Viv0828

Will there be cabs waiting at the port that will give us a tour for a few hours?

We are on the oosterdam on mon November 9. There are 4 of us. We would like to explore the surrounding area and perhaps visit the national park. Will there be taxis waiting at the port that we can hire?

On the flip side I booked a small property in Turku, Finland through booking.com. It was not at all as advertised - way smaller room, not in the center of town, no internet, etc. It was not at all as advertised.

After we left, I emailed booking.com a detailed explanation of our dissatisfaction and told them I thought the place was worth about half of what we paid. A couple of days later I received an email from booking.com offering to refund half our money. I thought that was very fair. And sure enough, a couple of days later the transaction showed up on our credit card statement.

We were very pleased. When we had complained to the hotel they basically told us to pound sand. And no, we couldn't move because there was a conference in town and no rooms available. So I guess sometimes it's better to book direct and sometimes it's better with an agency.

PS. That place is no longer listed on the booking.com website. And we had only booked it because of all the good reviews.

Ditto. Cruise line tours have too many people on them. We prefer private tours of four to six people. Any of those around in Samana?

If you don't want to take your passport with you off the ship, I guess you could take a pic of the photo page with your smartphone rather than a paper copy?

We generally compare prices booking through a chain hotel website and an online site such as kayak. The cheaper site wins!

We often book apartments when we are going to be in a place for a while. We generally use VRBO for that.

Our best get m & m was at a sailaway on a ta. Four couples hit it off and we decided to have dinner together most nights.

Several years ago Alaska airlines bumped us to a later fligh. DH tried to get us changed back and they refused. So he asked for a $100 credit each on a future flight since they would have charged us that had we made the change. After talking to a supervisor they actually agreed to the credit plus they switched us back.

Glad you were successful as well!

We wear water shoes like Keens but a different brand. That's because we use them for walking on the rocks in the water and we use them for dry land hiking as well.

I wear orthaheel flip flops. They have a built in arch so I don't have pain when I wear them. They are spendy - about $75 a pair but they last forever. I highly recommend them for summer climate cruises

If you have a smartphone and phone service or Internet, many airlines allow you the option of a mobile boarding pass. No need to print. We do this all the time.

If you check in on a laptop, you can take a pic of the boarding pass including the bar code with your smartphone, and use that instead of a printed boarding pass.

Or as someone suggested, you can check in online and print at the airport, though we have not used a printed boarding pass in several years.

I'd rent a car for the afternoon. You can put your luggage in it and go to the beach, sightsee, shop or whatever!

You might look online at the airline's website to see if there is an earlier flight that would fit your needs better, maybe with a different connecting city. If so, call the airline and ask them to change you. I have done this a few times recently, and they have been surprisingly pleasant and accommodating!

Do these tours need to be arranged ahead of time - either with the ship or a private tour company - or can you just pick up a cab at the port?

I don't think that people who suggest a one year old be left with grandparents are necessarily "haters". Some grandparents do not get the chance to spend a lot of time with baby and a week with them can really strengthen that bond. Obviously, it depends on the family.

We have a terrible problem with our bucket list. Every time we knock off one item, we seem to add two more!

I would rather take a world land trip with several shorter cruise segments thrown in. There are so many fabulous places to see that are too far from a cruise port to be practical.

We have never taken a ship's tour and only rarely a private tour.

We almost always do our own thing and hire a cab at the port or take public transportation. This does require some research beforehand as we do make plans for what we want to see.

We have never even come close to missing the ship. However, we have done a lot of traveling and speak a smattering of several foreign languages. We have seen some unique things that folks on big tours will never see.

About 7 years ago we had 3 bags of chocolate covered macadamia nuts that were gifts stolen out of a checked bag. Talk about taking something of no value. They were worth about $24 total but it was a pain to find replacement gifts!

We haven't checked a bag since whether on a cruise, a 3 month land trip or a combo. We travel light so it works for us.

We did a similar precruise itinerary as yours but we spent 7 days doing it. I would suggest a few more days exploring Alaska if you have the time.

We are doing another Alaska southbound cruise next summer and we hope to spend 10 days in Alaska pre cruise then.

Have a blast exploring - we certainly did!

We've taken a couple of B2B cruises. We've been lucky and have not to change rooms. On changeover day we get off the ship with the later groups, explore the port, and zip back on easily. Lots of fun!

What a fascinating tale of determination and hard work. Hope mom's luggage is in perfect shape!

We always bring goretex jackets and usually a fold up umbrella. The one time we forgot our umbrella we found a fold up one in a convenience store next to a gas station. It was $5 so cheaper than at home and we still use it to this day!

We are going to be in curaçao in November. We thought we would just hire a taxi to drive us around to see the island but I am intrigued by your idea of renting a car and doing it yourself.

Which do you think is a better idea? TIA.

We did a transatlantic this April. We had anytime dining and we ate between 6:30 and 7:30 every night. On regular nights the MDR was pretty full with only a few empty tables. On formal nights - even when there was lobster - there were a bunch of empty tables - maybe 25% of the room.

What message does that send to HAL?