The Avid Cruiser

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Selecting an Alaska cruisetour can be daunting for the uninitiated. With more that 50 cruisetours offered by the major players, how do you sift through the options to find an Alaska cruisetour that’s right for you? To find out, we sat down with Paul Allen, vice president of sales for Holland America Line.

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On tap for European river cruises: more choices of pre- and post-cruise tours, more special interest programs and more bicycles. Yes, more bicycles. Continue Reading »

Athens Airport To City Center, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

From Athens International Airport arrivals hall, follow the signs for trains to reach the Metro station.

Purchase a ticket at the Metro counter. Cost per person: 6 euros.

Don’t forget to stamp your ticket before boarding. Stamping validates the ticket. Without validating, you risk being fined more than 100 euros..

Grab a seat for the 45-minute journey. The Metro gets crowded after the first few stops.

Travel 12 stops after boarding the metro to reach Syntagma, the city center.

The Metro is clean, efficient and cheap.

Transferring From Shore To Ship In Athens, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Want a cheap way to transfer from Athens International Airport to your hotel in the city center or your ship in Piraeus? Stop by the Athens Public Transportation kiosk in the baggage claim area in the arrivals terminal. The metro to the city center or Pireaus: only 6 euros per person. If going to your ship, better to take the direct bus X96 to Piraeus, however. That way you don’t have to change metro lines and the cost for the up to 90-minute transfer: only 3.20 euros. 

From Athens’ city center to Piraeus by Metro is only 80 euro cents. Make sure you know where to locate your ship, likely in either Terminal A or Terminal B, a healthy walk from the Metro station in Piraeus. Better to transfer from the Metro station by bus or taxi to your ship. I walked all the way to Terminal B, 30 minutes, but pleasant. Thank god for rolling luggage.

Make the most of your Alaska cruise from Seattle by pitching camp for a few days to explore the “Emerald City.”

ON A SUNNY SATURDAY IN AUGUST, a crowd gathers at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The mood is festive, particularly at Pike Place Fish, where fishmongers, garbed in Grundens (the Swedish-stitched orange bib overalls) joke as they toss whole Sockeye Salmon, Alaskan Halibut and Yellow Fin Tuna over the counter to be packaged. “Want to see a flying fish?” says one, as he sends a salmon sailing to a co-worker. With cameras rolling and flashes sparkling, the tourists laugh. Continue Reading »

Cost of Europe, originally uploaded by Ralph Grizzle.

Because I am cruising, I can’t speak to the price of hotels in Europe. Mine floats along with me from port to port. Pleasantly surprising, however, is the cost of being ashore.

I paid the equivalent of $10 for lunch in Barcelona; less than $3 for a sandwich and internet access in Menorca; about $35 for a 90-minute private taxi tour of Tunis; and about $3 for the bottle of Pelligrino mineral water (pictured) and a cappuccino. And that was at Rome’s international airport. On the other hand, I paid more than $8 for a glass of sparkling water in Copenhagen last week.