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…

YES ON TRAVEL INSURANCE – BUT WHICH COMPANY?

Q – I am coming to traveltruth because I would love to get the bottom line on insurance. I’m a reader, and I organize every aspect of my trip. I’ve been traveling since my wife and I retired eight years ago and it seems that all my plans fall into place until it comes to…

ARE THERE MONTHS WHEN AMSTERDAM SHOULD BE AVOIDED?

Q – We have read your warnings about travel to southern European countries like Italy and Spain during the summer months. You have pointed out the issues with heat and over-crowding. But what of Northern Europe. We are considering a museum-oriented trip to Amsterdam in August and we were wondering what months to avoid in…

RETIRING FROM UNIVERSITY AND SEEKING GOOD CONVERSATION?

Q – My wife and I are both academics and I will be retiring next May. We are planning a two to three-week European cruise on one of the lines you recommend, hopefully utilizing your services. We have started collecting brochures and we go online, from time to time when we can stand the nonsense….

WHY ISN’T RITZ CARLTON LISTED FOR ANY OF YOUR CRUISE AWARDS?

Q – From everything we’ve read, the new Ritz Carlton Yachts are going to be the top ships sailing. We are thinking of booking the Inaugural sailing but we note that they are not mentioned in your reviews or the Cruisetruth Best in Class Awards. Have they offended you or is there something wrong with this product…

ARE WE READING THIS RIGHT? YOUR READERS ARE DUE REFUNDS!

Q – We’ve been reading this blog and one particular section has really made me angry. We have been booking our own travel for almost twenty years. Yes, there have been glitches, but most of the time things worked out and we’ve had some marvelous times. But we always felt we were getting a deal…

CAN WE GO TO EUROPE AND SKIP CUSTOMS COMING HOME?

Q – Friends told us that you can fly home out of Ireland back to the United States without clearing customs as though you are on a domestic flight. True? A -Not exactly. US Customs staff are in Dublin’s airport and US citizens clear US customs before ever boarding the plane home. This also allows…

BUS VERSUS SHIP: JUST CAN’T MAKE UP OUR MINDS

Q – First, thank you for keeping us up last evening. Love your sites and especially the “No Ads” policy. How refreshing. Kept waiting for the magical, annoying boxes to appear – but none ever did.  My husband and I are planning to visit both Australia and New Zealand for up top three weeks but…

TRES CHIC BEACH SCENE OR QUIET INLAND HONEYMOON?

Q – We are wondering if you would recommend some of the beach resorts along the French Riviera such as Cannes or St. Tropez or would we be better off pursuing our French dreams inland, away from the glam coast.  This will be a long-delayed honeymoon for us. She is 56 and I am 65….

A BOURBON SALUTE AND A HOTEL QUESTION FROM MY WIFE

Q –  Greetings whoever y’all are. (May I suggest you tell us who is writing what so we know who to blame?) I have just retired from a Bourbon producing company here in Kentucky and it is time for me to show my wife a bit of the world in the fashion to which, unfortunately, she…

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS AN AIR TAHITI NUI?

Q –  We are strongly considering a cruise on the Paul Gauguin in Tahiti next November, We are extremely excited about this destination but we have friends who flew the airline and said it was extremely uncomfortable in coach. We’re willing to pay for Business Class if you think it would be worth it. The…

ACTIVE RIVER BOATING ON AVALON AND WATER LEVEL CONCERNS

Q – Two questions, 1- We want to book a river cruise for next October 19th on Avalon’s Active Discovery from Prague to Budapest We are getting a bit anxious about the low water levels this year, but of course realize that no one can predict next year’s level. Another option is for us to go…

NOT AT ALL CERTAIN THAT WE CAN HANDLE A RIVER CRUISE AND THE WALKING

Q –  How active are the daily walking tours?  My wife & I are somewhat challenged by long walks.  We can easily do a mile or 2 per day but must move slowly.  My wife wears a “boot” that restricts ankle movement due to multiple surgeries & I have lower back issues that prohibit long…