Jetsettersblog

The Hotel Der Kleine Prinz Baden-Baden has created a new app that is now available for free at the Apple App store.

The app offers a wide variety of additional services to the user. Apart from the hotel presentation with its high-quality 360-degree tours through guest rooms and suites, users will find useful travel information related to the hotel and the city of Baden-Baden with its surroundings. Services include directions to places of interests, weather forecast, local news and exclusive hotel offers for various occasions. An integrated booking template enables mobile reservations. For more information, email info@derkleineprinz.de

Airberlin is progressing through the process of becoming part of the oneworld airline alliance in March. Its sponsor, British Airways, has just completed a thorough review of airberlin’s processes and procedures.

Joining oneworld will significantly strengthen airberlin’s network both in Europe and around the world. It also precedes the opening of Brandenburg Airport in Berlin in three months time, when airberlin, British Airways and all other oneworld carriers operating to the city will co-locate in the same terminal, sharing lounges and other facilities.

Airberlin’s addition to oneworld adds 70 destinations to the oneworld network, including 18 within Germany, and will make regional markets in Europe easier to reach than ever before. Airberlin’s routes will be available through oneworld’s full and extensive range of alliance fares and sales products.

Celebrate this year’s St. Valentine’s Day on 14 February with a difference by whisking your loved-one away for a romantic European city break. Specialist tour operator, Dertour offers a range of hand-picked short breaks, including fascinating Prague, historic Vienna, the colourful city of Cologne and cosmopolitan Geneva and many more.

Romantic Prague £439 – Head to the Czech capital for a romantic weekend. Prices from £439 per person to include four nights in the 5* Radisson Blu Alcron Inn on bed and breakfast basis, Jazz and Dinner Show at the ‘Stare Casy’ and a bottle of sparkling wine in the room, and return flights from London Gatwick or Heathrow. Valid throughout February.

Valentines in Vienna £449 – Head to the Austrian capital for a romantic Valentines weekend in Vienna and take in the sights of St Stephen’s Cathedral and the Imperial Palace . Prices from £449 per person to include three nights accommodation at the 4* Hotel Royal on bed and breakfast basis, three course dinner including welcome cocktail, a half day sightseeing tour and return flights from London. Valid throughout February.

Cosy in Cologne £249pp – Cologne is one of Germany’s oldest cities and there is lots for romantic couples to see and do, including the Chocolate Museum and the breathtaking Cathedral. Depart throughout February from London Heathrow for a two night stay on bed and breakfast basis at the four star Grand City Hotel Koln Zentrum, a family-owned hotel in the heart of the city. Price also includes return flights. Based on two people sharing Valid throughout February.

Gorgeous in Geneva £349pp – Geneva is a beautiful, cosmopolitan city in the French speaking part of Switzerland, framed by the stunning Alps and situated at Europe’s largest lake, Lake Geneva, so it provides an ideal romantic backdrop for a Valentine’s weekend. Depart throughout February for a two night break staying on bed and breakfast basis at the three star Astoria Hotel located a short walk away from Lake Geneva. Price also includes return flights. Based on two people sharing. Valid throughout February.

For more information or to book please contact DERTOUR on 0203 131 2895 www.dertour.co.uk

In June, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will operate its first itinerary through the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East, on the Hanseatic. The bilingual cruise will depart Otaru, Japan, on June 13 and concluding in Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka, on June 30. The 17-day expedition voyage will sail through the Sea of Okhotsk and its many islands, as well as to Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The cruise is priced from $10,832 per person, based on double occupancy for an outside cabin.

Dream Maker Vacations is offering a special discount on a Danube River Cruise scheduled for Sept 10 to 17. The cruise will sail from Budapest to Nuremberg on the Amadeus Diamond, which was built in 2009. The price for a window cabin is $1,999 per person, for a French balcony cabin is $2,149, or $2,249 top deck. Clients are also charged $125 in taxes and fees. Travel agent commission is 20 percent. For more information, call 847-550-9191 or email info@dmvacation.com

Some of the biggest names in photography chose selected rising talents they believe to be most influential in the changing face of photography for a new exhibit, titled “State of the Art Photography.” The exhibit, featuring collections and installations by the more than 40 selected artists, is open from Feb. 4 through May 6 in one of Düsseldorf, Germany’s premier art venues, NRW Forum, a museum that specializes in photographic and new media collections.

Lufthansa is expanding its automatic check-in service approximately 400 routes within the Schengen Area — an area comprised of 26 European countries that operate very much like a single state for international travel.

The service, which already exists in Germany and Italy, has already proven to be very popular because of the time savings and convenience it offers passengers.

Passengers with an existing booking are automatically checked in 23 hours prior to their departure and will receive an electronic boarding pass with their reserved seat number shortly after, which they can choose to have sent to them by email or to an Internet-enabled mobile phone.

The service is available to all members of the Miles & More frequent flyer program who have selected the automatic check-in option under “Travel services” in their customer profile. In the event of a change in travel plans, passengers with a re-bookable ticket have the option of canceling their online check-in at lufthansa.com or by calling the Lufthansa Service Center.

Passengers traveling with luggage can check their bags at a baggage drop-off counter or at a check-in kiosk on presentation of their boarding pass. Seats can also be changed online via a mobile phone or at a self-service check-in kiosk.

In the coming months, Lufthansa expects to expand the automatic check-in service across its global route network and make it available for all flight bookings, thus allowing passengers who are not Miles & More members to take advantage of this service.

Bavarian Forest Holidays have reported another 20% increase in guests arriving in the village of Bayerisch Eisenstein by train and using public transport for the whole of their stay.

A survey of guests in 2011 has shown that the number of guests choosing to reduce their carbon footprint by using public transport is still rising. The proportion of guests using public transport has now reached over 25%, a very high figure for a small village in the depths of the Bavarian Forest, sometimes perceived as remote. Many more guests are using their car for travel to and from the village and using public transport while here.

The use of public transport by guests has increased significantly since the introduction of the GUTi card in May 2010, giving visitors free use of trains and buses in the Bavarian Forest, with usage up significantly in 2011, the first full year of the scheme. Unfortunately, the number of guests travelling by train from the UK has been hit by poor connections in 2011. The postponement of through services to Germany by the Deutsche Bahn until 2015 is a major blow to developing train travel from London.

German Travel Centre offer Cologne, Frankfurt or Berlin city breaks from £260

With the festive season out of the way, it’s time to plan for Carnival – that spectacular time of year that sees many cities throughout the world explode into fanfare of colour, music and dance.

The Germans do carnival surprisingly well with many dating back centuries, so they have certainly had the time to perfect the parade and subsequent party, and anyone looking for a fun filled city break should check out these popular Carnivals:

Cologne’s Rose Monday Carnival Parade – 20 February 2012
Cologne is one of Germany’s prettiest cities and its Carnival is extremely popular drawing crowds of around 10,000. The Carnival celebrations that start on 16 February culminate with the official parade on ‘Rose Monday’, an unforgettable experience for visitors as the floats make their way along the 7-km route.

Frankfurt’s Fastnachszug – 19 February 2012
Frankfurt’s carnival dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest in Germany. Celebrating the winter coming to an end in a blaze of music and colour, the jovial court jesters, frightening scarecrows and hunch-backed witches entertain the crowds.

Berlin’s Carnival of Cultures – 25 – 28 May 2012
Berlin does things a little differently and they have been running their Carnival of Cultures since 1996 in May, which belongs to the Berlin Pentecost festivities and is one of the most spectacular events in the German calendar. The Blücherplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg changes into a colourful street festival, with four stages where music from various world regions are performed, and over 400 stands offering culinary delights and handicrafts. The peak of the celebrations though is the street parade with almost 5,000 participants from 80 countries that takes place on the Sunday.

The German Travel Centre (0208 429 2900) is offering two-night city breaks to Cologne, Frankfurt or Berlin from £260 per person including flights on Lufthansa and accommodation on bed and breakfast, in a city centre hotel.

Feb. 20 is “Rose Monday” in Düsseldorf, and the city’s annual, one-day climax of carnival season features a vast party throughout the town. The Rhine region is known as Germany’s center of carnival festivities, or Rhennish Carnival, and Carnival in Düsseldorf is one of the strongholds. More than 300 carnival sessions and costume balls take place during Carnival season, also called Fools’ season, which kicks off on Nov. 11 and ends on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, on Feb. 22.

The city has no fewer than 60 carnival clubs, and their members are among the 5,500 parade participants who also make up the 45 bands and 70 floats. One million people, many dressed up in costumes and called “fools,” line up to watch the Rose Monday parade, shout “helau” (the local carnival greeting), and catch the candy (called “kamelle”) that is thrown into the crowds from the floats. The parade is more than a mile and a half long. Because of Düsseldorf’s 260 bars, pubs and restaurants in the city’s historic Old Town, the city is also known as “the longest bar in the world.” And these venues become the backdrop for the extended festivities as the parade spills into the entire city and the revelers take over.

In addition to the parade, there is “Altweiberfastnacht” on Feb. 16. Extremely popular with Düsseldorf’s women, it’s a time for them to storm the town hall, a custom developed in previous ages to show the town fathers who’s boss. Revelers cut men’s ties off — not just in the town hall, but also from any man on the street. In anticipation of the big parade, Sunday, the day before, has an almost Venetian atmosphere. On Düsseldorf’s famous shopping boulevard Königsallee, partiers in costume meet to dance, sing or simply have fun.