princeton123211

As Bruce said you will tender and the tender will land you at Cabrillo and Bath St downtown. Easy to walk to many things right there. The courthouse is a bit of a hike including crossing under the 101 Freeway-- something like a 30 minute walk but you could easily take an Uber and be there very quickly-- really just depends on how much time and effort you want to devote to it. Plenty of cafes and restaurants within easy walking of where the tender drops you. A really special lunch idea would be to head up to San Ysidro Ranch (this would be an Uber ride each way). Stunning gardens in the hills above but plenty of options in town. It might be a bit brisker than you are anticipating. That time of year might get into the low 70s but can be in the 50s and 60s. You are by the sea so its a bit cooler-- warms up a bit more inland. Mornings and early evening you might want to bring a light jacket or sweater.

A lot to unpack here. Only you know if you want to get to your hotel room quickly after your flight arrives or if you would prefer to wake up in downtown Athens and hit the ground running with any sightseeing you plan on doing while there. Personally I would rather bit the bullet and arrive late downtown to be able to wake up in the city center and spend time looking around. If you do go downtown and want a nice 4/5 star hotel the Hotel Grande Bretagne is hard to beat both in quality of hotel and central location. Part of the Luxury Collection by Marriott so also redeemable for points. Most hotel rooms in Europe as a whole are small and only can accommodate 2 adults with no room for a pull out couch or rollaways. Occasionally there are triple or quad rooms that are bookable in Europe but they tend to be for tourist class hotels and not for 4/5 star options you are looking at. Unless you are really penny pinching a taxi is the way to go to Piraeus- if I remember correctly it was only like 25 or 30 Euro. Its a big port and it will get you closer to your ship than public transport. Taxis in Athens are reasonable and plentiful. The port is huge. NCL will update you closer to the cruise as to what berth the ship will be at. Last time we sailed into Piraeus we weren't told what berth we were going to be at until the night before.

If you want to take all the guess work out you can book a private transfer-- it's not a short distance, about a 2 hour drive, but doable. Booking through an app called Blacklane (which we use in Italy extensively and works really well) you can get a Mercedes van transfer to the pier in Ravenna for about 494 Euro all in (including tips etc) seating up to 5 so not a terrible per person cost. A Mercedes E Class for 2 people would be a little less for about 448 Euro in the app. The train is easy although you will have a connection with no direct between Venice S Lucia and Ravenna. If you do book the train book the Frecciarossa and not the regionals- reserved seating and much nicer train cars. Also we have never had a major issue with the language barrier most train and station staff speak enough English to be helpful.

None that I've heard of over the years and we go 1-2 times per year. There are a handful of great tea shops-- just not offering an afternoon tea service like you get at the Chateau Frontenac. The tea service they offer is nice but only once a week and is more of a Fairmont brand standard than a QC tradition-- tea service in QC isn't really a thing. Montreal on the other hand has a bunch of great options including the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth and Ritz Carlton Hotel if you are stopping there at all on your trip.

Also the code for Day Use rooms in Marriott website/app is ZDY. Will work anywhere but will show the hotels at LAX and current pricing/availability.

I said an extra 15 minutes vs Wailea. Kaanapali is 45-1 hour vs 30-45 minutes for Wailea.

Has not been our experience with Uber in the area- during the day they are less prevalent than at night (when more are working) but usually it’ll be a 10-15 minute wait from Lahaina during the daytime and 5-10 min at night (and usually less)- just budget time accordingly but there won’t be an issue in getting one. I’ll use Uber for shorter distances like, like going from our place in Kaanapali to Lahaina or up to Kapalua but will use a taxi for longer distances like going to the main airport. But for what’s being described here- going from Lahaina to the car rental an Uber will be a reliable option. It’s about $15 in an Uber up to the Avis/Budget spot near Kapalua airport.

No, but an extra 15 minutes in the opposite direction is Kaanapali Beach which I think is nicer than Wailea and has vastly better facilities/amenities for day guests with Whalers Village. Plus you’ll have the benefit of being able to visit Lahaina before or after your beach day. Kaanapali was just rated the 10th nicest beach in the world.

The Bridgewater Marriott is a decent option- full service hotel that’s recently undergone a renovation (stayed there for a wedding over the summer). Walking distance to a few corporate chain restaurants like Maggianos and the restaurants at the adjacent Bridgewater Commons Mall. Very similar set up, but a little closer to the port, would be the Hilton Short Hills. This would be more upscale than the Bridgewater Marriott and the Short Hills Mall across the street is much more upscale than the mall in Bridgewater- more along higher end shopping you’d find in New York. Walking distance to a bunch of restaurants as well.

I would second Tivoli and most of what Bruce said here-- use a few hours on the tour to get a lay of the land (I found the boat portion to be more interesting then the land portion) and then head over to Tivoli in the early afternoon. I was pretty skeptical of going to what I considered an amusement park in my mind the first time I was in Copenhagen but you get to Tivoli and realize that it really is woven into the fabric of the city and a spot for tourists and locals alike (not to mention that its very pretty, especially towards twilight time when the lights come on).

If you are planning on setting out and turning around halfway from Paia to Hana I honestly wouldn't even bother-- to me it wouldn't be worth the effort of renting the car and setting out. When we take folks on the Hana road we typically will drive all the way around but at very least recommend going slightly beyond Hana to the pools at the Kipahulu Visitors Center and then turning back from there. Its going to be a full day. But like Bruce said, yes, there are plenty of places to pull off to see waterfalls, road side stands, etc which can easily be used to turn around.

Take a look at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Old school Boston hotel walkable to anything downtown and right in the heart of Back Bay. At $500 a night it's possible it will fit in your budget and is vastly more atmospheric than the cookie cutter corporate hotels that are often recommended.

I think the first question is if you want to see and spend time in Hawaii or do you want to spend time on a cruise ship? Personally most of the cruises that go round trip from the mainland to Hawaii are literally the worst way to see Hawaii-- you spend most of your time at sea and have minuscule port days in only a couple of islands (which is great if you want to be on the ship with a lot of sea days). Repositioning cruises that go one way from the mainland and drop you in Hawaii (or vice versa) are better in that you'll have time on your own to explore the islands before or after. NCL Pride of America is its own beast in that it has the exemption to just circle the islands-- you'll see a lot more and is great for folks that want to see a little bit of most of Hawaii and have a limited amount of time. You can of course add time to the front or back of the cruise to spend time in places you want to go to. Personally, if Hawaii is a bucket lis destination for you, ditch the cruise all together and just fly over and spend time in 2 or maybe 3 islands (if you have 14 days). You'll have a lot more fun and see/experience a lot more.

I hear ya. Delays on the Northeast Corridor tend to be fairly rare though when compared to the rest of Amtrak's network. I used to go between Boston and NYC/Philly on Amtrak 2-3 times a week for about 10 years and I think only had 3-4 major delays in all that time that would have caused me to miss something. It usually takes something catastrophic on the Northeast Corridor to create a delay whereas the other long haul Amtrak trains it's more common because of freight traffic.

"Best hotel" is sort of broad without any parameters. Personally I love the Edgewater, but if its not available and money is no object the Four Seasons has a tremendously good location and is pretty flawless. Taking it down a rung in cost the Fairmont Olympic just had a major renovation and has a bunch of great new dining options-- classic Seattle experience. Third place would be Hotel Sorrento but now we're starting to venture a bit away from the waterfront.

It is accurate in the sense that there will be water taxis waiting there for hire. Its just like any other airport-- you can book a car service ahead of time or you can take your chances on how long the line for a taxi is. What they're not telling you is that booking a service ahead of time can save you quite a bit of time. I've done it both ways in Venice and this was by far the easiest (especially coming off an overnight flight from the US). We booked a reserved water taxi through our hotel and there was a representative waiting for us before immigration who then collected our bags, expedited us through immigration past a few planeloads of passengers, and right to the waiting water taxi skipping the line. Sure it was a little bit extra than just paying for a water taxi but between skipping the immigration line and the water taxi line we easily saved an hour or more.

Both Halifax and Portland are largish cities and very easy to just go off on your own with lots to do in town if you don't want to venture out. In all likelihood you can and sometimes by a fairly good margin. I have no idea what your budget is for hotels but a good one for this particular trip is the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. Centrally located for touring the city it also sits above the main train station and is only an elevator ride from the lobby to board your train to Quebec City. In Quebec City it might be cliche but I am a fan of the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac-- it's an icon of the city and has undergone a fairly extensive renovation. There are plenty of other folks on this board who found and liked a few other botique properties I'm sure they will chime in with. If you are flying into Montreal I would do 2 nights in Montreal and then take a very early train that next morning to QC (which will be even easier to do if you stay at the Queen Elizabeth!). Montreal is by far the bigger city so if you want to see more than just scratching the surface you'll need at least one full day. QC is much smaller but can be a bit more picturesque. I don't have any experience with a bus between the two cities but have taken Via Rail numerous times and its fast and easy.

Uber/Lyft would be the way I would do it and have done numerous times a Red Hook. As you said, taxi wait times can be unreliable there in the morning. You can also use Carmel or Dial7, which are pre arranged car services although you'll most likely pay a bit more than Uber/Lyft as these will be priced more along the lines of UberBlack rather than the less expensive UberX.

Second this-- both the Hilton and Sheraton are nice places for theme park hotels and if the goal is to just do Universal it will eliminate your need for transportation. This is the most efficient way to do what you are proposing.

You would be more concerned with a strong acqua alta which is what Venetians call a super high tide that floods the city. The affected canals are small, minor ones-- not the large ones that Venetians depend on for transportation. This is a once in a moon (literally) fluke. It'll be fine.

Well versed in Aloha shirts. With all due respect, I also neglected to remember that Monday was Presidents Day so at least it's even handed.

I agree witth navybankerteacher in kind, but I think what your proposing is a reasonable calculated risk. Sure there is a chance you won't make it but a decent chance you will. If you purchase tickets in advance, at a lower rate than they would go for same day, and you miss the train the worst case scenario is that you are out the difference in fare for a later train. The benefit obviously being you make it, get a good deal, and get home as early as possible. This isn't as risky as doing the same with the airlines.

In all likelihood they are unless you bought the very lowest cost restricted fares-- Amtrak tends to be very flexible. Taking the train for this trip is a very circuitous way to do it-- you can save a ton of time, energy, and hassle by taking a car. Southern California is built around the car-- not around mass public transit.

I've been going to Hawaii for decades and staying for sometimes several months at a time and this is honestly the first I've ever heard of Lei Day. I had to look it up.

Not anywhere near LAX-- theres nothing to see there. If you want to stay somewhere thats along a Hoho route consider Santa Monica or West Hollywood. Santa Monica isn't too far from LAX and you'll have a much more enjoyable experience than staying near the airport which is pretty drab. If you do stay in LAX you'll have to drive or Uber each way to Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood to pick up a Hoho tour.