Jetsettersblog

The all-inclusive Mango Bay Barbados resort is offering travelers who book a minimum of seven nights one free night on bookings made through March 31, 2011, for travel to Dec. 18, 2011.

Guests who book for 14 nights will receive four free nights, and guests who stay 21 nights receive five free nights. This offer applies to standard, standard one-bedroom and superior rooms.

Rates through April 30 are $535 for standard accommodations, $575 for standard one-bedroom apartments, $610 for superior rooms, $685 for deluxe rooms, $725 for oceanfront rooms and $2,250 for the Penthouse Suite. Rates from May 1 to Dec. 14 start at $425 for standard accommodations, $440 for a standard one-bedroom apartment, $456 for a superior room, $500 for a deluxe room, $575 for an oceanfront room and $1,500 for the Penthouse Suite.

For more information, call 246-432-1384 or visit www.mangobaybarbados.com

Butterfield & Robinson is offering a special B&R Masters Golf departure, including the final Sunday of the Masters Tournament.

The program runs April 8 to 11 and is priced from $5,750 per person. Clients will play 18 holes at Cuscowilla and walk the Augusta National during the Masters.

B&R is also offering trips for families with extra guides and support to make it stress free. Itineraries, activities and menus are customized to suit each age group, with days spent together as a family or apart, knowing kids are not only taken care of, but inspired by the places they’re exploring and having fun with kids their own age. Family departures include Catalonia, Verona to Venice, Loire Valley, Prague to Vienna, Iceland and Tuscany.

For more information, call 866-551-9090 or visit www.butterfield.com

Occidental Hotels & Resorts in Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Mexico are offering travelers all-inclusive starting at $55 per person, per night, double occupancy.

For more information, visit www.occidentalhotels.com/occidental/Specials_main_ebb.asp

During the months of March and April 2011, Westin St. John Resort & Villas in St. John, U.S.V.I. is offering guests who volunteer at nearby Virgin Islands National Park a $100 resort credit.

Visitors can participate in a one-day program offered by Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 8 a.m. Volunteers help maintain park trails and ruins, and remove debris from beaches and coastlines.

The Westin St. John is located 10 minutes from the national park. Nightly double occupancy rates start at $399; guests must mention their volunteering plans at check-in to receive the credit.

For more information, call 888-627-7206 or visit www.westinresortstjohn.com

To sign up for the online program online, visit www.friendsvinp.org/volunteer.htm

The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba is offering a series of special offers including accommodations featuring a balcony overlooking Palm Beach and daily breakfast. Under the offer rates start at $389 through April 28 and at $219 starting April 29.

The resort is also offering a four-night “Suite Family” package offering families a 50 percent discount on connecting rooms. The package also includes a daily $100 food and beverage credit (suite accommodations only). Rates start at $499 through April 28th and at $379 from April 29.

For more information call 877-822-2222 or visit www.westinaruba.com

Pleasant Holidays launched its 2011 Hot Deals packages for vacations to Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean and Costa Rica. Offers include savings up to $500 per booking, kids fly to the Hawaiian Islands for $150 off, free Hertz car rentals, free hotel nights and more.

Pleasant Holidays extended its popular Hot Deals offers to Tahiti and Fiji where travelers save $500 to these destinations that are ideal for honeymoons and romantic getaways. The $500 savings is valid for vacations that include transpacific airfare, minimum seven-night hotel accommodations and Travel Protection Plan coverage.

Travel must be booked by May 1 for travel through Dec. 15. In addition, many participating Hot Deals hotels in Tahiti include breakfast for two.

Pleasant Holidays’ Hot Deals for Kids promotion offers $150 savings on roundtrip air fares to the Hawaiian Islands for children under 18 years of age from all United Airlines gateways in the continental United States.

The savings applies to one child fare per each full-paying adult roundtrip fare with a maximum of two children per booking and is valid for new bookings made from Feb. 9 to March 31 for travel May 26 to Aug. 21 to the Hawaiian Islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii’s Big Island.

Families can save up to an additional $100 when including a Hertz car rental on one of the four Hawaiian Islands with this promotion. Hot Deals for Kids requires purchase of select roundtrip transpacific air on United Airlines and minimum five-night hotel accommodations at a participating Pleasant Holidays Hot Deals hotel. Car rental taxes are additional.

Hot Deals to Hawaii features a free Hertz car rental with a minimum five-night, air-inclusive vacation now through April 15, May 2 to 25 and Aug. 22 to Dec. 16.

The free car rental is valid for a maximum of seven days and does not include car rental taxes. Travel is valid to Oahu, Maui, Kauai or Hawaii’s Big Island. May 26 to Aug. 21 travelers can save up to $100 on a Hertz Car Rental. Pleasant Holidays’ exclusive Mexico Hot Deals offers a savings of $100 per booking with savings of up to 50 percent at select participating hotels; vacation must include air and minimum three-night hotel accommodations.

Travel must be booked by  March 13 for travel through Dec. 22.

Caribbean travelers save up to 65 percent, receive free hotel nights and can enjoy a spa credit of up to $250 at Red Lane Spa at select Sandals, Beaches and Grand Pineapple resorts. Travel must be booked by  March 27 for travel through Dec. 28.

Pleasant Holidays’ exclusive Costa Rica Hot Deals offer saves travelers up to 15 percent per booking on three-night vacation packages to this destination that is popular with ecotourists, couples, families and active travelers. Travel must be booked by March 13 for travel through Dec. 20.

Pleasant Holidays is one of the leading travel companies to Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, Costa Rica, the South Pacific and continental United States serving more than 10 million travelers since 1959. The company provides vacation packages through its portfolio of four brands: Pleasant Holidays, Hawaii World/Distinguished Resorts, Pleasant Activities, and Air By Pleasant. For reservations or more information, call 800-448-3333 or visit www.PleasantAgent.com

General Tours World Traveler is offering airfares starting at $100 on three Small Group Journeys to South America using new service available on LAN from Miami or Los Angeles and the continent’s most extensive network. And through March 15, the company is offering $500 per person tour savings on all 2011 departures.

For the first time ever, travelers can easily combine two of South America’s greatest wonders. From Easter Island to Iguassu is a new 12-day tour that also encompasses Santiago, Chile’s wine country, the Lake District, a spectacular overland journey across mountains and lakes to Bariloche, and Buenos Aires.

Priced from $6,599, this Small Group Journey is limited to 16 guests and includes 20 meals and all internal flights within South America. Guests can add roundtrip air from Miami or Los Angles for $100 per person plus tax.

Machu Picchu & the Galapagos, one of the company’s most popular Small Group Journeys, features deluxe hotels and extensive sightseeing including Lima and Cuzco.

Specially designed for congenial groups of no more than 16, guests also enjoy a sunrise visit to Machu Picchu, an intimate mountaintop dinner in Quito and an excursion to Otavalo. Passengers then embark the all-suites MV Galapagos Explorer II for a four-night, all-inclusive cruise with naturalist-guided explorations on seven unique islands. International air for this tour is available from Miami or Los Angeles for $300 per person plus tax.

Patagonia & Atacama is an innovative program which showcases two of South America’s most distinctive new lodgings.

The five-star Alto Atacama Desert Lodge & Spa features private terraces, excellent Continental cuisine, fine Chilean wines and included naturalist-guided desert excursions and adventures.

The nine-day trip also features three nights at Patagonia Camp, a newly-built enclave of 17 deluxe yurts set along the shores of Lake Toro facing the granite peaks of the Paine Massif. Guests can add international air on LAN from Los Angeles or Miami for $900 per person plus tax.

For more information, call 800-221-2216 or visit www.GeneralTours.com

Odysseys Unlimited is offering Paradores & Pousadas: Historical Lodgings of Spain & Portugal, a 15-day small-group tour of the Iberian Peninsula visiting Lisbon, Evora, Merida, Carmona, Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, Granada, Toledo and Madrid. Highlights of this small-group adventure include stays in historic accommodations, such as Pousada dos Loios, one of Evora’s most prized architectural buildings that was originally a convent; Parador de Carmona, a sumptuous 14th century Arab fortress; Parador Ronda, the city’s former Town Hall; and Parador de Ubeda, a 16th century palace once belonging to the dean of the Sacred Chapel of El Salvador. In addition to eight nights of memorable historic lodging, the group enjoys five nights of deluxe accommodation — two nights at Lisbon’s Tivoli Lisboa hotel and three nights at Madrid’s Wellington Hotel.

Priced from $3,295 air and land inclusive, Odysseys Unlimited’s Paradores & Pousadas includes roundtrip air transportation from the U.S.; 13 nights’ accommodations; many meals (including regional wine with dinner); extensive sightseeing, including all entrance fees; luggage handling; and gratuities for local guides, dining room servers, airport and hotel porters and all drivers.

There are 17 departures from March through November 2011, and an optional four-day post-tour extension to Barcelona priced at $595.

The Odysseys Unlimited small-group experience features a mix of extensive sightseeing guided by a professional Odysseys Unlimited tour director with ample free time for independent exploration and shopping.

For more information, call 888-370-6765, ext. 700, or visit www.odysseys-unlimited.com.

Costa Cruises has released its 2012 brochure, featuring 400 pages and more than 130 itineraries on five continents in more than 250 destinations.

Costa’s 2012 itineraries also are available on all digital information channels, including websites, social networking sites, smartphones (via a QR code), iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads (Costa Digital Library application).

Due to be distributed to about 80,000 travel agencies worldwide, the 2012 brochure will be presented at a special preview to approximately 1,500 travel agents onboard the flagship Costa Pacifica, Feb. 15 to 20 for “The Champions at Sea” event.

Among the highlights of the 2012 brochure are the return of the 100-day “Round-the-World” cruise aboard the Costa Deliziosa; cruises aboard the new, 3,780-passenger flagship Costa Fascinosa, which debuts this spring; new cruises in India and the Maldives aboard the new Costa Favolosa and the Costa Mediterranea; the positioning of 15 ships in the Mediterranean; the positioning of three ships in the Red Sea — the Costa Allegra and Grand Voyager from December 2011 through March 2012; and the Costa Marina from March 2012 through November 2012; a new, 10-day Caribbean itinerary aboard the Costa Atlantica; wellness cruises aboard the Costa Luminosa; the positioning of five ships in Northern Europe; the positioning of the Costa Victoria (which will replace the Costa Classica) in Asia; and more than 2,200 shore excursions.

DENVER – The Colorado Division of Wildlife is rolling out its 2011 big game hunting brochure with some major enhancements to help hunters apply for licenses and find information about big game hunting in the state. Applications for the 2011 fall big game season are due to the Division of Wildlife by Tuesday, April 5.

The fully re-designed brochure includes easy-to-read tables, a detailed list of new hunt opportunities in the state and a reference page with important information about Colorado hunting regulations. Copies of the brochure are available anywhere licenses are sold.

Also new this year is an interactive, on-line companion version of the brochure that has video clips offering hunt pointers and tips on how to apply for licenses through the draw process.

Beyond enhancements to the brochure, the Division has also continued to improve its customer service efforts.

“We’ve always emphasized customer service,” said Tyler Baskfield, Communication Manager. “But now we’ve added specialized Hunt Planners in our call center and are working hard to make it as easy as possible for resident and non-resident hunters to access Colorado’s world-class hunting resources.”

Another change this year is the requirement that all license applicants purchase a $10 Habitat Stamp before they apply for their first hunting or fishing license of the year.

“Because the Habitat Stamp is required before application, we’re encouraging hunters to buy the stamp on-line, over the phone or at a license agent in advance of starting the application process,” said Henrietta Turner, who oversees the Division’s license section.

Hunters who use paper applications and apply for multiple licenses must include the $10 stamp fee for each application if they have not previously purchased a stamp for the current year. All but one of these fees will be refunded.

By purchasing a Habitat Stamp in advance or using the on-line application process, applicants can avoid extra paperwork and expense.

“About 64 percent of our customers apply on-line so they’ll get the stamp automatically if they need it, but for hunters who prefer the traditional paper application, we want to make sure they understand the requirements,” Turner said. “Another benefit of applying on-line is that the system prevents you from making some of the more common mistakes.” Turner added that on average, 10 percent of paper applications each year contain errors or illegible writing that can result in delays or disqualification from the draw process.

A lifetime Habitat Stamp is available for $200 prior to March 31. Beginning April 1 the lifetime Habitat Stamp will increase in cost to $300.

The Colorado Wildlife Habitat Stamp program was initiated by sportsmen and established by the Colorado legislature in 2005.

Proceeds from the Habitat Stamp have helped the Division conserve 103,074 acres of wildlife habitat and secure 40,635 acres of new public hunting and fishing access.

Hunters born after Jan. 1, 1949 are also reminded that they must have completed a hunter education course prior to applying for a hunting license in Colorado. Since the hunter education requirement was imposed in 1970, hunting accidents have significantly declined in the state.

A .pdf version of the 2011 Colorado Big Game brochure can be viewed here:
http://wildlife.state.co.us/NR/rdonlyres/393CEE85-2EA3-48B9-9480-7EDC2166361B/0/biggame.pdf

The interactive version of the brochure can be accessed at http://wildlife.state.co.us/RulesRegs/RegulationsBrochures/BigGame.htm

A complete list of upcoming hunter education classes can be found at http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/HunterEducation/CourseCalendar/.

For more news about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us/news/index.asp?DivisionID=3