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.

Cruising and boating holiday specialists Blue Water Holidays have revealed that their customers are just as exotic as their destinations. With recent customers booking a cruise on Russian Waterways from Zimbabwe, a Rhine cruise from Kuwait, and even a boating holiday in Ireland from Barbados, Blue Water Holidays have an important international customer base.

General Manager Rachel Aydin comments, “We have always explored new international markets and are finding it a real bonus now with the current uncertainty in the UK. We have booked customers from every single EU country and over 125 different countries worldwide, including Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, French Polynesia, Malaysia, and even Tokelau and Norfolk Island!”

“Unlike most agents and operators, we are not tied to a specific geographical customer base”, adds Rachel. “Our international marketing expertise and in-house technology means that we are able to book someone from Thailand onto a European river cruise without a problem.”

Blue Water Holidays are the UK cruising and boating holiday specialists with comprehensive coverage of all destinations and cruise types, including traditional river and ocean cruises, coastal voyages, expedition cruises, luxury cruises and self-drive boating holidays in the UK and Europe. For more information about what they offer, see www.bluewaterholidays.com.

For more information, please contact Juliet Peters, Marketing Manager on 01756 693626 or email Juliet@bluewaterholidays.com

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.

The 12-room Inn at Villa Olga, located in the Frenchtown District of St. Thomas, has reduced its rates up to $70 per night for travel throughout 2009, offering rates between $85 and $125 per room, per night.

As an added bonus, guests staying at Villa Olga can use the facilities at the hotel’s sister property, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort. Villa Olga is a good location for small family reunions as groups can rent the entire property offering a private vacation without the crowds associated with larger resorts. Groups have the privacy afforded by Villa Olga while taking full advantage of the property’s facilities without having to worry about infringing on other guests.

Villa Olga’s reduced nightly rates for a harbor-view room are $100 per room (savings of $70 per night), valid Dec. 23 through April 30, and $85 per room (savings of $65 per night), May 1 to Dec. 22. Nightly rates for ocean-view rooms are $125 per room (savings of $70 per night), valid Dec. 23 through April 30, and $110 per room (savings of $65 per night), May 1 to Dec. 22.

All rates quoted are per room, per night and do not include the 15 percent tax and service charge.

For more information, call 800-524-4746, email villaolga@bolongobay.com  or reservations@bolongobay.com or visit www.villa-olga-inn.com

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

Bolongo Bay Beach Resort in St. Thomas is offering a value-added vacation with its Inauguration Package honoring the new U.S. President Barack Obama.

The package is valid through the month of January, and allows guests to celebrate this year’s memorable and historical presidential inauguration in St. Thomas. The Inauguration Package is priced at $772 per person, based on double occupancy and includes five-night accommodations in an ocean view room; a $100 resort credit; a “discover scuba diving” in-pool lesson; complimentary use of non-motorized watersports equipment (snorkel gear, paddle boats, sunfish sailboats, windsurfing equipment and kayaks); 15 percent tax and service charges; and $5 per day energy surcharge. Guests staying at Bolongo on Jan. 20 can watch the inauguration festivities on television at Iggies Beach Bar & Grill.

For more information, call 800-524-4746, email reservations@bolongobay.com  or visit www.bolongobay.com

The U.S.V.I. Department of Tourism has extended its Winter Escape promotion once again. The booking window will now span the entire month of December, ending Dec. 31, for travel between Dec. 15 and March 31. The promotion includes $300 in travelers checks; a coupon book with savings on activities and attractions; complimentary fifth night, based on a four-night minimum stay at participating hotels; $50 credit on attractions; and $50 credit on meals.

For more information, call 800-372-USVI (8784) or visit www.usvitourism.vi

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

From Spain to Sri Lanka, Italy to Indonesia, BAILEY ROBINSON (tel 01488 689 700 www.baileyrobinson.com) has handpicked over 170 of the world’s most opulent, lavish and indulgent properties for inclusion in their 2009 LUXURY RESORTS brochure.

Quite simply this portfolio of properties has been selected to offer discerning travellers the best the world has to offer – all the featured resorts are based in stunning locations offering the divine combination of breathtaking views, impeccable service, great architecture and interior design and mouth watering cuisine, not to mention a wide range of activities, health and beauty treatments.

The properties spotlighted below have been selected either because they are brand new products for 2008 or because they are new additions to this Luxury Resorts brochure. The per person price guide below, valid until 30th September 2009, is based on seven nights accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis with international economy flights and transfers, unless otherwise stated.

EUROPE: Italy, Sardinia, France, Spain/Mallorca/Canaries, Portugal/Madeira, Cyprus, Greece/Santorini/Crete

ITALY - Vigilius Mountain Resort : This year round destination - snow in winter, sunshine in summer - is Bailey Robinson’s first European mountain resort selected for its stunning location, excellent food, environmentally friendly design and extensive range of activities. £1,125.
ITALY - Relais San Maurizio: One of Italy’s hidden treasures, this charming property and former Franciscan monastery boasts a splendid wine cellar, superb cuisine, truffle hunting and the award-winning Caudalie® Spa famed for its Vinotherapie products. £985.
FRANCE - Le Couvent de Minimes Hotel & Spa: This new property and former monastery, located in the lavender rich hills of Provence, marries beautiful accommodation and fantastic food – its gourmet restaurant Le Cloître is overseen by acclaimed chef Philippe Guerin - with a world class spa which is also Europe’s first L’Occitane Spa. £1,125.
SPAIN - Read’s Hotel & Spa: A former manor house, this family owned boutique hotel is considered one of Mallorca’s finest properties. The restaurant is Michelin-starred with cookery courses available, whilst the newly opened Vespasian Spa is a tranquil sanctuary. £870.
GREECE – Eagles Palace: This Halkidiki situated property is ideal for families offering a glorious sandy beach, a selection of restaurants and bars as well as providing great value for money – the ideal blend of ancient Greek history and contemporary luxury. £690.

NORTH AFRICA & ARABIA: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Oman, Dubai

OMAN – Al Bustan Palace: This famous beachfront property is set to re-open its doors in November following a multi million pound refurbishment. Guests will encounter history, culture, lavish opulence, excellent dining, relaxation and activities galore. £2,950
EGYPT – Hyatt Regency Sharm El Sheikh: An ideal Red Sea destination for families offering excellent facilities and an impressive range of activities including dancing and handicraft lessons for children and all within a value for money price. £895.
MOROCCO – Angsana Riad Si Said: Located in the heart of Marrakech’s Medina, this property offers a level of opulence befitting royalty, a perfect haven to escape the hustle and bustle of city life. Facilities include a cooling pool and traditional oriental steam bath. £742 for four nights.

INDIAN OCEAN: Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka

SEYCHELLES – Banyan Lagoon 1: This stunning new catamaran offers Banyan Tree Mahé guests (maximum four) an exciting way of exploring the region’s hidden, uninhabited islands with a little help from a full complement of staff, personal sea host and skipper. £950 three nights full board sailing, based on four people sharing two cabins. Flights are not included.
MAURITIUS – Anahita The Resort: This brand new property will appeal to golfers and families alike. Facilities include a challenging 18-hole, par 72 championship golf course designed by South African golfer Ernie Els, a professionally managed kids club and a great selection of restaurants. £2,100, based on four people sharing.
MALDIVES – Stay at Banyan Tree Maldives Maldivaru and sail on Banyan Velaa: This new “camp & sail” option combines accommodation in Maldives’ only tented villas resort with sailing in superior comfort on a stunning yacht built in the style of a traditional Turkish gulet. £5,365 full board and £585 for three nights full board sailing.
MALDIVES – W Retreat & Spa: Outdoor and indoor living combine perfectly on this beautiful island as peekaboo roofs offer glimpses of the Maldivian sky, glass panelled floors expose the marine life and floor to ceiling glass windows slide open to reveal wraparound verandahs. £2,605.
SRI LANKA – Ceylon Tea Trails: Built for British tea estate managers in the days of the Raj, the four colonial plantation houses offer commanding views of an area rich in dramatic ravines, cascading waterfalls and breathtaking mountains. £1,970 per person, full board.

CARIBBEAN & LATIN AMERICA: Barbados, Bahamas, Anguilla, Antigua, British Virgin Islands, St.Martin, St.Kitts & Nevis, St.Lucia, The Grenadines, Grenada, Turks & Caicos, St.Barths, Mexico, Brazil

BRAZIL – Kiaroa: Ideal for activity seekers, this property is set in an ecological sanctuary in north east Brazil and offers visitors access to the Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s most biodiverse areas, as well as a coral reef teeming with marine life. £2,135 half board.
MEXICO – Rosewood Mayakoba: This new contemporary property sits on a two kilometre long white sandy beach on the edge of the Mayan forests facing the Caribbean Sea. This is an easy destination to twin with others in Latin America, the United States or the Caribbean. £2,365.
GRENADA – Mount Cinnamon: This new Peter De Savary hotel/villa venture boasts a hilltop location overlooking world renowned Grand Anse Beach. When not indulging in the Moi Spa visitors can kayak, snorkel and Hobie Cat sail. £1,895.
ANGUILLA – Cuisinart Resort & Spa: This property is located on a perfect three kilometre stretch of white sandy beach surrounded by lush tropical gardens and its own organic herb and vegetable garden. Unique experiences include hands on lunches where guests pick their own produce before settling back to relax and wait for lunch. £1,995.
ST. LUCIA – Discovery At Marigot Bay: Overlooking the bay described by James A. Mitchener as “the most beautiful bay in the Caribbean”, this is a contemporary resort that boasts a rich and varied maritime history. £1,350.

SOUTH EAST ASIA: Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia/Bali/Bintan/Lombok

INDONESIA – Banyan Tree Bintan: Under an hour by catamaran from Singapore, Banyan Tree Bintan is a collection of private villas epitomising tropical luxury. Ideal for families and couples, the island boasts world class cuisine, the excellent Banyan Tree Spa, tennis courts and a Greg Norman designed 18-hole championship golf course. £1,450 room only.
INDONESIA – The Kayumanis Collection: Consisting of small private estates in three locations across Indonesia in Nusa Dua, Ubud and Jimbaran, these properties come with their own private butlers. Surprisingly the height of luxury comes with a modest price tag - £1,525, £1,550 and £2,120 respectively.
INDONESIA – Spa Village Resort Tembok Bali: Since opening late last year this property has proved to be a popular choice for visitors seeking to embrace a relaxing, rejuvenating lifestyle and for those looking for a greater insight into the island’s unique healing traditions there is the Spa Village Academy inspired by a 75-year-old Balinese healer from the nearby village of Tembok. £1,430 full board with daily massage.

AUSTRALASIA & SOUTH PACIFIC: Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia

AUSTRALIA – Southern Ocean Lodge: This new resort on Kangaroo Island in South Australia has been hailed as Australia’s first true luxury resort akin to the super lodges of New Zealand. This is the place to spot native wildlife when not being indulged and pampered. £4,450 full board.
FRENCH POLYNESIA – Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora: This new addition to Four Seasons’ acclaimed portfolio is the epitome of chic island living, accommodation options are split between over water and beach front bungalows whose architecture is locally inspired. £3,725 room only.
FIJI – Vatuele Island Resort: With Six Senses this year taking over the management, it is expected that luxury, service and indulgence will reach new heights at this barefoot luxury resort. £3,785 all inclusive.
FRENCH POLYNESIA – Nomade Yachting Bora Bora: new for 2008, this is simply the most indulgent way to explore the Society Islands, having no fixed schedule but maintaining the highest levels of luxury that include Philippe Stark bathrooms and Kenzo amenities. £5,930 full board.

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