Kristelle

We have a car transfer booked from London airport to our hotel and then we will be catching taxi from hotel 3 days later to train station and then taxi in Paris from train station to hotel, and back 2 days later and from Amsterdam train station to docks for river cruise. Car transfer is pre paid, taxi's obviously not. Do we tip and if so roughly how much , would we tip the car driver in cash and can taxis be paid by card and tip added to the card total?

ah yes Australia has a few non standard meaning words too - the one that comes to mind is 'thongs' - meaning the footwear most of you call flip- flops. can lead to confusion if one person is thinking underwear and one footwear 😁

to be honest, I'm only familiar with very basic US geography and I have never been to mainland USA (have been to Hawaii) Standard annual leave in Australia is 4 weeks People sometimes use long service leave (extra leave you get after working 10 years with an employer) as well - and one can sometimes carry annual leave over from one year to next - so taking a month holiday could use some annual leave from 2 years and take some leave without pay. Or combinations of above. I usually go on holidays (vacations) of about 1 - 2 weeks. However when going to Europe it is so far to travel that it is not worth it unless you take longer - so my last holiday to UK/Ireland and my upcoming holiday to London/Paris/Europe are 3 weeks

Point is it is only a solution for those who can afford it. Answering any question about an issue with ' I just avoid budget lines' isn't very helpful and IMO rather patronising.

Of course. But not everyone can just be willing to spend more ' to get more than the minimum quality experience' if they don't have the funds in the first place - answering a question with ' I just stay away from budget lines' seems rather patronising to me.

presuming one has what it takes to spend in the first place. 😉

I emailed Scenic and this is their reply (sentence bolded by me) - to their credit recieved within 48 hours of my asking.🙂 Thank you for your enquiry regarding the USB ports for the TV in your suite. All our suites feature an Apple TV which have an in-built infotainment system. You can enjoy international cable TV, free movies and music, you can also use the TV as a computer with free Wi-Fi and keyboard and mouse provided. The TV has Scenic Tailormade built into it, where you have access to view from the stern and bow of the ship, view daily itinerary, menus and activity time table. Unfortunately there is no USB port in the suite itself but you can bring adapters to put into the power points for a USB port, however, on the TV itself, there is a USB port where you will be able to connect your USB and watch your downloaded programs. If you have any other enquiries regarding your booking, please refer back to your agent who will be able to assist you.

Thank you for that example of a day program. I have emailed my query about USB ports to Scenic customer care - will let you know the answer.

They found bombs still active from 80 years ago?? Wow, that's an unusual reason for a hold up in your trip - nuisance at the time but make good story when you get home 🙂

I think videos are same as photos which you might put on Facebook or wherever - I take panoramic photos of people on a beach or suchlike but I dont take close ups of faces unless people consent (or they are obviously photographic implied consent like performers)

do the TV's i n the river ship cabins have USB ports so you can bring downloaded programs from home to watch? copied my above question from another thread - since you are on a Scenic ship perhaps you could answer this for me?

ah yes that is bit odd, is not a state just an area in Queensland - as a map of states all the blue and upper green is one state, Queensland

not sure about 'political subdivision' - "South Australia" is a state of Australia - the way New Jersey is a state of USA. so when I say I live in South Australia, I mean the state, not the southern part of Australia. Melbourne and Sydney are capital cities of Victoria and New South Wales respectively - other states of Australia.

I an see and hear all the videos - in Australia on my home computer, standard internet address.

Absolutely. or at the very least keep some distance from others, not approach them as they did to Canal Archive 🙄

will be travelling on Scenic Jade We have a Firestick, also a small portable hard drive, as well as USB's, of course I dont want to stream anything directly , just watch things already downloaded, so I dont need a VPN

Which showed that there was miniscule faecal traces on toothbrushes anywhere in the house - not just in bathrooms near a toilet and same would be so of remote controls, quilts, door handles, chairs, benches, cutlery, cups, any surface. which proves what exactly?? well it could prove we need to sanitise and/or plastic cover absolutely everything every time we touch it (rather impractical) or it could prove miniscule amounts of things, including yucky things we dont like thinking about, are everywhere because life is not lived in a sterile bubble. take sensible recommended precautions - wash hands after toilet, before eating etc - you know ,the same old well known stuff - but don't become paranoid or obsessed with 'germs everywhere' and hypothetical risks.

do the TV's i n the river ship cabins have USB ports so you can bring downloaded programs from home to watch? Yes I know we are not going on holiday to sit in cabin watching TV series - but sometimes at night we like to unwind watching something. If not I will have my tablet but bit small for 2 people to watch together.

Now that I think about it - yes I pass my phone to other people for them to look at photos, see memes etc However I am as worried about this as I am about soap dispensers - which is zero. most things in life - remote controls, benches, chairs, trolleys, doors etc etc are touched by other people - thats ok, life isnt meant to be lived in a sterile bubble. Unless you have some extreme immuno suppressant condition - in which case travelling probably isnt great anyway - then these things really do not present any risk.

Melbourne and Sydney are long way from where I live in rural South Australia but I am about same latitude as Sydney. Melbourne would be bit cooler being further south. Well into Spring, might still get some cold and rainy daysc but mostly low 20's. We even had 28 degrees day last week, but that is unusual for August.

Gosh that was a quick reply - thank you. so, layers with possibility of getting to short sleeves in afternoons?

what sort of temp's can I expect in September - I was looking at google and expecting close to 20 celcius - but you make it sounder colder than that already?

In case anyone thinks this was a facetious post - Bill really does have Youtube videos - although I didnt watch them as they are about places I'm not planning to go to like Iceland and Norway

You can fast forward through any bits you are not interested in 😏