Zach1213

Damn we better figure these earth laws out soon, it's only 40 years until Zefram Cochrane invents the warp drive and then we have a whole universe of legal issues.

I gotcha, just jokin' around

The best part of being a dual citizen is that you get to have two people fighting over which one loves you more 🙂

So if, for example, the ship went from Miami to Nassau and then didn't stop again until, say, France or Pakistan for that matter, would it default to Bahamian law and thus negate any fact that it left the USA?

Damn, it's almost like my response immediately above yours was:

There are a few airport hotels at/near BNE. I've stayed at the Pulman and it was nice. That being said, transit in Brisbane is pretty easy, so do consider staying in the city centre if you want to explore at all.

I did it once for the hell of it. Once. Yeah, just not worth it when flights are so frequent and affordable. Even renting a car and driving is more enjoyable, but still pretty boring.

Not counting connection times, the closest thing to a "straight line" between YYZ and BKK, and between DPS and YYZ, would be through somewhere in East Asia (Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, and Shanghai). So that's the way I would personally go. I believe your best bet on connections, weighing out price + time, would be either Seoul or Taipei. Seoul offers a flight with about a 5 hour connection there, and a short 1 hour on the way back...not ideal, but worth a shot in my book (especially with J class priority). EVA Air via Taipei has a 1h50 connection on the way out, and a massive 23 hour connection on the way back, but that just opens the door to grab a hotel and spend a few hours in wonderful Taipei. So those are the two routes I would personally go down if I were in your shoes. If I had to choose one - Taipei with the long connection.

That's the issue I've had too. And, while I travel a ton, my travel can be fairly last minute so setting up an appointment at an intermediary airport has been tricky. My initial interview was at DFW on a layover, but I missed a connection and was lucky they accepted me two hours late. First renewal did require an interview (I believe because my travel patterns are...odd...and I visit some...sketchy...places) and, again, had to time it with a layover at O'Hare which was difficult. Second renewal didn't require one, thankfully!

St. Maarten/Martin is perfectly safe. Grab a taxi and go wherever you want, just give yourself plenty of time to get back.

Same. I'm an avid runner and being up early to get a run in before it gets busy is a pretty regular thing for me. I then grab coffees and bring them back to the cabin where my wife is, mostly likely, still passed our and sprawled across the bed. Arrivals/departures, both at our origin/destination port(s) and the ports in between, is one of the reasons we always get a balcony. Nothing better than being outside, drink in hand, with just my wife, watching the goings on of the port and then watching the land slip away.

Just think of it as a good way to burn off the calories of each drink while getting the next 🙂

"Can be" really should say "always is". I've never seen that place not be a mess. Spanish efficiency at its finest 🙂

My hot take of the day is that I would definitely just stay in Trieste because it's better than Venice. Venice isn't bad per se, but I do think it's just about the most overrated city in Europe (the world?), and Trieste is a nice little city with nice sites, affordable hotels, and better restaurants. And, as pointed out above, Trieste is quite a distance from Venice so unless you really, really, really want to be in Venice, I would either just use Venice as a place to fly in to, or skip it all together and fly in to Trieste (limited flights, but possible via Frankfurt on Lufthansa/Air Dolomiti, for example flying BOS-FRA-TRS). One other option is actually to fly in to Ljubljana, in Slovenia, and hire a chauffeured car to take you from there to Trieste. Ljubljana has more flights than Trieste, and the drive is shorter than from Venice (and is shorter than the train from Venice too). So, don't count out Ljubljana.

On most cruise lines, the food is so mediocre that it's basically just fuel to us. It's not, but it's not usually all that good. So why waste time at a restaurant when we can just fuel up and do something more fun, even if that something is just the two of us sitting together on the balcony.

Lima in itself is a pretty cool city. If it's more than just a sleep over in Lima, I would definitely stay in the city (versus the airport) and enjoy it.

I mean, France is gonna France and RER is gonna RER, and who knows if there will be another strike and/or riot when OP flies in, but I don't see the current issues still causing havoc in June. I would say it's something to think about, but not necessarily plan around. Just my personal thoughts.

Monaco is amazing if you have money. I mean, I don't, but I know someone who lives there and does, and I can assure you it's phenomenal in that way. As just a "regular" tourist, I agree it's a bit...meh. I remember going as a kid and being excited that it was the first Formula One track that I walked the entirety of. Funchal's finest I've never cruised in to Naples, but have stayed in Sorrento right on the water a few times and the view across to Vesuvius and Naples never ceases to amaze. Ridiculously underrated part of Europe. Tallinn is my favorite mid-sized European city.

Oh I've definitely been "walked". Got "walked" at a hotel in Singapore three times in a row before I realized I just should stop booking there haha. That's just not how I read the post...I read it as "I showed up and they told me to eff off", which I have never encountered personally.

The good news is that 12:30pm is after most of the non-Schengen flights arrive. Yes, there are of course still some, and yes, they tend to pull staff off as demand goes down, but I think it's still a benefit that you are arriving on the later side for a non-Schengen arrival. Based on my experience (caveat is I am by no means a frequent CDG flyer), you can expect about 45-60 minutes to get from plane to curbside with the assumptions that (a) you have a non-EU/non-EEC passport, and (b) you do not have any kind of priority status (frequent flyer status, business/first class, etc.) that could speed up baggage delivery. Since you didn't provide the location of your hotel, I can't tell if your 30-45 minutes is correct, but would recommend checking Google Maps directions between CDG and your hotel at the same time (roughly 1:30pm on the same day of week, local Paris time) for a couple of weeks in a row to get an idea of average time.

I, personally, always hesitate to put an agency between myself and my end product (air, hotel, rental car, whatever). There can be some pros (mostly price), but a lot of cons if something goes wrong. I have zero experience with Priceline, so this isn't a reflection on them at all, but is it really a significant savings versus booking each directly with the provider?

Breeze Airways just announced a route between Charleston, WV and Charleson, SC. What could go wrong... 🙂

That's interesting, I have never come across a hotel turning people away for a reservation that has been secured with a credit card. I have a lot of experience flying in to places in Asia and Africa at weird hours like that and they always take me in, or charge me if I just flat-out no show. Never had a place say "nope, we can't check you in any more".

I love meeting locals. I am not trying to form any friendships per se, but for example I love hitting up local bars and restaurants and chatting with people there. Sure, I love seeing the "sites", but I get just as much if not more of out seeing how the locals live. And as someone who is from a fairly obscure African country, I love nothing more than seeing visitors in our local places attempting to do the same.