This trip will, in our view, require serious consultation with a travel clinic. Be aware that the ai

traveltruth.com is produced by Churchill and Turen Ltd. for the use of our cruise and tour clients nationwide and travelers seeking expert advise from our award-winning consultants and travel journalists.
Q We just returned from a cruise on Crystal to the Baltic and loved the experience. We re already signed up for another trip next year. But being retired, we can cruise on short notice. We ve read what you ve recommended about the benefits of being among the first 20% to book. But now, we re wondering about being in the last 20% to book. Are there any truly great deals on for those of us who can travel in the next several months on the world s top-rated lines?
A Up until very recently, the answer would have been no. But your question is timed well since we are just starting to see the advent of a new phenon we call  Miraculous Cruise Pricing . As we ve indicated, the southern Mediterranean is extremely weak this year. At last count, fourteen US cruise ships will be pulled from European waters next year. Many of the sailings of the very top lines are currently at or near 50% occupancy.
sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta This has created a new pricing model  that is resulting in pricing that goes way below the former two-for-one discounts. We seen non-published pricing on a dozen upcoming sailings that are so low that we can t name the cruise line or put the pricing in print. But we can say this:
These secret fares were designed to enable in-house commission sales reps to have something they could use to close the sale for those looking for a true last-minute deal. The fares are so secretive that they are normally given code words within the reservation department. sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta Since callers will not know the coded fare name, sales reps will try to sell them at the higher price. The Miraculous Pricing Fares are normally shared with a handful of the cruise sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta line s top-producers but most travel agents will never hear about them. Discretion is important since the better cruise lines want to avoid the perception that they are doing last-minute discounting. This could seriously alienate their loyal, booked guests and their agents.
In summary, what is new is that some of the five-star cruise lines are now so desperate to fill their small ships, that they are providing a limited number of in-house sales staff and agents with secret and rather miraculous last-minute pricing. But, again, you have to know the code to ask for the correct fare.
traveltruth.com is a collaborative effort designed to offer the vacation consumer real world advice without exaggeration, deception, or sales bias. It is the ultimate sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta insider's view of how things really work, written by an award-winning team of travel consultants and journalists. We are the owners, managers, and staff at Churchill Turen Ltd.
Q We are seriously considering joining friends from work on the January 15th sailing of Silverseas sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta from Barbados to South America. We ve never cruised this line but the combination of the Caribbean and South America intrigues us. Is $5650 a great deal for a window suite?  We ve been working with an agent but were wondering what you might give us if we booked with you?
A We d give you directions back to the  agent who has put in time trying to assist you. No matter what the ads and the hype might tell you, all of the better cruise consultants receive exactly the same pricing. If we didn t, we wouldn t book the lines.
So now that you know we are not going to take you on, let us address your primary question. This is what is known as a repositioning voyage . You can expect discounts to be deeper on this kind of one off itinerary. Your cruise is coming out at about $460 per person per day on the new Spirit, Silversea s flagship. Silverseas has moved up in our ratings of late and you should expect a Four Seasons at Sea type inclusive experience. Generally speaking, Five-star lines should come out, on a cruise-only basis, at between $500-$700 per person, per day. So we would say this is a good offer but not a great offer. You may be unaware that this is also a special Relais  Chateaux culinary sailing, a definite plus for foodies. Be prepared for some rough water in the Atlantic but not rough enough to cause us to advise you avoid the itinerary or the date.
Q We are taking our 16-Year old on a dream trip to Italy this coming spring. Our highlights will be Venice, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast. Our tentative schedule puts us in Rome Easter week flying home after the Holiday. But we don t know how insane Rome will be that weekend. We had wanted to do Sorrento sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta last but now we re thinking about doing the trip Venice-Sorrento-Rome to avoid having to commute to Rome from Sorrento on departure day. Are our concerns about Easter week justified and how would you recommend we do the trip?
A - Your concerns about Easter crowds in Rome, tied-up sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta traffic, possible protests, and gridlock stress are all justified. You might consider staying in a hotel away from the center core, perhaps something just across the river in Trastevere like the Dei Mellini. You might want to re-think Sorrento, perhaps using Positano as a base. If your flight home is after 1:00 pm. we would recommend that you end the trip on the Amalfi Coast and use a private driver to go straight to the airport. Driving to far-out Fiumcino Airport during Easter sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta week will inevitably involve heavy traffic and there is some advantage to avoiding the city center on departure day. If you have an earlier departure, it does make sense to end the trip in Rome as you are proposing but not that driving to Naples, catching the train, then getting to your hotel from the central station which toting your luggage is bound to be a bit of a hassle.
Q Your site was recommended to help us answer sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta a question about my personal bucket list. Can you actually do the Silk Road through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazahkstan by train. I want  to see it all, and my wife will indulge me, from the Karakum and Kysilkum deserts to the Tien Shan Mountains. We re rather well-traveled, much of it on our own. We need private facilities but, other than that, we have minimal expectations sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta although we would want the best accommodations on the train that they have assuming a train exists. I would have no way to know if this is something sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta two sixty-three year old retirees in good health can actually book, we d love to know how. Thanks to your staff  for the most credible travel site we ve found.
A Love your idea and we would never discourage sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta you from this amazing adventure. The good news is that there is a program called The Legendary Silk Road by Private Train . The two-week journey is operated by Europe-based Lernidee, which pioneered sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta worldwide private train charters, beginning with programs on the Trans-Siberian Express. sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta The name of the train on this route is the Orient Silk Road Express. sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta But think three-star not the Hollywood version. Most of the travelers will be in compartments with toilets and a shower at the end of the car. You would have a preponderance of Brits on this journey with a fair share of Aussies, Germans, and Europeans who are not interested in remaining home and tossing rocks at their local parliament building. The trip begins in Ashgabar and ends in Almaty so you may not be able to fly non-stop on Southwest. You will want one of the Kalif Suites at $9,635 per person. Next year, they are operating this journey in April and October.
This trip will, in our view, require serious consultation with a travel clinic. sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta Be aware that the air-conditioning is turned off when the train is not moving. We highly sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta recommend that you have your flights planned and monitored sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta by the Cranky Concierge as there will be cancellations and changes. We also recommend that you take a film-making course before this trip. If you do this trip we are going to send you a button that reads Traveler Not Tourist .
Q Like many traveltruth fans, we have always wanted to go to Cuba. Now, it seems, things are opening up and we noticed that Tauck Tours is offering sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta programs there next year. Can we book this and do you recommend this. Does Tauck have a  decent reputation?
A Tauck is, in our view, the world s best First-Class Tour Operator. That is very different than being the world s best Deluxe operator but for most upscale clients, Tauck is the most reliable, best organized, tour operator for sophisticated travelers who don t need the top suite in the best hotel but welcome a company that does away with the stereotypical trappings of group travel such as name tags, guides hoisting umbrellas in the air to be followed, and trips to stores that pay kickbacks tot he company or the guide.
But Cuba is a different animal. The rules on Exchange Programs haven t really been changed so the eight-day program Tauck runs in Cuba includes six days of people-to-people educational exchanges. You will be exposed to Cuban music and you will meet professionals and students. There is an exposure to Cuban art and an interesting sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta series of insights into Ernest Hemingway s Cuba. This is a tour that is different because portions of what you will see and do are directed by the government of Cuba, anxious to put its best foot forward. Expect your group to average 20-30 travelers and plan on one night in Miami followed by six nights at the Melia Habana Hotel.
It is always good to remember that American tourists are often a secondary factor when it comes to number of visitors. sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta Cuba has been open to tourism for many years and so there is some local infrastructure. sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta It is the Americans sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta who have chosen to boycott the country and place limitations on the ability of its citizens to travel within sheraton buckhead hotel atlanta the country unrestricted.
Q We are really worried about a cruise we have booked for next year on Silverseas Cruises Shadow, This will be our third cruise, first on this line, but we are now quite worried because our daughter-in-law was checking the ship out online and tells us it just failed its health test. There also was a big problem with the crew hiding