Welcome to all of us Canadians on Cruise Critic!

[CRUISINGCANUCKS99]

I thought it was time for us Canadians to have our own forum to share news, throw out suggestions and topics particular to those of us north of the 49th, and for anyone else in the world, for that matter 😄. Also for keeping in touch with cruise mates before and after your cruise. This is your forum now Canucks, go crazy!

[d9704011]

Well, I’m not living north of the 49th but I am interested in seeing what is of particular interest to my fellow Canadian cruisers.  Good idea to start this thread and we’ll see how it goes.

[CRUISINGCANUCKS99]

Welcome! I guess the majority of our population lives south of the 49th anyhow, hahahaha.

[-JK-]

Yes. This is well overdue!

[Jack1]

Nice to see!

[CRUISINGCANUCKS99]

Anyone excited to finally get back cruising? I'm sure we will all be apprehensive to board a crowded ship, even if we are vaccinated. We have a cruise booked for Jan 2022, but only because the incentives, from Princess, to book, were too good to pass up. And no money expected until Oct.

We thought that getting on a ship, packed full of people, was years away, but I guess we will see how things go. There is a chance that the cruise companies may not be sailing out of the States by January, but I would expect that they probably will be.

[TeaBag]

Thank you for starting this forum.  How is everyone doing regarding getting vaccines?  We had our first one April 1 and we were afraid we'd get water!!  Just kidding.  We got Pfizer.

We are really missing cruising.  We had a B2B booked for Aug/Sept of this year, but the Aug 26 one has been cancelled.  I think we will also cancel the Sept 4 one if Celebrity doesn't.  We don't want to be on the first sailing out of Southampton with international passengers and finding out that no port in the UK wants to let us dock.  Been there done that, on Celebrity Eclipse in South America last year in March. 

That means we wait till Apr 26 next year.  We will be sailing on Azamara for the first time, hoping a smaller ship may be better.

We also miss trips to the US with the border being closed.  Who knew it would be closed for so long? 

Keep well everyone.

[Jack1]

DH got his Pfizer vaccine about 3 weeks ago and I got moderna this am.  Each province is following different rules for when you are eligible for the jab.  When I got the call this morning asking if I could  come to the pharmacy for a vaccine I was out the door and made the 5 block trip in record time!  Lol

We had a few trips canceled in the past year with our next trip being Australia and New Zealand land trip mid Nov 2021.  Not feeling too confident this will go but we will wait and see.

Our next cruise is Oceania from Cape Town to Singapore Jan 2022 and from Singapore we are to fly to Cairo for a river cruise on the Nile.   I hear having a vaccine will be a requirement for cruising so we are 1/2 way there.

We sailed Azamara once few years back and that sealed the deal for us.  Although celebrity was our favorite crise line once we sailed on these smaller ships we were sold.  Typically we sail on Regent and/or  Oceania but have found Regent getting too pricey lately.   

We have our usual trip to Penticton with our granddaughter this August to look forward to.  

Cheers 

 

 

[TeaBag]

We have never sailed Oceania.  Your January plans sound delightful.  We have been to Johannesburg but not Capetown.  Have only sailed one river cruise in Europe and loved it.

I am so happy our dollar is toying with 80 cents USD  Makes cruising a bit more reasonable.

Take care.

[d9704011]

With @TeaBag noting that our dollar is currently in the .80 USD exchange range how have fellow found cruise fares to compare with those offered in USD over the last few years (if you’ve even looked) and how much exchange rates on fares change over time?

 

In the past, I’ve compared the fares (as published on the cruise line sites) in CAD and USD and, generally, found the exchange rates to be pretty attractive at the time of booking.  I’m not one to play a guessing game with FOREX futures, I’ll leave that to the big currency traders!

[Heidi13]

21 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Thank you for starting this forum.  How is everyone doing regarding getting vaccines?  We had our first one April 1 and we were afraid we'd get water!!  Just kidding.  We got Pfizer.

We are really missing cruising.  We had a B2B booked for Aug/Sept of this year, but the Aug 26 one has been cancelled.  I think we will also cancel the Sept 4 one if Celebrity doesn't.  We don't want to be on the first sailing out of Southampton with international passengers and finding out that no port in the UK wants to let us dock.  Been there done that, on Celebrity Eclipse in South America last year in March. 

That means we wait till Apr 26 next year.  We will be sailing on Azamara for the first time, hoping a smaller ship may be better.

We also miss trips to the US with the border being closed.  Who knew it would be closed for so long? 

Keep well everyone.

 

I also received my first shot on April 1st - AstraZeneca. DW gets her 1st this afternoon, most likely Pfizer.

 

We had a River/Ocean combo booked for May/June 2021, but initially moved it to a Meddy/Norway B2B for May/June 2022. In December, we moved it again to the Viking 2023 World Cruise. After 40 yrs with P&O/Princess, we can't stand the mega ships, or mass market cruise lines.

 

Having to suffer BC winters is also becoming tiresome, much prefer the sunshine and heat of Indio, CA.

[RLK33853]

Funny thing, I found this forum while checking the Australia board!

 

Manitoba is slowly getting the vaccine rollout established.  You can now book appointments if you are 56 and over.  My appointment is tomorrow and my wife had hers last week.  First steps to getting back.

 

USD exchange for cruise lines - we usually cruise with Princess and their rate has been competitive over the years.  When the dollar was in the 60's (early 2000) we booked in USD, but usually book CAD.

 

It will be interesting to see how cruising changes - as mentioned we are looking at smaller ships for the future as well.  

 

We got out of Peru a year ago, the morning before they closed the airport.  Be a while before we travel anywhere where the country's medical system isn't great and you have the possibility of being stranded there.

 

We've had 6 cruises cancelled in the past year and have 4 more coming up - hope we will finally get to cruise!  Over the years we have tried just about any type of travel imaginable but there is just something nice about unpacking and letting the ship take you to different destinations.  We usually bookend the cruise with some land travel.

 

Hello everyone!  Be interesting if there is enough interest to keep this forum going.

[matamanoa]

Nice to see a forum by and about Canadians.  My husband and I have cruised over the last 25 years and are looking forward to getting back on a ship.  We have two cruises booked for Aug. of 2022 and hope that the virus has settled down around the world and things can get back to a more normal way of life.  We have both had our first shots of the Pfizer vaccine and will get the second dose in July.  Ontario is in quite a bad state at the moment, with most of the Covid cases centered around Toronto and Ottawa.  We are short of vaccines and everyone is anxious to be vaccinated.  What a mess!  The variant cases are out of control and our hospitals are on the brink of collapse.  Who ever thought it would come to this!  

 

Barb

[CRUISINGCANUCKS99]

Hope everyone can get their shots in the arm soon. This has been a trying time for us all, and I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel is not a train after all!

 

So let's lighten things up a bit for now, how about everyone tell us some stories about memorable experiences on a cruise.

 

We were on a cruise many years ago and were seated at our dining table with a mother, her nanny and just 1 kid. They were very nice people and we got along great. Anyway, the entire week of meals that we shared with them, they ordered almost every, if not every item on the menu, including desserts and appetizers. The wait staff were busy enough keeping up with just her requests let alone us the other tables and us. Most of the time the mother and child had one or two bites from a meal before requesting something else. We were beyond shocked at this behavior. The amount of wasted food was disturbing. Then to top it all off, they skipped the final dinner, when the wait staff usually received their gratuities. I don't know if they did tip their wait staff but I'm inclined to think NOT. We certainly gained a new appreciation for the patience of our wait staff during that cruise, and, as always, tipped them, and thanked them for outstanding service. It's so true that you want to take them and your room steward,  home with you.

 

There is a couple more stories that stand out, that I will share later.

 

Gord

[Jack1]

Haven't checked the exchange rate for cruises for years but for some reason (probably bored) I checked for an Oceania cruise Dec 2022.  It was fairly close (us$ was a bit cheaper) but booked in Canadian funds.   That way I don't fuss about the dollar.  We do have a us$ account and have been squirreling away some usa funds for spending money especially now the exchange is better. 

 

Gord, your tale makes me glad for open dining!  Having the choice to dine with different folks each night (or not) has been great.  The last Princess cruise many years ago they seated us and our 2 children with another family.   We never met the mom for several nights...perhaps cruising with our 2 boys put her off!  Lol  

We have seen the empty dining room "last evening effect" as well. Sad.  These people work very hard and long hours.  We always prepay gratuities with final payment and don't have to worry about it.

Gord, where in Sask are you if you don't mind me asking?  

 

Cheers

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Jack1

[CRUISINGCANUCKS99]

Hey Jack1,

 

I don't mind at all. We live in Moose Jaw, and I farm just outside the city.

 

Gord

[Blackduck59]

How very interesting to have heard about this from friends in Australia.

I see some familiar names here, don't be surprised to get the odd visit from the folks down under.

I'm glad to hear that some have gotten their vaccine, my wife works in health care so she got her first dose last month, I registered as soon as my age group was allowed but no word back from that. It is almost alarming that they seem to be opening up registration to everyone by the end of the week but actual appointments seem to be another matter all together. Oh well I guess I'll wait.

I am in regular contact with people on the ground in Australia and New Zealand and I have decided to proceed with the planning for our down under adventure from mid January to mid February 2022. I'm not fully confident that it will happen but hope springs eternal.

[By The Bay]

Just poking my head in to see that you are behaving yourselves. 😁

[NSWP]

Well done to the Canadians for getting your own forum. I met many fine Canucks on our travels. Good luck and stay safe.

[Blackduck59]

There are a couple of the nice folks from the land down under now I hope we will make them welcome.

[Jack1]

2 hours ago, CRUISINGCANUCKS99 said:

Hey Jack1,

 

I don't mind at all. We live in Moose Jaw, and I farm just outside the city.

 

Gord

I lived in Moose Jaw for many years, husband was born and raised there.

He went to Vanier and I went to Riverview.

Still have lots of family there.

We lived in lloydminster for many years..retired 2 years ago and moved to Edmonton.

Small world

Faye

 

[Blackduck59]

On 4/18/2021 at 9:54 AM, Heidi13 said:

Having to suffer BC winters is also becoming tiresome, much prefer the sunshine and heat of Indio, CA.

 

I guess it depends on what part of BC 😁. I'm guessing there are some on here that will find that amusing.

[Chiliburn]

Isn’t Canada in Texas?

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, Chiliburn said:

Isn’t Canada in Texas?

 

Chili that's probably not going to go over that well, it is already grating me and I consider you a friend.

[Chiliburn]

18 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Chili that's probably not going to go over that well, it is already grating me and I consider you a friend.

Sorry Lyle.

As you have probably worked out,I can’t help my self.