The rest of Q&A

Q  – My travel agent can get me the best airfare to Ft. Lauderdale or Chicago, but she knows very little about Villas (trust me – I’ve tried to engage her on the topic). Some of the magazines like Travel + leisure now list Villa Agencies. Is this the best way or do we contact the embassy, use the internet, find a different travel agent, contact Villa owners directly or try to read the ads in the back of National Geographic? We are looking for a three bedroom for four adults and three children and we want to keep the price at under $20,000 per week for a two-week stay. At that price, we would expect to have a private cook included on staff. 

A – The fact that your long-time agent does not personally know Villas well is not particularly disturbing. But if she does not have good connections in the Villa Rental world and has no idea how to proceed, you need to be working with another professional that knows about VILLASRANCHOPACIFICA.COM. The best procedure is to have your travel agent place you in direct contact with the best Villa specialists with operations in Spain. My personal recommended choice for a villa would be St Barts Villas of Distinction is one company your agent may want to use. All final negotiations are best done through your agent who will have yiour best interests at heart. Commissions are almost always included in the price so using your agent and then working through her/him witht he right Villa company will normally cost you nothing and it will provide you a number of complimentary services.

Your budget seems reasonable but the cost of a full-time chef, along with the other “staff” your question implies, could well take you over your budget. You can check these budget friendly and anawesome Barbados Villas. You must, ultimately, design a list of those things, such as a swimming pool, location near a village of charm, etc. that form your requirements. The Travel + Lesiure Villa List seems to be copied from the Annual Conde Nast List of Villa Specialists. Since Cinde Nast is independent and T + L is owned by American Express, your agent will likely use someone on the CNT List.

Q – We go to Rome every six months or so. We love the energy, the food, and the southern Italian “attitude.” We’ve always done the Hassler or your recommended Hotel De Russie, but now we’re looking for some new recommendations in the city, We would prefer to stay under $1200 USD per night.

A – There are two new properties we think you may like.  J.K. Place Rome will be open for the summer. This is the newest branch of the chic chain with properties on Capri and in Florence. Margutta 54 is a great new option featuring beautiful suites

Q – Don’t think anyone has ever asked you this before – “Are there airlines that routinely offer lower air fares to Europe?” My feeling is that, once I’m over there, I can connect anywhere I need to go.

A – You may want to look at the schedules and pricing on one of the Frugal Fab Four. They are Air Berlin, Air Lingus (Ireland’s carrier), TAP (Portugal), and Iberia (flies into Madrid). Not one of these airlines ranks among our Top Recommended Airlines for service but you will, normally, find lower fares than those available on the “Majors”.

Q – Our frrinds in Aiken keep wanting us to join them on a Caribbean cruise. They tend to go with Princess or Holland America. We’ve done our last two cruises on Sea Dream Yachts and Seabourn, so we’re reluctant to get on any boat that doesn’t have “Sea” in its name. But then again, pennies always count in our house and we’re wondering if paying two or three times more is really a good idea or even necessary in the Caribbean. We all follow this site religiously and we’re good Baptists!

A – There are so many ways to respond to this question. Let us summarize some of our staff’s primary responses:

Your pricing assumptions are not really correct. We’ve done the analysis, and when you figure in Seabourn’s free air, gratuities, drinks, one or two shore excursions, the price per day for similar accommodations after all discounts are applied, may well turn out to be less than $100 per day per guest. Now for some folks, that is a lot of money. But in the scheme of things, we definitely feel that you will feel you get what you are paying for.

We would normally say join your friends. The fact that you will all be traveling together, makes it possible to pre-arrange some of your own shore excursions. You may, for example, work with a consultant who can get you in to some of the region’s most exclusive resorts. Your feeling that the Caribbean may be the place to step down a grade or two makes sense if you are prepared for the realities. Those realities on mass market lines now include large influxes of non-English speaking guests and an increasingly higher percentage of blue-collar, budget conscious travelers.

Our primary concern is that you have been to the mountaintop. Sea Dream Yachts, for instance, do not normally sail out of Florida. They begin and end their itineraries in the Caribbean avoiding the, sometimes rough waters, between the islands and the Florida Straits.  Given their small size, Sea Dream can take you to islands or private berths that the bigger ships can only visit in their dreams.

Before committing to Holland America or Princess, determine what the real per Diem’s will be for the level of suite you may need to keep you in one of the nicer areas of the ship. Think about thousands of fellow travelers and how you will feel about that. Imagine being nickel and dimed continually. The value will have to be significant to decide that you are willing to put up with that. But who knows – your friend’s company may be well worth these relative “sacrifices”. If you do go with your friends, pre-negotiate that they will pick up your drinks. Explain you are not in the habit of having to pay for them.

Q – We want to take our family of five on the Disney Magic. What would you recommend as the best cabin strategy?

A – Do a deck 8 Veranda. They have a queen or twin beds and three singles that pull out from the wall. There is a divider between the sitting area and the master bath. Enjoy.

Q – I don’t know if you all give advice but I guess it’s worth a shot given my situation. I’m young (mid twenties) petite female who just booked a solo trip to Cozumel for five days in May. Given that I’ve been there before, albeit with a companion, I thought that I chose a safe place to travel. Now, however, I am finding disturbing reports such as the gang rape of a young woman in a “cruise-line recommended shop” in broad daylight. I am becoming seriously worried. All I want is a quiet vacation to Cozumel so I can rest on the beaches/read do a bit of shopping/scuba diving and visit the Bob Marley Bar so I can watch the waves. I even got an all-inclusive option at my hotel so I don;t have to venture out for food at night. But I did plan to visit restaurants, shops, and beaches during the day. Other than avoiding inebriation, how can I minimize risk of assault/etc. when apparently even shops in well-lit areas can be dangerous?

Sidelight: I also apparently look Latin American so every time I end up in the Caribbean/South America or LA I feel like I receive more attention from the local lotharios than my lighjter-skinned, blonde friends do. I’ve also never traveled alone before. I don;t have the option of having this trip refunded and none of my friends can join me due to work commitments. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

A – A vacation ought to be something you anticipate – not fear. Discuss this with your travel agent. Given what has been happening in Cozumel, your agent may be able to work something out. Here are some observations:

Most people go to Cozumel without incident

We would not allow our own family to travel to Mexico alone oif they were your age.

You may be underestimating the chances that someone will slip something in your drink. This is getting to be quite common.

The one thing that most bothers us about your scenario is that the police in Mexico are often, very often, corrupt. This is a game-changer and we would never book a trip of this kind for someone your age traveling alone.

It isn’t all about money. Cancel the trip.

Q – If you really want to be “truthful” you may want to tell your readers that the Chinese are already waging cyberwarfare against the United States and our entire air traffic control system can be brought down while thousands of planes are in the air causing who knows what level of chaos. I know you will not print this, but Americans better wake up. Are the airlines aware that this is going on and are they doing anything about it?  Until you start dealing with political realities, your site will just be another travel dead zone.

A – Thanks for the charming update. There is, actually, some truth in what you say to the extent that any of our major grids such as those that regulate gas pipelines or chemical plants, as well as government facilities are vulnerable. In a truly important speech, outgoing Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta said that we are in a “Pre 9-11 Moment” with hackers testing our defenses daily in a great many areas, including transportation hubs.

This is not something we worry a great deal about when we are ordering off the dinner menu on Singapore or Emirates or any of the world’s great airlines. But since you brought it up, here is what we see as a greater threat. Hackers in China and, to a lesser extent, the Russians, North Koreans, and Iranians, are testing our vulnerabilities on a daily basis. Our reading of the threats makes us believe that the greatest danger is a coordinated series of hacking attacks on the computer systems that store the financial records of our largest banks. The theory of experts in this field is that rather than just wipe these computers clean, a cyberattack would more likely change and reallocate the data rather than completely eliminating it for maximum chaotic effect. It would take years, esxperts believe, for the country to make a full recovery.

Last year, Congress failed to pass the comprehensive Cybersecurity Act favored by Panetta because major business lobbyists felt the costs of the new regulations governing computer security would be too high. Meanwhile, data has already been stolen from more than 140 major American Corporations including Apple, Google, and a wide number of government agencies, law firms, and think tanks. We would hope that the Washington Post and the New York Times would be vigilant in terms of  this threat. They are among the 140 corporations already attacked.

So stay in your closet and don’t go anywhere near an airport. We’ll let you know when it is safe to come out.

Q – Reading about these cruise lines that register out of the United States and pay no taxes? Are they really non-American companies and why are we supporting them with our business. What is really going on here?

A –  If you look at the five largest cruise lines operating in the United States, you will find that they are all registered in foreign countries including the Bahamas, Panama, and Liberia. By “foreign-flagging”, cruise lines avoid paying the kinds of taxes they would pay if they were US-based corporations. They also do not have to observe our labor laws or even many of our domestic safety requirements.  The practice is referred to as “flags of convenience.”

World flags аrе реrhарѕ thе mоѕt common оf аll flags. Today, аll countries аll оvеr thе world еасh hаvе thеіr оwn flag. Thе flags оf thе world аrе аll unique. Eасh hаѕ іtѕ оwn distinct wауѕ оf representing thеіr countries іn various aspects. Thе national flag design usually bears a certain interpretation thаt іѕ vеrу significant tо thе country іt symbolizes. In general, world flags represent thе countries оf thе world – thе number оf national flags іn existence today іѕ equivalent tо thе number оf nations аnd countries thеrе аrе. Here you can buy the Cotton flag.

Flags reaffirm оur group identities аnd hаvе bееn аrоund fоr аѕ lоng аѕ humans hаvе bееn gathering іntо groups. Evеrу culture оn earth developed іtѕ оwn flags аnd еvеn thе mоѕt primitive tribe hаѕ flags оr thеіr equivalent. Flags identify оthеrѕ аnd ѕеlf. Flags let уоu know whо іѕ friend аnd foe аt a glance аnd act аѕ a standing proclamation оf belief оr loyalty.

Hоw did flags соmе tо be? Flag-like symbols hаvе bееn іn existence ѕіnсе thе ancient tіmеѕ. It іѕ nоt clear thоugh whеrе thе world flags thаt wе know today originated. Sоmе say thеу originated іn China, оthеrѕ believe thаt thе fіrѕt true flag wаѕ thе vexillum оf thе Roman Empire, whіlе ѕоmе insist thаt thеrе hаvе bееn citations flags іn thе Mahabharata. Whіlе thеrе іѕ nо unified origin, thе modern-day flag surely hаd started ѕоmеtіmе іn thе 18th century. Flags hаvе thеn bееn used аѕ signals аnd symbols fоr battle, military, аnd maritime purposes, аmоng a fеw оthеrѕ. Evеn today, flags аrе continually used fоr a wide variety оf purposes.

The hard truth is that cruise labor is much like migrant labor – unless it continues, prices for the product will soar. The Hotel and Tour industries wonder why their major competitor is allowed to skirt so many US laws in order to maintain the present pricing levels. James Walker, a prominent maritime attorney, writing for CNN.com, claims that cleaners aboard Royal Caribbean ships are paid “as little as $156.25 a week with no prospect of tips”. If the larger cruise ships were registered in the United States, employed unionized labor, and followed current US labor laws, the entire pricing model of the cruise industry would collapse and, it is likely, so would large portions of the industry.

Q – Spent several hours on this site last night and had to drop you a line. Great stuff. Here’s my specific question. I am a  consultant in the chemical industry and I fly, out of my home in Denver all over Europe. I work alone, with a part-time secretary and we do all of our own air arrangements. I have had numerous flight cancellations and delays at O’Hare and I just want to try avoiding it if I can. If you were me, which airports that have non-stop flights to Europe would be best for connections? Wish you had more on airline strategies and less on cruise line ratings.

A – Thanks for the advice. We won’t take it, but thanks anyway. Your question does, we think, have a specific answer. Our air people feel that you might limit your connections to three “first-choice” options, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Charlotte, and Detroit. All three have enviable connection stats.

Q – My husband and I are going overseas for the first time this April on a tour arranged through our church in Boise. It is a group tour and we have to get to New York on our own to get on a Delta Airlines flight. My question is how much time do you think we need between flights. Our travel agent says two hours and we found a flight that gives us  a little less, one hour and fifty minutes. Our agent wants to book it but we thought we should run it past you first. Any advice would be appreciated.  I just want everything to go right.

A – We disagree with your agent. Do not book the flight. With the current sequestration budget cuts, TSA staff at a number of US Airports, but most particularly New York’s JFK, O’Hare, and Atlanta, will be cut by as much as 30%. We are now advising all of our clients to allow a minimum outbound international connection time in those three airports of three hours.

We want everything to go right also. While you are waiting, have a Nathan’s Hot Dog in the terminal. You probably can’t get one in Boise. Have a terrific trip and make sure to carry copies of the picture page of your passport along with a sheet that has photocopies of the front and back sides of your credit card. Be safe.