jsmeeker

There is at least one Hilton down by Hyde Park Corner. Big huge one. It's very near Buckingham Palace. It's a fine location.

Marble Arch area is fine too. I just stayed up there in December (though at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House). The Marble Arch area is right up at Oxford Street, which is a main street for shopping. Lots of stuff along that, including Selfridges.

You are very close to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Just remember that The City is, as you say, a business area. Not too much going on at night and dead on weekends. But during the day on weekdays, it's packed with people.

Rooms look nice, though. Seem modern and more like a typical US full service business class hotel instead of a small local hotel. So, if that's your sort of thing (and I totally understand why it would be) it might be a fine location for a short stay. You have convenient access to a tube stations that are on the Circle and District lines.

Book on-line direct with Air Canada. Book it when you feel the price is fair and is a price you are willing to pay. If it's May 2014, that's less than 6 months away. Not really too soon to book, I don't think.

Photo of QM2 - from Cunard Facebook page. WOW.....that's some snow!

 

WOW!

They need a snow blower up there.

Crazy. I bet that is something you don't see too often.

Exactly. Maybe Oneworld is unique in this regard? It's the only alliance I have any familiarity with.

The other difference is when you book the flight on two separate tickets you are not protected by the airline if the first flight runs late.

If the flights were all operated by carriers from the same alliance, they would be. At least, I know it works that way with Oneworld.

What about beach bag items? My beach bag is HUGE, filled with suntan lotions of different spfs. I guess we could buy it on the ship but it costs more.

Great ideas for the 3 oz items - thanks!

If you arrive the day before, just buy it in a local drug store, grocery store, Walmart, Target, etc. Even if you arrive the day of, you might have time. Have the cab or car service or whatever stop at a nearby drug store. Run in and buy the stuff and continue on.

If you want yo leave the ship on your own and travel about without being part organized excursion, you'll need a visa for Russia. Certainly doable. Gives you the most freedom to do what you want. But it's not exactly cheap and there are "hoops" to jump through.

If that doesn't appeal, maybe there is a way they could simply "bump into you" while you are out on an excursion? I am not so sure how convenient that is. They may not allow you to lag behind and leave the group. Someone else that has done a stop St. Petersburg might be able to better answer.

I think that plan is fine. If the middle initial on the passport if the first letter of your actual full last name, then you should be good. At some point, airline tickets I started to buy stopped having my middle name. My AA frequent flyer account had my full name and so did my travel profile with the travel agent I used for work. Tickets and boarding passes had my full name. So does my ID. But at some point, something changed. I started to just see my middle initial. It seems that was because when we switched to a new travel agency, my profile only had my middle initial. I tried to fix it, but it never "stuck". It would always revert back to my middle initial. Also, even when I book direct with AA for personal flights, I seem to just get first and last now. Even on my flight to London, it was really no big deal. Remember, the only people really checking boarding pass to ID is gonna be the TSA person at the airport. Once through, I don't think anyone is really matching anything. When you arrive at a border crossing at the airport, you just give passport. They don't need to see a boarding pass.

My wife and I and her family are going through this right now. We're all heading over to Morocco for a wedding and were trying to all get on the same flight (MCI-DFW-MAD-RAK) over there. With several different fare buckets, I've decided that my wife and I will just book whatever the heck we want, and if the other (mostly rookie) travelers want to tag along on our flight, they may have to pay more...but that's their decision. Otherwise, they can go through Paris and we'll meet them in Morocco ;)

You are a wise man.

You don't say exactly when you are traveling this year (2014) and when your passport expires in 2015. You don't say exactly every where you are traveling to, but you do mention Australia. Will you be traveling within the 6 month window prior to the passport expiring? If so, you may way want to renew it prior to the trip even if you won't run into issues with the middle name/middle initial issue. Some counties like to see 6 months validity on a passport.

What a wonderful review. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and views of the ship and the cruise. And thanks for the beautiful photographs. They are first rate.

Where are you getting a visa for and how long will it take? Can use use a service to expedite the visa after you get back from the cruise?

We don't know where in the UK the poster lives, do we? In any case, it's probably "easier" to get from someplace in the UK directly to MIA. I don't there there would be any flights from UK to FLL. Does it make sense to look into an alternate routing? UK to say JFK or ATL or some place on the east coast then to FLL just to have a short cab ride? Maybe. But I depends on their preferences.

In any case, there are certainly ways to go from MIA to Port Everglades. Countless cruisers from all over the place do that all the time.

Etihad is also starting service to DFW. Qatar will too. Emirates already serves DFW with a daily flight to Dubai. Of course, it's not really the best route to Europe (i.e. ex-DFW), it may be a good way to see Asia if you want a pit stop.

I remind my brother, when he bemoans the demise of the $198 RT from LAX to JFK (late 70s/early 80s), that he was making about a tenth of what he makes now at the time.

 

I've had to fly to the east coast four times in the last 90 days, and another trip is coming up next weekend. I tend to favor AA, and they have some ancient 767s on the route - I remember flying on one of them when they were brand new in the 1980s! FC and BC get Samsung tablets loaded with entertainment, while coach gets the old drop down TV and $5.00 earbuds that work no better than a tin can - don't forget your own! The new A321 will be an interesting switch, if only they'd put them on the time slots that I like.:p

eventually, they will. :) Those old 762s will be phased out and all the Flagship transom routes (JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO) will be operated by the new A321T for all flights. Eventually. :)

I do not know know the answer to this question but I wonder if there are any other countries where so many citizens travel outside of the country w/o a passport.

 

What about Intra-Schengen travel?

Awesome.Glad it worked out. I am sure the family is too. Have fun and report back when you return.

so far so good!!

Continued good luck.

awesome

May the Gods of Commercial Aviation smile upon you today. Good luck. Hope you make it.

umm the instructions say to print the address in pencil.... so just erase.

 

Yup. Exactly this. It's not printed on there on purpose. They figure you may move during the 10 years its good for and don't expect you to get a new one because you move like you would with a drivers license. Hence, the reason they ask you to write it in pencil.

But no one really actually checks it when you travel. It's there more for in case you lose it.

I am about two years from renewing my passport, I only have a few stamps. My question is what happens to your old passport when you renew it, will you be able to keep it or do you have to turn it in?

When you renew it, you send in the old passport with your renewal form, new photo, and fee. They send you back a new passport. And return the old one. The new and old will probably arrive separately.

The dogs aren't always looking for drugs. Sometimes they are looking for agricultural products (meats, fruits, vegetables, etc.)

IF you find them, you won't have to change any plans. When was your flight originally scheduled for? Some time earlier Monday morning?

How much time will you spend looking before you give up? I would hate to see you not find them and then not be able to get a seat (seats) on a different (later?) flight after you get new birth certificates.

The flight into FLL arrives 40 minutes earlier. Earlier is better, but FLL is farther away from Port of Miami. People more experienced with that route can say if it's more or less than 40 minutes farther. Though personally, I would lean towards the flight to FLL.

Anyway, I really hope you actually find the documentation you need. Then it will all be moot. You'll breathe a sigh of relief, be able to laugh about it, and go on your merry way like nothing was ever wrong.