Travelers' Intercom

We enjoyed a wonderful 10-day cruise aboard the Regal Princess in May ’02, traveling round trip from Copenhagen. In addition to Denmark, we visited Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Poland and Norway. I would like to give some tips on doing the shore excursions on your own as we did.

The two major difficulties we encountered on this cruise were 1) the many different currencies that were necessary for public transportation and admissions and 2) traversing the long distances into the cities from where the ship docked.

Finland was the only country that used the euro. Money could...

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My wife, Jeanne, and I took a 10-day tour of Tunisia with TunisUSA (Wayne, PA; 888/474-5502, www.tunisusa.com), Dec. 20-30, 2009. It cost $3,770 each (excluding air).

Tunisia is modern, clean, safe, inexpensive and exotic enough to interest even the most experienced traveler. The reasons to go there are to experience their culture and see ancient Roman ruins, Spanish forts and souks from the Middle Ages or… to lay on the beach. Since the winter temperatures rarely reach 70°F, our tour was of the first type.

Make sure you have at least a day on your own in Tunis, and stay in a...

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I received an invitation to celebrate the 60th birthday of Kwabenar LaVerte Mathis, an old and dear friend of almost 50 years. The celebration was held on Ischia, a resort island off the coast of Naples, Italy, that is known for its thermal pools, steam baths and therapeutic waters.

The trip, May 26-June 3, ’03, was booked and coordinated by Liz Morris of Omega Travel (phone 703/246-9259 or fax 888/380-9805). The airfare was $725 round trip, and my single room at the 4-star Hotel Hermitage & Park Terme cost $844.

I was thankful that dinner for us had been arranged at the...

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Walt Huse’s story “Cruising Portugal’s Douro River” (Aug. ’10, pg. 6) brought to mind an observation I wish to share.

Being an Englishman, I was used to locks on the British canals, which date from the 19th century and are made of wood. For many of them, occupants of the passing barges do the work.

On Portuguese vessels this is not so at all, as I learned on a cruise I took in 2006. I was amazed at the modernity of the locks on the Douro River. Vessels apparently were raised or lowered at the press of a button. The raising or lowering was a...

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Only those who have witnessed Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) will fully appreciate Dr. Larry Baratta’s May ’05 “Travel & Health” column on that subject. I’ve observed its debilitating effects twice: in an elderly man crossing from Pakistan into China on the Karakorum Highway at more than 15,000 feet and in a young physical education instructor in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. In the first case, we had to descend quickly, and in the other the woman stayed in the lodge during the only two days we were at this 10,000-foot elevation.

As tours seldom give travelers the necessary...

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When in Bucharest, beer lovers should not, repeat not, miss Caru’ cu Bere (Stavropoleos St. #5, Bucharest, Romania; phone 021 313 75 60, www.carucubere.ro). It is a two-story rococo Bavarian brauhaus dishing up plentiful servings of Romanian food plus a good assortment of European beers, including their own. It is very popular with tourists and natives alike, but we had no trouble getting a table anytime we went. (Lunch from RON22.4 [near $7] and beer RON4.80-RON9).

GEORGE M. GREIDER, East Haddam, CT

A letter in the November ’03 issue, page 38, stated that MBNA does not charge for foreign currency conversion. That’s true. What it doesn’t say is that the various credit card companies themselves are the ones that charge; e.g., Visa, 2%; AmEx, 2%, and MasterCard, 1%. I learned the above researching the veracity of the MBNA deal.

There can be significant ATM charges from the issuer, not the credit card company. In the case of the MBNA cards, the MasterCard holder is charged by MBNA 3% for ATM withdrawals. I’d sure like to know what the AmEx and Visa ATM charges are.

PAUL...

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by Jay Brunhouse

After officials finished making speeches and congratulating themselves, on Dec. 14, ’03, the first big, 3-carriage double-decker Vienna Airport Express train took passengers from Vienna’s new City Airport Terminal within Mitte Station in the heart of Austria’s capital city to the International Airport at Schwechat, and it took only 16 minutes.

The owners, the Austrian Federal Railroads (ÖBB; visit www.oebb.at) and Vienna International Airport (www.viennaairport.at), had branded it “City Airport Train” (CAT; www.cityairporttrain.com), applied a green, white...

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