princeton123211

Most major rental companies use airport codes to designate their locations. The ones you’re talking about, at least the Avis/Budget location, are coded as “JHM” or Kapalua Airport so it’s an easy misconception to have for someone who hasn’t been there before.

Snorkel Beach to me is like taking your kids to Disneyland and then telling them to just be happy playing tag in the parking lot. You’re on an island with literally some of the best beaches in the world.

Water temp today where we are on Kaanapali is 76. Year average I think is 78. Summer temps are warmer into the 80s, so you won't be too far off the 80 mark. It's possible it might be a little cooler offshore at Molokini. We much prefer a smaller operator called Captain Steve's but they only do snorkel trips to Lanai. For Molokini my pick would be Trilogy-- high quality operator on nice catamarans. From our experience its a bit more upscale than PAC.

If you are going to the caves then yes, taking the free NCL Ferry to St Georges is by far your fastest and best option for that. The NCL ferry runs regularly from the Dockyard where your ship is docked and the schedule will be posted. Going to Hamilton will in a sense only get you halfway there-- ride time from St Georges to the caves is about 10 minutes where its more like 20-25 minutes from Hamilton.

New Jersey taxis are pretty awful for the most part. I would seriously consider Uber or Lyft for this one.

From Elizabeth Uber will be very available-- no need to preschedule a car service unless you want to. Your 7:30 departure time is fine-- you will most likely get there with plenty of time to grab some coffee but it will also ensure that even if you hit a lot of traffic your tour won't be impacted. In likelihood you could leave around 8:15 and still make it but I would do the same as you and buffer it by 45 minutes if 9:30 is a hard start time, which it sounds like it is.

You've had an exceptional experience and frankly I've had some pretty good luck over the thousands of times I've parked in a garage in NYC (commuted into the city by car nearly everyday for years) but unfortunately that's not the reality of it all the time. Obviously some garages are better than others. You need to read the fine print on your ticket-- very rarely in NYC are they legally responsible for dents, scratches, or damage and will often times make the claim that they were there already. Try making a claim sometime-- its excruciating and designed to make you give up. My point with my post though is that at a valet garage, and particularly at the discount garages that offer cruise parking nearby, your car will be moved countless times over the course of a week and every time it moves the more chance of something happening to it. Your car won't be moved at the MCT parking.

I'm mainly a Marriott Bonvoy person when I can for the points and unfortunately Quebec City is a pretty uninspiring place for Marriott portfolio properties. The main Marriott is fine-- modern and located just outside the gates to the old town but it feels sort of off to the side and a tiny bit out of the way. My personal choice for a first stay for a couple days would the the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac which is literally so central and commanding that it is basically the symbol of the city itself. Newly renovated. Sure you pay a little extra to stay there but I've always found the location, amenities, and sheer knowledge you're sleeping in a landmark to be worth it.

A few midtown options, that have a bunch of character (as in you'll know you're in New York), are both along 44th St nestled among several private clubs. These would be The Algonquin (part of Marriott Bonvoy so points are an option) and the City Club Hotel (which is basically independent). Both have smaller entry level rooms but they are regularly in your range, offer tremendously central locations, and are somewhat unique to NY. Another option could be The Warwick which is up on 54th St-- sometimes will be in that range but can also be above. Also to this I would add the Intercontinental The Barclay-- it could be in your range (or you could use points) but sometimes is above it. All four of those hotels have local flavor and would be a great base for exploring Midtown.

The Manhattan Cruise Terminal looks a lot like a major airport drop off in that there are upper and lower levels depending on what type of vehicle you are arriving in (private car, bus, limo, etc). Dropping off is easy-- he will proceed to the pier number and there will be porters there waiting to take your checked luggage. You just proceed into the building for check in. On the pickup just have them be in the area waiting around your disembark time and call them once you have cleared any immigration. You'll be directed to where pickups are happening that day. You'll just call and let him know what pier you are at and to proceed to the terminal once you are curbside-- much like an airport pickup.

Personally I would find a nice hotel near your Airbnb with a nice restaurant and just have them check your bags while you eat and walk around. Assuming your Airbnb isn't directly next to the cruise terminal it would beat having to double back there, especially in light of arriving passengers for the next cruise at that time in the afternoon.

It's a bit bigger and less personal than "his"-- its the largest tour company on the islands and has been around since 1941-- I think they have nearly 1000 vehicles. They actually operate a bunch of the cruise line excursions in addition to the independent tours you can book separately. They have scaled back since pre covid but have increased offerings again lately. They are usually well run, and are very consistent in quality across their offerings, with higher quality vehicles than you sometimes get with independent operators including large busses. Roberts can be the safe bet in case you are unsure about reviews of other offerings-- there are more interesting independent guides that may offer a more specialized tour (like several we use for family from time to time in Maui) but Roberts is a very good baseline tour operator.

It should be if you are among the first off the ship. Depending on the day and time I would budget as much as an 1-1.5 hours of travel time due to traffic and rush hour.

You do sort of rob yourself of one of the more wonderful travel experiences out there-- taking a water taxi from the airport into the heart of the city after a long overnight flight. It's magic. There are hotels in Venice proper that have their own water taxi dock and you won't have to lug luggage. With only one day you won't have ton of time so I personally would be much more open to spending a bit more to avoid having to spend time commuting in and out.

I agree with what you said about going to Newark Penn in this case-- faster/cheaper/all around better option. But if you do go through EWR on Amtrak you can request an Uber from P4 garage station which will save you a ton of time vs going to the Terminal stops and then getting out on the curb.

Easiest and the way I would recommend is by Uber/Lyft. There is no mass transit at or directly near Cape Liberty so you're going to have to take an Uber anyway- might as well just keep going into Manhattan. Taxis in NJ are awful and are to be avoided.

To the caves and the Swizzle Inn, definitely the ferry to St Georges will be the fastest, easiest, and least expensive. The reason I'm putting both of these in one response is we might be getting wires crossed. To Horseshoe Bay from the Dockyard, the easiest way to get there is by shared minivan. Horseshoe Bay is closer to the Dockyard and is nowhere near St Georges/caves/Swizzle (it can be near to Hamilton, but taking a ferry to Hamiton to backtrack to Horseshoe doesn't make much sense). Just take a look at the map and you'll see what I mean. Horseshoe Bay and St Georges/Swizzle/caves should be done on separate days as there would be too much travel time in between them to really enjoy everything they have to offer.

Its only about a 10 minute drive-- it might be a lot faster just taking a quick taxi from Swizzle Inn or the Caves. I'm sure someone else would know about the bus-- not my area of expertise. Also not stated by you but assuming you were planning on taking the ferry from Dockyard to St George's to start this day? That would be the fastest and most economical way to get to that side of the island.

As Charles said, safety really shouldn't be a major concern here. Bermuda is an incredibly safe island and is far more upscale and secure than most places you find further South in the Caribbean. If you haven't been before you'll get a good sense once you get off the ship. And he's quite right in that you are selling yourself short, both from a flexibility and financial standpoint, doing ship excursions in Bermuda unless you have on board credit to burn or its the last day and you have a legitimate concern of getting back to the ship before sailing time. But for basically everything else you'll most likely have 2-3 days with overnights-- enjoy the freedom and flexibility this gives you vs other itineraries and go off on your own and explore. It's a wonderful place.

The other downside to a lot of garages in Midtown Manhattan is that they are valet only-- which means that over the course of a week or two cruise your car will be moved several times which increases the chance of a bump or a scratch. With the port parking spots on top of the piers you park your car and it (and the ones around it) don't move the whole time.

Cities such as Rome or Paris are going to have a varying levels of dress required, not just for religious sites, but depending on where you go. For the most part, nice shorts are going to be fine. If you want to have tea at The Ritz or dinner in a top restaurant, you're going to have to dress up a bit more. All depends on what you have planned.

At the risk of being told I don't know what I'm talking about again (which has become an utterly charming aspect of this thread), statistically you should be fine. Improvements like the Lahaina Bypass have made things dramatically better than it had been even it was 10 years ago. It doesn't happen every day or even every week. When it does happen its not great but life isn't without at least a small amount of risk. Usually it's caused by an accident that can be cleared in a matter of an hour or two- not necessarily 4. And as stated, the Bypass runs parallel to the old road it was designed to take traffic off of so there is still access if one of them has an issue. We've been here for the past month and, while I'm aware there have been issues while we were here, nothing has impacted us and I drive it quite often. Drove down from Kaanapali yesterday out to Hana around 4pm and things were moving along fine.

I spend a lot of time in Hawaii and use BOA. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no foreign transaction fee that I have ever encountered from them in my time here. I just don't understand why it would even be a question-- Hawaii is very much a part of the United States.

I think what Charles was getting at is that the risk is much higher of contracting something onboard the ship than it would be in Bermuda. Ships conduct things like this at a much higher rate (look at things like norovirus) than you would be exposed to in Bermuda, which even at the height of Covid, was very well regulated in terms of preventative measures. And also to his point, you can spend a large portion of your time in Bermuda outside-- even most nice restaurants have nice outdoor sections and a majority of activities are outside. Given everything right now I think this is a very low risk trip but understand where the risk is-- I would be most careful aboard the ship where a good part of your time will be spend in close quarters with a lot of other folks inside. Bermuda itself is not the part of this trip to be most concerned about.

How is the old Rotterdam these days? Still recognizable from HAL days? Was in Lahaina yesterday and saw her anchored. Brought back memories.