CPT Trips

Ah Berlin, great memories of my three years there back in the 1970s with the Army. If you have any interest in the-post war/pre-unification history of Berlin, consider a stop at https://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/. It’s in the former Army movie theater and the housing area for US military.

Belize City is bad port experience but the diving/snorkeling is spectacular.

Don’t forget this step. https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Rotterdam-Cruise-Terminal/Rotterdam-Centraal-Station Public transit with luggage can be challenging if you don’t pack light.

Here’s a potential stop for family cruises with kids. Neiderrhein near the border with Netherlands, a never commissioned nuclear power plant. https://jalopnik.com/this-german-amusement-park-is-inside-a-nuclear-power-pl-1845349306?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew And a special event for the scooter crowd . . . https://scooternova.com/2023/01/30/scooternova-in-wunderland-2023/

This is an interesting bridge.

I just read this article about a series of linked cruises. https://www.afar.com/magazine/american-cruise-lines-unveils-longest-ever-u-s-river-cruise?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=041023LongestEverUSCruiseLaunch&utm_content=Final&utm_term=Daily Wander Newsletter

Perhaps not the ship, but there’s a very good chance that the concierge and/or cruise director will have it.

@pontac Merci!

It did when we left port. ETA: Oi! Sorry to make you stand on your head. How can I fix this?

Belgium = beer+chocolate, a winning formula! Hope you enjoy your trip.

Rather than a baseball cap or a toque unless it’s either wicked hot or arctic cold, I prefer this look for travel.

Interesting that the discussion turned to Roebling. His wire rope manufacturing facility combined with the steel mill and company town his family built were the primary reasons that the lift bridge I posted above was required rather than a lower clearance bridge. Both of those received their raw materials via ship.

You call that scary? Buy that engineer a new slide rule.

It might be a good idea to install WhatsApp on your phone if you don’t have international calling.

The Burlington-Bristol bridge crossing the Delaware River circa 1930.

One advantage to the small ships (~100 pax or less) is that they can dock in city centers when the big guys can only get within an hour (or more) drive or must moor out and tender in. @Host Jazzbeau may be able to add to the list of more atypical cruise lines.

Just back from two weeks in Italy. We were in Rome the day of a Europa Cup match against a Spanish team. Major tourist sites were barricaded. Spanish Steps were closed and there were barricades around the fountain in the piazza there. Entries into the piazza were well policed, including the fashion police strictly enforcing “no colors.” the steps leading down to Trevi fountain were also blocked. The next week we were in Naples the day after a Champions League match against a German team. German “fans” came to Naples despite being banned from the stadium. There was violence and rioting both before and after the match. As for the finals, the match starts at 10 pm so plenty of time for non-ticketed fans to “warm up.”

Check out Grand Circle Cruise Line. They have a number of Med itineraries that cover from the Suez Canal all the way to Gibraltar, as well as itineraries that cover the Western European coast, the British Isles, and the Baltic on ships that range from 50 to 100 pax.

Just wondering if anyone can give an update on this ship.

January cruises out of NY/NJ were problematic several years ago as a number of large private schools in theNYC area ran family charters during their winter break. Rumors on this board were that the cruise lines “ banned” those groups.

We recently cancelled a trip just days before departure. I won’t say the claims process was easy, but it was straightforward. The most troublesome part was assembling proof of payment as we made multiple payments from different accounts and ccs. First step of claim process was having it reviewed for completeness and for a covered reason, then evaluated to determine whether the claim was payable, finally auditing and payment. At each step we were told “5 to 10 business days” for the specific process. Each took 10 days and the money was in our account in six weeks, 30 business days. The entire process was completed electronically on their website. It helps to have a scanner and also be OCD.

I’m sitting in a hotel room in Sorrento Italy using a floor lamp that has a cord that looks similar to the 18 gauge lamp cords I use at home. A CPAP typically has a wattage about like a light bulb. It doesn’t seem like a “normal” 16 gauge extension card would be a risk.

My basic German is basic . . . ein bier, Weiss wein bitte and a few more survival Deutsch phrases. I use it enough to demonstrate I’m trying and that seems to help the other party switch to English - which almost always is much better than my German.

Did I miss a major change in the TSA claim process ( or anything else) in the last 20+ years? 😉🙄

This should be one of the things your TA takes care of for your group. Talk to them and have them make the group dining arrangements. We have been on two cruises with similarly sized groups. In both cases, the TA arranged our dining room seating at adjacent tables. Due to our group sizes we had more than one wait team, the Assistant Maitre’d did a great job coordinating service. The group leader did speak with the maitre’d shortly after boarding. We met for before dinner drinks nightly at a specific bar. Even the non-drinkers showed up. The first night we just sort of stumbled into each other. After that we arranged at dinner who would show up early at the bar the next night. Drinks and dinner was the bulk of our together time. We purposely tried to avoid being “joined at the hip” for other times. That said, it was amazing how often we ran into several others at breakfast and during the afternoon.