MonikaV

2 hours ago, iowananny said:

After all you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice 😉

I love that song

On 5/20/2024 at 3:29 PM, pinotlover said:

Absolutely!
 

I love Pinot Noir. That doesn’t mean I always want to drink PN. Sometimes I want a CdP, or a Brunello, or a Rioja, or a cab. Additionally, some PN, are excellent, some okay, and some poor. Just because I generally love PN doesn’t mean I feel obligated to pronounce every PN as being excellent in some faux cheerleader mode. 
 

I’m leading a group to Tuscany in September for two weeks of museums and wineries. Part of our adventure is going to be the various great Tuscan food. It’s not going to be Americanized Tuscan or NoNo Tuscan, but Tuscan with all the local herbs and spices. Then my DW and I are off to Bologna for their food for three days! We won’t feel compelled to eat at a Subway or Burger King the entire trip! Afterwards, we may not eat Tuscan for awhile!

 

We’re going to Germany for the Christmas Markets in December. Looking forward to some great authentic German, not the stuff pushed off here in the States as German.

Hope you will enjoy our Christmas markets in December - as well as local food. It is getting increasingly difficult to find 'real' German cuisine, as tastes are ever changing  but I sincerely hope you will enjoy yourselves. 

Very much looking forward to the trip - have not been to Japan in five years and love the country, culture and people. I was just wondering a bit how crowded places may be.

Very much looking forward to Alaska as well - we have never been there. Just one more year to go .... 

Thank you !

Thank you - this is really helpful and we will follow your advice.

12 minutes ago, godfreyb said:

It's not all by subway!  You have to take the Yokohama subway to get to the commuter station to get the train to Tokyo (30 minutes) and then use the Tokyo subway.  Sounds complicated but it isn't.  Have cash for tickets and then be aware that the Japanese stand in line behind each other as they gather, they let people off the trains first before they get on.  I can't remember the stations we went to, but people are very helpful.  We can't wait to go back to Japan.

Thank you so much. From what I remember from my previous visits there were always people who asked if they could help and I believe the ticket machines had information available in English. I will try to get a subway / local train plan or overview. We still have plenty of time to work it out. And I agree - Japan is a beautiful and very interesting country. My last visit there was in 2019 - surely things have changed since. Enjoy your travels and thank you again - Monika

Has anyone cruised or traveled in Japan during a Golden Week? I know that basically all business shuts down during Golden Week but does this also involve tourist destinations, restaurants, public transportation etc? We will be on the Tokyo to Vancouver cruise next year and it seems that we will be visiting a few ports during the Golden Week.  Grateful for any advice - thank you

17 hours ago, godfreyb said:

We did a private tour of Tokyo when our ship docked at Yokohama, which involved going on public transportation.  it was very enlightening to see how the system works, because the guide explains it all, such that when we stayed in Tokyo for a few days ten days later, we went all over the place on the subway by ourselves.  One thing to note, some of the transfers require long walks!

Good to know that it is possible to get to Tokyo from Yokohama by subway. May I ask which station you used? We want to use public transportation as well. I have been to Tokyo and Osaka before and also experienced how helpful people are - while the subway and train stations can be a bit intimidating ... Thank you so much

8 minutes ago, Snaefell3 said:

The problem is not so much the nightstands, but that the pillow of the moved bed would be rubbing the bedside power outlets ... and anything an incautious pax might plug into them.

 

You can get separate bedding and maybe 3".

That would do nicely for us - as our main issue is sharing one cover. Thank you

We have a similar issue regarding the bed or beds but we are in a Concierge stateroom.

If the beds cannot be separated would it be possible to have two separate covers? I think the bed is only a queen size and if separated the single unit would be a bit narrow? 

Thank you for any advice 

Thank you - that is really helpful. We are in a Concierge, therefore we will enjoy Tokyo and if we show up between 14:00h and 15:00h we should be fine. Thanks again !

On 4/1/2024 at 12:10 AM, pinotlover said:

Unfortunately true! First time in a long time! 🥹. 

Sorry - we are new to cruising and are booked on the Riviera tour Tokyo to Vancouver April 2025. We are considering arranging our own flights from Germany  to Haneda airport and a pre-cruise hotel stay in Tokyo as well. Planned to do the same for transfers. Now we are a bit concerned to learn about "boardomania". What exactly is boardomania? It sounds a bit scary ...