navelgunner

Over the years, I’ve found that withdrawing Euros from an ATM on the Cirrus or Plus networks has worked best for me. My home bank (Bank of Montreal) does not charge me foreign transaction fees for this access. Same for credit card purchases, so I tend to charge my purchases to avoid carrying large cash amounts. If I have euro notes or coins when I return home, I don’t bother to re-convert to C$. I just set them aside for the next trip.

Unfortunately, non-US travellers don’t have access to the TMobile plans, so here’s a thought - many later model phones have the ability to use both an e-sim and a regular SIM card. Put your home carrier on the e-sim, and pick up a European sim with lots of data. Make the European sim your primary number, but have the ability to answer your home number if someone calls you. Use WhatsApp, Skype, Facetime etc to call home. the advantage of this is that you only pay a roaming fee IF someone calls you!

Looking at Oceania’s web site, I take this to mean that all cruises for June 2023 are cancelled. (Trieste -> Athens, Athens -> Istanbul and Istanbul -> Rome, ending June 25 2023). Is it likely that there will be further delays?

I used to go to Portsmouth frequently on business, flying from Canada to Heathrow, and then making my way by train. First, there is no direct train from Heathrow to Portsmouth. My option when travelling was to take the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then take the tube to Waterloo Station and the Southern Railways train to Portsmouth. Not optimal when dragging luggage after a trans-Atlantic overnight flight. There may be more modern options - i saw one routing which suggested the bus to Woking, and then catch the train to Portsmouth. If you’re not familiar with the area this could cause a little bit of arrival time anxiety. I finally gave in and did the mini-cab experience with a car and driver to meet me. Overall, it was not that much more expensive and removed the worry factor.

Am I to understand that not all butlers are created equal? And that the level of service you can expect varies depending on the luck of the draw? So you and I could in theory pay the same amount for a cruise with a butler and have different results in getting reservations or whatever service? Seems like a strange way to run a railroad or cruise line. How do I know if I’mg getting a butler with clout nor one who has no clout? Should we start rating the “Cloutiness” of butlers?

You obviously missed my sarcasm. The wording from O’s web site says “Recommended” and “Request”. Neither of these terms imply a mandatory rule. If the policy is to exclude specific items of wear, then the policy should say “wearing of these items are prohibited in the restaurants after 6pm:”

Playing the devil's advocate, with that wording, perhaps the response should be - " I'm on my vacation and I've heard your request. Please show me to my table"

That hasn't worked yet. Did it 2 months ago, and I'm still getting paper copies of all marketing,

Why does this kind of thread pop up every 2 or 3 weeks. If the question has already been answered, do you really need to ask it again?