jsn55

Well, sure, we have to experience the whole jewelry shopping thing on a cruise ... ONCE. I have a lovely tourmaline pendant and earrings bought in St Thomas, probably in the '80s. That was great fun, but no point in doing it again.

This is a tough one, especially when you add in a few more flight changes before November. BTW, you should be able to change the flight online ... read AA's rules on waivers of change fees. As everyone knows, I just book a hotel and fly home the next day. I don't like stress!

I spent several years volunteering on a Consumer Advocacy Forum specializing in travel. I've had 3 or 4 good experiences with VRs, but I think the bad guys are now so active that I'm sticking with hotels. I'm really tempted to book vacation rentals, and I know several people who have been using them for years without issues. But the sheer awfulness of trying to extricate yourself from a bad deal is not to be believed. You're pretty much on your own with all the booking services. If the owner/manager is not on the level, you have very little backup assistance. They have little customer service. People would literally find themselves without a place to sleep when they arrived. Of course, half the issues were caused by the traveller himself, but there are still too many fraudulent VR listings for my peace of mind.

I think this is a wonderful idea, put 'em all in one area and let them yak to their hearts' content. Since I observe multiple people standing out of the way murmuring a conversation, I have to wonder if all the loud ones think that they're not really using a phone, but they must talk very loudly to be understood. I also have a great time walking up behind people blocking a passage to bellow "EXCUSE ME" and they MOVE. I think it's that voice I developed training the most aggressive dog in the world ... stands me in good stead occasionally.

Looking's OK.

"A clothing rail" ... maybe this is why packing is so easy. Years ago when I was traveling constantly, the guy who was remodeling my kitchen did me the biggest favor. He suspended a 1" dowel about 4' long from the ceiling about 5' from the floor "over there" in the bedroom. On it I can hang clothing that I think might be right for the next trip, so I can putter around grabbing accessories, etc. Unless I'm going to be working in a hot climate, I usually take half the outfits ... a 15-day trip equals 7 outfits. "Everything" coordinates with everything else. Black, beige and one bright color (to alleviate boredom). This hanging pole allows me to get organized over several days, then I make a list of specific activities and take away everything that I won't need. I can disconnect the pole from the ceiling hooks if I want to get it out of the way. Works like a charm.

What place did Daisi mention?

He will probably not be 'legal' on a US departure, but he might not have any issues ordering drinks. It all depends on how mature he looks and behaves. I am tall and confident and had no trouble ordering drinks or buying liquor anywhere when I was 17. If he 'qualifies', however, his keycard might have a code that prohibits him from ordering drinks. I'm sure you can figure out how to get around that. It breaks my heart to know he's old enough to join the military to protect this country, but not old enough to have a beer on a cruise ship.

It will be easy for you to tell once you're on your daily walk, so you can alter your route.

Good to hear. I've never met a pizza I didn't love. When you grow up in northern Minnesota and your homemade pizza has Campbell's Tomato Soup as the sauce, you appreciate almost all pizza for the rest of your life. My idea of gourmet heaven is a big salad and pizza. My NYC-born husband is scandalized because I like garlic-chicken-broccoli pizza with white sauce (which I first tasted on Long Island) ... but he bravely shares a table with me.

I've always thought that prepaid, gift or debit cards were used by people who couldn't get a credit card for some reason. I can't see any benefit to them either. And I am super-careful about linking any financial entities. Once you've seen your Chase Ultimate Rewards reduced by 180K points, redeemed for many $5K Amazon gift cards over a period of two weeks, you become much more interested in fraud and security. I won't even put financial stuff on my phone, although I could probably set it up safely if I needed that service.

American Express I think. And if AmEx offers them, Chase and Citi probably do as well.

We did our first river cruise when we were about 45, Amsterdam to Vienna. We booked it for the itinerary, we had no idea what to expect ... and few expectations. River cruising immediately became our favorite way to travel. It was easy to spend time with the people who 'acted young'. The only negative "age-related" thing we noticed were these crotchety ol' peeps 'saving seats' in the dining room. They weren't very nice about it either, kind of yelling at us. Once we found out which people did this, it was easy to avoid their tables. "Saving seats" was, of course, against the rules, but Tour Directors like their tips, so it was never enforced. We never held buses for the late arrivals, there was none of that stuff that people think old people do. River cruise lines need to do some marketing to the younger crowd ... waking up in a new city every morning, each one more charming than the last? All ages would enjoy a river cruise.

Aw, come on ... you know that white straight males are the cause of every problem in the world, don't you? A Martian spending a week in today's America perusing the media would certainly think that. But some of us know that it's just a passing fad and soon the world will find some other group to make fun of.😁

OKKAAAAAAAAAYYY! I give up, let people on cell phones do whatever they want, I'll not try to get people to see reality any more ... I give up. Y'all win, I'll never say another word about loud people with cell phones. Probably won't say a word about the lack of good manners these days either. I'll just ignore it all.

I remember hearing about the ducks but didn't 'get it'. I think it's the same as people collecting stuff. There's nothing there, it's just something to do. Lots of people have fairly empty lives, and they like to create some interesting things to amuse themselves. I'd suggest just throwing the rocks that offend you into the ocean, but if they have paint on them, that's probably a bad idea. About the only thing you can do is ignore it, as complawyer advises.

Crystal is right, debit cards can be dangerous. I carry mine but never use it except at the bank's ATM. As for arriving in Turkey, yes of course you bring some local currency. How else are you going to get around? I never count on finding a convenient ATM in a country I'm unfamiliar with.

This is really simple. People sitting on loungers reading books don't make any noise. People sitting on loungers talking on a phone make noise. I've never met anyone who enjoys listening to someone else's conversation. I was reminded of another thing about cell phones this morning. People stopping dead in the middle of hallways to talk on their phone. This morning i saw 3 of them yapping away, blocking the whole hallway. At the airport they're impossible.

Usually, yes. I'd find a travel agent who's a cruise expert and work with them. If you haven't cruised much, the advice and guidance you'll receive will really make a great difference to your enjoyment. Be pro-active and 'vet' anyone you want to work with to be sure that they know what they're doing.

I'd poll everyone at lunchtime and tell the maitre d' how many and when. They'll do their best I'm sure. The first day, do it in person and leave a nice gratuity.

I'd stay in Vienna for WEEKS before I even thought of doing something about it. As for Avalon, I think I posted this early on in this thread. They earned my eternal loyalty during the virus hysteria. They refunded a cancelled cruise without me even asking. I had booked air through Avalon's air desk, so the total was just under $20K. I have two more Avalon cruises coming up and we'll keep sailing with them until we run out of European rivers.

This is a perfect example for why I'd never be without emergency medical evacuation insurance. Even if I didn't have to be evacuated, MedJet would assist me from the first moment and I'd have their full support in dealing with it all. I agree with you ... it's an awful thought to be sick while on your own.

DID this happen to you? Or are you predicting how you would handle it? Have you ever been in a Chinese hotel less than 5*? I think the divider here is real 'symptoms of a communicable disease' vs an occasional cough that 'might' be the virus.

"On me they smell like a cleaning product" made me laugh out loud. We used to have a UPS driver at the office who absolutely bathed in something or other, you could smell him coming before he even got to our door. It smelled just mosquito repellent! I wonder now if he had any idea.

I agree with my colleagues about the CCs, but I always want a little cash for any country we're visiting. I don't like to pay ATM fees, so I usually order the cash in small denominations before we leave home. BofA ships it to a branch and I go pick it up. I have some kind of relationship with BofA where they don't charge a fee for that ... I've been with them so long I really have no idea! Depending on where you're sailing, many places accept American dollars. Awful exchange rates but worth it in the face of an 'emergency'.