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Yes, will want to bid for an upgrade on the Air Canada site. I would first try to pull up your booking on aircanda.com . Both Lufthansa and Air Canada run on the same computer system (Amadeus), so its usually the same booking reference (sometimes called locator) for both. Answer the question of "can you upgrade" is difficult. You have three companies involved, the cruise line, Lufthansa and Air Canada. That said, the one that actually matters is Air Canada since they will decide what seat your in and charge any upgrade fee directly to you. If you have the booking reference and your last name. Go the upgrade website and pull it up. It is either going to let you put in a bid or you don't qualify. I have had them in past clear me for an upgrade weeks before the flight if they need the space. Pays to do it early.

I am assuming your on Air Canada. The good news is Barcelona is not a major business destination out of Canada. So there are not going to be a lot of paid business class passengers. That means there are more seats available for upgrade. Air Canada uses a biding process where online you identify how much your willing to pay to get an upgrade. They usually clear all of these upgrades and the ones from their loyalty program around 48 hours before departure. Bid as early as you can, they will sometimes clear them early, especially if they need to free up seats in economy. This is where you can go to bid: https://upgrade.plusgrade.com/offer/AirCanada?lang=en Nearly all the widebodies AC aircraft are three class aircraft. Economy, Premium Economy and International Business Class (branded as Signature Class). Premium Economy is similar to what your would call domestic First Class in the US. Not a true international business class seat but a definite upgrade. There may be one of two widebodies floating around with just two classes, economy and premium economy that is much closer to business class. I think they usually get allowed to the flights to Algeria and Morocco.

I have done the Jewel, Jade and EPIC. The Solo meetup on NCL is fine. You have to keep in mind NCL programs are by design very unstructured. You can attend the meet up if you want to or not. The host will organise dinner reservations if people want to go to a specific restaurant as a group. Some people will want to do dinner others will chat about port calls and maybe organise something on their own. There is no fixed agenda/program that is in anyway pushed the ship. The Studio on the larger ships have that shared lounge that is only available to those in studios. Not all singles are in studio and depending on pricing sometimes it may be cheaper to get a different type of cabin as a single. The studio has a cappuccino machine and I always liked the continental breakfast. You can start your day sitting down in a quite place with a coffee and pastry without the rush of the buffet.

There is a taxi stand at both domestic and international arrivals. I would not be worried about lack of taxis. Your likely to get a Toyota hybrid and not a town car as a taxi. A certain percentage will be van taxi's that are able to take a wheelchair. The airport has some standards for things like vehicle age, driver training and how clean the taxi is. They are safe, drives are trained and your heading to a fairly high end hotel in a nice part of the city. As martincath said it is fixed price. Uber at airports always involves multiple people waiting looking for their car. I would not have security concerns about either option.

The baggage fee from US to Canada is $30US for the first bag $50 for second. Going back it is also $30 and $50 but in CDN. Cheaper. So if each of you are bringing bags it is only $30 for each of you.

If your on the Air Canada non-stop you check in with Air Canada. You will need the locator or ticket number. When you pull up the booking in Air Canada you can attach your Aeroplan or United miles number to the booking. If there is any special benefits that cross over they will when doing that. It is unusual to see credit card benefits cross over like that. You should be able to select seats ahead of time on the Air Canada site. Free if you have a Flex or higher economy ticket. There is a fee if it is a lower class fee. If you fly enough with united to get status in United's loyalty program that will also get you free bags on Air Canada.

What you may encounter is airlines on their websites may sometimes chose to supress some interline options that are available. For example a Delta flight making a connection to an America flight. These exist and a travel agency or a third party website will have access to all of these. The airlines call center people may also have access to these. As long as they are ticketed under the same ticket number there is nothing wrong with them in principle. Usually these more obscure interline flights are expensive. However if its a cruise line that is working with unpublished rates these may sometimes have a combination of fares that makes it attractive.

BC Connector will get you all the way to downtown. They did suspend service for a short period during COVID but have added the service back. I though there was mention in the threat earlier about car rental. Victoria is a very walkable city and you can get buy without a car if your staying downtown. Parking in downtown Victoria can be a bit challenging in summer. The city owns several parkades that use the same pay parking systems as the street parking. You can pay at the machines or using the app. Parking is $3 for 1 hour $5 for 2 hours; $6 for 3 hours etc.

If your looking at having a rental car in Victoria my suggestion would be do the BC Ferries Connector from Downtown Vancouver to Swartz Bay Terminal. With that setup you would take the Connector onto the ferry but you would be walking off the ship on the Victoria side. There are always a stand of taxis at the Swartz Bay terminal and it is a very short taxi ride from their to the Victoria Airport where you can pickup a rental car. That way your pickup and returning your rental at the same place.

I would second the comment on Costco. Over the last year or so I have found the best deal on car rental in Canada through Costco.

Unless you have a lot of bags the cruise ship transfer is not a big deal. The cruise terminal is located on a lower level below the Pan Pacific. Across the street from the Fairmount Waterfront. Both are very nice hotels.

I would normally suggest public transit, Skytrain (metro/subway system in Vancouver) is excellent. However with the mobility issues having a car may make sense. The port is actually a terminal in downtown Vancouver. If you google for it is called "Canada Place". The Canada Place complex has the convention center on the ground level; Pan Pacific hotel above; Cruise Terminal is on a lower level under the convention center. It is surrounded by high-rise condo towers and office buildings. You will find most major car rental outlets will have outlets within a few blocks of the cruise terminal however they are located in parkades of office towers. So it is a bit tricky to find. There are lots of attraction downtown including museums, galleries, etc. The airport is located in an area called Richmond. If your staying out in Richmond I would avoid the downtown venues and go for the ones with good parking. Stevenson Harbour is a historic fishing/canning area in Richmond. Lots of historic buildings, some good restraints etc. Richmond has a large Asian community. There is a number of shopping complex that are full of Asia shops. Aberdeen Centre would be the main one. You probably don't want to come all this way to do shopping but their is outdoor outlet mall near the airport. Going over the bridge into Vancouver,... If you are in to gardens Queen Elizabeth Park has a fantastic view of the city, a conservatory and rose garden and a restraint with a great view of the city. Vandusen botanical garden is traditional garden. There is also a Japanese Garden at the University of British Columbia. I would normally suggest the Museum of Anthropology however they are closed for seismic upgrades. Granville Island in Vancouver has a public market in a historic building, lots of artisan workshops and specialty shops surrounding it. The Vancouver Museum is also outside the downtown core and tends to have revolving exhibits. In North Vancouver..... If you don't mind driving, Grouse Mountain is in North Vancouver and there is a gondola that takes you up to the top of the mountain.

My advise is find a hotel in downtown Vancouver, explore Vancouver and then catch Amtrak on Saturday from Vancouver to Seattle. Spend some time in Seattle and gab your flight on Sunday. If you don't want to spend time in Seattle there are shuttle buses from Vancouver direct to the airport in Seattle. However the train is a much more comfortable experience. Save Victoria for a future trip.

The stretch between the Casino is a bit of transition area from industrial/warehousing to retail. That said it is perfectly safe. No 3 Road would the main road, but there is also a short cut along a path between some industrial building. It is a safe area.

All the airlines have medical desks. If you let them know in advance they will arrangement if required ahead of time.

I think the normal expectation is for the passenger to bring their medication in a cooler and the airline can provide ice in flight if needed. I am assuming your on Air Canada. If so they have a medical desk that makes those types of special arrangements. There some contact info under the questions tab. You could give them a call. https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/plan/accessibility.html#/home:

The reference you have is causing me to second guess what I said. The EU wording is weird.... European Union common questions: "15 I have a valid long stay visa/residence permit for a country that is part of the Schengen area. Do I need another visa to travel to other Schengen states? No. A long stay visa or a residence permit issued by a Schengen State allows you to travel or stay in other Schengen States, while respecting the maximum duration of a “short stay” (a stay of "90 days in any 180 day period")." https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/frequently_asked_questions_en.pdf I have had some family/friends stay longer in Portugal and usually already have to leave enter via another country given how flights work out. I looked it up on the Portuguese website and it is different there as well: https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/prorrogar-permanencia/

Perhaps a bit more upscale. The Fairmount Vancouver Airport is actually in the terminal building and a very nice hotel. Pacific Gateway Hotel has a shuttle bus. It is an independent brand but comparable. There is a nice restaurant on a pier that stretches into the river. This is on the airport property and mostly surrounded by airport buildings. The same shuttle will take you to the outlet mall. As others have suggested the River Rock Casino is on the Canada (subway) Line that is closest to the hotel. This is mostly an industrial area. Not a lot outside the casino and a few other hotels. The Vancouver Airport Marriot Hotel in Richmond has a free shuttle. It is located in Richmond town center. That area around the hotel is very walkable. Good number of restraints and coffee shops etc. Just across the street is Richmond center that is a major shopping center. Hudson's Bay Company is the major anchor department store but it has a wide selection of all the major brands from the Apple store to footlocker. More suburb feel than downtown Vancouver. Lots of Asian restraints and shops.

Your asking what NCL is going to do. That is a good question. They may not even notice or may be confused. Generally a Schengen visa extension or long stay visa is just that. It may be issued by one of the countries in the region but valid across the entire region. There is effectively no passport check between Portugal and Spain. Not clear anyone in Spain would even be looking at any visas or passports. Are you on one of these cruises that stops in Morocco? If so you are leaving Schengen and re-entering. So the period starts all over again. If your in Canada trying to talk to Portugal's consulate good luck. I find they are very hard to get a hold of.

It is a weird one. It is a federal government of Canada document that is generated by the provincial government. You will notice it has a provincial logo in the left and the government of Canada logo in the right. The feds have standing and agreement with other countries who will accept and may verify the document. While provinces have the raw data that is needed to populate it. Same thing with the old fashion vaccine passports that have been used for years. The federal government would supply blank passport books to the provincial health regions who would complete and issue them updating the federal database in the process when issues or updated.

I used WestJet to the US last week. Was asked to confirm that I was vaccinated as part of online checkin but was not asked to update proof. Was not asked at US customs in Calgary on the connection. However I agree with others, you should bring along proof of vaccination should someone ask for it. Vaccination is a legal requirement for Canadians to enter the US.

Air New Zealand and Air Canada are codeshare partners. Air Canada will very likely issue you a Air New Zealand boarding pass. in Terrace or online when you check in for the first fight. If seats assignments are not available for some reason it will likely say something "to be assigned".. if for some reason Air Canada can't print the boarding pass, just bring along a copy of your booking to show them. to go from domestic to international.

If you want a bench mark. Pre ordering the 1L bottles on Air Canada duty free is $35 CDN (or $28 if buying two bottles). Delivered to your seat on your return flight. To take advantage of the option, you will need a friend to walk the second bottle through Canadian customs. https://acdutyfree.com/crown-royal-canadian-whisky-1l Should note, it is only offered on flights leaving Canada. So you probably don't want to do this but it provides a bench mark.

The OP is heading to Canada so it sounds like it be International to International. They indicated it would be a Delta-WestJet connection. International-International are rare at US airports to the point I don't think any of them are setup to do that type of connection without claiming bags or bypassing US customs for the hour or two your in the US. Most US airports don't even have separate international concourses. Much better to make that type of connection in Europe or Canada.

The two wine/lquor stores that are within walking distance to your hotel are around a 10 minute walk. They are going to be fairly small retail locations with some selection but not a lost of speciality items. JAK'S Beer Wine Spirits at 8555 Sea Island Way #135, Richmond, BC V6X 0A8 and Bridgeport Liquor Store at 3031 Beckman Pl, Richmond, BC V6X 3R2 If you want to get a felling for what is offered, they have an online shopping option at https://www.jaks.com/ If you want a larger selection your going to want to go over to a BC Liquor store or get a hotel near one. Yes, I would do credit cards. You can also do Uber if that is an option your comfortable with.