The rest of Q&A

Q – This has been bothering me for years and I thought you might be able to help. Our best friends are absolute wine snobs. I am getting tired of my friends habit of insisting on doing all the wine tasting on our frequent forays abroad. He makes a big deal of swirling his glass, endlessly “aerating” his wine before tasting it as the hapless wine steward stands by anxiously awaiting his nod of approvals. My friend takes every available wine course offered in our city and I suppose he knows what he is doing but the tasting and, occasional spitting out the wine back in the glass is sometimes embarrassing.  How would you deal with this?

Q – If he enjoys it we would say let him gargle his wine, spit into out, or put it behind his ears. But, in truth, we would likely not hold back and point out that truly knowledgeable wine connoisseurs never taste a wine. Taste is a very personal thing. It tells you nothing important about the wine except whether or not, on that day, at that time, your friend likes it.

When a wine steward presents a bottle of wine the proper response historically is to simply sniff the cork to determine if the wine is spoiled or rancid

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Q – Any recommendation for a nice, unique, small hotel, in London that attracts a hip crowd?

 A – Try the new Chiltern Firehouse. This small, 26-room property was a firehouse in the 1890’s. It has a lively bar and a recommended restaurant. Can’t promise “hip” but it has been attracting an artsy, younger crowd.

Q – We want to find a Caribbean resort that will provide sun, spa, serenity and an opportunity for my husband and I to have, well, never mind. But we’re stymied because we live in Chicago and it has to be an easy non-stop flight.  Is there an answer to our dilemma?

A – There are several but the one that first comes to mind is the Dorado Beach Ritz Carlton. Think beautiful, secluded beach and the Spa Botanical plus James  Beard award-winning chefs on premises. This is a one-of-a-kind Ritz Carlton Reserve Property. 

Q – If your writers could take a month off and go  somewhere lovely next summer where they could enjoy village life, the sea, authentic, fresh local foods, and hours spent sitting at an outdoor cafe working on a novel, where might it be? It would need to be less than a ten hour flight from Atlanta.

A – A bit subjective and there are at least thirty possible answers but your question takes us  to one of the less visited among the more than fifty inhabited Greek Islands. For starters, check out Paros, Lesbos, and Simi.

If you can’t write while sitting waterside in a taverna along Simi’s waterfront, it is time to choose a new passion like reverse bungee-jumping.

Q – We’ve been enjoying traveltruth for a long time. We sail the better cruise lines and have used the same Denver agent for years. But our friends,  just got back from an NCL cruise got upgraded by their travel agent the first time they used her.  Should our travel agent be upgrading us? If we switched over to you, would we be upgraded. Our current agent seems knowledgeable and provides good service, but if we can get upgraded at no additional charge we would throw you our business. Will look forward to your response. Please do not use my name.

A – We never make the names of our clients or web site guests public. If you “throw” us your business we will toss it back. Stick with your current agent as it sounds like she is providing more than adequate service.

You generally get upgrades on the better lines via a formal VIP upgrade request process. This requires your agent to provide biographical information to the cruise lines sales department. The request then goes to the dispatch supervisor for your particular ship.  VIP status is generally granted to individuals with significant accomplishments of a level sufficient for them to be considered “influential”. Cruise lines like to upgrade those they feel are in a position to influence large groups to book their ships.

Your friends likely received an automatic booking upgrade, a technique used on larger, mass market lines. Under these programs, nearly everyone booking during a certain timeframe is given a complimentary upgrade. This is in lieu of an additional booking discount.  It actually saves the cruise line money versus more typical booking incentive cash offers.

Finally, be aware that on the luxury end of the cruise market, top-end suites are often the first to sell out. Every cruise revenue yield executive assumes that guests talk about pricing issues. They are very careful to avoid alienating those who have committed early to pay the extra cost of top accommodations.

Our advice: Choose your agent on the basis of who they are and their likely clout should there ever be a problem. Most of what is written about upgrades is nonsense.

Q – We’ve been asked to join friends on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. They’re wonderful friends, great company, but we’re folks who enjoy fine dining on vacation. So how bad is this going to be?

A – There are specialty restaurants that you will likely find tolerable and perhaps even find dinner cruise to be enjoyable. For the most part, dining aboard the mass market ships is very much a case of institutional catering. Passable, impressive presentation, but nothing to write home about.

There actually is a much-discussed article published by the New Yorker in which writer David Owen examines the inner-workings of the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. He points out that the vessel has 23 dining venues including a sushi-and-ishiyaki restaurant, an Italian Trattoria, and a cupcake shop. He was impressed with the on-board butcher shop, twenty galleys and the fact that “virtually everything that I ate had been prepared on the ship using fresh, unprocessed ingredients.” Go with an open attitude and we think you will be fine. Besides,  good tablemates are half the battle.

 Q – I am bringing my family to Australia for a well-deserved holiday. It will be a costly trip and we are looking at flying coach. We are wondering if there are still any ways to dramatically save on Business Class tickets to Sydney from the States.

A – This is one of the world’s longest flights (LA – SYDNEY) and there is little competition save that between Virgin Australia and Qantas. The rule of thumb is that if you see a Business Class Ticket under $8,000 per person – grab it.

You might want to look at purchasing a coach ticket and trying to use miles to upgrade. The other option is to compromise and purchase premium coach, if seats are available. These long-haul carriers offer some excellent in-air service and they do their best to make the time pass quickly. It always helps to know that your flight will be about the same length of time as thirty episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants.

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 shortest route to Italy is from Tripoli to the island of Lampedusa where migrants are processed and set to other locations within the country. The trip can be done in a day and half in calm seas.

Specific named or implied targets include the symbols of western religion so one imagines that security at the Vatican, normally quite high, will be strengthened. No reputable travel industry source has suggested postponing travel to Italy. In fact, US Shopping Malls have just been named as targets by the Somali branch of Al-Queda. We suggest that you stay connected by using Google Translator to follow some of the more reliable Italian newspapers.

What we always suggest to queries like this is that you look at things dispassionately. Statistics clearly demonstrate that your drive on a US Highway to your departure airport is far more likely to kill you than any action by a terrorist cell abroad. The economy of Italy cannot afford to have its tourism flow interrupted at this time. You will see extremely strong security measures put into place that may be comforting to some visitors. Others may be put off by it. This is a very personal decision but we can tell you that yours is the first question we have received on this topic.

We pour over security advisories from time to time and one can always make a good case for hiding under the bed and spending this life watching others live on TV. Real travelers will never succumb to threats regarding their ability to explore this incredible planet.