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Top Ten Travel Tips

March 4, 2015 by River Cruise Lady Linda 2 Comments

1) As you begin your travel plans, check your passport expiry date. I’ve had many clients who didn’t check until right before they left and had to pay huge rush fees to get a new one.

Passport Picture

2) Buy travel insurance (both cancellation and out of country medical) It may seem like an extra cost that you don’t need but it sure pays for itself tenfold if you have to make a claim. You never think you’ll have a house fire or a break-in but most people buy home insurance every year.

3) Call your credit card company to advise them you will be travelling out of the country so they won’t be suspicious of any charges and possibly freeze your card.

4) Check the voltage and plug types for the country you’ll be visiting and make sure you have the appropriate adapter. (When my husband & I travel together, I even take a small surge protector power bar since we have so many devices between the two of us!) Plus don’t forget to pack your power cords in your carry-on bag as you never know if you’ll be delayed and need them.

5) If travelling somewhere that immunizations or preventative medication is recommended, make sure you start taking well enough in advance (For instance, the Twinrix Hepatitis A&B combo shot is 3 doses that takes six months to complete)

6) Tie a ribbon, bandana or something unique to your bags so they stand out at the luggage carousel and make it less likely that someone will take yours by accident. Also, make sure your bags are tagged with identification (and not just on the outside as those tags can get torn off, you should also put your contact information inside your suitcase as may help if it gets lost.)

7) Speaking of lost luggage, if you’ve ever been waiting and waiting for your bag only to realize that everyone else has left, then that sickening feeling hits you as you finally come to terms that your bag did not arrive, you’ll love this tip – before you leave home, take a picture of your bag with your camera or smartphone so when the agent asks you to fill out all the paperwork with the color, type etc, you have the info at your fingertips. I also take a picture of what I’ve packed inside because if the bag never shows up, it helps jog your memory on what to claim. (I could probably do an entire list just on luggage tips as I’ve lost many bags!)

8) Before leaving on your trip, find out what the luggage allowance is for ALL your flights – if you are changing to a smaller aircraft from an overseas flight, they can be vastly different. You don’t want to get caught with overweight luggage and huge excess charges at check in. In your documentation, make sure you have your booking reference numbers for each airline as they too can be different.

9) If making a few airplane changes which means going through many airport security check points, keep your outfit simple – wear shoes that are easy to take on and off, don’t wear bangles or other jewelry (or coins in your pocket) that might set off the machines. Have your laptop and see through bag of liquids (under 100ml or 3 oz) handy at the top of your carry-on bag.

10) The most important tip of all is to pack your patience!
Your flight might get delayed, your hotel room may not be ready when you arrive, your transfer might not show up, you may get lost, your cruise cabin might be under the gym (this one happened to me once and the cabin shook when one particular guy ran on the treadmill at top speed) and many other mishaps but travel is all about the journey, the destination and the troubles that turn into stories once you get home. Embrace them and be thankful that you’re able to be out experiencing the wonder of our world.

Jazz it up to Graceland on a Mississippi River Cruise!

February 7, 2015 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

The brand new American Eagle paddlewheeler will be raising the standard for river cruising when American Cruise Lines launches this beauty in April of 2015.

A great time will be had cruising the Lower Mississippi River from New Orleans to Memphis. Starting out in a place where centuries old architecture is the backdrop for a culture steeped in a history of influences from Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and beyond. New Orleans is home to a truly unique melting pot of culture, food and music where you’ll find bowls filled to the rim with gumbo and wonderful sounds coming from the jazz clubs.
Board your brand new ship and head north, stopping in Oak Alley, Baton Rouge and St. Francisville in Louisiana along the way. Sailing into Mississippi, you’ll visit Vicksburg to find perfectly blended Southern culture and heritage along with hallowed stories of Civil War battles.
Reaching Tennessee doesn’t have to end your journey, why not stay a few extra days in the legendary Peabody Memphis and visit the iconic Graceland or the Memphis Zoo.

Then when you’ve done this unforgettable journey, you’ll be ready to sign up for their Upper Mississippi river cruise itinerary !

Or if you’ve got plenty of time (and money!) on your hands, they have one epic journey in August that travels the entire length of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Paul, MN in 22 days. Visit 10 states, even more than Huck Finn’s famous trip down the Mississippi River, to experience a complete history of the western frontier.

American Eagle Paddlewheeler

Combine your river cruise with a BMW or Audi factory tour

November 18, 2014 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

Exclusive to The River Cruise Lady !

Trying to convince your significant other to take a river cruise with you ? Then they will love this Danube itinerary which sails from the beautiful city of Budapest and ending in Munich where we add on a BMW or Audi factory tour (or both if you prefer !)

Dates and availability are limited so email your preferred departure to linda@therivercruiselady.com and everything can be arranged for you from your airfare, transfers, extra hotel nights so no stress for you.

Would you buy a river cruise without heated seats ?

September 16, 2014 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

Since my husband has been in the process of buying a newer car lately, it got me thinking about the similarities between purchasing a car and purchasing a river cruise.

It really depends on where you are in your life cycle that steers you towards a certain type of car or cruise. For instance, most cars do exactly the same things, they go forward, reverse, have windshield wipers, headlights and it will get to and from your destination. Same with a river cruise, most of the companies do the same routes on the rivers, stop at the same towns, offer meals, drinks and entertainment onboard and get you to and from your destination.

Now the “extras” are what sets them both apart.

For the cars, you can buy a basic one like a Ford Fusion for just over $20,000 that has power windows, locks, keyless entry and air conditioning. More upgrades would include a sunroof, navigation system, and that wonderful in winter feature – heated seats.

It’s a great car but you find many choosing the popular Audi A5 which cost wise with the prestige trim, will put you over the $50,000 range but comes complete with auto-dimming exterior mirrors, adaptive Xenon Plus headlights, a Parking System Plus with a reversing camera, and side assist blind-spot warning system, a 14-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system with Bluetooth capability plus more. (whew)

Well the same goes for river cruises, it is not as though one company is better than the other, some just offer more “extras” where everything is included.

For example, you could take a 7 night river cruise on the Seine with Avalon Waterways and it would be wonderful – they include wine/beer with dinner and include most excursions. Their ship holds 140 passengers and for some, they will purchase the optional excurions, everyone pays gratuities at the end and depending on how many drinks you’ve enjoyed throughout the week, will have a bit of a bar bill to settle.

Take that same cruise with Tauck and everything is included from the drinks, excursions, transfers to and from the airport or train station plus all gratuities onboard and on the tours. (they also include fancy extras like a private dinner at a chateau in Normandy) Their ship only holds 118 passengers for the same size of vessel so you’ve got more space. Plus they have 14 suites at 300 sq feet each compared to only 2 on Avalon’s (which are 258 sq feet) Tauck also has bicycles onboard that you can sign out on your own or on a bike excursion.

The price difference?

For a mid summer departure in 2015, the Avalon river cruise will start at approx. $3150usd, the Tauck one will start at $5990usd per person based on double. If you want an even longer experience where your ship is docked right at Honfleur (which is only a stones throw from the D-Day landing beaches) then a 10 night all inclusive cruise with Scenic cruises would be your choice and their starting price for this itinerary is $6330usd and up.

: Avalon Waterways Seine River Cruise Itinerary

: Scenic Cruises Seine River Cruise

So it really does depend on where you are in life as to how much you want to spend on your river cruise. I find the older we get, the more we are willing to spend because frankly, we’ve earned it. We have worked hard all our lives starting out with the basics and now we are in a position where we can enjoy all the bells and whistles. (and heated seats !)

We were all taught the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ and it is so true when it comes to river cruising, you can sail with many of the companies and it will be wonderful or you can sail with a few of the all-inclusive lines & the trip will be amazing.

Whichever one you choose, you will love the experience of getting into the heart of your destination.

What cabin should I book for a river cruise ?

September 6, 2014 by River Cruise Lady Linda Leave a Comment

I decided to write about what cabin you should book from having a conversation with my parents. They received a brochure in the mail about a European river cruise and when I was visiting, they pointed out that the company was offering FREE AIRFARE for a few of their departures. They exclaimed enthusiastically to get them booked right away to take advantage of the deal !

I then showed them the fine print which was that it was only applicable on their “window” category cabins. To which they replied – “how bad could that be ?”

So I dug out my close up picture that I took of the outside of one of the ships when I was on the Danube (plus also showed them on the front of the brochure they received)

Outside view of a river cruise ship

When I showed them the very small window cabin located on the bottom deck of the ship, they understood. I explained that these cabins are the hardest to sell because most people want either the French balcony or full balcony cabin to take full advantage of being able to open up the doors and experience the river going by. Whenever you see a river cruise company advertising sale pricing, it is usually on these type of cabins because they are the only ones available.

The other point that they were shocked to learn was that the suite cabins are actually the FIRST to sell out. This is because most ships may only have 2 suites and if anyone is crossing over from ocean cruising and used to a large suite, they also want one of those on the river. Due to this fact, many of the companies are changing the way they build their ships. Take a look at the new SS Antoinette that Uniworld built – they now have one huge Royal Suite at 391 sq feet, then 8 suites at 294 sq feet to tap into that market that is willing to pay for a larger cabin. For comparison, their cabin sizes in category 1 through 3 are 196 sq feet and 4/5 are 163 sq feet.

SSAntoinette

So to answer what cabin should you book for a river cruise ? Well, that all depends on you – get the suite if you have the funds and book far enough in advance, get the French balcony for wonderful river views and get the window category if you want a bargain! Whichever one you choose, you will love the experience of getting into the heart of your destination.

How to pack a carry on suitcase for a 3 week trip

November 21, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

When I met my travelling companion before the start of our Rhine river cruise and she showed up with this small carry on bag and backpack, was thinking that wow she’ll be wearing the same clothes every day. Well was I wrong and you can see in the video how much stuff she actually fits into this carry on. I was so amazed that I had to share this with to show you that it can be done and I’m going to try her ideas when packing for my next trip. Enjoy !

Seabourn, Seabourn, Seabourn

October 30, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

Wondering why I repeated the Seabourn Cruise Line name three times ? After just returning from an Athens to Barcelona sailing on the Seabourn Quest, couldn’t believe how many repeat guests were onboard who had sailed with them many, many times. The ships officers and staff held a reception one night for these repeaters and gave out a few “milestone” awards when a certain number of sail days were achieved. One family had accumulated so many club points that even their teenage daughter hit the 100 days milestone – very impressive! One couple that was awarded the 500 days milestone looked to be still under seventy so have plenty more years ahead to increase that amount.
It’s easy to fall in love with Seabourn and small ship cruising. There are so many benefits, here are just a few:

1) Unique itineraries which include smaller ports that the big ships cannot dock at.

2) Intimate ships with less than 230 suites (compare that with your last ocean cruise)

3) Spacious suite accommodations with sweeping ocean views — many with verandas

4) Open bars, all dining venues complimentary and no tipping expected.

Even the lead in ocean view category cabin is just under 300 sq feet (27.5 sq m) and has a walk in closet!

A fun highlight is if they do the galley market lunch where they set up different stations right inside the galley and you walk through the kitchen area gathering from a culinary feast and getting a behind the scenes look at the same time. The ice cream sail-a-way was also a big hit plus dancing under the moonlight on the promenade deck made for a very memorable evening.
Have included a few pictures from the voyage and if you’re on the fence about whether or not to try a Seabourn, my advice would be to jump right in and join the ranks of the other repeaters and start building your own milestone!

www.seabourn.com

Seabourn Club Video

Which is the best River Cruise Company for Europe ?

September 6, 2013 by Linda 6 Comments

This is a question I get from my clients all the time and to answer it would be like choosing which child was the best of your children!

They all have their redeeming qualities and differences and it could really depend on ones own preferences as to the outcome. Let me give you an example – Uniworld River Cruises www.uniworld.com has announced that they are going totally all inclusive for their 2014 European River Cruises (which means they will include unlimited beverages onboard including wine, beer, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks, juices, plus all shore excursions) which sounds the best except for the non-drinker who ends up paying more for their river cruise for those beverages they won’t consume. These people might think its best to choose Avalon Waterways www.avalonwaterways.com who only provide wine, beer and soft drinks at dinner which is reflected in the price.

Another example is with Viking River Cruises www.vikingrivercruises.com and all their brand new “longships” that they have recently christened. While it is so nice to be able to travel in the comfort of a new ship, in order to keep their pricing competitive, they made the decision to put in more staterooms which in turn hold more people. All river cruise ships that travel on the Danube are regulated and cannot be longer than 443 feet. The new Viking ships have 95 staterooms or 190 passengers where if you compare that to AMA Waterways www.amawaterways.com whose new ships are the same size, they only have 82 staterooms holding 164 passengers. So Viking River might have the best pricing, but AMA Waterways have more public space onboard.

Talking about having more space onboard brings me to Tauck River Cruising www.tauck.com/river-cruises as they step it up a notch with their new ships having larger rooms, more dining options and capping the passengers at 130 in 67 cabins to get the best space ratio category. They include all beverages, the gratuties, a signature special experience and all shore excursions.

Unique for 2014 is Scenic River Cruise www.us.scenictours.com introduction of their new lower priced line Emerald Waterways www.emeraldwaterways.com which will be a first in the industry where one company has two distinct types of river cruises to choose from. Scenic Tours originated in Australia selling package tours and is still privately owned there. Scenic also offers the all inclusive concept but Emerald will only have wine and beer with lunch and dinner. Their aim with the new Emerald line is to target a younger demographic with their two ships having swimming pools that inventively convert into a cinema and their open-air balcon system that allows you to enjoy it no matter what the weather.

A new player in the North American market is A-Rosa Cruises www.arosacruises.com which has been operating in Europe for years but has now picked a few of their departures to cater exclusively to English speaking passengers. It will be interesting to see if they are able to keep up with the other big operators.

So you can see that its tough to pick the “best” one as each has their own unique benefits. Viking River claims to have the “greenest” ships featuring diesel-electric hybrid engines specially designed for low vibration and minimal environmental impact. AMA Waterways is famous for their fresh food brought on from local ports. Avalon Waterways have the most innovative design in their cabins where they’ve turned the bed to face the french balcony sliding glass doors. Uniworld offers an interesting mix of programs for their shore excursions including Go Active, Gentle Walking, Do as the Locals Do and Village Day.

If you would like some additional information on any of these companies, ships or their itineraries, please feel free to drop me an email. If you’ve already sailed on any of them – which one was your favourite and why ?

RiverCruiseLadyLinda

linda@therivercruiselady.com

Scenic Tours Launches Emerald Waterways

August 19, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

Scenic Tours announced the launch of a new premium river cruise line called Emerald Waterways, which will debut two new ships in early 2014 and is aimed at attracting a younger audience. The 182-passenger, 443-foot long sister ships Emerald Sky and Emerald Star, will debut in spring of 2014 and will cruise 7 to 14 night itineraries on the Rhine, Danube, Main and Mosel rivers.

Managing Director for Scenic Tours and Emerald Waterways, Chris Townson said “We believe we can attract a younger demographic, too, with value for money as the emphasis”, although he stressed the line would not be actively marketing to families.

Townson also said Emerald Waterways is positioning itself as a competitor to brands such as Viking Cruises and Avalon Waterways. He said the line would be competitive within the four-star range of cruise products while also boasting a handful of innovative design touches and nearly all-inclusive pricing. The most innovative new bit of design planned for the twin ships is a dual-purpose area at the aft of the ship that transforms from an indoor, heated pool with retractable roof during the day to a cinema at night. The rest of the ships’ new features have become standard, these include: good-sized suites, balconies in a majority of cabins and an open-air alternative dining space.

Emerald Waterways will include beer, wine and soft drinks at meals, shore excursions, transfers and tips within the cost of the overall fare, as does Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. Additionally, the line will offer free return flights to U.K. passengers traveling from London’s Heathrow airport and other regional airports. For passengers traveling from cities and countries outside the U.K., a spokesperson for the line said: “We can arrange flights for guests on a case by-case basis — however if the cost of the flight from a country other than the U.K. goes over an allocated budget, we would charge the guest extra. Or they can take the cruise as a ‘cruise only’ and book their own flights.”

Around the world cruising-small ship style

July 15, 2013 by Linda Leave a Comment

When talking about around the world cruises, Cunard or Holland America come to mind as they were the first cruise lines to really promote this kind of travel and both are still active with Cunard having three ships doing more than 116 day trips, Holland America with a 113 day one. However, many of the cruise lines with smaller ships are now tapping into this market and are definitely worth taking a look at.

The biggest benefit these little ships have is their passenger space ratio (which is derived from dividing the gross tonage of the ship by the number of passengers) The idea is the greater the number, the more space you’ll have onboard.

Regent Seven Seas Voyageur ship which holds 700 passengers is doing the longest itinerary at 136 days from Auckland to London. Seabourn’s Sojourn ship which holds 450 passengers is doing a 116 day one from Los Angeles to Venice. Silversea’s Silver Whisper is the smallest at 382 passengers doing a 113 day itinerary from Los Angeles to Barcelona. All of these three ships have a space ratio of over 70 compared to a score of mid 40 for Holland America’s Amsterdam (1380 passengers) and Cunard’s QE2 (2090 passengers)

Most of these around the world sailings take place yearly in Jan/Feb but can be taken in shorter segments if you don’t have the time to take the full one.
I had a client who took a world cruise many times and on each voyage, he used the “at sea” days to write a new book. I thought it was a brilliant idea and he claimed he was much more inspired being away from home and seeing all the wonderful ports of call along the way.

So instead of heading south for the winter, choose the sea for a sail around the world and maybe you will be inspired too!