Shari

You must carry the wine on board or they will hold your luggage.  

We are doing the cruise tour next year (our 3rd alaskan cruise and 2nd cruise tour).  We are doing the north bound on Radiance and then catching the train out of anchorage with stops in Talkeetna (beautiful little town), Denali, and it ends in Fairbanks.  A few years ago we did the bus tour and ended in Anchorage.  I highly recommend the cruise tour as arrangements are made for you.  If you do the DIY try the trains southbound route.  You can stay on the train the whole way or get off for a day and get back on.

Our friends said that Navigator docked in Ensenada but all shore excursions were cancelled and that the crew advised anyone getting off of the ship stay close in the downtown area.  Our friends stayed on the ship and they do not think many got off.

Friends of ours left on Navigator yesterday.  I will let yall know what happens in Ensenada.

The Serenade is supposed to be revamped not amped before it starts the Ultimate World Cruise in December 2023.  There appears to be a gap in sailings in late October into mid November 2023.  Between the Boston/New England sailings and being back down in Miami for a couple of Panama Canal cruises.

Hey anyone want to buy an RV   I have convinced the hubby to go if we sell the RV to pay for it.  Wish me luck!

Carnival is pleased to announce new guidelines effective for cruises departing on September 6, 2022 or later, which will make it easier for more guests to sail with simplified vaccination and testing guidelines, including no testing for vaccinated guests on sailings less than 16 nights, and eliminating the exemption request process for unvaccinated guests, who will only need to show a negative test result at embarkation.The new guidelines include: • Vaccinated guests must continue to provide evidence of their vaccination status prior to embarkation. Pre-cruise testing is no longer required, except for cruises to Canada, Bermuda, Greece and Australia (per local guidelines), and on voyages 16 nights or longer.• Unvaccinated guests are welcome to sail and are no longer required to apply for a vaccine exemption, except for cruises in Australia or on voyages 16 nights and longer.• Unvaccinated guests or those who do not provide proof of vaccination must present the results of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within three days of embarkation.• Guests under the age of five years are exempt from vaccination and testing requirements from the United States and under the age of 12 from Australia.• All policies are subject to local destination regulations.• Voyages 16 nights and longer will continue to have vaccination and testing requirements that are specific to the itinerary.For guests who have a pending vaccine exemption application and are awaiting confirmation for cruises departing September 6, 2022 or later, the booking is confirmed unless booked on a sailing that calls on Canada, Bermuda, Australia or if the voyage is 16 nights or longer.

This has to be after Serenade is revamped for the world cruise starting December 2023.  She would be in ideal condition.  Correction,  It looks like this will be right before she gets revamped.  They have changed the itineraries on her in the last week.  

My husband and one of the friends we cruise with smoke cigars on the cruises all the time.  Any outdoor smoking area is also open to cigars.  The casino is not.  There used to be a smoking lounge on the freedom and voyager class ships but they are pretty much gone (a surprise when one hasn't been amped out).  So go out on deck and meet up with the other cigar smokers and have a good time like my hubby does!

I love this thread!  We are now back to the usual cruising complaints and not all of the pandemic stuff!  Unruly kids during school vacation time, no pool chairs, waiting at Windjammer, I love it!

Page 11 of new regulations adopted June 2022 deal with speed optimization.  MEPC.346(78).pdf (imo.org)  I wouldn't want to operate a ship over 400 tons at this time.  The constant changes to regulations that require self monitoring, continuous log keeping, and complex calculations in order to meet the regulatory goals is overwhelming.

This may also explain it.  In order to have a reduced speed the ports of call need to be closer for Voyager to meet the new open ocean speed limits for climate change emission reduction.  IMO Urged to Consider Mandatory Speed Limits for Ships (gcaptain.com)

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Those are max speeds. Cruise ships rarely go at max speed.

Yes also Voyager has a slightly different propulsion system and is slightly lighter than Adventure.  It could be that max speed possibility is what a certain port may limit.

This may be the reason for the Adventure/Voyager swap, according to information on Wikipedia Adventure has a speed of 22.5 knots while Voyager has a speed of 23.7 knots.  There must be some sort of speed limit at one of the destinations that Voyager was going to be visiting and now Adventure has to take its place.

They have a caveat that testing will be required if any port of call requires the testing.  So the Miami yes is probably due to many Caribbean countries still requiring it so they are assuming when they sail out of Miami on 1 and 12 December 2022 then the ports of call most likely would require it.

Miami-based cruise line drops COVID testing requirement as travel surges | Fox Business

43 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I'm surprised the big 3 (4?) haven't said anything yet unless they're timing it with a late Friday news dump

That is what I have been thinking.  That would get them in the news without affecting stock.  That news could propel a surge in bookings over the weekend.

Margaritaville at Sea will stop pre-cruise covid testing on 37 July.

Margaritaville at Sea Becomes Latest Cruise Line to Stop Pre-Cruise Testing (cruisefever.net)

You have to go online and fill out a form and pay $40 per person.  We did this when we went in April.

Biden Administration to Again Extend the Covid Public-Health Emergency - Bloomberg

That is what Bloomberg is reporting.

In 2016 we used Star Trans VIP (Orlando Luxury Transportation | STAR TRANS-VIP (startransvip.com) for our family holiday cruise.  There were 8 of us.

17 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

And we all know how bad the symptoms and side effects of no cruising can be

Cruising withdrawal is the real illness I want and need to avoid!

We cruised Celebrity in May with friends, she got sick on the plane on the way home, she tested positive the next day.  Her husband 2 days later.  My hubby got sick a couple of days after the cruise but did not test positive 4 days in a row and I never got sick or tested positive.  So 3 of our party of 4 got sick, 2 covid and 1 the flu and I am usually the one to get sick.

In the FAQ section of the Port of Los Angeles website they have this information:

"SuperShuttle® Transportation Systems operates door-to-door ground transportation throughout Los Angeles. Reservations from the airport to a residence, hotel, or business are not required unless accessible van service is needed. At LAX, SuperShuttle® is located outside the baggage claim area at the van stop on the outer island. For more information, call 1-800-BLUE-VAN or visit www.supershuttle.com."

When I lived in San Diego we frequently used SuperShuttle to and from the airport.  They are reliable and are a shared ride.

We did the same cruise a few years ago and loved it.  We stayed in Rome for a few days ahead of the cruise and enjoyed all of the things it had to offer rather than just a few hours that porting there does.  We would do it again too.