Tag Archives: travel tips

How to Avoid Long Airport Security Lines This Summer

Airport security lines have grown absurdly long of late, thanks to more people traveling and fewer TSA workers. With the busy summer travel season upon us, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. Here’s how to minimize your time stuck in a TSA line on your next trip:

If You’re Flying Soon

Find out if your airport terminal has more than one security checkpoint.

Many terminals do. Before leaving home, go to the airport’s website and pull up a map showing the security checkpoints. (This map, for instance, indicates where the three checkpoints are in Newark airport’s Terminal C; this one shows where they are for all five terminals at Dallas-Fort Worth.) At the airport, ask an official which checkpoint has the shortest line.

Download the MyTSA app.

Available for free for iPhones and Android, this app gives you current security wait times at your airport, as reported by your fellow travelers. You can also view them here; just type in your airport code.

Arrive early and hit the club lounge.

The bigger and busier your airport—e.g., J.F.K., Chicago (O’Hare), or Miami International—the earlier you’ll want to arrive, especially if you’re flying at a peak time. At least two hours early for a domestic flight, and three hours early for international, may be a good rule of thumb for most airports. To keep your stress level down, you might consider arriving really early and buying a day pass to an airport lounge club (if the club is gate-side).

If You’re Flying Later

Don’t buy airline tickets for flights at peak times.

Avoid Friday late afternoon and early evening, for example, because that’s when business travelers returning from business trips are hitting the airport at the same time as leisure travelers leaving on vacation, creating security-line pile-ups. If you’re taking a long weekend, consider flying on a Saturday morning and returning Tuesday. (That’s also less expensive than a Thursday-to-Sunday long weekend.)

Enroll in TSA PreCheck or, even better, Global Entry.

TSA PreCheck admits you into a priority lane where you need not remove your shoes, liquids, or laptop. The $85 fee covers you for five years. For an extra $15, though, get Global Entry (the $100 fee also covers you for five years), which lets you skip the long customs line on your way back into the U.S. from an international trip, and which automatically gives you TSA PreCheck. Not every airport has PreCheck lanes or Global Entry kiosks, so check whether yours does.

Buy access to the priority security line.

Many travelers who have elite status with an airline can use the express lane at the security checkpoint. If you don’t have elite status, some airlines let you purchase access to the priority security lane on a one-time basis. United, for instance, lets you buy access at 68 airports worldwide (prices start at $15), and JetBlue lets you buy it at 62 airports.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Is This the Best New Cruise Perk at Sea?

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If you think there’s no way you could survive a 6,000-passenger cruise ship, listen up. When the world’s new largest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, debuts this month, it will introduce a first in special treatment at sea: the Royal Genie. Yes, that’s right, a genie. The kind who grants your every wish. More specifically, a shipboard fixer whose goal is to expedite you past every line and make every potential obstacle on a 227,000-ton floating megaresort vanish.

At least, that was what my Royal Genie did when my family and I put one to the test a few months ago aboard Allure of the Seas. Allure was a fitting ship for this test run because it was the world’s largest cruise ship at the time (until Harmony of the Seas overtook it) and is very similar in design to Harmony. Royal Caribbean, the cruise line to whom these ships belong and that invited me to preview the Royal Genie service, plans to roll it out across five ships this month. Only a handful of passengers—those in the top suites—get a genie.

Now, testing a Royal Genie is harder than you might think. I had trouble dreaming up things for her to do. Maybe I’m just too low-maintenance for a genie. Or maybe I’m more comfortable fending for myself. I did that too on my cruise: I split my time between being spoiled rotten and tackling the buffet line like everyone else. My goal was to be able to advise you how to have the best trip possible aboard the world’s biggest cruise ship, whether you’re in a $30,000 suite or a genie-less $4,000 stateroom.

Before I share my hard-earned advice, though, allow me to clarify what a Royal Genie actually does.

What My Royal Genie Did

My genie, Smitha Thompson, and me in the Royal Promenade aboard Allure of the Seas.

Me and my genie, Smitha Thompson, in the Royal Promenade aboard Allure of the Seas.

If you’ve ever had an airline rep meet you at an airport entrance and escort you through check-in and immigration and onto the plane, bypassing every line en route, then you can start to wrap your head around what a Royal Genie does for you. Her first order of business is to whisk you through the cruise check-in and embarkation process. My genie—the lovely Smitha Thompson, who hails from Mauritius—met me and my family inside the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal. After we’d sailed through check-in, she escorted us onto the ship and to our room, where awaiting us was about a month’s supply of Brownie Brittle, pretzels, and red licorice (my kids’ favorite snacks, which our genie had researched beforehand). Refills flowed every day.

Smitha got us tables in the ship’s fully booked restaurants and front-row seats to the most popular shows. She had me meet with the head of the shore excursions department so I could get answers to my questions about the pros and cons of various shore tours on offer.

Smitha with the boys at our cabana. Photo: Timothy Baker

Smitha with the boys in our cabana in Labadee.

Her main goal, though, seemed to be for us never to get lost on the ship and never to wait in any line. To that end, she insisted on coming to our room (or to wherever we were on the ship) to escort us to every dinner, show, and scheduled activity. We assured her it was unnecessary, but this genie business was new to her too, and she didn’t want to mess up. Her goal in escorting us was always to take us on the shortest route from point A to point B and, upon arriving at point B, to hand us off to the person in charge there for safe keeping. When the ship docked in port, she expedited us off the ship via a labyrinth of secret passageways, normally off-limits to all but crew, so as to bypass any potential bottlenecks en route to the gangway. When we called at Labadee, the cruise line’s private port in Haiti, we were the first passengers off the ship, onto a private golf cart, into the roped-off portion of Labadee that is reserved for suite passengers, and up to a hilltop private cabana, where snorkel masks, fins, a cooler filled with drinks, and a bartender named Kesnel awaited.

Smitha even stood in line at the lobby Starbucks each morning so that she could knock on my door holding a skinny vanilla latte at 7:00 a.m. (She had asked me to specify a coffee drink and delivery time each morning.) The coffee was free of charge, of course, as were all of her services. Only Star Class passengers get a Royal Genie, and those passengers have already paid top dollar, so the cruise line is not about to nickel-and-dime them.

Smitha expedited our departure as well. Normally, on a cruise, passengers must place all suitcases and non-carry-on luggage outside their cabin doors the night before disembarkation (so that the luggage can be transported off the ship and into the cruise terminal). Smitha got this rule waived for us. On the final morning of the cruise, we got to stay in our cabin with all our luggage till everyone else had been ushered into disembarkation groups. Then she came with porters to collect us and our bags, led us on another shortcut to the gangway, escorted us off the ship, expedited us and our baggage through customs and immigration, placed us in a taxi, and sent us on our way. From cabin door to taxi door, disembarkation took 15 minutes—which, for the world’s biggest cruise ship in one of the world’s busiest cruise terminals, is pretty darned fast.

Our baggage left the ship at the same time we did. Photo: Timothy Bake

Thanks to Smitha, our luggage stayed with us in our cabin until we left the ship.

The Royal Genie concept has evolved in the months since my test run. Smitha, whose real job was in the ship’s guest services department, was enthusiastic about trying on the role but had never received any official genie training. Since that time, Royal Caribbean has hired a bevy of Royal Genies, trained and certified by the British Butler Institute, and has even designed special outfits for them that are less nautical, more purple.

How to Use a Royal Genie

As wonderful as having your own personal vacation assistant might sound, there were awkward moments and missed opportunities. Should you ever be so lucky as to have a Royal Genie at your disposal, here’s my advice:

Don’t be afraid to say No.

A Royal Genie wants so badly to be helpful that sometimes, so as not to hurt her feelings, you end up saying yes to things you really don’t want. For instance, I wish I’d said “No” when Smitha urged us to ride around Labadee in a private golf cart even though we would have preferred to walk like everyone else. I did say “No” to the hand-delivered morning lattes, once I realized I’d rather sleep in.

Ask which shipboard experiences are most special and why.

On a Royal Caribbean megaship, there are more activities, shows, and restaurants than anybody could ever try in one week, so you must choose carefully. I wish Smitha and I had sat down at the start and gone through the universe of options, as overwhelming as that might have been. Somehow I didn’t even learn until Day 6 that the ship has a zip-line or that I could dine al fresco in a garden, under the stars, listening to live music.

Request an in-depth tour of the ship on Day 2 or 3.

Smitha gave us a 45-minute introductory tour of the vessel on Day 1. The ship is the length of four football fields, with 18 decks, so she probably didn’t want to tire us out. But I wish I’d asked for an in-depth, three-hour tour. The ship has seven “neighborhoods” and surprises on every deck, from a Kate Spade boutique to a Boardwalk carousel to a running track that wraps around the entirety of the ship. Only on the last day of the cruise did I discover my favorite serene hideout: Deck 5 aft, where there are just a couple of empty wooden deck chairs and ocean panoramas forever.

Find out what behind-the-scenes tours are available.

Who are you most interested in meeting on the ship and what are you most interested in learning from him or her? The inner workings of a 6,000-passenger megaship are pretty fascinating. Your genie can probably arrange an insider’s tour with anyone from the chef to the chief engineer.

Ask about private photo ops with one of the ship’s photographers.

Your genie will likely schedule activities for you that are unique in the world. (Here, for example, is a glimpse of the first-at-sea features aboard Harmony of the Seas). And when you’re doing a one-of-a-kind activity with your family, you may want a photographer capturing the moment—such as when you’re riding the Labadee Flight Line or surfing on the Flow Rider.

Smitha checks on the boys at the Flow Rider. Photo: Timothy Baker

Smitha kept showing up to check on us around the ship. Here, she checks on the boys at the Flow Rider.

How to Get By Without a Royal Genie

The truth is, some of what a Royal Genie does you can arrange on your own, as long as you’re organized and do some advance planning.

Figure out what’s important to you ahead of time, so you board the ship with a strategy.

Study the cruise line’s website, read the forums and advice on Cruise Critic, and know the full range of options that will be available to you, so you can take action immediately upon boarding. On the ship each morning, read the list of scheduled activities in the daily newsletter; it’s a long, dense list, so bring a highlighter.

Book as much as possible before boarding.

You can make restaurant reservations and book show tickets online in advance. If it’s a free show, send a family member 30 minutes early to save seats for you.

Do the most important activities early in the cruise rather than later.

You know those one-of-a-kind activities I mentioned? On the last day of the cruise, passengers were realizing that they hadn’t tried the Flow Rider, or the Boardwalk zip-line, or what-have-you, and the result was that these things were in high demand. Try them early in the week when the line is short—or before they shut down because the weather has turned too windy.

If you’re in the Caribbean, consider staying on the ship during one of your days in port.

Nobody is a more enthusiastic shoreside sightseer than I. If you have a smart plan for exploring and getting an authentic experience of an island during your limited time in port, good for you. But if you’ve boarded with no plan, beware. The larger a ship, the longer it takes to get on and off, and the more touristy or inconvenient the port areas it calls at. If you’ve got no sightseeing plan, and your choice is between a generic group tour and walking aimlessly around tourist traps, consider just staying put on the ship and having all its features to yourself. Then return to the island and see it properly someday when you have the time to do it justice.

Ask the crew for dining recommendations.

Seriously. The crew members aboard Allure, at least, are outgoing conversationalists, and we got our best food tips from a random assortment of them. They recommended breakfast at the Park Café in Central Park (a big mid-ship outdoor garden), for instance; there we discovered New York deli-style bagels with assorted flavors of cream cheese, lox, and toppings. They also sent us to Johnny Rockets in the morning for omelettes. Who knew?

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If you are considering a cruise on a giant ship, I recommend having a savvy and extremely well-connected cruise specialist arrange and book it for you so that you get the best cabin and itinerary for your dollar. Feel free to write to Ask Wendy and I can suggest the right cruise advisor for your particular trip goals.

Full Disclosure: Royal Caribbean provided me and my family with a complimentary cruise (I paid for the airfare). In keeping with my standard practice, there was no request for or expectation of coverage on Royal Caribbean’s part, nor was anything promised on mine.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

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How to Get the Best Private Guide For a Trip With Kids

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When you’re planning a vacation with young kids, you might think that hiring a private guide is an unnecessary luxury, an expense that couldn’t add much to the experience or that might get in the way of all that family bonding. You’d be wrong.

A good kid-friendly guide—as I found out on a recent trip with my husband and four-year-old to Southeast Asia—can make a huge difference in your child’s experience of a place, and in yours, too. The best ones know how to make museums come alive, where to find engaging activities, and equally important, how to steer your day so that no one has a meltdown (adults included).

The same value that outstanding guides add to grown-up trips—fascinating history and context, behind-the-scenes access, instant entry into local culture—they can bring for kids too. We travel with our children because we want to create memorable experiences as a family; how memorable is it if you’re chasing after them all day and trying to figure out the next “fun” thing to do? A private guide will not only come up with exciting activities, but will also take care of the small, annoying details—leaving you free to accomplish your main objective: spending meaningful time together.

In the end, our Southeast Asia guides ensured that our trip ran as smoothly and efficiently as possible, given that we had a four-year-old in tow. Here’s what I learned families should look for when choosing and using a private guide:

Request a guide who’s also a parent. With perhaps a few exceptions, only a fellow parent can truly understand how a young kid will impact your trip. Ask your trip planner how he/she knows that a particular guide is great with kids; have they seen the guide interact with children?

Make clearly spoken English a priority. My son, Zeke, had a hard time understanding when some of our guides spoke; in these situations, either my husband or I would have to “translate” for him. In the future, I’ll make unaccented pronunciation the second-highest priority for any guide I hire for my family.

Kid-focused activities keep kids engaged throughout long tours. Photo: Ryan Damm.

Ask in advance for a treasure hunt or other kid-focused activities. Don’t expect your kid to simply tag along while you tromp through museums and monuments. Including your children in the day’s events is key to keeping them engaged. Treasure hunts are a great way to keep them interested throughout a day-long tour.

Invite your guide to bring his/her own kids along. Our guide in Saigon had two kids close in age to our own; when he brought them along, Zeke—who had up until then been shy around our guides—immediately warmed to the whole family. It was as if he saw our guide as a dad now, a figure he could trust. And he adored playing with the girls so much that my husband and I were able to leave him under the care of the girls’ mother or uncle while we did some sightseeing. (If you’d rather not pay for another adult who can act as babysitter, you can tag-team the sightseeing while your spouse watches the kids.)

Make the most of your time with a guide, wherever you are. When Zeke hijacked the city tour that had been planned for our only day in Hanoi (thanks to a tantrum so bad it left me in tears), our guide took us to an indoor play area instead. While we didn’t get to see much of Hanoi, I still learned a lot about contemporary Vietnamese culture by chatting with our guide while my son played in a ball pit.

Be vigilant about the schedule. Adding a four-year-old to the equation makes everything take twice as long, whether it’s a trip to the grocery store or a stroll through Hoi An’s Ancient Town. When any of our guides assumed that we could keep to a typical touring timetable, the schedule would invariably slide, and my son would end up missing his afternoon nap—which made all of us cranky. If I’d estimated for our guide how long my son would last in Angkor Wat at the outset, he could have properly paced our visit so that we saw all of the ruins’ highlights. As it was, my son melted down halfway through and we had to skip half of the temple. Next time, I’ll be explicit with guides about what time we have to eat lunch or be back at the hotel for an afternoon rest, so that they can plan accordingly.

Allot your time with guides thoughtfully. I found a private guide most helpful in large cities, where logistics are particularly tricky. I recommend hiring one for your first day in a new city, then using any additional time there to explore on your own. Elsewhere, use guides only where they can provide access to things you wouldn’t see otherwise: a local village, say, or an after-hours visit to a museum that’s normally crowded.

What’s the best thing that a private guide has done for your family on a trip?

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Disclosure: Journeys Within and their partners provided most elements of the writer’s trip (hotels, intra-Asia airfare, guides, ground transportation, and sightseeing entry fees) free of charge. In keeping with WendyPerrin.com standard practice, there was no request for coverage on Journeys Within’s part, nor was anything promised on ours. You can read our sponsored travel agreement with Journeys Within here.

French Islands So Pretty You’ll Be Tempted To Skip Provence

Looking to explore French countryside without the crowds of Provence and the Riviera? Consider the islands off the Atlantic coast, especially if you enjoy biking through picturesque villages, sampling succulent seafood, and relaxing on miles of sandy beaches—sandier than most you’ll find on the French Riviera. Here is your guide to choosing the right French island for you.

Best for Those Who Want it All: Île de Ré

Ile de Ré has scenic ports, whitewashed houses with colorful shutters, expansive beaches, famous oysters, even vineyards. The one drawback is that because the island is now on the tourism map, it’s attracting 160,000 vacationers per year, making it the most expensive of the islands. You can evade the worst of the crowds by coming slightly off-season, in June or September, or by spending time in one of the island’s smaller, quieter towns, such as La Flotte. “La Flotte has a great daily morning market selling local specialties like fleur de sel and homemade soaps,” points out Trusted Travel Expert Paul Bennett. “And there are excellent restaurants overlooking the port, such as L’Ecailler, where you can enjoy the best of the day’s catches with a glass of the island’s crisp white wine.”

Best for Budget Beachcombers: Île d’Yeu

Ile d’Yeu has the natural beauty of Ile de Ré without the hype. South of the city of Nantes and accessible by ferry from Fromentine, this small island has a wide variety of charming vacation rentals and is easy to get around only by bike. You can wander the narrow passageways of its main town, Port Joinville, before trekking out to the 14th-century fortress le Vieux-Château. Along the way, breeze by traditional fisherman huts and tall lighthouses perched on steep cliffs. Get digging on the beach and you can have a tasty free clambake for dinner.

Les Aiguilles de Port-Coton, Belle-Île. Photo courtesy Bathilde Chaboche, Office de Tourisme Belle-Île-en-Mer.

Best for Adventurous Romantics: Belle-Île

This beautiful island off the coast of Brittany has almost-tropical aquamarine waters, 60 pristine beaches, and quaint villages. Outdoorsy types can kayak, windsurf, scuba dive, or hike to the island’s famous rocky “needles,” Les Aiguilles de Port-Coton. Culture lovers are in for a treat too: They’ll recognize that rock formation from Claude Monet paintings. When dinnertime calls, make your way to the fishing village of Sauzon to feast on fresh-off-the-boat lobster. Then get a well-deserved good night’s sleep at the Citadelle Vauban hotel, in a 17th-century fortress (that also has a good restaurant and local museum), or pamper yourself at the Castel Clara, whose seawater spa faces the wild coast.

Best for Getting Away From It All: Île d’Ouessant

If you’re after tranquility and natural beauty, sail over to this offbeat island, the north-westernmost point of France. You can bike along the coast, through green fields dotted with sheep, and past deserted beaches beckoning you to lay down your towel. Discover what daily life was like on the island pre-WWII at the Niou Huella Eco-Museum, or wave toward North America or Great Britain at Créac’h lighthouse, marking where the Atlantic Ocean turns into the English Channel.

Best for Families: Île aux Moines

Few foreign visitors join savvy French families on the short boat ride from Vannes to l’Île aux Moines, one of the Atlantic coast’s best-kept secrets. “With no cars and amazing sandy beaches, it’s perfect for kids,” notes Trusted Travel Expert Jack Dancy. “Plus there are great hiking and biking trails, excellent sailing opportunities, and many family-friendly holiday rentals.” The streets of the main town, Port Blanc, are lined with quaint traditional stone houses, shops, and crêperies. A wander into the center of the island will take you to France’s own Stonehenge, Cromlech de Kergonan, a megalithic site featuring 24 standing stones. While you’re in the area, Jack also suggests visiting the walled city of Vannes, especially for its fish market in the 19th-century Les Halles market building. Watch as local fishmongers try to out-hawk one another with their selection of sea bass, haddock, and prawns hauled into port that very morning.

Since there’s so much to discover on these islands and along France’s Atlantic coast, consider a multi-day sailing trip—something Jack can arrange.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Meet our writer

Lily Heise’s work in tourism and travel writing have seen her blossom hunting in Kyoto, tracking down hidden Angkor temples and getting lost in the Argentinian outback. Her writing has been featured in CondeNast Traveler.com, The Huffington Post, Business Insider and Frommer’s Guides, and she also share tips on France, other travel destinations and romance on her blog Je T’Aime, Me Neither. You can catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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15 Problem-Solving Items for Overnight Flights

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Leave it to frequent fliers to come up with creative ways to make overnight flights comfortable. These unusual recommendations come from assorted travel experts and friends on Facebook. They’re not all what you’d expect, but they’re all very clever. What items do you take on the plane to help make you more comfortable?

Cabeau Fold ‘n Go Travel Blanket and Case

Cabeau Fold n Go-Blanket

It’s super plush and comfy and can also be used as a pillow and lumbar support. It has a loop with a snap that lets me attach it to my carry-on bag so it’s easy to access and doesn’t take up precious space in my bag. —Susan Portnoy, founder, The Insatiable Traveler

Lululemon Vinyasa scarf

I never board a flight without it. The wide, soft, cotton scarf with snaps can be worn all sorts of ways, which is great for travel. For flights though, I love that it can be a blanket, a pillow, a wrap, or even a sort of light-blocking head scarf.” —Christine Sarkis, senior editor, Smarter Travel

FitKicks

Fit Kicks

I always bring “FitKicks,” as they keep my feet comfy and clean. I also wear my L.L. Bean 850 down jacket that weighs about 2 ounces and doubles as a pillow when stuffed inside its own pocket. —Gail Rosenberg, luxury travel designer, Largay Travel

Trtl Pillow

Trtl Pillow

It’s a machine-washable, super-soft-fleece travel neck pillow that is the best thing ever. —Margaret Stevenson

4Head

It’s a natural headache relief treatment I buy in the U.K. It comes in a small container that you roll up, like a solid deodorant stick. It’s great for headaches and stuffy sinuses, and if you take a big whiff of it, it wakes you up too. Think of it as a solid Vicks Vapor Rub, only tinier and convenient. —Marie Fritz

Bach Remedy Rescue Night

Use these flower remedies and hope for a better sleep. —Paola Fiocchi van den Brande, founder of Passepartout Homes

Inflatable beach ball

If you never thought to pack an inflatable beach ball in your carry-on, you’re missing out on a great nap. Photo: Michael Frascella/Flickr

Bring one of those cheap blow-up beach balls and a hand towel. Blow up the beach ball, cover with the towel, and use as a giant pillow to lay on in your lap. It’s a refreshing change from the neck pillow for those who need a “little more” cushion. —Mark Estill, travel consultant/owner, Mark4 Vacations

White noise app

I use a white noise app on my iPad. Pop in my earbuds, turn on the waves, and the sound masks airplane and passenger noises better than noise-cancelling headphones. —Deb Arora, partner, Jacks & Stars

Rosemary oil

I bring a tiny vial of rosemary oil. My sinuses get super-dry on those long flights, and that leads to headaches and other weirdness. The smell of that oil just brightens up the inside of my head. And bonus, it banishes that weird airplane smell for a bit. —Pam Mandel, writer/editor, Nerd’s Eye View

Coconut oil

I use it as a moisturizer (face and body), hair conditioner, toothpaste, mouthwash, and deodorant (it’s anti-bacterial). —Lynn Braz, author, LynnBraz.com

Baby wipes

First, so that you can wipe off the tray table, armrests, and headrest. Second, so that when you wake up, you can wipe your face and feel refreshed. —Katie Kenner-Bohl

Emergen-C packets

I take one while flying, and I keep a few extra in my toiletries bag, for the trip. Better safe than sick! —Kelsey Ebner

Your favorite herbal tea

It’s comforting to have something familiar while traveling, and a cup of hot water is easily gotten from a flight attendant. —Scott Laird, writer, AbFabSkyLife

iPad with extra storage

Beyond all the usual stuff that experienced travelers know to do to try to sleep (much of which will work or not work with the reliability of a cheap watch), what seems to affect me best when I’m struggling to sleep is knowing I have comfort “content” handy. Most of my favorite novels—and we’re not talking Tolstoy but easier-on-the-spirit reads—are already loaded on my iPad. And if I’m too tired to read, I have episodes of favorite TV shows (“Gilmore Girls” and “Frasier” among ‘em) and movies that help me feel at home and relax (“Mamma Mia” always makes me smile). When I replaced my old iPad with a new one, I doubled up on the storage space for just this reason: I wanted to make sure there was enough room for my old pals.—Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief, Cruise Critic

What do you pack in your carry-on for a more comfortable flight?

Be a smarter traveler: Follow Wendy Perrin on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

A Tip for Finding Cheaper Hotel Rates

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We recently heard an interesting hotel hack from a reader, about how to find cheaper rates: Sometimes if you make two separate back-to-back reservations, it’ll turn out cheaper than if you book one. Here’s what our reader Jerry Huller had to say:

I subscribe to Wendy’s newsletter and want to pass on a travel tip: If staying at a hotel over a long weekend, consider pricing individual nights to see if you can get a cheaper rate.

My wife and I are planning to stay at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa, CA, in April. On the hotel website, I priced a three-night stay arriving on a Friday and leaving on a Monday. The price was $252.10 per night (for a View King room with the AAA rate). Then I decided to price just the Sunday night and found a price of $234.10 per night for the same type of room. Then I went back and priced just the Friday night and Saturday nights, and got the cheaper rate of $234.10 per night. Then I went back and priced all three nights and again got the higher rate of $252.10 per night.

It’s cheaper to make two back-to-back reservations than one three-night reservation.

Have you ever tried this? Let us know if it worked, and share your own hotel tips below.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

The Three Most Important Things to Pack for China

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As I prepared for my trip to China—where I’ll be spending ten days with our Trusted Travel Expert Mei Zhang—Wendy had some good packing advice for me.

1. Pack cold medicine

“In China, it’s relatively easy to get clean bottled water and to get hot fresh cooked vegetables and food,” she told me. “The problem is all of the bad air and the germs and the people spitting and coughing. So bring medicines in case you get a cold. In China it’s the respiratory issues, not traveler’s diarrhea. You don’t need extra clothes, you can buy good quality things like silk pajamas for like ten bucks. You need cold medicine.”

On her list:

Vitamin C
Sudaphedrine or similar decongestant
Sore throat lozenges
Saline spray for your nose
Artificial tears for your eyes

2. Bring comfortable shoes

This sounds like an obvious one, but it’s more important than usual in China. Thanks to all the construction and uneven roads, you’ll want comfy walking shoes that you can spend the whole day in—whether you’re hiking the Great Wall or exploring hutongs.

3. Get a good data plan for your devices

This one is from my own research, as I knew I’d want to stay in close touch with WendyPerrin.com HQ, continue working, and post to our social media platforms.

Remember that the Internet doesn’t work in China like it does at home. No Google services—neither Google search, nor Gmail—are supported. Likewise, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter won’t load if you’re using the Internet (whether by Wi-Fi or a landline). However, if you use your phone or tablet’s cellular data (meaning 3G or 4G), the system recognizes your non-Chinese phone and lifts the gate. So I ended up being able to use my phone for anything (it simply switches to 4G) but can’t use my laptop. This is incredibly useful, but if you don’t have a good overseas data plan, this could also be incredibly expensive. T-Mobile offers free unlimited international data and texting included in its Simple plan, and Google Project Fi offers free texting along with international data at the same rates you’d pay at home (meaning your monthly bill is the same no matter where in the world you use your data) so those could be options if you’re a frequent traveler. (Full disclosure: I’m testing Google Project Fi while I’m in Asia, using a loaner phone from the company but paying for the service myself.)

Have you been to China? What were the most useful things you packed?

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Passport Photos Are Expensive, But They Don’t Have to Be

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Passport photos are some of the ugliest photos we ever take. And ironically, they are some of the most expensive too—you have to buy them in pairs that can cost as much as $15. And if you need more, you have to fork over another $15.

I was very frustrated by this recently because I’m preparing for a three-month trip in Asia and I needed to renew my passport and get photos for several visas (I also like to carry a few extra in my luggage just in case I need one at the last minute). And then I read about ePassportPhoto.com. The site offers a few solutions to the problems mentioned above.

First, take your own photo.

ePassportPhoto.com lets you take your own photo, and then sends you multiples for cheap.

There’s no reason to pay so much money to have a bad photographer take a bad picture of you in front of a white screen. Seriously, so bad. I went to a local drugstore and the employee used a fish-eye lens, arguing that it was the best way to get the right proportions. I would argue differently.

Luckily, anyone who has a phone or a digital camera can take their own photo these days (and keep taking it until they get a good one). The State Department even provides very detailed directions on its site so that you can be sure you take one that will be acceptable for passport use. Just stand against a white wall, look directly at the camera, try not to smile, and snap away. If you use ePassportPhoto.com you have even less to worry about: They’ll let you know if the one you took is acceptable and then size it for you.

Or upload an existing one you already have.

If you prefer to have your photo taken professionally, or if you have a leftover professional passport photo (and since they usually come in pairs, that’s likely), you can still use ePassportPhoto.com to save some money on multiples. Just scan in the one you have and continue with the next step.

Next, print it for cheap…or free.

Go online to ePassportPhoto.com and choose the country for which you need a passport or visa photo. Next, decide whether you want the final result mailed to you at home; printed at a CVS, Walmart, or Walgreens; or if you want to print them at home yourself. Then just upload the photo that you took (or scan in the professional one you had taken), and decide how you want to receive them.

If you choose the print-at-home option—which is free—the website has an easy-to-use cropping tool to help you tailor your photo to the passport or visa you specified. Then you’ll just click download and voila! You have a single sheet of four images, which you can print out as many times as you need.

Four of my mug shots, tiled on one easily printable sheet by ePassportPhoto.com. I could print this at home, have it mailed to me, or have it printed at a local drugstore.

If you don’t have a quality photo printer (I don’t), you can opt to have a drugstore or ePassportPhoto.com do the printing for you. In those cases, the website will take care of sizing the image, and then it will create a tiled sheet of the photo—meaning it’ll fit four passport photos on a regular-sized 4×6 photo sheet (you’ll get two sheets total).

I chose to have my order routed to a local CVS for printing. When they’d been sent on to CVS, I got an email from one of the ePassportPhoto.com staffers, who reminded me not to mention the words “passport photo” when I picked them up. As far as CVS knows, you ordered regular 4×6 prints online, and they’ll treat your order the same way as if you’d ordered pictures of your dog.

The ePassportPhoto.com order of eight pictures—eight!—cost me just $8.99, plus about 20 cents that I paid when I picked them up at CVS, for the actual printing. That’s less than I would’ve paid for two passport photos at CVS if I’d used the traditional route. And if I’d printed them out myself at home, they would’ve been completely free.

The final step: Grab a pair of scissors and cut the sheet into separate little passport photos…and use the money you saved to buy yourself a little something for your trip.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Best-Value Hotels in North America’s Hot Spots

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For the Trusted Travel Experts on Wendy’s WOW List, spending the night in a hotel is serious business: They’re constantly scouting new properties in their destination and re-inspecting their past favorites to make sure they’re still up to snuff. Here are their favorites across North America:

Disney World

Best for Pinching Pennies
The Garden Wing rooms at the Contemporary allow you to stay in the most expensive neighborhood at Disney—the coveted “monorail” line, which is the closest to the Magic Kingdom—without having the most expensive house on the block. By not paying the premium to have a lake view or a theme-park view in the main Tower building, you can enjoy staying at a deluxe resort in one of the best-priced rooms.

The Port Orleans French Quarter Resort is in Disney’s moderate category, but don’t dismiss it. This sweet Dixieland-themed property has only 1,000 rooms, so there’s less competition for space at the pool and the food court than at other mid-priced resorts, which can be twice as large. The kids will love the water slide, and the whole family will appreciate the direct buses to each of the parks and the option for a boat ride on the canals to Downtown Disney.

Families enjoy the Family Suites at the Art of Animation Resort. They can sleep up to six people, have two bathrooms, and are themed after Cars, Finding Nemo, or The Lion King. You also get a separate room from your kids! Rates start at about $270, which is a much better value than paying for two rooms. —Michelle Allen, Trusted Travel Expert for Disney

Read Michelle’s Insider’s Guide to Disney World, Orlando, and contact her through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

Maui, Hawaii

Best Pool for Kids
Families headed to Maui might consider the Grand Wailea, where the enormous pool deck is a kid’s paradise, with nine interconnected pools, four waterslides, caves, waterfalls, and even a rope swing.

Best for a Special Occasion
The Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea has the best location on the island. Honeymooners appreciate the candlelit, beachfront restaurant and the adults-only Serenity Pool, while families can take advantage of the complimentary kids’ club. It’s one of the priciest hotels on the island but, at certain times of year, we can arrange for our guests who stay five nights or more to receive a $100-per-night resort credit. Unless you plan to spend a lot of time inside, don’t bother springing for a room with a full ocean view—you’ll be more than satisfied with a partial ocean-view. —Jay Johnson, Trusted Travel Expert for Hawaii

Read Jay’s Insider’s Guide to Maui,and contact him through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

San Juan Islands, Washington

Best for Under $200 a Night
The Inn at Ship Bay is the best value in the San Juan Islands in summer: its water-view rooms cost just $195 a night. They are comfortable rather than swanky, but when you’re able to enjoy the view from your balcony—and then walk a few steps to the hotel restaurant, which is one of the island’s best—you won’t worry about the motel-style bathrooms. — Sheri Doyle, Trusted Travel Expert for the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, British Columbia

Read Sheri’s Insider’s Guide to the San Juan Islands, and contact her through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

The Four Seasons Seattle. Photo courtesy Steve Sanacore.

Seattle

Best City Pool with a View
The Four Seasons has big rooms, great service, and a prime location one block south of the Pike Place Market. The heated pool is warm enough that you can swim outside in December, while you’re taking in the view of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains. The partial bay-view rooms are a good compromise, cost-wise, between the city-view and the full deluxe bay-view rooms. My preferred rates often provide substantial savings of $100 per night or more in the summer months. — Sheri Doyle, Trusted Travel Expert for the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington, British Columbia

Read Sheri’s Insider’s Guides to Seattle, and contact her through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

Utah’s National Parks

The Castle, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Photo: National Park Service

The Castle, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. Photo: NPS Photo

Best-value splurge hotel
Book one of the four suites at Cougar Ridge Lodge and you’ll have access to an exhibition kitchen where cooking lessons, wine tastings, and custom wine blending can be arranged; a roomy bar; a game room with a state-of-the-art simulator and a full-length bowling alley; and ATVs, horses, and bikes available for an additional cost (guests at the less expensive casitas that have recently been added to the property can’t use most of these features). The two suites on the north side of the lodge have private hot tubs; the two on the south side have access to a wrap-around deck that leads to a shared hot tub. The lodge is a half-hour drive from the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park, home to amazing rock formations, excellent hiking and road touring, fly fishing, and more.

Mexico City

Best for a Weekend Getaway
Head to the St. Regis Mexico City on a weekend, when prices are significantly lower. It has top-notch service right on Reforma, the city’s main thoroughfare, and it’s especially great for families, thanks to the kids’ program (in-room glamping!), indoor pool, and child-care services. — Zachary Rabinor, Trusted Travel Expert for Mexico

Read Zach’s Insider’s Guide to Mexico City, and contact him through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Best Way to Make Lemons from Lemonade
Hacienda San Angel, a cluster of exquisitely restored villas in the hills above the historic center of Puerto Vallarta. After the triple hit of the economic crisis, swine flu, and the narco-media blitz, rooms are only a fraction of their 2008 prices. The San Jose, Vista de Santos, and Angel’s View Suites have even better views of downtown and the Pacific Ocean than do the more expensive Royal Suites. We can typically offer upgrades and special amenities, depending on season and occupancy. — Zachary Rabinor, Trusted Travel Expert for Mexico

Read Zach’s Insider’s Guide to Puerto Vallarta, and contact him through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

Riviera Maya, Mexico

Best for Privacy Seekers
Hotel Esencia is one of the finest boutique hotels on the coast, with relatively uncrowded beaches, as it’s bordered by private homes to the south. Watch for third-night-free promotions, which give you a 33 percent discount over advertised rates. The super-personalized service makes you feel like royalty; you are, after all, staying in the former home of an Italian duchess. — Zachary Rabinor, Trusted Travel Expert for Mexico

Read Zach’s Insider’s Guide to the Riviera Maya, and contact him through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

British Columbia, Canada

Best Pool for Kids
Fairmont Chateau Whistler is an outstanding hotel with genuine hospitality and a ski-in, ski-out location at the base of British Columbia’s Blackcomb Mountain. It’s also my favorite place in Whistler to send families—the façade looks like a French castle, but it’s as-homey-as-can-be inside. My kids love swimming between the indoor and outdoor sections of the pool and sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows in one of the three outdoor hot tubs, while my wife and I appreciate the inexpensive meals we can pick up at Portobello Market, a kind of high-quality cafeteria. All of our travelers enjoy complimentary breakfast and room upgrades at the hotel.

Best Wilderness Sightings
As wilderness lodges go, it’s hard to beat the value for dollar you get at Sonora Resort, a Relais & Chateaux property in British Columbia’s Discovery Islands. Unlike other similar properties, Sonora doesn’t require a minimum stay, and its rates include the room, meals, and beverages, but you pay extra for the activities you want. And there are plenty to choose from: wildlife programs (where you can see whales, grizzlies, seals, sea lions, eagles, or dolphins), sea kayaking, fishing, snorkeling with salmon as Wendy and her family did last summer, or just hanging out at the fabulous spa. Our guests who book here get a complimentary two-hour wilderness excursion by zodiac. —Marc Telio, Trusted Travel Expert for Western Canada

Read Marc’s Insider’s Guide to British Columbia, and contact him through our site to be marked as a VIP and get the best possible trip.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

How to Solve China’s Two Biggest Tourism Problems

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Hi everyone, this is Billie, coming to you from Beijing. I’ll be traveling this week and next in China and sharing with you all the cool things I’m seeing, doing, and eating—and all the ways the right travel planner can make all the difference. Especially in a challenging destination like China.

That’s right, on this trip, I’m traveling with WildChina, run by Mei Zhang, one of our Trusted Travel Experts for China. Wendy keeps constant tabs on the travel planners she puts on her WOW List to ensure that they are delivering on “wow” experiences that live up to your (and her) standards, and Mei is doing some interesting work over here that we wanted to check out and share with you.

We were inspired to set up this trip, because we were hearing from readers and from travel planners that many people think China is a hard place to visit or not worth it. They couldn’t be more wrong.

The Beijing skyline on a late-March morning, from my room at the Rosewood Hotel—and there’s no smog! Photo: Billie Cohen

Everyone talks about Beijing’s smog like it’s the monster in a horror movie. But the trick to avoiding it is simply to know when to visit. Mei knows: early spring (right about now) when the weather is mild and beautiful (high 60s, low 70s) and the seasonal winds keep the air quality nearly as low as in other international cities.

The skies were blue and the smog nonexistent on the breezy spring morning I visited the Forbidden City. Photo: Billie Cohen

As for crowds, I haven’t been part of one yet. That’s because Mei’s guides have insider knowledge and special access. The first means they know things like what time of day to hit the Great Wall so that you’re not swallowed up by tourist hordes; the second means they can whisk you past queues and ticket takers so fast you’ll feel like a VIP. And of course you are.

My guide Chris found us a completely tourist-free nook in one of the Forbidden City’s gardens. The peace and quiet was wonderful. Photo: Billie Cohen

To remind travelers that there’s more to China than traffic-clogged Beijing or crowded Shanghai, Mei likes to take them way off the beaten path. So in addition to urban touring, she encourages travelers to explore rural areas, like Yunnan Province, where I’m headed in a few days. Mei grew up in that region, and therefore has deep local connections—connections that her travelers get the benefit of.

That’s what I know to start, and that’s what I’ll be checking out on this trip. Follow me for the next two weeks as I share my experiences (on instagram too a @billietravels). Leave any questions below and I’ll try to get them answered.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

5 Reasons Not to Cancel a Trip to Europe

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Note: This article was originally written in 2016 to address travelers’ questions about traveling after certain terrorism incidents. It is not related to the current coronavirus situation of winter 2020 and does not reflect our opinions and advice about traveling at this time. For information about traveling during the coronavirus outbreak, please see our article, Coronavirus: How to Keep Track of What’s Important.

Following last week’s terror attacks in Brussels, the U.S. State Department issued a Europe Travel Alert—and, to my mind, some people are overreacting. Before you cancel a trip to Europe, consider:

1. The State Department has issued a Europe Alert, not a Warning.

A Travel Alert does not advise you to stay home. An Alert is for “short-term events we think you should know about when planning travel to a country.” That’s very different from a Travel Warning, which is for “when we want you to consider very carefully whether you should go to a country at all.” An Alert merely reiterates what we already knew: When you go to Europe, be vigilant.

2. If you’re a smart traveler, you’re already vigilant.

You already steer clear of big crowds, such as at major train stations, sporting events, and public gatherings—places where pickpockets and drunken hooligans are a far more likely threat than terrorists. You already avoid mobs at tourist sites—by going at optimal times of day or bypassing the lines. If you don’t, here’s how.

3. State Department advisories always err on the side of caution.

If you were running the State Department, would you want to be in a position where a terrorist incident occurs and you hadn’t warned people? No. You’d want to avoid blame. The State Department has nothing to lose by issuing an Alert. Furthermore, it has nothing to lose if the Alert is not followed by an attack. (That’s because the spin can be that the authorities’ beefed-up vigilance is working.) Remember that the probability that you’ll get caught in a terror attack is minuscule.

4. The State Department tends to paint wide swaths of the world with the same brush.

There’s an Alert for the entire continent of Europe, even though a terror attack is far more likely to occur in a big city than in country villages or coastal areas or Mediterranean islands. Even when it comes to the State Department’s country-specific advisories, don’t think that an Alert or Warning for a nation means that that country is dangerous throughout. Just because parts of Mexico near the borders are dangerous, that doesn’t mean you should avoid Cabo San Lucas. Would you avoid Orlando because a bomb went off at the Boston Marathon? Would you avoid Beverly Hills because of shootings in San Bernardino? If I still haven’t convinced you, consider that the State Department currently cautions people about traveling everywhere in the world.

5. People think they’ll be more worried at their travel destination than they actually will be.

Over the years I’ve had email correspondence and phone calls with hundreds of people who cancel trips for no good reason, lose a lot of money, and miss out on what could have been wonderful memories. I’ve also watched hundreds forge ahead with trips and tell me afterward how glad they were to have done so. I’ve noticed that people expect to worry during a trip more than they actually end up worrying. As it turns out, that’s human nature. Psychologists will tell you that people typically overestimate how emotional they will be. Once they’re in the actual situation, there are dozens of interesting and demanding immediate circumstances that occupy their attention—circumstances that they didn’t factor in ahead of time. Similarly, once travelers get to their destination, they become so preoccupied with sightseeing, shopping, and other activities that they forget they were supposed to be worried.

Whether you’re traveling to Europe or any country that’s in the news, if you’re concerned about safety, here are smart steps you can take to protect yourself and give yourself peace of mind.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

The Ultimate Jewish Heritage Trip in Israel Includes a Stop in Europe

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Starting this spring, U.S. travelers who are passing through Europe on their way to or from Israel can take advantage of special new Jewish-heritage itineraries. “It’s actually very convenient to combine a tour of Israel with a stopover or a few days in Europe or North Africa,” says Joe Yudin of Touring Israel, Wendy’s Trusted Travel Expert for Israel. “It’s a great way to break up a long flight while keeping the theme of the journey.”

Joe has teamed up with Europe specialists on The WOW List to create the customizable multi-country itineraries, which typically include visits to historic synagogues, Jewish museums and cemeteries, and restaurants specializing in traditional Jewish food. So far, these travel experts have created seven itineraries—six in Europe and one in Morocco—that tell a seamless story. “After all, the story of the Jewish people began in Israel 4,000 years ago,” says Joe, “and with the Roman conquest of Israel the Jewish nation was dispersed throughout the known world. These tours will focus on the connection of those events and be tailored to each traveler’s specific interests.

“Of course, travelers can also visit the usual iconic sites in those countries, just as a Jewish-heritage itinerary in Israel also includes visits to Christian and Muslim and secular sites.” The tours are hosted by guides specialized in Jewish culture and history and include opportunities to meet local Jewish community leaders. Highlights include:

* Morocco: In Casablanca, the Moroccan Jewish Museum, the only Jewish history museum in the Arab world.

* Spain: The Jewish Quarter of Cordoba and the Maimonedes Synagogue, built in 1315, as well as Jewish heritage sites in Barcelona, Seville, Toledo, and Gerona/Besalu.

* Portugal: The little towns of the Serra da Estrela and one of the oldest synagogues in Europe at Tomar.

* Budapest: The Holocaust Memorial in Budapest and the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives in the Great Budapest Synagogue.

* Prague: The Spanish Synagogue, as well as the ancient Old-New Synagogue and Europe’s oldest surviving Jewish cemetery, founded in 1478.

The Jewish Museum at Dorotheergasse, Vienna. Photo courtesy Ouriel Morgensztern.

* Vienna: The Jewish Quarter of Leopoldstadt, the Jewish section of the Central Cemetery, and the Jewish Museum at Dorotheergasse, where a permanent exhibition gives a comprehensive insight into Jewish life and the Jewish history of Vienna.

* Italy: The Jewish Ghetto in Rome and a medieval Tuscan hill town known as La Piccola Gerusalemme, or Little Jerusalem, for the Jewish community that coexisted with the majority Christian population in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century, the Medici rulers confined the Jews to a ghetto, and travelers can visit the synagogue, bakery, mikvah, and other remnants of Jewish heritage.

Spotlight on Venice
A destination of particular interest this year is Venice, which established a Jewish ghetto on March 29, 1516. The city and the Jewish community of Venice are marking the quincentennial with Venice Ghetto 500, a yearlong program centered on three main events: an opening ceremony at the Fenice Opera House on March 29; the exhibition “Venice, the Jews and Europe” at the Doge’s Palace (June–November); and the refurbishment of the Jewish Museum and restoration of three historic synagogues, a $12 million project begun in 2014.

In connection with the quincentennial, Touring Israel has teamed up with Maria Gabriella Landers and Brian Dore to offer a three-day, privately guided tour that comprises both prominent landmarks and little-visited sites. The following itinerary can be customized to suit individual travelers’ interests and time constraints:

Day 1: You’ll take a private water taxi to the dock of Ca’Sagredo, one of Venice’s oldest and most esteemed five-star hotels near the major sights. Although on the Grand Canal and close to the Piazza San Marco and Rialto, the hotel is a bit apart from the tourist thoroughfare. Home to one of the Venetian Republic’s wealthiest and most powerful families, this 42-room property is housed in the palazzo that was their fifteenth-century residence. Paintings of important seventeenth-century Venetian painters adorn the common areas, and there is a restaurant on site with seating on the Grand Canal.

In the late afternoon an English-speaking Venetian will meet you in your hotel lobby to accompany you on a bacarata, stopping in at some choice spots for ombra and cicchetti (wine and Venetian appetizers) during the traditional cocktail hour. This is a great introduction to La Serenissima through a truly local custom, and you can learn about Venetian gastronomy as you become familiar with the lay of the land.

Day 2. A local expert guide will lead you through the Jewish Ghetto. The term ghetto originates from the Venetian word getto, meaning the pouring of metal. Today the word has a negative connotation, but in 1516, when an enclosed neighborhood for Jews was created in Venice, it referred to the foundry that the district replaced. The Venetian Republic segregated Jews to placate the Roman Catholic Church, which had already forced the expulsion of Jews from much of Western Europe. Nonetheless, in the span of a few decades the Venetian Jews were able to overcome obstacles and establish a tight network of trade that involved the states bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. You will visit the ghetto and learn the historical importance and contribution of the Jewish population during the Serenissima Republic, and you will see the famous hidden synagogues, which are among the oldest and most valued in Europe. Your specialized guide will accompany you privately into three stunning synagogues and explain the ghetto’s history, art, and curiosities. After the ghetto tour, you’ll explore the Cannaregio neighborhood, a very interesting but little visited section of Venice. Enjoy lunch here at one of the restaurants that feature classic Venetian kosher cuisine. After lunch you’ll explore the Jewish Cemetery on the Lido, where the tombs date from 1389. The cemetery endured a long and tumultuous history until it was abandoned in 1938.

Day 3: Your guide will get you past the lines for the Basilica in the iconic Piazza San Marco and the Doge’s Palace, where, you’ll get to see the 500th-anniversary exhibit, a multi-media celebration of Jewish art, culture, and civic society throughout the history of the lagoon.

Day 4: On your final morning, you’ll get to take a private water taxi from your hotel to your point of departure (airport, train station, port, or Piazzale Roma).

For more information or to customize your own itinerary, contact Joe Yudin of Touring Israel.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

This is a Cruise Ship That Smart Travelers Will Love

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Lunch aboard Viking Star in the port of Monte Carlo. It was December, and temps were in the 50s.

In Corsica, an empty beach—one of the rewards of low season.

Viking ships tend to stay in port till after dark. This is Ajaccio, Corsica.

Lunch al fresco on Viking Star cruise ship

Lunch al fresco again—in December, in Ajaccio.

Toulon, France on Viking Star cruise ship

Here we are in Toulon, France, just past sunset.

all onboard sign on Viking Star cruise ship

A curfew of 10 pm means you can arrange a very full day of sightseeing in southern France.

Most parts of the ship let the outdoors in—even the buffet restaurant.

the bar in the buffet restaurant on Viking Star cruise ship

Almost everywhere on the ship there’s a view. This is the bar in the buffet restaurant.

Explorers Lounge on Viking Star cruise ship

Viking Star has a ton of nooks with books and, sometimes, screens displaying ever-changing travel photos from around the world.

The biggest screen with a scene is in the atrium.

Even the bars are comfy.

rooftop infinity pool on Viking Star cruise ship

Probably the only rooftop infinity pool in Toulon.

The main pool can be enclosed or open-air, depending on the weather.

Here’s the same pool, at night.

spa thermal pool on Viking Star cruise ship

And here’s the thermal pool, in the spa.

There’s no fee to use the spa. These heated loungers are available to everyone.

spa snow room on Viking Star cruise ship

The spa’s snow room is available to everyone too. In case you feel like jumping from hot tub to snow and back again.

This was my cabin—simple and comfy.

cabin balcony on Viking Star cruise ship

This was my balcony.

putting green on Viking Star cruise ship

The ship’s putting green—which I never saw used, despite shirt-sleeve weather.

Viking Heritage Museum on Viking Star cruise ship

The atmosphere onboard is one of cultural enrichment with a Scandinavian flavor. Here’s the Viking Heritage Museum.

wool hats for sale on the Viking Star cruise ship

Homey touches include these wool hats for sale. They’re knitted by Berit Clausen, the spa manager’s 95-year-old grandmother back in Norway.

Mamsen’s, the Norwegian deli on the Viking Star cruise ship

My favorite place to eat on the ship is Mamsen’s, the Norwegian deli in the Explorers’ Lounge. It’s named after the mother of Viking president Torstein Hagen and supposedly serves her traditional recipes.

Norwegian deli food on Viking Star cruise ship

Among the delicacies on offer (for free) in the Explorers’ Lounge, as well as in The Living Room, are salmon gravlax and steak tartare.

Reke (Atlantic shrimp on white bread) for lunch.

At Mamsen’s they make these special waffles with berries and sour cream.

Voila!

Room service is free too. And the salmon gravlax melts in your mouth.

If you’re an avid independent traveler, as I am, seeing the world by ship has its pros and cons. A cruise is an easy way to see remote places that would otherwise be too expensive and logistically tricky to get to. But there’s a trade-off: Your limited time on land at each stop hampers your freedom.

That’s why I’m excited to tell you about Viking Cruises’ first ocean ship, the Viking Star. On a recent Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona to Rome, it was easier than ever to go at my own pace and do my own thing. (I say that having sailed on more than two dozen ships worldwide, ranging in size from 120 passengers to 6,000.) Viking Star’s sister ship, Viking Sea, will launch next month, and two more nearly identical ships are coming next year: Viking Sky and Viking Sun. They’re a good option for travelers who are normally too independent for a cruise. Here’s why:

1. You can avoid the tourist hordes.

In my case, I got to explore Europe minus the crowds of peak season. It was an unconventional wintertime Romantic Mediterranean itinerary that the new Viking Sea will sail next winter. The Barcelona-Rome route includes Toulon (on the French Riviera), Monte Carlo (Monaco), Ajaccio (Corsica), and Livorno (Italy). There are two traditional drawbacks to Europe in low season, of course: Chilly weather and not enough daylight hours. Normally in low season it’s smart to stick with Europe’s large cultural capitals, since they have a lot to offer even when it’s cold and dark outside. But the Viking Star keeps you warm and cheery in cold weather (see #5 below). The ship can’t rectify the second drawback: the sun setting at 5 pm. Darkness falling early, combined with the fact that the ship was docked in one port or another all day every day, meant that I almost never got to see the ship moving through water in daylight (normally one of my favorite things about a cruise). What made up for that, though, was the absence of other cruise ships in port, making it so easy to escape other tourists on shore (something that is not easily done on, say, a Caribbean cruise).

2. The ship isn’t too big or crowded.

It holds 930 passengers, but it feels more like a 500-passenger ship. It’s blissfully uncrowded, perhaps because people disappear into the dozens of nooks and hiding spots around the ship, and also because every cabin has a balcony. At no point did I encounter or spot any lines or wait for a deck chair or an empty table. There are many public spaces where you’ll find a comfy armchair, a great book, and nobody around. The ship has three pools—an outdoor infinity pool at the stern, a heated pool in the spa, and a main pool that can be either enclosed or open-air, depending on the weather—and none of them ever had more than two people in them.

3. You spend a ton of time on land.

On the “Romantic Mediterranean” itinerary, we sailed only at night. The ship was docked in port all day long, every day. You can sightsee till 8 or 10 pm, and the ship overnights in Barcelona on the first night and in Rome on the last night, so on those nights there’s no curfew at all. I ended the trip wishing we’d had a day at sea so I could have spent more time enjoying the ship itself—watching the waves pass by, soaking in the spa’s thermal pools, sampling more Scandinavian delicacies, and curling up on one of the many plush sofas with one of the many classic novels from one of the many intriguing bookshelves.

4. You don’t feel confined.

First, you’re almost always able to get off the ship and into town. Second, every chance they get (when the weather is warm enough), the crew throws open the floor-to-ceiling doors and windows to let the outdoors in. There are great views from almost every public space on the ship. Even the buffet transforms into an open-air restaurant—and it has an open kitchen, so you can actually look through the kitchen to the ocean on the other side of the ship. Every room has a veranda with a floor-to-ceiling view, and there’s a promenade deck that wraps around the entirety of the ship (something that’s increasingly rare nowadays). Windows onto the promenade deck open as well.

5. Itineraries can be unconventional because the ship is weather-proof.

I’ve never been on a comfier ship for cold-weather cruising. In addition to two indoor pools, Viking Star’s got two indoor hot tubs, a Nordic-style spa with saunas and steam rooms, an abundance of armchairs adorned with blankets and throws, and warm Scandinavian décor throughout. This means the ship can ply cool itineraries such as from Norway to Montreal, with stops in the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and Quebec.

6. There’s no regimented schedule.

Unlike on some larger ships, there’s nobody telling you when to do what. There are no announcements. There are no formal nights. You don’t have to report to a particular lounge or theater at a particular time in order to join a tour. Nope, if you want to join the free group tour in each port, you just get off the ship and meet your group on the pier. In fact, the only time I saw herding during the cruise was off the ship, on those free tours. Because they’re free, almost all the passengers take them, which means you could be part of a caravan of buses all pulling into the same tourist sites at the same time. Remember: Just because it’s free, you don’t have to do it. It’s very easy to do your own thing in port. Just grab a taxi, hop on public transit, rent a car, or start walking.

7. The Wi-Fi is free, fast, and reliable.

The Wi-Fi alone gives you freedom and flexibility because it costs you nothing to hop on the Internet and do a little research before arriving in each port to find out what’s happening on the day you’ll be there.

8. It’s easy to dine privately and on your own schedule.

There are four restaurants where you can have long, elaborate meals, but if you’re like me and you just want quick, easy options anytime, anywhere, the choices are excellent. You can order room service for free, 24 hours a day, and it’s delicious and arrives fast. You can also grab hefty, free gourmet snacks of melt-in-your-mouth salmon gravlax, Atlantic shrimp, and steak tartare (with all the trimmings), both at the ship’s Norwegian deli and at its Living Room bar.

9. The ambience is more boutique hotel than cruise ship.

The ship was designed by an architect who does not normally design cruise ships. Not only are the interior design and décor atypical, but very little of what you see onboard feels corporate or mass-produced. The ship feels like an independent, family-owned, Scandinavian hotel, with homey and personal touches—such as wool hats, for sale in the spa shop, that were knitted by the spa manager’s 95-year-old grandmother. The atmosphere is one of cultural enrichment, from the collections of classic books to the Viking Heritage museum to the selection of TED talks on your in-room television.

10. You can relax mentally because it’s so affordable.

Your cruise fare includes a lot. In addition to the Wi-Fi and the tour in each port, you get entry to the spa’s thermal pools, saunas, and steam rooms; beverages, beer, and wine served with meals; minibar items; cappuccinos at the bar; and the aforementioned gourmet snacks served around the ship. There were salmon gravlax (on rye bread with dill mustard sauce), Reke (Atlantic shrimp on white bread), steak tartare (with the trimmings), and assorted Norwegian pastries, including special waffles with berries and sour cream. When you consider the sky-high prices you’d pay for those things in Scandinavia, the value is striking. There’s no nickel-and-diming; in fact, it’s hard to spend money on the ship. There isn’t even a casino. My only shipboard expense was a 50-minute Swedish massage which, thanks to massage therapist Luisa who is literally from Sweden, was the best I’ve had on any ship.

If you’ve got questions about the ship, feel free to ask in the comments below.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Disclosure: Viking Cruises provided me with a complimentary week-long cruise. In keeping with WendyPerrin.com standard practice, there was no request for or expectation of coverage on Viking Cruises’ part, nor was anything promised on mine. You can read the signed agreement between me and Viking Cruises here.*

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