DCThunder

I am on a HAL cruise that goes up the Amazon River as far as Manaus. We need to get a yellow fever vax (or waiver if you're over 65 and medically unable to get the YF vax), but this has been clearly disclosed on the cruise description. We also need a Brazilian visa which is causing all sorts of angst amongst the HAL RC for this cruise. For the itinerary discussed in this thread, no VF is required, as has been stated elsewhere.

It was Generali.

This x 1000. Why anyone would pay ten bucks and subject themselves to the angst of waiting for medallions to arrive when they can pick them up at the port for free is beyond me. Even with "free shipping" as part of the Super Deluxe package, the anxiety isn't worth it.

I thought you were trying to upload a mug shot. Front and profile!

This is no different from dealing with charges from the Medical Center on board the ships. All medical center charges go on your shipboard account and get settled up on disembarkation. When I broke my ankle in Buenos Aires, the ship took x-rays and gave me a boot. They also arranged for me to see an orthopedic doc in Montevideo the next day, including a cab to the hospital. After seeing that doc, I had to pay out of pocket for the hospital and doctor charges, and the ship charged their services to me separately. When I got home, I filed all the paperwork with my travel insurance provider and was reimbursed 100%.

I'm sure it goes without saying, but make sure you bring enough of any meds or supplements you may be taking. Trying to get an RX refill in some foreign port will not be fun!

Two of the best excursions I've ever been on have been through Tours By Locals. I recently did a B2B with a turnaround day in Civitavecchia. I booked a small group tour of the Etruscan country with TBL. there were five of us on the tour, led by a Finnish-Italian woman who'd lived in Italy for 30 years, spoke fluent Italian, Finnish, and Dutch and was an opera singer/producer to boot. She took us all over the Etruscan countryside and ended with her husband making us lunch in their villa in Tarquinia followed by a visit to the small outdoor theatre they'd built to hold opera performances and got us back to the ship well before sailing time. It was a magical day and not something that would ever be possible on a ship tour. So my advice is don't immediately jump into booking ship tours without doing some searching for other excursion options. Check out Viator, Trip Advisor, TBL, Shore Excursions Group among others. You'll find better excursions for less money than being herded along by a ship guide. None of these companies are going to strand passengers at the port, so ignore all the scare warnings about behind left behind designed to get you to book a ship tour. Check out the Roll Call for the cruise and you'd be surprised at the number of people who've booked a tour for 10 (let's say) and need others to join the tour.

Thanks. I'm checking out that thread.

I'm looking to book flights going the other way (Sydney back to East Coast USA) as I'll get to Oz via a Trans-Pac cruise. I've looked at Asiana (Sydney to Seoul to SFO or LAX), Fiji, and Philippines Air (via Manila) as well as Qantas/American, and United. Has anyone done the SYD-DFW flight on Qantas and is 15 hours (even in business) as bad as It appears to be?

I'll be flying back from Sydney to the US East Coast in November 2024 following a cruise. What are the pros and cons of doing it all at once vs. taking a day in SF or LA before flying back east? And has anyone done the 15+ hour flight from SYD to DFW? Is that as awful as it sounds? I'd still need to fly from DFW to CLT to get home, so there is that too.

I'm considering giving Azamara a try but have a question about booking flights through them. Can you get an estimate of flight costs BEFORE making a deposit for a booking? I couldn't see how to do that from the website, so any advice is appreciated. Thanks

I'm waiting for the call center to be replaced by AI! 😉

Because they don't want to tie up one of the big, newer ships for 120 days that could be generating a whole lot more revenue doing 7 to 10 day milk-run cruises to the Caribbean, Europe, or Alaska.

This is spot on. While the whole situation you describe sounds "unusual", unless you and DH are one of the other couples going on the trip and/or DH's buddy has specifically asked for assistance, I'd butt out and pop the corn. You can't save people that don't want to be saved.

BTW, I just got the notice of the itinerary change to eliminate the two Israel port calls, but they're still planning on going past Houthiland and into the Red Sea.

Hasn't it already been posted? I booked a leg of the WC 2025 in August 2023. If you mean 2026, I doubt that's out yet.

I'm currently on Island Princess about 1,750 NM out of Ft. Lauderdale halfway from finishing our TA. We've been told to expect 4-5 meter seas and heavy winds as a storm overtakes us as we head to FLL for arrival on Thursday morning. Should be an interesting Monday morning for us on Monday.

SHIP Captain Cruise Director Entertainment Director Director of Restaurant Operations CARIBBEAN Vincenzo Lubrano (leaves Jan 2024) Ozren Marelic (leave) Olivia Guthrie Luke Bonney Oscar Perego CORAL Gavin Pears Jason Allen Lauren Meyer [photo with Jason] Herminio Marques CROWN Christopher Lye (leaves March 2024) Vincenzo Lembo (leave) Jody Miles (leaves April 2024) Kylie Chappell Mariusz Czemarmazowicz DIAMOND Paolo Arrigo Stefano Ravera (leave) Natalie Costa + Mikiko Ikemoto Tim Donovan Fahey Jean Paul Musiu DISCOVERY Alessandro Genzo (leaves Jan 2024) Tony Ruggero (leave) Cole Bockman (as of November 29, 2023) Neil Rose Catalin Ionel EMERALD Giuseppe Castellano (leaves March 2024) Fabrizio Maresca (leave) Fernando Duran Geof O’Rourke Rui Pereira ENCHANTED Mario Ciruzzi Nick Nash (leave) Jayson Douglass Madison Adams Nicola Furlan (leaves Jan 2024, returns April 2024) GRAND Michele Bartolomei Karen Rogers Matt (last name?) [photo with Karen] Giuseppe Franchina ISLAND Marco Cataldi Jaclyn Friedlander (leaves Jan 2024) Andi Sanders (returns Jan 2024) Susan Rawlings Daniele Rosafio MAJESTIC John Foster (leaves Jan 2024?) Nikki “Nikki Jayne” Robertson Ron Goodman Carlos Marques REGAL Aldo Traverso (leaves Jan 2024) Tim Stringer (leave) Allie Ambriano Martyn Moss Francisco Patricio ROYAL Andrea Spinardi Lloyd Flay Kelvin Joy Paul Ciobanu RUBY Mario Tani Steven Lewis (leave) Jessica Caballero (left mid-cruise in December 2023) Jaclyn Friedlander (joins Jan 2024) Michael Kujawski George Drugan SAPPHIRE Todd McBain Paolo Ravera (leave) Armando Merin Tobias Stewart Daniele Saredi SKY Marco Fortezze Aaron Hawkins Caitlin Messerschmidt Ciprian Hoidreag STAR Gennaro Arma Nick Nash (relief) TBA TBA TBA SUN Craig Street Paolo Arrigo (relief) Dan France + Corinne Steel (CD duo) Neil Rose TBA Marco Cataldi joined Island Princess as Captain on December 1.

Except bragging rights.

You may need to rename this thread on December 1 if the rumors of a new name for the app are true. And if those rumors ARE true, the thread could take off like Starship did on Saturday! Hopefully not with the same end of a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.

This X100000

Yes, but if those were booked at 2 7 days B2B cruises (with 2 booking numbers), you'd get 4 credits. So the booking number is important too.

All solos get 2 credits per booking number.

Island is/was supposed to go to a drydock session sometime in 2024 before the world cruise starts. Would Princess spend the dough to do a refurb in drydock if they were going to sell the ship? Maybe it's like painting the house and putting in new carpeting before you put it on MLS to sell, but I'd think doing a ship drydock is a lot more costly than doing some painting in the living room.

Same with a September 2024 Trans-Pac cruise. Almost a grand more now than when I booked it.