The rest of Q&A

Q – We have three BMW’s in the garage. For our next trip to Europe, we’d love to have a custom trip arranged where we might drive a Beemer on some of Germany’s best roads, with frequent stops for beer and Brotzeit. We know what we want – we just don’t know how to begin. Awesome site unlike anything we’ve seen on the internet before.

A – Start your vacation in Munich. We would suggest that you, first, fortify yourself at the Hofbrauhaus with a private insider’s tour, then rent a late-model, high-performance BMW and drive some of the great back roads of Bavaria and then head up into the foothills of the Swiss Alps. The scenery will blow you away. And please drive responsibly, which, in Germany,  means keep it under 90 on the straightaways.

In terms of beginning, find a travel consultant, not a travel agent, you can trust and inquire about their affiliated offices in Germany. If they don’t have one – move on. 

Q – Please don’t use my name but you can say that I am a fairly well-known amateur photographer whose work has appeared in several major publications including AFAR and National Geographic. But I have a day job that finances our photographic journeys. My dream is to take some great photos of Japan’s Mt. Fuji for the gerber competition. It seems there are some wonderful lights in the distance if you choose the right spot. Is there any way you might advise us as to where we might go to get the best shot and who we ought to be booking this with to go exactly where we need to go?

A – Nice to meet you. We’ve got several photographers on staff whose work appears on Instagram and Pinterest. We did not know the answer to your question but we have contacts with the best travel specialists in Japan. They recommend that you try to take your pictures from Lake Ashi in Hakone. They promise amazing views with the lighting background we think you are seeking. We would suggest that you plan the trip with someone who is part of one of the best consortium groups such as Virtuoso, Signature, or Ensemble. Inquire about their offices in Japan. If you want photography historical blog then do visit to Endurance Obituaries site.

Apart from this you can focus more on instagram growth for sharing your photography skills. Instagram has such a huge user base that can grow you quickly. You can get instagram followers fast with the help of nitreo. At Upleap you can buy instagram follower for your instagram growth.

Q – We’re really into traveltruth but we feel you seriously shortchange the Caribbean. There isn’t much objective information about the islands online – they all use the term “paradise” interchangeably.  In three months, we’re off to Jamaica on a corporate reward trip including accommodations at Rose Hall. But we keep hearing negatives about the island. How we  spin this trip so it is awesome?

A – You could go out to Bob Marley’s house and just inhale for a half hour. But better to play one of Jamaica’s excellent golf courses, go horseback riding on the beach, get set up for a few hours with a picnic lunch on a deserted beach, and definitely go for a ride on the “Country Bus” to meet the real Jamaica. Stay away from anything touristic and make contact with a great travel specialist or the Head Concierge at Rose Hall. Watch yourself at night if going “off-campus” but do dine-around. Here are some recommendations for dinner:

• Sugar Mill Restaurant (Montego Bay; tel. 876/953-2314):

• Norma’s on the Beach at Sea Splash (Negril; tel. 876/957-4041):

• Rockhouse Restaurant (Negril; tel. 876/957-4373

• Bloomfield Great House (Mandeville; tel. 876/962-7130):

Q – Thank you for the information you give about some of the things you need to be careful about on some of these cruise ships. My 17 year-old daughter has asked me to let her go with a friend on a three-night Royal Caribbean Bahamas cruise. Her friends mother will be going, but she has three other children and is traveling with other family members, so I just don’t see how she would have time to watch out for my daughter. She really wants to go and I am leaning toward letting her. Can I assume the crew will keep an eye on any young people who seem unsupervised? No one in our family has cruised.  Please respond as soon as possible.

A – The cruise industry has not, for rather obvious reasons, been interested in discussing crime, particularly crimes of a sexual nature, that take place on the high seas. Crimes aboard cruise ships include rapes of passengers by crew members. An attorney who represents many of the victims of on-board crime, reports that there were 959 crimes at sea reported to the FBI during one 18-month period in 2011 and 2012. Specific allegations regarding NCL, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean and others can be examined on the web site www.cruiselawnews.com.

We urge you, in the strongest terms, not to allow your daughter to travel on a mass market mega-ship unless you, or a member of your immediate family you can trust, accompanies her and provides full-time supervision. Ships with thousands of guests, none of whom has to go through any background screening, serviced by a largely transient crew that is denied basic rights under US labor laws, is a recipe for disaster. The fact that these ships operate in international waters under phony out-of-country registrations of convenience, is even more cause for concern.

It is true that the vast majority of cruises are incident-free. But it is also true that the industry has done everything possible to hide the facts of on-board crime from the public. We just don’t see any travel agent or cruise sites discussing these issues in-depth. Somehow, consumers feel that “you get what you pay for” does not apply to cruise vacations. It does, particularly as concerns crew background, training, and crimes against passengers.

Q – We have always had a desire to sail the world’s largest ship for a week or so. I’ve heard Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships are huge but we literally want to sail the biggest next summer. Can you tell us which ship that would be?

A – The Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas is, by two inches, the largest vessel currently afloat. She is 225,000 gross tons.

In a rather surprising announcement, Royal Caribbean announced that it is taking the Allure out of the Caribbean next summer and basing the ship in Europe in 2015. This is a hedge bet that they can fill the ship with a mix of guests from the US and Europe. You will be able to do a seven-night itinerary between Civitavecchia (Rome) and Barcelona.

It will be an intimate experience you will share with 5,398 fellow guests. But we suggest you do not  walk into a bar and shout “drinks for everyone.”

Q – With all the problems we’ve been reading about involving American Airline’s bankruptcy and this pending deal with US Airways, we are wondering if keeping miles in our Advantage account for a planned major Christmas trip in 2017 is a good idea?

A – The merger with US Air went through last year and American Airlines profits are soaring based on higher ticket prices and relatively low fuel costs. The new AA made profits of $436 million in the 4th quarter of 2013 compared to a loss of $42 million a year earlier. So don’t bet against American.

As to your mileage bank. We recommend storing your miles in one of the better credit card depositories, preferably one that give you a bonus when miles are cashed in. Choose a credit card that allows you to accumulate miles and then, whenever you choose, to have them applied to any major airline. In other words, you only tap into your mileage and transfer miles to the airline when you are about to purchase a mileage ticket. Never let miles languish in an airline frequent flyer account.

By the way, it is highly unlikely you will be able to purchase mileage awards on American for travel over the Christmas Holiday in 2017 or any other year.

Q – I know the airlines can notify you of an assigned gate or change, but is there any single source I can use all of the time to get information without having to trust my airline to update me?

A – There are two apps that are quite good and both have a basic version  free. Try  Iflyairportguide or gateguru. They will give you security checkpoint times as well as gate assignment at  all major domestic and hundreds of airports around the world. If you fly frequently, we would recommend the “Pro” version.

Q – We’ve been listening to the horrific news reports about the virus that got everyone sick on the Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas. We have never cruised and are scheduled to take our first stab at cruising this October with two other couples from our church. As luck would have it, we’re booked on the same ship. My husband and I can’t fathom what it must be like to be sick at sea like those poor people and we are thinking about cancelling our cruise. Just how high is the risk of it happening on our cruise?  We booked directly with the cruise line and the agent handling our reservation seemed to downplay the incident. We can use a little travel truth.

A –  Well, first of all, every traveler is entitled to an honest and straightforward response as regards issues of personal safety and hygiene. When that doesn’t happen, it makes our blood boil.

The 600 or so guests and 95 crew on the Explorer of the Seas were suffering from a “Norovirus”. A norovirus can be passed through contact with a person who has it. It can be passed by drinking or eating an item that is contaminated. It is also possible to get it by just touching an area that has been tainted.

Norovirus outbreaks are common and generally unreported when they happen off cruise ships. They occur in office buildings, stadiums, concert venues, movie theaters, and shopping malls. An outbreak can be triggered by a single carrier and the disease can infect and spread rapidly. The illness usually passes in a few days but it is debilitating and serious when it occurs.

The percentage of norovirus outbreaks is significantly higher on larger cruise lines, particularly those that cater to a mid-range and budget travelers. When you are on a ship carrying several thousand guests, each of whom paid an average of $150 per day for their cruise, logic would dictate that on-board services do not rival those provided aboard ships costing three and four times that amount per day. Personally, when we travel with our families, we avoid mega-liners with thousands of guests. Of course, when we are working on a story or inspecting one of the large ships for our client reports, we try to pack a few quarts of Purell,  sani-wipes, and we wash our hands twenty times a day.

If you believe that a budget cruise line provides the same levels of cleanliness and vigorous safety inspections found on a smaller, more expensive, luxury vessel, you are being naïve. But this is an extremely complex subject because it is likely that the virus on the Explorer and most of the other viruses reported on other lines such as Carnival, Princess, and NCL. were brought onboard by guests. So, one could argue, how hard the crew works to keep the ship clean and sanitized is largely irrelevant if an infected guest is coming onboard.

We think you should cancel your cruise. We do not say this because we think you will get ill. In fact, Royal Caribbean has a fairly good record when it comes to issues of sanitation and hygiene. We think you should cancel because you are already experiencing anxiety about a vacation you should be looking forward to with great anticipation. Instead of a floating mini-city, try to find something more intimate and refined for your first cruise experience.

By the way, for the record, we’ve experienced more than 130 cruises and we have far more concerns when visiting indoor shopping malls and movie theaters.

Q – Over the past two years, you have kind of spoiled us with the candor of your responses in the Q&A section of your site. So let me pose a question that may put you on the spot. I have to fly rather frequently to Europe where my company has several factories and storage facilities. Sometimes I fly United, sometimes American, etc. I have no loyalty and earn miles with everyone. But I’m wondering which of the major US airlines now has the best overall service in Business Class across the pond? If you don’t wish to answer we’ll still follow traveltruth.

A -No worries. Delta has the best current overseas onboard service to Europe in Business Class of the three major US carriers. But we would advise that you not make too much of the service variations, instead, it would be wise to concentrate on the type of aircraft and whether or not the beds are true Lie-flats. The 777 is a far better comfort option than the 767.

Q – Interesting and honest responses to other questions lead me to ask you if you know of any services that will make my life easier as I travel the world and frequently have to call in from abroad? I would also like to video conference from time to time. As a CFO in the pharmacology field, I need to set an example in terms of frugality so Io guess I’m asking what is the best way to keep in touch on the cheap? But it has to work.

A – There are now multiple options for keeping in touch on a wide variety of platforms. But here is a quick summary you may wish to discuss with your IT people:

01 – If you spend time in a single country, a separate cell phone with a local sim card works best.

02 – If you travel all over there are services such as Telestial.com that deliver a phone package that works in more than 100 countries at substantially lower rates than you would pay with an American carrier.

03 – Don’t discount SKYPE. It keeps getting better because WIFI is available nearly everywhere and you can video conference for an amazingly low price.