taxatty

Good advice--add Asheville and Greenville, SC to the list as they're closer to you and have lots of AA flights between them and CLT . As an example, It was cheaper for us to fly to Dublin as AVL-CLT-DUB-CLT-AVL than CLT-DUB-CLT--go figure.

Are you trying to book Premium Economy (correct term on AA) on the transatlantic flight and Economy with MCE seats on the domestic flights on the same booking (PNR)? That would be mix of fares on a single booking. MCE is just Economy with an extra charge for an exit row or upfront seat with extra legroom if you're not an AA elite. AA MCE is not as nice as PE, which is similar to a Business class seat on a domestic AA narrowbody plane. If you have any questions on the refund policy you should call AA and ask--it can get confusing. At worst, if you cancel you should get a credit for a future flight.

Outstanding pictures and videos--thanks! A GBR trip is an absolute must on any trip to Australia.

Go to World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta where (at least pre-Covid) at the end of the tour they have many of the different worldwide formulas available for tasting and then pick the one you want for your next cruise.😄

Your TA gives you back part of their commission through a check.

Precisely.

We got the book--it's beautiful and classy looking, but not surprisingly--no prices.

Two of the four can be quite entertaining and enjoyable in the right circumstances.

Since I'll be on the Explorer in a month or so, and as you mentioned it will be leaving SS later this year, I'm curious to get your impressions as to how well the ship common areas are being maintained as well as your suite.

My SS formal wear model.

My TA does the same thing--far preferable.

And patent leather flip-flops.

Costco sells the excellent Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc for about $16 a bottle--the best wine deal they have. Beats having to ship it to the US from NZ.

Don't give anyone any ideas--there are a lot of people who'd like to see that right now. 😥 If you must have Italian, there's always Costa, but my guess is that ain't happening with SS aficionados.

From Insider Travel Report--discusses the Silver Endeavor, Arctic cruises, and other topics.

The Auckland Hilton is very nice--it's usually a good deal on HH points. It has a great buffet breakfast and location, with many nearby restaurants and shopping, and you can see the cruise ships from your window and easily walk to them (if that's where SS docks).

The difference is that for the last several years, RCI and Celebrity have promoted mostly "fake" sales for their own cruises --only a few of them save you any money when you run the numbers--it's mostly smoke and mirrors. At least with SS, you can really save money when it has a sale, albeit usually with greater restrictions, higher nonrefundable payments, etc.

Things to see on that long of a North Island car trip in addition to Rotorua could include Taupo, Tongariro National Park, the Waitomo caves and glowworms, and one of the winery areas. Also consider driving to Wellington and then taking the scenic Northern Explorer train back to Auckland. If you do Hobbiton on your own instead of as a cruise excursion, consider going there in the evening--the massive dinner feast is lots of fun, it's much less crowded then, and the area is beautiful when all lit up.

Also try using incognito mode in Chrome.

There are actually plenty of flights--American (49 flights a week) and Delta have regular flights between MCO and MIA, and Spirit and Southwest fly between MCO and FLL (along with Silver).

Agreed as to Brightline if it's operating then. https://www.gobrightline.com/orlando

For certain, an all-driving tour of Australia would be as impractical as trying to tour the entire US by car. Our first trip there was Sydney-flight to Ayers Rock-flight to Cairns-short drives from there to and back from Port Douglas (a great base for the GBR and the whole area up to Daintree)-flight to Brisbane, short Princess cruise to Sydney. The next Australia trip will be Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, Adelaide, and the Ghan train to Darwin to board an SS Kimberley cruise.

IMHO, you'll see much more in Australia doing a land-based trip. Sydney is worth a few days--lots to see and do there--consider a day trip from there by train (very doable yourself) or an organized tour to the Blue Mountains. Also consider flying from Sydney to Ayers Rock to see Uluru and the surrounding area, preferably not in the heat of the summer--it's worth a couple of days.

If there's a concert at the Sydney Opera House while you're there that you'd like to see, consider getting tickets to the concert and see the building that way while you're there. The cost of the tickets for the concert we saw there weren't enormously more than the tour tickets.

We paid for a standard Veranda Suite on our Cloud Antarctica trip, but we barely used the veranda except to take pictures--for us Floridians, it was simply too cold to spend much time there. It's an extra $10,000 total more for a Veranda Suite than a Vista Suite on our return trip next year--we're passing this time.