flyingron

The science fair product is a bit flawed.   Bread mold is a fungus is not the same as bacteria or virus.    You aren't likely going to get sick on a cruise ship from mold, but norovirus is going to lay you out.     As others have pointed out, hand sanitizer is an adjuct not a replacement for washing with soap and water.    Hopefully it covers your casual contact with door handles and the like.

One amusing paradox not mentioned here is the ubiquitous buffet tongs.    If you reach in and pick up a roll from the table with hour hand, perhaps one or two people touch an adjacent roll to the one that they selected.   But every single person who comes along touches that same tong handle.   Your risks are bigger with the tongs.

Can't comment on Lucerne or Zurich, but the hotel that Ama used in Paris was top notch and very centrally located (Renaissance Paris Arc de Triumphe).

Despite what the scammers selling RFID wallets will have you believe, your card is almost always going to be compromised at a point of use rather than by some RFID "skimming" threat.   Similarly, you hand over the passport to underpaid and unvetted airline, hotel, and other travel people (let alone foreign government agents without authority).    You probably typed the information into the cruise website, and if some of the lines I'm familiar with areany indication, the sites are so poorly implemented that your data has already been compromised.

Nope, all the data is there.   Again, the passport cover itself is RFID shielded.  The RFID chip should only be readable when you unfold the book.    Further, it's not like reading the stripe on a credit card.    There's an interaction between the reader and the chip that is not likely to be casually spoofed.

The reader above reads a different kind of RFID data than the passport.   The ones above are commonly used for things like runners in marathons, your proximity door cards, etc...

Many primary/secondary schools still tie the break to before or after the ecumenical Easter which is April 12 in 2019.   Colleges tend to be more flexible in their scheduling.     Our state colleges here (NC) break on March 8 in 2020.

The RFID range is very close (just as with credit cards).   Much hype to sell RFID-proof wallets (in fact most people don't know the difference between the "chip" on the credit card which is visible and the RFID which is not, but indicated only by something printed on the card).   I've had credit cards compromised and they were not RFID cards.    

The US State Department pretty much says you have to have the passport OPEN to be scanned even with the RFID.   Further, there's no information on the RFID that's not on the photo page of the passport anyhow.

We were on AMA and had first class from TGV from Paris (Gare de Lyon) to Lyon.    Departures are roughly hourly and the trip takes two hours.    Ours however was interrupted both on departure due to someone leaving an abandoned suitcase on the Paris-bound run (had to wait until the bomb sniffing dogs cleared it) and also about 2/3 of the way there the train came to a complete stop for twenty minutes or so due to something on the tracks.     Still, it's a comfortable run compared to the old trains or even flying.

Again, many immigration forms ask for the country of birth in addition to the country of citizenship.    You can argue all day that it doesn't matter, but it DOES.

One note if you have dual citizenship, the US (at least) requires you to reenter with your US passport if you are a US citizen.   What you use in other countries is up to you (and their laws).

It's not uncommon for visas and the various things that stand in its place (electronic documents and waiver programs) to ask the place of your birth in addition to your citizenship, so I suspect that's why the cruise line also asked.

Most of the digital electronics (iPhone, laptops, camera battery chargers, etc..) are capable of eating a wide variety of voltages, so it's just a matter of matching the plugs.    While a lot of ships and hotels have at least one US-style receptacle, having the adapter kits as previous mentioned often gives you more options on where (and how many) things you can plug in.

I take my wallet which has a US passport card in it (not a substitute but I figure it's better than just my driver's license).   If I'm "in country" on a tour, I'll have a small amount of local currency (euros or whatever), otherwise US money works fine for tips.   Credit cards work for everything else.

The cruise ships usually offer umbrellas (if needed) and water (when that makes sense) as you're exiting.

Get a recommendation (from someone you trust) on a travel agent if you intend to use one.   A bad travel agent can be much worse than doing your own research and bookings.   Every travel disaster I've ever head has been attributed to me trusting travel agents.   On the other hand, I've had agents find be better/cheaper things than I could have myself.   I still check over everything they do...cheap insurance.

Then you'd be better off on most ship's wifi plans and forgo cellular data.

On 5/28/2013 at 3:37 AM, Hflors said:

 

 

So be very careful about buying cigarettes outside the US.

Sounds like he was more annoyed with the cruise line than you.

Yeah, I can give you renewal horror stories.   My wife sent her old passport off to be renewed.   We got a letter back stating they received the application without the passport.    She was screwed.   We had to start over (birth certificate, etc...).

Certainly not this one....

We did the AmaCello Colors of Provence this April.    Don't have any complaints.   Our first river cruise, I liked being more intimate with the crew.    Great time.

23 hours ago, Terpnut said:

The last I checked, these US carriers' international calling plans do NOT include the cruise-ship based cellular services! 

Again, AT&T has a separate CRUISE plan from the INTERNATIONAL plan.   They have an arrangement with Cruise-At-Sea.

It looks like from the cellular-at-sea site that AT&T may be the only one offering this sort of deal.

There's no "portable" way to do this on iOS though some carriers support it in their custom stuff.   

One thing you can also do is contact your carrier.  AT&T for example has an unlimited talk and text plan for $100, or 50 minutes for $50.

I don't know if AT&T will allow you to backdate the plan like they do their international calling plan (you don't have to commit to it until after you make a few calls and then AT&T texts you and offers you the plan if and to put the previously made calls under it).

On our European stops, a half day tour was 2 Euros for the guide and one for the driver.

On 7/10/2019 at 10:45 PM, Aquahound said:

 

 

But yes, you are correct.  Aft is a direction, not a location.  

It can also mean in or regarding the rear of the boat.   But the key is it is an ADJECTIVE not a noun.  The back of the boat is the STERN.

If you're one of those who finds heavily airconditioned spaces to be too cool (like my wife), you probably should carry a sweater or light jacket as she does.   

On 10/29/2019 at 5:25 AM, SRF said:

I have a map in my cube at work.  I have colored pins based on where I have been.  ]

Mitch Hedberg says he had to make sure he traveled to the top two corners of the map so it didn't fall down.

Our cruise left from Lyon.   They bused us from the hotel to the TGV and then from there to the boat.   We put our bags outside the hotel room at Breakfast in Paris and they were in our cabins when we got in.

We had first class tickets on the TGV and that was pretty cool except for the delay for an animal or something on the tracks about half way through.   I think that's what the announcement said, my French is a bit rusty.

We just did Colors of Provence on AmaCello.    I found the locks kind of neat.   Never noticed any problems.   Sometimes you only knew it because you looked out the window and saw a slimy wall there.     I actually stood next to the Captain as he maneuvered into one of them.    These ships are pretty amazing to watch being operated into such a tight space.    Docking was never a problem on the Rhone for us.    Sometimes you'd be tied up abreast another ship so you'd either walk through their lobby area to get to shore or they'd walk through yours.    The oddest one was when we were tied up next to a ship of a different size.   We ended up having to cross a gangway onto their sundeck and then down the stairs, but it was only a minor inconvenience.

There's two things you need to know about the locks:   they warn you not to touch the walls.   That's good advice.   The other is if you are out on the deck some of the locks have overhead things that drip water on you, so keep your eyes out.

As other's have pointed out Ama's itinerary was pretty detailed.   We got a big pouch of information (along with our luggage tags) on everything including our options for shore excursions shortly before the departure.

Given the size of the boats, we were very close to the crew.   We got to talk to the captain and first mate a lot as well as the chef and many of the other crew.

We did the three-days-in-Paris pretour with the same cruise director and that was well arranged as well.