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On my first QM2 Transatlantic, there was a regular crafting group that met in the Carinthia Lounge every afternoon - I actually think it was only scheduled for a couple of days, but we all just kept showing up and taking over one of the corners.

I was there at the very end of April/start of May, and they hadn't opened the new shop yet.

No suggestions for Whittier, sadly, but I can HIGHLY recommend Baaad Anna's in Vancouver - they have a really lovely selection, and at least when I went, were very friendly. It is on the other side of the Downtown East Side (DTES) from the port, and in a slightly rundown neighbourhood, but it's a fantastic shop. (No connection, just a happy customer!)

I think I bought some of her yarn as well! I also really liked the yarn shop in Juneau that's on the second floor of an older building. The shop that sells yarn in Skagway was closed when I was there last year, sadly, or I would have been 4 for 4 (I also went to Baaad Anna's in Vancouver before boarding.)

Tell me more!

I generally bring at least 3 projects with me, with at least one 'in reserve' (usually a skein of fingering to start socks if I magically finish one of the other projects, which never happens.)

I generally bring two bags with me for cruises: a smaller clutch-type for evening (large enough for my cruise card, phone, and Kobo ereader) and either my Tom Bihn Swift or my Coach Bandit hobo - both open-topped tote-style bags, which I use for daytime on board as well as during port excursions - holds wallet, knitting, kobo, phone, battery pack, water bottle, notebook... yes, I probably carry too much! I'm not a pool goer on cruises generally, but I pretty much always pack a reusable shopping bag that I could use to tote my gear to the pool.

I'll be staying at the Seaport Yotel this September prior to a Boston-Quebec City HAL cruise. Based on Google Maps, I see that the cruise port is about a 20 minute walk from the hotel, but I'm not sure how actually walkable this area is? I'm a transit user/walker at home, and my luggage will be walking-friendly, so the luggage isn't the issue. It's more - are there sidewalks to walk on, street crossing lights, etc? A lot of places I've been to in the States have been very walking-unfriendly - I still remember a colleague offering to come and pick me up from my hotel to take me to the office during a work trip - it was raining a bit, but the trip was MAYBE 150m from door to door.

I resemble this remark.

My current travel setup is a 25" Travelpro soft sided Maxlite (checked), and a Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 (carry on, carried as a backpack), then either my Tom Bihn Swift or my similarly-sized Coach Bandit hobo bag, or my Away Everywhere Bag as my personal item, depending on if I'm bringing a laptop or not. The Tom Bihn Aeronaut is a fantastic bag - it's been on every cruise I've taken, as well as a number of shorter trips, and at 5 years old, still looks new. My TB Swift is 12 years old, has been used HARD, and while it's a bit stained, is still completely intact and functional. If you're looking for bags that will last forever, Tom Bihn is the way to go. They're spendy, but definitely worth it.

I think it was the Masquerade?

On my last TA, there was a ... gentleman ... in full Tarzan getup on one of the gala nights.

I've done one HAL cruise (Alaska inside passage last spring), but have received two sets of offers so far for free inside cabins. I didn't spend anything in the casino, and I don't drink, so my on board spend wasn't very large. I do, however, do a lot of 'fantasy bookings' - go through and make a booking right up to the actually booking piece, looking at prices and dates and daydreaming. I wonder if that has something to do with it? (I frequently am logged in during this process.)

I've only dressed to 'theme' once during my 3 TAs/7 gala nights, and no one batted an eyelid.

In terms of getting a room with enough space, I'd recommend trying to book an accessible room. Because they're built with wheelchairs in mind (theoretically, at least), they tend to have more open space than standard hotel rooms, and less need to sidle past tight spaces. (My father also has Parkinson's, so I understand, to some extent, the needs/limitations.) From what I've seen, most hotels in the US have at least some accessible rooms, so you should be able to find one, especially 10 months out.

(I'm also cis, but my partner and their partner are both enby, so I've been exposed to a lot of this.) I suspect a lot of it has to do with US passport issues - your passenger information has to match your passport/identification documentation. (As far as I know, that is.) I know in Canada that you can have an X (no gender identification) on your passport, but I don't know if the US has gotten there yet. Agreeing that the whole thing is stupid and regressive. I would recommend that your friends reach out to the cruise line to find out what the purpose is, and whether they can book on the phone and not identify their gender (or if it is indeed a government documentation thing.)

I have family who live in Port Colborne, at the Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal, and it is a point of pride that folks can identify the lakers that come through just from silhouette.

My embarkation day must-dos: - Lunch in the Golden Lion (if I'm onboard early enough) - Unpacking fully once my cases are delivered - getting those fancy dresses hung up and getting settled into my cabin - Walking the decks, watching the luggage and food being loaded - Having a drink in the Commodore Club (usually my only alcoholic drink of the cruise) - Wandering the ship to scope out 'my spots' for the week - usually the Carinthia Lounge, but I always forget about the comfy chairs & tables in Sir Samuels

I always bring a wooden-handled fan (manual), but it's something I carry during the summer at home as well. Last cruise, I thought about bringing a small USB powered fan (work-branded), but couldn't fit it into my suitcase, so left it behind.

It's all Twinings, across the ship, but they do have a variety. I seem to recall English Breakfast, Everyday, and Darjeeling (or Assam?) bags on my last TA in November.

I've done 3 solo TAs, all in 'regular' cabins (1 obstructed balcony, 1 sheltered balcony, 1 oceanview), and all three have been delightful. I've never managed to book a solo cabin - your best bet seems to be to book as soon as the dates are released (which generally means booking between 12-18 months in advance). I do occasionally see them available on random crossings when I'm daydream-booking (but usually the Deck 2 'standard' KB layout instead of the Deck 3 long KC layout), so if you're flexible with your dates, you may be able to book one for a crossing sooner than otherwise. However, do check the prices for the solo cabins vs. the price with supplement for non-solo cabins. I have not infrequently seen 'regular' oceanview cabins for less $ than the solo cabins.

Just make sure you go to the correct airport. Due to lack of cell connection, out of date car GPS, it being the buddle of the night, and trying to avoid toll roads, I ended up at the wrong airport (Niagara Falls instead of Buffalo.) Luckily, the folks I was picking up (who were supposed to have flown into Pearson, but due to connection issues in Chicago, had to fly into Buffalo instead) were late, so didn't have to wait very long for me to find my way to the correct airport.

We've been using $1 and $2 coins for almost 3 decades now, so most Canadians have gotten into the habit of either using them each day, or emptying their pockets in the evening. Many businesses will also be quite happy to exchange bills for coins (if you've got $10+ in loonies and twonies, most convenience stores will be happy to give you bills in exchange for them.) And for those of us living in buildings with cash laundry (or who rely on laundromats), it's always good to have a stash. We also have gotten rid of pennies for cash purchases - your cash purchase is always rounded up or down to the nearest $0.05, which does reduce the number of coins overall. (Card purchases are still to the penny.)

With Canadian currency, you can very easily end up with significantly more than $5 in coins - I've thought I had no money in my wallet, then gone into the coin pocket and discovered $20 in loonies and twonies ($1 and $2 coins). One suggestion that I've seen, if you're a Starbucks consumer, is to swing by a Starbucks (if available) and put your remaining foreign currency on a gift card. The gift cards can be loaded into the app, and they are useable at (almost) all Starbucks, regardless of the currency put on them initially. (I'm not sure about the exchange rate, but if it's a choice between carrying home currency you're never going to use, and using it, it's almost moot.)

One of the excursions offered during our port stop in Puerto Quetzal is to Iximche. I searched, but didn't see any posts about it, so I'm posting to see if anyone has done this excursion, or visited Iximche otherwise, and have any recommendations/anti-recommendations?