JMARINER

I agree with Pcardad above. What ever the rules are today; the rules will change many times over the next few months as operations start up. I image think will start out rather strict and loosen up over a short time. This is the main reason we will not be "first" to get on the the ship. We are going to wait a few months and see how the procedure, what  ever they are, pan out.

J

2 hours ago, Gilly said:

 

We also book directly with Regent UK, having experienced consistently first class service from day one.   

Curious.

Why do you have to use a local UK (or OZ or EU) travel agent?  Do you know why you could not call and book thru a USA agent? 

I have often done the reverse with other travel related reservations like hotels, cars, tours and even flights. The European agent have no trouble booking my non USA requests. lat time I was in OZ I booked a flight home from Perth to LA using an Oz agent, with out any issue.

J

IMO, it would make no difference. The Suites are all the same size in that grouping. Personally, I would avoid being under the pool or under a restaurant, near the elevators or near the laundry room. I like the lower decks.

Also look at the "Suite Guru"  section of this board forum. Or post the list of suite numbers for individual comments.

J

2 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Would you care to explain this in simple terms for those of us who don't know the U.S. constitution?

Sure. Generally, Interstate and International commerce including passengers travel is controlled by the federal Government. Any state law that interferes with with US law in that regard is usually null and void. So if the US government says Covid passports to enter (or leave) the Country, the states can not overrule it.

J

23 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Yes, as I said, that's a yellow card. It's not a passport. It's not associated with the government in any way. I'm in favor of making Covid vaccine similar to the yellow card for countries that require it.

For all of those other recommendations, there are no cards or passports to document them. Recommendations from CDC and WHO with no way to provide documentation of them, as everything else you've listed, are totally worthless as requirements for traveling. It's up to the traveler without any documentation needed. I can say that if I need all of those vaccines to safely visit South Africa, there's no chance I will ever go there. Is there a human vaccine for rabies? Rabies shots for humans are only given if you've been bitten by an animal that can't be confirmed to not have it.

While it is not required by the US, the Certificate of Yellow Fever vaccination  is associated  with the Governments of other Countries as a requirement for entry. Where is really comes into question is traveling/transiting from certain Countries that  have endemic Yellow fever, like Brazil into Countries that require the Certificate. When this is an issue the ship will usually not let you board without the Certificate.   Here is a list of all the Countries and their requirements.

Link

J

De Santis order is probably unenforceable.

Do you understand how this rule works?

Regent Corporate in Miami makes the rule. But on t he ship is is up to the staff to have to enforce it. Usually they  will let most things pass unless someone is wearing  frayed or full of holes Levies. The rest of the time it is another passenger that make the judgment call and complains to the staff.   Then the staff is "put in  the middle" as to enforcement. Often the staff member is some low level bar or restaurant server who is stuck dealing with an unpleasant  (for the) conversation. 

So when you say you have seen this or that worn, understand why  the rule is only sometime enforced.

J

On 3/30/2021 at 7:36 PM, MomC said:

I know of no topic in the last 20+ years that has brought the amount of controversy as that of Covid.  Could you just knock it off?  ...................  Let the debate stop right here.

 

Topic...... Tipping 🙂

J

On 3/30/2021 at 3:36 PM, Wizpharm2 said:

For those that advocate/support a “COVID PASSPORT” can you explain why? 

........

Cruises can require proof of vaccination without the government requiring a passport that may be a violation of the US Constitution...it will certainly wind up in US courts if we move to implement one.

For decades the Cruise line have required the "yellow fever" Vaccine card for travel to certain countries.   No one ever sued over them. How would a covid card be different?

Additionally, the Cruise lines have always had the discretion not to board (and to forcibly debark)  any passenger they deemed too ill or infirm. They don't allow pregnant women to board past a certain stage.  They can make up almost any rule they want concerning the contract in this regard. There is no constitutional right to cruise!! (My DW would argue that point 😉 )

J

40 minutes ago, Kiwifromkiev said:

. The other question - what about those who for health reasons can't be vaccinated - will cruise companies discriminate against them? Tough call all around. 

From what the CDC website says, there are very very few people can not get the vaccination.

Furthermore, why would call this "discrimination?" Do you think  that these requirements are ones that the Cruise Lines particularly want to put in place? What would you have the Cruise Lines do?

CDC Contraindications of Covid vaccine.

J

Connections at BA at Heathrow are notoriously bad.

I would suggest that you plan to stay in London a few days to get over the jet lag and then fly down to Cape Town as the the LHR- CPT is north-south and only  one time zone difference.

J

3 hours ago, Joanandjoe said:

I'm puzzled by the legislation.  For now, cruise ships are not just prohibited from stopping in Canada:  they are not allowed to cruise in Canadian waters.  One of the points of Alaska cruises is that much of the sailing is in the relatively protected Inside Passage.  If the ships can't cruise between the Canadian mainland and Vancouver Island  (& Prince Rupert Island), they will have a much longer, rougher passage between (for e.g.) Seattle and Seward.  Can that even be done with the 7 day CDC cruise limitation? As for Alaska to Alaska cruises, I don't believe any port other than Seward can handle large ship embarkation and disembarkation.

 

Of course, if the legislation passes, maybe Canada will let ships pass through their waters as long as they don't stop in Canada.

The United States and most maritime nations consider the inside passage to be an international strait, which means that foreign vessels have right of "transit passage." Thus it is not subject to the term "Canadian Waters," if the ship is indeed just transiting. The same is true of the Saint Lawrence seaway. 

J

This is part of an email that my Travel Agent sent me. It was from a Cruise trade organization.

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 1, 2021

""The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently sent a letter about the negative impact of that ban to Canada’s ambassador to the United States. That bipartisan letter was signed by U.S. Congressional representatives Peter DeFazio, Bob Gibbs, Sam Graves, Salud Carbajal and Don Young.

Finding a Solution 

Current U.S. law does not permit foreign-flagged ships (most of the global cruise fleet) to sail between U.S. ports without a foreign port call. So, port calls at such Canadian destinations as Victoria and Vancouver, B.C., are essential during the Alaska season.

It's also expected that the current Canadian cruise ship ban (if that continues) will adversely impact the fall New England/Canada season. 

The committee's letter encouraged the Government of Canada to work together with U.S. officials and cruise and travel stakeholders to find “a mutually agreeable solution.” It suggested that Canada could permit ships to make a “technical stop” in Canada with those ships not letting any passengers go ashore. 

"It is our hope that this solution would both address the important health concerns of Canadian authorities and allow cruises to resume with the approval of U.S. government authorities when it is deemed safe to do so," the letter stated. 

In a statement, Zane Kerby, president and CEO of the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), said: “Government action—here and abroad—has played a key role in the decimation of our industry, the most recent example being the Canadian government’s announcement that it is closing its ports to cruise ships through early 2022."

Given U.S. law, "Canada’s decision (unless soon reversed) imperils any chance to execute the 2021 Alaska and Canada/New England cruise seasons," Kerby added. 

ASTA said it's seeking a solution to the impasse whether that be legislative, regulatory or diplomatic: "With the vaccination rollout underway and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working with cruise lines to resume cruising from U.S. ports, there is promise for the summer and fall seasons. Government and industry must work together, find a solution and keep that promise.”

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the cruise industry’s trade association, thanked the House members for their leadership in facilitating dialogue with the Canadian government. In a statement, CLIA said that it "looks forward to working with the Canadian and U.S. authorities on a solution that addresses the public health needs of Americans and Canadians alike, while responsibly restarting a critical economic driver for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.""

4 hours ago, caroltovt said:

 I have been tempted by a Regent itinerary. When trying to call them last week, I kept getting connected to a separate TA.......

 

I am not sure I completely understand what you have written. You called Regent and they transferred the call to a 3rd party, independent, travel agent? I have never heard of Regent doing this and I am sure that other Travel Agents would be P/O to learn of this practice.  Are you sure you were not calling some online booking agent masquerading as Regent? 

Also, if they charged you over the phone  for more that you agreed, dispute the amount with your credit card company. They should reverse the charge immediately.

J

8 hours ago, tipsygirl said:

Good to hear. Your galley tour experience at least let’s me know that there is a separate section that takes care of special needs. Cross contamination is an increasing concern for me and can only be minimized by this type of galley arrangement . 
Cindy

Although they have  special section in the Galley, it is not dedicated for only gluten free foods. They prepare other "special" meal in that area too, Kosher, Vegan, Plant Based. etc.

J

They will try to accommodate you. However, if you have Celiac disease, I wouldn't trust them. The Chef's source  lot of pre-packged  ingredients  from many places and have no way to be certain that the ingredients  are 100% gluten free. They do carry some certified prepackage breads/rolls.

J

It is not false advertising unless they know, for a fact, that it is not true. Just like almost everything in the Stock market, NCL is using their best guess on the economy and the state of the Covid vaccine, hopeful that best estimated come true. NCL is not forcing anyone to buy and we all know the risks, But with Covid rates dropping precipitously and the rate of vaccinations rapidly rising they are betting that life will returned to some sort of normalcy sooner rather than latter.

My contacts in the Travel Industries say that there is very high pent up demand for all travel and that booking are proceeding at a very brisk pace. So it seem that a lot of the public agrees and NCL's marketing might be "spot-on" timely.

J

6 hours ago, daetchief said:

I apologize to those who have seen this before, but I'm inclined to use it every time this topic comes up.  [Bi-annually?]

 

"""But if the tipping is because your treatment was exemplary and you openly disregard Regent policy,""""

 

Please point out that Policy that I constantly seem to "disregard?"

J

While it may not be apparent today, the ability to rapidly develop vaccines that are now proved, rather that a concept due to Covid-19 may be a real game changer in the future. The flu, malaria , even the common cold may soon be maladies of the past according to this article for Nature magazine.

""How COVID unlocked the power of RNA vaccines. The technology could revolutionize efforts to immunize against HIV, malaria, influenza and more.""

Link

J

On 2/9/2021 at 12:00 PM, Pcardad said:

The ships don't need better tech...they need a contract signed by Regent for more bandwidth. It could be 4 times faster tomorrow.

Bandwidth is not the only problem. High latency times are also a very big slowdown and  there is nothing they can do to fix that. I think Star-link with it's much lower orbits and therefore much lower latency,  would be the real game changer for the  internet experience at sea.

J

As of now nothing is required. But I assume that soon a proof  Covid inoculation will be required.

J

Regent not only doesn't care if you bring your own wine, they will store it for you in their cellars at the correct temps and serve it to you at your table or bring it to your room.

J

3 hours ago, OrthoCruiser said:

If a cruise were leaving out of a foreign port, say Papeete, Tahiti, would it be possible to essentially ship a case of wine to yourself in care of the cruise company at the port the ship will be leaving from and pick it up there or on the ship? We have had suitcases sent ahead but think it might be a bit more of a problem to send alcohol. Anybody with knowledge or experience with this ?

You probably could. I am sure you could ask the luggage shipping companies about the ins and outs.

But why? With what it would cost to ship it to Tahiti (or any other port) you could more that buy something excellent off the reserve list. I would guess that express shipping  case of wine would cost $400-$600.  And you you really want to ship good wine in in a non climate controlled environment and have it setting in some hot airport warehouse for days.

J

Why don't you get an anti-body test and find out; it will tell if you ever had Covid 19 in the past. There was  a different  "covid" virus in the US in January and February  that had a lot of similar symptoms, but it was not Covid-19.

J

IMO, the northern OZ ports are kinda blah. I like Polynesian and Fiji. Komodo is just a walk around S
ShoreEx on a very hot and humid island; I would rather go to a local zoo. Having said that, I like the Explorer over that Mariner because of the large cabins in "F" and above.

New Zealand is certainly the best part of both cruises.

Al in all, I would look at the shore excursion and see what appealed to me.

J