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I suspect we will see various types of travel restrictions continue this summer. There may be differences in how land, sea, air arrivals are handled as current policies indicate. Even within the USA there are differences, for example you can't disembark from a cruise ship in Hawaii unless you are a Hawaii resident or have special permission but you can fly to Hawaii if you are willing to self quarantine for 14 days; and the land borders with Canada and Mexico to/ from the USA are closed to general non-commercial travel.

There used to exist (still have mine) a yellow immunization booklet to record vaccinations. This was brought on international travel, and often contained stamps as well as signatures from health providers of vaccinations. It should be possible to create a digital version today if the various authorities cooperate. Something like this would greatly assist in cruising without having to provide complete medical histories.

We cancelled a multi-cabin family cruise on March 12th, received all the credits on credit card on March 24th, a little longer than usual but given the circumstances acceptable.

Good move, maybe should even be longer.

I'm not certain of anything anymore! I wrote that post before these new senior guidelines were published.

I will say, having been to a doctor today for reasons unrelated to the Covid-19, that he was very skeptical of the cruise ship environment in general from a health point of view. The constant Norovirus problems they have was also mentioned.

At this moment a useful doctor's note is not feasible since testing for this virus is not widely available in many countries and would be denied in most jurisdictions for this type of purpose. Even if you tested negative you could still come down with it as the symptoms can take days to develop.

Here is a recent interview of the US Surgeon General, Admiral/ Dr. Adams, with a Greta Van Susteren, a respected journalist. He tries with the information currently available to answer all the questions people have.

https://www.fullcourtgreta.com/video/2020/03/08/overtime-surgeon-general-dr-jerome-adams-explains-whether-americans-should-go-large-gatherings/

I really don’t understand the warmer weather issue- there were cases in Jan.-Feb in Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, all warm weather climates. In the USA there are cases in California which is not cold in the coastal areas. While the report is correct about the lungs being more susceptible in cold weather I doubt if warm weather will be a magic bullet.

Branson puts out a good product and knows his market. I think the OP is correct, he is after a younger traveler than Oceania.

What Dr. Fauci said is probably correct but in the early weeks of the virus in China deaths were being listed as due to pneumonia. In general the statistics have not been reliable. I would watch Singapore and Japan cases as they have advanced medical systems and hopefully better data going forward.

The hurricane is currently stalled over Grand Bahama Island and Freeport is flooded. The Abaco Islands received heavy damage and there was loss of life there. Less severe damage in North Eleuthra; Nassau (New Providence Island) was spared.

My best guess is that Freeport will be open in December, the Abacos probably not. It takes quite a bit of time to marshal people and materials to rebuild in these semi isolated areas. The population is small and the government has limited resources, most supplies have to come in from the US.

That said the people of The Bahamas are very resilient and resourceful, they will rebuild. Wish them the best. 

IMHO the outlet mall is not worth a day's visit. The Ala Moana mall is the largest mall and much closer to the pier. You could take a bus or taxi easily. Pearlridge mall and the new mall in Kapolei are also both nice but not for a whole day. Again, just my thoughts.

HNL is not different. Uber is allowed to serve the airport and cabs are generally available. As mentioned above you check in and get your luggage tagged, then take it for the agriculture scan/inspection after which it continues on the belt, then you proceed to security screening. They do have TSA Pre Check lines if you are part of that program.

This is very good information to have. I read the links and although I'm not an engineer it is pretty clear that only a few natural gas powered ships can currently meet the Phase 3  year 2025-26 requirements for the historical fjords. The Phase 1 and 2 requirements and which ships can meet them are hard to determine without technical details of the ships. Many probably can meet the Phase 1 standards by switching to more expensive ultra low sulphur diesel fuel from marine heavy fuel oil, whether that makes sense for a cruise line will be an interesting story to follow.

We have a 2020 cruise to Norway booked, which includes some of the regulated fjords, so this is of interest.

The OP mentioned that they will be using taxis in London, I found the Gett taxi app useful there. It is sort of like Uber for taxis- you register and then can request, track and pay for the taxi through the app. The driver can communicate with you and update his location as well. Not all taxis participate but when we stayed in Kensington last summer there seemed to be plenty that were in the system.

There are actually three other attractions at Pearl Harbor in addition to the USS Arizona memorial: The USS Bowfin, a WWII submarine open for tours- it's moored next to the Visitor Center-within the walking distance; The USS Missouri and the Pacific Air Museum both on Ford Island. There is a free shuttle bus from the Visitor Center area to both attractions on Ford Island. You  can purchase a ticket that combines the sites or you can purchase individual tickets ahead of time or at each site. You can tour the sites at your own pace, not necessary to be part of a tour group. They are all worth visiting and there is a restaurant at the air museum as well as some snack food on the Missouri's pier. You can just show up anytime at these sites.

The Gett app is sort of like Uber for taxis, you set up an account and then you can book and pay, including tip through the app with a credit card. It shows how far your taxi is from you. We used it several times in London and it was very efficient, not sure what the fare would be from Heathrow might not be competitive with car service. Train from Heathrow is definitely the cheapest if that works with your hotel location.

Logistically going to PH before the Aulani is not a bad plan. There is heavy traffic on the H-1 freeway leaving Honolulu toward the west side in the afternoon but it moves along unless there is an accident. There is also an alternate surface route on the Nimitz/ Farrington highway if needed.

Since you are staying at the Aulani you will have access to their pools and restaurants. I thought the sailing outrigger boat that operates from their beach was a nice excursion, if the weather is nice.There is a small shopping center directly across the street which has a convenience store, four or five restaurants and a number of shops. Large shopping centers are nearby in Kapolei.

The Aulani is almost always busy but they handle it well. If you want to go to their luau show (not open to the public) I would book that in advance. If their beach area is a bit overwhelmed, go left down the path to the next lagoon which is less crowded. There are four lagoons with beaches in all with the marina and harbor entrance at the end of the pathway.

The north shore is usually busier on the weekends then during the week. Fourth of July fireworks are shot off in Waikiki and the lagoon area near the Aulani as well as other locations. Jeeps seem to work well as rentals, just don't leave valuables in them (or any rental) when you park. The cheapest gas is at Costco, if you are a member. In general there is heavy commuter traffic going into Honolulu early morning and coming out in the afternoon, avoid the H-1 freeway during those times if possible.

Have a fun trip!

There are a couple of routes to the north shore from Honolulu, but note than going way up the west shore past Waianae won't get you to the north shore as the road doesn't connect across the northern tip of the island. There were landslides many years ago and it was never rebuilt.

If you have the time for an all day trip, head southeast out of Honolulu on the H-1 freeway toward Hawaii Kai, a man made lagoon and canal residential area with shops, just past that is Koko Head crater- a mini Diamond Head. There are trails there. The Makapuku light house comes up next. A paved trail from the parking lot takes you to it, about a 3/4 mile hike. A bit further on is Sea Life park, a tired version of Marineland that is slated for major renovation. Continuing on this scenic east coast you will see the beaches of Waimanalo, Chinaman's Hat island, the towns of Kailua and Kaneohe, which have many shops and are full service communities.

Above Kaneohe the drive is more rural with plenty of beaches. I won't try to mention everything, you will notice Kualoa Ranch, which is a large rural complex with many tours of the mountains and valleys by bus, jeep or ATV. Many movies and TV shows are filmed here. Further along the east coast is the small town of Laie, home of Brigham Young University's Hawaii campus and the Polynesian Cultural Center (which is worth a stop). I won't try to mention all the sights and beaches on the north shore, but don't forget to stop at the shrimp trucks!

A faster driving route is to take the H-1 freeway west from Honolulu to the H-3 freeway which will take you over and through the mountains to Kaneohe, then you can proceed north. Return from north shore Haleiwa area on highway 930 or 99 to the Schofield Barracks area, constructed in the early 1900s and home of the 25th Infantry Division. Wheeler Army airfield is next door. Many of the historic buildings still exist with WWII bullet damage from Dec. 7th. You can take either Kunia Road or the H-2 freeway from Schofield back to the H-1 freeway to Honolulu. Note, if you take Kunia Rd., just after you leave the Schofield perimeter you come to a stoplight at the bottom of a dip in the road, on the right is a guarded, unmarked facility, mostly set into a hillside. This is the not so secret National Security Agency monitoring facility for the Pacific (it shows on Google maps).

Enjoy your time on Oahu.

FWIW I also received a Black Friday promotion email from Oceania that offered two category upgrades and one cruise (Miami-Miami) four category. They are all 2019 cruises.

When I called Oceania last week that offered OBC if you booked using an American Express Platinum card, they also had a low cost air upgrade to premium economy. I'm not sure how many cruises these applied to but doesn't hurt to ask.

The current one way fare is now $2.75, $5.50 for a day pass. They are in the process of voting for a fare increase, probably to take effect early next year. You can check at thebus.org

That's tough to predict. My experience with FL and Bahamas weather  (used to live there) is that December is usually pleasant with temps. in the 70's. However, if a cold front blows through from the north it can get pretty chilly. Fortunately the cold fronts are more common in January/February.

February can be cool and windy but less often than January. The water temp is OK once you get used to it as the previous poster mentioned. It is a winter month and fronts can blow through but generally it is pleasant.

I have seen whales from shore on Oahu but haven't taken a boat tour specifically to see them. There are tours from Honolulu harbor, Ko Olina marina and Waianae boat harbor.