Jetsettersblog

The Aston Waimea Plantation Cottages is offering Winter Escapes rates from $254 per night for a one-bedroom Garden View Cottage. The offer is valid for stays through Mar. 31, 2012.

For more information, call 877-997-6667 or visit www.waimea-plantation.com

Jamaica moved a step closer to establishing casino gaming this week as the country’s House of Representatives approved two sets of gaming regulations concerning operating applications, casino activities and gaming procedures.

The approvals will facilitate planning for prospective operators of resort-based casino operations, said Audley Shaw, Jamaica’s minister of finance, in a Jamaica News Service report published Friday.

“The regulations, when passed, will signal to prospective developers and investors that we are now ready to receive their application and it is intended that not more than three orders for integrated resort development will be issued.” The legislation requires new resort developments seeking the casino licenses to include one or more hotels consisting of at least 2,000 rooms, with at least 1,000 rooms will be available for occupancy before the commencement of casino operations.

The regulations also address issues related to the casino resort operations, including the number of hotels to be contained in an “integrated resort development,” operating procedures at the properties, financing and “the economic effects of the operation.”

The regulations also outline the Casino Gaming Commission’s powers to regulate casino licensing and operations, including approved games and casino’s manner of operation. Existing resorts seeking to get casino licenses would have to meet the necessary investment and expansion requirements as stipulated in the casino gaming legislation, said Edmund Bartlett, minister of tourism.

Gulfstream International Airlines said it will expand service to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island (FPO), with the launch of a new daily flight from West Palm Beach, Fla. (PBI).

The new service begins Nov. 8.

With the expanded service, Gulfstream now offers six daily weekday flights to Grand Bahama — five from Fort Lauderdale and one from West Palm Beach. Weekend service will expand to seven flights — six from Fort Lauderdale and one from West Palm Beach.

For more information, visit www.Gulfstreamair.com

Porter Airlines celebrated its fifth birthday recently and gave away 140 free flights to passengers. Porter has operated over 136,000 flights in its history and this week carried passenger number 5 million.

“Five years of successful flying is directly attributable to the dedication of our employees and the loyalty of our passengers,” said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of Porter Airlines.

“Everyone involved can be proud of the contribution we’ve made to redefine the flying experience for millions of people by focusing on service and energizing competition in the markets we serve. Our ‘flying refined’ motto is upheld daily by our team and it’s something that separates Porter from the competition.”

Porter provides complimentary food and beverage service, including beer and wine onboard, leather seating and comfortable legroom. It also has passenger lounges that are open to all of its customers in select airports.

Porter now serves 16 destinations in Canada and the U.S. Burlington, Vt., and Timmins, Ontario, will be the newest cities in the network within three months.

For more information, visit www.flyporter.com

SpeediShuttle, the exclusive operator providing on-demand shuttle service for passengers arriving at Honolulu International Airport, has begun operations there. SpeediShuttle is headquartered in Maui, operating on the islands of Oahu, Maui, the Big Island and Kauai.

SpeediShuttle’s operating platform utilizes Mercedes Benz Sprinters. The company is deploying an additional 30 of the 11-passenger vehicles on Oahu. The company will service virtually all points on Oahu. SpeediShuttle will deploy boarding pass kiosks at strategic locations throughout airport terminals and will have greeters dressed in traditional Hawaiian attire offering service and issuing boarding passes with tablet PCs at any airport location.

For more information, call 877-242-5777 or visit www.speedishuttle.com

Insight Vacations is offering a 12-day Treasures of Italy tour designed to highlight the best that Italy has to offer, including historic cities, fishing villages, islands, lakes, canals, art and heritage buildings, and delicious dining. This moderately paced vacation is planned to have a balance of touring, sightseeing and leisure time.

The escorted journey begins with two nights in Rome where guests will visit the Vatican City, see the art collection of the Vatican Museums, and Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

Also included, is a visit to St Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum and the Forum. In Pompeii, a local guide will walk guests through the cobbled streets to learn about Roman life in the first century. In the Bay of Naples, clients board a hydrofoil to the island of Capri. During a guided tour, they embark on a scenic chairlift ride to the summit of Monte Solaro and enjoy a spectacular panorama over the island and across the Bay of Naples.

Insight Vacations’ 12-day Treasures of Italy is priced from $4,085 per person, land only, based on double occupancy. Insight Vacations offers tour packages targeting the savvy traveler who seeks better accommodations, choices in dining, and smaller group sizes while staying in the most desirable locations.

For more than 30 years, Insight Vacations has been offering premium escorted tours and cruises to Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, Canada and the United States.

For more information, call 800-582-8380 or visit www.insightvacations.com

Europe’s largest reviews site now available on BMW ConnectedDrive

Qype, Europe’s leading consumer reviews site, has struck a deal with car giant BMW to bring Qype’s app to BMW drivers across the UK.

One of the fastest-growing mobile experiences on the web, Qype gives consumers access to over two million reviews across 166,000 cities worldwide, covering everything from bars and beauticians to plumbers and primary schools.

Drivers with BMW Online or BMW Live can now access the Qype app at the touch of a button, through the car’s iDrive operating system. Using BMW’s location-based technology, the Qype app will find the best places around you across almost 1,000 different categories.

The easy-to-use app provides added convenience for drivers, giving them access to user-generated reviews of restaurants, hotels, shops and services before they arrive at their destination. Using BMW’s text-to-speech function drivers can listen to reviews and recommendations on the move.

“With over one million downloads to date, Qype’s app is already one of the most popular on the market and we’re delighted to be working with BMW to make it available to BMW drivers,” says Qype CEO Ian Brotherston.

“More and more people are accessing the web on the go, and Qype’s app, coupled with BMW’s innovative location-based technology, is the perfect companion when you’re travelling,” continues Brotherston.

The app is available free of charge to all BMW ConnectedDrive customers with an inbuilt mobile phone-enabled navigation system.

As summer gently fades into autumn, it’s the perfect time to indulge in a foodie weekend in the Italian region of Liguria. The tourism board is launching their ‘Borghi da Gustare’ initiative, encouraging visitors to discover thirteen pretty historical villages whilst savouring the rustic flavours of traditional cuisine. From now until October 30th, Brits can take advantage of two fantastic special offers starting from just €50 per person.

Perched along the cliffs and atop the region’s many hills, Liguria’s picturesque villages and hamlets are warm and welcoming in autumn. Reflected in the sea below, they take on a vivid blue hue during the season when the Tramontane brings its light breezes to the North of Italy, lending a crisp freshness to the air – restorative for the body and mind ahead of winter.

From now until the 30th of October, it is time, once again, for Borghi da Gustare, an annual initiative organised by the Paesi Bandiera Arancione (Orange flag towns) and Borghi più belli d’Italia (Italy’s most beautiful villages) associations and promoted by the regional tourism agency “in Liguria”. The programme sees 13 villages across the region offering special packages for visitors – one overnight stay, breakfast and dinner for €50 per person (beverages and extras excluded), and two overnight stays (with two breakfasts and two dinners) for €80 per person.

Participating hotels, inns, bed & breakfast, agritourismos and self-catering accommodation options are spread out across the four provinces of Imperia, Savona, Genoa and La Spezia. A complete list of accomodation options is available in pdf format from the website, making it easy to choose a unique B&B, farm stay or hotel in any of the thirteen participating villages:

Apricale Borgio Verezzi Brugnato Campo Ligure Cervo Dolceacqua Finalborgo Laigueglia Noli Pigna Santo Stefano D’Aveto Varese Ligure Zuccarello

British Airways operates a daily service from London Gatwick to Cristoforo Colombo airport in Genoa throughout the autumn and prices start from £98 return. Ryanair also flies to Genoa from Stansted, from £19.99 one way. www.britishairways.com  / www.ryanair.com

Adventure travel specialist, Explore, is offering free tickets to its 30th Birthday celebration, Explore Live, to be held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Saturday 5th November, 2011. With an impressive guest list that includes Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Kate Humble, the Society will be transformed to encapsulate the sights and smells of the world’s colourful continents with a specially designed set.

Labelled by the Guinness Book of Records as ‘The World’s Greatest Living Explorer’, Sir Ranulph Fiennes is famed for his many record-breaking achievements. He was the first person to reach both poles, the first person to cross the Antarctic and Arctic Ocean and the first person to circumnavigate the world along its polar axis. In 2003, just three-and-a-half months after suffering a heart attack, three-day coma and double bypass, Sir Ranulph achieved seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. At the age of 65, he was the oldest British person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Known to many as one of the faces of Countryfile, Springwatch and Autumnwatch, Kate Humble also presented the BBC’s hugely popular ‘The Frankincense Trail’ in which she travelled across the Middle East. Having spent a lot of time travelling in Africa, Kate set-up her own charity, Stuff your Rucksack. This online community encourages travellers to pack extra items in their luggage to support organizations and projects around the world in need of equipment and resources.

Both of these speakers will share stories and anecdotes from their travels at the event and guests will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of each presentation. Sir Ranulph will also be signing copies of his iconic book, ‘Beyond the Limits’. Also at Explore Live, guests will have the opportunity to wander through street scenes, markets and temples in a specially designed set, soaking up the atmosphere of the Americas; Asia; Africa; Europe and the Middle East. In addition, there will be the chance to learn more about the ever-changing night sky in a planetarium show hosted by eminent astronomer, Andy Green, as well as the opportunity to chat with adventure travel experts, including Explore staff and tour leaders.

Ashley Toft, Managing Director of Explore commented, “We have a lot of very loyal customers – over 60% of people that book with us have been on an Explore trip before. A significant proportion of these have travelled with us over ten, twenty or even thirty times. Explore Live is our way of saying a big thank you to them. It also provides an opportunity for anyone who is new to adventure travel or Explore to learn more about us.”

He continued, “We have come a long way since launching in 1981 with just six tours in a four-page brochure. However, our pioneering spirit remains and we are always pushing the boundaries with the trips that we offer and the places that we visit. Our 30th birthday milestone is an opportunity to take a step back and celebrate all that we have achieved as a leading adventure travel specialist – both through our small group tours and tailor-made offering.”

Guests have the option to register for the morning or afternoon session of Explore Live, both lasting four hours and starting at 10am and 2pm respectively. Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and a maximum of four tickets can be requested per person.

To book free tickets to Explore Live, or for more information visit www.explore.co.uk

Learn the art of food and wine pairing, how to taste and choose fine wines and discover the history of wine growing on a 7 night luxury cruise in the company of British wine critic, journalist and television personality Jilly Goolden who will be on board for the duration of the cruise. Luxury river cruise operator AmaWaterways is offering UK guests a saving of £400pp off a luxury river cruise on board the luxurious AmaDolce, embarking in Vilshofen on 14th November 2011 and cruising to Budapest.

Jilly Goolden, known for her eccentric descriptions of wine that have included pear drops, liquorice and even rubber, presented BBC’s `Food & Drink’ show for 18 years. She went on to write a series of books on wine and food, and to appear in a number of TV shows, including the fifth series of `I’m a Celebrity – Get me out of here’.

Ms. Goolden will be joining guests on AmaWaterways’ picturesque `Romantic Danube’ river cruise past rolling hillsides, vineyards and medieval castles, through Austria’s captivating Wachau Valley with highlights that include visits to Vienna and Budapest. While on board, she will present her knowledge of local wines, accompany guests on a wine-themed shore excursion and mingle freely with passengers during meals and in the ship’s public areas.

All presentations, wine tastings and excursions are complimentary to guests and are included in the 7 night cruise price, starting from £1195 per person, which also includes return UK flights, transfers, all meals, free-flowing wine with dinner, free wi-fi and free use of on-board bicycles.

The cruise is one of a series of wine themed cruises offered by AmaWaterways in October and November 2011, timed to coincide with the harvest. The cruises will showcase Europe’s wine regions on the Rhine, Mosel and Danube, and in addition to Jilly Goolden, will feature hosts such as Anthony Dias Blue, one of the U.S.’s most influential wine, food and lifestyle personalities, and representatives from the Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery in Sonoma, and winemakers from the St. Francis Winery and Vineyards in Santa Rosa and Trinchero Napa Valley.

Itineraries include complimentary onboard lectures, wine tastings and excursions to historic vineyards and cellars. Passengers will also enjoy special wine-themed excursions, such as a Medieval Wine Fest in the Mosel town of Zell; a traditional “Heuriger” tasting of new wine in the villages of Grinzing and Neustift on the outskirts of Vienna; a tour and tasting at the historic Bergweiler Winery in Bernkastel; an introduction to Alsatian wines at the “Wunsch et Mann” winery in Wettolsheim and an unforgettable candlelit evening and wine tasting at the Hofkeller, or cellar of the famous Residenz in Wurzburg. Each of the distinctive wine-themed activities is complimentary and open to all passengers.

Jilly Goolden will be sailing on board the 148-passenger M/S AmaDolce, which debuted in 2009 and is one of six luxury river cruisers that the award winning AmaWaterways operates on Europe’s waterways, to be joined by a seventh ship, the AmaCerto in 2012. The company also offers cruises on Russia’s waterways and on the Mekong.

Contact AmaWaterways on freephone 0808 223 5009, www.amawaterways.co.uk