Cruises

Am I the only person that thinks that the Unesco World Heritage site status list is starting to look nothing like a list of unique and diverse places? I think that status is given out too easily nowadays and wasn’t it last year that there was outcry because Benidorm had applied.

Status list too large

Maybe it’s my understanding of the status but I can understand places like the Great Wall of China and Machu Picchu being on the list, but Saltaire and Stonehenge? They are now 890 properties within the world heritage site status list, a mixture of bridges, churches, and other cultural and natural places.

Lost its appeal to travellers

I would love to have said that I have been to 1% of the places but I haven’t but I do sometimes wonder if it has lost some of its appeal to travellers. Visiting a world heritage site doesn’t seem as appealing as it was ten or so years ago when the list was much smaller.

Your thoughts on the list

Should the list be reduced and which places would you take off. Or do you think that some places should be added to UNESCO World heritage list. Or am I talking a load of nonsense. Feel free to add your opinion, it’ll be interesting to read our thoughts on this topic.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

World heritage status losing its appeal to travellers

Our Back to School: Green Travel Basics series has ended. We hope you enjoyed the posts included in the series. If you liked the Green Travel Basics Series, be sure to check out our 25 Days to Green Travel Series too.

Here is an Index of the posts in this series:

How to Travel Green: In 4 Easy Steps

Green Vacation Ideas and Planning

Responsible Travel vs. Eco Friendly Travel

Hiking Tours: Best Tour Companies and Planning Your Own Hiking Tour

Green Air Travel: 8 Tips for Making Your Air Travel Greener

Best Carbon Offset Companies

Top Green Cities: Where to Travel Green

Green Travel Plan: A Roadmap to Green Travel

How to Find a Travel Agent for Your Green Trip

Green Cruises: Green Cruise Lines and Passenger Tips

originally posted at Go Green Travel Green

End of Back to School Green Travel Basics: Index of Posts

They are some issues that consumers continuously email me about; one of them is the hike in prices during the school holidays. The few times that I have written about this subject the response I received was that it is simply supply and demand; tour operators and airlines are taking advantage of families.

Consumer rant

One consumer wrote to me and said. He has been saving for over 2 years and they were looking at going to Florida during the Easter break 2010 but found for a family of 3 if they were to go during the Easter break there was an increase of between £400 and £500 per adult and about £300 for his son.

Holiday price hikes

I am not stupid, I know companies and airlines need to make money, and that they will always be peak times of the year like July and August when people want to head off for some sunshine, but, come on, increasing the price every school holiday to increase the price by £400 is just outrageous.

No option for families

You would think that companies would want to find repeat customers, but they are not going to if they feel mistreated because they have a family. It isn’t like that they have any choice. You take your child out of the school term now and you are fined.

Surely the government or European Union should be doing something about this.

Welcome your opinions

As usual I welcome your opinions and thoughts on this travel consumer issue. I know it’s an topic that I have written about once or twice before but I feel so strongly about how the travel industry is taking advantage of families and this should not be happening.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

Time to take a stand against school holiday price hikes

Earlier in the week I was reading on TechCrunch about a new service from Google called Sidewiki. Basically, visitors will be able to leave comments and rate the website. You might remember a post I wrote about fake websites and how to spot them; well I could see benefits for this service.

Potential problems over fake comments

Travel technology news site Tnooz has more information about Sidewiki.

The problem I can see though is that you could find fake comments on websites and if companies aren’t in control of the comments left then this could quickly cause problems. On the other hand you would not want companies removing feedback that is true but negative.

Save time searching

I like to be able to see other people’s comments on the service that the company have provided. It would save time searching the internet for negative mentions. But from a blogger perspective, what if someone was to leave fake negative comments about the blog, this could affect advertising.

Potential libel issues

Also considering I was in libel trouble earlier this year because of a third-party comment, what potential libel implications does this type of tool have on Google and the people who leave the comments? You can imagine the types of notes that are going to be left, who is going to police this.

Your thoughts on Google Sidewiki

I am concerned about the power that Google has over the internet but I can see positives and negatives about this service. I would be interested to hear your thoughts about this new service either as a consumer if you work within the travel industry.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

Thoughts on the impact of Google Sidewiki on travel

Most people who read this blog are web-savvy and I am guilty of assuming that the internet is the be all and end all of travel. Tonight I met up with a few friends and asked them their impressions of booking holidays online and I was surprised by their responses.

Frustrated consumers

Too much choice and found searching online too time consuming and frustrating.

Nowadays consumers do not want to search on one website because they want to shop around and feel that they are getting the holiday at the best price. They are hundreds of comparison sites out there and it’s at the point where you need a comparison site to compare the comparison sites. Phew.

Time consuming

Then I hear people say that it is frustrating having to wander around the high-street, queue up to be served and then sit down with an agent who let’s be honest, does not want to spend too much time with you because they have other customers to deal with.

Lacking inspiration

I often hear that it is the inspirational side that is lacking on travel websites. A lot of people just do not know where they want to go and the brochures and a lot of holiday booking websites just do not provide enough information.

Your thoughts on this issue

I would like to hear from readers about their experiences of searching for their holiday, either at a travel agency or online. Which do you prefer and why? What changes would you like to see to make booking a holiday less frustrating and time consuming.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

Searching for a holiday frustrates consumers

When I arrive at the airport I always have a look around the duty free shop. Many people forget that if you are travelling within the EU you no longer have tax-free shopping. Why are these shops allowed to call them self duty-free in our regional airports, when the majority of the flights are to EU countries.

Duty-free confiscated but no reason given

I received an email from a consumer who had travelled from London Heathrow, via Dubai, for a flight to visit family in Perth, Australia. At the airport she bought some alcohol, took it on to the plane, passed through Dubai without any problems but when she arrived in Perth all of the alcohol was confiscated.

No reason was given. I wouldn’t have thought that they could get away with that.

Big problem for passengers

I am not familiar with duty free laws so I couldn’t answer the question, so I did some research on Google and found a lot of posts on forums and blogs about travellers having alcohol confiscated all over the world, but Australia seems to be a particular hotspot.

Liquid ban caused problems

The liquid ban has obviously caused a lot of problems and despite the bottles being sealed and the passenger has a receipt from the duty free shop, the alcohol is confiscated because it’s liquid. I am interested to hear from other people who have had problems with their alcohol being confiscated.

I would also like to know if they can confiscate alcohol bought at duty-free without a reason.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

Duty free alcohol confiscated by customs rant

Green Cruises is part of our Back to School: Green Travel Basics series.

Cruises are known for being some of the least environmentally friendly ways to travel. But, cruise lines have made huge leaps in the past decade to become greener.

Here are some of the best green cruise lines:

• Carnival
• Celebrity Cruises
• Costa
• Disney Cruise Lines
• Holland America (You can read our previous posts about the Ryndam Holland America.)
• Royal Caribbean
• Norwegian

Both Treehugger and Natural Home Magazine have some good articles further exploring these cruise lines if you’re looking for the nitty gritty about what makes them green.

How to be a Green Cruise Passenger

If you’ve got your cruise booked and are ready to go here are some tips for being a greener passenger

Tour the Kitchen

Many cruise ships offer a “kitchen tour” as part of the onboard activities. Take the tour and check out how much food goes to waste while your down there.

Take only What You can Eat

If you take a kitchen tour you’ll be amazed at how much food goes to waste on cruises. To help lessen the amount of food that’s wasted, don’t pile your plate too high when going through the buffet line.

ground food waste on our Holland America cruise

Take the Stairs

Cruise ships are tall. Frequently 8-14 flights of stairs that the passengers can take. Instead of wasting electricity on the elevator, opt for the stairs. It will help burn off all the buffet line food you ate too.

Conserve Water

It’s estimated that in one year, the average cruise ship generates 1 million gallons of grey water. That’s a lot of water for just one ship. Do your part and take shorter showers and turn off the water when brushing your teeth.

Recycle

Most cruise ships have recycling. Take your recyclables to the proper recycling bin.

Watch an Environmental Presentation

Some cruise ships offer an onboard presentation about the ship’s efforts to be more eco-friendly. If your ship offers one, watch it. The one we went to was fascinating.

originally posted at Go Green Travel Green

Green Cruises: Green Cruise Lines and Passenger Tips

How to Find a Travel Agent for Your Green Trip is part of our Back to School: Green Travel Basics series.

Every once in awhile you need a travel agent. Travel agents are great for a number of things when it comes to trip planning, especially for complicated trips. Tripology actually offers 101 reasons to use a travel agent.

Travel agents can be helpful for green travel because they can point you to specific eco-friendly destinations and tours. If you’re unsure of where to turn to or don’t have time to plan your green trip, you might want to find a travel agent.

Here are a few places to where you can find a travel agent for green travel:

Tripology

Tripology is actually a really awesome resource for finding a travel agent. And it’s free. You just fill out a few details and travel agents will contact you with a customized trip itinerary.

ASTA

The American Society of Travel Agents offers a special green certification. Use their search feature to find a green travel agent.

Us

We are not travel agents, but we do offer some green travel consulting. If you’re interested, contact us.

With this searches it’s really easy to find a travel agent. And with Tripology, it doesn’t cost a thing to get a quote and see if it’s a good option for you.

originally posted at Go Green Travel Green

How to Find a Travel Agent for Your Green Trip

Some things make my blood boil. What happened to being able to give advice online? Are people worried that bloggers are going to put people out of business. I think not, so why is it that the New Zealand immigration Authority are giving one blogger a hard time for giving advice.

Banned from advising on immigration

Fair enough if you are giving inaccurate advice then I can understand them being ticked off, but, sharing your own advice from experience, what is the problem with that? I have not read this blog in particular but some blogs provide people with better advice than the official sites.

Free speech or the right thing to do

You would think that they would be using the blog to look at the types of issues that people have, rather than stopping it from being a useful tool. Obviously I am bias because of the type of blog that I write, so I welcome your opinions and thoughts.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

Blogger forced to stop advising on immigration

Newspapers are thinking of charging readers for premium content and now some travel agents according to Travolution are playing with the idea of charging consumers for providing an holiday quote. Bizarre, considering they have tough competition with online booking.

Travel agents role is to sell to me

The travel agent is selling a holiday, just like any consumer product, yet they want me to pay them £15 to make them feel more comfortable that I will book. It is their role to sell me a holiday that matches my requirements and I shop around for the best deal, why should I have to pay.

So the fee will be taken off the price of my holiday but that is not the point. What would happen if I went to buy a car and the car dealer started to charge me? The quote that the travel agent gives me is a sale pitch; I might not book the holiday with them because of a number of genuine reasons.

Your thoughts on this rant

Sorry, I cannot see consumers buying that and if anything I think that they will lose sales because of it. As usual, I value your opinion. Would you pay for a travel agent to search a holiday for you? Please leave thoughts in the comments section.

This post was syndicated from the Travel Rants Blog.

Travel agencies want to charge you for a quote