Travelers' Intercom

October 2007 issue

How much to tip on tours

Richard E. Smith of Long Beach, California, opened up the topic of tipping on tours (April ’07, pg. 4). Questions he asked included 1) “Should the cost of tipping be included in the tour price?,” 2) “Should there be an existing standard for tipping adhered to by most tour companies?,” 3) “Should an escrow tipping account be set up for each traveler, to be refunded partially or in toto (the reason being that some cheapskates never tip a penny)?” and 4) “Should travel companies be required to advise of their tipping recommendations in their advertisements?

Richard said that for his...

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March 2007 issue

The ‘real’ Orient Express

The so-called Orient Express leaves Paris every evening at 5:16 p.m. and arrives in Vienna at 8:30 the next morning. We traveled on this train on May 11, 2006, and returned on May 20 (only because we had nonrefundable tickets).

I booked the trip at RailPass Express, now called Railpass.com (48 Glen Ave., Newton Centre, MA 02459; 877/724-5727, www. railpass.com). I purchased two Eurail Selectpass Savers for four countries at a cost of $530 each, but, in addition, the cost for a sleeper compartment (couchette) for the Paris-to-Vienna train was $100 each and, of course, another $100...

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July 2008 issue

Egypt 27 years later

After 27 years, in March ’08 my wife and I went back to Egypt; we went on the Grand Circle Travel trip “Ancient Egypt & the Nile River.” BIG difference 27 years later!

In 1981 there were very few tourists; we had the country to ourselves. Not this time. Everywhere we went we faced hordes of people, mostly Europeans (from Spain, France and Italy), Brits and Japanese. While Egypt is not real expensive, the euro, yen and pound go a lot further than the dollar.

Every destination was jammed with people plus buses by the dozens. The huge crowds made photography difficult....

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December 2007 issue

Enjoyed meals on Continental

My husband and I flew on Continental Airlines July 15, 2007, from San Francisco to Newark to Copenhagen to board the Crystal Symphony for a cruise around the Baltic Sea.

Much to our surprise, the food on the flight was terrific in business/first class. The dinner began with seafood, including a lovely lobster bisque demitasse with a whole lobster claw! The meal continued to surprise and delight.

Coming home from Stockholm to Newark to San Francisco on Aug. 1 was a similar experience. The tilapia was hot and moist under a delicious sauce. We were too full for dessert (ice...

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April 2007 issue

Unexpected delay at Heathrow

With two friends, I traveled from New York’s JFK to London Heathrow on British Airways flight No. 112 on Sept. 15, 2006. Three hours after arriving at Heathrow, we were to connect with British Midland (bmi) flight No. 163 to Mallorca, Spain.

Due to bad weather in New York, our British Airways flight left 1½ hours late, causing havoc upon arrival at Heathrow, where we encountered thousands of people trying to retrieve luggage from the carousels and clear Customs and Immigration. There was nobody to assist us through this serpentine line of travelers, and we still had to walk miles to...

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May 2007 issue

JTB Sunrise Tours in Japan

My wife, Paula, and I visited Japan for the first time in October ’06. Wanting to travel independently (as usual) but being a bit intimidated by the language barrier, we compromised by using a series of four all-day guided tours to cover much of our sightseeing.

After extensive research, we booked all of our tours with JTB Sunrise Tours (2-3-11 Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-8604, Japan; phone +81 3 5796 5454 or visit www.jtbgmt.com/sunrisetour), which offers a huge variety of tours. Internet booking of our tours was easy and trouble-free. The only downside was that, as...

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February 2008 issue

More productive questions

In deciding which few words and phrases to learn how to say in a foreign language, keep in mind that knowing simply how to ask “Where is...?” is risky. If you are truly at sea in the local language, then it’s my experience that you are very unlikely to understand the answer.

In my opinion, it would work better to learn how to say, “I need the direction to...” and simultaneously point (in any direction) with a “querying” look on your face.

Similarly, if you ask the question “What time” or “When?,” you’re not likely to understand the answer. Assuming you’re wearing a watch, the...

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September 2007 issue

Keep in mind when selecting a barge

This year we got stung with a barge trip in France and learned a couple of things that are important.

First, where you go makes a difference. Much of the Briare Canal from Montargis to Châtillon sur Loire is like a green tunnel and the view doesn’t change very much. Indeed, it can be an uninteresting bore. The foliage is thick and you don’t see through it. It was quite different from what we saw last year from the barge La Reine Pedauque on the Burgundy Canal and of which I remarked that every prospect pleases (Feb. ’07, pg. 32).

Second, the design of the boat makes a...

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