princeton123211

The Grande Bretagne is part of Marriott Bonvoy-- its part of the Luxury Collection, You can book it through points if you do so early enough.

Not been our experience at this particular hotel-- no bins next to the toilet, no note asking you to do it, and no instructions from the staff to do it. Like I said I've seen it elsewhere in Greece but have stayed at the GB three times, once before Covid and 2 times after, and not been asked to do this.

James Hook is good but it's not a real restaurant-- mainly a seafood market that has some outside seating. It's very good and very fresh but just keep in mind that it's very casual and adverse weather conditions can limit your enjoyment being the seating is outside.

Very reliable-- very easy to use. Similarish to using the Uber app but a little more primitive. You do pay a premium to use it (vs standard taxi fare) but you do have the benefit of being able to pay for the ride via credit card in the app (where most taxis only accept cash) and you can call the taxi easily to anywhere you are. The rule of thumb we use is if there is a hotel/area with a taxi rank nearby we will do that to save a little but if we're off the beaten path the Hitch app is a lifesaver.

Mainly a bigger issue outside of Athens on islands that have more primitive plumbing. We stay every few years at the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens and have always flushed our toilet paper and have had zero issue with it.

Mainly "known" for seafood. Neptune Oyster in the North End would be my pick for best overall in that category. Excellent lobster rolls and chowder. I've started spending more time in Boston recently for work trips and frankly have to say that the food scene is fine but nothing nearly as exciting as other Northeast cities. A LOT of chain restaurants and corporate steakhouses. Around Boston Common two steakhouses I really like are Mooo in Beacon Hill and Grill 23. Both of them have nice bars you can sit at that have slightly more casual menus than the main dining room. If you're looking for a nice neighborhood pub that isn't really a pub look at 75 Chestnut in Beacon Hill-- great elevated comfort food. Parish Cafe near the Public Garden is excellent for sandwiches. Nearby the Street Bar at the Newbury Hotel has great bar food-- one of the better hotel bar turkey clubs I've had and has become a go to.

It's a lot of running around and do you really want to take the hour it will take you to get the rental car at 10:30pm (assuming you're on time). You'd be getting to Quincy around 12:30 maybe 1am. Your current hotel is in a great area for touring Boston and good rental options are right nearby for the next day. Parking in Boston is expensive so if you just do a rental for the day the morning of and bring it back you can avoid that. I've stayed in Quincy alot for a past job (the Marriott Quincy which I would recommend if you end up not staying downtown). Its fine but its quiet and frankly boring. Anytime I would stay there I would Uber downtown to eat/drink/walk around. I'm sure there are some local gems to get a bite to eat there but for the most part its stripmalls and chain restaurants. Not as free as if you were downtown and not nearly the variety of options. Again- a lot of running around for minimal time savings. Realistically you are only saving 20-30 minutes to Plimouth vs staying in Quincy. Most folks stay in Braintree or Quincy to save money but there are a lot of tradeoffs. If you are comfortable with the cost of your current booking downtown I would keep it and arrange for a same day rental at one of the rental agencies right around the corner for you. You wont pay for parking, you wont need to pay for trains/Ubers to get downtown, and you'll be walking distance to all Boston has to offer when you get back.

If you don't need to be to the ship until 2 you have a ton of time. You're only a 5-10 minute short Uber into the main part of town from the Seaport so even if you left the hotel at 9am and came back at noon you can see a lot in Boston that morning given how walkable it is. I would get dropped off near the Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowes Wharf, walk along the waterfront down to where the Aquarium and Marriott Long Wharf are, turn inland to Faneuil Hall and walk through that area, go up to Congress and State Streets where the old State House is (where Boston Massacre took place), continue to the Massachusetts State House, walk down through Boston Common/Public Garden, and either choose to walk down Charles St (into Beacon Hill) or over towards Copley/Back Bay. Uber back from wherever you end up. If you walked all of that without stopping it would only take you about a half hour so you have time to meander and you'll see a whole bunch of Boston in only a couple hours.

Also Princess isn't known for its rowdy passengers like Carnival, NCL, or Royal per se (although it can happen anywhere). Princess passengers tend to fit well into the old adage "well fed, newly wed, nearly dead". Also the hardened spring breakers are going to be headed to the Caribbean, Florida, and on the West Coast places like Cabo and PV. No self respecting spring breaker is headed to Catalina Island or San Francisco. I think you'll be fine.

No one really goes out seeking an airport hotel so that might account for some of the mixed reviews. Have stayed at the Marriott and Westin LAX on numerous occasions which can fit within the budget and they are both fine. Not the most exciting lodging in the LA area but perfectly serviceable for a quick overnight before an early morning flight.

Boston has a fairly small downtown core and quite feasible to get out and see some of it. Would definitely recommend getting out of the Seaport to see things as the Seaport is the least historic and atmospheric part of the city-- mainly chain restaurants, hotels, and luxury condos. You can easily take an Uber-- lots of good places to eat in Back Bay and Beacon Hill. Maybe the morning before your cruise wake up and walk along the waterfront and Faneuil Hall area (which can be done in the dark but would be better the next morning in the light). You wont get to see everything but you'll at least see a little bit.

I used to live right around the corner. It's a decent location-- walkable to a lot like the Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall, etc. You're sort of sandwiched between Beacon Hill and the North End. Its mainly occupied by a stadium and Massachusetts General Hospital.

This is really a question that would be better asked on the respective boards of each line or most likely under the "Family Cruising" forum in special interests. That being said my personal opinion is that they are Pepsi and Coke of the budget cruising lines and really will most likely come down to if you find any particular ship, itinerary, or features on a ship more interesting than the other.

They don't advertise sailings but the Star of India, built in 1863, is still an active sailing ship and they do take her out every once and a while. I believe the reason she does not sail that often is that she has no engine or propeller so a tug is required to tow her to open water each time she goes out and back which is costly and time consuming unlike their other vessels that can maneuver on their own.

Uber will be $20-25ish depending on exactly where you get it from and time of day. Alternatively if you do use a hotel to store bags they can call you a traditional taxi. Taxis in Boston are significantly fewer these days, as they are most places, because of Uber/Lyft. A hotel would also offer wifi.

They are just different sort of days. Personally I would just tip $5 dropping them off and maybe another $5 picking them up if it's not the same bellman. Nothing huge. The water taxi gets you to the airport but via a dock near the Hyatt and then you need to take another shuttle to the terminal. It's a novelty-- its not serious transportation. An Uber/Lyft from downtown directly to your terminal will be much faster and efficient door to door and give you more time to enjoy Boston. There's a reason they have a "cruise ship special"-- because no one who lives in Boston actually uses it to get to the airport.

I think this is the part where you run into trouble-- Ubers on Kauai are few and far between and you absolutely cannot rely on them. Rule of thumb is the only places you can count on Ubers in Hawaii are in Honolulu and the main parts of Maui. Otherwise its a craps shoot.

If you are not staying at that hotel and they are doing you a solid I would tip when you drop off and when you pick up. The tip on the front end might be what gets it done in the first place.

From a tourism standpoint it's not dead smack in the middle of everything like some other hotels are but you aren't far off. I've not stayed there but been by it-- it looks like a Soviet era bunker from the outside but is much nicer on the inside. 20-30 minute walk to Harrods and Knightsbridge. Similar walk to Kensington Palace. Right near Natural History Museum and V&A Museum. You're not too far from two of my favorite pubs in town-- The Nags Head on Kinnerton St (which is one of the few independent pubs left-- you'll understand what I mean when you get there) and The Grenadier which are close to each other. Things like the Buckingham Palace, West End, Tower of London etc are a taxi or tube trip. You are right near Gloucester Road tube stop so easy access there.

Up to $1000 take a look at the St Regis at 55th and 5th. Overall my favorite luxury hotel in town through experience-- blends old New York with updated features in the room. The King Cole Bar off the lobby screams New York and the food in the hotel, room service in particular, is very good. It's part of Marriott Bonvoy so you can either earn a ton of points or actually use points if you want to drill the cost down a bit but most of the time their entry room will fit into a $1000 a night budget. Its in midtown so a very short ride over to the MCT and sometimes they'll even take you for free in the Bentley house car. The Pendry Manhattan West is also very good-- a lot less grand than the St Regis but nice in an understated way and usually a little less expensive. The Park Hyatt is also very nice if a little stark. Although they fit in your budget The Plaza I think comes across very cold and the Mandarin Oriental is in major need of a refurb-- would stay away from those. The Ritz Carlton on Central Park is nice but the St Regis, for basically the same amount of money, is much nicer.

Still doesn't add up. Not sure why anyone would get in a random car when the Uber app clearly shows the license plate, driver name, and type and color of the car you are supposed to be in as well as its exact location. Just a trade group trying to cause a small panic for their own gain.

No downtown hotels have airport shuttles. Uber/Lyft are super easy and quick. The top Marriott hotels in Boston are the Ritz-Carlton and The Liberty Hotel. Both are on the expensive side but can be booked with Bonvoy points. Ritz is on Boston Public Garden and the Liberty Hotel has a neat location in Beacon Hill and was the former Charles Street Jail. The Marriott Long Wharf has a great location on the water but can be VERY overpriced for what it is-- it can be nearly as expensive as the Ritz and not even close to as nice. Then you have the Marriott and Westin in Copley which are both big convention hotels but well located and you can get decent rates. Also the W on the edge of Chinatown which is walkable to most things but not my favorite location. The Westin in Seaport is a big modern convention hotel-- not a great location for touring. Then you have a bunch of Courtyards and Residence Inns scattered around town. If you are trying to see Boston, staying at the airport isn't a great spot to do it. Plus there aren't any great Marriott options at the airport-- mostly Hiltons.

You do not need to prearrange an Uber-- you can call one in the app when you get there. This is clearly by a trade group trying to defend their turf. You shouldn't accept a solicitation in the parking lot but calling an Uber or Lyft in the app is perfectly legal.

Uber or Lyft, Blacklane, or Carmel/Dial7. All work. I wouldn't take a taxi from LaGuardia-- you dont have the flat rate protection you do from JFK. Uber/Lyft/Dial7/Carmel are all going to pull from the same group of drivers/cars (although you can request less expensive UberX or Lyft if you don't want a black car). Blacklane will be of the higher end quality of anything on this list.

You aren't going to have too much of an issue with traffic on a Saturday (compared to the weekdays) and 2pm is very, very doable.