LittleRedJohn

We just returned from a great Panama Canal cruise on Seabourn Odyssey that included a full-day stop in Cartagena. We had a fine time there. We booked Dora in advance, and she personally led us on a private tour. She's not cheap but she's good. She did just what we wanted. LittleRedJohn

We were in Cartagena two weeks ago. Had a fine time. From where our ship docked, it was about a half-mile walk to the terminal. A free shuttle took us back and forth. From the terminal, you need a car to get into the main parts of town, and it's not a short drive. Cabs are available, but there are safety concerns in Cartagena. We had a prearranged tour guide pick us up and our experience was very positive. LittleRedJohn

We just returned from a canal cruise on Seabourn Odyssey. It was great. I wouldn't recommend a partial passage, I'd suggest going all the way through. I'd also suggest a tour of the Gatsun locks before or after the transit. That was a great tour.

We're on this Panama Canal cruise in January 2017. Any suggestions for shore excursionsin Puerto Chaipas, Puerto Quetzal and Puntarenas would be appreciated.

Unless you have very serious mobility issues or a very large and inefficient ship, tendering shouldn't be a concern. I've not experienced a problem while tendering on several cruise ships, including Odyssey earlier this year. (I usually use a cane) Weather can be a factor. Once we did have a delay on a smaller ship when they had to move the boarding area from one side of the ship to the other. Even then, the delay was only half an hour or so. I kinda enjoy a feeling of anticipation when the tender is cruising into port, and I enjoy returning and seeing the ship loom larger and larger as we get closer. LittleRedJohn.

We stayed at the Nelligan Hotel. Right in the middle of old Montreal. In an old warehouse building. Real cool place. Good restaurants and interesting sites within walking distance. We were only about a half-mile from the cruise ship dock--easy cheap taxi ride. Would stay there again if taking another cruise from Montreal. LittleRedJohn

We docked there a year ago on Marina. I recall that leaving the ship was no problem. They try to regulate the timing, but basically you can just get off. We had breakfast first, but you're not required to do that obviously. The authorities have their formalities, but my memory is that didn't take very long. We had a short wait in the waiting room for our car, which we had prearanged and which took us on a nice tour of the countryside as we had requested. The car dropped us at our hotel in London about 3 p.m. Was a very civil way to end the cruise. Using the train to London would have been cumbersome. LittleRedJohn

We were just there. It depends on where the ship docks. Iwouldn't miss a minute of the arrival or departure, and I'd allocate at least one full hour. More if you are in the far off dock. LittleRedJohn

We did the Amazon on Oceania several years ago. The cruise didn't go well. The ship was five hours late to one port, which cheated us out of shore time, and we skipped a couple of other ports in the Caribbean. Oceania skipped some ports on a European cruise that I was on last year, so I no longer consider Oceania. But the Amazon is a wonderful place to go. We loved every minute of it. You see great scenery from the deck of the ship, and the shore excursions were great, too. Fine scenery, some awesome wildlife, and instructive sociology. We booked our own shore excursions, and had excellent experiences. Far better than the ship's excursions. Manaus was a great place. We spent two days there and could have spent more. The expedition ships would do an even better job of showing you the Amazon, though they would be more expensive. LittleRedJohn

We did Antarctica and Ushuaia a couple years ago. Great trip. But don't count on any service from the Argentine airlines. They're very unreliable. We didn't have any huge problems, but others did. As a cushion, we went to Ushuaia several days ahead of our cruise departure. We found plenty to do there. In BA, we visited the pope's former church. We didn't attend services there but that would be a cool thing to do. The church is very near the Pink Palace, which is also a cool area. We really enjoyed BA oveall. LittleRedJohn

We were just in Auckland for a cruise. Airport is efficient. If all went well, you could be on the road to the cruise terminal two hours after you land, maybe even a little sooner. Drive from airport to cruise terminal is about 45 minutes, particularly if you take a taxi. Auckland taxis are very good. But all that assumes everything goes well, and I never assume that, particularly if I'm on a U.S. airline. I would go at least one day before the ship sails. Auckland is a cool place and you can easily have fun there for a couple days at least. I would not stay at the Hilton, however. We did. It's not nearly worth the money. LittleRedJohn

Go to Koala Park Sanctuary in suburban Sydney. It's smaller than a standard zoo, very nice, features only Australian animals. You'll be up close with Koala's. Littleredjohn

We were just there. Fortunately, the Seabourn Odyssey provided a free shuttle into town, which we took. I asked a taxi cab for the cost of a return trip and if memory serves was told $50NZ. It's a pretty fair distance. We did enjoy walking around town.

We were just on Odyssey (great cruise) and they had two formal nights. I wore my blue sport coat, tie and slacks. My wife wore a nice dress outfit. We fit in perfectly. Some men wore dark suits. Some wore white jackets. I saw a few tuxes, but not many. A number of women were very dressed up. But remember, you don't have to go. There are other restaurants to eat at, and you can also get your evening meal in your stateroom. To me, the biggest problem with formal nights is packing the stuff. The weight limits by airlines are killing us. LittleRedJohn

We returned this week from Sydney. Great trip. I would caution against going very far afield. There's lots to do in Sydney, and it's very time consuming to go out of town. If you've never been to Australia, I would start out going on both routes of the hop-on hop-off bus, a great way to see the town. Then I would go to Koala Park to see the native animals, spend half of a day at Bondi Beach, one of the world's geat beaches, take a harbor cruise, and see if you can attend a performance at the famous Sydney Opera House.

We had 214 on a cruise this past February. It was perfectly fine. LittleRedJohn

I, too, was on that cruise. In fact, we don't know if the virus was handled well or not. I couldn't find out any real information. How many were sick? What was done for them? What was being done to keep the problem under control, other than the occasional wiping of chair arms by a disinterested crewman? As for the two canceled ports, I'm not sure what the weather was at them, and I don't know of anyone who did. All we had was the word from Oceania. We shouldn't accept what they say as gospel. One suspicion is that Oceania included those ports to make the cruise more attractive, knowing that weather at that time of year makes access to those ports questionable. I had my travel agent complain to Oceania when we returned home. To date, there has been no response.

We finished a lengthy Marina cruise last month. We took one ship excursion, because I couldn't find a non-ship excursion to my liking in that port. It was a fine excursion. We also signed up for a ship excursion at a port where I was afraid the ship might not dock. Sure enough, Oceania, which has a reputation for skipping ports, cancelled the stop. But I got my full excursion cost refunded. People with non-ship excursions in that port faced the loss of money. My advice is analyze every port and make a judgment of what you want and how to get it. Years ago, when we were in Santorini, we didn't sign up for any excursion and we took a municipal bus around. Had a great time, and the cost was nickels and dimes. LittleRedJohn

The most honest answer is "maybe, maybe not." It all depends on the weather and the location of the cruise. We were on the small Windstar sailing yacht in February in the Caribbean and did not find the trip at all rough or annoying. We did take our Bomine, which is cheap insurance against feeling ill. We had a fine time. LittleRedJohn.

We were in Caribbean in February. Great time. In Grenada we booked a Sunsation tour in advance for the two of us. They met us near the dock and we had a good time. Cheaper and better than ship tour. They will do things you personally request. Be sure to drive through the medical school and see where the war took place. I have read criticism of Grenada. I don't buy it. Grenada is very real, very authentic. Which means it is not pristine or rich. Go downtown and shop in some of the markets. Very educational. In Barbados, walk outside the ship terminal where there are many cabs parked and bargain with a nice English speaking driver for how ever many hours you want to tour. The driver will probably give you a great tour. Be sure to go to the east side of the island, Bathsheba and that area. Wild, quiet and beautiful. Wonderful beaches. Stop at a roadside cafe for lunch. John

We were on Sea Adventurer for about 22 days in February. Had a wonderful time. Quark does a great job. The ship, while old, actually looks and acts like a real ship. Weather is always an unknown. We were both lucky and unlucky. Many days were what us landed people would consider on the rough side. I couldn't walk without touch the railings, walls, or backs of chairs. But we both wore the patch throughout the cruise, as directions for the patch call for, and never felt ill. We were lucky in the Drake Passage--a little rough but not very bad. A ship before us was battered and had to turn back with damage. John.

We leaving Ushuaia on Feb. 3 aboard Quark's Sea Adventurer, our first trip to Antarctica. Would enjoy hearing from others on the cruise and how your preparations are going. I think our preparations are going well. John.

Marie et al: I appreciated all the advice from this and other web sources. After laborious research, we decided to reserve the Ceasar Park Buenos Aires for much of our stay, and also the Algodon Mansion for a part of our stay. We're going to spend one night at an estancia in the Pampas. As for Ushuaia, Quark says they're using Las Lengas Hotel and my rate includes one night there. We'll be in Ushuaia for several nights, so for efficiency we'll spend all of them at Las Lengas. John.

We cruised the Amazon a couple years ago with Oceania; they had scheduling problems but still we had a fine trip. You might consult TripAdvisor for some side trip recommendations. Do a lot of research and you'll be fine. We were in Manaus for two days, which is a bare minimum of the time you need in my opinion. We used Anavilhanas Eco Turismo. Daniel Barretto was one of our guides. They were great. One day they took us in a motor boat up the river to several villages. Great experience. The next day we had a personal auto tour of Manaus, and the guide was very willing to do what we wanted to do. Also a good experience. In Santarem we used Gil Serique. He's fabulous, you must use him. If the town is small, and we were in a couple of those, you don't need guides. We found people pretty helpful. Some of our fellow passengers who took ship-sponsored side trips told us later they wish they had done early research and signed on with private guides as we did. If you get a couple of other people to go with you, the cost is reasonable.John.

We're leaving Feb. 3 on Sea Adventurer, so we won't be seeing you around. We're just starting to make land arrangements. You figured out any hotels in Ushuaia or Buenos Aires yet? John.