cruise kitty

well, I just booked a back up cruise on Celebrity,  it fits with our flight dates, & goes to ports I love, with a couple of new ones...final payment is around the same time, but with Celebrity, I know that it's to ports that will allow us in with our full vaccinations & boosters. 

If Norway announces it is allowing U.S. citizens in by the beginning of February, great, if not...  well, wasn't meant to be this time around.  Will be grateful just to be in Europe again. 🙂

Should know in about 8 weeks 😉 

6 hours ago, adventurenerd said:

Hi Cruise Kitty,

Thank you for your detailed response!

Sounds like you had a fantastic time in Reykjavik.  We will not overnight at the port but docking from 8am till 8pm.  We are hoping to do the Golden circle by ourselves.  Missing the tour buses and setting our own pace are our plans.

How far in advance did you make your reservation?  The Europcar site does not have the Reykjavik port as an rental place option now.....may be to early as our cruise is in 6 month?

Thank you again for taking time to answer our questions😃

Mo.

 

Hi, I'm able to look at my notes & emails from that trip, booked first week in March,  I already had created an account ahead of time,  if I recall, that's when bookings opened...  we were in Iceland 3rd week of May, & had snow while we were driving so just be prepared for that.  

For Akureyri, we used Saga tours, & they were fantastic...  saw so much with them that day,  small van with 6 people....

My best two pieces of advice:  1. when you're driving, if you see something cool that's not on your itinerary, stop anyway.  2.  buy the gas station stew...  you'll know it when you see it, just buy it, you won't be sorry.  3.  Waterproof yourself & get as close to waterfalls as allowed.  

Enjoy!

We were on Millennium in September & again October in Alaska…. There were plenty of apps to check the ratings of sightings possibilities…  & most people onboard kept one another updated. Announcements during day mentioned possibilities.   I spent several very cold nights bundled up & looking to no avail.   DH went out every night.   The buffet had hot drinks going for those who braved the cold.   Despite not seeing them, it was fun trying, & a fantastic adventure to be in Alaska more or less alone.   

In the same boat, so to speak.   Booked on msc (U.S. citizens).  Airfare changeable, but final payment on cruise in February.    Considering making a backup booking on Celebrity for just in case.   Our state issues QR codes for vaccine proof but we can’t get them as we see in Pfizer trial for the foreseeable future.  Keeping fingers crossed for this one.  

Following this thread with great anticipation.  We are on MSC 12th May, 2022,  our cruise goes to :

Bergen

overnight Honningsvad

Tromso

Trondheim 

Nordfjordeid

Round trip from Kiel

any recommendations for our ports?   Honestly booked more for scenic cruising & to try out yacht club.   We enjoy hiking, walking, running & more hiking lol 😉 

Hi, we rented in Reykjavik. Prebooked  online with europcar.   The pickup office is a tiny shed right where you are docked.  If you are overnight (we were), then you  park the car right there in parking lot  near ship.  I believe we were in port around 1pm to 3 pm next day. 13:00 to 15:00    Just did a 24 hour rental but were able to pick up early & drop off late.  Drop off was basically leaving the car  & dropping keys in box.  We were able to drive & hike golden circle day one & were at blue lagoon day 2 by 8:30 am,  both days missed the hordes on tour buses & it was fantastic. Highly recommend.    Booking, prepaying, & verifying your drivers license on app ahead of time very important,  it will get you on your way much quicker.   Enjoy! Iceland is magical.  

58 minutes ago, IndyCapt said:

Getting ready to do the proctored home test. When I go to the App Store to get the Navica app, there’s various choices. Which one is what we need to complete our tests? Thanks 

it's the blue one, not the green one :  NAVICA, not Navica Verifier

2 hours ago, RenoNanaOz said:

"Unvaccinated kids" do you realize how that sounds? Kids have NEVER been forced to get a flu shot, this virus, variants etc are getting ridiculous. There has always been variants, every year, that's why new flu shots come out every winter. This new one Omicron, scramble the words and it spells moronic, think about it.

Yes, please, let's all scramble "the words" & think about it lol 🤣🤣🤣

4 hours ago, 39august said:

We have a "smart phone" but no I phone. We do not have a data plan, but buy certain amounts of time for our phones, i.e. $100 for one year. Is it possible to use our phone for this home test? Neither of us is tech savvy. We got our tests at a walk in clinic before our Sept. cruise, no problem. But would like to be able to do this home test as a back up. 

I used my smart phone to get the app & create an account, but did the test on my lap top, it was much easier to tilt my screen for them to see the kit process, & the swab process.    Received an email with results that I printed.  

I do have results I can access on phone app, but I believe I would have been fine without the phone app only using laptop.

The process was much easier than I anticipated,  & I definitely pre-stressed. about it more than needed 🙂

Lois, Bon Voyage!   wishing you a great flight & smooth seas 🙂

-Debbie

54 minutes ago, debant said:

I’ve been trying to read through the posts about covid testing but still not seeing some answers to some questions I have. 
I ordered the tests online tonight from the celebrity link. When it’s received are there instructions on the box or inside of everything that needs to be done? Is the test easy to do? Do you log into the app and then a proctor comes online?

Super easy to do, but don't open anything till you are ready to test....  try going on you tube:

Lois, I'm back & have a lot of catching up to do, but wanted to say how sorry I am about your friends sister 😢 that's too young to go.   

Melody, beautiful photos, happy, happy anniversary !!

Cynthia good luck on your move 🙂.  Congrats!

Kat, hang in there at work...  going back today was a rude awakening for me, & I was only gone 10 days lol 😉

Hi all, we’re more than halfway through our lovely little thanksgiving cruise, & it’s been wonderful.  The entertainment is top notch (& we normally don’t care for entertainment). Managed to snag some cabanas for a few days & that’s been very nice with fantastic service.   Our room is a standard balcony & a bit smaller than we are used to but comfortable.   Food & service in main dining room varies from good to “interesting”.  Have the elite beverage package & water, coffee is unlimited & does not count towards your 15 limit.    Internet is awful, awful, awful using my data to post this.   All in all having a great cruise with a great crew.  

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hey Debbie,🙂 I am here till Dec 1st..........how long will you be away? And what ship are you sailing?

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well and BIG BON VOYAGE🙂

 Hi Lois, we'll be gone about 10 days...  we're on the Koningsdam..   🙂  a little more work & we will be out of here lol,   thank you for the bon voyage!

Edit to add:  we both just tested negative, so woo hoo!

Well, I'm almost packed & ready to go 🙂 

Will do a few hours of work in the morning/early afternoon...  DD & SIL will meet up with us, pet/house sitter arrives tomorrow & then we're on our way 😉.  Haven't been on Holland America in 10 years, how time flies...

taking super casual clothing, didn't get around to buying anything....have a black off shoulder maxi dress, a few racer back style dresses, a swishy skirt, some shorts & tanks, & that's about it...  

Lois, if you leave before we return, bon voyage!!  

Happy Thanksgiving !

2 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

It's on the check in page, but it is only active within a few days of sailing. I forget if it is 2 or 3 days. We sail on Saturday and completed the health screening today. 

Thanks, I found it & completed 🙂.   Was still on hold, so hung up 😉

10 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Same here. Switched to website and I had no problem. Never went back to the app to troubleshoot.

can you tell me how you found the health screening on website?

EDIT to add:  found it online...  even though we are checked in, click on online check in, it takes you to the health screening, done & I feel quite relieved 😉

Now, just testing in morning & on to San Diego!

woo hoo!

Just now, triiip42 said:

When is your sail date?

It will pop-up and say fill it out but I believe ours(and others) did not let us  until 3 days before embarkation date.

Sunday, so we are within the 3 days...

Hi all, I'm all checked in, uploaded my security photos, & the app is asking me to do health screening, but when I click on it, it brings up a page:  "Sorry, unable to process your request at this time"

Slightly panicking, if the app won't let me do this, will we be denied boarding?   I'm on hold with HAL for eternity right now.  

1 hour ago, zgscl said:

That is good to know, the terms do not specify any exemption one way or the other. I will see if I can get an answer from a bartender as far as what they are actually doing onboard. If corporate policy is unlimited non-alcoholic then in theory that should be what they are doing. I need to try harder to cross the limit to find out if a charge appears. 

here's a link to the post with the email stating elite includes unlimited non alcohol drinks:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2799169-updated-drink-package-information/?do=findComment&comment=61960530

2 hours ago, zgscl said:

Sorry if I was unclear. There is a 15 drink per day limit. You do get unlimited access to the Coca Cola freestyle machines which are controlled by using a special cup. If you get your sodas here it does not count against your limit, but if you get sodas from a bar then it does. 

Bleh, on the drink package thread, corporate clearly stated that elite includes unlimited non alcohol drinks...  going to have to find a way to get paper water cartons to bring, as we drink a lot of water.  

Melody, congrats to your daughter!  Sounds like she's going to be a great fit for the position 🙂

11 hours ago, julia said:

@cruise kitty Debbie, Steve & family... wishing you a fun time in San Diego and a smooth sailing on the  Koningsdam!

Thank you Juli!   Wish you guys had been able to book, would have been fun 🙂

@kazu  thank you for this, it's so fun to see!    

& Bon Voyage to everyone else leaving soon 🙂

Our cruise was cancelled around June 25th...  I immediately booked a late September Alaska as a replacement...  a week before sailing our FCC still hadn't been sent... they had to hand issue & apply them... it wasn't easy.  

We had several FCC from different sailing that applied to this cruise...  all of them went more or less smoothly except for that final one...  in the end, it all worked out, but not without some scrambling on my part.