Fouremco

$452 per person does seem a bit steep, but it has nothing to do with the cost of your cruise. Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses are normally going to be the same whether in an inside cabin or the biggest suite. Moreover, these are costs dictated by others, not by the cruise line. Here's how they are derived: Your cruise is quite port-intensive with 10 ports to be visited and only 4 sea days.That drives up the cost compared to cruises with a higher percentage of sea days.

That was what we thought too, and have booked Reserve for our flight to Vancouver later this year.

It appears that Wally thinks that ship's crew and surgeons work on the same pay scale, so if crew gets tips, surgeons should too. 🙄

This is a question that appears regularly on all of the boards, and the answer is consistently positive for a 10:30 flight. This past Sunday, we were in the first numbered group, not self-assist, and were outside the terminal before 8:00. The facial recognition system has really helped to speed things up.

Perhaps, if one is happy in Vancouver, one should stay in Vancouver and stop cruising. 🙄

The 55-minute minimum time is based on ideal conditions, so even the slightest of delays could result in a missed connection. Anxiety over being left behind is no way to start a holiday, so I'd grab that earlier flight and have that extra 30-minute buffer.

Quite right, with fewer flights, those still scheduled have a higher passenger load. And according to the news media, more people are travelling than ever before, thus compounding the problem.

I'm sure they'll be devastated to read that! 🙄

Well, SWMBO says that there's no way she's rising way earlier than the roosters, and refuses to fly back through YYZ when there's a direct flight with Porter. 😇

On our return flight from FFL to YOW, somewhere in the baggage-handling process, someone dropped my suitcase, knocking off one wheel and crushing that corner of the suitcase. Yesterday afternoon I submitted a claim to Porter, and this morning I received a choice between a cash settlement or a voucher for a future flight that was double the value of the cash. As the suitcase was over ten years old and had seen a lot of travel, the amounts offered were very generous, and I was amazed at the speed with which the claim was handled. Given the common perception that making any form of claim agains airlines can be a source of frustration these days, I must say that I was very happily surprised in dealing with Porter on this issue. As we need to book return flights to Vancouver for a Hawaiian cruise later this year, the voucher offer is a great option.

Just got off on Sunday. Ship's time remains constant throughout the cruise, EST.

Hi @NWT Cruiser. Sorry for the late reply, but we've just returned from a cruise and I'm only now starting to catch up on my Cruise Critic. I have to agree with @middlehaitch, this requirement only applies to foreigners entering Ecuador "at crossing points with land or river borders with Peru and Colombia", which is not the case for cruise passengers. Interestingly, the US State Department's travel site similar to our Canadian one makes no mention of this requirement at all. I'm a firm believer in reaching out to the embassy or consular offices of foreign countries if I have a question related to their travel requirements. You might want to do the same in this case: https://embassyecuador.ca/en/contact/

We too use a Canadian card that charges no FX fees. We always pay in the local currency and let our financial institution make the conversion.

We returned to Ottawa on Sunday from Fort Lauderdale, having flown down on the 26th. Each flight was about an hour late departing, which was better than I had expected as I too had been checking the status of these flights for a few weeks and had seen many far longer delays. The flights themselves were fine, with one major exception. On the outbound flight, with an hour left to go, the captain came on the radio to announce that the plane's holding tank was full and that the toilets could no longer be used. 🙄 I don't know how often they empty the tanks, but clearly there's an issue with their maintenance scheduling. We had originally booked Air Canada, with a 5:05PM departure time from Ottawa, which they subsequently changed to 6:15AM. Sorry, but this pair of 75 year olds isn't about to start a relaxing cruise holiday by getting up hours before the crack of dawn. Given the choice between AC via YUL or YYZ, or a direct flight at a reasonable time with Porter, we chose the latter. Even with our recent experience, we would do the same next time.

Well, that wasn't very helpful of me, forgetting to paste the link to the webpage. 🙄Here it is: https://www.torontopearson.com/en/connections

"Passengers arriving from eligible airlines and international destinations connecting on to a Canadian city do not have to pick up their checked baggage (unless otherwise stated by CBSA) and can go directly to their departing gate after clearing CBSA)" The question, then, is which airlines are deemed eligible. I know that Air Canada is, as I've frequently connected in Toronto on the way home after a cruise. This webpage will let you determine whether your airline(s) are eligible for a flight starting in Detroit and terminating in Vancouver. I'd say that 2 1/2 hours should be plenty most days. Like many airports, YYZ can have its problem if multiple international flights arrive at the same time. Take advantage of any of the programs (NEXUS, etc.) that can expedite your processing.

Here are a couple of websites that should provide you with some idea of what needs to be done. Fortunately, you have lots of time to resolve the issue. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility/overcome-criminal-convictions.html https://www.temporaryresidentpermitcanada.com/criminal-record.php#:~:text=Even if the offense was,permission from the Canadian Government.

Here's your Roll Call:

Another vote for Royal Caribbean. Personally, I would avoid the Quantum Ultra Class (Icon, Spectrum and Odyssey of the Seas) as their passenger load is far too big for my liking, and at Christmas they'll be jam-packed. Icon OTS can handle 7,600 passengers, inundating any port they stop at. And their prices are quite steep. Personally, I'd stick to the Quantum or Oasis Class. In fact, we have a family cruise on the Symphony OTS (Oasis Class) starting this Saturday with our kids and our grandkids. DW and I normally cruise with HAL or Celebrity, but choose RCI for family cruises. Our last one was on the Allure OTS, another Oasis Class ship. As we never sail at Christmas, I'm not familiar with RCI's itineraries during the holidays. You might want to visit the RCI forum to ask about that, and also to get further opinions on which class of ship or specific ship might best suit you and your family.

I don't know where you acquired the information that these countries having a 6- month passport requirement, but you may want to double-check your findings as at least one country does not have such a requirement. According to the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, "A visitor to Saint Lucia shall be permitted entry as long as his/her passport is valid for the duration of the stay in Saint Lucia and he/she has proof of a confirmed onward journey." Similarly, the U.S. Department of State says that US passports must be "Valid for duration of stay in Saint Lucia". I've not bothered checking the other destinations, but encourage travellers to do their own research.

Not knowing the length of either cruise, or the specific ports to be visited, it's hard to compare the two, but I would have to agree with @Saab4444 and view Norway as the more relaxing choice. We did HAL's 2-week Voyage of the Midnight Sun in 2019 and absolutely loved everything about it. If you've ever taken a tour of Gros Morne's Western Brook Pond and enjoyed the scenery, then you'd be very happy cruising Norway's fjords.

RCI's FAQ on WOW bands. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-royal-caribbean-wow-bands Here's what they look like:

No, it was P9, one of their Econoparc lots.

As a former Haligonian, I'd estimate that the walk from your cruise ship to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is no more than 10 minutes along the scenic Halifax waterfront. (https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca) Mind you, you will probably take longer as you stop to admire the sites along the way. After leaving the museum, I'd recommend continuing your walk along the boardwalk until you reach The Historic Properties. There you will find a (new-to-me) Titanic & Iceberg Exhibit that might be of interest. (https://www.titanichalifax.ca) Then grab a taxi or an Uber to take you to the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, a ride of under 15 minutes. This is the main Titanic cemetery. (https://www.your-nova-scotia-holiday.com/titanic-cemeteries.html) A DIY excursion will be less expensive and will allow you the freedom to spend your time doing and seeing what interests you . There's no need to follow a timetable set by the excursion.

Good choice. We normally park there when flying out of Montreal and it has always been a positive experience. We've only used the airports parking once, for reasons I don't recall. Upon our return, we headed out to the parking lot only to find the section we'd parked in completely empty and taped off. It turned out that they had decided to re-pave that section, and had towed cars away. It took over 2 hours to determine what was happening and for them to actually figure out where they had left it. Needless to say, we were not impressed, and they were unwilling to offer any form of compensation for the inconvenience. Even an apology would have been nice, but they acted as if it was our fault for having parked there. Never again!