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barante

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About Me

  • Location
    Baltimore, Md., U.S.A.
  • Interests
    The world, humanity
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Bermuda, Europe

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  1. You'd better direct this question to whoever at Carnival handles Scootarounds. You mean to say that no pickup info was given when you booked?
  2. During my two previous visits to Argentina, the fiscal situation was a mess. A black market in foreign currency thrived; I remember having been advised by my hotels reception to go to a nearby numismatic collectors' shop to change money. I am soon going to Buenos Aires again. The country's economic situation is bleak. How does one change moolah these days?
  3. I am an octogenerian retrograde afficianado of the Glenn Miller sound, who recommends this lovely rendition of "I'll Be Seeing You" by Veronica Swift and the Air Force band. Anyway, I remember the Dec. 2013 cruise from California to Hawaii and a back. It was memorable because that cruise marked the end of the traditional the Carnival Miracle's big band. For that reason the band was showcased quite a bit, a real treat.
  4. My wife travels with her own collapsible rollator. The one she has now--and likes a lot--is an UPRIGHT, meaning that you are walking normally, not hunched over. Instead of renting, she always checks it in on airlines. After being issued the necessary tags at check-in, she walks up to the plane and at the door drops off the rollator, which then goes to the airplane's belly, and its collected at the airplane's door at the next airport (if we are changing planes) or at the final destination. This usually works without hitches, although we have instances of the rollator going to the final destination, to be collected at the carousel. The reason she does it this way is her belief that if she checked the rollator as regular baggage, it would be mishandled and manhandled and damaged. All the airlines have been cooperative. Before getting her current UPRIGHT (check it out), my wife had a regular-type walker. It went to the United Arab Emirates, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and China, without any problems. Without her UPRIGHT walker, my wife probably could not cruise. With the introduction of mega ships, ports have also spread and expanded. So just to get to the gate of a pier one often has to walk considerable distances, too long for her to manage. We are booked on the Carnival Pride's April 7 14-day Journeys from Tampa to Baltimore. Six Caribbean ports, including Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten. That latter port has expanded greatly in recent years. I hope the trolley shuttle to the water taxi stand still operates.
  5. We just returned last week from a Carnival Pride TA. Fell in love with Barcelona. So as soon as we got home, we booked the Valiant Lady TA departing Oct. 29. But what to do with air? Prices have really shot up since we were able to snag oneway business class tickets on TAP from BCN to IAD for less than $1,000 pp. The cheapest business class tickets I see now are more than that--and Royal Air Maroc, which gets mixed review. The cheapest premium economy from IAD is on SAS, but the $1,000 deal involves an eight-hour layover in Copenhagen. I see Virgin used to sell air for its cruises, but that no longer seems to be true, If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, please speak up. Obrigado.
  6. I apologize for this double post. There was no way to delete the repeat.
  7. We booked April's trans-Atlantic from Tampa to Barcelona before realizing that the Carnival Pride will then sail immediately for weeks at drydock. We have never been on a bad cruise. But should we be worried about prep work being done and areas of the ship being closed off, or restaurants running out of items? This is not a Pride specific question but relates to other Carnival ships going to drydock as well.
  8. We booked April's trans-Atlantic from Tampa to Barcelona before realizing that the Carnival Pride will then sail immediately for weeks at drydock. We have never been on a bad cruise. But should we be worried about prep work being done and areas of the ship being closed off, or restaurants running out of items?
  9. DOWN THE MEMORY LANE I smoke weed on cruises, but I do not advertise it. Thus, I use vapes and never leave anything lying around, that's asking for trouble because crew members will report you. And in places like Bermuda, police dogs are sometimes brought in to sniff hallways. (Solution: Put your stuff in the safe and don't use flower). Lots of years ago we were on a cruise to Jamaica. In Montego Bay, my wife wanted to get her hair braided. Meanwhile, I investigated a nearby bar. I was literally attacked by women of easy virtue who made propositions of all kinds of unnatural acts that made me blush. One even followed me to the men's room. Once the hussies--all high on something stronger than weed--were rebuffed, their boyfriends began showing their wares. The buds looked good and I bought some. We then took a swim on a local beach. Once we got back to the port, we were greeted by two grinning policewomen who went through everything. And found nothing (because they failed to check our wet swimwear). They were most disappointed, almost distraught. Which brings me to the point. If you doing stuff of questionable legality, think it through. (BTW, that Jamaican weed was terrible). In my working life, I was a globetrotting traveler so I figured all this out. Hiding places, mostly for undeclared cash, possible excuses. But in neither of my two main assignments--apartheid South Africa and the Soviet Union--did I ever even consider consuming weed. Too dangerous, as the recklesness of Brittney Griner shows. Once we were in Sri Lanka, where airport signs declared that consuming/trafficking was punishable by death. A similar sign at the hotel check-in. Within 15 minutes I scored. When I presented my goodies, my wife, an erstwhile head, refused. And I put my life on life for her! Such is life.
  10. We were on Carnival Legend at Christmas. No rye on reuben, even though the menu promised. We were on Sky Princess last month. No rye. Or any other type of dark bread. And when I go to my local supermarket, finding rye, particularly with the seeds, is a challenge. Whazz going on? Is the world coming to the end?
  11. It's supply and demand. We were on a late-September Legend cruise to Iceland and Greenland in 2013. With the ship at one point going dark so we could enjoy northern lights, it was a rare treat. (We later went on a HAL Iceland/Greenland cruise, but it was earlier in the season and no northern lights could be seen). During that 2013 cruise, Brand Ambassador John Heald said Greenland cruises would be offered in the future. It took all this time for it to happen. When next summer's cruise was first announced, it sold out in hours. Another sailing was added and then a third one. All sailing from Baltimore. Greenland cruise offerings are quite rare. That, and their popularity, explain the steep pricing.
  12. We will have a premium balcony on the Pride's eastbound trans-Atlantic in April. I am ecstatic because today we made it a B2B by booking the very same cabin for the previous cruise, a four-day Tampa to Cozumel sailing. The Spirit class ships have only six 9B cabins, premium balconies. Additionally, they also have two 9As, which are obstructed premium balconies. Each has 230 sq ft of space plus a double-length balcony. So you effectively get a near-suite with a substantial discount. Here is a great review of a 9B on the Legend. Favor's cabin was underneath Lido and had some unexplainable noise issues. Despite her caution, we grabbed a similar Legend 9B last Christmas. Yes, some noise irritants but not a deal breaker. We just wanted more space and a big balcony. Our cabin on the forthcoming B2B is on deck 7, so no noise issues expected. Please note that while the 9Bs are next to elevators, elevator noise is not a problem. For my money, 9B cabins are the way to go! (And since we are Platinum, we'll have free laundry).
  13. I first got to know tuk tuks in Thailand and Vietnam. On a recent Sky Princess trans-Atlantic I found out that those electric three-wheel vehicles are also taking over Lisbon. In fact, they may be the best way to tour the hilly city's narrow and steep alleys that are no-go to buses and cars. In Southeast Asia tuk tuks usually accomodate two people. Lisbon tuk tuks, by contrast, can accommodate up to six persons. When my partner and I rented a tuk tuk outside the cruise port at Jardim do Tobacco., we got the whole vehicle for two hours for $130. I thought that was a splendid deal because we could have had it for six people. I was told that tuk tuks were first introduced in Lisbon in 2012 and have since spread like crabgrass. Regular taxis were cheap, but they were extremely hard to find during rush hour. So some tuk tuks do tourist routes, others may be rented for short trips. There are thousands of them. Tuk tuks do not replace regular tours, but they are an appealing alternative to those who want to see the various sections of Lisbon from a vantage point that those regular tours do not offer.
  14. Finally got my Oct. 28 EZAir ticketed today. As a matter of fact, it happened three days ago but I had to call to find about it because no one at Princess informed me. It was not reflected on my Personalizer, either. Since business class seats on the same flight now cost five times more I am not complaining, but . . .
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