packercruising

1 hour ago, Host Sharon said:

As an aside, I have seen people fall off three-wheel scooters as they can tip. Four wheels are much more stable.

DW's will be a 4 wheeler. Storing it by the gangway would be acceptable.

On 8/14/2022 at 3:01 PM, daiB said:

Unfortunatly a folding scooter is just classed as a scooter with the same rules. This has been the case for 8+ years.

So a standard balcony would not be allowed for a scooter like the OP showed? I am just starting to check on this, because DW will have a scooter like that. She won't need it on the ship.

We are going to stay on the ship anyway, as we have been there before and tendering is, indeed, a pain. But now we know we will be allowed on the ship. Awesome!

7 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

If grand cayman remains a hold out I would expect cruise ships to just eliminate that stop rather than have special embarkation rules for one island. 

I really  hope that is true!

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Being vaxxed will maximize your opportunities to cruise. The last thing you need is to be denied boarding because you didn’t read the NCL web site requirements. Remember, the people you are calling at NCL are sub minimum wage call center people who are reading exactly the same thing you see on the website and trying to interpret for you.  Follow the rules for The Bahamas. 
 

And understand if you have any other testing requirements like the little kids. 

Non-vaxxers are fully aware of the ramifications on not getting the shot. We check NCL on a pretty much daily basic. We watch cruising video chats on YouTube. We have cancelled 3 cruises we had booked for this year and are resigned to not cruise again until this is settled. 

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

For Bermuda, effective 8/22, unvaccinated passengers will be able to cruise. Before, they were unable to even embark. There is a whole list of requirements they need to fulfill, but I'll leave those for all the other topics on this forum. Not sure of other destinations. 

Love your Avatar. Grand Caymans is another one and that is on our itinerary.

5 minutes ago, JohnBoy in NC said:

In the same boat as you—booked 2 weeks later at the end of January. Very hopeful to be able to cruise again but will wait to the last minute to decide at final payment deadline.

 

I am hoping that they will drop the testing requirements as well since CDC relaxed their suggestions recently (no need to screen if no symptoms and unvaxxed and vaxxed are treated equally).
 

Need to stop using the V word anyway.  

This is the second time today I have seen the No screening if no symptoms, so that is good news. We are booked on the Bliss in Feb. As it stands now, we would not be able to cruise.

100% agree with the use of the V word.

OP specifically asked for no Get vaxed or stay home comments, so thank you to those that honored that.

The last protocol I saw was that unvaxed pax would not be able to cruise if any of the ports had restrictions. Unvaxed would not be able to just stay on the ship at that port. Has this changed?

Does anyone know of a list or database that keeps track of the Covid rules at the ports on our itinerary?

So you are saying there is a chance, 😁 Thank you for the pictures!

On 12/27/2020 at 11:44 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

At least that’s on the figure. My Oasis cruise was due to return today is still listed.

I believe that they stay active until refunds or FCC’s have been issued. 

 

Plus RCI has to be swamped with all the ships and all the sailings that need to be cancelled.

We are at the mercy of Canada.

On 12/16/2020 at 12:57 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

That looks exactly what Sparky would look like anytime it snowed.  She loved the winter and would lie outside for hours.  

 

Unfortunately you can't do the ANC to YVR and YVR to LAX as that would be a violation of the PVSA as you do not stop at a distant foreign port

Our TA came to the same conclusion. We are settling on the 7 day from Vancouver to LA. At least we got the cabin we wanted.

3 hours ago, travelinmoma said:

I'm a little sad about giving up cabin 9664, but I'm relieved.  Now I'm no longer wondering everyday what my plans are for the summer.  I can move forward with a new plan.  

 

I never got to sail on Empress.  I'm hoping they will offer a NE/Canada option on another ship in the future.  

Last Oct (2019) We did Adventure Of The Seas Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. It was awesome! 13 days for the same price as the 10 day ones they had during the season.

12 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Even though it is two separate cruises it is still illegal under the PVSA as that only looks at your starting point and final destination.  Whether the cruise ends and restarts in the middle is irrelevant.

 

while it can be booked you will eventually get a call from Royal telling you you must cancel one of the legs.  Hopefully you get that call before you have booked airfare. 

 

. 

That's what we think too. We were planning on using our air fare from Our Visions cruise in March, which is almost certain to be cancelled, for the Empress. DW does all of that planning. She's good at it. 

3 hours ago, twangster said:

 

You might want to explore the PVSA before booking Anchorage to LA.

It would be two separate cruises, one from Anchorage -Vancouver and one from Vancouver to LA. Our TA checked and we can book them, but might have to cancel one of them. We would only do it if we can keep the same cabin so this one looks like it is dead in the water from the get go.

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Just a matter of time

First of all, I may have mentioned before, I really like your avatar. Looks a lot like our Oreo.

Looking at an option for Empress, Radiance has a 7 day Anchorage to Vancouver, which we could B2B from Vancouver to LA. Then there is nothing listed for Radiance until October. Radiance is our favorite ship.

40 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree, not sure what I'm going do after Radiance Class leaves...

Radiance class is leaving? 

2 hours ago, hotwheels920 said:

I had Vision booked for a Med Cruise next summer - corner aft suite.  

So, my cruise bucket list isn't getting any smaller.  lol

We did a B2B on Vision a few years ago, 11 day Norwegian Fjords and 11 day Baltics. We really liked the ship.

Our TA is really on the ball. He called this morning and is going to look for an alternative.

1 minute ago, hotwheels920 said:

Bummer.  Understandable, but bummer.

I love the intimacy of the smaller ships.

😢

Us too. No doubt our Visions cruise in March will be cancelled.

This wouldn't be so bad if there was another ship to switch to. We were really looking forward to the Empress in September, if it sailed. We were going to sail from Montreal. Do they have any ships that could do that?

4 hours ago, NancyIL said:

 

Guess I shouldn't book a shore excursion (@ 25% off) on Empress for my September Canada cruise, eh?

We are kind of wondering that too. First, cdc is saying no cruises over 7 days, and who knows when Canada will open back up. Then there might not be any other ships sailing from Montreal. Not looking good.

17 hours ago, travelwide said:

Will confess I have not read all 39 pages of this thread. Some food for thought. Now that we have a new administration in the U.S. there is the possibility that Cuba will be opened again. The Empress was the ship used for that itinerary . I can see the ship coming back to Miami  for short cruises.

 

Fingers crossed.

I really do not want to discuss politics on here, but a new administration is more likely to close everything down than the current one. Also, please note that, under the current regime in Cuba, your tourist dollars do not help the economy. 

Looking for cruises is like looking for something on Amazon. Just entering RCI and Empress and there are no listings for September. Enter RCI  Empress for September and it shows up.

19 minutes ago, NancyIL said:

 

Our Empress Canada cruise out of Montreal is 11 nights, but it has no US ports. I have been expecting it to get cancelled - just because it's on Empress. However, there are four 7-night Canada/NE cruises on Empress out of Cape Liberty that are still bookable.

Our 10 day out of Montreal in Sept is not listed, but there is a 15 day one in October listed.