The Travel Thread

[spork]

Recent international travel bureaucracy encountered by an acquaintance flying from the USA: Turkish Airlines required display of the CDC coronavirus vaccination card for a flight into Istanbul. The final destination country required display of a QR code obtained from this CDC vaccination registration website: https://vsafe.cdc.gov/en/.

[clean]

I have a travel question that someone can help me make my decisions.

The humble brag is that I scored a deep discount on a short cruise from LA to Vancouver in late April that will not interfere with my classes.  I have put down a deposit but here are the questions:

Initially I thought that I would use all of my sky miles to book a first class ticket from Vancouver to my nearby airport.  However, my friend from Canada reminded me that under the current conditions that I may need a COVID test taken the day before the departure in order to fly from Vancouver (YVR is the airport code). 
I could possibly take the test in Victoria Canada the day before as that city is on the ship's route.  However, my first searches for places show that they are really expensive! 

Alternatively, I have booked a transfer from the cruise line that will take us from the port in Vancouver to the airport in Seattle (SEA).  As we are fully vaccinated, I dont think that we currently need anything special to return to the US and I dont think that we need anything special to fly from SEA to my desired airport. 

While I would prefer to sit in the International First Class Departure Lounge in Canada than ride the bus to SEA, I dont want to pay C$435 X2 for the appropriate tests to fly from YVR. 

Do you see anything that I am missing about the transfer from the Vancouver port to the Seattle Airport and flying home from there?

Any suggestions?

[mamselle]

With omicron breaking through vaccination-protected barriers, I don't see why you'd want to travel right now.

My suggestion would be to stay home.

M.

[clean]

With omicron breaking through vaccination-protected barriers, I don't see why you'd want to travel right now.

My suggestion would be to stay home.

The trip is not until the end of April... over 3 months away!  I am hoping that the virus will have run its course enough by then to not be a problem or certainly not be the current problem. 

You can not always simply hold things constant by using the contemporaneous  condition to plan for future conditions. 

The current cancelation policy is that I can cancel up to 30 days prior to the sail date for any reason.  If I do cancel I do not get a cash refund, but a credit to future cruises.  Eventually we will be able to deal with Covid and return to cruising.

Hell, IF we used the current conditions to plan, the cruise would not even exist!  The current restrictions in Canada are still that no cruise ship can enter!  So IF Omicron is still a problem, then Canada wont open its ports and I will get a full and complete refund, or another option.  IF things improve I can enjoy a deeply discounted trip that I will surely be ready to take given that I have pretty much stayed home since lockdowns went into effect in 2020. 

[AvidReader]

Some cruise lines are offering tests to passengers--might yours be one?

AR.

[clean]

Some cruise lines are offering tests to passengers--might yours be one?

AR.

From what I can see, they will test before you board the ship, but to fly you need a test the day before you fly. I dont see that the cruise line is testing during the voyage on trips of this lenght.

[AvidReader]

From what I can see, they will test before you board the ship, but to fly you need a test the day before you fly. I dont see that the cruise line is testing during the voyage on trips of this lenght.

Too bad. Maybe that will change!

[Puget]

I have a travel question that someone can help me make my decisions.

The humble brag is that I scored a deep discount on a short cruise from LA to Vancouver in late April that will not interfere with my classes.  I have put down a deposit but here are the questions:

Initially I thought that I would use all of my sky miles to book a first class ticket from Vancouver to my nearby airport.  However, my friend from Canada reminded me that under the current conditions that I may need a COVID test taken the day before the departure in order to fly from Vancouver (YVR is the airport code). 
I could possibly take the test in Victoria Canada the day before as that city is on the ship's route.  However, my first searches for places show that they are really expensive! 

Alternatively, I have booked a transfer from the cruise line that will take us from the port in Vancouver to the airport in Seattle (SEA).  As we are fully vaccinated, I dont think that we currently need anything special to return to the US and I dont think that we need anything special to fly from SEA to my desired airport. 

While I would prefer to sit in the International First Class Departure Lounge in Canada than ride the bus to SEA, I dont want to pay C$435 X2 for the appropriate tests to fly from YVR. 

Do you see anything that I am missing about the transfer from the Vancouver port to the Seattle Airport and flying home from there?

Any suggestions?

If you have a little extra time and want a more scenic experience than taking the bus, there is also the train, or taking the ferry (BC ferry to Victoria* then Victoria Clipper to Seattle). Seattle to SEA is fast and easy now with the monorail.

Will your cruse stop in Victoria? If not you might want to consider adding on a day there if possible.

[clean]

If you have a little extra time and want a more scenic experience than taking the bus, there is also the train, or taking the ferry (BC ferry to Victoria* then Victoria Clipper to Seattle). Seattle to SEA is fast and easy now with the monorail.

Thank you very much!  certainly some things to consider (and if not this trip for another one!)

[Puget]

If you have a little extra time and want a more scenic experience than taking the bus, there is also the train, or taking the ferry (BC ferry to Victoria* then Victoria Clipper to Seattle). Seattle to SEA is fast and easy now with the monorail.

Thank you very much!  certainly some things to consider (and if not this trip for another one!)

If you want any other WA travel suggestions I'm happy to provide. There is much to see and do if you have a few days to add on, or on another trip.

(And I see now that you did say the ship is stopping in Victoria. If you like natural history museums, the Royal BC Museum is the place to spend your time there.)

[mamselle]

Besides the health and human rights issues (interthreaduality) another reason to avoid cruise ships at present is this:

   https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/business/crystal-cruise-arrest-warrant-miami-bahamas/index.html

Check out the company's financial health before you book. Many are failing.

M.

[apl68]

Besides the health and human rights issues (interthreaduality) another reason to avoid cruise ships at present is this:

   https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/24/business/crystal-cruise-arrest-warrant-miami-bahamas/index.html

Check out the company's financial health before you book. Many are failing.

M.

I didn't know that a ship could be "arrested," so to speak.

It unfortunately wouldn't be the first time a travel operator suddenly went broke and left its paying clients stranded.

[mamselle]

Yes, as I explained on a different thread, chaplains who serve crew members in seamen's bethels onshore have had many, many situations where the crew are left on a ship which is being impounded and anchored far off-shore for non-payment of debts.

These situations can go on and on, and the shipping company takes little care of the crew, including feeding them--claiming they can't afford to do so.

The people I know were working in Savannah, Florida, and Alaska; there are other documented cases in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York; India and Sri Lanka; and the African coast as well. Many ships are registered in yet other countries because of tax interests.

It's less often heard of on cruise ships, because paying clients will make a fuss and publicize the issues--and when it affects first-world inhabitants, it gets more press.

The crews' passports are usually held by the captains, preventing them from going ashore; the ships are kept out of harbor, as this one was, to prevent seizure by a bank or foreclosing agency, on the one hand, or evasive resale for scrap for their own benefit, by the indebted shipping company on the other. 

There's a newsletter for crews and their supporters somewhere, which I saw a bit ago, I haven't re-located it, but there were something like twenty or more current cases at any one time like this, with upwards of 30 crew members affected in each case.

M.

[clean]

I didn't know that a ship could be "arrested," so to speak.

It unfortunately wouldn't be the first time a travel operator suddenly went broke and left its paying clients stranded.

Check out the company's financial health before you book. Many are failing.

From what I have seen on the news, the passengers were not stranded.  The ship docked in Bimini, about 50 miles East of Miami, and the cruise line chartered a ferry to transfer the passengers. 

Chrystal Cruise Line is a very small operator with only 2 ships.  Given that most people pay with a credit card as well as use a travel agent, if the cruise line has financial issues and is unable to leave, the credit card and travel agent insurance should mean that you are able to get the charges refunded. 

Personally, I book through Costco.  Costco refunds part of their fee to you you in the form of a gift card a few weeks after the cruise.  Also Costco's other guarantees are pretty good.  (I am a member and do not even have a Costco closer than 125 miles from me for their travel services).  If there are other concerns, there is the opportunity to purchase travel insurance from another company (not owned by the cruise company OR travel agent company).  However, for the cruise that I have asked about in this thread, the cost is less than $1000 so if I dont go and dont get a refund, it is not a huge financial burden.  (If I could not afford it, I would not have booked it!)

I also travel primarily on Princess Cruises - owned  by CCL (that is the stock symbol) which owns several cruise lines.  While they have lost their profitability since Covid, they have raised significant cash and have additional lines of credit and borrowing ability, so I am sure that they will be able to weather this COVID storm, unless there are more, significant, long lasting industry shut downs.

[mamselle]

Crystal will go out of business:

   https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crystal-cruises-arrest-warrant-bahamas-2022-b1999595.html

M.