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You might want to check with your tour company. We were given water on every van, bus, or boat we were on.

Pat

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Thanks for your review. We had the identical trip to yours except we went on the Stars of South Africa version which added on 3 nights at the end at the private Makanyi game lodge next to Krueger National Park. We arrived in Cape Town on April 20th for our 2 week trip.

The 6 game drives there were fantastic and we did not find them to be at all uncomfortable. The land rovers could seat 9 people , but these were modified to only seat 2 in each row with a storage bin in the middle for raincoats or warm wraps. We only had 4 of us in ours plus the driver and the tracker on the left bumper. The morning drive was at 6:30am till 9:30 am, breakfast at the lodge (which was magnificent). Then lunch around 1pm, second drive from 3:30 to 6:30 pm, then dinner. They even had brick staircase to make climbing into the rover easy.

The whole lodge was very well done and the rooms and meals

were great.

We saw all the major animals except leopards and cheetahs in abundance. This was the highlight of our trip.

We had 4 nights on the Zambezi Queen in Chobe and never saw a cockroach.

The Victoria Falls hotel was great, and we did plenty of walking just to get to breakfast and dinner restaurant.

In Johannesburg they took us to see Soweto where Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived. Then to Kliptown which is less than a slum. Horrible tin shacks with no water or toilets. You had to walk to pumps at the corner. Not an enjoyable tour.

We stayed in Joberg at the Fairlawn Boutique hotel in Sandton which is another 5 star hotel.

The worst part of this trip were the flights. We flew from Chgo direct to Capetown with only a stopover in London , Heathrow on British Air. Now I know why they tell you not to go through Heathrow if you can. We flew business class for a very expensive trip only made enjoyable by being able to wait in the bus class lounges..There were some long days with the 5 internal flights plus the 2 legs each way to get to and from Africa.

We also had Delia as our tour director and she is terrific.

She was always there to make everything go smoothly.

This was our 6th trip with AMA and as usual everything was first class.

Thanks again for reminding me with all the details of your trip. It was great to relive it with you.

Pat

Thanks for the update!!...we are boarding on 4/8 to do HK to Tokyo!!..did you happen to notice where people might have been playing cards on sea days since there is no card room on board? LuAnn

We were on Millie in October 2017 , Japan and China , and we were able to play mahjong or cards in the main dining room on the 5th floor on sea days in the afternoon until about 3PM.

They had 6 mahjong sets to lend you for a $100 deposit (fully refunded when you returned the set). Be sure to count the tiles. Our set was perfect but another table discovered their set was missing a tile.

I checked out the set soon after boarding and kept it until after the last seaday.

We loved the Millie. Just the right size and never seemed crowded.

Pat

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Tiny ziplock bags for pills can be purchased at Walgreens near the pharmacy, by the pill boxes. They come in a pkg of 50 for around $4.

They even have a white area that you can write on.

I also use them to sort my jewelry and to carry pills in my purse for easy access. They take up much less space than pill bottles or boxes.

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We will be taking a cruise leaving from Lisbon and we'd like to find a hotel in the central shopping and dining area near the ocean. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton the last time we were there and that hotel is at least 1 mile from the central area and at the top of a big hill. My husband does not walk well on hilly areas so we'd prefer to book a hotel on the flat area near the sea.

We'll be taking an Azamara cruise and we'd like to know what hotel they've used in the past. They usually use big commercial hotels often far from central, and we'd rather be in a central hotel. Size of hotel does not matter.

Thanks for your help

Pat

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Hi

We have take 5 AMA river cruises, but the last one was 3 years ago . They have always sent us a very nice pkg with regular strap on luggage tags and and itinerary information and a locality guidebook.

We are taking another trip with them in April, 2018 to So. Africa. The only river boat part of this trip is 4 days floating on the Chobe River. The rest is flights and land tours.

You'll love your trip. AMA does a fine job .

Pat

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We ate at El Establo, Paraguay 489, in February. My husband and I split a 500 gm, boneless rib eye. You could have cut it with a spoon it was so tender. Be sure to ask for the chimichura sauce to dip it in. We were able to walk one way and cabbed it back. Cab fee like $5.00. Price of steak was very moderate. Enjoy!!

Pat

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According to the Chinese consulate website the photo requirements as of December 5, 2016 are 48mm x 33 mm.

So I guess these are newer requirements than any of you had to deal with.

I looked up other visa agencies and some say 48 x 33 mm and some say 2x2"

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Hi

We are taking an enrichment journey to Japan and China on October 1st on the Celebrity Millenium.

3 land days in Tokyo, 12 days on the ship to Shanghai, then 9 days on land in Shanghai, 3 days in Xian, and 3 days in Beijing.

My problem is we need to get a China visa and to get that you need to submit a photo that's 48mm x 33mm according to their website and CIBTVISAS ( the private visa Service center). All passports in US require a

2" x 2" photo . I've called Walgreens, Costco, FedEx, kinkos, and AAA travel and none of them can make the Chinese size.

cIBT suggests we take a mobile phone photo that meets the many, detailed restrictions and pay them another $25 pp to adjust the photo.

Have any of you gone through this ?

Please help

Pat

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Has anyone sailed recently aboard the Celebrity Silhouette to know if they have Mah Jongg sets aboard and if so, how many?

They did have 3 mah jongg sets on the Solstice. You had to check them out at guest relations desk and leave a $100 deposit which is returned to you when you bring the set back

Pat

How much are oyu traveling with?

 

In Brazil these days, domestic baggage allowance is much less than international. Used to be, the airlines would allow international passengers to continue onto domestic flights (directly, within a few hours) with their international allowance, but no more.

 

What happens in Argentina?

My luggage question is a little different. We will have 3 nights in BA, then we fly to Iguazu Falls for two days with our package, and store our big suitcases at the hotel. Can we carry on a 22" suitcase on Aerolinas airlines to the falls. I assume this is a more local flight ( 2 hrs), and the overhead storage is usually very small on theses types of

Airplanes I don't want to have to check this suitcase with my pills etc

Or will I need a smaller bag to keep with me on the plane. Thanks

Pat

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How much are oyu traveling with?

 

In Brazil these days, domestic baggage allowance is much less than international. Used to be, the airlines would allow international passengers to continue onto domestic flights (directly, within a few hours) with their international allowance, but no more.

 

What happens in Argentina?

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Hi Chemmo

What cruise are you taking on the Millenium in October of 2017?.We are booked on the Japan and China

Enrichment Journey from OVC from 10/01/17 through 10/26/17. The ship days are 10/05/17 thru 10/19/17. The rest is precruise in Tokyo and 9 days post cruise on a land tour of China.

It seems that these cruises sell out very quickly. We booked this one back in May of 2017. There is not much chatter on the message boards from these passengers. At least not yet.

We will be with you on this Antarctica cruise. Also a very popular, once a year cruise.

Hope to meet you there.

Pat

Don't wait any longer. Contact whomever you booked with, travel agent or Celebrity. I was caught up in that problem with a shortage of staterooms for the Sept 8th cruise to Greece and ended up taking a room downgrade and partial refund. But I was able to print my express pass a month ago . It just said GTY on it . I even requested luggage tags from Captains Club and I did receive them. I just have to fill in the room number.

You have a problem with the computer link with Celebrity. Call them.

Pat

The Same thing happened to us. On Thursday Our TA advised us that Celebrity would be calling us about the problem.

We spoke to Celebrity yesterday and it was not the travel agency screwup. 35 veranda staterooms had bad water leaks

and they had to close the rooms off for repairs.

Look up the rollcall for Constellation Sept. 8, Greece and Adriatic for the full discussion. This does not happen ever. We booked 1 year ago and were on veranda guarantee the whole time. I'm very happy for the $2057 refund and $400 OBC. Don't

Blame your travel agent.

We recently bought tickets thru Choice Air for Hawaii-Vancouver cruise. I was very pleased with the cost & original flight times; however, our return flight time was changed making a very short connection (32 minutes in Denver). I called telling the CA agent that that was not sufficient time for our connection (walk with cane). Their comment was $300 to change. Well, we stuck with the shirt connection & yup, missed the flight. Ended up having to rent a car & drive to our destination. CA didn't think it was an issue & refused to pay for rental. Our trip insurance paid $50 for the car; however, our credit card paid $250. The car was covered, but we arrived home at 2am instead of 1:45 pm! Irritating

We just had the flight times changed twice from a 3 hour layover to a 5 hour layover in Toronto on our way back from Venice to Chicago.

I called Choice air and they told me it wasn't a "major change" and wanted to charge me, etc. Since it was an airline change I persisted and called all 3 airlines involved, United, Air Canada, and Lufthansa. They all told me that choice air had to make the change and it should be at no charge since it was their flight change. I called CA again and persisted that they needed to change my flight time to one of the 2 earlier ones. She said her supervisor would review it and to expect an answer in 2-3 days. Nothing, I called again and was told they are still working on it. 4 more days I called again and asked emphatically for the supervisor and was told they were working on it and give them 2-3 more days. Later that day it was done and they sent me a new itinerary. The moral of this story is to be persistant and willing to fight a good battle.

Pat

Hi

We're taking a Celebrity, Australian/New Zealand tour booked with online tours and the airfare and the pre and post hotels are included. We won't find out the itinerary until 30 to 45 days before sailing in January, 2016.

If anyone has taken one of these tours, how were the arrangements. Good location of hotels, How many legs on the flight and how long were the layovers? By the time we find out what itinerary has been selected it's too late for us to arrange "custom air"

Please tell me how happy you were with the assigned arrangements on your tours.

Thanks, Pat

Hi MPBMARK

I've enjoyed reading about your trip on AMAdagio thru Provence. We are taking the tour starting Sept 1st and would like to tour Giverney.

Did you hire a tour through the hotel concierge, book it in advance online, or just find a guide while there? We are only 2 people but would not mind joining with a group. Did you do a whole day trip or just a half day?

Any advice you can give would be appreciated. Thanks

rphpcf