IS THERE ANY WAY TO AVOID ‘BANQUET STYLE’ FOOD ON RIVERBOATS?
Q – We will be celebrating our 40th anniversary and we would like to go on a river cruise. We are looking at one of the two-week itineraries between Budapest and Amsterdam..Outstanding food is one of our prerequisites. We’d hate to be in Europe for two weeks dining on banquet-style or luke-warm buffet meals.How do…
PULLING THE TRIGGER TO JOIN FRIENDS
Q – We were on a Uniworld river boat tour last year – first one ever – newer ship – ss Catherine – as foodies (and realizing this is a cruise ship and not a Michelin star restaurant) – we found the food to be extremely good – also, they include all drinks and cocktails…
IS IT WISE TO CONSIDER TRAVEL TO ITALY THIS SUMMER?
Q – We have been listening to some of the talk coming out of ISIS about attacks in Italy in the near future. Is this something that should be a concern and are any of the potential targets identified? A – Statements from ISIS in Libya have claimed that Italy is their next target. The…
A SNOB EN ROUTE TO SPAIN
Q – Dear traveltruth: We depart from SFO for Madrid and two weeks in Spain in the next three weeks. Our agent is quite good but not at all a “Foodie” In fact I think she believes that the Outback is gourmet fare. So wondering if you can help two hopeless food snobs. What are…
WILL MY TRAVEL AGENT KNOW THE BEST TIME TO PURCHASE AN INTERNATIONAL AIR TICKET?
Q – I am traveling more and more lately, pretty much globally. This is business travel, but since I’m the financial guy at the company, I like to handle my own arrangements. I’ve been amazed at how much flights can vary in cost and was wondering if a corporate travel agent would be able to…
REALLY NICE MARRIOTT BED
Q – We just spent three nights at the JW Marriott in Dallas and absolutely loved the bed. We both slept like a baby and made up for the sleep we’ve been lost the past several weeks dealing with some issues at home. We’re back a week and my lovely wife instructs me that I am…
DO HOTELS CLEAN THE BEDSPREADS AFTER EACH STAY
Q – Just back from a two-week jaunt around the British Isles. We stayed mostly at the better-known chain hotels but we also found some charming three-star places. I thought they were fine but my wife said she felt “itchy” during our last night in Edinburgh and wanted me to ask how we can tell…
BOTTOM LINE: HOW DO I REALLY GET THE BEST HOTEL PRICING?
Q – My wife and I really appreciate your approach and so we come to you with a question that’s been on our minds for months. You could say we are frequent world travelers. As COO of a large company based in Boston, I travel overseas an average of two times per month. We take…
A LETTER FROM ANTARCTICA: AN INTREPID TRAVELER’S FIRST VISIT
My Trip to the 7th Continent By Derek Lloyd – Quark Expeditions As soon as I was confirmed I did what probably 90% of your travelers to Antarctica do: I spent way too much on new equipment and clothes for the trip. Of course I checked out our blog on what one needs to…
ARE THESE THINGS BOATS OR SHIPS?
Q – Love both of your sites. How damn refreshing to hear the truth without ads or sales bs. But please, help us out. We sell river boats and we want to be sure that we have it right. Is “Riverboat”, as in your site name, correct? Or, are these just boats or, should we…
WHICH BOAT IN PORTUGAL MAKES THE MOST SENSE?
Q – My wife and I are River Cruise veterans, having done cruises along the Rhine and Danube with Avalon. Now, we are looking at a cruise in the Duoro River Valley. We’ve sort of narrowed it down to AMA or Uniworld. We love the fact that we can come here and get straight advice…
IS THERE ROOM FOR THIRTY-SOMETHINGS ON THE RIVER?
Q – Wonderful web site with lots of great information. My wife and I are looking to take our 5-year anniversary in Europe and a riverboat cruise seems to be at the top of the list (It may be the whole trip or only spend half of it on the boat). However…we’re in our mid-thirties and…
A QUESTION ABOUT VIKING RIVER
Q – My family is in a similar situation to the folks who wrote to you about Viking from Columbus. We have read every word on your site and I guess we have one question to pose to your Editors. What is the single thing that you like the most about Viking River? Your response will…
WHY IS VIKING DOWNGRADED ON THIS SITE?
Q – We are thinking of joining two friends from Columbus on a Viking River Cruise along the Danube next July. As we were getting ready to call in our reservation, we came across this site and were wondering if you were aware that yours is one of the only sites to downgrade Viking. One…
DO RIVER BOATS “KNOCK AROUND” THEIR GUESTS?
Q – My next-door neighbor and his wife, who are far better traveled than we are, just returned from a river cruise where they said they got a great deal of knocking about as the ship progressed with the ship rising and falling and shuddering. They were on a longer Rhine/Danube cruise, something we are…
WHY ARE YOUR RATINGS ON VIKING RIVER LOWER THAN OTHER RATING SOURCES LIKE CONDE NAST TRAVELER?
Q – We were referred to this site by our travel agent and were surprised at your placement of Viking River Cruises below many of the smaller, lesser-known lines. The Conde Nast Ratings apparently rate Viking River near the top. No offense intended, but why should we believe a web site versus a respected publication…
THE BEST TURNED OUT RIVER BOAT IN THE WORLD
Q – It took my husband and I about five minutes on riverboatratings to figure out that river boating is really not for us. It all sounds a bit more mass market and regimented than we had hoped. But we did see that the very top-rated river boats are not necessarily Europe-based boats. Our profile…
VIKING RIVER IN CHINA: GREAT GUIDES, GOOD ON-BOARD FOOD, AND SOME NORTH KOREAN SERVICE ASHORE
Q – We have cruised Europe with Vantage and we recently returned from China where we sailed with Viking River on their Emerald. The Cruise tour did not really give us enough time in Beijing and Shanghai and we would advise traveltruth readers to try to add days in both cities. The cruise, however, seemed…
A LETTER FROM THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH: HEADING SOUTH FROM IRAN
By Richard Bruce Turen The news was starting to get to me. Too much negativity. The world seems to be in a knot, a twisted, convoluted series of pressure points, any one of which can explode at any moment. My clients have concerns. I have concerns for them as they travel the globe. I needed…
IS THIS REALLY THE TRAVELTRUTH OR A PIG IN A POKE?
Q – My wife and I have been following traveltruth for the past eight years. And we always thought we could take anything you said to the bank. But this last story about flying monkeys, horses, and pigs is stretching our credulity. I just can’t believe that any airline is going to let any of these animals…
THE PIG SEATED NEXT TO YOU MAY NOT BE HUMAN
We get a fair number of e-mails from civilians complaining that air travel is not as elegant as it once was. OK, that’s a given. Perhaps we ought to have some minimum dress rules aboard aircraft. Perhaps we ought to close down bars at airports. Perhaps we ought to have odor detection machines and available…
WORLDWIDE HEALTH ADVISORIES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL TRAVELER
Given the importance of tourism in the underdeveloped world, accurate news of diseases that can affect visitors is often under-reported. Here is a list of some important worldwide health advisories that may be of interest to travelers in the months to come. Some of them have occurred in developed nations including portions of Europe. The…
DO ALL OF THE TOP RIVER BOAT LINES INCLUDE DRINKS?
Q – We are about to book a two-week river cruise on AMA, one of your top-rated lines. We will be traveling with good friends for two weeks on the Magnificent Europe Program. In evaluating costs we were wondering how the top three lines vary in terms of what they do and do not include…
FOUR HOURS TO KILL AT HEATHROW: ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR DINING AND SHOPPING?
Q – We will be leaving for London next week flying on United, with a United connecting flight to Lisbon. We just noticed we have four and a half hours between flights. Any suggestions as to where we should eat or shop in the Terminal would be appreciated. A – You need to get specifics…
