Jetsettersblog

Setting sail from Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas the idyllic capital of the US Virgin Islands, you will find yourself in shopping heaven before embarking upon a 5 night journey around the Caribbean. Widely known as the duty free shopping capital of the world – Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas combines rich history with some of the world’s best shopping.

SeaDream I is an exclusive & intimate mega-yacht which hosts just 56 couples who are serviced by a team of 95 crew, providing a truly 5 star luxury experience.

Leading cruise holiday specialists ecruising Asia Pacific are providing you with this dream opportunity at a saving of up to 65%. Through ecruising you can enjoy 5 nights aboard luxury mega-yacht SeaDream I for only HK$19,249.00 usually HK$61,000.00

ecruising Asia Pacific is a fully registered and licensed travel agency who are specialists in cruise holidays. Recently launching their regional centre for Asia Pacific in Hong Kong, their team of dedicated customer service agents are providing Asia with a gateway to the world of cruising.

This exclusive package on SeaDream I includes all main meals, complimentary beverages, personal refreshment bar and entertainment. The mega-yacht also features an Award-winning Thai certified Spa (massage rooms, steam shower and sauna), Fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, Outdoor whirlpool, pool and spa facilities.

Caribbean Itinerary

18 Jan - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

19 Jan - Cruz Bay, St. John

20 Jan - Anguilla, British West Indies

21 Jan - Gustavia, St. Barthelemy

22 Jan - Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

23 Jan San Juan, Puerto Rico

Details
For sale until: 16 January 2009
Destinations: Caribbean
Ship: SeaDream I
Embarkation Port: Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
Duration: 5 Nights
Departure Dates: 18 Jan 2009

Other great cruise holidays available through ecruising Asia Pacific include:

China, Vietnam & Thailand HK$13,499.00
14 nights on board Costa Allegra from Hong Kong to Singapore. Departing 21 Feb 2009
For sale until: 21 February 2009
Destinations: Asia
Cruise Line: Costa
Ship: Costa Allegra
Embarkation Port: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 14 nights
Departure Dates: 21 February 2009

ecruising Asia Pacific can be contacted for information about cruise holiday products here and world-wide by simply visiting

 www.ecruising.travel/hk

or phoning (852) 3711 3238.

Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts announced the Winter 2008 Partners in Paradise Award recipients: Richard Poitras, strategic planner and founder of Horizons.com, and Carrie Plato, Caribbean strategy and buying leader of the Mark Travel Corporation.

Poitras was recognized with the Meeting Planner Partner Award and Plato received the Travel Industry Partner Award. The highly esteemed Partners in Paradise Awards are presented to the most extraordinary meeting and travel industry partners, recognizing their overall contributions to Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts.

“These two, dynamic professionals have been selected to receive Marriott’s top industry honor for displaying qualities that exemplify the ideal Marriott partner — organization, leadership, flexibility, creativity and enthusiasm,” said Steve Cook, area director of sales and marketing for Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts.

Launched in 2006, the bi-annual Partners in Paradise Award program is a way of recognizing individuals whose contributions to Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts properties go above and beyond the financial opportunities alone.

Twice a year, the sales team nominates one meeting planner and one travel industry partner to receive this prestigious award. Winners are not only featured on ParadiseByMarriott.com and in a newsletter that is distributed to travel and meeting trades, but they also receive a personal letter, an engraved plaque and a $500 American Express gift certificate.

MLT Vacations added three popular island destinations in the Caribbean through the company’s NWA WorldVacations and Continental Airlines Vacations brands. The tour operator began offering Antigua, Turks & Caicos, and St. Lucia vacation packages Dec. 18.

NWA WorldVacations will offer all three island getaways while Continental Airlines Vacations will offer the islands of Antigua and Turks & Caicos. Vacations package components will include round-trip air, accommodations at a Sandals or Beaches Resort, and ground transportation.

Rental car options and more lodging selections will be announced in the spring of 2009, and optional car rental. More accommodation options are coming in spring 2009.

MLT Vacations, one of the largest providers of vacation packages in the United States, manages multiple package vacation brands, including NWA WorldVacations, Worry-Free Vacations, and Continental Airlines Vacations.

NWA WorldVacations offers vacation packages via scheduled air service on Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines and other airline partners, with convenient connections from many U.S. and Canadian cities, to destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, including luxury vacation packages and destination weddings and honeymoons.

Worry-Free Vacations offers charter vacation packages from several U.S. cities to destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean. Continental Airlines Vacations offers vacation packages via scheduled air service on Continental Airlines with convenient connections from many U.S. and Canadian cities, to destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.

For more information, visit www.worldagentdirect.com

Certified Vacations Group entered into a partnership with CaribbeanWeddings.com, the largest site on the web dedicated to destination weddings in the Caribbean, to launch a new CaribbeanWeddings.com brand offering complete travel and destination wedding planning and booking services to the Caribbean.

The partnership provides CaribbeanWeddings.com professional travel industry expertise to back up its web marketing prowess. Roberta Backus Turner, chairwoman and founder of CaribbeanWeddings.com, said, “We worked with our visitors this way for many years, but our call volume and email requests became so enormous that we needed to find an experienced travel partner. Certified’s 28-year track record of excellence in developing packaged leisure travel, combined with our wedding expertise makes a perfect marriage. We interviewed some excellent firms and found the right relationship with Certified Vacations.”

CaribbeanWeddings.com, with more than 1.3 million page views a year, claims to be the leading Internet site dedicated exclusively to the Caribbean wedding and honeymoon market. The Internet company is ranked number one in over 5,000 first page rankings on the major search engines and continues to establish itself as a major Internet player in the Caribbean. Destination weddings are not only popular but they continue to increase each year according to most industry research, and wedding, honeymoon and romance packages sales remain solid year-round, despite a down economy.

According to the most recent “American Wedding Study” conducted by Condé Nast Bridal Media, an estimated 2.3 million Americans got married in 2006, with approximately 16 percent of couples enjoying a destination wedding. This represents an increase of 400 percent since 1996. Destination weddings and honeymoons generate an estimated $5.4 billion in annual revenue for the Caribbean.

To better serve brides and grooms-to-be, Certified Vacations has established a dedicated Caribbean Weddings call center staffed with destination wedding reservations specialists.

CaribbeanWeddings.com was launched in 1999 and is the largest site on the web dedicated exclusively to providing information about destination weddings in the Caribbean.

Before entering into its arrangement with Certified, CaribbeanWeddings.com provided information about weddings and honeymoons in the Caribbean to its visitors and sent leads from those visitors to participating hotels. Now, its visitors will be able to contact Certified directly to handle all or any part of their travel, wedding and honeymoon needs. For reservations on CaribbeanWeddings.com, call 877-312-LOVE (5683).

For more information on Certified Vacations, visit www.certifiedvacations.com

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) has unveiled its new website, which is which is designed to streamline pertinent information to the organization’s hotel and affiliate members, while allowing for new capabilities such as an online membership directory, access to CHTA publications, and the ability to register online for conferences and events.

Through the website, members can access their profile in the CHTA membership directory at any time to update company profiles and records as well as employee contact information. The site also features CHTA manuals, publications, committee minutes and presentations.

The new website will provide information on conferences and events, as well as the ability to register online. Registrations processed online will receive immediate confirmation.

A new feature CHTA expects to have in place shortly is the ability for members to renew their membership dues online. Online purchases such as membership dues and conference registration will require credit card payment through PayPal, a secured credit card transaction company.

For more information, email marketing@caribbeanhotelandtourism.com  or visit www.caribbeanhotelandtourism.com

In anticipation of increased holiday travel to and from certain cities in Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean, American Airlines and American Eagle are implementing their customary policy limiting the size and number of checked bags, as well as prohibiting checked boxes. “American and American Eagle’s intent is to provide the best customer service possible and to consider the needs of all passengers,” said Peter Dolara, senior vice president for Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America.

“There are limits on the amount of baggage that can be carried in the cabin and cargo areas based on the size of the aircraft.” The baggage and box embargo applies to Cali, Colombia;

Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Medellin, Colombia; Kingston, Jamaica; Maracaibo, Venezuela; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; La Paz, Bolivia; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic; Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Santiago, Dominican Republic; Quito, Ecuador; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; San Salvador, El Salvador; Guadalajara, Mexico; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and Mexico City, Mexico.

All American Eagle flights to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean are also included. In addition, there is a year-round box embargo for passengers traveling from or through New York’s Kennedy Airport to all Caribbean and Latin American destinations.

Excess, oversize, and overweight baggage will not be accepted for flights to the destinations covered by the bag embargo. Passengers will be limited to a maximum of two checked bags, with each not exceeding 50 pounds and 62 linear inches (computed by adding the length, width and height of the bag). One carry-on bag will be allowed with a maximum weight of 40 pounds and a maximum size of 45 linear inches. In addition, one personal item such as a purse or briefcase is also allowed.

Sports equipment, such as golf bags, bikes and surfboards, may be checked as part of the total checked-bag allowance, although additional charges may apply.

MSC Cruises said there is limited space on the MSC Lirica’s Caribbean holiday sailings at rates starting at $699. Plus, kids sale free in the same stateroom as two full-fare-paying adults. The seven-night Christmas/Hannukah sailing departs Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 20 on an Eastern Caribbean itinerary that calls at Tortola, Philipsburg, Nassau and Cayo Levantado, a private retreat in the Dominican Republic.

Rates begin at $699 for an interior stateroom, $849 for ocean-view and $1,299 for a balcony suite. The seven-night New Year’s Western Caribbean itinerary departs Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 27 and calls at Key West, Cozumel, Georgetown and Cayo Levantado.

Rates begin at $799 for an interior stateroom, $949 for an ocean-view and $1,549 for a balcony suite. Rates are cruise only, per person, double occupancy; government fees and taxes and fuel surcharge are additional. Youngsters age 17 and under sharing a stateroom with two full-fare-paying adults sail free (government fees and taxes are additional).

SeaDream Yacht Club is offering a “Dream Deal” on 16 Caribbean voyages for the 2008-2009 season. Those who book by Nov. 1 receive up to 50 percent savings on published fares, plus $200 spa credit per stateroom. Voyages are five, seven and nine nights. Fares include all meals, wine with lunch and dinner, open bar with selected premium brands, use of water toys and gratuities. This offer is not combinable with any other SeaDream promotions.

For more information, call 800-707-4911 or visit www.seadream.com

Windstar Cruises is reducing its cruise deposit requirement by 50 percent on all new bookings made Oct. 22 through Dec. 15 for any 2009 sailing that is not within final payment requirement.

The new program allows guests to make a deposit of $375 per person, instead of $750 per person, within three days of booking a Windstar cruise to secure a reservation for 2009 sailings that are outside of the final payment period. The remaining deposit is due Jan. 15. “In these challenging economic times, we are offering guests more value by significantly reducing the amount of deposit required on luxurious Windstar cruise vacations,” said Diane Moore, president of Windstar Cruises.

For more information, call 800-258-7245 or visit www.windstarcruises.com

Rentalo.com, a leading online vacation rental directory, is offering Caribbean rentals for as little as $31.25 per person per night and their new website makes it easy to find such a bargain.

The new website design features a photo slide show of each rental property, as well as a property map, complete property description, prominent contact information and an availability calendar — all on the same wide page. Travelers can choose the date, location, number of bedrooms, amenities and activities and query property owners, who then bid for their business. And the best part is that these villas and houses provide more space and more privacy — not to mention fully-equipped kitchens — for less than the cost of a hotel room. Some of Rentalo.com’s current Caribbean offerings include Bryan’s Beach House in the Cayman Islands for $125 per night; the two-bedroom Sunset Crest in Barbados villa from $192; and Aruba’s Canuku House from $198 per night.

 For more information, visit www.Rentalo.com