Hlitner

If you want to visit Honfleur, on a port day, the train is not an option. But getting to/from Le Harve is easily accomplished via taxi (shared or private) and is also possible via a regional public bus (somewhat more complicated). As to the train, I believe there is only about 5 trains per day (that can get you between Le Havre and Honfleur) and using a train means getting to the Le Havre train station (over a mile from the port) and getting into Honfleur from its small train station (over 3 miles from the tourist part of town). It could actually cost more to use the trains and taxis (to and from the train station) than simply taking a taxi from Le Havre's port. When you walk out of the small cruise terminal at Le Havre, there will usually be a few waiting taxis. The drivers will often organize a shared vehicle (often a van/SUV taxi) to take folks to Honfleur. The last time we heard a price mentioned, it was 25 Euros per person. If you have 4, you should be able to get a decent deal from a taxi. Hank

We still consider SB to our favorite cruise line. While we do enjoy several other lines (and routinely cruise other lines) we find SB best satisfies our wants, desires, and even budget. But take away the airline price advantage we get with SB, and that does make other lines more price competitive. And by the way, there are two things, on the Oceania Vista, that we think beats SB. 1. The deck loungers on O are far nicer than what is on SB, and 2. Waves, which is the VIsta's semi-outdoor grill and sandwich venue. One could also make a case that the Vista's Grand Dining Room (their MDR) is equal or better than The Restaurant! Hank

Ahhh, and there we have a different and very problamatic issue. When it comes to insurance, be it your regular medical insurance or medical coverage from a travel policy or credit card...none of them routinely handle direct payment with providers outside of the USA. What this means to most of us is that we must pay for our medical bills (often before we are discharged from a hospital) and later seek reimbursement from our insurer. It can take weeks or months to actually get a claim paid, and meanwhile, the traveler must cover the bill(s). Many travelers (especially younger folks) do not have a high limit on their credit cards. So what is a person to do if they must settle a $12,000 hospital bill and none of their credit cards have that kind of limit? And even if they can get their credit card company to temporarily increase their limit, they still will need to come up with the money (to pay the credit card bill) while they wait to settle with their insurer. A real problem. Hank

Your insurance may or may not extend you coverage outside the USA. You need to check your policy. If you call your insurer and they tell you that you are covered, ask them to e-mail you a copy of that section of the policy or the specific reference Hank

It has been a few years. but I believe we caught that bus from downtown. DW and I have no problem walking between the port and town, but I think there is also some kind of shuttle bus (not sure if its free or has a fee). As to taxis at the port, I recall a few taxis but, like anywhere, it is a bit of luck if a taxi happens to be waiting when you need it. Obviously, if you are trying to deal with a time issue, getting a taxi from the port up to the castle makes a lot of sense. Hank

If you can afford to book the Yacht Club, we would choose the Euribia. Hank

There are no stores at the port area. But the train station is in town, so it would make sense to simply ask your taxi driver to stop at a market, for a few minutes, so you can shop on your way to the port. Town is close to the port (within a mile). Can't help with the taxi cost as we just walk and use the local bus, when we go up to the castle. Hank

When we were on the Vista (Mar-Apr) we did post a "live" review of our first O cruise. Most of what we experienced on the Vista was very good, although we do agree with some others that the design of their main theater is terrible. We have also mentioned, in the past, that O does not have the best cuisine at sea (not even close to the best). At the moment, we would give that prize to Explora Journeys. Hank

I should have added, to my last post, our biggest complaint about O (from the point of view of an O newbie and a cruise veteran). I do not like the "forced down your throat" program called SM! When given a choice, we would seldom to never book O (or any cruise line's) excursions! It is one reason that keeps driving us back to Seabourn and Explora Journeys. Hank

I join you in crossing fingers (and toes). We have an upcoming SB cruise in Japan and needed one-way to Tokyo. Looking at the SB offerings was quite depressing as the prices were not much different than what is available direct from the airlines. We finally decided to book Turkish Air (Business Class) but do a multi-day stopover in Istanbul (we really enjoy Turkey) which added very little to the cost of our air. We booked direct with the airline! There have been times, in the past, when we booked cruises with various CCL brands (SB, HAL, and Princess) because we could get terrific Business Class fares through the lines (they all use the same folks to handle their air). That advantage is now gone (at least for the moment) which might cause us to look more to Oceania (we really liked their new Vista) for some future bookings. Hank

Some of us do...and have done it! We actually tried our first cruise on O (Vista in March-April) because we have moved away from some other cruise lines. In fact, on O I do think you will find a lot of folks who previously cruised primarily with HAL. At this time, being equal opportunity cruisers (soon to go on our 18th cruise line), we have not found any line that ticks all of our boxes. But we did enjoy the Vista and will keep the Vista and Allura on our "watch list." We have no interest in the R ships for various reasons (including the substandard cabin bathrooms). But we do think your post has a lot of merit. We constantly meet complainers/whiners on our cruises who, in their next breath, tell us they are "loyal" to the line about which they complain. At the current time we look at Princess, Seabourn, O, Explora Journeys, Viking, and Silversea when searching for future cruises. But, we also glance at other lines since it is a very dynamic industry with constant changes. MSC (Yacht Club) and NCL (Haven Suites) as well as Virgin are also future possibilities, In fact, we really do like the MSC Yacht Club, but are not impressed with their future itineraries. Hank

You are talking about the so-called spring shoulder season, which has been our favorite time of the year to be in the Med. The only downside is that it is not quite hot enough for folks that want to swim. On some of the Greek Islands, the "season" does not really begin until Easter so this can be a consideration in years where Easter is late. But, we were in the Med this past April, and many places were already packed with tourists. As to the weather, I suggest you do an internet search (i.e. Google) for your various destination weather averages (easy to find..by month). The Med is an expansive area and you will find some variation depending on your ports. Hank

There are huge differences when you start to compare RCI and Carnival to HAL and Princess. Consider that RCI, on most of their larger ships, offers an amazing array of activities and entertainment. You might have water slides, water parks, bumper cars, ice skaing, wall climbing, surf riders, etc. In the evening you might have Broadway style productions shows, live music until at least midnight, etc. Now think about Princess and HAL that do not have the amusement park atmosphere or activities. And HAL even stopped their major production shows (and replaced it with a so-so dance show). On HAL, it is not unusual to have all the live music end before 11. Princess is a little more lively, but not nearly in the same league as Carnival and RCI. I do think think comparisons between HAL, Celebrity, and Princess have more meaning. And when looking at those three lines (on which we have cruised many times) there are also lots of major differences between the various ships. DW and I cruise on many different lines (#18 is coming up this year) and now look at the individual vessels as much (or more) than the lines. So, for example, if looking at Oceania, there is a big difference between their older (and smaller) "R" ships vs their new Vista. On Celebrity there are major differences between their Edge Class ships vs the old Millenium Class. Even on RCI, when you compare the mega ships to the older Radiance Class vessels, it is like two different cruise lines. Hank

I may shock some when I defend HAL. A major difference in many long cruises, when compared to shorter voyages, are the number of sea days. On port intensive cruises, there is less of a demand for lecturers, and even activities, because ships are generally in a semi-shutdown state when they are in a port. Just think about a 28 day cruise we took from Seattle to Sydney, where 10 of the first 12 days were at sea. This puts pressure on the CD to find ways to provide some daytime entertainment, and HAL has often looked to lecturers to fill the void. There is also a difference in the evening, because when you have many long port days, an awful lot of passengers (especially on HAL) will eat dinner early and just go to their cabin to rest-up for the next day's port. But when you have multiple sea days (especially when some are consecutive, more folks will stay awake past 9pm :). And by the way, this is not just an issue on HAL. We take cruises on many different lines, the longer cruises with lots of sea days tend to get more lecturers and even some daytime entertainment. Hank

Going to do this quick, without doing any research. Regarding construction in Rome, that is like saying there is some contruction in London, Paris, etc. Rome is a large sprawling city and a little construction is no biggie (just avoid those few blocks). As to going to Florence, I think your best bet is take the train into Rome (Termini) where you can get a high speed train to Florence From Florence, we would have no problem taking an early morning train to get to the port at Civitavecchia. But you do need to do some research, closer to your actual day, to make sure there are no train strikes scheduled on that day. As to a Plan B, one can always arrange to do a one way rental car and drive yourself from Florence to Civitavecchia (we have dropped cars here a few times). It is actually an easy drive, almost all on major highways. Plan C is using the Flixbus (between Florence and Rome) and grabbing a taxi to Civitavecchia. Hank

Lets hope it is just a temporary issue.

We have previously posted our experience that just about everything involving HAL onboard accounts and their accounting system is simply awful. Whether it be an issue with OBC, overcharges onboard (we had 11 on our last HAL cruise), and the less than helpful attitude of Guest Services (ie. "we will send an e-mail" to somebody), it has been an ongoing issue for about as long as we have cruised on HAL (about 30 years). Regarding the OBC issue, it has happened to us, and since we use very customer oriented cruise agencies (not big box stores) we have only been able to get things fixed by calling or e-mailing our cruise agency! They, in turn, must call their contacts at HAL and get things fixed! A few years ago, when I posted about HAL accounting errors, I mentioned that we have never heard of an error in the favor of the passenger. Some other posters think that is deliberate and others think it is just accounting incompetence. Our only suggestion to the OP is do not give up and try to seek help from your cruise agency. Hank

Not sure we would want to spend any time on the Civitavecchia beach. However, there are some decent beach towns closer to FCO, that are easy day trips from the port for folks that simply rent a car. Beach towns like Fiumcino have not only the beach and sand, but also lots of decent restaurants. The downside is that the decent beaches in the region are very popular with the Italians from the Rome area, and can be very crowded on a hot summer day. Hank

A cruiser ripped off by a taxi. Say it isn't so! By the way, have you looked at the price of excursions? Hank

Just noticed that as of today (it could have happened a few days ago) Flight Ease only works for flights that are no more than 5 days pre or post cruise. This is the same on the Princess EZAIR system (which is actually the same folks who handle Seabourn). Since nobody has posted anything about an announcement, we are not sure if this is a fly/cruise policy change for all the CCL companies, or if it just a software glitch. I should also mention that while looking at some future air options (for Seabourn) we have noticed that the air fares we see on Flight Ease are similar to booking the same air on any platform or direct with the airlines. The terrific deals we used to see, especially for international first/business, seem to have disappeared. Am hoping this is just a temporary software issue, but we shall have to wait and see. Hank

You have to "love" the wording of many government regulations and related statutes. Perhaps the following, from the CBP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) will help the OP: Physical or Mental Disorders With regard to physical or mental disorders, answer "Yes" to this question if: You currently have a physical or mental disorder and a history of behavior associated with the disorder that may pose or has posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others; or You had a physical or mental disorder and a history of behavior associated with the disorder that has posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others and the behavior is likely to recur or lead to other harmful behavior. Answer "No" if: You currently have no physical or mental disorders; or You have or had a physical or mental disorder without associated behavior that may pose or has posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare of that of others; or You currently have a physical or mental disorder with associated behavior, but that behavior has not posed, does not currently pose nor will pose a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others; or You had a physical or mental disorder with associated behavior that posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others, but that behavior is unlikely to recur. Hank

Surprised nobody has responded. DW and I really enjoyed renting a golf cart, for the day. It was fast enough, and had the range, to go anywhere on the island. We dropped our snorkel gear in the rear, and drove all over the island, stopping a few places to swim snorkel. Hank

We enjoy snorkeling off Arashi, where there are some facilites (rest rooms, snack bar, chair rentals). The best snorkel area is well off the coast/beach and does require the ability to swim some distance (over 1 /4 mile) from the beach. Not a big deal for competent snorkelers who have decent fins. Although you do find sea life and small reef structures closer to the beach, it is the area somewhat distant (looking out at the sea is is about a 60 degree angle to your left) where you will often see snorkel tour boats drop anchor. In fact, if you do work your way out to the main reef area, you will likely be sharing the sea with at least 1 boat tour. You can get a public bus to Arashi (it is the turn-around point for one of the bus routes) by walking across the street from the port and into the bus station/parking area. This bus route also passes by both Eagle and Palm beaches, so one can go to Arashi, snorkel for a few hours and alter catch a bus back to Palm or Eagle...if one wants to relax at one of those areas before going back to town. Hank

Smooth of rough? Yes! Anything from glassy to 30 foot+ and everything between. You are on the sea the conditions do vary, year round. If one is fearful of the sea, the best solution is not to go on any ship :). Hank

Had to smile at the above climate post. It certainly can rain in Japan, during the spring, but 6 inches a day is not very likely (or you should book Noah's Ark). The key to Japan in the spring/fall is having layers to deal with any temperature extreme. Rain gear is always a good idea. When DW and I were in Japan during March-April of 2023, we encountered many days of rain. It was a very wet spring, and we managed to do everything on our bucket list (we spent a couple of weeks traveling pre-cruise) because we had the right outerwear to deal with some very rainy days. And by the way, when planning for the possibility of rain, do not neglect your footwear. Wet feet can make a day quite miserable and also lead to blisters. Hank