IS IT SAFE TO GIVE A HOTEL SITE MY CREDIT CARD?

Q – As we start planning our travels again, and I don’t want to bother you with long weekends and domestic hotel stays, I wonder if you are feeling that handing over credit card info to a hotel website or online booker is reliable these days? In the past, I’ve done it without thinking, but…

DO I REALLY WANT TO GIVE THESE CRUIS ELINES ALL MY MONEY UPFRONT?

Q – Great site but you should be talking more about Viking Cruises – they are terrific. Best value out there unless you are a heavy premium brands drinker and a sightseer who must have an, “oh so private” driver” instead of a bus. We’ll spend money when we cruise but we like to know…

IS ONE CREDIT CARD BETTER TO USE WHEN OPERATION OF A CRUISE IS UNCERTAIN?

Q – Really appreciate all of this information – but one thing I wish you would address is which credit card we ought to be using for new cruise bookings where conditions aborad may make it impossible to sail. After reading on cruisetruth about all of the problems with Crystal refunds, I wonder if one…

COULD USE A LITTLE ‘SHEET’ CONFIDENCE WHEN WE NEXT CHECK IN

Q – We are restarting our travel buttons with planned stays at hotels in LA as well as Manhattan for Fashion Week events. As we emerge from this Covid crisis, cleanliness is even more important than godliness. To be specific, how do we choose a hotel that will not be reusing the same sheets from…

THE ECONOMICS OF YOUR INDUSTRY MAKES NO SENSE

Q – Help me understand the economics of the cruise industry. They will easily be out an entire year of income while maintaining ships costing, say, over $100 Million a month for the larger fleets. Now, it looks like they will not be generating any income for the first five or six months of 2021….

WILL OUR AIRPORT CHECK-IN BE AS ‘DELIGHTFUL’ AS IT HAS BEEN PRE-COVID?

Q – Any thoughts on how things might change in terms of the check-in process, rules aboard aircraft etc? What can we expect? A – Airlines have discovered major software deficiencies system-wide making the cancellation and transfer of credits extremely challenging. Automation challenges are being addressed now and should be in place when full-scale international…

WE WANT TO TRAVEL BUT WE HAVE FINANCIAL AIRLINE ANGST

Q – We keep hearing references on the news to how hard the airline industry has been hit hard around the world. How bad has it been and will they recover? A – There was one day in March where it was calculated that 61% of the US Airline fleet was in lockdown somewhere at…

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AM I TOO LATE TO STOP A CREDIT CARD PAYMENT?

Q – I have been a Mastercard holder for the past thirteen years. I have been waiting for a return of my deposit for eleven months. My travel agent says I am too late to get a refund through the credit card company and my calls to the service desk at MC have been more…

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A QUICK ACCOUNTING QUESTION: HOW MUCH IS THIS COSTING OCEANIA A MONTH?

Q – Allow an accountant to ask a quick question. We love the Oceania brand and always appreciated your advice to choose the newer, larger Riviera and Mariner when we’re sailing. We now have four sailings under our best.  Just wondering how these lines are handling cash flow with ships tied up. Is there any…

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YOU MEAN WE CAN’T EXPLORE FLORENCE ON OUR OWN?

Q – Really appreciate this site and your straight answers. My wife and I are excited to be taking a Seabourn cruise again in September 2021. But I’ve been following your site and it now seems that new protocols will require that guests purchase the cruise line excursions in order to be able to go…

CAN’T WAIT TO SAIL SEA DREAM AGAIN BUT WORRIED ABOUT THAT SMALL CASINO

Q – We are looking forward to sailing with Sea Dream again next summer. Your recommendation really was a home run as we would hate to anticipate being on a large ship in this environment. The 50 cabin Sea Dream 1 was as close to our “Dream” cruise as we might have imagined. I understand…

WHERE DO INSIDERS GET THEIR CRUISE LINE FINANCIAL INFORMATION?

Q – I guess you could say we are a couple of “cautious Canadians”. We are looking at re-booking a Sea Dream cruise because we feel that with fewer fellow passengers than a typical riverboat in Europe, they are the most yacht-like experience available. We loved our first cruise with them out of Barbados.  We…

IS VIKING CRUISES SERIOUS: 18 MONTHS IN ADVANCE?

  Q – We are – I should say “were”, booked on a Viking Cruise on, what we believed to be, an excellent Scandinavian “Homelands” itinerary in July of 2022. I cancelled when I learned that Viking requires full payment right now for this cruise. I am told this is the way “our company is…

CORONAVIRUS Q&A

LAST UPDATED OCTOBER 25, 2020  YOUR QUESTIONS ARE LISTED FROM THE TOP DOWN IN ORDER RECEIVED Q – We are, like many of your clients I suppose, going a bit stir crazy. This is written in early June and we are anxious to get away with the family, our two teenage boys, for about a…

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…