River Cruising Water Cooler

[Daisi]

16 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

Here's an out-of-nowhere question, I think worthy of the water cooler:

 

Has anyone had any experience with Globus Travel?  They just happen to have an itinerary that I have not been able to find from other vendors (a Montreal-to-Montreal trip that visits the Gaspe Peninsula and Gulf of St Lawrence).  I think their parent company owns one of the river cruise lines (can't remember which one).  They have been around forever---I wish there was a Cruise Critic for land tour companies!

 

We've traveled with Collette and Trafalgar (and Viking) but never with Globus.

 

Based on where we live, it would involve only a one-hour flight to Montreal.  A family member has traveled with Globus, but it was 20+ years ago, so their info would be very dated.

 

Just throwin' it out there..............

 

You are correct, Globus is the parent company of Avalon. While I haven't personally toured with them, I do know several people who have, and all said it was a good trip. They were part of the reason we chose Avalon, figuring if Globus was good, so would Avalon be. 

 

There is a page for Globus if you are on FB, but you are correct, trying to research land tour companies is very difficult (I've been looking into both Globus & Insight), as most "locals" on any tourist board tend to say "do it yourself, it's more affordable". What they don't take into consideration is, for us, if one of us is driving, the other looking at a map, how much scenery will we see? 

 

 

I would say Globus is comparable to both Collette & Trafalgar from what I've seen online.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Daisi

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, sharkster77 said:

Here's an out-of-nowhere question, I think worthy of the water cooler:

 

Has anyone had any experience with Globus Travel?  They just happen to have an itinerary that I have not been able to find from other vendors (a Montreal-to-Montreal trip that visits the Gaspe Peninsula and Gulf of St Lawrence).  I think their parent company owns one of the river cruise lines (can't remember which one).  They have been around forever---I wish there was a Cruise Critic for land tour companies!

 

We've traveled with Collette and Trafalgar (and Viking) but never with Globus.

 

Based on where we live, it would involve only a one-hour flight to Montreal.  A family member has traveled with Globus, but it was 20+ years ago, so their info would be very dated.

 

Just throwin' it out there..............

Globus is the parent company. Avalon is their river cruise line. Globus has been around for more than 90 years.

[CPT Trips]

Globus was the company that deserted us in Oslo mid tour when all the borders closed due to Covid in March of 2020. 
Nope!

[notamermaid]

Finally, full return to travelling for foreigners to the US: https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/House-passes-bill-dump-vaccine-mandate-for-visitors

 

notamermaid

 

[sharkster77]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Finally, full return to travelling for foreigners to the US: https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/House-passes-bill-dump-vaccine-mandate-for-visitors

 

notamermaid

 

This bill has passed the House vote, but the article states there is no companion bill in the Senate.  Both houses must pass a bill before a president can sign it into law.  NOT trying to be condescending, @notamermaid,  do not know how familiar you are with how US federal government works.

 

So the vaccine mandate may not be eliminated for a while.

Edited February 11, 2023 by sharkster77

[notamermaid]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I thought there was a caveat - or "but" - in this article. Now I understand it. Good that it is at least in the House, could it give hope for more I wonder. Those familiar with the intricacies of US government will know.

 

notamermaid

 

[YoungDubFan]

Globus, Cosmos & Avalon are all part of the same family. They used to have Monograms as well but consolidated that into Globus & Cosmos. i have taken 2 river cruises w/ Avalon and my 3rd is in April - Tulip Time. I have done land trips with all of the other entities. Cosmos is a bit more economical than Globus but all are great. I have had great experiences with all. They deliver a very good product and have great customer service. I did a Trafalgar trip to Morocco and I liked my Globus / Cosmos trips better. They had more included activities. 

[CPT Trips]

22 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I thought there was a caveat - or "but" - in this article. Now I understand it. Good that it is at least in the House, could it give hope for more I wonder. Those familiar with the intricacies of US government will know.

 

notamermaid

 

@notamermaid I’m trying to avoid politics and stick to facts about how our form of government operates. 

The house is controlled by one party (the “opposition”), the senate by the other party (same party as the President). The house vote was almost straight party line. 
The vax requirement was administratively imposed, not by law. as such it could be changed without legislation if the Biden administration wanted to. 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by CPT Trips
Clarification

[notamermaid]

9 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

@notamermaid 

The house is controlled by one party (the “opposition”), the senate by the other party (same party as the President). The house vote was almost straight party line. 
The vax requirement was administratively imposed, not by law. as such it could be changed without legislation if the Biden administration wanted to. 

 

Why does that sound familiar? Ah, yes, the emergency powers of my government... I will never forget. So glad things have calmed down here in my country and people can now talk and walk and travel to their heart's content. Today it has been a drab winter day so I only went out for a short drive this afternoon. I feel that this may have been it for snow this winter, the temperature is constantly above zero during the day. But I would be sooo happy to be proven otherwise. Towns and villages now have the odd sighting of a soldier or young princess in the streets, very soon to increase manifold - Carnival is just round the corner. 🥳

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 1/18/2023 at 11:05 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Our snowbird trip to 'LA' [lower Alabama] has paid off beautifully today:  75º and sunny with a light breeze!

 

Definitely helping me heal from the 'trip' I took at the gas station just before arriving on Friday:  major gash above my right eyebrow (11 stitches, one inside to stop bleeding from an 'arterial' and 10 outside to close the gash) plus 4 below the eye.  Also both knees and wrists banged up, but only the left knee is still sore.  A friend suggested I get a t-shirt that says "You should see the other guy!!!"

 

Anyway, I'm recovering well and therefore hopeful that we will be driving up to Atlanta as scheduled on Monday and flying down to Buenos Aires on Tuesday for our trip to Iguazu Falls, Ushuaia, the Chilean Fjords and Torres del Paine, and Santiago/Valparaiso.  I won't have internet for much of that, so please 'play nice' and 'don't run with scissors' while I'm gone.  😉

Update:  back from the trip yesterday; scars healing nicely; trip was great!  Odysseys Unlimited Patagonian Frontiers including a 4-night cruise on Stella Australis through the Chilean fjords.  Blog will follow, once I process all the notes and photos – it will have to be posted in the Other Cruise Lines forum, but I will post a link here.

[Canal archive]

Oh good it’s an area of the world that passes us Brits by, oh how I wish I was younger and fitter.

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Oh good it’s an area of the world that passes us Brits by, oh how I wish I was younger and fitter.

Yes, the constant references in Argentina to the 'Malvinas Islands' would be disconcerting to Brits.  Even as a Yank I call them the Falklands!  OTOH Chile has a positive image of the UK, starting with Bernardo O'Higgins.

[notamermaid]

Today I have been to a small region in the North of my Bundesland (state) Rhineland-Palatinate called the Pellenz. That is in the larger Eifel region. I wondered what Pellenz means. So I looked it up and imagine my surprise to find out that it comes from palatia or palatium, that is Latin, from which is derived the word Pfalz. Yes, that is Palatinate in English, related to palatial and palace. ((Sorry, linguistic nerd...)) Only connected in name to the Palatinate in the state name, reason is those "Pfalz" places where all over the area in Medieval Times.

 

Anyway, did an errand and had a bit of time to look around. Happened to "stumble upon" a Roman monument, almost in the middle of nowhere.

 

I will get the photos sorted and put a little report in the Rhine thread as the area is accessible from a river cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Yes he certainly showed he had a touch of the Irish.
During the Falklands challenges we lived in an area surrounded by the Royal Navy, plus Marines, (well I am or was a navy brat). One little story from a neighbour who was on board an aircraft carrier out there when the SBS arrived and were bunked with some of the officers who soon realised that every mini fire axe on board usually on the back of the doors had disappeared it took five minutes for them to clear the ship, they then went into Argentina and got one of our downed helicopter out.

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Yes he certainly showed he had a touch of the Irish.
During the Falklands challenges we lived in an area surrounded by the Royal Navy, plus Marines, (well I am or was a navy brat). One little story from a neighbour who was on board an aircraft carrier out there when the SBS arrived and were bunked with some of the officers who soon realised that every mini fire axe on board usually on the back of the doors had disappeared it took five minutes for them to clear the ship, they then went into Argentina and got one of our downed helicopter out.

You lost me with SBS and mini fire axes!

 

On our Noble Caledonia cruise from Majorca to Naples the lecturer was ret. Rear Admiral John Lippiett, whose service included the Falkland Island war and the bureaucracy of NATO – not sure which he found more difficult [I think it was the latter...] 

[Canal archive]

Believe it or not NATO was thorn in my side and I was a lowly Technical Illustrator not saying who with or what on though. SBS  (Special Boat Squadron) it’s the Marines with knobs on think SAS or your Seals but specialists with boats, they don’t think they can do it, regardless they know. Mini fire axes think axe reduce the size, okay my friend was told it would be an exceptionally useful ********* machine. 

[notamermaid]

Success! I am one happy girl. Managed to find a bakery that had Mutzenblätter, reserved two bags over the phone. It was getting tight for closure of the bakery so I set off quickly, only to run into a Carnival event and a road barrier. Had to turn round, loosing precious time. Then got stuck behind a slow van. Made it to the shop with one minute to spare. Was the second last customer to leave the bakery (it was still busy) and returned to the car with a big carrier bag in hand - just could not resist buying more goodies while I was there. 🙂

 

By the way, another WWII bomb was defused a couple of days ago, this one was in Kaiserslautern, a 250kg specimen found while digging in a small street in a suburb. Apparently it was a bit of a difficult one this time, but everything went well in the end.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

We’ve recently had one in Great Yarmouth that went off unexpectedly but all well no one hurt luckily as it was very close to a couple of gas pipe lines.

[Daisi]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Success! I am one happy girl. Managed to find a bakery that had Mutzenblätter, reserved two bags over the phone. It was getting tight for closure of the bakery so I set off quickly, only to run into a Carnival event and a road barrier. Had to turn round, loosing precious time. Then got stuck behind a slow van. Made it to the shop with one minute to spare. Was the second last customer to leave the bakery (it was still busy) and returned to the car with a big carrier bag in hand - just could not resist buying more goodies while I was there. 🙂

 

By the way, another WWII bomb was defused a couple of days ago, this one was in Kaiserslautern, a 250kg specimen found while digging in a small street in a suburb. Apparently it was a bit of a difficult one this time, but everything went well in the end.

 

notamermaid

 

Mmmmm... we called them Carnival Cakes, would always request them as kids, even if Carnival was long gone. Miss those, will have to take a trip to a German store to see if they have any.

 

 

1 hour ago, Canal archive said:

We’ve recently had one in Great Yarmouth that went off unexpectedly but all well no one hurt luckily as it was very close to a couple of gas pipe lines.

 

I saw that, must have been quite scary for a few moments.

[Lois R]

Happy Sunday to the River Cruise Coolers.....I would like some advice, please be kind as you usually are😀and I posted this on the Air Forum too.......ok, I found a VERY reasonably priced cruise with Uniworld on The Seine for July. They are offering specials with no single supplements! I have a cabin on hold till Tuesday. And the cruise line quoted me a price on air too. Flying Business Class. Now, I decided to look at Xpedia and am very curious about this because I have never used them before and most of all, the prices I see on that website are at least a grand less than what the cruise line quoted. I went to the specific airline websites as well but I don't see those lower prices on there😮....why would they not show up if booking directly through the airline? Have any of you used Xpedia? Is it all legit, etc...etc.......any help would be greatly appreciated. 

[Ritabob]

12 minutes ago, Lois R said:

 

My experience with X is IF something goes wrong with cancelled or delayed flights you are on your own to sort things out and fork out more  money.  If Uniworld booked your flights it is their responsibility to make things right and get you on board the ship.

When we booked our next Uniworld cruise using a TA, they quoted much better flight prices than dealing directly with the airlines. We had researched the flights we wanted and that's what we will be flying soon.

RB 

[Lois R]

13 minutes ago, Ritabob said:

My experience with X is IF something goes wrong with cancelled or delayed flights you are on your own to sort things out and fork out more  money.  If Uniworld booked your flights it is their responsibility to make things right and get you on board the ship.

When we booked our next Uniworld cruise using a TA, they quoted much better flight prices than dealing directly with the airlines. We had researched the flights we wanted and that's what we will be flying soon.

RB 

Thanks so much. Someone on the air forum recommended another site called Flight Matrix.....it is not a  site like Xpedia but VERY informational. It actually gives you the airlines and prices for the dates you are looking for.......I had never even heard of it before.  But I understand what you mean...maybe booking through a 3rd party is not the wisest option. Oh....I am confused. I thought you could purchase it from Matrix but it clearly says you cannot LOL........I need to go back to AA and see what their prices are........as compared to Matrix.

[Host Jazzbeau]

ITA flight matrix is very good for flight info, but I find their price info is not matched on the airline websites. 

[UDChE89]

ITA Flight Matrix, now owned by Google, is not a booking engine.  It allows you to construct an itinerary that you can take to a travel agent to book because it will show you all the fare codes.  Unfortunately, it also doesn’t seem to keep up with inventory.

 

As for why you can’t match the cruise line or Expedia’s price with the airline directly is that they may have access to specific discount fares that the airline does not show on their website.

[notamermaid]

On 2/19/2023 at 4:51 PM, Daisi said:

Mmmmm... we called them Carnival Cakes, would always request them as kids, even if Carnival was long gone. Miss those, will have to take a trip to a German store to see if they have any.

I am afraid, most treats are only available at Carnival. But Berliner and Apfelberliner can be found outside of Carnival, albeit the latter not for a long time.

 

notamermaid