Traveling Fools
-
Posts
1,205 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by Traveling Fools
-
-
The first time I bought travel insurance was in 1981 for travel aboard a chartered type airline to Germany with a family of 5. Things came up at work that forced us to cancel the trip. Thank God we bought the insurance.
The 2nd time we used our travel insurance was in January 2010. We were days away from leaving home for a cruise of the Galapagos. Our oldest daughter was a victim of an attempted murder and hospitalized with life threatening gunshot wounds. If we hadn't bought travel insurance we would have lost more than $10,000.
Ironically, 2-years later a former colleague, and neighbor and his wife booked a cruise to the Galapagos. While on the cruise, he suffered from a ruptured bowel. While he survived this near death incident and his private insurance covered most of his medical expenses (he was in an Ecuadorian hospital for several weeks) they couldn't afford to pay for medical evacuation to the states.
-
Are you on the on the TA cruise? When were you in the 11 ACR?
Mike
Mike,
No we are not on the TA cruise. Blackhorse 69 to 70 RVN...Allons Brother
-
Kudos to NCL for being upfront about this problem. In Feb 2004, DW & I were booked on a 14 night South American from BA to Valparaiso aboard X's Infinity. We departed BA on time, but were hours late arriving in Montevideo. No explanation was given. We continued to experience both departure and arrival delays. X finally fessed up and told us the ship had a faulty Pod, but that a repair team was being flown in to make repairs. Two port calls were cancelled, the most significant being the Falkland Islands. Both British and Argentine passengers who had booked the cruise specifically to honor war dead were livid that X had not been upfront from the get-go and offered them an opportunity to re-book the same cruise in 2005. Both groups were aware that weather sometime prohibits putting passengers ashore in the Falklands, but came prepared to toss wreaths into the sea from aboard ship. Regardless, X made no attempt to even reach the Islands. The compensation for the delays and missed port calls, two 1-hour open bar, no offers of a fare reduction for a future cruise, just two hours of free booze. For most passengers that meant maybe 2 free drinks each per open bar. (The crush of passengers lining up to swill free booze limited the the number of passengers and drinks the bar staff could serve.)
-
Once you book a balcony, there is no turning back. I wouldn't book anything less than a balcony. It just adds another dimension to the cruising experience! And Hey, it is his 50th...do it and enjoy the drinks.:)
-
Sweet!
-
I live in Northeaster Florida, 3-4 hours one way from Orlando. We have family and friends who live all over the world and, when they visit, Orlando is on their bucket list. For that reason we always suggest they fly into and out of Orlando, and allow 4-5 days to do the park thing. For visitors arriving from abroad, we suggest they see the parks on their way home. That way jet lag won't interfere with park time.
If you consider a 4 hour round trip to any of the Orlando area parks to spend perhaps only 4 hours in a park that requires 1 or more days to see at $100 or more per person per day, go for it. If you decide to go that route, then spend the extra bucks for an escorted ticket.....but beware of the sticker shock!
Given the young ages of the children (3,4,5 8) I would pass on Orlando and, as has been suggested, do the Kennedy Space Center experience. It will be a lot less stressful for both adults and children.
To really enjoy and experience a Orlando park holiday, make it just that. Don't try to squeeze a size 9 into a size 6.
-
Choose a watering hole and on day one, use both of your cards for the first couple of drinks, spend some time engaging with the bartenders, and tip them in cash. I have found this simplifies everything.
-
5 Years ago we had booked a Galapagos cruise with another cruise line. I am a very seasoned world traveler and elected to book my own airfare. I later compared the cost of airfare to Quito and found any savings I made by booking myself was marginal.
40 days before we were scheduled leave a family emergency regarding one of our adult daughters forced us to cancel the cruise. Fortunately, I purchased trip protection for both the cruise and airfare (even though I never thought I would need it).
Although we eventually reimbursed by both the cruise and air lines, I had to submit two separate claims. On review, I realized, much to my chagrin, the miserly savings I made on the airfare cost us more than the x2 fees we paid for both the air and cruise trip protection policies. Further, instead of dealing with just 1 insurance carrier I had to deal with 2. Bottom line, booking separate air was a mistake!
-
It won't hurt sending an email to pre-cruise concierge expressing your desire for the Spa package.
-
Got off the Star on Sept 22nd. We had a suite and were celebrating our 40th anniversary. Informed the pre-cruise concierge of such and requested assistance in booking the Chef's Table. Was informed by the Star's concierge when we checked in that our request had been honored and that the meal was scheduled for Sept 20th; our anniversary. What a treat!
Excellent food and service. Plenty of good wine to wash things down.
One other couple was in a suite, but I do not know if any of the other guests at the table were or were not.
Dress ranged from open collar button down shirt sans sports coat or blazer, to tuxedo (that was us).
Because the cruise ended 36 hours later, we really didn't have time for follow-up socializing with our table mates.
Photos attached.
-
Ship - Solstice
Deck - 12
Cabin # - 2130
Class – Sky Suite (Handicap Accessible)
Starboard or Port Side – Starboard Aft (not stern)
Bed near?(balcony or bath) – Centered
Quiet Cabin –This cabin and others along both the starboard and port aft sides (not stern cabins) are directly under the Ocean View Café and are subject to beaucoup noise all hours of the day and night.
Balcony View – Unobstructed
Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? – Oversized
Was wind a problem? -- No…. Regardless of class of cabin and location, you will experience wind tunnel effect if you have both your balcony and cabin doors open.
If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? -- No
Any specific problems with this cabin? – None
Any other comments? – Because this is a handicap accessible cabin, it has several unique features. 1) This cabin is larger than the standard Sky Suite. 2) Your key card, handicap button inside the cabin, or manual operation of the door handle results in the cabin door opening automatically. It is impossible to manually close it; you have to wait until it closes itself. This feature allows ample time for wheel-chaired passengers to enter and exit the cabin. 3) The primary closet’s clothes rod has a lever a wheel-chaired passenger can pull lowering the rod and providing easy access to hanging clothes. The hanging rod in the secondary closest is half-length and at wheel-chair level. While this provides easy access to a wheel-chaired guest, it is so low you cannot hang trousers on it and reduces the amount of available hanging space. 4) The shower is designed to accommodate wheel chairs. There is a tiled ridge that runs the length of the shower designed and intended to keep the shower water inside the shower. It is not very effective and water will flow onto the bathroom floor. Stateroom attendants will lay two bath towels lengthwise to absorb the water. The controls and hand wand are easily accessible.
-
Ditto with what Florida Bill said...we arrived via ship in Feb '04 and did not pay the fee. Stayed in Sanitago for 2 nights.
Celebrity Japan Millie Excursions Qs
in Celebrity Cruises
Posted
Hi, We lived in Tokyo from 1992 to 1996 and frequently traveled in and out of Narita. Subsequent business trips until my retirement took me to the Tokyo area from 1996 to 2001. While I'm sure some things have changed , others haven't; e.g. vehicular capacity on expressways from Tokyo or Yokohama to Narita. Other factors to consider is the day of the week you will be making the trip and the relative effect that departure date will influence the number of passengers departing Japan for either business or pleasure.
As a rule of thumb, we always departed for the airport 3 to 4 hours before the scheduled flight departure. (The exception being if we took the train to the airport. Trains are not going to be halted because of traffic congestion.) Another consideration is, if your luggage is tagged and expedited directly from the ship to the airlines.
On one occasion, the trip from Tokyo City Air Terminal to Narita took more than 3 hours, and the line of passengers waiting to clear outbound immigration was outrageously long.My daughter and I made the flight only because as diplomats we were able to by-pass the lines at the outbound immigration station.
I Celebrity does not offer the service to check your bags directly to the airport. The odds are you will wait in a line to check them and and then another line to go thru Immigration.
I guess what I am suggesting is that if you do anything between when you disembark and the departure of your flight home, book it thru Celebrity. Let them suck up the cost if something happens that keeps you from making your flight.