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We would like to take the train as above on the first Friday in September.  Google maps suggests RA2RailAir with one change to South Western Railway.  This departure appears to be every hour on the 18.  Our BA flight from USA arrives at Terminal 5 at 0930.   We are US citizens with hand luggage only.  Do you think it is likely that we could make the 1018 train? I am not sure whether to book a train in advance for the discount, or to wait to see what time we actually land and pass through C&I.

Pardon my novice ignorance with the MSC website, but I have never sailed this line before.

We booked a Guaranteed cabin, and I would like to check periodically to see whether we have an assignment.  I cannot figure out how to do this on the MSC website.  When I go to "Manage Booking" and then "View Your Cruise" I reach a page that offers shore excursions, Wifi packages, etc. to purchase, but I do not see how to navigate to a page where I could view cabin assignment.

What am I missing?

Ship docks at 0700 on Saturday in Sept.  Flight departs LHR Terminal 5 at 1630.  Plan to take public transportation, either bus or train.  We would like to walk around Southampton if possible.  What time should we depart Southampton for LHR?  We only have carry on luggage, but I think we would need to find a left luggage location in order to go for a long stroll.  What area of Southampton would be nice for a walk within this time frame?

I have some status with other cruise lines and hotels but do not have an active loyalty card.  Do you know whether MSC accepts other forms of identification (such as screen shot of status from website) for status match?

We are planning a family (all adults) vacation and have been to Lisbon, Genoa, Marseille, and Cadiz, but would gladly return to these locations.  Do you have any opinions of ship and itinerary of the choices below?

Opera end of Aug/early Sept vs. Virtuosa early to mid Sept:

Opera itinerary:

Lisbon

Sea day

Alicante, Spain

Mahon, Spain

Olbia, Italy

Genoa, Italy

Marseille, France

Sea day

Malaga, Spain

Cadiz, Spain

Lisbon

Virtuosa itinerary:

Southampton

Sea day

Sea day

Lisbon

Cadiz, Spain

Casablanca, Morocco

Sea day

Arrecife de Lanzarote, Spain

Las Palmas de G. Canaria, Spain

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

Funchal, Portugal

Sea day

Vigo, Spain

Sea day

Southampton

POA arrives at 0700.  We are interested in Fairwind snorkel boat trip leaving from Keauhou Bay with check in at 0830.  The company says that POA passengers can arrive on time if they take one of the first tenders.

What is the tender process like in Kona?  We do no have any status or priority.  How difficult is it usually to get on one of the first tenders?

I am scheduled to sail in January and will arrive via flight on day of embarkation for POA, which leaves at 1900.  I did online chat with NCL website to ask whether I could embark POA in Maui the next day if flight to Honolulu is delayed or canceled.  Chat said yes, and I printed this out for my records. 

Has anyone done this? Would NCL deny boarding in Maui if chat said this is OK?

Rather than say you are "pushing it," I would say you have a 2% chance of making your flight.  If you read the news about TLV you'll find that there is currently mayhem for departures, and that local sources are recommending arrival 4 hours before flight departure.

Best of luck!

If you're not docked in Haifa on Friday or Saturday, then just take the train from the port to Tel Aviv on your own.  You really don't need a guided tour.

On 7/21/2022 at 9:20 AM, mj_holiday said:

Thank you for your reply. 

 

I meant Zambia as the second country we will be in , probably on a tour from Victoria Falls Hotel.  Will USD work there also?

Didn't spend any money in Zambia, so cannot answer this question; sorry.

For Zimbabwe you will be much better off with USD. Zimbabwe's own currency is very unstable, and USD are preferred.  I don't know your country of origin, but you should be able to get USD somehow.  Zambezi is a river, not a country, and therefore does not have its own currency.

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Several million BIS miles have provided a world of education -- that I try to pass on for those who want to learn.

 

 

And I would like to thank you very much for that!  I have learned a lot.  Please keep posting and educating those of us who are eager to learn

Thanks everyone!  We will look for an alternative.

We thought about the (November 2) 7 day Pacific Wine Country from Vancouver to LA until we read about the Crown's propulsion problems.  Would this problem be a deal-killer to you?  I am not thrilled about sitting on the ship for 7  days without reaching the ports due to lack of speed.

6 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

We are doing this itinerary in October.

Do you think they could adjust for this and offer 5 hour tours instead of 10-11 hours?

I signed for an NCL excursion to Masada and Dead Sea.  Maybe, we could just do one of them.

Drive from Ashdod to Masada is at least two hours each way.  I doubt the cruise line will offer this option for a five hour port stop.

October is a long time in the future.  COVID-19 entry rules might change significantly (for better or for worse) by then.  Keep checking.

On the Gem in December, the buffet offered Indian food for lunch and dinner.  As vegetarians, we ate it every night in the Main dining room (by request).  The quality was uneven, at least for our tastes.  Some of the dishes were outstanding, and one night the meal was inedible.

Although I have enjoyed multiple days with a private guide in Israel, in your situation a guide may not be a good choice.  There definitely will not be licensed guides just waiting at the port to offer tours, and even if there were they would still charge a for a full day of guiding due to their inability to pick up the extra half day with another group.  Does GTI offer any half day tours at a price lower than full day?  Otherwise, your best bet is the taxis.  Most likely you will need two each way, unless your port time allows you to depart from Akko after 2100.  I do not remember seeing taxis waiting at the port.  Even if there were some at the time, that may not still be the case, as my trips were pre-COVID.

JB:  No trains during the day any Saturday.

We stayed at the Bay Club Hotel, which I highly recommend. It's about a 5 minute taxi ride to the port.

You will need to check back closer to your arrival date.

Here is the current information:

https://it.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/

4 hours ago, nattie said:

I am actually leaning toward Alaska.

Hmmm.  Are you sure you want to take a MS student on a cruise tour?  He/she might be the only person in that age group on the land portion.  Also, it's lots of travel time with not so much time at the destinations.  It also has an overnight at Princess McKinley Lodge, and there's not much to do there.  What would a MS student do to keep from being bored?  If you do the cruise tour, at least try to take the NPS shuttle to Eielson instead of the Natural History Tour in Denali, as the former will be free for an MS student and it will allow you to see much more of the Park.

On 9/1/2020 at 5:20 PM, Eli_6 said:

Anyone have any recs for a hotel with 2 young kids and 2 adults?  

I really liked the Tryp Apolo for its quad rooms, although our kids were teenagers.  I'm not sure this is still the case, but the hotel had an agreement with a nearby gym that allowed free entry for hotel guests.  The gym has a great pool that kids like.

Update:  I called Lufthansa on April 6th to request a refund for their canceled flight.  I just received it this week.

I was scheduled to flight WAS to ZRH (Swiss Airlines) and FRA to WAS (Lufthansa) in May on a flight booked on Lufthansa website.  Lufthansa canceled the outbound flight without a replacement.  From the Lufthansa website (and from reading numerous reports on other websites) it appears to me that Lufthansa is not offering a refund (just a credit) when they cancel a flight.

What approach should I use to try to get a refund?

1.  Contact Lufthansa by phone.  LH website is asking people not to contact by phone unless flight is within 3 days, and phone conversation would not provide written documentation anyway.

2.  E-mail request for refund. Other people have reported that LH is not responding to e-mail requests for refund.

3.  Charge back on credit card.  Is this likely to work if I cannot contact Lufthansa?

4.  I have CFAR insurance, but it only refunds 75% of cost, and I would need to cancel the flight.  I am not sure whether I can cancel the flight (a) if Lufthansa already did it and (b) if I cannot reach Lufthansa. I would need documentation that I canceled the flight (I think), in order to make insurance claim.

I appreciate any and all suggestions.  

15 minutes ago, mpk said:

 

No offense to gnats.

I'm sure they're not offended.  They won the World Series, after all.

We would like to hike while in port in late June.  Which itinerary do you think offers the best hiking?

1.  Carnival Legend

Day 1 London

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Bergen 0800 to 1700

Day 4 Hellesylt 1000 to 1300 and Geiranger 1500 to 2200

Day 5 Molde 0800 to 1700

Day 6 Olden 1000 to 1900

Day 7 Alesund 0700 to 1600

Day 8 Stavanger 1030 to 1930

Day 9 At Sea

Day 10 London

2.  Holland America Nieuw Statendam

Day 1 Amsterdam

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Eidfjord 0800 to 1700

Day 4 Bergen 0700 to 1600

Day 5 Geiranger 0700 to 1700

Day 6 Alesund 0700 to 1530

Day 7 At Sea

Day 8 Amsterdam

3.  Holland America Rotterdam

Day 1 Rotterdam

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Eidfjord 0700 to 1500

Day 4 Vik 0800 to 1700

Day 5 Andalsnes 0800 to 1700

Day 6 Haugesund 1200 to 2300

Day 7 At Sea

Day 8 Rotterdam