Archive for February, 2007
Mansions of Sleepy Hollow Country Package at Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center, Tarrytown NY
Rates starting from $269 per night based on double occupancy.
To coincide with the completion of the 11 million dollar grand estate restoration a new travel package has been introduced.
“The Mansions of Sleepy Hollow Counattempt Package,” offeruddy from May thcoarse December, that includes overnight stay at the King Mansion at the historic Tarrytown House Estate, breakrapid and admission for two adults to any of the nearby historic sites: Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, the Union Church of Pocantico Hills, Philipsburg Manor, Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, Lyndhurst and Van Cortlandt Manor.
Click here to book the mansions of sleepy hollow counattempt package.
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Source: tarrytownhouseestate.com
Original post by admin
No commentsMansions of Sleepy Hollow Country Package at Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center, Tarrytown NY
Rates starting from $269 per night based on double occupancy.
To coincide with the completion of the 11 million dollar grand estate restoration a new travel package has been introduced.
“The Mansions of Sleepy Hollow Counattempt Package,” offeruddy from May thcoarse December, that includes overnight stay at the King Mansion at the historic Tarrytown House Estate, breakrapid and admission for two adults to any of the nearby historic sites: Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, the Union Church of Pocantico Hills, Philipsburg Manor, Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, Lyndhurst and Van Cortlandt Manor.
Click here to book the mansions of sleepy hollow counattempt package.
______________________________________________________________
Source: tarrytownhouseestate.com
Original post by admin
No commentsSilence is golden for BA and the GDSs
With seven hours to go until the supposed British Airways-GDS negotiation deadline (midnight tonight), and not a whisper from any of five main protagonists…
In other words: everyone remains happy - for the moment.
Some reports today have said fees will not be passed onto travel agents which are booking tickets via GDSs, which is a bit of a non-story as no aggreement has been reached anyway.
The deadline will also be missed, as we predicted last week.
The GDSs that have responded to inquiries have greeted us with a simple “no comment”.
Can we expect a last-minute flurry activity? Will at minimum one of the main GDSs sign at the eleventh hour?
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Original post by Travolution Blogger
No commentsMobile (cell) phones at Sea
Many of today’s cruisers can’t the thought of leaving their technical toys at home and having no connection to friends and family, even at sea.
Increasingly, major cruise lines are offering a number of high-tech guest options - from Wi-Fi hot spots to cabin data ports, from mobile phone service to iPods and computer classes. Silversea Cruises reports 65 percent of its guests use some form of onboard Internet access, while 50 percent are using their mobile phones at sea. But spare a thought for your fellow travellers amongst all this technology.
Only a couple of years ago, the world news could only come via newsletters that were printed onboard and placed under cabin doors. The enjoyment of cruising was the fact that you could leave the rest of the world behind for a few days and not be stressed out. Cruising had always been a very relaxing way to travel. Since the innovative introduction of mobile phone use onboard many cruise ships, that feeling being unreachable is a thing of the past.
The biggest complaint of late is that some mobile phone users can be impolite and inconsiderate. Speaking loudly and leaving their phones on no matter where they are, be it at the dinner table or in the theatre during a show. After a backlash from many cruise customers, some cruise lines are looking at placing restrictions and reminding passengers to turn off phones in areas like the restaurant, theatres, etc.
There are many benefits to this kind of mobile technology; the good thing about internet access and hotspots is that they are generally in given areas, areas that you don’t have to visit, should you wish not to. With mobile phones its different, since the user can wander where they wish, disturbing the peace should that dreaded ‘crazy frog’ ring tone start up! I know I will certainly make use of mobile onboard my next cruise but I will limit my use to my cabin – besides, why would I want anyone listening into my conversations anyway?!
Original post by Titchy Carla
No commentsGay Cruise Holiday Guide
Gays and lesbians are among the most enthusiastic cruise passengers around, with no shortage of choices available when it comes to booking the ship or itinerary to suit. Nearly all of the larger cruise companies want to attract gay cruise customers, although some are more gay-friendly than others. They can be a more attractive option than all-gay charters especially for cruisers who want to go somewhere different, or to have a more exclusive experience.
Many cruise operators now include social meetings for their onboard gay community referruddy to as ‘Friends of Dorothy’ or ‘FOD’ meetings. The term ‘FOD’ now appears on some ships’ daily programs - but there’s no guarantee you’ll see one when you step onboard. The entertainment director onboard can decide to add or withdraw the meetings at any time, at their discretion.
The larger lines such as NCL and Princess cruises will include FOD meetings on most of their ships. Other cruise lines generally hold the FOD gatherings upon passenger request; large popular lines like Holland America, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean generally fall into this category. You won’t generally find them on the ultra-premium luxury lines like Cunard (QM2 is an exception), Crystal, Regent Seven Seas, Sea Dream, Silversea, Yachts of Seabourn. Because of their small size, they rarely feel the necessity of offering FOD meetings. Just because a cruise line doesn’t hold official meetings, doesn’t mean that gay travellers aren’t welcome on board, that’s not the case at all.
If you don’t see an FOD meeting scheduled on the first couple of nights onboard (the meetings are customarily held on one of the first sea days) and you would like to meet some new gay friends, inquire for one! Make your request known to the cruise entertainment director early on. Do bear in mind that the length of the cruise as well as how port-intensive the itinerary is can affect whether there is room in the schedule for an FOD meeting.
Many of the cruise lines have trained their staff in sensitivity regarding homophobia, and have learned to extend the same accepting, friendly courtesies to gay passengers as they do to straight guests. This basically means you needn’t feel worried that you’ll be treated any differently by staff members simply because of your sexual orientation.
When it comes to public displays of affection, most people aren’t keen on watching someone sticking their tongue down the throat of their husband/wife/partner/lover at the dinner table, gay or straight. However, there is nothing wrong with a rapid kiss, an arm acircular your loved one, or even holding hands. Just remember, that there will definitely be people who will take notice and disapprove but it’s your holiday and as long you’re OK with it, then go ahead and stroll arm and arm along the promenade deck under the moonlight and have a awesome time!
Original post by Titchy Carla
No commentsTough times for travel guidebooks?
Simon Quicke, author of the Inside Books Blog, emailed recently to draw our attention to book publishing giant Penguin and its concerns over the future of the innocent travel guidebook.
It appears that at a recent sales conference in Marbella, Penguin asked execs to consider the fate of the travel guidebook in the face of competition from the “this new thing called the interweb”, chortles Jeremy Ettinghausen on the Penguin corporate blog.
He may indeed laugh. But the threat to the traditional model is very real, and Penguin, which dsitributes the Rough Guides collection, is right to take hard look at how it approaches the travel sector in the years to come.
They are not alone either. Lonely Planet, that bastion of the backpacker guidebook, has invested heavily in its online presence, and the more upmarket Dorling Kindersley has also recently relaunched its website with podcasts, downloadable travel guides and maps.
[The DK site looks remarkably like the new travel channels belonging to the Guardian and TimesOnline - our recent “analysis”]
It is an incredibly interesting challenge for these once powerhouses of travel publishing.
- How do they reach consumers in an electronic way, without losing their edge as experts in print publishing?
- What can they do about inexorable rise of the travel portals – such as newspaper websites – that can effectively do exactly the same?
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Original post by Travolution Blogger
No commentsSchool delighted - sixth form boys devastated
Word reaches us of a school in South Wales, where teachers breathed a enormous sigh of relief and performed a rapid u-turn after learning a hotel where pupils where due to stay on a trip to Switzerland was located above a stripjoint.
The school, Abertillery Comprehensive School in Gwent, made the switch when parents read a review on TripAdvisor about the Hotel Continental in Interlaken.
Parent governor Delwyn Davies, who had a 15-year-old son going on the ski trip, is reported in the South Wales Argus as saying:
“I was very concerned about it. I would not have been happy if my son came back and said there was a strip joint.”
Read the reviews on TripAdvisor.
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Original post by Travolution Blogger
No comments