Cisco Talks Travel

07/30/2026

My newest travel fascination: Suriname. 🇸🇷

​It’s officially in the queue alongside Germany, Ireland, Puerto Rico, the ABC Islands, Newfoundland… (Okay, full transparency, it’s a very long queue. 😅)

​What sparked my interest? Well, I’ve always held that racism is the ultimate form of stupidity—my defaults are always love and respect. As it turns out, Suriname might just be one of the most diverse places on the planet. No single ethnic group holds a majority there. While the lingering effects of colonialism mean economic power may still lean toward European roots, day-to-day life requires getting along across a massive spectrum of cultures, races, and backgrounds. I’d love to visit and see how that daily blend of unity operates in real time.

​In my experience, Caribbean nations tend to feel a lot less racially divided than the U.S. (Granted, that’s a pretty low bar.) The reality is, humans are tragically creative at finding reasons to hate—even when race isn't a factor. Just look at Northern Ireland, Rwanda, or the Partition of India. We’ve certainly made progress here in the U.S., but we still have a long way to go, and there are plenty of places around the world doing far worse.

​Anyway, Suriname is at the top of my research list for now! ✈️🌍

​P.S. Random geography trivia for your day: Belize, French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana are all culturally considered Caribbean nations despite being in Central/South America. Don't ask me to explain the geography math on that one, but it's a fun fact!

06/08/2026

Folks from the U.S. are so quick to sue. One, how 'bout watching where you're walking? Two, read your contract. Now I don't know them forward and backwards, but I'm guessing, at best, this will be covered by arbitration. The things are; read your contract and watch where you'll walking. This smacks of some ambulance chasing law firm to me.

Cruise news today. A former Royal Caribbean passenger is suing th...

04/18/2026

Cruising has come back to Philly! If you want to cruise out from the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal, I can help! Let's talk! Linktr.ee/CiscoTalksTravel

03/22/2026

Had a beautiful spring day today in Philadelphia, so I decided to take the dog down for a walk near the new cruise port. Oh boy!

In answer to the question; Will it be ready in time? Nope. Not a chance. They're not even close. They've got twenty-four days. There's no buildings, no parking, no visible power lines or data lines. There's a LOT of mud. No place to drop off or pick up. The road in itself is not capable of supporting a decent size shuttle bus. Maybe a van. Are they going to board 2,000 people with vans? That'll make your worst tender nightmare look like heaven.

So, no bathrooms, no counters to check in, no place to drop off your bags. The nearest parking available is MILES away. Right now, they should be finishing the landscaping and training the newly hired port staff. There's no facility for loading food for 2,000 guests for a week. Baggage handlers need to be trained, counter staff need to be trained. Heck, where are they training these folks? I didn't even think of port security. TSA? I don't think so!

My guess would be that the first few cruises are going to be total fusterclucks. They MIGHT, might, have the port ready by mid-summer. We were there on a beautiful spring day, and NOBODY was working. It's how we so easily saw the state of things. I know Philly is a union city, but I'd think they'd be there 24/7 to hit the deadline. BTW, more severe weather is expected tonight.

Options? Manhattan's capacity is cut in half due to renovations, and that's Norwegian's closest home port. I don't know, maybe they could use Bayonne, Brooklyn, or Baltimore. The struggle in my mind to a temporary solution is the Philadelphia Cruise Port is brand spanking new from the ground up. They are in the middle of nowhere. There a UPS handling and distribution center maybe a half mile away, and a private air terminal gate across the street. The nearest existing parking is MILES from the terminal. They're not just upgrading existing infrastructure at the cruise terminal. It's all new.

Ships can't clear the Walt Whitman Bridge upriver, so that eliminates all those existing piers in Philly. There are cargo container ship piers right below the bridge. There may be pier space available at the shipyard, the old navy yard, or Chester or Wilmington downriver. I honestly don't know what they're going to do. I'm just highly confident the Philadelphia Terminal will not be anywhere near ready. Norwegian is my favorite cruise line, and I'm confident they'll do right by us. I'd imagine there's major scrambling behind the scenes unless they anticipated this and have a solid Plan B. I'm just glad I'm not booked on the first couple of cruises out of Philly. I'm booked on the third one.

Here's some photos of the drive by. Sorry if they're not clear. My dog took the photos. Sometimes she gets drool on the lens.

03/21/2026

Some days I think we are living in the Golden Age for Stupid.

Teens aboard a cruise ship pulled a man overboard prank. Should they be made to pay for costly “joke”?

03/21/2026

Okay, full disclosure, I'm a cruise fan. I think articles like this are just bad alarmist journalism in search of clicks. You're much more likely to get sick from riding a bus or an Uber, or from your kid at school. Here they're reporting 150 people out of thousands having symptoms. Mild nausea would count as a symptom. Cruise lines have to monitor and report illness outbreaks. Schools, hotels, clubs don't. You're no more likely to get sick on a cruise than in everyday life. You can avoid getting sick by simply washing your hands and using common sense. On the bright side, these B.S. articles keep crowds down and keep prices lower.

Cruise ships may be affordable and accessible, but the trade-off is spending your vacation on a giant floating petri dish of disease.

03/18/2026

I know I bang this drum hard, but ALWAYS get travel insurance. You never know what surprises may be lurking, and something seemingly minor or insignificant can derail your trip and cost you $$$$!

Flying to the cruise port on the day of the cruise is asking for trouble. One delayed or missed flight and your entire vacation plan is out the window. In

03/16/2026

This is not a "MUST HAVE!" post. I don't do that. But I think this is a simple solution to a recurring problem. Smart watches and phones keep "updating" and changing away from ships time. This has caused problems for traveller's, pier running, missed excursions or dinner reservations. The answer is simple, buy an inexpensive DUMB watch, rock it old school. Added bonus, in the rare event you get robbed, which I hope never happens, you don't lose your $450 smart watch. You lose a $30 Timex. And a dumb clock in the room also helps. Cheers!