Travel Maven blog

Luxurious Seabourn Quest cruises with a younger crowd

With bargain rates on many cruise ships at $100-$150 a day or less per person, why would a couple on vacation spend $500- $1,000 a day, each, for a cruise?

A man is his 50s asked me that question recently at a party. He was concerned also that his wife was about to book him on a luxury cruise ship full of sedentary old people.
 
It’s a legitimate financial question and an understandable concern by a physically active man who did not want to be stuck on vacation, bored and bloated, bobbing on the sea.
 
I answered by describing my recent voyages on two of Seabourn’s newest ships.

CLICK to The Travel Mavens.com for the article on Seabourn Quest and luxury cruising.

Paris, satisfying day in a favorite city

Never give up the opportunity for a extra day in Paris.

My work/play tour schedule ended on a Saturday afternoon, with no need to be in Frankfurt, Germany, before Monday. So, I grabbed an October Sunday in Paris for myself. No plans, no schedule.

Rain would mean museums. Sun would dictate a long walk.

On the Internet, I found a single room at Hotel Cujas, on the Left Bank near the Sorbonne and close to a metro stop for the RER train to Charles de Gaulle Airport. Reviews from other travelers suggested the hotel was just ok – it was – and I wasn’t paying for charm, so I booked at 78 Euros a night ($215 for two nights) on booking.com.

I made the correct decision not to buy breakfast for an extra 7 Euros, as the breakfast room at Hotel Cujas was too warm, too crowded, and windowless; plenty of breakfast possibilities were nearby on St. Michel, even a Starbucks and a McDonald's, had I been so inclined.

On a sunny Sunday morning, fully croissanted and coffeed, I set out in my walking shoes with a grand plan to make a big circle tour of a city I last visited about 10 years ago. I ran out of day before I ran out of city.

The $7 flight from Frankfurt to Paris

Take a look at Internet booking sites, and you may be amazed at the price of flying between major cities in Europe. Sometimes the flight is very cheap. Just be careful to check which airports are listed, because some are hours away from the city center.

I flew roundtrip from the main airport in Frankfurt, Germany, to Charles de Gaulle in Paris for $7.

Or so the chart said. Government fees were an additional $109. Still, $116 for a roundtrip ticket between Frankfurt and Paris, on a full-sized Air France jet that did not charge me extra for my suitcase, is a very  good price. And it’s available most any day.

The flights went well for me, except for the waiting area at Charles de Gaulle, where international travelers were crammed into a tight section of the Air France concourse.  Seats and food were difficult to find, and announcements hard to hear.

What made the cramped, overheated wait worse was the cheery sign: It said that “For Your convenience” temporary walls were put up during reconstruction of the waiting area.

I wish that governments wouldn’t insult my intelligence with such signs. That crowded room, with scarce chairs, a tiny duty-free shop and limited food for travelers, was NOT for my convenience.

At best, the construction was aimed at other travelers, far down the road, who may find the new waiting area convenient, long after I have moved on, my suffering nearly forgotten. Nearly.