. . . Occasionally awful!
Think of the passengers aboard Carnival Splendor. Their experience defines "awful."
I am not a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines, but many in the media have taken a lot of cheap shots at the Miami-based mega-company. You can be sure that in addition to the 3,500 passengers on the ill-fated ship, Carnival management certainly didn't want the vessel dying in the water off the coast of Mexico a day after departing California for a seven-day trip to the Mexican Riviera.
Many passengers had saved and planned for the cruise for years. For some it was a birthday or anniversary treat. One couple were on their honeymoon. For many it was a family getaway. But for the folks at Carnival it was a big bucks investment going nowhere fast and incurring the wrath of news people around the world. I heard one prominent network political reporter ask "why don't they just bring another ship alongside," as though Carnival has a fleet of empty ships standing by. Another said the crew panicked, a third thought the crew was heroic. On and on it went and finally, three days after the power went off, the passengers disembarked in San Diego with vouchers for future cruises and stories to dine out on for years. And network news went back to what it was doing before.
I would not have enjoyed the experience. Of this I am sure. But it was not a plan. It was not a Carnival itinerary to sail and fail. That's not what cruising is all about. I've been on dozens of Carnival cruises and have found their security measures comforting. In fact all cruise lines these days offer broad-based security.
But on sea, as in life, stuff happens. (And hey, how much fun was the Quantas flight when the engine dropped off?)
Cruising is about enjoying a sea-based vacation. A concept about 13-14 million North American travelers have embraced this year.
Coincidentally, a week after the Splendor experience new ships will be sailing out of Port Everglades: Seabourn Sojourn, Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam and Celebrity's Eclipse. Long may they sail.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Travel is . . .
. . . Whatever gets you there
I wrote, the other day, about my love affair with cruising. I truly enjoy nothing more than being on a ship - not necessarily calling at port after port - but at sea. Maybe having breakfast on my terrace, doing laps around the deck, sitting outside with a good book, taking part in an enrichment lecture. It is my kind of travel.
But for hundreds of thousands of people air travel is the way to go. I saw a story in the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday about people who'd used that Jet Blue air pass to travel hundreds of thousands of miles. For about $600-700 per person these folks purchased the option of unlimited flights wherever the airline goes. An imposed time limit still permitted travel all across the country and to Bermuda. I don't remember all the details, but those who had utilized the program loved it. And even though television gurus are telling us holiday air travel prices are up some 40% from last year, I am sure people will fill air fleets for Thanksgiving and Christmas trips. (I am paying almost twice what I normally pay to fly to Houston for the holiday.)
I knew a writer who only enjoyed train travel. He'd taken trains all over the U.S. but was especially fond of the European train system and had written several books about it. He'd fly to Europe than travel from country to country by rail. That's a concept that makes sense, because unlike airports, train stations in Europe are situated in the center of cities. European train stations usually double as shopping malls where you can pick up a lipstick, a pair of panty hose or a heavy jacket when cold air awaits. The trains are usually clean and on time and it is a sensible mode of travel.
Other people enjoy bus travel, a concept I've never really understood, but it's what turns them on.
You pay your money and you take your choice. The choices are many. But staying home? That's not one of them.
I wrote, the other day, about my love affair with cruising. I truly enjoy nothing more than being on a ship - not necessarily calling at port after port - but at sea. Maybe having breakfast on my terrace, doing laps around the deck, sitting outside with a good book, taking part in an enrichment lecture. It is my kind of travel.
But for hundreds of thousands of people air travel is the way to go. I saw a story in the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday about people who'd used that Jet Blue air pass to travel hundreds of thousands of miles. For about $600-700 per person these folks purchased the option of unlimited flights wherever the airline goes. An imposed time limit still permitted travel all across the country and to Bermuda. I don't remember all the details, but those who had utilized the program loved it. And even though television gurus are telling us holiday air travel prices are up some 40% from last year, I am sure people will fill air fleets for Thanksgiving and Christmas trips. (I am paying almost twice what I normally pay to fly to Houston for the holiday.)
I knew a writer who only enjoyed train travel. He'd taken trains all over the U.S. but was especially fond of the European train system and had written several books about it. He'd fly to Europe than travel from country to country by rail. That's a concept that makes sense, because unlike airports, train stations in Europe are situated in the center of cities. European train stations usually double as shopping malls where you can pick up a lipstick, a pair of panty hose or a heavy jacket when cold air awaits. The trains are usually clean and on time and it is a sensible mode of travel.
Other people enjoy bus travel, a concept I've never really understood, but it's what turns them on.
You pay your money and you take your choice. The choices are many. But staying home? That's not one of them.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Travel is . . .
. . . Comfort
Yesterday a friend said "I still want to travel, but my choice is a cruise. That running through airports, packing and unpacking isn't appealing. I prefer a cruise."
Well, yeah.
A cruise is much easier and much more comfortable than a program of six cities in 10 days or flying 9 hours in a middle seat in coach. Then, when you get to your destination, force yourself to try and stay awake and get on to another time zone experience. Plus with today's dollar exchange rate? Travel overseas is a challenge.
I'm not even referencing age. But cruises make good sense for travelers of all ages.
And, a cruise is comfortable.
Unpack once, see what you choose to see, spend days at the pool, in the spa or the casino and basically do what you want to do. Sightsee in port or enjoy a cool drink in a local hot spot, make new friends or opt to go it alone. You can dance until dawn or take a sunrise hike around deck. The choice is yours.
But if your life-long goal has been to climb Mt. Everest, explore the Galapagos or wander through Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, do it. Make plans to realize that goal.
If you find those experiences a little too physical or too daunting, consider a cruise.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Travel is . . .
. . .Or can be, downright silly.
I went into Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday to replace a meat thermometer and found an amazing array of themometers to choose from. But I also found a display of luggage scales. Luggage scales!
Imagine a nation so terrified of airlines' baggage charges that travelers struggle to weigh their suitcases before leaving for an airport. Having to weigh bags at home is frankly nuts. Pack with discipline, it's not too hard.
In the last month I heard a story about a woman who was boarding a transAtlantic plane when the ticket agent told her she would have $150 in charges because her suitcase was too heavy. She encouraged my friend to go around the corner and buy another bag for $30 and carry it on.
Scenes of people repacking their luggage in public spaces at airports are common.
When I left Frankfurt for home, three weeks ago, I had accrued paper information on Germany that weighed over three pounds, for which I was being charged. Otherwise my luggage was exactly what I'd left home with. (Oh, I did buy a lipstick in a Hamburg department store, but that was in my purse.) Fortunately all the paper had been packed in an outside pocked and I passed off the offending paper I didn't need to the agent and flew home.
We are at the airlines' mercy. I truly am glad they are making money. I am happy when any business is successful, but this continuing luggage tyranny is rather silly.
But I have to go now, I have a plane to catch. And yes, I am checking my bag. But, I am flying Southwest. They don't charge!
I went into Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday to replace a meat thermometer and found an amazing array of themometers to choose from. But I also found a display of luggage scales. Luggage scales!
Imagine a nation so terrified of airlines' baggage charges that travelers struggle to weigh their suitcases before leaving for an airport. Having to weigh bags at home is frankly nuts. Pack with discipline, it's not too hard.
In the last month I heard a story about a woman who was boarding a transAtlantic plane when the ticket agent told her she would have $150 in charges because her suitcase was too heavy. She encouraged my friend to go around the corner and buy another bag for $30 and carry it on.
Scenes of people repacking their luggage in public spaces at airports are common.
When I left Frankfurt for home, three weeks ago, I had accrued paper information on Germany that weighed over three pounds, for which I was being charged. Otherwise my luggage was exactly what I'd left home with. (Oh, I did buy a lipstick in a Hamburg department store, but that was in my purse.) Fortunately all the paper had been packed in an outside pocked and I passed off the offending paper I didn't need to the agent and flew home.
We are at the airlines' mercy. I truly am glad they are making money. I am happy when any business is successful, but this continuing luggage tyranny is rather silly.
But I have to go now, I have a plane to catch. And yes, I am checking my bag. But, I am flying Southwest. They don't charge!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Travel is . . .
. . .Meeting yourself coming and going
About 15 years ago I interviewed a woman who, at the time, lived here in South Florida. She had created the Women's Travel Club a few years earlier. It is a travel group for women of all ages who for a variety of reasons don't want to travel alone and/or don't have a companion to accompany them.
The Club was made up of women of all ages -- women with husbands who couldn't or wouldn't travel, and single women who wanted to see the world. The just didn't want to travel alone. I remember writing about the differences in lives of the women who traveled with the Club, the very different parts of the world they visited and the serendipity of meeting a need.
The founder, Phyllis Stoller, loved to travel. Her husband wasn't quite as enthralled with the traveling life. Phyllis and I kept in touch for years. After my husband passed away three years ago I developed even more respect for the concept of arranging travel experiences for women.
I had lost contact with Phyllis and couldn't find a way of reaching her.
While my work had empowered me to travel alone - I have been doing so for many years - I suddenly understood what a single women faced and how daunting it must be to someone who had never booked a cruise, made airline reservations or traveled alone.
Last week I received an e-mail from Women's Travel Club and, by phone, suddenly reconnected with Phyllis.
She had moved to the northeast, sold the Club to Club ABC Tours and was only recently back working with Women's Travel Club. After catching up on our personal lives, she told me about a few of the current offerings including a pair exciting cruises on Voyages of Antiquities next spring and summer; a trip to India in January; offerings to Ecuador and the Galapagos; Egypt, and Ixtapan Resort and Spa and Mexico.
The group is still successful and she says the all-inclusive prices are popular. For example, several cruises offer single supplements without the high cost usually associated with these accommodations. Among the many women who have traveled with the Club over the years are a 13-year-old girl and women in their 80s.
For more information on traveling with other women, go to www.womenstravelclub.com or call 800-400-4448.
About 15 years ago I interviewed a woman who, at the time, lived here in South Florida. She had created the Women's Travel Club a few years earlier. It is a travel group for women of all ages who for a variety of reasons don't want to travel alone and/or don't have a companion to accompany them.
The Club was made up of women of all ages -- women with husbands who couldn't or wouldn't travel, and single women who wanted to see the world. The just didn't want to travel alone. I remember writing about the differences in lives of the women who traveled with the Club, the very different parts of the world they visited and the serendipity of meeting a need.
The founder, Phyllis Stoller, loved to travel. Her husband wasn't quite as enthralled with the traveling life. Phyllis and I kept in touch for years. After my husband passed away three years ago I developed even more respect for the concept of arranging travel experiences for women.
I had lost contact with Phyllis and couldn't find a way of reaching her.
While my work had empowered me to travel alone - I have been doing so for many years - I suddenly understood what a single women faced and how daunting it must be to someone who had never booked a cruise, made airline reservations or traveled alone.
Last week I received an e-mail from Women's Travel Club and, by phone, suddenly reconnected with Phyllis.
She had moved to the northeast, sold the Club to Club ABC Tours and was only recently back working with Women's Travel Club. After catching up on our personal lives, she told me about a few of the current offerings including a pair exciting cruises on Voyages of Antiquities next spring and summer; a trip to India in January; offerings to Ecuador and the Galapagos; Egypt, and Ixtapan Resort and Spa and Mexico.
The group is still successful and she says the all-inclusive prices are popular. For example, several cruises offer single supplements without the high cost usually associated with these accommodations. Among the many women who have traveled with the Club over the years are a 13-year-old girl and women in their 80s.
For more information on traveling with other women, go to www.womenstravelclub.com or call 800-400-4448.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Travel is . . .
. . . Addictive
Yes, travel can become a way of life. When your work takes you on the road with great regularity you live by a concept of either time to plan or pack for a trip, unpack and recover from a trip. or think down the road to the next travels on your dance card. Your normal life -- visits with friends, doctor's appointments and chores around the house -- often get put on hold. But while it is a way of life that many people can't understand, it is a perfectly normal way of life for those of us who enjoy the nomadic existence.
A friend visted this weekend, a friend who had also been in Germany with me earlier this month. We discussed our various tours and experiences in Germany and looked ahead to next year's Society of American Travel Writer's convention in New Zealand. We got a kick out of planning a year ahead of time what we'll do when to get to the other side of the world.
New Zealand is an ambitious trip, long hours of flight time and a long, long away from home. (When it is noon on the East Coast it is 5 AM the next day in New Zealand.)
I suppose we are travel junkies who can't seem to keep away from airports and travel plans.
I know many people think this work is glamorous and exciting. Getting to an airport at 5:30 AM isn't either, nor is dragging heavy suitcases through train aisles or winding up in the last room a hotel has to offer and the offering is poor at best. It's not fun to find out there's a mechanical problem, the plane is late or the crew has worked too many hours. It is unpleasant to discover the restaurant is closed, room service will take two hours or water will be shut off until noon.
These all happen, but so does life. While it may be simpler to sit home and watch mindless television, leaving your comfort zone for other vistas can be a wonderful existence. And people are traveling - when was the last time you saw empty seats on a plane?
Travel is what I do, it's not life-altering or will it impact mankind. It will, however, broaden my experiences and allow me to share these experiences with readers. In the process, I hope to convince others to head for the train, bus, cruiseship or airport and enjoy the mind-expanding joy of visiting new places and seeing new sites.
But a cautionary statement. Watch out! It can be addictive.
Yes, travel can become a way of life. When your work takes you on the road with great regularity you live by a concept of either time to plan or pack for a trip, unpack and recover from a trip. or think down the road to the next travels on your dance card. Your normal life -- visits with friends, doctor's appointments and chores around the house -- often get put on hold. But while it is a way of life that many people can't understand, it is a perfectly normal way of life for those of us who enjoy the nomadic existence.
A friend visted this weekend, a friend who had also been in Germany with me earlier this month. We discussed our various tours and experiences in Germany and looked ahead to next year's Society of American Travel Writer's convention in New Zealand. We got a kick out of planning a year ahead of time what we'll do when to get to the other side of the world.
New Zealand is an ambitious trip, long hours of flight time and a long, long away from home. (When it is noon on the East Coast it is 5 AM the next day in New Zealand.)
I suppose we are travel junkies who can't seem to keep away from airports and travel plans.
I know many people think this work is glamorous and exciting. Getting to an airport at 5:30 AM isn't either, nor is dragging heavy suitcases through train aisles or winding up in the last room a hotel has to offer and the offering is poor at best. It's not fun to find out there's a mechanical problem, the plane is late or the crew has worked too many hours. It is unpleasant to discover the restaurant is closed, room service will take two hours or water will be shut off until noon.
These all happen, but so does life. While it may be simpler to sit home and watch mindless television, leaving your comfort zone for other vistas can be a wonderful existence. And people are traveling - when was the last time you saw empty seats on a plane?
Travel is what I do, it's not life-altering or will it impact mankind. It will, however, broaden my experiences and allow me to share these experiences with readers. In the process, I hope to convince others to head for the train, bus, cruiseship or airport and enjoy the mind-expanding joy of visiting new places and seeing new sites.
But a cautionary statement. Watch out! It can be addictive.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Travel is . . .
. . . A sense of history.
And the recent launch of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth is a case in point.
Consider the first Queen Elizabeth was introduced in 1938. The second ship, known as QE2, debuted in 1967. In early October the third vessel to bear the name came on line. Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth was 12 years old, and present, when her mother named the first liner, she named the second as well as the most recent. I think that's wonderful. Talk about a sense of continuity!
These are incredible ships. I have only seen photos so far of the naming ceremony and of the vessel itself, but Queen Elizabeth - Her Majesty and the vessel - look marvelous. I have sailed aboard QE2 and Queen Mary and was onboard Queen Victoria when she was named in Southampton Harbor. I will visit Queen Elizabeth in January and am already looking forward to it.
I know the cache of these vessels and the Cunard name. Sailing aboard these ships are not merely transAtlantic crossings or cruises, they are experiences.
I lectured aboard QE2 to Brits about the British-accented islands of Barbados and the Bahamas in the early 1990s. At the time I had published guidebooks to Caribbean and Atlantic islands. It was a far-less electronically sophisticated time - no powerpoint, for example.
My husband used a slide carousal and I cued him to change the slides. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. My audience was immensely supportive and the ship's staff amazing. The ship itself was wonderful. I loved the elegance of the ship, tea time, the concept of dressing to the nines for dinner and the lovely Harrod's deparment store on board.
It was a sea-going experience I won't forget and the sense of continuity and history England's monarch has lent to the new ship, is a wonderful bonus.
Long live the Queen!
And the recent launch of Cunard's Queen Elizabeth is a case in point.
Consider the first Queen Elizabeth was introduced in 1938. The second ship, known as QE2, debuted in 1967. In early October the third vessel to bear the name came on line. Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth was 12 years old, and present, when her mother named the first liner, she named the second as well as the most recent. I think that's wonderful. Talk about a sense of continuity!
These are incredible ships. I have only seen photos so far of the naming ceremony and of the vessel itself, but Queen Elizabeth - Her Majesty and the vessel - look marvelous. I have sailed aboard QE2 and Queen Mary and was onboard Queen Victoria when she was named in Southampton Harbor. I will visit Queen Elizabeth in January and am already looking forward to it.
I know the cache of these vessels and the Cunard name. Sailing aboard these ships are not merely transAtlantic crossings or cruises, they are experiences.
I lectured aboard QE2 to Brits about the British-accented islands of Barbados and the Bahamas in the early 1990s. At the time I had published guidebooks to Caribbean and Atlantic islands. It was a far-less electronically sophisticated time - no powerpoint, for example.
My husband used a slide carousal and I cued him to change the slides. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. My audience was immensely supportive and the ship's staff amazing. The ship itself was wonderful. I loved the elegance of the ship, tea time, the concept of dressing to the nines for dinner and the lovely Harrod's deparment store on board.
It was a sea-going experience I won't forget and the sense of continuity and history England's monarch has lent to the new ship, is a wonderful bonus.
Long live the Queen!
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