pilot123texas

I keep on my phone copies of our passports, driver's license, and visa (if any), vaccination cards, credit card phone numbers to report a stolen card, pictures of the outside of any prescription meds we are taking, telephone numbers of our doctors, our itineraries, boarding passes, ticket confirmation numbers, hotel phone numbers and address, and cruise line/ship numbers. Yes, I have all that in hard copy in a folder in my carry on, but it's great to have it at your fingertips if you need it, particularly if you are out sightseeing when something happens and can't get back to the hotel or ship right away. Conversely, having the hard copy has saved me a couple of times when my phone died or I didn't have internet access. If traveling overseas, I also put in my phone the address and phone number of the closest US embassy or consulate in every location where we will be traveling. While I haven't ever needed it, there have been a few times I was glad I had the information handy - such as the time my taxi in Shanghai was involved in a car accident. Also, while English is considered a universal language, don't count on everyone being able to speak English to you, particularly if in Asia. Even in Europe where nearly everyone speaks English, people appreciate you giving it a try in their language. And one last tip - consider getting TSA Precheck. If you plan on your travels taking you outside of the US, then consider Global Entry.

I haven't ever tried to get to the airport from the port in New Orleans, but I have taken a lot of taxis, UBER, etc from downtown to the airport. Whatever amount of time you think it will take, double it. I have more New Orleans horror stories about trying to get to the airport in New Orleans than I can count!

After 40 years of cruising, there are not many cruise lines that we have not been on at least once. We aren't particularly loyal to any one line (depends on itinerary, timing, etc) but we generally book either one of the Premium lines (we like HAL but we also do Celebrity and Princess) or one of the Luxury lines, like Regent. I had been wanting to try Viking, prompting us to book Viking for a cruise last year. I am sure some will disagree with me, but we had a hard time seeing the luxury line comparison. Yes, it has some all inclusive features that the luxury lines typically have. Small ship. Small ratio of staff to passengers. Still, we felt the overall experience was more in line with a premium cruise line, not a luxury line. And probably closest to HAL in comparison. With that in mind, I'm going to compare it to HAL. One thing we have learned over the years is that it's not necessarily a matter of which line is "better" but which line fits your travel style and itinerary desires the best. So please take my thoughts with that in mind. Like Viking, HAL is a bit of an older crowd, more low key. We found the food on Viking "ok" but not as good as that on HAL. We normally prefer the specialty restaurants, however, it was difficult, if not impossible, to make reservations of any kind in the specialty restaurants, unless you wanted to eat at 9:00. Everything was booked by the time I was able to make reservations. I can normally always manage a reasonable time reservation on HAL once on board, even if I wasn't able to online. That was absolutly not possible on Viking. We don't need a lot of entertainment in the evening and generally find the big productions cheesy, but we do like the music venues on HAL. In contrast, we found very little evening entertainment at all on Viking, and what was there was more in line with what you would find on a riverboat cruise. I can't comment on the tours as we were in the Caribbean which is always a "relax, read a book in a deck chair, and don't need a tour" cruise for us. When we are someplace where we want a tour, we typically book a private tour. Overall, we felt HAL provided just as nice an experience overall, in a comparable balcony cabin, similar vibe, but with better specialty restaurant options. While it does seem to me that in comparing "all in" costs, HAL is still the better value, particularly if you are doing a HIA package, our final determination was not really based on price. For us, HAL seems to be an overall better fit for our needs than Viking IF you are comparing to a premium cruise. One last consideration is the size of the ship. HAL ships, particularly the Pinnacle class ships that we like, are certainly bigger than the Viking ships, although not as big as the monstrous mega ships with some of the other cruise lines. We find the Pinnacle class a nice size for us. But if you would prefer to stay with a smaller ship, then you might consider trying one of the luxury lines.