Were your expectations met this year?

Pretty much--I got covid.
I survived the stress of "testing to return" during our first 2022 trip, driving and hiking in central Spain in May, which was lovely and cemented my preference for hitting the road just slightly less traveled.
By October, I was quad boosted and my husband preceded me to a conference in Switzerland with hundreds of other unmasked people, and we threw caution to the wind, and yup, my "cold," which I hiked 12 miles with, was covid. I am not yet 50 and needed to pull the bandaid off, and yes, I count myself very lucky to not have health issues.
All my flights went smoothly, I chose direct flights for both. I'll be apprehensive the next time i have a more complicated route. I even checked bags both times will no bad outcomes!
Domestic travel has gotten so much worse--at least international travel, as miserable as it is, involves a huge payoff. When I do the short hops to visit family I am astounded at the rudeness. Serenity now, is all I can say!

Oh, I turned lemons into lemonade a couple of times. When oversized crowds put me off my 13 day trip to Portugal in July, I turned it into a 19 day trip in October. And when that return flight got cancelled, I turned it into a 20 day trip.

So I got an extra 7 days in Portugal and was able to add Coimbra to my itinerary!

No international trips this year but I took 4 domestics. Airline scheduling appeared to be off - connecting flights seemed wrought with failure. An aircraft with a half-hour delay, early in the day, just went absolutely sideways by mid-day, usually ending in a missed connection and a rescheduling to a later flight and, if there were seats available on that later flight, you most certainly would not get rebooked in the class of service of the original booking. The destinations were ALL great, the journeys there and back, ALL sucked.

Yes, my expectations were mostly met and exceeded in all but one instance.

• April/May my 2nd Covid trip to France and added in Belgium and Netherlands. I had a great time but was disappointed in the Road Scholar portion of my tour as the sub-contractor for that area was very shoddy. Nothing I could have prevented. All my flights were fine and only had a few minor changes which did not affect my scheduling. This was a test before you return trip so that was a stressor but turned out fine. My one train trip was delayed for a few hours but not really a big deal.

• Sept/Oct I went to Italy for a Rick Steves tour. Had a great time and was able to meet my goals for the trip (hiking Alpe di Siusi and seeing Otzi the Iceman). One major flight change months before my departure date where they cancelled the direct flight to my local airport and routed me thru Atlanta and Minneapolis. Long day and I will not do that routing again. Otherwise, I threw some money at a taxi in from Malpensa to Milan because I just did not want to be in a crowd any more.

• June was my usual 2.5 weeks in Yellowstone. The first part was stellar, the last half was a huge disappointment but it was due to the 500 year flood the park experienced while I was there, resulting in the park having to close completely and me having to come home early. I go every year so it's not like it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip but was still disappointed that I didn't get to spend time with my geysers! Again, nothing to do with pandemic related issues at all....just Mama Nature. I drive over to the park so it was easy to change my plan and the lodging concessioner for Yellowstone is excellent with refunds for catastrophes.

I'd traveled to France in October 2021 so was ready for masking all day, every day when out of the hotel room. Others on my 2 Road Scholar tours did not but that gave me the best sense of ease. Everyone on my Rick Steves tour was compliant with masking when on the bus and with the group.

I'm ready to go again in April and feel confident in international travel!

Yes they were.

My Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship again.

The Dodgers lost in the National League Divisional Series. I was giddy for weeks. Not sorry. Life long SF Giants fan. The rivalry lives.

Wonderful stay in the Richmond neighborhood outside of London in July. Saw the Woman’s Wimbledon Championship.

Wandering around Wimbledon, seeing the match, having afternoon tea in the Wingfield. Bucket list item checked off .

Enjoying the brilliance of actor Mark Rylance as
“ Rooster “ in the play, Jerusalem.

Mudlarking on the banks of the Thames River.

Sweet and sour shrimp at Chinatown’s Joy King Lau.

Having lunch with Nigel and Carol after touring the National Trust’s Nuffield Place.

While waiting in a long line outside Heathrow’s Terminal 3 at Heathrow a Virgin Airline employee approached and asked, “ carry on?” I said, “ yes.”
She smiled and said “ follow me.” Left the long line, went through the doors of Terminal 3 and was escorted up a flight of stairs where I joined a line of 6 to go through security and to my gate. No rhyme or reason. Didn’t care. Was inside and seated waiting to board my flight to LAX.

Finally saw a Beatle. Sir Paul on stage at the Oakland Coliseum.

With the exception of catching Covid ( down and out
for 72 hours ) enjoyed good health all year. So yes, all in all, expectations were met.

We got it done, two international trips in the books for 2022. It wasn’t all normal but it was ok. We made changes in our traveling style, non stop flights only, first class train compartments, and more spacious hotel rooms with full restaurants, just in case. We decided to forego some of our favorite museums when we saw long lines of people waiting at the entrance and stayed outdoors more. We sought out other types of venues to compensate. So in the end, it all worked out for our 2 months of travel over two trips this spring/summer. Oh and we didn’t get any viruses unlike in January 2022 when I got the RSV virus a few days after returning from Kauai.

We had two international trips this year, our first in the Covid era.

In the Spring we had 6 weeks in Germany, Belgium, France and The Netherlands. The flight from Sacramento-San Francisco-Frankfurt was changed two times after booking. We went from a 2 hour layover in SF to 5 hours to 7 hours. We chose to cancel the Sacramento-SF portion and rented a car to drive there. We decided we wouldn’t do that again. The expense and time involved including picking up the rental car the day before wasn’t worth it. We had a couple of days in Frankfurt hanging out with my friend, Ms. Jo, then took the train to Cologne where my cousins live. They had rented a house near Spa, Belgium and 8 of us spent a lovely 5 nights there catching up. We returned to Cologne and took the train to Strasbourg the next day to begin our 3 weeks in France. We had an unfortunate train situation when traveling from Nice to Carcassonne, but otherwise the trip was great except flying home from Amsterdam. That was a nightmare. We spent some time with friends throughout, some old friends and some new friends from the forum. We always wore masks when indoors, on public transportation and outdoors in crowded situations. Waiting for results from our Covid test before flying home was a little stressful.

In the later summer and Fall we had a 10 week trip to Ireland, Scotland, England and France. The same thing happened with our flight from Sacramento-San Francisco except we ended up with a 9 hour layover. We checked our bags and my cousins who live near SFO picked us up and we hung out with them until it was time to return to the airport. We flew to Dublin where we were meeting up with friends for the first 5 weeks of the trip. I enjoy Ireland a lot. We went the first time in 2009 and loved going to the pubs and listening to live music. We didn’t feel comfortable doing that this year and it wasn’t quite the same. Even though we continued our masking strategy and got our 2nd boosters two weeks before leaving on the trip I still got a very mild case of Covid in Scotland. I didn’t feel sick, but isolating was a drag. At least it was in Edinburgh, where I had been before. Close to the end of our time with them our friends decided to go home early and took the bus from Bath to Heathrow for their flight. He had never traveled like this before and he discovered it was too long for him. We continued on to London for 4 nights, where I met up for tea with someone on the forum. She participates in our International Travel Meetings. We flew to Bordeaux to start our 3 weeks in France. We returned to London for 9 nights before flying home. We quite enjoyed spending so much time in London. We had been there twice before, but we were able to be more leisurely about what we did, including 3 plays, new and revisited museums, and a trip to Richmond/Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace. Not to mention a trip to see our friends Nigel and Carol. They are the best. Even after having Covid we continued to mask as before.

I would say that taking Covid precautions did not make our trip less enjoyable with the exception of choosing to minimize exposure by not going to pubs, etc. We won’t be traveling internationally next year and I’m curious to see how things will be in 2024..

I got to make a wonderful 8 day trip to London in April--my first overseas trip since 2019,and it was glorious...though worrying about passing my covid test to return was a bit of a burden, everything about London was as fabulous as ever.

We had a pretty good year in regards to travel. Two trips to Iceland and a Christmas Market trip to Munich and Salzburg. I have also spent the last 4 months flying weekly from SEA to OAK. The only frustrating thing about that is the chaos at SEA with security. Even with Global/Pre the lines can be so long, and then there have been long waits to even get into the lounges. The lounge situation seems to have improved a bit, thankfully.

Our flights to/from Munich were constantly being changed, and seat assignments would suddenly go missing, but we got it all handled and the trip itself went smooth.

Pretty much--I got covid.

Me too. In Sweden during our trip in September. Missed Stockholm except for our hotel room where I isolated. Watched a lot of bad Swedish TV and an entire season of the great British bake off as it was the only English language offering. Will need to go back to Stockholm sometime.

Surprisingly, all flights went as planned for our two international trips. BUT, we were ejected from the Rick Steves Paris & HOF tour because my husband tested positive prior to start of tour. We made lemonade and ended up having a wonderful time in Paris! I just didn’t get to MSM 🥲
Our trip to Africa, all went well until I got home. Then it was my turn for the virus. 72 hours in bed!

Would I do it all again, you bet!

3 international trip

1) June two tours… Iceland tour and Orkney/shetland tour. Small groups. No hiccups on flights. Great good, great tour mates and guides, great weather. One of the trips that went well. Got global this year, so it was a breeze coming back to the states.

2)end of july - august. RS Scandinavian tour! We have been wanting to do this tour for years. Big upset….. ill father in law….. called back home after we arrived. (He passed about 5 days later). Never got to do the tour. Wish we canceled before we even went. Would of saved us alot of money. Only got to Stockholm , then return home the next day. Up over 48+ hours straight. Stockholm, Zurich airports were crazy!! Had to buy business $$$$ to get home. The funny thing tho…. We were getting on the plane home to thru Zurich-Chicago… told the Flight attendant that I needed that champagne. He said in a minute. Had two glasses and then I was fast asleep. Did not know we even took off and in the air. I want to do this tour again but I am soured right now to try it again. Maybe in May in a few years. Our trip from #%@$.

3). Nov- Dec AmaWaterways Danube Christmas market cruise. My husband’s first River cruise, my 3rd. We had a blast. But hiccup with flights. We did get to upgrade to business class going over the pond. Complimentary upgrade to business on our short haul flight back home to Tulsa. Because of our mileage we racked up this year… we are now platinum on United..
Weather, cold, no snow. Great stops, food. We can’t wait til our next one in 2024.

Kim, did travel insurance come through?

Tammy…. Only paid the RS tour. They would not cover the rest because car should of canceled before we left. Aarrgg

Sorry for your loss, Kim.

My big surprise was testing positive the day before my flight home from Dublin last spring, which left me in an airport hotel for a week watching the Queen's Jubilee on BBC and taking long walks around the airport grounds. I learned where the few pedestrian crossings were and where to get takeout food. Never had symptoms. Two days after I got home the pre-flight test rule went away. It took four months and a complaint to my state insurance commissioner to get trip delay payment (a fraction of actual cost, per the policy) from AIG Travel Guard. But the first three weeks in Ireland were terrific, I'd do it again (preferably without the fourth week).

We booked tickets for Berlin but Delta passed us off to KLM flying out of Atlanta thru Amsterdam. I can honestly say KLM's food was the worst airline food ever--and the flight attendants spent most of the flight in the kitchen to avoid contact with passengers

The return flight on Delta was fantastic. Couldn't be any better.

We flew Charlotte to Heathrow in June and spent a long weekend. Then we flew on EasyJet down to Athens to get on a Royal Caribbean 7 day cruise around the Greek Islands, Montenegro, Croatia and ending in Ravenna, Italy. Spent a couple of days in Venice to show our 11 year old granddaughter the city. Flew Venice-Heathrow and spent the night at the airport before flying home.

Upon our return, my wife had to have a 2 day back surgery--4 discs removed. 4 days home and she was back in the hospital with a thrombosis that could have been really dangerous. After rehab, she was home 5 hours when she fell and broke her leg. Back to surgery and another rehab. It's been 5 months since the initial surgery and she's still essentially bedridden with leg pains. She can walk, but not far. We're just thankful we have a folding portable scooter for her to get around on.

You never know when your travel days are going to be delayed. We've traveled extensively for 40 years, and if we never get to go out of the U.S. again, we're very satisfied. The only major city we've missed is Lisbon. Most other big cities we've visited 4-5 times.

We traveled to France in March and Italy in November. Both trips went very well, and we had a wonderful time.

However, Covid does add anxiety to traveling these days. I am afraid to get too excited about upcoming trips because one of us might get Covid and force us to cancel.

In March we had the anxiety of facing a Covid test before our flight home. While that was not a worry in November, we still wanted to avoid contracting Covid on vacation for obvious reasons. There are decisions to make that we never had to think about pre-Covid, such as when to mask, is it okay to eat out, etc. Not that I was a nervous wreck on these trips; it was more a case of having it in the back of my mind.

On the flip side, we are just so grateful to be traveling again. I think we appreciate it even more than we did before Covid.

I didn't find traveling this year any different than traveling before the pandemic. No major issues with delays, no flights cancelled, etc.

More places had tap to pay, which was convenient

David--I truly hope your wife keeps improving. You are so right in that you never know when your travels will be delayed or stopped. My mom had a medical emergency that changed her life overnight, and we are not sure if she will ever be able to travel again. We are hoping that if we fly down, get her, and fly back with her to escort her at every moment, it might happen. Because of all of this, it makes us appreciate travel even more.

Oh, I turned lemons into lemonade a couple of times.

Possibly the best advice that could be given in 2022, or anytime plans go off the rails. Just figure out plan B and move on.

Direct answer to your question Allan, YES my expectations were met - and exceeded. Lovely first trip to Scotland and 4 days in London. There wasn’t much I would have done differently - even with the impact the passing of HMQ Elisabeth had on the time in London.

The August Florida visit with my granddaughter could have been better in the Spring due to the heat. However, we were VERY fortunate to spend 2 lovely days on Sanibel Island before it was wiped out by Hurricane Ian. Counting my blessings.

Well, my expectations were fully met and I traveled a lot in 2022: 6 international trips and 3 domestic.

But I think that is because: 1) I also traveled in 2021 and learned some of the new “how to” navigational skills and outlook in 2021; and 2) in 2022 I was able to travel longer with less pre-trip prepared structure, which helped with delays, cancellations, and bumps along the way. Things weren’t perfect every time, but I was so happy to be traveling that it was easy to roll with hiccups.

I AM glad I didn’t have to deal with Covid or other illness while traveling. I do have lots of insurance for “just in case”, but I also mentally prepared myself for “what happens if”. What happens if I miss this flight, or my train is cancelled, or my hotel can’t find my booking, or ….. more of a mental outlook prep than a serious prepared plan of action, though. It keeps me happier to know ahead of time I will be alright.

Yes, definitely met and then some. I was so happy to be traveling to Europe again, I wasn’t really setting expectations very high so anything that happened was beyond wonderful to me. In May, I spent nearly three weeks in France with my sister and two of my favorite travel friends and then the end of June into July I took two of my grandgirls to Ireland on a RS tour. Both trips went smoothly, we never caught ‘anything’, saw things we’d never seen before, crowds were practically non existent, weather was perfect (hot in France!) and both trips were everything I’d hoped for and more.

Happy to read that expectations were met despite the challenges thrown at all of us this year. I had been curious because of the stress of covid, missing luggage, changed flights, etc. would put a damper on our enthusiasms. Glad to read that we're a happy and optimistic bunch.

I'm with Aimee - my expectations were exceeded this year! First time getting back to travel for about a decade and I'd call both trips a success despite tons of rain and getting sick both times. Last year and the year before and the year before etc. I'd still have had rain and seasonal sickness, but I would've had them at home.

Yes,
We did two overseas trips this year, Ecuador and the Galapagos with Celebrity Cruises and it was great.

We finally managed to do our Safari in Kenya and Tanzania, after postponing for two years. It was fantastic, one of our favorite trips ever.

We both go COVID after I visited my Daughter and her Husband in Boston for graduations (MA and Phd). It was relatively mild, but gave it to my wife.

Also, the Georgia Bulldogs won the National Championship and are in the playoffs for the Championship this year.

Yes and no. We had a nice family trip to Hawaii in early 2022. I went on my first tour (Loire to the South of France) with my mom in June, which absolutely exceeded my expectations. The rest of my family was set to fly to Ireland and I was to meet them there. A few days before, my daughter caught covid, so the Ireland part of our trip did not happen. Since it was peak summer travel, we did not rebook due to how booked up accommodations were, sky high rental car prices, etc. I’m hoping that we can plan something fun for summer of 2023.

Above post reported, don’t click on link.

Our April trip to Italy was dam near perfect. We stayed in Pompei and Salerno, with a final night at the Rome Airport Hilton - our hotels and restaurants politely but firmly enforced masking rules.

Homeward Bound - At FCO, and on our flight to LHR, masking was strictly enforced. But by the time we landed at LHR, the rules had changed, and masks were now optional. Our layover at LHR and the flight home were 90% mask free. Fine by me. Global Entry worked like a charm, and I didn't leave my phone in the cab like I did the last time. In fact, I was actually able to access the lyft app at the airport and get a decent and slightly less expensive "lift" home.

A lot of other travel-related good things happened to Us Two this year, but those were "Beyond Europe".

AMann, LOL. Getter older (and being retired) definitely has its pros to go with its cons.

I'd say mostly yes. We traveled to Italy/France in May. We brought a newbie couple on their first European trip. It a was great to see them love everything we planned and did. (And they still want to travel with us:)). What didn't meet my expectations were mostly my own fault in expecting all my travel mates (there were 6 in total) to do exactly what I had planned :( One couple we traveled with are off my list for future trips - at least the one I plan versus a tour where someone else does all the planning or a cruise.

Yes. Most of my time was spent in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Things were expensive, as expected--especially in Norway, though the Swedish trains were also pricey (I couldn't find a senior discount). Knowledge of the costs to come meant I planned ahead more and moved faster than I usually do. I can't say it was the most relaxing trip I've taken, but I covered a lot of ground (for me) without a lot of excessive, expensive days spent wandering around aimlessly in pretty surroundings (which I quite enjoy, usually, but not when I'm paying so much for my room).

A significant advantage of traveling to the northern countries was that I didn't encounter the flood of travelers reported by many folks who were in Europe last year. However, the hotel breakfast rooms were very crowded (which may be standard); I avoided them when I could opt out of breakfast, but that was only possible about half the time. That was a bit worrisome since I was (and am) still masking, but I knew I wasn't going to get through 3-1/2 months without eating indoors on occasion. In the end, I emerged from the trip unscathed.

On the same trip I spent over two weeks in central England (Sheffield with many side trips and Liverpool) and London. I had a roommate at that point, so costs were blessedly lower than in the first three countries. I made a concession to the COVID risk and didn't go to the theatre at all; that was a bit disappointing, but there will be more opportunities for that.

I closed out the trip in Ravenna (3 nights), Padua (3 nights) and Venice (9 nights). Returning to Italy always feels comfortable to me, and again I had a roommate, so I could relax about the daily expenses. I'd have liked an extra night in both Ravenna and Padua, but my Schengen clock was ticking away. The busiest parts of Venice were terribly crowded, naturally, but I spent a very large percentage of my Venetian time away from those areas.

I regretted the need for two intra-European flights on this trip, but hitting Glass Week in Venice was very important to me, and to do that I had to spend time outside the Schengen zone. I was lucky to have not flight difficulties despite the pervasive airport issues being reported.

Yes, except for catching Covid on the trip over to Europe. I didn't expect that! (I was masked, but most people weren't in August.)

I would say definitely exceeded:). Our first trip of 2022 was in January (planned before Omicron appeared). We decided to travel anyway; had a terrific experience on a small-ship repositioning cruise from Barcelona to London, then flew to Italy to use credits from a cancelled 2020 trip. Beautiful weather, few crowds, and lots of delicious food! The second trip was in the fall to Germany and Austria, including the Passion Play. A fantastic mix of cities, small towns, and nature. The only downside was that I ended up with a mild case of Covid--but no one else in my group of four ended up with it so I consider that a BIG win.

I started traveling in 2021 so to me, travel in 2022 felt more normal than ever. I went to Europe in December and when I was in London, I experienced the largest most dense crowds I had in a while, which was quite terrifying and overwhelming, but besides that, my trip went well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I do miss the empty planes though.

What didn't meet my expectations were mostly my own fault in expecting
all my travel mates (there were 6 in total) to do exactly what I had
planned :( One couple we traveled with are off my list for future
trips - at least the one I plan versus a tour where someone else does
all the planning or a cruise.

I'm watching my 24 year old daughter with amusement as she plans her first "adult" vacations. The apple didn't fall far from the tree as my wife and I watch her plan trips with the same intensity and enthusiasm as we do. However, her friends and other travel partners aren't so sure about it. She, her boyfriend and another couple went to Belize last summer and I advised my daughter to be honest about expectations everyone had. But the problem is nobody wanted to plan but her. As it turns out the other couple had expectations of sitting by the pool for the entire week even though they didn't speak up and just nodded and smiled when my daughter put an itinerary together. Apparently there was plenty of talking behind each other's backs to friends when they got home. It's been resolved now, and all are still friends but there will be no more vacations with them.

Now, she and her boyfriend, boyfriend's brother and their Mom are going to London, York, Edinburgh, Dublin and Belfast in May. Once again she's planning and everyone is sitting back while she tries to get everyone's expectations. She's learning that friends at home doesn't necessarily means friends on vacation.

Like you, my wife and I have determined that if we ever to travel with friends, it will be on a tour or cruise.

No, it did not but I am still glad that I took a trip in 2022. I flew to Seattle for three nights and then took a cruise to Alaska. And then I spent two nights in Seattle post cruise It was my first time going anywhere since 2019.

I have some health issues that I manage as best as I can but I was in terrible pain much of my vacation, a lot of pain. Sitting was no problem but walking and standing were. When I got home, I went to an orthopedist and I was diagnosed with arthritis of the knees especially the right knee. Pain is a terrible thing and it did not entirely ruin my vacation, but it ruined some of it.

Originally I had planned a European Cruise leaving from Amsterdam but Norwegian had to cancel that cruise because of supply chain problems. The new ship would not be ready.

I was given some incentives to book another cruise and I went with a second Alaskan cruise because of Covid. I did not want to have to deal with testing before flying home or masking while on the plane.

As it turned out before I went on my Alaskan cruise, all Covid restrictions were lifted to and from Europe. I would not have had to mask on the plane and I would not have to test before flying home . However for my Alaskan cruise, I had to fill out ArriveCan because we were spending 3 hours or so in Victoria BC. It was a bit of a hassle learning what needed to be done but I managed, . My cruise was the last requiring ArriveCan.

One of the highlights of any Alaskan Cruise is sailing through a glacier or fiord and we were scheduled to do this but it was cancelled without any explanation. We were never told anything at all. One of the earlier ships had struck a glacier causing some minor damage and I believe this was the reason my ship never went through a glacier or fiord. I think it had something to do with climate change and melting ice.

I had problems getting the flight I wanted home and had to spend two nights in Seattle post cruise which was ok with me. However I had a terrible time finding my hotel pre cruise and would never have been been able to if it was not for the help of strangers. Because of the pain, I was unable to do very much after my cruise and I spent a lot of time sleeping in my Seattle hotel.

When it is all said and done, I am glad that I went on this cruise but I wish that I had gone to Europe and taken a cruise from Amsterdam as I was considering.

I have a cruise booked sailing from Southampton to Lisbon next October. My orthopedist said that he will give me an injection before I travel which should take care of the pain. I am also going to buy different luggage and not carry anything over my arms. I am also learning how to manage my arthritis.

But there is more. I am one of those persons who spends the night at the airport when I fly out early morning. And it is a good thing I did so. It was about 6 a.m. and I had been at the airport since the night before. And the airport went black. There was some kind of massive power failure that went on for hours. Some flights were cancelled while others were late leaving. Pilots and crews could not get to the airport. Nothing was working and many could not enter security., The airport was locked and no one was allowed to leave or enter. My plane left one hour late but it left and I was on a plane that was half empty because so many others had to miss the flight.

But as I said, it did not work out as I wanted but I still I am glad that I went somewhere, anywhere, finally.

No Part II

Continuing from the previous post.

I sailed a different itinerary than my first Alaskan voyage although some of the ports would be the same.

On this one I went to Sitka and took an excursion where we saw many whales close up and that was great.

On my previous cruise, we had gone to Juneau but the weather was very cold and icy rain. it was very difficult to enjoy Mendenhall Glacier. This time the weather was cooperative and I got to enjoy Mendenhall Glacier but there was not enough time to enjoy the tram which I had also signed up for. I had to forfeit the tram and the money that I had paid for it.

We had very few hours in Ketchikan but I had been there previously and on this one, I got to Totem Pole State Park and loved it.

The biggest disappointment was spending two hours or so in Victoria BC. We got off the ship at 8 pm and were back on about 10 pm. We went to the Harbor but it was cold and dark. Some persons were able to do some shopping.

Norwegian tried to include too many ports and should have cut back somewhere to give us more time in Victoria BC.

Glad that I went somewhere in 2022 but it did not even come close to meeting my expectations.

The biggest disappointment was spending two hours or so in Victoria
BC. We got off the ship at 8 pm and were back on about 10 pm. We went
to the Harbor but it was cold and dark. Some persons were able to do
some shopping.

Norwegian tried to include too many ports and should have cut back
somewhere to give us more time in Victoria BC.

That is disappointing, Victoria is beautiful. I suspect the only reason you made a stop there was to help NCL avoid taxes. Foreign-flagged cruise ships are required to visit at least one non-U.S. port so that they cannot benefit from sailing exclusively within U.S. waters while simultaneously skirting U.S. tax and labor laws. WE did an Alaskan cruise in 2012 and only had 4 hours in Victoria. Luckily we've visited before.

@Allan....I'd missed your post from earlier in Feb with the story of your daughter, the planner, lol.

I, too, planned a trip for myself, brother, sis-in law and her sister to England and a RS tour. I did the planning for a week in London ahead of the tour. I tried to include them in planning - what would you like to do/see/etc but as others have experienced, they were mum every step of the way. The other women KNOW I am not a shopper. As we were at the last morning in London one of them said with a sigh...I wish we had had time to shop. I just looked at her and said...oh gosh, you saw my itinerary suggestions and know I'm not a shopper. Sorry you didn't feel you could skip some of my planned activities and have some shopping time. I'll never, ever plan time for a group again.

I was very pleased with my travels in 2022.
When our children were young my late husband and I had taken them on a wonderful road trip out to California, but I had always wanted to go back. I got a great deal on a California coastal cruise in April so I combined that with a few days in Palm Springs to visit my newly retired brother who was wintering out there and had a great time finishing my California wishlist. (A brand new ship and I paid less for that cruise than I probably would have paid for a night at a nice LA hotel.)
In June I took my first trip back to Europe since 2019 and spent a week on a tour in Ireland, again to fill in a few gaps from my two previous trips there. Unfortunately the woman sitting in front of me on the bus coughed the whole week and the airline lost my bag on the way home but fortunately I did not get Covid and my bag showed up two days later. Win-win!
In September I took a 10-day escorted trip to Switzerland, my first time there. Wonderful trip, no Covid and no lost luggage (and an Apple AirTag for piece of mind).
Looking forward to starting my 2023 travels in April…

Hi Allan,

On my previous cruise to Alaska, we spent about four hours in Victoria and it was earlier when we arrived We arrived in daylight

I think that we were supposed to arrive in Victoria earlier than we did and spend a little more time than we did this second time but it still would not have been enough. There were changes before or during the cruise..

You are correct that we have to make a stop in Victoria so that the cruise can be considered international and Norwegian might benefit from it but I believe that Norwegian can still somehow add on two or three more hours.

2022 exceeded my expectations!

I was able to travel! I was able to travel! Yeah!

I flew to Italy for my solo trip while we still needed a negative Covid test to come back to the US. That restriction was dropped 1/3 of the way through my trip which mentally just felt like a big relief! And the two festivals I attended were great!

My daughter & I took our postponed 2020 trip to Italy, and it was absolutely fantastic in every way! Lots of excitement, enjoyment, laughter & together time. The stuff for great memories!