gnome12

Yes, there are fare classes that don’t earn any points, at least on partner airlines.

@CeCe_Personally, I would be very worried about flying in the day of your cruise. I can't tell where you are flying from, but even with a scheduled 7 am arrival, it wouldn't take that much to make you miss your cruise.

It has nothing to do with cruising, but on my last trip to Europe, on an Air Canada ticket, I flew Air Canada outbound and Lufthansa return. I was sure that I had the same fare class, but I got points only for the Air Canada flight; I discovered that the Lufthansa fare code did not qualify for points. The problem is that you generally don't see the fare code when you book the ticket. (I had a choice of 2 Air Canada flights as well as the Lufthansa; I chose the Lufthansa because it was the easiest time for me.)

You may be able to order bulbs online.

I will let others discuss the specifics. I will say, however, that London is a big city, and NOTHING will be close to all the sights.

I ordered bulbs when I was a Keukenhof to be sent to my sister in the US. (They also ship to Canada although it costs more; I presume because there are more hoops to go through in order to ship them to us in Canada.) The shipments happen in the fall, which is when you want the bulbs to be planted.

I just picked up my new passport at the post office today. I sent it by mail to Gatineau (where all Ontario applications go) on December 9, with tracking. It was delivered to the passport office on December 13. Charge went through my Visa on December 21 from the SC Passport Vancouver Hub. The passport was issued December 28 in Surrey, BC; mailed in Ottawa January 3 and they attempted to deliver January 4 but I didn't answer the door. As mentioned; I picked it up today. No waiting in line; it looks like they will send mailed in applications to whatever office is less busy.

It can also be reached from the website that Mingus linked to, along with links for all other provinces and territories.

Sorry Wings55. Strasbourg is not on the Moselle.

The problem for those of us further north is that six more weeks of winter IS an early spring!

You might want to look at the Moselle, although I'm not sure what lines do only the Moselle.

It would help in your searching if you spelled the name correctly. It is Southampton. Search this forum; there is LOTS of information on Southampton hotels.

For those that don't visit London often, the standard Oyster card can be redeemed, including the deposit. When I was there in 2019, I purchased an Oyster Card at King's Cross station (I had just arrived by train from Edinburgh), and used it for all of my travel all the way to Heathrow, where I redeemed the card for the balance as well as the card deposit, on my way into the airport. For a Visitor Oyster Card the £5 you pay for the card is not refunded, although you can get any balance on the card refunded.

Australia and New Zealand have always been very protective of their borders, in order to avoid importing "evils" into a fairly closed environment. When I cycled in New Zealand, they were interested in whether there was mud on my bicycle tires that could contain a pathogen.

I hate to be a spoilsport, but have you considered that your university-aged child might not wish to travel with his parents every year?

I have stood in exactly that same location looking out at Aukland Harbour.

It is used by moderators to contact people, but has never been enabled for member to member communication.

Be careful on the Moselle. Because the river is so windy, and the trains do NOT completely follow the river, there are places where you can't get a train.

While I agree that the insurance company’s preference is to get you home as quickly as possible, if you require active care (in ICU for example), they can’t just dump you in a hallway. They need a hospital to ACCEPT the transfer.

Weather might be better but labour disruptions abound. Hope it doesn’t mess up your trip.

About a third of your days (8) are sea days. For me, that would be a deal breaker, but I know others like them. Note that the second itinerary only has 4 Mediterranean ports.

Might I politely suggest that you take a look at a map, and check the locations of the Mediterranean and Norway. Any trip that combined the 2 would have to come all the way around the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal), which is a long way from Norway before you could possibly get into the Mediterranean. I agree with the suggestion that to combine these 2 destinations you really need to transfer between a northern port (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Southampton, etc.) and a port actually on the Mediterranean.

Stavanger is on both itineraries.

I would pick #2. It has 2 deep fjord ports (Olden and Flam) and it has Bruges.

When you say Manulife wouldn't insure was it just online, or was it an actual underwriting decision? I have found that with pre-existing conditions, you cannot quote on-line.