WHY DID ALASKA AIR PULL OUT OF CUBA?

Q – My husband and I were scheduled to fly our favorite airline, Alaska Air, to Cuba in March. We live in Pasadena and the non-stop flight from LAX was perfect. Now, we have been notified that they are operating their last flight in January. We’re making other plans, but we’re wondering why they would…

WHAT DO WE BRING TO CUBA: BITCOIN, DOLLARS, PESOS, OR EUROS?

Q –  We are doing a Caribbean cruise that includes several days in Cuba. The information about spending money in their country is a bit contradictory. Do we just bring a bunch of singles, do we use local currency for best results? What is the best strategy? As Cuba is opening up, we think you…

GOING TO IRAN, CHINA, AND INDIA ON BUSINESS

Q – This is a bit out of your normal range of questions but wondering if  you might help me with a recommendation on an issue of personal security. As I write this it looks like the US is moving the Israeli capital to Jerusalem and I am headed to visit several parts of the…

WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE THE MOST UNFRIENDLY RESIDENTS

Q – Really wondering if you might help us. We are starting to do a lot of traveling as we have come into some unexpected inheritance. The obvious start is to begin in Canada and Scandinavia where we keep reading people are actually open and friendly, something that just strikes us as worthy of support….

HEADED TO PARIS – IS THERE ANY PLACE I CAN GET NAKED?

Q – My girlfriend and I are vegetarians, world travelers I suppose, fans of modern art, foodies to a degree, and, of late, folks who enjoy nudist activities. We are in our mid- 60’s and keen to take a day or two of our upcoming Parisian vacation to get naked in public without upsetting the…

IS THERE A WAY TO TOP TAUCK IN THE GREEK ISLANDS?

Q –  My husband and I just returned from a Danube River Cruise with Tauck.  We loved every minute of it.  Service, food, itinerary was exceptional. Would you recommend a ship that cruises the Greek Islands that compares to the  MS Joy with Tauck? By the way, we used your website to decide on which river cruise…

SHOULD WE GO WITH GRAND CIRCLE?

Q – Your website has an amazing amount of information-thank you- we are preparing to book our first European river boat cruise-we’ve traveled to China on Viking and Vietnam with OAT- We are not looking for a 5 star experience on board-prefer it to be about what we see and learn from our trip-but-with that said-we…

TRAVELING SOLO ON A RIVERBOAT IN EUROPE

Q –  Subject: Cruising Solo on the Danube   Can you please provide advice on which cruise line, or lines, would be most suitable for a woman who wishes to cruise solo? For example, are there lines that offer single cabins?  Arrange dinner tables to include solo travelers? I am an active, sixty year old,…

MY HUSBAND IS WORRIED ABOUT DRESSING UP

Q  –  We are hoping to take our first river cruise vacation, in fact our first cruise of any kind, next July. I am really excited as we’ve only been to Europe once and my husband hates the idea of a huge cruise ship. He also hates dressing up – he’s a tee-shirt and jeans…

WHY IS MY AGENT ADVISING AGAINST SCENIC?

Q – Extremely informative site – the best we’ve found. Wonder if you could help us understand why our TA, a member of the Virtuoso Group which is so highly regarded, seems to think we should avoid the line because “you just won’t like it.” We’re in Manhattan and she is very direct but we…

WHEN MY SAFETY IS INVOLVED I WANT ENGLISH SPEAKERS ION THE BRIDGE

Q – We were surprised to by what we observed on a thoroughly enjoyable Viking River Cruise to Bucharest. While most everything about this experience surpassed our expectations, we were really put off by the fact that the Captain barely spoke a word of English and his comments had to be literally translated by the…

WHICH LINES DO NOT INCLUDE SHORE EXCURSIONS?

Q – We have skimmed this site but we can’t find any mention of a river boat company that does not include the shore excursions in its pricing. We would like to avoid the bus tours and ask the river boat line to arrange private sightseeing int he ports so we don’t have to feel…

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF A RHINE RIVER CRUISE DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF NOVEMBER?

Q – Wondering what you thought of a Rhine River Cruise in November? We have received some amazing pricing from Emerald Waterways. Are they decent? A – We think the same thing about November on the Rhine as we think about November in Vladivostok. There are better options. But off-season travel still has great appeal…

IS THERE REALLY A CROSSWORD PUZZLE CRUISE?

Q – Enjoying your information and humor. Wondering if you might advise if one of the better cruise lines is offering a Crossword Puzzle cruise. I am an aficionado  of the sport and would greatly enjoy a cruise that focused on this subject. We like to stretch our minds when we travel and there seem…

WHY IS VIKING CRUISES UNLISTED?

Q – We are looking at several options including the Viking Sky in Europe next summer. After spending countless hours searching for some really helpful information we were led to your site. We are really glad we found you but we can’t figure out why Viking Cruises does not appear at all in your ratings,…

IS UBER HALF THE COST OF AN AIRPORT TAXI AT MAJOR US AIRPORTS?

Q –  As a rather frequent business traveler who is not, admittedly, tuned in to the latest apps and services, I was surprised when a colleague described her  extremely positive experiences with Uber. Wondering what you think of the service generally and whether or not it is true, as she has told me, that they…

DOES A CHANGE OF ITINERARY RESULT IN SOME ‘INCONVENIENCE MONEY”?

Q – Our cruise on Royal Caribbean has been changed from an Eastern to a Western Caribbean itinerary. I am not really thrilled with the ports and wonder if we are entitled to some sort of major discount for this change in itinerary. It wasn’t what we signed on for and we didn’t cause the…

FLYING NEXT SUMMER IN JULY: IS HEAT AN ISSUE WITH PLANES?

Q –   Wow – what a site. Really appreciate the opportunity to learn all this stuff in such a neat way with no sales pressure. My question has to do with the summer just past and all of the heat issues. As we will be flying out of New Orleans next July, we are wondering…

0

WHICH CARIBBEAN ISLANDS ARE STILL IN GREAT SHAPE?

Q –  We have been collecting data on various two-week Caribbean itineraries next year on one of the top-rated smaller ships. There has been lots of information on the damage done by Irma, Maria and their friends in the Caribbean but we have not seen any listing of those islands unaffected. We’re new to luxury…

JUST RETIRED – GOING CRUISING – NEED LOUNGE ADVICE

Q –  Down here in Greenville we’re fixing to party. Just retired from Boeing and ready to do one or two cruises a year until I’m ninety. Been following following your information online and reading all I can. We’ve previously done two cruises – both on Norwegian. Our plan is to alternate a cruise on…

CAN YOU ‘BOOK A CABIN WITH A “LOW BID” FOR REAL?

Q – Our neighbor, who literally packs pennies to carry to his bank, keeps telling me I am nuts to be sailing the ships that I love like Windstar and Azamara. He is really happy with the pricing and amenities on Norwegian Cruise line and he told me on Saturday that he had been able…

WILL THIS DRIVER’S LICENSE WORK FOR ID?

Q –  Good Morning – while searching Airline fares I came across your website – it looks like it contains a wealth of information.  I’ll be sure to refer to it in the future.  I have a question concerning  the proper identification for a trip my wife and I are planning this fall from CT…

GOING TO CHINA AND NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GIFTING

Q – Our travel agent here in northern Virginia, has fixed us up with a really nice tour program created by a company called WildChina. I wonder if you know anything about this company? We’ve kind of put our faith in this agent but we are paying close to $1000 per day  for a 16-Day…

TRAVEL TO NORTH KOREA: POSSIBLE?

Q – We have tried to travel to many of the countries on the “Not Advised” list over the past decade including Iran and Iraq. I am thinking I would like to visit North Korea just to get my passport stamped and to stay for a few days. How can I best do this? A- …

WHERE WILL THE NEXT ‘WORLD’S LONGEST” FLIGHT ROUTE LIKELY BE?

Q –  I have a somewhat perverse interest in long flight statistics. I can tell you who has the longest flights currently (Singapore) and I pretty much know the schedules. I’ve flown two previous “longest routes” but I am anxious to start planning for something new. Is there a longest ever route coming out soon…