azalice

Sorry, Kazu. Have not listed in years so messed up.

I thank you all for your comments. We cannot do the amount of walking we used to do, so we are looking for some help with bus, or taxi transport to get us partway to see Tallinn. I think we would not manage a big hill walk but maybe we could manage the downhill part. So I will stIll wait to see what excursions will be available to help us somewhat reduce the walking.

I try to book only afternoon excursions. I love to take a leisurely breakfast and move slowly in the morning.

We are taking a September 2023 Baltic cruise and noticed there are no excursions listed for our day in Tallinn Estonia. Have you cruised on HAL and found excursions listed for that port?

For me, the Golden Circle tour was like an intro to Iceland. A bit of history, natural beauty and interesting facts about the culture.

We always packed and put them out after we had dinner. So we probably had them out by 8 pm.

On land, having planned my own land vacation, and deciding my own timing for being a tourist.

I am in my 80s and slowing down (arthritis) in terms of being able to walk distances as I used to on my travels. So I find the smaller ships such as Azamara are wonderful. It is so much easier for me to get around the ship compared to most others. And I do chose more excursions that just bus you around to see things rather than the walking tours I used to do. It is my current reality so must deal with it or stop traveling.

And be sure to book middle of ship cabin, even consider inside and middle of ship for less feeling of motion. Helps me quite a bit.

There are several private guides for Israel. Just look up the subject. I had contacted several a year ago, but cancelled my plans. They were all quite expensive.

And we have used the company called Luggage Free. It was so helpful because one of our pieces of luggage was at the top of the allowed amount; and we had carry on luggage plus another smaller suitcase to get through the airport and deal with once at the destination. It was expensive but it let us travel without hurting ourselves.

The beauty of Norway fjords is enough to get me to do it for the third time.

Very interesting replies everyone. Would someone tell me what time the free excursions usually are. If in the morning, how early. I do worry about early morning being too early for me because I am slow in the mornings to get going. And, are the non-free excursions often in the afternoon?

Thanks Roz what did you think of Uniworld?

We have just noticed (because we have never done a river cruise) that some river cruise lines have Jewish theme cruises. If you have ever done one, please share your experiences and whether they were of value to you in terms of gained knowledge and/or interesting sites.

Are there glass door showers in the Verandas as well?

All the comments are of great help. Thanks.

Thank you for responding to my issues about gluten free dining. Also, I will be very happy if some Lincoln Stage music is available when we cruise again on HAL. I enjoy “blues” and “pop” music but if anything is too loud, I will walk away. So the HAL music walk area may not work for me or my DH.

I have been browsing the menus the past few months checking out gluten free choices, especially for dinner. Most of the menus show only one item labeled “gf” - salmon. As I have problem with salmon, I am wondering if the chef will make other entrees gluten free when planned in advance. We have two HAL cruises booked for next summer so any information will be helpful.

I almost always have a problem finding a quiet place to read. Often I retreat to my cabin. If I am in an inside cabin, I particularly want a couch in the cabin as a reasonable seating area to read. I will be on the Rotterdam in September so it is disappointing that they have little seating in a library area.

The game is confusing so I try to keep it basic for my understanding. First, we don’t drink any longer so that part of “have it all” booking is not interesting to us. WiFi would be nice but it seldom works well for us onboard so it becomes worthless to us. A specialty dining is also no longer a bit deal to us as we eat smaller meals in our older years. A refundable deposit may or may not be a big deal to someone but if we are sure of our plans we may take a chance on a non- refundable deposit. Basically we end up taking the cheapest fare for our category cabin and then it feels like it is less of a game. However, if your situation is different, you will need to total costs both ways, with perks and without to decide what you want to do.

we just booked a short Alaska cruise two weeks ago for august 2023;we did it while our TA was out of town and so booked directly with Holland. Holland then told us that our TA would get it transferred when he can. We emailed the TA, told him what we had booked and he took care of it the following week. And, while doing it, he got us some HAL OBC that we did not have from HAL before. We can still make our own dining reservations and our shore excursions ourselves. We have used a TA for years because he gets us more OBC and he sometimes gets us a group fare that gives us a better deal.

Thanks for suggestions. I will be checking out more hotels.

Booked a 7 day Alaska yesterday. The 25 dollar deposit was per person. Wow. Port charges and fees sure are expensive.

We are taking a Eurodam Alaska cruise next August out of Seattle. We plan one night before the cruise in Seattle and we find the hotels near the cruise terminals very expensive. We would appreciate recommendations of moderately priced hotels, perhaps under 300 a night. And, what would a taxi cost to get to the cruise terminal the next day? Thanks.