Milhouse

Paradox used to be a Trump branded hotel in the mid 2010's.  After Trump hotel closed down during the pandemic, it was shuttered for a while and eventually rebranded as Paradox.  Being a local, I haven't stayed there but it's a higher end property.  Generally speaking, it's just a rebranding and hotel management change so it should still be a nice hotel.  FWIW, there occasionally seems to be a bit of a party atmosphere though as we see a lot of revellers milling about and catching rides along the laneway entrance when we pass by during a walk in the evenings.  Location-wise, it's pretty central.  

On 7/21/2023 at 6:44 PM, jacksmycat said:

I tried to look at the main site and it wasn't very user friendly. I know they don't have the schedule out for next year, but when I put in a date for a couple months out, it only listed trains for the afternoon. Nothing in the morning. Maybe I did it wrong but I was confused. Omio shows plenty of trains starting around 6am

On 7/21/2023 at 7:04 PM, jacksmycat said:

And on this trenitalia site I will be able to buy tickets for both legs of my travel. On the fast train and the regional? I don't want to have to worry if there will be tickets available on the day of, so I want to buy the full journey ahead of time.

We had similar wants and issues when trying to book our trip from Fiumicino Airport to Ravenna this spring.  Our main problem in searching for a complete journey was the Bologna Centrale to Ravenna leg on the regional commuter train which didn't publish its schedule far enough in advance. 

We just ended up booking our high speed train to Bologna Centrale first (which has reserved seating) on the trenitalia site.  We then bought the tickets for the Bologna to Ravenna when in Italy.  No cost savings (8e) for the second leg for booking in advance and it ran hourly.  YMMV but we thought there was plenty of seating on the regional train in both directions we rode it.  However, there's limited space to store luggage and there's an upper level which could be a pain to navigate with luggage so I wouldn't dilly dally getting onto the train and finding a seat. 

I would however suggest booking the high speed trains sooner than later.  We didn't prebook tickets far in advance (only a day and day of) on our return legs from Bologna to Florence and then Florence to Rome to give ourselves some flexibility.  Unfortunately, we found options more limited and pricing more expensive.  

Yes it is reasonably walkable (if it's not raining).  You can take your time.  

I do the walk a couple of times a week but with my Starbucks, not luggage.  I've timed myself:  It's just over a 20min walk along the seawall from the far side of the Westin Bayshore and just over a 15 minute walk from the near side/main entrance of the hotel. 

The seawall path is fairly wide and fairly smooth/nicely paved.  Careful to stay on the pedestrian side as the path is split in half with bicycles/wheeled transport.  Mixed sunny and shady parts.  Safe, nice views.  It's fairly level except for two uphill portions: one by the float planes/Jack Poole Plaza and one on the east side of the Convention Centre.  I've regularly come across others pulling their luggage walking along this route and NOT looking miserable. 😉

IIRC Priority Pass recently restarted their partnership with Plaza Premium lounges and there is a Plaza Premium lounge for Transborder flights to the US.  

However, I'd be cautious about timing. Some lounges only allow access starting two or three hours before your flight.  The Priority Pass site (and AMEX lounge site) indicate that there's a two hour limit which would suggest entry for you at around 8:35pm.  (However, I doubt they would kick you out if there's a delay though.)

You can try to get in early but it's probably going to be hit or miss depending on how busy it is and how early you attempt entry.  I would speculate that it would not be busy that late but my recent experience has been that lounges have generally been very busy/full overall during this summer season.  

It's not a reasonable walk for most IMO, particularly with a cane.  You'd be walking though some sketchy areas.  Depending on the route, the sidewalks aren't wide and might be crowded.  I generally love walking and checking out neighbourhoods but I'd loathe to walk this stretch with luggage.

Skytrain is likely most direct but there's the luggage issue and then the Main Street station is elevated while the Waterfront station is underground.  

Personally, I'd probably just taxi or Uber it.  

Here we go again?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-port-workers-resume-strike-1.6910572

Schwartz's is my default and I used to try to go there every time when I was in town.  It's in a reasonably convenient part of town for a tourist IMO.  

However, on my last trip in 2021, my Montreal based manager took me to Snowden Deli.  Loved it.  Moist smoked meat with an added bonus of having many of the favs you'd find in a Jewish deli.  The decor has a bit of an 80's vibe to it though.  It's kind of away from the normal tourist areas other than being somewhat close to Saint Joseph's Oratory but it is close to a metro station.  Lucas Peterson did a segment on it for Eater's Dining on a Dime series if you want a bit of a visual.

Next time I'm in Montreal, I'll probably visit both.  😄

I like using Japan Guide as one of my resources.  I think their page on IC cards is pretty good:  https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html

I also like using wikitravel.org for city specific transportation detail.  

IC cards are extremely convenient and prevents complexities around correct fares and mixed transportation (ie rail vs metro vs buses).  However, you aren't saving much per trip and I find local transportation within Japan can get a bit pricey if travelling a lot within a day.  Various one or multiday local daypasses might be worth considering as they also provide the simplicity of tap payment/entry.  But there is likely a bit of a convenience tradeoff of needing to source them when you get into town and what modes of transport they cover.  

Would concur that the Delta is closer to a few sketchier blocks in downtown and not a lot more in the immediate area for a tourist.  Sure, close to waterfront station and closer to Gastown.  Not worth the tradeoff if all things being equal IMO but would not discount staying in this location if wanted.

I don't want to discourage the Marriott Pinnacle.  When you step out from the hotel, you're just not in the thick of things which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  But you're just a reasonable couple of blocks walk away from touristy stuff.

+1 to the Metropolitan Hotel as a possible alternative Marriott property.  But it's kind of six of one, half dozen of the other.  It gets you closer to Robson street but further from the waterfront.  The underground mall (Pacific Centre is across the street.) and the art gallery's square which occasionally has events is nearby.  However, I don't find that part of Howe Street very lively during the day or evening.  It's mainly people walking to some other destination apart from maybe the restaurant and lounge at hotel down the street.  

I would consider the area safe. It's quieter but I wouldn't consider the area sketchy.  You have more activity a block or two over closer to the waterfront or Burrard Street.

However, I'd probaby describe the area beside the hotel more of a greenspace than a park.  It's a handy pedestrian thoroughfare that allows people to go from Canada Place toward Hornby Street instead of going the long way around.  Very busy during the week and less busy during the weekends and evenings.  

There are some tables and seats (at least during the day) to allow people to enjoy their coffee or lunch.  But you do occasionally get some homeless people mixed in, hanging out on a bench.  Again, I wouldn't consider it unsafe.  

If you are referring to Harbour Green Park by the water, it's a very popular area to enjoy.  There's a lot of residental housing behind it.  Again, you may encounter the odd homeless person sleeping on a bench but we've comfortably walked that part of the seawall very late into the evening.

From the Bayshore to Granville Island, it's a pretty easy trip by car.  Google maps puts it just over 15mins. 

It's a pretty long walk though which I wouldn't recommend unless you really enjoy walking.  You'd also have to either walk across a bridge (each have their own challenges), take a water ferry, or take the very long way around.  

You can also combine/take the bus which also addresses the bridge situation.  There are a number of different combinations that will get you across the bridge but ending with the #50 bus has a nice route that saves a couple of blocks.

The immediate area is safe, if somewhat quiet IMO.  Very walkable to Canada Place per @dawnvip route.  

While there are a few options to eat within a few blocks, it's kind of a businessy district.  You'll need to walk a couple of blocks to be in a more lively area.  ie  It's a good launching point to the waterfront and the seawall which provides a nice path between Canada Place and Stanley Park.  A few blocks in the other direction will eventually get you to Robson street which a main pedestrian retail/food area.

Personally I like staying in downtown Montreal in and around St. Catherines street just because it's lively and for relatively easy access to the metro.  

I've enjoyed staying multiple times at the Fairmont QE for work in the past.  I found the rooms kind of small but I generally like the Fairmont brand.

I stayed at the Residence Inn by Peel station in Feb 2020 just before everything shut down.  Found it fine but nothing special.  Handy free breakfast is included.

We stayed at the Novotel Montreal Centre in 2021.  The missus quite enjoyed the modern room.  The closest metro station Lucien L'Allier is a few blocks away which I found to be kind of awkward station to navigate in and around as it's deep station and there's exits around the Bell Centre.  

We enjoyed a stay at Le Square Phillips Hotel buy it was many years ago.  Decent location though.

39 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

That’s cheaper than our NCL beach transfer. Are water taxis readily available to get us back to the ship?

Sorry, I can't say definitively as I had only  researched going between beaches.  However, while we went watching too closely, they did seem to appear multiple times within an hour.

Other points to note however:

Some ships tender to the old port just north of Mykonos Town/Chora by the northern bus station.  

Some ships dock at the new port further north.  There is a water shuttle for 2e that takes you btw Mykonos Town to the new port.  See:  https://www.mykonos-seabus.gr/

FWIW, on their map in town, it seems to show a water taxi route to Paradise Beach.

As mentioned above, there are other beaches to visit.  We took a bus to one.  

However, a couple beside us in the MDR mentioned they still did a boat tour to Shipwreck Beach but only going to the edge of the exclusion zone to take pictures.  They also went to the blue caves and some other areas where they were able to swim/snorkel and see fish and turtles.

We used Bounce in Santa Monica after our cruise out of San Pedro/LA last November and had a good experience with the app and the local partner.  However, I can see the experience being very partner dependent though.

+1 for Pitogyros in Oia.  It was one of the top three pide gyros we had during our cruise; we had one or two pide gyros in every port of call.  Rounding out our top three were Lucky's in Fira and Sakis in Mykonos.  

4 minutes ago, bobolz said:

what day and time of day did you travel from LAX

The data I quoted was pulled from my ride history. 

We got picked up from LAX to Long Beach at 11:30am on Friday Nov 4 (2022).

We took our time getting off the ship since we had an evening flight so we were close to last off.  I forget the exact timing when we got off but it was likely around 9:00am on a Saturday.  Very few pax on the ship so last disembarkation numbers were called pretty quick.  It took forever for us to get an Uber to Santa Monica.  Not apples to apples but we got assigned an Uber at 9:36am but didn't get picked up until 9:57am and got to Santa Monica around 10:40am.

One recent thread

One option is to take the local Ktel bus.  

We took the bus to Laganas Beach but looking at the timetable pamplet I took home, it looks like it goes to Alykes beach too.   However, it is only for June 12 to July 2.  The URL on the pamphet is:  www.ktel-zakynthos.gr where you can see the latest timetable (note the different secion for local routes).  

On google maps, we tendered to "Zakynthos Marina".  The central bus station is a reasonable 15-20min walk.  You can locate it on Google Maps as "Central Bus Station KTEL".  

On the pamphlet, it says:

From Zakynthos

07.00, 10.00, 12.00, 15.00, 19.00

From Alykes

7.40, 10.40, 12.40, 15.40, 19.40

Except Sunday

Ticket price is 1.60e each way.  

Note:  At the bus station, there are separate areas to buy tickets for inter-island travel versus a different smaller window for local buses.  

There was a helpful guy at the local ticket booth that spoke English and gave us some ideas where to go, which was the correct bus, etc.  

Word of caution is to get to the bus stop early on the return trip because we missed our original bus that we planned to take back as it got to the stop early and didn't wait until the scheduled departure time.  

We did a bit of a circuit and hoofed it out to Tacos Fenix and Tacos Corona and then circled back to La Guerrerense's food cart.  I don't mind standing while eating but even though it was November, the afternoon sun was still pretty draining for us with limited shade.  

I liked Tacos Corona a half point better than Tacos Fenix.  Friendly and inviting staff at both which makes for that much more a better experience.

We also shared a variety at tostadas at La Guerrerense.  Happy we went and tried a bunch which we enjoyed but I think we liked their more boring options like shrimp ceviche the best.  🙂  Their jars of salsa aren't cheap (at 120 pesos) but they are an easy souvenir or gift to take home IMO.  Staff also very friendly here.  Very easy to strike up conversations with everyone standing around figuring out what to order or enjoying their food.  

The last time we were in Japan in 2019, we rented a pocket wifi from Ninja Wifi based on a review from TokyoCheapo:  https://tokyocheapo.com/business/internet/rent-wifi-router-japan/

It worked very well for us for our land trip.  My only issue was that the devices only have enough battery power to last part of the day.  So I had to either turn ours off to conserve power, charge it while out using a external battery pack/charger, or charge it while taking a midday break (or a combo of the three).  Apart from that, the device we rented was small and light and provided great coverage throughout the country (not just major centres like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, etc).  

It's generally cheaper to book the rental ahead versus renting it on the spot and/or maybe search the internet for a discount code.  We booked ahead and picked it up at Narita airport.  However, I understand they can also be delivered (eg to a hotel for a fee?).  We saw multiple companies having booths in the airport.  Note, at the time, Ninja had two booths and we went to the wrong one (north vs south locations??) and we had to hoof it to the other both to pick it up.  

We dropped it off at a booth at Haneda airport on landside.  Just give yourself enough time to find the booth because they can sometimes be located in somewhat hard to find locations IMO.  

Don't lose the device or accessories as they'll obviously charge for replacement.  IIRC, you can buy insurance to cover losing the wifi device or accessories.  We did not buy it.  

Not apple to apples but we just used a third party data sim for my phone when we recently cruised out of Italy to Greece last month.  I was surprised how much signal I was able to get when sailing, particularly any time land was in sight.  I didn't need Internet access all the time so it hit the sweet spot for me.  And the pocket wifi's are basically a data sim in a device with wifi hotspot capabilities so hopefully you will get similar results if not better sailing around Japan.  

Not aware of a local bus. 

However, as we walked out of the port's gates, there was a tout offering a return trip by bus for 15e.  Not sure where they were staging people to board the bus though nor how long you would get in Olympia.  We took the train but on our day, it only had one train there (8:40am) and back (1:10pm).  That was just about the right amount of time for us to take our time seeing the key sights and grab a snack before heading back.  (We did takeaway pita gyro and some savory pies but we likely had enough time to do a quick sit down meal if we wanted.) 

Our ship (Celebrity Constellation) was scheduled to arrive at 8am but they didn't let people off until 8:10am.  It was about a 15min walk at a steady but not quick pace to the train station so we got there around 8:25am with a little bit of time to spare.  There were only a handful of couples taking the train during our visit.  

See also this thread:  

FWIW, here's a picture of the Delos ticket booth I took a few weeks ago.