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A few weeks ago we had a tour to the Amalfi coast. We had a nice stop in Positano but later after waiting a long time on a traffic mess on the 2 lane road to Amalfi we had to change this. Traffic was in a complete stop for a long time Our driver turned and brought us to Sorrento instead. It seems the road is often a big problem when you have to be back in time for your ship.

Since it is illegal to come close to the whales, no serious operator will do that. They will loose their permit and it will cost a lot of money! It has nothing to do with being afraid. Not just for the safety of the animals but also for you and your family. it seems you are looking for a party boat not for a whale watch tour.

It can be chilly beginning of May and you will certainly see snow on the mountains. Maybe some roads to high points in the mountains are not yet open. So bring some sweaters etc. , dress in layers. In Flamm and also in Geiranger you will sail into and from the fjords, which is great. In Flamm there is the famous train https://www.norwaysbest.com/flamsbana/ Make reservations as often the train can be full. If you are not interested in that , the busride to the Stegastein viewpoint is also nice. https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/shuttle-bus-to-stegastein-viewpoint/206803/ In Geiranger make the bus to various viewpoints. https://www.geirangerfjord.no/panorama-exclusive-bus In Alesund you can take the hopon off bus that also goes to the Mt. Aksla viewpoint. https://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus-tours.com/tour-city-sightseeing-alesund-hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour I cannot help you with the other places. Instead of an inside or balcony think about a room with a window. That way you can also enjoy the views. PS Since you will be in Amsterdam beginning of May, come one day earlier and visit the world famous flower garden Keukenhof. https://keukenhof.nl/en/

But please remember NO COINS! They cannot be exchanged.

Prices depend so very much when, highseason or not etc. . There is a Marriott Hotel more or less city center. Apart from that there also is: The W hotel, city center near the royal Palace, Renaissance Hotel, near Centraal Station and not that far from the cruise terminal. Also hotels like the Sir Albert, a Courtyard, College Hotel, and more. If you check the Marriott website, put in the dates, you will all see them.

We have done both. The one to Concordia etc. was already a long time ago in 2008. It was a long but an interesting day. The drive to Concordia was not that special, we had a stop there, visited the church etc. but after that it was so much nicer. We had some free time in Coppola. A nice small town, we walked around and had a nice lunch there. Again it was a long day as far as I remember. The one to San Sebastian is also very interesting. As we stay in Puerto Vallarta each winter, we do it by car. You might have a stop in a small Tequilla distillery before getting to San Sebastian. The drive itself is also nice, it takes less then 2 hours. San Sebastian was an old mining town, it has a very nice mexican plaza with of course a nice church. (see attached photo) Maybe you can visit the small museum and the small prison. San Sebastian is also famous for its coffee. We love to go there. Be aware since it is in a higher altitude it can be cooler than Vallarta. Difficult to tell which one is nicer, we like them both.

Depending how large your group is, check this website: https://www.dagtoertaxi.nl/

No security check, you can just go from one gate to the other as you will stay in the custom area.

Not Hank, but I assume you mean the church Nuestra Señora del Refugio on Plaza Hidalgo. That church is close to the beginning of the Malecon. Although Hank mentions cathedral, there is no cathedral in Puerto Vallarta. The well known church near the centre is just another church, Nuestra señora de Guadelupe.

I answered in your other posting.

Check the Las Caletas tour in Puerto Vallarta if offered by your cruiseline. You will sail across the bay and back to their private beach with many facilities. Great time for you all. In winter you might even see some whales in the bay. Oh and Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta are no islands but mainland Mexico!

Much depends what kind of market you mean. In Puerto Vallarta there are daily markets, mostly with food etc. One os not too far from the terminal at Aramara. The other one is more near old town. If you mean items like clothing, shoes etc. you can visit the flea market near the river Cuale near old town. Also you will find many shops with that along the Malecon. Depending the day and time there is a very nice farmers market with music, food, clothing, paintings etc. at the Marina, just a short cab ride or even walking ditstance from the terminal. But....ttis one is only in winter on Thursday night from 6-9.

Maybe April 2023 is too far out for them?

Since we stayed in an airporthotel the 1st night (we arrived at night in Rome), they picked us up the next morning at the hotel to transport us to Civitavecchia. According their website they also offer transportation from the airport to the port. When we booked for the shared transport we got a kind of confirmation, with the remark they needed more passengers to make it a shared transport. Within a few days we got the definitive confirmation with the pickup time. Probably because it now is more or less low season it might be more difficult to have more passengers to share the ride? Ask them about it again!

Yes we visited Positano. As I mentioned unfortunately we had to skip Amalfi and Ravello. Traffic was on a standstil on the small 2 lane road and it would take too much time to get to Amalfi. So after waiting in line without moving for some time and checking this with us our driver suggested to turn around and get to Sorrento instead. That way we would be back on time at the ship. Noticing we move at all for a certain time with lots of traffic ahead of us we all agreed to do that of course.

Back from our cruise. As mentioned above we booked the tour to Positano etc. Through cruise critics we found other passengers and the 7 of us had a great day. Nice driver, great tour. Due to major traffic problems on the small 2 lane road to Amalfi, our driver turned around and took us to Sorrento instead of Amalfi. He certainly did not want to risk we would miss our ship.

Back from our cruise. The company I mentioned above did a great job. Kept us informed about the pick up time. At first it was just us and later an australian couple joined us to the transport to Civitavecchia. Nice driver, good car.

Just back from a great cruise. We had a day tour booked with Italytours.eu. Visited Positano and Ravello. Our planned stop in Amalfi had to be changed to Sorrento because of traffic problems on the small 2 lane road and our driver did not want to take the risk we would miss the ship. We enjoyed our our tour very much Nice driver, good car.

These changes were made by a private company that took over a major part of the port. Last winter during a certain time there even was an icerink (!) also events like wine tasting etc. are taking place there. It is now more or less a mutual functional building with more actvities the just a cruise terminal.

Be aware not all drivers will accept US$ , it is a nice gesture if they do.

We stay in Puerto Vallarta each winter since many years. I drive around in our car, shop local, eat in local restaurants, visit the local market, walk each morning etc. and never had any problem!. So stating Puerto Vallarta is the 3rd dangerous place in Mexico is absolutely nonsense. Apart from Vallarta we have visited many places in Mexico and also there never had any problems. Leave your expensive watch and jewelry on the ship, donot take more money then you might need, (cash is king anyway), donot drink too much and be aware of your surroundings as you would do at home. Most important of course is to stay away from drugs. You will enjoy Mexico and the mexicans.

So are we!

Check a site like booking.com You can see which area the hotel is and at what rate. May is highseason in Amsterdam. Be aware May 4 is remembrance day of WWII. At Dam square that night at 8 pm the king, queen, government officials etc will walk from the palace to the statue to put Lots of people around. Also at that time there will be one minute silence in the whole of The Netherlands. May 5th is Liberation day, again busy with events taking place all over the country.

Look for the sign of official cabs at the airport. Donot take one of these that are offered to you inside the terminal, most of the times they are not official and often overcharge.

Unfortunately the mess is still around. Schiphol airport is now demanding airlines to cut down (!!) on their number of flights. It can be different of course the time of month, day and which airline. Indeed flying to the US instead of Europe makes a little difference and also if flying Business or economy class. The problem is not that much checking in, but the lines at security, Next week I will be flying intra Europe and I keep my fingers crossed. The dutch government is stock holder but it seems not willing to do much about it!