gogo65

Now they seem to have committed to Brilliance I wonder whether that will head to Brisbane and then have either Ovation and Quantum in Sydney or as you say potentially Ovation and Wonder. Hopefully by the 23/24 season their will be a lot more confidence in cruises. While many cruise lovers are booking I suspect many first time cruises aren’t quite ready to pull the plug.

We are booked on the Quantum TP in April. We originally looked at Ovation ( considering we live in Sydney) However we booked a junior suite with large balcony for less than a balcony on Ovation. We booked in September last year and the prices for Ovation were already crazy. A $69 jetstar flight from Sydney and we saved $$$. I do think the majority of Americans would likely prefer to sail from Sydney (let’s face it it’s the most beautiful harbour in the world) and for many it’s the once in a lifetime visit so they 1. Want to see Sydney and 2. They are happy to pay.

Of course we will wear masks, anything to get on the bloody ship! Just not sure if they are mandatory.

We leave in 2 weeks, 12 days in the UK then off to Tromso Norway, for a 29 day north west passage cruise. I’m just recovering from Covid (thanks heavens I didn’t get it while I was away as I was so sick), so have some comfort in knowing I will likely test negative before the cruise. My husband however still hasn’t had it, and the pre cruise test is the one that is a major concern. Fortunately Ponant have Covid insurance for $45, it covers any cancellations, medical and repatriation for Covid related issues, which gives us some comfort. We will mask up, take precautions and keep our fingers crossed. We have a hire care in the UK and staying in small boutique hotels or air bnb’s, so will try to stay away from people. the flight from Edinburgh to Tromso is my one risk factor, fingers crossed masks will be worn!

I’d be checking with RCI..

We’ve done SS to the Arctic and Ponant to Antarctica. SS do have kayaking which was great (you have to sign up and take turns, we kayaked twice over 15 days, no choice of what days etc). both offered hiking, generally these aren’t published as an excursion as such but rather they are just daily activities. They both tend to offer different levels of hiking once you get off the zodiac. I believe Le commandant Charcot offers kayaks, snow mobiles and all the activities but they are much more expensive (more inline with SS and Lindbald standard pricing). I hope that Ponant will eventually offer kayaks on their normal expeditions as it’s a great activity (for minimal cost to them).

We decided against the charter from Paris to Tromso due to excessive $$$, saved about $1700 doing it ourselves, gave us two nights in Tromso as a back up plan, hopefully the gamble pays off (not for a minute did I think it was a gamble though!). The museum looks interesting and something that we will do, as long as we get there!

https://fr.calameo.com/read/000132423668d4bed7572 Interestingly straight from the website, it mentions self testing is not permitted….

Oh really? I’m literally Day 13 now post positive PCR, so could get that easily. I was contemplating kissing hubby so he would also get it! Cruise is less than 6 weeks away. Hopefully they keep it at 90 days, in Australia we have now changed from 90 days to 28 days for risk of reinfection, although I’m not sure if they allow certificate of recovery in Oz anyway.

I just read a comment on FB that says that the RAT to board in Australia does not need to be supervised. They said when they received the paperwork it mentioned a non supervised RAT was all that is required. Does anyone know if this is worldwide?

Thanks 😊

Good question! I’m not so concerned about getting it on the ship more about testing positive prior to embarkation. I’ve literally just recovered from Covid and I can say honestly thank god I got it before I got on the ship. I’m day 13 now and still symptomatic hopefully I’ve got enough immunity to stay safe on the ship!

We have booked through an agency for our expedition cruises. mainly because we’ve been offered between 3-5% discount. There doesn’t seem to be any incentive to book direct. In saying that I book everything with Ponant and then transfer the booking to a TA once I know all my discounts have been applied correctly.

We also have a flight Edinburgh to Tromso on SAS for our NW passage, might do the same and book a refundable flight on Norwegian. My back up plan would be see if we could jump on the Ponant charter from Paris. I’ve heard that the European flights are still going that they haven’t cancelled all flights, is this correct?

Would make sense, hopefully P&O follow..

It seems to be the best option in order to keep track of your bags. However I was reading an article today where people had AirTags and could see their suitcase in one country yet the airline insisted it was in another. So the issue will most likely be the airline believing you!

I would think it would be reasonable if one was getting public transport home within the local area, then they would be able to transport them home (no different than the cruise line transporting them to the quarantine hotel). We live in Sydney, catch public transport to the airport/cruise terminal, it would seem ludicrous to make a similar group of passengers quarantine in a hotel if home is less than 30 minutes away.

We will be away for 7 weeks, so carry on won’t be feasible due to a variety of climates. We will however pack half and half in each suitcase, in case we lose one suitcase (flying into Heathrow from Sydney), and will be putting apple air tags in both. Will have two outfits in each carryon and our waterproof jackets. We lost our luggage for 4 days in Rio, I was the only one who had a change of underwear 😂, the other three washed each night!

We are booked in the clarion collection, breakfast and a light dinner included, excellent reviews, great location on the harbour front.

We did 15 days in the Arctic and my husband did not take a jacket or tie.

Ill let you know how we go on our 29 day cruise through the NW Passage in August. From what I understand most things are frozen, however things like fresh berries may only be available in the first week or so.

We leave in a month, stressing a little. more stressed about the negative test to board. We have two weeks in the UK before the cruise. We have two flights from Edinburgh-Oslo-Tromso to get to the ship. Biggest risk will be those flights, 1. the risk of Covid, 2. They are SAS flights so they could go on strike 3. Loose our luggage. We’ve given ourselves 2 days to get there, fingers crossed. Cruise is 29 days long, I’m sure Covid will rear its ugly face on the cruise, not much we can do. Cruise ends in Alaska so no issues getting off the ship and needing to quarantine etc. fortunately (or not), I’m currently positive (for the first time), unlikely I’ll get it again in the near future. There are so many risks to traveling, I think we have to just ensure we have good travel insurance and go for it!

Haha 😂 but to be fair, I went through notifications to read this thread, I hadn’t made it to the Ponant page as yet, now I’ve read your part 2, assume there is part 3 or 4 coming as well??

Where to next?

Over to soon! thanks for the trip report. We loved Rovinj we spent a few days there and it was definitely one of the least touristy parts of Croatia. Have a safe trip home 🙂