Jetsettersblog

AirTran Airways has launched new daily nonstop service between Tampa International Airport and San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico. Tampa is the fourth city in AirTran Airways’ network to offer nonstop service to San Juan, joining Atlanta, Baltimore and Orlando in providing travelers with more access and travel options for reaching the Caribbean island. For more information, visit www.airtran.com

AdventureSmith Explorations is offering deals with two expedition cruises this summer. The company is offering airline vouchers of up to $1,000 per guest with an Alaska cruise and a 25 percent discount on a polar expedition cruise program for savings of up to $1,925 per person, double occupancy.

The air voucher applies to bookings on the 32-passenger Island Spirit. The cruise explores Southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage. Island Spirit is the only U.S. Coast Guard-licensed small ship to power both guest and public areas by batteries at night, which means there’s no noise from engines or generators while anchored. Its nine-day cruise stops at authentic Alaskan villages including Tenakee Springs, Baranof Springs and Petersburg. The per-person, double-occupancy rate is $4,495. Departures begin May 1 and end in late August.

The 25 percent savings is on eight-day July departures of “Realm of the Polar Bear” Arctic cruises aboard the 124-passenger Expedition. The per-person rate starts at $3,999 for an adventure cruise above the Arctic Circle to the remote island of Spitsbergen within the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago and into landscapes frequented by polar bears. For more information, call 877-620-2875 or visit www.adventuresmithexplorations.com

Ecoventura’s fleet of small expedition vessels in the Galapagos will operate two itineraries instead of one beginning early next year. Effective Jan. 29, 2012, the small-ship travel company will offer different seven-night alternating itineraries in accordance with Galapagos National Park and Marine Reserve regulations to help reduce usage of heavily visited sites.

Previously, Ecoventura itineraries followed weekly departures on its identical 20-passenger yachts, the Eric, Flamingo and Letty, which have been retrofitted to create the most sustainable presence possible on the water.

“This new arrangement of two distinct 2012 itineraries, with Week A cruising the Southern/Central route and Week B exploring the Western/Northern route, will assist conservation efforts. We do anticipate that many clients will ask for both itineraries for an extended 14-day program that features virtually no duplication in sites visited,” said Doris Welsh, Ecoventura’s director of sales and marketing.

Passengers on Week A will visit Espanola, Floreana, Isabela, Santa Cruz, South Plaza, Bartolome and northern San Cristobal. Passengers on Week B will visit Tower, Bachas, North Seymour, Fernandina, Isabela, Santiago, Rabida, Santa Fe and Santa Cruz.

Passengers booking two consecutive weeks on the Eric, Flamingo or Letty receive a 5 percent discount applicable on any week (excluding holiday weeks). If the week is on another promotion, the greater of the two discounts will be applied. The 2012 cruise rate starts at $3,550 per person, double occupancy.

Scuba diving enthusiasts who combine a week of live-aboard diving on Ecoventura’s Galapagos Sky with a week of land tours on Eric, Flamingo and Letty receive a 10 percent discount when the two weeks are booked consecutively on select departures in January and February 2012. The 2012 seven-night dive cruise rate on the Galapagos Sky starts at $4,795 per person, double occupancy including free Nitrox and offers 16 to 18 dives and two land excursions per week.

Through Jan. 22, visitors can still the existing seven-night itinerary. During this time, Ecoventura is offering an early bird booking promotion that secures a sliding scale of discounts from 5 to 15 percent between Aug. 28 and Jan. 22. Guests who confirm 180 days or more prior receive 15 percent discount, those who book 179 to 90 days prior receive 10 percent discount and those who book 89 days to departure receive 5 percent off selected departures only. For more information, call 800-633-7972 or visit www.ecoventura.com

Intrepid Travel is offering family adventures in East Africa designed to enable parents to take their children into the bush to see lions, elephants and giraffes up close. Sales for this tour have gone up 250 percent over last year. The East Africa Family Safari is a 17-day trip from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam. It includes family-friendly activities such as visiting a giraffe sanctuary, camping in the Serengeti National Park and a visit to a school for street kids.

Intrepid offers 37 family-themed trips around the world, from China and India to Costa Rica and Southeast Asia. On all family-themed trips, the minimum age for kids is 5; and grandparents as well as parents are welcome too. Groups are kept intentionally small and tour leaders are hand-picked for their interest in families and what they want out of a holiday together.

In response to the growing interest in family travel to Africa, Intrepid has added another East Africa family adventure this year — the 12-day Gorillas and Chimps, originating in Entebbe, Uganda. The family adventure includes a visit to a chimpanzee sanctuary. Intrepid Travel has a special on all its family adventures booked between April 16 and 30 for travel till Dec. 31, 2012. Intrepid is offering 5 percent off adult and 15 percent off children prices on its family adventure.

Intrepid Travel is a small-group adventure tour operator that takes more than 100,000 travelers to over 100 countries every year. Intrepid trips are designed to go off the beaten track, meet the locals and travel in an unconventional way, joining locals on their transport, in their markets and even in their homes. Intrepid employs close to a thousand employees in nearly 20 countries worldwide. For more information, call 866-360-1151 or visit www.intrepidtravel.com

My Exclusive Journeys, known its packaged adventures in Central America, is offering Adventuring Belize, a journey that combines the mysteries of the ancient Mayan people with the exploration of the second-largest barrier reef in the world and beautiful beaches.

The seven-night journey begins with a night in Belize City before transferring to the historic Cayo District for four nights. Clients will explore the Maya Underworld by canoe in a five-mile limestone cave and learn the archeological significance of the cave which was used for ceremonial purposes and as a funeral site by the ancient Mayans. The package also includes travel through the jungle to Tikal, Guatemala, once the most powerful city in the Americas. Tikal is still a world of magic with a huge complex of temples, altars, pyramids and palaces peeking out above the lush jungle. Today you can see monkeys, aracaris, motmots and maybe a jaguar and an outstanding view of the jungle from the top of a temple.

The group will explore the quaint town of San Ignacio; go cave tubing in a subterranean river past unusual rock formations, Maya pottery and artifacts; visit Placencia, a sleepy fishing village with posh boutique hotels; then head to the Belize Barrier Reef for snorkeling or scuba diving or relaxing on 16 miles of beach. Land-only rates for the seven night expedition start at $1,857 and include accommodations, breakfast daily, a massage, some lunches, cave tubing and airport transfers per person, sharing.

For more than 30 years, My Exclusive Journeys has provided service and accommodations throughout South America and the Iberian Peninsula. For more information, call 888-334-6905, email ba@myexclusivejourneys.com  or visit www.myexclusivejourneys.com

Travelers can enjoy longer stays and earn a $200 bonus when booking a vacation with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts in top resort destinations in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Guests who book four consecutive nights at any participating Wyndham resort in Florida, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and Playa del Carmen and Manzanillo in Mexico will receive a fifth night free and $200 in American Express Reward Cards. Stays must be booked by May 15, 2011, and completed by Dec. 31, 2011.

Rates available through this offer begin at $95 per night at the family-friendly Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort, an official Walt Disney World hotel in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., that features an Oasis Aquatic Playground, weekly Disney Character Breakfasts and immediate access to the area’s famous theme parks. Other participating locations include Wyndham Orlando Resort and the new Wyndham Cabo San Lucas Resort in Mexico, both starting at $89 per night; Koloa Landing at Poipu Beach Wyndham Grand Resort on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, beginning at $249 per night; Wyndham Nassau Resort in the Bahamas, beginning at $173 per night; Puerto Rico’s Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa, A Wyndham Grand Resort, starting at $275 per night; and all-inclusive properties Viva Wyndham Resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, starting at $310 per night for two, and Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa in St. Thomas, beginning at $413 per night for two.

With the brand’s Vacation Stimulus package, guests who book and pay for two consecutive nights at participating Wyndham resorts in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean can get the following two nights free. This package also includes a $100 food and beverage credit at participating resorts. Stays must be booked and completed by Dec. 20, 2011. Additionally, guests can extend their travels without stretching their wallets with the Wyndham Pay 3 Getaway 4 package. Those who book a three-night consecutive stay will receive a fourth night free at participating Wyndham properties including the new Wyndham Garden Hotel Panama City in Panama’s capital, or Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort, located along the Atlantic coast in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The offer is good for reservations made by Dec. 31, 2011, and stays completed by the same date. For more information or reservations, call 800-WYNDHAM or visit www.wyndham.com

Hilton Hotels & Resorts is bringing eforea: spa at Hilton, its new global spa, to Australia with the opening of an eforea spa at Hilton on the Park Melbourne. In addition to being the first eforea: spa at Hilton in Australia, this location will also serve as a training center through a partnership with Melbourne-based William Angliss Institute. The training center will provide hands-on training for therapists using treatments and protocols developed specifically for eforea: spa at Hilton. Graduates will be well-positioned to enter the spa workforce after learning eforea operations and signature treatments, some shaped by two leading spa brands based in Australia — LI’TYA and VitaMan.

The spa at Hilton on the Park Melbourne features six treatment rooms as well as signature eforea arrival and transition lounges, a fitness center, pool and thermal pods. It will operate as a commercial spa Wednesday through Sunday, offering the complete eforea: spa at Hilton treatment menu executed by qualified and experienced therapists. Each Monday, the spa will be dedicated to training with students learning treatment protocol and additional instruction on spa operations. Tuesdays, the spa will be open as a “student spa,” with a limited treatment menu available to provide students hands-on experience. These treatments will be available to spa clients at a reduced rate.

The first global spa concept created by Hilton Hotels & Resorts, eforea: spa at Hilton was developed to meet the increasing wellness expectations of today’s sophisticated global traveler, while providing owners with a cost-effective turn-key spa solution for their properties. The flagship brand of Hilton Worldwide has long been one of the world’s largest spa providers and currently operates 124 spas across its hotels and resorts. Since launching in the fourth quarter of 2010 at Hilton Short Hills (U.S.), eforea: spa at Hilton now includes locations in China, Thailand, Australia and the United States.

At the core of the eforea concept are three signature spa journeys — the Essentials Journey features Kerstin Florian products along with a Signature Correcting Facial featuring Microcurrent technology, which marries potent botanicals, cosmeceutical ingredients and advanced, non-invasive facelift technology. The Escape Journey is a set of holistic experiences fusing organic plant ingredients with traditional healing practices using products from Australia’s LI’TYA organic product line. Hilton created its custom Men’s Journey, a collection of goal-driven treatments engineered for men and using the VitaMan line of products, also Australian. Each journey is comprised of a selection of face, body, and massage treatments with select add-in options. For more information, visit www.hilton.com or www.hiltonworldwide.com

The Kapalua Villas has launched its a monthly lecture series, Ke Kani O Ke Kai (Voices of the Sea), allowing guests and Maui residents to experience the voices of Hawaii’s marine life. Led by local marine biologist Amy Reiri, the educational event takes place on the first Monday of the month at 4:30 p.m. at the Kapalua Resort’s Village Café and Sweet Shoppe. The program’s April lecture focused on the humpback whale, which is a regular visitor to the Hawaiian Islands. Following the humpback whales departure in May, the series will rotate to include other marine inhabitants, including the Hawaiian monk seal and dolphins. For more information, call 800-545-0018 or visit www.kapaluavillas.com

The Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa on Hawaii’s Big Island has announced the Rewarding Kids program, which lets families earn 2,500 Marriott Rewards points per child age 17 and under (maximum two children per room) this summer. The promotion is valid for travel through Aug. 15, and a two-night minimum stay is required. Nightly room rates start at $229. Points will be awarded to one adult per room. The promotion is not applicable to group rates; and black-out dates and other restrictions may apply. For more information, call 800-922-5533 or visit www.waikoloamarriott.com and use promotional code M41. For information about Marriott Rewards, call 800-450-4442 or visit www.marriottrewards.com

The Kapalua Villas is offering a Golf and Spa package, which allows guests to select their own activity each day from a nightly room rate of $499 double through Dec. 19. The choices are unlimited golf on two championship golf courses, a one-hour golf lesson at the Kapalua Golf Academy, and a 50-minute massage, facial or mani-pedi at the new Kapalua Spa. The package can be combined with any villa-only nights for a longer stay. A daily choice of one activity is offered per person, per day, based on double occupancy in a one-bedroom villa, quad occupancy in a two-bedroom villa, and six-person occupancy in a three-bedroom villa. For more information, call 800-545-0018 or visit www.kapaluavillas.com