Category Archives: Travel

A “Good News Story”

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Around my workplace it seems everything is a “Good News Story”. The phase has been so over-used that no one pays much attention to it anymore. But I want to share an experience I just had on Dec. 30 that not only made my day but was a real  “Good News Story” in my book!

I just got through complaining right here about the poor service provided by UPS. Sometimes it seems that getting anything done or fixed is just a chore beyond words, between IVR’s and Voice mail or when you finally reach a real person,  their unhelpful manner. The problem is so widespread that I hate to admit it’s even in my workplace. So when a company really steps up to the plate and goes the extra mile one should be as quick to offer kudos as we are to criticize.

My “Good News Story” is a Walmart story. Yes, that retail giant that everyone loves to bash for one thing or another. So here it is.

When I returned  from vacation last May I found a flat tire on my car. The flat was caused by rot in the sidewall and couldn’t be repaired. It was a Sunday and I was a long way from home. I was lucky to be at my sister’s and the family rode to my rescue. My nephew  removed the tire and his wife drove me to the only place in town that was open on a Sunday for tires…Walmart.

We dropped the tire off and went back to my sister’s to wait for them to call back when the tire was replaced. We waited  and waited and waited for something that shouldn’t have taken more than an hour. Finally we called them only to be told that it was all set and that they had been paging us in the store.

Ok so they dropped the ball. At least I had a new tire. Back to Walmart we went to pick it up. We had to ask the tire person to put it in the car which he did very reluctantly with much sighing and air of being  “put -upon”. But we had the tire.

My nephew then put the tire back on my car and I was on my way. The car did shimmy and pull but I chalked it up to the fact that I needed another tire and that I hadn’t had the tire balanced or aligned. As the summer progressed the GM dealership rotated the tire at least twice and reminded me I needed to get another new tire before the snow  started flying in the winter. (They never said anything else about the tire)

Well, it’s winter now and by now I need 3 new tires so not wanting to get caught in a snow storm with bald tread, I took my car to the Walmart out here. This is where the story really gets good.

I went in on Friday 12/30 at 8 am in hopes of putting one tire on before work. That would give me a pair of good tires and next payday I would do the other two.

The first problem is that Walmart will only mount tires in pairs. If I wanted 1 tire I was going to have to put it on myself. After some  haggling they agreed to put just the one tire on. I wandered into the store to do some browsing while they took my car in. Not 5 minutes later my cell phone rang. (Houston we have a problem) The tire I had on the car from the Walmart in New York, the one I’d been driving on all summer, was the wrong size for the car.  So we were back to needing to put on 2 new tires.

I was really concerned now because it’s the holidays. I don’t know about you but I don’t have any extra cash lying around this time of year. I had the money for 1 new tire..not two.

The Walmart employee was burning up the computer keys trying to find the workorder from the store in New York but he couldn’t find any record. I answered his questions and then told my tale again to the service manager. The big question was how or why would they have put the wrong size tire on the car??? ( I’m sure it had nothing to do with the “I don’t care” attitude displayed by the employees there..maybe incompetence?)

By now an hour had passed. I’d called my sister in New York to confirm the address of the Walmart store we used and review what happened that day in case I’d forgotten any details. The service manager disappeared into the back area while I mentally juggled money and bills in my head.

9:15 the service manager came back out. She told the attendant to write me up for 2 new tires and then credit one back. She explained that Walmart had no liability for putting the wrong tire on because they didn’t physically put it on the car but she had called her manager and they agreed that if I gave Walmart a tire and told them to replace it with a new one, that I should be able to count on it being the right tire. So for safety reasons they were going to replace the tire with the correct one and only charge me for the one I wanted!

I confess..I was speechless! I have never had any retailer step up like that, especially not a big chain store! It was more than I could ever have expected. That was being treated like a business used to treat people back “in the old days” when reputation was everything. They really made my day!

I went to work and told everyone at work about the great experience I had at Walmart. It was an $80.00 tire but they have probably gotten way more than $80.00  in positive word of mouth from me and they will continue to get it. They did good. A “Good News Story”. They deserve to be recognized.

Kudos Walmart! Well done and Thanks again!

On Impulse

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It wasn’t an impulse buy..you know those things that you pick up in the store that aren’t on your shopping list. They seem to be a good idea at the moment but then you get home and have  ‘buyer’s remorse”? No, it was nothing like that.

Rather it was a change of plans on impulse. It was a beautiful day, so nice it was hard to believe it was the middle of November. I was planning to take a drive to Newport, RI for the day to see what sights and scenes I could find for this space but when I saw how nice it was I got the urge to take a drive up to Maine. It’s a bit farther than Newport but still well within the “day trip” category.

I headed out a little after 10 am and gambled that the expressway through Boston would have cleared out by that time. Luckily I was right and I sailed though the former Big Dig with no hesitation!  

I had selected York, Maine as my destination, home of Nubble Light. It’s said that Nubble Light is one of the most often photographed light houses on the east coast but I just remember the area from my scuba diving days as being extremely pretty.

I pulled off the Highway into York shortly after noon. It had taken me a little more than 2 hours. As I drove through Boston it got really cloudy but here in Maine the sky was clear and a brilliant blue. So far I had remembered my way pretty well considering it’s been over 30 years since I’ve been here but now as I came off the highway my memory seemed to dissolve.

I had printed out directions before I left the house so after a quick check I found myself meandering from one small road to another. I passed alot of fields and some farm houses and then as I came around a corner I saw the sky stretch out before me. That’s when you know that even though you can’t see the ocean yet, it’s really just ahead. Sure enough, down into a little dip and then up to a stop sign and there was the Atlantic!

The beach stretched out before me and off in the distance was the light house gleaming a bright white in the mid day sun.

 I pointed the car along the beach road in the direction of the lighthouse. It looked like everything was closed up tight for the winter.

I found the turn off to Nubble Light. At the end was a fairly large parking area with the metered viewers. There is no access to the lighthouse itself. That sits on an island that is reached by a little cable car. The public is not welcome on the island. Trust me, you don’t need to be on the island to appreciate this quaint little lighthouse.

The parking lot was a busy place with visitors taking pictures with everything but the kitchen sink. It was easy to see how it got it’s reputation as the most photographed light. I decided to wait for sunset so headed back along the beach to see if I could find anyplace for lunch.

I was about to try to retace my steps to the main highway when I spotted a little restaurant that seemed to have a lot of cars in it’s lot. Not surprising being the only open place on the beach.

The Lobster Cove Restaurant looked small inside until I realized there was an upstairs too. The waitress told me to seat myself so of course I grabbed a tabe by the window so I could watch the ocean over my lunch of scallops and coleslaw…very excellent! The people that were coming in were from all over. I overheard one group telling the waitress they drove up from New Jersey, another couple was speaking french…probably Candians, bienvenue.

Lunch complete I drove back to Sohier Park. That’s the name of the park next to the lighthouse. As I mentioned the light house is on an Island. I think it’s called Cape Neddick. The whole area is lovely. There’s a huge building, probably an Inn sitting on another rocky point near the light house so I amused myself trying to cature the waves crashing on the rocks while I waited for the sun to go down.

The lighthouse is situated so that you are looking east. That put the setting sun behind me. I was hoping some clouds would roll in so that I might get some reflected sunset behind the light house but that was not to be today. I had to settle for a series of pictures of the changing light.

 In between I got some sunset shots by turning around and shooting to the west.

Finally as the last of the light was fading I turned my car toward home.

 The drive back was not as easy as the drive up. A Patriots Football game at the stadium in Foxboro, a Bruins Hockey game at the Garden in Boston and the early Thanksgiving Travelers clogged all of the road ways in and around Boston. My trip home was over 4 hours compared to the two it took me to get to Maine but it was definietly worth it.

Why Japan?

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Headline: JAPAN TO OFFER THOUSANDS OF FREE AIRFARE TO LURE TOURISTS

Oct 10, 2011…REPORTING FROM SEOUL — Seeking to lure tourists to a nation still reeling from the effects of the March earthquake and tsunami, Japan says it will make it easier for foreign travelers to visit: It’ll offer free airline tickets.

Officials next year plan to offer 10,000 travelers free airfares to visit the country, which is still coping with the tsunami-triggered nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant several hundred miles north of Tokyo. Government officials say the nation is safe for travel anywhere but the area near the stricken nuclear power plant.

The Japan Tourism Agency announced this week that it plans to ask would-be travelers to submit online applications for the free flights, detailing the region of the country they would like to visit, according to a story in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

The agency will select winning entrants, who will be required to write a review of their experiences in Japan to be published on the Internet. Travelers are asked to cover their own hotels and meals.
Officials hope that positive reports from tourists will help lure travelers back to Japan, which endured a 50% drop in tourism for the first three months following the March 11 disaster, compared with numbers from the same period in 2010.

The sharp drop eased this summer but numbers had yet to rise to normal rates, officials said.

The day this hit the news I began to get emails from friends from all over. My co-workers also made sure I heard about it. I admit I’ve never been all that interested in Japan or in visiting the country even though I know a number of people who are fanatics about that area of the world.  But as my friends point out, I am making my humble attempt to write a travel related blog and this would certainly fit the bill for a subject. It’s actually a requirement of being chosen for the tickets. You must write about your experience in a blog.  Obviously there are more  established blogs than mine but many are professional so they might not be interested in free tickets since they are already paid to travel.

I searched for some suggested itinieries and was disappointed in what I could find on-line. They are heavily weighted with shopping, something I am not really interested in. Most of my souvenirs are my photos. I wouldn’t mind visiting a Shaolin Temple and some Japanese Gardens or having a dinner of Kobe beef..said to be the finest in the world. I’ve heard that Mount Fuji is very hard to climb and usually covered in clouds so what are the chances of seeing that?

And that’s where my research stands right now. That’s why I thought I’d toss the idea out for comment. If I should decide to apply I have to include what I want to see and why.

As one of my friends pointed out, an opportuity like this could open doors and lead to more travel opportunities. In that respect it is very appealing. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Last Thoughts for now on Cruising Alaska

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Ok so I went a bit overboard on the stateroom stuff. I sounded like a paid advertisement for Holland America. OOPS! Plus now I know cruise ship cabins are boring! 🙂 But there are just a couple of last points I want to add to this series on the Alaska cruising.

One is the tradition od “dressing for dinner”. Historically dinner in the dining rooms on cruises were a formal affair. There were assigned times for each meal seating such as early or late, maybe 5:30 and again around 7:30. You were assigned to a table that often put strangers together. You sat with the same people throughout your cruise so hopefully you all got along.

The most formal dinner was the Captain’s Dinner when Jacket and Tie if not Black tie was strongly encouraged. Many of the cruise lines are getting away from this. The dining atmosphere is becoming more relaxed and casual. They are using a term “freestyle dining” or cruising which means that you can choose your own seating and the restaurant you want to eat in.

Beware of one thing…not all restaurants are included in the meal plan. Be sure if you chose not to eat in the dining room that the alternate restaurant is one of the inclusive options. If not you will surely have a wonderful meal but there will be a hefty price tag at the end of the meal. This can catch some new cruisers off guard.

On the Alaska Cruises through Holland America two of the dinner seating are formal. However if you don’t want to “dress the part” you can eat in the Lido Cafe which is casual. The same menu is offered as is in the dining room and it is an “inclusive” restaurant so no pricy surprise.

One other thing I made a point to ask about was the plane reservations to get us to the departure port. I had heard all kinds of things about the best way to handle the flights and of course no one agreed on anything so I tossed it out for the agents to answer.

What it boils down to is this: If the flight is booked for you by the cruise line they assume the responsibility to get you to the boat on time. They will assist you if your plane is delayed or your connections missed. If you book your own flight and have a mishap, you are on your own.

If the cruise line can’t get you to the departure port in time due to airline issues then they will be responsible for getting you to the next port of call. If you book the flight yourself, you are on your own.

Now if dollar for dollar the flight was the same cost either way it would be easy to decide . Just let the cruise line handle all the details. The problem is that unlike the “olden times” when cruise lines reserved a block of flights and offered discounted fares, you can now get a better price by booking your flight on your own. Just remember you will be on your own to handle any snafus.

One suggestion is to book your own flight and arrive a day early in your departure city. Use the time to relax, adjust your body clock or sightsee.

According to the “pros” from AAA and Holland America, this will be one of the most expensive vacations most people will take in their life so this is one time they strongly urge that you insure your vacation with trip insurance.

Although I don’t usually buy trip insurance, I expect that I will for this trip because as has been pointed out numerous times in this series of posts..it’s a lot of money!

The Staterooms…Ocean View or Inside???

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post I’m going to share with you what the Holland America Rep told us about the cabins on-board the ship. I did a short cruise to Nassau, Bahama’s at one time and shared an itty-bitty cabin on the inside of the ship. It was ok. We were only in the cabin to sleep at night. During the day if we weren’t ashore we were on the promenade deck or by the pool but Alaska is going to be a bit on the cool side for swimming I would think. They talked more about mittens and scarves than swim suits and tans.

Holland America says they have over 50 years experience cruising Alaska waters which is more than any other cruise line. I admit, if money were no object I would definitely go for a National Geographic Cruise but since that is really “in my dreams” I don’t have any real idea which is the next best line. That said I am now writing about Holland America because they have been the most forthcoming so far. RC (Royal Caribbean) was nice but they just threw so much at me in one phone call that as I said yesterday, I was left feeling very uncomfortable.

So back to the Holland America and the cabin options.

Obviously the most luxurious are the suites with balconies but if we/I am traveling on a budget is this really where we want to spend our money? In the session it sounded like you will be on a deck or in an observation area or on a tour most of the time. Once again cabins are places more for changing clothes and sleeping. The RC counselor was really pushing the ocean view and balconies. Holland America was far more flexible even pointing out that an ocean view can be a disadvantage if you are trying to sleep and the sun is as bright at midnight as it is at noon!

Apparently HA is known for its spacious and luxurious cabins.

The Penthouse Verandah Suite Category PS is the top of the line. At approximately 1160 square ft it’s bigger than my whole 1 bedroom condo which comes in at right around 1000 sq. ft. including my deck! Amenities include:  Bedroom with 1 king-size bed, oversize whirlpool bath and shower and additional shower stall, living room, dining room, dressing room, verandah, pantry,1 sofa bed sleeping 2 persons, DVD player, mini-bar, refrigerator, guest toilet, floor-to-ceiling windows. Although this is nice, I would rather put the extra money toward a shore excursion. This is just a bit too big for my taste on a budget.

Option 2: Deluxe Verandah Suite Category S. Approximately 556 square feet including the verandah.
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 king-size bed, whirlpool bath and shower and additional shower stall, large sitting area, dressing room, private verandah, 1 sofa bed sleeping 2 persons, DVD player, mini-bar, refrigerator, floor-to-ceiling windows. At about 1/2 the size of the premier accommodations I wouldn’t mind this especially, with 2 people. The question is, how much would this one set us back???

Option 3: Superior Verandah Suite Category SS:
Approximately 389 square feet including the verandah
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, sofa bed sleeping 1 person, bathroom with dual sink vanity, full-size whirlpool bath and shower and additional shower stall, private verandah, DVD player, floor-to-ceiling windows, personalized cruise stationery, elegant bathrobes for use on your cruise, fresh flowers and fruit assortment, luxurious beds featuring Sealy Premium Euro-Top mattresses and finely woven cotton linens. Nice  but getting smaller and still includes a verandah.

Option 4: Still with Verandah but getting smaller still: Verandah Suite Categories – A, B, BB, BC
Approximately 292 square feet including the verandah
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, whirlpool bath and shower, sitting area, private verandah, DVD player, mini-bar, refrigerator, floor-to-ceiling windows, personalized cruise stationery, elegant bathrobes for use on your cruise, fresh flowers and fruit assortment, luxurious beds featuring Sealy Premium Euro-Top mattresses and finely woven cotton linens.

I just want to be sure I have a separate bed!

Option 5: Deluxe Verandah Outside Cabin Categories – VA, VB, VC, VD, VE and VF. Approximately 249 square feet including verandah
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, bath and shower, sitting area, private verandah, floor-to-ceiling windows

Option 6….I feel like it’s the incredible shrinking room ! Losing the Verandah now:

Large Outside Cabin Categories – C, D, DD, E, F, G, H and HH
Approximately 197 square feet
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, bathtub and shower, window (Category G, H and HH may have obstructed views on certain ships)

Option 7: Oh Oh..no verandah and no outside ocean view. I wonder what kind of savings we would get with one of these.

Large Inside Cabin Categories – I, J, K, L, M and MM
Approximately 182 square feet
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, shower

Finally the last category. This is what I think I was in when I went to the Bahamas.

Option 8: Standard Inside Cabin Categories – N and NN
Approximately 155 square feet
Amenities include:  2 lower beds convertible to 1 queen-size bed, shower

Have any of you cruised? Anyone with any experience with the cabins?

I checked out the Holland American website a little bit. Most of the information is right there with lots of pictures and virtual tours. The shore excursions are also listed based on the cruise itinerary you will be on. They also list general information about deposits, down payments and so on. Important to know as you line up your financial ducks.

Well, that about covers the rooms/ cabins. Next post I’ll wrap up with some of the finer details such as dress code for dinner and making connections. See you Monday! 🙂