Lessons to Take Away From The Recent Pickpocket-Inspired Shutdown of the Louvre
Posted on 05/11/2013, 9:15 AM
Last May, I hosted a tour of France for the listeners to my radio show. We had days of touring together, and days when we set off on our own. On one of the free days, a group within our group headed to Versailles. Though they came back raving about the grounds, and the hall of mirrors, they also had some serious negatives to report about the experience, on two topics: pickpockets and crowds. ...
Lessons to Take Away From The Recent Pickpocket-Inspired Shutdown of the Louvre
Posted on 05/11/2013, 9:15 AM
Last May, I hosted a tour of France for the listeners to my radio show. We had days of touring together, and days when we set off on our own. On one of the free days, a group within our group headed to Versailles. Though they came back raving about the grounds, and the hall of mirrors, they also had some serious negatives to report about the experience, on two topics: pickpockets and crowds. ...
Spirit Airlines Quietly Ditches Its 800 Number, Domestic Airfares Are Down to Many Popular Destinations, and More Airline News
Posted on 05/11/2013, 9:15 AM
What's the difference between 800 and 801? The first is a toll-free call, and the second is an area code in Utah. Which does Spirit Airlines use for its reservations number? The one that has customers footing the bill, of course. I have to give thanks for that bit of intel to a Florida reader who alerted me the change. (I don't know when it happened). And you have to give chutzpah points to S...
Spirit Airlines Quietly Ditches Its 800 Number, Domestic Airfares Are Down to Many Popular Destinations, and More Airline News
Posted on 05/11/2013, 9:15 AM
What's the difference between 800 and 801? The first is a toll-free call, and the second is an area code in Utah. Which does Spirit Airlines use for its reservations number? The one that has customers footing the bill, of course. I have to give thanks for that bit of intel to a Florida reader who alerted me the change. (I don't know when it happened). And you have to give chutzpah points to S...
14 Things You Should Know about the Norwegian Breakaway
Posted on 05/10/2013, 1:15 PM
Norwegian Cruise Line has been feverishly building its brand for the past decade. What was once a side player in a big industry has evolved into a major name that's been betting it all on big new ships. . The newly built Breakaway leaves from the Hudson River in Manhattan, just a few blocks west of Times Square, and she will call on Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean, depending on th...
14 Things You Should Know about the Norwegian Breakaway
Posted on 05/10/2013, 1:15 PM
Norwegian Cruise Line has been feverishly building its brand for the past decade. What was once a side player in a big industry has evolved into a major name that's been betting it all on big new ships. . The newly built Breakaway leaves from the Hudson River in Manhattan, just a few blocks west of Times Square, and she will call on Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean, depending on th...
With the Japanese Yen Now Selling at an Astonishing Rate of 101 to the U.S. Dollar, Japan Has Once Again Become a Moderately-Priced Travel Destination
Posted on 05/10/2013, 10:30 AM
Yesterday was the Big Day, the time when the Japanese unit of currency--the Yen--crashed through a longtime psychological barrier and begun trading at just a nano less than 101 to the U.S. Dollar. It sold at 80 the Dollar (a 25% difference) just two years ago. Following a course of deliberate inflation, a policy totally at odds with the one championed by various stodgy bankers in Br...
Four Vacation Packages and Cruises Lead the Travel Industry's Offerings for Departures in July of 2013
Posted on 05/09/2013, 9:30 AM
There was once a time when a bargain-hunter could point with excitement to packaged vacations costing less than a thousand dollars at the height of the summer season, like July. That's pretty difficult now. Though the U.S. rate of inflation is unusually low, the desire of overeas hoteliers to wallop the summer vacationer has never been stronger. Today, an eight-to-ten-day packaged vacat...
What's SUP? Perhaps the Hottest Vacation Activity on Water
Posted on 05/08/2013, 4:00 PM
Is stand-up paddle boarding, also known by the surfer-dude friendly acronym SUP (as in “wassup”), the fastest growing watersport in the world? Search engines lists everything from kite surfing to dragon boat racing as having that distinction. But proponents of this relatively new pastime—based on the ancient Polynesian boating method hoe he’e nalu, which involves a sailor standing on a flat...
Haven't Booked a Summer Cruise Yet? That May Work In Your Favor This Year
Posted on 05/08/2013, 3:30 PM
During “Wave Season” this year, a tsunami hit. Let me translate. “Wave Season” is the period from January from March during which the cruise lines try to pin down the majority of their yearly bookings. They do so by ramping up advertising campaigns and offering incentives to passengers and travel agents. But not even the sassiest TV ad could distract would-be travelers from the unfolding ...
