Jetsettersblog

Out of the Blue, formerly the travel wing of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, WDCS, is delighted to announce a new partnership with Dive Worldwide, offering a stunning collection of whale and dolphin watching holidays in the UK and around the world. This new development means that in addition to classic Out of the Blue tours to Canada, New England and Scotland, there are now even more opportunities for magical and life-changing encounters with wild whales and dolphins in 2009, in the Shetland Islands, Bay of Biscay, Monterey Bay and Dominica.

All trips are endorsed by WDCS, carefully planned to avoid negative impact on animals, and designed to encourage conservation, research and education. Proceeds from Out of the Blue tours support the vital conservation work of WDCS in the UK and worldwide. As a special offer, for every confirmed booking in 2009, travellers will receive a one-year gift membership to WDCS.

New tours for 2009 include:

Scotland Short Breaks: 4-day holiday departing Inverness 1st May, 19th Jun, 31st Jul & 14th , 21st , 25th & 28th Aug 09.

Enjoy a programme of boat and shore-based dolphin watching in Scotland’s beautiful and remote Moray Firth, home to one of just three populations of Bottlenose Dolphins around the UK. Visit the WDCS centre at Spey Bay and learn more about dolphins and other wildlife found in the area. Stay in a delightfully converted 18th century brewery in the historic coastal town of Cromarty, known as the ‘jewel of the Black Isle’.
The holiday costs £450 p/p including all transfers, boat excursions, three nights full board accommodation at The Old Brewery and professional naturalist guiding.

Bay of Biscay: 4-day holiday departing Portsmouth 6th & 27th Aug 09.

A superb whale and wildlife watching mini-cruise from Portsmouth to northern Spain aboard the Pride of Bilbao, through the rich, deep waters of the Bay of Biscay in search of whales, dolphins, seabirds and sharks. Escorted by professional naturalists, guests enjoy a programme of onboard lectures focussing on whale and dolphin identification and ecology, gain exclusive access to the ship’s viewing platform, and as an extra bonus, disembark for some land-based exploration during a guided walk in the foothills of northern Spain’s Picos de Europa.
The holiday costs £245 p/p (based on two sharing an inside cabin), three nights accommodation on the Pride of Bilbao, guided walk in Spain and expert WDCS naturalist guiding.

Monterey Bay: 8-day holiday departing London 18th April 09.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in California is the largest marine sanctuary in the United States and one of the best places in the world for whale watching, especially for Orca. No fewer than 26 different cetaceans have been recorded here, almost a third of all known species. As the tour coincides with peak season for Orca, Out of the Blue aims to spend as much time as possible with family pods. The Bay is also home to a remarkable variety of other wildlife, including Sea Otters, Californian Sea Lions, Harbour Seals and Brown Pelicans.
The holiday costs £2,199 p/p including flights, transfers, whale watching excursions on a chartered boat, kayaking tour, hotel accommodation, some meals and expert WDCS naturalist guiding.

Dominica: 9-day holiday departing London 18th April 09.

A wonderfully relaxing holiday in the Caribbean timed to coincide with Dominica’s peak whale watching season. Guests are treated to more than 30 hours of whale watching aboard a specially chartered catamaran, offering superb opportunities to spot nursing groups of female sperm whales with their calves, Fraser’s, bottlenose and Risso’s dolphins together with pygmy sperm whales.

The holiday also includes a full day’s exploration of the rainforests, beaches and villages of Dominica, ‘nature’s island’.
The holiday costs £2,449 p/p including flights, transfers, whale watching excursions on a chartered boat, hotel accommodation, some meals, island tour and expert WDCS naturalist guiding.

Out of the Blue
0845 290 3218
info@oceansworldwide.co.uk
www.oceansworldwide.co.uk

Having made their annual migratory journey of almost 6,000 miles from summer feeding grounds off the coast of Alaska, up to 500 Grey Whales arrive in the lagoons of Mexico’s Magdalena Bay - providing the perfect winter home to court, breed, give birth and simply frolic in the warm, calm waters. Wildlife Worldwide offer 9-day holidays coinciding with this spectacle, next departing London 2nd, 3rd and 7th February 09.

The Grey Whale has the longest migration of any mammal, between their summer Arctic feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and their nurseries in the peaceful lagoons of Magdalena Bay, Baja California.

Daily zodiac excursions allow for prime viewing of both courting couples and females with calves and newborns - a staggering 15 feet long. Whales often display peculiar curiosity towards the boats, providing excellent photographic opportunities - along with Spy-Hopping (raising their huge heads vertically out of the water) and occasionally breaching out of the calm Magdalena waters for that extra splash!

Travellers are based at the ecvironmentally sympathetic Whalewatch Camp, similar in style to a tented safari lodge. Twin walk-in tents with solar showers combine with excellent camp cuisine to provide comfortable waterfront accommodation. Other activities on offer include hiking amongst sand dunes and desert flora, birdwatching, and sea-kayaking through the mangroves and peaceful waters of the bay.

The holiday costs from £1,975 p/p including scheduled flights, pre-paid taxes, hotel and tented Whalewatch Camp accommodation, most meals and expertly guided activities.

Wildlife Worldwide
0845 130 6982
sales@wildlifeworldwide.com
www.wildlifeworldwide.com

FLY ME TO THE SUN

Book a Trip to Los Cabos Now and Enjoy Free Airfare Courtesy of the Los Cabos Convention & Visitors Bureau

This winter, travel to a place where all worries and stress melt away, leaving you in a state of complete relaxation and bliss. Fly to Los Cabos for free to enjoy the sun, sand and sea courtesy of the destination’s most luxurious hotels and resorts.

Beginning now and valid through 2009, over 20 world-class hotels and resorts in Los Cabos are offering visitors the opportunity to “leave it all behind” and enjoy a sun-filled and worry-free vacation while saving on airfare. The “Fly Me to the Sun” program provides guests with a $400 per room credit upon hotel check-out, virtually reimbursing guests the cost of one airline ticket.

“With so many fine resorts participating in this promotion from charming boutique hotels to luxury resorts, including several all-inclusive properties, we anticipate a great response and look forward to welcoming a multitude of sun-seekers to Los Cabos this winter,” says Gonzalo Franyutti, President of the Los Cabos Convention & Visitors Bureau.

For a complete list of participating hotels and details, please visit www.visitloscabos.travel or contact your local travel agent. This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other hotel promotion and special conditions apply.

Families, honeymooners, mature travelers, golfers, eco-tourists, artists, photographers, sightseers and others find what they are looking for when they visit Los Cabos. Located at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos offers travelers an exotic escape within easy reach of most U.S. cities.

With non-stop flights or convenient connections available from Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento, California; Houston and Dallas, Texas; Portland, Oregon; Kansas City, Missouri; Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New York/ Newark, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Seattle and more, Los Cabos is both accessible and exciting.

For more about Los Cabos-and a copy of its informative travel planner, call 1-866-LOS-CABOS or visit www.visitloscabos.travel

A number of hotels in Los Cabos, Mexico are offering special package rates for a limited time only. Among the participating properties, Casa Natalia, a luxury boutique hotel located in San Jose del Cabo, is currently offering a 2009 Winter Getaway Package, valid from Jan. 6, 2009, through March 31, 2009.

This package includes five nights accommodations with the fifth night free, one tasting dinner for two at Mi Cocina not including beverages, and daily Casa Natalia breakfast served on your private terrace. Package price is $1,890.

For more information, call 888-277-3814 or visit www.casanatalia.com

 Other participating properties include Esperanza (www.esperanzaresort.com) ; Las Ventanas al Paraiso (www.lasventanas.com)

 One&Only Palmilla (www.oneandonlyresorts.com)

 and Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort & Spa (www.pueblobonito.com)

 For more information on Los Cabos, call 866-LOS-CABOS or visit www.visitloscabos.travel

A Good Read – Before The Novels By Your Favorite Writers Even Hit The Bookshelves

LOS CABOS, Baja California, Mexico, December 8, 2008 – There’s nothing like an escape from the cold winter to a balmy destination to bask in the warm sun on a lounge chair while enjoying the latest novel by one of your favourite writers – before they even hit the shelves in bookstores.

At Las Ventanas al Paraíso, A Rosewood Resort, “latest novel” takes on an entirely new meaning with its Hot Type Menu of novels for guests to read that are anywhere from six weeks to six months from being released for sale. Advance copies of nine novels – from such acclaimed writers as Keith Donohue, Azadeh Moaveni and Kitty Sewell – are currently available to guests.

“Our guests are absolutely delighted by this exclusive amenity,” said Managing Director Lionel Álvarez. “They feel as if they are insiders in a literary circle where they get to read artists’ works before everyone else.”

The current Hot Type Menu includes:
 Angels of Destruction, by Keith Donohue
 Honeymoon in Tehran, by Azadeh Moaveni
 Joker One, by Donovan Campbell
 The King’s Grace, by Anne Easter Smith
 The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer
 The Book of the Unknown, by Jonathon Keats
 A Matter of Justice, by Charles Todd
 Bloodprint, by Kitty Sewell
 The Book of Love, by Kathleen McGowan

Guests are invited to read one during their stay at Las Ventanas, but are kindly asked to leave it behind when they depart so that other guests may also enjoy a good advance read. The menu is changed regularly.

The Hot Type programme is made possible through an exclusive arrangement that Rosewood Hotels & Resorts created with half a dozen of the top U.S. publishing houses to provide advance copies of their books “hot” off the press.

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.

Aeromexico will expand its North American operations significantly with new service to Toronto, Canada, San Francisco and Denver in early 2009. Service in each market will include daily, non-stop flights to Mexico City with connecting service to 40 destinations throughout Mexico and cities in 12 other countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

The airline will offer the best value available on these routes with its combination of competitive fares and a distinctive, premier style of service. Attractively priced vacation packages, which include airfare, hotel accommodations and rental car, will also be available through Aeromexico Vacations.

Frank Galan, vice president, U.S. Division for Aeromexico, said that the carrier is capitalizing on growth opportunities that have arisen due to shifts other carriers have made in their service. He said that Toronto is an important part of Aeromexico’s growth strategy for 2009. Aeromexico will launch daily, non-stop flights between Toronto and Mexico City, between San Francisco and Mexico City and on February 2 and between Denver and Mexico City on March 2.

 For more information, call 800-237-6639 or visit www.aeromexico.com

in Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Riviera Nayarit, Mazatlan and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. New properties include the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort; Villa La Estancia Nuevo Vallarta; Capella Ixtapa; Capella Pedregal; Azul Fives Hotel, by Karisma; Grand Velas All Suites & SPA Resort Riviera Maya; Capella Bahia Maroma;

The Tides Riviera Maya; Gran Porto Real Resort & Spa and Banyan Tree Mayakoba in Riviera Maya. Pleasant Holidays features 162 hotels and resorts in addition to the 14 new hotels for 2009. The company also offers 26 hotels and resorts in Los Cabos and 26 properties in Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit.

Travelers may save even more with Pleasant Holidays’ exclusive $100 per person savings on Mexicana Airlines, which is combinable with early booking incentives offered by many hotels. The Mexicana Airlines offer must be ticketed by Dec. 10 for travel through March 10, 2009. For information on Mexico Destination Weddings, contact the Pleasant Holidays Wedding Travel Desk at 800-818-9080.

Sightseeing, soft adventures, dining and more can be booked by travel professionals in advance for their Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit-bound clients by visiting www.PleasantActivities.com, with these optional activities fully commissionable. Pleasant Holidays and Distinguished Resorts are official sponsors of the Cancun Tourism Institute.

Pleasant Holidays is one of the leading travel companies to Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, Europe, Las Vegas, Costa Rica, Tahiti, Asia and the South Pacific, serving over 9 million travelers since 1959. The company provides vacation packages through its portfolio of five brands: Pleasant Holidays, Hawaii World/Distinguished Resorts, Pleasant Activities, Air By Pleasant, and Singapore Airlines Vacations.

In celebration of the end of 2008, Casa Dorada Los Cabos, Resort & Spa, rings in the new year with a three-night Early Winter Promotion that includes a 25 percent savings at Cabo Real 18-hole Golf Course, one of the premier courses in Los Cabos known as the “Pebble Beach of Mexico,” and a 23 percent savings for adults and 26 percent saving for kids 12 and under at the new Wild Canyon Ekopark.

 Casa Dorada hotel guests also receive a food and beverage credit ($50 for guests staying in a junior suite, $100 for a one-bedroom suite, and $150 for a two-bedroom suite) and daily buffet breakfast for two, when staying in a junior or one-bedroom suite, or for four when staying in a two-bedroom suite.

For complimentary children’s activities, the resort’s CasaKidz Playzone is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The Early Winter Promotion is available Jan. 4 through April 5, 2009 and must be booked by Jan. 31, 2009. Room rates start at $377 per night for a junior suite and $509 for a one-bedroom suite with Jacuzzi.

For families, spacious two-bedroom suites are available for $750 per night. Mention the promotional code EWP when booking this package.

For reservations or more information, call 866-448-0151 or visit www.casadorada.com

Marquis Los Cabos is featuring value-packed vacation options in Mexico’s Baja California Sur. Through Dec. 15, 2008, girlfriends booking one of Marquis Los Cabos’ Girlfriend Getaways in 2009 receive 20 percent off the total bill. Marquis Los Cabos’ Girlfriend Getaways include three days of private lessons with a Mexican painter (Aspiring Artist Package); poker night with surf and turf dinner and open bar, three surf lessons with instructor and two rounds of golf at Cabo del Sol, noted as the “Number 1 Golf Course in Mexico” (Women’s Surf & Turf); and a four-hour guided eco-tour in Hummers and a $100 spa credit per room (It Girl Package).

Beginning this January, Marquis Los Cabos can also arrange chauffeured transportation to some of Cabo’s hotspots like the new Luxury Avenue boutique mall opening in December that offers 29 individual boutiques, including Cartier, Hêrmes, Fendi, Chopard, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo, for girlfriends to indulge their biggest vice, shopping.

Available from June 1 to Dec. 15, 2009, rates in a Junior Suite for the five day/four night Girlfriend Getaways start at $1,540 for the It Girl Getaway, $1,760 for the Aspiring Artist Package and $2,080 for the Surf & Turf. Luxurious accommodations in a Junior Suite or Private Pool Casita with oceanfront view, roundtrip VIP airport transportation, signature welcome drink upon arrival, unlimited access to the fitness center and Jacuzzi, and all taxes and service charge are included.

 For more information, call 877-238-9399 or visit www.marquisloscabos.com