CruiserBruce

It depends on how many other ships are in and where the ship anchors. It also depends on your ability to get priority tendering.

I am not aware that such credits are limited by region. Occasionally by type of fare booked under, but not by region.

No HAL ship has a self service laundry.

As does HAL.

If any one has any doubts about renewing GE...today's experience at SFO...arrived from CDG at a little after 11am. Easily 500 people in line for standard Immigration procedures. 12 GE Kiosks, about 5 available when we walked up...breezed through in less than 10 minutes total for the two of us. The only thing that hung us up was a family of two adults, and two kids in their early teens. The parents had GE, the kids didn't and tried to slide by with their parents. The agent sent the kids to regular Immigration...which, again, was over 500 people long, at least. We hadn't flown into SFO since before Covid, so the procedure was a little different. We walked up to the kiosk, and were directed to center on the camera for a picture. That took about a minute per person, then processing took another 30 seconds, maybe, and we were told to "go forward in the process", which meant getting in line to meet an agent. After clearing the family with two teenagers, the agent addressed us by name as we approached...our pictures and info were on his screen. He asked if we had anything to declare. We said no, and he said "welcome home, have a good day". He never looked at our passport. We walked out to ground transport.

You should be checking out your Roll Call.

Space on a plane is money. You want more space, it's going to cost more. Simple as that. Getting a plane from point from point A to point B has a lot of fixed and locked in costs. So more space equals less seats on the plane, so each seat will cost more. Again, simple as that.

The port is not a large area...cruise ships with all their thrusters and azipods are nice, but there isn't a lot of room to work with here.

Nope. And Vancouver and Seattle are discussed daily on the West Coast Departures board. Better place, more relevant place.

Good advice to look on the Viking board. We don't know you, what your interests are, what you need to entertain you. But if you require the cruise to entertain you full time, the small ship lines may not be for you. Perhaps the larger ships with several entertainment options might be better.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! There is a whole section here devoted to Princess. Someone will give you the link, and the Mods will move it there. There will be many activities. What was "hot" in 2019 may not be popular now...expect new activities.

Hmmm...good info about the tour, but flights to the mainland on various airlines leave virtually every hour, at least until about 3pm, when the time changes make for very late arrivals. So, generally, unless you have strict destination or airline restrictions, you shouldn't have to wait too long for a flight.

Always!!!🤣

Talked to DW about this after I posted earlier. Her comment was " you would think with the high tech digital capabilities today, and part of our passports, a stamp wouldn't be required any more. They probably have a record of every time your passport has been scanned, and it could be scanned on the ship".

What city/port are we talking about? Given the general description, I think I would be looking for a towncar/Limo provider.

We tend to buy cheaper carry on bags, because they go in the overhead, and thus are only handled by us. They tend to last 8 to 10 years, so for a $40-70 investment, it seems wise. We are on a 15 day, carry on only European trip right now, and it works very well. Soft sided bags, we like the 2 wheel type, but they are harder to find. We use more expensive checked bags, as they get traumatized far more often in transit. Soft sided, but higher quality materials. Our checked bags are over 10 years old, and have been on 15 or 20 flights, plus numerous driving trips. They appear to still be in good shape.

Occasionally, someone finds out some itineraries ahead of their public releases...sometimes as much as a month ahead. This is true of both unique and routine itineraries. I can't explain how it works...its only happened to us once, a very long time ago. Frequently, when this happens, HAL will allow you to put a deposit on a generic booking on a cruise. I guess some will be concerned about a very unique cruise selling out. But we booked on an unique cruise for 2024 within 5 days of the schedule release in December, and that cruise has not sold out yet...even with a group of 500 on it. Several categories are sold out, tho.

There are many discussions here on this topic. Put it on your credit card. We have been in Europe for two weeks...spent maybe 20 euros in cash, everything else on credit card. Two meals a day, buses and trains, you name it.

I was grilled by a Dutch Immigration officer at AMS two weeks ago about exactly how long I was going to be in the EU, and where I was going to fly home from( in this case, Paris next Tuesday). There are limitations on how long you can be in the EU without a visa, so they might be trying to be clear exactly how long you have been, or will be, in the EU. There actually have been a couple of discussions related to your situation here recently. It may be something they are currently focusing on.

Hilton Paris Opera. 4 star hotel, moderately close to the major sites. Nice hotel, great customer service. Good benefits if you are a Diamond. If not, I would recommend at least buying the buffet breakfast, maybe a lounge level room. The lobby bar is gorgeous...one of the most amazing locations. You need to have a drink there, although it can get a little loud if crowded. If you can travel by public transit, train station behind the hotel, several metro lines and bus lines in the area. You absolutely don't want to drive in Paris. Definitely can recommend, and happy to answer any other questions you might have.

Have never heard anyone sail a day at sea looking at glaciers was boring. But to each, their own. You sure Sapphire actually finishes at Anchorage, as opposed to Whittier? That would be unusual. We haven't been on either ship, but on 4 Alaska cruises. We would take Sapphire.

They are recommended here every day. Many, many positive comments on them.

Hurricanes require warm air and ocean water to form and gain strength. Warm air and warm ocean water usually equals humidity. That should tell you about the weather, but Google searches for weather in a couple of possible ports would back that with data. Totally agree with @Ashland. Weather is usually way down the priority list when we plan our vacations. Yes, in the winter, some place warm is usually a goal, but otherwise, low priority.

Take a look around the board...there are many threads related to your topics. First, Civi is an hour from the airport. Rome is 75 minutes from Civi, in a different direction. Rome, the airport and the port form something of a triangle. There are some hotels in Civi, but generally not a lot of charm in Civi. I really think your family would enjoy staying in Rome. I would arrange transportation from a private company like the wonderful Rome in Limo, both airport to Rome hotel, and hotel to port. The transport will meet you outside the Customs area, and take you direct to your hotel. Then from hotel direct to the check in area at the port. Your bags will go directly to a porter, and you will receive them in your cabin. As far as navigating things like Immigration, and the boarding process at the port, it really isn't any different than any place in the US. The purpose is to get you through the process...everything is designed with that in mind. Just an extra step ir two involving passports.

Probably. But every sailing is different.