1. Especially in winter, keep an hour-by-hour phone check with the cruise ship, tour bus and/or airline to get latest possible delays or cancellations due to weather.

2. Before you leave home, keep getting current info with your travel or insurance agent for understanding your coverage on various possibilities. This could include illness that prevents you from meeting travel schedules, insurance coverage if there’s cancellation by the airline/cruise line because of weather. Also be aware of carrier liability insurance against loss or damage of your checked luggage.

3. If you have ongoing medical conditions that require you to carry prescription drugs, always have a letter from your physician with you detailing medical conditions and specific prescriptions in effect. If your trip is more than a day or two, carry copies of prescriptions in case you need refills along your trip.

Are you old enough to remember the old railroad ditty, to the tune of "Humoresque":

"Please refrain from urination
While the train is in the station.
Have respect for railway property,
But, if you feel that you oughta,
Kindly ask the nearest porter
To take you to the lavatory."

We did a last-minute buy on an off-season cruise that was a great bargain, and when we checked aboard for cabin assignments, we were happily surprised when the purser bumped us up to a suite on an upper deck.

One of the perks was that we had our own personal cabin attendant, a guy dressed as a butler. We had never experienced such service before, and felt a bit intimidated when he always seemed to be around to fulfill our every need.

The all-inclusive ones are more attractive to us now because we’re in our 80s. Most of our travels lately have been aboard cruises, and all have been very enjoyable. When we first retired, we were in our still-vigorous 60s, and it was often fun to fly to Paris, London or Rome, rent a hotel or b&b room and, on an independent schedule, make our way around on foot and local transportation to find food, sights and entertainment.

We did it dozens of times, including several leisurely hike and bus trips through Europe, Canada and South America. Our only baggage was wheeled carry-ons and a small backpack each. With a well-thumbed guidebook and absolutely no plans, we stopped at b&bs, ate in small, out-of-the-way cafes/delis and did whatever we felt like doing at the moment. We had a blast, and we've never regretted it.