lynncarol

Been to St Kitts several times and always utilized the services at christopherom95. Leo's grandmother was a herbalist and he showed us lots of native flora and fauna still in use by the locals today for various medical reasons. He also took us to the Black Rocks area, a walk in the jungle, the fortress, the sugar mill ruins and other attractions, none of which involved sitting on a beach.

Five of us went with Bernard's tours in March of 2022. We were able to completely customize our tour as we had all been there before and each person wanted to see something different this time. 1. Orient beach to see the planes roll in 2. a small pond where tons of iguanas lived in surrounding trees 3. (my wish list) a deserted beach where I recalled years ago a man giving me a sea urchin to hold 4. Star wars museum in town 5. a part of the island where locals lived totally off the beaten track. We had a blast and it wasn't that expensive at all.

oh yes...as to your other questions: No the castle is not visible from the town. Also, If you don't have admission tickets, there is no way you can see it from the road outside the complex either. This was a royal palace and they valued their privacy apparently.

Just at Sintra last month. The big issue is you must make reservations online in advance for entrance to the complex. Fortunately, we had done so as the line to purchase tickets onsite stretched out almost half a block long and didn't seem to be moving much. Once inside, there is a shuttle available to take you up to the castle. No charge, but first come/first served. At the castle itself, you encounter another line to use your timed admission tickets. Those were pretty long too as they seem to try hard to limit the number of folks inside at any one time. There is a cafe/cafeteria onsite but we had packed a picnic lunch so not sure how expensive those meals were.

Only used Viator once and was very unhappy. We had signed up for a walking tour in Ravenna. Two days before the tour, I was informed by the vendor that it would only be in Italian. Not speaking that language I asked to cancel as we were well under the 24 hour deadline to cancel. The merchant charged me anyway, and Viator backed him up. When I disputed the charge to my credit card company, Viator replied with a bunch of total falsehoods saying I had been offered another tour but never showed up. Ergo, the charge went through.

Both Spain and Portugal required vaccinations or negative tests when we originally booked. Apparently that has now been lifted. 9teetosea...Your comments about alcohol warding off germs brought back a fond memory. Years ago my husband and I were independently touring Albania for a week with a guide. He had introduced us to Albania's favorite alcoholic drink, some sort of home-made version with quite a kick. When I developed a chest cold, he told me that his concoction would also work wonders for my cold if I rubbed it on my chest every night. Actually, it did help, maybe because after drinking it, I no longer cared if I had cold symptoms.

First of all, I never said we wouldn't be traveling anymore. Last September, before this latest river cruise, where I caught Covid, my husband and I spent 3 weeks on our own traveling in Europe and came home feeling fine. So I have every intention of continuing this method of traveling, just not by cruising. Also, vaccine requirements were in place during our ocean cruise in late March of 2022 and were required by the countries we were visiting during our recent the river cruise in Europe. As others have written, somehow they have managed to never get sick but we know folks our age who have,,,with serious consequences. And finally, we are both over 75, so yes, I think our concerns are justified.

Just a heads up. In the last year my husband and I have been on two cruises: an ocean one and a river one and in each case, as masking was optional, we didn't. Both times on the last day on the cruise we got a sore throat and returning home, tested positive for Covid. (Fortunately a mild case). We are fully vaccinated and boosted and all passengers were supposed to have been also. I have reluctantly concluded that at least in the near future...no more cruises for us.

I too am surprised the tour won't meet you at the ship. We have done plenty of private tours while cruising and they always include a port pick-up.

I can only speak to tendering with Holland America as we have a friend whose wife is in a traditional wheel chair. They just learned their ship is tendering in Juneau and as she will not be allowed on the tender, she can't leave the ship at that port

Doing it on your own is much cheaper however and you can chose how long you want to spend at each attraction. For example, we absolutely loved the forest and fauna that surround Pena Castle and spent a lot of time exploring that area which I am sure is not a highlight of a regular tour.

My husband I did a day trip on our own to Sintra while in Lisbon. Famous for Pena Palace as well as other important sites. Easy to get there, just leave from Lisbon's Rossio train station which has a direct line to Sintra. Bus station is just around the corner from where you get off at Sintra and you can purchase shuttle service (bus 434) to access the sites. Just be sure to purchase admission tickets in advance.

My husband and I only bring carry-on luggage whenever we travel and we don't use the ship laundry unless it is free. Tricky to do...especially as I always bring my personal small pillow along. More challenging on a long cruise (17 days) but we are good at handwashing clothes at night and our perks on one line gives us a bag of free laundry..

Getting separated used to be a problem, but now that my husband's vision is more impaired, he sticks to me like glue during excursions. If one of us has to peel off for some reason (like using the bathroom or taking more photos) then we both stop. Fortunately, I have a good sense of directions and can always get us back on track.

Just returned 3 days ago from a Duoro River cruise. Weather was mostly sunny and coolish (high sixties). Since I am always cold, all my photos show me in a light sweater. Only one afternoon did we have rain. Visiting the vineyards along the way they all said the same thing: July and August can be almost unbearable with temps over 100 degrees at times. Last summer apparently was so hot and dry that the vines bore much less fruit. Our river tour included 3 days in Spain, which was having a heat wave...temps in high eighties/low nineties.

My husband and I just returned from our Vantage Duoro River cruise (April 14 - 28th). Despite some issues with making sure our flights were actually booked (which I posted in another forum) our flights booked by Vantage ended up having no issues whatsoever and we had great seats on each leg of the journey. The good: The Duoro region is gorgeous. I had no idea Portugal was so hilly. Our hotels were very nice and the staff everywhere so helpful and friendly. Our concierge and cruise director were great. Lots of excursions planned throughout the trip plus time to explore on your own if desired. The not so good: Cabins on the ship are small. It was difficult to move around the king-size bed on one side (mine, of course) to get to the bathroom at night and I am not a large person. They serve lots of food at each meal, one side of the buffet table had the main entrees and salads, and the other side the desserts. This resulted in long lines at buffet meals as everyone had to get in single lines for their food in a counter-clockwise direction going around one way only Fortunately, most dinners were not buffet and for some reason, the buffet breakfast and lunch services were not so bogged down. The cruise director and concierge were both retiring after our cruise for family reasons. We were there when the Vantage site was hacked and although I am sure our staff was going crazy, the passengers were not impacted at all.

For an trip throughout Italy in September of 2021, my husband and I used Italiarail because the Trentalia site, to me, was confusing (despite inputing the Italian names), Meanwhile, our daughter and husband purchased through Trentalia and I think maybe their cost was 5 dollars less. Both tickets worked perfectly.

Yes, when I finally got through to Vantage Air, they initially tried to blame the airline but since I just had spoken to an airline supervisor (because I couldn't believe it when the first agent said our tickets were no longer valid) I had the full story. When confronted with this information, the Vantage flight person put me on hold for another 10 minutes, then came back to say she 'had fixed it' which I took to mean they had finally coughed up the money, I then pulled up the airline website, and sure enough, we were ticketed. We leave in two days...if I find myself stranded without a valid ticket, I will report back.

Our whole family has global entry. However, I'm pretty sure it only works for getting into the USA. I don't think it will help at all in Canada.

Never volunteered to participate in any audience participation during theater events... even when I know we could win. I refuse to respond when the magician tries to ascertain who in the audience is most susceptible? (I know it would be me as I use self-hypnosis to fall asleep each night). My only claim to cruise-fame was mortifying. When I was in my late sixties I was sitting in the theater between my two parents, both in their nineties. My dad raised his hand when the cruise director tried to determine who had been married the longest? When Dad replied 72 years, the director left the stage and came to us in the audience. As the spotlight shone, he asked my father the secret to a long marriage and then turned to me, stuck the microphone in my face and asked, "Do you agree with what your husband just said?

Are you by any chance on the Duoro River cruise? We leave in 2 1/2 weeks also.

I would think that flights coming up in the next 2 1/2 weeks would be paid for already. The airline specifically told me (and I talked to the supervisor because I didn't believe the first agent) that Vantage had passed the date to reconfirm our tickets. Also, I usually do book our own flights when we travel but as Vantage was offering free airfare on this particular voyage, I went along with them.

One more thing: American airline's site did have our flights listed, but when you checked at the top of their page, it did NOT say ticketed. So be sure to look if the flights on the airline's website actually say 'ticketed'.

After reading these posts, I got nervous that our flight reservations through Vantage might have a problem, despite MY PORTFOLIO saying all was in place, including giving us the flight schedules and seat assignments. When I called American airlines, they had NO record of any of the flights. Further investigation by the airline informed us that although the initial reservations were made, Vantage was supposed to call back and reaffirm which they never did. It took hours on the phone with Vantage flights to get this corrected. So warning: Check with the airline to make sure that the flights have been reaffirmed. Otherwise, we would have shown up at the airport only to learn no tickets were in our name.

Just a heads-up to all Vantage River cruise folks who used Vantage to book their air. Even though My Portfolio showed that air flights were in place, with confirmation numbers seat #s etc, when we called the airline, they had NO RECORD of our reservations and said that the third party booker (Vantage) had not reaffirmed the booking in time so all was cancelled. Finally resolved after hours on the phone with Vantage flights but you need to check airline bookings to make sure it actually says "ticketed"