IDLnyc

Can’t comment on theater noise, but we were in 5009 for a trip in Asia and had no issue with motion at all. (We didn’t have stormy weather.)

Thanks, Steve and Twitchly, for your replies.

Bumping this thread. Like the original poster, I'd like to find insurance that will insure MY TOTAL COST for a new Viking trip I booked last month. Most of the cost of this trip was covered by a voucher issued by Viking for a trip I paid for last year. I had to cancel that trip because I came down with Covid (in the embarkation port! So near, yet so far...) I bought Viking insurance for this new trip, but found out too late that Viking''s "TripMate" does not insure the value of their own vouchers: "once redeemed, vouchers will not be reissued" Has anyone else in this position found a third party insurer that will insure the value of the vouchers? I've gone through two online brokers, and contacted four insurers. I have yet to find a company which addresses "vouchers" in their "Certificate of Insurance". I've tried speaking to company agents, but I get different answers depending on who answers the phone. Since the scenario isn't addressed in the written contracts, it seems to be subject to interpretation. Clearly I'd prefer to purchase insurance from a company with an unambiguous guarantee of coverage. Thanks to anyone who has been successful in their own search and can share any insights.

We passed through Schiphol four weeks ago (late June). Took a direct flight from Hamburg to Amsterdam - our checked baggage made it to the carousel about fifteen minutes after we found the right baggage claim area. (It took two hours for us to get through check-in and security at Hamburg.) We departed from Schiphol a week later. It looked to me that the enormous lines were for the "Terminal 1" area, which is for intra-Europe flights. We had lines at Terminal 3 (international ) but these were all on the second floor and did NOT go up and down stairs, out the door like at Terminal 1. The night before our 9:30a outbound flight we stayed at an airport hotel, and got in line at Terminal 3 at 6a. In my sleep-deprived state, it seemed like we were through check-in and security by 8am. Our bags made it to the USA.

Of course, it really depends on whether you are looking for adventure or culture. If you are interested in culture, I suggest the Iolani Palace in downtown Hawaii - it is the European-style palace built by the last of the native Hawaiian monarchs -- an evocative record of how a (literally) insular culture tried to adapt when the wider world discovered it. Plan ahead - when I visited it was only open a few days a week (and that was pre-covid). I can also second the recommendation of "Shangri La" -- this was the late heiress, Doris Duke's, middle-Eastern-style mansion (set in carefully landscaped grounds). Shangri La is located in an exclusive residential area east of Diamond Head. So as not to disturb its neighbors, visitors are required to assemble at the Honolulu Museum of Art, which is conveniently close to downtown. Free vans provide transportation between the Museum of Art and the mansion: pre-ticketing is essential Busses from Waikiki stop at or close to both Iolani Palace and the Honolulu Museum of Art. I don't know about bus routes from the port. It's never a bad idea to have a Mai Tai at the Royal Hawaiian's outdoor garden bar.