Tuesday, August 20, 2013

If all's well that ends well, I won't know until I get there…


At the Paris public transport website RATP, I used the link for the bus service (my departure point and arrival) and the search for a likely direct bus was successful.  I knew that I could enter the bus at the back if I needed to as long as I had a ticket, which I could easily purchase on the main arrival level at St. Lazare station, with no steps to worry about.  I planned to buy 2 bus tickets—1 for use on the return from Le Havre to Paris. 
The #26 bus was direct to/from Paris Est or Nord and to/from St. Lazare—just 1 block from either of those stations. 
A taxi would and could be more than 20 Euros during the times of day of my arrival and departure.  The bus fare @2.50 Euros could be given to the bus driver, all I had to do was to have the exact amount in Euros.  I planned to get some Euros at the Frankfurt central station, as Deutsche Bank ATM"s are available there (this is one the Euro banks that doesn't charge an ATM fee), and I can get change from the hotel clerk at my hotel in Frankfurt.  I also researched the locations of some likely SNCF boutique stores locations in Le Havre. 
I printed out all the above information to put in my envelope with the travel reservation documents. 

My trip planning and reservations made, also the means to get to Southampton from London was assured, best of all, I knew that whatever happened within that 24 hour window of time I had allowed myself, I would  board  the Queen Mary 2 in Southampton and I wouldn't miss my paid for return to the USA.  The worst scenario would be to have only a few hours to spare, and I would lose my 32.50 Pounds advance reservation ($60 approximately).
Yet, I am now sanguine and awaiting my coming adventure—my next post will be when I return, and I'll let you know what happened, till then it's, bon voyage.

 *Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069

Ongoing readers of this comforttravel@less$ blog do become experienced travel experts...

The travel tips I offer my blog readers includes this reminder:  you are the customer and you have a right to expect courteous service within a reasonable wait time—up to an hour and more is not reasonable.  Remember, you are helping other  travelers when you alert travel suppliers that they are not providing good service.
 
Now you too, will know better than to make the train reservations for the Le Havre to Southampton train journey with Rail Europe—they add their own service fee to all fares quoted, and though the time saved included the hassle factor was worth it, the telephone person to person reservations agent also assesses a booking fee. 
 
By booking in person at a SNCF (French railways) boutique store, I know my train reservations to Paris from Le Havre and then Eurostar to London will cost me much less because I'll avoid all the fees—be aware that this year the SNCF website automatically redirects to the Rail Europe USA website, and thus receives a commission from Rail Europe on your dime.
 
 I would suggest that when you travel overseas into unfamiliar cultures and  a language difference, take some wind down time, break for lunch or a snack, and book a rest  stop overnight at your first destination city.  It took me many years to discover that stress level lowers, and a better vacation comes from this break time.  Though it  may take some 3-4 hours to  make your further reservations directly when you are in Europe to get to your 2nd destination city, you can rest assured that there are booths at  all railway stations and some have a sign "English speaking," but if not, train agents are required to get someone who does.         
 
More importantly, keep this in mind:  in France though as well in any other part of Europe, there are the "solidarity marches"—the public employees have a right to strike and they are paid when they are out on strike—unions give public advance notice, which is never less than 1 week prior to the walkout, so that the public will accept the interruption.
 
I know that I only have a 24 hour window to board for my return transatlantic cruise, and I plan to make my train reservations directly at one of the Le Havre SNCF boutique stores for the 1-way Le Havre to Paris and from Paris to London via the Eurostar—I'll get the paper tickets to hold and use when I travel.
 
My online research had acquainted me with the best travel times— I had to take the 8:15 a.m. to connect to the Eurostar to get me to London near the noon hour.  I also determined that to get to Le Havre and return to Paris, I would be arriving at the St. Lazare station and the Eurostar leaves from Paris Nord station.  My arrival in Paris from Frankfurt would be at Paris Est station which is within a few blocks of Paris Nord.  And I had to give myself enough transfer time, whether by taxi or by bus.  The Metro wasn't an option due to the steps going down 3 levels and the Metro line transfers would be more steps up and down—with luggage, I knew it would be best to take street transportation.   In Paris, as in many major cities worldwide the noon hour is a bad time to use  the taxi, it will cost me much more, and the driver may not be in a hurry to get you to your  next train on time.
 
I also looked online for London train times to get to Southampton. 
A previous online query check had found facts about London transport from St. Pancras station (arrival and departure for Eurostar)—to travel to Southampton I needed to board the train at Waterloo station in London.  I had researched facts about London Black cabs (price controlled) versus the private cabs, and some of the sites mentioned that at certain hours of the day  Black cabs were difficult to hail.  But online research again proved useful. 

I used my search engine to ask if there was a bus between those 2 London train stations, and last year when  the Eurostar moved there, bus #59 was set into service by the London Transit Authority, opposite St. Pancras station direct to Waterloo station—also, I found out that I could buy my ticket for Southampton there, or at St. Pancras. 
 
I prefer not to exchange too much money (Dollars for Pounds)—I didn't want to get stuck with Pounds that couldn't be exchanged (a minimum of 10 Pounds to do the exchange to Dollars).  

More research online determined that I could purchase the 1 Oyster transportation ticket for 2.50 Pounds at St. Pancreas Station, directly from the London tourist information center booth right near where I would be exiting the Eurostar.  And credit cards are accepted.
 
See my last post, for the end game, and how I accomplished my planning to remain sanguine about the outcome of my comforttravel@less$ adventure.
 
*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069

The final stretch for the preplanning and booking reservations…


My research for a value hotel in Southampton produced another find—I discovered that I could use the tollfree USA reservations services for Ibis Hotel chain, which happens to be a Mercure brand of 2 star properties—the reservations service was in Canada this time, no language barrier, and no problem re a person to person request for the best rate.
Another thing for my readers to keep in mind, when booking a chain hotel reservation in advance (at least 2-3 weeks prior to arrival), be assured that booking in advance does bring a lower rate at most times of the year (except for high summer season travel). 

I was given a very nice rate, about 10 Pounds less than what was quoted on the independent hotel reservations sites.  And I received an e-mail confirmation while I was still talking to the reservations clerk, the hotel bookings completed, I was ready to start the train reservations process—in an earlier post I noted that I had researched the Rail Europe site re fares and train times that would get me to where I was going in plenty of time to freshen up for dinner.

As you well know, sad as it is nowadays, all reservations tollfree USA call centers are not created equal when considering the wait time in the call queue—my wait time was almost an hour, and the reservations person was rude and dismissed my questions with this notice:  "I am an expert and I know what I have to do"—I decided to call again, because when it comes booking trains also when calling cruise lines directly, the notice in the choice prompts usually includes:  "if you are a travel agent press…"
PLEASE NOTE:  I am not fond of those who push their way into an orderly wait line, but nowadays too many call centers are very understaffed because the employers are bottom line haggling on my dime, and when the travel service provider has no consideration for the customer and wants to add to their profit line, I take this way to protest.  
Remember, you are the customer, you are paying money for good service.
And since I did receive poor service (a long wait time and a rude agent) on the first call, I pressed the prompt given for "travel agent." 
Another tip:  these understaffed call centers have no way of telling whether you are a travel agent or an individual, the wait time usually turns out to be less than if you waited in line as a individual client.  FYI:  If the site asks for your IATA number the call center has no way of checking, even if you key in any number with your choice of IATA digits, or not bother at all, be assured of this:  the IATA number is solely for the application of commission, if it's incorrect, that will only come up when the accounting department takes over and you will have added to their profit factor, since they won't have to pay out a dime from your dime. 
My call went through in record time (30 minutes), and she was a very nice accommodating agent who made my bookings as we spoke.  She got me some special prices that are only available in their systems, I booked a departure from Hamburg to Frankfurt 1st class at a coach rate, and I used my list of train times to make all the bookings to get me to Le Havre with time to check in and freshen up for  a good dinner—see my next post for an almost final wrap up.    

*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069

An almost, re a hotel reservation electronic glitch, wasn't what I thought…


My credit card company had already marked the charge converted into in Euros—the pending charge ID was from the Mercure hotels, and I was reassured that I had a good price directly from hotel chain which assured their liability honor it.
I still wanted some kind of e-mail with a confirmation of my rate quote, and I requested that I be connected to a supervisor. 

Reservation call centers have a chain of command, and if there's a problem, a customer has right to go up the chain of command to resolve any problem.  All reservations call centers have computer systems that will note who I called and when, and I knew that the clerk had no option but to connect me.  It took a while but my request was honored, and I was told that I could expect an e-mail directly from the Mercure Basin Hotel in Le Havre so confirming it.  The e-mail I needed came directly from the hotel in Le Havre and was in my e-mail box within 2 hours.  And 24 hours later, I received the original confirmation booking from the reservations call center in the Philippines.

After all of this, I was exhausted, but I wanted to finish up with the last of my necessary hotel reservations—this one for an overnight in Southampton on Oct. 7.
I wanted a hotel within a comfortable walking distance to the Queen Mary cruise departure port and I wanted some amenities, but I was willing to book a 2 star rated hotel, as I knew that in the UK 2 star ratings offered some amenities and also a good price—I used my method of researching online with my search engine query, this time, hotels in Southampton, England.  I came up with a number of independent hotel booking sites, and I chose 2 of the best known sites (all had the same results and prices as I expected) when I entered my  arrival and departure information.

See my next post for a wind up of the hotel reservations, and my train reservations without a glitch.
*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069

My readers reap the benefit of my experience as a CTC certified travel professional…

From some not so pleasant past outcomes re booking travel reservations, I also knew that I would be better off reserving directly with the representatives of the hotel chain.  I was expecting confirmation with a Supplier credit card ID attached to my purchase which indicates I paid, and an e-mail confirmation for my booking specifying the rates quoted. 
The reservations clerk told me I couldn't book this special price online, to obtain the price quoted I would have to give her my credit card information.  She assured me that I would receive an immediate rate confirmation by e-mail.  I was wary.  If I booked online I could keep a copy of the web page reservations, but the price was too low to resist.  I asked if I could cancel, and she told me that was why I was offered the discounted price, which made sense—from my many years of writing travel writing and about hotels and tour offerings worldwide, I knew that most hotels want to count on a certain number of rooms filled at certain times. 

I complied, gave her my credit card number, and the booking was made, and I told the reservationist to hang on while I checked for the e-mail. 
 
When I didn't received it, I told her that I wanted to cancel the reservation, which she said was not an available option—and let this be a lesson learning for my readers, especially when booking with an independent online Hotel reservations site—in this case, I also knew that by dealing with Mercure directly, the charge would show up on my credit card with their supplier ID. 
 
PLEASE NOTE:  If this had happened with a hotel reservations service, I would have a problem as to the liability of the hotel chain re the discount price quoted—see my next post for the electronic glitch outcome…
*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069

Hotel reservations in Le Havre electronic glitch…


Keep in mind, it took me years of wrong turns and stormy seas to find out what I offer to you when you continue reading this comforttravel@less$ blog—a how to enjoy your vacation no matter what goes wrong, count yourself lucky that you can take some time off from life's cares to get away from the sameness of same days on end.

After completing the booking logistics for my overnight in Frankfurt, I did have to decide on which hotel to book at my rest up destination, Le Havre. 
I kept in mind that I aimed to avoid uncertainty about what services I could expect, and I searched for French hotel chains—I chose Mercure Hotels—their brand is well known in France and other destination countries worldwide—this chain brand does guarantee certain service features that include a hotel room with amenities commensurate with the 4 star rating.  And from my online search, I determined that Mercure had a USA reservations number.

I was glad that I could make my inquiries person to person—I've found out from previous experience that the intricacies of booking online will make it harder to spot some factors that would discourage me from staying at a hotel. 
 
According to the online research I did, this hotel is within a block of the train station.  I knew that I would be arriving by train, and I could call to find out if I could obtain a better price for booking for 5 days—though first, I had to determine the going price for comparable hotels in Le Havre.  The best way to do this is to get on to the popular hotel booking sites—I used my search engine's inquiry for "Le Havre, France hotels"—and I checked each listing re the dates I needed, then I found that all of them had a comparable price. 

My next step, a call to the Mercure USA reservation center tollfree number.
And subsequently, I discovered that this call center was in the Philippines—the reservationist spoke English, but textbook, and not colloquial English.  As we spoke I had to repeat my booking dates, and I was wary of a possible language barrier.  I asked to be connected to the lead agent, she asked me to wait, and when she returned, she offered me a discounted price in American dollars at a $40 savings for each of 2 of the 5 days that I wanted, and $20 each discount for the other 3 days. 
Of course, I knew that the price would be converted into Euros when I paid my credit card company (the price on the other sites was also quoted in Dollars)—although I didn't check as to whether I could obtain a better price for a 5-day stay, I knew that I would be dealing with a middle man, not directly with the Mercure chain—see my next post for more about an electronic glitch experience.
 
*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069

I also offer travel advice for type "A" personalities…


In this posting, I'm taking a break from detailing more about my hotel reservations, to remind my readers that keeping your stress level to a minimum creates the best travel experience—for every personality, my advice will add to your comforttravel@less$.
You don't have to be a type "A" personality to plan a vacation carefully, in fact, if you are such a person, then you should devote enough time to do all you can to insure that your bookings will accomplish your purpose, which is to have a hassle free vacation.  There's only one problem, traveling anywhere entails uncertainty.  But then if you want certainty in life, there isn't any. 

The uncertainty of unexpected events, crises, all things in life are out of an individual's control—let me reassure all type "A" personalities, if you do your travel planning as I suggest, then put your mind at ease—when planning a trip, or a vacation, and doing all I can to insure that it will be a good one, lowers my pre-trip stress level. 

Then when something goes wrong, as it will and does in our everyday lives, I accept that this Murphy's Law (if something can go wrong it will), whatever happens will be out of my control, but I do whatever is necessary to right my metaphorically overturned boat and take steps to keep my balance in a sea of stormy waters.
Read my next post, I'll be back to my travel plans, and what I thought might be some electronic glitches, but I'll come back bushy tailed to tackle life on life's terms—though my next post will get down to basics, and more about the process of completing my travel plans.
*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069
Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/haunting-paradise-taxi/id666549806 ; Sony;Kobo

When making a travel booking research pays off…


The fact that the neighborhood adjacent to the central station and my Choice Hotel, The Clarion Collection, is a red light district came up when I did the research, re possible noise factor for room overlooking the district—I found that by requesting a corner room, I could avoid this possible interference with my sleep.  This wasn't a problem for me, I have been in Frankfurt before, and I know the red light district is patrolled by the police—not because there are problems, the women who conduct their business want police protection handy.  These women maintain shop front windows to advertise to prospective clients. 
Engaging in prostitution is Frankfurt, Germany, is a legal business endeavor without any measurement of the morality.  These are businesses that pay taxes to the city of Frankfurt.  The city of Amsterdam has a similar district, and I've been there too—in both of these cities many tourists walk by in the daylight hours to see the store front displays of mostly beautiful women who sit comfortably aware that they are on view, they charge top price for their services, which are government controlled re health screenings and rate scale.

I was able to secure a good price plus the ability to cancel up to 24 hours prior to my reservation—I also was expecting that if I gave my credit card information, I would get an immediate e-mail acknowledgement with a list of service and features I could count on—and when I researched restaurants within walking distance, I found one featuring prime steaks at a very reasonable price, and I e-mailed the hotel directly (I obtained the address from the USA reservations) and asked them to book me a dinner reservation, also I asked for a corner room. 
And I received an overnight courteous reply overnight, re the restaurant reservation I wanted, and that my request for a room location was noted. 

More about the other hotels I choose, and my train reservations in my next post.

*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069
Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/haunting-paradise-taxi/id666549806 ; Sony;Kobo

A primer about the choosing of a hotel…


Traveling is matter of pruning common sense toward the skeptical about what services are offered without a place to a corporate reputation to protect.  To complain about the dishonest representation of a hotel's services, it's a mistake to be dependent on the hotel that may not care about their reputation.  Whenever traveling either in the USA or overseas, I have found that hotel standards can be more easily determined by consulting a chain hotel's website for information re any hotel that is listed—look at the services provided, and what is guaranteed, the cancellation policy and special prices that may be available during certain times of year or days of the week. 
There is always a USA tollfree number for a person to person questioning, which may not be available for a hotel that is not affiliated with a chain franchise or direct ownership by the chain corporation—even hotels that are owned by a franchise group have to maintain the corporate standards and guarantees. 

Though, when overseas, it may be tempting to book a very picturesque private property, keep in mind that what is stated on the website or recommendation site may or may not be accurate.  If you don't mind a bad night's stay because you are moving on to another destination, then there's no problem.

Keep in mind that individual properties offer lower prices for longer stays, and to book a lower price you will have to book more than 1 night.  In my case, re booking a hotel in Frankfurt, where I plan to travel to from Hamburg so that I can adhere to my comforttravel@less$ without sacrificing serenity and a rest from traveling several hours by train meant using a chain hotel with a tollfree USA reservation service.  My plan to depart for Paris re a direct train from there at 8:15 a.m., allows me the luxury of choosing a hotel within walking distance to the Frankfurt's central station.

From my research online, I discovered that I could get the services I want (private bathroom and room service if I want it, decent size room, 24 hour telephone service to the front desk, and a wakeup call + coffee maker) at the corporate chain Choice Hotels.  I plan to wheel my luggage to this city within a city, the huge Hauptbahnhof, without a hassle—I was watching the price considering the competition for 3 star hotels within proximity to my point of departure for Paris, and I noticed that the Choice Hotel chain had a 3 star rating but the amenities were in my opinion worth a 4 star rating, with coffee maker in the room and small beverage refrigerator + room was a decent size with private bathroom also blow dryer for hair.

See my next post for more discoveries that I made about my choice of a Choice Hotel in Frankfurt.   

*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069
Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/haunting-paradise-taxi/id666549806 ; Sony;Kobo

the bugaboo, prepaid train tickets, and more…


Insofar as my experience with travel planning, the biggest problem I have encountered is this perpetual quandary:  should I make train reservations when getting somewhere within a certain period of time is crucial.  This is the first quandary that beset me in this back to back transatlantic cruise on the Queen Mary 2.   With only 8 days to spare in-between the cruises, I didn't have any time to spare re standing on line queues that are always packed with eager travelers who have waited to make their plans until the last minute, or who needed to make changes to reservations that may or may not be changeable. 

I had to choose to make my train reservations keeping mind that I wanted to have comforttravel@less$, which meant advance reservations at better prices.  Let me be clear, I am never happy with cementing travel plans that may necessitate cancellation, and this having to pay in advance makes me leery of what I will lose if my plans are incorrect. 

The fact is that there is no way to avoid advance planning if there is a set time for travel to be completed and for a return back home. 

Though, to keep your losses (and there well may be some) to a minimum, setting up the hotels (or other places to stay) is a necessity.  And for my blog readers, please note, that I am making these travel advice postings that happen to coincide with my current transatlantic cruise in short spurtsreading a talking head giving advice is tiresome for me, so I assume this applies to my readers too—read more about my hotel reservations in the next post.
*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.

**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069
Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/haunting-paradise-taxi/id666549806 ; Sony;Kobo

Saturday, August 17, 2013

I make mistakes, too…

Needless to say, I make mistakes, too, and I knew I was barking up the wrong tree—in this case taking a ferry to a small English town with 1 train daily was unacceptable.  Especially when I considered that the Ferry might be late, and I'd be stranded there unable to get the train until the following date late in the p.m., well after the Queen departed without me.  But I decided that Le Havre was the perfect comforttravel@less$ rest up from train travel that would be stressful re luggage, keeping to train schedules, and having to find the right departure track in Hamburg's central station.     

I started the next leg of my logistics plan, making the reservations for hotels and trains, from square 1, which was my landing in Hamburg.

First, I had to determine whether I could get a train to Paris from which major German city.  Le Havre.  As I determined from more online research, and though I knew nothing about Hamburg's cruise port, as I discovered, Hamburg built a newer more accommodating port for ships as big as the Queen—instead of Altoona which is a distance from Hamburg city, further on down the channel Hamburg opened a huge city-like cruise port that they call cruise center HaffenCity. 
I looked for an online map (Google obliged) to show me how I'd get from there to Hamburg's central train station.   I saw that with luggage, and my need for comfort, I had to take a taxi.  More research online helped me determine that the cost wouldn't be excessive as Hamburg city is just about 15-20 minutes away from HaffenCity.  I looked online for some information about Hamburg taxi fares, and  determined that 20 Euros would be about the most it would cost.  I could have opted for the commuter train as the train station is within walking distance, but I intended to keep my stress level low, and I'm was going to negotiate steps to get down into the station with my luggage. 

More online research helped me determine that that Hamburg's central station is now also city-like in its scope— Hauptbahnhof (central station) is a new and glorious German engineering creation for what they like to think of as their 21st century city.  And I knew that I needed to find out which Germany city had a direct connection to Paris.  The only city was Frankfurt, and it was possible to get there early enough to overnight. 

To keep my comfort level, I knew better than to try to travel all day and into the night to get to Paris.   I also looked at the train schedule from Frankfurt to Paris to Le Havre, a city within 2 hours of Paris and determined that I could leave for Paris at 8 a.m. or close to that hour, arrive in Paris at Paris Est train station.  From there, I would have to find a way to get to the station (St. Lazare) that had direct trains to Le Havre. 

This part of my preplan was important, because the hassle of traveling by train with luggage can be stressful—my aim remained the comforttravel@less$ , and it was necessary to make the train reservations as soon as possible to get the best fare—Rail Europe offered me a way to have my paper tickets in hand to take with me in my travel documents carrier.  I wanted something that I could put around my neck and have the conveyance of reaching for what I needed without rummaging for it in a carryon or backpack, and I put this item on my "buy for trip" list.  
I linked on line to the Rail Europe website that I had bookmarked in my favorites, from there I found the trains and schedules and picked which trains would be appropriate, then I took a break to figure out the next step in my preplan process—see my next post for more.

*Check out my Authors Guild maintained website to find out all about my me, read another one of my blogs, find links to my other blogs, and the books that I have written, also a way to contact me with your comments.
Check out my other Authors Guild maintained website to find out about my upcoming E-book travel guide series.
 
**I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069
Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/haunting-paradise-taxi/id666549806 ; Sony;Kobo

Friday, August 9, 2013

Travel plans can often take time


*A MESSAGE FOR MY READERS:  I will be away from mid-August through October and I am setting out several posts that will have the same date which can be read as if posted at different times.

The thrust of this post how to achieve comforttravel@less$—travel plans can often take time, but trust me when I say that every moment spent is worthwhile—though of course my NO MORE HOTELS (TM) E-book destination city series will make it almost effortless to do this preplanning.  In these destination city E-books—I intend to present the logistics of the preplan process for my readers.  My reader can then access the internet (either on their reader, or laptop/desktop computer, to link on to the websites I suggest as best for making preplans.  The first of these E-books No More Hotels In Paris is in the writing and research process—and I expect this book to be ready in time for vacation high season next year.  Keep checking out my website http://www.nomorehotels.org for information and follow this blog for my progress.

Now, how to tackle preplanning logistics, as I did for this voyage on the Queen that needed doing for comforttravel@less$, and to get all of my hotel reservations, train tickets + determine where to rest up, it took me 6 days.  I spent a few hours at a time to accomplish small portions of research online and then a few hours on the phone. 

Here's what I did. 

Keep in mind that I want value for my money, and to get it, I had to preplan smart, which means I had to know my final destination from the cruise port—Southampton for the return voyage on October 8.  I had 8 days to get there.  Yet, I didn't want to stay in Paris where I could get the Eurostar to London and from there get to Southampton, I wanted to stay somewhere close enough to allow me to leave the day before October 8, and spend October 7 overnight in Southampton to be ready to board the Queen at 12 noon.

I looked online for a map of France, as I determined that I needed to be in the proximity of Paris, but find a restful relaxing 7 days. I also was thinking about taking a ferry to Southampton from somewhere in France.  But this turned out to be a bad idea, once I did more online search and determined that a ferry to Southampton was chancy.

AND NOW my readers, take a break, and see my next post to find out how I settled on the better way.
 

* *I am a multitask writer, as I am also in the process of writing my latest fiction novel, Book II, PARIS WARP Jousting Devils And Dragons but this is a trilogy which explores the supernatural as it exists in tandem with the world as we know it.  The trilogy starts with Book I, The Haunting And Paradise Taxi/print ISBN 9780615685434 print also available as E-book Nook Smashwords Edition ISBN 9780989053600 BarnesandNoble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-haunting-and-paradise-taxi-cynthia-lynn/1114061302?ean=2940044602069 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/haunting-paradise-taxi/id666549806 ; Sony;Kobo /Sony/Kobo). Check out my websites maintained by Authors Guild: http://www.cynthialynn.org  and   http://www.nomorehotels.org  .