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9265359

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Everything posted by 9265359

  1. If you have a phone that takes eSIMs then just look at one of those providers that can add an eSIM from an app, providers such as Airalo.
  2. Nearest to the cruise terminal about 500m is Europcar but they don't open at the weekend if that is when you are going to be there. https://maps.app.goo.gl/RhHrrpqpAkjxuk7S8 Alternatively 15 minutes in a taxi will get you to the airport where you will have load of choice. And just a caution, driving in Portugal and especially Lisbon can be 'interesting'.
  3. You can, but I wouldn't. It doesn't make sense spending lots of money on a cruise and then wanting to walk some distance carrying luggage to save £10 on a taxi.
  4. You are not wrong there! Yes, and that will be enforced from November by EES, not ETIAS which is about who is coming in, whereas EES is about how long they are staying. And there have been a lot of people playing fast and loose with the 90/180 rule, knowing that it is difficult and time consuming for the border guards to check all the stamps in the passport, but from November it will be put the passport in the machine and if the machine goes red because you have overstayed and that isn't going to be waived away by the border guard. Unless you are planning on shuffling off before November 2025... (and I certainly hope not!). But they do now seem to be on the home run to actually get it up and running.
  5. ETIAS will apply to the Schengen area which is all the EU member states* other than Ireland and (currently) Cyprus, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, and a single approval applies to all of them and lasts for three years or the expiry of your passport. Turkey isn't in the EU so ETIAS is not relevant to them. And importantly the ETIAS (and the separate EES which is starting in November) is checked at the entry to the Schengen area so it will be checked when you fly into Rome and not again after that. For completeness, EES is the Entry Exit System where you will have to provide fingerprints and have a photo taken, and your movement in and out of the Schengen area is recorded on a single computer system and does away with the need to 'wet stamp' passports. The dates for ETIAS have not been finalised yet, with the start date having been constantly pushed back for many years, but the current position appears to be - From May 2025 you can apply for an ETIAS, but importantly it won't be needed. Then six months later from November 2025 they will be checked, but importantly if you don't have one then provided everything else is fine then you will be allowed in once, and only once. Then six months later from May 2026 thats when the hard 'not coming in without one' kicks in. But currently nothing is absolutely certain. *for those who can't name the 27 EU states, they are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
  6. A better bet would be an EU website than a UK government website which has nothing whatsoever to do with EES and ETIAS... EES - European Union (europa.eu) ETIAS - European Union (europa.eu) And good luck getting answers to the questions that people are asking from those official websites.
  7. Most of the cruise ship shuttle buses drop off behind the fence in in the area facing the cathedral the https://maps.app.goo.gl/Q3Wb9ZgFrYkarVbp8 It isn't a bad place to be dropped off if you want to do a self guided walk up to the cathedral and then up through the old town before dropping back into the new town around the Vieux Port. And from the street outside the shuttle stop to the M1 metro at Vieux Port isn't 0.5km but 1.9km - a good 30 minute walk.
  8. I suspect they (and many many others) do... For those who don't know, the Schengen area comprises all the EU member states other than Ireland and Cyprus (Ireland can't become part of Schengen because of the common travel arrangement with the UK and Cyprus is going through the steps to join) plus the four non-EU countries of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
  9. That is the case if you fly/train/ferry into a Schengen country from a non-Schengen country, for example to start your cruise, or you are on a 'one way' repositioning cruise that starts in a non-Schengen country and ends in a Schengen country. However it does not apply if you are on a cruise ship starting and ending from a non-Schengen port, with Schengen countries as port stops, when a registration for EES is not required, so those sailing out of and back to the UK will not be troubled by EES. So for example, fly into Barcelona from the UK/US to start your roundtrip cruise from there and you will do EES, but sail from and back to the UK with Barcelona as a port stop and you won't do EES, but sail from the UK with a cruise ending in Barcelona and you will do EES. Confused yet! For the first six months from May 2025 it will be a “transitional period” where those travelling are expected to have applied for the waiver, but if they have not they will not automatically be refused entry at the border if they fulfil the other entry conditions. And the important thing to realise, is that although those under 18 or over 70 (or those with a spouse with EU or other Schengen country citizenship) don't pay the 7 euro application fee, they still need to have applied and received the ETIAS authorisation.
  10. Around £50 or so for both of us, and as a taxi is a fixed price of 39€ then the small difference in price was well worth it.
  11. Shuttle bus will be down you your ship and whatever RCI charge, and most likely will be added to your cabin bill. Cable car is 12,50€ one way and they do take cards. Queue - lots of factors, such as time of day, weather, time of year, how many cruise ships in, etc. and when I have walked past the queue has either been non-existent or around the building. The Monte gardens are 15€, and they take cards. The bus is 1,95€ if you pay on the bus (its less if you buy a ticket before boarding) and it is in cash as they don't take cards (other than their own pre-paid cards) but they do give change - although don't expect change from a 50€ note! There is no entrance fee for the cathedral but there is a 4€ charge if you want an audio guide (in various languages) - the cathedral at Christmas -
  12. Yes. It was offered when we were asked towards the end of the cruise about preferences for disembarkation time and I had some OBC left over and it was a good way to use it.
  13. On the occasions I have disembarked at Barcelona I have never seen any porters. As for baggage trollies, probably, but I never bothered as the distance between the hall and the taxis outside is so short that they were not worth bothering with. And as you are on QV, assuming that you are disembarking to head to the airport, then I would recommend checking out the private car airport transfer Cunard offer, as the last time I did that it wasn't significantly more expensive than a taxi but being wafted to the airport in a big black BMW was far nicer - and the driver took care of the large suitcases.
  14. Each or between you! Either way... Weirdly I find that the longer I am staying away the lighter my luggage - a couple of weeks away and I will take a normal suitcase because I am not going to be doing laundry, but a month or more away and then I can just take a 10kg cabin bag as laundry is inevitable.
  15. Likewise. Jet2 doesn't appear to be one of those airlines that deliberately splits those on a single booking apart, so paying to choose the standard seats is pretty pointless.
  16. Videos saying 'everything is fine, nothing to see here' don't generate clicks and YouTube advertising revenue, but videos that say 'shock horror, you won't believe this' do.
  17. After being delayed by 20 minutes sitting down and then waiting 90 minutes for any food to arrive. As before, they are either doormats or they are exaggerating,
  18. Fair enough. Not good, but not terrible. Again, not good, but not terrible. Sorry! Assuming you mean that the 1.5 hour started after sitting down, really? Really? How long did they sit there before saying anything - 30 minutes? An hour? More? Then how long after involving the head waiter did the food arrive, because if it wasn't instantly then I would be very surprised. And I guess that the whole thing including drinks was on the house.
  19. So how long were they kept waiting for the table, and how long between being seated and the food arriving? An hour for each? Sorry, but I really cannot believe anyone would have been kept waiting until say 9pm for a table booked for 8pm and then would sit there without saying anything until 10pm before food arrived. Either your acquaintances are doormats or they are exaggerating.
  20. Look at companies like www.parcel2go.com who are are agencies for all the main courier companies - a quick quote with them for a 10kg 50x40x20 cabin sized bag was £45 from the UK to the USA with it being shipped with UPS and you dropping it off whichever local convenience store is nearest to you, and although that was only with £50 insurance, even adding that on it would still be way less than the $244 you were quoted.
  21. When I was there recently on a Sunday the bars, cafes, and restaurants were mostly open, as were the more tourist shops, but a lot of the 'normal' shops were closed. As for recommendations - sorry, only had a coffee and a pastry there.
  22. The official Spanish government website I posted indicated that it did, and that website indicated that it all seems to be automated these days with the traveller entering their details into a computer terminal and then the terminal deciding if the customs staff needed to actually see the goods or speak to the passenger, and if not then it would do what was needed automatically.
  23. Personally I would do it for the purchases made at that port stop for the purchases made at that port, so whatever is bought in Barcelona is done in Barcelona, Malaga in Malaga, etc. as that would make it easier if you needed to show the items bought. The official website Tax Agency: DIVA digital stamp for travellers (agenciatributaria.gob.es) has a spreadsheet with the list of locations with the terminals DIVA_aerop_act_en24.xlsx (live.com) and it would appear that they exist in all four locations. For the one in Tenerife, then my guess would be that it would be in the ferry terminal office that adjoins the cruise terminal and has the ticket sales desks, a cafe, and a few offices above.
  24. That only works if Maleth own any assets - and as regards the aircraft, well other than a small Embraer 145, they don't own them, they lease them. AELF FlightService acquires majority stake in Maleth-Aero - ch-aviation "the ch-aviation fleets module shows that Maleth-Aero also operates aircraft dry-leased from European Aviation (six A340-600s and one B737-300(QC)), Opel Investments (one B737-300 and two B737-500s), and Frontier Services Group (one B737-300), and owns one E145." And if you have ever watched any of the 'Sheriff' tv shows, that is often the issue debt collectors have - they turn up to seize assets to settle a debt, and there is a nice new flash car on the drive but it is leased so they can't touch it.
  25. Perhaps you should point them to their own website! Passenger Rights European Union − Support − American Airlines Anyway, I doubt that you will get much assistance from the EU Commission as they will likely say it is for you take it up with the airline directly. However there are a number of 'no win, no fee' companies that take on these claims and can get the compensation for you (Google is your friend) and they take around 25% of the compensation as a fee, but nothing if they are not - so risk the $100 they offered for a potential 75% of $1,300...
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