The rest of Q&A

Q – My wife and I were curious if  your restaurant writers saw the 20-20 on ABC TV about food and restaurant contamination (November 16th)? What did you think about it?

A – Yes, we saw it. It struck us as a combo platter of light investigative reporting that really didn’t take on the corporate entities that are selling our kids on corn syrup, salt, and chemically modified foods. But anything on this subject is helpful so we won’t be too critical.

The commentary on fish reflected some information we reported here several years ago. One expert said that virtually no one who orders Red Snapper in a restaurant is eating Red Snapper. Those who order “white tuna” on a sushi menu should know there is no such fish. They are really being served Escobar, a fish that causes diarrhea.

The reporting on airline food contamination was interesting because it showed that the problem is not ion the galley but in the food catering kitchens that serve the airlines. It was nice to know that First Class and Business Class passengers are just as likely to get Salmonella poisoning as coach passengers, a bit of democracy at 30,000 feet.

Some of the blue light/bacteria smear reporting was interesting. 20-20 claims that the single most likely source of contamination in the average restaurant, the place to pick up e-coli and his cousins, is your seat. They recommend that diners get up and wash their hands after they are seated. But, then again, aren’t you returning to the same seat. It turns out that restaurant seats, in all price ranges, are rarely disinfected.

Also surprising was the fact that the actual menu, along with salt and pepper shakers were found to be far more filthy than bathroom fixtures, sinks, handles etc. 

Lessons: When dining out, bring a cover for your chair, never touch the menu, and never touch the salt and pepper shakers.  Or just wear gloves when dining out.

Q – My golfing partner thinks he read somewhere that you can do a safari in the Arctic. Any truth to this and how would we go about getting additional information? Is there really such any such thing?

A – Well it’s a bit of a marketing ploy but you can actually see wildlife like the elusive narwhals and search for polar bears in their native habitat. The Arctic is big and beautiful and one of the experiences you will never forget is hot air ballooning over a massive iceberg, The company that we like for this sort of soft adventure is Arctic Kingdom. Try to plan your trip eleven months prior to your favorite departure date as the air needs to be planned surgically, we also tried the Hua Hin Villa Resort with Golf Course and its amazing, not for beginners perfect for us.

The Arctic trips are amazing, because we get to see all of the different flora and fauna on the ice. We also get to see where the polar ice shelf and the ice edge split off from each other and are now separated by glaciers,” said Ewan Evans, who works for the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England.

While the trip to Antarctica is all about exploring the sea ice and penguin colony, it is also an opportunity to help to protect the area. In March 2017, the group of expedition participants decided to stop for a week in Antarctica and started to protect the ice shelf. The trip was successful and was a significant contribution to the defense of the Antarctic Peninsula.

While I am extremely excited to be on this trip, I want to make sure, that the most important goal is to do what we can right now and prevent any further losses of biodiversity, including in the Pacific. It was right after our trip to the hot air balloon festival and the motives for both trips were so different that this changed my way of thinking. With the global warming in the past few years, we may also see the loss of polar bear population, and that would not have happened had this area been covered.

First Experience With Nature

You’ll never forget the first time you went to your local national park or fish and wildlife park. It wasn’t long after I first heard the words “dinosaur” and “turtle.”

It was probably in the late 1970s or early 80s that I realized how truly special and unique they were.

As time passed, I learned to appreciate their uniqueness and their incredible diversity. I began to learn the history and the ecological impact that the park and the fish and wildlife industry had on Earth. I began discovering that there are not-so-simple parallels to connect the two.

Let’s start with the name of that park in New Mexico. You can’t imagine the impact that it had on the Earth after thousands of years of volcanic action and overgrazing

Q – The family, six of us, are headed for two nights on Santorini as part of a Greek islands itinerary planned with Isram Travel in New York. Is there a particular restaurant on Santorini that you think we should go out of our way to try? Will the cruise ship hordes ruin our time on the island? 

A – We’re getting excellent reports from the Nichteri Restaurant in Kamari. Make sure your driver waits and offer to buy him dinner. The vast majority of cruise guests will be gone before sunset. That is rather interesting since one of the primary  reasons to go to Santorini, and particularly the village of Oia, is to watch the sunset.

Q – Don’t know if you folks are allowed to do this but I would love your opinion on a 33-Day Voyage on the Oceania Marina in April of 2014 from Tahiti to New York via Easter island, Peru, Ecuador, the Panama Canal, some of the Caribbean and even a day in Charleston before heading to New York. We’re in our early seventies and have just started traveling seriously. I’m not a jogger but we get around OK. We’ve done two previous cruises on Holland America. And what cabin should we get?

A – Look up and down this page. No Ads. We can do and say anything here, so no worries. We absolutely love this itinerary. You’ll see the best of Polynesia, Machu Picchu, Easter island, the Pitcairn islands, and that’s not even half the itinerary. We say do it and try to get a Penthouse level cabin for that number of days. You will hit a bit of rough water and the Marina, one of our favorite ships, is a bit top-heavy. One third of your cruise will be spent at sea so you don’t want a ship any smaller than the Mariner. Port or Starboard is irrelevant, choose your cabin based on the best available mid-ship location on deck 10. This is one of the very best laid out itineraries we’ve ever seen and it is a steal based on current discounts. May we congratulate you on your “good eye”?

Q – My husband and I were planning our first cruise on a Danube River Boat Cruise. We’ve read so many wonderful things about these cruises on this site and others. We didn’t use a travel agent and tried booking the cruise ourselves with Tauck, Viking River, and Grand Circle. I am rather shocked to say that we were turned down by each line because my husband uses a scooter to get around in port. He has enough mobility to do some limited walking around the ship but I don’t see why they would not agree to help one of their own guests on or off the boat so he could use his scooter. Any light you can shed on this will be appreciated. I really got the impression they don’t want our business. 

A – Well they don’t. The average scooter that you are referring to weighs between 130-140 pounds. Crew cannot be held responsible to lift that much equipment, at some personal risk, on and off the boat in every port. River boats have extremely limited storage space, and that’s why many people decide to travel in ferry with their belongings with services as the red hook ferry which specialize in this. There is just not enough room in the average cabin to keep a piece of equipment that size. If you could make do with a collapsible wheelchair, each of the lines you mention would be happy to assist you.

We think you ought to be dealing with a travel professional who specializes in dealing with clients with disabilities. This is an important and specialized area of travel and it requires specific training and experience. Try Flying Wheels Travel in Minnesota.

Q – We’ve just returned from a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas and some friends we had dinner with told us that they had gotten friendly with their cabin attendant who told them that crew is paid next to nothing and really survives on tips. In this day and age and with minimum wage laws, I wonder if this could be true? Do you have any information on this?

A –  Workers aboard cruise ships are not protected by US laws as they are classified as foreign workers aboard ships that are not registered in the United States. They lack the same Minimum Wage, Health Care, and Working Conditions rights that you and I enjoy as citizens. By every measure they are exploited labor. Janitorial and cleaning staff average about $500 per month. A waiter can make $1,000 per month. They usually work seven days a week. They sleep below decks in bunk bed accommodations but the major cruis elines are good advertisers so we see little int he way of investigative reporting on this issue.

On the other side of the Atlantic, London’s Channel 4 sent a reporter undercover to work for five weeks aboard the Celebrity Eclipse. Celebrity, it should be noted, is the most upscale of the mass market lines and the Eclipse is a new generation ship, so conditions are marginally better than what crew might face on less upscale competitors.

The on-air expose reported that the lowest paid on board workers were receiving about $600 per month or about $2.00 per hour with no gratuities. Most crew members were working seven days a week for six or eight months. Workers are often forced, it was reported, to pay “expensive fees” to the recruitment agencies in their home country that allowed them to obtain their job.

But what about the reporter on this story? What was he paid?

Over five weeks, he earned $375 an hour and he was expected to work sixteen hours each day. This was less than the recruitment agency he used had promised. A story in the Daily Telegraph pointed out that he was charges $700 by the recruitment agency to buy his uniform, get a visa, and take out compulsory medical coverage. He started his work heavily in debt.

The documentary report pointed out, in some detail, exactly why cruise ships flag their ships in certain countries. The Celebrity Eclipse is registered in Malta. There can be no other justification for such registry other than the fact that neither US or British Employment laws apply in Malta. Cruise ships flag their ships to evade minimum wage requirements and other forms of worker protections.

There were areas the story did not have time to investigate. The treatment of workers who are injured ont he job, for example, and their access to US hospitals. Cruise lines will often require that an injured worker be flown home rather than arrange for the best possible treatment available.

And what do the cruise lines respond. They respond in much the same way that Mitt Romney responds to questions about his tax dodges in Grand Cayman and other tax havens. It is all technically within the law.

For a great many consumers, apparently, that is quite good enough.

Q – Having just retired from Duke Power after twenty years, my wife and I are ready to do some traveling. We’ll do some overseas cruises but we really want to travel within the US at least four or five times annually. I’ve heard that I should go online on Sunday evening to get the best deals. Just checking to see if that is right. Enjoy the site immensely and appreciate the honesty.

A – No, Sunday is not the day. The current best advice about airline purchases holds that an airline almost always is going to announce a fare sale on Monday evening. The other airlines scamper about on Tuesday morning and by noon on Tuesday, they have matched the fare sale offer. So the best time to book domestic air travel seems to be around noon, California time on Tuesdays. If this is of interest to you, you may want to read the posts at www.farecompare.com

Q – We have a problem that is, admittedly, in light of real world problems, insignificant. So we thought we would turn to your editors. We have a full day in Positano while visiting Sorrento off a Holland America ship. We’ve been there before and walked the streets of Positano which we loved. We wish to go back to Positano but we’re looking for something a bit different since shopping is not our thing, which is to say it is not my thing but since my wife is not writing to you, I feel I can speak for her.  Also notice that you do not list Holland America in your Top Ten, an omission I must chalk up to elitism. Feel free to defend your lack of consideration for the Dutch.

A – Yes, we are the masters of “insignificance”. Thank you.

We suggest two approaches in Positano. You might want to head down to Spiaggia Grande, the main beach,  and hire a private water taxi to take you five minutes away to one of the water-accessible only small coves that are hidden along the coastline. This can turn an ordinary day into something really special providing you are actually picked up for the return trip. Our other suggestion is that you look away from the water and head up into the hills to visit the smaller towns of Nocelle or Montepertuso. The local bus will get you up there and you will experience a world away from the tourists.

Holland America is the oldest cruise line still operating with a proud maritime tradition. But it is, after all is said and done, a mass market line that does not have pretensions of offering five-star service.  Actually, they don’t appear on our list of the top fifteen.

As for the Dutch, we have an extremely high regard for their country and its inhabitants. It is a quiet little place and it would surprise most Americans, we think, to know that the Dutch own a larger share of American businesses than any other nation. Two weeks traversing the Netherlands is a vacation option we think too many travelers overlook.

Q – Read about your site in one of the travel magazines and would like to know a bit about the “Free Business Airfare Offer” they have at Regent Cruises. We are looking at a cruise in South America on the Seven Seas Mariner next December 8th that starts in Rio  de Janeiro and ends in Buenos Aires. We’ll be booking the Free Air deal but we really want to get into Business Class. If I pick the right agent is there a chance of an upgrade? Can you tell us how to make sure we get the best seats and the best flights out of  Oklahoma City?  Wer’re thinking of booking category F. o you recommend that category and are there any cabins to avoid

A –  Regent’s Free Air Offer is an effective marketing ploy but we are unaware of any cruise line that has ever really given consumers “Free” Airfare. What the ads do not explain is that you can get a much better price by booking on a cruise-only basis.

Regent’s Air Department is one of the few that receives an “A” rating. They will work with your consultant to get you the best possible schedule using their contracted carriers. The Business Class upgrade on your sailing is $2598 per person. But that is not the real price since you are adding that “add-on” to the “Free Air” price which is higher than the cruise only price.

When your consultant does the math, you will see that the real cost of your business air is approaching $4,000 per person. You may want to do your own air. Remember that you will need to wait until January 8th of 2013 to make any reservations. Do be aware that cruise lines are not really quoting an airfare. They are, instead, quoting an air package that includes transfers and baggage handling as well as some rather pricey taxes.

No travel agent can get a cruise line to waive its Business Class upgrade costs. You will need to pay to sit up front with the boys and girls in nice shoes.

Here is our advice, given that this is a South America sailing beginning in Rio. We do think you should book at least one-night in Rio prior to the ship’s departure. You may want to consider flying Business class to Rio but doing coach on the return since that will involve flying in daylight. Have your consultant do the $150 per person air deviation fee to enable you to get prompt confirmation eleven months prior to sailing and seat assignments.

In category F you want to avoid cabins 800-810 and 801-811 as well as 876-886 and 877-887 on deck 8. Also avoid the two handicap cabins, # 828 and 829. Avoid all of the F’s on deck 9.

Q – We are thinking about doing China next year, using one of the better tour companies like Trafalgar, Abercrombie and Kent, or the Tauck Tours. We are wondering which of these you would recommend for the best overall experience? We would also like to know exactly when we should do this trip for optimum weather. We’re hearing conflicting opinions. Also, how do we avoid the pollution and the smog?

A – Trafalgar is a moderate to budget priced mass market tour operator. They are not appropriate for your needs. Tauck does First Class touring while A & K is the premier luxury tour operator. But each tour firm that tries to operate worldwide has geographical strengths and weaknesses. In China, we would clearly recommend A&K as they have the best local offic es and  operations staff. They do not outsource their guides or their touring components.

You are getting some contradictory advice about the best time to visit because China’s provinces cover vast distances and the weather in Shanghai, for instance, does not mirror the weather in Beijing.

Overall, the best months to visit are April and ay and November and December. This will give you cooler temperatures and less humidity and pollution. Saab Bio Power can provide full guide for being safe from pollution. Personally, we like the month of April with November a close second. In Beijing, for instance, average daytime temperatures are in the upper sixties, there is low humidity, very little rain, and far fewer tourists. We still love “April in Paris” but “April in Beijing” also has a nice ring to it.