KWong

If I'm being honest I don't like wearing masks. However it's something I've gotten used to doing. Even when I'm at the gym I wear one unless I'm doing cardio on the elliptical. So if I need to wear one whilst on vacation, so be it.

This is why I sport a "We The North" lanyard and Jays/Expos/Texans caps. People can see that I have my teams - no need to ask about the Leafs. They do ask how someone from Toronto is a fan of the Texans though.

I would laugh my head off if this did happen. But then the Leafs have been dead to me since about the turn of the century, so...

BBQ in the Solarium would be interesting. Create a combination suntan lotion/brisket aroma. I liked Samba, but I never saw too many people eating in there and given the format, you probably end up with a lot of cooked, uneaten food.

Maybe they'll remove those clocks with the iPhone 4 charging docks...

I actually booked a cottage in the Bruce Peninsula for early July because I needed to have a vacation to look forward to. It's not exactly a cruise, of course, but at least it gets me out of the house. My wife seems to like Kelly's Landing near the Convention Centre hotel cluster so we've gone there the last 3 times we've sailed out of Port Everglades. So I guess that's a tradition as well?

I also watch those walkthroughs. It's certainly quite thorough. To be honest, I'm watching a LOT of YouTube content nowadays (although I generally watch the livestreams on delay - sorry Matt!) and it's probably bad since I have the travel bug again.

I'm good with the travel-sized things - more than enough sample bottles and refillable travel bottles to get by (I like the soft silicone ones). It's mostly snacks and stuff that kids could eat on the plane (in the past, anyway) or in the pre-cruise hotel, or if I need to fill the emergency coffee stockpile with Starbucks Via singles. Forgot to mention the daily weather check. Approximately 25% of Canadian conversations are about the weather (50% is comparing ourselves to the States, 20% is love and/or hate for the Maple Leafs, and 5% is "other", in case you were wondering) so I'm almost obliged to check out the weather patterns.

That One Last Trip to Walmart to pick up stuff I'd forgotten to get. We also go out and eat foods that we're unlikely to get (usually Chinese or Vietnamese) while on board or near the hotels. We tend to take for granted all the Asian food options we have in Toronto, and forget that there might not be as much choice wherever we go.

I wonder if they have congee for breakfast. One of the things I remembered about Harmony was they had that, which was honestly kind of nice since that's something I eat on the regular.

I wonder if they'll move to digital credit and touchscreen betting instead of chips. I've seen that at Casino Windsor and it works well, but it definitely feels different when you don't have those chips to play with.

A couple are still here in Toronto. However the company (KSF group) that owns the locations (along with other restaurants) filed for creditor protection this month. They apparently owe $34 million to creditors, which seems insane. But I'm guessing that this might affect the Jamie's here.

I think that if you're going to see unlimited pop up, it will be on Black Friday. To both of you - how long are your cruises? 100 is fine for 3/4 nights. For a 7 night, not so much.

When I saw this on the menu I figured that it would be bao, and it was. But calling it a fusion taco sounds better. I was appropriately whelmed by it.

I signed up because I could really use a vacation, even if said vacation is a test cruise and may require more of me than what the "new normal" would be. With that said, because I live in Canada, the odds that I would be selected to volunteer is less likely than someone in the U.S., so I feel like this is a longshot at best.

The "Shaggy Defence" will get you nowhere.

This was something we were considering prior to our (cancelled) Symphony cruise last summer but in between switching jobs and lack of vacation time we couldn't justify the extra couple of days. The catamaran option seems interesting to me and I'll have to look into it if/when the border opens (non-loophole edition) and I can look at heading south again.

Does the CDC does have authority to override the FAA wrt air travel? I'm under the impression that they don't.

Yeah it feels like a move designed simply to push any decisions back until the new year. At the end of the day, not a big deal. Let's figure out this second wave and then worry about other things.

As a temporary measure, it makes some level of sense. But at the end of the day, the cruise lines want to have as many cruisers as they can safely handle, and I think you do that by having your terminal ports in a country with the third largest population in the world. So I think putting efforts into pressuring the CDC and whomever else is the right way to go.

Maybe. Upon further reflection it was probably easier to get the North Americans to one location, quarantine them, then fly everyone at once to Singapore on the same flights. In this manner you minimize the chance of outside contact. (Before they quarantine again)

Happy for the guy. Gets to back doing what he loves. But weird that he had to fly from Alaska to Miami in order to go to Singapore.

I think photos cost around $20. You may get a BOGO offer per sea pass, can't guarantee that you will though. As Matt always says (sort of), order the package, and if you decide not to go with it you can cancel before you go.

I will note that the two times I've flown day of for a cruise we had no issues. The caveat here is that the first cruise was around 89, we had charter flights, and it may well have been a charter cruise for a vacation company. The second cruise was in 2007, but probably more relevant. We went Toronto to Sam Juan with a stop in Dulles, and made it with zero issues. Even had time to explore old San Juan before sail away. But it was a little stressful thinking of what might happen should we get there late. Since then we've always flown in at least a day ahead. So much more relaxing.

It's strange that you can't get a family doctor. But then again I can only speak for my experience in Ontario, where it hasn't been that difficult to find them. Ive read that the OHIP reimbursement for COVID tests is between $40-50 so if it's covered I'd guess it would be similar. If it's not then that $150 figure floated earlier doesn't sound too far-fetched.