SelectSys

In addition to simply sharing viewpoints, I have found these boards to be very useful in answering questions, helping improve my overall travel experience and sometimes even save money.

I just let the agent pick my seats for me. I may go back and review them, but I am good for now. If you want to check more closely, my suggestion would be to look up the flights on line which list the aircraft type

You are correct. Both our routing in and out of DXB will be on Qatar via DOH. Interesting. I had noted the first class coding, but I had not thought about Al Safwa lounge access as part of the ticketing. It will be fun to compare the Al Safwa lounge to the Al Mourjan lounge.

Is it really that big a deal in terms of departure time? As I said above, I needed to change one of my flights to a time that was less than ideal. To me it's all a tradeoff of many factors to get a ticket. Of course you can always buy it now and try and change the flight later. I need to do this for my last flight as my preferred date isn't even bookable yet. The tool itself doesn't support bookings and forwards you to an airline for ticketing. I would simply call AA's desk. My agent was really good and if you need to make changes, you'll need to talk to the airline that created the ticket. BTW - The tool told me that my options were to call JAL or book online somehow via QANTAS.

I just got off the phone with the AA RTW desk. The agent was really quite knowledgeable and helpful as you suggested previously. The availability of one segment (DXB to CMN via DOH) changed by the time I called in so the agent made a bit of last minute adjustment to the ticket. The connection was a bit worse, but still acceptable. I guess we will run around in Doha for the day (if it's not too hot) or just hang out in the airport... The agent said I would receive the price back tomorrow from the ticketing desk via email. She said I should get the Japanese pricing. I will see what happens. If the pricing holds up, the ticket should be $6100 including taxes for a 31,451 mile journey (~$.19/mile) in business class. I priced a somewhat similar journey starting from LAX and its price came in at just under $12k which is almost twice as much as starting in Japan! Wow, what a great "hack" to start outside the US! It's basically like either my wife or I are travelling "free." Your second suggestion, or "hack," to add in supplemental trips was great too! With this is mind, I was able to get a flight to and from South America for very little marginal cost. Thanks again for all your help! I don't think I would have attempted to get this ticket without your posts as the process seemed a bit intimidating at the outset if you have never done it before. Here is my route map if you are curious: BTW - I am still not certain how we will get to and from Japan. I have a cheap points ticket reserved in an economy exit row as a place holder to get to Tokyo and maybe we will return back from Tokyo on a cruise. Also, AA seems to be unbundling their one way fares between the west coast (at least LAX) and Tokyo while JAL is not. I wonder if AA's move is a reaction to ZIPAIR as a new player in the market?

@Gardyloo - using all of your suggestions I have developed an itinerary that works starting from Tokyo. It dovetails with a transpacific cruise that heads back to the US at the end of the trip. I can also slot in an extra South American trip by picking up a couple of domestic flights as a separate ticket. I am now ready to book. Will I have any issues getting the AA desk to price it using the Japanese price which is much cheaper than starting from the US? Will they try to switch me to US pricing? My other alternative, I guess, is to try and buy it via the OW website. Thanks in advance for any additional help and insight you can provide. BTW - I was able to price the flights by entering them into your favorite tool on the OW website. I also have several tickets on AA operated flights both domestically and those to the South America. I could also switch to AA to fly LAX to Tokyo at the end, but I would rather fly on JAL.

The lobster around where I live - aka the "spiny lobster" - is really pretty good from my view. However, thanks for the input. I never really have looked for lobster below Ensenada. My sister in law lives in Orange County and is familiar with our lobster. No problem with taste. Thanks. I was looking for something beyond the marina to recommend/consider. My understanding is that most of the lobster served in Puerto Nuevo is from out of the area regardless of time of year. It seems to me that the demand most likely outstrips the supply by a large margin. Thanks to all for their input! It seems like Cabo would be the best place to try and find a lobster lunch. BTW - On my own search I found this place as well which seems to get good reviews and lobster seems to be on the menu: https://www.opentable.com.mx/r/las-mariscadas-cabo-san-lucas?ref=16420

My sister in law and wife are going on a cruise this Friday to Cabo. PV and Mazatlán. My sister in law is a big lobster fan and wants to eat it at least once on shore for lunch. Any good tips / recommendations for their port stops? Thanks in advance.to all!

Thanks to all for their input! I appreciate all your comments. This was my expectation along with maybe a bus tour. Good point. As you said, hopefully the boat's schedule is well known and public before you leave the ship. Yes, I agree that you'll learn more on tours even, at least in my case, I tend not to retain too much long term. I like this strategy. That's most likely what we will do. You are correct. We have been on a variety of ocean cruises over the years and are looking forward to trying something new and visit areas unreachable by large ships while retaining the ease of cruising - e.g Yes, I am hoping that the river cruise provides a more immersive travel experience rather than the typical ocean cruise port stay of 8 or so hours. Thanks so much!

My spouse and I are taking our first ever river cruise next month in Europe. Neither of us have been big time shore excursion people preferring to just go it alone in port. What do these included tours on river cruises tend to be? Are they worth taking or should we just continue to go it alone? If it makes any difference, we are taking Avalon Waterways which is owned by a big land tour operator - Globus.

I just got back flying Qsuites yesterday with my significant other. We had the close middle seats that face backwards. This configuration definitely makes it easier to share a conversation. I also appreciated the fact that the two flight attendants serving our respective aisles coordinated their various services to really treat us as a couple. I will be interested to see how the new version of Qsuites turn out. I also hope Qatar Airways using this new product to refresh some of their other aircraft like the A350-900's to the Qsuites standard. It's almost disorienting connecting between a Qsuites and non-Qsuites flight as you feel completely out in the open after being in your own little world on the previous flight. My only other comment regarding Qsuites is that you need to use the flight attendant call button when you want something rather than waiting for them to check in with you.

Yes, I know your feelings about the tool. It is definitely not the best. I have been able to get it to work, but it is hard to control as it continuously tries to replan thigs that are already set. Thanks, I will take a look at this tool.

All in all I think the vloggers provide a decent service to the cruising community at large and can be helpful to those planning travel. I look not only at cruise content, but content for air travel and general destination information as well. In the Ben and David case, my understanding is that MSC has asked them to help develop guidelines for future filming by vloggers on board their ships. I think this looks like a win-win for both Ben and David as well as MSC. At least in the cruise business, the impact of social media must be material. I find it interesting that MSC, which is a multi-billion euro enterprise, didn't dismiss Ben and David out of hand as their online presence yields influence and vloggers must help drive MSC business in a material way.

Okay - I guess you just need to bet that a ticket will be available around the time you need it. My hope is to have as many real dates and flights locked in as I have seen using the online planning tool that not all flights have RTW space available. Thanks again for all your good information.

Thanks again for all your good information on this subject. Like @happy cruzer, your information has triggered me to start planning the planning process for a OW RTW ticket. One struggle that I am having is how to plan for flights beyond what is visible in reservation system's schedule? I have been researching a ticket initiating in Tokyo in the fall and the tail end of the trip falls off what is currently visible schedule in 2025.

Have you ever been to Bar Andaluz? It's worth a visit if you haven't been and the margaritas there are quite good as well.

Amen to that. I guess it's just part of their business model. If memory serves me correctly, I think they also pocket those fees when you try and change the date of a non refundable ticket.

I believe just about everyone on this board is most likely very rich in an absolute sense compared to the world at large. Even though I don't really know how the underlying data was collected, I welcome everyone on the board to try the calculator at the link below to get an rough-order idea as to where you might fit in globally: https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/how-rich-am-i

Ok, I said it was simply person's claim.

Define well and by which standards? You do realize that the whole cruise and shipping industry "exploits" wage differences between various parts of the world to deliver their services? Filipino deck hands and cabin stewards have different ideas as to what it means to be paid well {i.e., take the job) in comparison to people working in the US, UK, Canada, etc. I agree that everyone on the ship's crew should eat well and healthily. Amazingly, in looking a bit about this issue on line, I have seen anecdotal information that scurvy is a possible issue in some crew member diets on very long contracts. I am actually 100% in agreement with this statement even though we likely disagree on how and what to change. However, that would venture into politics so I'll pass on saying more. Regardless the refrain from the popular Talking Heads song, "Once in a Lifetime" seems apropos: "Same as it ever was, same as it ever was Same as it ever was, same as it ever was Same as it ever was, same as it ever was Same as it ever was, same as it ever was"

It actually doesn't have to exist. Other means of distribution and advancement exist although they tend to be less efficient and eventually lead to decay.

Worthy? What do you mean? As a human or as an employee? Do you see any difference? Does it bother you that the ship's officers are compensated more and have better living conditions than most of the crew? You certainly can exercise free will and not book any more cruises if you like.

Everything in life involving some form of commerce tends to have one group subsidizing another. The most basic example, albeit dying, of this is a postal stamp. It doesn't matter how far the underlying letter goes, the price of the stamp is the same even the costs too deliver the letter change on where it is going. Personally, I am happy to know that people who gamble and drink help keep my base cruise fare low. Is it fair that drinkers and gamblers subsidize me? I think so as everyone onboard is there by choice and is free to do as they please - passengers and crew alike. BTW - Maybe on luxury lines people can eat 2 48oz steaks at no additional charge. I can attest this is not the case on a mass market line

According to the link below, the amount spent per day feeding the crew is only 1/3 that of the passengers. https://crew-center.com/economics-food-aboard-cruise-ships#:~:text=While passengers may receive a,affordable%2C food to crew members.

And now you know one of the key reasons why most of the crew isn't generally permitted to dine in the passenger venues regardless of line - money. Potential crowding of passenger spaces is another reason too.