Jetsettersblog

Two new ski-in/ski-out chalets

Free ski instructor or ski guide early booking offer

The best chalet cooked meals available in Les Trois Vallées

Chalet specialists Fish & Pips has added to its reputation as the market leader in supplying quality, gourmet ski holidays to Les Trois Vallées, by expanding its ski-in/ski-out chalet portfolio in Méribel for the 2008/9 ski season.

Staying true to its original philosophy, the programme is once again focused towards providing guests with exceptional cuisine, an outstanding collection of chateau and domaine-bottled wines and highly qualified staff.

Now in its fourth year the company was founded by experienced seasonaires and Cordon Bleu trained chefs Holly Fisher (the ‘Fish’) and Philippa Eyles (the ‘Pips’). Eyles comments: “The two new chalet additions fit perfectly with our existing portfolio, which has been very well received by visitors – with over 65% of our guests either being recommended to us or coming back for yet another ski holiday with Fish & Pips.”

New for 2008/9 are the ski-in/ski out five-bedroom Chalet du Guide (sleeps up to 12) and three-bedroom Chalet L’Ours (sleeps six). Both chalets are picturesque, traditional Savoyard style properties and are situated just moments from the ski lifts and village centre.

The price of a week’s stay at the Chalet du Guide, which also has its own hot-tub, starts from just £495 pp (week commencing 13 December), rising to £935 pp during half-term week (commencing 14 February).

A week’s stay at Chalet L’Ours starts from just £715 pp (week commencing 21 or 28 February), rising to £875 pp during half-term week (commencing 14 February).

Continues Eyles: “We continue to be 100% focused towards providing our guests with exceptional cuisine, and the only way to achieve this is by employing highly qualified and experienced chefs (unlike other tour operators who send inexperienced staff on a one week learn-to-cook course). With complete autonomy in the kitchen, allowing them to let their creative juices flow, we are confident that our chefs will provide guests with the best chalet cooked meals available in Les Trois Vallées this winter.”

As an added bonus, guests booking an entire chalet this winter, will also receive a free afternoon of ski guiding or instruction from a Parallel Lines ski instructor. Whether beginner or advanced, skier or snowboarder, adult or child, the British instructor will adapt the afternoon to fit with your requirements.

All prices include seven nights’ catered chalet accommodation (daily breakfast and afternoon tea plus a four-course evening meal six days a week with unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks). Flights and transfers extra.

Please telephone Fish & Pips on 01483 421 777, or visit www.fishandpips.co.uk or further details.

Mövenpick this year is celebrating its 60th anniversary. From mid-September to mid-December, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is marking the occasion by serving classics from 60 years of Mövenpick’s culinary history.

During the festival weeks the existing culinary choice will be complemented by a specially created menu. On the menu will be favorites such as tartar and smoked salmon alongside “Zürcher Geschnetzeltes” and “Riz Casimir”.

This culinary experience will be rounded off with Mövenpick ice cream and apple cake, not forgetting of course a cup of delicious Mövenpick coffee. Ueli Prager opened the first Mövenpick Restaurant in Zurich in 1948.

 For more information, visit www.moevenpick-hotels.com

Crystal Cruises is offering optional Premium Economy air service with 2009 summer cruises to the Baltic, North Cape and British Isles. The service is available with seven Crystal Symphony cruises from June through August from select U.S. and Canadian gateways. Air add-on fares to London, Copenhagen and Stockholm via British Airways or Scandinavian Airlines are $400 to $650 more, one way, than Crystal’s coach air-sea fares. Crystal’s 2009 Northern European season includes five Baltic Sea/Russia cruises, one North Cape cruise and one British Isles itinerary, ranging from seven to 14 days. Cruise fares start at $3,615 per person, double occupancy.

The line is also offering low business-class air supplements from select U.S. gateways for all summer Baltic, British Isles and Mediterranean cruises. Upgraded service starts at $799 one-way and $1,598 round-trip, to the Baltic and British Isles, and $899 one-way, $1,798 round-trip, to the Mediterranean — up to 75 percent lower than unrestricted published business-class fares. Business-class air upgrades are in addition to Crystal’s published air/sea fares, and are available from 17 U.S. gateways with cruises beginning June 18 through the end of August 2009. Restrictions apply for air arrangements.

The Eurail Group is bringing out several special edition extended rail passes, offering free travel days good for travel throughout Europe in the spring. With fewer crowds, lower airfares and more availability in hotels, spring is a good time to travel to Europe.

Tourist attractions, such as museums and monuments, are less crowded and the weather is also pleasant. Eurail is launching a special off-peak promotion, offering free travel days on two of its products: the Eurail Select Pass and the Eurail Global Pass.

The Eurail Select Pass allows customers to choose three or more adjoining countries in which to travel, enabling a tailor-made rail pass. For those wishing to cover more ground, a Eurail Global Pass gives travelers access to 21 participating countries from January.

Customers buying a 15- or 21-day Eurail Global Pass will instead receive 21 days or one month, respectively. The Eurail Select Pass 3 Countries, valid for six or eight days within two months, now comes with an additional two travel days.

These passes go on sale worldwide (outside of Europe) from Oct. 1.

To be eligible for the additional travel days, passes must be purchased before the end of November. Travel can start as from March 1 and must be completed by May 31.

All Eurail Passes are available from Eurail’s network of authorized Sales Agents worldwide: ACP Rail International (www.eurail-acprail.com);

Eurail (www.Eurail.com); Flight Centre (www.flightcentre.com);

www.OctopusTravel.com;

Rail Europe (North America: www.raileurope.com,

rest of the world: www.raileurope.fr),

and STA Travel (www.statravel.com)

Plus, new shore excursion offerings include becoming a member of the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society, visiting a family in the North Cape community of Skarsvag, and touring the 700-year-old Vardahus Fortress, the world’s northernmost fort.

Daily holiday departures run from Dec. 14 to Dec. 31 at fares of $1,299 to $4,699 per person, double occupancy, for six-day southbound or seven-day northbound cruises, and $2,299 to $6,899 for the 12-day roundtrip voyages.

Singles rates start at $300 more. Prices include all meals aboard ship, taxes and port charges; fuel surcharges are $8 per day additional.

Christmas with Hurtigruten includes making decorations with fellow passengers and crew, singing carols, attending church services in ports when possible, enjoying foods that range from the traditional Christmas porridge and mulled wine to local holiday delicacies at a Christmas Eve feast, including a Scandinavian smorgasbord and a visit from Santa Claus bearing gifts.

New Year’s celebrations include a New Year Eve’s banquet with after-dinner dancing and midnight fireworks and a champagne toast. Guests on the 12-day departures enjoy lectures on a variety of subjects — The Northern Lights, Sami Culture and Norwegian Christmas Traditions are examples.

Optional shore excursions during this season showcase Norway’s history and lifestyle — a snowmobile safari from Kirkenes, followed by a snack of dried reindeer meat in a Sami tent; a dog-sledding outing in Tromso and a trip from Honningsv through the polar landscape to the North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe.

For more information, call 800-323-7436 or visit www.hurtigruten.us

Auto Europe has extended its free GPS rental offer in Europe with car rental services.

Travelers will receive a free Gamin Nova 270 or similar for the duration of their rental with routing maps of Western Europe and most of Eastern Europe with car rental services in Italy, France, Austria, Ireland, UK, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Norway. In addition, Auto Europe is also offering this promotion with any Peugeot Open Europe lease of 17 days or longer and with any long term rental of 21 days or longer. The free GPS offer is valid with minimum seven-day car rental reservations booked now through Sept. 30. The offer applies in Italy, France, Austria, Spain and Norway with any intermediate car rental or larger for travel through Nov. 30.

The GPS offer is valid in Ireland and Switzerland for travel through Oct. 30. Germany is valid with any compact car rental or larger for travel now through Oct. 31. UK is valid with any intermediate car rental or larger for travel through Oct. 31.

Free GPS offer is valid on select Peugeot models with Auto Europe’s Peugeot Open Europe program for travel through Nov. 30, and with any car category booked for 21 days or longer for travel through Oct. 31. Free GPS rental validity dates exclude shipping and handling charge of $40. Optional insurance is available at $1 per day.

Offer is subject to change without notice. Additional restrictions apply.

Costa Cruises inaugurated the new passenger port in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 10 when the Costa Mediterranea became the first ship to call on the port. The cruise facility was built to accommodate cruise ships and their guests with a public and private investment worth $13 billion.

Capt. Anelito Montesarchio was the first person to disembark from the ship and was welcomed by the governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko. The opening of the new port was celebrated with a performance by the Catalan theater group Fura del Baus.

In addition to the governor, the inauguration of the new facility was attended by Alexander Davydenko, deputy minister of transport of the Russian Federation; Mario Martini, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Costa Crociere; and Shavkat Kary-Niyazov, president of Marine Faade, the company that managed the construction of the port.

The new passenger port in St. Petersburg is the first in Russia that is able to accommodate the latest generation of cruise ships, whose length exceeds 900 feet. Situated on the western side of Vasiljevskiy Island, it is near the old town and convenient to the main attractions of the city.

The project will occupy 400 hectares and entails several stages of development, with work scheduled for completion by 2010. Upon its completion, the new passenger Port of St. Petersburg will become the largest cruise and ferry industry project in the world. By the time it is finished, the port will have seven berths, three cruise terminals and one ferry terminal.

The new port’s capacity will be 12,000 passengers a day and 1.2 million passengers a year. For the time being, one cruise terminal and two 300-meter berths are operating. The project will also incorporate business centers, exhibition halls, residential development and other facilities that will change the view of the St. Petersburg waterfront.

St. Petersburg is Russia’s busiest cruise port and one of the main cruise destinations in Northern Europe. The number of cruisers has increased from 163,000 in 2003 to an estimated 400,000 in 2008. “Being able to inaugurate the new passenger port of St. Petersburg with one of the ships in our fleet is a great honor and a great opportunity for us — this new port facility is vitally important to the future development of cruise shipping in Russia, and is clear testimony to the attention being paid to the cruise industry by the government of the Russian Federation and the local authorities in St. Petersburg,” Martini said.

Costa’s ships first sailed to St. Petersburg back in the early 1970s, with North Sea cruises on the Federico C and on Costa�s historic flagship Eugenio C. Today, Costa Cruises is the leading cruise line for the Russian port in terms of both the number of ship calls and the number of cruise passengers.

This year, Costa’s ships will make 28 calls in St. Petersburg, bringing about 50,000 cruisers and accounting for around 12 percent of the port’s cruise passenger traffic. Direct expenditure by Costa in St. Petersburg in 2008 amounts to about 8 million euros. There are four Costa vessels that have been deployed in St. Petersburg in 2008 — the Costa Mediterranea, Costa Atlantica, Costa Victoria and Costa Marina.

In 2009, the new Costa Luminosa will call on St. Petersburg along with the Costa Mediterranea, Costa Atlantica and Costa Magica. The Costa Luminosa, Costa Mediterranea and Costa Magica will offer new itineraries to the Baltic cities, including an overnight stay in St. Petersburg.

Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is making Europe even more tantalizing in 2009 with the debut of their Epicurean Adventurer Program in which guests can indulge their passion for fine wines and gourmet foods.

Guests aboard a Uniworld cruise featuring the Epicurean Adventurer Program will enjoy a host of culinary delights including private wine tastings, special wine and food pairings, cooking demonstrations and unique onshore excursions.

With our new Epicurean Adventurer Program, we’re giving our guests the ultimate in entertainment and education,” said Guy Young, president of Uniworld. “Now they can explore regional foods and wines in an entirely new way.”

Uniworld’s intimate boutique, hotel-style ships offer the perfect setting for an in-depth discovery of the preparation and pairing of premier foods and wines. On each Epicurean Adventurer cruise, guests enjoy a special dinner prepared with the region’s freshest ingredients and learn how to select the perfect wine to complement the meal.

Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in cooking demonstrations led by master chefs who reveal trade secrets and techniques to help ‘students’ create their own gourmet dishes. Guided shore excursions will take guests into castles and vintners’ homes for private wine tastings, or to local open-air food markets to sample regional treats. Overall, the new Epicurean Adventurer Program is designed to give Uniworld’s guests, as they journey through Europe, even more memories to savor.

Uniworld’s Epicurean Adventurer Program will be available on the following 2009 cruises:

Danube Discovery. Travel from Vienna to Nuremberg in nine days with fares starting from $2,099 per person

Rhine Discovery. Travel from Nuremberg to Basel in nine days with fares starting from $2,099 per person.

Grand European Discovery. Travel from Basel to Vienna in 16 days with fares starting from $4,049 per person.

Legendary Rhine & Moselle. Travel from Amsterdam to Basel in 14 days with fares starting from $3,599 per person

Paris & the European River Romance. Travel from Paris to Nuremberg in 11 days with fares starting from $1,999 per person.

Paris & the Heart of Europe. Travel from Paris to Vienna in 18 days with fares starting from $4,059 per person

Paris & the Grand European Waterways. Travel from Paris to Bucharest in 32 days with fares starting from $7,259 per person

Burgundy & Provence. Travel from Arles to Chalon in nine days with fares starting from $2,059 per person.

Grand European Explorer: Travel from Basel to Bucharest in 30 days with fares starting from $8,199 per person.

About Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection

Los Angeles-based Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, the premier river cruise company, was recently named to Travel+Leisure’s World’s Best Top 10 Small Cruise Lines, Condé Nast Traveler’s 2008 Gold List and their Reader’s Choice Awards for World’s Top 10 Small Cruise Lines.

Uniworld features intimate boutique, hotel-style cruise ships with an average capacity of 134 guests, and a ratio of one staff member for every three guests, world-class cuisine, and expertly planned itineraries with custom-blended shore excursions. The company offers over 500 departures on more than 35 itineraries sailing on 12 rivers in over 20 countries throughout Europe, Russia, China and Egypt.

PARK CITY, Utah - The competition promises to be full of action as the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix returns for its 13th season as America’s top snowboarding competition tour. The Grand Prix will feature new stops at Copper Mountain in Colorado’s Summit County, Boreal Mountain Resort in the North Lake Tahoe region near Truckee, CA and a return to Vermont’s Killington for the final stop of the tour.

“I am excited about the resorts that we are partnering with for the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix because not only are they all great destinations in great locations, but they are creating new ways for snowboarders to ride resorts,” said Grand Prix Tour Director Eric Webster. “The line-up of Copper, Boreal and Killington seems like the perfect mix of progression and history which is fitting as the Grand Prix enters its 13th season.”

NBC and Versus will be on hand to broadcast the competition. (Schedule details will be released closer to competition.)

Copper Mountain Kicks the Tour Off

The Grand Prix kicks off Dec. 12-13 at Copper Mountain, one of the best snowboarding resorts in America. No stranger to the Grand Prix tour after hosting it in 1998 and 1999, Copper, which is known for encouraging innovation in snowboarding with its terrain, has signed on to host the tour for three years. The event, which will take place just 75 miles outside of the Denver area, will open with the traditional men’s and women’s halfpipe competition and will include an exciting nighttime exhibition event with the Paul Mitchell Progression Session.

“I am really looking forward to the Grand Prix being at my home mountain,” said Clair Bidez (Minturn, CO), who was on the podium in two of the Grand Prix stops last season. “I know that they’re going to do a really good job with it and I can’t wait to be there with my friends and family watching.”

This season, Copper launches Woodward at Copper. The 19,000 sq ft indoor facility and on-hill components are a first of the kind, using progressive learning techniques already at play in skateboarding and BMX and applying them directly to skiing and riding. Athletes will have an opportunity to progress their skills in a safer, more controlled environment. Woodward at Copper will offer Winter Experience this season and Summer Camps in 2009. (More info www.woodwardatcopper.com).

California’s Boreal Joins the Tour

The tour migrates further west to Boreal, which is right off of I-80 between Reno and Sacramento, Jan. 29 - Feb. 1. Riders will boost their best tricks in the Boreal Superpipe, a 22-foot-pipe which will have athletes going bigger while providing them with a chance to show off their best runs in an Olympic sized halfpipe as the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver hover on the horizon.

Also adding to the excitement in the resort located atop Donner’s Summit is the addition of the Visa Snowboardcross Championship series to the competition lineup. The Tahoe area is busting at the seams with top U.S. Snowboarding SBX athletes, including reigning X Games gold medalist Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA), Jeep King of the Mountain champion Shaun Palmer (South Lake Tahoe, CA) and Olympian Jayson Hale (Sierraville, CA). The competition will have riders vying for the right to claim the title in a town full of local talent.

“I’m stoked to compete in my hometown. It will be an opportunity to have a lot of friends come and see what I do when I’m gone for half the year,” Holland said. “It will be a unique experience having them at the race and cheering for me. It’s a little added pressure, but I thrive on pressure.”

Killington Awards the Grand Prix Champions

The Grand Prix returns to Killington, right in the heart of New England, for the second year in a row on the final stop of the tour March 14-15. The Killington competition will also include a 22-foot halfpipe and the overall Grand Prix champions will be crowned. Last year snowboarding phenom Louie Vito (Columbus, OH) took top billing with two wins on the tour and Olympic champion Kelly Clark (West Dover, VT) proved her medal winning her fourth Grand Prix title. The weekend snowboard celebration also will feature the final Paul Mitchell Progression Session of the tour.

“Killington has always been a leader and innovator in creating ways to make snowboarding at resorts better, especially this year with the resort building a new Burton Stash trail, and combined with a dedicated staff, creative terrain and events like Spring Loaded that are legend in the sport,” Webster said.

With a field of about 100 invited halfpipe athletes, the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix looks to make waves as the 13th season brings the best snowboarding competitors to towns across the U.S.

2009 U.S. SNOWBOARDING GRAND PRIX SCHEDULE:

Dec. 12-13, 2008, Copper Mountain
Friday, Dec.12 - Men’s Halfpipe Qualifiers
Saturday, Dec. 13 - Women’s Halfpipe Qualifiers, Halfpipe Finals and Paul Mitchell Progression Session (night exhibition event)

Jan. 29 - Feb. 1, 2009, Boreal Mountain Resort
Friday, Jan. 30 - Halfpipe Qualifiers
Saturday, Jan. 31 - Halfpipe Finals
Sunday, Feb. 1 - SBX Qualifiers and Finals

March 14-15, 2009, Killington Resort
Friday, March 13 - Halfpipe Qualifiers
Saturday, March 14 - Paul Mitchell Progression Session Qualifiers and Halfpipe Finals
Sunday, March 15 - Paul Mitchell Progression Session Finals

Specialist ski operator flexiski has launched a new-look brochure for the 2008/2009 season featuring in-depth information on its chalet properties and an expanded range of hotels across 13 prestigious European resorts.

Flexiski offers high quality, flexible breaks in Chamonix, Courchevel, Davos, Klosters, Lech, Méribel, Megève, St Anton, St Christoph, St Moritz, Val D’Isere, Val Thorens and Verbier.

The new brochure design improves its ease of use, providing clear information for clients. It offers a fresh, clean and dynamic look to mirror the new flexiski website which launched earlier in 2008.

The 2008/09 brochure outlines the services offered to all chalet guests including a ski orientation session and the chalet catering service. Flexiski’s two large chalets in St Anton and Méribel, which sleep up to 31 clients, plus the more intimate chalet in Chamonix, can all be booked for flexible stays including long weekends, mid-week breaks and longer ski holidays.

The number of hotels offered by flexiski has been significantly expanded since last season, with over 80 hand-picked hotels in the 3* to 5* range now featured.

Flexiski’s new brochure is supported by enhanced website features including an in-resort blog, updated regularly by flexiski’s chalet staff to provide information on the latest weather conditions and in-resort happenings.

As a specialist in corporate ski breaks, the new flexiski brochure also outlines the services its experienced corporate travel consultants can offer in terms of advice, itinerary building and resort service bookings.

To request a copy of the new 2008/09 brochure,

contact Flexiski on 020 8939 0864

or visit www.flexiski.com/brochure .