glass of wine with lunch, then take a nap with a book. Our most enjoyed activity is trivia in a nice crowded bar. We dine early, never have any trouble with lines or crowds ... we're cruising to relax and have no schedule. I suppose people feel odd spending money on a cruise and having people ask about it when they get home ... so they want to do lots of stuff in order to not look foolish. Otherwise, why would you make a reservation for anything? Why would you feel pressure at all?

I thank my lucky stars that I never had to buy a condo or townhouse or anything run by an HOA. The idea of being dictated to by an HOA about what color I can paint my picket fence is horrifying. And now with the vacation rental boom, it's even worse. Transient people all over the place, ugh. They don't have much pride of ownership, do they?

Probably nothing offensive about vaping. But it's easier to enforce a ban on it all. You can't have people examining what you are 'smoking' before telling you that 'you can't do that here".

Amazing timing ... we are looking for a 'long-term seasonal rental' of several months somewhere where it's warm in winter. I had no idea there were companies like yours ... I love that idea, I'd feel very comfortable renting from professionals. I'll go see if I can figure out how to get this info.

We still laugh at a cabin refrigerator on Cunard's Queen Victoria which actually kept things COLD. The only one I've encountered on a cruise ship. Since everyone except Americans seems to be happy with 'cool' we were really impressed with Q Vickie.

I have learned when travelling anywhere that you need to know yourself and be flexible. It's impossible to predict what temperature different areas of a ship will be. I am always too warm. My husband is often chilly. He can wear a big fleece sweatshirt indoors while I'm in short-sleeves. Just be prepared with layers ... I'll bring along a cardigan to most places on the ship, just in case. The kinds of clothing you bring for your shore excursions will serve you well when walking outside on the ship ... especially if she's underway. Weather is more temperate on the West Coast. Be warned that when we cruised Alaska several years ago it was very warm and never rained a drop I remember sitting outside at a cafe and the sun was literally hot. We had to buy a few polos and t-shrits ... I didn't get to wear many of my 'ensembles' on that trip!