I invite you to join our group experience on Europe’s Danube River this fall as, between October 27 and November 3, we sail northwesterly from Budapest, Hungary to Germany's Bavaria.
Our group departs Logan for Europe on Wednesday evening, October 26. On the 27th we’ll be met by the AmaWaterways team in Budapest and transferred to the spanking new AmaViola. The vessel will be in port in the Hungarian capital for 30-hours, adequate time for us to get a feel for this storied city. Over the rest of the week, we will stop alt locations in Slovakia (its capital of Bratislava), Austria (Linz for Salzburg or the Czech town of Cesky Krumlov) and Bavaria. As with Budapest, we will have an overnight and full-day in stunning Vienna.
This AmaWaterways program provides a perfect opportunity to visit some of the most memorable locations along central Europe’s water highway. Using our vessel for transportation, eating and sleeping, the emphasis is on getting the most out of every destination (no parking & unpacking, no transferring from airport to city, no need to orient oneself). In addition to all on-board meals (with wine and beer at lunch and dinner) and cabin accommodations, sightseeing is included at each port. For those on deposit on or before March 31, 2016, the cost of ship board gratuities is also included!
For more details about this value-laden offer, please scroll through this posting, and contact me by phone (781-325-2553) or by email (edmccourt@travelcoll.com) if you would like more information or would like to place a deposit on this program. I sincerely hope that you will consider joining us.
Sincerely,
Ed McCourt
Ed McCourt
Cabin pricing – AmaViola – Melodies of the
Danube/Budapest to Vilshofen - October 27 to November 03, 2016
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On
deposit by 3/31/16
|
On
deposit after 4/1/16
|
|
Category E
|
[AMA brochure rate: $3099.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
 |
$2599.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid gratuities
(a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$2849.00/person
(basis
2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation.
|
Category D
|
[AMA brochure rate: $3398.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
 |
$2898.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$3178.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation. |
Cabin
pricing – AmaViola – Melodies of the Danube/Budapest to Vilshofen - October
27 to November 03, 2016
|
||
Category C
|
[AMA brochure rate: 3998.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
On
deposit by 3/31/16
|
On
deposit after 4/1/16
|
|
 |
$3498.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$3748.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation.
|
Category BB
|
[AMA brochure rate: $4498.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
 |
$3998.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$4248.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation.
|
Cabin
pricing – AmaViola – Melodies of the Danube/Budapest to Vilshofen - October
27 to November 03, 2016
|
||
Category BA
|
[AMA brochure rate: $4698.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
On
deposit by 3/31/16
|
On
deposit after 4/1/16
|
|
 |
$4198.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$4448.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation.
|
Category AB
|
[AMA brochure rate: $4898.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
 |
$4398.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$4648.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation.
|
Cabin
pricing – AmaViola – Melodies of the Danube/Budapest to Vilshofen - October
27 to November 03, 2016
|
||
Category AA
|
[AMA brochure rate: $5098.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
On
deposit by 3/31/16
|
On
deposit after 4/1/16
|
|
 |
$4598.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$4848.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation. |
Category SUITE
|
[AMA brochure rate: $6298.00/person (basis 2 occupants)]
|
|
 |
$5798.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/person - port taxes
Rate includes prepaid
gratuities (a value of $105.00/p at current EUR-USD exchange rate).
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation and no later than 3/31/16, whichever comes first. |
$6048.00/person
(basis 2-occupants per cabin)
$168.00/p
- port taxes
Gratuities payable on board at participant’s additional expense.
Deposit of $400.00/person due within 7-days of reservation. |
 |
| Kindly click on the "Read more" button on the immediate lower left to view additional program information. |
Sampled Air
Transportation to coincide with River Voyage
AmaViola – Melodies of the Danube/Budapest to Vilshofen – Oct. 27 to Nov. 03, 2016
AmaViola – Melodies of the Danube/Budapest to Vilshofen – Oct. 27 to Nov. 03, 2016
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Once you are on
deposit with AMA Waterways, air arrangements will be made through the cruise
line. AMA Waterways commits to planning
the most comfortable itinerary at the best price possible. When airfare is purchased through AMA
Waterways, at no additional cost, the cruise line provides “airport to river
port” and “river port to airport” transfers.
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Cruise & Air Cancellation
considerations -
The Importance of Insuring your Travel investment
AmaWaterways requires a $400.00 cruise deposit within 7-days of making a reservation. Canceling a reservation after deposit allows for a 50% refund until 121-days before departure (6/28/20216). After that, and until final payment due date (7/29/2016), the deposit is fully non-refundable.
After final cruise payment to AmaWaterways, cancellation penalties raise considerably (e.g. 35% of full payment if cancelled up to 8/28/2016; after that, and until 30-days before sailing, the penalty is 50%, etc. …. ). As previously mentioned, AmaWaterways will secure the most reasonably priced and traveler-friendly air arrangements. To make your reservation and to secure your airfare AmaWaterways requires an air deposit of $350.00. The balance of the airfare is collected at final payment time (7/29/2016). Regardless of when it is cancelled, the airfare deposit is immediately non-refundable.
In light of these cancellation penalties, I strongly urge
you to consider purchasing a travel protection plan. Having said that, I realize that some folks
are to secure such insurance. To address this issue, I am pasting below a Consumer
Reports November 2014 article and video (Should
you buy that travel insurance?). Please
note that, in this article, Consumer Reports paints the travel agent
community in one broad and rather negative stroke. Speaking for my Travel Collaborative peers
and me, we are more professional and consumer-oriented than CR suggests. Nevertheless, CR makes some very good points
about the importance of trip protection insurance.
Should you buy that
travel insurance?
Before you answer that one, ask these six
questions.
If you're booking a holiday getaway, your travel agent will probably ask if you want to protect your purchase with insurance. Travel websites make this option an even easier click-to-buy question.
About one in four travelers buys travel insurance, and
the coverage has improved considerably since the just-the-basics policies of
the 1990's. The terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, added coverage for that
eventuality, and the SARS and H1N1 epidemics made coverage for that standard.
Hurricanes, natural disasters, tsunamis, and civil unrest, such as the Arab
Spring in Egypt, are also covered.
Insurers generally offer three classes of policies:
basic, mid-level, and premium, with the comprehensiveness of coverage and price
increasing accordingly. Cancel-for-any-reason policies give you the most
flexibility.
Travel insurance is a comforting concept, but the
devil is still in the details, and that creates lots of opportunity for sales
representatives to sell you false security. To avoid that, size up the deal by
asking these six key questions.
1. How many choices does the
seller give you? If you buy from a travel agent, you'll probably
be offered only one or two policies from one company, and "best"
typically means best for the travel agent, in
terms of how much of a commission he or she collects on the sale. Online travel
sites also tend to limit your choice.
We like InsureMyTrip.com, which
sells more than 250 polices from 29 different insurance companies. Choice is
important because it allows you to buy as many or as few features as you want.
If you're not sure what you need, use the website’s old-fashioned toll-free
number (800-487-4722) to get precise guidance from one of its agents.
2. Is this insurance too cheaply priced—or
overpriced? Real travel insurance costs 4 to 8 percent of
your prepaid nonrefundable costs. So if your upfront airline tickets, resort hotel, cruise, and/or family tour package charges add up to
$8,000, travel insurance can cost $320 to $640. Travelers over 40, longer
trips, and more comprehensive coverage is priced at the high end. The $10 to
$25 impulse purchase policy is very thin on benefits and may only provide death
benefits, which you don't need if you have economically priced term life insurance.
At the other extreme, watch out for overpriced
policies, which can appear when your travel agent has a captive customer—you.
The best way to know if you're overpaying is to shop around.
3. Can you get a pre-existing medical condition waiver? Trip cancellation (before you leave) and trip interruption
(during your trip) are key reasons for buying insurance, and 80 percent of
claims are related to medical problems. Unexpected injury and illnesses are, of
course, covered. But if you consulted your doctor about a problem 60 to 180
days before your trip and that problem comes home to roost after you buy your
travel, that would be an excludable, pre-existing condition.
To be eligible for a pre-existing medical condition
waiver, buy your travel insurance within 7 to 30 days of making your first
payment for your travel, says Jim Grace, CEO of InsureMyTrip.com. "If
you're 90 years old, get the insurance the same day you buy your trip, just to
play it safe," Grace said.
4. Does the policy provide
health care? If you're traveling overseas, your health insurance may or may not cover your care. If
you're an older traveler, Medicare typically
doesn't cover you outside the U.S., though some Mediigap policies do. So travel
insurance may be a wise buy for its health care benefits, which you can buy as
part of a comprehensive policy or à la carte.
Although most trip cancellation/interruption coverage
requires little or no deductible, travel health care coverage gives you the
option of a zero to $1,000 deductible; of course, the lower the deductible the
higher the premium. Be careful about payout limits, too. Some policies limit
benefits to $10,000, which may not buy much health care.
5. What about medical
evacuation? Medical service is only half of travel health
care equation. The other half is getting to that medical care. The more
adventurous, exotic, and remote your travel is, the more it will cost to
transport you to competent medical treatment. After one female tourist was
attacked by a lion in Zimbabwe and suffered neck, back, and leg injuries, she
needed to be evacuated to Johannesburg, South Africa, for surgery via air
ambulance, then back home to the U.S. on a commercial flight with a rescue
nurse.
A commercial-flight with a rescue nurse can cost
$25,000, while an air ambulance can cost $100,000, depending on where you need
to be picked up and where you have to go with what type of medical crew. You
don't want to pay that bill, and we think medical evacuation coverage is well
worth the price at about $200 to $300 for one trip à la carte and $200 to $250
for an annual plan for frequent travelers.
Your chances of needing such service are remote, of
course. Only 5 in 100,000 travelers require out-of-country medical evacuation,
says Dr. Roberth Wheeler, chief medical officer of On Call International, a
leading provider that arranges for evacuation and care. But 60 million Americans
traveled internationally in 2013, and On Call International helped 10,000 of
them with its 24-hour 365-days-a-year service, which connects to a network of
4,000 medical centers and 500 air ambulance and commercial medical transport
providers worldwide.
6. What don't you need? “Don’t buy insurance that covers small, manageable losses
or only a slice of risk,” Bob Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer
Federation of America, said. For example, losing some of your belongings won’t
break you financially, so keep a close eye on your valuables and be ready to
accept losing less valuable stuff. And if you’re worried about dying in a plane
crash, buy term life insurance, which covers you no matter how you die
as long as your policy is in force, rather than flight insurance, which only
pays benefits if you die in a plane crash and covers you only for the short
time you're flying.[http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/11/should-you-buy-that-travel-insurance/index.htm]
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