Travel Forum

[chuckinca]

Thanks to the Admins for setting up this new forum!

I think I hear Rick Nelson singing a familiar song.

Chuckinca

[Rokinronda]

OK. Here we go! Where have you been and where do you wish to someday go? I have seen all of New England, Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, Bermuda, Las Vegas, Cozumel, Antigua, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Nassau, Bahamas, Paradise Island, Most of florida, except the panhandle. Someday, we want to go to Italy, England, Scotland....... I will be inquiring!!

[chelsea24]

Ronda, we have been to Italy and England several times. I think all of Italy is beautiful, but I especially love the Tuscany and the drive up the Amalfi Coast. It is breathtaking. Literally. Hairpin curves all the way, so go with a guided group. Also Capri. It's magical. The one thing I didn't do and regret it, so we must go back, is to go into The Blue Grotto, said to be where Caesar loved to swim. They take you in on a tiny boat and I'm afraid of water. But, my friend has been in many times and told me it's incredible. All dark in the Grotto, with crystal turquoise water. Very deep. If you're not afraid of water you don't want to miss that.

England is just what you' expect and I love it. We stayed at The Russell Hotel. All brown worn leather couches and the restaurant is dedicated to Virginia Wolf as it is said that is where she and many of her infamous friends hung out. It's gives a real authentic feel of London.

Let me know if have any questions at all. :bigthumbsup:

[chuckinca]

Ronda:

We did a bike tour of the Tuscan Coast last fall. 6 days riding in between 3 days in Florence and 3 days in Rome. 2 couples from up state NY, 2 couples from Myrtle Beach, 2 couples from down state Indiana and 4 couples from Norcal (our group of three couples and one other from near here that we didn't know). We were the oldest couple (63 & 57) and the youngest were in their late 40's. I'd do that again, it was great.

Another place we like is Santa Fe, NM. My wife is into arts & crafts and she was just in heaven.

[Rokinronda]

Thanks, I definately want to go to the Amalfi Coast because family came from there. Actually my husbands grandfather said there is family money there that can only be spent there, but we don't have a clue where to start a search. I don't have much info, but I think I have some of his birth info. I do have lots of wonderful color postcards from the 50's of Mt. Versuvious and Naples (napoli?) Not our reason to go, but sure would be something to look into! Having never traveled abroad, we will be full of questions. We don't speak italian and would need a group trip. My hubby hoped for a travel forum. This will be great!!

[chelsea24]

Most everyone speaks some English Ronda so don't worry about that. My girlfriend back in Chicago, found lots of her Italian relatives through a geneology site. I'll ask her the name of it and pm you. It doesn't hurt to look! And if you have to spend the money there, all the better! LOL :joke:

[njgranny]

Most of our trips abroad, we've done through Grand Circle Travel, a company out of Boston. Their trips are great and reasonably priced. Our most recent trip was to China. It was absolutely fantastic!!!! I didn't want to go because of the long plane ride, but it was the best trip I've ever been on. The trip ended up with 3 days in Japan.

Spain is another favorite of ours. My husband's grandparents all came from there even though he was born in Cuba.

We love to travel and cruising is a favorite vacation.

We took two trips to Europe through our local college, but they were too strenuous being geared for students. Then we found Grand Circle. Most of their vacations are geared so that you stay more than one day in an area. A lot less tiring than the college type tours.

Sorry, for the run-on and thanks to the Administrators for a travel topic.

[chelsea24]

NiGranny, China, well the Orient, is the one place my hubby wants to go to. We'll look into that Grand Circle Travel. How long were you there? What Airline did you take? Share more information please??? Thanks.

[njgranny]

Chelsea,

We were in China for 14 days and Japan for 3 (a trip extension). Here's the link to the trip we took which was the Cultural Cities. We later regretted not going on the trip that included the Ygantze (sp?) River.

http://www.gct.com/gcc/general/default.aspx?oid=189460&region=Asia&country=China&triptype=&datefrom=&dateto=

I hate to say that I forget which airline we took, but we flew right out of Philadelphia, then to Chicago, then direct to China. Wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. If you look on the GC website, they have a category with each trip that shows you which airlines they use according to your departure airline.

They use good hotels and include several meals. Breakfast is almost always included.
They include many tours and some optionals. It gives you a chance to "catch your breath," if you forgo some of the optional tours. One of the things we really enjoy is trips to people's homes for lunch or dinner. It gives you a chance to see how they live and is usually a great meal.

The beggars around the well-known tourists sights are persistent. When I asked our guide if he could do something about it because my DH was in a wheel chair that day and couldn't get away from them, he said that they don't like to discourage them because at least they're working and trying to make a living. They were always pleasant, if persistent.

It's such a fascinating country. I loved the visits to the schools, too.

Dress on GCT tours is casual. Keeps the packing light.

If you have any specific questions, please ask. If I don't remember, my DH will. Between us, we have a working brain. :-)

[chelsea24]

Thanks NiGranny! It's a good start. We're not ready to go yet, but when we are, I'll be asking a lot more questions. ??? :bigthumbsup:

[swrinfla]

Hooray! Glad to see this new forum.

I try to travel as many as 4 times a year. I mix cruises and land tours, and sometimes family visiting!

My absolute favorite tour operator is Tauck World Discovery. Everything they do is top-of-the-line, and I always have lots of fun. They look pricey, but when all is said and done, every penny is well spent. Returned from their Philly-Gettysburg-Charlottesville-Williamsburg-Washington trip a couple of weeks ago. Had great fun, even though many places were overun with school groups (it was the "Easter" break week).

My favorite cruise line is Holland America, because they treat our age group like royalty! That said, I'm joining a couple of friends from DeLand, FL, on the Emerald Princess over Thanksgiving. It'll be my fourth consecutive Thanksgiving trip. My family is always glad that they don't have to feed me! :joke:

Hope we all learn stuff here. For whatever it's worth, I spent nearly 20 years in a travel agency, so have some insight into the industry as a whole, even though I retired six years ago!

SWR

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi Chel,

We were in China for three weeks. It took me about two months to find a tour operator that offered what we wanted. Wanted to go to the outlying provinces and go with a small group. Minimal to no stops at "Friendship Stores."

My best suggestion to you is to decide ahead of time what it is you want to see, where you want to go and what you want to experience. It was from that starting point that I was able to know what I was looking for in a tour.

As Kathie does, I created a spread sheet with the pros and cons of different tour companies, including how many people were in a group.

We started off as a group of 12 and by the end of our trip we were down to six. Six people only took a two week tour. This made a major difference in the quality of the tour. We had met other Americans in China who were part of much larger groups and when they heard about our group wish they could have joined us.

We plan to go back to China - after the Olympics are over.

Have fun planning. Let me know if I can be of any assistance. We only have about 500 pictures from our China trip.

Hyacinth Bucket

Hyacinth Bucket

[njgranny]

SW

Two of our longer cruises were on Holland America through Grand Circle Travel. One went from California to Miami through the Canal, and the other was a trip around the horn. We really enjoyed Holland America.

We've also been on Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Like them all for different reasons. One of my favorite ships is the Celebrity Galaxy. It's small as ships go, but she's got a special place in my heart.

[chelsea24]

Hi Fellow Cruisers! We too have cruised on most all of the lines. Holland America, by far, has the largest rooms and best food. But, my heart belongs to Royal Caribbean. My husband and I both like a mixture of ages and we like to stay up later at night. On Holland American (three cruises) it seemed like most people went to bed rather early. We were in the casino and no one was around. Royal Caribbean just seems more livelier to me. We used to love Princess but I feel that the amenities have gone down since Carnival bought them out. Celebrity is our second favorite (owned by Royal Carib.) But, we'll still travel on Holland America when the spirit moves us. It definitely is a great cruise line. One of my favorite cruises with them was up the east coast, leaving from New York, right past the Statue of Liberty, and going up to Nova Scotia. Autumn cruise, right when the leaves are turning, wonderful ports. We'll be cruising for Thanksgiving this year with good friends, 10 days in the Caribbean. Travel on! :bigthumbsup:

[swrinfla]

chelsea:

Care to say which ship and when? It would be fun if we're on the same one!

SWR

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi SWR,

It is a fund raising cruise that I am arranging. IT WILL NOT COST YOU ANYTHING EXTRA!

The fund raising donation comes from my commission. The monies will be going to those who have and/or had a brain injury or illness. The decision for which charity the money was going to was based on people who are cruising.

I have been a Travel Agent for a long time and now I want to help others. I make donations to whoever the group decides they would like the money to go to.

We are sailing departing on November 23 from Tampa for 10 days. I will post more info later.

We just returned from a river cruise to France hours ago and I have to unpack.

Please feel free to email me with any questions you have.

HB

[chazz1996]

Hi Fellow Travellers,
In regards to China , we had chosen to use Vantage Tours , was a tour of China starting at Beijing and ending up in Hong Kong for 24 days. At the end of tour we had spoken about diffrent tour companies and the our tour guide had worked for Taulk, as well as Vantage , Grand Circle and whom ever else he is ASSIGNED TO by the goverment. Well he says the diffrent companies that charge more or less are acorrding to the accommondations and food selections on the tour, any way we used Vantage for the 24 day tour of China and the Yangtze River and would do it again if we had more time .
Just my 2 cents

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi Chazz,

The most important thing in reference to your trip to China was that you were happy. We wanted to spend more time in China itself and go to the out lying provinces that was our focus. We also wanted to be in a small group - less than 20 and not stop at any "Friendship Stores" if possible.

We stayed at 4 or 5 star hotels depending on availability, in the heart of the areas we went to, restaurants were all very good. Tour guides and Tour Manager were both excellent. Only a couple of optional tours, otherwise everything was included.

With some companies providing tours in China what your Guide said is true about Tour Guides. Other companies seem to have more leeway.

Our tour was not a top end tour price wise, we did meet other people on tours in China who paid more than we did, but were with larger groups. From the way they spoke they wished they were on our tour.

We also had an excellent time in China and the people whom I have referred to this company also had an excellent time. Like I said, it depends what you are looking for - price, number of people in group, destinations, mode of transportation, number of days in each place, where accommodations are located and what is or is not included in the trip.

Did you write a travelogue of your journey and when did you go?

HB

[chazz1996]

Hi All
We had toured China in October, a perfect time for China, but our next BIG trip will be selling this house and moving to TV.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi Chazz, I agree October is a great time to be in China. I would love to go back but after the Olympics.

I hope you sell your house quickly. Lots of luck. Did you bury St. Joseph in your garden?

HB

[chazz1996]

Hi All:
We got the idea from this site.
It's not working yet but only has been 2 months..