Canadian Visa Now Required for Mexican, Czech Citizens

Important travel update: Cruising or traaveling to Canada? If you are a citizen of Mexico or the Czech Republic, you will need a visa to visit the US's northern neighbor. According the the Canadian Citizenship and Immigration website, Mexicans with US Green cards will be allowed entry. Please see that website for official details.
For the rest of us, this is a good reminder that any country may, at any time, revise its list of who is required to have a visa for entry, so it's wise to check official sources well in advance of a trip or cruise to other countries.

This announcement brought to you by

http://www.cruisereadystore.com/

It Only Happens Every 10 Years .- and Princess is Going

It only happens every 10 years. . . the next time will be in 2010. . . . And Princess can take you!

What's that, you say? It's the famed Oberammergau Passion Play, presented by the residents of the village of Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany. Not just a play, this is a monumental once a decade event. It's seven hours long, with a dinner served at intermission, and the audience comes from around the world to see it every 10 years. It's been happening this way for centuries - since the 1600's, in fact. In order to be one of the play's 2,000 participants- actor, singer, stage hand, etc - one must have been a resident of the village in good standing for at least 20 years. All the costumes are also made by villagers. (Public domain image, right, from the 1900 play, taken from Wikipedia ) Why? See below.

The NEXT PRODUCTION DATES are May 15 to October 3, 2010, and Princess Cruisetours can take you there. There are just two dates for this special 18 day cruisetour: August 2 and 12, 2010. Included are an 8 day land tour, featuring two nights in Oberammergau with tickets to the Passion Play, and a 10 day cruise to Scandanavian and Russian ports aboard the Star Princess. (Photo credit: Princess Cruises)



WHY do the people of Oberammergau do this once every 10 years?
Because, in 1633, they promised God they would present a play about the life of Jesus if He delived their town from the plague. He delivered, and so did they. ... And nearly 400 years later, they still do. Now, that's keeping a promise!

This post brought to you by Cruise Ready Store

Time to Start Watching the tropics

Half of July is behind us, and the EPAC is on the FOURTH named storm ... with two (Carlos and Dolores) churning in that basin as of last night! Luckily, it appears that neither will affect land. However, in the Atlantic, we haven't seen Ana yet. But, it's approaching the time when weather exiting off the west coast of Africa wants to try to get its act together and make the trek across the ocean, sometimes ending up in our neck of the woods.

Yes, it's nearly 'Cape Verde Season,' so ... eyes east!

Reminder to residents of hurricane country: Things may be quiet now, but that can change quickly, so please make it a point to check your level of emergency preparation.

And, for my cruising friends . . . Cruise Ready Store now has Anti-Nausea Bands, sometimes referred to as motion sickness bands. Here's a picture and link:

Anti-Nausea Bands from Cruise Ready Store:

Carnival Tries Kiosk Check-in at Port of Miami

Anyone who has cruised out of the Port of Miami knows that just getting yourself onto the ship can be quite an undertaking. In an effort to streamline the boarding process, Carnival is piloting kiosk self check-in at their terminal there. If succrssful at that very busy port, the cruise line says they will expand the program to other ports.

Some details from Carnival's press release:
". . . guests must have pre-registered online and be a U.S. or Canadian citizen, or from a Visa waiver country. To access their booking information and check in via the kiosk, guests simply swipe their passport or the credit card used to pre-register . . ."

A cash deposit can even be made at the kiosk to initialize your shipboard account if you aren't charging it to your credit card. After completing kiosk check-in, you go to a desk to pick up your cruise card. For those who don't know, a cruise card is an all-in-one room key, ID, ship entry /exit card, and on board charge card.

Will kiosks prove to be a solution - or partial solution - to long check-in lines for cruise ship embarkation? Will cruisers take to them, or find them a bit too impersonal?

What do you think? Leave a comment here, or follow a poll on the subject that has been set up on the CruiseLineFans forum. Here's a direct link to the polling thread, where you can vote and weigh in with your opinion. Of course, you have to be a member of CLF to do that, but it's free to join.

Brought to you by CruiseReadyStore

H a p p y B i r t h d a y , U S A !!!

Thank you, Selling Lounge!

Many thanks to Bays, at The Selling Lounge, who posted this yesterday on the TSL Blog:

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Have you cruised to Barbados? (Or been there)

Did you forget to pick up your souvenir T shirt?

Well, never fear - it's Cruise Ready Store to the rescue! We have a very limited supply of just what you need! Nice, red tshirts - souvenir of Barbados, from Princess Cruises.



Princess Cruises RED BARBADOS Cruise T Shirt Available sizes: Small. Medium. Large. eXtraLarge . . . and there's only ONE left in each size! Great cruise wear for your next cruise . . . to let your shipmates know you've "been there, done that."




If you just can't wait for your next cruise... or smile wistfully at memories of happy times spent onboard your favorite cruise ship, then you just might like Cruise Ready Store , a store especiallly for folks who love to cruise!

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By the way - if you're an internet retailer, and don't know about The Selling Lounge, do yourself a favor and check it out! You'll find lots of helpful information that is well organized!

THANK YOU, Selling Lounge, from CruiseReadyStore!