jcl410

Hi - My wife and I are taking the MSC Fantasia from Santos,Brazil to Lisbon leaving on 3 April.... We are flying into GRU airport a day early (aprox 9:30am Sunday, the 2nd.) What's the best way to get a taxi/car from the airport to our hotel in Santos. Will we need any local currency? I would prefer to pay with a credit card. Aloha, John

We used Larry's Limo for 8 people in December. They included a service charge on the bill for each trip... (ex; FLL to Ft. Lauderdale hotel, fare $155, tip $20). I usually gave an extra $10 to each driver due to all our bags... Aloha, John

Don't feel like you need to answer this question,,, What type of United States Visa are you holding? Generally speaking, if one has a Immigrant visa, then you're considered a Legal Permanent Resident, which is the same as being a "green card holder".. Aloha, John

Just for clarification the limit is for a 300 Watt/hour (Wh) battery, not KiloWhat/hour (KWh) Batteries in the KWh range are used for EV cars and bigger. The FAA allows two spare batteries if each of them are less than 160Wh. (Or one spare from 160-300Wh) Aloha, John

Do you live in one of the following states? Michigan Minnesota New York Vermont Washington Those are the ONLY states that issued "Enhanced" driver's license.... These are the ONLY ones that can be used for land and sea border entries back into the USA by themselves. Other states are issuing RealID compliant licenses... These DO require a birth certificate for a cruise. Aloha, John

This is not always true.... At some ports, I have seen Royal Caribbean ships hook up to the water supply on the dock and take on water.... The rest of the water is either from reverse osmosis,or a flash evaporator. The unknown issue I have is how free of debris the lines are from the tanks to the faucet. Aloha, John

They can use their *original* Naturalization certificate along with a Driver's license/other government ID. Aloha, John

I know this is an old thread, but I had completely forgot about this allision. I was aboard the Harmony early this month, and I remember asking myself "Where's the 2nd range marker? " Now I know... They haven't replaced it yet! Aloha, John

I've had several "go to" cruise lines... In the 90's I was living in Hawai'i, and I took an American Hawaii cruise around the Islands in 1995, and sailed with them each year. But I also took other cruises, like Windjammer Barefoot cruises' Amazing Grace and Cunard. I also did a 2 week SE Asia trip on on Royal Caribbean. Since returning to the mainland, RCI has been my "go to" main stream cruise line... Other trips have been for the ship (e.g.; SS Norway(ex France), SS Rembrandt(ex Rotterdam), or itinerary/ship (SPV Royal Clipper, QM2 transatlantic.) But being Diamond Plus on RCI gives them an edge for main stream cruising. Aloha, John

I'm guessing his driver's license, and all other forms of ID are in the new name? I think the best course of action would be to go ahead and apply for a passport ASAP... More than likely, it will take some time to prove to the State Department that he's a US citizen, and under the new name... (As suggested above, his military records should have a record of the name change.) Aloha, John

I usually fly into Orlando a day before do a one way rental car and drive to Port Canveral. I tend to stay at the Residence Inn. Aloha, John

It looks like the average water temp in St. Thomas and St.Maarten is about 82 in December,. Air temps will be warmer. Asfar as Coco Cay, well,... it's the Bahamas. I grew up in Jacksonville, and lived in Hawaii for 8 year - I too do not like cool ocean temps... I've enjoyed the Caribbean in Winter. Aloha, John

Hi - Has any one visited the Swamp Safari Village in Falmouth recently? Their website says it's open, but there's no info how much money it is. Are the taxis at the port reliable to get me there, and more importantly get me back to the ship? Aloha, John

It has been done differently before. Years ago, well 2009, as we were waiting for our group to be announced to disembark, I was paged to go to a conference room on the ship. There were a number of passengers there waiting to see a CBP officer. In my case, we were on our honeymoon We also got married on the ship in Baltimore. We had paid $1200 for a photographer to take pictures of the ceremony and reception. (This also included a disc with all the shots on it. We also spent ~$350 for a water proof camera onboard.) It took only a minute with the officer, and I went back to waiting; no Bong on departure 🙂 Aloha, John

When is your cruise, and how many weeks will you be in the USA? Have you been able to check in yet? If so, your Set Sail pass is used to board the ship. I'd have to think that CBP will accept that to prove an onward journey. Aloha, John

Back in the 90s Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 would offer a one way from Ensenada to Honolulu as part of her world cruise. I took this one year. I flew into LAX, and Cunard had buses to take us to a hotel in San Diego for food before continuing to Mexico. Once we got to San Diego the 500 or so boarding passengers were told that the waves were to high in Ensenada, so the QE2 was heading to San Diego to pick us all up.... I never did find out how much of a fine Cunard had to pay... The cool thing was that there was no Immigration required in Hawaii. Aloha, John

Cafe Promenade is open 24 hours a day. They will have food available late at night. Aloha, John

I'd suggest sending one person to the airport/rental car office to pick up the car, then drive back to the hotel to get the luggage (and the rest of the people. 🙂 ) I always check with the hotels before booking to see how early/late/often the shuttle runs to/from the airport. Aloha, John

Just an observation.... I was curious, so I took a multi meter once on a Vision class ship... The Euro plug did provide 230 volts, but it was at 60hz instead of 50hz.... Shouldn't be a problem unless you have a clock or something similar. Aloha, John

The reason that the Oasis class ships dock starboard side to is because that side has they an escalator that leads to the boarding door. That being said,if they need the dock the other way around for maintenance, they will. Aloha, John

That's my preferred method to get from MCO to Port Canaveral.... I used Budget most recently. Their location was only few miles from the port, and the shuttle there and back was easy. Several times,I've booked a later return flight and did something before going to the airport .(visit KSC, air boat ride, etc) Aloha, John

You will need to check the immigration rules with each of the countries the ship will visit. For example, a Google search for the Bahamas led me to to this page: https://www.bahamasembdc.org/contact/faq/ Which says that legal permanent residences in the USA do NOT need a visa. (They *do* need at least 6 months left on their passport. Aloha, John

I have been carrying a 2 foot (~60cm) heavy duty extension cord with three outlets on the end with my CPAP machine for years... I had never had it taken from me until my last cruise from San Juan,PR. Shore side security saw it, and gave me a reciept for it. It was waiting for me when we arrived in Florida. We shall see what happens when I cruise again in Dec. Aloha, John

Reception on the balcony will only be possible either going to or coming from Bermuda. Even then, the overhang from the deck above may block the antenna from seeing the satellite.. Have fun experimenting! Aloha, John

A "secret spot" I like is up on deck 11(? the pool deck). All the way forward in the Solarium, you can go outside and walk up to an observation area overlooking the bridge. There are windows looking down into the bridge. You can see all the displays. There are also repeater displays in a case that gives much the same info, including charts, Pod speeds and direction, etc. Aloha, john