princeton123211

At best its gimmicky. And I actually thought the same thing about it having to be from Rome but turns out it stems from a risotto technique that originated in the Venice and Milan orbit. But popularized as we know it today in American restaurants. https://www.cheeseprofessor.com/blog/pasta-alla-ruota

No need to pay for a tour- quite easy to do on your own and the trail is literally marked by red bricks in the pavement to follow.

Generally its 10-5pm unless there is some sort of special occasion like a wedding. They have all the hours and available mansions that day on the website sorted by date. On Sept 17th The Breakers, Marble House, and The Elms are 10-5 and Rosecliff is 10-3. They do note that things are subject to change.

Not only can you but you must well in advance-- they sell out regularly sometimes weeks out.

You don't have to pay for pool chairs-- just for beach chairs and umbrellas reserved through the website. The pool chairs you can reserve and pay for are mini cabanas-- not true cabanas like you see at some resorts with a fridge, tv, etc-- these are basically slightly more secluded tents. The beach chairs can be worth it-- personally I never found the pool cabanas worth the cost. Because a lot of guests reserve beach chairs the smaller private pool at the Royal Hawaiian is generally never overly crowded-- we've never had more than a 5 minute wait to get two chairs together. The larger Sheraton resort pool however can be a bit of a zoo if its busy.

You could also ask them to reticket you on the same flights to connect them.

They have an interline agreement which means they are code share. What the agent needs to do (I would go through United as thats the first flight) is have them link your United booking to your Air Canada booking. When you check in for the flight with United make sure the tag they put on the bag has YVR on it before you let them throw it on the belt.

Fastest way into Venice proper from the airport would be to jump onto a water taxi but it will also be the most costly-- about 120 Euro. If you did that then it wouldn't really matter where you stayed so long as they had a water taxi dock. You would exit the taxi directly into your hotel and avoid having to schlep your luggage. These tend to be at the more expensive places in town but there are a few more moderate hotels that have water taxi docks.

If its through Bonvoy it's usually automatic if you're getting one-- you can always ask though. The upgrade is technically not part of Silver but it is a benefit of Gold. The Royal Hawaiian is also part of American Express' Fine Hotels and Resorts so if you have a Platinum or Centurion card you can get the benefits of an upgrade, $100 F&B credit, free breakfast each morning, and a guaranteed 4pm checkout.

Agree with this and expanding a bit. Venetian water taxis I think can seat up to 10 passengers maximum but you will lose room in the boats with luggage from the airport so will most likely have to separate into 2. Water taxi from the airport to the main part of the city is at least 120 Euro per boat. Sleeping 9 people in a hotel is going to be wildly expensive. Most rooms in the main tourist areas are going to be limited to 2-3 people per room. I agree you should look at Piazzale Roma and near Santa Lucia Train Station for the most economical options. If you are looking for larger rooms hotels like the JW Marriott, which sits on its own island, could be an option. Rooms are larger there and it's less expensive than comparable hotels near San Marco, but you do need to spend time in a boat going to and fro. I also agree that 1 night would be a frustrating, costly experience. You'll need two nights and one full day to have a shot at really seeing much at all. Gondola rides are limited to 5 people per boat and will cost 80 Euros per boat for about 25-30 minutes in the day and more at night. This is mainly an American thing. It does exist in Italy but is mainly at tourist restaurants.

One of our favorites in town is Le Continental right outside the Chateau Frontenac. Its very French and the specialize in tableside as well as flambe. Tableside caesar salad, flambe steaks and seafood, dover sole, tableside chateaubriand. They do wonderful tableside flambe desserts: crepes suzette, bananas foster, cherries jubilee etc.

If you have even Silver or Gold status with Bonvoy they tend to be pretty generous with upgrades from Garden View. We had friends that were Silver (entry level elite status) and they were upgraded to a partial ocean view. Silver and Gold area easy to get automatically from several major credit cards as benefits so look to try and upgrade your status ahead of time if you don't have them already. Platinum and Titanium status they will upgrade you from Garden View to actual large suites.

Much better than in summer-- you lose the intense humidity but as Charles said-- still usually in the 70s.

It's quite stunning and well worth going. It's a private collection so definitely a bit more eclectic than a large museum but there are works by Titian, Rembrandt, Whistler, Sargent, Matisse, Manet, etc. The building itself is beautiful-- a large scale Venetian palazzo right in Boston. It has a wonderful interior courtyard that makes you feel like you are in Italy.

It depends on how in depth you want to get with the Freedom Trail-- if you stop everywhere it can take hours. If you walk by most things it can be done in a couple hours. You can speed things up by taking an Uber or ferry to/from Charlestown Navy Yard for the USS Constitution vs walking there. Same goes for getting to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. You can absolutely do both but you will need to cut down on the Freedom Trail to do them both in one day.

Uber or Lyft-- New Orleans has some of the worst taxis of a major US city. Very- you're right there. Uber or Lyft.

Parking at a hotel in Manhattan will be $75-100 a night just for the car. If you want to contain costs figure out a way to keep the car out of Manhattan or just fly. Between 3 nights parking and then parking at the cruise port has to come close to flying 3 adults round trip.

Haven't been to many jazz clubs that don't charge a cover. One that I forgot about in my first response but thought of later is the Cafe Carlyle. This won't be a full big band but they are doing jazz shows that are from that era-- they are opening with Tony Danza singing Sinatra in early September. Cafe Carlyle will be one of the more expensive options-- bar seats have a $110 cover and tables are $150 to $200 per person cover for a table plus an F&B minimum-- but it's quite an experience.

Used to go to QC for business alot and had asked the Chateau Frontenac for a black car one time. It was a company called Charles Limousine. It was fine-- Cadillac Escalade-- but very expensive. Why would Uber be out because of logistics? Its what I use when I'm in QC and works really well and its MUCH less expensive than the black car ride I had above. Also check out an app called Blacklane-- you can schedule in advance and they work with local operators.

And there are major differences outside just the operating hours-- as in whether the satellite location is franchised or company owned which can result in substantial one way drop off fees.

Birdland does have big band but it will depend on the night-- check out the calendar as there is other types of jazz they put on as well. Blue Note and Smoke are two other clubs that I've enjoyed over the years but both of them are more about smaller trios etc and not the big band style you're looking for. Birdland is most likely your best bet for specifically big band. If you're ever in Chicago, the Green Mill always has a big band act on Thursday evenings.

As he said-- wouldn't consider the Marriott Brooklyn Bridge near the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal-- about a 20 min Uber ride away. Its a fine place to stay for a cruise from the BCT but wouldn't be right to represent it as close. The area surrounding the BCT is still very industrial and hasn't had the development and gentrification that a lot of other parts of Brooklyn have. Just using the word "Brooklyn" without using a specific neighborhood isn't particularly helpful-- Brooklyn is 70 square miles.

Uber/Lyft are your friends here-- NJ taxis are awful and expensive.

Definitely run both scenarios-- picking up and returning to the airport might be much less expensive. Also in my experience Avis tends to use their older cars on one way rentals dropping off at a franchise so going round trip from the airport might also net you a better rental car. The good news here being that the airport location is still very close to the pier.

It's been under Sheraton/Starwood/Marriott's management since 1959. One of the major attractions for us is that it's in the Marriott Bonvoy program-- we use points sometimes rather than pay full freight. Not been our experience after many stays both before and after covid. It's not a 5 star hotel like Halekulani (and doesn't pretend to be) but it is a solid 4 star that has extremely unique architecture, comfortable rooms, great beach services, and most importantly one of the best locations on Waikiki. Room service is not offered at the Moana Surfrider or Sheraton either. It is a Halekulani. The Hilton Hawaiian Village doesn't have room service but they will deliver food from the outlets like Doordash so not really the same. The Ritz Residences does have room service but its location is poor. I don't know if I would use room service as the yardstick here.