dheianevans

Ya know how some shopping malls have rentals for parents where they can get lil' firetruck strollers for the kids while they're shopping?

If we expand that to adults....I'm just curious if anyone is aware of any ports that have short-term wheelchair rentals? We have a member of our party that can walk but not for long distances. Would be great if we could pick up a wheelchair at a port to get her TO the museums/galleries etc. But she doesn't need it for two weeks 24/7.

Does any port do that? Or are we stuck trying to buy/rent a wheelchair for the whole trip. $$$

Thanks for the info.

Moving up the transit ladder a notch...what's the most frequent train to take from Schipol to Rotterdam Centraal? I've seen links to a few sites...

Although I havenot been to Rotterdam for a while, I am almost sure you need a pin/chip on your card to get tickets.

Ine,

I'm actually talking about the chip transit cards Rotterdam uses. Not the chip-pin cards that everyone but the US seems to have.

I've been Googling around for ways to get from Rotterdam Centraal to the cruise terminal and the Metro seems like the fastest. Unless I'm reading incorrectly, do we need to buy the chip card they mention? We'd only be riding it twice...to and from the cruise terminal and Centraal.

What are the various public transit options, fares and travel times?

Thanks. BTW, just 4 people with carry-ons.

Alas, KLM direct is about $300-$400 a person more than our other options.

I'll take a look at that site. Thanks.

Connecting on to YYZ...that is unless we find a better AMS to YYZ, or RTM to YYZ flight.

Like many of our cruises, planning the return always seems to be "You can't get there from here."

YYZ-AMS is something like a 7-8hr flight with one connection. But the best flights home leave at impossibly early times. But later flights sometimes take 21+ hrs. (One was something like AMS to LHR, a switch to Gatwick, landing in Newark, switching to LaGuardia nd then on to Toronto!)

Or we stay in RTM for a couple of days (cheaper than AMS I think) then take a more reasonable flight on Monday. But a tight budget hits two nights in a hotel, meals, etc. And are you sitting at a budget fitting hotel near the airport but near nothing else, so you cant even cheaply stroll and window shop.

The cruise price is great...but this other stuff is driving us nuts. Time to spreadsheet all our options.

If there's anyone who can suggest non-bank breaking accommodations in RTM (or even AMS) I'd surely appreciate it. Willing to look at B&B's. Travel group is two senior mums and their two adorable adult kids. (Well at least the missus and my mother and mother-in-law think I'm adorable. Your mileage may vary. No guarantees.)

Thanks!

Looking at a cruise that docks in Rotterdam at 7am and a flight that leaves for London just after 10am.

I've read that RTM is a small. relatively fast airport. Is there any chance to make it or are we just stressing ourselves out too much?

Let's just say for geopolitical reasons it's not currently on my to-do list of economic support. Would love if I could find a cruise that did Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki and stops in Norway. Wouldn't have been too upset if the lines had to currently replace it with, say, Gdansk or stops in Latvia or Lithuania. Maybe one day, but not now. Not to mention that my country (Canada) has used some of the harshest language in condemning Putin. Anyway, this was not meant to be a political, but a technical thread. :-)

Did contact HAL and they said we were okay as long as we had no intention of disembarking.

I'll be contacting HAL about this but just wanted any anecdotal info on whether Russian authorities and/or HAL require you to have a Russian visa even if you have zero intention of getting off there.

With Russian troops rolling into Ukraine and Western powers threatening sanctions and visa freezes, etc., what do you think the possibilities are for this affecting HAL's northern Europe cruises with overnights in St. Petersburg? And I mean besides plummeting fares.

If there were major sanctions/restrictions, do you think HAL would be prohibited and/or pressured not to go there? Would they be able to overnight elsewhere or would you be looking at travelling really slowly through nearby scenic waters? Would they perhaps be able to swing up to, say, one of Norway's less visited ports who would welcome the business?

I'd love to visit Russia -- the place, the people -- but even before this I wasn't too thrilled with a stop in a country that still tramples human rights, has rampant corruption etc.