home of
The Confident portExplorer
The Confident Cruiser blog
and all the other portExplore books, planners downloads and guidebooks.
Whatever you want to know about cruises, destinations, cruise companies, ships, excursions and ports you’ve come to the right place!
You’ll find links to all my Social accounts below or so please keep in touch with me there.
And of course you can always email me…
Cathy@portExplore.me
All by Cathy Rogers
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.
VOLUMEJust a small section of the incredible 8000 pipes being used in the construction of the organ of La Sagrada Familia, in favourite cruise port Barcelona - due for completion bu 2026: the centennial of Antonio Gaudí's passing away. it will be awesome in the true sense when 8000 pipes fill this unique acoustic space with sound...
lissima - the literal translation from the Italian means Beautiful; so a very confident name for an enormous, great big new ship. We wanted to find out if she deserved such a compliment so were thrilled be able to join Bellissima for a short section of her Inaugural cruise from Southampton to Genoa - embarking in Barcelona for just two nights aboard.
My daughter and I were looking for a short break away when we fell across an absolute bargain 5 night section of a repositioning cruise on MSC Opera, the following weekend. After upgrading to an Aurea Suite (of which more later) and upgrading the all inclusive drinks package to Premium it was still cheaper than a pampering weekend for two at a spa in the UK! We added two Easyjet flights ourselves as there were no MSC flights available and we were ready to go!
We had some lovely response to our cruise competition round up last month so here is Septembers list for you!
Good Luck and please do let me know if you win a cruise - especially if you need someone to come with you!!
