Alaskanb

17 hours ago, ChangeOrder said:

I did a quick look online for a stop on my summer cruise, and found several walk in clinics in Sicily that charge no more than €50 for a same day test. It will be a pain to deal with with, but looks like it can be done. That way I could get off the ship in Civitavecchia and go straight to the airport with test results in hand. I wouldn’t be surprised if Princess didn’t facilitate a Covid Test excursion in these final ports for the US and other citizens that need it. 
 

That being said I suspect we could see a change in policy by then that will allow fully vaxxed to enter the States without the test. 

We have planned to stay in Rome for an extra day so will need to figure that one out closer to the time. Who knows what the ever-changing rules will be at the time or even if we will sail! 

Found this that has links to the Covid rules and test locations at Fuimicino airport and in Rome . https://romevacationtips.com/how-to-get-a-covid-test-in-rome/

Manchester is another option for north Wales, also Glasgow if you decide on Scotland. 

There is a train from Manchester to Southampton --slowish but beautiful countryside 

2 hours ago, Ombud said:

They have a wgt limit on checked bags? Or are you saying they weighed your carry-on bag? (FWIW British Air tried to tell me I needed to check my old carry-on bc it was 10kg. Supposedly that was too heavy for me to store overhead. 😅🤣😂)

 

 

Air New Zealand has strict weight and size limits on their carry-on bags. We have two sets of carry-ons --one for domestic flights, the other for European carriers. 

I would also look at pricing for YYZ-LHR - YYZ using EZ Air and then personal cost for LHR-DUB-LHR. Not sure if there is a direct flight from DUB to Southampton --maybe Loganair?

Still annoys me that there appears to be no allowance for folks who are fully vaccinated. 

Our October 19 Island Princess from Southampton is still listed for us. Finger's crossed!

7 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Trying to look not so negatively here, does anyone know if it could simply be Princess putting a hold on dock space for their own version of Plan B (or C or D)?

 

I was thinking the same thing. Guess we will have to wait and see

12 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Interesting. Right now we're booked on a 14 day Northern Lights RT cruise out of Southampton leaving on Oct 5th and returning Oct 19th. Since I would imagine it would take the Island longer than 3 days to get to Haifa from Southampton and it's currently sitting off Cypres right now, this doesn't add to our confidence factor that our cruise is actually going to happen. If true, which I don't doubt considering all that's going on, I wonder how long it will take Princess to let us know if/when the Island schedule does change?

We are supposed to be on the cruise after yours from Southampton to Rome -- this is very disconcerting! 

I have the same question but our cruise docks in Rome and we plan to spend a day there before we fly back to the US. At this point it appears that a test will be required in addition to vaccination. 

5 hours ago, bassmk said:

YES.

 

We are both fully vaccinated, but will still mask up. I only don't like it because I tend to want to live in a problem-free fantasy land when I'm vacationing. A mask is just a reminder of reality. LOL

Maybe we need some made out of cruise-themed fabric? 

On 3/19/2021 at 7:18 AM, gmjc2 said:

We have booked our first Aft cabin. It is on the 2 nd deck so we are concerned about vibration and wake noise! It was the only disabled cabin available.

Us too for the same reason --on the Island Princess promenade deck. 

We have used Smiths several times. Be aware of what time your hotel makes your room available. 

Us too! Would be nice.

Still hoping for our Oct 19, 2021 Med cruise. 

10 minutes ago, rljan said:

My point is that if 100 percent of the passengers and crew have been vaccinated the, ipso facto, you have reached herd immunity.  Therefore the use of masks is not necessary.  I don't mean this to be argumentative.  I'm giving my reasoning for my original response.  Even though I have have been vaccinated, I follow all precautions while on land because we don't have herd immunity yet.

Interesting idea. It would mean all people would need to have vaccine/s and required post vaccine time to develop antibodies. 

15 hours ago, SouthAltaCruisingFamily said:

We did a full transit during March 2018.  We had either PR712 or PR716 as a BE Balcony cabin.  We also had PR726 which is a S5 suite. 

Some notes to take into consideration when choosing a cabin on this deck (at least on the port side)....

-The white spot between cabins 718 & 722 is a crew area which had an ice machine.

-The very aft (in the middle) had two separate areas.  One was a linen storage and the other was a crew access.  If my memory serves me well this was a stair case for crew members but I am not 100% sure.

-Right in front of Inside Cabin PR708 there was another crew area with linen storage.

-One additional note from other pax was the inability to fully enjoy the balcony for handicap stateroom PR702.  Their complaint was this was just a standard balcony "wall" that had an opening on the top and bottom.  As traffic from the promenade becomes a dead end, passengers were required to go inside the ship.   They stated that they heard a lot more noise than normal.

-During sea days on this particular sailing we did have considerable wind that created a whistling in the BE cabin which was annoying at night time.  We did check to ensure that the balcony door was shut tight.  I do not know if this is a regular occurrence or just a once in a while happening.

Please note that these were our observations from almost 3 years ago.

We hope to be in PR 726 in mid October. Do you have any comments or issues you experienced? Thanks

Did a private tour in Orkney that was remarkable --sadly it no longer takes place. Do your research and then decide which place draws you in. I would do Orkney again any time -- Stonehenge too many tourists taking selfies. 

No idea about June 2021 but I've decided that we will definitely be going on a med cruise out of the UK in mid October --until some one tells me I can't 😁. Great flights booked using points with AA web specials -- probably will change times between now and then but I am resolute that it will all happen! 

2 minutes ago, compozer said:

  I am not happy that now Princess makes you transfer the bookings to TA's within 6 months.   

What is this? 

Me too! Gave up when I discovered a Web Special for 35,000 miles pp on AA for a return from Rome to ELP in premium economy --well PE from Rome to PHL then economy on domestic portion. Works for us.

On 11/13/2020 at 4:23 PM, SoBaycruiser said:

Thank you. That was very helpful. That was my concern on a northern lights cruise.  It will be very cold and we love cruising up the fjords. I wonder if we will we be fighting for a spot with a view after days at sea ?  

It also could be warm enough to be outside...... and there are many places to be other than Horizon Court to have a view. Have a great time. Think we will be on the ship after you. 

54 minutes ago, ar1950 said:

Since Princess “destroyed” the back of the Island with the addition of cabins, most of those “secret” outdoor viewing areas are likely no longer there.

Thanks for reminding me. 

We have been on the Island (Alaska) pre-changes and the Coral (Panama Canal) two years ago. We hope to be on the Island in October 2021 to the Med. We found the Coral to be the perfect ship for us as we primarily cruise for itinerary. I will miss the International Cafe on the Island. 

The only issue we had on the Island was the Horizon Court became very crowded on scenic sailing days when it was very cold or wet. Take rain and cold weather gear just in case, also waterproof shoes. 

Also recollect there are some "secret" outdoor viewing areas far aft on some of the decks. 

We are booked on the Island for October 29, 2021, Med cruise, in one of the newish accessible aft suites on the Promenade deck -- an upgrade! The main thing we will miss is an International Cafe although they have a much smaller version whose name I can't remember. 

9 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thank you!!  The particular line noted above in red we had not seen before, but is very relevant as we only have only one cruise in Oct 2021 that is 20 days or less, and have no desire to pay it off this early.

Ours is October 29 2021 out of Southampton. No-one knows the status of flights etc at that time. I'm on a wait and see schedule.