twototravel

@CarolynFH Have your Dad take a home test a few days before departing. We always do that so there are no surprises when taking the "official" test for wherever we are going.

@olyphant315 On our last ACL cruise, we gave small tips to the excursion guides.

@CarolynFHSo I sent an email to customer service and got the following reply. According to ACL, "the Governor of Washington has lifted his mandate requiring pre travel testing for guests participating in a cruise in Washington State."

@CarolynFH That's great news. Still waiting to hear if we still need a PCR test for our Puget Sound cruise. I got no response from ACL when I sent in an email asking about this requirement.

The hotel used in Boston (at least last year) was the 4 Seasons. Very nice, excellent location, but a very high price. FYI, there is a Marriot close to the where the ship is docked, but not near any of the sites of interest. The hotel we'll be staying at in April with the Puget Sound cruise is the Crown Plaza in Seattle. Much cheaper, less nice, and not so close to sites of interest. 

@antsnanny Some excursions are complimentary and others you have to sign up and pay for. The list of excursions are available online 60 days prior to your embarkation. Of course you could wait to sign up once onboard as they do have a presentation about them, but you have the chance of not getting on one, especially if it's a premium one with limited numbers. Included ones are usually museums that are right at the port where the ship docks or a continuous shuttle into the local town. 

Just received the excursion selection list for our cruise departing 16 April. The new itinerary (sans Canada) mixed up the ports and lengths of stay. Here is what we signed up for: Tacoma - Beer Experience; Anacortes - Whale Watching; Friday Harbor - Whale Watching and Jolly Trolley; Port Angeles - Olympic National Park & Hurricane Ridge and Olympic Game Farm; Port Townsend - Walking Tour; Poulsbo - Walking Tour; and last day on ship shuttle into downtown Seattle for Pike Place Market time. This doesn't include all the complimentary excursions that are offered at each docking.

@CarolynFH If the requirements don't change, suggest looking into scheduling a test upon arrival at your airport. Many big airports either offer tests inside the terminal or nearby outside.

Too bad the ships are not ready now. We go on the Constellation in April. All their current ships need an interior facelift so hopefully these new ships will replace all the old ones. I like the smaller size; maybe there will be less tenders and more anchoring at piers. Having to take a boat to shore wastes so much time.

@bhopal21 The local favorite is Driftwood Bistro but it is only open for dinner starting at 5 Mon-Sat. Always good food at the Wee Pub in the Beach Village, and the Sunrise Grill in the beach village and Tribuzio Grill at the Golf Course complex are owned by same couple so always good food and lots of daily specials.

@BaumD You will be coming to Jekyll which is where I live. If you want suggestions of what to see and do if you have any free time just let me know. 

We just received our final documents for our cruise departing on 16 April. The itinerary has been changed quite a bit from when we booked and what is currently posted on their website. First day we only go 2 hours before stopping for the night in Bremerton. It's not even a true reverse trip; ports are totally mixed up. Can't tell if the excursion to Victoria, BC is still on or not as they are not published yet. It will be fun to get away and see this part of the coast. Keeping our fingers crossed service has improved since our last ACL cruise this past July.

@DaveinCharlotte I hadn't noticed that vaccine question before since I had already filled out the other forms, so thank you for mentioning it. On my cruise last year that question was sent in an email. However, I was able to open that document online and both my and my partner's names were listed with a yes or no box. I checked yes for both of us and got a popup stating that it was submitted. I think ACL provides it both ways since some people are not computer savvy and may have problems with the online version.

I noticed ACL has made a few changes to their COVID Protocol information: 

"Guests will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and complete a pre-embarkation health declaration certifying their vaccination status. Vaccination requirements may vary by state and region travelled, but all eligible guests should become vaccinated.

All crew members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Guests are considered fully vaccinated if they have received the full regimen of doses required by the vaccine manufacturer. There is not currently guidance on the expiration date of COVID-19 vaccines, but COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are in the time period required to maintain vaccine effectiveness are strongly recommended.

In the rare instance that a guest may be unvaccinated, that individual will be subject to additional testing and quarantine requirements that may affect their ability to travel or participate in the cruise, including the ability to explore ports of call or join organized events onboard or ashore. Any unvaccinated guest is advised that vaccines may become required with minimal notice prior to their cruise."

"American Cruise Lines also recommends pre-travel testing no more than 3 days prior to travel. Any unvaccinated guest must take a molecular COVID-19 test (i.e. NAAT or PCR test) no more than 3 days prior to travel and email the results to healthsafety@americancruiselines.com prior to boarding. Unvaccinated guests will also be administered an antigen test on embarkation day and routine testing no less than every 3 days during the cruise."

@DaveinCharlotte I log in directly from their home page. At the top you will see Your Trip and a drop down menu. Just log in using your email and password. Your account pops up and there's a big blue box that has View Documents. From there you can update anything that is not ghosted. 

@Globalfish We had a trip scheduled on Pearl Seas for Canada in 2020, but since it was closed, we were able to very easily transfer our money via a voucher over to ACL. It was even good for 2 years, instead of the 1 year that ACL usually issues.

Another new ship?

@CarolynFH Please post if you get any emails from ACL about your cruise and I will do the same.

It will be interesting to see what happens with ACL cruises in the next few weeks/months since CDC is now telling people do not cruise even if you are vaccinated. They were exempt from CDC rules because of the low maximum passenger number and started back their cruises way before the bigger ships did. My cruise in April is all paid for, with the pre-night package, and our flights are booked. Hoping it all turns out well.

@maidawebSorry to hear you cancelled. I'm sure you were looking forward to your trip. Even though not mandated or enforced, we did wear our masks in all public areas on our last cruise and avoided the happy hours, etc. At least going on the Puget Sound cruise, the state has made it mandatory for any cruiser leaving out of Washington a PCR test is mandatory and results have to be mailed into ACL before departure. This is in addition to the rapid test everyone gets from ACL just prior to boarding. 

We have a cruise scheduled for April. I hope ACL is watching and learning from the latest cruise ships battling covid and decides to begin a mandatory vaccine policy for all cruises and enforces mask wearing onboard and on excursions. We did the New England cruise this past summer. Vaccines were encouraged but not mandatory and mask wearing was not enforced, even among crew and staff. If anyone has done any cruises lately, can you post how your experience was?

@nybumpkin Thanks for the recommendations.

We are booked on the Constellation for the Grand Puget Sound cruise in mid April. We should be getting the email soon to choose excursions. Anyone have recommendations of ones not to miss?

I think ACL is putting their best crews on the newer ships. I'm still reading on various forums that issues remain on some of the older ships.

We are booked to be on the B-K voyage with Havila Castor in Sept 2022 as part of a bigger Norway tour. The cabin layouts look much nicer than some of the older ships.