You’ve been building your nest egg for decades, and you’ve decided now that the Dow Jones has been working its way back towards the 14,000 level, you finally feel comfortable to take some of your hard earned dollars and whisk your bride away for a little luxury and romance in a tropical setting.
In my best Foghorn Leghorn impersonation, we are, I say, we are very excited to announce that Delta Vacations has selected The Roaming Boomers® to experience and then share with our readers, subscribers, and friends just what a Delta Vacations Luxury Lifestyle Experience is all about.
Delta Vacations is sending us to the Caribbean’s newest AAA Five-Diamond Resort: Tortuga Bay at PUNTACANA Resort & Club.
The Dominican Republic has been seeing steady growth from luxury travelers, and Delta Vacations has been a big part of that growth. Here’s this from Dominican Today:
“Delta Vacations announced that the brand has experienced tremendous growth in the Dominican Republic over the past 24 months as a result of increased access to air seats and significant enhancements to product offerings in the destination. Delta Vacations passenger counts to the Dominican Republic are 12 times greater than the same time period in 2009, while the number of hotel room-nights sold has increased 15 times during the same time period.” (April 30th, 2011)
To top this all off, here are some of the luxury perks we are to enjoy:
First-class airport check-in
Assistance of a hotel concierge for hotel services
Hotel taxes and service charges
Roundtrip first-class or business class seating aboard Delta Air Lines*
24-hour assistance from a Delta Vacations representative
3,000 – 7,500 bonus miles through the SkyMiles® program, in addition to credited flight miles*
Plus, Tortuga Bay will be offering:
VIP whisking service through immigration, luggage retrieval and customs
Use of VIP lounge at the Punta Cana International Airport
Round-trip private transportation between the Punta Cana International Airport and our Tortuga Bay villa.
I gotta tell ya, Mrs. Roaming Boomers is pretty excited about all this pampering. Don’t let, I say, don’t let the cat out of the bag, but I am very excited as well!
Here’s how you can keep tabs as we experience four nights of splendor in the Dominican Republic:
This week’s travel contests, prizes, drawings, and sweepstakes links have some really cool prizes.
How about seven nights at the Mauna Lani Hotel and Bungalows on Hawaii, the Big Island? We stayed there (our feature article) and loved it.
Or, how about winning 100,000 airlines miles from Hawaiian Airlines?
Here’s this week’s list:
Enter to win 7 Nights on Hawaii, the Big Island at Mauna Lani Hotel & Bungalows.
Enter for a Chance to Win 100,000 HawaiianMiles from Hawaiian Airlines.
Enter to win one of 40 Trips in 40 Days. Round-trip airfare, two nights hotel accommodations, and admission to SeaWorld for four people from Southwest Airlines.
Enter to win a trip to Nashville, Tennessee. Roundtrip air fare on Southwest Airlines, hotel accommodations fit for a rock star, meet and greet with Darius Rucker, limo service, private tours, backstage passes, two pairs of Durango boots, and more!
Enter to win a European river cruise for two from Viking River Cruises.
Enter now for your chance to win a seven day and six night trip for two to Scotland from Frommers.
Enter to win one of 8 trip-of-a-lifetime grand prize trips to California from the California Travel and Tourism Commission.
Enter to win a $5,000 credit towards a trip for TWO on the Austin-Lehman Adventure of your choice!* Explore destinations in North, Central and South America, Europe, the Pacific Rim or Africa from the # 1 rated tour operator in the world, Austin-Lehman Adventures!
There you go! Eight chances to win world-class exciting vacations. Good luck!
Note: if you enjoyed this article, please consider a free subscription to our online travel magazine. Simply “Follow Us” and “Join Us” in the right-hand column of this website. Thanks!
St. Regis Princeville Resort ~ Kauai, Hawaii – When I was a kid, we didn’t get a color television set until I was 16 years old. A striking childhood memory was watching the Wizard of Oz in full living color at a friend’s home. I was completely awe-struck when my black-and-white television experience exploded into technicolor on their television.
The island of Kauai brought back to my mind the sharp distinctions between bright, vibrant colors and the potential for gray muted colors with its rainforest draped mountains.
Mount Waialeale, in the center of Kauai, is said to be the rainiest place on earth and receives as much as 460 to 600 inches of rain per year.
What this means to a baby boomer traveler is that a visit to the North Shore of Kauai is likely to expose you to its tropical rains, and a properly adjusted set of expectations is well in order.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you will never see the sun. However, the possibility does exist.
Our visit to the beautiful St. Regis Princeville Resort was beset by a massive winter storm system that sat overhead for the whole duration of our visit.
Disappointing? Sure.
But, this storm brought hundreds of waterfalls into life, and we were able to experience unfathomable sites that we would not otherwise have seen.
My photograph of Bali Hai (above) illustrates my point precisely.
Most fortunately, if we grew weary of wet weather, we always had the remarkable St. Regis Princeville Resort to make our escape and bathe in pure four-star luxury.
Following a multi-million dollar renovation, the St. Regis Princeville opened in 2009 and became Hawaii’s first St. Regis property offering the legendary brand’s unparalleled services and amenities.
St. Regis Princeville is located on the North Shore of the magnificent island of Kaua‘i, built on historic grounds beside the emerald green Hanalei Valley and overlooking the awe-inspiring Napali Coast. The St. Regis Princeville Resort is surrounded by five majestic mountains, a patchwork of taro farms, a wildlife refuge, equestrian paths and hiking trails.
Our Favorite St. Regis Princeville Memories
The St. Regis Princeville serves up a very powerful first impression. After the very attentive staff quickly checked us into our room, the first views of the bay, with the tropical mountain backdrop was nothing short of stunning.
Sitting on our patio, and gazing upon the unbelievable panorama left us completely gobsmacked! (love that word) 🙂
The sand beach, the spectacular infinity pool, the lime-colored umbrellas to lounge underneath, the large black boulders strewn along the shore, the smell of perhaps the freshest air on earth, and the mystique that this is home to Puff the Magic Dragon and Bali Hai all combine to make this a very magical place.
Our peek-a-boo shower was an interesting first experience. The glass shower formed the wall in the main area of the room. If you so desired, you could watch your lover shower while working at your desk. For those who might be far more discrete, a simple flick of a switch in the bathroom fogged the glass so that there was complete privacy.
Dining at the Kaua‘i Grill, and reveling in the exquisite cuisine of internationally acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. To add significant drama his cuisine, the restaurant featured spectacular views of Hanalei Bay with panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows.
The resort’s service was impeccable in every way.
The significant romance, and the penultimate luxury found at the St. Regis Princeville left a pronounced impression in our minds, and has earned a place in our hearts that we definitely, most assuredly, must again visit.
If you want a place dripping in romance, surrounded by inexpressible beauty, and desire pampering fit for the Royals, then we highly recommend the St. Regis Princeville.
We both want to go back. Now!
Disclosure: A portion of our experience was provided by the kind folks at the St. Regis Princeville Resort. Thanks! Further, a portion of our travel expenses were provided by the kind people of the State of Hawaii through their Visitors and Conventions Bureau. Thanks Hawaii!
Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong – The Roaming Boomers® have yet to travel all the way across the Pacific to explore the many wonderful sites that lie in wait.
However, rest assured, it’s on our bucket list.
I was doing a little reading this morning, and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Hong Kong caught my attention as they now bill themselves as the world’s highest hotel.
Opened in May of 2011, the lobby of this stratospheric luxury hotel is found on the 103rd floor, with their Crown restaurant on the 118th floor! Wow!
If you are one who gets the heebie-jeebies from such heights, the pool will give you a real thrill as you can swim right up to a window on the 118th floor and look down upon the city below. My stomach tightens a little just thinking about it.
We can’t wait to visit Hong Kong somewhere in the future.
106 Museums Celebrate Art Museum Day on May 18th, 2011
NEW YORK, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Over 100 art museums across North America will offer free or reduced admission, special programs, or other initiatives as part of their celebrations of Art Museum Day on May 18, 2011. These museums—all members of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), and located across the United States, Canada, and Mexico—include smaller regional museums as well as leading international institutions.
AAMD’s Art Museum Day coincides with International Museum Day, organized annually around the world by the International Council of Museums. Participation by AAMD member museums emphasizes the lasting impact art museums have on their communities, highlights the value of the visual arts in society, and provides a range ofopportunities for audiences to engage with the diverse programs that art museums offer.
Participants include:
Amon Carter Museum
Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Institute of Chicago
Aspen Art Museum
Birmingham Museum of Art
Brandywine River Museum
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Bronx Museum of Art
Butler Museum of American Art
Carnegie Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
Columbus Museum
Columbus Museum of Art
Crocker Art Museum
Currier Museum of Art
David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art
Dayton Art Institute
Delaware Art Museum
Des Moines Art Center
Dixon Gallery and Gardens
El Paso Museum of Art
Flint Institute of Arts
Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art
Frist Center for the Visual Arts
Georgia Museum of Art
Guggenheim Museum
Hammer Museum
Harvard Art Museums
Henry Art Gallery
High Museum of Art
Hudson River Museum
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
J. Paul Getty Museum
Japan Society Gallery
Jewish Museum
Joslyn Museum of Art
Kimbell Art Museum
Lowe Art Museum
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
McNay Art Museum
Meadows Museum, SMU
Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Miami Art Museum
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Montclair Art Museum
Museo de Arte de Ponce
Museo Dolores Olmedo
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale
Museum of Arts and Design
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Glass
Museum of Modern Art
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Nasher Sculpture Center
National Museum of Wildlife Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
Norman Rockwell Museum
North Carolina Museum of Art
Peabody Essex Museum
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Phoenix Art Museum
Portland (Oregon) Art Museum
Princeton University Art Museum
Saint Louis Art Museum
Salvador Dali Museum
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
San Antonio Museum of Art
San Jose Museum of Art
Seattle Art Museum
Smith College Museum of Art
Snite Museum of Art
Speed Art Museum
Spelman College Museum of Fine Art
Spencer Museum of Art
Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute
Studio Museum in Harlem
Tacoma Art Museum
Taft Museum of Art
Tampa Museum of Art
Telfair Museum of Art
The Ackland Art Museum
The Menil Collection
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Morgan Library and Museum
The Noguchi Museum
The Phillips Collection
The Wolfsonian
Toledo Museum of Art
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Vero Beach Museum of Art
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Wadsworth Atheneum
Walker Art Center
Walters Art Museum
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
Wichita Art Museum
Worcester Art Museum
Yale University Art Gallery
A comprehensive list of participating AAMD member museums will be available on the AAMD website (https://www.aamd.org/newsroom/).
The Roaming Boomers
You’re a baby boomer.
In my best Foghorn Leghorn impersonation, we are, I say, we are very excited to announce that Delta Vacations has selected The Roaming Boomers® to experience and then share with our readers, subscribers, and friends just what a Delta Vacations Luxury Lifestyle Experience is all about.
