princeton123211

I would second House Without A Key-- its a wonderful place.

You most likely have a little bit less time overall than you think but let's assume you have 3 hours. The luggage is really the biggest hindrance here-- you don't really have enough time to go to the airport early, come back to Waikiki, and then head back to the airport. Personally I would pick a nice hotel along the beach and make a reservation for breakfast or brunch. The hotel will store your luggage for you and then you can walk along the beach after. Ones that come to mind for this would be Royal Hawaiian, Halekulani, or Moana Surfrider. All of them put out a nice breakfast. I would just make a reservation ahead of time as it will give some legitimacy to you asking the bell desk to store the bags when you arrive.

Doesn't exist on Bermuda in the format that you are used to in most cities. The best way to do a tour is through a blue flag taxi-- they are licensed drivers that are specially trained to give tours. There are also public busses, but they are purely for transportation and don't provide tours.

Also Barking Crab on the way into the city from the cruise terminal.

They are but their standards are much higher than Dial7 or Carmel which typically utilize second hand, older black cars. Blacklane utilizes providers with newer cars that you would expect to get from a top tier provider like Savoya, EmpireCLS, Carey etc. But again, they are more expensive.

Maui is very easy to do on your own. There are taxis and Ubers and your overnight stay allows you to explore a lot more than you would on a day long port visit. The Hana Road isn't for everyone but its a great way to see how diverse Maui is. It will take most of the day so that is the main thing to consider. If you do it I highly recommend renting your own car and not doing a tour-- this will allow you to stop places and break up the drive. There is a great app called Gypsy Guide that essentially is your mile by mile tour guide. On one of the other days just go to the beach-- would highly recommend Kaanapali as it has a ton of facilities, restaurants, and bars and the beach is quite nice. Again, you really don't need a tour guide for Honolulu, especially Pearl Harbor. It's very easy to do on your own and a very short Uber ride from your hotel. Just make sure to book your tickets to the USS Arizona ahead of time as walk up tickets are not always available. Honolulu, like any bustling medium sized city, is easy to get around and don't make the mistake of renting a car there unless you plan on driving outside of town. Parking in the city is very expensive and the roads are very congested. I'm a big fan of an aerial tour of the island of Molokai-- the cliffs are spectacular. This can be done from Maui. I'm much more of a fan of fixed wing aircraft from a safety standpoint but there are plenty of helicopter options there. Also the helo tours of Kauai are spectacular. It's not a must but first time visitors enjoy the luaus. Some are better than others-- some are more authentic than others. There are a ton of options in Maui-- that could be a good way to use your night of the overnight (although there are some great dining options in Lahaina). There are also a bunch of options in Honolulu so might be a good chance to catch one while you're at the Hilton. Fire dancing is not native to Hawaii so if you want to see that make sure you go to a luau that has more of a "South Pacific" theme to it and not one that is more authentically Hawaiian. Drums of the Pacific in Maui is a good example of one of these.

It's not really a thing in Bermuda like it is in the Caribbean or Mexico. I believe Coco Reef is the only one of note that does it. Pretty much all other resorts on the island are militant about reserving those facilities for guests only.

Totally agree-- was just about to write that Blacklane is a premium product in this lineup and is priced that way. Dial 7 and Carmel (which are basically indistinguishable from each other) are third party car service aggregators. As long as you keep that in mind, and your expectations are that it will be relatively safe and reliable transportation, you'll be fine. If you expect a new car, well polished driver, etc-- book with something like Blacklane.

In all likelihood you should be ok if you are going to self disembark with a carry on first thing. Its about a 15-20 min ride to Long Beach Airport. I mean the worst thing that happens is you run late and you just switch the flight to the 6pm.

It really depends on what ports you are going to. Anywhere along the Atlantic Coast will have good lobster options. In Boston Neptune Oyster in the North End has a fantastic lobster roll-- would say its one of the best I've ever had. James Hook & Co on the waterfront does a great traditional cooked whole lobster by the pound. Outside of Halifax, The Shore Club near Hubbards does a pretty solid lobster dinner and there is usually live music-- timing might not line up if you have a normal port call without a later departure. Some others might have a recommendation in Halifax proper-- haven't had a lobster dinner there before. I wouldn't wait until you are in the St Lawrence in Quebec though-- the fresh stuff will be on the Atlantic coast.

I'm assuming you mean 12:25pm and 5:45pm? 0545, meaning AM, would obviously not work. Are you arriving into San Pedro or Long Beach? Long Beach will take you a little bit longer. Either port on a Sunday you should be fine for the 12:25pm flight-- shouldn't take you more then 45 minutes to get to the airport.

No, Ubers are pretty prevalent and quick in San Francisco even at that early hour. We took an UberX a few weeks ago not far from Fisherman's Wharf to SFO for about $50 at 6:30am. Took about 5 minutes for the car to get to us. UberBlack was about $90. Check Lyft at the same time-- sometimes it will be a little less or faster than Uber-- this time for us it wasn't. You can also schedule a car through Blacklane ahead of time-- its a black car so will be more expensive than Uber but its scheduled ahead like a car service.

Most likely not in Midtown. The majority of pharmacies that still provide testing in NYC require that it be drive up-- so you would have to rent a car to do it. Just do the telehealth test-- they are relatively inexpensive and can be done in your hotel.

This you wouldn't need to use a cruise tour for-- you can easily do it yourself. Downtown Portland is right as you get off the ship-- lots of shops, restaurants, and bars to walk around and see. Fort Williams and Portland Head Light are about a $20 Uber each way. My guess is the $40 in Ubers would be less than what the cruise line is charging even for one person. This is more involved and you would need to rent a car to do independently, at least the going to Kennebunkport. Having someone else drive and not having to worry about getting back to the ship on time would most likely be a benefit. Frankly, having been to both places, I would just do the first option independently and take your time rather than cram in Kennebunkport.

We use Blacklane on occasion out of Philly for black cars to Baltimore. Very reliable and the cars/drivers are top notch. You just download the app and book in advance.

Seconded.

Water temp is usually in the mid to high 70s so not terrible but not as nice as the bathwater temps of a few months earlier. Air temp will be similar. You wont see many locals swimming at that time of year. October is a beautiful time to be there with the humidity finally subsiding, but can be hit or miss with swimming in the ocean.

Assuming its an international flight the recommended check in time is 3 hours although as long as its not less than 2 you should be ok. Canadian airports (like a lot of international hubs) are a disaster right now with long lines, lost baggage, and a ton of cancelled or delayed flights per day. I would give yourself as much time as you can. I would take an Uber-- we too have seen the massive cab lines at Canada Place. An Uber will help speed things up. It's way too short of a distance to arrange a limo-- it will take a little more than 20 minutes without much traffic. We've had it take as long as 40 if you hit the lights wrong and theres a decent amount of people on the road. But I wouldn't waste any time once you are off the ship-- you may need the extra minutes to deal with checkin/security delays at the airport. We flew out of Montreal a couple days ago and it was a mess-- got there 3 hours early and barely made the flight even with "expedited" security.

This one as a victim of the pandemic. Closed in Aug 2020. The Beacon Hill location at Hampshire House is still in business.

As others have mentioned-- Uber/Lyft will be your easiest way to get there and most likely save you a wait for a cab. Used to be known as the Bull & Finch Pub until a few years ago. Downstairs, as depicted in the TV show is the original pub which looks nothing like the one from the TV show inside. Upstairs they built a fairly charmless replica bar which sort of looks like the one from the show but lacks any of the warmth of the pub downstairs. If it is on the list I would definitely go grab a few drinks downstairs but there are vastly better places to eat nearby.

If you were confident you could be off the ship and in the car no later than 8am then the 10:10 will work if you hustle. If you are not confident you could be off by then I would book the 12:20.

If I could give you any piece of advice it will be that you'll regret doubling down on two tours like this-- what I would recommend is pulling your private tour forward to day one and then picking a nice beach or place you enjoyed for day two. It's not a large island and doubling down on tours will be tedious and you'll most likely wish you were enjoying a place you found on the tour day 1 on the second day.

You are most likely going to want to head further uptown to eat-- the Financial District has gotten better over the years but it is not known for its diverse or quality restaurants. The area becomes quite dead after working hours and on the weekends compared to the rest of Manhattan.

I would be very weary of connecting through Montreal right now-- hundreds of flights being cancelled daily and baggage workers unable to keep up. It has been a total nightmare.

Thats a shame that was your first impression of Seabourn-- we've sailed with them many times and they always have done a nice job. Frankly I am not a huge fan of the newer, larger ships. The Odyssey class should be the largest they operate. I miss the old "Seabourn sisters"-- Legend, Pride, and Spirit which were only about 200 passengers and truly were yacht-like. That being said I think that the new Seabourn expedition ships like Venture are going to be fantastic-- less than 300 passengers and we have always enjoyed trips on the Odyssey class. Barring your first experience, which sounds like it was a bit atypical with training, or lack thereof happening, you would find Seabourn or Silversea to be a significant upgrade from Celebrity, especially on their smaller ships. Seabourn wouldn't still be in business if the experience you had was what they regularly delivered.