iancal

Excellent! Don't let them win!

We tried Princess air. Our experience was not great and we never did buy. We were trying for one way one from Sydney but a month after disembarkment. The other issue...was when we wanted to return to an airport that was not our home airport. We have done this with RCI and Celebrity air. Not able to the one time we tried on Princess air. Princess made it so difficult compared to the ease of shopping and booking on RCI/Celebrity air. Not certain why this was. Not certain why this was. We were able, in each instance, to get what we wanted at a good price, on our own.

We have been doing carry on for extended land trips for years. One of us invariably has a small zip lock bag of instant decaf coffee in our bag because DW cannot have high test past noon. Sometimes it is difficult to find in Asia. Plus a little powdered whitener. Never, ever been stopped as a result of sniffer dogs or any other reason. Ditto for prescription drugs. Including at least four passes through security in Japan and too many to count in Europe/Asia/Australia.

No problem...as long as it is not my better half. We realized when we started returning home with items we never or very seldom used or wore that downsizing would not be a problem. Cut out all the 'just in case items'.

We were fortunate. We had a TA who responded to emails in a prompt, business like manner. We would email her with what we wanted to book. She would email back either a quote or a short list of other competitive offers that we were not aware of. We would make a decision and email her. She would call for our credit card details. Uncomplicated to say the least. Cannot imagine wasting hours on some cruise company web site to book or remaining on hold for an hour to speak to an agent.

Our former TA of ten plus years was neither shady nor did we ever wait more than 5 minutes on the phone. The only phone conversation was most often to provide credit card data. And she called us. She could, and did, discern a cruise line sale or special price from a 'marketing' event. Moreover, her prices were always lower that the cruise line-any cruise line. Often by as much as 10 percent.

So called 'private' are just that. Perhaps the implication is that they are special, ie lower than what the the great unwashed would otherwise pay. But....given the choice between a special Mariner private sale and a more attractive TA or internet price I believe I know what most cruisers would select. I would never assume that an excusive 'special price' offer from any cruise line is, by it's nature, the lowest price that one can obtain. Shop and compare.

If you are eastbound....don't miss the ship in Madeira. We always do DIY or private tours-group or otherwise. We have never even come close to missing a cruise. We tend to take a private excursion as early as possible leaving at least two hours leeway prior to the last embarkation. We want to return to the ship, grab our ipads, then head for a quiet bar/pub shoreside that has reasonable internet in order to catch up with mail for an hour or so. Not to mention a 'cold one' or a some of the grape.

At least 50 percent of what you were planning to bring.

This is exactly the reason why we have zero interest in adding cruises to our land travels at this point in time.

I purchased an eco drive a few years ago. Got off the ship. DW wanted to go to Sawgrass Mills SC. While waiting for her I went into a jewelry store. Saw the same watch I purchased on board for exactly $1. more. Saved the sales tax only. Our advice about these duty free sales.....understand your prices. Pay attention to the product and the net price that you pay. Two weeks ago we passed through the duty free in Faro, Portugal. They had a wine for sale @ 17.5e. I bought the exact same product at a Pingo Doce supermarket the week prior for 5.50e.

We have been retired for 12 years but have been cruising for a much longer time. Since retiring we have spent far less time cruising that we did pre retirement and far, far more days on independent travel. We expect to carry on doing this for quite a few more years. At some point cruising days will overtake land days. But not yet at this point in our lives. We are only late 60's/early 70's The popular cruise lines all seemed to be moving down to the lowest common denominator pre covid. This trend, and perhaps post covid changes, will probably see us shopping and trying some of the premium offerings for a change. We suspect that they may cost more but will actually deliver better value for us.

We have used the trenitalia site many times during our travels. I would not be concerned about buying tickets months in advance unless you are traveling on a popular holiday period or have numerous people in your party. If you are planning to travel by train keep in mind that you will have to be responsible for getting you own bags on and off the train. Also, in some stations you need to walk through the subway to get to tracks on the other side. Yes...there are elevators. Our experience is that at least half the time the elevator is not working. Count on using the stairs! We have used the train to get from FCO and from Rome to Civ. a number of times, and the reverse. But...we both only have a carry on bag. It would be a challenge if one had lots of bags or was physically challenged.

We stayed in Valparaiso. We intended to go to Vina for a day but enjoyed Valparaiso so much we did not. We stayed at the IBIS. Harbor view room. Good location. There are very comfortable highway buses running every hour to Santiago. As i recall the fare was $4. No reservations required.

We do not care about what others may think. Nor are we the type that foolishly concern ourselves with the 'dressing like a local' to blend in nonsense. It is all about comfort and convenience for us. We quickly learned this when we started doing extended travels. I take two pairs of shoes. The comfortable, casual ones on my feet that are great for walking. And a pair of the lightest Teva sandals in my carry on. DW takes three pair, two lightweight pairs in her bag.

My understanding is that the family does not own a majority of shares. I would assume that the institutional and mutual fund holders, along with the major debt holders may hold as much or more influence. I have no idea if, or how many reps, they have on the Board. As an OP said.....you need a buyer in order to sell. That may well be the bigger challenge.

Apart from the usual airline, train, ferry challenges one key reason why we do carry on is our physical ability to handle our luggage under all circumstances. We are not going from home to airport to hotel to cruise ship. The cruise is typically a small part of our extended trip. Just returned from touring Portugal by train. We are on and off ferries in Greece and Thailand. Everything for stuffing bags into small rental cars or wheeling bags over cobblestone streets. There is often no assistance available whatsoever. We tend to be very independent and very spontaneous travelers. We can find ourselves staying in everything from 2 star B&B's to six star resorts. I had no problem with carry on after years of business travel. DW no so much. Now we are at the point where the only clothes we buy are those that travel well and are lightweight.

Since retiring 12 years ago and travelling frequently we only travel with carry on. We each have an international size carry on. Slightly smaller that NA limits. Does not matter if it is seven days or seven weeks. Just came back from 5 weeks in Portugal. We were so glad that we had carry on only with all the luggage issues some travelers were experiencing.. Not to mention getting on and off trains. Pre covid we would often pick up last minute cruises. Our approach was simply to skip formal night and eat at the buffet or in an alternative restaurant that was casual only. The only way we were finally able to get down to carry on was to buy the carry on bags. That become our limit, along with a weight restriction for some airline. It was a challenge at first. It is not for everyone. One benefit for Italy.....the luggage space on a Fiat Panda will hold both our carry ons with the top cover securely over our bags. This is the car we most often end up with when we rent in Italy.

We enjoyed our TA stop in Madeira several years ago so much that we included six days in Madeira on our recent Portugal land trip.

Some cards will charge you a fee if there are no charges during the year. I believe that HT does this. We travel with three cards and we ensure that we have higher credit limits. We keep them separate. DW carries different cards than I do. More than once we have had high holds on our cards when renting cars in Europe.

Pre covid the worst ever for us was about three hours. Changing terminals. We made our connection with five minutes to spare. Despite our flight being delayed we were told than many making connections to NA flights did not make it. Lonts of angst in the lines to get through security. This was probably an exception. There was a security alert. It caused massive backups.

Never. We only do private excursions. Group or otherwise. Never even came close to missing the ship.

If Carnival Corp decides to unload any subsidiary cruise lines I would think their target would be the one than gives them the most revenue (or the least loss) and retires the most debt. And one that over time does not fit with their long term strategy or the one that has a history of financial performance that falls well short of best in class financial returns. Without access to any of the subsidiary financials it would be almost impossible to discern what the likely short list might look like. The deal structure could be anything. Brand and ships, brand but not all ships, just ships. Who knows. Lots of creative financing and deal structure options out there. One thing for certain. It is a buyers market. The buyer is completely unfettered and will be in the driver's seat on any sale. Major debt holders may also have a say depending on how under water the deal might be.

Yes.......with an emphasis on having a plan B & C.

A few years ago, while travelling, we did a test. ATM withdrawal on our CIBC bank card. Credit card purchase on our CIBC credit card (two days earlier but 'processed on the same day as the ATM withdrawal), and a cash advance on our then Marriott Amex card. As I recall the FX on the ATM withdrawal on our CIBC card was by far the most expensive. The FX appeared to be 4 percent. Plus there was a $5. ATM charge. It was by far the most expensive way to get money. CIBC credit card was second. 2.5 percent or so. Cash advance on the Marriott Amex card worked out to be 1.5 percent based on the service fee. There was no uplifted FX percentage. This did not necessarily hold true in countries like Viet Nam or Portugal where there appeared to be a rather low limit on ATM withdrawals.