TheOldBear

There used to be also a couple of state health department 'apps' that provide proof of vaccination. For example the New York 'Excelsior Pass' app was listed as acceptable. I checked the October 6th version of 'Preparing to sail' page, and now it only mentions the CDC card as proof of vaccination.

We have a fjord excursion booked for Alesund on 10 November - a 3 hour Hjorundfjord Cruise

You may want to put two Norway native lines on your shopping list - featuring smaller ships than your original choices Viking Ocean Hurtigruten - both the costal 'express' and the more sedate 'expedition' sailings Check their web sites, and discussions on this forum, the individual lines forums - and reviews here of similar sailings and ships. Note - I have no direct experience with Norway - at least not until next month 😉

Looks like the 'randomness & chaos' process has also updated my terminal arrival time to 14:15

Note that the daily calendar is your best source [and the source for the compiled schedule] it may not be totally reliable - for example, the daily calendar shows incorrect port dates [shows Southampton on 31 October, actual is 1 November]. The month and wee views show the correct ports - but does no show format nights & themes.

There are reactor designs - like the 'pebble bed' reactor - that are designed to be inherently safe [zero worries of loss of containment]. I recall [likely 15 years or so ago] a paper study in the USNI Proceedings for an air cooled pebble bed reactor module similar in size to a LM2500 gas turbine module, with similar shaft output. The LM2500 is the standard gas turbine engine used on US warships since the DD963 Spruance class in the late '70s. It is also used in a CODAG [COmbined Diesel And Gas turbine] electric drive on the QM2 and some other recent ship designs [I think a couple of MSC ships were/are CODAG] There is much more thermal inertia in the nuke module, so it would not be as responsive to lee helm orders as a gas turbine - likely the nuke would mostly be for base load, and a gas turbine for quick response.

There likely will be something in the Kings Court - need to go to deck 7 anyway to check in at the muster station.

Boarding time in Brooklyn - 15:15 I think we will aim for a bit earlier so our driver [Son of Bear] does not get too stuck in rush hour traffic heading east.

I have no direct experience - but I did enter a Hurtigruten contest that popped up on faceplant - the prize for for an 'expedition' sailing from Oslo to the North Cape and back [I think embark Oslo, disembark Bergen]. This 'expedition' sailing did not make the 34 short stops that the 'express' sailings make for the coastal ferry service.

22 days to departure - and my guarantee room has finally been assigned - deck 5 right by stairway 'D'

I was hoping that they would dispense with the fixed time bookings - I don't recall any times with more than 10 folks in the pool / lounge area over the years Mrs Bear and I have been sailing on QM2. So, if they are trying to restrict attendance, it looks like the price of admission already did that.

Its odd - M234A was shown as sold out for several weeks, and our BU guarantee has not been allocated. Apparently online check in is supposed to be available 21 days prior to sailing - I would have expected room assignment before that. 9 days seems unreasonable - but I recall in 2010 the upgrade fairy changed our room at check in.

Back in 2010, I recall paying the standard corkage fee for a 'magnum' 1.5 L bottle. Does anyone have recent [post covid] experience with corkage on larger wine bottles?

Mrs Bear and I are booked for the evening of the 7th - We are hoping its available, but will not be needed 😕

Out of idle curiosity, I visited the personalizer [my.cunard.com] to see if my guarantee room has been assigned [not yet] I decided to see what oddities were visible - and the day by day view of the calendar shows 31 October as a port day. The actual port day is 1 November. Likely this is due to some sort of 'off by 1' error walking a database result set [and failure to test/audit the web site code]. The week view and the month view do not have that error. This is the same sort of error that on 'cunardguides.com' puts Singapore as the next port of call after New York [no feedback link on that web site]

Currently the VP for my sailing has not been updated to indicate that a fixed late seating is available - implying that a new 'reservation' is needed for every night.

We will be attempting to book the same table, for the same seating time, for 24 nights of our 26 night sailing [two late excursions booked in Tromso].

I am hardly an authority - my first Norway sailing is about a month in the future, but I have some suggestions. Take a look at some of the Norway home ported lines - like Viking and Hurtigruten in their sections here on the forums Also take a look at the Northern Europe and Baltic forum here on CC https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

Our only time onboard for Halloween was in 2010 - on a Canada & New England sailing. There were enough children on board to have a costumed parade - perhaps this is unlikely for a transatlantic.

The M234A 26 night Norway and Northern Lights sailing does not require an observed test - but the westbound leg of the sailing does require observed testing if it was booked individually. Perhaps sailings that could carry on to either Canada or the Caribbean are the ones requiring observed testing.

My upcoming 'Norway and Northern Lights' sailing has two Southampton 'turn around' days. Normally, excursions are posted for the 'in transit' passengers between 90 to 120 days before the sailing. For this year, only one Southampton shore excursion has been posted [Stonehenge on 1 November] and nothing for the 13 November turn around day.

From the web site, all the M236 / 13 November sailings have 'additional requirements' - while folks completing the M234A round trip at the same time do not. [Mrs Bear and I are currently recovering from COVID - we should be testing negative well in advance of our sailing - but we will not be bothering with an 'observed' test unless the rules change again]

Our past two cruises - and this year's cruise are European cruises - but without any air travel. We decided we would rather take a week sailing across than a day flying. Once we have made that decision, then our basic two week vacation turns into a transatlantic round trip. [plus side trip to Hamburg, Normandy or Norway if time and budget permit]

There still are some sailings where testing is required. For example the matching westbound crossing, unless you are already on board for the M234A round trip

Note also that the FZ300 and the RX10 mark IV are weather sealed, while the larger sensor FZ’s are not weather sealed. My ancient FZ50 is still going strong, despite exposure to rain, snow, salt spray and blowing beach sand. It was not rated as weather sealed, but a fixed length internal zoom and focus lens discourages sucking contaminants into the camera.