Underplanning In Disney's drive to increase profit centers, the company has changed its basic theme park experience. Now every visitor must plan somewhat or pay a price. To eat at the best sit-down restaurants or enjoy a character meal, you must make reservations 60 days in advance or else face a lack of availability.…
Some of the most ballyhooed experiences in travel involve journeying to lofty heights—from skiing in the Rocky Mountains to hiking in the Andes and trekking up the Himalayas. But the low levels of oxygen and barometric pressure at increased elevations can cause altitude sickness (aka acute mountain sickness), which feels more like a hangover than…
All-inclusive resorts can keep budgets from ballooning—the pervasive risk of all multigenerational trips. But when everything's included, it’s not a problem when the grandkids want more windsurfing, or when teens grab second helpings of lobster.
The upscale Grand Velas Riviera Maya (pictured above), a luxury resort on 206 acres in Mexico, delivers good food and a sense…
We were in France on a summer vacation and everything was going wrong—really, really wrong. One of my daughters, who had broken her ankle just before the trip, was using a rental wheelchair that had fallen into a canal (long story) and sunk to the bottom, never to be seen again, along with our €600…
Americans, do you ever feel like the expectation to tip every worker you encounter has spun out of control? When baristas expect 20% to shove a muffin across the counter at you, or when you have to bus your own tray but your cashier still expects an honorarium for merely collecting your payment, it's only…