Cruise

ITN was mailed a copy of a letter sent by a reader to Oceanwide Expeditions, as follows.

The Queen is sold! Long live the Queen!

My traveling companion Arlene and I took a one-week cruise aboard the Star Princess, Jan. 20-27, 2006. Our cruise was in the western Caribbean, departing from Ft. Lauderdale, but the ship travels worldwide. We paid $1,069 each, double occupancy.

We had taken two cruises on Princess ships many years ago. In 1989 we took a Mediterranean cruise on the Royal Princess, which was a spectacular vessel, and in 1991 we sailed the Sea Princess in the South China Sea — not quite so spectacular but still with a refined and elegant ambiance. I wish I could say the same for the Star.

In the letter titled “Taxi Tours of Gibraltar” (Aug. ’07, pg. 16), a reader wrote about a cruise stop on which he and his wife wanted to go into town for shopping and then perhaps take a taxi tour. They weren’t interested in purchasing any of the ship’s shore excursions but couldn’t easily find a cab that would just take them into town.

I would like to second David Sutcliffe’s praise (March ’07, pg. 81) for Gayle and Michael Hawker of Tasmania Travel Planning and Australia Travel Planning (4428 E. Willow Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85032; 800/830-8999, www.australian.com or www.tasmania.com).

I discovered Michael and Gayle via their advertisement in ITN. Upon calling, I told them that if they did well by me they would have me as a client for several years to come, as I was seeing Australia and New Zealand in bits and pieces.

A friend and I took our second trip to China in October ’05. Prior to the trip, we were put in touch with John Zhang, a tour agent employed by Teddybear Center (e-mail cqteddybear@126.com or phone 013983177596 or 023 63773545) in Chongqing, China, and worked with him in planning part of our trip.

Through a travel agent friend, in May ’06 two friends and I booked a Christmas markets cruise with Viking River Cruises. The Nov. 28, 2006, sailing of the Viking Danube Explorer from Nuremberg to Vienna was our first experience with river cruising, but it will not be our last. (We booked a cruise with Viking from St. Petersburg to Moscow, Russia, for September 2007.)

We enjoyed the ship, other passengers, the hardworking enthusiastic young crew and the chance to visit some of Germany and Austria’s Christmas markets.

We took a cruise-tour in Russia, the 18-day “Tatars, Cossacks and the Golden Ring,” April 28-May 15, 2007, with Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/221-2610, www.gct.com).

We had a wonderful new experience in cruising — quite different from the ocean cruises we have taken but every bit as enjoyable — with Uniworld River Cruises (17323 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91316; 800/733-7820).

Our one-week trip down the Danube River from Passau, Germany, to Budapest, Hungary, aboard the River Princess, April 22-29, 2007, cost $4,572 for both my husband and me, including an upgrade to category 3 and airport transfers but not airfare, as we used frequent-flyer miles. It was a treat in every way.

This year we got stung with a barge trip in France and learned a couple of things that are important.