Discover Alaska

               Explore the Unspoiled Nature of the Last Frontier

From action-packed wilderness adventures to extraordinary

sightseeing, a journey to Alaska is an unforgettable experience.

There are three vacation options for experiencing the natural splendor of Alaska: Inside Passage, Northbound or Southbound cruise, and Guided Tours which
can be added to a cruise or completed on their own.

With the completion of our Inside Passage cruise from Seattle on Discovery Princess (May 8-15, 2022) we have now experienced all three options. We'd love to share our experiences with you.

We will start our exploration with our most recent voyage.

Royal and Celebrity Announce Protocol Updates

Celebrity Cruises & Royal Caribbean

Updated August 22, 2022

Beginning with sailings departing on September 5, 2022, Royal Caribbean is thrilled to welcome ALL GUESTS, regardless of vaccination status, on cruises from any U.S. homeport (excluding sailings visiting Bermuda or Canada).

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have shared vaccination and pre-cruise testing updates for cruises departing from Los Angeles, Galveston, New Orleans, and European ports. Please review the below carefully.

Royal Caribbean

What You Need to Know

 Eligible Itineraries

Please note that any itinerary not listed below will continue to follow the published protocols, until further notice.  Please continue to reference the Healthy Cruising Hub for the latest information.

• Cruises departing from Los Angeles, California 
• Cruises departing from Galveston, Texas 
• Cruises departing from New Orleans, Louisiana
• Cruises departing from a European homeport 

Protocol Updates

Effective on select itineraries, beginning September 5, 2022

LAX & GAL Departures

• Vaccination
• We recommend that our guests be fully vaccinated against COVID‐19, if eligible.
• While vaccination is not required, we kindly ask that guests disclose their status during check-in to ensure we maintain a highly vaccinated onboard population.
• IMPORTANT Sailings that visit Grand Cayman: unvaccinated guests 12 years and older can join our sailing; however, they’ll need to stay onboard when we arrive in Grand Cayman.
• Pre-cruise Testing
  Accepted tests are FDA‐approved PCR or antigen tests supervised in person or supervised by a telehealth professional.
• Sailings 5 nights or less –
• Unvaccinated guests ages 2 years and older must present a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 3 days of the sail date.
• Fully vaccinated guests do not need to test for these sailings.
• Sailings 6 nights or more –
• All guests ages 2 years and older must present a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 3 days of the sail date.

New Orleans Season (November 1, 2022 – January 31, 2023)

• Vaccination
• We recommend that our guests be fully vaccinated against COVID‐19, if eligible.
• While vaccination is not required, we kindly ask that guests disclose their status during check-in to ensure we maintain a highly vaccinated onboard population.
• IMPORTANT Sailings that visit Grand Cayman: unvaccinated guests 12 years and older can join our sailing however, they’ll need to stay onboard when we arrive in Grand Cayman.
• Pre-cruise Testing
• Testing for these sailings is still being finalized
• We will contact booked guests and travel partners directly with more information.

 

All EU departures

 

• Vaccination
• We recommend that our guests be fully vaccinated and up to date against COVID‐19, if eligible.
• While vaccination is not required, we kindly ask that guests disclose their status during check-in to ensure we maintain a highly vaccinated onboard population.
• Guests who are 12 years and older who are considered unvaccinated or who are not up to date with their vaccination will require additional testing.
• Pre-cruise Testing
• Testing will remain the same for EU departures.
• Guests that are not “up to date” on their vaccination per EMA standards will need to take a test onboard in order to get off the ship in Greece and Spain

 

Other Homeports & Destinations

We are working with local governments in the Eastern Caribbean to align on vaccination requirements for more itineraries. We want to ensure a great experience going ashore at these ports, for guests of any vaccination status, while meeting local health regulations. We’ll share information as it becomes available to both you and your clients.  We continue to maintain additional layers of protection that far exceed any other vacation experience - This includes vaccination of all crew and keeping them up to date with boosters when eligible, routine surveillance of all crew, enhanced testing, and treatment capabilities in our onboard medical centers, and much more. 

 

Effective September 5, 2022
	LAX & GAL Sailing 5 nights or less	LAX & GAL Sailing 6 nights or more	New Orleans	Europe	Other Homeports
Vaccinated	Vaccination Recommended No Testing Required	Vaccination Recommended Testing Required (3 days)	Vaccination Recommended Testing To Be Determined	Vaccination Recommended (additional testing may be required for those not up to date) Testing Varies – see details	Vaccination Required - see details Testing Varies – see details
Unvaccinated	Vaccination Recommended* Testing Required (3 days)	Vaccination Recommended* Testing Required (3 days)	Vaccination Recommended* Testing To Be Determined	Vaccination Recommended Testing Required – see details	Vaccination Required for 12+  – see details Testing Required – see details
*Unvaccinated guests cannot disembark in Grand Cayman

Resources

• Royal Caribbean Healthy Sail Center
• Royal Caribbean Getting Ready to Cruise  

Celebrity

 What You Need to Know 

• Vaccination
• Beginning September 5th, 2022, all travelers, regardless of vaccination status, can now cruise on the following itineraries as long as they meet any testing requirements to board:
• All sailings departing from the UK and Europe (with the exception of Iceland)
• All sailings departing from Los Angeles 
• For all other sailings, please visit the Country Travel Requirements page for the country of embarkation for your sailing for more information regarding vaccination age requirements.
• Testing
• Testing and timing of requirements may vary by homeport country and port of embarkation. We continually evaluate and update country travel requirements to sail here. Booked guests will also be advised of the latest requirements.

 

Resources

• Celebrity Healthy at Sea
• Celebrity Country Travel Requirements

 

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I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM Eastern for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

Carnival Not Moving Ships from US

Watch Video (click here)

Following CLIA's request to the CDC to allow cruising from U.S. ports to resume by July and the response from the CDC that it is sticking to the end date in the Conditional Sail Order of expiration of November 1, 2021, cruise lines have been making their own announcements regarding their plans.

Some cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises have announced cruises starting in June from new homeports outside the U.S.  See posts in our mini-series:  Let's Get Traveling.

Carnival Cruise Line Update

• Not Moving Ships away from U.S. ports
• No decision on vaccine requirements
• No decision on June sailings
• Extension of final payment to April 30 for June departures
• June sailings can be cancelled up to April 30 with no penalty

Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said: 

 “Here at Carnival Cruise Line, we currently do not have any plans to move our ships away from their U.S. homeports. I’ve always said, Carnival Cruise Line is America’s Cruise Line. We sail from 14 U.S. homeports, 50% of our itineraries are less than 7-day sailings and a significant number of our guests drive to their Carnival cruise vacation.”

She also said that Carnival remains very encouraged by the vaccine rollout and that they are an important tool along with several health protocols. Carnival carries more families than other carriers.  Since no vaccine is available for children, making vaccinations mandatory would limit who would be able to sail at the moment.  

We will continue to monitor updates for all cruise lines.  We suggest you bookmark our mini-series and check frequently for updates.   You can also follow us on our various social media platforms.

Urge Congress to Resume Cruising

 CLIA URGING CONGRESS TO RESUME SAILING

YOUR VOICE MATTERS

Use your voice to tell Congress to urge the Biden Administration to lift the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) and allow cruising to resume in the U.S. by the beginning of July 2021! Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has posted a form on their website asking that member agents and others contact their Congressmen to allow cruising to resume from U.S. ports in time for Summer. Here is information from the website which is the basis for this ask:

"Much has changed since the CDC issued the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) last fall, including the cruise industry's proven success resuming operations in other parts of the world, where nearly 400,000 passengers have sailed since last summer. With the vaccine rollout gaining momentum and President Biden's projection that the U.S. will be “closer to normal” by early July, the case for the resumption of cruising in the U.S. has never been stronger.

The CSO, which was issued in October 2020, does not reflect these important developments. More than a year has passed since U.S. cruise operations were suspended and preparing a cruise ship to sail again will take some time—approximately 90 days, to be exact—which means that cruise lines must start planning NOW if they are going to resume operations by July."

CDC responded to CLIA's request by indicating that the CSO end date remains the same at this time.  

Your voice is IMPORTANT and NEEDED! 

If you are ready to see cruising treated like other sectors of travel and tourism and on track to resume in the U.S. by July 2021, please take a moment to call, email, and/or Tweet your Senators and U.S. Representatives to let them know!   CLIA has made it easy for with this online form.

Stay Updated on Recent 

Cruise Industry 

& Other Travel News

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I recently completed extensive training and have become Travel Safety Verified. As your dedicated Travel Advisor, your safety is our priority, and it's our job to ensure you have the necessary information you need to give you confidence and peace of mind when making your future travel plans. Click the link to review our Travel Safety program with valuable resources that will answer many of your questions.

Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

Thank You Mariners

National Maritime Day is a United States holiday created to recognize the maritime industry. It is observed on May 22, the date in 1819 that the American steamship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. The holiday was created by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, National Maritime Day ceremony held virtually:

Proclamation on National Maritime Day, 2020

"Since the founding of our great Nation, we have relied on merchant mariners to deliver goods to market and strengthen our national security.  On National Maritime Day, we recognize the United States Merchant Marine for all it does to facilitate our commerce and protect our interests at sea."

"This year, as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, we pay tribute to the United States merchant mariners who served as the “Fourth Arm of Defense” for our Nation during the war. Earlier this year, I was proud to sign into law long-overdue legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the valiant civilian merchant mariners who maintained critical supply lines to our overseas troops and allies during the Second World War."U.S. Ports Thank Mariners and Longshoremen on National Maritime Day  (read full proclamation:)

President Donald J. Trump Proclaims May 22, 2020, as National Maritime Day

U.S. Ports Thank Mariners and Longshoremen on National Maritime Day

 BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 05-21-2020 04:59:31

"On Friday, seaports across America will celebrate the contributions of the maritime industry by commemorating National Maritime Day. 

The American Association of Port Authorities has called on vessels moored at all American ports to sound their horns at 1200 hours local time Friday. This "Sound Off for National Maritime Day" event is focused on the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery effort, and it recognizes the sacrificies made by seafarers and port workers in slowing the spread while ensuring a steady flow of commerce."    (Read More)

Additional Resources

• National Maritime Day – MARAD
• National Maritime Day Reflections in the Era of COVID-19 (Captain Jim Tobin is the President of the USMMA Alumni Association and Foundation)
• National Maritime Day: Merchant Mariners of Military Sealift Command
• Behind the Scenes Seafarers' House

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Meet Symphony of the Seas - Largest at Sea

click images to enlarge

SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS - OCT. 19-26, 2019

7 NIGHT EASTERN CARIBBEAN (R/T MIA)

This year's National Conference was held aboard the latest Oasis-Class ship, Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas which sailed out of the Port of Miami.  She is the largest passenger ship in the world by gross tonnage, at 228,021 GT, surpassing her sister Harmony of the Seas.

The ship's original itinerary called for a stop in Labadee, Haiti.  With the recent opening of Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas, Royal Caribbean decided to alter our itinerary so that our travel advisors could experience this new island experience first-hand.  It was truly the highlight of the ports of call. 

We also stopped in St. Maarteen (Dutch side) and San Juan, Puerto Rico.   Despite recent hurricanes, all of these destinations were open for business and ready to provide chills and thrills to guests.

This post serves as an anchor for our mini-series of posts about the conference and the largest ship. Please come back often for updates.

The images above give you a glimpse of the bold new ship. There is much more to explore both on the ship and our itinerary.
 

View Itineraries          Click to Learn More about Symphony of the Seas
Where's Symphony of the Seas? (Live Tracking) Due to Covid-19 Pandemic, live tracking may not be available.

Conf-
erence

Follow Us During 2019 Dare National Conference

Set Sail With Us on Symphony of the Seas

Meetings at Sea

Opening Session
Welcome Reception
Wig Out Party
White Night Party
80s Throwback
Final Session
Oktoberfest Party
Gogo Party

2019 Dare Conference Make-a-Wish

Costa Penélope Cruz 60": Welcome to happiness squared

Costa Smeralda ship Video. New Flagship of the Fleet

Silverseas Silver Moon - There's Still Room for Discovery

Windstar Cruises Sail Away

Ship

Welcome Aboard Symphony of the Seas

There's a Place Where Only the Bold Venture

Zipping Over Boardwalk

The Abyss
Adventure Ocean
Art & More
Boardwalk
Cabin 14697
Casino
Central Park
Embarkation
Nighttime
Royal Promenade
Schooner Bar
Solarium
Sunset
Vitality Spa

Welcome Onboard

Zip Line

The Perfect Storm

The Ultimate Abyss

Solarium at Night

Casino

Dining

Park Cafe
Ice Cream
Main Dining
Lunch Buffet
Sorrento's Pizza
Diamond Club
Windjammer
Cafe Promenade
Johnny Rockets
Dog House
El Loco Fresh
Hooked
CocoCay Dining

Ports

Perfect Day at Coco Cay

St. Maarten
Sunset Beach  SXM
Maho Beach
Sonesta Resorts

San Juan

Perfect Day Coco Cay
Thrill Park
Oasis Lagoon
Chill Island

Planes Landing Maho Beach St Maarten

St. Maarten Pier

Welcome Perfect Day Coco Cay
Perfect Day Coco Cay Thrill Waterpark
Perfect Day Coco Cay Chill Park

Entertain-
ment

Dare to Dream on Symphony of the Seas

Travel Thru Time with 1977 on Ice

1977 Ice Show
Aqua Theater
Flight Dare to Dream
Skate 2.0
Lazer Tag

Flight Dare to Dream

Dancing on the Promenade

1977 Ice Skating Show
Opening
Queens Guard
Ravens
Diamonds are Forever
Ice Dancing
Hide and Seek
Quick Change
Impossible Mission
Winter
Time Travel
Finale

Travel

Click the image below for photo albums:

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Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us every Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat