Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 35

The Same Steep Discounts We're Accustomed to Receiving on Ocean Cruises Are Also Available on Select River Cruises

Most avid travelers are aware that by going to numerous cruise discount websites, or even to the cruiselines' own websites, they can occasionally find discounts off published prices of at least 50%. And yet, when they consider booking a river cruise, they usually pay full price. The foolishness of such a course was revealed this week in a widely-distributed e-mail from Vacations To Go ( www.vacationstogo.com ), which is now heavily involved in the sale of river cruises. In that missive, VTG has listed two major, most-of-the-year river cruise programs on which participants, by booking now, could buy two cruises for the price of one ("companion cruises for free") -- that is, at 50% off (and resulting in prices of about $1,000 per person for a one-week cruise).

The offers, in the exact language of the e-mail, are the following:

Rhine Getaway 2012: 8 days with Viking River Cruises. Travels between Amsterdam and Basel with stops in Cologne, Heidelberg and Strasbourg. Companion cruises for free, plus save $800 per couple off roundtrip airfare when you book and pay in full. Land/cruise-only starting from $1,949. Departures from March 18 through December 30, 2012.

Paris & the Heart of Normandy 2012: (Paris-Rouen-Paris), 8 days with Viking River Cruises. Begins and ends in Paris with visits to Giverny, Omaha Beach and Conflans. Companion cruises for free, plus save $800 per couple off roundtrip airfare when you book and pay in full. Land/cruise-only starting from $2,149. Departures from March 21 through December 23, 2012.

To follow up on either of those remarkable offers, you simply call tel. 800/510-4002 and ask to speak with a river cruise specialist.

At Last: A U.S. Tour Operator Offers an Under-$2,000 Trip to Cuba -- Including Airfare

When cultural, religious and educational tours to Cuba were made more legal in April, the initial offerings of U.S. tour operators splashed cold water on the excitement felt by most would-be travelers. Except for one unusual and highly-political exception (offered by a company called WitnessforPeace.com), all other companies charged $4,000-and-up for their 10-day packages, plus another $1,000-or-so for round-trip charter flights from Miami. Those prices verged on the outrageous.

[image error]
Photo Caption: Carts in Havana, Cuba. Kate Skryleva/Frommers.com Community
Now, from an unexpected source never before associated with Cuba, namely Friendly Planet (tel. 800/555-5765; www.friendlyplanet.com ), comes a reasonable package. Its Discover Havana package is a four-night stay (though lengthier visits are also available), costs $1,899 per person, and includes all three meals daily, continuous escorted sightseeing, a decent hotel, and -- most important -- round-trip, non-stop airfare between Miami and Havana.

Departures from Miami at the $1,899 price are on May 18 and September 12, 2012. Additional departures for only $100 to $200 more are on June 6, September 26, and October 24, 2012. Specifically, participants receive:
Non-stop, round-trip airfare between Miami and Havana;Cuba entrance visa;Four nights' accommodation at the historic Hotel Nacional in Havana (whose bar is festooned with pictures of infamous gangsters living it up in Havana in the years of dictator Fulgencio Batista);A full-time Friendly Planet guide and separate Cuban guide;Daily escorted sightseeing and all entrance fees;All land transfers within Cuba; andAll three meals a day, from start to finish. Sightseeing visits include a cigar factory, elementary school, Cuban farm, Ernest Hemingway's home; artists' cooperatives, and various neighborhoods. Seven-night visits to Cuba are available for $2,899, this time also including two nights in the city of Trinidad, Cuba, and again round-trip air transportation from Miami.

Facing a Downturn in Trans-Atlantic Travel, Tour Companies Beef Up U.S. and Canadian Tour Offerings

A top new travel trend? For 2012? It's apparently a major expansion of the itineraries within the United States and Canada offered by prominent tour companies. Thus, G Adventures ( www.gadventures.com ) will, in 2012, be offering tours and itineraries within North America for the very first time -- 55 of them, in fact, all across the U.S. and Canada. The recently renamed company (it went by GAP Adventures until the clothing retail giant sued), is the operator of moderately priced small-group adventure tours limited, in nearly every case, to 12 or 14 persons per departure. To ring in the new product, G Adventures is offering a 15% discount on these new North America tours booked by December 31 for travel through the end of 2012 (with the exception of its Discovery Adventures and Air Canada Adventures).

G Adventures' announcement of its new North America tour programs has coincided with a similar disclosure by the giant Globus Tours ( www.globusjourneys.com ). Though it has offered U.S. and Canada-based tours before, it is greatly expanding those programs with its new "Backyard Getaways" for 2012, a series of nearly 50 new tours within North America in response to the current market trend of consumers staying nearer the home front. The move comes less than a week following the announcement of a partnership between Globus and the National Park Foundation, the officials charity of America's national parks, to provide tour experiences within the national parks.

So if you've been dismayed by the increasing cost of trans-Atlantic airfares, you now have an alternative means of vacationing without making one of those pricey hops. You'll want to study the G Adventures and Globus programs before making a final travel decision.

USA Today Has Just Launched A Cruise Website Where Writers Always Pay Their Own Way

The giant national newspaper, USA Today, has just launched a website on cruises that features an 824-word statement on Ethics, establishing a draconian policy of separating the website from the cruiselines it covers. Persons who write for the new website -- called VacationCruisesInfo.com ( www.vacationcruisesinfo.com ) -- are strictly prohibited from accepting free trips from the cruiselines as well as any other gift, compensation, emolument, or other benefit. Persons who write for the new website are similarly prohibited from investing in the cruiseline, and if their professional growth requires going on a junket or free cruise, the newspaper must immediately repay the cruiseline for the cost of that cruise. The statement headed with the word "Ethics & How We Review" is as prominent a part of the new website as any other feature.

By taking this unusual step, USA Today has squarely dealt with a dilemma that confronts any journalist writing about cruises. To review a particular cruise or a cruiseline, you have to actually go on that cruise or cruiseline, an act that normally costs thousands of dollars. Very few publications are willing to pick up the tab. And if you criticize the cruise or cruiseline, you run the risk of being denied a free cruise in the future, thus putting you out of business as a cruise critic. USA Today's policy is a solid attempt to make sure the reviewer has access to the product.

According to the editor of USA Today's new VacationCruisesInfo.com, who is Gene Sloan, a veteran of more than sixty cruises and a co-author of Frommer's Alaska Cruises and Ports of Call 2011 , USA Today adopted its new policy with eyes wide open. I interviewed him this past Sunday on The Travel Show, and he was completely forthright about this. He proudly announced that despite the added financial burden that this new policy will place on USA Today, that they are willing to accept that heavy cost, and are adamant in refusing to permit their staff to accept free cruises -- or any other benefit from the cruiseline.

To police that policy, they will no longer use freelancers to write their cruise reviews. They will rely on longtime staffers whose ethics they can oversee and control. They will even pay out the several thousands of dollars that will be needed to place one of their staff members of the one-week sailings of an elegant, upscale cruiseline like Seabourn or Seven Seas -- a point about which I specifically queried him. And, he continued, they have now put that policy into effect. If you listen to this weekend's podcast you will sense my own admiration for his -- and his newspaper's -- new and stand.

And incidentally, Sloan also pointed out that in the future, USA Today will choose only such cruise critics from their staff as are wholly objective about the cruise experience. He will choose critics who will understand that some Americans -- not all, but some -- are less than thrilled about the tendency of popular cruiselines to transform their ships into amusement parks. Towards the end of our interview, he deliberately made that point. His critics will carefully weigh and discuss the fact that some American cruise passengers will love a cruise that other cruise passengers will loathe.

With $699 Balcony Cabins on QM2's Trans-Atlantic Cruises, Cunard Signals That Autumn Sailings Are in Trouble

You don't have too much time left for an October crossing, but if you can leave New York for Southampton, England, as early as October 23, you can snare a balcony cabin on the luxurious Queen Mary 2 for only $699 per person (and that's for a seven-night crossing of the Atlantic). The same east-bound sailing on November 17 is available at the same price, same category of cabin.

And westbound sailings of the QM2 are available from Southampton to New York for the same $699 price on November 10 and December 12. Naturally, you'll have to buy your own air ticket to Southampton to board the ship.

Six hundred and ninety-nine dollars is the amazing tab, probably the lowest ever offered on this magnificent ship, for a memorable trans-Atlantic crossing that's totally different in atmosphere -- far more intellectual, far more mature in approach -- than what you'd encounter on a Caribbean fun-and-games cruise. The $699 price is available from Online Vacation Center (tel. 800/329-9002; www.onlinevacationcenter.com ).

Peru Is Back on the List of Safe and Pleasant Locations for American Retirees or Expatriates

An American expat working as a photographer in Lima, Peru (his name is Jamie Douglas) is which claims that Peru is again regarded as appropriate for Americans seeking a second or retirement home. Apparently, the recent victor in that nation's presidential elections (Ollanta Humala) has happily surprised the investment community with his moderate choices of skilled technocrats for his cabinet and his generally responsible approach to economic decisions. Business is booming and all sorts of American expats are apparently moving to Lima, Cusco, Mendoza or Arequipa, where one-bedroom apartments in the very center of Lima are available for as little as $400 a month, and three-bedroom apartments are available in other cities for the same. What's most attractive about Peru, he claims, is the quality and low cost of its medical and dental services, and the $200-a-month wages of a domestic servant.

Groupon's Hotel Discounts Used to Be Snooze-Provoking, But Now They're Real Bargains

The popular coupon site Groupon has been offering its Groupon Getaways deals in partnership with Expedia ( www.groupon.com/getaways ) since July, but until recently the deals have not been exciting enough to discuss. They have focused almost entirely on hotels -- and usually expensive ones at that-- virtually all of them domestic. The discounts have been significant, but only if you were willing to spend $300 (rather than $600) on a hotel to begin with.

That all seems to be changing, albeit slowly. The focus at Groupon Getaways is still on hotels, but there are now some true bargains in the mix, including $79 for a $159-a-night colonial-era inn in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, or $89 for a $154 room at the Pacific Edge Hotel on Laguna Beach, California.

There are also now more tempting deals in exotic locales in Mexico and the Caribbean on tap, such as $679 for a five-night stay in a one-bedroom suite by the beach in Barbados for two adults and a child; or $509 for a four-night stay on St. Maarten in an ocean view balcony room that can sleep six with full kitchen.

Even more intriguing, there is a smattering of non-hotel deals on offer. This week brought forth a bargain from noted tour company Intrepid Travel, which specializes in small group tours with an adventurous spirit aimed at culturally curious travelers. Just $475 will buy you $1,000 worth of credit toward any Intrepid trip to Latin America (except the Galapagos) that costs more than $500. You can redeem that $1,000 credit for any of 125 trips in 17 countries, from the Mayan ruins of Mexico to the Patagonia highlands of Argentina and Chile. The fine print is pretty generous as well: You can redeem the coupon any time up until September 2, 2012, for travel any time through Oct. 31, 2012.

As always, read all the terms and conditions for each deal carefully. On some hotel deals, there are broad black-out periods and other obstacles to coupon redemption, and sometimes the coupons do not offer a deal any better than you could find going directly to the hotel or by using the favorable rates from a hotel booking engine.

Still, Groupon Getaways is increasingly proving to be yet another useful tool in the savvy traveler's arsenal.

A Drive to Restore Liberties in Myanmar May Soon Add Another Attractive Destination to Our Travel Choices

For nearly three decades, sensitive western tourists have boycotted visits to the nation of Myanmar (the former Burma), heeding the request of that nation's Nobel-prize-winning dissident, Aung Suu Kyi, that they avoid helping the military dictators of that suffering country. Other, less sensitive westerners have continued to bestow their tourist dollars on Myanmar, and the matter is one of intense controversy. Myanmar, with its Buddhist traditions, fertile countryside, and natural wonders, is an unusually attractive destination that many travelers have wanted to enjoy.

[image error] Photo Caption: Vendors in Myanmar. ijfisher/Frommers.com Community

Recently, matters there have improved. The first decent steps by Myanmar's military junta have been tentative ones (200 of 2,000 imprisoned dissidents have been freed), and the country is still far from being an open society. But its world-renowned opposition leader, Aung Suu Kyi, has been released from house arrest, she is conducting open political meetings, the media have been freed up a bit to report objectively on political issues, a national Burmese newsweekly recently featured Suu Kyi's photograph on its cover, and military representatives have begun meeting with the leaders of other countries -- especially India -- to express their desire to re-enter the world of democratic nations (and thus avoid the heavy economic sanctions that other nations have imposed on it).

Much of this movement is ascribed to a new military leader, President U Thein Sein, himself a former general, who has apparently replaced the despotic General Then Shwe at the head of a government still dominated by the Army. Thein Sein is described by a number of (perhaps overly optimistic) commentators as a sort of Mikhail Gorbachev, a reformer, and a modern leader.

It is obviously too early to reach any firm conclusions. But by carefully following the developments in Myanmar, it may soon be apparent that this nation can be visited without violating one's conscience. Let's hope that this will be the case. But those American tour operators who have jumped the gun in the past and operated trips to Myanmar, thus bringing income and support to military thugs, should surely wait until the present situation is clarified. That may not take as long as some of us had earlier feared.

Pacha Tours' Just-Released, Air-Included Tour Program to Turkey Offers Stunning Vacation Opportunities at a Low Price

Twenty-six-year-old Pacha Tours, the specialist to Turkey (tel. 800/722-4288; www.turkeyvision.com ), has just issued its 2012 catalogue (including its three "specials" for the winter of 2011-12), and it's clear from that publication that Turkey has become the single best vacation value for trans-Atlantic travelers. If, in particular, you are looking for a quick holiday in December-through-February, you couldn't choose a better trip than an air-and-land package to Istanbul for seven nights there ($845 per person), to Istanbul and Ephesus ($1,180) for five and two nights respectively, or to Istanbul and Cappadocia ($1,260) for five and two nights.

Note -- to repeat a point -- that those winter prices all include round-trip air transportation between New York and Istanbul, as well as air from Istanbul to Ephesus (Izmir) and Cappadocia in the case of the two-city tours. They are also for guaranteed Saturday departures throughout the winter -- the tour will leave even if only two people book it.

These winter packages are then joined starting in March with the famous "signature" tour of Pacha Tours called Turkish Delight, which flies you to Turkey for 15 nights of virtually all-inclusive arrangements (three meals a day and daily escorted sightseeing) in Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia, Konya, Antalya, Denizli, Aydin, Selcuk, Pergamum and Canakkale, for a total of $1,670 for the departures from New York of March 1-15, and $1,970 from March 11 to April 30. Departures from Chicago are only $156 more, from Los Angeles only $64 more (departures from Los Angeles actually cost less than from Chicago).

And incidentally, there are early-booking discounts of up to $250 off these prices for persons who pay for their tours prior to December 31, 2011.  

Turkey is a land of 80 million inhabitants in an area twice the size of California, and its history is a rich succession of important cultures and occupying nations. It possesses considerable political and economic significance today, is friendly to the visitor, requiring no special visas of Americans, and its price structure is low. If you haven't yet been there, you might take advantage of the special opportunities that the months of December-through April provide.

The Cruiselines -- All of Them -- Have This Week Launched Their Largest Sale Ever (They Claim)

Starting today, and throughout the week to come -- even longer than that on some cruiselines -- the entire U.S. cruise industry has placed their fleet on sale for its National Cruise Vacation Week. What does that mean? From October 17 to the 23rd, the participating lines will offer bonuses to persons who book during that week. And many individual travel agencies will be scheduling "cruise nights" to entice such bookings through refreshments served and videos shown.

Last year, a similar industry-wide sale was held on just one night around this time. The sale was such a success that it was extended this year to a full week.

Most of the special inducements to book cruises, offered during the October 15-23 period, are credits against the bills you incur by ordering alcoholic drinks, booking specialty restaurants, or using spa services while aboard the cruise. In some instances, the credit is as great as $400 or $500 per cabin, as on Celebrity Cruises or Azamara Club Cruises. And the fact that the figures are, on occasion, that high, only serves to emphasize how much a great many cruise passengers now spend on drinks, specialty restaurants or spas. (And such figures also serve to bolster the arguments of many observers that all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, which include drinks, specialty restaurants and spas for no extra charge, are today less expensive to enjoy than are cruises, where all such purchases are billed over and above the basic cost of the cruise).

So if you're a would-be cruise passenger who enjoys several daily drinks or an occasional specialty restaurant or spa, you'll be well served by purchasing your cruise during the forthcoming sale week. The overwhelming number of cruise lines are offering credits of at least up to $200 and $250 per cabin and sometimes per person.

That being said, the two outstanding bargains of National Cruise Vacation Week are not onboard spending credits but two-for-one cruises aboard winter departures of the Cunard Line and Oceania Cruises (the latter being the increasingly popular upscale line that offers a considerable degree of luxury to the 700 passengers per ship who book its smaller vessels). Go to the websites of each line, and you'll grasp how much of a saving you'll enjoy by paying one cruise amount for two persons.

Complete details can be found at http://cruising.org/vacation/plan-your-cruise/national-cruise-vacation-week-information.