Ask Us Anything: Do We Worry About Being Ripped Off in Foreign Markets? How Do We Find Cheap Cruises? Is a Northern Lights Cruise Worth it?

Also, do we fight? And how often do we go home?

This is a regular column where we answer your travel-related questions. If you ask nicely, we might even answer your non-travel-related ones too!

Have a question for a future column? Ask it here.

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Do you worry about getting ripped off at foreign markets? — Monica

Public markets where the locals shop? I one hundred percent do not worry about getting ripped off there.

I spend a lot of time in local markets, buying produce and the like, and my experience is that most vendors are scrupulously honest. I try hard to understand foreign currencies, but I occasionally get confused. But even when I do, the vendor always counts things out down to the penny, drachma, or baht — even calling me back if they haven’t finished giving me all my change.

I shopped here dozens of times and felt like I was always treated with complete honesty.

In those instances, it would have been so easy for that person to simply pocket the extra money, but they never do. Indeed, I now think I’m much more likely to be overcharged at a grocery store.

My answer is a bit different if I’m shopping in a market that caters to a lot of tourists. In these places, you can absolutely be ripped off. But the remedy to that is to shop around before buying anything and become very familiar with local prices.

Brent likes to tell a story about how he was looking for a new leather belt in Istanbul. In the famous Grand Bazaar, the belt he wanted cost $20 USD. But the shops right outside the Bazaar sold the exact same belt for $10. And in the market near our apartment, where the locals shopped, it cost $2, and this is where he finally bought the belt.

In tourist markets, Brent and I will also sometimes haggle with vendors, at least if the local custom expects it. But we don’t get too worked up about any of this. We don’t want anyone thinking we’re rubes, but come on: these are often extremely poor countries, and we’re comparatively rich Americans. If we get ripped off now and then, we’re still coming out far, far ahead.

— Michael

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You recently did four back-to-back cruises for a total of eight weeks at sea. Will you do so many cruises back to back again? And how do you find the cheap prices? — Georganna H., Mike, and others

I, Brent, absolutely want to! I’ve written before how, after a certain time at sea, I get in a certain “zone” — eating well, working out regularly, and loving the “media detox” that comes from not having constant media access.

But Michael is less convinced. He says he’s done for a while.

Brent, right, in the zone at least.

And, yeah, this most recent trip had twenty-eight different ports of call. Even I eventually needed a break from all that touristing — and always being in close confines with other people.

We now plan to spend two months staying put in Bristol, England, followed by three months in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Both have open, spacious apartments, and that feels very, very right at this moment.

As for finding cheap prices, well, that’s both an art and a science. Michael and I have been cruising for thirty years, and I’m somehow still finding prices that are as low or lower than what we spent thirty years ago — not adjusted for inflation!

But you definitely have to be a careful, knowledgeable shopper.

Here’s my formula: