Arthur's Blog: Travel Show Call-In Questions Answered

Last week, I collected a dozen typical questions phoned in by listeners to the Travel Show presented every Sunday on nationwide radio by my daughter and myself. I have since been aware that many additional such questions deal with entirely different travel topics, and might be helpful to consider. So here are a dozen more, all culled from the most recent broadcasts.

Q. We find the procedures for obtaining visas to several countries -- Russia, China, Brazil, India -- to be complex and difficult to understand. Is there any company that can help us?

A. ItsEasy.com is one of the oldest visa-expediting and passport-expediting organizations, in business since 1976. You can contact them for either ordinary or emergency assistance by phoning 866-ITS-EASY.

Q. Where can we find a tour for people interested in "ikebana" (flower arrangements), or [and here they name any number of other specialties, from stamp collecting to ballroom dancing to weaving rugs]?

A. A website called Specialtytravel.com collects and groups the offerings of more than 500 tour companies operating special-interest tours to all parts of the globe. You insert your own beloved specialty and more often than you'd dream, there's a tour operator who gathers like-minded people to travel with you.

Q. We enjoy the walking tours in several major cities, conducted by graduate students and other experts in particular aspects of each city. Where can we find a comprehensive list of the unusual city tours that focus on serious topics or on special aspects that might never be covered on the average, once-over-lightly motorcoach tour?

A. Vayable.com and UrbanAdventures.com are both made for you. They list quirky tours for intellectually-curious people, usually conducted on foot, in more than 200 heavily-visited cities.

Q. I'm 47, and my wife a few years younger, and we're looking for a cruise that's totally unlike the "party sailings" that are often depicted. And we don't want to take a cruise booked by large numbers of families with children. In other words, a relaxing, dignified cruise. (But we don't want to pay the high rates of the ultra-elegant cruiseships). Which cruiselines should we avoid, and which should we consider?

A. To be avoided: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC. To be considered: Celebrity Cruises and Holland-America.

Q. Is it safe to go to Spain or Greece or any of the other European countries where street protests have occurred against austerity policies?

A. Perfectly safe. No tourist has ever been harmed by the street demonstrations in those countries, and the sole problem you face is that civic life comes to an end on the day when such a mass protest is planned. It's hard to get about, and many touristic establishments are closed. But this occurs only for a single day, in almost all instances.

Q. I'm taking a first trip to Italy with my 17-year-old daughter. What shall we do there?

A. The fact that you're posing such a question means that you haven't engaged in any advance preparation or reading for the trip. It's absurd to visit Italy without having read either a history or cultural appreciation of that nation, or even a fictionalized novel about such outstanding figures as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. There are other books in your local library on the history of Rome or Florence, and if you fail to consult such texts, and others, you will waste a grand opportunity to view Italy with a background of knowledge that will immensely enhance the enjoyment of your trip. And if you do, you will not later be asking "what's there to do there?"

Q. I'm 75 and planning a month-long cruise of the South Pacific. I have insurance, but my insurance policy doesn't include emergency evacuation to proper medical care, if that should become necessary. Whom shall I consult?

A. The company for you is Medjetassist, which offers a reasonably-priced policy of medical care that includes emergency evacuation to the U.S.

Q. My family and I have rented a villa in Italy for late April of 2014. We shall be flying in and out of Naples. Is it best to book the flights now, or will the airfare be better closer to the date of departure?

A. Booking it now, some 16 months in advance, you will pay top price for your tickets. Wait until the fall of 2013, when the various aggregators of airfares -- Kayak.com, Momondo.com, SkyScanner.net, or Do-Hop.com -- will be offering discounts off the standard rates.

Q. My family and I will be vacationing in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Will we need to use dollars or pesos, and must we caerry our passports with us once there?

A. You will need to use either your credit card or pesos for your ordinary expenditures once in Playa del Carmen, and you can obtain pesos at the best rate from the many ATM machines you'll find almost everywhere. Be sure to bring a card that works with a four-digit pin number. As for your passports, you'll need them only for arrival purposes, and afterwards they should go into the hotel safe.

Q. Where can I view tango in Buenos Aires?

A. You answer such questions best by consulting an authoritative guidebook. Michael Luongo has authored multiple Frommer's guidebooks to both Buenos Aires and Argentina, and tango performances (as well as tango lessons) are heavily featured by him.

Q. I've heard that some airlines are installing kiosks where you will print out your own luggage tags, thus avoiding a need to interact with a live attendant. And one option will also be to print out those tags at home, on our computers. Is that for real?

A. It is if you follow the advice I've seen of obtaining transparent sticky tape to wrap around the luggage tags printed at home, thus insuring that they can't later be ripped off the suitcase.

Q. Can you direct me to several cheap lodgings in the British Virgin Islands?

A. You've chosen one of the Caribbean's priciest locations, where hotels cater to free-spending tourists, and it is well-nigh impossible to obtain "cheap" lodgings in the British Virgin Islands.

Q. The cruiseship -- run shore excursions seem completely booked on our cruise from Hawaii to islands of the South Pacific. Where can we obtain such tours?

A. From independent operators of shore excursions, usually conducted in small vans and costing less than the cruiseline-operated variety. Look up ShoreTrips.com, CruisingExcursions.com, PortPromotions.com, or PortCompass.com.