Zacharius

Damn...if that family didn't have bad luck, they wouldn't have any luck at all. I'd at least ask Royal Caribbean to put me up in San Juan for a few days to make some kind of vacation out of it

If it's a guarantee, it's one they may not always be able to fulfill. But I am not sure if they use the word "guarantee" or not. They would be smart not to. (Copied this from another post I recently made) Flights are full again. Air2Sea can't add seats to a plane, or add flights to a destination. Caribbean cruises are a good example of this, where there are a lot of small islands with limited flights, not to mention the private cruiseline islands with zero flights. They can only work with what the airlines offer. Another thing to keep in mind is that, if something big happens to cause delays, it will likely have a ripple effect through the system and you'll be competing with frequent fliers and full-fare customers, which will start pushing you down the list of priority for the airlines. Air2Sea uses a lot of fancy marketing language to say they'll get you to the ship. In reality, they can only do their best (and hopefully they'll at least try their best, not just try a little). Don't assume they'll get you where you need to go, when you need to get there.

In theory, and they'll make you think they can, but in reality... Exactly. Flights are full again. Air2Sea can't add seats to a plane, or add flights to a destination. Caribbean cruises are a good example of this, where there are a lot of small islands with limited flights, not to mention the private cruiseline islands with zero flights. They can only work with what the airlines offer. Another thing to keep in mind is that, if something big happens to cause delays, it will likely have a ripple effect through the system and you'll be competing with frequent fliers and full-fare customers, which will start pushing you down the list of priority for the airlines. Air2Sea uses a lot of fancy marketing language to say they'll get you to the ship. In reality, they can only do their best (and hopefully they'll at least try their best, not just try a little). Don't assume they'll get you where you need to go, when you need to get there.

Not through RC, but Soualiga Destinations (aka Captain Bob) is a pretty common one. We've done it and it was a blast. You can walk there from from port.

The only flights from Europe year-round are the UK; seasonal Amsterdam and Frankfurt service exist. But otherwise most Europeans would need to connect somewhere anyways, be it in Europe, the US, or Canada.

My favorite is South Africa, which only asks for 30 days, but requires TWO full empty pages inside your passport. Weirdos! (As a Namibian, I am allowed to say disparaging things about our friend and neighbor South Africa)

Possibly yes, but definitely maybe...

St. Thomas is one of those places where taking an excursion makes little sense to me...it's so easy and safe to do it all on your own.

I have never cruised to Australia, but I normally (in pre-Covid times, and it's starting to ramp up again thankfully) get to Australia about 5-7x yearly for work and have been doing this for more than a decade. Mostly, I am in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. So, I am pretty familiar with Australia. 1. Sydney is definitely worth at least 2-3 days. 2. Melbourne is my favorite city in the world. And I've been to 120+ countries. Love, love, love Melbourne. Great food, great drink, great sites. 3-4 days easy for Melbourne. As far as airlines between SYD and MEL, either Qantas or Virgin Australia work great and will have many flights each day (probably hourly) to choose from. If you have the time, you could also take the train between Sydney and Melbourne...I've never actually done this because I'm usually in a rush between the two, but it's something to look in to. Note it takes like 11 hours, but there's also an overnight option with sleeper compartments. 3. There are a million places in Australia worth going to. But for this trip, perhaps just stick to things near Sydney and Melbourne. Near Melbourne, check out the Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island; near Sydney, check our Blue Mountains National Park, Manly Beach (which is pretty much Sydney itself), Ku-Ring-Gai National Park, and the Great Pacific Drive.

If you're just doing one bag on wheels, definitely do it yourself. I think cruising seems to attract a lot of over-packers (I can't believe the stuff some people, or even a lot of people, seem to feel they need to pack for a cruise), but that's obviously not you, so just do it yourself.

Or go reallllllly slow. We once took a cruise where the last overnight trek was from St. Thomas to San Juan. It was amazing how slow we went compared to previous days. The motion, the noise, all of it was so very different. At times it felt like we were just coasting to Puerto Rico.

I can't stand these types of people. I don't cruise very much, but I do travel excessively for work and am top-tier in airline, hotel, and rental car programs. But I keep it quiet. I take advantage of the perks, for sure, but I don't advertise it. I can't stand the people that flaunt their status, especially if they start trying to pull the DYKWIA card. My favorite story is when two of us top-tier National Car Rental folks showed up at the Oklahoma City Airport for cars at the same time. They said there was just a rush of returns and we'll need to wait about 15 minutes for a car. "No problem", I said, "appreciate your hard work". Other guy pulled the "DYKWIA, I am Executive Elite, I need my car nowwwwwww and demand an upgrade". A car came around which was clearly not an upgrade, they said it was for him, and sent him on his way all angry. Next car comes up - an upgraded BMW 5-Series, which they gave to me with a smile and a "thanks for being nice". At the stoplight getting out of the airport, I pulled up to my angry friend, looked over, and waved. Oh man, I thought his head was going to pop when he saw my upgraded wheels, and I loved every moment of it.

I've stayed here before, but it has been since...2019? That sounds about right. I'll give you my one experience, but I do urge you to check out Google and Tripadvisor too...once or two people's experience is great, but hundreds/thousands are better. Take them all with a grain of salt, because people only usually post if they have really good or really bad experiences, and mine was middle-of-the-road. BUT, trends still emerge from reviews. Okay, enough of that. I did NOT stay here for a cruise, but that shouldn't matter. The airport shuttle was fine - not super quick, not super slow. I remember the room being fairly basic and somewhat run down (pretty common with airport hotels due to their high turnover), but decently clean. I did not try the restaurant, but I remember it being crazy expensive because (a) it's a hotel, (b) it's an airport hotel, (c) it's an airport hotel in the NYC metro area, and (d) it's an airport hotel in the NYC metro area with literally no non-hotel restaurants anywhere around it. So yeah, it'll be fine...but don't expect a whole lot.

1. Yes, there will definitely be taxis at the port 2. Some general pricing is at https://www.vinow.com/stthomas/getting_around_stt/taxi_stt/ (scroll down) and is based on your destination and the number of people in your party 3. It's a flat rate, no negotiation

It's such a handy ID, really. I use it at security checkpoints quite frequently, instead of my drivers license or passport.

The easiest way to get around St. John on a day trip are the "taxi's". They're really more like small trucks with bench seating that are shared amongst different groups of people rather than an individual ride (like you may be used to for a taxi or Uber/Lyft). You'll say where you are going, but often you'll need to wait just a bit for more people either going to the same place or somewhere along the way...you can request/pay for an individual one, but of course that will cost more. As far as getting to/from St. John, I would never use the ship excursion for this. It's so easy to get off the ship, grab a taxi to the ferry, ferry across from St. Thomas to St. John, and grab a "taxi" on the St. John end. Then, of course, reverse it to get back. Ferries are roughly every hour, but I would give myself a one-hour cushion on the way back - for example, if you need to be back on the ship at 4:30, and there's a ferry leaving at 3pm that could get you were for 4:30...take the 2pm ferry, just in case something happens and you need the 3pm ferry to fall back on. I also recommend, if you like them, to get the phone number of the taxi driver who takes you from the ship to the ferry, and ask them to be back for your return ferry to take you back to the ship. That always works well for me.

My favorite thing to do in St. Thomas is to leave it...by taking the ferry over to St. John and enjoying the beaches and national park over there. Very easy to do on your own, too.

I have a family friend who was so desperate to use her Alaska Air credit that she flew from Chicago to Kansas City via Seattle. Nice way to waste a day...and then another one on the way back!

I pretty much live on planes and, while I sometimes have to do work on planes, I much prefer just zoning out and watching TV. So yes, absolutely, I am constantly downloading TV shows and movies (or games if I missed watching them live) to my iPad and watching them on planes. We have done it once or twice on ships too, and cars. But doesn't matter, it's all the same thing. Keep in mind not every movie/tv show is available for download in most cases.

A whole lot of containers to climb on. Not really...I mean, a whole lot of containers, but not to climb on. So, pretty much nothing.

I mean, a Baltic cruise stopping in St. Petersburg is a little different than a Med cruise leaving out of Rome and going to Greece in this case, in my opinion. I would certainly have concerns about a cruise scheduled to stop in Russia long before a cruise that sticks to Greece and Italy. I am only addressing this thread which had nothing to do with Baltic/Russia cruises.

I am a pretty big risk taker, so take this with a grain of salt, but I just don't see this escalating to a point where cruises in Italy are impacted. I don't see it becoming a world war, or even a European-wide war. I hope I am right. I don't see this event being a reason to buy travel protection if you wouldn't have already. I do agree with the above poster about have medical insurance. I travel for a living and have a yearly worldwide medical policy, I wouldn't leave home without it. They've even picked up something as small as an $80 fee (doctor + meds) in Auckland when I had to go to the doctor with conjunctivitis. As far as airfare refund policy, that's going to be up to the airline you booked with and the specific terms/conditions of the fare you booked. Any waivers issued would be in addition to those terms and conditions, but I still don't think travel to Italy would be impacted by this...and again, I hope I am right.

Due to our crazy schedules and my unknown work travel schedule, my wife and I book vacations like four weeks out...so that solves a lot of those problems!