Jetsettersblog

The Second Annual New Mexico Restaurant Week returns to Santa Fe, March 6 to 13, featuring prix fixe, multi-course dinners at a range of prices and venues, from $20 to $40 per person, depending upon the restaurant.

More than 50 of Santa Fe’s restaurants are participating with a wide variety of cuisines, including New Mexican, contemporary American, Southern European, fusion, Spanish, New World, Asian, continental, regional American and Italian.

In addition, wine, sake and spirits tastings, as well as cooking classes, chef demonstrations and other events at local restaurants are planned. Hotel packages and special rates are available.

For more information, visit www.santafe.nmrestaurantweek.com

For general Santa Fe information, call 800-777-2489 or visit www.santafe.org

To promote the addition of The Waikiki Edition in Hawaii, Travel Impressions is offering free night incentives and a $50 daily hotel credit promotion.

Clients who book a four-night minimum stay by March 31 at The Waikiki Edition will receive the fourth night free and a $50 daily hotel credit for travel by Dec. 15.

Travel Impressions is also offering a fourth night free on all reservations (minimum of four nights) in a city view room category made by Dec 15.

A separate fifth night free promotion is available for travelers booking a minimum of five nights by Dec. 15 in an ocean view, ocean view with terrace or one-bedroom ocean view with terrace.

Travel must be completed by Dec. 15 for both offers.

Specials are valid for new bookings only and not combinable with other offers.

Travel Impressions packages at The Waikiki Edition include hotel accommodations, roundtrip hotel transfers, hotel tax and service charge.

Rates for the fourth night free promotion start at $635 per person and $945 per person for five-night stays.

Rates include the free night, are based on travel from April 16 to June 25, and are quoted per person, based on double occupancy. Rates vary according to travel dates.

The Waikiki Edition is a new urban resort conceived by Ian Schrager in a partnership with Marriott International.

Airfare is available from gateways nationwide and can be easily added to the cost of the hotel package.

Founded in 1974, Travel Impressions is one of the nation’s largest leisure tour operators and a wholly owned subsidiary of American Express.

The company offers FIT vacations to over 200 destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, Dubai, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Islands of Tahiti, Canada, Hawaii and the Continental U.S., and features more than 2,700 resorts, hotels and luxury villas.

For more information, call 800-284-0044 or visit www.TravelImpressions.com

Apple Vacations launched a promotion called Apple Loves Hawaii for bookings of any Hawaii air/land or land-only package between Feb. 14 and March 31 for travel March 1 through Dec. 31.

The offer includes 15 percent commission on every booking and a free land-only Hawaii fam for this fall for the agent who books the most Hawaii packages.

Plus, Apple Vacations offers travel agents the following benefits with any 2011 Hawaii booking: every Hawaii passenger booked will count double toward agency’s preferred partner status level; all Hawaii bookings earn double Royalties Points, which can be redeemed for travel to select Hawaii hotels; Hawaii Small Group Pricing and Added Values are available for as few as five rooms, using FIT rates at some of Apple’s most popular selling hotels; a dedicated team of Hawaii specialists for quotes or prompt answers to pre-departure questions at hawaiireservations@applevac.com; and the newest resorts, including Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa and Waikiki Edition.

Also new from Apple Vacations: Book two nights or more at a Four Seasons Resort on Lanai, and Apple will provide complimentary ferry transportation between Maui and Lanai.

And, in time for summer travel, Apple Vacations is selling nonstop flights from San Francisco to Hilo on Continental.

For more than 40 years, Apple Vacations has provided affordable, top-quality vacation packages from U.S. departure cities nationwide to vacation destinations throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Panama and Europe, as well top U.S. ski resorts. For information, visit www.applevacations.com

Porter Airlines is launching its second year of seasonal service to Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 17.

Porter offers the only nonstop flights between Canada and Myrtle Beach, a destination well suited to Canadians looking for a head start on spring weather and for travelers seeking a family-friendly value destination.

Porter is providing four weekly roundtrips, increased from two last year, between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Myrtle Beach International Airport, through May 23. With flights on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, the schedule is ideal for taking advantage of the winter/spring golf season.

Connecting flights are available in Toronto for Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax. Reservations can be made at www.flyporter.com  or through travel agents, with regular one-way fares from Toronto starting at $179, plus fees and taxes. For more information, visit www.flyporter.com.

AirTran Airways has begun daily nonstop service between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Punta Cana International Airport in the Dominican Republic. Punta Cana marks the sixth Caribbean destination in AirTran Airways’ network joining Aruba; Cancun, Mexico; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Nassau, Bahamas; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This is in addition to other tropical getaways like Key West, Fla., and Bermuda (service begins April 7, 2011). For more information, visit www.airtran.com

Cruceros Australis is offering a three-night cruise aboard the new Stella Autralis from $690 per person, double.

The cruise will explore the southernmost regions of South America, including Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, April 2 to 5.

Highlights include the Strait of Magellan, the Almirantazgo Sound, Ainsworth Bay’s Marinelli Glacier, the glaciers at Brookes Fjord, and the glaciers at Alakaluf Fjord.

Fares include an open bar, including Chilean and Argentinean wines.

For more information, call 877-678-3772 or visit www.australis.com

The Great Canadian Travel Company, specialists in polar bear tour programs for 30 years, introduced a one-week program to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, the only tourist camp along a 100-mile stretch of Hudson Bay coastline in Northern Manitoba, which offers rare close encounters with polar bears.

A polar bear adventure begins with an overnight stay in Winnipeg.

The next morning clients depart for Gillam, Manitoba via Calm Air International. Upon arrival, they’ll transfer to a private charter for a one-hour flight to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge.

The package includes a full day in polar bear country, including lunch and gourmet dinner, with an interpretive walk on the inland Palsa Bogs, Tundra Ponds and Taiga Forest.

After dinner there is a lecture or slide show presentation.

If it’s a clear night you may have a chance to view the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.

Based on seven days/six nights, this program is priced at $6,095 per person, double occupancy, with departure dates of Aug. 24 and 28, Sept. 1, 20 and 25. Included is six nights’ accommodation (two nights in Winnipeg, four nights at the lodge), plus roundtrip airfare Winnipeg/Gillam and roundtrip charter flight Gillam/Nanuk Lodge, plus all transfers and most meals.

Reservations and additional information available from The Great Canadian Travel Company,

For more information, call 800-661-3830 or visit www.greatcanadiantravel.com

American Airlines said it will be the first U.S. airline to launch service between the continental United States and Tokyo’s International Airport at Haneda (Haneda) since the United States and Japan signed a historic Open Skies Agreement in October 2010.

American is the world’s only airline to fly between New York and Tokyo’s Haneda — located only 30 minutes from downtown Tokyo, a long-awaited benefit for travelers — in more than 30 years. American will begin its historic service on Friday, Feb. 18, from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and on Feb. 20, from Haneda.

In addition to its new service to Haneda, American will continue to provide service to Tokyo’s Narita Airport from New York-JFK, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas/Fort Worth.

These American Airlines cornerstone markets are also some of the most traveled U.S.-Japan markets. Passengers traveling to or from one of these AA cornerstone markets represent approximately 43 percent of the Continental U.S.-Tokyo traffic.

American also announced that it will offer triple AAdvantage miles for first and business class travel and double AAdvantage miles for economy class travel on American’s new JFK-Haneda route through May 31, 2011.
For customers purchasing a first class or business class fare, that adds up to more than 20,000 miles for a one-way trip (includes base plus bonus miles earned) to reward customers for their loyalty. To participate in this offer, register prior to travel and obtain complete details at www.aa.com/haneda

Celebrity Cruises has announced its 2011 lineup for “Savor Your Destination,” a guest chef program.

Celebrity will present 12 guest chef theme cruises on its Solstice Class ships.

Each cruise will offer food-and-wine themed activities that may include a meet-and-greet cocktail reception, guest chef-led cooking demonstrations highlighting techniques and ingredients, book signings, and a “Star Chefs” cook-off featuring an interactive cooking competition. For a fee, guests also can participate in hands-on cooking classes led by the guest chef in the ship’s galley or enjoy an exclusive food-and-wine-pairing dinner designed and presented by the guest chef in either Murano or Tuscan Grille.

Among the guests chefs will be the Food Network’s Sara Moulton, who will sail on the Celebrity Eclipse, which departs March 26 on a seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise roundtrip from Miami; Dean James Max of 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., sailing on the Celebrity Eclipse on March 12;

Timon Balloo of Sugarcane in Miami, sailing on the Celebrity Equinox on April 1;

Govind Armstrong of 8 Oz. Burger Bar in Louisiana, Los Angeles and Miami’s South Beach, sailing on the Celebrity Equinox on April 11;

John Suley of Gotham Steak at Miami’s Fontainebleau Resort, sailing on the Celebrity Equinox on April 22;

Angel Palacios of La Broche in Madrid, Spain, sailing on the Celebrity Solstice on June 7; and Jordi Valles of The Ritz-Carlton in Cancun, Mexico, sailing on the Celebrity Solstice on Oct. 11.

The guest chefs for two additional “Savor Your Destination” theme in 2011 — one on the Celebrity Eclipse on Dec. 10 and the other on the Celebrity Equinox on Dec. 12 — will be announced at a later date.

Fares start at $699 per person, double.

Celebrity is also offering five “Savor Your Destination” guest winemaker theme cruises and five “Guest Glass Artist” cruises highlighting “The Hot Glass Show” on its Solstice Class ships, this year.

MSC Cruises is offering a “Best Fare, Best Room” savings promotion through Feb. 28, valid for 2011 summer Europe sailings.

Via the promotion, guests receive the best available staterooms at the lowest prices within their general type of accommodations (oceanview, balcony, superior balcony, etc.) at the time of booking. Consumers are encouraged to book as soon as possible to obtain the best rooms and fares before higher category staterooms sell out.

Fares start at $699 per person, double, plus government fees and taxes (GFTs) on select seven-night cruises and $899 plus GFTs for 10-night and positioning cruises. Children ages 11 and younger cruise free when sharing a stateroom with two full-fare-paying adults.