Posted by David Porter on July 14, 2016 · Leave a Comment
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Open Travel for U.S. Citizens to Cuba Coming Soon
It is becoming quite likely that 2017 will be the year that Americans traveling to Cuba will be all the buzz in the world of travel.
Why?
Perhaps because it was formerly forbidden and folks are curious. Perhaps it’s the 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Cuba. Perhaps it is the largely untouched white sand beaches and coral reefs.
But as we talk to clients inquiring about travel to Cuba, most see Cuba as a land frozen in time. There exists a certain Hemingway romance that is drawing folks, and they have a large desire to witness it before the mystique is destroyed with the Golden Arches.
Many desire to experience Cuba before its mystique is destroyed by the Golden Arches.
Today, travel to Cuba by travelers with U.S. Passports is still forbidden unless you are visiting under Obama’s so-called purposeful travel with its 12 exemptions or a people-to-people cultural exchange visit.
However, the U.S. Transportation Secretary has just proposed that eight airlines be given approval to begin direct flights into Havana. And, according to some sources, this may be fast-tracked with flights beginning as soon as the end of the year.
Want to see Cuba Before it is Forever Changed? Go now!
As I mull over in my mind about when to make a journey to Cuba, I think that if your desire is to see Cuba before it is forever changed by millions of American tourists, you might want to consider one of the people-to-people small group journeys that are currently available.
Even under the current restricted access, the number of Americans visiting Cuba is up significantly. And when the floodgates open later in the year, I suspect Havana will be the land of chaos until they can get the needed infrastructure built to accommodate the coming tidal wave of American tourists.
What to do?
If you think you’d like to visit Cuba before the tidal wave of tourists hit the shores of Havana, let’s talk. We are very well equipped to have a conversation about the available options. And if you decide that you’d like to actually book a trip, we’ll help you decide which of the currently available small group tours best match your travel style, and we’ll take care of all of the details.
From a pricing perspective, a 10-day, 3-star experience is going to start around $2,700/person (without air), and I saw a 13-day, 4+-star experience for $7,999/person (without air). As these are small group experiences, these are going to include most of your meals, transportation, and lodging. There are also very limited cruise ship experiences currently available as well.
To get a sense of all that we have available for you in Cuba, click here. And perhaps most importantly, don’t try to go it alone. When we help you, we have travel partners that have helped hundreds and hundreds of folks visit Cuba. Together (our partners, us, and you), we’ll help you craft a wonderful experience.
For more information, call our travel agency at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.
Note: creative commons photograph above courtesy of Marko Derksen on Flickr
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Posted by David Porter on July 12, 2016 · 2 Comments
Click photo for larger view. ©2014 David A. Porter
I captured this photograph as we flew over the Juneau Icefield in a 10-seater De Havilland floatplane. What an experience! To read more about our experience, click here.
Here’s this on the Juneau Icefield from Wikipedia:
“The Juneau Icefield is an ice field located just north of Juneau, Alaska, continuing north through the border with British Columbia, and is the fifth-largest ice field in the Western Hemisphere,[1] extending through an area of 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) in the Coast Range ranging 140 km (87 mi) north to south and 75 km (47 mi) east to west. The icefield is the source of many glaciers including the Mendenhall Glacier and the Taku Glacier. The icefield is home to over 40 large valley glaciers and 100 smaller ones. The Icefield serves as a tourist attraction with many travellers flown in by helicopter for quick walks on the 240-to-1,400-metre (790 to 4,590 ft) deep ice and the massive, awe-inspiring crevasses. The icefield, like many of its glaciers, reached its maximum glaciation point around 1700 and has been in retreat since. In fact, of the icefield’s 19 notable glaciers, the Taku Glacier is the only one presently advancing. Much of the icefield is contained within the Tongass National Forest. Since 1948, the Juneau Icefield Research Program has monitored glaciers of the Juneau Icefield. On the west side of the icefield, from 1946-2009, the terminus of the Mendenhall Glacier has retreated over 700 metres (0.43 mi).”
Carol and I absolutely love Alaska. In fact, we’re going back for our third trip in the not too distant future.
Our first Alaska cruise was aboard the Norwegian Pearl, our second was aboard the Silversea Cruises Silver Shadow, and our third Alaska cruise will be on the Crystal Cruises Crystal Serenity, the world’s most awarded luxury cruise line.
For this journey, we’ll enjoy 10 days of breathtaking scenery as well as a little pampering from Crystal Cruises as we sail from Vancouver to Anchorage.
If you’re not familiar with Crystal Cruises, keep an eye on our website over the coming weeks as I share with you a few details about this renowned luxury cruise line. Stay tuned….
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Posted by David Porter on July 12, 2016 · 6 Comments
Travel + Leisure Readers Name Viking Ocean Cruises the #1 Cruise Line in 2016 World’s Best Awards
For 20 years in a row, Crystal Cruises has reigned supreme as the #1 ocean cruise line by the readers of Travel + Leisure. However, in their 2016 survey, newcomer Viking Ocean Cruises surprised the industry by unseating Crystal Cruises in their first year of service.
Inquiring minds want to know, how did this happen?
To be sure, the success of Viking Ocean Cruises was built on the wildly successful Viking River Cruises.
Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises says, “We launched Viking Ocean Cruises to reinvent the category. We have a unique approach to destination-focused ocean cruising that is built upon our success in river cruising, and awards like this demonstrate that our approach is working. Thank you to our guests and the readers of Travel + Leisure for this great honor.”
What Makes Viking Ocean Cruises Different?
Here’s a few key points from Viking…
- Designed for discerning travelers, Viking offers guests “the thinking person’s cruise” as an alternative to mainstream cruises. The Viking difference is providing guests with extraordinarily well-designed cruises that facilitate engagement with the cultures of the world.
- Ships are small allowing privileged access to smaller ports and getting guests closer to their destination, with more time in port, more overnights and fewer days at sea.
On-board, guests find serene Scandinavian spaces, where every room is beautiful and functional, quiet and filled with light. All-veranda ships mean that guests experience every day with a new, expansive vista.- With the most al fresco dining at sea, featuring regional cuisines and always-available American classics, Viking’s guests can truly dine in their destination.
- A focus on cultural enrichment brings immersive experiences onshore and on-board. And only The Viking Way brings guests itineraries that feature Local Life, Working World and Privileged Access experiences.
- Viking Inclusive Cruising provides a small ship experience at a big ship value—with every cruise fare including a veranda stateroom, shore excursions in each port of call, all on-board meals, and all port charges and government taxes. Guests also enjoy many complimentary amenities as part of their fare, including: beer and wine with lunch and dinner service; premium dining reservations; Wi-Fi; self-service laundry; access to the Thermal Suite in the LivNordic Spa; and 24-hour room service—an included value of more than $200 per person, per day.
Viking Ocean Cruises is quickly amassing industry awards. The company’s second ocean vessel, Viking Sea, was recently awarded a top rating of five stars by Cruise Critic, a distinction previously bestowed to Viking Star – which was also named “Best New Ocean Ship” of 2015 in Cruise Critic’s Editors’ Picks Awards. Additionally, the ship received three top awards in the 6th Annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards and was the highest rated ship in its category in the 2016 version of “cruising bible,” Berlitz’s Cruising and Cruise Ships guidebook. Viking will welcome two additional ships in 2017, Viking Sky® and Viking Sun®, whose maiden voyage will be a 141-day world cruise spanning 5 continents, 35 countries and 66 ports. Two remaining, yet-to-be-named ships will be delivered in 2018 and 2020.
Carol and I had lunch with a major ocean cruise line just a few days ago, and she said, “it’s all about the ship”. I think that was a profound statement in trying to understand the difference between Viking Ocean Cruises and many of the rest.
While Viking has worked hard to provide a beautiful ship, and a package that doesn’t nickel and dime you death, their focus is clearly providing their guests a destination immersion instead of gimmicky Flo-riders and climbing walls. While there’s a place for both, Viking is very appealing to those who desire to talk about their destination when they return home instead of the Broadway-style musical they saw on-board.
For my money, I think I’d likely enjoy a ride on one of these floating cities once, but my great desire is to see and experience the world. And for that, I think Viking Ocean Cruises is more suited to my tastes.
While my statements above make a comparison between a mega-ship and what Travel + Leisure calls a large-ship in Viking’s case, you should know that the methodology used to compare the various cruise lines in this survey were divided by category.
For the cruise category, respondents were asked to rate individual ships; the results were combined to generate scores for cruise lines in different categories. The categories are: river cruise lines, mega-ship ocean cruise lines (capacity of 2,200 passengers or more), large-ship ocean cruise lines (600 to 2,199 passengers), midsize-ship ocean cruise lines (250 to 599 passengers), and small-ship ocean cruise lines (249 or fewer passengers). Some cruise lines may appear in multiple categories depending on the makeup of their fleet. Further the questions in the survey had to do with Cabins/facilities, food, service, itineraries/destinations, excursions/activities, value.
Viking Ocean Cruises Booking Information
For booking information, call our travel agency at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.
To view Viking Ocean Cruises various itineraries, click here.
To view Travel + Leisure’s complete World Best Awards 2016, click here.
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Posted by David Porter on July 8, 2016 · Leave a Comment
Direct Commercial Flights To Havana.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced yesterday that they have tentatively approved eight U.S. airlines to provide commercial flights to Havana, Cuba, with final decisions expected later this summer.
Within 90 days of DOT’s final decision, every American will be able to use a U.S. carrier’s normal website to purchase airfare. Most airlines plan to begin offering flight services this fall and winter. Gone will be the regulatory hurdles of booking expensive charter flights.
While this is great news to a lot of travelers, you should expect this small nation to experience a sudden and severe bout of growing pains.
Carol and I were having lunch with Royal Caribbean International yesterday and they expect to have Havana as a port stop for the winter Caribbean cruise season. However, she cautioned, their infrastructure is nowhere’s near ready for the onslaught of Americans headed their way. Evidently the ports need significant updating, and the country could currently no sooner handle a crowd of thousands hopping off of a cruise ship than the man in the moon.
So, while Cuba is certainly on the bucket list of The Roaming Boomers®, we’re going to take a wait and see approach for a bit.
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Posted by David Porter on July 5, 2016 · 2 Comments
When The Roaming Boomers® are traveling the world, one of the things we most like to do is sample the local cuisine. And if we desire to sample the best of the best local cuisines, we must do a little homework before we leave.
There are a variety of websites that we frequent when seeking out a great restaurant, but for a great restaurant that has garnered worldwide recognition, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list is perhaps the best place to begin our quest.
So, who says these are the world’s best? Well, the Diners Club International has an academy of nearly 1,000 experts of the international restaurant scene. They decide.
Further, if you head to the link above, you can also explore the World’s Best Female Chef, the World’s Best Pastry Chef, and many more categories.
Also, if you really want to get your palates watering, many of these world-renowned chefs are featured in the Netflix original hit series Chef’s Table.
So, if you’re headed to one of the world’s great cities anytime in the near future, check out this list. You should probably also know that many of these restaurants are small, so reservations well in advance of your visit are required. And, as you might expect, make sure you have plenty of space on your credit card, as world-famous chef’s are also able to get a pretty penny for their talents. Capische? 😄
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The Roaming Boomers
