Articles by Richard Bruce Turen


YOU ARE CONFUSING YOUR READERS

Q –  As long-time readers and clients, I have to tell you that your site has one confusing characteristic. I’ve noticed that, while the site refers to “River Boats” and “riverboating”, you seem to have taken to calling river boats “riverships”. I don‘t know if this is worrisome to others but I would like to…

BOOKED ON SCENIC AND CONCERNED ABOUT WATER LEVEL ITINERARY ALTERATIONS

Q – We were pretty much set to book a Scenic Rhine cruise for next fall when we read your latest “CSI” Report. First, what is that, I’ve never heard of it, and should we think about sailing with Uniworld, our next choice, so that we don’t end up with a bus tour instead of…

WILL WE REALLY SEE WINDMILLS?

Q – We’ve met with our travel agent and she is recommending, knowing our love of gardening, that we ought to sail with Avalon on the “Tulips” itinerary next year. We imagine beautiful scenery and windmills along the route. Will we actually see the windmills? We have an allocated budget for this trip and I…

EDITOR’S CHOICE: WHERE WOULD WE GO IN OCTOBER?

Q –  Don’t be insulted but we came to this site confused and now we find ourselves wallowing in more great information than we ever thought we’d find online, and we are even more confused.  We’re in our mid-sixties, retired as of two weeks ago, and ready to see a bit of the world. We’ve…

IS THE RHINE THE DANUBE’S UGLY SISTER?

Q – Our research online has sort of led us to believe that the Rhine takes second to the Danube in popularity. We are all set to book with Uniworld but we want to be certain we are not going to be spending 10-Days on the Danube’s ugly sister. Are our concerns  justified? A –…

CONSIDERING MOZART FOR DANUBE BUT HOW MUCH DAY CRUISING WILL WE REALLY HAVE?

Q  – We have been intrigued by the information on RBR about Crystal and their philosophy of adding more time on the rivers for daylight cruising. Is this marketing hype or something we can count on in our future planning? Our agent is really pushing this cruise but we would want your sign-off. A –…

TOTALLY EXCITED ABOUT AMA’S WONDERS OF MYANMAR – BUT….

Q –  We are sooo excited about the Hidden Wonders of Myanmar itinerary being offered by AMA on the AmaPura. It is a sixteen day program that is round-trip out of Yangon and includes an in-depth look at unspoiled portions of this country that has been hidden from the rest of the world for so…

WILL WE EVER KNOW WHAT AWAITS US ON THE RIVER?

Q –     First: I want to thank you for this site.  My wife and I have taken a couple of Viking Cruises and we’re always getting asked questions that our limited experience prevents us from answering.  Now we know where to send them. Second:  I love the questions on “Why won’t they tell us…

AVOIDING BUS TOURING AND TOO HECTIC A PACE

Q –    I am impressed with the information on your site.  My husband and I (both 69, well-educated) are planning a European River Cruise some time between July and Sept of either 2017 or 2018,  I’ve been considering something between Amsterdam and Budapest (roughly), for approximately 2 weeks, but am open to suggestion.  My…

JUST HOW CLEAN IS THE DANUBE?

Q – Just wondering – the water on our recent AMA cruise seemed to be really clean for the most part. Is the Danube considered to be a clean river? A – For the most part, yes. It is even cleaner than the Hudson River. Since it passes through ten countries, there are areas of…

CAN YOU HELP AN AUSSIE BOOK A CRUISE?

Q –   Thank you for such an informative site, I have learned much and have so much more to learn. I believe I may be more informed, however, more confused. My husband and I are Australians planning to take a European River Cruise in 2017. After reading you site, I am tempted to go straight to…

IS THERE A MORE YOUTHFUL RIVER CRUISE OPTION?

Q –    My friends and I have decided that for our next trip we want a tour that covers several cities and doesn’t require changing hotels every night or two. We’re thinking a river cruise might be the thing, but several people told me that river cruises are best taken at 70+ –thereby insuring…

HOW CAN A READER TELL IF AN ONLINE REVIEW IS HONEST?

Q –  As an early adapter and technical Millennial, I like to think of myself as tuned in. But travel on the internet seems to be a blur of contradictory advice and I keep getting the feeling that I am being set up and fed large amounts of really crappy, biased information. This seems particularly…

ANY WAY TO COMBINE A TRAIN TRIP OF QUALITY WITH MACHU PICCHU ?

Q – This is a lovely web sight and we’d love to know who sponsors it. Is it the tourist boards or the hotels? Our question concerns a desire to see Machu Picchu but to combine it with train travel which my husband just loves. He has a magnificent train set up in our basement…

SEEKING LUXURY SERVICES ON A HUGE SHIP WITH ABOUT 75 RESTAURANTS

Q – If I may offer a critique – you seem to really gloss over another luxury option for people like us. We are willing to pay for private, top-drawer accommodations with, perhaps, a private dining option, butler service. etc. But we are also interested in going to the on-board shows, art sales, lectures and…

DO THE CRUISE LINES PLAN THEIR OWN SHORE EXCURSIONS?

Q – My husband and my sister and her husband have been cruising together for the past eight years on Crystal, Silversea, and Azamara. And while nothing comes close to Crystal in terms of service, food, and entertainment, they all seem to have one thing in common – a few real shore excursion clinkers. Do…

READY TO CRUISE – WITHOUT A SPORTS JACKET

Q –  I just found your site and think it is great.  Thank you for some honest answers to questions.  I will be retiring in soon and my wife and I are thinking of doing some cruising, both river and ocean, to see some of the world.  We are even thinking about a world cruise,…

OUR SMALL SHIP CRUISE OF THE YEAR

Q – We have become regulars on your sites and trust the advice you share on so many topics of interest. My wife and I are in our early forties, we live in New York and both work in investment banking. We have traveled extensively in North America and Europe. We’ve sailed Seabourn and Sea…

CURIOUS ABOUT CRUISE LINE EXECUTIVE SALARIESq

Q –  As an HR guy, I am curious about the salary levels of the more prominent executives at the largest cruise lines. I wonder if there is any information you might post that would give me an idea of what these people earn annually. I am sure that a lot of cruisers who share…

WHO REALLY HAS THE BEST AIRLINE FOOD IN FIRST CLASS?

Q – We’ve started enjoying our retirement and flying to points around the world on our bucket list. We had owned fractional ownership in our own jet but going forward we’re feeling that flying commercially in First makes more sense. Obviously, we fly the airline and the route that works best for us but my…

DO THE EUROPEANS REQUIRE PIN NUMBERS WITH THOSE CHIP CARDS?

Q –   We will be leaving for Europe in three months  and we’re concerned about whether or not our credit cards will be accepted or do we need a chip? Also wondering about a pin number. It seems we’re  quite a bit ahead of the Euros on this issue as we don’t need the…

IS OUR TRAVEL AGENT NUTS?

Q – We are winos, in the best sense of the word, and all of our recent forays have been to wine destinations like Bordeaux, Tuscany, and a great week in Napa. Our travel agent has planned these well and knows we’re adventurous (early forties and financially comfortable).  But now she is recommending we go…