Jetsettersblog

A 16-night coach, rail and sail holiday to Canada and Alaska in May this year that includes such unique excursions as a glacier helicopter tour, a ranch visit and the famous Columbia Icefields tour – and which was selling from $12,049pp twin-share a few months ago – is now selling under half-price through ecruising.travel from just $6,149pp twin-share if booked by March 12.

Departing Australia on May 14, this remarkable package is built around 5-nights touring from Calgary in the Canadian Rockies to Banff, two nights aboard the Rocky Mountaineer train from Banff to Vancouver, and 7-nights on the 116,000 tonne mega-liner Diamond Princess to Anchorage.

After an overnight on arrival in Calgary, there’s a guided “lake stroll” around famous Lake Louise, an Icefields and Glaciers Experience including a glacier helicopter tour and a ranch visit, the unique Columbia Icefields Ice Explorer on the way to Banff where there’s a Banff Gondola ride and a Summit Helicopter Flight see, an overnight in Banff, and the 2-night Rocky Mountaineer to Vancouver including an overnight in Kamloops.

All rail station transfers in Banff, Kamloops and Vancouver are included, and the Rocky Mountaineer includes two onboard breakfasts and three lunches; in Vancouver there’s a choice of free excursions and an overnight, before joining Diamond Princess’ 7-night sailing to Anchorage by way of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, and cruising Glacier Bay and College Fjord; all onboard meals and entertainment are included.

Prices include return air from Sydney and all taxes; phone 1300 369 848 or visit www.ecruising.travel

Cruise West’s online shore excursion store is now live and accepting reservations for guests booked on 2010 Alaska cruises.
The 65 optional shore excursions include eight new ones in Wrangell, a new port call on Alaska’s Inside Passage cruises. Cruise West has always included a shore activity in every port; the optional excursions allow guests to further customize their Alaska experience.

New shore excursions in Wrangell include the “Wild Bears of Anan,” which let passengers view black and brown bears from an observation deck; the outing is available on Alaska’s Inside Passage departures from July 5 to Aug. 25.

Also new is the “Stikine River & Wilderness Glacier Adventure by Jet Boat” that explores the river delta, icebergs and wildlife.

Optional excursions are available on Denali land tours to Denali and Fairbanks and in ports on all four Alaska itineraries — the 10-night “Gold Rush Inside Passage” to Petersburg, Sitka, Skagway and Juneau; the seven-night “Alaska’s Inside Passage” to Juneau, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell; the four-night “Glacier Bay Highlights” to Skagway, Haines and Juneau; and the four-night “Glaciers of Prince William Sound” to Whittier and Cordova.

Guests should have departure date, voyage name and a credit card available before logging onto www.cruisewest.com/shore-excursions

Guests should follow the instructions, browse and choose shore excursions then secure with a credit card.

For more information, call 800-689-1783 or visit www.cruisewest.com

Porter Airlines is opening it new home Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on March 7. The $50 million passenger terminal was unveiled at a ceremony showcasing enhanced passenger services, further improving the travel experience at this revitalized facility. Porter projects over 1.3 million passengers using the airport in 2010.

The new lounges will triple current capacity and include standard complimentary

Porter amenities such as a business center, modern lounge-style seating, beverages, snacks and Wi-Fi.

For more information, call 888-619-8622 or visit www.flyporter.com

In October 2009, Quark Expeditions announced that the polar adventure company’s flagship, Kapitan Khlebnikov, will retire in March 2012. Four months later, Quark announced that the 13-itinerary End of an Era program is an unqualified success. One of the voyages to remote locales in Antarctica has sold out, and others in the Arctic and Antarctica are well on their way.

Despite the fact that the ship’s retirement is two years away, travelers who hesitate to reserve a cabin may find they have missed the boat – or in this case – the icebreaker.

There are cabins left on Quark’s first End of an Era sailing, Northwest Passage: West to East (July 18 to August 5, 2010).

On that voyage, special guest Andrew Lambert, author of The Gates of Hell: Sir John Franklin’s Tragic Quest for the Northwest Passage, will return to Khlebnikov to deliver presentations about Franklin, and why a pursuit of scientific discovery had disastrous results.

Also, the Laughton Professor of Naval History, will be present when the documentary, Franklin’s Lost Expedition, in which he and Khlebnikov appear, is shown.

“We are very pleased that Professor Lambert accepted our invitation. His reinterpretation of the Franklin story has changed completely the way the world understands the event,” said Quark’s president, Patrick Shaw.

Shaw continued, “The success of our End of an Era program is bittersweet. We are disappointed that the icebreaker will no longer be a part of our fleet, yet, we are delighted at the response of polar travelers, who have embraced the program so enthusiastically.”

A free information kit about the Northwest Passage voyage can be downloaded from the Quark Expeditions website.

Per person prices start at $16,490. The 19-day expedition embarks in Anadyr, Russia and disembarks in Resolute, Canada.

About Quark Expeditions

Quark Expeditions was the first polar adventure company to transit the Northeast Passage with commercial passengers; the first to take travelers to the “far side” of Antarctica and the first to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent with guests, twice. In 2006 and 2007, Quark was named a recipient of National Geographic Traveler’s “50 Tours of a Lifetime” for “Emperor Penguin Safari” and the “Far Side” respectively. In 2006, Outside magazine named Quark’s “Emperor Penguin Safari” as one of the New Trips of a Lifetime.

Air Canada said that beginning May 17, 2010, it will launch the only non-stop daily flights linking Regina and Ottawa with same plane service to/from Montreal.

The airline said the new flight should be popular with business, government and leisure travelers because it reduces current travel time by nearly two hours when compared to connecting over other routings.

Air Canada’s new flights between Regina and Ottawa will complement Air Canada’s current schedule of three daily flights from Regina to Toronto.

Flights will be operated by Air Canada’s regional partner Jazz with 75-seat Bombardier 705 jet aircraft offering a choice of Executive and Economy class, and featuring Air Canada’s personal in-flight entertainment system available at every seat throughout both cabins.

The flights are timed for convenient connections with Air Canada’s network, including London, Frankfurt, New York, Halifax and St. John’s for flights leaving Ottawa for Regina, and onward connections to destinations such as Halifax, Boston, New York and Frankfurt for flights arriving in Ottawa from Regina.

Gap Adventures Teams with Canada Goose to Launch New Polar Adventure Tours

Gap Adventures, the world leader in small group adventure travel, is proud to announce a hot new partnership with cold-weather apparel maker Canada Goose. The adventure pioneers have teamed to create Canada Goose Adventure Tours, providing exploration-loving travellers a unique opportunity to experience some of the farthest flung regions of the globe in style.

“Canada Goose Adventure Tours are a truly creative addition to our already strong repertoire of Polar tours,” said Gap Adventures Founder Bruce Poon Tip.

“This cutting-edge partnership offers our loyal travellers the chance to step into the cold and experience the best in sustainable, authentic tourism in ways they could once have only imagined.”

Canada Goose Adventures introduce globetrotters to the intriguing people, dramatic landscapes and unforgettable wildlife of the Arctic and Antarctic regions on voyages to a wide range of countries including Canada, the United States, Argentina, Sweden and Finland.

Trips start at $3569 CAD per person for the 11-day Patagonia Winter Activity Week. Other unforgettable adventures include the six-day Norway High Arctic Adventure, the six-day Polar Bears, Dogsledding and Aurora Borealis adventure across Canada’s Great White North. These exhilarating cold-weather expeditions feature a host of breathtaking activities including snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice climbing and tundra buggy polar bear viewing.

With an average group size of about 10 travellers, Canada Goose Adventure Tours are led by historians and naturalists who shed light on awe-inspiring natural phenomenons such as the Aurora Borealis.

The tours also offer travellers the opportunity to warm up to some very cool accommodations including igloos and ice hotels, all while sporting a Canada Goose parka as a take-home reminder of their fantastic foray onto the frozen Polar tundra.

Those Canada Goose adventurers who sail to Antarctica on specific departures in March 2011, aboard the Gap Adventures ship, the M/S Expedition will receive an even more unique souvenir–a Canada Goose parka designed in conjunction with Gap Adventures’ crack team of cold-weather designers.

Canada Goose Adventure Tours offer amazing flexibility and are customizable to suit a broad spectrum of traveller preferences and budgets–ideal for groups ranging from single travellers and couples, to families. For more information, visit Gap Adventures Canada Goose

About Gap Adventures

Gap Adventures is a world leader in the adventure travel industry offering small group adventures on all seven continents and beyond to more than 100,000 global travellers annually.

The award-winning trips, which focus on culture, nature and active travel, are ideal for those with a sense of adventure – people who want to leave the beaten path and authentically immerse themselves in a local culture or environment to experience the real world in a sustainable manner. Demonstrating its ongoing cultural, social and economic commitment to responsible tourism,

Gap Adventures established the Planeterra Foundation, as a way the company and its passengers can give back to the communities visited. For more information, please visit Gap Adventures and Planeterra.

Websites:
http://www.gapadventures.com
http://www.planeterra.org

As the official airline of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, Air Canada is offering the following tips to help customers enjoy a smooth travel experience during the upcoming peak travel period, Feb. 9 to March 22, 2010, particularly for travel to Vancouver, host city of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The busiest travel dates getting to Vancouver are Feb. 5-12, 2010, with Air Canada carrying more than 82,000 passengers system wide each day, including up to 12,000 to Vancouver, per day.

The busiest travel dates leaving Vancouver are Feb. 28-March 5. The peak departure day is March 1, YVR’s busiest day in history with close to 39,000 people departing Vancouver, almost 12,000 on Air Canada.

Air Canada said customers should check the status of departing and arriving flights before leaving for the airport by consulting the Air Canada website www.aircanada.com , using an Internet-enabled mobile device at http://mobile.aircanada.com , or by calling the flight status line at 888-422-7533.

Customers also can keep abreast of how weather or other circumstances may affect their flight by checking the Daily Operational Outlook in the Travel Updates section on the home page at www.aircanada.com

Air Canada customers can receive flight delay and cancellation information directly on their mobile devices or via e-mail. To register, visit www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/traveller/mobile/notification_app.html

The Air Canada iPhone App is a free application specifically designed for Apple iPhone users makes travel easier than ever.

Enhanced services like My Flights and My Messages allow customers to manage their Air Canada travel experience from a single location. Users can check in for flight, verify flight status, sign up for real-time flight notification updates, or take advantage of one of the other available options.

Log in at the App Store for the iPhone or from iTunes on a Mac/PC.

Air Canada’s BlackBerry app provides travelers with BlackBerry devices convenient and easy real-time access to a wide-range of flight information.

This includes retrieving electronic boarding passes, tracking flight information in real-time, receiving notification of itinerary changes and obtaining other details about Air Canada flights. The app is available free on-line from BlackBerry App World (www.blackberry.com/appworld ) or on Air Canada’s mobile site (http://mobile.aircanada.com ).

Transport Canada carry-on regulations for flights from Canada to the United States permits one carry-on bag on flights to the United States, in addition to limited personal items allowed in the cabin.

Air Canada recommends that customers flying to the U.S. bring only limited baggage and respect the strict carry-on limits imposed by Canadian and U.S. authorities.

For details on permitted carry-on items please consult the Canadian Air Transport Security website at www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca.

For more information, visit www.aircanada.com

Renaissance Hotels has partnered with Dylan’s Candy Bar to create the Escape! Romance Valentine’s Day package, available at participating Renaissance Hotels throughout the United States and Canada.

The package is available for stays from Feb. 11 to 15, 2010.

To launch this Valentine’s Day package, Dylan’s Candy Bar created an exclusive fantasy candy land suite with over 300 pounds of candy at the Renaissance New York Hotel 57, which will be available this Valentine’s Day as well. Renaissance Hotels Dylan’s Candy Bar Sweetest Suite features accommodations in the “Sweetest Suite,” available at the Renaissance New York Hotel 57 for two nights only, Feb. 13 to 15. for $2,500.

The package includes an edible candy wall, white chocolate fountain, cotton candy machine, over 300 pounds of candy, and gumballs and chocolate in every draw.

Other Valentine’s Day packages are offered for $169 at Renaissance Blackstone Chicago Hotel, $199 at Renaissance Washington, D.C. Hotel, $169 at Renaissance Houston Greenway Plaza Hotel, $159 at Renaissance Atlanta Downtown Hotel, $349 at Renaissance New York Hotel 57, $529 at Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach, and $289 at Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel.

The “Escape! Romance Valentine’s Day” package includes a complimentary bottle of champagne; late check-out; $100 Renaissance savings coupon towards a future two-night stay; Dylan’s Candy Bar three-pack of special Valentine’s Day treats including gumballs, gummi bears and chocolate-covered cookie-dough; and Dylan’s Candy Bar chocolate candy heart on the bed.

For more information or reservations, call 212-651-3205 or visit www.RenHotelsRoamnce.com

Holland America Line is highlighting Canada’s Yukon Territory in its 2010 Alaska and the Yukon cruisetours.

Of the 31 itineraries, 13 include Yukon destinations such as Whitehorse, Dawson City, Tombstone Territorial Park and Kluane National Park.

New in 2010 is the “Best of the Yukon” cruisetour, one of three Expedition cruisetours recently introduced by Holland America. Cruisetours featuring the Yukon range from 10 to 20 days in length and depart May 9 through Aug. 28, 2010.

Each combines a three-, four- or seven-day Inside Passage cruise with a land tour of destinations in Alaska and the Yukon. Guests experience the wilderness, wildlife, native culture and history while traveling by luxury motor coach, rail and often river boat.

The new “Best of the Yukon” Expedition cruisetour is designed to provide an in-depth Yukon experience.

The itinerary is 12 days with a three-day northbound cruise or 13 days with a southbound sailing that includes Glacier Bay. Guests visit Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory; Dawson City, a Klondike National Historic Site where they have three nights and two full days to explore its gold rush heritage;

Tombstone Territorial Park; and active adventures from rafting to hiking.

The tour also visits Tok, Beaver Creek and Skagway in Alaska.

It includes a Yukon River cruise aboard the Yukon Queen II, Kluane National Park sightseeing, White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad with Lake Bennett excursion and the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines.

Holland America also offers six Great Land Klondike cruisetours ranging from 11 to 15 days that all feature Whitehorse, Dawson City and the Yukon Queen II river cruise between Dawson City and Eagle, Alaska.

Four of the cruisetours also include a scenic trip on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad via Lake Bennett between Whitehorse and Skagway. All feature an overnight in Denali National Park and the six- to eight-hour Tundra Wilderness Tour within the park.

Four Great Land Wilderness cruisetours ranging from 10 to 13 days offer itineraries that include Whitehorse.

Included are a natural history presentation at the entrance to Kluane National Park or a summer sled dog demonstration by Uncommon Journeys.

On two tours guests can take an optional full-day excursion to Kluane, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

All Great Land Klondike and Wilderness cruisetours are escorted by a tour director and include travel on deluxe Explorer Coaches. Two Glacier Discovery cruisetours offer 19- or 20-day itineraries that include two nights in Whitehorse and Dawson City and “Double Denali.” Cruisetours featuring the Yukon start at $1,249 per person, double.

Swan Hellenic has published a North American cruise atlas with pricing in U.S. dollars, air programs from 21 North American gateways, and exclusive promotions for the U.S and Canadian market.

The company also has launched an updated website, www.swanhellenic.us , featuring details on the line’s worldwide ocean and river programs.

The new cruise atlas offers early booking savings of up to 30 percent, with an additional $250-per-person launch discount available on select summer cruises for bookings made and deposited by March 1.

Roundtrip airfare and transfers are available from 21 U.S. and Canadian gateways and are detailed online.

The North American website also features Swan’s river cruises aboard A-Rosa Stella (Rhône), A-Rosa Riva (Danube) and A-Rosa Aqua (Rhine). Swan’s river program mirrors Minerva’s all-inclusive features.

For more information, call 866-923 9182 or visit www.swanhellenic.us