CPT Trips

The ship’s WiFi should be available whenever you are aboard. When you are in towns you can find a lot of hotspots. Assuming you have the ability to use WiFi for voice, there may not be a need to activate an international plan. As an aside to people who have this same question, T-Mobile’s regular plans include free data and messaging and voice is $0.25/minute. We switched carriers to them several years ago and only wish we had done so years earlier.

Just be aware that some of these TAs charge a non refundable “agency fee” and keep it if you cancel. Others charge a “ booking fee” over and above the cruise fare.

DD’s roommate suffered appendicitis on a spring break trip to Punta Cana. Local clinic wanted a sizable deposit. As they had been bargaining with beach vendors for a few days, they decided to try bargaining with the clinic. It worked.

Much depends on what company you tour with. We toured Egypt in December. I was reluctant, then decided to go as we knew, through our experience and that of others, that they responded well to emergencies. That fact led us to decide to travel.

It was a considerable elevation gain from the river (just visible in background) up to the Chateau.

Those that appreciate Impressionism might want to make a trip to Philly this summer. https://press.philamuseum.org/mary-cassatt-at-work/#:~:text=Mary Cassatt at Work opens,by a fully illustrated catalogue. In addition they have a good collection of other impressionists. https://philamuseum.org/collection/curated/impressionism If that doesn’t provide your fill of Impressionism, try https://collection.barnesfoundation.org

Is that really the name of the bridge? 😉 I thought maybe it was called that because of all the tourists with selfie sticks and posing. 😎🤦🏻‍♂️

For those who aren’t aware, the ones at l’Orangerie are in the huge category.

Did they use one of things manure spreader gizmos that GIs in Germany called Schitzenschipzers? 😉

The flat level places in Eze were few and far between. The cafes and restaurants were crowded. But we enjoyed the visit and the views from Jardin d’Eze were incredible. We are glad we went (via bus from Nice).

It’s easier to get forgiveness than to ask permission. Snag a wine glass from the bar . . .

And German transportation workers . . .

We went to the d’Orsay when it opened in the morning, we couldn’t get in and a surprisingly orderly line formed. Then almost an hour late they opened the doors. Despite there being a line, the museum staff set up a pole and tape queue that totally screwed up the order of the line. That’s where being American (aka monolingual) hurt. Fortunately there was a family near us in line, saw our situation, spoke to people around them and yelled at the guard. Then we were waved up to join them. Turns out this Asian guy told the guard we were his cousins from America. And that’s my story of a 55 minute strike. So named because even when employees are less than an hour late they aren’t docked pay.

I have had mixed success “lending” some my prime viewing spot on the rail. Too often the person I moved for either wants to keep it or lets their friends in.

We really enjoyed the Musee d’Orsay. Beautiful art in an interesting setting, a converted railroad station. Also Monet’s Water Lilies at Musee de l’Orangerie pairs nicely with Giverney.

You definitely need a good TA and get them to put a hold on a certain number of cabins in a few categories. What, in addition to the cruise line comps will the TA give you? Ours tossed in a welcome cocktail hour, handled everyone’s registration (that was a real benefit with so many cruise rookies), printed and distributing final docs and arranged to have us sitting at adjacent tables You definitely want to have people book through the TA . . . chasing final payment is no fun. Find out the cruise line’s group benefits . . . How many cabins to get a comped fare? How is the level of the comp fare determined. What else will they do for you? We had a farewell cocktail hour on the cruise line. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that almost all of us were on one of the beverage packages.

This is the tourism police officer we had as an escort during our several day stay in Cairo. He was with us every time we left the hotel as a group. His weapon was not exactly inconspicuous 😉. I think he just had an off the rack suit jacket as the weapon was pretty obvious from the side and the back. I got this as a shot from the hip as he was taking a group shot, the Pyramids are behind me. We also had similar tourism police escorts in Luxor and Aswan.

Not grateful enough to keep Biebs. 😉

I only read print books. No a brag, just a fact. I used an e-reader a couple times and just didn’t like it, it didn’t fit my reading style and I sometimes “fat fingered” it. DD claims it is because I’m a Luddite.

Not to put too fine a point on it, weather and climate are different. May we discuss why one particular state in in neither of the two National power grids? 😉

I’ve traveled internationally many times with a company that does “home hosted visits” with local families. More often than not, on of the Americans gets to that very question. The most memorable of these visits was in the spring of ‘09 in the Netherlands. Midway through the visit, and after finding out the price of a small attach house, the host asked, “so, who did you vote for.”

Yeah, but they would have electricity when it’s cold.

You might want to check Grand Circle. Some (maybe all) of their river and small ships have bikes.

In our travels I have found that people from other countries with an interest in US government and politics have a much better grasp of the subject than most of my neighbors.

No, it’s bigger than that. Do a search on “satanic conspiracy taylor and chiefs” (although I don’t know whether your location will skew the results.