On June 4^th, 2019, the US Treasury Department eliminated tourism to Cuba, reinstating many of the restrictions of the embargo that has been in place since 1960.  For those who already have confirmed reservations to Cuba, there are provisions in place to allow that travel to take place, but if you haven’t booked, the window to legally travel to Cuba has now closed. 

Of course, many Americans will continue to access Cuba via Canada, Mexico, or Europe, but the option of getting on a cruise ship in Florida and stopping at Havana, or other ports in Cuba, has now been taken away.

Others can debate (and they will!) the public policy implications of this, but to me the instructional thing here is you need to travel when you can. 

Many people, once they hit 60 or so, begin to talk about the trips they want to do before it’s “too late” i.e. before they have mobility constraints or other factors that will affect their comfort when they travel.  These are sensible thoughts, but there are many other reasons why travel opportunities can be taken away, other than one’s own health.

Here’s a personal example.

Many years ago, my husband Bob had a trip planned, leaving London, England, and travelling overland quickly through Europe, and then into the Middle East, India, and Pakistan before finishing up in Kathmandu, Nepal.  He had all his visas lined up, his shots were up to date, and the flights we booked.

His planned departure date:  September 20, 2001. 

Needless to say, his plans changed… quickly.  Almost 20 years later, many of these countries that are so rich in culture and history, are really not available for us to safely travel there.  If he had done the trip the previous year (which he had been contemplating), he wouldn’t have the regret he still feels over missing this trip.

Besides your own health, and the unpredictability of geopolitics, there are also environmental issues.  Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is dying.  The Maldives could very well be completely underwater soon.  The Mountain Gorillas in Africa will be extinct soon.

Places like the Galapagos and Antarctica have a number of restrictions already for the number of visitors, and what you can do there (this is a good thing).  It makes me wonder, at what point will those places become out of reach for travellers?

There are other accidents and circumstances – you can’t climb the El Castillo pyramid at Chitzen Itza anymore.  Notre Dame has burned, and even after recovery efforts that will take many years, there will still be elements of the original building that will have been lost forever.

So, take a look at the destinations and travel experiences on your bucket list, and make plans to do those trips now.

You just don’t know when the opportunity will be taken away.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) is the world’s largest cruise industry trade association.

As a cruise specialist, I’m a proud member of CLIA and also a CLIA Accredited Cruise Counsellor (ACC).

Every year, CLIA releases a report to its members about the state of the industry, and what trends they are seeing.  There are also some interesting data that if you’re a stats-nerd like me, you might find interesting.

First, the Trends:

• Wellness & Spas:  It seems that cruising isn’t just about the casino and production shows anymore.  People are increasingly looking for more and better spa services, and other offerings related to health and wellness.
• On-board Technology:  The best example right now is the Princess Medallion, that is making guests more connected (to each other, and the crew) when on board the ship.  Look for this trend to continue across all the cruise lines.
• Off Season Travel:  We are seeing more ships in Europe (for example) in the winter months.  People want to see places when they are not as crowded.
• Achievement Travel:  People want to participate and be active on vacation, so the cruise lines are offering more than shuffleboard and lying by the pool for the guests.
• Instagram:  For many of us, the idea of managing yet another social media channel is not a pleasant thought, but the iconic nature of travel, and people’s desire to share their experiences, make Instagram perfect for the job.
• Conscious Travel:  Cruise ship guests want to connect with local cultures, and are increasingly interested in environmental stewardship.
• Traveling to the ends of the earth:  People want to go where they haven’t been before (and they’ve been to a lot of places).  The polar regions, and well as other out of way destinations are growing quickly.
• Women Rule:  Women are already more than half the population, but the cruise lines have started to figure out that women are the decision-makers for far more travel choices than men are.  Look for female-centric cruising to be a thing.

Now for the numbers:

• 30 Million – the estimated number of people that will cruise in 2019.  It was 17 million in 2009.
• 18 new ships in 2019.  This brings to total CLIA member ships to 272.
• 1.1 Million jobs are directly related to cruise ships.  The associated jobs would be several times higher
• $45.6 Billion – the payroll of all those jobs.

Where do the ships go? (by % of berths available):

• Caribbean: 34.4%
  • Mediterranean: 17.3%
  • Europe (other than Med): 11.1%
  • China 4.9 %
  • Australia/New Zealand: 4.8%
  • Alaska: 4.7%
  • Asia (excluding China) 4.3%
  • Other 16.2

Where do Cruise Ship Passengers come from?

• USA:  11.9 million
  • China: 2.4 million
  • Germany: 2.19 million
  • UK: 1.93 million
  • Australia/New Zealand:  1.34 million
  • Canada:  .92 million
  • Italy:  .77 million
  • Spain: .51 million
  • France: .5 million
  • Brazil: .45 million

The one thing that would be hard to ignore in the destination and passenger trends is there is no doubt that China is going to be an increasingly important factor in where ships are deployed, and how the cruise lines will be marketing in the future. 

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

It all seems so civilized at first.  You book your cruise, and the cruise line is offering free, or heavily discounted air. 

And then the games begin.

In our experience, debriefing our clients’ vacations when they return home, the overwhelming majority of any issues or complaints they have are with their air travel – NOT from the cruise or any land portions.

In fairness to the cruise lines, most of the problems encountered have nothing to do with them (none of them have their own airline).  It has everything to do with the fact that all of air carriers in North America have a horrible reputation for customer service.

Of course every traveller has their favorite, and most-despised airline, but I can find you just as many Delta-haters, as I can American Airlines-haters or United-haters.  Collectively, as a society, we have decided they are all terrible.  They deserve this reputation.

So what do you do?

You make sure you have all the requisite information, and then you hope for the best.  Here are some of the most common complaints we get about people’s air travel to their cruise.  At the very least, you can set your expectations, so you won’t be surprised when things go sideways (and they do – a lot).

Seat Assignments.  The fine print on your reservation will tell you that even if you have paid for a certain seat, it is not guaranteed.  Many of our clients get quite cranky with the cruise line over this, but it has nothing to do with them.  The air carriers like to swap out planes at the last minute, throwing all seating assignments into chaos.  Solution:  I still pay for a specific seat, and about 80% of the time it works out.  For the 20% of time it doesn’t, there is nothing I can do.  If I’ve paid for extra legroom and I don’t get it, the amount I’ve paid is refunded to my credit card.

Seat Assignments (Part 2).  If you’re flying overseas, and you are flying part way on an American carrier, and part way on one of their European partners, you won’t be able to select your seats on the code-share partner until check in.  This is utterly ridiculous in the 21^st Century.  Again – we have seen people go after the cruise line’s air department for this problem, and it has nothing to do with them.  Solution:  Try to avoid codeshare flights, and stick with one carrier for the whole trip.  If you are using cruise line air, you won’t have this discretion, so you may want to book your own.  FYI – it is going to cost you more. 

Upgrading with Points.  If you’ve booked free or discounted air through the cruise line, and then want to upgrade using your airline points – don’t count on it.  Again – this has nothing to do with the cruise line.   Here’s how it goes:  You, as the holder of the points call the airline, and say you want to upgrade using those points. They usually say they can’t do that because the flights have been ticketed by the cruise line.  OK – let’s give the cruise line a call.  Sorry, the cruise line can’t use YOUR points, because they belong to you.  This catch-22 cannot be resolved, even when getting all parties concerned on a conference all to discuss.  Solution:  If you want to use points, don’t use the cruise line air, and arrange your own flights. 

Bizarre Routings or Connections.  The cruise lines are looking to get you from home to the ship and back as cheaply as possible.  Sometimes this means a flight from Seattle to Miami, that connects in Houston, and then Chicago.  Solution:  Spend more money – ask the cruise line how much more it will cost you for a direct flight.  Often it’s not much more, and if you place any value on your own time, it’s well worth it.

Legroom/Space on the Plane.  Every year the planes seem to get smaller.  What we forget is that it costs a tiny fraction to fly what it did two or three decades ago, and the reason it is cheaper is that they have significantly scaled back the service, and placed the seats much closer together.  Solution: Spend more money – Business Class may be out of reach for many of us, but Premium Economy is normally affordable, and depending on the airline, could be worth it.  This is particularly worth considering on long-haul overseas flights. 

Baggage Fees.  Remember the good old days, when you’d show up at the airport, and they would check two bags for free.  This also stopped people from filling up a cardboard box that could fit a refrigerator, and trying to pass it off as “carry-on”.  Solution:  Get an airline credit card where they waive such fees OR fly in Premium Economy where you get one or two free bags.  By the time you subtract your bag fees, that ticket in Premium Economy is really not that much more than you’d be paying in cattle-class.

The one common theme that runs through all of these airline problems is that money can solve many of them.  Usually the amount of extra money is not much in percentage terms, but we tend to get a mindset of needing to get the best deal, as opposed to looking for the best value. 

We’ve had clients who paid more than $20,000 for a cruise, and then balked at an additional $200 charge from the airlines that would have largely eliminated most of the issues above.  You can fight the airlines, but you are not going to win – the days of glamorous air travel with impeccable service and comfort are long over.  You are also paying about half of what you paid in the 1980s for air (after adjusting for inflation). 

So our best suggestion for clients when asking about cruise line air, is to dial back your expectations (you should be used to this already if you fly more than once a year), and count on paying more money than is originally advertised. 

You can get low (or free) air, but it comes at a cost.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the fact that Viking had over 50% of the market share in Europe.  Some of you replied, “I had no idea they were that big”, while others replied, “There are other river cruise companies than Viking???”

So, I thought it might be worthwhile to look at a few of the other lines out there, and why you might want to consider them.  We do our job best when we match the client to the right product, and although we do a lot of business with Viking, there are some people out there who are better suited to one of their competitors.

AMA Waterways:  The food on all the river cruise lines is good, but AMA really works hard to be the river line for Foodies.  They also skew to a slightly younger demographic, and have more active options for shore activities.  AMA is currently offering free air on select 2019 departures, and early booking bonuses of up to $500 on 2020 sailings.

Avalon Waterways:  Avalon differentiates on their staterooms.  Their rooms are slightly larger than are seen on other river ships, and the beds are oriented so that when you look straight ahead, you are looking out the window.  Avalon is part of Globus Tours, who have been operating land tours for decades in Europe.  They are offering $299 air to Europe on select sailings in 2019 (mostly April through May), but if you can go on short notice, this could work well for you. 

Crystal:  Crystal is better known as an ocean cruise ship line, but they have five river ships that all offer impeccable service, and “all exclusive” amenities.  Crystal differentiates on service and quality, and have a well-earned reputation for delivering it on their ships.

Uniworld: Uniworld describes their ships as floating boutique hotels. Each of their ships is deliberately unique, and they have an all-inclusive, luxury offering.  They also have wide variety of special shore experiences, as well as a spa, a pool, a gym, and a wellness program on board their ships.  Uniworld has 3 promotions running right now on select 2019 departures, including reduced or waived solo supplements.

The differences amongst river ships is much more subtle than comparing ocean ships, however, there are specific reasons why you might want to look at one of these lines over the other.  Viking is most often the price leader in absolute terms, so if you are looking for the lowest price you are best to stick with Viking.  However, if you value some of the amenities described above, then one of these lines might represent better value for you.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Last week, Bob and I were guests on board Uniworld’s Joie de Vivre for a river cruise from Paris to Normandy.  What a trip!

Now that we’re back, here are some of our impressions.

We also answered many specific questions here: https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser/posts/2330472760568558

Printemps au Paris (Paris in the spring time).  OK… technically, it had only been spring for a few hours when we boarded the ship, but the weather cooperated beautifully.  We had mostly sunny weather, and it was over 70 degrees in the daytime.  This was pure luck, but the other great thing about visiting Europe early in the season is that it was far less crowded than other times we’ve been to France.

River Cruises are all about being on shore. Even though we tell people this every day, it was underscored for us on this cruise:  if you drive from Paris (our furthest East point) to Cauldebec-en-Caux (furthest West point), it is about 130 kilometres or about 80 miles.  We were on board for a week, so needless to say, such short travel distances made for lots of time on shore, and unlike many ocean cruises, we felt as though we had actually experienced our destination.

Uniworld is boutique luxury.  Normally, you would have to see original art work in museums in Europe – unless you’re travelling on a Uniworld river ship.  The owners’ private art collection is on board, so it was really interesting to be able to see an original Picasso up close without having to line-up and pay an admission fee to a museum.  Uniworld creates a very comfortable and unique experience for its guests.  Perhaps most memorable on board was the night we spent helping the chef prepare our meals in the wine cellar – we even have souvenir chef hats and aprons to prove it.

Normandy is one of the most moving things you can experience.  If you have any appreciation for what happened in Europe 75 years ago, then a visit to Normandy will heighten that appreciation.  We got to visit the American, British, and Canadian sections of beach before spending an hour or two at the American cemetery. 

Air France rocks. In a strange series of logistics, we ended up flying from Mexico City to Paris (direct daily service on an A-380).  It’s been a while since we’ve travelled a long distance on a European carrier.  Without any doubt, Air France is far superior to any airline experience we’ve had on North American carriers.

France = FOOD.  It is a small wonder that anyone is still alive in France – the amount of butter and cream that accompanies meals every day is truly staggering.  I was waiting for the complimentary angioplasty prior to flying home.  This week we are on the “all broccoli-all the time” diet (breakfasts are a bit bland).

Les Gillet-Jaunes (the Yellow Vests) is a made-for-America media event.  There is no doubt there are some protests happening right now in Paris, but their impact has been overwhelmingly exaggerated by the American media.  We saw a higher than normal police/military presence (this is a good thing), but we visited all the main attractions in Paris without incident.  The attitude of ordinary French citizens seemed to be a respect for people’s right to protest, with a distain for the occasional protester that chooses to cause property damage.

Water Levels have recovered.  The freak droughts of 2018 seem to have been resolved by a wet winter.  There was no hint of problems with water levels on this trip.

New fans of Monet.  Both of us were aware of Monet, but that appreciation has been heightened after a visit to his home and gardens outside of Giverny.  This is not to be missed if you are in France.

Tolerance of bad French.  Bob is under the delusion that he speaks French.  In reality, he knows a lot of the words (this is a function of him having grown up in Canada), but like any other skill not practiced, if you don’t use it, you lose it.  To our pleasant surprise, our French hosts (both on the ship and on shore), were quite tolerant of him butchering their beautiful language.

Finally, we are often asked about the “best” river cruise itinerary in Europe.  Of course, such a question is highly dependent on what you wish to experience.  Those who will get the most out of a Paris to Normandy cruise will fall into one of three categories:

1. Those with a specific interest around World War II history.
2. Those who have already done the Rhine and Danube rivers and want to explore further in Europe
3. Those with a specific interest in France – the art, food and culture.

All the major river cruise lines operate on the Seine River from Paris to Normandy.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley