Travelers' Intercom

I read the reader’s letter “Wildly Varying Cruise Fares Irksome” in the January ’04 issue. I have been on 39 cruises with various lines. As Bill Bennett put it (page 27), “cruise lines vary their prices according to demand.” I agree that is true. I have booked both early and late, and even though I am a past passenger with various lines I must be there at the right time to get the deals. I believe you just luck out unless you are in the know.

A “low-budget-cruise junkie,” I try to find inside cabins on cruises of seven to 10 days. I book an inside cabin and more often than not get...

Syria isn’t often visited by Americans. My wife, Arlene, and I first traveled there in 1999 and were so impressed with the country’s historical, archaeological and biblical treasures that we decided on a repeat visit in February 2010.

We traveled with Voyages Jules Verne (21 Dorset Sq., London, NW1 6QE, U.K.; phone +44 20 7616 1000). The cost of our eight-night group tour, “From the Apostles to the Crusades,” was $3,281 each, which included air from London to Damascus. We upgraded our flights on BMI for $1,535 each. We spent four nights in Damascus, two nights in Homs and two in...

On Nov. 7, I was scheduled to take Northwest Airlines flight No. 49 to Detroit, Michigan, out of Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport. My e-ticket did not indicate which terminal I would be leaving from. When I told the Gare Montparnasse Navette bus driver “KLM,” he dropped me at Terminal Two. The signage there was for Air France/KLM/Northwest as well as Delta, Continental, Alitalia, Aeromexico, etc.

I was aware that Air France had bought KLM in mid-September, so the signs didn’t confuse me. I am also used to flying out of Charles de Gaulle because I had done it four times in the...