jpalbny

Strange? No, but different and not tailored to classic American tastes. I posted a week's worth of menus from the September 2021 sailing on my blog. I was perfectly happy with the food. Things may be different on a charter such as Smithsonian or Tauck.

Thinking about Ponant? We have our second cruise coming up with them in March and we will have free laundry. I assume it's send out but I'm sure someone who knows will answer.

I'll reserve your loungers while you're out.

Use this link. CC must have changed the naming conventions for its web pages; probably in the 2018 upgrade. So Terry has the "old" URL in his link above. When you try to go there, the CC site automatically reroutes you to the correct page. However that automatic "redirect" makes security software freak out. I just ignored the warning and followed that link anyway, which led me to the correct URL. Linked above, and copied here for comparison: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2076101-live-amazon-river-caribbean-many-pix’s-terryohio/

We found a 2-dozen carton of brown eggs for $6.99 at our local warehouse store last weekend. Decent brand too. We were excited! Even Aldi's price was over $5 for a dozen plain white eggs. Yikes!

Bugs are similar to lobster. No worries, QSS, they go well with wine! @Lirio, so glad that you are home safely but what an ordeal! Sorry you were caught up in it.

Good point! What time is your handoff scheduled for?

Thought it was spilling wine, Stumblefoot.

bubbulz - if you can only go once, then hands down I'd choose the longer itinerary with South Georgia. The wildlife there is spectacular, and different from what you'll see in Antarctica proper. Seeing both is even better than just seeing Antarctica. We too have done separate cruises to Antarctica alone (2009) and Antarctica w/ South Georgia (2020). I did a trip report on the more recent cruise with pix and details from each stop. They are different enough that they complement each other nicely. We have not been to the Falklands. Our South Georgia itinerary was fairly unique in that regard. Also, I'd have some trepidation about the Antarctica Bridge itinerary. I don't know if you're aware, but just last week (on 1/24) there was a pretty significant issue w/ the flights. Apparently only 1 of the 3 planes made it to Antarctica to drop off pax. The other 2 had to turn back as the landing site was fogged in and not safe. So, 2/3 of the pax on last week's sailing didn't get to go at all. And the ones who stayed behind got a bonus week on board, since the next landing window is apparently tomorrow! I'd take my chances with the Drake.

Thanks for remembering the name, sea bright. It's not an "app" per se but a web-based system where you can access restaurant menus and make reservations. It ONLY works when you are onboard and connected to their wifi. Furthermore if you have a VPN set up on your mobile phone you'll have to disable that, otherwise it won't work.

He must have forgotten his pre-travel angst.

We did the Rhone on Uniworld in 2015. Very nice ship and itinerary. I did a trip report on these boards: We liked the region very much and will go back some day to fill in the gaps that we missed. We've visited Bordeaux as an overnight cruise ship stop once. The city and countryside were very scenic as well. We rented a car and drove around the area so our perspective was different from that of a river cruise. Still, a beautiful area and one that's worth an in-depth visit. Not sure you'll go wrong with either location. Or just plan to do both - one now and one later.

In 2011 before Svalbard, it was the Radisson Blu at Holberg's Gate. It was pretty standard. Best part was that it was a stop on the airport bus line, so easy to get there on our own.

Tahiti is there as French Polynesia. Easter Island is not separate; as you point out, it's included in Chile.

Not according to the rules of the century club. As long as you get off the plane, it counts! https://travelerscenturyclub.org/countries-and-territories But - we have not put stars there on our travel map so according to our "house rules" she is, of course, 100% correct. As it should be!

Mysty! When did you get to Madagascar? Did you stop there on a prior WC? We have Brazil (we visited both sides of the falls), Greenland, Svalbard, and Ukraine where you've not gone yet. Some of Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, and the Balkans) too. And Venezuela if you count Isla Margarita... I was disappointed that Antarctica isn't an option! At least we could mark South Georgia. I didn't mark Poland or Serbia, though we've been to their airports, as we never went outside of the terminal. Chris thinks it's cheating to say that we "visited" there. You've got us beat in the Far East and Southeast Asia though, by a long shot. We'll never visit Russia, and I don't know when China will let us in. We will pick up Indonesia and Singapore soon though! And Sweden in June. You've got a few more countries than we do in Africa as well - Kenya, Namibia, Ghana, Senegal... Thanks for the link!

Send lots of pictures! I think that's the only way I'll get Chris to go back to India. Don't get me wrong - she liked it too, but she doesn't feel strongly about going back. However she was bummed that we didn't get to visit tigers.

Yes Stumblefoot, we do! Back in the day, we used to overpack. And we do still own a larger suitcase that isn't carry-on size. Just in case!

Here's a shot of part of our travel room. The map is a single 5x10 foot mural with an adhesive back so we carefully attached it to the wall after drawing a level guideline. Once it was attached and adjusted I used prefinished molding to make a faux frame. Just cut the pieces to size and nailed them to the wall and voila, it looks like a real frame. On the left wall we hung some prints of our favorite wildlife shots from past trips. On the right side we have some bookshelves with old photo albums from the print days, travel books, etc. Behind me, there's a closet stuffed full of suitcases, backpacks, and other assorted travel necessities. It's fun to come up here and look for new places to go, and dream up itineraries. One-stop shopping!

National Geographic: https://www.natgeomaps.com/wall-maps/reference-maps/world Or this site: https://www.worldmapsonline.com/ That's where I bought my 5' x 10' wall map that we put on the wall of our travel room. We add stars every time we visit a new country.

Google "speed test" and run one of the tests that come up.

Can't imagine that they wouldn't - we have had flights earlier than that on prior Uniworld cruises and they arranged the transfer at an appropriate time. If it's a 2h drive and you want to be there 3h before your flight, that would be a 6:30 departure which isn't very early at all.

For our March cruise boarding in Bali, they say 4-5PM as well. And no Covid testing required. We'll see when we get there!

Krill Bill? Sound local to the Antarctic. Can't vouch for the taste...

Many places can ship but we always bring ours home with us in our checked luggage. Amazon sells blow-up wine sleeves which are flat when deflated but blow up with a bicycle pump and provide excellent protection. You can fit 3 to 4 bottles per checked bag mixed in with your clothing, depending on the size of your suitcase and how full it already is (and how close to the weight limit you are). The bags cost about a dollar each for a pack of 20. We also have two "wine checks" which are a nylon case with styrofoam inserts that hold 6 bottes each. We bought them in South Africa for about $8 each back in 2016 and brought a case of wine back from that trip. They go along with your other checked luggage and we have used them at least a half a dozen more times to bring wine back (when we want more than a few bottles). They have been to Australia, Oregon, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, etc. Of course these methods only work if you travel light and have room in your luggage for extra stuff, or if you have a large luggage allowance and can check more bags without paying extra. And if you don't mind lugging around the extra weight. But it adds almost no cost, and is cheaper than paying shipping fees from Europe (or even further away).