Travelers' Intercom

May 2019 issue | Appears on page 15

Full refund with Tripmasters and Allianz
By Paula Prindle

My husband’s cousin, Diana, and I had scheduled a trip to Paris and Amsterdam with Tripmasters (Rockville, MD; 800/430-0484, www.tripmasters.com). We had purchased travel insurance through Allianz Global Assistance, which Tripmasters had recommended; we chose the Horizon Plan.

Our arrangements cost us each $1,123.57 plus $73.13 for the insurance. This covered airfare from Columbus, Ohio, to Paris on Delta Air Lines; four nights in a superior twin room at a 3-star hotel in Paris...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 16

‘Very satisfied’ with dental care in Cuba
By Carrie Gillespie

While flossing my teeth in Cienfuegos, Cuba, I accidentally pulled off a dental crown. I called my dentist, who recommended finding a dentist in Cuba to re-cement the crown ASAP. He said if I waited until I returned to the US, my teeth might shift and I could require an expensive new crown.

As soon as our tour group returned to Havana (Jan. 17, 2019), my tour leader directed me to the 24-hour medical/dental clinic Clinica Central Cira García (Calle 20, #4101, Esq a Ave 41, Miramar,...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 26

Booked wheelchair service at Copenhagen airport
By Cynthia Tarnoff

My husband, Norman, and I and a friend of ours were on our way to take a cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark, through the Baltic area on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Breakaway. We began our trip on May 9, 2018, by flying from New Orleans to Chicago on United Airlines and from Chicago to Copenhagen on SAS Scandinavian Airlines (in a code-share with United). On May 20, we would also fly back on SAS from Copenhagen.

Through our travel agent, JoAnn Nelson of The Travel Professionals (McComb...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 27

Low-cost tour of South Caucasus
By Ed Deaton
Melanie Branca and Ed Deaton in northern Georgia.

My friend Melanie Branca and I took an inexpensive group tour to the South Caucasus, visiting Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Sept. 5-23, 2018. It was with Exotour (17 Pavle Ingorokva St., 0108 Tbilisi, Georgia; phone +995 32 291 31 91, www.exotour.travel/en).

The tour consisted mainly of visiting the capitals of the three countries and taking day trips. We had investigated three other companies’ tours and found them to be similar in length and in the sights covered. The...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 30

South Korea with OAT
By Sandra Yon
Sandra Yon and a monk at the Donghwasa Temple in Daegu.

After many years of my trying to find a tour to South Korea, Overseas Adventure Travel, or OAT (Boston, MA; 800/955-1925, www.oattravel.com), finally created one. A friend and l departed in October 2017, joining OAT’s 18-day “South Korea & Japan: Temples, Shrines & Seaside Treasures” tour. We added a 6-night (with air, eight days) pre-trip to China because my friend had never been there.

The trip cost about $6,100 per person, including round-trip airfare (...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 37

Guide and riad in Fez
By Dorothy Botnick
Royal Palace of Fez. Photos by Dorothy Botnick

While staying in Málaga, Spain, for a month, my husband and I took a short trip to Tangier and Fez, Morocco. We wanted to have a private guide in Fez, so, as usual, I went to ITN’s website and typed “guide in Morocco” in the search bar, then searched through the articles for private guides.

In Liz Stack’s letter “Enjoyed Moroccan Guide” (Aug. ’17, pg. 49), I found Youssef Kharroubi’s name and email address. I sent him a message and asked...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 38

Travelers recommend Bali driver
By Gail Wang
Gail and the orangutan at the Bali Zoo. Photo by Richard Newlin

My husband, Richard, and I were in Indonesia and needed a car and driver on Aug. 13, 2018, to take us to the Bali Zoo and the Bali Bird Park from our hotel in Sanur.

I had read on TripAdvisor.com about a driver named Made Baragan (phone +6285 237 109 442, WhatsApp +6282 145 299 327 or email made.baragan@yahoo.com), so I contacted him and he agreed to take us to both places and wait for us. We hired him for eight hours at a cost of IDR400,000 (near $28).

Because we wanted to...

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May 2019 issue | Appears on page 38

Women’s travel tops
By Bonnie Dondlinger

Lands’ End (800/963-4816, www.landsend.com) has swim tops for women that are called Rash Guard. If you wear them swimming, they act as a UV protectant. However, these wonderful tops are also great as travel clothing.

I took several with me on a Columbia River cruise in fall 2018. The shirts have long sleeves but aren’t too hot. (I took along a light sweater/jacket for when I needed a little more warmth.) The best part is the shirts roll up quite small for packing, and they...

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