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Thanks for the suggestion. I see that I can make a reservation online. Perhaps. I read the books as a kid and have seen the movies. I guess I will look to see how expensive it is. I am kind of worried about doing this independently of the ship as it is quite far away from the port. Another good suggestion. I appreciate all of the help!

I guess my other question would be if you had any lunch recommendations in Russell and any recommendations for an excursion beyond Auckland for the day. Our plan for Auckland has been to 1) take the local tourist hop on hop off bus to see some of the city sites or 2) maybe the ferry to Waiheke Island.

I think there is a lot to be said for this opinion. I still remember being "wowed" by the experience. If I exclude my first cruise, my "best" cruise was a summer cruise out on the Mediterranean when my kids were still pretty young. It was at the very beginning of summer and the weather was amazing and the crowds weren't too bad. A truly great family memory!

@roscoe39 Thanks so much for responding to my request! I appreciate the additional detail you have provided. Based on your suggestion, I have added the "Hole in the Rock" as a secondary objective. I am really hoping for good weather as the scenery really looks spectacular in Internet photos. BTW - Super happy to hear that you have enjoyed visiting our area. San Diego is really distinct from the rest of Southern California. San Diego also provides access to the Tijuana/Ensenada corridor which is real gem that is ignored/derided by the vast numbers of visitors and locals alike.

I really wouldn't recommend OAK for cruise passengers - especially those with luggage. The airport is further away than SFO and BART probably takes an hour and you still have to get to a BART station from the cruise port. Any cab or ride share service to OAK would likely be a lot more expensive too when compared against SFO as you need to cross the bridge. I would only consider OAK for a SFO cruise if I was 1) travelling very lightly and 2) wanted to travel on WN.

Our cruise is making a stop for the day and I am wondering how best to spend the day. I am thinking about taking the ferry to Russell as an old Kiwi colleague used to rave about spending time there. Of course a cruise stop is quite a bit different than a proper visit. That said, I am open to any and all ideas. Thanks in advance!

The "linea zaul" leads one toward the historical center of town - "el centro historico." You can walk a bit further to see the cathedral and the market. I have never walked the "blue line," but it really isn't all that far from the port to the center of town. The blue line will not lead you to the "golden zone" or a beach.

I understand this sentiment as the bus networks are much more dense in cities. Letting tools like google plan your route truly makes a difference to me and makes the bus much more approachable.

Having access to the internet and accessing things like google has largely eliminated the "homework." When I want to go somewhere, I simply plug in the address and time I want to go and let the planning software indicate which busses and/or trains to take. It really simplifies the process of getting from point A to B.

I am just thinking back on all my trips to the city for business - all pre pandemic. I never found the drive to the airport from downtown all that bad. Early on a weekend morning should be easy I would think. What I don't have a feel for is the lines for security without pre check or the airport counter lines for airlines like united or southwest. BTW - I tended to avoid SFO for morning meetings and flew to OAK instead. SFO is much more likely to have weather delays than OAK in my experience. OAK got even better once the rail connection eliminated the need for the old BART bus which at times was very uncomfortable and crowded.

Could be but to be honest the views of fish around the Arch isn't really all that spectacular in my opinion. It's simply too crowded with people and boats. The best place to see marine life in the area would be Cabo Pulmo on the east cape although this might be difficult from a cruise depending on the amount of time you have in port. For the simple arch tour please remember to negotiate. You can usually get it for 50% of the original asking price.

Agreed The whole Seattle Center is great for kids. The science center is fun, space needle, running around the fountain. I am not sure if the carnival rides and games still exist. Lots of options for food as well. Easy access from the Westlake Center via the Monorail which kids always like.

I like this option but instead of trying to get to Southcenter simply take the train back into downtown. There is a stop right below the Nordstrom flagship store. The Westlake Center is close by and you can simply enjoy the downtown area before returning to the airport. Other options from the Westlake Center include taking the monorail to the Seattle Center and its attractions like the Space Needle. You could also get off at the International district. If you are set on going to Southcenter, just take a cab/Uber.

It's not really a long taxi ride to the airport. Maybe 30 minutes from the port if traffic is light. Maybe 45 minutes with heavier traffic. To better assess you chances, I have some questions for you to consider: 0) can you get early disembarkation from the ship? 1) do you have precheck? 2) do you have checked baggage? 3) do you have status on the airline you are flying to speed any baggage collection process if necessary? 4) what day of the week are you trying to get to the airport. With precheck and airline status I would think this would be doable if you are off and clear of immigration - assuming the ship didn't get cleared in another US port - by 8 to 8:30. Maybe a real SFO expert will chime in on this.

You are lucky in that you'll be able to find just about any European port is accessible from your home airport with one stop or less. You can do this - maybe - but I wouldn't do it unless I planned on spending time in London. Also, the discount airlines may not fly from the same airport as your transatlantic flight. I also think that this could be easily more expensive than simply booking a flight to where you really want to go. This does exist in Europe but not necessarily as convenient as in Vancouver with your light rail system. You can take the train, but often times it involves more connections and walking. Buses are also a possibility. The good news is that lots of transfer information is online. One thing that I think you might be missing is where do you want to cruise? For me this would be my first step as you have lots of good flight options regardless of where you want to go. For example, cruises from Barcelona focus mainly on the Western Med with some longer cruises heading east. Is this what you want? You might also post on the cruise air to find other ideas on picking flights. Good luck!

Sounds similar to how I feel about the Caribbean ports. That said, to me the scenery in Alaska and possibilities for excursions in nature far exceed the Caribbean to me. Interesting perspective. I am not familiar with either cruise but Alaska to me is impressive in terms of its remaining wildness. I perhaps the same is true both in Norway and Chile. Two cruises for me to consider.

Thanks for the idea. It sounds like a great day trip.

Gaudi's use of hanging chains and weights to design the "Sagrada Familia" is amazing! In essence, he used those models as "one off" analog computers to solve for the cathedral's structure and form. It is just so incredibly brilliant! My jaw actually dropped when I saw it as it reminded me of some mathematics that I learned way, way back in my college days: For the design of “La Sagrada Família” Gaudí studied and developed a new method of structural calculation based on models involving ropes and small sacks of lead shot (Figg. 16 and 17). The outline of the church was traced on wood and placed on a ceiling, with ropes that hung from the points where columns had to be placed. The sacks of pellets - weighing just a fraction of the weight the real arches would have to support - were hung from each arch formed by the ropes. These ware in fact catenaric arches, as the Calculus of Variation dictates. After taking photographs of the resulting model, shot from various angles, turning then upside-down the lines of tension formed by the ropes and weights would eventually indicate the pressure lines of the structure envisaged. In this way Gaudí obtained many natural forms in his work https://erikbuys.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/gaudi.pdf It also makes me wonder how far back in time this engineering design technique was used or if Gaudi was the inventor. Thanks for bringing back a good memory!

It's interesting that the teen was made to pay the penalty of the father. It seems that the father was the instigator and was the one that bought the ticket. "The purchased flight for Hunter Parsons’ 17-year-old son was from Gainesville, Florida to New York City with a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina. The plan was for the teen to get off the plane in Charlotte, where he lives, and not continue to New York City." The kid would have used whatever ticket was purchased for him. I guess the good news is that the kid is only banned from one airline although AA does have its hub in Charlotte making the penalty a bit worse. My gut suggests that the existence of sites like skiplagged.com are making this practice more common leading to a stronger airline response.

Could be. One more thing came to mind - see if a day pass is available for the "Costa Baja" resort. It is on the road heading towards town from the port. I have stayed at the hotel in the past and really liked their beach club. It had a really nice pool area, restaurant and direct access to a sandy beach. https://costabajaresort.com/en/home/

"Best way" if price doesn't matter would simply be to take a taxi to the beach although it isn't clear where you want to go. In this case, simply arrange a pickup time to return back to the ship and your taxi driver will show up with almost 100% certainty. The two most likely beaches would be Balandra or Tecolote. Note that Balandra was some limitations now that restrict the number of visitors and or time so go early. https://letstraveltomexico.com/balandra-beach-la-paz/ Tecolote Beach is past Balandra and while not as scenic has more services and no limitations in terms of people that can be accommodated on the beach. I actually don't think the water at Tecolote is all that great either but this is my own view and others may feel differently. One nice thing at Tecolote is that yo can take a boat tour out to see whale sharks depending on season. A final option which you can consider is to walk to the beach in Pichilingue itself. I personally have never stopped there and walking the short distance along highway might be an adventure, but this is also a possibility. Have fun in the La Paz area! BTW - is there a ship's tour? That is likely another way to get to the beach and may even simplify logistics further at a price of course.

I had hoped to give you a slightly different idea, but alas the "13 Coins" restaurant at SeaTac is no longer open 24X7. The "13 Coins" was a SeaTac staple for overnight dining and hanging out for many years. I guess it's another victim of COVID changes or maybe the switch happened even earlier. I did run across this link which describes the sleeping situation at SeaTac if you choose to simply wait in the airport: https://www.sleepinginairports.net/sleep-guide/sleeping-in-seattle-airport.htm Good luck with whatever you decide.

You only pay that upcharge - I would assume - if it is for things that you want to use. If you think about what you want to do on board, then you will find out how susceptible your group will be to those upcharges. Sounds like you have some additional "homework" to do. You might also want to talk to the larger group to see what they also want to do on the cruise to again see where you might be spending money. Again, this will help you decide which cruise line offers the best value to you. One more thing, I would also consider the overall onboard experience/atmosphere too. There are likely quality differences that may overcome the absolute lowest cost option savings which will lead to a more pleasurable experience for you group - assuming it is still affordable to you.

Everyone sells a lot of energy to CA. 30% of the power in the state comes from other jurisdictions. Most Californians have no idea how much our power system depends on generation outside the state, https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/2021-total-system-electric-generation#:~:text=Electricity imports account for approximately,western states and Canadian provinces.

You are lucky that BC still allows the creation of dams. CA would do much better if we had the ability to create large scale hydro projects in the Sierra Nevada and other state mountain ranges. Our state government is so silly that it doesn't even view large hydro projects as being renewable. https://calmatters.org/commentary/2020/08/reclassify-hydropower-now-as-renewable-energy/