RESTAURANT GIFT FOR MY WORLDLY HUBBY

Q – My husband is an excellent chef and a real foodie – but only a few of our friends in Manhattan really know this. He will turn 60 in February and I want to arrange to fly him to the best restaurant in the world. I really don’t care about favorable weather as this…

VISITING WARSAW – HATE HIGHRISE, LARGE HOTELS

Q – Visiting relatives in Warsaw in spring. Is there a small, boutique hotel that is well-located and has less than 50 rooms? We can’t stand the chains or the larger hotels.  A – Try to book the H15 Boutique Hotel on Poznanska 15. This new property just went through a five year renovation. It…

I LOST YOU AT ‘BEST WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR HOTEL RATE”

Q – Y’all lost me a few weeks back. My wife and I have been huge fans of both this site and the information you provide for the past five years. We’ve used your information in our travels and passed it on to friends. But you just about lost us with the idea that anyone…

HOW CAN YOU CLAIM THAT RIVER BOATING IS HANDLED BY AGENTS FOR FREE?

Q – I have enjoyed your site and passed it on to friends. But I just don’t see why you would possibly claim that travel agents will help you with the planning for no fee on a totally free basis. Sure you don’t want to back off of that one  A – No, not at…

DOES AMA HAVE TWIN BALCONIES AND SHOULD I CARE?

Q – We have been perplexed by the numerous choices of river boats and accommodations on Europe’s rivers. Until we found this site, we were babes lost in the wilderness. But we’re still not sure about AMA. They seem to have a real advantage in their double balconies and we were wondering if you feel…

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF TRAVEL LEADERS?

Q – My new agent belongs to something called Travel Leaders. Any good? A – Travel Leaders is the largest network of travel agents in the United States. They have offices in 41 States. With 4,000 member agents, some are better than others. But you can trust their pedigree and credentials and know that they…

WHERE IN THE WORLD CAN WE TAKE AN ELEVEN AND A 14 YEAR-OLD?

Q – We’ve reached a point in our lives where we have the income to travel anywhere in the world and to do it in some style. But we’re relatively young and we have two girls ages 11 and 14. Given our age, we want to try to see places in the world that might…

THE MOST OVER-RATED PLACES IN 2016

Q – As we work on our future post-retirement travel plans, two things are clear. We want to see some of the world that we’ve missed out on all these years, and we want to stay in touch with traveltruth to help us make plans that will not disappoint. Could you give us a quick…

RIVER BOAT PRICING 101 – BRAND PRICES BOTTOM LINE

Q – Despite discovering this enormously helpful site, we still have some confusion regarding pricing comparisons. Is there any way you could tell us what the various lines would typically charge for a standard cabin of about 150-170 sq. ft. on a river cruise along the Rhine between Amsterdam and Basel? We understand the ratings…

TRY TO FINESSE COMFORTABLE SNUGGLING WITH MY WIFE EN ROUTE TO SYDNEY FROM LA

Q – Remarkable site but, perhaps, I can challenge you with a pressing question involving our planned trip from southern California to Sydney, Australia. I won;t spend the money for First or Business Class seats, but I might be willing to fly that distance in Premium Economy. But I would want to know that if…

ARE REPORTS OF DISEASE ON BIG ISLAND TRUE?

Q – I have heard from one of my friends that I might want to cancel our Fifth Anniversary trip to the Big Island in Hawaii where I am holding reservations at Mauna Lani Resort. Is there any danger from mosquitoes? I am not sure if I should cancel or just hunker down and bring…

ANXIOUS TO RIVER CRUISE – NOT AT ALL ANXIOUS TO BUS TOUR

Q – All of our friends have been raving about river cruises, so my wife and I finally decided to give it a try. We are preparing to leave in about 3 weeks and we’ve been hearing reports of low water levels. Some boats are being swapped out for others. We are really quite upset…

BOTTOM LINE – WHICH RIVER CRUISE ITINERARY IS THE MOST SCENIC?

Q – I am very mad at you folks. Your site kept me up. I tried to read it in its entirety when I found you at about 10:00 pm. last night. Very entertaining but I wonder how many people get your subtleties. So, my question is a simple one. When my wife and I…

JUST HOW BAD IS EMERALD WATERWAYS?

Q – We have friends who are on a tighter budget than we are who have been trying to convince us to join them on Emerald Waterways. We fully understand that this won’t be a top of the line river cruise and that everything involves an extra charge, but we enjoy our friends company and…

ALL SET UNTIL YOU CONFUSED US

Q –  Your latest update caught us by surprise. You rate Crystal # 1 even though none of their boats have yet launched. We had pretty much decided on a Scenic sailing next summer on an itinerary in France. Now we are wondering if it might pay to wait. We’re in our mid-fifties, quite active,…

OUR AGENT IS PUSHING HERITAGE TOURS IN SPAIN; ARE THEY GOOD?

Q – Our family of  four is looking to do a privately-arranged tour of Spain next year. There will be four of us, including my son and his fiance. Our budget for the trip is around $40,000 and we have about ten days. We have a new travel agent who is recommending a company called…

WE WANT IT ALL IN TUSCANY

Q – We are six friends traveling together to Tuscany next summer. Call us luxury travelers for this trip, a celebration of two anniversaries. We’ve decided that we want to use Tuscany as a base, get a few vehicles, perhaps hire a chef or do some upscale dining, and we would like to do some…

SHOULD WE FLY THE AIRBUS 330 TO FIJI?

Q – We have set up a great family vacation to Fiji next September. In looking over the air options, we notice that Fiji Airways is using an Airbus 330, a two-engine plane. Is there any way to fly over on a larger aircraft with four engines? Does the Fiji plane handle turbulence well? My…

FREE SPA TREATMENTS ON VIKING STAR?

Q – Another couple we met at our club wants us to join them for a cruise to Northern Europe aboard the Viking Star boat which I understand is new. You don’t include Viking Cruise Line in your ratings at all and we wonder why? My main question concerns Spa Treatments. I have not cruised…

HOW DID CRYSTAL BUILD THE NEW ESPRIT?

Q – My wife and I have been following your stories about Crystal and its growth plans carefully. We’re Crystal veterans and, although we’ve also sailed Oceania and Azamara, nothing compares to the service, food, and elegance of our Crystal experiences aboard the Serenity and Symphony. But this new yacht thing has us intrigued. How…

WHY DO CRUISE LINES INCORPORATE IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES?

Q – This is a very good site, perhaps the best I’ve seen, but I wonder why you have never addressed a question about how these various cruise lines dodge taxes by registering their ships in other countries. If I lived in Florida, where most of the largest  lines are based I’d be really upset….

SHOULD WE DO THE OCEANIA SIRENA?

Q – We have friends who are interested in having us join them on the Oceania Sirena on a cruise from Rome to Istanbul on May 22nd. The only other cruise we have ever done was a Costa about five years ago and our friends are thinking this will be much nicer. Is this a…

QUIET, FANTASTIC, HIDDEN GEM IN TOKYO

Q – Through a recent merger, I am going to be spending a fair amount of time in Tokyo and environs. In Manhattan, my fiance and I love going out to the best sushi restaurants. I know there is a ton of great Japanese food to be discovered in Tokyo but I was wondering if…

THE HYDRATION WEIRD LOBBY RAISES ITS VOICE

Q – Ultra-cool travel site – but no one has written in yet who seems to share my need to feel constantly hydrated while flying those stretch aluminum cans. I have to have water when I fly – lots of it. I just think dehydration is an awful feeling on a plane and its so…

CAN I FLY ANY AIRLINE WITH THE CHASE SAPPHIRE CARD?

Q –  My fellow anesthesiologists and I have been following traveltruth for several years and all I can tell you is that if you ever want to be put out we’re here to help. The question of which travel-related credit card is best came up last week at our morning meeting. Can you fly any…