Jetsettersblog

Breezes Runaway Bay Resort & Spa in Jamaica is hosting a “Zumba & Pilates Week” from Dec. 2 to 9, 2011, featuring certified instructor Linda A. Robinson leading daily complimentary Zumba and Pilates classes for guests of all activity levels. Robinson, a New York-based Aerobics and Fitness Association of America instructor, will teach a beachside Pilates classes and Latin-inspired aerobic classes.

The Zumba program features upbeat music and choreography incorporating hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts and Bollywood and belly dancing moves. Rates during the week start at $170 per person, per night, double occupancy, with a three-night minimum stay.

For more information, call 877-273-3937 or visit www.breezes.com

Dominican Republic Escorted Tours introduced two new tours to its lineup. The Adventure Tour is a complex tour with a mix of Dominican Republic Excursions and leisure time.

The tour is already set up with no planning to do. It travels from Santo Domingo to the Northern coast with much excitement along the way.

The company also offers a Build Your Own Tour program, which requires a little bit of time. It takes approximately 30 minutes to set up a unique tour, 15 minutes in the beginning to tell them specific interests, and 15 minutes to finalize it with a tour specialist. The company targets its services to those who are looking to do more in a Dominican Republic vacation than just relax at an all-inclusive resort.

For more information, call 866-611-7615 or visit www.dominicanrepublicescortedtours.com

JetBlue Getaways is partnering with Google Offers to provide vacation package deals to their customers. For $30, customers will receive a $300 discount towards any vacation package of three or more nights for a minimum of two people if booked by Dec. 11, for travel through Dec. 15. Google Offers subscribers in Austin, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. will receive the offer but the deal can be purchased by anyone at www.google.com/offers.

Delta Air Lines is adding “Economy Comfort” — a premium economy cabin product launched on long-haul international flights earlier this year — to its entire mainline fleet of more than 550 aircraft, in addition to more than 250 two-class regional jets.

The new seats will feature pitch of at least 34 inches or more. Delta’s standard Economy Class seat pitch is currently 31 inches.

In addition to more leg room, customers seated in Economy Comfort get Priority Boarding.

The product will be installed in the first three to five rows of the Economy cabin by removing seats from the current cabin configuration on all of Delta’s domestic Boeing 767, 757, 737, MD88, MD90, DC9, Airbus A320 and A319 aircraft, and all two-class regional jets including the CRJ900, CRJ700, E170 and E175 aircraft types by summer 2012. Flights to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and northern South America will also have the Economy Comfort product.

The first of these converted aircraft will be a Boeing 757 which will enter service in November.

This is part of Delta’s plan to invest more than $2 billion into its global products.

Smithsonian Journeys is offering 14 small-ship luxury cruises in the Mediterranean and Black seas in 2012 aboard the 114-passenger Corinthian II.

Prices start at $6,995 per person for a 10-day cruise and include all meals, shore excursions, house wine and beer at lunch and dinner, port charges and taxes.

A theme cruise called “Opus Mediterraneo,” operating Aug. 14 to 24 from Venice to Barcelona, will feature performers from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

It will stop in Croatia’s Vis Island, Italy’s trulli villages, Malta, Sicily and Sardinia. Lincoln Chamber Music Society musicians David Finckel and Wu Han and their colleagues will perform.

The “Art and Culture of the Mediterranean,” operating April 14 to 27, sails from Seville to Venice and visits Granada, Alhambra, Barcelona, Aix-en-Provence, Corsica and a cruise up the Dalmatian coast.

The “Journey of Odysseus” (May 26 to June 6) will trace Homer’s epic saga, “The Odyssey,” through Turkey, Greece, Malta and Italy. “Gods and Heroes: A Voyage to Italy, Greece and Turkey,” operates June 21 to July 2, and will have youth counselors who will organize activities for young people ages 8 to 15, while a study leader provides insights for adult guests en route. Special rates for children start at $4,995.

A cruise to the Blck Sea (July 18 to 28) reveals the importance of this body of water from antiquity through World War II, demonstrating how Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) once reigned as one of the world’s greatest capitals and how modern nations emerged.

Pianist Leon Fleisher will perform recitals on board with accompanying musicians.

For more information, visit

www.SmithsonianJourneys.org/luxury-small-ship-cruising.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad will launch its holiday season Nov. 18 with the Santa Express Train, according to Royal Gorge Route Railroad owner, Mark Greksa. More than 20,000 passengers are expected to ride over a five-week period from Nov. 18 through Dec. 26; a 6,000 guest increase over 2010.

This year, the Santa Express Train will run from Nov. 18 to 27 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 6 p.m., and Dec. 2 to 26, every evening at 6 p.m. (not including Christmas day).

The train will also run at 12:30 p.m. every Saturday in December through Dec. 24.

Classes of service include Coach as well as Vista Dome and First Class, both of which offer guests the option to purchase lunch or dinner aboard the train. Coach tickets cost $19 for children 3 to 12 and $29 for adults.

First Class tickets cost $29 for children 3 to 12 and $39 for adults. Vista Dome tickets cost $34 for children 3 to 12 and $44 for adults.

Children under 2 ride free in any class of service.

The Royal Gorge Route’s Santa Express Train is a series of restored mid-century locomotives decorated in holiday style.

Children are encouraged to wear pajamas and relax with family and friends while they sip cocoa and listen to classic Christmas stories read by Santa’s elves.

When the train reaches the North Pole, Kris Kringle climbs aboard, visits every child, and gives each of them a special holiday gift.

At the end of the trip, families can take photos of their children with Santa Claus in front of Santa’s sleigh at the train depot.

The Santa Express Train’s 1.5-hour train ride begins at the Santa Fe Depot and travels along the Arkansas River through the rugged, 1,000-foot-deep Royal Gorge to the North Pole and back.

Large plate-glass windows allow passengers a view to the wild winter scenery on the way to the North Pole.

The North Pole is decorated in charming holiday fashion, like a true Christmas town, and bedecked in more than 20,000 LED lights.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad runs from March through December each year and offers several classes of service in which to enjoy the beauty of the Royal Gorge.

In addition to the Santa Express Train, the Royal Gorge Route runs several holiday excursions, including an Easter Train, Mother’s Day Brunch, Oktoberfest and Trick or Treat Train. Greksa and his wife, Leah Greksa, who resurrected the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in 1999 after it lay fallow for 32 years, are part of a multi-generational Colorado family business that spans 40 years and operated the Georgetown Loop Railroad prior to launching the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in 1999.

The Royal Gorge Route Railroad began its journey through the Royal Gorge in 1880 and was quickly dubbed “The Scenic Line of the World.” For more information, visit www.royalgorgeroute.com

JetBlue Getaways said that it is partnering with Mondial Assistance USA to provide round-the-clock complimentary JetBlue Concierge services to all customers purchasing a Getaways vacation package at www.jetblue.com/vacations.

This new Concierge benefit will offer a wide variety of business and specialty services as well as destination and travel information to customers through a dedicated, toll-free Access America number once customers book their vacation.

Requests for assistance with JetBlue flights, a hotel or rental car reservations will continue to be provided by JetBlue Getaways by calling 800-JET-BLUE (538-2583), option 3.

The airline’s comprehensive, service-oriented vacation package product still maintains an exclusive 24-hour support desk dedicated to Getaways customers before, during and after their trip for these travel arrangements.

“Now, you can arrange all those little things and ask all the questions before you leave through our ‘Concierge on Call,’” said Grant McCarthy, director of Getaways and ancillary travel.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Liberty returned to service Oct. 22 as the first ship to undergo the initial phase of the $500 million Fun Ship 2.0 enhancement initiative.

After a two-week stint in dry dock, the Liberty now has Guy’s Burger Joint, a free venue developed in partnership with Food Network personality and restaurateur Guy Fieri; RedFrog Rum Bar, a poolside version of the line’s RedFrog Pub; BlueIguana Tequila Bar and Cantina; EA Sports Bar; Alchemy Bar, a vintage-themed cocktail “pharmacy”; and DJs trained by celebrity DJ Irie, who created DJ Irie’s Spin’iversity, a DJ academy at sea.

In addition to the Fun Ship 2.0 features, Carnival Liberty’s dry dock also included new carpeting, tile work, wall coverings and furniture, as well as other cosmetic upgrades and routine maintenance.

The first phase of Fun Ship 2.0 extends through the end of 2015 with 16 ships scheduled to receive the enhancements. Additional enhancements included in the first phase of Fun Ship 2.0 will be introduced on several other ships next year.

These include a partnership with comedian George Lopez, who has been named Carnival’s “creative director for comedy” and will evaluate talent for its fleetwide comedy venues; Hasbro, the Game Show, with stage adaptations of the brand’s board games; and Playlist Productions, which combines live performances with LED special effects.

Carnival Liberty operates year-round seven-day cruises from Miami, alternating weekly to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Eastern Caribbean cruises include the private Bahamian island of Half Moon Cay, St. Thomas/St. John, San Juan and Grand Turk, while the western route features Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios or Cozumel, Belize, Mahogany Bay on Roatan, and Grand Cayman.

For more information, visit www.carnival.com/funship2

Former Cruise West Chairan Dick West, who has founded a new company called Explor Tours, will escort the company’s first Ecuador and Galapagos Islands tour and cruise departing Jan. 23.

Joining him will be Stephen Weston, a former Cruise West exploration leader and an expert in marine biology and ecosystem.

The five night pre-cruise tour includes two nights at a choice of hotels in Quito, UNESCO’s first World Heritage City, one night at a 300-year-old hacienda, and two nights in Cuenca, another UNESCO World Heritage City. Most meals, all gratuities, fees and guide services are included. Alcohol is extra.

The Galapagos cruise will be on the all-suite Galapagos Explorer II.

A $500 early-booking discount is offered for bookings made by Nov. 30. Singles will receive 10 percent off the regular single rates. Former Cruise West guests will receive a 5 percent discount.

An additional 5 percent discount will be given for bookings of 10 or more guests made together.

The discounts can be combined.

For more information, call 855-EXPLOR1, email info@Explor-Tours.com  or visit www.explor-tours.com

Five Hilton and DoubleTree by Hilton resorts in the Caribbean and Latin America are offering guests to spend an extra night in paradise on them, with a fourth night free and a $100 resort credit.

The offer is available for stays through Dec. 17, 2011, when booked by Nov. 30, 2011, at Hilton Barbados Resort, Hilton Curacao Hotel, Hilton Los Cabos Resort, Hilton Papagayo Costa Rica Resort & Spa, and DoubleTree Costa Rica Puntarenas Resort.