Milhouse

Base recommendation would be to go to a travel clinic. My experience is that I find them more knowledgeable than my family doctor since they focus on travel vaccinations and will be more in the know about hot spots. And I find they are pretty good in asking questions about where you're going (not just country but city versus rural areas) and explaining the risks for each area. Advice from a rando like me on the Internet is to at least get your Hep A & B series particularly if you are going to eat at local eateries (which IMO is half the fun). IMO tentanus should be kept up to date regardless. Whereas some of the other shots like typhoid, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis likely can be skipped if you are keeping to cities/urban areas. Again, you'll get better and more customized advice from a travel clinic and you need to assess your own risk tolerance.

We got off and on at Beppu Station (12-13 Ekimaecho, Beppu, Oita 874-0935, Japan). Not sure where your ship would dock but I'm guessing it would be near the ferry terminal (??). If it is, Beppu station is kind of far. There does appear to be a closer station, Beppudaigaku Station, but you would need to research if your train stops there.

We visited Beppu as a daytrip by train from Fukuoka during a land trip in late May of 2018. However, we only spent about three hours from about 10am to about 1pm on a Monday there as we didn't find a lot of things of interest to us. Part of it was our fault though because we didn't do a lot of research so maybe we didn't get to the better places. We basically walked one of the main streets from the train station to the waterfront, walked a covered arcade (Sol Paseo Ginza) that stretched out from that main street, and briefly explored some of the backstreets that led to an onsen (Takegawara Onsen) that looked interesting. We enjoy walking seawalls and waterfront promenades but struggled to find a great stretch for a walk. I'm not sure if it was because it was somewhat early on a Monday but a lot of shops seemed closed along Sol Paseo Ginza so that strech wasn't very fun either. As an option, maybe consider visiting Yufuin? We ended up ditching Beppu and taking a 1.5 hour trainride to Yufuin and spent about 3pm to about 5:30pm there. It's a small village but we found it more quaint. There's a pedestrian orientated road (that splinters off from the main road a few blocks from the train station and then runs parallel to it) with a lot of shops and eateries. There's also a nice lake (Kinrin Lake) that's small enough and that you can walk around the perimeter along a path. Not a tonne to see but we enjoyed it more than Beppu. YMMV of course.

We visited Ensenada for the first time last Novemeber and hoofed it to three food carts: Tacos Fenix, Tacos Corona, and La Guerrerense. We took some tips from a food blogger/Youtuber we follow called Mark Wiens who did a Youtube video for Ensenada a few years ago. Tacos Fenix and Tacos Corona are across the street from each other so it's easy to try both. It's not long a very long walk but we also did not find it to be super interesting other than seeing a different part of Ensenada. There was a short line for both with only locals when we went. Happy we tried both; tasty but not life changing. Very inexpensive. Friendly staff at both. We then made our way back towards the town area and shared a variety of items at the La Guerrerense cart (not restaurant). Very busy with tourists but we did not find the wait to order and for our food to be very long at all. The tostadas especiales were pretty loaded but I think we liked the simpler ceviches and conchas better. Also found a few of the items a tad too citrusy for me. But overall enjoyed everything we ordered. We bought a few jars of salsa to take home as souvenirs/gifts which were pretty tasty. Happy we ate here even though it's way over touristed with prices that reflect that. Very friendly and helpful staff. Eating at these three places pretty much stuffed us. However, we did end up getting a churro from a street vendor which was subpar (don't think the oil was hot enough). Also, an alternative to La Guerrerense that we were too full to try was El Güero Ens 1981. Have attached some pictures of the menus to give an idea of pricing but I'm guessing they would have gone up by now.

Standard reminder for most cities but watch out for pick pockets if taking the buses and/or metro.

The missus and I did the hike during our second visit to Santorini in mid-October 2016. Our ship was in port from 2pm to 9pm so we did the hike from about mid to late afternoon. From a degree of difficulty perspective, we did not find it strenuous from a walking perspective. However, I got pretty hot and sweaty even in mid-October because you're pretty exposed to the sun along the trail with limited cover. I'd suggest bringing a hat with a brim. I should have brought more water too as there didn't seem to be a lot of "convenience type stores" once you get further out from Fira. I forget how close the trail was/parallelled the main road but IIRC, it's within reasonable distance at the start and the end of the hike but further away during the mid-part (don't quote me on this). Further complicating things: We were in Santorini again this past June and I just looked at my Google Maps timeline. The buses we took between Fira and Oia took the back/eastside road both there and back and not the road that runs along the trail. So not sure if you would be able to ditch the trail halfway and jump on a bus. Great views. Happy we did it. Would consider doing it again but it's not at the top of my list. By the time we finished the hike, we didn't have a lot of daylight hours in Oia to explore all the little areas (and it was dark by the time we got back to Fira). However, as mentioned, we did the hike during our second visit so we didn't feel like we missed out since we explored Oia extensively and watched the sunset there during our first visit. If it's your first time, IMO it's kind of a shame not to have more daylight hours in Oia. (Also recommend eating at Pitogyros in Oia for a casual meal somewhat near the bus stop.) Leave yourself enough time to get back to Fira and back down to the tender station. "Everyone" is trying to catch one of the latter buses from Oia back to Fira so the queue can get pretty long. Same goes for the for the tram in Fira down to the tenders. The tram queue was pretty long and we didn't want to risk it so we hoofed it down the donkey trail which was pretty dark and somewhat slippery.

The prongs on the plug for US devices and Japanese outlets are similar but I find some outlets do not have a third hole for the ground so we now bring an outlet adaptor (without any voltage conversion) that creates a placeholder space for the ground prong (and in the past have asked to see if we can borrow one from the front desk). We're only charging electronics like laptops and phones vs hair appliances.

Autostrada Osteria? Google says it's a 12 min walk from the Pan Pacific (and it's in a slightly sketchy area). Tasty appies and pasta (tho they also have meat and fish dishes). It's not a chain but they are popular enough to have three locations now. (I haven't been to this location though.) There is the Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown if that's more what you're looking for. I haven't eaten there in over a decade but my friends apparently love it. It's a formulatic kitschy chain restaurant that known for a combo meal of soup/salad, main, dessert, and coffee/tea.

Ditto olive oil (from Crete) for gifts.

I found this even worse for our cruise on Celebrity. There was only one vendor rep at each sides of the station wearing a vest and lanyard. I was lucky (based on CC info) that I should be looking for someone. Other cruisers were curiously/randomly going up to a rep after seeing other people going up to her.

@aggiemom11 We sailed return out of Ravenna on Connie this past June and also went to Bologna for a visit post cruise. Yes, taxis seemed limited. (The local bus stop is also within reasonable walking distance too but don't think it's a great option with a lot of luggage.) We ended up doing the Celebrity shuttle for $14.95 to Ravenna station. See below pamplet for the post cruise transfer options. There were a few time slots but we took the latest at 9am because we weren't sure when our hotel in Bologna would let us in our room. After you collect your luggage, the coach bus is fairly close to the embarkation/disembarkation building/tent. The trip is about 10-15mins and was about half full. Note that the shuttle takes you to a parking lot behind the train station and you will need to walk a block to get to the pedestrian underpass that leads you to the platforms and the actual station itself. The commuter trains to Bologna cost about 7-8E and runs hourly IIRC. Shoud be no problem getting a seat but there didn't seem to be a lot of great options for the luggage. We ended up monopolizing a four seater and placing our luggage in the leg area. I saw a couple near us put their luggage in the aisle. It kind of blocked the aisle a bit but also rolled away a few times because they were falling asleep on the ride. Side note: I'm a bit miffed that they bumped up the transfer from $9.95 (as stated in the daily) to $14.95 midcruise per the pamphlet. I don't know if they purposely increase the price mid-cruise or they just forgot to make the change in the daily. You book at guest relations, not the shore excursion desk who didn't know what we were talking about (contrary to the info in the pamphlet). When we originally asked about it, guest relations said it was $9.95. When the pamphlet came out, they said that was an error, the correct price is $14.95 but that they would credit us $5 (and of course credit didn't show up in our folio 🙄).

I've only used google translate. I think its good enough to get by but it's not perfect. When trying to communicate something from English to Japanese, if you can limit it to a few words, I find it fairly accurate at least to get the idea across. However, it seems to struggle with longer phrases or sentences. Going from Japanese to English I've used the real time image/camera translation. Again, pretty good, not perfect but I think enough to get a general understanding.

Priority Pass is one of many airport lounge membership programs that provides access to specific airport lounges/lounge networks they have partnerships with for you and possibly a guest. However, there are varying membership levels with the lowest requiring an additional fee for each lounge entry to the highest providing unlimited "free" entries. To get a Priority Pass card, you can apply for one directly with Priority Pass. Alternatively, some higher tier/travel credit cards provide free membership to Priority Pass such as the AMEX Platinum card (though you still have to go through the process to register with Priority Pass but not pay the fee). Points to note: There are other airport lounge membership programs eg. Dragon Pass. Some higher end/travel cards provide their own lounge memberships programs (eg. Mastercard Lounge Key, Visa Airport Companion, etc) with their own rules (eg. Certain number of free entrances vs having to pay for each entrance and guest) and what airport lounges/lounge networks they provide you access to (ie. Your lounge membership program won't get you into any lounge; only the ones they partner with). You can also sometimes buy entrance directly with the some lounges (eg. Plaza Premium lounges). You may have to wait to enter the lounge if it is full. Priority (for airline specific lounges) typically goes to those having airline status or flying biz class and above. Hmm, IDK then. During our recent trip in June, when we used our AMEX Platinum at the domestic Plaza Premium lounge in YVR, the person checking us in was verbally going through her checks and confirmed if our flight was leaving within two (or three?) hours. Also, IIRC, they also checked our connecting time at the Westjet lounge in YYC and didn't want to let us in if it was longer than two hours. Maybe I should have challenged that because I thought there was no limit for connections. But, the Westjet lounge was extremely busy and we had to wait to get in. They didn't kick us out though when our connection was extremely delayed.

Just to throw another option in the mix... Earl's has a limited weekend brunch menu but includes a typical bacon & egg plate, chorizo hash dish, benedicts, and omlettes. We've gone a few times as I think the dishes are made well (but they aren't massive if that's a criteria). A couple of bonuses: Their brunch happy happy hour runs until noon which includes both discounted food (~$3-5 off) and beverages. They also take reservations. Their Yaletown location is about a 10min walk from the Y. Their test kitchen is about a 15min walk but apparently currently has apple dutch baby pancakes as a test item. FWIW, if you have access to a phone, Medina will call you when your table is close to ready so you don't have to stay physically in line (at least that's my most recent experience a few weeks ago, though on a weekday).

I may get some hate for this 😀 but I find Costco has a very solid, basic poutine. Pretty standard tasting though and didn't notice any difference between the one we had in QC versus the one we regularly get in Vancouver. Also didn't find any in QC that really stood out for us (but we did in Montreal). During a trip in Feb 2020, my friends took me to La Buche for the onion soup. What made it extra special was that it came with bone marrow. However, when I went to QC again in Dec 2021, I wanted to take the missus to La Buche to try it but unfortunately, it didn't come with the bone marrow any more. The onion soup was still good but just not as special without it. 😕 We really enjoyed our stay at the Frontenac. It's a really nice property and you don't need to stay there to explore it. Pretty central location. But our room was really nice too. We were able to use a corporate rate from my workplace and Fairmont occasionally (semi-annual? Mother's Day and Black Friday) has a sale on gift cards where you get a bonus (eg 20%) gift card on your initial gift card purchase. Combined, it made for a pretty reasonably priced stay.

Vancouver is generally very nice with the last bits of summer extending into the first few weeks of September and some festivals and events still taking advantage of the weather. However, it gets more variable into mid-late September and October which is a transition period to the colder & rainy season in November onwards. Sometimes a few days of rain starts earlier in mid-September; sometimes later, holding off until late October. No guarantees but overall, I think you should be ok in early September. Here's a link where you can browse historical Environment Canada data for Vancouver (sorry temperature in Celcius instead of Fahrenheit: https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?StationID=51442&timeframe=2&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2023&Day=14&Year=2022&Month=9#

Not apples to apples but I was debating buying ship wifi for our X Constellation cruise from Italy to Greece. I ended up buying a data only esim instead. Was able to get a cell signal on the bed (and top decks of course) but occasionally struggled by the cabin door and in the hallways. Yes, you probably can keep your pocket wifi on a table near the balcony doors and should be good to go in your cabin.

Just to toss out a general tip: If you work for a megacorp or government, maybe check to see if your employers has corporate hotel rates that can be used for personal travel.

Open to being corrected but a pocket wifi is just a mobile device with a sim card or esim that creates a wifi hotspot for you or your group to connect to. I can't see why it wouldn't normally work on the ship when it's in port or close to land. One exception that comes to mind I suppose is if you are deeper within the ship and the cell signals can't reach the pocket wifi but you would likely be stuck in the same situation with your phone using a Japanese esim. With the pocket wifi, everyone using it has to obviously be within range of the device versus everyone having an esim and being able to separate.

Beyond many of the ideas and attractions near the old town, we thought a trip out to the New Grand Market was worthwhile. Lots of interesting and affordable food places to sample/snack or pick up some souvenirs/gifts.

Overall, I would say hiking books are not necessary. However, I wore my urban hikers more as a matter of preference while the missus wore her runners. Where the hikers came in most handy for me were: Athens: We didn't go into the Acropolis this time but we went up and walked around the Areopagus Hill beside it which was a bit slippery and craggy. It also poured for a few hours in the morning so my socks were dry whereas the missus were a bit soaked. Ephesus: Some slippery step particularly at the Celsus Library. Oia: There's a bit of a viewpoint by the Oia Castle where you need to take a short trail. It's a bit craggy. The missus just took her time and was fine. (And Fira donkey trail.)

I think we paid 25e for the museum pass for the two of us combined (??). Personally, I'm glad we allocated time pre-cruise to do this. It's a pretty easy walking circuit within the town itself (once you get there from the port) and we were seeing the same people/groups along each of the stops.

Summer in Vancouver is pretty festive and there's generally more events happening as the weather gets predictably nicer. There are events around town Canada Day weekend but I feel all the Canada Day festivities draw a lot of the focus/efforts that weekend as communities put on their own fairly large local events: Steveston Salmon Festival, Granville Island Canada Day, North Vancouver/Shipyards Canada Day, etc. This also somewhat helps limit the crowds around Canada Place though it's still obviously very busy. We still took a few laps around the area to check out the festivities this year because love the lively atmosphere of downtown Vancouver that day. [Crazy story: One year, we went to four Canada Day parades around the region and all the events were really fun. But unfortunately, a number of the parades (and fireworks displays including at Canada Place) have been cancelled due to funding issues.] Many other events and festivals are spread over different weekends during the summer to limit the overlap and competition to draw crowds. However, some other regular and special events around town Canada Day weekend include: Friday night Shipyards night market on the North Shore, Richmond Night Market on the evenings, the Jazz Festival with some of the free events on Granville Island, Golden Spike Days in Rocky Point/Port Moody, various farmers markets around town, etc. Some of these are events are further out with the furthest still reachable by public transit with about 60mins of travel. Best bang for your effort tho will likely be stuff around Granville Island or North Vancouver.

Yes, it's pretty central and downtown overall is very walkable. The most lively pedestrian area nearby is kind of Robson Street. Granville Street is also lively but it has some sketchy parts and it's somewhat chaotic during weekend evenings when the bar/lounge/club scene takes over.

The pace of change/development in HCMC/Vietnam has been rapid. I think its younger age demographic has really helped it keep pace with change and evolution. The missus first went in 2006 and when she took me in 2014, she remarked how much it changed in just eight years and how the tourist infrastructure was developing (which was both a good and bad thing). I loved it so much (other than the humidity), I went again with friends in 2016. So many great little street food stands and holes in the wall place to try. But it's definitely a modern Asian city too, complete with contemporary malls, rooftop bars, and the like. I have to admit though that the motorbikes on the sidewalks annoy me; either parked & forcing you onto the road or driving on it because the street is one way. 🙄