Sylve1

My husband took half an ambien on his last flight to Europe (JFK-CDG) and at the end of the flight, neither of us knew how he ended up with stickers on his forehead. but we suspect the small girl seated next to him:p I'm lucky - I never have a hard time falling asleep on a plane.

 

OMG That is so funny!!!! (sorry) lol :D:D:D

 

I laughed out loud! Yes always try at home first!

Like all the Australians who have posted above we too try to spend as much time as we can, finances permitting, in Europe. From where we live it will take us over 30 hours of flying Plus around 7-8 hours of layovers just to get to our first destination. On our 40th Anniversary holiday that starts in Early August this year we used all our savings to have just over 5 weeks away. If we win Lotto we may never come home ...:).

 

I have to admit that I truly smile when I read that our Nth American posters find the trip to Australia to be too long but then I'm very envious of those who post that going to Europe is just a "short hop over the pond".

Yes me too! It is quite a trip from Australia ! For some reason 5-6 weeks seems to be enough for us at the moment although if we find somewhere we would really like to spend more time say in Italy or France when we visit in September we would like to return for an extended stay in a vrbo or airbnb accomodation.

We are a bit precious and split our trip to Europe with a 2-3 night stopover in Hong Kong or Singapore etc depending on which airline we are travelling on.

We find this far less tiring and we get to visit somewhere else as well. :) of course time and budget are always a big consideration.

Are you in Australia? We use our credit card travel insurance. Our T A says these travel insurances don't cover everything but I have read the conditions and can't see any real difference. Both nab and commonwealth bank don't require special medicals before the age of 80. Of course you are not covered for pre existing medical conditions which is common to all travel insurances I believe . If you want to cover pre existing medical conditions you would need to contact the insurer and see what they can do.

I should have added that to activate travel insurance you have to purchase $500- $1000 of your trip using your card and then the insurance is free. Keep a copy of bank statement or receipt as proof of purchase and take a copy with you on your trip.

The insurance we usually buy is now more painful, since DH turned 71. I know the Viking insurance is also very high. Has anyone, 71 or older, found a reasonable insurance to cover cancellation and medical?

Are you in Australia? We use our credit card travel insurance. Our T A says these travel insurances don't cover everything but I have read the conditions and can't see any real difference. Both nab and commonwealth bank don't require special medicals before the age of 80. Of course you are not covered for pre existing medical conditions which is common to all travel insurances I believe . If you want to cover pre existing medical conditions you would need to contact the insurer and see what they can do.

Oh no!

 

We could not decide between the two but have chosen Avalon as the dates worked out better for us.

 

Seems like AMA is better.

This will be our first (in May). We have nothing to compare it to since it is our first river cruise but I'm sure we will have a great time!

Don't worry at all. We went on a Avalon Prague to Budapest. It was absolutely wonderful. Couldn't complain about a thing! The beds were like clouds, the meals great, the staff attentive and the itinerary fantastic. One of our most memorable holidays. :)

Just re read original post and they want to use points so airbnb and vrbo wouldn't be suitable but maybe keep in mind for another time.

It is subjective and so depenadant on budget. On a 4-6 weeks holiday we try to book hotels with a very good customer rating like on trip advisor, with a great location. Usually not big chains. To us it is important to stay somewhere nice but more of a boutique hotel. We have stayed in some gems in a excellent locations with wonderful breakfasts included. Often in quaint breakfast rooms overlooking the local area or a courtyard.

On our trip to Europe in September we have booked a combination of bigger 5 star hotels( compliments of reward points) resort in Santorini and for the first time we have booked airbnb and vrbo accommodations. In case you are not aware of these they are apartment and house rentals by owners. We want to self cater breakfasts and maybe some dinners as we are away for 6 weeks and not only do we get a bit tired of eating out but also to save money. Have a look at these. Quite interesting. We are looking forward to staying in a variety of accommodations. Even though we don't spend a lot of time in the room we find good choices definitely add to the enjoyment of our holiday. For example we have booked a lovely apartment in Paris with everything we need in marias ( area 3) for $150 per night. So much cheaper than the cheaper hotels but much nicer. :)

Also depends if you want everything included but they certainly have a fantastic reputation.

Actually, I think it was a shame that the comment about Avalon was geared to making a value judgement about the clientele. If the general feeling is that the experience is lower end, then by all means say that. The observation could have been about the clientele being less well traveled, or happy with a mediocre to average experience.

 

I am impressed that Mr. Baker took the time to post here, and to explain the rationale behind his comments. If he had taken a few seconds to think about how this could (and would) be interpreted, perhaps the comment might have been wordsmithed a bit before it was published.

 

I guess I had better dust off my copy of Garth Brooks' song "Friends in Low Places" ... I have an Avalon cruise booked for next June.

 

I agree. What does 'lower end clientele' even mean? People with less money to spend? Your average working people? People with tattoos? People who don't wear ties or expensive jewellery ? We travelled on an excellent Avalon cruise and met with wonderful people with various travel experience from all walks of life. 'Lower end clientele ' certainly never occurred to us. Not every one is on the same wave length as you but all are interesting and fine people . It's an insulting, unnecessary and demeaning term.

I'm sure I will be corrected if wrong but from reading Caviergals post I thought she was just giving another perspective on criteria to choose a cruise. I liked yours (OP)and Caviergals and probably take a bit from both. I like to read of other people's perspective and I guess it was in the same vein of the original topic of how we choose a cruise. Caviergals preference for more independent type of travel is well known ( as is the OP view of Trauk) I guess she and her partner still love much about river cruising but the group touring is not her cup of tea. ( I have to admit we went off on our own a couple of times as the pace was too slow and I really didn't need all that information- just wanted to wander. Other tours we enjoyed as an orientation and some were great)

Caviergal has given great tips and information and we have used her recommendations for private tours which were excellent. She also lets us know when her choices were not the best so we don't make the same mistake. I let her know to take the English headsets for the Budapest House of Terror, a tour she was looking forward to but we had found not as good due to the lack of English. We wish we had known about the headsets. To me CC is about sharing of information and I don't get a sense that caviargirl was being disrespectful of others preferences but was just sharing ideas.

Happy researching and cruising everyone. :)

This subject always opens up a bag of worms when mentioned on this site and many others but as you requested an answer I'll try to give you one.

 

Tipping in Australia is not generally done because unlike some Americans our workers receive good wages that they can live on without the addition of a tip. As an example the lowest hourly rate down here for an unqualified worker is $16.00 an hour for a 38 hour week - penalty rates apply for additional hours worked over the 38. Thus it has not been in our culture to expect "extra" for doing their job. It's probably best described as a cultural thing. When you visit you will not be expected to tip for any service but no sane person is going to turn you down if you wish to. As I said to another poster some time back one of the biggest differences you will encounter is the almost total lack of beggars on our streets. When we travel we would prefer not to tip but if it is the custom then we do. When we travel to Europe we prefer the trip to be all-inclusive with

our tipping already looked after for us.

I agree. We tend to round up a taxi bill if paying cash otherwise we pay the tarrif. In restaurants we would round up to the nearest $5 or $10 depending on how many people are involved. Never tip at hairdressers, hotels or cafes. Some people say you get better service if tipping is involved but we feel we get good to excellent service most of the time. People want to keep their jobs I guess. But of course when in countries where tipping is expected we inform ourselves and go with what is expected. Certainly a cultural thing but I am still at a loss at why, as a customer, I would be responsible for the wait staffs livelihood. To me this is the responsibility of the employer.