princeton123211

Not airside-- JetBlue is at Terminal 5 and Delta is at Terminal 4 and there is no post security connection to them. If they wanted to hang out before security-- and had the time to do so-- there is the TWA Hotel at Terminal 5 that has several restaurants, lounges, and bars they could utilize. The JetBlue daughter would have a short walk to security. The Delta daughter would need to take a short AirTrain ride over to T4- it takes about 15 minutes with the train ride and the walking involved.

So a little bit to unpack here. If you are departing from Manhattan Cruise Terminal you are going to have to go into Manhattan regardless, so you might as well look at other options in Manhattan rather than staying in Queens. If you are using IHG points, which is great, you should maximize their value. Generally the lower priced airport hotels not in prime areas are a terrible value when redeeming points. For example, just running a search on September 23rd (Saturday) as an example, the Holiday Inn Express Woodside you are looking at has a redemption of 44,000 points for a free night (vs $216). On the same night, the Holiday Inn Express Midtown West is 55,000 points (vs $319). The Holiday Inn Express Times Square is 60,000 points (vs $315)-- even the Intercontinental The Barclay, a 4+ star hotel in Midtown, is 71,000 IHG points (selling for $436 that night). All of those options put you very close to your ship the next day and will minimize the amount of ground transportation you need and are a MUCH better redemption value vs what you would otherwise pay for them. If you were going to do any sightseeing you would be doing it in Manhattan anyway, so you'll just end up spending more money on ground transport if you stay in Queens. To be frank I wouldn't be looking at the subway anyway-- Uber/Lyft are going to be your best options here whether you stay in Queens or Manhattan.

Try using an app called Blacklane. We used it extensively in Italy with really good results. You can book a ride through it in advance, the cost displayed is all inclusive, and the cars we were provided were new and the drivers very professional. It is essentially an aggregator of limousines and will connect you with local companies you would never be able to find on your own. All communication is through the app. They are used by a number of major airlines so very legit and our experience, over about 8-9 rides, was flawless.

Something to keep in mind with companies like resortpass.com is that, while they can be very helpful providing access to things like the pool, cabanas, etc, often times with a day room you can get a more favorable rate/terms going direct to the hotel. Day rooms are still sort of the Wild West (although companies like Marriott have tried to standardize them a bit during the pandemic) and front desk agents often have quite a bit of leeway to negotiate. This could mean getting a better, non-commissioned rate than you would through a third party like resortpass.com or getting the room for a longer period of time.

I would aim more towards noon at the earliest then if you want a little bit of buffer in there. If you could do self disembarkation and carry your bags off yourself (which wouldn't require any preferred class) you could maybe do a bit earlier.

I'm with you on this one-- lived in Manhattan for years. Wall Street, Financial District, Downtown, The Battery, Battery Park City-- heard all those plenty of times and would know exactly where you meant. "FIDI" at very best is newer and at its very worst, nauseating.

Second this. 11am is the earliest if you are a couple without any kids in tow and travel well. 12-1 for anything else. Also what size ship are you on? We've arrived in Piraeus on large ships which literally took til 9am to get off of (with a 6am arrival) and we've been in on small ones where we walked off the ship at 7am. That will make a difference as well.

There is no train at Venice Marco Polo Airport-- you need to either take a taxi or bus to get to Mestre.

You can also have your Global Entry interview on arrival to any airport that does offer it without an appointment (although there could be a wait) as long as your Global Entry documents have been submitted. For example, if you are flying back into JFK from an international destination, all you have to do is notify the Immigration agent that you would like to have your Global Entry interview and they will send you over to where it is conducted. We did ours that way at JFK and it all took less than 20 minutes.

So the good news is they are close by-- only about 15-20 minutes. We did this once in reverse-- we were staying in Portofino and had friends who were staying on the other side of Santa Margherita Ligure. The hotel set up transportation for us one way and getting a taxi back was easy from Santa Margherita. I am not sure the same would be as easy in reverse-- I don't remember a ton of taxis in Portofino (but I also wasn't looking out for them either). If I were doing this myself I would hire a driver to be on the clock to take me back and forth and wait for me. Time is going to be tight here and getting stuck in Portofino when you have to make a last tender back would not be good. Knowing you have a driver waiting for you would give me the peace of mind to actually enjoy myself on such a tight side trip.

Would second this-- its a tedious walk through an area that is mostly newer development/construction (especially for someone who is there just a day) and lacking the charm of the historical city core. An Uber/Lyft will be your fastest option here to get right to the middle of Boston's main sites. Another tip is if you are planning on doing most of the Freedom Trail I would recommend taking a short Uber or walking one way to the Charlestown Navy Yard where the USS Constitution is. From there take the MBTA Ferry from Charlestown Navy Yard to Long Wharf downtown (or you could do that in reverse). This will save you time (vs backtracking your walk as the map will have you do) and you get a little harbor tour on the ferry.

The island has some great hotel bars that are worth a gander. At The Rosewood you have Tucker's Bar (which was a little more atmospheric before the renovation that took place a few years ago but still quite nice) where you can view the famous Pam Am Sky Club murals. They depict travel through the ages were originally commissioned by Juan Trippe for the Pam Am offices in NYC and are now on the walls of the adjacent Island Brasserie. Also at Rosewood is the Conservatory which has great views over the harbor area. Also out that way is Tom Moore's Tavern which is more of a restaurant than a bar, but we've gone there just for drinks numerous times and the enclosed outdoor area is wonderful, especially at dusk. I would second Charles in the recommendation of the Swizzle Inn, also close by, which should be on everyones Bermuda bar list. Back in Hamilton I also second Charle's rec of Hog Penny-- would be my favorite pub on the island. At the Hamilton Princess you have a number of options-- the lobby bar, Crown & Anchor, is always a good time with a nice mix of folks. 1609 is a mostly outdoor restaurant on the harbor which is my least favorite option at the hotel but worth a mention. Then there is the new Intrepid which used to be called Marcus' prior to the pandemic. If they kept things mostly the same as it was before the morph into the new concept, it has a great bar that really gets to be fun at night with a great mix of tourists, business folks, and locals.

While it looks close to downtown, Mt Rainier is deceivingly far away and any sort of day trip touring there is a really long, exhausting day. You are about 2+ hours in either direction from downtown Seattle to the entrance of the park, and that's before doing the very little you'll have time for. I would second the Museum of Flight as a great thing to do on the way out of town towards SeaTac that you might not have otherwise spent the travel time on the front end of your trip when you are concentrating on things downtown. Super cool museum. If you are sort of done touring and just want to relax the Fairmont Olympic downtown does offer limited day rates which will give you access to their great indoor pool facility which the kids might enjoy. They also have a number of good dining options on property. A day use option close to the airport that's good for families would be the Cedarbrook Lodge. While they don't have a pool there is a nice hot tub, a big property with a bunch of walking paths, and the hotel and restaurant themselves are very nice. Not your usual airport hotel. They offer a complimentary shuttle to the airport so you would only have to get yourself there from the pier.

Worth noting that Global Entry supersedes TSA PreCheck. If you have Global Entry, you automatically receive PreCheck (but not the other way around) so no need for an additional application or to pay an additional fee to have both. If you don't get Global Entry this time it might make sense to jump through the extra hoops the next time your PreCheck is up for renewal.

Waikiki is the main squeeze in Honolulu. No other real alternatives. You could go to Ko Olina- there is a Four Seasons and the Disney resort there but you won’t save any money vs more economical options on Waikiki. If you have Marriott Bonvoy points (or can convert credit card points to Bonvoy) there’s some great redemption opportunities right on Waikiki beach. The top one would be The Royal Hawaiian, second place the Westin Moana Surfrider, and a distant third The Sheraton. All are on the beach. There are more economical options often discussed on other threads that are one or two blocks off the beach.

I don't believe it is expressly forbidden but also it's not something that is in the mainstream. I think if you brought a reasonably sized umbrella in some sort of a carrying sleeve as a carry on you should be fine (although I would check directly with Celebrity to be sure). I guess it could happen, and most likely does, but we have never had a major issue getting a beach setup at Horseshoe Bay over a number of years, and changing concession operators, of going there.

You certainly have plenty of time not departing until the next evening-- while they are in different states they aren't wildly far apart from each other. I wouldn't worry so much about whether you go the night before or the day of-- I would just avoid traveling during the morning and afternoon rush hours. At JFK you have the TWA Hotel which is housed in the former 1960's Eero Saarinen designed TWA Flight Center at terminal 5. That might be the only reason I would even consider staying at JFK. It is a fun transit hotel with a nice Jean Georges restaurant and great rooftop pool overlooking the tarmac but it is not a true luxury hotel. Offerings at EWR are much more pedestrian. The main onsite hotel there is the Marriott nestled between the terminals which would most likely be my choice. You do have enough time that you could stay in Manhattan. It certainly would cost more than either airport option but you would have access to much better dinner options as well as the ability to walk around the city the next morning/afternoon if you were so inclined. Obviously this would only be if you wanted to make an occasion of it.

Temple Bar is pretty touristy-- sort of like wandering around Times Square searching for the authentic New York experience. Some great preserved Victorian pubs that are not far away are The Long Hall and The Palace. The Stags Head isn't too far from Temple Bar and is a lot of fun. Further down towards St Stephens Green I have a warm spot in my heart for O'Donohue's Bar which is a great old pub (if not a little dingy). It's not a pub but the Horseshoe Bar at The Shelbourne Hotel is one of Dublin's great watering holes and is worth a trip.

You have a number of options. What is your plan for lodging that evening? Stay near Newark Airport? Most options you find on the internet, like Dial7 and Carmel, are car service aggregators and not actual brick and mortar car services. They work just fine and have competitive rates but just know what you're getting into. A higher end aggregator is an app called Blacklane which will give you a top rate livery service but usually at a more premium cost. Going between JFK and EWR I personally would just Uber or Lyft (worth checking both as sometimes one is slightly less than the other). You could take a NYC taxi but it would be a long ride in a not so comfortable car-- I wouldn't recommend it when you have better options above.

It's certainly possible. You could take the Blue Route ferry into Hamilton after arriving (most likely only one way as they don't run later into the evening) and have dinner in Hamilton. You would then need to take a taxi back to the Dockyard. Plenty of good options there for dinner as well as a stroll along Front Street. Keep in mind that most things on Bermuda do close on the earlier side, but Hamilton as a whole is open the latest on the island. Taxis can be hit and miss at night-- both in the Dockyard and in a city like Hamilton they will be fairly available. Places further afield can be difficult as it gets later. There is no Uber or Lyft, but there is a home spun app called Hitch which I recommend downloading. It is a taxi dispatching app that works a lot like Uber (in that you have a map of where the taxi is as well as a close price estimate for the ride) but there is a 15% fee. You can pay with credit card with Hitch whereas taxis otherwise will only accept cash which can be helpful. We enjoy some of the dining options at the Hamilton Princess Hotel-- there is a new steakhouse that just took the place of a restaurant called Marcus, which was a favorite. They also have a great bar just off the lobby that serves food and a restaurant called 1609 which has great views of the harbor. The Hog Penny is a pub that is also a lot of fun further down Front Street. Shops will most likely be closed by the time you get there-- again, things close earlier in Bermuda. Most shops close between 5-530pm.

Marriott's code for day rates on their website is ZDY. It works for all Marriott portfolio hotels and allows you to book direct if it is available that day.

No-- there aren't independent shuttles from MCT but your cruise line might offer a shuttle option or a city tour combined with an airport drop-off. This is very doable from a timing perspective. Frankly I'd take the earlier United flight to limit time spending in EWR (which is fine but not the greatest airport) and get into Vancouver earlier. Keep in mind that NYC taxis are not required to take you to Newark (which is in New Jersey) and charge their deadhead return tolls etc. For this reason I would use Uber or Lyft for this trip. No-- quite easy to do. You'll be booted off the ship by 9-10am at the VERY latest. EWR at that time of day is about a half hour without much traffic. With 3 days before your next cruise you certainly have the time in NYC for an overnight if you want. Just run the same play essentially 24 hours later.

Please do and report back. I think you’ll find they’re open 7 days. Picked up a car there last week for a trip to Hana and back. You can also make a reservation with Avis online for pickup and drop off on Sat/Sun which is telling. But what do I know?

Avis/Budget are open 7 days a week. I get that lovinthecruiselife has elite status at National but I still don’t think it’s worth the time and expense to get over to OGG. It’ll be wasting a bunch of your vacation in a taxi.

If you’re tendering at Lahaina you definitely want to switch your rental car booking to one of the ones on North Kaanapali. Going to and from OGG is a waste of time and $ (and isn’t even a scenic drive). Personally I usually rent from the Avis/Budget one on Halawai Dr (and always have a great experience) but you have your choice of providers. The Avis/Budget is open everyday from 8-5pm. I think there is a hertz in the Hyatt and an Enterprise in the Sheraton at Black Rock.