princeton123211

I'm not necessarily replying to this exact comment but more the thread-- the thing to keep in mind is that Southampton is a very small airport with very limited services. These are even more limited when FlyBe, which was the big carrier at the airport, ceased operations a few years ago. If one flight gets cancelled that can impact you for a day or two. Aer Lingus only has 2 flights a day from Dublin and the second flight would cause you to miss a cruise departure. The flight from Paris is on Eastern Airways which is a small regional feeder on small aircraft and only 1 flight per day. I would not attempt flying to Soton without at least an overnight buffer meaning not the same day as your cruise. The benefit of going to London is that you have multiple ways to get to Southampton the day of without having to rely on (unreliable) air connections.

Keep in mind that a few weeks later is the lead up to Mardi Gras which will provide some logistical issues there.

I was there for Superbowl in 2013. The city handles it well. Wasn't difficult to get around. It might be prohibitive to stay in and around the city (which is a shame because it's a great city to be in) but it shouldn't necessitate you cancelling the cruise based on logistics.

There is limited docking space-- typically one larger ship. The rest tender. No idea based on your specific ship but the chances are you'll be tendering. Beach clubs that don't blast house music all day are few and far between there. We've had luck on one occasion at Hotel Saint John. Resort short distance from the pier on the other side of the town. Nice pool etc but very slim sliver of "beach". I think it was 100 Euros per person but this was a few years ago. Don't remember the music element to be too intrusive but wasn't paying too much attention. https://www.saintjohn.gr/

I don't know why you wouldn't regardless-- it's a miserable "beach" on an island full of amazing beaches. It's literally the bus station of beaches.

I took an Uber from Jean Lesage to Chateau Frontenac a couple months ago and it was $45 CAD from what I remember. I think the taxis are pretty close to that.

The train is about an hour and 20 minutes. Some are a little less than this and some are a little bit more. Once at Livorno Centrale its about 15-20 minute taxi to the pier. Figure total travel time is 2 hours to be safe. I wouldn't depart Florence any later than 4 and most likely would leave more like 3:30 to build in some buffer time in case something went sideways.

Yes and yes. Still offer the 25 cent martinis (set menu of them) and lunch is only Thurs and Friday. The menu is smaller than it was in years past so keep that in mind.

"Reasonable" in downtown Seattle is more in the $300 per night range.

Always a disaster.

The only way you could book a Canadian hotel in USD would be to book it through a US based third party site like Expedia. Unless it's significantly less most likely not the move here. The Canadian Dollar is trading at $0.73 right now against the US Dollar-- a very favorable exchange rate for a US based person. You could prepay directly through the hotel with a credit card that has no international transaction fees and then you would essentially lock in today's exchange rate. Or you could book a normal reservation and you'll pay the exchange rate at the time of checkout with the hope it goes down slightly or at least doesn't go up significantly. If you look historically, except for a few months in 2007 and 2011 the Canadian Dollar trades pretty consistently around this rate so really either of those last two options should be fine.

Yes-- its legal tender. They are obligated to accept it. A credit card with no international fees is by far the more secure way to do this-- cash is easily lost, misplaced, or stolen. Your credit card company will deal with any issues if there are any. Stay away from the change bureaus- the exchange rates are worse than banks and they charge extra for the service. The best way to get foreign currency when already abroad is use your debit card in a brick and mortar bank's atm in Canada. Read-- don't use an independent atm or one you find in a store. Use the ATM at an actual bank. You'll get the best exchange rate that way.

Sounds reasonable. Keep in mind that Swizzle doesn't open til 11am from a timing perspective. Only advice I would give is try not to overplan-- one of the charms of the island is getting a little lost or wandering around. Having some guideposts or must sees is fine-- but keep in mind that things move a little slower and it takes longer to get places than it does at home so you might not hit everything and trying can be exhausting.

It will be less time overall taking the ferry from the Dockyard to St Georges. The ferry takes about 45 minutes. If you took the ferry to Hamilton and then transferred to a bus it could take double that amount of time especially if arrivals and departures don't line up. We usually take the ferry to St Georges over in the morning and then take taxis to work our way back going and doing what we would like to Hamilton. It's been the right balance of cost/time savings that's worked for us over the years.

You can also try your luck at a higher end hotel with a bell desk. Usually if you are going to get breakfast/lunch/drink there they are happy to store your luggage for a nice tip to the bellman.

Agree with Bruce-- with the delays that are common now you are playing with fire a bit here. Coming in the day before at a normal hour would be a much better way to get a relaxing trip off on the right foot. Anytime I've flown in or out of Athens I've been delayed including Delta cancelling a flight outright once with no recovery aircraft. I'm not sure really what you're asking-- Athens International doesn't have any arrival lounges and even if they did they aren't open at 2:30am. Nothing in the city or Piraeus is going to be open at that hour except for nightclubs and some late night restaurants. Your ship isn't going to be boarding until later at least the early afternoon. Personally I would just get a hotel room and crash and see if they can provide you with a late checkout in light of the late night arrival. Rather than fly to Athens and arrive at 2am, why not stay at London Heathrow at a hotel there, at a normal hour, and fly first thing in the am? Heathrow is a much nicer place than Athens Airport. I still think you should be flying in the day before but doing the overnight at a Heathrow hotel (there's a Hilton by Terminal 4 and a Sofitel by Terminal 5) would be a lot more civilized than the 230am arrival into Athens.

You can get last minute deals in Boston through an app called Hotel Tonight but you have to literally wait until the day of to book. I've gotten the Fairmont Copley Plaza for $159 US a night that way a few weeks ago when it was selling for $550 US the day before. You roll the dice but the reward can be great.

That's a downright bargain for Boston.

There are ways to mitigate costs. If you stay in Cambridge you can shave off about $100. The AC Hotel by Marriott in Cambridge is $293 US on Sept 27th. You can save even more pushing out to a place like Qunicy. There is a Marriott in Quincy that you can book for $150-180 a night US regularly and is only about a $20 Uber ride into the downtown core of the city.

They’re giving you very general advice that I would guess is not specific to Boston. Or it relates only to the cruise line run transfers which are totally unnecessary in Boston. An 11am domestic flight would be quite easy to make at Boston Logan on your own.

I have but that’s why I suggested not prearranging a car. When you prebook a car service or an Uber you’re waiting for one car that you have to find. When you just use the app when you’re curbside you get a car that’s already there or nearby.

I would personally just hop on the train but you can use Uber in Dublin to call a taxi to you (UberX doesn't exist but rather calls a traditional taxi). You can use UberBlack for higher end livery cars like normal.

It's never going to take an hour. Its 4 miles. Half an hour on a weekday with rush hour traffic maybe. But on a weekend its going to be very quick. Boston's cruise terminal is small and can only handle I think 2 (maybe 3) ships at a time. Congestion is not going to be a big consideration at the pier. Boston taxis are few and far between these days. I would plan on using Uber or Lyft and don't schedule ahead-- there are plenty of them in the city. Booking ahead will most likely cost more and create unnecessary confusion getting picked up.

Are you looking to be in the city or not? If not The Fairmont attached to the terminal in the airport is one of my all time favorite airport hotels and they are very flexible with day rate hours. Nice restaurant, pool, lively bar. You could always call them and negotiate-- usually it's something they wont guarantee until much closer to your stay. They're not going to book a 9pm checkout day use room on a night where they are sold out.

It's not abundant but it does work. Just build in a little extra time-- wait time could be more like 10-15 minutes instead of right away. Traffic. Umbrella and chair rentals are readily available at spots up and down the beach. A costlier, but much more fun option, would be to see if you could get a day rate at either the Embassy Suites or Marriott Oceanfront-- both provide you access to the Cavalier Beach Club that has chairs, a pool, restaurant, and bar.