Hlitner

Three weeks ago, DW bought some lobster tails (at our local supermarket) for $28 (4 - 4-5 oz tails) that were far better than what you get on HAL (or most other cruise lines). I am long been amazed at the number of folks who love lobster or lobster tails, but never bother to make it at home. Very simple to broil and no more expensive than buying steak. Agree that tails are nothing like Maine Lobster (a personal passion). We can get fresh Maine Lobster at Wegmans, but that is not DWs thing. Whenever we cruise out of Ft Lauderdale, we go to Kelly's Landing for dinner (pre-cruise) where I will get a 2-3 pounder! For anyone that likes real Maine lobster and fantastic clam chowder, we suggest they try Kellys Landing (no reservations so prepare to wait). Their lobster and chowder are as good as we get in New England (their lobster is flown in from Boston. Hank

Tis a small world since I also worked up on the Hill in the late 60s (Charlie Flight). I left in March of 70 to go to Da Nang. That 68-earthquake (May 16) happened the day after I arrived and always thought of it as a welcome jolt :). I gather the Elephant Cage (AN-FLR-9) was dismantled when the 6921st left the base. When I look on Google Earth, the most recent satillite photo still shows that Elephant Cage field and the adjacent operations building (where I worked). We were in Aomore, last year, but I never considered (for a moment) taking the train over to Misawa. Will be back next Spring, but still have no desire to drag DW to the old base. Hank

LOL. Good point. On the other hand, I am usually among those that close down a ship (often after midnight) and on many cruises (especially HAL) there are very few passengers out and about after 10. I should add that some of us do take longer cruises with lots of lazy sea days (we have had as many as 9 in a row). Since I have no interest in the art auctions (big joke), shopping lectures, animal toss, ring toss, etc. nothing wrong with a nap in the afternoon. When the weather is good, you will often find me napping (with my Kindle) in a deck lounger :). Hank

Those who work in the insurance industry will tell you "read the policy!" Different policies (even issued by the same company) can have different rules and definitions. And policies can (and do change) so it is important to review the policy language (including the definitions) before you purchase. In fact, the same policy might have different language for residents of various States. For those who do not want to take the time to read a policy, or who fear they might not be able to understand what they read, then the advice to seek out a decent broker is a good idea. And that broker should be someone who specializes or truly understands travel/medical insurance. Hank

We have a few cruising friends, from the UK, who constantly remind us about the differences of booking in your country. Part of it has to do with different consumer protection laws. On our side of the pond, both refundable and non-refundable deposits are common as are promotions (of various cruise lines) that include very small deposits ($99 is not uncommon). Personally, I would be in the minority of cruisers and prefer to only see non-refundable and more expensive deposits. There are many cruisers, here in North America, who take advantage of the lenient deposit policies to reserve many cruise bookings/cabins. We have talked to cruisers that will have 3 or 4 different reservations for the same time period...each on a different ship and/or cruise line. It is only when they near the final payment time that they make their decision and simply cancel all or some of their reservations. These folks create a problem for the cruise lines (and many passengers) by pulling desirable cabins/suites out of inventory. We know of one particular Premium cruise line where this practice is completely out of control. There are so many future cruises (some over 2 years distant) that will show as "sold out." Eventually, many of those folks cancel their reservations. The cruise line even maintains a large "waiting list" (with its own set of rules) in order to deal with the faux bookings. Sometimes it is only a matter of having folks have a small stake in the game. MSC had a big problem with their popular Yacht Club, which would sell-out very far in advance with many bookers later changing their mind and cancelling or moving to a less expensive category. MSC has very low deposits, so a $10,000 suite would be taken out of inventory for as little as a $99 refundable deposit. MSC finally realized they had a problem and decided to make all their YC reservations require a non-refundable deposit. This seems to have been an effective strategy. Hank

Getting back to the OP's original question, the policy on bringing liquids (including wine) aboard, vary by cruise line of which there are dozens. If the OP wants a good answer they should post the question on the specific cruise line blog. We cruise on many lines including some who do not allow any liquids to be brought aboard and others who allow passengers to bring just about anything from cases of wine to bottle of liquor. Hank

New HAL advertising theme? "We cruise for peanuts!" But seriously, we cruise on many different lines, and just about all the mass market lines have eliminated hot hors d'Oeuvres at cocktail bars. On our last Princess cruise, it was difficult to even get peanuts. Even some of the ultra-luxury lines tend to favor cold hors d"oeuvres. Since DW and I tend to dine late (after 7:30) and look forward to spending a couple of pre-dinner hours in a lounge, the hors d'oeuvres thing is near and dear. MSC has a decent hors d'oeuvres buffet in their Yacht Club lounge. Seabourn also puts out a small (but very nice) buffet (at 6pm) in their Observation Bar (similar to HAL's Crow's Nest). Explora Journeys had nothing! Oceania did have some limited hot items (served by the bar staff) in one of their bars. But hot stuff is hard to find anywhere. Hank

You certainly can believe as you please. However, after more than 50 years of extensive cruise experience and international travel, we respectfully suggest you are wrong! When luggage gets delayed or misrouted by the airlines, it is completely up to the airlines to track down your luggage and get it to you. Cruise lines (all cruise lines) deal with lost/delayed luggage on a daily basis. There are folks, usually in the pursers or guest relations office who handle these issues on a routine basis. How you booked the air (on your own, through the cruise line, etc) has nothing to do with the service. The cruise line simply asks for your air information and contacts the appropriate airline. The airlines have an office (and staff) dedicated to tracing luggage and they will work with the cruise line (or you...if you care to do it yourself) to forward luggage to you (assuming it is possible). And by the way, if your luggage does get lost (it happens) or does not catch-up during your cruise, the cruise line will take no responsibility...even when they have handled the air. They simply point their finger to the airline and tell you that its your problem. Of course, you are free to file an insurance claim (with your own insurance) or just hang your head and cry. Our own experience, with hundreds of flights to and from cruises all over the world, is that we are all at the mercy of the airlines. The best you can do to avoid having luggage lost/delayed is to book non-stop flights and plan on getting to your destination (i.e. cruise port city) at least 1 or 2 days early. If your luggage does get delayed, the odds are pretty good that it will catch-up the following day...assuming that your airline is able to find that luggage. Its also a good idea to put an Apple Air Tag into each of your bags. It can put you in a position of being able to help the airlines find your luggage. This helped us retrieve a lost bag from AA. Hank

We have actually driven, and parked in all those cities except Turin. While we have no desire to drive in cities (we walk and use public transit) we still like having a car for our numerous day trips out of the towns. In Florence, we really like the Hotel David since it is outside the center, but walkable into the center or one can grab a local bus. That hotel is like an inn, has a daily wine/cheese/snack time (great for meeting the other folks at the hotel) and also has free parking just outside the ZTL. On our way back to Europe, in a few days, but will base out of Dubrovnik and have no need for a car (on this trip). No problem with laundry since we will eventually be on a Seabourn ship where we get free laundry :). Hank

We live in PV for part of the year and the idea of "Duty Free" seems to be somewhat of a con in Mexico. There is a large so-called Duty Free shop at PV's airport. When I look at their prices for things like Tequilia, that shop actually charges more than the same products one can buy downtown, at Costco, etc. Folks need to understand that just because something is labeled as "Duty Free" does not mean it is a bargain. Hank

Likely will turn out to be hogwash! What happened to us, in the past, was we had to pay (via credit card) for any dinner reservation made prior to embarkation. Once aboard, you have the wonderful privilege of being able to wait in a queue at Guest Relations to ask to have the charge reversed and a credit issues. Assuming you get a helpful Guest Relations person, the credit will be applied to your onboard account and should be categorized as "refundable onboard credit." Unless the OBC, at the end of a cruise is only a few dollars, a refund will be sent (in the form of a check) to your address, a few weeks after your cruise. When we have called Princess, the customer service folks will talk about reversing the charge, before the cruise, but our own experience is that its all talk and no action. Perhaps others have had better luck. By the way, we are still in the process of getting our $400 of remaining on board credit from our December 2023 Sky Princess cruise! Apparently, the Princess contractor did send us a check, but it has disappeared in the wind and was later cancelled by the Princess contractor. Just yesterday, 8 months after we returned from that cruise, Princess telephones us and said they are cutting "another check" next week. I think the term "patience" applies. Hank

The issue of forward facing balconies is dependent on the wind over the deck. You might get lucky and have a following wind, in which case, you might be able to enjoy the balcony. However, you also could have a situation where the wind over the deck is in excess of 30 knots which would make the balcony unusable. To quote Dirty Harry, "are you feeling lucky today?" Hank

And the question is? The A,B,C islands have long been a destination for various cruises, although the itinerary does not generally work 7 day cruises departing Florida ports. Bonaire is a particularly good port for SCUBA and snorkeling and is also home of the Woodwind, a relatively small catamaran operated by Dee, and popular with legions of cruisers. If one wants to book a snorkel trip on the Woodwind they are well-advised to make a reservation very far in advance. That boat normally will host a "drift snorkel" tour where folks snorkel between Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. Drift snorkels happen in a current, folks are dropped at one end, and simply go with the flow to a pick-up spot (the boat moves ahead of the group). Aruba has a few decent beaches which is how many spend their day. As to Curacao, this is a place where DW and I like to rent a car, for the day, and explore snorkel spots located around the island. The claim to fame of all three islands is that they have a Dutch heritage. Princess has long included some, or all, of the islands on its true 14 day cruises from Ft Lauderdale. Many years ago, Princess routinely ran these 14 day cruises (often on the Grand Princess) until they were replaced with back to back seven day trips which made the A,B Cs less viable. Princess is again doing some of those 14 day itineraries (we have one booked in 2025 on the Enchanted) although they typically go to only 2 of the 3 ABC islands. Personally, I have always enjoyed the 14 day cruises because the longer length attracts a different demographic (more mature with fewer school aged kids). Hank

When we stretch out on the bed our awake time quickly becomes nap time :). Hank

Once upon a time we decided to try a river boat cruise in Europe (we had previously done it in China and Egypt). So we booked a 14 day Viking cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest (and than spent some time on land). This is a very popular itinerary which includes both the Rhine and Danube. One day we stopped in Bratislava, which was our first visit to this area. Off we went on the included excursion which took us to a wonderful art museum. As we were rushed through this museum, our local guide looked at her watch and said we had to head back to our boat (we had barely scratched the surface of the art collection). We had about 3 hours to explore Bratislava (and its region) before our boat was off to the next stop. DW and I were truly unhappy with that boat cruise. The boat was excellent (Viking is a terrific company) and the food, crew, and shipmates were all wonderful. But seeing places in a couple of hours and entire countries in half a day was just not our style. One day, as we were chugging along the Rhine at about 8 knots, I watched the cars zipping by on the adjacent autobahn. Those cars were moving at over 100MPH. I told DW, I would much prefer driving one of those cars and being able to spend real time in the places of our choosing. At the time, we were in our early 60s and I suggested to OP that perhaps when we got to our 80s or 90s we might be ready to slow down enough to do another European river cruise. Still in our 70s, and still loving our independent European driving trips. :). That boat trip also got us to Vienna (for our first visit to that wonderful city) where we actually had 6 whole hours! WOW. Hank

I cannot let the Rick Steves comment pass :). We like the Rick Steves guides and have often recommended them to fellow independent travelers...right here on CC. But we have also said that although we like a lot of what is in the Rick Steves books, we generally avoid his restaurant recommendations. Why? When we have gone to some of the places suggested in his books, we usually find a restaurant full of tourists with their Rick Steves books on the table. The locals have fled to other venues. So now, we purposely avoid most restaurants that are recommended by Mr Steves. We do a lot of international travel, when we are on our own and choose our own venues, and it is fun to do some research and discover the interesting restaurants (we live to eat). When it comes to Mr. Steve's books, we still pay attention to some of his walking tour ideas, but quickly run away from the restaurants. By the way, how to find the more interesting and best local places? The quick answer is to ask locals. One can also look at some online sites and read various customer reviews. But keep in mind that a review that is more than a few months old is often worthless. Since we tend to travel on our own (not on tours) we do get to interact with locals and never hesitate to ask them about where to eat. That has really helped us find some fantastic places. Even at a hotel, consider that the Concierge will usually steer you to restaurants that benefit the Concierge (few ever pay for a meal when they go out with their family). Ask a friendly desk clerk, bellman, doorman, etc. and you sometimes do hit the jackpot. Hank Hank

DW and I still like to cruise in the Caribbean, once a year, and its usually between thanksgiving and Christmas. Our preference is for a true 14 - 21 day cruise without dealing with the back-to-back hassles of coming back to a Florida port. What to do? Expand your horizons to other cruise lines. For example, this coming December we have a true 14 day Caribbean cruise on Silversea. And just yesterday, we booked a 2025 fourteen-day cruise on the Enchanted Princess (it does not have any turn around days in the USA). With HAL, you are not going to generally find a true 14 day Caribbean cruise unless you can book a Panama Canal full transit. But that will not return you to your starting port. The solution to the OP's problem is to simply expand your horizons to the entire industry, rather then trying to fit a specific cruise line (in this case...HAL) into a box it no longer frequents. For many years, Princess would purpose one of their ships to doing real 14 day Caribbean cruises. Several years ago, they stopped this practice and went to the normal back to back models. One cruise director told us that the cruise lines see this as a good move since many more folks are interested in 7-10 day voyages rather then true 14+ day cruises. We found it interesting that Princess has resumed some true 14 day itineraries (which are far better than any back to back 7 day). Hank

Wondering what you would expect to see on the base. Misawa was my home, from 1968-70, and the best part of those two years was when I went off the base (nearly every day). In the 60s it was also a joint operation of JASDF and USAF. Hank

Over the years, Flyer Talker has made a believer out of me regarding looking at all the pros/cons of how one books. A smart traveler looks at all the possible options (in terms of flights, airlines, connections, hardware, etc) including "Plan B" which is my label for when things go wrong. With the airlines this means cancelled flights, major delays, missed connections, etc. Counting on a cruise line (such as Flightease) to come to the rescue, is the kind of risk I have learned to avoid. When things go bad, one will often be on their own, need to think on their feet, and move quickly. Booking direct with an airline gives you a better chance of getting the airline's own folks working on your behalf. When you have a third party involved, be it a cruise line, a booking site like Expedia, etc. you may find yourself in very deep doodoo. Hank

Agree that Flightease (and the similar flight programs of HAL and Princess (both of whom use the same folks as Flightease) are not such a great deal these days. Airline prices have increased (especially for Business/First Class) and many of the big discounts (such a "P" fares) seem to have disappeared from the cruise line flight programs. We recently booked a Seabourn cruise that embarks from Japan (next year). We looked at the Flightease options and found we could do better by booking direct with Turkish Air (where we tossed in a multi-day visit to Istanbul on our way to Japan). The Flightease prices were about the same as booking direct with the airlines. Like many frequent travelers, we find that booking direct with an airline can pay big dividends if things go wrong! We have long suggested, to fellow cruisers, that they always shop around among Flightease and other booking options (such as booking direct with an airline) before making their choice. Sometimes Flightease is the best deal, but not always! Hank

No question, packages are about marketing and profits for the cruise lines. On the other hand, for the right cruiser the packages can generate significant savings. DW and I actually like the HIA package because we drink enough adult beverages to justify the cost. Consider that on a typical cruise day, we would have two pre-dinner cocktails, a couple of glasses of wine at dinner, and later drinks as we enjoy the evening. Between the drink benefits and Internet we more than cover the cost of HIA. Where I do not like HIA is the excursion credit....because we would seldom take any cruise line excursion except for using that darn credit. I do think that many HAL cruisers would not do well with the HIA. Many HAL regulars are not big drinkers. We figure the break-even (for HIA) is about 4 drinks per day, and many HAL cruisers are not going to normally take advantage of that benefit. There is also a little secret about those drink packages. Cruisers drink a lot more on sea days! At one time, the cruise lines would not even sell packages on cruises with lots of sea days. We tend to take longer HAL cruises, with lots of sea days, so HIA works! Hank

That is a formula we have used, for over forty years, on our independent trips. Rather than waste a lot of time and effort relocating, we tend to choose a good central location from where we take lots of day trips. As a simple example, last year we spent 6 nights in Kyoto (pre-cruise). We spent 4 of those days exploring the Kyoto area (amazing), took the train to Nara for a day, and on a different day we went all the way down to Hiroshima. With a JR Rail Pass, these day trips did not add much to our budget and not changing hotels saved us many hours and lots of hassles. In Europe, we will often arrange to rent an apartment for 1-3 weeks to use as a base. This really works well, in Europe, because distances are reasonable. I still remember when we stayed in Strasburg, France (for a few days) to explore the Alsace-Lorraine region. One day, we decided to drive to Baden Baden, Germany, for lunch. On the autobahn that drive took us less than an hour and it was like being an entirely different world (and lots of fun). Once upon a time, when we were young adults, we took a bus tour in Greece. That was the first (and hopefully last) bus tour we will take! It was awful. Long days on the bus, rushed visits to too many places, group meals, etc. With a car, when we see something interesting we stop. Want to eat...just stop! Find a place we like...we stay! GPS and cell phones have really made independent travel so much easier. Just imagine spending a few weeks traveling around a country and never having to wait for somebody to return to the bus, go to the bathroom, or be found (because they get lost). Hank

Ahhh, so now you have opened another can of worms :). We completely agree which is why we have never bothered to book a really large suite. I once calculated, that on a very long cruise (several months) DW and I averaged less than 3 hours a day, of waking time in our cabin. It never made much sense, to us, to spend several hundred dollars per waking hour, for all that extra space. On our last HAL cruise, we became friendly with a couple who had the largest suite on the ship. They told us how they spent most sea days in their suite because they needed to justify paying all that money for the big space :). They would invite us to their suite, to play cards or just chat and we would always politely decline. No way did we want to spend our time in a cabin...any cabin! For us, part of the fun of cruising is to be out and about and socializing with other passengers. Hank

That price does sound reasonable (just look at the Luggage Direct web site and you will see why we say that). Dealing with luggage (pre or post cruise) when doing land travel is always a challenge. Our approach is to simply rent/lease a car since it is much easier to travel with luggage when you have a vehicle. Sometimes we have done circular itineraries which allows us to store luggage which we can later retrieve. A good example is when we stayed in Paris, left luggage with a hotel's Concierge, spent a few weeks driving around France, and returned to that same hotel for our last few nights (when we found our luggage waiting for us in our room). Just recently, we did the same thing in Prague where we spent a few days at a wonderful hotel, had the owner store some luggage, and returned 10 days later (after driving through the Czech Republic and Poland) for a couple of nights before flying home. I might add that DW and I have always envied those who can travel light. We think in terms of 150 pounds of luggage being light :). On the other hand, we seldom need to do laundry when we travel and have never gotten into the habit of washing stuff in our hotel rooms. Hank

Agree with JB about the day 1 itinerary. That is just ridiculous and not all that practical. Topkapi is a large place that is worthy of several hours. One might consider a day with Topkapi, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. This is all in one part of town and walkable (assuming the OP has no mobility limitations). I assume the OP will want lunch, and that can be done at Topkapi where there is an option to grab a light lunch. If one really likes to walk, it is possible to do stick to that part of town and than walk all the way back to the port (over the Galata Bridge (do not forget to explore some of the lower level). The Covered (Grand) Bazaar and Spice Market can be combined into a shopping or browsing adventure. What I think is missing from the itinerary is a visit to the Bascilica Cistern (essentially like catacombs). This is a site, often missed by visitors, that we find amazing. It is worthy of an hour's visit. In fact, I would rate it a far better use of ones time when compared to a boat ride on the Bosphorus. Another place we like is the Dolmabahçe Palace. The problem with this site is that although its within walking distance of the port, it is in the opposite direction from the downtown Golden Horn area. Bottom line is that Istanbul is a fabulous tourist city and worthy of much more time than a couple of day port visit. Next spring we will head back for our 6th visit to Istanbul, and actually booked our flight from the USA to Japan via Istanbul :). Yes, it is the longer way around, but Turkish Airlines makes the routing a reasonable option and gets us back to Turkey. Hank