Fouremco

I think that you'll find that immigration officials are very well attuned to the fact that children bear less resemblance to their passport photos with the passage of time. The same with adults, for that matter. My current passport photo was taken when I had a moustache, but I've travelled with it when clean shaven and with a full beard. As for your daughter, as @gnome12 points out, the age of eligibility for an adult passport is 16, not 18. Will either of your sons turn 16 between the end of your August cruise and your next trip out of the country? If so, it would be worthwhile waiting until their birthday and getting an adult passport.

The PVSA considers b2b cruises as a single cruise from the perspective of embarkation and disembarkation ports. So, for example, you couldn't take a cruise that starts in Hawaii and ends in Vancouver, then take the one day cruise from Vancouver to Seattle. I don't know whether the Coasting Trade Act has the same restriction, or whether it simply treats each leg as a separate cruise. The CTA is so infrequently mentioned on CC that I've not seen any related information. Perhaps @Heidi13 can comment.

Just love automatic spell checkers. Just not all the time...

There is so much to see and do at Volcanoes National Park and along Chain of Craters Road that you could easily spend a full day there. and still not see everything of interest. If I was driving by Punalu'u beach, I'd certainly stop to take a look, but I doubt that I'd take time away from exploring the other sites to drive there. But if seeing a black sand beach and possibly some turtles appeals to you, it's certainly possible to see all three sites in one day. Just keep Punalu'u as your last place to visit, as it won't matter if you drive back to Hilo in the dark. I envy your two days. We'll be in Hilo in October, but only for the morning. I guess they want to save on fuel by cruising back to Vancouver at a slightly slower speed.

Your post is puzzling. Furosemide is a diuretic used to reduce extra fluid in the body caused by conditions such as heart failure, high blood pressure, liver disease, and kidney disease. None of these are ladies-only conditions.

Italy, Greece and Malta are all Schengen area countries, so your passports need only be valid for 3 months beyond your departure date from the area. All of the 27 individual countries comprising the Schengen area share common entry and exit requirements, including the 3-month period of validity for passports. We normally renew our passports early to ensure that we have at least 6 months validity left, just in case of a last minute decision to travel to a country requiring 6 months. You will be fine with your current passports, but go ahead and renew them if you want to for peace of mind.

Canadian visitors are generally granted a stay in the US for up to six months at the time of entry, but a requests to extend your stay can be made to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Your passport must remain valid for the duration of the stay, whether it's six months or longer.

I couldn't agree more. When DW and I cruise, we book HAL, or Celebrity on occasion, but if we are booking with the kids and grandkids, it's always Royal Caribbean. We recently returned from an 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Symphony of the Seas, and the kids and grandkids spent a huge amount of their time with the water slides, wall climbing, skating and other activities that are non-existent on HAL ships. DW and I are very open to having kids around, and would have no objection to having more families aboard HAL ship, but I agree @Roz, there's little to attract them with the current fleet.

Correct, no copies required.

Epiritiki, the cruise line that operated the Oceanos, no longer exists today, but after mergers and restructuring, Epirotiki's eventual successor is the Royal Olympic Cruise Lines. You could try them to see if they have retained any related record. Here's a link to a history of Epirtiki: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/royal-olympic-cruise-lines-inc BTW, the Oceanus was one of two Epiritiki ships that sank in 1991.

The Canadian Coasting Trade Act is seldom mentioned on Cruise Critic, even on the Canadian Cruisers forum, but with respect to your situation, it is similar to the frequently discussed US Passenger Vessel Services Act. Stated very broadly, the CTA protects Canadian marine interest, including not allowing foreign flagged ships to embark passengers in one Canadian port and disembark them in a different Canadian port. This means that a foreign ship can't run a ferry service between Canadian ports; for example, between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. This type of protective legislation is not uncommon, which is why foreign airlines can't fly domestic routes within Canada.

Yes, that has always worked for us.

Unfortunately, the Honduras have a 6-month requirement: "Your passport must be valid at least 6 months from the date of entry." https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/honduras#entryexit Some countries apply different rules to cruise passengers, but if the Honduras don't make an exception for cruisers, your friend will not be allowed to board. I'd suggest that you phone the embassy in Ottawa today to determine whether or not they would allow entry for a cruise passenger with less than 6 months validity remaining. The number is: 613) 233-8900.

True enough, but I'm not a little teapot, short and stout, so I'm always happy trading a bit of seat width for the extra leg room. 😇

Seat Guru appears to be out of date. A poster on another thread recently recommended https://seatmaps.com and https://www.aerolopa.com I fail to see how this is inconsiderate or selfish. Anyone booking a flight has the option of picking their seats on a first come, first served basis. No one likes middle seats, so picking a window or aisle seat is quite logical. In your case, you still wouldn't have had two seats together even if all of the passengers in the aisle seat had picked the middle seat instead. I'd add as well that DW and I often book aisle and window, hoping that the middle seat won't be taken. Sometimes we benefit from that extra space, but not very often. However, we always offer the aisle seat to the happily surprised third person in the row so that DW and I can sit together.

Ah, thanks.

And the answer was???

As did I.

While you'll get a few suggestions here and anecdotal information, if you Google your title for this thread you'll get a lot more information covering all Canadian cards with no fx fee. It's a constantly changing landscape, and worth your while to do the research. FWIW, my two cards currently are the Mastercards from EQ and Wealthsimple.

Yes, that works now, so both the embassy and consulate forms are here for anyone needing them.

That link doesn't provide access to the document, and instead provides a link to request access, presumably from you. You may receive an email from anyone requesting access. In the mean time, here's the embassy application form: https://embassyofegypt.se/onewebmedia/Visa Application Form (updated).pdf

I don't recall ever seeing folding camp chairs on any HAL list of prohibited items. As most prohibitions are for legal, safety or security reasons, I can't imagine HAL not allowing you to board with them. Just don't cause a commotion by taking them poolside to one-up the chair hogs! 😇

Unfortunately, that link to the application form is not valid.

This September 7, 2023 post #122 by @Cruisy Guy contains a link to the application form. AFAIK, the form is still valid.

Fortunately, they live only a 20-30 minute drive from the embassy in Ottawa.