My wife, Kathleen, and I purchased emergency-assistance travel insurance from CSA Travel Protection to cover our 18-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Barcelona, Spain, aboard Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam, April 1-18, 2012.
On April 10, while on a shore excursion in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, Kathleen fell and broke her arm. Back on the ship, Holland America Line (HAL) medical personnel treated her, x-rayed her arm and placed it in a sling.
Dear Globetrotter:
The editor’s piece on frequent-flyer-mile programs raised some thoughts (Jan. ’13, pg. 2).
by Dorothy Van Horn, Manhattan Beach, CA
My wife, Jane, and I had a memorable tour of southern India with Namaste Tours (O-130, DLF Shopping Mall, Arjun Marg, Phase 1, Gurgaon Haryana-122002, India; phone +91 [124] 4040636 or 637), Dec. 16, 2011-Jan. 3, 2012.
One of the most efficient, well-organized companies I have ever used, Namaste Tours arranged all the internal flights and trains as well as a car and driver for parts of our trip. A representative met us in each place and helped get our bags on the train or check us onto our flight.
Quito, Ecuador's, new Mariscal Sucre International Airport, in the Tababela district 12 miles east of the city center, was scheduled to begin operating in February. The airport replaces the older, more centrally located Mariscal Sucre International, which, due to its being surrounded by mountains, is unable to be expanded to accommodate increased air traffic or larger aircraft.
On Jan. 16, the FAA ordered that Boeing 787s (aka Dreamliners) be taken out of service until it can be determined what caused the lithium ion batteries on two planes to overheat and release flammable electrolytes and smoke.
This occurred in the auxiliary power unit’s battery on a Japan Airlines 787 while parked in Boston on Jan. 7 and in the main battery of an All Nippon Airways 787, forcing an emergency landing in Japan on Jan. 16. No one was hurt.
A reader asked about getting to Anadyr, Russia, by means other than a very expensive charter flight from Nome, Alaska (Nov. ’12, pg. 70). I’ve seen several requests in ITN’s “Person to Person” section for this kind of information and thought it would be an entertaining exercise to see what I could find.
