ITN asked for advice for mobility-impaired cruisers (Feb. ’10, pg. 68). After I stopped being able to negotiate stairs without excessive pain, I stopped going on river cruises.

Even if you see a map of the ship and are assured there is an elevator or perhaps a chair lift to the top deck, there is no guarantee that you can get off at any port stop without negotiating at least one flight of steps up to the city streets.

Large rivers periodically flood, so the banks are built up...

Before our trip to Eastern Europe in August and September ’09, my husband, Fred, and I bought an updated Garmin GPS with the Europe map — very easy to use.

In Hungary, Romania, Montenegro and Croatia, all the roads were shown. In Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania only the major roads were shown, but that did not present a problem for us.

The GPS told us how much time was involved in getting from one city to another, which greatly helped us plan our day, and led us to must-visit...

Located between Darwin and Perth, the Kimberley area of Australia is very remote and and has one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. While planning our first trip to Australia, I discovered the Kimberley on the Internet and brochures from cruise companies followed. We had to go! The logistics of arranging the March ’08 trip were too much for me, so I threw myself on the mercy of Qantas Vacations (866/915-4359) and, $36,000 later, my husband, John, and I had a 13-day cruise...