Jetsettersblog

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced that it is embarking upon a new relationship with Space Experience Curacao (SXC). KLM will be supporting future suborbital flights through purchases, inclusion in their frequent flyer program, inclusion in future KLM vacation packages to Curacao, and other yet-to-be-named support. The flights will be made on the XCOR Lynx suborbital spacecraft.

Last month, SXC and XCOR Aerospace jointly announced the intent of SXC to lease a production version of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft, pending United States government approvals, to station the vehicle on the island of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. With a planned start date in January 2014, SXC and now KLM will market and sell flights. XCOR will provide operational support for the vehicle at Space Port Curacao.

Space Experience Curacao was founded in 2008 to provide commercial space launch facilities and suborbital flight services from the Caribbean island of Curacao. SXC intends to offer suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions out of Space Port Curacao. SXC is led by its two founders and managing partners, former Royal Netherlands Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ben Droste and active Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 pilot Harry van Hulten.

Droste also led the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR), the precursor of today’s Netherlands Space Office, and NASA’s counterpart in the Netherlands.

For more information, visit www.xcor.com

Las Vegas, Nev. – The UNLV Performing Arts Center welcomes pianist André Watts – one of the most celebrated and beloved superstars of classical music today – at 8 p.m. on Friday, December 3 as part of the Charles Vanda Master Series.

Watts burst upon the music world at the age of 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in their Young People’s Concerts, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV.

Only two weeks later, Bernstein asked him to substitute at the last minute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt’s E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career in storybook fashion.

More than 45 years later, André Watts remains a perennial favorite with orchestras throughout the U.S.

Watts is a regular guest at the major summer music festivals including Ravinia, the Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga, Tanglewood and the Mann Music Center.

Recent and upcoming orchestral engagements include appearances with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, and the St. Louis, Atlanta, Detroit, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Dallas, Seattle and National symphonies. During the 2009-10 season he traveled to Japan in July to appear as a featured artist at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo.

Watts’ extensive discography includes recordings of works by Gershwin, Chopin, Liszt and Tchaikovsky for CBS Masterworks; recital CD’s of works by Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and Chopin for Angel/EMI; and recordings featuring the concertos of Liszt, MacDowell, Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saens on the Telarc label. He is also included in the Great Pianists of the 20th Century series for Philips.

Tickets to André Watts are $30, $45, and $65 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 895-ARTS (2787) or by visiting  http://pac.unlv.edu.

Student rush tickets are $13 each and available one hour prior to each event, based on availability and with valid student I.D.

UNLV faculty and staff discounts also are available.

A $1.25 facilities fee, in addition to the ticket price, is charged on all Performing Arts Center tickets. The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Information about all of the season’s performances can be found on the Performing Arts Center website, located at http://pac.unlv.edu

Founded in 1976, the Performing Arts Center at UNLV continues to be Southern Nevada’s premier performing arts venue. Located on the north end of the UNLV campus, the PAC hosts a variety of performances each year in three distinct series – the Charles Vanda Master Series, the New York Stage & Beyond Series, and the UNLV Classical Guitar Series. UNLV and Vegas PBS are graciously sponsoring the season.

MGM Resorts International properties along the Las Vegas Strip have announced their New Year’s rates, valid Dec. 30 through Jan. 1.

The nightly room rates are $299 at the Aria Resort & Casino (866-359-7111, www.arialasvegas.com ); $309 at the Vdara Hotel & Spa (866-745-7111, www.vdara.com ); $240 at Mandalay Bay (877-632-7000, www.mandalaybay.com ); $300 at TheHotel (877-632-7000, www.mandalaybay.com ) with a two-night minimum; $359 at Bellagio (888-987-3456, www.bellagio.com ); $229 at the MGM Grand (800-929-1111, www.mgmgrand.com ); $269 at The Mirage (800-627-6667, www.mirage.com );

$168 at the Monte Carlo (800-311-8999, www.montecarlo.com ); $125 at Luxor (800-288-1000, www.luxor.com ); $119 at Excalibur (800-937-7777, www.excalibur.com ); and $148 at Circus Circus (800-634-3450, www.circuscircus.com ) with a two-night minimum.

In addition, the Vdara is offering a two-night New Year’s Eve Suite package, which includes a one-bedroom suite, 4 p.m. check-out, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow label champagne and brunch for two at Silk Road. The package is valid for arrivals on Dec. 30 or 31 from $998.

Bretton Woods, part of the Omni Mount Washington Resort, officially opened for the skiing and snowboarding season, offering the first skiing in the state of New Hampshire for the 2010-11 season.

The mountain is offering skiing and riding on five trails with three lifts running, on freshly groomed man-made loose granular snow.

Some terrain park elements have been set up as well for early-season jibbing.

Tickets for Nov. 22 to 24 are $39 for adults 18 to 64; $35 for teens 13 to 17; $30 for juniors 5 to 12; and $25 for seniors 65 and older.

The Learning Center Quad is complimentary for all ages Monday through Friday during non-holiday periods, and $15 weekends and holidays.

Snowmaking will continue and more trails and lifts are planned to open as conditions allow, and ticket prices will be adjusted accordingly.

Also open are the food court, rental shop, ski school for private lessons (based on availability and current conditions), and TreeTop Sports with clothing and accessories.

Season Passes are on sale, and are available for pick up seven days a week.

Special ski and stay packages are now available, including the Stay Here, Ski Free package starting at $99 per person per night, based on double occupancy, which includes lodging at the Omni Mount Washington Hotel or Bretton Arms Inn with lift tickets for skiing and riding at Bretton Woods.

For more information, call 800-THE-OMNI or visit www.omnimountwashingtonresort.com

Beginning Monday, Nov. 29, the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort is launching a “Cyber Monday” promotion that offers room rates starting at $149 per night, reflecting a discount of up to 45 percent off published rates.

The promotion will be available for booking through Dec. 3, 2010, and applies to stays between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2011.

For more information, visit www.sheratonnassau.com  or text MONDAY to 95495 to receive a text reminder of the sale on Nov. 29.

Bermuda’s Reefs Hotel & Club is offering a week-long Cyber Monday promotion, offering travelers 25 percent off daily rates from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2011, and 20 percent off daily rates from April 1 through June 30, 2011.

The Cyber Monday package is available from Nov. 29 through Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. ET and also includes full breakfast, afternoon tea and gourmet dinner for two; roundtrip hotel-to-airport transfers; and a $100 drink credit. The offer applies to new bookings of four nights or more, and includes all ocean view rooms and suites, excluding Club residences. With the discount, daily rates begin at $288.75 (from January to March) and $388 (April to June) for a poolside room.

For more information, call 800-742-2008 or visit www.thereefs.com/cybermonday.

The International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) has named Scottsdale, Ariz., as “2010’s Top North American Golf Destination.” Scottsdale attracts golf travelers from around the world with the quality of its golf courses and resorts, as well as the scenery and weather offered by its Sonoran Desert environment. Scottsdale averages more than 330 days of sunshine and only seven inches of rainfall each year, allowing its courses to host more than 12 million rounds of golf annually. Scottsdale also is home to the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, which boasts more than 500,000 spectators a year.

For more information, call 800-782-1117 or visit www.scottsdalecvb.com

Seven of Mexico’s most renowned chefs will travel to Merida, Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, to participate in the First Festival of New Yucatecan Cuisine, K’óoben.

The Maya word k’óoben, translates as “kitchen,” i.e. cuisine.

The festival celebrates the ingredients and flavors found only in Yucatecan cuisine, which is rooted in Maya, European, Caribbean and Mexican culinary traditions.

The area’s distinctive cuisine is partially attributed to its isolation for centuries from the rest of Mexico.

Participating guest chefs include Patricia Quintana, Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, Benito Molina, Jair Tellez, Enrique Olvera, Paola Garduño and Alejandro Ruiz. Each of the chefs will put his or her signature spin on one four-course dinner during the week using a pre-determined list of ingredients indigenous to the Yucatan.

A chef-hosted dinner will be presented in one Merida restaurant for six nights.

The only exception will be a gala lunch on Nov. 26 created by Patricia Quintana, at Hacienda Xcanatun, a restored 18th century plantation. Each meal costs $60 per person, or 650 pesos.

Additional activities include a two-day symposium featuring guest chefs and culinary experts on Dec. 1 and 2 at the Unimayab University.

Topics include Yucatecan Products with a Touch of Chile; What is Behind Creative Minds in the Kitchen?; The Aromas of the Mayab; The Evolution of Yucatecan Cuisine; and more. Series tickets cost $20 per person (250 pesos).

Complementing the festival is an art exhibit at MACAY Museum (The Yucatan Contemporary Art Museum) entitled “Gastronomic Esthetic, Edible Art.”

The exhibit will feature abstract contemporary pictures painted with natural colors extracted from seeds, roots and plants indigenous to the Yucatan. Each of the pictures will be accompanied by the chefs’ interpretations of the painting made from actual food products.

For reservations or more information about Hacienda Xcanatun or the Festival of New Yucatecan Cuisine K’óoben, call 888-883-3633 or email direccion@xcanatun.com  or hacienda@xcanatun.com

Southwest Airlines and Microsoft Windows 7 have partnered to offer free holiday photos to customers at 26 airports nationwide. Customers can stop by one of Santa’s workshops in select Southwest Airlines airports to have their photo taken with Santa or in a holiday-themed backdrop. Once a photo is taken, a Windows 7 “elf” will guide customers through an online experience to edit, share, and store their photos. The “Holiday Photos on the Fly” program begins Dec. 2. There’s also a holiday sweepstakes.

To enter, visit www.freeholidayphotos.com  For more information, visit the banner below.

Cruiseport Boston again set a passenger record for a fourth straight year.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announced the 2010 cruise season finished with 322,161 passengers, a 7 percent increase over 2009. In October, officials unveiled the $11 million makeover of the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, which modernized it from a vintage World War I military warehouse into a hip new point of departure for ocean-going vacationers. Massport said the renovations were needed to keep pace with Boston’s growing cruise industry and to ensure the continued economic benefits that cruising brings to the region.

“The increase in cruise passenger traffic is much higher than expected this year, and we are extremely pleased,” said Mike Leone, Massport’s director of the port.

“Going into the season, we expected about 305,000 passengers, but the all-inclusive benefits of cruising and competitive market in Boston gave vacationers great value for their dollar.

“Our new Cruiseport facility will enhance the customer experience and provide a stylish new welcome mat for port of call visitors stopping in Boston for the day.”

The 2010 season brought 111 ship calls to Cruiseport Boston’s Black Falcon Terminal, which is also up 7 percent from last year. The record number of passengers this year follows three previous years of solid growth — 12 percent in 2007, 15 percent in 2008, and 11 percent in 2009.

Massport also celebrated a major milestone in May when the 1 millionth passenger embarked on a cruise from Cruiseport Boston.

The passenger boarded Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Spirit for Bermuda.

The main highlight of the year, however, was the completion of the terminal renovation, which enhanced aesthetics and passenger amenities, and created more than 60,000 square feet of new space within the building.

The largest part of the work constructed a separate departure area on the unused level of the terminal’s third floor, which now allows for the simultaneous handling of disembarking passengers and those waiting to board a ship.

Next season, the 2,200-passenger Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Dawn will start sailing the Boston-Bermuda itinerary.

The ship is 10 percent bigger than Norwegian Spirit and is the third upgrade to Boston in four years by the cruise line. Also next year, Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth will make its maiden visit to Boston on Sept. 22.

Cruiseport Boston’s 2011 season runs from April through October with cruises to Bermuda, Canada/New England, Europe and the Caribbean. Cruiseport Boston’s business is roughly 60 percent port of call and 40 percent originating cruise.

The Black Falcon Cruise Terminal is located 10 minutes from the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) and Routes 1 and 93. It is 10 minutes from Boston Logan International Airport and downtown Boston. For more information, visit www.massport.com