Splinter

1 hour ago, ATSEAMYLIFE said:

If you want to take the ferry over to Coronado then at The Landing is Il Fornaio and Phoie's.  

Peohe’s is fine, but I think Il Fornaio is better.

I don't think you will find a bad restaurant in Little Italy! Any that are not good quickly go out of business. Avoid Born & Raised though. It is overpriced and I think it has poor service for what you pay. I would also add to your dinner list the following:

Indigo Grill

Juniper & Ivy

Herb & Wood

Prep Kitchen (Little Italy)

Kettner Exchange

The upstairs Top of the Market at the Fish Market next to Seaport Village is also very good.

In the Marina area, I like Sally's at the Marriott Hotel.

Puesto! at the Headquarters (near Seaport Village) is also very good.

While I have not eaten there myself, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse at your hotel has had rave reviews as well.

For breakfast, add Cafe 222 and Brian's 24. Richard Walker's is good, but often long lines, especially on weekends.  Harbor Breakfast is very new...have not had a chance to try it yet. Also consider Farmers' Table in Little Italy.

For informal lunches, while I love Athens Market, I usually go there for dinner. Lots of good places for lunch in Little Italy. You might even want to check out the Food Hall there, which has great food and a nice outdoor eating area where you can people watch. Also, right on the Embarcadero near the cruise ship pier is Carnitas Snack Shack (Embarcadero location) which is excellent.

For Mexican food, check out El Agave in Old Town. Authentic gourmet Mexican food, not touristy, and they have a huge selection of tequilas as well. Coastaterra on Harbor Island is good, although not as authentic, but has a spectacular view. 

On 6/23/2019 at 12:44 AM, hallasm said:

I do not think you can find direct flights fro LAX to OSL or CPH - so you will need to have a two stop flight - a bit risky however you can always catch the ship in Ålesund the following Day if problems.

Norwegian Air flies non-stop from LAX to Oslo and Bergen. I used them for my Hurtigruten cruise in 2015. Flew in and out of Oslo, and took the train to Bergen and back.

Yes, these ports are tender v. pier:

Nawiliwili: pier

Honolulu: pier

Lahaina: tender

Kona: tender

Hilo: pier

Even if you are on a ship with a tender lift, you may not be able to access it based on sea conditions, and it will only take people in manual wheelchairs of maximum 18" seat width (no power chairs or scooters).

While my mother used a power chair on the ship, for any shore excursions, even at a pier port, we took a manual wheelchair. While Hawaii is part of the USA, it is amazing how much of it does not meet ADA regulations, so you may have to bump up a curb or two, or a step into a shop, and there are few wheelchair accessible cabs. With a manual chair, you can fold it and put it in the taxi or rental car trunk as long as you can transfer to the passenger seat.

Uber or cab there.

Nothing really close-by. The closest is Crystal Clean Laundry (0.5 miles) 1718 Bellevue Ave E, Seattle, WA 98122.

Enterprise, but I believe they are not open on Sunday either. You may have to take a cab to a rental car location in Torrance or Long Beach; even consider the Long Beach Airport.

Generally when there is lack of availability of hotels in the Marina and Gaslamp Quarter it is because a big convention or other event is going on in that area, as the SD Convention Center is nearby.

A small boutique hotel you might want to consider, in Little Italy, is Le Pensione.

The seats are right next to the entrance to the terminal. There is usually a staff person directing people right there, but there is also signage indicating that the seating is for those with mobility disabilities.

What kind of questions do you have? Hawaii is relatively accessible, although not as much as the other 49 states in my experience. If you have a tender port (Lahaina and/or Kona) HAL will not let you on the tender unless you can walk on (including steps) under your own power, so be prepared for that.

We have found some tours through HAL on wheelchair accessible (lift) buses in Hilo and Nawiliwili but not always available. Shopping shuttles are nearly always non-accessible, which is a violation of the ADA, but no one seems to care. The (city) Bus in Honolulu is wheelchair accessible and easy to catch near the cruise ship terminal to go to Waikiki. Also consider renting a car and doing your own touring since it appears you can easily transfer to a car and put your wheelchair in the trunk. Just a caution that most of the shuttles to the rental cars are not accessible, so someone in your party would need to pick up the car and drive back to the pier to pick you up. 

I actually don't like to be on the first crush of passenger that is usually standing in line for a long time when they first start boarding. You can drop of your luggage around 10AM, then head out and do something fun, then go back to the ship around 2PM and usually walk right on.

Consider the Aquarium of the Pacific if you don't want to take the tour of the Queen Mary. The Aquarium will even let you store your luggage if you want to go straight there from the airport.

I agree with the above. I would feel very comfortable walking around Little Italy alone in the evening; less so in the East Village (the eastern part of the Gaslamp), and not at all the area of Cortez Hill, where the 4 Points Sheraton is located. Look also at the Hampton Inn Bayside (rooms away from the train tracks which are on the east side). Le Pensione is a small boutique hotel right in Little Italy that is popular with some as well.

Yes, it is rare in the USA to have breakfast included at most hotels, unlike Europe. I wouldn't make that my make-or-break in a decision where to stay. Most have a coffee shop/restaurant where you can purchase a breakfast (the buffet being the most expensive option usually). You can also walk to some good places to have breakfast in Little Italy and the Gaslamp. Harbor Breakfast in Little Italy is very good, as is Cafe 222, Brian's 24, or Richard Walker's.

The hotels you mention would also not be my first choice.

Holiday Inn Express Downtown 7th Ave is actually an uphill walk from the Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy, and in a relatively iffy part of downtown. The same goes for the Four Points Sheraton-Downtown.

Hotel Republic is a fairly new rehab of an old building. Don't know of anyone who has stayed there, but it is fairly close to Little Italy.

Hotel Indigo is in the East Village, an area that is undergoing some redevelopment and upgrading, but not an area I would like to walk around at night. Good if you are planning on going to an event in nearby Petco Park (baseball, etc.) but that's it.  Several blocks east of the Gaslamp Quarter.

Look at the Hampton Inn-San Diego Downtown. As long as you get a room on the west side (away from the railroad tracks on the east side), it is a great location and just a block or two from Little Italy. It is also close to the Trolley (light rail) tracks which you can use to go further south to the Gaslamp Quarter, or north to Old Town. The Wyndam San Diego Bayside is also popular.

If you are determined to find a hotel with a breakfast buffet, you might want to go to the Embassy Suites San Diego Bay in the Marina District, next to Seaport Village and just a few blocks from the Gaslamp Quarter.

When we were in Barcelona (disembarkation) on Princess, they provided a wheelchair lift equipped van/cab for our transportation to the airport (Princess transfer), as my mother could not climb the steps for the regular bus. Barcelona has excellent wheelchair accessible transportation as a result of the Paralympics there in the 1990s.

I also like the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro. Close to the cruise ship pier, and located in the old ferry building. If you like the history of sea-going ships and great models, this is the place for you. http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/

There is also the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which is not as big or glitzy as the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, but has nice exhibits about the local marine life, including grey whales: https://www.cabrillomarineaquarium.org/

Once had bags with the tags torn off in San Pedro. Fortunately we found it quickly before the ship left the pier.

Now I use these plastic and wire tag holders. Works like a charm:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017BVF8L6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have only been on one Hurtigruten cruise, which was on the MS Trollfjord. I loved the ship. I had an inside cabin which was plenty big for me (traveled alone). I spent very little time in the cabin (sleep, bathe, dress) because I so enjoyed sitting in the Vista Lounge, which on this ship is 2 story and gives you a great panoramic view of the beautiful scenery, and easy access to an outside deck for taking photos.  I understand it has been refurbished and redecorated since my cruise in 2015.

All rental car companies have moved from the airport to the new off-site rental car facility at the east end of the airport. If you go to the airport, you will have to take a shuttle bus to this facility to pick up your car. This is also where you drop your car when returning it. Much easier to take a cab or Uber from the port to the rental car facility directly (you can even walk it if you are up for about a 1.5 mile walk).

I believe you can still go to the Little ltaly Avis location (and they will shuttle you to the facility above to get the car) instead, but there are many companies with better prices than Avis at the rental car facility.

You could also cab or Uber to the Trader Joe's in Liberty Station for a much better selection of wines, and reasonable prices. Cost Plus is also a good place to pick up wines,  but sadly the location in the Gaslamp Quarter has closed, and the closest one would be in Loma Portal.

Hard to find, but they do exist. The third person may need to be in a bunk or sofa bed, or even a roll-away. We did both on Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and RCCL ships. Crystal does not have any accessible cabins that sleep more than 2 people.

I often park on-site at LAX when taking flights for international trips. I also use cheapairportparking.com to find a good rate. Best to book at least 10-12 weeks ahead if possible to get the best rates. I try to find something for $8-9/day, which is generally going to be outdoor secured parking (not a garage).  I have used the Fox Rental Car AutoParks parking several times, as well as Sam's Park, the Westin, and Mega Airport Parking.

I don't know of any high-end cruise ships/lines with single cabins. Most are going to charge you 200% single supplement rate; Crystal sometimes has lower single supplement rates (from 120-150%) on some cruises.

Have you considered a river cruise? Many of the high end river cruise lines have single cabins, although few in number.

I have a waterproof fanny pack that I use for my ship's card, a little money and a credit card, and even my point-and-shoot camera when I swim or snorkel. I don't travel with a cell phone, but could put one in this bag too. I bought mine at REI years ago.

We took our own large sized disposable bed pads (Chux) when I traveled with my mother. If soiled, I wrapped them in a plastic shopping bag (took those with us) and left bagged next to the trash in the bathroom for the steward to dispose of (in addition to any briefs). Certainly did not expect them to deal with these pads when making up the beds. Occasionally we had extra pads left at the end of our cruise, and rather than lugging them home, we donated them to the ship's hospital, which was always happy to take them off our hands.

On 3/17/2019 at 2:41 PM, Travel2? said:

Hallam/Splinter,

If reading correctly, you can travel by rail from Bergen to Flam by way of Myrdal; after a visit in Flam, can you continue directly to Oslo?

 

Yes, that is what I did. I took the train directly from Oslo to Bergen to board the ship, then upon my return, I booked the following 3 train tickets: 1) Bergen to Mrydal (first train in the morning; around 7:30AM as I remember), 2) Myrdal to Flam  (only had 5 minutes to make this connection to Flam; waited in Myrdal about 1 hour for train to Oslo), and then 3) Flam via Myrdal to Oslo. 

The Flam railroad does not sell specific seats; seating is first come, first serve.  Tickets for the Bergen/Oslo route go on sale 90 days before your travel, and that is when you will get the best price. Prices are better on-line than at the train station too. If your train offers Komfort class, pay the slightly higher price for this as it gives you a reserved seat at a table with power and Wifi plus free coffee and tea.  This is not available on all trains on this route (and not on the Flam train at all).