Nitemare

What lighthouse? What port?

@kad56 gives great advice here. We also like Gotham West Market, which is an upscale food court on 11th Avenue, a few blocks south of the cruise terminal. Maybe a 10 minute walk?

We booked directly with West Tours in Isafjordur when we went to Vigur a few years ago. It looks like booking directly costs about half what you mentioned. They don't seem to be taking bookings for 2025 yet, though

3rd parties are usually fine. But based on the complaints I read on TripAdvisor, you are more likely to have issues when using a 3rd party than you are when booking directly with the provider. You also are taking money out of the pocket of the local company and giving it to some multinational organization.

Boston gets it's Christmas Tree from Halifax every year in appreciation by the Nova Scotians of how the city helped them recover from the explosion

Silver Line from South Station is very reliable.

I have followed railroad forums for a long time and I have NEVER heard of any traveler not having sufficient room for their luggage. That being said, if there are 5 of you with 6 bags each, there might be some serious "Tetris-like" maneuvering going on to get it all stacked nicely.

Cramming in the MFA in time to be at the port by 1PM doesn't seem possible to me. Maybe do the MFA the same day as the Gardner -- they are neighbors in the Fenway neighborhood. And do the Freedom Trail on departure day. It's always open, so you can start as early as you can get yourself together

I don't think we are disagreeing here

The best lobster rolls are in Maine. But Massachusetts has some EXCELLENT offerings. Belle Isle is definitely in our Top 5 (and we've had lobster rolls at well over 50 places). Young's, in Orleans on Cape Cod is also Top 10. Legal's has excellent chowder, as do many other places. Legal's is a chain, as someone said, but they also have a bunch of "one offs", like Legal Harborside and Legal C Bar, which are worth trying out. Even the regular locations are consistently very good.

Just make sure you take them AFTER eating. Not before. I was uncomfortable our first three days in Africa after taking them with my regular vitamins, just before eating breakfast. Moved it to after I ate and zero issues

Not missing a thing. You get half as much time ashore as you would on a 200 person ship

Newbury used to be the Ritz Carlton, it's one of the pillars of Boston hotels. The Fairmont is also a Top 10% property in Boston The Sheraton Boston is rarely that expensive. I ran a few dates, using the 20th of the month as a "random" check: 12/20 - $161 11/20 - $297 10/14 - $361 (sold out on the 20th) 9/20 - $360 1/20/25 - $161

I don't think you will find an airport shuttle from KEF to Reykjavik, it's a 45-60 minute ride. Use the Flybus or take a taxi (approx $140 for a cab). I also have not heard of a hotel with a cruise port shuttle, the city is small, a cab won't be expensive or it may be walkable Hotels with "101" in their address are centrally located, that is the equivalent of a zip code in Iceland.

Well, I guess now that you have redefined CT as Cruise Terminal, I no longer see anything about Connecticut in the post, either.

That makes a ton of sense. Still not the Connecticut part but I'm at least nodding my head now.

Fairmont and Newbury are far from average hotels. They are wildly upscale and unfair comparisons. September and October *are* expensive months in Boston, yes. But not $988 most of the time for the Sheratons/Hiltons of the world, as you just showed. I'll be staying for 2 weeks for under $300/night in November and I did the same last April.

I'd take the train to/from Boston, or fly from Philly or whatever airport best works for you

Not sure what "BCT" is, but Bayonne is in New Jersey, not Connecticut

I would never book thru TripAdvisor. This just adds a third AND fourth party to the transaction, as TA doesn't actually book anything, they use another unknown party to actually make the booking. Book direct, or use a 3rd party that you already know and trust.

For a 10AM flight I wouldn't add the expense of a hotel night. Get off the ship at 6AM or so, with a reservation for Flybus or one of the other transfer companies which will get you to KEF in about an hour or so. Be at the airport 3 hours prior to your flight and enjoy the ride home.

Comparing costs to ship tours isn't a fair comparison. Ship tours are ALWAYS crazy expensive. Nice complaint about GYG on TripAdvisor on the Iceland forum posted last night or early today. bad excursion, and GYG won't do anything about it.

No. $988 is NOT "down the middle" price for Boston at any time, other than maybe a last minute booking on Marathon Monday

The airport is across the harbor from the cruise terminal and from most of Boston. There isn't really anything "near" the airport to hang out that is going to be particularly easier to get to the airport from than elsewhere in Boston, so I'd pick a place in town, like Copley Square, as suggested, or near Fanueil Hall or along the waterfront, depending on the weather. If you want to stay close to the Cruise terminal and only "transfer" once, you could probably walk to the Institute of Contemporary Art along the waterfront, which has tons of seating and great people watching, plus options for a quick meal.

They've been discussing pre-clearance there for at least 6-7 years. FWIW, clearing Customs in Boston isn't hard if you are arriving in off hours. We landed mid day from Toronto on Porter and were landside in under 20 minutes, without Global Entry