December 2015 : Plane Sailing

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.

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

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.)

Continue reading Life’s a Dreamliner

Agent of good

Once upon a time, there was little choice. If you wanted to travel, you had to engage the services of a travel agent.

Now, most people do their airline, hotel and hire-car bookings online, bypassing the “middle man”. But is it any cheaper or smarter to do so?

On the first point, it is almost always as cheap or cheaper to book online, especially when you shop around. When booking a hotel room, I often go first to a third-party provider such as Expedia, Agoda, Points Hound or Rocketmiles — or a site that aggregates many such sites — to choose a hotel. Then I go to the hotel’s own website to see if they can match or better the price. If the cost is the same, the trick is to work out who is going to give you the best deal on loyalty points. (The process with airline tickets is pretty much the same.)

However, the hotel itself is not always the best place to shop. I once had the absurd experience of sitting in the foyer of the Dusit Thani hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, where I had just spent three nights, booking an extra night over a third-party provider because neither the hotel reception staff nor the Dusit Thani’s own website could match the price.

But there are compelling arguments in favour of using a travel agent. The first is that all that online comparison is time-consuming and often confusing. Sometimes it’s more efficient and sensible to pay somebody to do the legwork (or, in this case, keyboard work) for you.

Also, if you have a good travel agent, they will be able to dig deeper and find bargains — and destinations — that you’ll never find. Many of them will also have valuable first-hand information and be able to offer advice that will add value to your holiday.

So, if you’re not a seasoned traveller — or even if you are, but you’re too busy to devote a few hours to your pursuit of a bargain– it’s more than OK to seek out expert advice.

What’s in the kit?

Etihad first-class amenties pack — Etihad first-class amenities pack

One of the differences between travel classes on airlines is the amenities kit you receive (or don’t receive) on settling into your seat. Here’s a breakdown of the current offering in Etihad first class.

Also, not pictured, you get pyjamas and a mint!

Scoring points

One of the first thing frequent flyers, or would-be frequent flyers, should do is make sure they are enrolled in a loyalty or mileage scheme.

And it’s important that you understand the scheme so you can make the most of it.

Continue reading Scoring points

Tips for ships

I was a latecomer to cruising, but I have really embraced holidays on the high seas. With nine cruises under my belt in less than three years, and another two planned already for the first half of 2016, I’ve learnt a few things about booking cruises and making the most out of them.

This is the first in a series of posts for newbies to cruising. Hopefully, I’ll encourage a few people to take the leap into unknown waters without hitting their head in the shallow end.

The truth is that all cruises, and all cruise companies, are not the same. All cruise ships are not, as one friend of mine put it, “floating working-men’s clubs” — although some of them certainly are.

There are a lot of different operators out there (although, ultimately, they are owned by just a handful of companies), and they target different clientele. They offer different experiences and in different price ranges.

The first thing a newbie has to ask himself or herself is: what kind of experience do I want to have? Do you want something familiar, or something exotic? By this, I mean, if you are, for example, British, do you want to be on a boat that sticks close to home and whose passengers are mainly also British? If that’s the case, you’d probably be looking at sailing out of Southampton or another UK port with Fred. Olsen, P&O, Cruise and Maritime Voyages, Thompson (TUC) or Princess.

Americans tend to favour Carnival, Holland America, Royal Caribbean or Norwegian (NCL), sailing out of various US ports, most of them in Florida. The Germans have Aida, the Italians have Costa and MSC, the Spanish have Pullmantur, and so on.

Of course, just about any cruise line will take your money and if you speak English — which I presume you do because you’re reading these words — you’ll get by on just about any ship. The difference will be that you may have to wait a little longer to hear an announcement you can understand, or — if you’re particularly fussy or xenophobic — you may have a problem with the food and/or the entertainment program.

Most modern ships in the affordable category offer similar creature comforts, but it is certainly worth Googling any vessel you intend to travel on to see that it has what you expect in the way of pools, spas, beauty treatments, casino, bars, restaurants… whatever.

Of course, you may be more interested in the stopovers than the ship itself. The ports of call can make all the difference. I’ll go into excursions in another post, but let it suffice to say that there are good arguments for and against booking the trips offered by the cruise operator as opposed to those you can book independently. From my many onboard conversations, I gather that experiences cruisers tend to do their own thing.

If you have a lot of money to spend, you’ll be looking at the high-end offerings of Windstar, Seabourn, Silversea and other small but luxurious lines. If money’s a little tight, then you really need to shop around.

I do all my own searching online, then book directly through the cruise company’s website, but you may find it easier to go to a travel agency or to use an online comparison site.

The one thing you should do is ensure that the experience you’re buying is the one you want. An experienced travel agent with a reputation to defend will do her or his best to steer you in the right direction. Websites such as cruisecritic are also very handy, because they include reviews from previous passengers.

A word of warning: some people are hard to please, have had an unusually bad experience or are malicious, so their advice may be tainted. Equally, others see the world through rose-coloured glasses and are so happy to go with the flow that they overlook things that make others angry. So, try to read between the lines and seek out several independent reviews before you are persuaded or dissuaded.

That’s enough for now. There’ll be further tips in future posts.

Airlines aren’t equal

The latest (although now not so new) Emirates airline advertising campaign starring Friends alumnus Jennifer Aniston struck a chord with many frequent flyers.

Those of us who’ve been aboard American planes in the past certainly recognised the scene with the cackling cabin crew. For me, it perfectly underscored the difference between the established US carriers and new airlines such as Emirates and Etihad.

And before anyone accuses me of being biased against older cabin-crew members, it’s not about age, it’s about attitude.

One of my favourite long-haul flights was with Qantas, where I was sat opposite one of the crew jump seats and had a long conversation with a steward who must have been the age I am now or older. He was welcoming, warm and wise, and everything I could have hope for.

But I also have flashbacks to flights on United and Continental, where bags of peanuts were tossed at passengers by people with a palpable demeanour of distdain for their job and the passengers.

My in-air experiences with airlines including Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Air Asia, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Swiss, British Airways*, Air Serbia, Alitalia and Air Brussels in the past few years have been largely very positive, due to two factors: comfort and service.

It’s been a while since I’ve flown on a major American carrier, and I hear that at least some of them have lifted their game. I’m certainly happy to report that my most recent American airline experience — with Silver airways, on a tiny plane flying from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale — was excellent. The sole cabin crew member was delightful.

I do hope standards have improved across the board in the States, but the fact that Emirates’ advertising agency saw crew attitude as a vulnerability of American characters indicates a widespread public perception.

The reason this is so important to Emirates is that the American carriers have been lobbying against an open-skies agreement, accusing Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways of unfair competition.

I know there are other issues, but if training and encouraging your staff to be pleasant and helpful to your customers is unfair, then I guess I’m pro-discrimination in this case.

* With one exception, where a BA premium economy seat on an ageing Boeing 747, flying Heathrow to Miami, was remarkably uncomfortable.

Feeling ship-shape

I was sorry to read that more than 180 passengers on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas were struck down by what the Australian media called a “stomach bug” on a recent cruise into Sydney.

I sincerely hope the inconvenience of being ill doesn’t put these people off taking further cruises. I feel their pain, because it happened to me during a cruise down the Suez Canal, but I can assure them that Royal Caribbean will look after them, and work hard to prevent a repeat.

Continue reading Feeling ship-shape

Home and away

The wild blue yonder — Coming in for landing at Brisbane airport

I often claim to be a “citizen of the world” — which I am. We all are, and if more of us felt that way, then maybe we’d stop being unkind to each other on the basis of nationality, skin colour or religion.

OK, I won’t hold my breath on that. But maybe if we viewed the Earth as our home, we’d look after the planet a lot better than we do.

Continue reading Home and away

Third time lucky

It’s becoming an embarrassingly common occurrence. I rock up to the terminal gate with my ticket in my hand, the attendant takes it from me and a little red light shows up on the scanner.

She presses a few buttons on the keyboard and then says: “Oh, you’ve been upgraded. And, just like that, seat 5E becomes seat 1A.

I’ve just scored a hat trick with Etihad Airways. For the third time in a row, my business class seat has been upgraded to first class. On a long haul flight (from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne in this case), it’s simply the best way to fly.

The experience was, of course, luxurious. The seat is huge, even for a big bloke like me and makes for a comfortable bed, and there was plenty of attention from the cabin crew, including the onboard chef, who made me a marvellous steak, — and, remarkably — the same person who looked after me on my previous flight, from Munich to Abu Dhabi (She said: “I know you; the last time you were wearing a very colourful shirt.”)

As I’ve written before, I don’t really know why I’ve been so lucky to get these upgrades. However, I think being happy to share the experience is definitely part of the mix.

So too are these common tips (after photo):

+ Be polite and cheerful in all your dealings with airlines staff. That really shouldn’t have to be said, but a lot of people do get grumpy when they’ve had to queue, or they are tired or running late. I’ve done it myself. The trick is to try to snap out of it when you’re face to face with the person who can make your life more enjoyable (or miserable).

+ Be a frequent flyer with that airline.

+ Be flexible. I once got an upgrade and 20,000 Etihad Guest points and a US$300 voucher because I changed flights — it cost me all of 10 minutes in terms of arriving at my destination.

+ As I’ve already said, spread the word and say thank you to the airline, which is easy to do in this age of social media.

The only problem, as I’ve also said before, is that you might just get hooked on the experience.

Riddle me this, Batman

Bat Cave from TV Series — The Bat Cave from the 1960s TV series

It seemed like good idea at the time. I woke up about 1am with an urgent compulsion to write down a brilliant idea for a blog post.

Except that it wasn’t that brilliant and, as I should’ve expected, it certainly wasn’t original. Still, I think it’s worth sharing.

I must have been dreaming about Batman and how it was that his alter-ego Bruce Wayne could’ve built the bat cave under Wayne Manor without anybody knowing it was there.

Even if it was a natural cave in the first place, somebody would have had to build the access slides/lifts and fit the place out with all the tech equipment and furniture. Not to mention the expertise needed to design and build all the bat gadgets and vehicles.

Certainly it was too big a job for Wayne to undertake, even if he had the help of his elderly butler and only confidante Alfred Pennyworth. More recent tellings of the story add Lucius Fox to the Batman circle, but even if you throw in him and Robin, the boy wonder, that’s hardly a construction crew.

A quick Google search revealed that I was not the first person to have this thought, nor was I the first to speculate that Wayne had copied a page from the Pharaohs’ playbook and had the place built by slaves who were then entombed and left to die so they could not share its secrets. (Cracked addresses the details here.)

A few other theories are floating around. One that’s vaguely plausible is that Batman, rather than Bruce Wayne, commissioned the bat cave, and ensured that the workers were blindfolded on their way to and from the construction site so they didn’t know where it was.

Or, then again, maybe he got Superman to build it for him.

Whose (Doctor) Who?

I stopped watching the American sitcom Two and a Half Men just after Charlie Sheen left the show in 2011.

Sheen may have been a pain in several body parts at the same time to the show’s creator, cast and crew but, to my mind, his character was the heart of the show. And Sheen is, in my opinion, a much better actor than Ashton Kutcher who replaced him in the series.

I also felt that the scripts had deteriorated from diverting, above-average sitcom fare with plausible plots into excuses for stringing together a series of crude jokes.

Anyway, as I say, my solution to not liking the show was to switch it off.

My favourite program right now — in fact, my only “must-see” TV — is the British sci-fi drama Doctor Who.

While the occasional episode makes me cringe, I’m generally enjoying the show, the characters and the direction in which it is going.

Others disagree.

I understand that long-time viewers of Doctor Who, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, feel some form of ownership over it, and have quite fixed ideas of what it should be about, how the central character should be played, what sort of stories should be told, and whether those stories fit into the canon.

Most of the online criticism I see — and some of it is quite venomous — is directed at showrunner Steven Moffat. Clearly a some people don’t like the direction in which he has taken the show, and they have taken to social media to say so.

Week after week, they deconstruct the latest episode and spell out exactly where Moffat has one wrong and why they hate them so much.

It would be much simpler for those people to stop watching. Unless you are paid to do so — as increasingly fewer people are — watching a show you don’t like is a bit like continuing to hit your head against a brick wall long after you’ve established that it hurts.

I know this is not particularly sophisticated advice, but it seems to me that some people just don’t get it.

A class act?

I understand why travel advertisements often feature pictures of beautiful young people frolicking about in exotic destinations or relaxing in impossibly large airline seats. It’s because young people do travel a lot and airlines and hotels want their business. But these pictures don’t reflect reality.

The real money in the tourism industry isn’t made from beautiful young people, because beautiful young people generally travel on the cheap.

Continue reading A class act?

A cause for celebration

As I write this, it’s National Day in the United Arab Emirates. Most countries have a similar annual event, and the festivities are usually alike — there are parades and fireworks and music and speeches.

What makes things different in the UAE this year is that it comes just days after the first Commemoration Day, which honours those who have died in the service of this young — just 44 years old — nation.

The minute’s silence, and lowering of the flag on Monday, was a poignant occasion that reminded me of Anzac Day in Australia, and Remembrance Day, which is marked on November 11 around much of the western world (albeit under different names in some countries).

Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice is important for any nation; but so, too, is celebrating the way of life those sacrifices were made to protect.

In different countries, there are different priorities, but the common theme is pride in what has been created by human effort and maintained by the will of the people.

Wherever you are in the world right now, and wherever you come from, if you are free to live your life much as you please, and you live in peace, you should be thankful and celebrate in your own way. Too many people don’t have that luxury.

Forgive and forget?

The subject of forgiveness has been much on my mind over the past few days. Specifically: when a person is deeply wronged by somebody they should be able to trust, is there any way back?

To make my point, I’m going to use some examples from the world of celebrity– but the principles apply to us all.

Director Roman Polanski was found guilty of the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977, but fled to Europe before he could be sentenced. Now, a court in Poland says it will not extradite him to the United States, where the offence occurred.

London-based Australian musician and television host Rolf Harris, whose funny records and exaggerated persona I loved as a child, was jailed at the age of 84 last year for sexual offences against four female victims stretching back 40 years. The court heard, among other things, that Harris had had a long-running relationship with a teen-aged friend of his daughter, and that it had ruined her life.

Woody Allen, one of my favourite filmmakers, stands accused or molesting his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow. But police, the Connecticut state attorney and child-abuse experts decided there was insufficient evidence and that the girl appeared to have been “coached” in giving evidence. That was in 1993, yet there are some people today swear that Allen is guilty.

Three well-known cases — and all of them different. In the Harris case, the court found him guilty and he is in jail; in the Allen case, due process was followed and charges were not laid, yet allegations remain. Polanski, meanwhile, seems to have escaped justice altogether.

In any case that is serious enough to go to court, the legal system plays its role in determining innocence or guilt and, in the latter case, setting an appropriate punishment. Sometimes the police, prosecutors, judges and juries get it wrong; usually they get it right.

Beyond that, the rest of us just have opinions. We can boycott films or rant on our blogs and social-media sites, but that won’t get us any closer to the truth. And, at the end of the day, when it comes to strangers, it’s really none of our business.

But what about an incident of actual harm or betrayal that involves somebody we know?

Sometimes the circumstances are opaque — nobody knows the truth except those who were there, and they provide different, self-serving versions of events.

When there are two “truths” to choose from, how do we know we have chosen the correct one? Do we have to take sides, or should we sit on the fence? But by doing nothing, do we embolden the perpetrator and betray the victim?

In any genuine case of wrongdoing by one person against another, we can, and should, offer our support. But only the victim can decide whether they will offer forgiveness.