Articles by Richard Bruce Turen


WE ARE GOING TO AFRICA IN TWO YEARS AND NEED ADVICE

Q – You go all over the internet and find all kinds of advice about travel to Africa and it all sounds like so much noise. Yesterday, my therapist, yes I am being serious, told me about your site. I hope you will answer just a few questions. My wife and I are in our…

WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I HAVE A “Q” ON MY TICKET?

Q – I recently returned from a trip to London where I noticed that instead of saying I was flying in economy it said I was flying in Q Class. Then I looked carefully, and my connecting ticket home had an N instead of a Q. Anyway you can explain these letters the airlines use…

WHY DOES DELTA DO SUCH SHARP LANDINGS WHEN ALL I WANT TO DO IS FLOAT BACK DOWN?

Q –  I have been flying for the past two decades, mostly to larger metropolitan areas. I have noticed that some pilots, particularly those with Delta, seem to make harsher landings while American pilots seem to glide in more softly. I wonder why this is and also wonder about any of the larger airports where…

DID WE MAKE A MISTAKE? BOOKED TWO NIGHTS AT VICTORIA FALLS

Q – Set with a two-week tour of southern Africa that begins in Cape Town and ends in Johannesburg. This mid-August vacation includes two nights in Victoria Falls where I am reading the water has completely dried up and the Falls are no more. We are working with a local safari operator based in Johannesburg…

THERE HAS TO BE A WAY TO DRAG HUBBY ON A NICE SHIP!

Q – What is the percentage of men wearing tuxedoes during formal nights? My husband is totally opposed to the idea of cruising on a ship that is formal but he will only at top tier resorts and hotels. A – It depends – but the answer is not many unless you are doing an…

HOW CAN YOU GET PROPER INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR A LAST-MINUTE CRUISE BOOKING?

Q – Can we get last-minute insurance when we are booked on a Caribbean cruise but notice, one week out, that a storm will come through our planned itinerary? What is the best way to select insurance and why do you always recommend Travelex? A – You might find a sleaze insurance outfit that will…

OUR MOST HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW SHIP

Q – We received your list of the cruise line’s planned new ship construction through 2025. The financial commitment, is just amazing, $478 Million for the Regent Splendor and twice that cost for a new Celebrity ship. We are wondering, with all this new tonnage coming along, which ship or ships have you the most…

WHICH SPECIFIC CABINS SHOULD WE AVOID WHEN BOOKING CRYSTAL?

Q – Any big difference in the S1 or the S2 staterooms on the Crystal Ravel? Any locations in either category we should be avoiding? Thank you for the best, most helpful sites for travelers seeking straight answers minus the advertising hyperbole. A – Both stateroom categories are identical at 253 sq. ft. and King…

AMAZON RIVER VERSUS IRRAWADDY? WHICH DO YOU RECOMMEND MOST ENTHUSIASTICALLY?

Q – We are enthusiastic followers of your various web sites. Traveltruth is our favorite and we love the fact that it covers anything remotely limited to travel. We love to go to exotic locales where we have a serious chance of catching something that might bring us down for a few days or longer….

WHY THE RATINGS DOWNGRADE ON SCENIC?

Q – We’ve been following your reviews closely and you helped us plan our last two Riverboat vacations. But, as we sailed Scenic twice and loved the experiences, we couldn’t help but notice that they have come down a notch or two in the rankings. We’d love to know why as we are contemplating our…

OUR KIDS ARE EXCITED AND NOW WE HAVE TO DISAPPOINT THEM

Q – Q – We have been planning on taking our two kids, ages 13 and 14, on a two-week special Viking River Cruise on one of their new Longboats in the summer of 2022. We have all the Viking brochures and as the largest line, they seem to have some economy of scale resulting…

WHICH MEDIA OUTLETS REFUSE TO ACCEPT FREE TRIPS FOR THEIR TRAVEL WRITERS?

Q – We are fascinated by your point about the relationship about travel articles and the fact that the vast majority of writers are describing their own “free or nearly free” trips. No wonder we can’t really depend on travel reporting any more than we can believe what is written on a number of other…

DO YOU HAVE A SECOND FOR A “BIG” QUESTION?

Q – Have spent portions of the last three nights reading your Q&A. Really enjoyable and love the information. Here is our brief story: I am retiring in six months and, with the death of my folks earlier this year, have come into enough money that will enable us to do some serious traveling in…

CAN I EASILY BRING MY PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IN AND OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA?

Q –  We will be going on the south africa safari next year a and I would like to know the strategy for bringing drugs like Zyrtac, for allergies, into the country. I have read that they are very strict about drugs.  A – South Africa, along with many other nations in Africa are extremely…

HEADED TO PARIS NEXT MAY AND WORRIED ABOUT CROWDS

Q – We have taken your advice and are thinking about scheduling our trip to France, our first trip to Europe, next May so we can avoid the crowds. My wife has dreamed about visiting the Louvre since she was an art student at NYU. Is this a good time to go to on a…

THIS MAY SEEM STRANGE OR CHEESY

Q – This may qualify as the weirdest request of the week. I love fondue. I love cheese. But I am a connoisseur, as snobby as my wine drinking friends up here in Seattle. For my 60th, my wonderful wife bought us two tickets to Zurich on SAS. The purpose of the trip is visiting…

IS THERE A GREAT FOODIE ADD-ON TO THAILAND?

Q – We have two weeks scheduled in early November in Thailand. We will be joined by our friends, our podiatrist and his wife. (We advise all of your readers to make friends with their podiatrist – it makes walking around overseas so much easier). We are from LA and we are, could you guess,…

IS ‘VIEW FROM THE WING” A RECOMMENDED SITE?

  Q – We discovered an interesting web site that has a lot of information about earning miles and using the best credit cards for travel and earning miles. We are wondering if you would recommend “View from the Wing” as a reliable source? A – Yes, the site’s editor, Gary Leff, is highly respected…

ARE THEY BEING SERIOUS: WE CAN’T EAT A PANINI IN FLORENCE?

Q – We are planning on spending a fair amount of money, staying at The Savoy, in Florence this coming summer. We’ll be there for six days and are looking forward to walking around on one big self-designed foodie tour. We love street food. click here you will get too many types of food. But…

YOU ARE GOING TO THINK MY HUSBAND IS A SAINT

Q – I think I am married to a “saint”. So do my friends. I’ve been working in the Publishing field for the past fourteen years and I have found myself working more and more on health-related publications. I did have a bout with Cancer a few years back and my husband has made up…