Fouremco

I agree with @zqvol, but in the meantime, this article does a good job of explaining the varying dress codes: https://emmacruises.com/msc-dress-code-guide/

From everything I've read, including this thread, there is no USD booking requirement.

I keep an electronic folder for every trip we take, whether a cruise or land-based holiday. Each one contains a detailed itinerary spreadsheet, as well as such things as cruise documents, private excursion details, flight information, etc., etc. They don't take up much space in my cloud storage, and I'm amazed at how often I refer to them, either because I need some information or because someone asks a question on CC and I know that I have the answer in one of the trip folders.

A few years ago, a change was made and you no longer have to collect and then recheck your bags. We frequently clear customs/immigration in Toronto before flying on to Ottawa, and very much appreciate this change. However, I'm not certain if all Canadian airports have now adopted this change, nor if all airlines have adopted it. My recommendation would be to check with your airline.

Yes, passengers were caught on the other side, but they were bussed by the cruise lines to Haines where they would be picked up by their ships. This included a number of passengers who were on independent tours.

This video deals with the landslide North of Skagway that has blocked the highway and the scenic railroad. Excursions taking these routes are cancelled until further notice.

My sister resides in Toronto and visits Ottawa 4-5 times a year. As I always pick her up at the train station, I'm very familiar with the delays encountered along the way as the freight trains zip along. VIA now has an interactive map showing the trains current location and anticipated arrival time at each of the remaining stops, so it's much easier to guesstimate her probable arrival time. That doesn't mean that the train run on time more than it did before, but at least I can delay leaving the house rather than sitting around waiting at the train station. It's about time VIA fed a few years' worth of actual arrival data into a computer system to come up with a more realistic schedule. An excellent opportunity for AI.

LOL. My fingers and my brain frequently compete to see who will finish first when I'm at the keyboard!

I'm guessing that you mean that you drove 2 days before.😇

Heck, if I had time to spare, I'd take the train! Over the years, I've travelled across Canada, from Halifax in the East to Banff in the West, and one of these days I'd like to complete the Banff to Vancouver leg.

The CDC confirmed in a news release Monday that dogs coming from low-risk countries such as Canada would now only be required to fill out an online form, which can be done on the day of travel, and travellers can then show a receipt to airlines and border officials. https://apple.news/Ap1chnKtBRcmHw310mEDYmg

This is a heads up for anyone who has (or had!) a booking on PD264, Porter's direct flight from Vancouver to Ottawa departing at 12:20PM. I booked this flight in early February, thinking it to be the perfect time for a post-cruise flight home in October, arriving here in the early evening. Purely by accident, I discovered today that Porter no longer offers this flight beyond September 9, but never bothered to inform me by telephone, email or notification of the cancellation. Instead, they simply booked us on a mid-morning flight (see below) that I would never book myself. Oh, and to top it off, we had selected our seats back in February, but in changing our flight, they only re-reserved DW's seat, with the one beside her taken by some other passenger. After September 9, they only offer a direct flight to Ottawa once a day, departing Vancouver at 7:35AM, then a couple of connecting flights at 10:10AM. I wouldn't book a post-cruise flight this early, even flying out of FLL, let alone VCR. So the only viable choice on disembarkation day in October is a connecting flight leaving at 1:40PM and arriving here at 12:28AM the following morning. While I'm very disappointed with the current options, I'm particularly annoyed with Porter making switches without bothering to inform passengers. I was playing with a new cruise/travel website that offers flight information, so I plugged in the information for our now cancelled flight and discovered that it was no longer offered. When flying with other airlines, I've always been informed of changes, even very minor ones, as soon as they were made, an easy thing for them to do with today's automated systems. A YOW-FLL-YOW flight earlier this year led to a number of issues that took a lot of time and effort to resolve with Porter. The resolution included a good sized credit voucher, which was the major reason we booked the October flights. They seem determined to increase their presence in Ottawa, but they'll have to up their game if they don't want to start losing customers.

While Option 2 might save you a few dollars, there are two problems. The first is unavoidable, and that is the disruption to your normal sleep times combined with hanging around for a good number of hours before boarding. I suspect that you'll be at less than your best for the first day or two of your cruise, but only you can decide if saving a few dollars makes it worthwhile. The second relates to the possibility of missing the cruise should your flight be cancelled for any reason. This seems to be happening all too often these days, including as the result of this week's CloudStrike debacle. We simply consider the cost of a hotel and meals as a regular part of our cruise budget.

You do get a refund. Their FAQ pages cover this exact question:

Yes, a real mess for anyone wanting or needing to enter the US with their dog. I hope that a solution can be found quickly, or that the implementation date be delayed until a fix is developed.

Thanks, I missed that. I've now posted there and provided a link back here.

As these requirements may have a sizeable impact on Canadians, whether cruising with a service dog or simply travelling to the US, I started a thread on the Canadian Cruisers forum yesterday not having seen your earlier post here.

I initially started this thread on the HAL forum in error, but asked the mods to move it here as soon as I noticed my mistake. The vast majority of cruisers (or just travellers) who will be affected by these new regulation are Canadians, so I think that this is probably the most appropriate forum. Like a number of topics, it could be potentially of interest to readers interested in a variety of cruise lines, but I'm personally not in favour of starting the same thread on multiple fora.

Needless to say, I much prefer @leerathje's post! 😇

We'll be on the Koningsdam for 18 days in October, so this is excellent news. As the jingle said, "A Day Without Orange Juice is Like a Day Without Sunshine."

Yes, there are a number of differences between the FAQ and the description provided by @MikeD4134. In addition to the number of drinks, I see that the package no longer covers any fresh squeezed juices.

Having lived in Europe, including the UK with its strict requirements, I'm well aware that many other countries have similar rules. But we don't have land borders with these other countries, and Canadians are used to being able to drive into the US with no restrictions. As a result, I think that there may be a lot of surprised people come August 1. Hopefully, no one crossing the border with a service dog to embark on a cruise will be caught out, which is why I thought that a heads up might be appropriate. Some similar paperwork is required by some cruise line, but not all of it. Moreover, the new paperwork must be submitted to the CDC, not to the cruise lines, so while some of the information may be duplicated, there will still be a whole new set of requirements to be met.

According to this article (https://apple.news/A3ZwI2WS1S96wmez7a41PlA), starting next month, anyone taking a dog into the US will have to fill out papers before visiting, documenting that the dog is healthy, has a valid microchip and is vaccinated against the rabies virus. Photos of the dog (face and body) are also required. There's no indication that service dogs will be exempt from these requirements, so if you are cruising out of the US, or just visiting, you'll need to complete the paperwork in advance. There's no information in the article indicating whether the requirements would apply for cruises visiting the US if the dog remained on board. For example, during a Vancouver-Hawaii-Vancouver cruise, or a transpacific cruise with a port stop in Hawaii.

As the OP also mentions Google Pay and payment "methods", I don't believe that Apple Card is the issue.

There are often anecdotal stories of breaches of the rules, but it is very clear that non-NEXUS members are NOT permitted to use NEXUS lanes, whether or not you ask nicely. From the CBSA webpage "How to use NEXUS to enter Canada": Travelling with non-members If you are travelling with non-members, you can’t use dedicated NEXUS lanes or NEXUS reporting procedures for the Telephone Reporting Centre. A non-member can’t accompany you through a NEXUS kiosk or eGate. To use NEXUS, everyone accompanying you must also be a member, regardless of their age. As the driver or operator, you are responsible for making sure everyone in your vehicle or boat is a NEXUS member and is carrying their NEXUS card. https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/travel-voyage/prog/nexus/how-utiliser-eng.html