Captain Canuck

why would I want to eat with the help?

I asked this question of Canada Customs in Victoria off a Cruise out of Seattle that stopped for the day in Victoria. Complicated by the fact that I did the White Pass Railway in Skagway so I was in the Yukon for 10 minutes earlier on the cruise. The uniform guys had not clue. this issue does not really come up to them as nobody takes their suitcases and thus their purchased items off in Victoria. I would contact Customs in Ottawa add ask. At worst you can explode some heads.

I just google mapped it

says it is 350 meters (less than a quarter of a mile)

so 5 minutes walk... with roller suitcases would be easy unless you have mobility issues

would love to do the Circle Pacific but time is the I$$ue

also 2 more points

1. snow is overated...have had more than my fill

2. our first cruise was to Alaska in September. end of the season so last cruise for the year to Alaska...last cruise so prices in all the stores marked down..also Salmon run was on so LOTS of eagles...salmon run varies year by year so never a sure thing

my suggestion would be to do a round trip cruise because airfare out of Alaska is expensive and choices limited. we just did an Alaskan cruise with Holland America and did one way as we did the Denali land package as an add on. unless you want the Denali tour I would stick to round trip. Just did a quick check and the Ruby out of Seattle looks good to me. SEATAC a good airport with lots of connections. Seattle itself is worth a day or 2 of exploration. this cruise does glacier bay.

did National at Maui...no pickup at port by rental car shuttle..but they were kind enough to leave the sign up for their shuttle after they discontinued this...big lineup of people waiting for shuttle that never came...guy suggested we split a cab which we did..think it was about $10 ...cab back on our own about the same $

:D Exactly

Well MOST of the people here...not sure about myself

this really bites my biscuits

Customer does not really care how a cruise tour is added to an existing reservation..whether you have to cancel an existing cruise or not seems to me to be a matter for TA and Cruise company to deal with. and rudeness should never be tolerated. I would phone back to the cruise line and get a supervisor.

its been awhile but we did the bus to Monaco..was easier to get to than the train. there was a posting on cruise critic giving directions and photos..I would do a cruise critic search plus google it.

maybe spend 2 nights in Anaheim and 3rd closer to the airport...could still spend all of the 3rd day at Disney then shuttle to airport area hotel in the evening....likely still have to get up at 4 to make it to the airport to deal with security etc for your flight

also removes traffic being an issue getting from Anaheim

have done this a couple of times...we normally stay by the airport...free shuttle from the airport to the hotel (Radisson but serveral in the area). took a shuttle that stopped in front of the hotel and went to Manhattan beach. Also booked a bus tour that picked up at the hotel and did the basics of LA (ie Hollywood Sign, Chinese theatre, observatory) Then on cruise day did shuttle to port (forget the name blue van that services most port cities).

other folks on CC suggest staying by Long Beach for better restaurants etc then shuttle to ship

You could also do Disneyland for a day and take a shuttle from there to the port. only issue is travel time with traffic and time of day but normally weekend departures so not as big a deal

have fun

just did Holland American cruise to Alaska. Had any time dining. Basically 2 floors of the dining room. Upper was assigned seating and lower was any time. You can book a reservation but since you like to eat early likely not necessary. Holland America does have an older crowd so eating early is more of a thing so you may want to do this just in case. Also better if you want a table for 2 and do not want to share with different people. We did not pack dinner clothes so ate in the buffet on the two formal nights. Food in the buffet was the same as the dining room (we had checked the menu).

hurricane season goes to the end of November so that might be a factor in going on the later cruise

The Bahamas is not the best port in the Caribbean but for a first timer it is still worth seeing.

When we started cruising we booked inside guarantee all the time. Got bumped up to at least an outside on all but one occasion. Inside was on Rome to Copenhagen so we were busy most days in port so the inside cabin was not a big deal. Just had to go out to see anything.

That being said She Who Must Be Obeyed mostly makes me go for a balcony now.

Out of NYC you spend a lot of time at sea so I would lean towards a 10 day cruise.

To handle your budget I would watch the costs on excursions. You can run up a big tab on these. Find your roll call for the ship you book and by doing that and searching cruise critic you can get loads of info on what to do and see. We normally do not book ship excursions unless there is a good chance they could be late getting back to the ship. Did the Amalfi Coast through the ship and it was late returning but the ship waited for their tours.

Have fun and welcome to the addiction

We did Carnival Legend from Hawaii to Vancouver 11 day cruise in April. we got married in Hawaii so it was for our 35 anniversary.

It stopped in Kauai. We booked a photo tour that had a wedding photographer who knew a lot of secluded beaches and other great photo opportunities.

Was worried about rough seas in the 5 days in the Pacific to Vancouver but only had an hour of rougher seas on the last evening. I understand that this can be a crapshoot.

Downside of this cruise is that it did not go by the volcano side of Maui at sea.

Legend was older and showed its age a bit but was still good.

Hope you enjoy

do not forget to tip the porter

this from a Canadian

what is the difference between a Canadian and a canoe

a canoe might tip

have been to Venice a few times. Last time we stayed on the Lido Island. Hotel Belvedere was close to water bus stop. Much cheaper than a taxi. Got passes for the length of our stay ( 3 days I think). Room with a view of St Marks across the water. 10 minute ride over on the water bus. I really liked it but if you want the atmosphere of Venice at night likely better to stay closer to St Marks. It was also difficult to get our luggage on and off the water bus when we went to board the cruise. Mostly because the time of day we went it was busy and people oblivious to surroundings.

I checked out reviews on the hotel you are looking at and most say its a 3 star hotel with 5 star prices..but could be could if you have Marriott points.

Also wanted to suggest that you take the Secret Tour of the Doges palace. Includes secret floor and the cell of Casanova. This tour also gives you time to see the rest of the palace.

Have fun. Venice is great.

Canadian so weather is a factor. Flight with snow can get delayed so always go the day before in winter. just did Alaska out of Vancouver. Flew in day of and took the sky train. was there early. so from ATL you can probably fly day of but I would book early so that if flight is cancelled you could still make it.

guys who built the pyramids can do just about anything

sorry if my info was dated...when we were there, there were common large buses run by the major rental car companies together....

we also did rental from Thrifty which was close to the port but there was an issue with the size of the van and the number of people

last year we stayed at the Renaissance Cruise Port Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. stayed on points so cheap..$10 minimum on cab fares and we were under that for the trip to the ship. lots of restaurants and pizza and sandwich shops

airport is 15 minutes from the cruise port

depends...if you want to spend time at the beach then your hotel is in a good location.

on the other hand if you rent a car then you can go further afield. Sawgrass mall is about a half hour away and an airboat ride of the everglades is about an hour away.

if you pick the car up at the FLL airport when you drop it off there is a rental car shuttle from the airport to the port. we did this some time ago and I dropped the rest of the group off with the luggage at the port then returned the car and took the shuttle to the port.

hotel charges for parking.

vaparetto...water bus that picks up close to the port...you can get a 24 hour pass...they have a website to show you routes....nice introduction to Venice as you can go by St Marks etc

if you do the Doge's palace tour I can recommend the Secret Tour which includes the cell where Cassanova was held.

use the search function on cruise critic to search each of your ports

will be tons of info

figure out you best choice for what to do and how to get there

then have a plan b in case there is a taxi strike or bad weather or whatever

have plans but you csn always go with the flow

check your cell package

coukd be useful for maps and guidebooks without the paper

I am canadian and we get hosed by phone companies

Mcd at Spanish steps used to be amazing...fountain that was water pouring down an inside wall (think it was real marble) last time I was there it seemed bigger and not as classy

as to coffee...Mcd (or Ronaldo's as I call it to make it sound better) in Waikiki used to have macadamia nut lattes.....

finally Mcd in the Louvre has an amazing sandwich on crusty French bread