Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 38

Traveling to Europe in January or February to Enjoy a Real Bargain on Transportation

Airfares across the Atlantic begin to drop in mid-October, and then they plummet during the months of January and February, when the cost of reaching western Europe is truly low. Some indication of that is found in this week's special bargain from Gate 1 Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com ), whereby it will fly you from New York to Paris for a three-night hotel stay (including daily breakfast), then fly you from Paris to London for another three-night hotel stay (including daily breakfast), and then fly you back to New York, for a total of $899, including fuel surcharge. But that price requires that you depart on January 4, 11, 18 or 25, or on February 1, 15 or 22, making your booking prior to September 26 (by mentioning discount code DLPARL100).

Departures are available from other U.S. cities for slightly more. Here's an example of how scheduling your European trip for January or February can bring you a truly affordable winter vacation. And January and February are the height of the cultural season in both Paris and London.

Two More Items: Ryanair's Latest Outrageous Fee & the T.S.A.'s Shoe Concessions to Kids

You can never underestimate the anti-social tendencies of Europe's leading cost-cutting carrier, Ryanair. In a recent announcement that hasn't received enough exposure, it has announced that passengers will henceforth pay a £6 (about $10) fine if they pay for their flights with a credit card that wasn't issued by Ryanair. You will escape that fee only by first applying for a Ryanair card. And with all the other fees, hidden imposts, charges, and policies of those folks in the friendly skies, you'll need the analytical abilities of a rocket scientist to determine, in advance, how much the flight will actually cost you.

Some cheerier news: the T.S.A. has apparently realized that the size of children's shoes is not sufficient to conceal a dangerous amount of explosives. So starting September 26, children under the age of 12 will no longer need to remove their shoes when passing through airport security gates. What's more, if a security alarm is sounded when a child passes through those electronic gates, the child will be permitted to pass through a second time before a pat-down is required.

Google's New Search Engine for Flights Has Gone Live & Is Impressive

To the extent that there's been any really significant travel news these past two weeks, it's been the final emergence of Google's flight search engine, which you can access at www.google.com/flights . From this moment forward, all the usual flight-search names -- Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hipmunk, Momondo, DoHop -- will be directly challenged by a company with near-limitless resources and great determination to dominate the field. And savvy travelers will always want to compare the results appearing on other search engines with those shown by Google.

The best thing about Google's new search engine? Its speed. You insert an itinerary from Point A to Point B, and in a nano-second, up comes a score-or-so of various available flights with their prices. The most interesting aspect to Google's flights? It's the fact that Google doesn't search any of the other search engines, but simply goes direct to the flights and prices listed by the airlines. Noticing a flight that seems best for you, you then go directly to that airline to book it.

It's fairly obvious that Google's new service is in its introductory mode, and will be improved over time. For now, it only lists domestic flights and no international ones. And it doesn't seem to list as many flights as you'd find on the standard search engines. That said, the information is presented in a clear manner, and I for one find it a very comprehensible layout. It's going to be a real contender, and you should at least use it to check the results found on the other more familiar search engines.

Google's New Search Engine for Flights Has Gone Live, And Is Impressive

To the extent that there's been any really significant travel news these past two weeks, it's been the final emergence of Google's flight search engine, which you can access at www.google.com/flights . From this moment forward, all the usual flight-search names -- Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Hipmunk, Momondo, DoHop -- will be directly challenged by a company with near-limitless resources and great determination to dominate the field. And savvy travelers will always want to compare the results appearing on other search engines with those shown by Google.

The best thing about Google's new search engine? Its speed. You insert an itinerary from Point A to Point B, and in a nano-second, up comes a score-or-so of various available flights with their prices. The most interesting aspect to Google's flights? It's the fact that Google doesn't search any of the other search engines, but simply goes direct to the flights and prices listed by the airlines. Noticing a flight that seems best for you, you then go directly to that airline to book it.

It's fairly obvious that Google's new service is in its introductory mode, and will be improved over time. For now, it only lists domestic flights and no international ones. And it doesn't seem to list as many flights as you'd find on the standard search engines. That said, the information is presented in a clear manner, and I for one find it a very comprehensible layout. It's going to be a real contender, and you should at least use it to check the results found on the other more familiar search engines.

We Must Mobilize Against the Shut-Down of Amtrak Seriously Proposed in the House of Representatives

Un-noticed by most of the press and by nearly all of the public is a draft budget for the next fiscal year of Amtrak that has just been announced by the House Committee on Appropriations through its Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Sub-Committee. It would cut the operating budget for Amtrak by a devastating 60%, requiring what would undoubtedly need to be a shut-down of most of our national railroad. Instead of receiving $563 million a year as it did in 2011, Amtrak would receive $227 million. According to Amtrak's president, and the National Association of Railroad Passengers, this astonishing decision to virtually end rail transportation in the U.S. will probably come before the House of Representatives in just a few weeks from now -- and given the present make-up and mood of the House, will probably pass.

So how will Americans travel through most of the country? They will either stay home, or get into their gas-guzzling cars, or they will turn to already-overburdened airlines to take them from place to place. Conservative estimates say that 9 million daily commuters in the nation's most populous regions will need to seek new transportation options. A national nightmare is in the offing.

Up until now, the antics of the all-government-is-bad crowd have been quaint. They have now become dangerous. In the hope that a U.S. Senate will act more rationally, and that the public will force the House to accede to a better Senate-created budget for Amtrak, immediate advocacy and action are needed from all of us unless we want to become the only advanced, prosperous nation on earth to lack a viable rail system.

I am not talking about the other sensible proposals to begin creating a system of High Speed rail in the United States -- though you should know that the High Speed project is set for zero funding in the House's proposed budget. I am talking about the continued operation of Amtrak as we presently know it. The threat, and the danger, are real.

For this coming Sunday's Travel Show ( www.wor710.com/frommer-travel-show ), my daughter and I yesterday placed a call to the president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers and interviewed him at length. His voice reflected the anxiety of this imminent threat to a sensible national transportation system. It is actually being proposed and will come before the House for a vote in just a few days.

We must all raise the roof. We must inundate Congress with our protests. We should pay no attention to those ideologues who will respond to this blog with their usual, pompous bleats, and save our own opportunity to take the train -- an energy-efficient train -- for many of our trips within the U.S.A.

A Poll of Cruiseship Passengers Shows a Lack of Enthusiasm for Cruiselines' Private Enclaves

A recent poll at Cruise Critic ( www.cruisecritic.com ) set out to determine what they thought of the various private beaches, private islands, and phony port cities that the cruiselines are busily throwing up all over the Caribbean. The results weren't favorable to these artificial communities. Forty-six percent of the persons polled responded that they had either never heard of or never experienced a private island, private beach or phony port, which means they never really felt the need for such a facility. Nearly thirty percent responded that they regarded these artificial facilities as "cheesy," something they could do without. The near-thirty percent went on to say that they preferred going to a "real" port. Only a small twenty-four percent opined that they enjoyed these newly-built stops, and a tiny six percent said they liked them but only for the shopping options they provided.

Interestingly enough, one of Cruise Critics' readers responding to the poll told of taking a long bus ride from the artificial port (Costa Maya) to see actual ruins, while their in-laws remained at the port. Those in-laws later told "horrible stories about being pressured to buy items in this tourist-built port from retailers. The retailers complained to my mother-in-law that she had to buy something because they only had two cruise ships in port and they weren't making enough money... She'll never go to Costa Maya again."

The readers who had gone on the motorcoach tour leaving from the phony port told of passing nearby wooden barracks erected to house the people who worked there, who otherwise found they could not live in the nearest actual community because it was too far away.

All in all, not a very encouraging response to these phony port cities, private beaches and private islands.

A Two-Week Mediterranean Sailing of Swan Hellenic Cruises Is Being Offered at a Terribly Low Price

What's up with Swan Hellenic, the cruiseline for intellectuals? That's the British owned company that staffs its small-ship cruises with eminent lecturers (some from the faculties of Oxford and Cambridge), that includes all shore excursions (led by those lecturers) in the price you pay, and all tipping, and that also flies you round-trip from London to the destination port from which the cruise leaves -- all for no extra charge. Taking into account these features, the price charged by Swan Hellenic is often an excellent value.

And that is certainly the case with the imminent departure of a two-week cruise (14 days) from October 28 to November 10, of the company's flagship, the 320-passenger Minerva offering country house-style comfort and a large library. The trip is called "Highlights of the Ancient World." Passengers will fly from London on October 28 to Valletta, Malta, where they will be on the ship for two nights, and they will then sail over the next two weeks to Tunisia, various ports in Greece, to Alexandria, Egypt (for visits to Cairo), to the island of Rhodes, and Turkey, before ending the cruise in Athens. At least four eminent lecturers will be on board, and they include Christopher Andrews, Professor of History at Cambridge University, and other persons of a distinguished academic background.

The special price for two weeks, including air from London, is £1,495 ($2,347) per person in a twin-bedded cabin. You can book by contacting Swan Hellenic (tel. 44-844-488-0717; www.swanhellenic.com ).

DIY Booking: Combine Round-Trip Airfare to Istanbul and a Dirt-Cheap, 10-Day Mediterranean Cruise for an Astonishing Bargain

Using Momondo ( www.momondo.com ), one of my favorite airfare aggregators, you can fly round-trip on Delta Airlines between New York and Istanbul in October for an amazing $708, including all taxes and fees. And why is that significant? It's because Online Vacation Center (tel. 800/780-9002; www.onlinevacationcenter.com ) is offering inside cabins on a 10-day Mediterranean cruise round-trip from Istanbul (departing October 7 and October 28) on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas for as little as $499 per person (a really unprecedented bargain). Put the two together, and you have a totally comprehensive Mediterranean vacation for a total of $1,207 per person.

And the cruise you take spends two nights in Istanbul at the outset, then two nights in Haifa, Israel, followed by two nights in Ashdod, Israel, before returning, several days later (after stopping on the Turkish coast) to Istanbul. It's a remarkable itinerary that provides you not simply with the pleasures of the Mediterranean for more than a week but with a fairly substantial stay in Israel, all for less than you'd normally spend for air-and-land to Israel alone.

The Elegant, Giant Paddle Steamer the American Queen Will Resume Its Sailings of the Mississippi Early Next Year

One of the best vacations I ever had was on the Mississippi River cruising from New Orleans up to ports in Mississippi and back aboard the resplendent American Queen, a re-created paddle steamer beautifully decorated and furnished. The boat was then owned by the now-defunct Delta Queen company, and was recently laid up in drydock under the aegis of the U.S. Maritime Commission. It has now been sold to the newly-formed Great American Steamboat Company, and will resume a year-around series of three-to-eleven-night cruises of the Mississippi, starting in April, and sailing from such ports as New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis, and Minneapolis/St. Paul, as well as Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, starting in April.

Run by some of the same people who staffed its former owning company, the American Queen will apparently benefit from some of their lessons, and will stress a type of value that's fairly unprecedented. For example, a daily shore excursion will be included in the price of the cruise for no extra charge, beer and wine will be complimentary with lunch and dinner, and free soft drinks will be available throughout the day. Those features make the proposed pricing structure fairly moderate for such a luxurious ship serving remarkable, Southern-style meals: from $995 per person for an all-inclusive three-night cruise, from $1,995 for am all-inclusive seven-night cruise.

Most days when the ship was simple paddling along, I sat in a deck chair watching the historic scenery of America's legendary river and reading a copy of Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. I enjoyed visiting the historic antebellum towns at which we stopped (though I got into violent arguments with the "riverlorian," an unreconstructed admirer of the Confederacy, who delivered pleasant but wildly prejudiced lectures on the Old South), and I packed away some very memorable meals on a ship that emphasized its authentic Southern cuisine.

The American Queen isn't yet accepting reservations, but it soon will, and you might look at its website, www.greatamericansteamboatcompany.com , to get an advance look at what's being offered. You can then be among the first to make a reservation in just a few days from now.

With Carnival's Construction of Another Artificial Village in the Dominican Republic, Cruising Has Become Less Like Travel

It's become quite obvious that the cruiselines are hell-bent to hold on to every penny of their passengers' expenditures at the various ports on their cruise. The latest step in doing that is the announcement by Carnival Cruises that it is financing the construction of another of those phony port cities in the Caribbean, this time on the coast of the Dominican Republic just west of Puerto Plata. The new cruise facility, they say, will have retail shops, bars and restaurants, and entertainment buildings of an unspecified nature.

So, instead of going to dine in a restaurant owned and operated by citizens of the Dominican Republic, passengers will dine in a restaurant owned and operated by Carnival. Instead of shopping in local stores, they will shop in retail outlets owned by Carnival and staffed by employees of Carnival. Same for various activities of entertainment.

The new village, on Maimon Bay, is the latest in a large and growing string of phony towns and villages that several cruiselines have now constructed and are operating throughout the Caribbean. Each of these is brand new and without the vestiges of age and authenticity found in real towns and villages of the Caribbean. As a sop to those passengers who are eager to see the rest of the island, there are transportation hubs in each such location housing large motorcoaches that can conduct groups on sightseeing tours, intervals when passengers stare through the windows of the bus at the island life flashing by.

We are fast approaching the point when a great many cruises are simply floating amusement parks and shopping centers, totally divorced from the activity of travel and supplying their passengers with no semblance of a foreign travel experience. There should be a new name coined for these cruises, a term that would distinguish them from the small remaining number of cruises that actually transport their passengers to unaltered communities of the world. Suggest your ideas for such a word in the comments below.