One of the questions you all ask most frequently is about the uncertainty regarding travelling to certain regions in the world – particularly when the TV “News” is plastering images of death and destruction 24-hours a day.
My answer probably frustrates you sometimes: “I don’t know”.
I don’t know for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is:
- I don’t have a crystal ball, and therefore can’t foretell the future
- I am not on the ground in these locations to get an accurate account of what is actually happening.
So what do you do if you’re feeling a bit nervous? I’ll share these ideas, but before the hate-mail begins, I make no claims about being expert in geopolitical affairs, not do I offer any guarantees about an ever-changing world (see point #1 above).
- The Cruise Lines are incredibly risk averse, and they are constantly managing both what is actually happening in these places, AND travellers’ anxiety about their perception of what’s happening. Here are two examples that tell a story:
- Egypt: Despite its proximity to the conflict in Israel, none of the cruise lines cancelled operations there.
- The Red Sea & Suez Canal: Just about all the cruise lines have adjusted their itineraries away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal due to the drone attacks by Houthis, and the counter-activities by the British and American Navies.
- The cruise lines have people on the ground in these locations and are well positioned to assess actual and perceived risk to tourists.
- Another example: Bob and I were in Paris during the Gillet-Jaune (Yellow Jacket) protests in 2019. The protests and military counter-action was a fraction of what the media made it out to be. None of the Cruise lines cancelled their itineraries as a result. We felt completely safe.
- State Department Advisories are NOT particularly helpful. If you followed all the State Department’s advisories, you’d never leave your basement. Their primary goal is to ensure that if someone does run into harm’s way overseas, they can say “we told you so”, so as to insulate themselves from litigation.
- TV “News” is equally dubious. TV “News” is produced to sell advertising, and to do that they need to attract viewers. They’ve proven repeatedly that they get more viewers by being more sensational (translation: blood, violence, destruction). Context and nuance have been missing from the news for a long time now, so even though the reporting may be based on a true story, it is not an accurate representation of the situation.
The bottom line to all of this MUST be your own level of comfort. If you’re going to be looking over your shoulder the entire time you’re away, then you shouldn’t go, and I would be the last one to talk you into it.
Today’s Travel Opportunities
TAUCK RIVER for FAMILIES
Tauck has a handful of voyages that are specifically designed for parents and grandparents to share the river cruising experience with children. Bring the history and culture of Europe alive for these young minds. We love Tauck, and we’ll be talking a lot more about them in the coming weeks.
Here are a couple of examples:
Rhine River departing Basel, Switzerland on June 19 or July 10 for 8-days:
- Visit Basel, Lucerne, Strasbourg, Heidelberg, Speyer, Rudesheim, Cologne, Amsterdam.
- Enjoy a private dinner at a moated medieval castle. Take a train ride to Lucerne for Mt. Pilatus. See the ruins of Heidelberg Castle. Scenic cruising through the Rhine Gorge. Visit a Chocolate Museum in Cologne, and do a windmill & canal cruise in Amsterdam.
- Fares from $5190 per person.
Danube River departing Budapest on July 2 or 9 for 8-days
- Visit Vilshofen and Passau (Bavaria), Linz, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest.
- Enjoy an evening at a Viennese Palace for dinner and music. Take a class to make Marzipan. Do a bike ride on the riverside, see the Hellbrunn Castle, visit the Sound of Music sites. Scenic cruising in Wachau Valley. See where King Richard the Lionhearted has imprisioned. Visit the legendary Schonbrunn Palace. See a Knight Tournament, and a Fencing Show.
- Fares from $4990 per person.
HURTIGRUTEN GALAPAGOS ISLANDS for departures between April 27 and September 25 2024, for 9-nights
If you’re considering the Galapagos Islands this year, this offer from Hurtigruten will be hard to beat. Bob and I are doing this trip in a couple of months (my choice, to my 60th birthday) and we can’t wait!
- Includes internal flights from Quito to Baltra, 2 hotel nights pre-cruise in Quito, a tour of Cotopaxi NP, Galapagos National Park admission fee, all meals on the ship, beer/wine, wifi on the ship, kayaking, snorkeling, and a glass-bottom boat.
- Visit Quito, stand on the equator with one foot in each hemisphere, walk the sandy dunes on Baltra, visit a tortoise reserve to see the endangered giant tortoises, go to the Charles Darwin Research Station, see the sugar plantations and miles of coral beaches.
- Wildlife viewing: Sea Lions, Blue Footed Boobies, Sally Lightfoot crabs, mockingbirds, lava lizards, albatross, finches, rays, reef sharks, and many more. Nature is alive here!
- Fares from $5778 per person. Extensions to Machu Picchu available
PRINCESS LOVE BOAT REUNION CRUISE August 31
Most of our clients are small-ship people, but there are luxury touches available on some of the bigger ships, and every now and then some interesting itineraries come up:
Love Boat Cast Reunion departing August 31, round-trip from New York City for 7-nights
- Join Julie McCoy (your Cruise Director), Gopher (your Chief Purser), Isaac (the Bartender), Vicki (the Captain’s Daughter), and Doctor Bricker. Yep… the actors that played these roles will all be on board.
- Visit Newport RI, Boston, Rockland MN, Saint John and Halifax (Canada)
- Our small-ship guests would probably prefer a Penthouse Suite, which is more comparable to the staterooms on the small ships. These are 419 square feet, with a separate bedroom, full bathroom and powder room.
- Includes complimentary access to the lotus spa thermal suite, complimentary laundry and cleaning, priority dining and shore excursion reservations, priority embarkation/disembarkation, and specialty dining
- Penthouse fares from $3998 pp.
Holland America Repositioning Cruises
HAL has 7 ships in Alaska (they have a HUGE presence up there), and they need to reposition in September. Here are two interesting itineraries with a great cost per day:
SOUTH PACIFIC: Vancouver to San Diego — via Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, and the South Pacific Islands
- Depart Vancouver on September 25, 2024 for 56 days. A great way to see the South Pacific without the long flight.
- Visit California (3 stops), 5 stops in Hawaii, American Samoa, 4 stops in Fiji, Tonga, 2 stops in the Cook Islands, 6 stops in French Polynesia including an overnight stop in Papeete.
- Oceanview for the inside price of $9999 pp. Or Vista Suite for $17,199 pp.
PANAMA CANAL: Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale departing September 19, for 28 days
- Visit San Francisco, San Diego, Puerto Vallarta, Huatulco, Puerto Chiapas, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, full transit of the Panama Canal, Aruba, Turks Caicos, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bahamas
- Veranda for OceanView price of $5639 pp
LAST MINUTE HAL CARIBBEAN
If you’re ready to travel this month, and are looking for reasonably priced getaway, here’s one:
- Fort Lauderdale round-trip for 14-nights on Nieuw Amsterdam
- Visit Nassau, Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Half-Moon Cay, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands,
- Balconies from $2629 pp. Suites from $3349 pp.
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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
