ontheweb

Ok, I can understand that. I, OTOH, am not good at sitting. My 2 main positions are standing and lying down. I did at one point have a seat at Syd Normans, but really had to get up and let my body move to the music.

And then you would have to pay something, taxes!

They do make pending charges, but by the time you are off your cruise, they will have disappeared and you will only see the real charge. However, if you use a debit card, and then intend to use it on shore, those pending charges just might take away some of your available funds on the card.

Correct, which means there will be no hotel in Athens that is near the cruise port.

Sounds reasonable.

Too old? How old are you? I stood and that's what I wanted to do to rock and roll with the Syd Norman's Band and Singers. And I am 76.

Hank, what countries do you find where you still need foreign currency? Our recently completed cruise started in the UK (where we stayed a day prior, and then went to the Netherlands (unfortunately skipping Belgium because of an extremely low tide), Norway, and Iceland were the final 2 countries we visited. . I got pounds and Euros before the cruise. I spent the pounds, but really could have used a credit card for every purchase we made. In Amsterdam, several places, mainly museums, would only take cards. One museum did take cash, but really would have preferred a card instead. We had no local currency for Norway or Iceland and did not need any, only again using a credit card.

On the NCL Prima cruise we sailed on last month, there was a large contingent of deaf people. They had sign language interpreters. I don't know if the deaf group (someone on our roll call said there was a TA who specialized in deaf groups) or NCL provided this service.

We were on the Prima last month, and yes, the menus in the main dining room, Hudsons, changed daily.

On our recent Prima cruise, there were both hand sanitizers and a sink by the entrance to the buffet. And not always, but usually, there was also a "washy, washy" person who would either give you a nod as she saw you use the hand sanitizer or spray your hands if you did not.

Just as I would expect an accountant to keep up with changes to the tax code, I would expect a TA to keep up with changes for travel requirements. And that of course does not absolve one of his or her personal responsibility of knowing what is required for their own travel.

Not just Scandanavian countries, we could not use our Euros at several museums in Amsterdam. They would only take cards, Visa or Master Card. We managed to spend pounds in London, but if we had had none, we would have been able to make every purchase with a credit card.

The Prima was supposed to be an experiment to see how their passengers would respond to a fixed menu. Since they switched back to a rotating menu, I would say they did not get the reaction that they were hoping for.

OP, back. DW first said no, she does not want to go places we have already been. I then mentioned a few ports we had done more than once. Now it's maybe, but not next year.

Thanks, does adding going by Windsor Castle really leave enough time for Stonehenge?

We did this cruise last month in the opposite direction, mainly because it allowed us to have our wedding anniversary on the ship (sea day between Norway and Iceland). Thinking about doing it in the opposite direction. Who knows, maybe Isafjordur will actually have their dock finished by next year. And on our cruise Brugge was skipped due to an extremely low tide. That was a port we were really looking forward to. My question is is there an excursion from Southampton to Heathrow that stops in Stonehenge? We had that booked on a Princess Norwegian fjords cruise in the summer of 2020 that of course never happened due to Covid. Stonehenge is still on our bucket list.

Yes, she is better now, thank you. She is not only out of the hospital, but is allowed to actually eat "real food" as she just got that ok from the doctor, actually a surgeon though she did not need surgery. When she first left the hopsital she was told basically to eat no fiber, just stuff like white bread, white rice, etc.

Buy any major Sunday paper such as the NY Times and check out the travel section. There will be a lot of advertising by TAs. Start making phone calls.

I shudder to think that last month that could have been my DW. She went to the medical center on the sea day between Norway and Iceland. She was given a prescription for constipation. When she got home she went to her doctor and was told to take an over the counter drug for constipation and that the drug prescribed onboard was an over the counter drug in the USA. And then she ended in the hospital as it was more than constipation, it was a twisted bowel.

We found in Amsterdam, not every place takes the local currency. They only take credit cards and debit cards, Visa or Master Card.

It's not that they can't give names, it's the rules for these forums does not allow giving names. Any post giving a name will end up deleted.

Agree. but a good TA should really be on top of the issue and make sure his or her cruisers have everything they are required to have in order to take their cruise.

We had pounds and euros for our cruise last month. We found we never needed them. In fact, we could hardly use the euros. Most places we went to would only take credit or debit cards.'

I am sure he would have if we had asked him to remover them. I am sure the invoice I received from the TA said something other than transfers. Whoops, just looked at the invoice and it does say transfer, both specifically. But I can swear on the original invoice before we changed to add the tips before they were raised, it said something else. I do remember the TA trying to figure out what it was and coming up with transfers.

Again, we cannot name travel agencies. I use an online agency and call specifically talking to the president of the agency. Once we booked a cruise with a refundable deposit, and he told us that even our insurance premium was refundable if we cancelled. That is the law in NY state since the Commissioner of Insurance has ruled that there was nothing to insure. No one else seems to have known that. And the cruise above was in the summer of 2020, We cancelled because we saw Covid was going to make the cruise impossible, and it seemed that the cruise line was waiting until they had final payment to cruise. Without his knowledge, we never we have received our insurance payment back. So, there are TAs who know things and can be quite helpful.