Jetsettersblog

Cruise West Extends Panama, Costa Rica Season

Cruise West announced two additional spring departures and six themed cruises to its 2008 and 2009 “Between Two Seas” itinerary.

Additionally, one enhanced and two new land tours are offered as add-ons. Guests may choose from two holiday cruises, two Pentax photography cruises or the option to travel in the company of a Panama Canal expert on two departures.

The nine-night “Between Two Seas” voyages sail on the 100-guest Pacific Explorer and visit the San Blas Islands and Portobelo and traverse the entire Panama Canal. Guests continue to Emberá Village in the Darién Jungle, Coiba National Park, Golfo Dulce, Caletas Beach and Manuel Antonio National Park. Costa Rican and Panamanian holiday activities and traditional cuisine complement the Dec. 20 departure.

Guests will ring in 2009 on the Dec. 29 New Year’s sailing with a New Year’s party including a midnight toast and late-night buffet. Guests on the two Pentax photography cruises, offered Dec. 2 and March 2, can attend onboard workshops with instruction by professional Pentax photographer Kerrick James.

A Panama Canal guru will share knowledge about the history and future expansion of the canal on the Dec. 11 and April 7 departures. The two new land tours include a two-night visit to Monteverde Cloud Forest or a four-night stay in Tortuguero National Park. Prices start at $3,799 per person, based on double occupancy.

Early-booking incentives of up to $175 per person are offered to those who pay in full by Sept. 5, 2008, for departures January through May 2009. Or, they can receive savings of $350 per person when booking the cruise and paying in full by March 27, 2009, for departures October through December 2009.

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

Future Vacations New Price Match Policy

Future Vacations launched a new Price Match policy. Under terms of the new policy that will match any competitor’s price on comparable vacation packages within three hours, ensuring that travelers always receive the best value for their vacation dollar.

Travel agents or consumers who book a Future Vacations package and find a lower price on a comparable package elsewhere can call Future Vacations’ new Price Match Hotline – 800-373-7801 – and speak directly to a Price Match Specialist for immediate service.

Comparable packages must feature the same airline, hotel, room category, travel dates and inclusions (e.g.: rental car, ground transfers, theme park/show tickets, etc.). For the fastest service, calls must be made during the following Price Match business hours: Monday to Saturday 9 am to 7 pm EST and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm EST.

Calls made outside of these hours will receive a return call the following business day. If Future Vacations is unable to match the price of a package, travelers will receive a $25 travel credit for future use.

The Price Match Policy is effective now and until further notice on all packages in the Future Vacations portfolio, which spans the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, Mexico, Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East.

For telephone reservations, call 800-456-2323.

Rough Guide Gets Extreme

Four celebrities are set to push themselves to the limit in the pursuit of the ultimate travel experience in Rough Guide To Ultimate Escapes.

Produced by Lion Television, the four hour-long programmes will build on the success of Five’s Rough Guide To…, presented by Julia Bradbury and Toby Amies, and will take adrenalin-fuelled adventures off the beaten track, in the pursuit of a once in a lifetime experience.

Five’s intrepid presenters will scour the globe to discover the ultimate travel experience and each week a guest celebrity presenter will go on their own thrill-seeking adventure.

Star of Green Wing, Stephen Mangan will cycle the spectacular mountain terrain of the Himalayas in Bhutan, Asia and discover the largely unexplored customs and cultures of a remarkable destination that has only recently opened its borders to tourism.

James Cracknell is put to the test in his search for the ultimate natural high in South America’s Venezuela, a magnet for the world’s biggest adrenaline junkies. James will attempt a daring bungee jump from a bridge and an intense climb and paraglide off the summit of the highest mountain in the Andes.

Dom Joly will explore one of the world’s best kept secrets when he encounters the rich flora and fauna of Nicaragua, attempting the challenging climb of an active volcano and then skiing down the volcanic ash slopes.

Sin Cities presenter, Ashley Hames treks through the rolling terrain and dense rain forests of the Philippines jungle and attempts a record-breaking abseil into one of the Philippines’ most spectacular and remote caves.

Presenters, Julia and Toby will also take on extreme adventures in their search for the ultimate holiday experience. Toby will head to the San Juan Islands in the Pacific North West and whilst searching for remote beaches and natural wildlife, kayaks with killer whales. He sky dives in Namibia, Africa and searches the skeleton coast for the world’s only desert elephants, plus he takes on a bike ride descent of the world’s most dangerous road – “El Camino de la Muerte” – the road of death.

Julia heads to Indonesia in search of an indigenous tribe and drinks pigs’ blood and gets an adrenaline high when she attempts to swim the Devil’s Pool on the edge of the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. She treks the GR 20, the toughest long distance trail in Europe and experiences the ultimate safari.

Five’s Commissioning Editor, Factual Entertainment and Features, Robi Dutta, said: “Rough Guide To….has proved a hit with our viewers and it’s exciting to build on this success and develop Rough Guide To Ultimate Escapes. It’s adrenalin-fuelled, informative and fun and will take our viewers on the trip of a lifetime.”

Hilary Rosen, Executive Producer for Lion Television, added: “Whether it\’s para-gliding in the Andes, walking in the African Bush or mountain biking across Bhutan, all of the films provide fresh insight, combined with the Rough Guide take, to some of the greatest destinations in the world.”

Rough Guide Publisher and Co-Founder Martin Dunford, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Five again and feel this new series is exactly what the Rough Guide brand is all about – fun, adventure, and discovering new ways of seeing the world”.

The Rough Guide To Ultimate Escapes is a Lion Television production for Five.

TACA adds flights between Peru and Guatemala

TACA will operate a new route between its hub in Peru and Guatemala. This new direct flight between the two destinations will be operated with aircraft from the Airbus fleet.

Aerolineas may move its operations to San Pedro Sula, in El Salvador

The cancelation of international flights in the Toncontin airport would leave Tegucigalpa isolated, which would affect tourism. The airports of San Pedro Sula and Comalapa in El Salvador would benefit the most from the closure of Toncontin.

Travel Impressions Offers Free Golf, Spa Treatments

Travel Impressions is offering a special promotion for golf and spa aficionados with its Back Nine & Spa Time package available at participating hotels and resorts in Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Arizona, California, and Central and South America.

Clients who book four nights or longer at a participating resort, such as the Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos, receive amenities that may include (depending upon hotel selected): a free round of golf; free golf equipment rental; a complimentary massage; 50 percent off spa treatments; free use of spa facilities.

The promotion is offered in addition to standard packages which feature roundtrip airport and hotel transfers, hotel accommodations, hotel tax and service. Clients who book an all-inclusive property will also enjoy all meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, non-motorized watersports, daily activities and nightly entertainment.

For more information, call 800-284-0044/631-845-8000, or visit www.travelimpressions.com

Palermo Hotel & Resort, Nicaragua for Weddings

SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua—A very different style of wedding getaway awaits in the southern Pacific coastal region of Nicaragua. Considered the new Costa Rica by many travelers, the area has much to offer at very reasonable prices.

Situated high on a hillside overlooking the bay of San Juan del Sur on Nicaragua’s southern Pacific coast is the contemporary Palermo Hotel & Resort, an unexpectedly luxurious hideaway within a rustic and equatorial area with incredible views of the Pacific and surrounding countryside.

Its 50 2-bedroom villas are perfect for short or long-term stays, offering a fully-equipped vacation home featuring comfortable, modern furnishings and amenities in a casual, stylish environment.

During the past year, Palermo Hotel & Resort has proved a popular for local and international events, especially weddings in the attractive gardens with a tiered stone amphi-theater and terraces created for such functions. Options for wedding party guests can include gliding through the tropical tree tops on a zip-line or experiencing Playa Maderas, the best surfing beach in Nicaragua. The resort’s attractive pool area has been enhanced to include new spa facilities by the Costa Rican company “Aromas” using all-natural, organic beauty and spa products.

The Casa Club has a new Hawaiian fusion-style chef for the creative restaurant, bar and lounge overlooking the pool and Pacific beyond. Sightseeing, dining and shopping are available in the picturesque, colonial town of Granada. Villas de Palermo is easily reached by Continental, TACA or American to Managua with arranged transfers.

www.villasdepalermo.com

The Heart of Om Yoga at Morgan’s Rock Nicaragua

OCOTAL BEACH, NICARAGUA—Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge, one of Latin America’s leading agro-tourism operations located south of Granada, the oldest city in the Americas, welcomes OM Yoga program.

The Morgan’s Rock Hacienda is designed for travelers in search of luxury combined with the excitement of Nicaragua, the new Central American venue. A pristine beach and a unique 4500 acre protected primary dry forest environment surround the resort and provide the setting for the Yoga experience. The secluded beach is the location of a newly designed Yoga studio where students can learn self-awareness, physical strength, confidence, compassion and self discipline against the background sounds of the waves and wildlife while contemplating the crashing surf.

Noted Yoga instructor Brian Liem of the OM Yoga Center in New York City will offer a special “The Heart of OM” starting on May 24 for 6 nights. Two daily classes will offer mornings of active and invigorating sessions of sun salutations plus hip and heart openers; evening sessions will be quieter sessions focusing on restorative and mindfulness meditation practices. This program will include transfers from Managua, all meals, the 2 daily classes, a massage, local tours, a boat trip and a special dinner for $2925 (single) and $2685 per person (double). Taxes & service are included in packages. See www.bigworldsmallplanet.com/retreats/retreat_om.html

Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge features fifteen hand-detailed private bungalows made of exotic tropical hardwoods with decks open to spectacular views of the ocean and forest and feature a king-size bed, a sofa bed, hammocks and an open-air shower. The restaurant, which features all local produce grown on the resort’s farm and fish caught by its own boats, overlooks a beautiful pool and the Pacific beyond.

Morgan’s Rock is easily reached by American, Delta, TACA and Continental who all fly to Managua with arranged transfers.

Celebrity adds Panama Canal Cruises

Celebrity Cruises will offer more variety for sailings through the Panama Canal’s Gatun Locks.

The line’s 2009-10 Panama Canal sailings are open for sale. In its late 2009, early 2010 season, Celebrity will offer 18 open-jaw sailings through the canal, more than it has offered during any previous single season. Highlights include a range of 13- to 16-night cruises, a Panama Canal cruise from Seattle, and five homeports from which the canal cruises will depart — Fort Lauderdale, Miami, San Diego, Seattle and Valparaiso, Chile. Celebrity Infinity will sail 10 open-jaw Panama Canal voyages between September 2009 and April 2010.

After a 16-night eastbound canal voyage from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale, it will sail a series of 13- and 14-night voyages between San Diego and Fort Lauderdale before a 15-night canal voyage from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco.

Celebrity Infinity also will operate a 15-night voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso on Dec. 5, 2009, and a 14-night voyage from Valparaiso to Fort Lauderdale on March 14, 2010; these two sailings will open for sale in a few weeks. From November 2009 through May 2010, Celebrity Constellation will alternate 13- and 14-night Panama Canal sailings between Miami and San Diego.

Celebrity is offering a 14-night canal voyage from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego on Celebrity Mercury in April 2009. Celebrity Mercury also will sail a 14-night eastbound Panama Canal in October 2009, from San Diego to San Juan. Celebrity Cruises’ 2009-10 Panama Canal sailings calls at ports in countries such as Aruba, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Mayan Cuisine and Culture with Vagabond Gourmet

France and Italy are typical destinations for culinary trips. But for an interesting change of pace, Vagabond Gourmet offers Chocolate Treats and Yucatan Eats.

This adventure centers at the La Villa Merida, a charming seven-room 19th century estate in the heart of Yucatan’s Merida for seven nights. Yucatecan dining has been called the first fusion cuisine, as it blends ancient Mayan and Spanish techniques with a touch of French and Caribbean influence.

Guests will spend two days learning about chocolate and spices at the renowned Los Dos cooking school, as well as cooking at the hacienda’s kitchen and enjoying excursions to the Mayan areas of Puuc and Uxmal.

Along the way, there will be opportunities to meet Mayan women who demonstrate the art of making tortillas and the famous sopa de lima, enjoy a meal in a cocina economica and savor the world’s best Poc Chuc at El Principe in Mani.

This trip is offered Jan.14-21, 2009 for $3350 per person, double. The company also offers an itinerary on Oct 30-Nov. 10 that centers in Oaxaca in the Yucatan and combines culinary experiences with Day of the Dead festivities.

http://www.vagabondgourmet.com

Saga ship celebrates Darwin’s birth

Saga ship Spirit of Adventure is to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth with a cruise around central and southern America next year.

The 352-passenger ship will visit the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica and the Amazon Rainforest during its 2009 cruise schedule.

These are habitats made famous by Britain’s greatest naturalist who was born in 1809.

After exploring Antarctica, the High Andes and Galapagos, the itinerary will follow the footsteps of Darwin during his research on the diverse Galapagos Islands, which helped formulate his theory of evolution.

Departing on February 21 and starting in Chile, Spirit of Adventure sails north to Peru and Ecuador before passengers join a three-night cruise aboard MV Galapagos Explorer II – to visit the Charles Darwin Research Centre.

Prices start from £4,354 per person for the 18 might adventure.