ilikeanswers

On 12/30/2018 at 3:52 PM, JMorris271 said:

No go zone in France??? You are kidding, right?

Some of the public housing complexes in cities in Southern France have fallen under control of the Coriscan mafia. They run the areas like their own little fiefdoms restricting who can go in and out. Depending on who you talk to police are either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. When I was driving to Marseilles I was told to stick to the main roads and stay around the historical and seaside areas so as to avoid driving down the wrong streets😥. The "lookouts" apparently get quite anxious if they see an unknown vehicle going down their streets and it has been known to lead to violent confrontations.

I looked through the Uber App a few times to see the prices for a ride to the airport from where I live and I found the prices to be either the same as a taxi or sometimes more expensive and these were just the UberX prices. I don't think Uber is as good value in Sydney as it might be elsewhere. 

On 12/2/2018 at 3:15 AM, John Bull said:

Similar is the Baltic. Terribly convoluted to drive round, expensive & tortuous by air, sooooo very civilised by cruise ship

 

JB  

I was just curious why you think the Baltics is convoluted to drive around🙄? Usually Schengen zone countries are pretty easy to drive around.

As for the original inquiry my mode of transport is dictated by my destination. I look for how I can get the most out of the place I want to visit. Like my trip to the Marquesas I found cruising compared to independent travel would give me a better experience of the archipelago. I think age and physical abilities is a major factor. I do find myself leaning towards more intensive holidays because I know I have the opportunity and health to do so. When I get older or less physically able I will probably look towards the more relaxing trips and cruises will most likely be my go to. 

Though as a solo traveller I don't know if cruises would be quite as cost effective. 

Well my favourite ports were Bay of Virgins Fatu Hiva and Fakarava, but I don't think that is much help to you since that cruise would be beyond your time limit😉. But there are plenty of shorter cruises around the Pacific if you do ever consider the area. The cheaper ones are usually the Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia routes. Also I would second the recommendation for Rappa Nui aka Easter Island. I myself flew there but it ranks as one of my best holidays so any opportunity you get to visit there I would take it. 

I understand the regret you talk about. When you visit a place you really enjoy you do wish you could stay longer, explore more and then you get that moment of doubt that you might have picked the wrong type of holiday😱. But in some ways I am glad for that regret because that feeling motivates me to research ways to maximise my stops, look at every option going through the pros and cons so with every pang of regret I have learnt how make my trips richer and more fufiling🤗. As much as people say you can come back and explore more that isn't alsways an option for a lot of people. For me most destinations a very far away and I know realistically I won't be able to long haul fly forever. Then of coure there is money and time, so I treat every trip like it is once in a life time because really I don't if I will be able to go back to those places😢.

On 11/14/2018 at 8:07 PM, buchhalm said:

Nudist cruise in Croatia.

 

Well that is definitely niche. Wasn't aware such cruises exist, very fascinating🤗

I would check with the airline to be sure. If it is booked as one ticket usually they would even between different airlines as long as it is code share, but if it is an international flight some countries like America you have to collect and re check in the luggage regardless of airline agreements. 

On 11/7/2018 at 12:51 PM, K32682 said:

There are posters on this site who resort to smuggling booze on to cruise ships in little plastic bags they buy on Amazon because they claim their tipple of choice isn't available on board. It is entirely possible that someone is equally attached to a specific coffee. 

Absolutely people are attached to their coffee😱. Just Google coffee aficionado and there is a whole community that is obssesed with their coffee😜. They know what they like and how they like and won't settle for anything else. It is perfectly normal to them to travel with their own beans, grinder and some sort of small coffee maker just so they can have access to their favourite coffee😳.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply🤗. It certainly has given me a good starting point to research things than my previous googling efforts (I have a sneaking suspicion the big cruise compnies might have bought all the top spots for googling the words Carribean+cruise😋). Hopefully I can be on my way to figuring out the next cruise🤞

You need to be prepared for wet weather. I drove around in July and while Reykjavik was great weather, Westfjords was foggy and rainy, Akureyri was great weather in the morning but by afternoon it started drizzeling. The East side only rained at night and while it was overcast it didn't rain around the Golden Circle or at Landmannalaugar but when we visited Thorsmork it did start raining at the end of day. So you see the weather can be tumultuous so I think it is better to be prepared.

I did a Polynesian cruise that was a sort of expedition cruise. It went to places that weren't really touristy, we had local guides, lecturers and archaeologists that taught us about the culture and history, there were guided treks and scuba diving and we ate at local establishments.

I was wondering if anyone knows if there is anything like this around the Caribbean? And if you have been on one of these cruises what were they like? I tried looking online but the only results I get are the big cruise lines.

Now it seems the plane headrests are worst than the security trays😂

What's the dirtiest surface on an airplane? The result may surprise you

https://www.insideedition.com/couple-says-they-found-hidden-camera-pointing-their-bed-carnival-cruise-room-47948

Have to admit I am a little paranoid🤪. When I enter a hotel room I do find myself looking around for any strange electronics🤦‍♂️🤣. 

You can visit UNESCO Heritage Taputapuatea marae or if you feel energetic you could hike Mount Tapioi and check out the view of Tahaa. 

I wonder what is the difference with cruise ship entry VS plane? Why is it being processed differently? 

It should be under Account - > Manage Followed Content

As for the glare if decreasing brightness or contrast isn't helping maybe getting a blue light filter app might help. There are some available for desk top computers. 

Notifications I found seem to be set automatically to on so I guess if you want it off you will have to select it. 

I have only done one cruise so far but the day we trekked across Fatu Hiva is ranked as my best travel memory. The walk up was gruelling and for a moment I wondered if I could reach the top😥 but once you got up there and started going down the other side the views were absolutely mind blowing. Just stunning out of this world scenery😍, worth every drop of sweat. At one point we even spotted our ship as it was travelling to meet us on the other side of the island👍. 

I cruised Aranui in June and I can tell you it is very much a freighter ship👍. You can go to the top decks and watch the loading and unloading of goods at the docks and with the barges. The whole thing is very fascinating. Some of the cargo unique like livestock particularly horses (one of the staff said the captain now refuses to take goats though😂) 

Near the end of the cruise there is a Q and A you can participate in with the guy who runs the Aranui freight. He has been working with Aranui since the beginning and his stories of early days are astounding as it was so rudimentary and undeveloped and they had to use ingenuity to get things loaded and unloaded. The Aranui freighter is very important to the Marquesas, it basically helped build the islands. 

However when you say you want a real freighter cargo ship voyage what exactly do you mean by that? The cruise passengers do get a cruise experience. You have organised tours of the islands, buffet breakfasts with three course lunches and dinners and the rooms including the dormitories are quite nice. You won't get to wonder around the cargo hold but you can spend as much time on the docks as you want. 

I hope anyone going on the Aranui Pitcairn trip does a review or trip report. I would love to know more this trip😃. I was on the Marquesas cruise and talking to one of the guides she told me they were going to reduce the Marquesas cruise by one day (the day they repeat two islands) add an extra Marquesas cruise while doing two Pitcairn cruises. 

Booking far ahead is a must with Aranui though I have to admit 2020 does seem a little extreme🙀 If looking for a reduction in single supplement one could consider the dormitory rooms. We met a lot of single cruisers on Aranui and the ones who stayed in the dormitories said they were very nice. They were certainly in high demand. 

I just can't see the effectiveness of wiping down your cabin:confused:, it certainly would not give me peace of mind. I have been known to wipe drawers for dust and my mum always wipes fridges before placing her medication (she says they are always filthy). But we never use disinfectant, just damp paper. Personally I think the my phone screen is a lot more germ ridden than anything in my room:'). At the end of the day you are going to touch a lot of shared surfaces so really the most effective thing to disinfect would be your own hands.

I would have assumed start of cruise the room was disinfected already:confused:. Is there something everyone else knows that I don't know about:o?

All this talk of fake reviews reminded me of this prank :')I read last year:

https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/434gqw/i-made-my-shed-the-top-rated-restaurant-on-tripadvisor?espv=1

While it is true it isn't a circumstance that would normally occur it does go to show how easy it is to manipulate review sites algorithms. But I think it also goes to show how seriously people out there take reviews. People were so desperate to visit this restaurant just because it was in the top 10 on TA:o. When did TA rankings become so prestigious? :confused:

I visited Rappa Nui for about a week in June:D. It would rank easily as my top three places I have travelled too(y). It is an amazing, beautiful place. Driving along the coast you can play spot the Moai;p, they are everywhere.

Never been to a GREEN sand beach ... but know there is one in Hawaii.

Have any of you been to the GREEN Sand beach there?

Yes I visited here when I was in Big Island. It is a pale olive green and quite a small little beach in a cove, you have to walk down a cliff to get on it. But the olivine crystals are all along the stretch of coast. There are piles scattered of pure crystals on the seaside rocks as you make your way to the beach and in the sunlight they look very pretty. Somewhere I read there are only three green beaches in the world and remember one is in Norway but completely inaccessible.

When I was in Maui I also visited the red beach. The red is really dirt falling off the cliff into the sea, but next to the blue water it does look amazing.

Oops sorry delete post:o