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Sitka, on the Pacific Coast of Barenof Island in Alaska, is one of the more unusual ports to see featured on an Alaskan itinerary. Originally built by Russian traders in the early 1800’s it has a very different feel to the wild west, gold rush mining towns that form most of the other ports of call in the area and is definitely worth a visit if you get the chance!
I wanted to share my thoughts on our ‘worst ever’ port excursion as we learnt some important lessons from it, both about the questions you should ask when booking a shore excursion and also about what we took ashore with us that day. We were visiting Laem Chabang in Thailand on a Princess Cruise, which is what we call a ‘FOR’ port - a large industrial port ‘FOR’ Bangkok which is actually 125km away…
Your TOP 10 CRUISE TECH ESSENTIALS - making a ‘wish list’ of all the things you’d like your nearest and dearest to pop into your Christmas Stocking? its that time of year, so with that in mind we decided to give you a rundown of all the tech items that we love to cruises with - starting with our list of TOP 10 Essential Cruise Tech.
Check out our ideas - they would make great cruising gifts…
When you use a card to pay for something abroad, whether its a currency, credit or debit card, you are normally given the option of paying either in the local currency or in your own home currency.
Pre Covid we are used to being free to go ashore when and how we wanted when a ship arrived in port. However the new post Covid Cruise Protocols being published by the cruise line and organisations all seem to be suggesting that organised shore excursions may be compulsory if you want to leave the ship.
After eight weeks of uneventful cruising on their Italy/ Malta route for Schengen Zone passenger only, the crew aboard MSC Grandiosa had their first real test of their responses to a positive COVID test today.
On the very day that their season should have begun, Hurtigruten have made the decision to cancel the entire 2020-2021 Antarctic Expedition season for its ships - Fram, Roald Amundsen and Fidtjof Nansen. The hotly anticipated winter season included the once in a lifetime chance to view a southern hemisphere solar eclipse from the South Orkney islands at the beginning of December.
The Singapore Tourism Board has announced that the pilot scheme will begin with itineraries offered by two lines that are based there − Genting Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean - beginning with a short itinerary for Gentings newest ship, World Dream, leaving Singapore on November 6th
With cruising underway in Europe again we’ve been getting a few enquiries about the different currencies that you might encounter on a Mediterranean Cruise so we have put together a handy guide for Cruisers.
As MSC Grandiosa leaves Genoa, on the fourth of its ‘post COVID 19’ itineraries, it really does begin to feel as if MSC may be providing a blueprint that the rest of Cruising can follow. Their enhanced Health and Safety precautions seem to be working and it almost feels normal to see pictures of the ship leaving port and heading off on its Genoa, Civitavecchia, Naples, Palermo, Malta circuit.
As a positive sign that Cruising is starting to get back to normal I am thrilled to report that for the first time in ages I,ve found some Cruise Competitions to share with you - get entering and WIN A CRUISE - maybe even visit Trogir in Croatia
Some people are naturally organized, others aren't, but there are some who seem to exist wilfully in a sea of chaos!
Could this be the start of a ‘Slow Cruise’ movement…
In the same way that the extremes of Nouvelle Cuisine led to the founding of the Slow Food movement and restaurants service food celebrating ‘regional traditions, good food, gastronomic pleasure and a slow pace of life’ I think we may see the beginning of a “slow Cruise’ movement. As the actual process of disembarking a ship and spending a day ashore becomes more difficult, that we will become much more discerning about what we do and where we decide to visit. Maybe we will even learn to wind down, relax, stop rushing around and appreciate our time onboard a little more.
Its reassuring to see that MSC Cruises are definitely taking a zero tolerance approach to rule breaking their first post-Covid Cruise which left Genoa two days ago. Following its first port call to Naples, MSC have denied boarding to a family who left the ‘bubble’ of
So after a disappointing summer, where Cruising seems to have been made the scapegoat for the COVID 19 woes of the entire travel industry, the hopes of Cruising in Europe are now resting on the large independent Italian company MSC Cruises.
