Wendy-Europe

Since this company has more than 100 years of experience you should be safe 😄

Found one on our last cruise - did not know what to do with it first - read the tag, understand the goal and have hidden the duck again. We did geocaching years ago - so why not participate in the fun. I would not buy lots of ducks to take them with me - but it made me smile when I found the duck (i have several special ducks at home - so......)

It is a crew area and was open for guests during our cruise for a special event "scenic cruising" (maybe 2 hours).

I like the hotels of the "Motel One" chain (not related to motel 6 - they are more boutique style). They have 2 hotels in Amsterdam city center. Nova hotel is at your preferred location, Iron Horse, Hotel NH Amsterdam Centre, NH Hotel Museum Quarter, XO Hotel Van Gogh....

If you are interested in geology - in Munich there is the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology https://bspg.snsb.de/?lang=en (not so well known like many other museums) I don´t know how many days you have - but there a several geoparks in Bavaria: https://www.lfu.bayern.de/geologie/geo_parks/index.htm I think Munich is the best option - Munich itself offers many museums and sights, if you havve more time, make a stop at Augsburg (more than 2000 years old, you can visit the Fuggerei https://www.fugger.de/en/fuggerei Augsburg is a world heritage city: https://wassersystem-augsburg.de/en And there are several museum: https://www.augsburg.de/kultur/museen-galerien Maybe you like the Schaezlerpalais | Art collections & muesums Augsburg In 1770, the banqueting hall was ceremonially inaugurated by the Austrian Archduchess Maria Antonia of Habsburg-Lorraine, who also stopped off in Augsburg on her journey to Versailles for the official wedding to the future French King Louis XVI. Or may I suggest a trip to Nördlingen: https://www.noerdlingen.de/ Which is not so well known , but really nice. https://www.noerdlingen.de/fileadmin/noerdlingen/prospekte/pdf/Ortsprospekt_Englisch-Franzoesisch_2019.pdf Nördlingen’s townscape is dominated by the almost circular historic old city which is surrounded by a 2.7-kilometer-long city wall with accessible parapet walk. The historic old city is so well preserved because of its centuries-long “hibernation” as a result of the dreadful consequences of the Thirty Years’ War. With the Battle of Nördlingen, 1634 was a fateful year for the city. Let yourself be taken back to the time of the wool-cloth weaver, tanner and dyer. Very few cities in Germany have such an intact Tanners’ District as found today in Nördlingen.

Sure https://certissimo.de/certissimo-hamburg-hbf/ https://hamburg-corona-test.center/hauptbahnhof/ https://quick.coronatest.de/hamburg/

If I am remembering correct there was just a boat trip offered, their "shed" was at the port at one of the parking lots.

I ve heard due to low water level at IJmuiden

The companys Name is Civitatours https://www.civitatours.com/product/transfer-rome/rome-airport-transfer/#1555484558890-3a5e01c0-4bff Used them several times and their service is good. They don t run very often, in case they have no bus during your preferred time they offer private transfer too.

I wrote to Holland America customer service with the picture, maybe they can help. Thanks for all advice, will try everything.

Yes - THESE! I searched the Internet for these or similar ones - no luck....

In the Nieuw Statendam the bread pudding was at the bakery stall (they had a warming table, where they kept the bread pudding or the crumbles at the evening.)

Thanks a lot for your help. The mugs are lovely too.... she fell in love with the waterglasses with the blue stripes St the dutch cafe (they had the same ones in different colours at the different restaurants, Orange at club Orange, grey at pinnacle grill and so on). But it seems she has to live without:-)

It depends on which travel law applies. If you book in Europe, the law there applies and if the shipping company has sold you both the cruise and the flight, this is considered a package tour (interconnected travel services). In the case of a cruise including a travel package, the tour operator is responsible for the entire trip. If the arrival is delayed so that passengers with arrival packages booked through the shipping company miss the ship, the shipping company as a package tour operator is responsible for flying the passengers to the next port stop afterwards if necessary and bringing them on board there. If the shipping company does not manage to bring the passengers to the port on time (or, if necessary, to a later port), it has not provided its service and must refund the entire price (or any portions not paid). For what reason the organizer can not manage the arrival or only with delay, it does not matter.

@LAFFNVEGAS: Hi - I would like to ask you if you could try to get some information for me: We were at Nieuw Statendam and my sister-in-law was excited about the water glasses they have there (especially at the Dutch cafe). I tried to find the manufacturer - but could not find any imprint or engraving. It would be incredibly kind if you could ask if anyone can tell you the manufacturer. Thanks a lot!

Mexican Riviera with Holland America.

6012 Miles/9676 km, Munich to San Diego

Same here, even a local farmer who sold icecream had a card reader. You can pay everywhere with card.

Yes, they do. But don t expect anybody from staff standing around knowing about the company or their service. I decided to believe what the company promised since they had a good reputation and I was not disappointed. I was very pleased to get their mail which informed me that our luggage was collected . So we knew that everything was perfect. And yes, it was very useful and the reason we booked this service. Our flight was in the evening and without luggage much more enjoyable.

Oh no - the pier runners are real - no one has to fake that! We had a couple on our last cruise and the captain was very patient - it was in Bergen - the town is actually very clear and the ship is pretty much the tallest "building" in the place - you can't really miss it. One couple was called out several times more and more urgently after the "all onboard" time - sometime 1 hour after that the announcement came that they could be located via the emergency contact and they would be there in 10 minutes. Then you saw the car of the port agent drive to the other port gate and open it - from there came a police car with 2 policemen and the two missing guests. The policemen got standing ovations , because all balconies were full of guests. The two late guests had to listen to some mockery. We do shore excursions either ourselves - you should research very well what times to expect (we just had it in Invergordon that the time in port was not enough for a trip to Inverness by public transport - it was Sunday, there were anyway fewer trains and buses than on weekdays, because of many cases of illness, trains were also canceled. So you should not only research EVERY information, but also check it still up to date. When we book an excursion, we do it with companies that are recommended and have experience - that is easy to see. There are always reviews online. These companies often give a guarantee that they will pay for costs and organization in the worst case if the ship is missed. These companies know the local conditions, the traffic situation and plan buffer times so that at the end there is either still time for shopping, an extra bonus visit etc. or just directly to the ship is driven. And I know it also so that the companies stick together if necessary and help each other. I had the case that I had booked a guide in my language, this became ill, the agency has sent an English-speaking guide. At the main attraction he met a colleague from another agency who speaks my native language and they agreed that we could go with this colleague so that my mother, who is not fluent in English, could easily understand the information. Yes - you are competition - but you still work in the same industry and today one has a problem and tomorrow the other - better to help each other.

The bus takes - depending on the traffic, which can be VERY different!, about 45-60 minutes to the center of Edinburgh each way. The busstop is just at the end of the docking berth for the tenderboat - you cannot miss it. Very convenient. Lothian Bus provides enough buses, the departure is about every 20 minutes. A bus leaves when the next bus is made available for boarding - so you can always get on and at least sit down. For us, due to windy weather, tendering was very delayed and took a long time - so we didn't have as much time in Edinburgh as we would have liked. But that had nothing to do with the X99 bus. You could pay by credit card, there was an additional ticket offered, which also included a Hop On-Hop Off city tour (with live commentary, not from tape), we opted for this and were very satisfied with the city tour. (10 pounds transfer bus to Edinburgh including day ticket public transport, 16 pounds additional Hop On Hop Off). The last bus ride back was announced for 14:30 (all onboard should be 16:00), but I think there were buses until 15:00. Lothian Bus always adjusts the X99 bus route to the berthing times of the ships, the line also only runs on days with a ship in Queensferry harbor.

I would like to recommend Copenhagen Luggage Service (https://www.copenhagenluggageservice.com/) Online booking was smooth, received immediately luggage tags to print yourself. Price was very reasonable. 2 days before arrival we received additional informations about the procedure: you take whatever disembarkation tags you get, attach them to your suitcases and send via mail copenhagen luggage service color and number. Their baggage tag should be attached too. Place your suitcases out of your cabin. Thats all. You see them again at the airport or hotel. We checked at the baggage hall at the cruiseport ( just to be sure) that all suitcases are placed together and tags are easy visible. We received a message that our luggage was collected. You get a meeting point at the airport, if there is nobody at the office there is a telephone number and within 10 minutes somebody brought our suitcases. Very very comfortable.

The x99 is the best choice, took it 2 days ago and it is the the most easy way to go to Edinburgh.

We are back from our cruise. We tried again to find the stop for the free shuttle between Orientkaj and Oceankaj. We saw the bus, but the stop at Orientkaj was nowhere to be found. Best guess: if you have a good view at the international school of copenhagen at Orientkaj, there is a "Kiss and drive" lane at the parking lot in front of the school , it seems like the bus stops there. We were told the frequency is every 30 minutes. Better choice: leave the Metro station, passing Hotel cromwell. At the parallel street to the train track is the temporary stop for bus A25 and 164 to Oceankaj.

Since today morning masks are mandatory on board.