CPT Trips

Just to stir the pot. 😉
Matildas or Lionesses?

Revenge for The Ashes?

21 hours ago, Coral said:

At one time in the US - we did refer to those as thongs. Like in the '70's and '80's.

And Zorrys in the ‘50s and ‘60s. 

We’re trying a different approach than many described here whe we spend two weeks in December along and on the Nile. We’ll have five nights on a dehabeya as we go from Luxor to Aswan. 
 

On 8/12/2023 at 5:39 AM, Canal archive said:

It feels like we sneak out of Honfluer as we’re all fast asleep, Only four cruise companies have the required boats and crew to tackle the maritime section of the Seine and moor up in Honfluer harbour, if you get the chance to cruise on one of them do so it’s a river cruising experience not to be missed.

An overnight or two or three in Honfleur is definitely a treat.
Grand Circle does not do a Paris round trip, instead a one way Paris to Honfleur or the reverse. Two nights on the ship in Paris and three in Honfleur. 

@Daisi We always enjoyed PFK chicken lunch when in PQ. 

9 hours ago, Canal archive said:

.

Ohh I once - in my youth started an - English/American dictionary I must look for it. 
Fawcet-tap, Lift-elevator and so on and so forth

Well, we need an American/American dictionary. 
soda - pop

hoagie - sub - grinder

spaghetti sauce - gravy

6 minutes ago, UDChE89 said:

With all our dialects, it seems like there’s more than one American language in the US.

I don’t consider myself bilingual based on my ability to speak and understand Southern (purportedly English too) 🙄😉

Then there’s the language conundrum. 
I just read this in a news feed about how you know when you are fluent in another language. Although I often revert to German when I smash my foot, I’m far from fluent. 😎

• “I knew I’d reached a French milestone when I could understand my neighbor’s hallway fights with her boyfriend.”—Elizabeth from Washington, DC
• “When you get pulled over for a traffic violation and you can nervously stammer your way out of it in the local tongue.”—Mark from Houston, TX
• “When you smash your foot into something, and the resulting profanity that follows is not in English.”—Josh from Shenzhen, China
• “After 10 years of marriage to a German, I know the answer: It’s when you are super mad about something and can still form a clear and convincing argument.”—Lizzy from Munich, Germany
• “I could be a Dungeon Master for a D&D campaign with that language.”—Phillip from the Bronx
• “When you can comfortably flirt and enjoy it!”—Shayda from CA

What do you call someone that speaks three or more languages? Multilingual. 
And someone that speaks two languages? Bilingual 

And someone that speaks one language? American

On 8/10/2023 at 7:40 PM, chengkp75 said:

Given the chlorine level in cruise ship hot tubs, I doubt the hot tub is the culprit.  Hot tubs on ships are required to maintain between 3-10ppm free chlorine at all times, which is far higher than private hot tubs on land.  This chlorine level is monitored in real time, 24/7, and sounds an alarm when not in range.

If it’s not the “bugs” and other stuff that grows on Petri dishes, it’s possibly the chemicals added to keep them out. 

@Coral it’s not only Australia. And it’s not just vacation time and geography. Think parental leave, affordable healthcare, childcare, etc. 

I would definitely research a DIY for this. That will allow you to decide whether the value added by doing Viking is worthwhile. Transport in Paris isn’t difficult or expensive. 
Also, you’ll be prepared for “we won’t be doing this excursion, not enough people signed up.”

@Kristelle Thank you for the information. I just assumed Melbourne was southern Australia. Didn’t realize South Australia was a political subdivision name. 

@Kristelle May I turn your question back on you? We are heading your way.
What kind of weather can I expect in Melbourne and Sydney in the later half of September. 

Thanks

My suggestion of a Mexican pharmacy was not price based. It was availability based, Mexican ports do have a reputation similar to the former Brock dining establishment in Stockbridge. 😉😎

The official NZ app or website did not ask for payment until the final step when the application is complete. Based on the price you paid, you likely used the website rather than the ap. 

Sorry, I couldn’t rein in my sarcasm.
 

Buy more in Mexico. 

Check out this thread on Ports of Call . . . https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2903275-australia-visas/

On 7/27/2023 at 3:04 PM, grnidlad8 said:

Question on the Australian ETA app...

Nowhere can I find if seflies are allowed while enrolling in the ETA.  Everything I see just says take a photo, assuming someone else is taking your photo.  When I google the specific topic, it says NO SELFIES are accepted. However, the Australian official website doesn't go into whether or not selfies are actually allowed.  

Has anyone taken a selfie and already arrived in Australia by doing so?  Any problems? 

I applied and was approved over the weekend. It helps to have a steady hand and patience 😀
The app takes the photo for you when you have you face aligned properly. You don’t upload a photo that you took previously. You can do a selfie, that’s how the app opened my camera, or you can switch to the main camera. The selfie mode was difficult for DW as she couldn’t get the camera far enough away. YMMV
You also need to use your phone’s camera to scan the info page of your passport. In addition, you need to use your phone to read the passport chip. Take your case off as the phone must be directly on the passport

@SargassoPirate Thanks. 

On 7/21/2023 at 7:49 AM, SargassoPirate said:

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I have carried an annual travel policy with AIG for years.  It runs just over $500 per year and covers us for all travel - not just cruises - more than 150 miles from home.  Train trips, road trips, motorcycle trips, air travel, etc.

 

I figure the money we've save by not buying cruise line insurance over the years has been money best used elsewhere.

Is this comprehensive coverage or medical only?

On 7/18/2023 at 8:46 AM, dianfarmer said:

We are in our 70’s . I have a pacemaker and Afib. My husband has high cholesterol. In order to have trip insurance we need to purchase it with in so many days after deposit is made even though we can cancel up until final payment is made and get the deposit back. If this happens then we are out the premium for the insurance which is over $700 for our next cruise. Many people our age have something medically wrong. What insurance do you find to be the best?

If you cancel your cruise and do not have a claim many companies will allow you to roll your insurance to another trip. 

On 7/12/2023 at 3:01 PM, Tedferg said:

Clarification please. You say 'Ask for Picture', from the instructions it seems the App takes a picture. i.e. not take a picture and then upload.

It is more than semantics. The Australia app takes the picture “automatically” when you get everything positioned correctly. For us, the app opened the camera in selfie mode. It took me a while to get everything positioned correctly for my photo. A real PITA. DW is short and she couldn’t get the camera far enough away from her face. Fortunately i could change the camera and take the photo for her. 
I had similar problems, as well as glare issues positioning things to scan in info page of the passports. 
Once I took the phone case off, there wasn’t a problem reading the chip. I also discovered that both the phone and case needed a good cleaning. 
One last suggestion, use a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees when paying. 

On 7/26/2023 at 2:16 PM, Zach1213 said:

 

"Only" is not quite the right term if you ask me. ETIAS will be required by the majority of countries in Europe, and many of the countries that aren't using ETIAS are the ones less-visited by tourists (not talking UK or Ireland of course, but places Belarus, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Albania, and places like that). The vast majority of countries a cruiser or other holiday-goer to Europe will visit will require an ETIAS. 

Your post is mostly correct. But The Republic of Ireland is an EU member so ETIAS will be needed to visit all but the small portion of the Island still occupied. 

13 hours ago, pontac said:

Walking back to the boat in most towns is easy, even if you can't see river. Keep heading down hill, the river will be at the lowest point.

This was my preferred method of land navigation before I switched service to T-Mobile. Downhill, stop at river, look left and right, spot ship, and walk that way. 

6 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

(AT&Ts plan is $10 a day up to like a $100 per month cap or something similar, there are other ways to do it like prepaid SIMs)

Data is free on T-Mobile. Voice is billed by the minutes used, $0.25 per minute iirc. We use WhatsApp for local voice. A high percentage of people in the tourism industry and even many businesses serving tourists use it.