bbstx

Done! 

I was just watching a You Tube video on “things not worth seeing in Iceland” by a local tour guide.  The crashed plane was mentioned.  The tour guide did not think it was worth it because it is a 2.5km hike each way between the parking lot and the plane.  And just the shell of a plane once you get there.

@blackfly Do you mind sharing the name of the tour operator?  I’ve been looking for the same itinerary for our August cruise.  PM me if you do not wish to post the name publicly.  There will be 8 of us - 3 grandparents; 2 parents; 3 elementary school aged children.  I would prefer a private tour so we can make changes on the fly if anyone gets restless.

Celebrity doesn’t have excursions for Djupivogur or Seydisfjordur and I’m having a hard time finding tour operators.

I have packed straw hats with big brims 2 different ways.  If the hat says it is packable, then I fold it in half like a taco and roll it like an ice cream cone.  Be sure not to leave the hat packed like this for more than 24 hours.

If I doubt that the hat is packable/crushable, then I pack it like CookingChick2020 describes above….fill the crown with soft small items and then pack around the hat.  

For my upcoming cruise, I am going to get one of the magnetic hat clips that attaches your hat to your purse.  Something similar to the picture.  On a cruise last year, I asked a woman who was using one how she liked it.  She said she loved it.

Below is a transcript of a chat I had with an agent at aardy.com where I purchased my trip insurance.  FWIW, my insurer for this cruise is Trawick.  

TL:DR: The agent told me that using gift cards to pay for the trip did not affect cruise insurance.  However, I would only be reimbursed for the actual amount I paid.  Example: if my cruise cost $1000 and I used two $500 gift cards that had cost me $900, I’d only get $900 back.

Governmental taxes are excluded from the requirements of the law.  Could there still be port taxes added?  Could it be that the $50 is for all of the other service fees that get automatically added on?

I believe the “increase” is to comply with the new California Price Transparency Law that went into effect today (July 1, 2024)

The CA Attorney General’s press release 

https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/landmark-price-transparency-law-set-go-effect-july-1-attorney-general-bonta

Does anyone know how or when the standby list is updated?  Right now the furthest out cruise is October.  I’m looking for something a little later in the year.  

On 3/28/2023 at 12:59 PM, ljsanantonio said:

Do they take layover time in consideration, or do they think a 10 hour layover is appropriate?

On the first iteration of my flights, I had an 8 hour layover in EWR.  I sent a better routing to them through my Regent cruise consultant.  They responded with a better arrival time, more reasonable layovers but added a stop.  When I asked my cc to look into it, he told me I had to call the Air Department directly.  That’s when I got the “$75 to talk to us” recording. 

My specific facts are that the initial return routing the Air Department gave me included an 8 hour layover in EWR getting me home at midnight.  I sent them an alternate routing which would have been one 2.5 hour layover getting me home at 10p.  They responded with a 2 stop flight but didn’t include any ridiculously long layovers and gets me home at 10p.  Rather than pay $75 to reject whatever nonsense they would offer, I accepted the 2 stop offer.  I’m quite disappointed, but it probably is the best I was going to get out of them.  

Nevertheless, it is my opinion that low cost carriers charge to speak to a human.  Is Regent on the road to becoming a Low Cost Carrier?

I had a question about the routing on my not-yet-accepted flights.  My Regent cruise consultant told me that as of today, I have to call the Regent Air Department instead of his handling it for me.  Not what I wanted to do, but I did it.  I got a recording that said I would have to pay $75 to talk to someone in the Air Department.  😳

Wow.  The nickel-and-diming has started….  Or did I misunderstand?

Have you ever tried solid shampoo and solid conditioner?  I haven’t, so I can’t comment on it.  I have a friend who swears by it when she travels.  The solid won’t count against your TSA 3-1-1 limits.

See how little conditioner you can get by with.  I only need a tiny dab.  I carry mine in …wait for it… a contact lens case!  Filling both sides will last me a couple of weeks.  

There are a number of You Tube videos showing people using video-proctored testing.  Perhaps watching a couple of those will ease your mind as to what to expect and how to set everything up so that your testing goes easily.  

I watched this one  and this one 

If you have any of the free tests, you might take one just to get the feel for it.  

FWIW, I dealt with some FCC issues for quite a while.  Finally got a person who was knowledgeable.  She sent a question to whatever corporate area is responsible for FCCs.  After that, the credit showed up in my account within a day.  She also advised me if I had to call back, to call ~6:30 a.m. Pacific Time because that is when they open.  

If you are looking at ships only and not itineraries, I vote for the Koningsdam.  I just got back last week from a 7 day cruise aboard the Koningsdam.  

We opted for Club Orange and loved every minute of it.  All in our party but me used the Club Orange upgrade.  They paid for a mid-ship balcony, but booked an aft balcony.  I chose to stay mid-ship so didn’t use the upgrade.  

Loved the small Club Orange dining room and the extremely attentive service that came with it.  Club Orange gets the MDR menu plus an additional special entree.  One evening it was a veal chop and it was delicious!  

Priority boarding comes with Club Orange, too. It was nice although the boarding experience as a whole was chaotic.

Dare I say it?  “Oh, crap!”  I’m trying to get 4 friends to go with me on CB in December for a 10 day Panama Canal cruise.  I don’t want them all p!ssed at me because we are on a stinky ship.  (All puns intended.). Following …..

@MyTMo777can you fit enough product into contact lens cases to last you a week? I use them for moisturizer and conditioner.  Can you off-load some of the stuff to your DH?  I covet and save every little container that passes thru my hands.  

Cautionary note to light packers: Check your hotel room thoroughly before checking out!!  I was on an Alaskan cruise last week with my sister and other friends.  My sister had only a carry-on suitcase and a tote.  Somehow, she failed to look in the hotel closet before leaving to board the ship.  She left a pair of pants behind!  It made for quite a challenge to be one pair of pants short when there were no “extras.”  She rose to the challenge and still looked nice every day. 

On 7/7/2022 at 8:31 AM, fsdj1097 said:

We could not get VeriFly to accept any of our documents.  It was a total bust for us.....However, when we boarded Koningsdam in Vancouver, it probably took all of 10 minutes for all 6 in our party to present our ArriveCan receipts, and COVID test results at cruise check in.  The facial recognition (photo uploaded to Navigator App) made the whole process a snap. 

I had similar experience. Loaded everything on VeriFLY up to taking the Health Assessment.  The app would not allow me to submit the Health Assessment.  VeriFLY tech support told me to uninstall and reinstall the app.  Then the app would not recognize my trip.  After multiple attempts and much to-ing and fro-ing with VeriFLY tech support, I went old school with paper. At check in, it went quickly and smoothly using paper. 

IMHO VeriFLY is useless!!

My experience was similar to OP’s.  We are Club Orange. Supposed to get priority boarding.  Other than getting an early time, I didn’t notice a difference between regular boarding and priority boarding.
 

My VeriFLY crashed and I had to use paper docs.  It was still remarkably quick.  Also, I have Global Entry.  I was initially the only one in the GE line, until I flagged down my sister and BIL who also have GE.  It was super quick to go through US CBP with GE. 

4 hours ago, cruisingrob21 said:

having issues as well - the verifly tech support teams suggestion was to uninstall and start over.  So for a family of 4 thats entering 8 vaccine entries (again), 4 more photos, 2 booster shots, and 4 tests.  Quite a pain.

 

and after re-installing, I can't even get it to show my booking anymore.

I’m having the same problem🤯.  I got everything uploaded but could not get the app to take the Health Assessment answers.  Tech support said uninstall and re-install. Now it won’t let me enter my booking code.  More pleas to tech support were answered with canned answers that were no help!!  I’m just going to have to go old school with paper.   Not a happy way to start my trip!!

Thanks, Martin.  The Observation area it is!

I have entered all the required information, but when I get to the end I get the error code pictured below.  I am connected to the internet.  I have the most recent version of the app.  I have started over at least 6 times this morning.  I have googled “ArriveCAN error code 3-150” and get nothing useful.  Any words of wisdom on what I might be doing wrong and how to fix it?

ETA: the 101st time I attempted to submit, it went through!!!  In the words of Emily Latella, never mind.  

There is a free app called “Visit a City.”  It has suggestions for a 2 day intensive visit to Vancouver.  The advice you are getting here is probably better, but Visit A City will put the sites in the most time efficient order.  I used it for Venice and Florence and was very pleased.

I have stayed at the Hyatt Regency and the Sutton Place hotels both on Burrard.  I’ve also stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront and the Fairmont on Georgia St.  I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them.  However, the 2 on Burrard always felt more centrally located to me.