Wendy The Wanderer

Hi, I'm reading up on this too, for our possible January cruise. Try the Ports of Call section here on CC, East Coast section, "Florida". There's lots of information there that says that parking is no problem, but I do not believe there are reservations available. They do say you should check the maps carefully and determine exactly where the right terminal is (Terminal J I believe?)

This is great information. Twice we've rented one-way cars to get to Miami and stayed overnight. Now I see there was no reason to do this. If we manage to sail this winter, we'll definitely drive to the port and park.

So you're saying that every terminal has its own parking garage. Shouldn't be hard to figure out, at.hough our cruise line is one of the smaller ones so that might be an issue. Do you know if there is porterage from the garages to the terminal entrance? I.e., if walking with luggage is an issue?

Thinking about it again, we'd probably drive over to Miami the same day and save ourselves a hotel night (unless we're Concierge perhaps.) BTW, wrong forum, but does anyone actually still park their own cars in Miami while they cruise?

Are you talking just about comparing the air programs of the two lines? If not, why not start a new thread about this? (BTW, I've done one Seabourn and quite liked it.)

We're waitlisted on the Jan. 21st cruise.

That's great if you're somewhere really interesting, but if I'm in Miami I want to board by around 1 p.m. You've also got the difficulty of luggage for the day.

We used Transfersrome Rome to Civittavecchia, info@transfersrome.com (we shared with another couple, which is easier on some other lines than Regent because of the active roll-calls.)

I agree with you Bill, but people are people. And..., the fares haven't gone down, have they? If they offered a 10% discount in recognition of the logistical difficulties of the post-pandemic hospitality industry, people would respond, I'm betting.

Yes, I've had the Guinness 0.0 in Florida. Quite nice.

Funny about taste. I didn't like St. Pauli Girl at all, and shudder at the thought of O'Douls. Heineken 0 is just ok. Anyone tried Grolsch 0?

We often in the past booked our own on Air France because they had a viable Premium Economy.

I agree! Heineken 0.0 is barely acceptable, imho. There are alternatives that are widely available now, some variety would be nice. From U.S. ports I'd add Lagunitas IPNA.

Bummer, but perhaps you can make lemonade out of this lemon. How about staying a couple of days in Sydney at the end of the cruise?

We did early, mid-December once and found the Society Islands portion quite hot and humid. But lovely overall, no rain.

We did a tuk tuk tour, perhaps 3 hours or so, half day I guess. It was great fun, and I'd definitely do it again. Can't remember the name of the company, but if you do some googling I'm sure it'll pop up. He took us around the island, to a brewery, a museum, the main marae. It was all very nice and we loved it.

Oh, I don't know about the other one then. I was thinking of this one, quote taken from a local news website, in Ontario: "Paxlovid is an oral medication that must be taken within five days of symptoms developing. Those taking the medication must take three pills, twice a day, for five consecutive days."

I thought it had to be started within 5 days of testing positive, though. Seems like a thin edge.

So, this hotel is on the site of several older ones. Can anyone remember the names? I've been in one or more of them, but the names elude me--Sofitel, Maeva something? Hotels in FP have a very limited lifespan--the beautiful Pearl on Manihi where we stayed more than 20 years ago was abandoned to the weather some time ago, now just ruins I suppose. I remember when the Radisson opened in Arue, east of downtown, and it was brand-spanking new. It wasn't many years later that people started complaining it was run down. Then it closed and I believe is now an apartment hotel of some sort.

I'd be curious about which NA beers and wines they have onboard. I think the more that people request it, the better. There's a trend here in North America and in Europe I believe, so let's make it a tidal wave. I'm not cruising anytime soon, but when I do, I'll be making those requests. Here at home in Toronto we've got some nice NA beer, but nothing like the selection in the US right now. As for NA wines, I'm finding a few that are drinkable. In the States I liked the FRe wines (especially the blended red), and Wellbeing Chardonnay. I'm sure Europe has some nice ones, but it's a matter of weeding out all the awful ones.

What people may not realize is that many people who work in the tourist industry in Alaska come north for the summer from places around the lower 48. I'm sure there is huge disruption in this process, as with all other travel. It wasn't so long ago that Canada required vaccination and testing to get into the country, and some of these folks actually drive to Alaska, believe it or not (and live in their RVs for the summer.)

I don't remember any such option when we cruised there with Regent in 2012.

This sounds like a great trip; sorry the winds have been so high the last few days--it's a bit unusual although Toronto is a windy place, but not like what we've had. Not surprising that Toronto has no fancy cruise port since there are very few cruise ships that stop here; maybe that will change in future. Would love to do this trip, since I love our lakes.

What surprised me on our Montreal-Montreal found trip down the St. Lawrence and around Nfld, was just how little colour we had a *chance* to see. As I said, I'm from the NE, so perhaps I don't notice as much. Montreal was lovely, and there was some colour on the Mountain, and Trois Rivieres was colourful, but everywhere else, not so much. This was the last week of September. It's always hit or miss when and if you can see those great displays of blazing red maples.

It really depends on what's more important to you, fall colours, or weather. We did one in the last part of September, ending on October 1st. Granted, that was around Newfoundland, and did not go down to Boston or New York. We saw very little colour, but I wasn't surprised. Trois Rivieres actually had pretty maples near the dock. Being from the Northeast, it was no big deal for us, but for some this is the most important thing. But as the days progress, the weather can deterioriate, although the weather is never guaranteed in that part of the world, more so in autumn.