donaldsc

Try ToursbyLocals. Have used them for lots of excursions and they were all excellent. DON

How important is it that the tour be private. The cruise ships offer larger boat whale watching excursions and also whale watching excursions on boats that hold maybe 10 or 12 people. We have done the latter several times and they work well. DON

Seems like we have had this discussion many times on CC. I would suggest that the OP should review the previous posts to see if they can add something new to the subject before they continue this thread. Most of the threads seem to cover almost everything that can be said on the subject. DON

Just my opinion and I am into photography but it seems to me that you are a bit over doing things. My idea of traveling in scenic areas is to see things and experience the areas and not to see everything from behind the camera viewfinder. DON

I am looking at a B2B on the CroisiEurope La Belle des Oceans ship. It would combine their 8 day Magnificant Murdejar Art from the Andalusian Flatlands to Morocco's Imperial Cities cruise with their 8 day Cruise through the Canary Island Archipelago, eternal Springtime cruise for a total of 16 days. I don't know anything at all about CroisiEurope except that most of their cruises are river boat cruises and these are not riverboats nor is this a riverboat cruise. I can't find out anything at all about these specific cruises except that it is difficult to find any cruise that focuses on these areas. The ships aree about 150 passengers which is a good size. The price at about $500 per day is not bad. One potential problem is that the company and the cruise sounds very French and we all know what the French people can be like. Some people who have done river boat cruises with this company have said that almost everyone on the ship was French. Has anyone out there done any trips with this company and especially trips on their non-riverboat ships. DON

Suppose it is true that you will not get a refund if no whales are seen. This leaves you w 2 choices. 1) Cancel. Then you will have a 100% certainty that you will NOT see whales. 2) Take the tour. You will probably see whales but even if you don't you will have had an enjoyable scenic cruise in the harbor and you might see other stuff. The right choice seems obvious to me. DON

Las Vegas Hard Water Rating. According to Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD)1, Las Vegas has a hardness rating of 278 parts per million or 16 grains per gallon. This level of hardness is considered to be “extremely hard.” In fact, Las Vegas has some of the hardest water in the country! DON

I agree. The showers on Azamara ships are very small. DON

All of the Viking ocean ships are essentially identical so it doesn't matter which one you cruise on. Makes it easier as you can just pick your itinerary. DON

Why don't you verify just to be sure by contacting the tour operator directly. DON

See if you can figure out who is actually doing the tour from the Celebrity tour description and contact them directly., DON

I arbitrarily picked one of the ships in the Princess fleet and had no problem finding out who he is on the internet. DON

Viking Ocean should also be on your list. DON

NYC water is very good. Southern Florida water tastes of sulphur. DON

As much as I dislike the whole medallion system we have had several pre-medallion instances where we were charged for items and services that were in correct. Getting the errors was always a pain. DON