Travelers' Intercom

The letter titled “Private Shore Tours” (April ’10, pg. 14) was written by a traveler with a preference for taking independently arranged excursions as opposed to ones purchased from a cruise ship.

My response — the benefit of booking tours directly through the ship can be summarized in a few words: the ship’s staff knows where you are.

Although saving money is, indeed, a virtue, there certainly are hazards inherent in going on your own.

In the western Caribbean with Costa Cruises three years ago, I made arrangements through the ship to take an excursion out of Cozumel...

In our 40 years of travel, my wife, Arnette, and I have never had a more perfectly planned and executed trip than our five-country, five-week independent East Africa experience, July 27-Aug. 28, 2009.

Julie of Tribes Travel, Ltd. (12 Business Centre, Earl Soham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK; phone 01728 685971), planned the trip. The dramatic feature was NO glitches for any day of the trip. You will be in good hands with her planning.

We visited Rwanda and its gorillas plus Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Malawi. The tour cost, not including international airfare, was $41,062 for...

I read the letter titled “India Travel Tips” (Dec. ’10, pg. 51) and strongly disagree with most of the advice given on what not to eat and drink.

I’m a senior traveler. In 1990 I spent three months traveling all over India on a railpass. For all my train journeys, I always filled up my water bottle at the public fountain, just like everyone else; I did not buy bottled water. At the zoo I bought cups of ice water. I didn’t get sick from that either! I stayed at youth hostels, YMCAs and YWCAs and ate local fare, including lettuce, tomatoes and veggies.

Now, due to the “rock...