CPT Trips

Repossession implies an ownership stake secured by a lien/mortgage. But it’s all just details, the ships owner now has the ships.

I totally agree with you. Perhaps legal, but…

Yet they are still selling trips and taking payments?

My understanding is that SunStone owns the ships and charters them to Vantage. . Wouldn’t that mean that they can’t be repossessed? Not knowing the specific charter terms, it would seem like a lay up would, ant a minimum, eliminate or reduce costs of maritime crew and ongoing maintenance. The tour operator that put Vantage on a prepaid basis isn’t positive news. It means that vendor doesn’t trust Vantage to pay for services and requires advance payment before delivering their service. They don’t want to be “stiffed.”

Good point! Our first river cruise was seeing a post here on CC that GCT had a last minute special on Vienna to Amsterdam. Wife called, booked, and we were on board less that a week later. No idea what we were getting into. No overthinking. No planning. We enjoyed every minute and got hooked.

Emphasis added. Such as those with long Covid or dead relatives and friends.

“High seas” are roughly 19 to 29 feet. 😉

@JoyMBee I can’t imagine that you can go wrong with any of the options you are considering. And chances are that you will book again with the first line you travel with. I would recommend that once you settle on an itinerary you spend time researching the places you will visit. You usually can stay in town after the morning excursion and then do something on your own if you find that there is something that interests you more than the ship’s excursion(s). Skip lunch on board and hit a museum or whatever and get back in time for the port talk. The exceptions are when the ship is due to leave “early” such as to cruise the Rhine castles or if it makes a short stop to drop you off for a bus tour and then pick you up at another location.

For a moment I thought you meant the ships are square. 🤔😎 Then my other brain kicked in. 😉

I just reread OP’s post and see no mention of an all aboard time for the first day. Does Avalon always do boat drill on boarding day? If not, that first afternoon may be open until port talk/dinner time. 6:30/7:00 (?). Dinner is most likely to be “leisurely,” so I wouldn’t plan anything for after dinner. Still I would plan on “museuming” on the full day.

A schedule that is provided now will give you a general idea of sailaway time, but all timing issues on river cruises are subject to change. If I were in your position I would get 12:30/1:00 tickets and head over to the House right after the canal cruise. A snack of street food should do for missing lunch onboard.

‘82, a three day cruise to nowhere out of NYC on QEII. It was scheduled by Cunard at the last minute as it was the first cruise after being requisitioned for the Falkland’s War to carry regular pax. There were still signs of her wartime service that were being removed as we cruised. https://www.beyondships4.com/queen-elizabeth-2-falklands.html

We have been asked to complete medical history forms on our GCT/OAT cruise and land trips once we met up with the group. The trip leader kept them in their duty bags as we discovered when a traveler required medical attention. The form asked for medical conditions and medications. It seemed reasonable for them to have this information as they would be the interface between the traveler and the medical provider.

Don’t worry, “the check is in the mail.” 😉 seriously, I really feel for all that are stuck in this mess.

Belize, best diving of any Caribbean destination. Set it up with a local provider rather than a ship’s excursion.

PSI or kPa when checking the tyres?

Is this one of those piano players?

Unless I am misreading the posts on informative port talks, I need to find Mr. Peabody and see if he and Sherman still have this.

@John Bull Sadly, those days of meaningful port talks are long gone on the major lines. And certainly in the Caribbean. Don’t even try to get an island map that shows anything other than the jewelry chains.

Based on our experiences, cruise sponsored port talks are a waste of time. If you had good experiences, what line(s) and itineraries?

Vantage self insures cancellation with Allianz doing the administrative paperwork.

Not new news, but it’s now here. Might be another reason to avoid CDG for EU entry. From Morning Brew newsletter citing https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65687665?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew Stat: You know those flights where you take off, chug one ginger ale, and then prepare for landing? France is outlawing them. A rule that bans short-haul domestic flights on routes that would take less than 2.5 hours to travel by train went into effect yesterday. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from aircraft (which account for 2% of all global emissions), though critics call the move mostly symbolic. By our estimates, here in the US, a similar law would essentially ban flights between NYC and Philly (and probably a few more).

@sharkster77 Does any topic on here ever end?🙄

Were the bikes off ship rentals or did the crew need to get them all back onboard?

Self advocacy at its finest!