jjones

Someone asked about smoking areas. Indoors is Churchill's (cigar bar) beside casino entrance, outdoors starboard promenade deck at the rear and Deck 16 above the outdoor pool. I also heard about a starboard spot on Deck 17 aft but never went there so can't confirm.

Perhaps if you discuss this with your doctor, he/she would give you a prescription for your "magic" pills. You surely would not take them unless absolutely necessary. I have AFIB, so I know how scary AF can be. Just having the pills available might relieve any stress and you could enjoy your cruise with no problem. Best of luck, I hope you have a wonderful, non-AF time.

In Venice there are boats that operate as buses. The price is cheap, stops are frequent. You can buy an all-day ticket and use the boat/bus as if it were a HOHO. Great way to see parts you might miss and the beautiful buildings along the canals. You might also like to take a boat to one of the nearby islands, several are very interesting. St. Mark's Square and surrounding areas are easily walked.

In Dubrovnic, I second the city wall walk. Lots of history and wonderful views.

Ephesus and Olympia are both terrific. If it's open, the museum on Santorini is noted for Minoan artifacts.

I don't know your budget, but I like Elizabeth Hotel, cost slightly under $200/night. You can find it on Trip Advisor. It's about a mile from Paddington Station (where Heathrow Express arrives and departs). It is also across the street from Lancaster tube station, Hyde Park and a HOHO bus stop. A pub with delicious food is around the corner. The Elizabeth is not new, but the service staff are extremely helpful, it has an elevator, a business center, a bar, and a restaurant in the building, plus a pretty garden to enjoy in nice weather. In my experience London hotel rooms are smaller than most U.S. rooms even in some higher priced venues. Hope this helps.

I must disagree with Suite Traveler - Australia and New Zealand are VERY different. There are great things to see and do in both countries. Time is an issue - I would recommend at least a month in OZ and minimum two weeks in NZ just to hit the highlights. Wish I could go back and do it all again but it's expensive. I hope you go and enjoy those wonderful places - and the ports across the Pacific.

Once when I was in St. P it rained because it was very hot and humid. I would suggest layers in case it gets warm - the Baltic region is not into a/c. I've been there three times in August and encountered heat waves each time. It's a wonderful itinerary with many things to see and do. In St. P, Yusupov Palace is especially interesting, my favorite after Peterhof and Catherine's and the Hermitage. I hope you enjoy your visit.

Ketchican - Misty Fjords Flightseeing, Totem Bight

Juneau - helicopter landing on glacier

Skagway - White Pass train

The HOHO bus tour stops at most of the tourist sites and is very good value.

Some of my favorites for self-exploration: Sitka, AK - Visby, Sweden - Tallinn, Estonia - Lahaina, Maui - Stockholm, Sweden

If I remember correctly, Albany has a tree-top walking tour that I thought was absolutely delightful. I smells lovely and despite so many tourists you could enjoy the quiet.

In Melbourne, I recommend the hop-on hop-off bus, get off at the big park and see the "fairy tree", the miniature village, James Cook's boyhood home (shipped from England and rebuilt) although I doubt it was really his house because when I read his biography he seemed to have lived in many houses as his father changed jobs frequently.

Brisbane has the Glass Mountains and Steve Irwin's zoo.

From Darwin I took a tour to Litchfield National Park - very interesting.

Freemantle has a wonderful aquarium fairly close and Perth is a short train ride away.

I loved my circumnavigation of Australia and wish I could do it again! Have a great trip!

YubaSutter - I find your post in poor taste. What part of anonymous don't you understand? Even if it were named for him, that would be an invasion of Jimmy K's privacy.

In addition to the sites listed previously, I highly recommend a tour of Yusupov Palace. It is where Prince Yusupov poisoned and shot Rasputin before throwing him in a river to drown. The palace is different from Peterhof and Catherine and well worth a visit. Sometimes ballet or opera performances are held there on a ship's evening excursion.

I agree, Copenhagen is my favorite and I always try to arrive at least 3 days early to visit the town.

I recommend a visit to Yusupov Palace. Yusupov was the Bill Gates of Czarist Russia and it was where Rasputin was poisoned. It is a beautiful palace right in St. Pete - it has a music room where men briefly sing for the tourists and the acoustics are wonderful. There are a number of lovely rooms and sometimes it is where the opera and/or ballet performances are held on the ship's evening excursion.

I took a city bus to the end of the line to visit the Moesgard Museum - prehistoric - which I found very interesting. After that I rode the bus back and toured the cathedral. Except for the bus, I walked everywhere in town.

I think I would prefer to do a world cruise in segments rather than all at once. My brain would be overloaded with so much information on all the different ports, I would probably forget more than half of what I learned. My longest cruise to date was 29 days and I got very tired of wearing the same clothes. It's not like the old days when you could travel with many "steamer trunks" and have a larger selection of apparel. Even mix and match gets old, IMO.