princeton123211

I don't know how a car service is going to be any different than Uber/Lyft here. You can just pick UberXL to guarantee an SUV or minivan. Its by far the easiest and most cost effective thing to do on such a short trip like this.

If its not much of a difference in price, and JFK doesn't provide any later departures, I think you'll be in much better shape with the LGA flight then.

12:30 is still right on the front end of what is recommended but should be ok. Switching to LGA might be a good option for you if you were concerned over the size of JFK. LGA (with the exception of a few airlines) now has new terminals and is a much smaller airport experience than JFK, not to mention a little bit closer to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal than JFK.

I agree 100%-- the only issue is that its about 2 hours longer overall than the Air Canada option through Montreal.

There are actually some really good connecting options-- Air Canada through Montreal and Porter through Toronto Billy Bishop. The Air Canada one only is about 3.5 hours total travel time QC to Boston with several options per day starting around $220 per person. Porter is a little more expensive overall and can take up to 5 hours total travel time. $220 on Air Canada at 3.5 hours has to beat the train in both time and overall cost.

They are giving you good advice-- this is extremely tight and if you disembark at 9am you will not make your flight with an NCL transfer. JFK is easily an hour from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal in normal traffic and can take even longer than that sometimes. The only real shot you have of making this, without running through the terminal, is to book a private transfer and self disembark the ship with your luggage in the first group. You'll need to be off the ship more like 7:30-8am to make this work, even with a private transfer via taxi, Uber, or car service. JFK is enormous and spread over numerous terminals. Without knowing what airline you are flying its difficult to give specifics but it will take you some time at that point in the morning to get through TSA and get to the gate.

It's sort of a rolling thing based on what your disembarkation group is, which will correspond to your bus, and then that bus will only leave for the airport once it is full. That can happen quickly sometimes and it can take some time at others-- no way to predict how long that part takes. Even though your ship arrives at 6am it will take some time to clear and folks will not be realistically disembarking until 7am at the earliest (and those passengers will be the ones carrying their own luggage off with private transportation). Given that most cruise lines won't guarantee an airport transfer for flights before noon and sometimes even before 1pm, the busses get going fairly quickly but certainly not the second the ship gets cleared.

Congrats-- you picked what I consider to be the best Bermuda cruise and itinerary available right now on the delightfully small Insignia. St Georges is on one far side of the island-- plenty of great beaches over there. Then the ship relocates early in the morning and you wake up in Hamilton, the main city on the island. You have a ton of time on this itinerary. What's worked for us on this itinerary in years past is to stay in the area of the island where the ship is-- when you're in St Georges go to Tobacco Bay and St Catherines Beach for swimming, grab drinks at the St Regis and Rosewood, hit the Swizzle Inn, etc. Then once the ship moves to Hamilton you don't have to spend time/money backtracking there and you can explore town or venture over to Horseshoe Bay beach, etc. No, frankly there is zero reason to go the Royal Naval Dockyard (where Kings Wharf is the name of one of the docks there) unless you want to. The Dockyard is on the other far side of the island and is where the mega ships have to dock. Insignia doesn't dock at the Dockyard or Kings Wharf and there is much better snorkeling in a host of other beaches you'll be closer to all over the island.

I'll second Cedarbrook Lodge-- the total opposite of your average airport hotel in the best way.

Yes, typically there is a bunch of taxis waiting in St Georges where you get off the ferry during the day. Any restaurant you are at will be happy to call a taxi for you as well. You can nearly always find taxis lined up at most major hotels so that can be a good trick depending on where you are. There is also an app called Hitch which can be used, a lot like their local version of the Uber app, to arrange for a taxi to come and get you wherever you are.

Assuming this means you are docked at the Royal Naval Dockyard both of those places are quite easy and don't even require you taking a bus. There are ferries to both Hamilton and St Georges that are very easy from the Dockyard and are much faster than taking a bus. The Blue Ferry will take you to Hamilton and the Orange Ferry will take you to St Georges. Also, if you are sailing on NCL, they offer a free ferry to St Georges for their passengers which is separate. To get to Horseshoe Bay you can take a minibus and pay per person from where you are docked-- super easy. If you want to avoid the busses and venture further in the island than just Hamilton and St Georges you can also hire a taxi which is quite easy (but is obviously more expensive).

If you are a confirmed passenger on one of their sailings, don't they already have your contact info as well as a whole bunch of personal info already? You're going to have to pick up the phone on this one-- and maybe a few times. Unfortunately with NCL you tend to get 3 different answers in as many tries. I have seen somewhere on here that NCL does not run a VCE to Ravenna transfer but you really do need to confirm that with them for your specific sailing.

Yes-- parking in Waikiki is very expensive no matter where you go, nearly Manhattan expensive. It also can be contested (by Hawaiian standards) and makes driving in and out less than fun. When we stay in Waikiki we will usually only rent a car for the day that we need it (there are all the major rental car agencies with desks in Waikiki as well as easy car share options) and then just use Uber to get around the rest of the time. You'd be far better off just renting a car for the day you need it and then spend the money you would have on parking at a nicer hotel.

I don't agree with that at all. The newer renovation they completed is really quite nice-- brought the hotel into the modern era without destroying the interior parts that made it charming. It's clear they put A LOT of money into it. We stayed a little more than a year ago and the guest room renovations were well done-- especially the bathroom which was tastefully updated with a marble shower in place of what was a cramped, outdated tub. We've deviated once or twice over the years staying at other places in QC and always regretted it. The Chateau is by far my favorite hotel there. I think if I went to QC several times a year or went regularly for business I could see finding something that was a little more homey and there are times of the year that it can be very expensive (but also very reasonable at others). But for someone visiting Quebec for the first time or occasional visitor its tough to beat the Chateau Frontenac.

If this is going to be a once in a while trip to Quebec City just stay at Fairmont Chateau Frontenac--- you'll be looking at the hotel your entire trip there so might as well stay there. Uber works fine in terms of ground transport but there are taxis that will queue at hotels and the airport.

You have the funicular which will take you from the old town up to where the Chateau Frontenac is-- it's accessible. From there the Citadel is a significant 15-20 minute walk. Place Royale is in Old Town and doest require the Funicular. For the Citadel you might want to consider an Uber or taxi even though its a short trip-- it would over the Funicular and moderate climb to to the fort.

With the cruise transfer it'll take 1.5 hours with waiting for baggage to load/unload and the bus to fill vs the Uber or Lyft that will basically cost the same (per person and less the more you have) and take 30 minutes to get to the airport.

At $290 they still robbed you even with a van.

To/from the airport, yes. Within town on such a short trip, no (assuming you are staying downtown). Uber's home base is San Francisco and the plethora of more modern transport options (they even have fully autonomous driverless taxis in town now!) has long since cut down on more traditional options like a shared shuttle. Even in LA, where the distances are much greater than in this case a lot of the traditional shuttle companies have gone under. For the most part its fairly compact and an Uber ride in town will be relatively inexpensive. PS-- just a friendly reminder that the locals will gleefully crucify you if you call their town "San Fran".

If you do get stuck without an Uber we use use a local family taxi company that uses Toyota minivans. Kevin is the owner and he's at 808-205-4555. Typically will use them for longer rides, like from the airport, and use Uber for shorter rides like what you are describing, but they are very reliable if you are in a spot. Cash only so keep that in mind.

That's a pretty crazy price for what's essentially an hour drive. A great app I use frequently in continental Europe, called Blacklane, would provide a Mercedes E class for $190 including gratuity which is sort of the going rate for liveried cars on that route into central Amsterdam. UberX (not the same quality level as Blacklane or likely what you used) is $100-120. Viator is a third party aggregator and you pay a hefty commission to them-- most likely the $100 you paid over the going rate. I agree with the first response though-- the train is a very easy way to do this if you are staying somewhere that's within walking distance to Centraal Station in Amsterdam (which can sometimes be much quicker than taking a taxi due to how the roads are) or if not, book direct or use an app for a car service and avoid paying the hefty commissions you do with an aggregator like Viator.

Have never had this in 3 trips to Amsterdam with extensive Uber use. Sure, there are pick up points at Schiphol Airport but not in the city. Have always gotten picked up and dropped off right at the hotel we usually stay at, the W right in the middle of town. Its very possible your driver didn't feel like taking the long way around something to get to your hotel and just made up something about drop zones to cover.

I would second the Grande Bretagne. If you are a Marriott Bonvoy member you can use points to book all or some of your stay-- can significantly reduce costs. Also breakfast is included with certain tiers of Bonvoy (as well as booking through places like American Express). They have a spectacular roof terrace that is a restaurant on one side and a great pool deck (open only to guests) on the other. It's definitely a premium property but there are ways to limit costs.

Its most likely that they didn't have enough interest in the excursion and the cost of the transportation they include (which is higher in Hawaii than a lot of other places that NCL cruises) would cause them to lose money-- so they just cancel it.

For what it's worth, taxis in the Netherlands legally do not require a car seat. Small children can be transported in taxis in a parent's lap.