Talisker92

We took the regular train in 2007 and enjoyed it. We were not going to do it again last year until I read about the VIP car. We have done a number of rail trips in private rail cars, and this sounded right up our alley. We enjoyed it thoroughly, comfortable swivel club seat, hors d'oeuvres , beer and wine, and a great narrator. The rear platform is large enough to accommodate 3 people on each side for photography.

Hawaii is best done as a land trip- one island at a time. Start with Kauai.

Absolutely! See our stories

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kauai2011.pdf

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/kauai2012.pdf

For something REALLY different, try the Trans Siberian Express . 14 days from Moscow to Vladavostok

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/aroundtheworldin16days2006.pdf

You could always try the Vivre Restaurant in the Sofitel hotel which is connected to Terminal 5 via a walkway. Just to get out of the airport for a while.:)

We stayed there one night. It was quite a hike from the terminal into the hotel, to a point where you almost needed a cab!

If the weather is nice it might be worth it to take the Piccadilly line to the West End.

 

But I'm like you. I would budget 1.5 hrs to get there and 1.5 hrs to get back. So probably 3 hours in town. But a great place to get your 5 miles in.

 

I find the tube reliable (as long as there is not a strike) and for back up you have the Heathrow Express or a taxi/uber.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

i would recommend Heathrow Express both ways. It is more expensive than the tube, but the trip is only 15 minutes

So sorry for your loss. I lost my wife to lung cancer. I had a choice to sit in a corner and feel sorry for myself, or get on with my life, which is what i did.

Sometimes I would get blindsided by something that reminded me of her, but I kept moving forward.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. Here are links to the Burgundy cruise and the Budapest to Amsterdam cruises we did with Vantage.http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/burgundy2012.pdf

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/europe2010.pdf

Vantage now has a larger ship on the Burgundy trip. We are always happy to answer questions.

Two days after I retired, we were on a 14 day South American tour. Visited Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

We're going on the Vantage Budapest to Passau this December - wondering if you can recommend any tours or shops?

 

If you have pictures, I'd love to see them.

 

kwbts124

 

Can't wait for our cruise - still hot here in Key West.

Here is the location of our trip story and pictures

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/christmascruise2007.pdf

We are always happy to answer any questions

We enjoyed our cruise thoroughly on Vantage. The cruise was so popular they put a larger ship to run this itinerary. Our trip story is at http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/burgundy2012.pdf

We are always happy to answer questions

My classic case is about a couple who did not want to fly together, but would be in the same car driving to the airport!

Statistically, they were more at risk driving to the airport!

The problem is one of perception. You may drive every day, but only go to fly a couple of times a year.

For you single malt drinkers-there is a tasting room downtown. They have a distillery in Dunedin!

If you are that fearful, don't go! But to complain about Tauck is unfair to them and to their customers.

On one tour we took (not with Tauck), we were in Luxor, Nairobi and Yemen. Shortly after we left these places, tourists were shot up in Luxor, the Embassy in Nairobi was bombed, and the USS Cole was damaged.

Did that stop me from traveling? Heck no!

It can happen here, too. Someone got my number and I tracked the person from LA to San Diego by the purchases made. The company cancelled my card, issued a new one, and reversed all the fraudulent charges.

We have done both, but had some great private tours, sometimes by ourselves, and sometime with other passengers.

Here is list of some we have done:

Our wedding on Santorini

Giverney and Rouen by ourselves

Nazca Lines by plane by ourselves

Lima Culinary tour with a group

Falklands tour at half the price of the ships tours

Petroche Falls in Chile with a group.As we left the ships buses pulled up and were so crowded they delayed sailing by hours

Lisbon, Estoril and Cascais with a group

Cornwall for 6 days

You can read all about them on our website

http://www.stevekathytravels.com

We were on a B2B that had Valparaiso as the split. There is a large hall you go through that has all kinds of interesting things, including Chilean wine.

Remember, the airport is in Santiago, and it is about an hour and a half drive to Valparaiso.

You go through security in the hall, and all your carry on's will be screened.

As far as I know, the only lounge is upstairs, and is only for Business or First Class passengers on Air Tahiti Nui.

When i was working, I had customers all over the world, so I bought a series of books called "Just Enough" from Amazon.They are very small and can fit in a man's pocket.

I used them to buy cold medicine in Russia, and hair spray in Costa Rica.

The one thing I learned, is that Americans are right to the point, where in other countries, you greet the person first.

The 4 words to learn are Hello Goodbye, please and thank you, for starters.

People in these countries will appreciate you making the effort.

Keith, those both sound like great itineraries. We did the BUD-AMS a few years ago and enjoyed it.

Here is the link to our story and photos

http://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/europe2010.pdf

We are always happy to answer questions.

We did one a few years ago. in conjunction with a pre cruise land tour. We ended up in NY because we knew the terminal would be a zoo for passengers to board. We enjoyed both the land portion and the cruise itself. Also we could do laundry on the ship after the land tour

Here is the link to our trip storyhttp://stevekathytravels.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/canada2011.pdf

We are happy to answer any questions.

Here is a picture of a boat being hoisted on to a ship:)

I agree with those who said it is totally subjective. Look at member reviews, and you will see one person say best cruise evr, the next saying worst cruise ever.

When you go on excursions with the same people the coach is typically held up by the same people. You return from the jaunt round town, museum or whatever and sit in the coach for fifteen minutes until half past and it is the time for the coach to return to the ship. Unfortunately the same couple always turn up at quarter to the next hour so forty people sit there like lemons waiting for the same people. This happens a lot and it's the same people holding the coach up while you wait. Then they arrive walk on nonchalantly without a care in the world holding everyone up. During the waiting period a sort of dislike; to put it mildly builds up in the minds of those waiting.

 

Regards John

I remember one cruise where there were 2 people always late. We nicknamed them blue and white because that was what they always wore. On shore excursions we made it a point never to be on the same bus with them.

Unfortunately,in St. Petersburg we were on the same bus. Every other bus had left except ours. The 2 finally sauntered on, the first to cheers and smiling to acknowledge them. By the time the last one stumbled on board, I had had it. I said," it is about time". She said, "I could not find the bus"

I looked around and said,"everyone else found the bus". She then said, "I must be stupid". I looked at her and said, "you are right", to the cheers of everyone on the bus.

I have mellowed since then, and would not think of doing it now.

Sharon,

I am so sorry for your loss. This is slightly off topic, but there is a great site for widows and widowers for support. http://www.widowedvillage.org

The funniest one we had was with a change of equipment. Our seats were in row 28, but the new plane only had seats going back to 27. I asked the flight attendant if we were to ride in the toilets, but she laughed and told us there were plenty on empty seats on the flight.