princeton123211

Yep-- just as easy in any other major US city.

I'm sure it isn't ideal but the old Royal Princess actually isn't a terrible sea boat-- it's been MANY years but I remember being impressed with her sea keeping in 20-25 foot swells. At least she doesn't have any inside cabins. I could think of a few ships I would rather be on in a tough storm but I can also think of a bunch that would be far worse than Artania (looking at you R Class).

As lx200gps said, the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth is by far the most convenient hotel in the entire city to stay in if your plans involve taking the train to Quebec City after. It's very centrally located and when you do head to QC it is literally a private elevator ride down to the Gare Centrale. Montreal has some fabulous restaurants (Joe Beef, Au Pied du Cochon for fine dining and some more casual and approachable places like Ma Poule Mouillee, Schwartz's). Reservations are necessary ahead of time if you want to dine in some of the top spots. You do not need to speak French fluently-- if anything Quebec City has a slightly higher language barrier than Montreal. Montreal is a wonderful cosmopolitan city and as noted previously most in any of the tourist areas or tourist trade speak fluent English. Via Rail is Canada's better run and slightly more upscale version of Amtrak in the US. Very easy, very reliable, and the trip from Montreal and QC is an easy 3 or so hours. Have done it many times and highly recommend. Just book tickets online a couple weeks out on Via's website.

Even the Heathrow Express into Paddington Station then a quick Uber or black cab ride to the hotel might be better. At that time in the morning all you are doing is sitting in traffic getting into London.

It's not free-- you just pay at either station. It's $5 per person per ride. It's a very short ride.

That's what it most likely means-- the chances of all those hotels simultaneously sold out that far in advance is low. There is availability-- both the Caribe Hilton and Condado Plaza are bookable now which means that it could be a hotel to hotel policy about how long out to release availability. The Caribe Hilton is arguably their best property (and the supposed birthplace of the Pina Colada).

They generally don't deal with things like this-- when you make a car service booking there is the assumption on their end that there is one arriving flight, not two. Way too many variables. If the first party is ok waiting 2+ hours on arrival for you then fine-- you would just give the car service your flight arrival info and base it off of that. If the first party is late for some reason you'll have to make the decision to leave without them or pay significant waiting time to the car service company. Generally most reputable car services for an international flight pickup have a 1 hour grace period they will wait without a fee but check with whoever you book with. It will depend on a number of factors-- are you flying first or business class? Do you have priority baggage handling because of airline status? Are you seated in the back of the airplane? Immigration at Heathrow is generally pretty straightforward and doesn't take a ton of time-- although for morning arrivals there can be a significant amount of people at the same time. I would say you have every reasonable expectation that you'll be curbside 45 min to an hour after arrival at the gate. Maybe a little bit quicker. Frankly for this I would just do an Uber from Heathrow-- you can increase the size of the car to an XL if your friends are on time or you can just go on your own on arrival. Your friends have a much higher tolerance for waiting around than I would-- coming off a red eye flight the last thing on earth I would want to do is wait around Heathrow's arrivals area for 2+ hours, no matter how much it saved me splitting a car service with someone else.

Will really depend on your budget-- Boston hotels generally are fairly expensive (more so on average than a lot of other major US cities) and sometimes can be in the stratosphere. Some of the more mundane chain hotels in good locations are going to be $300-400 and the more interesting 4-5 star can be $500 plus. I would tell you to start looking in Copley, Back Bay, and Downtown. Those areas are walking distance to most of the things you'll want to do.

So the first question is if this is a port stop or are you boarding/disembarking. If its a port stop then you'll most likely dock in town and be walking distance to a lot of things. If you are boarding/disembarking there is a good chance you'll be at the Pan American pier in which case not much will be within walking distance. Virtually anywhere will make a virgin version of it. One (of the several) places to claim to have invented the Pina Colada is Barrachina in the old town. It's very touristy, the food is fine but not great. They do store luggage though which continues to make it popular with folks that disembark and have a later flight. The other spot that claims to have invented it is the Caribe Hilton which is a short Uber/taxi ride out of town near Condado. This would be a more picturesque and upscale spot to grab a Pina Colada and is convenient if you are on your way to or from the airport. In town my personal go to in town would be at the Hotel El Convento which is a beautiful old convent from the 1600s. They have a restaurant/patio/lounge in the center courtyard thats both outside and shaded and they make a very good fresh from scratch (vs the premade mix you get elsewhere) Pina Colada in both virgin and non virgin format.

It's about a 15 minute ride to the airport from the Pan American Pier-- there are taxis and Uber works well. If you self disembark (meaning carry your own bags off) in the first few groups you should be fine. You are taking a calculated risk that the ship arrives on time, there aren't any immigration delays, etc. But it's physically possible.

If you did want to head to a bar/lounge that you could tuck into for a while for both drinks/lunch (and a nice respite from walking around) the Riva terrace/Bar Longhi at the Gritti Palace is hard to beat. You're seated right on the Grand Canal so get to see everything go by and the hotel/building itself is incredibly beautiful. It's a great way to experience the Gritti without having to pay thousands a night to stay there.

It does and reasonably well. Last time I used it I called for an UberX but was always upgraded to what I would consider an UberBlack in the US-- mainly nicer Mercedes E Class. It was around 35 Euro from the airport to downtown but that was a few years ago.

They should study up on what was done at The Grill in NYC. Formerly the longtime landmark Four Seasons Restaurant complete with an original interior from Mies van der Rohe and all the original (landmarked) furniture. Essentially they reopened a refreshed version of the restaurant with a menu that harkened back to it's heyday. Spruced it up without changing what it represented. If the former Four Seasons had to go this at least was a reasonable replacement for long time regulars. https://thegrillnewyork.com/ That's sort of fun-- I remember the small one upstairs (the last time I was at Simpsons they made little beef sandwiches at the upstairs bar with yorkshire puddings and it was fantastic). Where is the second "long shut" one? With two more bars you could literally do a full bar crawl to at least 5 bars and never actually leave the confines of The Savoy... what a time to be alive!

A bunch of options: https://www.resortpass.com/hotel-day-passes/Puerto-Vallarta-501 https://www.resortforaday.com/destinations/puerto-vallarta-day-pass/ Resort pass also has options in Punta Mita which is about an hour up the road but the resorts there was VASTLY nicer than what you get in PV proper-- the St Regis day pass is a great value considering the quality of the resort. Also Marriott day rate code (will cover Marriott and Westin in PV) is "ZDY". Worth noting that the beaches in PV are very ok. Nothing to write home about and full of jettys. Pools are more important in the decision process here.

If you want a black car car service use the app Blacklane-- works really well all through Europe and directly connects you with local livery drivers. All payments including gratuity are done at time of booking and through the app. It's made a huge difference and we've used it extensively in Italy, UK, and Holland. You can pick a Merc E Class or upgrade to a Merc S Class. For something less expensive I just use Uber in Amsterdam. Works well and is in line with taxi costs.

At very least you'll have to bring them through immigration with you in LAX but you might be able to recheck them immediately (vs having to wait until a few hours before your flight which is standard on domestic flights).

You most likely have a little less time than you think-- 10 hours will compress a bit when you consider getting off a large plane, immigration formalities on arrival, and the need to check in and go back through security coming back to the airport. Also assuming that things run on time. The quick answer is yes, there are quite a few airport hotels immediately adjacent to LAX that offer day rates and might be a good idea after a long flight from Australia (assuming you don't have access to an arrivals lounge with a shower at LAX through either status of cabin class). If you were looking for something a bit upgraded from your standard airport hotel you might consider a day rate at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey which is close to the airport and an easy Uber ride. If you forgo the day use hotel you could do a number of things-- take an Uber to Santa Monica, Hollywood, or Venice and walk around and get drinks/dinner are the ones that pop into my head. The bags obviously aren't an issue if you get a day use room. If you don't, and the airline you are continuing on with domestically is codeshare with the airline you are taking from Australia, you might be able to check your bags all the way through at Sydney and not have to worry about them at LAX. If that's not the case then you could bring them with you and check them at a hotel where you end up-- for example you could take an Uber from LAX to the Fairmont in Santa Monica, grab a drink or meal at the Fairmont, and they would be happy to check your bags for you.

Hills are unavoidable but the Chateau Frontenac is at the top of the Funicular, on Terrace Dufferin, which will take you down to (and back up from) the lower town. The Funicular will allow you to avoid the steepest walks.

Whenever someone asks this question on here an odd exercise will begin to try and convince you to stay anywhere but the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac. It can be expensive and the hotel is older (but recently refreshed) but there is no place to stay more central and it literally is the symbol of the city. If your budget allows its a fantastic place to stay and explore QC.

For a tour-- no idea. For what I would consider the best cicchetti in town I would head to Enoteca Schiavi-- a little off the beaten path but consistently excellent and has a nice mix of locals and tourists. Not far away is Gelateria Il Doge which is also well worth it for a sweet treat.

I was going to say- SFO is one of those airports where everyone has TSA Precheck. Mornings in the Precheck line can be nearly as long as the regular line.

I haven't had the chowder. The food quality overall is very, very good and consistent at the Hamilton Princess so I would have no reason to think that it wouldn't be of a high standard.

I would not recommend someone who has never been to NYC before to go to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Not a pleasant place.

I use an app called Blacklane on the Continent and have never had a major issue. It connects you directly with local black car chauffeured cars and you can do point to point or by the hour. Everything (including billing) is done through the app and you have your full price (including gratuity) at the time of booking. You can choose between a Mercedes E Class, upgrade to a Merc S Class, or a larger van if needed. Super easy.

If they don't allow it (and they're within their rights not to as it can sometimes complicate the ship's compliance with shipping laws) it is an easy train ride back up to Portland. You just take an Uber to Boston North Station and Amtrak's Downeaster Service goes right back to Portland.