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When is the cruise scheduled?

I haven't had any difficulty searching, booking or managing my cruises on the Princess website for weeks. Oh, and I use Chrome.

GEEZ.... didn't I say that the airfare on Air Transat was less than half than the AC return fare? For two people, that worked out to about $2,300. I'm willing to do a little farting around for that. I'm not flying to or from Bordeaux.... was just commenting on some of the 'features' of flying point-to-point with Air Transat and how one might get home (in this case Ottawa) following arrival in the destination city.

Unfortunately, Air Transat (and CBSA and luggage handlers) doesn't work closely with Via to coordinate schedules. I often rent a car to get from YUL to home in Ottawa; it's predictable and, until this year, not too expensive. I'm on a YUL/LGW Air Transat return over the period 12 Aug - 2 Sept and it is much cheaper for me to take the bus from Ottawa Station to the airport and rent a car to come home than drive and park. Via is not very much less expensive but has some built-in hassles, delays and scheduling uncertainties. I'm willing to do this because the airfare was less than half what Air Canada wanted for London/Ottawa return in Premium.

Yes.

I was on Eclipse over the Xmas/New Year period and couldn't do much with Cruise Critic; I had no problem with anything else I expected to be able to do with my package.

Sure; then it's a calculation of convenience vs cost of parking.

That might work if you're at fault or believe you may be at fault; otherwise, empathy is about the best that might be expected and even then there will be boundaries so that the injured party doesn't misunderstand that there is no admission of fault/liability.

No. Check out the bus service and see if it fits your schedule. The tricky part is coming home and getting the bus from YUL to Ottawa. https://www.orleansexpress.com/en/

If you want to go into Bangkok, don't even think of doing this as a DIY... take a cruise line excursion. The distance from the port to the city is substantial and the possibility of getting stuck/delayed in traffic is very good.

Honestly, I just don't think there is much you can do with the time available and all you'll be thinking about is making sure you get to the airport in time to check luggage, go through CBP and security and hit the duty free! I'd just make my way to the airport and cool my heels a bit until luggage check in is available. Depending on how much luggage you have and your ability/willingness to haul it around with you, a quick trip into Gastown is possible.

Walk over to the Canada Line with your luggage and just go to the airport.

Does anybody have any recent experience using EZAir for round trip flights from Canada to Sydney, Australia?

I agree with your earlier post where you thought you may have booked the wrong flight. With the four people, luggage and wheelchair I'd suggest you try to find something a little later in the afternoon to reduce all the stress and, possibly, rushing to keep a tightish schedule

I agree. We leave ours onboard unless we absolutely need to have it... not a common event. I'll take my chances on all the disastrous things that might happen to me.

No.

No doubt you'll enjoy the new cruise and you can try again later for Japan.

I hope you don't think my comment was in any way meant to be serious.

What about your phone or whatever device you're using to order up these beverages? Surely a waterproof belt of some description is an option.

Fabulous question! Pockets or no pockets, you should figure out a way to carry around a wad of $2 bills and sprinkle them around generously for services rendered. Don't use the app, the recipient won't be able to keep the cash to him/herself.

I suppose if the grats are prepaid and the daily rate goes up $1 pppd, one could claim a substantial savings!

If the cruise is in late May, 2024 there won't be any airline bookings going on until mid-June at the earliest. Best to let it rest for the time being and see how things play out over the next couple of months. For sure, you should consider travel/medical insurance.

Gotta love KMart! They closed up shop in Canada years ago. I think I'd look at purchasing an Optus SIM upon arrival at SYD: https://www.optus.com.au/prepaid/traveller-sim#plans May be able to get a roaming package to use it in NZ.

From a practical perspective, you're going to need separate SIMs for Australia and New Zealand. Can you go without the phone for the NZ portion of your travels?

Where do you plan on calling? The US?