the more ports the better

I agree Flatbush. Sometimes, I can purchase a flight to Frankfort, London or Munich then purchase my connection separately on Lufthansa, SAS…… to the final destination for a lot less than purchasing a one stop flight all on United even using the same flights. The only hassle is that you have to recheck your bags at the transit center. I’m UA 1k so the $25 fee is never an issue but even if it was, the savings is worth it. My big issue with calling is that the hold times can be ridiculous even on the 1k line. I’ll try your ITA Matrix. I’ve never used it but it seems helpful.

Sorry Pinot, I’ve been visiting my grandson. But yes, it will give different fares based on your search and purchase history. I have searched fares and they have gone up the more I searched. I split time between FL and IN. Once I was flying north for a few days and looked at the fare a few times on the United app while I was in Disney waiting in line. When I finished the activity I went to purchase the ticket and it was about $75 higher. I grabbed my daughters phone and purchased it on her app for the original price. It’s pretty typical. Also, when purchasing tickets for flying overseas, I set my vpn to a country where the currency is weak and purchase from that location. As long as it’s an English speaking country there are no issues. I typically save quite a bit that way. I’ll purchase on UA being redirected through a third party or directly on their website but the fares on their site are typically the highest. When I use the United app logged into my account, that is where I see the highest prices. I travel for business and fly business class and their algorithms know it! Once I purchase, I just add the reservation to my account on the app and use it as normal with boarding passes and such. But, the short answer is yes, they track your search activity and your past purchases and price tickets accordingly. I hope this helps….

Pinot, thanks for the Marriott tip. We always stay at the St Regis, beautiful but the pricing lately is just ridiculous to the point of being insulting. It’s even double the Hassler. We have stayed there many times but sadly, looking for a new property in the Marriott family.

Yep, that’s my preferred browser, unless they are extending to bing for searches as they use a Microsoft platform for web services. Google incognito is a little less than ok. Apple privacy is pretty good. I always say, Google is in the business of selling your data, Apple is in the business of selling hardware, Microsoft is in the business of selling software and cloud services. Steer clear of anything Google. Don’t even get me started on social media, anyone who uses it is nuts. Cruise critic is the only even quasi social media I use as it is incredibly informative and saves research time but even then, I run a VPN when I use it.

The 2023 is for sure reconstructed from a Baltic St Petersburg sailing. We are on the sailing prior to the one you are looking at ending in Reykjavik. It goes up the coast of Norway to Longyearbyen then to Greenland and Iceland. New ports for O. I’m hoping to see polar bears as we are in Svalbard two days. Those sailings are nature, hiking, boat trips etc where Lisbon to Amsterdam is culture. Usually we prefer culture but every once in awhile, we just need to chill out enjoy nature for a while. When going to Normandy, take a day in Caen to visit the WW2 museum. It is beyond amazing!! Also, I agree with Dan, every American citizen should visit Normandy, it is an emotional experience. Visit Point Du Hoc and imagine those boys scaling the cliffs while the Germans shot at them and landing on the beaches dodging machine guns knowing they probably were not going to make it. They were truly the “greatest generation.”

Just posted this on a different thread but it is worth repeating…….. Guys, I own an AI company and I can tell you with 100% certainty that airlines track your flight searches on their websites as well as third party websites. The algorithms will up the prices the more you look. If you disappear for a while they may lower them again but no guarantee. My son left my nuclear AI company to make piles of cash writing pesky consumer algorithms including those most pesky travel algorithms. ALWAYS SEARCH IN PRIVATE MODE ON SAFARI OR INCOGNITO MODE ON GOOGLE. (I know caps is being loud but it will save a ton of money so I am being loud about it) Search a few third party websites (privately) and if they have lower fares than the airline website, choose the link directly to the airline to buy the tickets on the airline’s site. It used to be that the airlines tracked their own traffic only but no more, now they all coordinate and share info. Also, another United flier here. Customer service is the number one reason. That and I lived most of my life in the frigid weather near their Ohare hub before finally moving south. Plus they have the best FF program in the business. I never pay for flights and always fly business simply from using my United Chase cards. If I go to the store and even buy a loaf of bread, it goes on my card. It all adds up to free flights quickly.

Guys, I own an AI company and I can tell you with 100% certainty that airlines track your flight searches on their websites as well as third party websites. The algorithms will up the prices the more you look. If you disappear for a while they may lower them again but no guarantee. My son left my company to make piles of cash writing pesky consumer algorithms including those most pesky travel algorithms. ALWAYS SEARCH IN PRIVATE MODE ON SAFARI OR INCOGNITO MODE ON GOOGLE. (I know caps is being loud but it will save a ton of money so I am being loud about it) Search a few third party websites (privately) and if they have lower fares than the airline website, choose the link directly to the airline to buy the tickets on the airline’s site. It used to be that the airlines tracked their own traffic only but no more, now they all coordinate and share info. Also, another United flier here. Customer service is the number one reason. That and I lived most of my life in the frigid weather near their Ohare hub before finally moving south. Plus they have the best FF program in the business. I never pay for flights and always fly business simply from using my United Chase cards. If I go to the store and even buy a loaf of bread, it goes on my card. It all adds up to free flights quickly.

Thank you, I just contacted them. The hike looks great!

Dan, I personally, love your posts, always crack me up but I disagree re PH, zebra and all, they are finally getting rid of the piles of furniture in the PH’s and opening them up. They are much larger than A’s however, still crowded because they are full of stuff! Although Jacques is my favorite restaurant, I guess we will be in waves a lot more. Hubby’s favorite foods are pizza and burgers. If there were no other foods in the world, he would still be happy!

Its a great transit hotel. Clean and comfortable. We arrived one trip at 9:00 pm and slept there for one night to save a few dollars then checked into our hotel in the city the next morning. But… stay in Rome while you are there. You will be walking miles and nothing is like heading to your hotel for a break during the day. That is impossible at the airport Hilton. The Leonardo express is only 25 min but you still have to get to termini first which not near most of the sights, aside from the colosseum and forum.

We are on the July 23 ending in Reykjavik, you can also continue to London. The itinerary looks amazing! I’ve always wanted to see polar bears! If you take the short sailing to Tromoso, they have a good sized airport with direct flights to London, Oslo, Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt …. I looked at doing the shorter sailing and was surprised at how convenient the flights were.

I called to book last week for an Aug 27 sailing. The rep was kind of abrupt and told me she had no idea when shore excursions would open for booking. I have mostly independent tours but our first stop is Huahine and I’d like to book the PG Motu picnic to meet fellow cruisers early in the cruise. I’ve done Marc’s and don’t need to do it again. Also, I may do Patrick’s tour on Bora Bora which can only be booked through the ship. Thanks again!!

That is the beginning of storm season. We were there in Jan/Feb and there was a cat 4 cyclone in Fiji and the Cook Islands, which skirted over us and turned around so we were in the outer storm bands for a long time. Our cruiseline (Oceania) reversed the itinerary and beelined to Nuku Hiva to get out of the weather. We all scrambled to change shore excursions, Ato, in Fakarava, Richard in Nuku Hiva, Marc’s in Huahine, and Y aka plongee in Ragiroa all went above and beyond to accommodate us. We made the most of it and the cruise was great once we headed far enough north but it was a bit disappointing. Once we sailed back to the Society Islands it was picture perfect weather as the storm had moved back east. We spent a fortune for the Four Seasons Bora Bora pre cruise and had four out of five days pouring buckets of rain. The hotel strongly suggested that all guests with children move to the beach rooms from the OWB. I guess they assumed that the rest of us wouldn’t get blown away but the bungalows shook like crazy. It was an adventure but I wouldn’t want to be there if it was a direct hit! Also, the flight from Bora Bora to Papeete was challenging. We took off between bands of the storm. A little unnerving! This year we are sailing at the end of Aug into September. I wouldn’t want to risk bad weather again.

Thanks scots lady. The snorkeling there was the best we have ever experienced. We are on Moorea two days. We are going to rent a car one day and I think I’ll stop there and see what the scoop is. If they will take us out to the Motu, great, if not, it’s not like there aren’t a zillion beautiful places to see! I’ll post what happens when I get back. Thanks again!

Thanks everyone for the info. We will probably stay at the Hilton. We arrive on a Thurs evening and sail on Sat so we really only have Friday in Papeete. This is really bad, but my only must do for Papeete is an evening at the food trucks at the waterfront. I can still taste the crepe from 4 years ago! Other than that, I’ll go to the market and get some flowers, maybe rent a car and drive to Tahiti Iti but it’s just an “adjust to the time change day” We are staying in an OW bungalow at the SR on Bora Bora for a week post sailing so I was not really looking at the IC as we will have an authentic Polynesian experience both there and on the ship. thanks again!

Has anyone stayed at the Hilton? It looks pretty convenient. I booked the Hilton and a hotel downtown, Tahiti Nui, as we arrive in the evening two days prior to sailing. We are port on Moorea two days and are staying on Bora Bora post cruise so we will rest for a day in Papeete precruise and enjoy the awesome food trucks. Anyone with knowledge of the two hotels?

We were on Riveria a few weeks ago in a Oceania Suite. We had logins on our phones, computers, and iPads but the service was beyond slow. My phone carrier charges $10 per day in Europe so we just used cell service most of the time. We are hoping for starlink in the near future. We would travel on O for much longer periods of time if we could “work from ship”. We typically sail for 10-14 days then settle into a hotel for a few weeks so we can still run the business. In Europe, we work an hour or so around 3:00 then again before bed. I wish we could do that from an O ship.

Thanks so much tahitianbigkahuna, you are a wealth of info! I’ll check it out. We are geezers but we still work out every day and love a good hike!

Does anyone have experience in Rarotonga. What are the best things to do. Nothing on Viator or get your guide. There is some info on trip advisor but not a lot. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the info!!! Our excursion company said they will pick us up at the PG dock so that works too. Parking lot would be better though!

There are several people who have posted that the lagoonariam in Moorea is permanently closed? I saw a post on trip advisor last month that said they were there and it is open. They just stopped feeding the wildlife at 2:00 because of animal rights protests and the protesters are putting out the information that it is closed. Does anyone know the status as it’s a pretty cool place and we planned on spending a day there.

I’m on Paul Gauguin in August and there are 3 people on the roll call. We had an active roll call for our O sailing in May. I agree that people are doing land trips as testing on the ship can have problems. If you arrive overseas and test positive, you cannot board and are stuck. You have to either test at home and go directly to the ship avoiding a precruise stay or have a back up hotel that is fully refundable. In Italy if you test positive, at disembarkation, you go to their government quarantine hotels which are pretty grim. My daughter is a COVID tester at Walgreens and she, my mom, my son and I were on Riveria in May. We brought an assortment of tests to assure that we were negative. Riveria was testing complementary the last night of the cruise which we avoided. My daughter tested us prior to heading to the airport. We all had made an agreement that if one of us tested positive in either stateroom at embarkation, that person would get off the ship, head to a hotel and stay in until we tested negative. The others would head home. It made the trip a little nerve racking. If you are on a land trip and you are already in a hotel, you don’t have to go to a government hotel and you can just stay in your hotel room if you test positive.

We are on the Aug 27th Society and Cook Islands sailing. We overnight in Moorea. We are renting a car our first day and swimming with whales our second day. The whale excursion is very close to the rental car company and it will be easier to return the car in the morning and walk to the excursion from the rental car return. it’s been a few years since we were in Moorea and I remember there being a parking lot and it seemed fairly empty. Can we park our rental car overnight?

Hi, we have been there a few times the last being a few weeks ago in May. When going up Etna you do not book a tour. They have park staff that guide you at the top Your taxi/transport company will drop you at the tourist center at Etna where the cable car is. You can literally drive to within 50ft of the entrance to the cable car and your driver will surely know where it is. You purchase tickets on site as it runs continuously. There are two options, the first is the cable car, which is actually a ski lift in the winter, to about 2/3 up the mountain. You will be in a lava field, no vegetation just black sand. There are a few old craters. There is a gift shop and snack bar. You can walk around but there are no guides at this point. The second option is the cable car followed by a 4 wheel drive ATV bus which brings you to the summit. Same cable car stop but you board the monster bus once you exit the cable car. It is right outside the door. There you will have a guide tell you about the volcano and can see active craters which smoke plus if it is erupting sometimes lava is visible but you really have to be there in the evening to see it. There is snow most of the year and there are warm melted spots in the snow from the volcano. It is pretty cool but will take a good chunk of the day if you are on a schedule. There is also a crater from a few years ago in the tourist village at the bottom right next to the parking lot. Stop and look at it on the way out if you won’t go up to the top. I hope this helps!