Help the helpers

Cast of the TV series Pan Am
Cast of the TV series Pan Am

There’s a lot of discussion on travel blogs about the comfort factor of passengers, so I was struck by a discussion on the Quora website that began with the question:  “What are some ways to make a flight attendant’s trip more pleasant?”

We may think that the women and men in uniform are solely there to serve us food and pour us drinks, but the reality is that that have an important part to play in the operation of the aircraft, and they are highly trained to protect our health and safety. And let’s face it, we really don’t want to be in a position to see them put that safety training into action.

The answers varied, and many of them are worth repeating:

Gigi J Wolf suggested: “Everyone could stay home that day. But that wouldn’t be very lucrative for the airline.”

Her more practical suggestions included acts of common courtesy (which seem to disappear when some people go flying): not constantly pushing the call button, not blocking the aisles, follow regulations (such as turning off mobile devices when asked) and be polite.

Nuralia  Mazlan also emphasised politeness and following the rules. Those seatbelts are there for a reason, she says. Also: use the rest room before the food service begins, and take out your earphones when talking to the crew.

Others stressed the necessity to pay attention during the safety announcements (or at least shut up so others can hear them), not to push your way on or off the aircraft, and to obey the rules about the overhead lockers.

It’s really not too much to ask. After all, we’re all entitled to a pleasant flight.

Update: Of course, there’s always the occasional flipside, where the aircrew don’t respect you.

Air-rage incidents

The Sky

What is it that makes some people misbehave on a plane? The alcohol? Perhaps, but not everybody drinks. The different air pressure? The sense of claustrophobia?

Whatever the reason, “air rage” is an increasingly common occurrence, and something that cabin crew and the rest of us who just want to get where we’re going really don’t need to deal with.

In the latest incident, a passenger on an Emirates airlines flight  was arrested for allegedly attacking crew members on a flight from Dublin to London. The man had to be restrained and three rows of seats had to be cleared. Other passengers said they were frightened by the incident and concerned both for the crew and the man himself, who is now facing court in London.

The case is not unusual. Similar incidents are reported every few weeks, and it is clear that others, of a relatively minor nature, go unreported.

I suppose the very unnatural nature of flying triggers many of these incidents. But so, too, I would argue, is a general breakdown in standards of behaviour.

Like children having tantrums, many adults no longer feel inhibited about the way they act in public, be it in a shopping mall or on an airplane.

We’ve all had our moments when it just gets too much, but for may people the trigger event can be extremely minor. Can’t find what you want on the supermarket shelves? Well, just yell at the nearest shop employee.

Yelling is one thing but, too often these days, many people stoop to physical violence.

The problem when we’re flying at 30,000 feet is that the potential consequences of bad behaviour are so much greater. And that’s why we should all support action of the airlines and other authorities to minimise these events and punish the offenders.

 

Best in the business

Etihad Dreamliner (Etihad.com)
Etihad Dreamliner (Etihad.com)

The news that Etihad airways has been named airline of the year by Air Transport World magazine, raises a question: What makes a great airline?

In accepting, Etihad’s boss, James Hogan, said the award “recognises what we set out to do as an airline 13 years ago – to be safe, profit­able and simply the best”.

It’s interesting that he put the safety factor first, because it might have been tempting to put profit at number 1. Maybe that’s what the shareholders would expect. But Hogan, like all astute business operators, knows that one follows the other.

With any business where the customer has a choice, priorities are important. Nobody is going to fly with an airline they think is unsafe.

After safety and profit — essential to keep any business afloat — comes the intangible idea of being “the best”.

For airline passengers, that means a combination of things, including comfort and confidence.

Flying can be an unpleasant experience — just the idea of speeding through the air in a metal cylinder puts some people on edge. The ageing aircraft, cramped seats, rude service and cattle-herding mentality at the terminal gates that are par for the course on some airlines make things no easier.

So a good airline has to do all it can do to make passengers comfortable. That means both on the ground and in the air. There has to be a basic level of comfort and efficient, friendly service for economy passengers, and something special for premium passengers. That’s where business- and first-class lounges, limousine transfers, airport greeting services and other frills come in.

Confidence applies not just to the safety factor, but to the whole experience. Passengers need to be sure that they will have zero problems getting where they want to go. They want a no-fuss experience, and for the plane and their bags to arrive on time.

No airline gets this right all the time. As I’ve said before, Etihad has always got it right for me, but I know other people who’ve had problems. Again, the test of a good business is how they handle customers problems and how they put in place procedures to minimise or eliminate recurrences.

By winning this award, and a slew of others in recent years, Etihad is showing that it’s getting it right most of the time for most of the people.

Rant: idiots with lasers

Yes, flying is expensive. It’s a costly business keeping an aircraft flying and servicing it while it’s on the ground.

Which is why the aviation industry and its customers can do without idiots who sabotage flights by aiming lasers at planes in flight. Sadly, there are many of them.

In the latest incident, a New York-bound Virgin plane was forced to return to London because somebody shone a laser at it, creating a “medical issue” for one of the pilots.

Airlines and siports go to extraordinary lengths to ensure the safety of their passengers, but there are some things they can’t control: idiots on the ground.

I hope the pilot is OK and has a swift recovery, and I feel sorry for all the people who were inconvenienced by the inconsideration of the fool or fools with the laser.

I hope these people are caught and that they face the maximum possible penalty.

Must-see cities: London

Yeoman at the Tower of London
Yeoman of the Guard at the Tower of London

Everybody has their favourite big-city destination. If you ask around, the same handful of names will come up, with a few variations depending on that person’s individual interests.

I’ve always been an advocate of going off the beaten path, but there are a few cities that should be on everybody’s itinerary.

So, I have a little list that I’ll be sharing with you, one by one,  over the next few weeks and months.

I’d be happy to hear your additions/ subtractions and the reasons why. Comment below or send me an email.

London, England. This is the first major city I visited outside of my native Australia, and it’s the one I love the best. For me, London offers the best of all worlds — it is simultaneously old and new, its history and culture are palpable but it’s as modern as tomorrow.

My first stop way back when was the British Museum, and no trip feels complete unless I spend an hour or two there, revisiting such icons as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon friezes (controversial as they are; if you want to see them, that’s where you have to go) and the Egyptian gallery, or checking out what’s new.

Of course, there are dozens of other world-renowned galleries and museums in the British capital. From the Tate Modern to the National Portrait Gallery, there is something for every taste in art.

A visit to the Tower of London is a must. Who doesn’t want to say that they measured themselves up against Henry VIII’s suit of armour, saw the spot where two of his wives — Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard — lost her heads, or enviously gazed at the crown jewels? It’s gruesome and glorious all at once. Oh, and don’t call your guide a Beefeater. He, or she, is a Yeoman of the Guard.

After that, to reassure yourself that London isn’t entirely locked in the past, take a trip to see the 306-metre-high Shard. And, if you don’t hate heights (as I do), go for a spin on the London Eye to get the best view of the Houses of Parliament and other famous London sights (weather permitting).

The West End is the place to go to see some of the world’s best theatre, from the experimental to the traditional to the highly commercial. Cheap tickets can be obtained in Leicester Square, which is well worth exploring on its own.

What else? There’s too much to mention: St Paul’s cathedral; Madame Tussauds (cheesy but fun, and near Baker Street, where you can search fruitlessly for Sherlock Holmes’s fictional abode); Covent Garden; Hyde Park and the shops of Mayfair; any of the great railway stations (Paddington is my favourite); Buckingham Palace (a bit of a let down in my books, as it’s just a very big house with a very famous resident); the Roman wall; and the pubs and clubs and restaurants (some of which are excellent despite England’s poor culinary reputation).

And take the time to just walk and soak it all in. The grand architecture, the denizens of the City, and the sights, sounds and smells of the London Underground (bearing in mind that the Tube map is representative only and does not align with above-ground geography).

As the great man of letters, Samuel Johnson, said back in 1777: “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

A matter of timing

Should I go to sea?
Should I go to sea?

When is the best time to book your next holiday? Actually, that’s a trick question, because there is no “best time” to book a holiday.

It depends on where you are going and when. And it often comes down to luck.

I’ve been noodling around online over the past few days trying to find something to do in March. Yes, I know that’s only next month, but the same problems arise whether you’re booking for next week or two years hence.

For reasons that are not really important, I have a flight to Munich booked for March 10 and a return flight from Munich booked on March 19. As yet, there is nothing in between, not even a hotel booking.

I am thinking — and this will not come as a big surprise to anybody who knows me — of taking a cruise. There’s only really one that suits is a seven-day return trip from Savona, which is relatively accessible by plane, train and automobile from Munich.

The problem is that the itinerary is very similar to a cruise I took a year ago. The difference would be the ship, which I haven’t been on before. So that’s one dilemma: do I want to go or not?

The second dilemma is, if I do decide to go, do I book now or wait?

The risk with waiting, of course, is that the cruise might sell out altogether, or the cheap cabins will all be gone and I’ll be forced to pay more than I am comfortable with.

The risk of booking now is that something better might come along closer to the date, and that if I book now, I’ll have to pay now. Also, price may drop, and I could get a better deal with a last-minute booking.

In any case, isn’t the money better off in my bank account than in the cruise line’s. So, for the time being, I’ll wait.

My advantage, of course, is that I am booking for myself and I am flexible about what I do. If you are booking for more people — say a family holiday — and your holidays are fixed, or your heart is set on a particular trip at a particular time, then the best advice is to book as early as you can, and be prepared to pay a little more for the sake of securing exactly what you want.

Who’s up for a cruise?

Cruising
Cruising is not for everyone, but the passenger list is surprisingly diverse

When I speak or write about cruising, some people roll their eyes. Their minds automatically trip to that stereotype that says cruises are for boring old people.

It’s a shame, because while it’s true that the demographic on many ships is 50-plus — and some companies specialise in catering to that age group — there are plenty of young people setting sail.

A day ago, I received a Facebook message from a guy in his 20s who had always gone on family cruise holidays and wanted some advice about taking his first sol adventure. He didn’t know, for example, that some ships offer singles studios with a special meet-up lounge for their unattached guests.

I have relatives in their 30s who go cruising, a former colleague in his early 40s takes his family cruising regularly, and a friend in his 50s has recently caught the bug.

On board ships, I’ve met train drivers (a group of them who work on the London Underground), IT workers, teachers and lawyers. People from all walks of life.

These are people from all sorts of backgrounds on board boats. Some like the convenience of having only to pack and unpack once and not worry too much about the itinerary. Others like the thrill of being in a different port, often a different country, every other day. Some just love the onboard lifestyle: the bars, restaurants, casino, theatre, gym, spa, pool and so on.

For many people, it’s the affordability of a cruise — especially those that are all-inclusive — that’s the decisive factor.

For me, as a solo traveller, it’s a way to explore parts of the world I’ve never been to, or that I already love, and to have a balance between doing my own thing and meeting other people.

On some cruises, I’ve kept pretty much to myself, on others I’ve been “adopted” by couples or small groups and joined in with their activities — from trivia contests to pub crawls (all safely supervised by crew members).

I always talk to the bar and service staff, as well as fellow passengers, and I almost always end up with at least one more social-media friend after every trip.

I’ll admit that cruising may not be everybody’s thing, but I’d urge people to check it out a bit more thoroughly before dismissing it outright as a holiday option,

A traveller’s tale

A swan in Nuremberg

Picture this: you’re standing in a queue at the “bag drop” location in the airport. You know, the one that used to be called the check-in counter, but we’re all expected to check in online nowadays, so we can just drop our bags and go.

The only problem is that it takes longer to drop your bag and go than it used to take to check in, because there are fewer people to serve you, and most of the people in front of you haven’t actually checked in online, have some bizarre amount or type of luggage, or are just plain stupid.

So you’re looking at your watch and anticipating, with dread, the even longer queue at security and, if it’s an international flight, immigration.

By the time your turn comes at the bag drop, you’re angry. But you can’t appear angry because, if you do, your seat will be reassigned to the one next to the toilets and opposite the unaccompanied child passengers.

You are pleasant through gritted teeth, and you get through all procedures with enough time to steal a snack or a drink before boarding.

Despite the best efforts of the airline staff in setting out a boarding procedure, the scrum to get on to the plane resembles something from Dante’s Inferno. For a moment, you wish you were in hell; it couldn’t be worse.

And then you’re on the plane, and you find your seat. You are the only person in your row so far, and you pray to whichever deity you believe in that the other seats are vacant. Assuming this will not be the case, you start looking around to see if there are other vacancies nearby. As every traveller knows, once the “boarding complete” announcement is made, it’s open season on the empty rows.

But this flight is full to the brim, and there is no room to manoevre. You smile nervously as the last passenger — the one assigned to sit next to you — boards.

You size them up, and wonder whether they will be a talkative bore, a person with no sense of personal space, malodorous or a combination of all three.

It’s a red-eye flight, so you have the perfect way out. You pretend to sleep, even though you can’t.

When you arrive at your destination, you are tired and cranky. But you have to be polite to a whole new bunch of people, many of whom may not speak your language.

You cope with passport control, baggage collection, customs and even a taxi driver who, although you can’t prove a thing, you know is taking you the long way.

You’re shattered, but at last you are at your hotel.  But the very pleasant receptionist tells you that you’re too early and your room won’t be ready for another four hours.

That’s when you dump your bags and go for a stroll. You see, hear, eat and smell things you’ve never seen, heard, tasted or smelt before, and you suddenly remember why you travel. The negativity floats away, and you’re already planning the next trip.

The trouble with travel

The Sphinx, Cairo
Great Sphinx, Cairo.

 

Back in the 1970s, a couple I know drove across Afghanistan as part of an overland-as-far-as-possible journey from England to Australia. It’s a journey that is virtually impossible these days due to decades of fighting in that region.

In 1989, during the “troubles”, I spent a week staying in Belfast and driving around Northern Ireland — including past the site where, just a day earlier, a bomb planted in a parked car had killed a man and his granddaughter on their way to school.

A few years ago, I sailed along the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and back, taking in the Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Abu Simbel and other ancient wonders, with an optional side-trip to see the pyramids and sphinx at Giza. It’s a journey I highly recommend, but many people remain reluctant to take it because of several incidents including the 1997 massacre of 62 people, mostly tourists.

As I write this, I’ve been reading about an attack in Sultanahmet Square, a major Istanbul tourist attraction that I visited last year. Ten people are confirmed dead so far. It follows two incidents in Tunisia in 2015 — at a museum and on a beach — and the attacks on Paris in November.

Clearly, tourism can be a dangerous business, especially when there are extremist groups, and twist individuals, who want to maximum their headline appeal by putting international visitors in their crosshairs.

But everything we do in life is a calculated risk. So, if we want to travel, we need to approach it sensibly.

Afghanistan remains off my itinerary, along with a few other global hot spots (Syria and parts of Iraq among them). But I will almost certainly go to Turkey again, because there’s much more I want to see there, and I have no doubt that I’ll be in Paris once more.

There are some things we can do to mitigate the risks, but that can mean missing out — especially if the advice you get is to avoid popular attractions. If you want to see the Eiffel Tower, who am I to tell you it’s dangerous to do so?

I’m not saying that we should throw caution to the wind, but we should keep in mind the reason we travel. And — caution: cliche ahead — if you change the way you live too much for fear of the terrorists, then they have already won.

Emptying the bucket

Minsk
Minsk

 

The term “bucket list” gives me the creeps. Not because it references death — in that it’s used to describe the places we want to go before we die — but because it’s so limiting.

Of course, I understand the idea of drawing up a list of places you want to visit before you shake off your mortal coil, but to me, the perfect travel itinerary should include places you’ve never even thought about.

While I’ve had a ball ticking off the wonders of the world and must-see attractions, ranging from Disneyland to the Treasury at Petra, I’ve had an equally good, or even better, time visiting countries and attractions that were never even on my radar.

The best example I can think of is Belarus. Ten years ago, I’d have given it no thought at all. But then I met someone online, and that led to an invitation to visit, and suddenly I was entranced by Minsk (and by my new friend, but that’s another story).

I discovered the charms of Glasgow, and Scotland in general, because a friend suggested that I might be able to find work there. And a free trip to Manila, which came via a colleague, has made me eager to see more of the Philippines, which did not previously figure highly on my wish list.

My point is that circumstance can often throw up something new, and you most certainly should grasp it when you can. You may always have Paris, but you may never again get the chance to see Svetlagorsk.

Forget the bucket list, go where the four winds take you.

 

 

First-class foolery

Flying high

I came across an article that appears to confirm at least one of my theories about securing upgrades on airlines.

Apparently, many frequent flyers behave like brats, treating airline staff or other passengers with contempt.

It quotes Christopher Elliott, a travel journalist and founder of the travel site elliott.org, as saying: “There is a class of entitled travelers that don’t just believe that they deserve to be treated better than the rest of us; they believe that they are better than the rest of us.”

Elliot relates a story about an elite frequent flyer member who demanded that another passenger be bumped so his friend could take the seat.

It seems there’s not a lot the crew can do about it. Elliot notes: “One flight attendant said to me, ‘I fully expect my airline to tell me to shine the shoes of these elites.’ ”

As I’ve noted before, I’ve been upgraded a lot lately. I’m still trying to understand why – and, yes, I do think my social-media and blogging activity helps – but I believe one of the main reasons is that I am always polite, respectful, undemanding and grateful for the service I get.

As we were told as children, it’s nice to be important, but it’s important to be nice.

Costly connections

image

It’s been nearly five years since the United Nations declared access to the internet as a human right. But having something as a right and being able to afford it are two different things.

I acknowledge from the outset that what I’m about to address is a “first-world problem” given that many people don’t even have the devices they need to connect to the net let alone broadband access.

What I am addressing is the wildly fluctuating price of internet access for those of us who travel. It can range from free — totally free where it’s provided by governments (at bus stops in parts of Italy for example) or sponsored by corporations (such as at airports), or free-with-a- purchase, as it is at many, bars, cafes and coffee shops — up to well, name a figure and double it.

A friend once came back to Australia after a couple of weeks in New Zealand with a bill for more than A$1000 (which was then worth about US$1000) because he’d forgotten to turn off data roaming. If he’d signed up for a plan before hand, it would have been less than a tenth of the cost. Given that the actual cost of providing the service was the same, the only difference was the mark-up applied — and perhaps the way the providers in New Zealand and Australia divvied up the spoils.

As readers of this blog know, I sail a lot. One of the few things that annoys me is the high cost of internet access on the high seas. My conviction is that although satellite internet is not cheap, passengers are paying too much above the actual price of provision. Why? Because costs differ between cruise lines. What costs about US$55 with one company costs $150 with another. It’s a similar situation with airlines, if internet access is offered at all.

The simple fact is that providers and the middle-men are having a laugh at our expense. Phone companies and other internet service providers around the world have agreements on sharing costs when a customer from one country visits another; just as banks have agreements on interchange fees when I use my debit or credit card abroad. Certainly there is an additional cost, but it is marginal. However, when they can, big corporations will take advantage. And it’s time for travellers to complain enough about it to get governments to act on capping prices to this essential service.

Update: I am now at a hotel that wants to charge me more than $5 for an hour of WiFi access. They’ve got to be joking.

Life’s a team sport

When the separation that ultimately became my divorce happened, I received some calls and messages from friends assuring me that they were on “my side”.

This confused me, because I didn’t know I had a side. I didn’t see separation and divorce as an adversarial thing, and neither, I think, did my now ex-wife. Divorce is common — perhaps too common —  and there are mechanism to make it go smoothly, which it more or less did.

I was reminded of this because I heard recently that some mutual friends of mine are no longer talking to each other. I don’t know the full details of the dispute, but it made me sad.

While I acknowledge that there are serious transgressions of friendship from which there is no going back, I’m pretty much a believer in the let-bygones-by-bygones / forgive-and-forget / move-on / life’s-too-short school of thought.

I guess there are one or two people from my past I’d rather not see again, but as I get older and mellower, that list shrinks — especially when curiosity kicks in. I sometimes think that I wouldn’t mind catching up with the school bully I last saw nearly 40 years ago just to see how his life has turned out, and perhaps to ask him why he behaved the way he did.

And there are also a few people I’ve known over my life who I may have hurt. I’d like to see again so we can talk about.

Perhaps it’s true that time heals all wounds. I hope my friends do resolve their differences one day, but I know that there is nothing I can do to make that happen.

Cruise countdown

I’m going on a winter holiday cruise, a roundtrip from Dubai, taking in Muscat, Kashab and Abu Dhabi. This post will trace my steps from booking to getting on to the ship. It will be updated regularly until I’m onboard on January 15. New posts will be placed above the old ones, so read from the bottom up.

Costa Fortuna (costacruises.com)

 

Thursday, January 14: My cruise starts tomorrow, Friday. I’ll be blogging it, of course, on this site.

Wednesday, January 13: I’m checking the final details of the cruise and the paperwork seems to confirm a boarding time of 8pm on Friday. That’s a little unusual, as all other cruises I’ve taken have embarkation times in the early afternoon. It means I have more time to get from home base in Abu Dhabi to Dubai, but it also seems to mean that my cruise will be several hours shorter than I thought. Even if I do get extra time to disembark on Friday week, I have an appointment that will mean an early trip back to Abu Dhabi.

Monday, January 11: I’ve received an email receipt from Costa. My itemised account notes total services worth $3,373.65, with $17 for insurance an $165 for port charges. It also notes a discount of $2,455.70, meaning my final bill is $1,099.95. A great deal for seven days of full board, accommodation with a balcony and ocean view, and unlimited drinks, plus stops at four ports. Of course, I will end up spending more if I decide to take excursions or make other purchases either onboard or at the port, and I will have to find my way to and back from Dubai, but that’s still a solid bargain.

Thursday, January 7: I’ve written elsewhere about the price of internet access for travellers, but it’s worth noting again in the context of cruises.  Its website quotes  a rate of 48 euros or US$65 for a three-hour package, with a 3-euro set-up fee. That’s not cheap, but cheaper than the others. NCL, for example, charges $75 for a 100-minute package and has introduced unlimited daily use for between $24.99 and $29.99 a day, depending on the length of the cruise.  (Apparently there are some great new deals going round, and there’s more on the subject here.)

Tuesday, January 5: The new documents for my cruise, reflecting the addition of the beverage package, have arrived by email. They include the form I have to sign and present as I check in (along with, I am fairly confident, a declaration that I have not displayed signs of cold or flu for the past few days — a move designed to limit the threat of norovirus), the small print that I must agree to, and my baggage tags. So far, so good.

Monday, January 4: I’ve just noticed this news story about plans to modernise Muscat’s waterfront. It won’t be ready for my trip, of course, but it will hopefully augment an already quite-beautiful spot. I like Muscat because it is more laidback than Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I hope it doesn’t lose that charm.

In other news, I finally relented and rang Italy to book my beverage package. I still can’t work out why it couldn’t be done online, but the upshot is that I had to pay US$223.95 for premium coffees, beer, wine and spirits for the entire 7-day journey. It’s a good deal — especially since it includes perfectly made Illy coffees, which are the best I’ve had at sea. And the man who answered the phone was very pleasant and helpful.

Update: I just did the sums on that. The total price per day, for cabin, all meals and all drinks is about US$157 a night. For about the same as the room-only rate for a four-star hotel well away from the action in Dubai, I get a balcony with ocean room, a choice of entertainment, pools, gym and other activities, and stops in Dubai, Abu Dabi, Muscat and Khasab. It’s hard to beat that value.

Friday, January 1: Although the beverage package isn’t bookable online, shore excursions are. I have taken these trips on previous cruises but my understanding is that many frequent travellers don’t book excursions offered by the cruise company. These reasons given are that they are too expensive and not flexible enough to cater for personal tastes. The “in-the-know” people, apparently, book excursions from other operators, including those who flog their wares at the cruise terminal. The downside to these is that you may be ripped off by an unlicensed and/or unethical operator and, as the ship’s excursion department is sure to tell you, the boat won’t wait for you if you arrive back late. I don’t think I’ll be taking an excursion in Dubai, and I certainly won’t be taking one in Abu Dhabi, where I have lived for the past almost-four years. But maybe I’ll book something for Oman …

Thursday, December 31: An email reply for Costa says I can buy the beverage package on the ship, which I really don’t want to do because I know it will be a hassle. I might make the phone call. Meanwhile, the paperwork for the trip arrives by separate email.

Wednesday, December 30 (later): The website won’t let me book the beverage package — about 25 euros per day for all-you -can -drink coffees (it’s an Italian ship, so the coffee is great), and selected beers, wines and spirits. So, I email Costa and get a reply telling me to ring them in Italy. I email back asking if there’s any way I can do it without having to make an expensive international phone call.

Wednesday, December  30: I’ve opted for a cruise on the Costa Fortuna.I’ve been on this ship and this itinerary — Dubai, Muscat, Khasab, Abu Dhabi, Dubai — before, and I enjoyed the experience. Using the Costa Cruises website, I’ve secured a cabin with balcony for US$876. The price includes all meals and accommodation for seven days, plus insurance, making  it much better value than a hotel stay in Dubai at this time of the year. The low price reflects my membership of the Costa Club, which benefits frequent passengers, but a newbie could probably secure a similar deal because it seems there is plenty of availabilit. Significantly, the price is for single occupancy. Couples can be pay that amount each to share a cabin. Bargain hunters might want to note that inside cabins — those in the middle of the ship with no windows — can be had for about $200 less.

Tuesday, December 29: Call me greedy but the first thing I did after arriving back at work after two weeks in Australia was to secure a week off in January to take a cruise. Cruising is a relatively recent interest of mine, and it’s still a passionate one. Because I’m watching my budget, and I didn’t want to add too much travelling time to my holiday, I opted to “go local” and take a cruise from Dubai — which is just up the road from where I currently live, in Abu Dhabi. I expect that many of my fellow passengers will have flown in from Europe or elsewhere, and the cruise will be an add-on to adventures in the UAE — especially the glitzy attractions of Dubai.

 

 

 

Life’s a Dreamliner

Etihad Dreamliner (Etihad.com)
Etihad Dreamliner (Etihad.com)

 

It took a while for me to get around to my first flight on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Sweetening the deal on my Etihad Airways flight from Brisbane to Abu Dhabi was the fact that I was upgraded from business class to first class. (Yes, this has been happening to me quite a bit lately. I try to explain why here.)

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