Travis to Europe (including info on N...

Author Message   Christi Meyer Member Username: Cmeyer Post Number: 35 Registered: 01-2009 Posted From: 70.174.115.204 Posted on Monday, June 21, 2010 - 04:34 pm:    $694 for 2 first class tickets to Venice.... Another option is a Eurail pass. You can get one that covers 3 countries, first class, good for 5 days w/i 2 months for $355 pp (super saver pass- requires the 2 people to travel together). You could do RT to Venice plus another 3 days of train travel for $710. But you do have to buy them in the states.   Cindy Gardner Intermediate Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 63 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 32.177.98.247 Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 10:10 pm:    Hi Brenda! Good to hear from you. Glad you had a good experience in Europe this past Oct. I think the fact that the checker whispered that it was OK to buy in the BX, was telling. Just this past March we were shown the posted reg. where it states if you're in Germany 30+ days you can buy at the BX. Otherwise the German gov. wants you to pay the VAT tax. A checker let us thru w/our purchases too, but that was a kindness not an official sanction. However, we are authorized to buy from any of the mall vendors b/c we pay a tax there. Hope to see you on another SpaceA trip soon. Smiles, Cindy   Brenda LaDell Intermediate Member Username: Blladell Post Number: 138 Registered: 09-2007 Posted From: 70.174.45.135 Posted on Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 07:04 pm:    Hi Cindy... I see you guys did it... good for you. Sounds great. One thing when we were at Ramstein in Oct.... I had no problem buying stuff in the mall as long as my husband was not with me and I just showed my dependent card... I was looking for a pair of walking shoes and the clerk wispered in my ear that it would not be a problem when she heard me telling my husband I did not think we could buy them... turns out.. they did not fit so I did not buy anyway.. Thought that interesting   Earl Senior Member Username: Myramstein Post Number: 713 Registered: 11-2007 Posted From: 173.107.104.97 Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 02:16 pm:    Cindy, great help and thank you very much. Good luck in the space-a world and we all hope to see you one day out there.   John D. Moderator Username: John_d Post Number: 4146 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 95.208.80.143 Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 11:41 am:    Katie, Thanks to your fellow Space-A travelers (Vic and Connie) there is an updated off-base lodging list available from Spacea.net's Ramstein Wiki Page. Depending on how far the lodging is I'd say a taxi would run around 15 Euro average.   Cindy Gardner Intermediate Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 53 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 151.58.49.190 Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 09:30 am:    Hi Katie, We've never had to go to town for a hotel. Central Registration has always been able to place us somewhere.. either on base at one of the 6 facilities, or at Vogelweh or Landstuhl. If necessary, I'm sure they would give you the names of off-base housing. Sincerely, Cindy   Cindy Gardner Intermediate Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 52 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 151.58.49.190 Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 09:26 am:    Hi Earl, We’ve stayed at the Cercle National des Armies (French Officers Club) three times before this trip. It’s in a great location, close to the Arc de Triumph and the Chalysee Elysee. The rooms are clean, the staff speaks English, and each floor has a display of the officer corp uniforms. It’s all very interesting. There are several restaurants in the vicinity so you don’t have to pay extra for meals there. When there last year breakfast was $12.00/pp. It was a beautiful buffet, but for half that price we could eat eggs/toast & coffee up the street. The price per night for the standard dbl room is E121.00 at this time. Not including any meals. You have to have a reciprocal club card in order to stay there. You don’t need a letter from the club, just show them your membership card. Now for the information: Phone: 00 33 1 44 90 27 28 Email: hotel@cnaparis.com Web site: www.cnaparis.com Address: 8 Place St Augustin I hope this helps Earl. Please feel free to contact me if I can help in any way. Sincerely, Cindy   Cindy Gardner Intermediate Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 51 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 151.58.49.190 Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 09:24 am:    Hi Wes, I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner. We were w/o Wi-Fi on our 12 hr train trip today. Regarding the train To Venice, the cost was $694.00 for two 1st class tickets. RTT did the booking for us at no cost. The trip involved 3 train changes (Mannheim, Basel, and Milano) We booked our own accommodations in Venice. We had stayed at this same hotel in 2006. It's actually a convent. The price for a double standard room, including breakfast, is E135.00. The location if just off the Grand Canal by the Accademia. Name: Centro Don Orione Email is: info@donorione-venezia.it Web site: http://www.donorione-venezia.it Phone: 0039-0415224077 We highly recommend this clean, quiet, centrally located hotel. It's not fancy at all.. just reasonably priced :-) As far as the cell phone goes, we didn't even look in the base exchange for one. Knowing we couldn't purchase anything there dampened our shopping excitement. However, we did notice that cell phones were sold in the hallway at a kiosk. I'm sorry but I don't know if they have the 'disposable' kinds or not. If they do, you can buy from them. All the venders, other than the BX/PX, Commissary, & Shopette will sell to us retirees. Another option is a Phone Card. They are for sale in a machine in the main Mall by the Ramstein Inn. You can purchase different denominations. Please let me know if I didn't answer all of your questions. I'm happy to help in any way I can. Sincerely, Cindy Gardner   Katie Daily Member Username: Kdes Post Number: 20 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 76.195.72.171 Posted on Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 03:33 pm:    If no base lodging is available at the Ramstein Inn, are there hotels in town that are reasonable? How much would a taxi be into town?   Carole G Member Username: Greengal Post Number: 28 Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 209.164.190.31 Posted on Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 06:54 am:    Cindy, Thanks for the report on the new Ramstein Inn. I look forward to seeing it in Sept and hopefully staying there. Your information was very informative and helpful. Have a wonderful trip. I would love to hear your report on Paris and Venice. Each person has different information. Safe and Happy Travels   Bob Dart Senior Member Username: Bobdart Post Number: 1370 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 76.29.20.95 Posted on Thursday, March 18, 2010 - 01:04 am:    Cindy, I stayed there last week and I must say that you have provided a very concise description that will be a huge help to anyone who hasn't been to Ramstein before.   Earl Senior Member Username: Myramstein Post Number: 699 Registered: 11-2007 Posted From: 173.104.255.19 Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 10:21 pm:    Cindy, thanks for the Ramstein information. I liked your idea of going on a hop with no destination in mind and ending up at Ramstein and elsewhere. What did you think of the Cercle National des Armées?   Cindy Gardner Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 50 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 80.148.21.245 Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 08:07 pm:    When we left home we didn’t have a clear destination in mind. We just wanted to go on a SpaceA trip, however, the way our flight’s lined up seemed like fate. All flights pointed to Ramstein Germany. Our journey started at Travis on Sunday 3/14. We were two of 11 selected for 73 seats on a C5 to Charleston. Of course the C5 broke down & our departure was delayed several hours. As SpaceA travelers know, the standing joke is: “If you see 4 C5’s out on the flight line, and 3 of them are on jacks, what does that tell you? It tells you they ran out of jacks”. 30 min. after arriving at Charleston we were two of 8 selected for 10 seats on a C17 to Ramstein Germany. I spent the time waiting for take off calling the central reservations number at Ramstein (011-49-6371-45-4920 (DSN 480-4920)) to book a room at the brand new Ramstein Inn. It’s not easy getting rooms at the Ramstein Inn, but it certainly is a blessing if you do. We felt so very fortunate to have secured 3 nights lodging. Normally after arrival at RMS we would walk 2 miles, ck in, then get a cab to base housing. This time all we had to do was walk out of the terminal, cross the street, and enter this beautiful Vegas-hotel style lobby. NOTE: This was supposed to be the begining of my previous post.....Sorry ~Cindy Gardner (LCDR John Gardner, USN retired) I’m happy to answer questions at ccgardner@earthlink.net   Cindy Gardner Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 49 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 80.148.21.245 Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 07:58 pm:    This was in error. See my new post please. For some reason I'm having trouble getting this entire Trip Report on.   Cindy Gardner Member Username: Cindy_gardner Post Number: 47 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 80.148.21.245 Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 07:46 pm:    Everyone now registers at the Inn across from the terminal. If you’re housed elsewhere on base you can then use the shuttle or take a cab to your billeting. Ramstein AFB is so large that they have 7 different lodging facilities scattered around the base. This Inn is the newest one. Because all of these buildings combined can not house the immense number of transient troops, flight personnel, and military travelers, more housing is located off base in the towns of Vogelweh (314-489-8910 (DSN) com: 06-3135468900) & Landstuhl (314-491-4600 (DSN) com: 06-371-907-4600). We’ve stayed at both places before & this is by far the handiest. Not to mention modern, wi-fi equipped, and well appointed. To make the 350 room Inn even more promising, they built a mall, housing the entire base shopping facility, surrounding the hotel. The RTT travel office is here, offering train tickets, tours, and general travel assistance. RTT = 49-0-6371-46360; www.rtttravel.com The mall is huge… several wings & 2 floors, with this Inn as the cornerstone. The BX/PX is here, barbershop, Shopette + all the other military stores. Then there are restaurants, including the Macaroni Grill and Johnny Rockets, the usual food court, a HaufBrau, a Sports Grille that has a buffet breakfast ($8.99), a bakery, florist, souvenir shops, furniture store, jewelry store, and a 4 screen movie theater. We are so lucky to be housed here instead of the car-dependent outskirts where food and amenities are miles away. We’ve been there, done that, & it wasn’t easy. This is easy! As I mention, booking a room requires a rabbit’s foot for luck. First, SpaceA’ers can only book 24 hrs in advance. Second, of the 9 floors of this Inn, 5 floors are dedicated to Flight Personnel. These rooms are bought & paid for, in advance, by AMC for Crew Rest. The other 3 floors are open, including 6 DV quarters, to active-duty personnel, & if space is available, to the retirees. DV quarters are booked separately by calling Base Protocol. Retirees staying less than 31 days in Europe are not allowed to shop at the BX/PX or Shoppette in Mall. However, all restaurants, the food court, and all other stores are available to us. The Commissary, a 10 minute walk from the Inn, is likewise off limits. The mess hall on base is available to retirees on weekends. Our 3 days are up here at the Ramstein Inn, so we need to move on. Our friends, Jim/Linda Sereyko, flew in from Elmendorf AFB (via Stewart, Dover, & Spangdalem) to join us on this adventure. We decided to take the train tomorrow morning to Venice. We’ll stay there 6 nights, then board a train for Paris. We were able to get rooms at the Cercle National des Armées (French Officers Club) in Paris. You do need a reciprocal club card membership in order to stay there. Their phone = 00 33 1 44 90 27 28. Cost is E121. for a double standard room. We booked this accommodation ourselves by calling direct, but we went to the RTT office to book all our train tickets. Other R&R Travel readers have already reported on their trips to Italy and Paris, so I’ll close this chapter of our travels. I really only wanted to spread the word about the Ramstein Inn. I hope everyone has an opportunity to stay here. ~Cindy Gardner (LCDR John Gardner, USN retired) I’m happy to answer questions at ccgardner@earthlink.net