Aug 3, 2007
It's a long shot, but there's a chance you can snare a deal for the most expensive cruiseline on earth
Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I looked at the website of SeaDream Yacht Club, a cruiseline so stratospheric in its standards that it actually calls itself a "club." Carrying only 110 passengers on each of its two "mega-yachts," and featuring champagne and caviar parties, Balinese Dreambeds on open decks (actual double beds on which to recline in the out-of-doors), "golf simulators" for playing 30 championship courses, overnight stays in St. Tropez (summer) and St. Barts (winter), and every other outrageous luxury of which imagination is capable. SeaDream's cruises often start at a minimum price of $1,000 per person per day. Yet, if you'll carefully scan its website (www.seadreamyachtclub.com), you'll find numerous slow-selling sailings in which a $6,900 per person minimum price for a weeklong cruise is marked down to $3,099 and even $2,699 per person. Who would have thought it?At the site, pull down the complete list of sailings and then examine the original followed by the discounted price. On the 9th of March, 2008, you'll see a seven-night, $6,900 sailing of the SeaDream I selling for $3,099. On the sailing of December 14, 2007, aboard Sea Dream II, a nine-night trip originally with a lead price of $6,900 is available for $2,999 ($333 a night!). A re-positioning cruise leaving on November 17, 2007, from Lisbon and sailing for 11 nights to San Juan, is available from $2,799 -- or only $250 a night.
So take heart if you're determined to lord it at sea. Even the fanciest ships face hard times in marketing themselves. And though recent tax cuts have made the elegant, super-premium cruiselines more successful than the popularly priced cruiselines (it's a great time to be super-wealthy), a careful inspection of the internet will find bargains even in the world of sheer luxury. (Whether you will enjoy the company of the types who have paid the non-discounted price is another matter).
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Labels: cruise
From those friendly folks at the Sivananda Vishnu movement: another kind of yoga vacation (on a much cheaper $84 a day)
In an earlier post on yoga vacations, I recommended the long-established Kripalu Institute at Lenox, Massachusetts, with its largely American staff of instructors, leavened by only a few practitioners of the activity from India. Today, for readers anxious to take a more serious plunge into all the aspects of yoga, including the spiritual ones, let me discuss the half-dozen-or-so U.S. and North American ashrams of the Sivananda Vishnu movement founded by the late Swami Vishnu-devananda. Their close-at-hand centers charge as little as $84 per person per night, including accommodations, meals and yoga exercises and lectures, at locations scattered around the country and even in the Bahamas, open all year around. You'll find these Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Centers described at www.sivananda.org.
The outstanding branch of the Sivananda movement, as you'd expect, is on a picturesque stretch of white sand beach right across the bay from Nassau, on Paradise Island, the Bahamas, where it offers a sensational vacation opportunity. Here, meditation and chanting begin at 6am, followed by a two-hour "hatha yoga" (physical yoga) class and veggie brunch (food varies, I've been told, from very good to adequate). Exercise and meditation are required of you, but post-brunch hours are totally free for swimming, snorkeling, or maybe a boat ride into town. There's no lunch (it's a two-meal-a-day, light-on-calories environment), but dinner is served, and afterwards there's more meditation and chanting, perhaps followed by a lecture or concert. Lights are out by 10:30pm, and falling asleep under a canopy of stars is usually no problem.
Drawbacks? I've been told that the small staff is sometimes overwhelmed when the usual 100 to 200 guests increase to nearly 300 during holiday weeks. Some rooms have no closets or bedside lamps, and there are, as you'd expect, no private baths, radios or TVs. But private rooms (including meals and instruction) are only $84 per person double, $89 single, and prices are even cheaper for dorm accommodations and tent sites. Call tel. 800/263-9642 for more information, or access the website listed above.
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The outstanding branch of the Sivananda movement, as you'd expect, is on a picturesque stretch of white sand beach right across the bay from Nassau, on Paradise Island, the Bahamas, where it offers a sensational vacation opportunity. Here, meditation and chanting begin at 6am, followed by a two-hour "hatha yoga" (physical yoga) class and veggie brunch (food varies, I've been told, from very good to adequate). Exercise and meditation are required of you, but post-brunch hours are totally free for swimming, snorkeling, or maybe a boat ride into town. There's no lunch (it's a two-meal-a-day, light-on-calories environment), but dinner is served, and afterwards there's more meditation and chanting, perhaps followed by a lecture or concert. Lights are out by 10:30pm, and falling asleep under a canopy of stars is usually no problem.
Drawbacks? I've been told that the small staff is sometimes overwhelmed when the usual 100 to 200 guests increase to nearly 300 during holiday weeks. Some rooms have no closets or bedside lamps, and there are, as you'd expect, no private baths, radios or TVs. But private rooms (including meals and instruction) are only $84 per person double, $89 single, and prices are even cheaper for dorm accommodations and tent sites. Call tel. 800/263-9642 for more information, or access the website listed above.
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If you're an avid scuba-diver, the place is Roatan and the tour packager is Capricorn
Probably the world's cheapest top-quality scuba diving is off the English-speaking Bay Islands of Honduras in Central America, and especially at the island of Roatan, to which Delta Airlines flies non-stop from Atlanta in both directions on Saturday (go from any other city or on any other carrier or day of the week and you've got to fly from the U.S. to San Pedro Sula in Honduras, and then spend most of the day waiting for a connection to Roatan). And the top, moderately priced scuba diving "hotel" is Anthony's Key Resort (tel. 800/227-3483; www.anthonyskey.com), whose one-week package includes all the equipment (air tanks, belt weights) and scuba boat rides you'll need. Anthony's is not really a hotel but a collection of cottages in which there are two grades of rooms: "standard" (without air-conditioning) and "superior" (with air conditioning). The foremost tour operator to Roatan is the 30-year-old Capricorn Leisure (tel. 800/426-6544; www.capricorn.net), and over the next several months from after Labor Day until mid-December, it will be offering a non-stop Saturday flight on Delta from Atlanta to Roatan, seven nights in a "standard" room, all three meals each day (and they're good, copious meals), a complete weeklong dive package, and numerous extras, including round-trip airport-to-hotel transfers, a dolphin encounter, ecology lecture, tropical picnic, horseback riding, kayaking and canoeing -- for $1,699. For departures after the first of the year and throughout the winter, figure $100 to $200 more; and figure exactly $200 more for an upgrade to a "superior" room with that unnecessary air conditioning.
So what are you waiting for? If you can scare up $1,699, you can toss aside all those dull business routines and go flinging yourself into an under-the-sea adventure.
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Labels: central america, diving, honduras
At stately homes throughout England, you can enjoy bed and breakfast -- and the company of extraordinary Brits -- for £40 per night
Most of these people are land rich but cash poor, which is why they take paying guests into their homes. Whatever the reason, they regard their own
company and conversation as part of the quid pro quo for your payment, and nearly all of them also offer you the extra-charge option of taking dinner in their homes.
You'll find all the information at www.wolseylodges.com, which runs long lists with photos and descriptions of the stately homes in which lodging is available through their auspices and in every major area of the British Isles. As you scan them, you'll occasionally find a particularly grand mansion whose charges are higher than £40 ($80) per person per night, but the great majority are exactly that much and occasionally a little less, always including a colossal, traditional English breakfast. You can make your bookings by phoning Wolsey Lodges at tel. 011-44-1473-822058 or by phoning the individual stately homes at the numbers listed for each one.
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Labels: accommodations, england
Aug 2, 2007
Windjammer Barefoot Cruises are still going strong, still moderate in price, still a very special kind of holiday at sea
It was the very first morning of our stay on the 122-passenger S/V Legacy, a wooden, four-masted sailing ship headed for the British Virgin Islands, when I started to realize how different the feel of this was going to be compared to the many, many mass-market Caribbean cruises I've endured. Following a breakfast buffet liberally lubricated by pitchers of Bloody Marys tucked beside the fruit juices, we stood on deck watching the crew and a few passenger volunteers yanking the thick ropes that lifted the sails and sent us on our way. Over the P.A. system came the strains of "Amazing Grace" -- corny, absolutely, but I'll be darned if a reverential hush didn't fall over us all.
The rest of the trip was anything but reverential -- combining interludes of do-nothing bliss with genial socializing and plenty of moments from the silly to the saucy. It's a personality with a pedigree stretching back a half-century. Started by a discharged sailor in 1947 with a ship he won in a poker game, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises has since occupied a niche all by itself. Similar in some ways to Club Med among land resorts, it has a semi-cultlike following of "Jammers" who are passionate about the intimate feel and freewheeling, unique personality of the seven sail-driven, small ships that currently ply the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Although prices are moderate -- $1,200 to $1,300 is the average cost per person for a six-night sailing -- they are no lower than you'd pay on one of the 3,000-passenger behemoths that now dominate the standard cruise industry. But on Windjammer, you're in a ship with only a hundred or so other passengers, and the experience is incomparable and totally different from those giant cities at sea that now make up the cruise industry. Once people have experienced Windjammer, they usually come back for more (the company estimates its repeat business at more than 40 percent).
Itineraries tend to emphasize smaller scale, often more off- the-beaten-path ports of call (including the British Virgin Islands, Vieques and Culebra off Puerto Rico, Belize, Costa Rica, Venezuela's Puerto La Cruz and Margarita Island). Though on-board accommodations vary, they tend to be fluorescent-lit and rather basic, yet comfy and snug. The Caribbean-inflected on-board food is serviceable rather than inspired.
There's no casino and no bingo, and passing the time is more often than not a definitely laid-back experience -- whether reading a book or hanging at the bar on the main deck and chatting with other passengers. Those who want to can also help raise the sails or take a turn at the helm. It's the social interaction on a Windjammer cruise, in fact, which is the real secret to the whole experience. Such is its effect on many people that lifelong friendships forged at sea are not uncommon.
For bookings or more information, call tel. 800/327-2600 or check out the website at www.windjammer.com.
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To the 10 great Myths of Travel listed in an earlier post, here are 17 more (suggested by my daughter, Pauline)
1) That there's any such thing as a "free trip" (like the free accommodations in return for attending a Time Share speech, followed by unacceptable pressures); 2) That you save money by booking travel at the last minute; 3) That it's a good idea to get currency for the destination before you leave home; 4) That there are ways to avoid jetlag; 5) That the French are extremely rude to travelers; 6) That the rooms are more comfortable in expensive hotels; 7) That Las Vegas is a family destination; 8) That volunteering to be bumped from a flight is an effective money-making tactic …
9) That buying a travel agent's card gets you discounts for travel; 10) That taking a taxi will save you time; 12) That a hotel claiming to be a "spa" has extensive fitness facilities; 13) That a four star hotel is actually "deluxe"' 14) That you should order the prix fixe meal when dining abroad; 15) That you should buy shore excursions in advance from the cruiselines; 16) That the best way to properly see a destination is to buy an escorted group tour; 17) That you can book a cruise from the dock a couple of hours before it leaves,
Anybody want to endorse or challenge these 17 myths?
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9) That buying a travel agent's card gets you discounts for travel; 10) That taking a taxi will save you time; 12) That a hotel claiming to be a "spa" has extensive fitness facilities; 13) That a four star hotel is actually "deluxe"' 14) That you should order the prix fixe meal when dining abroad; 15) That you should buy shore excursions in advance from the cruiselines; 16) That the best way to properly see a destination is to buy an escorted group tour; 17) That you can book a cruise from the dock a couple of hours before it leaves,
Anybody want to endorse or challenge these 17 myths?
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Labels: myths
Orlando vs. Las Vegas -- Which is cheapest?
If you've been to Las Vegas lately, you've experienced the sharp rise in prices for lodgings and meals in that city. With nationwide conventions happening there for weeks on end, the hotels of that city are often fully booked and expensive to get. The same for meals. With some Las Vegas hotels currently earning more money from their restaurants than their casinos, the old policy of pricing meals as loss leaders has been jettisoned; the food of Sin City is increasingly pricey.
So which is the better choice for budget-minded vacationers -- Las Vegas or Orlando? I say Orlando. The bargains in packages that combine airfare, hotel and car rental, and the recent competitive ticket prices at Universal Florida, have created new opportunities for cost-conscious families.
The bargains begin with an Orlando offering from the Florida-based eLeisure Link (tel. 888/801-8808; www.eleisurelink.com): a remarkable $499 per person for round-trip air from New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Hartford, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence or Washington, D.C. (with cheap add-ons from everywhere else), a two-bedroom suite with mini-kitchen at the Nickelodeon Family Suites Resort (kids get their own, entertainment-filled bedroom and water park-style playground), and a five-day mid-sized car rental with unlimited mileage, all based on a family of four traveling together. Add to that the recent admissions price of $86 per person for a full week at the theme parks of Universal Studios, and you have a record low price for a weeklong family vacation. While first-timers to Orlando will undoubtedly prefer devoting their week to the Disney theme parks, repeat visitors seem to be well satisfied with the more contemporary attractions of Universal, whose two theme parks -- a TV-oriented Universal Studios Florida and a movie-and-comic-strip themed Islands of Adventure -- provide the basis for several days of enjoyable entertainment.
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So which is the better choice for budget-minded vacationers -- Las Vegas or Orlando? I say Orlando. The bargains in packages that combine airfare, hotel and car rental, and the recent competitive ticket prices at Universal Florida, have created new opportunities for cost-conscious families.
The bargains begin with an Orlando offering from the Florida-based eLeisure Link (tel. 888/801-8808; www.eleisurelink.com): a remarkable $499 per person for round-trip air from New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Hartford, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence or Washington, D.C. (with cheap add-ons from everywhere else), a two-bedroom suite with mini-kitchen at the Nickelodeon Family Suites Resort (kids get their own, entertainment-filled bedroom and water park-style playground), and a five-day mid-sized car rental with unlimited mileage, all based on a family of four traveling together. Add to that the recent admissions price of $86 per person for a full week at the theme parks of Universal Studios, and you have a record low price for a weeklong family vacation. While first-timers to Orlando will undoubtedly prefer devoting their week to the Disney theme parks, repeat visitors seem to be well satisfied with the more contemporary attractions of Universal, whose two theme parks -- a TV-oriented Universal Studios Florida and a movie-and-comic-strip themed Islands of Adventure -- provide the basis for several days of enjoyable entertainment.
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To ask a travel question, or hear my travel answers, you can tune in to me from noon to two p.m. on Sundays
Every Sunday, from 12:06pm (the six earlier minutes are for the news) until 2 pm, Eastern standard time, I present a live broadcast called The Travel Show with Arthur Frommer on radio station W.O.R. in New York City (at 710 AM). It can be heard via a very strong signal throughout New Jersey, Connecticut, and the southern half of New York State, and is also carried by more than a hundred other stations scattered through the continental U.S. and in Hawaii. You can check your local newspaper to learn whether a station in your listening area carries the broadcast, on which I am often joined by my daughter, travel guide-writer Pauline Frommer (who also substitutes for me when I am traveling).
But even if no such nearby station carries the broadcast, there are countless ways in which you can hear it.
First, if you have broadband access to the Internet, you can hear the broadcast via so-called "streaming audio" on your laptop or desktop computer (equipped with a soundbox). Simply access www.wor710.com and then click on "Listen Live." All over the world, from Beijing to Timbuktu, the Internet now carries that broadcast live from noon to two.
And if you miss tuning in from noon to two, Eastern Standard Time, you can hear the most recent broadcast at any time over the following two weeks by turning to a podcast of it. Go to WOR's website, click on "Weekend Programming," then scroll down to "Arthur Frommer," and you'll find both Hours One and Two of the most recent two broadcasts. And via archives elsewhere on the site, you can access even earlier broadcasts of The Travel Show (and hear them crystal clear because of their digital transmission).
And finally, even if you don't have access to broadband or aren't near a computer, you can simply phone in a question to the program by dialing tel. 800/544-7070 between the hours of noon and two on Sundays. And although you may have to hang on for a few minutes before I get to you, get to you I eventually will -- and I'll be responding live to whatever travel question or comment you may pose.
To repeat: even if you don't have access to the program, you can phone in a question or comment live from noon until two on Sundays, and hear the answer or response live, over your telephone. Let's talk!
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But even if no such nearby station carries the broadcast, there are countless ways in which you can hear it.
First, if you have broadband access to the Internet, you can hear the broadcast via so-called "streaming audio" on your laptop or desktop computer (equipped with a soundbox). Simply access www.wor710.com and then click on "Listen Live." All over the world, from Beijing to Timbuktu, the Internet now carries that broadcast live from noon to two.
And if you miss tuning in from noon to two, Eastern Standard Time, you can hear the most recent broadcast at any time over the following two weeks by turning to a podcast of it. Go to WOR's website, click on "Weekend Programming," then scroll down to "Arthur Frommer," and you'll find both Hours One and Two of the most recent two broadcasts. And via archives elsewhere on the site, you can access even earlier broadcasts of The Travel Show (and hear them crystal clear because of their digital transmission).
And finally, even if you don't have access to broadband or aren't near a computer, you can simply phone in a question to the program by dialing tel. 800/544-7070 between the hours of noon and two on Sundays. And although you may have to hang on for a few minutes before I get to you, get to you I eventually will -- and I'll be responding live to whatever travel question or comment you may pose.
To repeat: even if you don't have access to the program, you can phone in a question or comment live from noon until two on Sundays, and hear the answer or response live, over your telephone. Let's talk!
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Labels: radio
Aug 1, 2007
Three big resorts in the western states offer major discounts in October and November -- and thus exceptional vacation opportunities. Take a look!
Our country is dotted with some 30 large, historic, self-contained, inland resorts, each operated for nearly 100 years. And during the months of October and November, most of them go into an "off-season" or "shoulder season" mode of relatively inexpensive prices. Though none of them is dirt cheap at any time, they provide such glorious leisure stays as to justify this once-only departure from strict budget standards.I like three giant western resorts in particular:
The Bishop's Lodge (tel. 800/732-2240 or 505/983-6377; www.bishopslodge.com), on Bishop's Lodge Road, three miles from downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico, was first the 19th century hillside retreat and chapel of Jean Baptiste Lamy, the first archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and hero of Willa Cather's 1927 novel, Death Comes For The Archbishop; his original buildings are well preserved and a popular site for weddings. The complex was later expanded onto over a thousand acres and by the addition of 88 rooms and suites in eleven guest buildings or "lodgings" faced with adobe, earth-colored, and stunningly decorated inside with Southwestern furnishings. The chief activity is horseback riding conducted along multiple trails through the canyons and foothills of the Sangre de Cristos mountains (trained cowboys accompany you and prepare cookouts for meals); but there are also four tennis courts, skeet and trap shooting, a heated outdoor pool, indoor whirlpool and saunas, exercise room, children's play area, and numerous hiking opportunities. From early October through the end of November, standard rooms (there are also suites and deluxe rooms) rent for about $209 on weekdays, $229 weekends.
Sun Valley Resort (tel. 800/786-8259 or 208/622-4111; www.sunvalley.com), in Sun Valley, Idaho, isn't a single resort hotel but rather a "vacation village" of multiple structures. It is one of the great ski resorts of America, but recent efforts have accelerated to enliven and enhance its spring, summer and fall use as an all year resort. In addition to a Robert Trent Jones Jr., golf course, it has 18 tennis courts, ice-skating at two rinks throughout the year, a movie theatre, multiple indoor and outdoor pools, trap and skeet shooting, day camps and play schools for children, family-style river trips, bicycle riding, fishing, hunting and horseback riding. "Shoulder season" autumn rates (October 23 to December 17): $149 to $179 per room in the Inn, $179 for most standard condos.
Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson, Arizona (tel. 800/234 DUDE or 520/296-6275; www.tanqueverderanch.com), is perhaps the nation's most luxurious dude ranch, on 640 spectacular acres in the desert foothills (2,800 feet up) of the Rincon Mountains next to the Saguaro National Park and Coronado National Forest; you are 40 minutes by car from Tucson International Airport. The stable here has 120 well-trained horses (they provide walking rides for beginners, loping rides for the more experienced). You stay in one of 74 large and well-furnished, one-story-high, authentically decorated ranch rooms (most with adobe fireplaces), outside private patios, and air conditioning, receiving three meals a day, all riding, tennis, swimming, guided hikes, mountain biking, nature programs, spa facilities, indoor and outdoor pools, a Jacuzzi, men's and ladies' saunas, exercise room; fully-supervised children's program. Rates are based on the Full American Plan, and therefore include all three meals daily, all horseback riding, all else. "Shoulder Season" (October 1 to December 15) prices are $270 to $350 per single, but only $370 to $515 double (that is, for two persons).
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Labels: accommodations, lodge, parks
I hold this truth to be self-evident: that by economizing on your hotel choice, you do not give up a good night's sleep
Do you sacrifice physical comfort when you stay at an inexpensive hotel? I've never believed that. The difference between categories of hotels is usually psychological in nature, not physical. What you are giving up is giant lobbies, arcades of chic boutiques, barber shops and beauty parlors, but not physical comfort. At night, when you go to bed and turn off the lights and shut your eyes, it doesn't matter whether you are in a first class hotel or a budget one. What matters at that time is whether the mattress is firm and whether the sheets are clean smelling and fresh. I've tossed and turned in deluxe hotels and fallen blissfully asleep in budget ones. Save the money.
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Labels: accommodations, tips
A "yoga vacation" at Kripalu in the Berkshires is non-threatening, moderately priced, and just what you need
In this enlightened era, you no longer have to be an aging hippie or a New Age-er to appreciate the relaxing, healthy, and economical vacation opportunities offered by the ever-growing number of centers and resorts devoted to yoga. A lifestyle rather than a religion, these once-exotic getaways have become part of the mainstream culture, popular with every kind of American from bearded rabbis to high-powered businesswomen seeking a break from stress. And the most mainstream of all the centers (we'll discuss the ones operated by white-bearded gurus tomorrow) is Kripalu in the Berkshires.
Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health (tel. 866/200-5203; www.kripalu.org) in Lenox, Massachusetts, is America's largest year-round yoga facility and one of its best known; it houses 300 guests at a time (about 15,000 per year). The beautiful 30-acre spread in the rolling Berkshire Mountains has forests, meadows, trails, gardens, and a lake. Its single most popular (and economical) program is "Retreat and Renewal," with classes in yoga or "DansKinetics," meditation, and workshops. There's plenty of free time for walks, dips in the lake, or (in season) a concert at nearby Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Vegetarian meals are good, and lodgings aren't fancy but are clean and comfortable.
Including accommodations, all meals each day, and full participation in program activities (lectures, classes, group yoga), the per person per day price is $160 on weekdays, $177 on weekends, in dorm accommodations; $183 and $203 in shared double rooms.
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Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health (tel. 866/200-5203; www.kripalu.org) in Lenox, Massachusetts, is America's largest year-round yoga facility and one of its best known; it houses 300 guests at a time (about 15,000 per year). The beautiful 30-acre spread in the rolling Berkshire Mountains has forests, meadows, trails, gardens, and a lake. Its single most popular (and economical) program is "Retreat and Renewal," with classes in yoga or "DansKinetics," meditation, and workshops. There's plenty of free time for walks, dips in the lake, or (in season) a concert at nearby Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Vegetarian meals are good, and lodgings aren't fancy but are clean and comfortable.
Including accommodations, all meals each day, and full participation in program activities (lectures, classes, group yoga), the per person per day price is $160 on weekdays, $177 on weekends, in dorm accommodations; $183 and $203 in shared double rooms.
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Labels: berkshires, health
If you're fearful of Caribbean storms this autumn, fly to Hawaii instead
Still worried about autumn hurricanes in the Caribbean? Then fly to Hawaii. Though the weather there is perfectly fine in October and November, the Hawaiian autumn season is nevertheless the slowest time of the year for tourist arrivals, and most of its hotels and airlines offer all sorts of autumn sales.
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Labels: hawaii
On your next visit to London, don't miss Shakespeare at the re-created Globe Theater
I am standing in the pit, my elbows and chin upon the stage. Behind me the other so-called groundlings are shouting lusty comments to the actor playing Lorenzo, who replies in kind. We are watching Merchant of Venice as Shakespeare meant it to be presented, in a duplicate of the very setting that he helped construct, and near the very same location; and it is a culmination, for me, of a lifetime of theatergoing, intensely moving, even awesome.
In one of the most compelling sightseeing attractions of London -- a full-sized, authentically built, wooden replica of the Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames near the Southwark Bridge -- a modern audience can now understand the stagecraft of Shakespeare as they could never know it before: the intimate interaction between the Bard's characters and his audience, the entrances and exits through curtained doors, the comic relief, the loud asides directed to onlookers packed about a protruding stage, who are often inches away from the actors on it.
You take the underground to the Mansion House station near the riverside docks, from which the Globe is a ten-minute stroll away. On my own last trip, it never occurred to me that on a Tuesday afternoon in late August (the Globe's performances are in daylight only at 2 and 7 p.m., from May through mid-September) I would need advance reservations. But when I showed visible dismay at the ticket seller's statement that the house was full, she quickly advised that I could go in as a groundling (she actually used that word) in the central open pit, for exactly £5 ($10). Groundlings are the low-income viewers standing jammed against the stage, who earlier paid only one penny (the cost at that time of a loaf of bread, or two pints of beer) in 1599, when the original Globe opened.
Your time as a groundling will undoubtedly be as enjoyable as mine was. And sunk in reveries, knowing that your consciousness of art and drama has been illuminated, you later ride back aboard the underground to Leicester Square and equip yourself with a £15 ($30) evening balcony seat for a modern non-musical play of the London stage.
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In one of the most compelling sightseeing attractions of London -- a full-sized, authentically built, wooden replica of the Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames near the Southwark Bridge -- a modern audience can now understand the stagecraft of Shakespeare as they could never know it before: the intimate interaction between the Bard's characters and his audience, the entrances and exits through curtained doors, the comic relief, the loud asides directed to onlookers packed about a protruding stage, who are often inches away from the actors on it.
You take the underground to the Mansion House station near the riverside docks, from which the Globe is a ten-minute stroll away. On my own last trip, it never occurred to me that on a Tuesday afternoon in late August (the Globe's performances are in daylight only at 2 and 7 p.m., from May through mid-September) I would need advance reservations. But when I showed visible dismay at the ticket seller's statement that the house was full, she quickly advised that I could go in as a groundling (she actually used that word) in the central open pit, for exactly £5 ($10). Groundlings are the low-income viewers standing jammed against the stage, who earlier paid only one penny (the cost at that time of a loaf of bread, or two pints of beer) in 1599, when the original Globe opened.
Your time as a groundling will undoubtedly be as enjoyable as mine was. And sunk in reveries, knowing that your consciousness of art and drama has been illuminated, you later ride back aboard the underground to Leicester Square and equip yourself with a £15 ($30) evening balcony seat for a modern non-musical play of the London stage.
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Jul 31, 2007
"Co-operative camping" is an often-overlooked method of enjoying a memorable, and very inexpensive, trip through the U.S. or abroad
Cooperative camping is a cheap and sensible travel method for people who haven't the energy, funds, or commitment to buy and then transport their own camping equipment and/or camping vehicle to regions out-of-town or overseas. Operators of cooperative camping tours, like TrekAmerica (tel. 800/221-0596; www.trekamerica.com), schedule departures and then round up as many as 14 scattered persons for each such departure.
When the group arrives at the jumping-off point, and the individuals on it meet each other, they then board a 14-passenger van furnished by the tour operator and driven by a professional guide -- the only paid employee on the trip. The vehicle is already supplied with eight, state-of-the-art tents, elaborate cooking utensils, and (sometimes) sleeping bags -- although most companies require that you provide the latter. On the first day of the trip, participants vote to establish a "food kitty" and then rotate the shopping for groceries and the actual preparation of meals. The driver drives. Since the group carries its own accommodations (the tents) and needn't adhere to hotel reservations, the group is able to make broad deviations from the itinerary and travel through areas where standard hotels aren't found.
The entire trip is unstructured and fun, close to nature and informal, adventurous, instructive -- and cheap. The average cooperative camping tour costs around $40 a day, plus air fare, and plus about $6 per person per day in contributions to the kitty.
Most of the programs operated by Trek America are designed for youthful people 18 to 35; but a parallel "Footloose" program featured on the website is meant for people of all ages, and heavily booked by persons in their middle age. Try it!
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When the group arrives at the jumping-off point, and the individuals on it meet each other, they then board a 14-passenger van furnished by the tour operator and driven by a professional guide -- the only paid employee on the trip. The vehicle is already supplied with eight, state-of-the-art tents, elaborate cooking utensils, and (sometimes) sleeping bags -- although most companies require that you provide the latter. On the first day of the trip, participants vote to establish a "food kitty" and then rotate the shopping for groceries and the actual preparation of meals. The driver drives. Since the group carries its own accommodations (the tents) and needn't adhere to hotel reservations, the group is able to make broad deviations from the itinerary and travel through areas where standard hotels aren't found.
The entire trip is unstructured and fun, close to nature and informal, adventurous, instructive -- and cheap. The average cooperative camping tour costs around $40 a day, plus air fare, and plus about $6 per person per day in contributions to the kitty.
Most of the programs operated by Trek America are designed for youthful people 18 to 35; but a parallel "Footloose" program featured on the website is meant for people of all ages, and heavily booked by persons in their middle age. Try it!
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It's important to plan now for an inexpensive, once-in-a-lifetime trip this winter to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Among the great winter bargains coming up is a one-week, air-and-land package from Miami, Florida, to Rio de Janeiro for $899 per person, including round-trip air, fuel surcharge, and six nights of accommodations with breakfast daily at a hotel near glittering Copacabana Beach (the Rio Othon Palace). That price will be offered by the big Gate 1 Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com) through most of the latter part of January, and through almost all of February and March, and I predict that its allotment of air seats and hotel rooms will be sold out long before we reach the winter. To get the $889 price, book now. A single warning: the package does not include round-trip airport-to-hotel transfers sold at an aburd price as an optional feature. There are public buses traveling every half-hour between the airport and the Copacabana area, and their one-way fare is 6 Brazilian reales, approximately US$3, each way. Upon arrival, go to the Rio de Janeiro State Tourist Authority booth and enlist their assistance in showing you where to catch that bus; do not be enticed into booking other commercial services (private taxis, special vans) at other booths.
But do make the trip. The atmosphere, the samba music (maravilhosa!), the cuisine, the awesome beach, the weather, the people, the sports, the melodious Portuguese, and every other feature of a Rio stay will be highlights of your travel memories.
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The ongoing rescue operation of Swan Hellenic is this week's good travel news
A second Brit has ridden to the rescue of the ultra-brainy Swan Hellenic Cruises; and this time, the bail-out, the deliverance, will be complete as early as May of 2008, six months ahead of the October 2008 date recently announced by Martin Randall Travel. You may recall that with a sigh of relief, we recently reported that Martin Randall will be launching Martin Randall Cruises in October 2008 to fill the gap caused by Carnival Cruises' termination of the Swan Hellenic Cruises program. (Log on to www.martinrandall.com for details of that program.)The second rescuer is Lord Sterling, former chairman of P&O Cruises, former owner of Swan Hellenic. When Carnival terminated the Swan Hellenic program, Lord Randall acquired rights to the Swan Hellenic (www.swanhellenic.com) name and former passenger lists. He has now announced that he has acquired a 300-passenger ship that will be renamed Minerva, and will resume the Swan Hellenic program in May 2008. There have thus far been no other details of the specific sailings, the rates, the procedures for booking. But you can bet that we'll keep you up-to-date on this blog, and will immediately announce those other details as soon as they are released.
For those of our readers who aren't familiar with the Swan Hellenic program, it was the only moderately priced cruise program featuring celebrated scholars and university lecturers -- a cruise program for thinking people who cruised to learn and not to drink. It focused on the Mediterranean's classic sights, but went to other areas as well, and the average cruise cost around $300 a day, including round-trip airfare from London, and also including full day excursions on land (with lunch thrown in) led by Oxford and Cambridge scholars, the Archbishop of Canterbury, famous explorers and authors, specialists in the destination of each cruise. It was a program similar to those operated by university alumni association in the U.S., and featuring noted celebrities in the academic field, which traditionally cost at least $1,000 per person per day, not including airfare.
Swan Hellenic was terminated by Carnival Cruises when Carnival purchased the line which owned Swan Hellenic. I'm rejoicing that the very same program will now be operated by Lord Sterling starting in May and by Martin Randall starting in October. Stay tuned.
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Labels: cruise
Universal Studios Florida is a potent, cost-effective competitor to Disney
Now that daily adult admission to Walt Disney World in Orlando is a whopping $67 per person (including tax), you might want to consider Universal Orlando's amazing counter-offer of only $86 for unlimited seven-day admission to Universal Studios and Universal's Islands of Adventure. It's an indication of how fierce is Universal's need to fight back against the large number of Disney theme parks in Orlando. Though Universal has only two theme parks, they are both expansive and ingenious parks that can support, say, four days of entertainment in Orlando. At $86 for the multi-day visit, Universal offers quite a saving (for a family, several hundreds of dollars less than multi-day admission to Disney).
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Labels: disney, orlando, universal
Jul 30, 2007
Looking for a family vacation this coming winter? Try the Club Med in Guadeloupe
It reopened last December after nearly a year of renovation. And amid all the other attractions of that lush French island, the Club Med branch on Guadeloupe called La Caravelle now has a heavy family theme (petit tennis, "mini scientists"), including special mini-clubs for youngsters four to ten in one area, and for teen-agers 17 and under in another (the teen club operating only during holiday weeks). Add the spectacular cuisine of this popular-with-the-French Club Med, and you have real reason to consult www.clubmed.com, or call tel. 888/WEB-CLUB.Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: caribbean
Corporate jets, whose passengers are on ego trips, are a major reason for our worsening skies
The nightly news on TV, and the press in general, are full of anxious stories about our over-crowded skies. The air control system is stressed beyond its limits, the average flight delay is more than hour, the delays themselves are historic in number, and more and more passengers are left to sweat for hours within aircraft parked on the tarmac. Complete meltdowns of our air traffic control system occur with distressing frequency.
And why? The TV commentators and the newspaper reporters will refer, vaguely, to "crowded skies," the increased use of air transportation, the budget airlines starting up all the time, the use of small, 80-passenger regional planes in place of the larger 250-passenger jets, adding to the number of aircraft that need to be cleared for flights, take-offs and landings.
Not a single one of them, as best I can recall, makes mention of corporate jets flying one or two exalted CEOs on ego trips to a business meeting (coupled, you can bet, with a round or two of golf). Recent reports indicate that in many urban centers of the United States, small corporate jets account for as many as 30% of the airplanes for which take-off, landing and flight space must be set aside. However small these corporate jets may be, however few the passengers in them, they require just as much air space as a 250-passenger jet, and just as much attention by air traffic control.
Why do we tolerate this? As Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines are forced to cancel dozens of flights because of the overcrowded skies, disturbing the travel plans of tens of thousands, why do we permit CEOs to commandeer company jets for trips that could just as easily have been accomplished in a passenger plane?
Why do we cater to their need for luxury, for avoiding the security searches at airports that the rest of us undergo? Shouldn't Congress take up the subject before our air traffic gets totally out of control?
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And why? The TV commentators and the newspaper reporters will refer, vaguely, to "crowded skies," the increased use of air transportation, the budget airlines starting up all the time, the use of small, 80-passenger regional planes in place of the larger 250-passenger jets, adding to the number of aircraft that need to be cleared for flights, take-offs and landings.
Not a single one of them, as best I can recall, makes mention of corporate jets flying one or two exalted CEOs on ego trips to a business meeting (coupled, you can bet, with a round or two of golf). Recent reports indicate that in many urban centers of the United States, small corporate jets account for as many as 30% of the airplanes for which take-off, landing and flight space must be set aside. However small these corporate jets may be, however few the passengers in them, they require just as much air space as a 250-passenger jet, and just as much attention by air traffic control.
Why do we tolerate this? As Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines are forced to cancel dozens of flights because of the overcrowded skies, disturbing the travel plans of tens of thousands, why do we permit CEOs to commandeer company jets for trips that could just as easily have been accomplished in a passenger plane?
Why do we cater to their need for luxury, for avoiding the security searches at airports that the rest of us undergo? Shouldn't Congress take up the subject before our air traffic gets totally out of control?
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Labels: airports
Several odds-and-ends of travel may be of importance to your next trip
An airline check-in attendant recently warned a passenger that she might be denied entrance to Ireland because her passport had only two months left of validity. And the advice was correct: several countries, including Ireland, insist that travelers hold passports valid for at least six months from the day of arrival. The idea is that if you are delayed in returning home -- perhaps by illness or accident -- an expiring passport might complicate matters. Though you may be one of the lucky 24% of all Americans to possess a passport, take a look at its expiration date -- and get it reissued if less than six months are left.
Where can a penniless student find affordable lodgings in Washington, D.C.? That was a recent question posed to me. The answer: at the facility in every major city that should always spring to mind, namely (and in this case), the 270-bed hostel of Hosteling International (tel. 202/737-2333; www.hiwashingtondc.org), at 1009 11th Street in the heart of the capital. A bunk is $35 a night, and you can prepare pasta meals in the communal kitchen.
Elderly Americans have recently been told that a bite-a-day of dark chocolate will lower their blood pressure. Younger Americans who travel should always take some protein bars or Power Bars with them. They provide a cheap (about $1.50 each) snack full of nutrients, and fit easily into luggage or a backpack.
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Where can a penniless student find affordable lodgings in Washington, D.C.? That was a recent question posed to me. The answer: at the facility in every major city that should always spring to mind, namely (and in this case), the 270-bed hostel of Hosteling International (tel. 202/737-2333; www.hiwashingtondc.org), at 1009 11th Street in the heart of the capital. A bunk is $35 a night, and you can prepare pasta meals in the communal kitchen.
Elderly Americans have recently been told that a bite-a-day of dark chocolate will lower their blood pressure. Younger Americans who travel should always take some protein bars or Power Bars with them. They provide a cheap (about $1.50 each) snack full of nutrients, and fit easily into luggage or a backpack.
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Labels: accommodations, diet, passports, tips, washington dc
What's it like to cruise on one of those new ships carrying 3,000 passengers and more?
I've now sailed on two of these giant vessels, and here's my report: with their fourteen and more decks and vast expanse, the cruiselines have created a new type of entertainment center for vacationing Americans. The ships have not one, but three open-air swimming pools, each with its own large hot tub supplemented by a fourth such tub enclosed within the ship. The casino is the size you'd find in a large Las Vegas hotel, and strategically situated to require that you walk through it to reach many other important facilities. The main theater (there are more than one) has two balconies, and surpasses in size the big movie houses that you'd find in a large town. The fitness center, with its many rooms for individual massage, is larger than the overwhelming percentage of gyms patronized by most Americans.
Everywhere you look are movie-like sets operated by professional photographers who offer their services to commemorate the sailing. One of them features a giant background photograph of the railing of a ship with the sea behind it; thus, you needn't even step outside to have a picture of yourself and your traveling companion that looks as if it were taken on an open deck. Earlier, as you entered the ship, you were photographed standing in front of the street of a fake Mexican village, obviating the need to leave the ship for real-life scenes in Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, or Mazatlán.
The main restaurant (there are several of them) seats 1,100 persons, and operates with two sittings for dinner. A crowd gathers and stands in line at the start of every evening meal. But the crowd-control of diners is an accomplished feat on the part of the ship's staff, and rarely do you have to wait more than five minutes to enter and be seated. At other points of the cruise -- entering the ship, leaving it in port, entering the theater, getting breakfast at different cafeteria-like set-ups -- lines are also encountered, but they move quickly. Still, the constant sensation is that you are part of a crowd, something similar to waiting for the popcorn in a movie theater. The ship is so vast, and stable, and so totally enclosed without windows in many areas, that you have the feeling you are on land and not at sea.
Crowds, crowds everywhere, a constant pedestrian movement of persons passing through the atrium floor and gathering around the fake photographs to choose a likeness for the folks back home. This is not cruising as I have grown to love cruising. It is not a quiet, contemplative week at sea, gazing at the vastness of the water-covered earth, quietly conversing with other passengers, catching up on your reading, listening to music, having a quiet meal. It is something else. And although this new world of cruising is obviously popular among many, its very popularity is a sad commentary on the restless, rootless, condition of so many of our fellow citizens. In all the many lectures on board on subjects ranging from make-up to stomach flatness and cooking, there was not a single subject matter appealing to an intellectually curious person.
Let me, in fairness, compliment the cruiselines on providing a considerable degree of comfort, indeed luxury, at an extremely reasonable price. The cruises I took were not of a premium level, but among the lower-cost offerings, something like the Wal-Mart of cruises. But they were not cruises as I have know them. They were something entirely different -- and somewhat troubling, too.
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Everywhere you look are movie-like sets operated by professional photographers who offer their services to commemorate the sailing. One of them features a giant background photograph of the railing of a ship with the sea behind it; thus, you needn't even step outside to have a picture of yourself and your traveling companion that looks as if it were taken on an open deck. Earlier, as you entered the ship, you were photographed standing in front of the street of a fake Mexican village, obviating the need to leave the ship for real-life scenes in Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, or Mazatlán.
The main restaurant (there are several of them) seats 1,100 persons, and operates with two sittings for dinner. A crowd gathers and stands in line at the start of every evening meal. But the crowd-control of diners is an accomplished feat on the part of the ship's staff, and rarely do you have to wait more than five minutes to enter and be seated. At other points of the cruise -- entering the ship, leaving it in port, entering the theater, getting breakfast at different cafeteria-like set-ups -- lines are also encountered, but they move quickly. Still, the constant sensation is that you are part of a crowd, something similar to waiting for the popcorn in a movie theater. The ship is so vast, and stable, and so totally enclosed without windows in many areas, that you have the feeling you are on land and not at sea.
Crowds, crowds everywhere, a constant pedestrian movement of persons passing through the atrium floor and gathering around the fake photographs to choose a likeness for the folks back home. This is not cruising as I have grown to love cruising. It is not a quiet, contemplative week at sea, gazing at the vastness of the water-covered earth, quietly conversing with other passengers, catching up on your reading, listening to music, having a quiet meal. It is something else. And although this new world of cruising is obviously popular among many, its very popularity is a sad commentary on the restless, rootless, condition of so many of our fellow citizens. In all the many lectures on board on subjects ranging from make-up to stomach flatness and cooking, there was not a single subject matter appealing to an intellectually curious person.
Let me, in fairness, compliment the cruiselines on providing a considerable degree of comfort, indeed luxury, at an extremely reasonable price. The cruises I took were not of a premium level, but among the lower-cost offerings, something like the Wal-Mart of cruises. But they were not cruises as I have know them. They were something entirely different -- and somewhat troubling, too.
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Labels: cruise
Jul 29, 2007
Those border-crossing requirements continue to present problems
Do you have a certified copy of your birth certificate (i.e., a copy with a raised seal?) If you can't answer that question, you'll want to rush to your safety deposit box or to that cardboard container (in attics, basements and hall closets) where family documents are kept. Every proposal for extending the date when Americans will need to show passports to cross by land or sea to or from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean, substitutes a temporary alternative of showing a government-issued photo ID (like a driver's license) plus a "certified copy" of one's birth certificate. But how many of us have such certified copies? Do you? Does your spouse have one? Your children? It begins to seem that obtaining a passport, with all its difficulties, may be the easier course.
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Labels: passports
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the