TravelStore Features Special Offers On Princess Cruises Tropical Cruise Getaways to Sun-Swept Caribbean, Panama Canal and Mexican Riviera
Posted August 7, 2009 , add a comment) LOS ANGELES, Calif. (July 31, 2009) ? Whether travelers choose to explore the beaches and colorful islands of the Caribbean, enjoy the warm welcoming culture of the Mexican Riviera, or marvel at the dramatic Panama Canal, TravelStore offers a wide array of options for tropical cruise getaways to some of the most popular warm weather destinations on one its most popular cruise lines, Princess Cruises.
“With the convenience of close-to-home departure points, these itineraries present many inclusively-priced vacation options in the balmy tropics,” said Dan Ilves, TravelStore Vice President. “So many people have delayed taking vacations, a cruise vacation is a more affordable way for many to escape the grind, enjoy the warmth of the tropics and take advantage of the best deals.”
A number of Princess Caribbean cruises, which range from one-week to up to 14 days, feature the private beach of Princess Cays. On Princess Mexican Riviera cruises, passengers can sail from Los Angeles or San Francisco to some of the area’s most popular resorts south of the border. Those wishing to experience one of the world’s greatest engineering marvels on Princess Panama Canal cruises can choose from convenient round-trip voyages or experience the drama of a full canal transit.
“With the pent-up demand for travel, we have released next year’s fall and winter schedules early so travelers can begin to plan and book future vacations early and avoid disappoinment,” said Ilves. “Of course, there are some great opportunities yet this year to getaway to these popular cruise destinations.”
Highlights of next year’s tropical getaway options include:
Caribbean Cruises ?a variety of vacation options exploring the Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean.
Seven-Day Eastern Caribbean ?Roundtrip cruises from Fort Lauderdale on Sundays. The itinerary features calls at Princess Cays, St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Grand Turk.
Seven-Day Western Caribbean ?Roundtrip cruises from Fort Lauderdale, visiting Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel and Princess Cays.
Seven-Day Southern Caribbean ?Cruises from San Juan on two alternating itineraries. The Classic Southern Caribbean route sails to the ports of St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados, while Southern Caribbean Explorer sailings travel to St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba.
10-Day Eastern and Southern Caribbean ? For a more in-depth island vacation with the convenience of roundtrip travel from Fort Lauderdale. The Southern Caribbean Medley itinerary calls at Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba. The Eastern Caribbean Voyager itinerary offers calls at Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and Princess Cays.
14-Day Caribbean Collection ? Cruises roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale. The ship sails to Aruba, Curaçao, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Grand Turk.
14-Day Sailings from Barbados ?A series of alternating 14-day Caribbean voyages from Barbados. The Grand Caribbean Islander route feature calls at Tobago, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, Tortola, Antigua, St. Kitts and Dominica. The Grand Caribbean Adventurer itinerary features stops at Grenada, Bonaire, Curaçao, Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad.
Mexican Riviera Cruises ?Cruisers can choose from departures from either Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Seven-Day Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles?This popular seven-day roundtrip route takes in favorite Mexico ports with calls in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and Cabo San Lucas.
10-Day Mexican Riviera?One roundtrip sailing from San Francisco to Catalina, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Cabo San Lucas and San Diego, departing on September 29, 2010.
11-Day Mexican Riviera?From San Francisco featuring calls at Acapulco, Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Three departures on April 8, 19 and 30, 2011.
Panama Canal Cruises ? A “must see” feat of engineering. On an extended 15-day cruise features the line’s Two-Day Canal Experience ? a full Canal transit plus a day with the ship anchored at Fuerte Amador, on the Canal’s Pacific side. Passengers can take advantage of this extra day in Panama to enjoy a variety of shore excursion options including the Panama Canal Railway, Panama City, Soberania National Park Rainforest or a visit to an authentic Embera Indian Village.
15-Day Panama Canal with Two-Day Experience ?Sailings between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles or San Francisco. In addition to the Canal transit and additional Panama call at Fuerte Amador, the cruise visit Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Huatulco, Puntarenas (Costa Rica), Cartagena and Aruba. Departures are offered between September 21, 2010 and May 4, 2011.
10-Day Panama Canal Full Transit Sailings ? The 10-day Panama Canal Adventurer route between Fort Lauderdale and Acapulco offers a full Canal transit plus visits to Ocho Rios, Fuerte Amador or Cristobal, Costa Rica (Puntarenas), Nicaragua (San Juan del Sur) and Huatulco. Departures between October 6, 2010 and April 24, 2011.
10-Day Roundtrip Panama Canal? Roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, with a partial Panama Canal transit to Gatun Lake followed by a call in Cristobal, plus calls in the Caribbean ports of Aruba, Cartagena, Limon (Costa Rica) and Ocho Rios.
Current as well as these tropical sailings are currently available for booking. Early reservations are encouraged to secure the best stateroom selection. Fares for seven-day Caribbean and Mexican Riviera sailings start at $569 per person, and 10-day Panama Canal cruise fares begin at $1,199 per person, based on double occupancy.
TravelStore is one of the nation’s top award-winning travel agencies, and a Princess Cruise specialist. Additional information is available calling 1-800-821-4271, or by visiting the company’s cruise website.
Happily Ever After In The Loire Valley. Save ?258 On A Magical Summer Break With Keycamp
Posted , add a comment) With more than a hundred châteaux set in beautiful rolling countryside, the Loire Valley is an enchanting destination ? and with Keycamp offering seven night holidays from only £895 for the whole family, this really is the stuff fairytales are made of.
Le Château de Marais, a charming woodland parc in the grounds of an old manor house, is the ideal spot to explore the region’s lavish royal palaces and is particularly close to Château de Chambord, arguably the most magnificent of all.
Also in day-trip distance is the medieval town of Tours, the Zoo Park Beauval and many forests and parks, which are perfect for walks, cycling and picnics.
And when not sight-seeing, there’s a delightful array of on-parc activities to keep children entertained, from the waterpark with waterslides and a lazy river, Keycamp’s free Fun Station kid’s clubs, and sports, including kayaking, tennis and volleyball. Meanwhile, mum and dad will adore the spacious sun terrace and new indoor spa with jacuzzi, hammam and sauna, so the perfect parc for a family holiday.
Seven nights from 15 August 2009 for a family of two adults and up to four children staying in a three bedroom chalet at Le Château de Marais will cost just £895, accommodation only. This represents a saving of £258. Ferry crossings and fly-drive packages are available at a supplement.
For further information, or to book, call Keycamp on 0844 406 0319 or visit www.keycamp.co.uk.
Anse Lazio, Praslin Island, Seychelles
Posted , add a commentToday is a lazy day, a day for eyes closed and yeah. Mm-hmm. Cold drinks with mint, this maybe that, who knows? Ice cream is too taxing for today, the way it melts so fast, which tells you just how lazy a day it is. Today I want a soft beach. Slack. Today I want to go to the Seychelles.
Better than bathwater. http://www.flickr.com/photos/8982863@N04/1984509590/
The very word is slow: Seychelles. And the best beach there is inarguably Anse Lazio, a beach that just sounds delicously lazy. Say it with me: Anse Lazio. Honestly the softest sand, fine grained and clean white. Shockingly clear turqoise water Indian Ocean warm and alive. Fringed by supermodel tall palms and Takamaka trees, the beach is a crescent shaped moon of paradise.
Mm-hmmmm… http://www.flickr.com/photos/8444772@N04/509817355/
Located on the northwest corner of Praslin Island in the Chevalier Bay, Anse Lazio is easily the Homecoming Queen of Seychelles beaches, if not beaches all over the world. Often included in top ten lists, this beach is perfectly situated for spectacular sunsets. Honeymooners flock here, as do families and travelers of all kinds. Due to the relative protection of coral reef, the water is ideal for swimming and snorkeling. Sea turtles are common, as well as fish of all types and color; the beauty below water easily matches that found above.
Sea turtle. http://www.flickr.com/photos/28220564@N07/2974405359/
To one side of the beach rise the craggy boulders of Pointe Chevalier. To the other side the island curves giving the crescent of beach a natural boundary, creating just the right illusion of secluded paradise. With the lush background of verdant jungle and the expanse of blinding white sand, the technicolor blue of water and sweet off-shore breeze, Anse Lazio is almost too much to take in, almost too much to believe. But close your eyes, yeah. It’s real. And I’m going.
Sheraton Carlsbad at Legoland
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Sheraton Carlsbad
Normally I am a frugal traveler, opting for inexpensive but comfortable lodgings near my destination. For our family’s trip to Legoland, however, the adjoining Sheraton Carlsbad offered us a significant discount, so we chose to stay there during our visit. What follows is our true-life experience.
We pulled up to the front door of the Sheraton Carlsbad on a chilly humid evening. Both of the children were jarred from their sleep, and when I came out to the carport after checking I could hear their screams of dissatisfaction from very far away. When I turned around, the staff of the hotel had come to the rescue! They brought out a tiny teddy bear wearing a blue Sheraton robe for each child, calming them down right away. I nearly swooned with gratitude.
That was my introduction to the hotel, which opened this March. The lobby is enormous and easy on the eyes with a business center off to the left upon entrance that is hard to miss. Flower arrangements are made of Legos! The pool area is a family fun zone, with pool noodles and swim diapers at the ready, and plenty of shallow areas for the little ones. On the lawns surrounding, outdoor game equipment is laid out for anyone to enjoy. Bathrooms and showers are close at hand. It’s incredibly inviting and convenient.
Up in the room, the two big comfy beds gave us plenty of space to spread out. Unfortunately, the digital television takes a long time to respond to commands, and with two cranky small children who could not wait one more second to be hypnotized by TV, that was frustrating. Also, there were no surfaces high enough to put forbidden items out of reach of the 2-year-old, so I put those things into the wardrobe, hoping he wouldn’t explore and find them. I tried unsuccessfully to use the in-room safe, and the climate control never quite worked in our room despite our request for an engineer to come up and lower the temperature.
We appreciated the Starbucks coffee with a single cup brewer that was right there for us to use in the morning. Now that it was light, we discovered the balcony which was only wide enough to stand or sit, and just the right height of furniture for our children to try and launch themselves overboard, so we didn’t make use of that.
The kids enjoyed making monkey faces in the full-length mirror
The main amenity that attracted us to this location was its proximity to Legoland. Indeed, there is a special entrance from the Sheraton grounds into the park at the back end that you can get to by walking, but we took advantage of the courtesy shuttle to bring our family and our friends right to the front entrance of the park. The driver gave us a special card with the number to call to arrange pickup at the end of the day, and off we went for our Legoland adventure.
A little boy looks forward to his big day at Legoland from inside his room at the Sheraton Carlsbad
Traveler beware: on a Friday night in the summertime (hence the height of the season) at closing time, everyone and their mother (literally) is calling to get a ride back to the Sheraton at the same time. We called ahead for the shuttle to come in ten minutes. After several phone calls and 45 minutes of us waiting, trying to decide if we should just walk back instead, Lisa, a concierge at the hotel, grabbed the keys and came and got us herself. By the time we got back to our room we were tired, dirty, cranky, and starving. The children were bouncing off the walls and demanding cookies and candy. The staff took pity on us and sent us dinner at poolside, so at least we were able to relax in the pool and finally get some food.
(Incidentally, the food, while pricey as expected at fancy hotel, was delicious.)
In concept, the courtesy shuttle to Legoland is a perfect idea. Where else would you want to stay if convenience and luxury are your top priorities? (Those, and an awesome pool.) All of it is close to the beach, so not only do you get fancy hotel pool and Legoland, you get some local flavor and oceanside exploration as well. Just be aware that you might have to, well, wait a while, and that it might be worth it just to walk.
Best Fall Bear Trips: From Rare BC Spirit Bears to Chinese Pandas on Natural Habitat Adventures Eco Tours
Posted , add a comment) Boulder, Colorado ? July 30, 2009 ? From stalking the mystical Spirit Bear ? a rare white subspecies of black bears living in a remote tract of Canadian coastal rainforest ? to viewing endangered giant pandas in China to traveling among hundreds of polar bears on the shores of Hudson Bay, the best bear tours, like Natural Habitat Adventures’ small-group eco tours, provide an intimate experience of these impressive animals, closely tied to the complex conservation issues that threaten them. These four top fall bear trips from China to the Arctic, offered by award-winning eco travel company Natural Habitat Adventures, go well beyond the bear essentials:
- Only 400 or so rare Kermode bears ? known to Native Americans as the Spirit Bear ? remain. The new Spirit Bears and Humpback Whales of BC tour travels aboard a private sailing ketch exploring the largest remaining tract of virgin temperate rainforest ? with kayaking from shipboard among humpback whales. 9 days, September/October, $5,995, for 14 people.
- See endangered giant pandas in natural habitat in eastern China’s Bifengxia Panda Base, and the Asiatic Black Bear ? known as the Moon Bear ? in Chengdu. The Wild and Ancient China tour also includes man-made wonders: the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall. 12 days, September 2009 (May ? September 2010), $6,995, for 15 people.
- Watch abundant grizzly bears feasting on salmon on this new tour into Canada’s “Wild West,” remote Chilcotin Country. Bears & Eagles of Chilko Lake includes nature encounters by raft, kayak, boat and helicopter and lodging on alpine Chilko Lake. 6 days, September, $5,995, for 12 people.
- Experience up to 100 bears a day, as well as arctic fox, caribou, the northern lights and more on five separate Churchill polar bear itineraries. Classic Polar Bear Expedition is 6 or 7 days, October/November, from $4,595, for 15 people.
A member of Adventure Collection and exclusive Conservation Travel Provider to World Wildlife Fund, Natural Habitat Adventures’ awards include a 2009 Best Adventure Travel Company ranking from National Geographic Adventure and 2009 World’s Best Tour Operator honors from Travel + Leisure. All Natural Habitat Adventures trips are carbon neutral. For information, visit www.nathab.com.
Media Contacts: Matt Kareus, Natural Habitat Adventures, 303.449.3711, mattk@nathab.com; or Darla Worden, WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations, 307.734.5335, darla@wordenpr.com.