iancal

Our experience with train station elevators for track subway passages over many years is that they are out of order about 50 percent of the time. Do not count on them working..we certainly do not. Very different for us since we only have one carry on bag each. It would be much more difficult if you had large, heavier, or multiple bags and/or could not physically handle your bags.

Exactly why we are not considering a cruise at this time. Land travel only for now.

There was a few years ago. The buses left from the far of Termini station. Very frequent...at least when we took one. More frequent than the train. We were on our way into Termini when we saw the buses lined up. So we decided to try it. We also took a bus from Civ to Rome. The made one stop, then we got off at the next near St. Peters. I assume that it carried on to Termini. Perhaps someone on the Rome tripadvisor forum could tell you if they are still running.

I book the cruises. I use an on line TA. Prior to retirement I could be hard to get hold of. Travel, meetings, etc. Plus 2, sometimes 3 time zones. Our TA was a top producer in her agency. She did not make money by idle chit chat about grandchildren. She had no interest in becoming my new best friend. It was a business transactions I view buying a cruise as strictly a commodity buy. Price and product, plus service. Email worked perfectly for both of us. No waiting on hold, no web site issues. Everything by email until she would call for our credit card details. The only time I would go to the web was to verify the cruise line booking number and agree the cabin and pricing details at some point. The five or ten percent, and sometimes more, saving was a bonus. The real bonus was great service, independent feedback based on her customer feedback , and an occasional heads up about alternate competitive offers that we not yet in the public domain.

Supply and demand. Our experience pre covid on late booking Med cruises was the same for three years. 90-30 days out. 10 or 14 day itinerary. . Unobstructed balcony. Celebrity was the least expensive. Then Princess. Followed by HAL at 30 percent higher than Celebrity. So we would book when our price hit because balcony cabins can disappear. But.....a week or two later all three would be at the same point give or take 5 percent. Prices change all the time. As does supply and demand. Perhaps different lines use different revenue maximization logarithms. When it comes down to these three cruise lines we pay far more attention to the ship than we do to the cruise line.

I am not in any way speculating that Carnival is in trouble. I do believe, however, that their share value has been greatly depreciated by the share dilution and by increased debt levels. Both will have a very negative impact on EPS and on future share price if and when things in the industry volumes return to normal.

If we were charging a cruise at the moment, which we are not, I would use our Amex card.

If we buy euros in Canada we do not buy from a bank or the auto club (same rate as a bank). We typically get them at an FX store. Lots of them around depending on where you live. They also have a much better supply of various denominations. Last time we were at the FX store where we live the was a lady from our bank branch across the street in line. I asked her why. She said that even with her staff discount the FX rates were better and she could get the bill denominations that she wanted. No idea what or how much she was buying though. It does not make a lot of difference if you are only buying a little. We exchanged $5K USA. Got a bank quote. Went across the street to the FX store and got $140. or so more than the bank would pay. $140 just for crossing the street!

Nor would I bet the farm on what a CSR tells you. I would want to read the document for myself. It will be on line and reasonably easy to access.

Here is what CCL's debt load represents (Motley Fool). Keep in mind that most of their new debt carries a comparatively high interest rate. The ballooning debt should be massively concerning to current and prospective investors. The current long-term debt is more than all the cash generated from operations (CFO) reported in the seven years before COVID-19 combined! This is illustrated below.

CCL has changed. According to Motley Fool.... -the number of outstanding common shares has increased 67 percent. That dilution has reduced the value of each share. -debt has increased by 170 percent. Much of it is junk bond status paper @10%. Not good.

We have had them confiscated by airport security two or three times. We very seldom check our bag so the contents always have to pass scrutiny. To the point where we do not bother with a corkscrew any more. We always seem to be able to get one....on the cruise line or at the hotel.

We prefer anytime dining and we prefer a 2 top. Happy to join a larger table sometimes but prefer not to dine with the same people at the same time night after night. Nor do we want to dine at the same time every night or at the same venue.

You might be better to read your our credit card user agreement. On line, or hard copy if you have one on file. Then call to get clarification on anything that you are unsure of.

There are a lot of people in Ontario who do not understand this very low limit. And there are a lot of TA's who do not mention this to their clients.

That free Pinnacle dinner is a token of how much HAL and your on board management team appreciates your business as a valued Neptune level customer. Just imagine what a lowly balcony, outside, or interior customer may have have received. Perhaps 5 or 6 chocolate dipped strawberries. A bottle of plonk??

IF you have booked and paid on your credit card be aware of the number of days limit that your card provides to challenge charges. Often as much as 540 days. What does that mean....if you have paid by credit card within the specified period, and the goods or services contracted have not been purchased...then you can challenge the charge and obtain a reversal from your credit card issuer. Whatever you do....1. understand your credit card agreement in this regard 2. Never, every pay by cash or equiv. (cheque or debit).

No idea what the seniors age is in Portugal. We are 70 and 68 respectively so we were not really concerned about the qualifying age is. In addition to seniors rates, they also have promo fares. So, the seniors fare from Lisbon to Portimao in the south (algarve) was 12.50 e. Our promo fare, available for anyone, was 12.05e.

Google Park West litigation.

Those 'those shut up and go away' free dinners or bottles of wine are just as common on some other cruise lines. The practice is certainly not confined to HAL.

Never assume that the coverage and coverage of your out of country medical insurance purchased thru you TA or travel vendor is the same as that purchased direct from the save carrier. There is always a commission to be paid to a third party seller. It could be, it might not be.

We have never read a cruise contract or an airline contract. We absolutely ensure that we understand the fare code on our airline ticket when we book. Especially in the winter months. IF your flight is delayed there are significant differences in how you will be treated. Many cruise air tickets are consolidator fare code tickets. We also pay attention to whether or not we can change flights for a fee. On one trip to Thailand we almost made the mistake of buying a no change no refund fare. A competitive airline had a $200 change fee. As luck would have it we had to return early for a family emergency. Had we not bothered to understand our ticket conditions we would have shelled out $1600 in extra fare. We do read our travel medical contracts. Saw some big variances when we were buying a seven month out of country policy. Huge differences in dollar amounts, evac amounts for patient and party, etc, etc. We do not read our credit card contracts but we do ensure we understand the T's and C's relating to insurance. We have made claims in the past on our CC insurance. I had a first rate business and personal travel TA for many years. Her one piece of advice was never, ever buy travel medical insurance from a travel vendor or thru a TA. If you do you will in all probability pay too much and get less coverage. Deal with someone who understands what they are selling not simply reading off a vendor sheet.

Very good advice. On more than one occasion we have had one of our cards denied when trying to buy an on line airline ticket in Australia. Same issue in SE Asia a few times. Same card each time, the now defunct Marriott Chase Bank Canada no fee Visa FX card. We tried that credit card again during our trip for subsequent in person and on line purchases. It worked. When we returned home we called the credit card company. They claimed to have had no record of the attempted sale being refused.

That is exactly what we did. Train into Centrale.

It is an important point. IMHO, it falls in line with another important issue. Understand what you are buying before you buy it, understand those T's & C's attached to travel contracts. DO NOT depend on your TA's explanation of coverage on any buy. Assume that the contract attached to a travel buy greatly limits any recourse that you have unless stated otherwise in writing. After all....whose lawyers prepared that contract?? Certainly not yours.