Tango99

Many more cruisers are returning to lower cost cruise lines though they’re also not at full capacity due to the increased cost of fares and their far lower disposable income than pre pandemic, like myself.🤣 You’re likely seeing more of the same on Cunard as I’m guessing clients might have migrated to other vacation options. I’m guessing that Seattle, due to its proximity to Vancouver, is likely to attract more US clients and $ to Cunard’s sailings than Canadians. We also still have the lack of international flights into Canada from abroad….and a bit more hassle for US clients sailing from Vancouver. Alaska after all is a US state, and the mandatory port stop in Vancouver is much easier to navigate for US citizens than actually embarking there. Glad you’re getting a good deal this time around. Happy cruising!

I just got my renewal and I recall the form included details of all destinations in the last 5 years. Tedious process but worth the effort.

You might want to look into trip cancellation insurance as well. I suggest that as most cruise lines shy away from cancel without penalty once you’re in the zone of 90 or 120 days payment in full due. (Some lines payment in full is either 3 or 4 months of sail date.).

You may want to browse sites with “maritime history/archives”, “passenger manifest records” (only works if you’re over 75 or someone with you who is), “ship log”, “port departure schedules”, or arrivals from/to the Bahamas. The US have national archives. Many rabbit holes to cover that you might find interesting. Last September I used GGArchives.com to find the Halifax landing records of the arrival for a 96 year old friend who’d travelled home from England to Canada at 19 years of age, on the Duchess of Bedford. And back on the Empress in the 1940’s. We even laughed about the menu, the cost of her travels, and how the dining room worked. Not much but it might help.

Edit to add “Oh. Tomorrow. So to add now I see your destinations include Honduras….your friend could be flagged to stay on board when the ship ports in Honduras. Fingers crossed” Hope you can get a renewal quickly. There may be issues with the airline (depending which one) as you won’t have a US address to supply when you check in for your flight. And If the expiry falls within the actual cruise you may have issues with the cruise physical check in. Last year my partner’s passport and the 6 month rule meant expiry 2 days before the end of our 3 week cruise (Carnival) and he was notified by email a week after e-checkin that he’d need to to provide a passport valid for the sailing or be denied boarding…even though we were going TA from Florida to Europe destinations that have a 3 month requirement. Thankful we are in Ottawa and could get passport renewed. It was close as he received the notice the day before Good Friday and Easter Monday. And Tuesday the city was shut down due to a snowstorm. We picked it up Wednesday and flew as planned the next day. On our cruise over Christmas in the S Caribbean we had to present passport at almost all of the gates to get back on the cruise ship (NCL). Fingers crossed that you get a good agent at the port check in….I’m told that person can be the key on boarding or not.

I hear you. It’s an awful situation. Porter have a bad rep for delays and converging flights, even within Canada. Passengers also feel the brunt of their pilots being poached by the big guys. Only 7 of their 12 flights have departed within half hour of the plan since Jan 25. If you want to get up at zero past dark hour the AC flight at 6am (on one or two days a week) has left on time every day during the same period. The posted rate today is ~$265. That’s far less than Porter if I remember. The later flights are all via YYZ or YUL and over $900 which is insane compared to the 180-190 pre pandemic. I feel for you. Wish there was an easy solution but it’s going to be a long time coming. Airlines are flying full. And AC sales are at an all time high….is it any wonder?

At least 90 minutes so you don’t have to panic. It’s a busy airport. It depends on the arrival gate of your aircraft from Toronto.

Thanks for the tip David. Yes Montreal is an option though not as good prices as Toronto. We used to have direct flights to/from Ottawa as well at similar point:$ cost. Since the end of the pandemic, YOW has only one international flight a week with Air France that began in July. Nothing since then. It drives me nuts.

Exactly. It’s a deal for new Aeroplan members but I’ve been collecting since 70’s when Nordik air operated! And that’s a very rare and sweet deal to England. May I ask the routing you found please? and if you booked with an agent? I’ve family and friends in England and Wales but we don’t get over there enough.

That’s a much better price than the earlier sales. And even less per point than the 4c value years ago.

Yeah. Layovers, multi city flights or completely new tickets. Gone are the days. 10 years ago I flew YOW-ORD-NRT-BKK-PDG-NRT-ORD-YOW for 120K points and 238 in fees and taxes. All first class except for AC legs. Nippon, Thai airways have first and business classes. Would have been 800 if I’d used Canadian gateways. Imagine the savings now if that routing was doable. Closing loopholes has lost advantages for consumers. And what? No points redemption on business class? That’s painful.

Too funny. That’s just a euphemism that hails from the UK. For example Q “would you ever eat crickets? A. “Eeeuw no. Id rather have a poke in the eye with a sharp stick”.

Unfortunately with just 4 international airports operating in Canada and no means to skip Toronto and Montreal as gateways overseas, options to route through Philly, Detroit and Chicago, are gone. Now any direct or indirect fares are subject to much higher taxes and fees whether using currency or points. Fuel surcharge is now buried in fare cost rather than being transparent and showing it as a separate line item. The whole point of saving is lost, though you may enjoy a couple of days in LA, or look at options if you went to BC and made your way to Seattle. Or look at Singapore Air if they still have flights to/from Texas. All things considered points are evaporating very quickly and getting a top notch airline like Singapore or Nippon air, both are great Star Alliance partners and may be worth while for the extra comforts. Hope you find something that works.

We’ve done Tortola stop twice and we take our time to disembark. That leads me to my next question….we’ve seen the area at the end of the shopping village in port where the vans and taxis can be found, but by the time we get there they’re already away! We have a 12 hour stop here on New Years Day….7am to 7pm any tips on planning something with a recommended tour company would be welcome please. And/or any resorts for a day that you’d recommend. Something laid back. Hiking, scuba and snorkelling are not in our agenda. any haelp alrea Oates.

There’s a nice shopping area, very simple, laid back, low pressure right after the wander along quite a long pier. Nice outdoor patios for coffee, drinks, and wifi. We’ve done this twice. You can make it all, slowly, a couple of hours. Now we’re ready for a tour maybe by cab. Trouble is I couldn’t find any at the end of the main drag. They must have their own spot.

Another perspective…the wheels and that seemingly innocuous side and top handle of carry-ons all add to the dimensions. Not to mention a teeny tiny bulge. I haven’t used a carry on for a long time for that reason, so I just pay for my stowed bag. But I still need to find a spot for my tiny backpack and medical bag as people cram everything they can into the overhead bins. Laser tech is very precise in capturing the slightest deviation that’s out of scope. And who am I to argue this one, when so much time is spent boarding passengers with oversize carryons. (And that isn’t the root cause of ACs current issues with just 4 of the 8 international airports out of use for that purpose).

You can see if the booking can be made as a multi city. As the original flight puts you into Detroit I’m guessing another air partner is involved. So you might try Vancouver-Seattle-Toronto or via Detroit, or Chicago.

You just state your emergency contact person when booking. It’s assumed this person is knowledgable in the next of kin who would know the people who can say where and how to meet the patient. They may not have PoA (Power of Attorney) for health decisions and if there isn’t a PoA the ships medical team are more than well equipped and can be trusted with the care and well being of the patient with the intention of their being kept alive. When they reach land the patient may be taken to hospital from the ship. You need to show your insurance coverage and contact info at that company so they can be made aware of claim. You’re likely to have to pay up front but having the med centre advise your insurance when stuff happens will help coordinate benefits. The captain has a lot

The insurance could get complicated and expensive to recoup costs if anything were to happen on board ship or on excursion. Be assured the medical team are well equipped so they could even treat your dad in their medical centre until the end of cruise. Or he may be transferred at the next port for hospital treatment. If this is a cruise in the east it’s also likely that you’ll be travelling in international waters as the cruise ship meanders overnight. Maybe through US, or even a swath of waters of France around St Pierre et Miquelon if your in the Gulf of St Lawrence and out to the Atlantic. For peace of mind your dad should be cleared by his cardiac specialist to cruise, or any cautions explained. Some companies have just a 90 day post op wait period. So insurance may in fact be doable. If all goes well hope they have a lovely cruise.

I think the issue is that the gift card has to be redeemed before cruising. They cannot be redeemed on board. They may be using a US broker that can’t manage the exchange transactions and bank charges. We’ve had gift cards from family in Canada applied to our on board account on NCL and on CCL. When we we sailed with RC they tried but couldn’t make it happen so we got a nice gift in our Christmas card.

When I see full names it’s just cringeworthy. You don’t mention the cruise line but in my experience it has never been the practice of cruise lines. Our stewards always have taken the time to get to know us by name … so posting for all to see serves no purpose and can be a vector to privacy breaches. Just my 2CW.

Check what services you already have on your phone. Sounds like you have data already if you are already using What’s App and Messenger on board and in hotels. But check anyway. When you board the airplane turn your phone to airplane mode to avoid inadvertent calls once you reach Europe. (Airplane mode prevents your cell service provider from tracking you using wherever you are on the planet. It’s also essential to use that while on board ship. Only turn off Airplane mode when you really need to call home. It might cost you just 15-16$ a day but that includes your regular data (assuming you have it already). Keep in mind that daily Roam like home (or whatever the daily out of country rate plan is called) starts and ends in the time zone you’re in. So you might need to leave your phone on for a while longer if you’re waiting for family to get gone from work. There’s a 6-7 hour time difference minimum depending on where your home is and it could be 9-10. Best to leave airplane mode on if you get stuck anywhere and then you can snag wifi close by (hotel, coffee shop, restaurant, bar, etc…ask for their password) and use to wifi call or email or messenger whoever you need to pick you up and the landmark and/or intersection where you are. Or just ask the hotel to call a cab. Enjoy your cruise. A.

I haven’t. Going to the cruise line direct I found I had an immediate point of contact for assistance with price drops, anything newsworthy that needed attention like their cancellation, changes in ports, etc. I’d much rather check out my own options than through a consolidator or a group or TA that might offer some deals….knowing the scope is limited to their own best interests. And that may include better offers to some, but not all in their quest to garner loyalty. That does come at a cost to one of bookings.

If you’re heading to US ports and need cell service to call anyone who isn’t on WA, your cellular provider will have daily rates for US around 12-14/day that’s charged only if you use it. So keep your phone in airplane mode when in port in the US or you’ll incur charges if, for example your furnace people call you to schedule annual cleaning, or the Diabetes association wants donations, or your dentist calls you to change an appointment months away….etc. Enjoy!

You’re right. Mea culpa! Just have to look at Vancouver for evidence of that. But in the case of the OP the rules that come into effect October 1 were only announced this week. To their credit the OP is doing whatever they can for the requirements to be met. The cruise line could offer some sort of reprieve…like you said in some words, the Canadian contingent is comparatively small …in which case compensation might be minor. And I’m sure that the cruise line wouldn’t be affected by Egypt doing anything bigger in retaliation….. here’s hoping that those affected are all able to get things sorted. And that they’re all aware of what is now required.