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Having to plan a non cruise vacation.....UUUGGG


Jenjer
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22 hours ago, 20165 said:

We went to a cancun all inclusive in Nov.  Wasnt the same, but nice to get away.  Room was bigger...

However, we did manage to get covid.  More than likely from the plane trip back.  Totally sold out plane, shoulder to shoulder.  Not sure how cruise ships get the bad rap when the airlines are putting everyone that flys at risk...

Good luck.

 

 

Sorry to hear you got the virus.  😞  My DH is pushing to book a land based Mexico trip, but I keep refusing, due to Covid in Mexico being really rampant.  You could have gotten it there, not just the crowded plane. 

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I researched all-inclusives last night and decided it is just too much trouble.  We live close to the Florida ports and have been spoiled with the ease of a short drive to a port.  I am just not interested in flying and making constant decisions about meals and activities.  I am going to hold out for cruising a little longer.

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20 hours ago, davekathy said:

We always do land trips and cruises in the same year. Currently for 2021 we've got a July and September land trips reserved, cancelled our June land trip (on Monday) and have a September cruise reserved. We enjoy both types of vacations. Variety. 

 

Me too.  We have always mixed cruises, with land based trips, and the "land yacht" travels that takes our living quarters with us.  😉   Though this year...we are renting four different homes in remote areas of Maine this summer instead of doing the nail biter drive up through the crazy traffic of the east and New England.  

 

Still can "social distance" in the rental homes like we could have in the motor home as well. 

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33 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

When our July 21 Greek Isles cruise gets cancelled, we're going to buy a camper and hit the national parks. Since there's no vaccine on the horizon for me (hubby gets his second shot next week, but I'm not old enough) and international travel, hotels and restaurants seem like an unlikely option, this seems like a good option. We already have the tow vehicle, and travel trailers are pretty reasonable.

 

But you are not alone in your new desire to RV travel.  We have been doing trips in our motor home for years, but now can't get into the usual parks we enjoy.  Too booked up for that same reason.  RV sales are through the roof, and many are on waiting lists for them. 

 

State parks, National parks are almost impossible to book, with many going on "lottery" wait lists.  We couldn't get into our usual summer place in Maine this year, or the spring Florida Panhandle parks...so we are renting four houses in Maine instead.  The bonus is that we will end up avoiding the crowded highways as well, which are now even more crowded than usual.  

 

Hope you are able to book some sites...good luck.  

 

 

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52 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

When our July 21 Greek Isles cruise gets cancelled, we're going to buy a camper and hit the national parks. Since there's no vaccine on the horizon for me (hubby gets his second shot next week, but I'm not old enough) and international travel, hotels and restaurants seem like an unlikely option, this seems like a good option. We already have the tow vehicle, and travel trailers are pretty reasonable.


We also plan to visit national parks in the fall - instead of our b2b Odyssey cruises in Europe. (We’ll cancel the cruises, even if the cruise line doesn’t.)

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We did a land trip to the Keys in October.  We flew with southwest when they still had the middle open seat and felt as safe as you can feel on a plane.  

We had a good get away for 2 weeks.  We spent as much or slightly more as our planned Celebrity 12 night cruise.  Food was hit and miss even though I planned thru trip advisor.  Days were spent by the pool or out on the open water doing a lot of things similar to day excursions on a ship.  Evenings were very lacking, usually in front of the TV because we didn’t want to go into bars or restaurants with a lot of people.

 

It was different, not great.  At the time my work would not allow travel outside the US so leaving the country wasn’t an option.

 

I doubt we’ll go anywhere this year except maybe a B and B in state for some time away.  I do have lots of possible trips in mind for US travel when things start to open up, maybe in early 2022.  I doubt we’d leave the country or do a river or ocean cruise before 2023 the way things are going. I hope it’s sooner then that!

Edited by cruiselvr04
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Hoping to do another AI next month in the Dominican Republic. We did one in Mexico last August and it was great, with excellent sanitary measures taken. We felt totally safe and protected, but it was also a LOT of fun.

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We were supposed to be on cruise to the Panama Canal right now. We knew it'd get cancelled and decided when it did we were booking an AI in Cancun ... we head out on Valentines for a week. The required testing prior to boarding the flight back to the US is causing us anxiety. The resort is testing for free and will give 14 days free lodging and food if one of us test positive.

 

We're excited for the trip and plan to social distance with a beverage on the beach ... read that resorts in Cancun are only at like 28% capacity so social distancing should not be difficult.

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Our favorite two non cruise vacations are New York City and Sandals resorts in Jamaica, love the all inclusive sandals resorts , way better food than mdr some of there restaurants as good as specialty restaurants, choice of 6 or so restaurants on each resort, swim up bars, top shelf liquor. Only issue is getting on the plane but not a long flight, entertainment not as good as cruise. 

 

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16 minutes ago, George C said:

Our favorite two non cruise vacations are New York City and Sandals resorts in Jamaica, love the all inclusive sandals resorts , way better food than mdr some of there restaurants as good as specialty restaurants, choice of 6 or so restaurants on each resort, swim up bars, top shelf liquor. Only issue is getting on the plane but not a long flight, entertainment not as good as cruise. 

 

We have toured many US states in lieu of cruising. We choose a letter of the alphabet and visit as many cities as possible beginning with that letter.

Examples: Amarillo ,Austin,etc. Texas.

 

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We lifted and shifted our January 2021 cruise to January 2022, but still had airfare to Orlando so we spent 12 days in Orlando - five days at Universal and six days/seven nights at Disney. We flew from WI. We usually alternate between Disney and cruising, so this was not an unusual trip (our last Disney trip was January 2019). 

 

We also drove east in October and went to PA and VA. It was nice to not have a "plan" - we winged it and found hotels spur of the moment in towns not pre-planned.

 

We traveled to Orlando January 9-20 and the planes were FULL. On the way down, we flew first class to have a little more space/distance. Disney and Universal did an excellent job with physical distancing and mask requirements. I saw very little violations. Universal did a better job at sanitizing hands prior to every ride - a cast member squirted it in your hands before getting on the ride - and their were sanitizers at the end of each ride. Universal checked your temp and gave you a wristband to wear each day as you left the resort (we stayed onsite).

 

Disney took temp prior to entering the park each time. Disney left it up to you to sanitize (with dispensers provided) before and after rides. They had plexiglass up between seats for some rides. Even though the capacity was at 35%, some parts of the Disney parks were pretty packed (Star Wars, Toy Story land).

 

It was a nice get away and I am glad we went - no one got sick and we had a break from the WI cold.

Edited by Sun and Fun
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On 2/4/2021 at 12:13 PM, SNJCruisers said:

Was there about 15 years ago and had a great time with my ex.  Isn't a dolphin swim included with your admission price?  It was back then, I think it was 279 pp.

Dolphin encounter now, swim is extra but not much.

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On 2/4/2021 at 10:47 AM, 20165 said:

Not sure how cruise ships get the bad rap when the airlines are putting everyone that flys at risk...

The airlines are needed for the business traveler and thus considered essential.  Cruise lines are for recreational business only, so they're not considered essential. 

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9 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

  I am just not interested in flying and making constant decisions about meals and activities.  I am going to hold out for cruising a little longer.

I can understand about not wanting to fly, but there is no difference between dining on cruise ship with various choices and going to a 5 star AI with various choices. 

Plus, AI's come with adults only option, which cruises does not.(until Virgin starts)

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42 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

The airlines are needed for the business traveler and thus considered essential.  Cruise lines are for recreational business only, so they're not considered essential. 

 

Flying to Cancun is not what I would describe as essential. 

 

Per an Executive Order, National Parks are now officially mandated for masks. 

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8 minutes ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

 

Flying to Cancun is not what I would describe as essential. 

 

Per an Executive Order, National Parks are now officially mandated for masks. 

Most fliers are doing essential business, whereas a smaller percentage are vacation oriented.   99.9% of cruisers are on vacation, thus airlines are considered essential and the cruise industry suffers for it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/4/2021 at 5:10 PM, maggieq said:

We were hoping to take our trip that we had to cancel in September to aruba in April/May this year.  It is stressful enough to get testing done before flying to Aruba, now we have to test before returning to the US.  That’s not my idea of vacation so will try and get a trip to FL or AZ in the works. We are not looking to do more than be in the sun by a pool with a cold beverage - low key. 

 

Actually we just rebooked our cancelled Panama Canal/then cancelled Caribbean April cruises and now will be flying to Aruba this April.  Generally the fastest flights are out of Miami and we were flying down there anyway.  So - we fly to Ft Lauderdale, get test at FLL.  Three days later fly to Aruba for 6 nights.  Most of the Palm Beach hotels now have tests for the flight back and there is a hospital annex in the shopping mall there.  Fly back to Miami, overnight and then fly home.  The FLL test is more expensive.  Aruba mostly is $75, $40 at some hotels, and free for more than 4 night stay at some hotels.

 

Flights from home were 15 hours+ and we had the flights to Florida already booked.  To hit the 72 hour requirement for Aruba we need to have the test when we get to FLL.  Local testing hours didn't work with flight time or we would have gotten test before first flight.

 

Aruba really wants the tourism and bends over backwards to help you meet the requirements.  No masks needed on beach or at pool, just typical inside, bus/cab, airport that are pretty much the same as at home.  You have to buy a fairly cheap visa with medical/isolation insurance coverage.

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On 2/5/2021 at 10:21 AM, DCGuy64 said:

Hoping to do another AI next month in the Dominican Republic. We did one in Mexico last August and it was great, with excellent sanitary measures taken. We felt totally safe and protected, but it was also a LOT of fun.

Just pulled the trigger and lined up an 8 night stay in Punta Cana for the first week in June.  Fully refundable at a 5 star adults only property with airfare for around 2K.  Did Riviera Maya last July for a week and had a blast.  

We will have our shots this time, so will feel much safer.

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On 2/5/2021 at 11:37 AM, George C said:

Our favorite two non cruise vacations are New York City and Sandals resorts in Jamaica, love the all inclusive sandals resorts , way better food than mdr some of there restaurants as good as specialty restaurants, choice of 6 or so restaurants on each resort, swim up bars, top shelf liquor. Only issue is getting on the plane but not a long flight, entertainment not as good as cruise. 

 

People will be staying away from NYC for a long time.  

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I don't want to go to an AI because I don't want communal dining. When our Feb/March cruise was canceled I booked a beachfront condo in Florida with a full kitchen. 

 

Booked nonstop flights and we have N95 (not KN95) masks for the plane. 

 

We'll pick up our rental car, stop at Costco and the grocery store, then hit the condo for a week. Dinners will be restaurant takeout. The beach, pool, and bike rides are all safe. 

 

Going end of April when prices come down and there are less people. 

 

I'll see you there!

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56 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

I don't want to go to an AI because I don't want communal dining. When our Feb/March cruise was canceled I booked a beachfront condo in Florida with a full kitchen. 

We'll pick up our rental car, stop at Costco and the grocery store, then hit the condo for a week. Dinners will be restaurant takeout. 

Cook breakfast and lunch at a condo, get dinner takeout.  Sounds like a FLA staycation to me.  If you're against dining at an AI, then I guess you don't go out to restaurants at home. Thanks for educating me since I did not know that Ohio was the epicenter these days.  Make sure you wear a face shield in conjunction with your N95 mask on the plane.

 

And by the way...you won't see me there.

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On 2/5/2021 at 9:10 PM, toad455 said:

Contacted my TA and she's probably getting a deal in Key West for week at the end of March. This weather in NJ is crazy. Hopeful my Jan. 2022 cruise happens.

Texas weather lately is more like your state!

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