The rest of Q&A

Q – As an IT Professional, I am rather appalled at the sorry state of internet service as evidenced by recent cruises on MSC, NCL, and Holland America. I was just wondering who provides internet to ships at sea and when is it going to get to the point when I can search the web in a lounge chair by the pool bar?

A – Well you do realize that sensitive communications equipment needs to  stay as far away from sun and water as possible. Be mindful that your Bahama Mama does not tip over onto your keyboard. 

Internet service began showing up on ships in 2000. The leading Satellite provider has been a company called MTM Satellite Communications. That technology is now being eclipsed by Harris Rock Cap, a company whose O3b name stands for “other 3 billion.” O3b technology will provide more broadband aboard ships than the current standards. The ships you sailed were essentially sending data to stationary satellites 23,000 miles above the earth. The packets of information then had to be sent back down  to a ground station and then back up, again, to the satellite. As Travel Weekly recently reported in a cover story on current satellite communication, the current journey when you type in a message on a moving cruise ship is about 100,000 miles from start to finish. 

O3b satellites will be beaming broadband from points directly over the equator which will allow them to reach points from Nova Scotia to Santa Cruz, Argentina. Faster broadband will be available on ships sailing the Mediterranean Sea, as well as virtually all of Africa, Asia and large portions of South America.  The current satellite blank spots seem to be centered in the Baltic region and Alaska. 

Eight of the twelve new satellites being built in France for 03b will be launched out of French Guiana next year. Four more will be launched in 2014. 

Royal Caribbean has announced that the new, higher-speed broadband will make its first appearance on the Oasis of the Seas in June of 2013. 

Q –  The little woman and I are interested in sailing down to Mexico, perhaps getting off or on in Acapulco. But we’re fairly cautious people and if there is crime we’d just as soon go to one of the Mexican restaurants here in Denver, sip a few Margaritas, and pretend we’re out to sea. We are in our mid-sixties and my wife walks a little slow. I’m no gymnast either. Do you recommend these Mexican cruises?

A – The statistical truth is that crime is an issue in certain ports in Mexico including Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan which has seen something of an outbreak in the past twenty-four months. It has reached the point where Holland America and Princess Cruises have said they will not be doing their normal full schedule of sailings to Mexico in 2013.

Inclusive resorts in Mexico appeal to a wide variety of travelers and there are upscale options that represent real value. We’d rather see you doing a great inclusive resort than wandering around port areas off a ship at the present time. The tourism officials in Mexico are adept at keeping bad news about attacks on tourists out of the news, but within the travel trade, it is a fact of life. Still, it needs to be emphasized that most port calls in Mexico by those ships still operating there, occur without incident.

Q – We’ve been looking into cruises to Norway and the Fjords next summer on one of the better lines. We’re just amazed at how few there are and we wonder why the demand isn’t greater. It seems that Seabourn, Crystal, Regent, and Silversea will do one, possibly two of these itineraries each summer yet they have multiple departures to the Greek islands or the Baltic and Russia. It all makes us think that the itineraries are lousy so demand is low. Is that the bottom line?

A –  No, you’re far off course but we understand how you got there. Cruise lines could generate marketing interest and increase the number of Norwegian coastal voyages if they felt they had a shot at full ships. But apart from the fact that most Americans just don’t know how  beautiful the Norwegian fjords really are, we suspect the real reason that you don’t see more itineraries in the region has to do with the cost of operations in Scandinavian waters. Port services, docking fees, fuel, and labor costs are all significantly higher than what the lines have to pay to operate in the Baltic or the Med. In fact, pilots who guide cruise ships into port are paid higher salaries in Norway than virtually anywhere else in the world.

The cruise lines must maintain a fairly even keel when it comes to per diem costs to their customers. So many of the Scandinavian port charges come right off the bottom line. This is more an economic issue than anything else. It is an absolutely wonderful itinerary for experienced cruisers looking for something different.

Q – Where will soon be leaving for Europe. At the end of our trip, we have two full days in Lisbon. We’re walkers, we love to go where the tourists don’t, we love discovering where the people live and play. We have little interest in museums or historic sites. Where would you head if you had two days to explore the real Lisbon on foot?

A – You might want to start out with three neighborhoods, Baixa, Chiado, and Alcantara. This will get you into the oldest, the hippest, the most stylish, and the most recently discovered sections of this difficult to know, but totally rewarding city. Use the trams, go to a real deal Fado Club at least once, and do seafood along the waterfront.

Q – Greetings from Cape Town where Traveltruth is not yet a household word. But my husband and I love you so that’s all that matters. We’ve just read somewhere that it is now possible to sleep in Harrod’s Department Store in London. We’re headed back to London soon after the Olympics and we were wondering how you would book this sort of overnight?  I would be quite tickled to spend the night camped out in Harrod’s Food Hall, particularly that area of the Hall devoted to fine wines and cheeses. Any truth to this or are we starting a rumor?

A – Well of course you are but it is a rather intriguing concept and one that probably could be arranged by our contacts in London for a phenomenal price.

But we think we have this one figured out. It is true that the Qatari owners of Harrod’s under the name Qatar Holding, has announced plans to build Harrod’s hotels in London, New York, Paris and Kuala Lumpur. You may be aware that the former owner of Harrod’s, Mohamed Al Fayed, sold Harrod’s two years ago for somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.2 billion USD. We have to assume that the sale price included the store’s stash of wines and cheeses. Sorry.

Q – The wife and I are seriously considering a Seabourn Cruise that will explore Japan and some of Korea next year. We’ve been on one cruise, a Windstar, which we enjoyed. There is lots on the internet about Seabourn but the criticisms you always read are that they are way too formal and they are owned by Carnival, not a very good line from what we hear. What do your editors think about these criticisms?

A – Not much. This is kind of typical of the cruise prattle that litters the internet.

Let’s look at dress first. There is only one dress up night aboard Seabourn on a one week cruise and even that event does not require any more than a sports jacket. There are alternative restaurants that are always country club casual. There is absolutely no reason to pack a suit, sports jacket, or ties unless you want to in preparation for a Seabourn cruise.

We think that Carnival’s ownership of Seabourn is a net plus. Carnival has extremely deep pockets and is committed to the Seabourn brand. Five years from today, Seabourn will still be sailing and our guess is that you will see a new fleet comprised entirely of Odyssey-Class new builds. Seabourn’s competitors, meanwhile, may be wondering where their next ship is coming from. There are no new ship builds announced for Crystal, Regent Seven Seas, or Silverseas at the present time. 

We think you should ignore the prattle and proceed.

Q –  My husband will be annoyed that I wrote to you. First, feel free not to print this but, if you do, I trust you will not use my name. My husband and I have traveled on ten or eleven tours and about twelve cruises. Over the years we have been struck by how unpleasant an experience it can be finding oneself stuck on a bus or aboard a ship with a herd of New Yorkers. People are people, but I find the New York travelers, or at least a certain class of them, to be rude and obnoxious to the point of really impacting our vacation. I don’t expect you to agree with this, but I was wondering if there are cruise lines that carry a nice mix of people from all over the country as opposed to being “New York centric.” Am I the only one who has ever raised this point?

A – Actually, yours is a question that, in one form or another, is posed quite frequently. Each sailing seems to have its own personality and that is dictated, in part, by the geographic mix of guests aboard the ship.

If you feel like giving in to your bias, you might want to look at sailings that depart from Hawaii, Mexico, or Los Angeles as well as those that sail in the Orient. Ships that sail from ports in the south like Galveston, have a high proportion of car-drive guests who hail from local areas.

The press has generally not dealt with this topic but we’ve been  surprised by the relatively  high proportion of cruisers who wish to know how many New Yorkers are likely to be on a sailing they are considering.

You might find it of interest that while consumers from various parts of the country seem intrigued by the “NewYorkishness” of certain travel products, most industry executives see New Yorkers as preferred customers who know quality and know what they like. Off the record, many hoteliers will tell you that their most challenging guests tend to come from southern California. This has a great deal to do with concerns about “positioning”.

Q – We will be visiting Rome in the Fall and we were wondering of there is a really nice, really well-located, hotel you might recommend that will cost less than the Excelsior or the Eden? We like to avoid hotels that are small and so hip and modern that it requires an engineering degree to control the lights.

A – We think you might like the rather low-key and largely unknown Rome Garden Palace, which is just around the corner from the Excelsior. If it is booked, and we do our best to fill it, try The Fortyseven or Capo d’ Africa, both are well regarded four-star properties of modest proportions.

Q –  Although we suffered from a bit of sticker shock when our agent showed us a Tauck Tour brochure last year, we thoroughly enjoyed it and we felt the quality was well worth the extra cost. What a difference between the way they handle things and the way our previous tour was managed, with all of the “up charges” and shop visits etc. So now we want nothing less than Tauck quality but we were wondering what other companies we should look at in that price range. Is there any other company as good?

A – Only a few birds soar in the upper reaches of the tour stratosphere. We would rank both Abercrombioe and Kent as well as Travcoa above Tauck in terms of quality. But companies are truly upper-end deluxe. Many consumers are unaware that Abercrombie and Kent offers tours in their brochure that are generally priced in line with Tauck. But Tauck may put as many as 38-40 guests on a motorcoach while A&K limits group size in its “Discovery Series” to just 24 guests. A and K’s more expensive programs are limited to just 16 guests. The more affordable Discovery series uses 5-Star grade hotels but guests are assigned standard rooms rather than the top end deluxe or junior suites that are featured in the company’s more expensive tour series. We think you would be wise to compare Tauck with the A&K Discovery Tour Programs.