pdmlynek

I wonder what the temperature in Copenhagen must have been if a person from Brisbane considered it a "very hot day"!

I totally understand your feeling. I often have the same feelings as well. I understand it from the other side, too. Before escaping from my country, spending time in a refugee camp, and getting an asylum in the US, I too considered the foreign tourists as obscenely rich. However, in my view, if you do care about the feelings of the people that you are dealing with (which is the underlying basis for this post), the best way to treat a person from a poor country is not to be patronizing or deal with him out of pity. Although I understand that your heart is in the right place, it is demeaning to close a deal out of pity or feeling sorry for the businessman. Sure, he may laugh all the way to the bank for your stupidity/generosity, but it is like being condescending to your waiter while tipping well. My suggestion is to treat him like you would any other businessman: negotiate hard, but don't be a jerk.

Most like meant 13 square meters. Using feet is archeic.

My preferences, in order: (1) Ports of calls (2) Length of cruise (3) Price of plane tickets (4) Length of time at each port of call (5) Destination (Carib. vs Med. vs Alaska, etc.) (6) Price of the cruise (7) flight connections (8) Cruise Line (9) Age of the ship (10) Size of the ship Less important: food (can't determine that when selecting the cruise). Unimportant: on board entertainment.

I think that there is confusion about the word "excursion". It may mean: (a) getting off a ship; or (b) going on an organized trip. We get off the ship every chance we get. But we rarely take an organized trip.

Hahahaha! 😄 😄 😄 That's a good one. I gotta remember that.

I agree that there is only so much that can be done to prevent the spread of diseases. I visited a country with very strict Covid-19 regulations (disinfect your hand shoes before going into a store, specify how many minutes per week you can walk your dog, measure body temperatures before going into a hotel and have the guest countersign it, each night filing a plan where and when outside your home you want to go the next day and waiting for an approval from the Ministry of Health, roadblocks on each highway, etc.) and people seemed to follow it. Yet, interestingly, their infection rates were similar to those in the neighboring country where there were limited precautions. It will be interesting to see what will happen when a virulent type of deadly infection will appear.

Very nicely written! I pretty much agree with everything you wrote.

Although I do not write on behalf of @sverigecruiser, I agree with him. I travel frequently, and many times cruises are not a good way of visiting the places that I want to see. I may prefer car camping, or backpacking, or staying in private houses, or staying in hotels. And, sometimes, cruises are the best way. It just depends on what one tries to visit.

Wow, I really respect that view. And I agree with the sentiment, Most experienced travelers would say that you'd need a week, a month, or half a year, to get to know Santorini (or a similar place), but given how much more there is to see around the globe, devoting a month to each little island would take tens of thousands of year to visit various places around the globe. Unfortunately, travel is a triage endevour.

This is my view as well. When we planned our cruises, we specifically chose ports that are small enough to see highlights in a short time that the cruisehip is in port. We chose NOT to have a stop at Istanbul, for example, because to see even the highlights, you'll need several days. But, we do with little time that we have.

No, I did not have Allpa zipper fail, or any other luggage zipper fail on me, at least recently. The reason is that I ask a zipper do do its job, which is to act as a closure device. Zippers are more likely to fail when they are asked to do more, such as hold a luggage together. If you pull a bag tight, and then you throw it, it'll rip the zipper. Nothing against zipper; they are just not designed for that. Yes, I have no problem dealing with an exploded luggage by going to find a store that sells luggage supplies, and buying a couple of straps. Except bags fall apart at the most inopportune moments: on a tarmac being thrown onto the plane, at a mountain village in Asia when thrown on top of a bus, when rushing to catch a train, or a midnight before disembarkation day on a cruiseship when you are leaving your bag in front of your door. In each of those instances, lugguage stores are far away, both in distance and time. Having a bag fall apart is a hassle and is needlessly time-consuming headache.

Yes, I agree that external websites may not have the right information, or may be fraudulent. My point is that official websites may also not have the right information. They may also be out of date.You need to check more than just official websites.

And that is fine. Reasonable people will disagree. I simply provided my view. It is all good.

It is actually much worse than that. Expecting that official government websites provide the necessary information is naive. There have been times when I was following some rules on an official government website of a particular ministry, and was told by an official by another ministry that the rules are wrong, that the first ministry has no jurisdiction over that issue, or has no idea what they are talking about. Or, better yet, I've heard "yes, the government website says that, but that information is outdated; we've been trying to get the IT people to change it for the past 2 months." The only real authoritative source is the law and the regulations. For the US, that would mean the USC, CFR, updated by Federal Register, and internal guidance documents like, the Foreign Affairs Manual. During Covid-19 restrictions, I've traveled with copies of their country's legislation and have several times successfully convinced the authorities that they are obligated to admit me, and that their bosses' orders are wrong because their own rules have not yet been updated. Hence: what makes you think that the official government website is an authoritative source?

So what is the issue, then? None of what you've quoted applies to you. What you've quoted has to do with rules for "US residents" meaning, those of other nationalities that have the legal right to reside in the US. Don't sweat it.

What I am writing about is that it is easy for zippers to break. If a zipper fails on a bag like Allpa, then it just opens up. With straps that combine the body of the bag to its lid, if a zipper fails, then the straps still keep the bag together. Having a bag held together is fine for small bags, say, 15 L, but for a 35 L bag it is much safer to have something more than a zipper holding the bag together. But that is just my opinion. If you trust zippers, then that's fine.

Because the ship is there just to get me from one place to another. A cruise allows me to see various places quickly, even if superficially. When you travel to Stockholm, Gotherburg, Malmo or Uppsala, to see friends, relatives, or to sightsee, is consider the train, bus, or car to be the most important part of your trip?

Yeah, mine only says "Good bye" 😄 Seriously, congrats in getting this done.

Based on our experience in Greece, NCL did a wonderful job in scheduling ports. In the case of Istanbul from 16:00 to 15:00, yes, I agree that it would be better to do something like 7:00 to 21:00, but one should be able to do lots during those two half days,

Thank you, @Hlitner! Your advice is very helpful. ... but then again, your advice is always helpful. Keep up the good work!

Hiking boots or light hikers. Preferably boots, which will support your ankles, but light hikering shoes will do fine. You can walk for 30 miles, and your legs are going to give out before you feel your hiking boots to be uncomfortable. Wearing sandals, sneakers, tennis shoes, or like make no sense. They provide you with no support, little to no cushioning, and give limited protection to your feet.

What passport are you traveling under that you are having such a problem?

The problem with Cotopaxi (or any other brand) that opens up as a suitcase in 35 L size is that it relies on a zipper to keep it closed. Cotopaxi's 35 L bags, such as Allpa, does not have a strap to keep the pressure off the zipper. I have no idea why a manufacturer of bags would think that relying on zippers is a good idea. How difficult is it to put a couple of strap on the bag? 😞

I think that this is correct in many instances with this and "natural" remedies. You think that you feel better, because you know that you are supposed to feel better.