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luxecruisers

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Posts posted by luxecruisers

  1. On 8/5/2020 at 12:45 AM, hallasm said:

    From July 15 people from most EU countries can enter a Norway - hence they can board the Hurtigruten ship.

    There were some passengers from Austria, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Latvia and Estonia.

     

    Hi Hallasm,

    Thanks for the update! Do you know if they allowed any Spanish, Italian, or English?

  2. On 8/8/2020 at 1:50 PM, SuSuTrav said:

    Two days post cruise is no where’s near enough time to see Istanbul! Stay longer in a hotel of your choice and hire private guides if you don’t want to explore on your own which is what we did.

     

    Totally agree! So much to experience in Istanbul. Such a fabulous city. 

  3. On 8/2/2020 at 5:49 PM, SRQbeachgirl said:

    If we stick to a road trip, probably somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains or back to Gatlinburg, TN for some hiking in the Smokies.

     

    Also kicking around the idea of taking Amtrak up through the Northeast for fall foliage or, if we really need a beach fix, catching a flight down to Florida.

     

    Thanks for the great travel ideas; I've never been to Gatlinburg but I've heard it's beautiful. 

  4. On 8/2/2020 at 5:49 PM, clo said:

    Not natl. parks but RV parks. Jammed. We made a stop for one night and got the only space. Evidently RV sales and rentals are through the roof. People are figuring it out. When we arrived our 'paperwork' was in a slot at the locked front door and a man drove us to our spot in his golf cart. 

     

    Yes, I've been hearing a lot of RV trips with butlers onboard; I guess people really want to mimic the luxury cruise experience ... 

  5. On 8/3/2020 at 12:17 AM, grayjay said:

    On the circumnavigation voyage that didn't happen any more most of the passengers were Norwegian, with a sprinkling of Germans, Austrians and from Switzerland. They were lucky in being denied boarding on their day of departure...

     

    Interesting to know some of the nationalities that were allowed on board ... Thank you! 

  6. 2 hours ago, clo said:

    We cruised them two years ago to Antarctica on their 400 pax Midnatsol and a year ago on their Norwegian coastal cruise on their 100 pax Lofoten. Loved every bit of both trips.

     

    Did you find it a difficult trade-off between cabin/amenities vs way more adventure (which I'm a huge fan of)?

  7. 1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

    One of my regrets in life was not going to Israel when I was physically able to do so.

    I had an experimental surgery in Feb.that did not work .I was supposed to have another procedure this month but I am cancelling it.I do not believe that now is the time to go to a hospital.A cousin of mine living in Calif went to a hospital for severe abdominal pain and died yesterday.Cruising and traveling in general is not likely for me other than a trip to the cemetery but I will postpone that for as long as possible.

     

    Sending positive thoughts your way ... 

  8. On 8/1/2020 at 5:17 PM, luxecruisers said:

    We can't make assumptions that a crew member was the source. Non-Norwegian crew members had to get two negative COVID tests before leaving their countries and be put into quarantine before sailing. Articles don't talk about passenger testing. 

     

    Editing my post to exclude "many of the passengers were foreigners." Tried to find the one article I read that mentioned it and can't find it anymore. 

  9. 16 hours ago, richws said:

    Do you have information/a source for statement that "many of the passengers were foreign"? This is not suggested in anything I have read.

     

    Hi Richws, 

     

    I tried looking for the article, but I couldn't find it again. Only one of the articles mentioned "mostly foreigners" or something along those lines. 

     

    Because I can't find it, I'm going to edit my original post. If I find it, I'll reach out and send you the link. 

  10. 3 hours ago, Warm Breezes said:

    No.  We were at the same park a couple of years ago with my mother and it was much busier. Having said that we were there mid-week this time (not sure about last time).

     

    Okay, there's hope yet for some social distancing at national parks! Thanks for the tip! 

  11. 6 hours ago, evandbob said:

    The head of Air BnB just stated that ALL travel as we used to know it has ended.  There is a competition for new ideas and modes of travel.

     

    Many posters have said they will drive to National Parks or RV cross country rather than get on a plane or cruise ship.  This might alleviate the over tourism some ports of call have been experiencing as well help as the environment recover.

     

    But please dispose of masks and gloves properly!

     

    This is why I keep wondering how crowded national parks are right now. In California, they are very busy ... 

  12. 6 hours ago, slidergirl said:

    I will say that I would love to do a 2 week road trip through "Old Florida" - those backroads and old towns.  I belong to a FB group where people have posted photos of places in "OF" and it just calls to me.  But, that's too far to drive to do and it would cost too much to haul my camping gear on a plane.   

     

    Thanks for the tip: old Florida looks interesting! 

  13. 5 hours ago, donaldsc said:

    What I can not figure is why the crew were not tested, quarantined and then tested again before they were allowed to board the ship.  If Hurtigruten with small ships can't prevent a Coved outbreak, how can we expect a larger ships with many many more crew members to keep Coved at bay?

     

    DON 

     

    We can't make assumptions that a crew member was the source. Non-Norwegian crew members had to get two negative COVID tests before leaving their countries and be put into quarantine before sailing. Articles don't talk about passenger testing; many of the passengers were foreigners. 

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  14. 2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

     Yes, I'm looking for NM and TX as part of an October or November trip.  I'm not a big fan of heat, so I wouldn't think of down there in the Summer.  I'm looking a little more north or east for one earlier.

     

    October is when the Balloon Fiesta takes place in NM; sadly, it's been cxled this year. 

     

    Let us know if you find anything vacant or manageable in the North or East for the summer. 

  15. 3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

    I have approximately 1000 books on my shelves to re-read,300 VHS movies to watch,a few hundred DVD movies to watch ,hundreds of CD’s,casettes and LP’s to listen to.

    Good friends to call and e-mail with .A loving wife ,children,grandchildren and a grand dog.

     

    So much to be grateful for! 🙂

  16. 1 hour ago, getting older slowly said:

    We are in Melbourne and been basic lock down since March then had the second wave,

    just as they are easing lockdown so you could travel a bit further ( but not recommended  ) we went back to Lockdown  Four reason to leave home, food, medical, exercise, caring/work... but only local...

     

    At least you'll have your Australian Rules Football and cricket ... 🙂

  17. 41 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

    I want go tell everyone: do NOT go to the Western National Parks, National Monuments, and National Forests!!!!!!

     

    Thank you for letting us know! I had a feeling that national parks would be busy and full ... Doesn't sound like fun. Have you looked in NM at all? 

  18. 38 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

    I want go tell everyone: do NOT go to the Western National Parks, National Monuments, and National Forests!!!!!!

    I keep trying to plan a few week-long or more camping trips and I'm having a b!t@h of a time finding a campground for a reservation to tie together for a trip!   Things are going gangbusters with so many people renting RVs this year and hitting the road for all the National Parks.  Problem with many of the campgrounds is that they are multi-use - you reserve the same spots if you are a tent camper or an RVer.  I really don't like doing the "first come first serve" spots because if you can't get there by 7am you don't have a spot and then where do you camp???  
    It took me awhile last year to plan out my trip last year for a 2 week road trip to Southern Utah/Northern Arizona.   Just me and my camping gear.  It was one of the best vacations I've ever had!  Now, I'm looking to the North, the West, the East (to Colorado) and the further South and it's hard to cobble something together.    It's definitely not like the old days where you just piled into the car and headed out!   I've got a short camping trip next week, BUT there's a forest fire that just started up 8 miles from the campground we women were going to camp at.  Sheriff evacuated the campground up the road from ours, so we just have to 1)keep our eyes on the fire website and 2)see if we can find an alternative spot that we can get a site.   Sigh.   

     

  19. 5 hours ago, pris993 said:

    The reference I made to last trip on earth is a one way to the cemetery.  Before that happens trying to get one more trip to Israel, hopefully in 2021.   Had a trip planned for May of 2020 which got cancelled due to the virus. 

     

    We are blessed with may travel memories, will keep going as long as we are healthy to do so but now have to wait til virus under control.   

     

    What an amazing life! Thanks for clarifying the "last trip on earth." Crossing my fingers for Israel for you - an epic trip for sure! 

  20. 5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

     

    I try to get to Italy once a year -- maybe Rome and somewhere else.

     

    I have a Hurtigruten cruise to Greenland and the NE Atlantic coast in May 2021 on one of their expedition ships (about 200 people or less) that I hope will go, but may not... I'll also stay in Iceland afterwards for a few days.

     

    I also am planning a land trip to Algeria in late November to see some of their Roman sites.  That's a place that's been on my list for quite a while.

     

    Algeria sounds phenomenal! 

     

    As for Hurtrigruten, have you ever cruised with them before? Love the idea of a much more off-the-beaten path type of cruise. 

     

    Hate to break this to you but it might be important to know: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/08/01/hurtigruten-cruise-line-33-crew-infected-covid-19-norway/5562151002/

     

     

     

  21. On 7/30/2020 at 1:35 PM, klfrodo said:

    Somewhere somehow, in some mysterious language part of the policy, GeoBlue and the State Insurance Commissioner cannot come to a satisfactory compromise and let GeoBlue be marketed and sold to us.

     

    Thank you for the warm wishes! From other threads, I've read about some of the limitations of GeoBlue so I will need to read all the fine print. 

     

    Love CFAR on cruise line insurance but hate the idea of a future cruise voucher right now. 

  22. 9 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

    We spent a few days in Gatlinburg, TN in June. We drove there, stayed in a hotel, but pretty much kept to ourselves.

     

    We'll likely do another road trip to...somewhere...around Thanksgiving and then fly to Texas to visit family in December. 

     

    None of this replaces cruising, though, and my grumpiness increases the longer I'm landlocked.

     

    What are your top picks for Thanksgiving? 

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