Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    I just booked a cruise on the Countess for middle February.  I called
    the 800 number on this brochure and found Brett to be a very helpful
    agent.  I expained that this was our first cruise and I worked for
    DEC and then listened for a while!  The cruise I booked was, indeed
    10% of the base price of $830.00.  The ship is, as I said previously,
    the Cunard Countess.  She sail with 752 passengers.  There are two
    different choices in ports, alternating each week.  I don't remember
    the other one but the one I chose was:
    
    		Departs San Juan, Puerto Rico and on to:
    
    			Caracas, Venezuela
    			Grenada
    			Barbados
    			Martinque
    			St. Thomas
    
    		Back to San Juan
                                 
    
    The trip is 7 days and the final cost ($315.00 air fare from Logan
    to San Juan and all the taxes, tariffs, etc.) was about $1225.00
    each.
    
    Although I cannot find anything about the Cunard lines in this
    notesfile I have recently read about the line in Bon Appetit (raving
    about the food!) and in Carribean Holiday magazine (talking about
    Cunard's Sea Godess I and II at @$10k each per trip!).
    
    Has anybody sailed the Countess?
    
    Thanks,
      Joanne

    Are the prices listed in the brochure base prices or the already
    discounted fare?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Gwen
    

    They are base prices.  I have the price list for 1988/1989 for the
    Cunard Countess and the Cunard Princess, if interested.  Remember,
    the price quoted in the brochure you have are for the least expensive
    cabins on the ship(s).
    

    Thanks,
    
    Don't need the price lists right now.  Just dreaming at this stage.
    Knowing we get a discount from the prices listed is good news though.
    I've never been on a cruise so I'm a little concerned about the
    small size of rooms but I won't worry about that until I see if
    I can go somewhere.
    
    Gwen
    

    Tell me more.Never heard of that brochure.

    The brochure I'm talking about is the one mentioned in 31.0.   It's
    a full color brochure advertising 7 ships to 5 continent w/Digital
    employees saving as much as 50%.  No date is printed on mine so
    I can't tell you when they were distributed.
    
    Your office manager should have a copy.
    
    Gwen
    

    Since personnel out here (Santa Clara,Ca.) doesn't know *anything*
    about that brochure,I've asked one of the participants in this file
    to copy and send it to me.I'm also sending a copy to personnel...isn't
    that something?...an employee has to tell them about this. Absurd,isn't
    it!                             

    
    A friend of mine in BTO forwarded me this brochure..
    
    If anyone out there would like a copy...I'll be glad to copy and
    forward.
    
    
    				steve w.
    

    STEVE, I WOULD REALLY LIKE A COPY OF THE BROCHURE ON THE CUNARD
    CRUISES.  MY HUSBAND AND I WOULD LIKE TO PLAN ONE FOR OUR 20TH
    ANNIVERSARY NEXT YEAR.
    
    MANY THANKS,
    
    CAROL GREATHOUSE
    WALNUT CREEK, CA (OAW)
    
    

    
    Will do....What's your home address..It'll probably be quicker that 
    thru the interplant.
    
    The brochure is only four pages. Two pages of pictures, one page with
    a Cunard Vacation Calendar, listing the different ships and prices,
    and another page describing briefly each ship.
    
    Give me a call at DTN 237-2929 if you don't want to put your home
    address here on NOTES.
    
    I'll be waiting.
    
    
    			steve w.
    
    

    Steve, could you possibly send me a copy of the brochure also?
    We are looking into either staying on Barbados or Aruba for a week
    or taking another cruise. (I would prefer a cruise)  
    
    Michael Raymond
    MK01-2/E33
    264-4040
    
    

    
    
    Mike....I'll send it out tomorrow. I'm offsite at a class...
    
    
    				Cruising is the way!!!!!!
    
    
    		sw
    

    We just returned from our cruise on the Cunard Countess.  It was
    our first cruise and we enjoyed it very much.  There are, however,
    some things we will change for next time.
    
    We would get an upgraded cabin.  Though we did not have the least
    expensive this time, I would go for a higher deck so that you did
    not have to keep climbing up and down all the time.  Seemed like
    everything was always on a different deck!  I would also go
    for the large single bed as opposed to the seperate bunks on each
    wall and I would definitely go with a porthole.  We found it very
    confusing never knowing what the weather looked like until after
    we had dressed and walked up to one of the decks.  The Countess
    did not have clocks in each room (because of the time zone changes
    - I guess) and I found I was lost because I forgot both my watch and
    travel clock.                                           
    
    Our itinery consisted of sailing from San Juan to Caracas, Venezuela,
    then on to Grenada, Barbados, Martinique, St. Thomas, and back to
    San Juan.  NEITHER MY HUSBAND NOR I WILL EVER GO TO CARACAS AGAIN.
    Other travelers - beware!  We were deserted in downtown Caracas
    by our guide because someone had to go to the bathroom and could
    not wait.  There was apolitical speech going on in one of the
    government buildings while people outside were yelling and screaming.
    Also outside the buildings were the militia - complete with Oozi
    machine guns and bullet-proof vests.  The natives were VERY unfriendly
    towards the "rich Americans" and surrounded us several times during
    the day, trying to sell us Pepsi and T shirts.  They did not like
    us saying No no matter how nicely we did it.  Lastly, we had to
    use their subway to get back to the bus.  3 men in our party of
    about 25 had their wallets stolen from their pockets by some guys
    in their early 20's or so and one woman had her gold necklace ripped
    from her neck.  The tourguide was able to get one of the wallets
    back by promising the youth that these Americans did not have the
    time to prosecute so all he had to do was return it and go his way
    (presumably to "hit" another tourist).  They made $1100 from one
    wallet and $500.00 from the other.  The men should not have had
    that much money with them - obviously - and they had cash (if you
    can believe it) - even though traveler's checks were what everyone
    was suggested to bring along.  But, it was very frightening to go
    through and everybody was very upset.  In fact, on the way back
    to the ship the tour guide stopped at a liquor store and bought
    (out of his own pocket) beer or Pepsi for everyone on the bus to
    calm us down.  (He had one, too.)
    
    Outside of Caracas, we had a wonderful trip and are looking forward
    to cruising again - probably to Alaska, summer of '90.

    re: .13

    I'm really sorry you had such a bad time in Caracas.  I lived there 
    for a year as a kid and that's why, on our first cruise, we chose an 
    itinerary that stopped in Caracas.  It was a real thrill for me to 
    see it again after a zillion years.  I have many happy memories from
    there (and still have my photos that I took with my Brownie camera 
    -- and many more that I took with my Nikon on this trip!).

    We didn't have the same problems as you (this was three years ago).  
    I found Caracas to be a very modern, bustling, vibrant city.  There 
    are lovely wealthy homes, modern buildings, beautiful trees and parks.  
    Sure, the militia were present, but they just sort of stood around 
    doing nothing in particular.  I do have one humorous picture of a man 
    looking rather askance as he walked by a group of these soldiers, but 
    there were no problems.

    We shopped in peace, toured in peace, and rode the subway in peace.  
    The subway, by the way, is one of the most modern and clean subways in
    the world.  The Venezuelans are very proud of their subway and it sure
    puts NY and Boston to shame (where you can also be mugged).  No one 
    in our tour group was molested in any way.  We did lose one couple, but 
    they met us back at the ship.

    We toured the Murano glass factory (where I spent some bucks) up in the
    mountains; visited Carabobo (sp?), which was a bit of a disappointment 
    to me because they have removed all the large statues from the paradeway 
    that impressed me so as a kid; and had lunch at the Hilton (I would have 
    preferred the Hotel Avila, where I ate as a kid, this being a memory trip 
    for me).  But all in all, we had a wonderful day there.

    Just as an aside, when I moved to Venezuela as a kid, our mode of 
    transportation was on the Cunard lines out of New York (this was back in 
    the late forties).  That was quite an experience for me, and I've started 
    a new topic called "First Cruise Experiences" (Topic 94 if I get it in in 
    time) where you can read about a young kid's shennanigans on board a 
    cruise ship!


    

    According to our tour guide, Caracas's problems started a couple
    years ago.  When the oil prices rose in the 70's, literally millions
    of people migrated to the city.  Magnificent hotels and buildings
    were put up, etc.  Loads of Venezuela's people became rich overnight,
    while still others had more money than they ever did.  Unfortunately,
    these people left their farms and villages to move to Caracas -
    leaving everything, and the oil prices toppled.  Today, there are
    over 3 million "squatters" residing in everything from cardboard
    boxes to sheet metal huts on the outskirts of the City.  In fact,
    they are all the way from the port to several miles on the other
    side of the City.  They have make-shift homes everywhere.  There
    are not enough jobs to go around, and most feel that lost everything
    and should be compensated without working - so they live in their
    shacks and beg/steal their money.  Poverty is difficult to deal
    with when we (Americans) have so much.  What made Caracas different
    from the other "poor" places we visited is that they are very hostile
    - hostile towards their government (the past dictator stole millions
    from the people), those Venezuelans who do have nice homes, and
    especially the tourists who are easy to target.
    
    Again, be warned that it IS dangerous to be a tourist there right
    now.  Maybe, I hope, it will change for the better some day.

    It's worse than I thought.  The following is an excerpt from the 
    Daily Nation (March 1), a newspaper I picked up in Barbados last 
    Wednesday.


                      100 die in Caracas riots
             Perez imposes curfew after 2 days of strife

       Caracas__President Carlos Andres Perez suspended some 
       constitutional rights and imposed a curfew yesterday after 
       two days of rioting that a top military official said had 
       killed up to 100 people.

       "We must safeguard the right to life, the right to peace and 
       to safeguard the property of our nation," Perez said in a 
       televised address.  "This will be in your benefit."

       The riots were sparked by a 90 per cent rise in petrol prices 
       on Sunday and a 30 per cent increase in bus fares on Monday.


    The article goes on to describe how armed looters were responsible for
    most of the deaths and how the violence was the worst in Caracas since
    an insurrection toppled Marcos Perez Jiminez in January 1958.

    I wonder how this will affect the cruise ships that go to Venezuela.  I
    would think they would have to drop that port from their itinerary. 
    Has anywone returned from such a trip this week?