iancal

Ambiguity and assumptions are NOT your friends. Get the details in writing. In plain and simple English. No wriggle room for some clever boots at HAL to utter that word ‘but’ when you call to make subsequent arrangements.

We tentatively agreed to our Princess move over offer. We asked for the offer in writing so there would be no misunderstanding at a later date. Rec’d it 15 minutes later and agreed. If you accept the offer my strong advice would be to get the T’s & C’s in writing.

Several years ago this happened to us on a Princess SA cruise. It was a ‘move over’ offer as follows -100 percent fare refund - a free 14 day cruise of our choice. I recall we had to book within 18 months. Our original cruise was 14 days. -an upgrade on that cruise from balcony cabin to mini suite -up to $300 USD reimbursement for any air cancellation charges that we incurred. It took us about 5 seconds to accept. Our online TA arranged the con call with us and with Princess to review the details. This was not a one off. We met 2 other people on our subsequent cruise who were given the identical incentive by Princess to walk from their respective booked cruise. We keep hoping for another offer like this!

Our TAP flight to Lisbon was very good. Lisbon immigration was a zoo. Huge lineup. We were fortunate..we had tight connections and were whisked through in about an hour. Avoid Lisbon flights with 11 AM arrivals or be prepared to wait for hours to get through.

On more that a few occasions we have seen backpacks refused as carry on because of their size and their weight. In those instances they were much longer, wider, and looked much heavier than our 8KG carry on rollers. We have seen many travelers with backpacks that are far larger than outr 20 or 22 inch roller carry -ons. Backpacks come in all sizes. Some are convertible. Seems to me that the Ric Steves store sells a convertible backpack. Carry on (no wheels) w/backpack straps.

We are not checking any bags so hopefully this will speed things up a little for us.

Thanks, good to know. We are flying TAP to Madeira, via Lisbon, in two days. One way fare. Flight home from Faro on Transat. Concerned about the two hour TAP connection in Lisbon. Reports say customs line ups currently can be as much as 2-3 hours!

We have met more than one retired flight crew member during our travels that uses that same carry on bag for their extended retirement trips.

Excellent. Thanks. We are about to travel to Europe next week. Both of us have had the shots. Both of us had covid a few months ago. Mild, and recovered. We have made the decision in advance if one of us gets covid only one of us will quarantine. No point in risking severe covid or long term covid issues for the person who tests negative.

We find that travelling with carry on helps us when we return home through customs. The agent can tell when we left when he scans the passport. The next question is usually do have have any checked bags. We say no. Then he/she asks....are you bringing anything home...anything to declare. The answer is always no. When they see our respective carry on rollers they quickly come to the conclusion that we cannot possibly have anything! This is the way it has been for 12 years of so, at least two or three times a year. We have only had one issue in the last 12 years. A Vietnamese security person spotted a small metal nail file that had slipped under the lining of our bag. First time in at least 40 or 50 security screenings (in many countries) that we had been through! By far the easiest has been entering Australia via Gold Coast. Went through in five minutes flat. One question....are you smuggling any maple syrup in that bag"????

Oh....tell me it is not so!

It is absolutely the worst Embassy Suite Hotel that we have stayed in years of business and leisure travel. Shocking that Hilton has not forced the owners to renovate or loose the branding. I am amazed that some people flock to this hotel because of the so called free breakfast and afternoon bar. Neither, to us, are worth the effort. We cannot imagine how they command the rates that they do. We do not even want it on a Hotwire win.

That is exactly why we went with what the manufacturer referred to as a wheeled international carry on size backpack.

Weight is a big issue for us. Not a problem on most international trans ocean carriers but it is on the regionals that we tend to use extensively in Asia, Europe, and Australia. Quite often the weight limit is 7 0r 8 Kg. We tend to shop for lightweight, easycare fabrics. IF we are booked on an airline that we know is a stickler (most give 1KG grace) we put a few heavier items in our jacket pockets, including ipad, etc. We wear our heaviest shoes. The lightweight shoes go in the bag. It is on those flight that we usually do not want to check because we are off to somewhere else once we have deplaned. The most we ever pack is for six days. We do layers. Even when we leave in the winter we are dressed in summer clothing. Jump into the warm cab to the airport. No point in dragging heavy winter clothing about for two months.

Actually....the cubic capacity of our carry-on rollers are the same, size as many backpacks. Even less than some backpacks we have seen and shopped. The only difference is the wheels and handle. It is about capacity, dimensions. Not whether it has straps or wheels.

Next week we will be travelling for six weeks . Westjet X 2, TAP X 2, Easyjet X 1, Transat X1. Plus train and bus . We are doing carry on some, will check for others. Depends on the connection, our follow on plans when we land. They all have different carry on regs. In most instances our fares include checked-whether of not we decide to do so. Just because we happen to travel with carry on does not mean that we may not check from time to time.

We considered the backpack route, the rolling backpack route at the start of our post retirement travels. We were both in out late 50's at that time. We knew we had to cut down if extended land/sea trips were on our horizon. Backpacks were not in the equation for us. We spoke to a number of people and they all seemed to recommend a quality roller carry on of any sort. Two wheels, not four. A number of years prior my son and I met some early retirees from Seattle at a laundromat in Florence. They had been on trains for two months and just signed up for another month. T Their strong recommendation remained with us...carry on soft side rollers with 2 skate quality wheels, a good zipper, and tough fabric. Our carry ons are 12 years old now. They have been around the world no stars, six stars, buses, cruise ships. They still look as new and perform as well as the day we purchased them. We heeded the advice of our betters and of more experienced travelers. It has worked out well for us. It is not for everyone. Just do what is right for you and forget about what other people think.

We love travel…all modes and many places. Pre covid usually four plus months a year. Two 2 month trips per year plus some last minutes in between. We do what we have to. We have seen many seniors struggling with luggage on trains in Italy, trying to drag cases that are too large and too heavy on and off ferries in Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Italy, etc. Even more challenging in SE Asia. We decided that this would not be us. We figured out how to make it work for us without giving up how and where we like to travel. Since retirement the vast majority of our travel time is independent land travel. Cruises and resorts have become an add on instead of the main event they were in our working years. No doubt this will eventually change. Moving down to 20 inch carry ones has not minimized our travel options. It has maximized them. Ferries, trains, vans and small boats in SE Asia, small rentals..you name it. The one drawback is that by about week seven my spouse gets tired of wearing the same clothes.

One of our issues now is our physical ability to handle our bags without assistance. Many of our travels involve places where there is no assistance available. Whether it is stairs, in and out of rentals, on and off ferries or long tail boats. IF we were going from home to airport to cruise ship and back we would be less inclined to go with carry on only. This is not our routine. We tend to pick up cruises last minute whilst on extended land trips. Once in a while we have a cruise booked prior to leaving home but this is really the exception for us post retirement. It was a challenge to switch. But now, ten years later we believe taking less has enhanced our travel enjoyment. Lots less to bother about. I think the bottom line is to just do what is best for you, what you are comfortable with, and above all enjoy your travel experiences to the fullest.

No. We could not do it. Having said since retiring we have each managed to travel extensively and for extended periods with 20 inch roller carry ons. At first I also had a small backpack. Stopped with that after two years. It started with a size limitation on a safari in the middle of a seven month trip. We decided to go with it. It was challenging. Now, we are thankful that we did. We typically only do last minute cruises while on independent land travel. On some lines we just stick to the buffet on formal similar nights. The big surprise....after ten years of doing this we meet more and more retirees who are doing the exact same. Especially Australians. If you can do it and are comfortable with it then good for you. Go for it and give it a try.

This is exactly why we have two land based Europe trips planned for this year and no cruises. Not even shopping for a cruise at this point in time.

We have seen exactly this happen to multiple people at London Heathrow during security alerts and backups. Not pleasant to say the least.

We spent a week on Corfu just prior to covid. Our recommendation would be to avoid touring Corfu Town in the morning if there are several cruise ships in port. Do that at the end of your day. We drove into town in the morning. Stayed for 10 minutes and left. Far too crowded. It was a zoo. We went back on another day, in mid-late afternoon. It was much better. We waited all of five minutes to get into the fort/castle.

We do not really care. Hoping to spend time in the Greek Islands this fall. We may pick up a last minute cruise. We certainly will not be packing and dragging along 'extra clothes' just in case. Formal nights, gala nights, whatever the cruise line chooses to call them is not even on our radar. Happy to eat in the buffet on those nights.

Lots of shorts at DW's church in the summer months. They are more concerned with getting people to attend than they are about what people are wearing. And jeans (it is cow town after all). Plus suits, jackets....the whole gamut. As you would expect it seems divided by demographics. I always wear slacks in the MDR. Does it bother me if someone else is wearing shorts? Not at all. The maitre'd makes the call and that is fine with us.