Fairgarth

3 hours ago, broberts said:

Frankly I'm shocked at the number of posters who, rather than providing the answer to a rather simple question have suggested an alternative gift.

I think that's a bit unfair.  The gift was a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska.  Nobody is suggesting a week in Barbados instead, all the discussion has been focussed on Royal Caribbean to Alaska.

HMCS Sackville at the Halifax waterfront, the only surviving corvette from WWII.  I was interested since my dad was in the merchant navy all through the war - on a tanker, of all things.  He lived to tell the tale.

17 hours ago, Kamloops50 said:

Your right about the Seranade..  The Ovation might be a better deal or price.

Quite true, I haven't looked at prices.

Another bit of Golden Lion intelligence:  you have two choices on timing in my experience.  Get there by 11:45 or wait until 1:15.  If you think you would like a spot of lunch at 12:30, you haven't a hope.

And if you can't get North Sea haddock, our local halibut on the wet coast is not to be sneezed at.  OK, OK, give me the haddock!

9 minutes ago, Kamloops50 said:

The only RCCL round trip from Vancouver are 14 days to Seward return on the Radience.

No, sorry, Serenade of the Seas does Vancouver to Vancouver every Sunday from May through September.

Norwegian Escape turning on a dime and pulling out of Saint John.

2 hours ago, Froufie said:

Halifax of course! 🙂

 

Sorry, too easy!

Zaandam sailing under Lion's Gate Bridge.

Where would you find this statue of Samuel Cunard?

What a lovely gift!  Umm...now I'm sounding like Scrooge...wouldn't it be a lot easier to take a Royal Caribbean Vancouver to Vancouver?  Is it too late?

2 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Sorry- I got my intel from a Youtube video called "Why no U.S airlines use Airbus planes". Thanks for the correction!

Norris

Aha!  That jogs my memory that there was video called "Why no U.S. airlines use the Airbus A380".  So you are, in that sense, quite correct.  Carry on, m'lud. 

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

No American airline uses the Airbus planes.

 

Sorry, m'lud, not true.  The JetBlue fleet is almost entirely Airbus except for a few Embraers.  Delta has a bunch of A330's, American has a huge fleet of A319, A320, and A321's. United has a fleet of A320's and, I believe, has ordered a load of A321's.  

Enjoyed your lovely photos of Volterra and San Gimigiano, Norris, brought back memories.  Did you climb the tower in San Jimmy?  I like to climb any tower that is open to the public for two reasons:  to get a great view and nice photos and also to know that I still can.

La promenade des Anglais en Nice - ce n'est pas pour les Irlandais, peut-etre?

22 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

WE ARE SAILING

 

Very nice movie, brought back happy memories, thank you.  You held the camera steady and let the subject move, bless you!  Too many movies these days are unwatchable due to excessive 'hosepiping'.

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

Despite the RAF's best efforts, it is a splendid city.

Oh, c'mon now.  Maybe because of the RAF's best efforts?  There's nothing there older than 1945.  I have seen a photo of Hamburg in 1945 where the whole place was flattened except the cathedral.  O.K., the cathedral is older than 1945.

The folks in Hamburg love the QM2.  We had 400 Germans on our departure and a great fireworks display as we sailed away.

I saw a separate news item that Skytrax had announced its World Airline Awards for 2021 so I looked up their website.  Best airline in the world this year is QATAR.  Skytrax only list the top 100 airlines so I can't tell you which is the absolute worst (Air Koryo, maybe?) but here is what I found.

33   Air Canada

53   WestJet

59   Air Transat

83   Air Canada Rouge

94   Porter

So the OP is way off base.  I don't blame him for getting mad at his rotten treatment but one swallow does not a summer make.

10 hours ago, TeaBag said:

 

 

Even though I have a close relative who is a pilot for AC, I will walk before I fly with them.  There are lots of other airlines that fly out of Vancouver.

Oh my!  How Canadian!  I have flown on more than 40 airlines all around the world.  In my experience, Air Canada is not the worst, not even close.  On a cruise some years ago, we got friendly with a lovely couple from New Zealand.  We enquired how they flew in.  "Air New Zealand.  Well, you have to, don't you?  It's ours."  I remember thinking at the time that's a sentiment I have never heard in Canada, nor expect to ever hear.  I'm still waiting.

On 10/19/2021 at 11:50 AM, scottbee said:

 

Fun part of story, the maint crew sent from Winterpeg to investigate /start repairs of the aircraft, their van ran out of fuel on the way to Gimli.

 

The old runway was being used for motor racing and there was an armco barrier down the middle.  As a result, the nose gear folded (the maingear straddled) and the aircraft slid along on its nose.  Hence the crew from Winterpeg couldn't just gas up and fly out, they had work to do.  If you see photos, the tail was way in the air and the exit chute is flapping in the breeze with its end several feet off the ground.  OTOH at the for'ard door you could just step out onto the tarmac.  I believe the aircraft was only about one third full so that must have been a huge bonus for the evacuation.  Last time I was in Gimli I saw they have a Gimli Glider Museum.  We didn't have time and the family was not interested so I didn't get to see it.  Next time, maybe?

Granville Island and False Creek have been mentioned.  There are small ferries that ply up and down False Creek.  You could just go for the ride.  Or get off at the inland end and see the Science Museum in the big dome.  Another ride would be the float plane operated by Harbour Air which gives a fantastic view of the whole area.  Check their website for options and prices.

8 hours ago, mwf7501 said:

Five of five say Go.  It sounds like Venice is crowded for a reason.   And I should use the year I've got for research and planning.

 

Six out of six say 'GO'.  Since you are going in October, it won't be unbearably hot or unbearably crowded.  Venice is unique and has to be on any bucket list.  You have lots of time to do your research and planning but here are a couple of suggestions.  I believe the campanile in Piazza San Marco has an elevator.   Relax, it's not a medieval elevator.  The original tower collapsed so what you are looking at is just over 100 years old.  I haven't done it but the view from the top of the tower must be outstanding.  Take a vaporetto to Burano - 45 minute ride - wander around and find a canal-side patio for a leisurely lunch.  Risotto is a must.  Memorable.

Just be careful - there are two airports in Belfast so if you do fly out make sure you get the right one.

Nope.  Your faith in the airlines is touching and totally misplaced.  Nine times out of ten you will make it.  How will you feel on the tenth?

4 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I'm not sure it would make much of a different when it comes to sanitation.

Actually, it makes a huge difference.  Early on in the pandemic, they borrowed two aircraft from United for experiments.  I read about it at the time and am now quoting from memory so go easy.  They set up a device in a seat to squirt out aerosols and then had several detectors in various seat places in front, at the side and behind.  They then moved the whole thing to other parts of the aircraft and tried again and again.  Then they took off and repeated the whole process at 35,000 feet.  Air comes in above your head and is extracted by vents on the floor so it goes straight down.  Their conclusion was that you were highly unlikely to get infected.  You might catch it in the airport, but not on the aircraft.

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

But, if I am flying on a route from A to Z through hub Q and get "stuck" at Q with few other airlines serving hub Q, is it good customer service for AA to say:  touch luck; no responsibility on our part to get to destination Z?  

Looks like you haven't read Cranky.

OTOH, there is a point of view that this is a good thing and was an overdue clean-up of some ambiguous legal language.  Check crankyflier dot com for an explanation.  Also read the comments.

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Fairgarth - if you look at my post No 9 the fix I detailed there for me worked fine yesterday for Safari on my MacBook yesterday and I have had no problems since (fingers crossed)

I did see your post, thank you.  I thought I would experiment first and it worked.  But I'll keep that in mind.  Now for this reply, it seems to be working fine on Safari.