princeton123211

Viator isnt an actual tour company-- its a 3rd party seller. It's like booking a hotel through Expedia. Often times you can do better booking directly with a tour company and cutting out the middle man. Things like cancellation policies and even the quality of the tour itself can be better when they aren't paying someone else a commission. You can do a private tour on the water with a private boat that is the same type of boat that comprise the water taxis. You can have 6 very comfortably and the tour takes a little more than half a day. We've done this a few times-- the last time we did it was last year and the cost was somewhere around $600-700. You will visit Murano and Burano but please keep in mind that virtually no matter what type of tour you do you will get a very hard sell at whatever glass blowing factory they bring you to as well as whatever lace outfit they bring you to-- its part of all of the tour guides commission structure. If you want to buy something (usually pretty expensive) go for it but know you can buy through separate channels for less and you can just say "no thanks". Also if you do a private water tour consider a stop at Torcello. This is a much sleepier (and very peaceful) island and lunch at either Laconda Cipriani (my personal favorite) or Osteria Al Ponte del Diavolo are a treat and your boat driver will wait for you. One of Venice's great experiences. Tours for things like the Doge's Palace and St Marks can be easily arranged by your concierge if you are staying in town and will provide you with a timed entry or ability to skip the line. No need for a formal tour for those.

OP is on a one day port stop.

Which is fine, but you are on an island there. I'm not suggesting that anything bad will happen to you at the hotel itself but the area surrounding you is sketchy and doesn't provide easy access to the tourist areas of the city itself. If you plan on staying at the hotel and not leaving then by all means but if you want to see things in Baltimore I would find something more central. Wouldn't be an area I would be comfortable staying myself.

Is there anything in particular you would want to see? If not I would just take my time and walk around the lower town for a bit. There are shops, Place Royale, etc. Then take the Funicular up to the upper town where the Chateau Frontenac is. You could grab lunch or a drink there and see the famous hotel that dominates the skyline. If you wanted to get a glimpse of the Plains of Abraham and the Citadelle, while not far from the Chateau Frontenac, you could always opt for the double decker tour. While I normally say that it's not necessary in a smaller city like Quebec City if mobility is an issue it could be an easy way to drive by things to see them. Also keep in mind that Uber works very well in Quebec City so at any time you can use them to get back to the ship or a place to rest.

But the person on the train was happier and more relaxed than the driver 🙂 Flying into DC is a mess. You either roll the dice at DCA and hope there isn't a ground stop for some sort of VIP traffic or you go to Dulles where you still get delayed and you have a wonderful 1.5 hour slog into the city that should take 30 minutes.

I just ran it in my app and I got $51pp for the July 18th Regional in Coach from NYP to Boston. Is it the return that's priced high?

How early do you book in advance? Amtrak now has a multi tier booking system-- if you book far enough out the prices on the "Value" fare are very reasonable. New York to Boston booked a month or two out is $35 at peak times. Have to imagine less from where you are if you are 3.5 hours driving to Boston.

Sort of a general statement. For you, maybe. For most people absolutely not. I live in Philadelphia quite close to the 30th St Train Station. Takes about 5 hours on the train to Boston (I get off in Back Bay since it's closer to where I like to stay). If I drove, with zero traffic, it would take a little over 5 hours according to Google maps. There is never zero traffic-- its usually 6-7 hours door to door stopping for gas etc. Flying-- about 30 minute Uber to PHL. Check in 1.5 hour in advance. Block time of an hour. Then another hour getting of plane and getting to hotel from Logan. If everything goes perfectly its a wash-- commercial aviation in the NE doesnt usually go perfectly. What's not being said here is that even if it were a wash in cost and time, taking the train is so much more relaxing and easy than driving or flying. I would still take the train if it cost me an hour vs other means.

Of course this is all subjective, and meant to be fun and informative, but undeniably is a strong word here. I stand behind my conviction of Keen's but Gallagher's is very good. At least we can agree that both Keen's and Gallaghers doesn't fall into the pit of Sparks, Smith and Wollensky, and (as much at it kills me to say this because it was a fond staple of ours when I worked in NYC in the late 90s) Bobby Vans. Luger's can still be very, very good but its inconsistency makes it hard to justify the trip to Brooklyn. That being said there are a whole new group of steakhouses that might exceed either of these. 4 Charles Prime Rib was one of the best meals I've had in a while (the only issue is it's virtually impossible to get into-- we had a friend with a reservation). Cote, while a Korean steakhouse, was most likely some of the best beef I've ever had in New York. Both of these far exceeded the quality I've ever had at Gallaghers, Keens, or Peter Lugers.

When are your dates? Also do you have Marriott Bonvoy points or have a credit card you can transfer points to Bonvoy? When rates are this high the redemptions can be very valuable. For example last summer we booked The Gritti Palace in Venice over nights when an entry level room was $3100 a night for 100,000 Bonvoy points which is a lot of points but based on the dollar amount redeeming them for they were more valuable than usual. I just took a look and even in high season the GB redeems for about 84,000 points a night. If you have a way of getting those for all or part of the stay it can make it more than worth the trouble.

It was the Hotel Grande Bretagne which is part of Marriott's Luxury Collection. It can be pricey but in my experience is the nicest overall hotel in town and the location is excellent. The rooftop pool is a great amenity and the restaurant overlooking the Acropolis is wonderful. There is a sister hotel, also part of Marriott's Luxury Collection, next door called the King George which can be slightly less expensive than the GB. I usually use a combination of Marriott Bonvoy points and cash to bring the stay to a reasonable overall cost.

Oceania Insignia still offers three sailings from NYC that are similar to Veendam's itinerary docking in downtown Hamilton (with the added bonus of docking in St Georges as well).

I'm glad they reopened but I would tell you that there are much better steakhouses in town. If you want to be in Midtown try Keen's Steakhouse. One of my all time favorites, always excellent, and beautiful original interior (vs Delmonico's which has been rebuilt inside many times over the years). Avoid Sparks-- very overrated with a waitstaff that's consistently gruff.

I mean it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The area of New Orleans you will most likely be concentrating on, the French Quarter, is fairly compact and easily walkable on your own. If you are into history and really want to peel back a layer then maybe signing up for a tour could be the way to go. Most of the time when I'm in New Orleans it's about eating and drinking with a little history mixed in here and there. If that sort of a day/evening appeals to you then maybe I would just do it on your own. Popping in and out of various bars and restaurants as part of a tour is not going to be nearly as much fun as doing it on your own. You have plenty of time to cover some ground with a port day that long. Certinaly not enough to really scratch the surface of the city but enough that you can get an idea if you wanted to come back or not. If sailing time is 10 your all aboard will most likely be in the vicinity of 930. I would make a reservation at one of the great old restaurants New Orleans has and skip dinner on the ship. Commanders Palace would be my personal recommendation (but you'll need to take a quick, easy Uber into the Garden District). Antoines, Arnauds, and Galatoire's would be others in the District that are in the same genre.

To my knowledge there aren't any hotels downtown in Baltimore that have a shuttle from BWI-- this is fairly standard in other Northeast major cities. The only hotels with shuttles are those that are immediately adjacent to the airport. BWI is about 20-30 minutes from the downtown core. If you want to stay downtown I would tell you to either look at the Inner Harbor or Fell's Point. Fell's Point is a little more happening out of the two but both areas have plenty of hotel options to fit most budgets from budget to 5 star. Some of the highlight hotels in town would be the Sagamore Pendry and Four Seasons located in or near Fells Point (would consider those to be the top options with the Sagamore Pendry being the nicer of the two). The Renaissance, Royal Sonesta, and Hyatt are located on or just off the Inner Harbor-- have stayed at all of them over the years and they are perfectly nice corporate hotels in good locations. All these hotels are a short 10-15 minute Uber ride to the port. Again, I can't think of a major hotel that offers a shuttle to the port downtown but maybe someone here knows of one.

Check with the Purser's Desk but you clear Immigration when the ship arrives the day before so there should be no formalities leaving as early as you want so long as you are willing and able to carry off your own bags. The Gare du Palais, where VIA trains depart for Montreal, is only a 10-15 minute walk or a very, very short 3-4 minute Uber ride. You won't need to disembark at 6am to make an 8am train and not cut it close. The train station itself is tiny and easy to navigate. Personally, even being overly cautious, I wouldn't leave until at least 7am.

It reads things out in real time based on where you are. You can use the map to click ahead and read out locations ahead of time. Generally we figure out our general route irrespective of the app and then let the app tell us about things we’re seeing. The app will make suggestions of popular places to turn around so you can make decisions based on that. GuideAlong for example, on the road to Hana, has narration points that only read in one direction. So if you drive to Hana and then turn around you’ll hear new and different points of interest on the way back you didn’t hear on the way out. It’s very well done.

Good for you? This is all personal preference. And while they might still be kicking in SD that’s not the case for a majority of US cities. San Diego is a very small city and they might have held on- not the case most other places. This statement is broad, misleading, and only (sort of) applicable to San Diego. This thread is about Seattle. Most companies I work with now won’t even accept receipts from taxis because of how they can be forged. Taxis in most places are dirty and old. Much better experiences using ride shares.

With 4 nights you have plenty of time so in that sense I wouldn't worry too much. We found 2 nights to be plenty but stayed much more centrally right off Syntagma Square. Even being more central we spent the majority of the last day by the pool as we covered everything we wanted to see very quickly. Personally I would cut your time down by a night or two and use the savings to up the budget to somewhere more central.

This rec is fancy but it was also one of the most magical lunches I've ever had (in or not in Italy). La Terrazza restaurant at Hotel Splendido in Portofino. Up the hill and overlooking the harbor. It was perfect.

I think what they might have meant is that it won't appear on the infotainment screen or be able to use the app within CarPlay but it certainly will play over the cars speaker system (which is the most important part).

They do integrate into CarPlay-- I just did the Hana road like 3 weeks ago in a rented Chevy Suburban from Avis and the audio played through the whole car with CarPlay with zero issue. This is specific to GuideAlong/Gypsy-- its been years since I used Shaka and fine GuideAlong to be better overall. Once you get started with the app there's zero need to see the screen so the fact that the screen part does not integrate doesn't really matter. Everything is audio and it is cued up and started in relation to your position on GPS. It will even dim whatever music you are playing from your phone when the narrations come on so you can listen.

And Head of the Charles Regatta which drives hotel prices into the stratosphere and availability is very low. This year Oct 18-20.

Except in the NE Corridor.

The Empire Builder is fun but keep in mind that Amtrak does not own the tracks that take you from Chicago to Seattle. Freight trains get the right of way and are always prioritized over Amtrak. This can result in long periods of time sitting around and waiting for freight trains to pass. They pad the schedule but sometimes it can be many hours delayed arriving into Seattle and in extreme circumstances it can be 15-24 hours late. You need to build in at least 2 days in Seattle in case to do this to meet a cruise.