Where in the world would you spend Christmas if you had a choice?

In thinking about what Christmas means to people all over the world, it recently occurred to this Romance Travel Examiner that if one had the means to travel to any destination in the world to spend Christmas, where would we go?  Read more and comment….       Where in the world would you spend Christmas if you had a choice?

Posted using ShareThis

2010 Alaska itineraries on Princess Cruises take you places you want to go

Research consistently shows that passengers go to Alaska for glaciers, mountains, wildlife, Denali Park, the Alaska railroad and Inside Passage cruising.  Princess Cruises has studied their passenger demographics and found that 35% of passengers who cruise to Alaska are first-timers.  This is 50% more than the average cruisers on Princess Cruises.  Princess Cruises also found that another 45% of cruisers to Alaska on Princess are past passengers of other cruise lines.  Alaska vacations are a great option for families and multi-generational groups because there are age-appropriate activities for all.  There are 4 types of Princess itineraries for Alaska.  Read more…  2010 Alaska itineraries on Princess Cruises take you places you want to go

Posted using ShareThis

Port of Seattle not concerned about Orbitz Insider reporting SEATAC no. 10 busiest during holidays

Yesterday afternoon officials at SEATAC airport received the anticipated numbers for the holiday traffic coming through the airport.  In speaking with Perry Cooper, Airport Media Officer, he reported that the numbers for the Thanksgiving holiday are in line with last year’s statistics.  The busiest day of the holiday will be on November 29th, Sunday with an estimated 94,000 passengers passing through the facility.  The next busiest days will be Wednesday, November 25th and Monday, November 30th, estimated at 92,000 passengers each day.  While the airport will increase the number of personnel to assist passengers, in the stores, security checkpoints and customer service representatives, the airport is more than ready to cope with the numbers of people passing through it.   Read more… Port of Seattle not concerned about Orbitz Insider reporting SEATAC no. 10 busiest during holidays

Posted using ShareThis

Travel 101: Should I buy travel insurance?

Is the benefit of travel insurance worth the cost of travel insurance?  Knowing you are traveling to see family over the holidays, the last thing you want to worry about is an accident or illness.  You have saved both time and money for this holiday vacation.  The time you will be spending is frequently worth more than the money you are spending.  The experience of seeing family or going to a destination to do the things you have dreamed of doing should not be wasted or marred by accident or illness.  But sometime bad things happen to good people,usually at the worst time. Read more… Travel 101: Should I buy travel insurance?

Posted using ShareThis

Seattle Airport ranked number 10 busiest airport by Orbitz Insider for the holidays

If you are thinking about traveling over the holidays, keep in mind that SEATAC Airport has just been named the 10th busiest airport in the nation, so you need to plan ahead to avoid and/or deal with delays with a minimum of irritation.  Read more… Seattle Airport ranked number 10 busiest airport by Orbitz Insider for the holidays

Posted using ShareThis

Vancouver celebrated the 100 day countdown by lighting the new Olympic Rings

Wednesday night at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer, VANOC, Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, and Houourable Mary McNeil, Minister of State for the Olympics and ActNow BC held a ceremony to light the 2010 Olympic Rings at Coal Harbour.  The rings now sit on a barge in the water.   Read more, see a video and a slideshow -

Vancouver celebrated the 100 day countdown by lighting the new Olympic Rings

Posted using ShareThis

Whistler BC, BC,Day 5 – Postcard from Whistler

After a wonderful evening out with Breton Murphy, Senior Manager, Destination Media Relations, Tourism Whistler at Earl’s in Whistler Village, it was back to the Fairmont Whistler for a good night’s sleep.   One of the things I most love about the Fairmont hotels is that they allow pets. (a resounding 10!) For someone who has to travel without her pet, I can get a lot of “fur-fixes” from other people’s pets. And if I ever get to take the TopDawg with me I know where I can stay!

The hotel is older and very traditional in its looks.  In my usual travel journalist fashion, I take pictures as I walk into my room and of pretty much every inch of the room, including the view.  It was immaculate with handmade candy on a stone tray and an inukshuk (pronounced e-nook-shook) made of chocolate.  This inukshuk was meant as a symbol of welcome.  All this was handmade by the pastry chef.  There was a bottle of sparkling water as well, the help lighten the thick chocolate in my mouth.

The bed linens and pillows, along with the firmness of the mattress got an 8.5 on my scale of 10.  I slept very well under the covers.  The heat/air conditioning control was rather old fashioned and just a little hard to control and maintain an even temperature.  Once again I found myself struggling to control the amount of coldness or warmth.  I would give it about a 6.5 on the 10 scale.  I had a tussle with the WiFi and had to agree to a $13.95 room charge to get internet access.  By filling out a President’s Club application  (sort of a frequent stay/points kind of thing) the fee was politely reversed at check out.  Give the WiFi experience s 5 but the reversal of the fee a 10.  Then I found an Ethernet cable in the desk drawer and the Ethernet port on the wall beside the desk, so I was on a wire and gained a much faster connectivity.  That was a definite 10 to me cause I could then do a decent video chat with my family and see my dog.

The bathroom amenities were delightful, not so much in quantity but in quality.  The shampoo and conditioner smelled so yummy, I have to give them a 10.  The shower had great pressure and a massage showerhead which was very good (another 10), but the control of hot/cold water was almost worse than controlling the room temperature.  I seemed unable to find a happy medium between lukewarm verging on cool to so hot I could hardly stand under it.  I managed to eventually find a temperature that, while not as warm as I would have liked, was acceptable.  So I would give it a 7 on the 10 scale.

Breakfast this morning was a 10 all the way.  Everyone was in awe of how much excellent food was presented.  The Mallard Lounge was the setting for the breakfast which is normally closed at breakfast time.  At the breakfast Ms. Christina Smith, bronze medalist in the women’s bobsled competition in 2002 was in attendance.  She is an incredible athlete and promoter of the bobsled competition and will the topic for another article at a later time.

I declined to go on the ZipTrek excursion  as my fear of heights is way stronger than my desire to be a part of the group and experience the scenery.  I explored more of Whistler Village in the pouring rain and then headed off to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center.

Up next:  Visiting the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Center.

Vancouver BC Ready for 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Games

This summer I was fortunate to meet with the media relations folks from Canada Tourism Commission, Tourism British Columbia, TourismVancouver, Tourism Whistler and Tourism Richmond.  As we chatted over coffee and berry smoothies at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, I was struck by several things.  One is how much they truly love what they do and where they live.  Almost all were transplants from other areas of Canada or the world.  All were living where they were by choice, even though they may have moved there with the thought that it was temporary.

As I listened to them talk about the Olympic preparations, the excitement they shared was contagious and invigorating.  I came away from the meeting determined to hop on the train and run up for a few days this fall just to see the preparations.  I have written about their Cultural Olympiad which fascinates the techie in me completely.  I would love to be able to see the presentations they put together and experience the venues during the Olympics that feature the technology and arts of this country.

So, if you have not gotten your travel arrangements made to attend the 2010 Winter Games, it is now time to make those arrangements, get your accommodations and purchase those tickets.   Because it was announced Wednesday by the  International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games through its Chairman, René Fasel, that Vancouver is ready for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Read more…..

Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of Guinness Storehouse on September 24, 2009

I actually have been drinking beer since I was old enough to sit with my father and sip out of his bottle of cold brew.  My mother always frowned at him and we’d sneak around to allow me that cold sip on a hot summer day.  I laugh when I say that we’d be out in the fields, my father working and me watching, and he’d send me to the house in the late afternoon to bring him a beer.  I would either open it there at the house and get the first sip, or manage to get 2 bottles out and drink one on the way to the field.  There was a sink hole on the way and I would dump my empty bottle into it to “hide” the fact I had had one.  Did I really think he did not know?

So I am telling you this story because I just found out about the Guinness festival in Dublin on September 24, 2009.  It celebrates the 250th anniversary of Arthur Guinness signing a 9,000 year (yep, that is right, 9000 years) lease on St. James Gate Brewery.  You can read all about it in my National Romance Travel Examiner article.  Now we were not drinking Guinness when I was a child.  We were drinking a domestic bottled beer, but I have in adulthood learned to enjoy many different kinds of beers and I intend to figure out what time it is in Seattle when it is 17:59 in Dublin and be lifting a glass of Guinness just because!

The pictures below are compliments of the press gallery on the Guinness Storehouse website.  I hope you enjoy, and think about reading my article and join me in lifting a glass, no matter where you are, on September 24 at 17:59 Dublin time!

 

Los Cabos, Baja California Sur

At the end of May I got to go to Los Cabos for 4 days.  It was a wonderful working vacation for me.  I saw some beautiful properties that I genuinely enjoyed.  I met many warm and genuine people and had some great food (though maybe too much red snapper).  I stayed in a lovely casita at the Marqus Los Cabos, which included a plunge pool and amenity breakfasts every morning while watching the sun come up and listening to the ocean roaring right outside my patio door. 

I sailed on the New Zealand version of the America’s Cup Yacht Race boat.  Had a wonderful swedish massage at the Esperanza Spa  from Ulma.  Looked a horse in the eye and declined the ride.  Walked along the beach and had a good “wetting down” from a stray wave.  Experienced a cooking class with a Michelin-starred chef.  Drank such a great margarita (Las Ventanas al Paraiso’s  ”Welcoming Margarita”) that I was inspired to go to Bed Bath and Beyond when I returned to Seattle and purchase a soda siphon in order to make them myself.  And I might add, while not as perfect as Las Ventana’s Welcoming Margaritas, mine were plenty yummy. 

Without a doubt one of the best meals (and there were many delightful meals from many hotels and restaurants, but this one stood out in my memory) while there was at One and Only Parmilla.  We took a tour of the villa accommodations there at One andOnly Parmilla, then a golf cart ride to the restaurant, Agua Restaurant.  Our hosts included the One and OnlyParmilla, Cecilia Aragon-Bryant (Director of Public Relations),  the Los Cabos Visitor and Convention Bureau and Terramar Destinations, who provided our guide, Rico, for the evening.  The menu included a canape, 4 course dinner and dessert, provided by the Executive Chef, Larbi Dahrouch. 

The Thursday night Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo also stands out as a superb event to enjoy with the only cost being that of the delightful art one might feel inclined to purchase.  Our guide, Rico, led us up and down the hilly streets, and in and out of galleries too numerous to mention.  Wine, canapes, a delicious vanilla liqueur, margaritas all accompanied us on our rounds of the galleries.  See my Thursday Night Art Walk article at National Romance Travel Examiner for a more complete description.

I would go to Los Cabos again immediately if I could.  I fell in love with the place, the people, the food and the ambiance.  i really would like to stay at Las Ventanas al Paraiso or One and Only Parmilla each at least for a week!  Oh yes, the trip I went on was sponsored by the Los Cabos Visitor and Convention Bureau.  I appreciated everything they did to help me understand that the novel H1N1 virus was not in residence in Los Cabos!

I wrote several articles about this lovely trip in my National Romance Travel Examiner column  at Examiner.com.  Here are some of the links, I hope you read and enjoy them:

Sailing with the Cabo Adventures America’s Cup Yacht Race experience

Marquis Los Cabos – a resort for all senses

Marquis Los Cabos casita 704

An invitation to romance at Las Ventanas al Paraiso part 1

Las Ventanas – part 2 – more than a resort

There are more but that is for another posting……