2021 Cruise

[justme]

Ah, yeah, the more affordable ones were definitely not luxury - even though it was still like $5k+. 

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2021 19:24:22 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

It's a partnership with Ponant, a French luxury cruise line. All of their tours are expensive because they are luxury tours. And it's only 4 days out of 12 in Antarctica. They sent me the email, I had to check it out.

In late 2018 by coincidence, I first visited the Endeavor Museum in Dundee, including the entire ship which had been rebuilt and repaired where necessary. There were lots of gory details about that awful winter hemmed in by the ice, killing their beloved dogs because they couldn't feed them, a sledge expedition that went on for weeks with no change of clothes (well, how and where would you wash and dry them?).  A few days later in Paris I saw an ad in Paris Match of Ponant's Antarctica cruise.  A couple were dining in an elegant salon on the ship with icebergs looming through the window.  The lady was in a sleeveless dress.  What would Shackelton say?  I looked up the price on their web site- 13,000 EUROS per person, double-occupancy.  Excluding airfare to and from Argentina.

Later on an Uncruise ship in Hawaii I met an Australian couple who had done an around-the-world cruise on Ponant.  No, I did not look up the price.  They were not impressed with Ponant- said the food was barely passable and only the fantastic crew was up to their expectations.  They liked UnCruise better.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 31, 2020 15:11:06 GMT -5 justme said:

Dec 31, 2020 10:36:04 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

How long is the world cruise? Where will you go? How much does it cost?

If mich is looking at the ones that fully circumnavigate the globe it's around 6 months. Some are a little less but they do that with fewer stops. When I was playing around over a year ago I think the cheapest was around $20k person double occupancy.

We are going to be gone nearly 140 days, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale in Dec. 2022 and winding up in London May 2023.  We are on Viking, s9 while it is more $$ up front, there is a lot less nickel and diming. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Viking has started Antarctic cruises on their expedition ships.  The prices start at $15k/person.  

www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/cruise-destinations/antarctica/antarctic-explorer/pricing.html

[Deleted]

Yesterday I pulled the trigger and bought airfare for my Belize/Guatemala cruise in October. My second vaccine dose is next week so that will no longer be an issue. I'm figuring airfares will start increasing as more people get vaccinated and want to travel.

I have a $750 deposit on the cruise and I figure my biggest risk is that they go out of business. The rest is due in late August so I have some time to see how things work out for them. They're starting Alaska in May and the Pacific NW in April.

I did some quick research and there are plenty of options if I end up going there without a cruise although I love the guides UnCruise gets and the out-of-the-way places they take us. Airfare has no change fees but I'm assuming that I can't apply the $$ to a different itinerary- only change the dates in and out of Belize.

Hard to tell what the future holds, but I'm hopeful.

[Deleted]

An update- these are still changing times.

I got an e-mail form UnCruise and Belize is a bad spot for COVID right now. They gave me multiple options (including "wait and see") but I switched to a cruise within Alaska from August 13-21. It took me forever to get what I needed from AA but the airfare from the Belize trip is now applied to the airfare for Juneau EXCEPT for one leg on Alaska Airlines which I had to book and pay for separately. Heaven forbid they should hand over $200 of my money that I already paid them to Alaska Airlines.

DH and I took UnCruise twice within Alaska in August and loved it- this will be a different itinerary. It's supposed to be the rainy season but typically the rainstorms don't las long.

Fully vaccinated so tat's done, but I need to research when and where to get the required COVID test.

[justme]

I'm watching all the cruise stuff like it's a soap opera.

I booked a cruise a month ago that from the announcement yesterday will be the first cruise back for one MSC ship. Still gotta wait until next week for them to confirm they're not changing the cruise - I'm guessing not because the start date is the same. 🤞🏻

Friends are on the first Alaska cruise on one of the ships. Waiting to see if they add more excursions than the few they currently have.

[Deleted]

Just to put this in a place where it might get more views:  here's my blog from the cruise I took August 13-20 in Alaska.  The name on the blog is a pseudonym.


2021glacierbayrmb.blogspot.com/

Short version:  we all had to be vaccinated and have a negative COVID test (50 passengers plus crew).  Friday through Monday:  amazing and totally up to the standards of my previous UnCruise trips.  Tuesday AM we were informed that a couple on board had been bar-hopping the night before embarcation and he'd tested positive the previous night.  So did the husband of a guy who sat across from them at dinner.  Everyone ese on board tested negative.  We went back to Juneau, the two couples were sent off for quarantine (at their expense) and the crew went above and beyond supplying us with food, adult beverages, DVDs and books while we were confined to our rooms for 24 hours.  We met with the owner of the company Wednesday morning- a good down-to-earth guy.  They gave us refunds (yeah, NOT credits) of 50% of the cost of the cruise.  Mine has already hit my credit card account.  I came home a day early.

I don't regret going- at all.  It had been a long time (March, 2020) since I'd gotten my brain and my body far away from home and I think I need that.  

And if you want to test the quality of a travel company, see how they handle it when something goes wrong.  I WILL use them again.

[justme]

Kind of a bummer that the cruise line left those that tested positive on their own.

Royal currently is giving you a full refund if you or anyone in your party tests positive or needs to be quarantined. They also fly you home from the next port if you're positive.

Though right now that's only through Oct 31.

Carnival is less on top of it. MSC has some guarantees though if vax.