Fairgarth

We were on one Celebrity cruise where the cruise director had a Q & A session with passengers. One question related to supplies, things that the ship absolutely could not allow to run out. For the passengers it was toilet paper, for the crew it was rice.

I Tre Camini - our charming host was Federica.

Absolutely! We stayed there for three nights before our last cruise out of Civitavecchia. Our B & B host picked us up at the train station on arrival and then gave us a ride to the port with all our baggage. Great service!

Hear, hear! We took our first Regent cruise back in October and we have been inundated with promotional mailings ever since. Last week, for example, three pieces in two days. We have also had three mailings from Oceania although we have never sailed on them. I have to say that all this stuff will have zero influence on when, where and how we take our next cruise. It seems like an awful waste of trees and money.

I suppose there may a number of 'National Symphonies' around the world. The one I have enjoyed on QM2 is the English one with maestro Anthony Inglis.

Oh, c'mon! Yes, Cunard is owned by Carnival Corp and the onboard currency is USD. But...but...guest speakers are Brits, guest performers could be the National Symphony Orchestra or Royal Shakepeare Company or British authors. When did Celebrity offer Last Night of the Proms? Golden Lion pub? Ploughman's Lunch? British ales on tap? Proper afternoon tea? Treacle pudding? How many baseball caps did you see in the dining room? Forwards or back to front? Ugh!! and again, ugh!! Enough already.

Quite right, I should have been more precise regarding the interiors, not the exteriors. Now here is something off the wall - Museo Galileo. It's just up river from Uffizi. If you are interested in science and engineering it's amazing what those renaissance folks got up to. Have you ever seen a bowling ball roll uphill on its own? Here you will.

I would agree with that. You have seen many photos of David but you have never seen his back. Right? You can, of course, walk all around it. It's impressive. We found Uffizi kinda boring and zapped through in an hour. I suppose lovers of art history could take a week, it's huge. I have done the climb to the Brunelleschi Dome (and the Campanile right next to it) twice. Now that is memorable. And if you have to choose between the Duomo and Santa Croce, then Santa Croce wins every time.

Thank you so much for this review. I really enjoyed the Irish humour and found it an absolute gold mine of useful info. We are booked on the Millie for May of next year. Have never been to Japan so will take your experience to heart and bookmark this. Great work!

Completely off topic, but anyway...you do remember the famous singer, Joe Bari? No? Well, he started out as Antonio Benedetto then changed his name to Joe Bari. But that did not last very long and then he became....yup, you got it!

Excellent advice. Florence and Tuscany no. Florence! Period. You will have to be very selective for what to see in Florence, your time is so limited. Mind you, you can use your trip to plan a couple of weeks in Florence in future. Climb the Brunelleschi Dome and the Giotto Campanile, Michelangelo's 'David', Uffizi Gallery (waste of time), Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, Pitti Palace, Santa Croce, Mercato Centrale, Piazzale Michelangelo, hire a Ferrari for twenty minutes.......ah! Time to go back!

Venice!! See the thing is, Roma, Firenze, Bologna are all cities with wonderful historic centres but Venice is so amazingly different. It's a bucket list thing and you only have to do it once but yes, you have to do it. I would hope that by October the crowds will be past their peak. You can research all the things to see and do there. You won't have time to do it all. And I'm assuming you are fit to walk and walk.

I saw the news reports that it had been reopened. Good news. Finally. We walked it prior to the closure. I believe they now charge and limit the numbers per hour. That makes sense, too many people on that narrow path would not be good.

I see a news report today that 'via dell'amore' is due to reopen on July 27th. It has been closed for twelve years.

I see a news report today that 'via dell'amore' is due to reopen on July 27th. It has been closed for twelve years.

You are quite right, there is a road from Piazzale Roma to Marittima and then on to the mainland. So let me clarify. P. Roma is a small part of Venice, 2% maybe? If we divide the city into "P. Roma" and "the rest of Venice" then there are no roads and you cannot drive from "the rest of Venice" to "P. Roma". If that is not true, then perhaps somebody else could chip in.

Yesterday, my daughter got up real early and drove two and a half hours to Kelowna airport to catch WestJet non-stop to Winnipeg. On arrival she found that the flight was cancelled due to "air traffic control". What complete horsefeathers! Everything else was operating normally, why would ATC pick on that one? Overnight in Kelowna hotel then this morning she flew Kelowna - Vancouver - Winnipeg. Ouch! If you have time to spare, go by air.

OK, this is off the wall but here goes. On our last cruise out of Venice we stayed in the historic centre of Padova and loved it. Quick blast down the highway con brio and we were at Marittima. We were four and the minivan dropped us right at the door of Marittima, baggage and all. You can't do that from Venice itself, there's no road access from Venice to Marittima. So, nine people, baggage and a toddler? Oh boy! Vaporetto with nine people, baggage and a toddler? Absolutely not! I would also recommend more than one night in advance, funds permitting. With jet lag, local travel, checking in and out, you won't have much chance to do any sightseeing with only one night. So I realize that if you have never been to Venice then you still have not been to Venice. Your choice. Ft. Lauderdale it ain't.

I would agree. As I recall, it was a 45 minute ride. We stopped for lunch on this patio and here is our view from the table. Very picturesque and a good day out if you have the time.

I believe that the Basilica di San Nicola has the bones of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus). He was not Italian but somebody pinched the bones from Turkey. Have not been there but heard a lecture on Xmas traditions.

May I offer a slant on that thought? We have taken four Royal Caribbean cruises in the Caribbean. We have also taken Royal Caribbean around Italy and again Rome to U.S. Royal Caribbean does a good job of being Royal Caribbean and we really enjoyed both of those. If you are expecting Seabourn, forget it! However, in our experience Royal Caribbean in the Caribbean and in Europe are quite different. In Europe there was a lot less kids, more Brits and Europeans and the whole thing was more...erm...civilized. (for reference, we have been on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Azamara, Princess, Holland America, Cunard, Seabourn, Regent) Here's another point. Before we cruised the Med we got talking to an American couple who had cruised the Med. Get up, have breakfast, off the ship, tour all day, back on board, grab some dinner, crash. Next morning, get up, have breakfast, off the ship.....day after day. They were exhausted when they got home and swore 'never again'. Note to self: you can learn from other people's mistakes, you haven't got time to make them all yourself.

Indeed, you do. Also Sun Country is not daily and a couple of their east-bound are red-eyes. Just sayin'.

Airline tickets are sold in the currency of your origin point. So that would be USD out of MSP and CAD out of YVR if you bought two one-ways. Currency conversion might explain the difference between the round trip and two one-ways although I am a bit dubious. BTW Sun Country is much cheaper than Delta.

If it's a six hour trip, start to finish, then when you factor in travel times, you will have more time in Lucca. Lucca is flat and larger. San Gimi is more cute with narrow medieval streets. In both you can climb a medieval tower and get a great view. If you are a candidate for a knee replacement, forget it. As mentioned above, I'm inclined to recommend 'do it yourself' to Lucca. The train station at Lucca is a very short walk outside the wall. Rent a bike, ride around the wall. Check out Duomo di San Martino, Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, Guinigi Tower and, of course, the wall, on bike or foot. Also bear in mind, it is Puccini town.

Interesting piece in the Globe and Mail this morning. "WestJet mechanics make only $109,000 on average. Oh, the humanity." Two points: therefore half of them are making more than this (OK, OK, I know the difference between the mean and the median) and that is before they get the raise they have just negotiated. If negotiated is the right word.