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If Oasis of the Seas Is Too Big For You, Consider This Family Deal

The launch of the Oasis of the Seas this week has garnered a lot of hoopla, as you might expect from anything that holds 6,000 passengers and floats. 

But maybe you're the small ship type?  The kind who likes to keep it intimate and doesn't need a floating casino and Broadway dancing girls to hold your interest at sea.  Maybe you'd like a nature-oriented cruise of Alaska.  Or an intinerary heavy on culture along the coast of Southeast Asia. 

If that sounds like you, then consider Cruise West, whose nine ships hold between 78 and 148 passengers.  Heck, on some ships, that's not enough people to staff the on-board spa.  Here's a cruise line that offers sailings all over the world lasting from four to 19 nights at prices beginning around 12 hundred dollars per person.  And that includes most shore excursions, taxes, port charges, and soft drinks--items often tacked on as extras on other cruise lines.

So here's this week's deal courtesy of Cruise West:  Beginning immediately, kids 18 and under will pay half the adult price, and kids under two sail for free.  Not on a select few voyages, but on all the line's 38 itineraries. 

Keep that in mind, mom and dad.  Half off kids 18 and under, babies two and under sail free.  Cruise West. There will be about 5,500 fewer passengers when you sail compared to the Oasis of the Seas, but maybe that won't bother you.

Paris Hotels Launch Valentine Deals; Some Good for Jan & Feb

Now that Thanksgiving is drawing to a close, is it too early to begin thinking about Valentine’s Day in Paris?

I certainly don’t think so.

First of all, February is a good time to capture reduced airfares to Europe.  And secondly, there’s never a bad month to visit Paris except maybe August when the entire country goes on vacation.  And if you want to take your special someone’s breath away, there’s nothing like presenting him or her with two tickets to Paris.

The calendar is even cooperating with you next year--Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday, so adventurous folks on the East Coasts can make a long, romantic weekend of it.  

To make things easier and for you, more than 70 Parisian hotels have put together money-saving deals aimed just as squarely as Cupid’s arrow is aimed at your significant other’s heart.   In fact, truth be told, many of these deals are good through the last half of January and all of February.  But the dates vary with each deal, so choose carefully.   Here are some sample offerings:

--Check into any of the five, four-star Sofitel hotels in Paris between February 15^th and the 28^th and get 20% off stays of two nights or more plus breakfast in bed and an arrival gift of chocolate, Champagne or a bouquet of roses.  Red, of course.  Plus, you’ll get late check out at 4 p.m.  (I know the deals start the day after Valentine's Day, but here's the solution: Take off for Paris ON Valentine's day, and when you land, it'll be the 15th.)

--If you want to be in Paris on the 14th, there are plenty of options.  Four Best Westerns, and these are very nice hotels, each one a three-star hotel, offer rates over Valentine’s weekend as low at 25 to 46% off normal rates.  Some rooms begin at $120 a night.  

--The Hilton Arc de Triumph has a special--used the code “Paris Romantique 2009” that runs all of February that includes a Deluxe Plus room, breakfast, a bottle of Champagne and flowers for two nights.

The list includes not just fancy places, but also economical and tidy two-star hotels, as well.   Maybe this is the Valentine's Day to put a little Paris in your relationship.

Subway Chic: NYC Offers Collectible Subway Memorabilia For Sale

Want to hang or display a bit of the Big Apple's transit history on your wall?

New York City is selling off transit station signs, fare boxes, vintage tokens, lighting fixtures, and even entire subway doors ($175 for a set) to the public, a most interesting way to make some money by selling  old stuff that's being replaced by new stuff. 

You can pick up a framed subway map for $150 while black-and-white terminal signs go for $175.  Care to do a bit of pole dancing? Gleaming silver stanchion poles go for a bargain $25 each. Really hard subway seats are available for $500, and vintage tokens sell for between $2 and $5 each. 

There's a processing fee of $50 (waived if you buy more than $300 worth of items) plus shipping, handling, and insurance are extra.  Buy $1,000 worth of stuff and receive a $1,000 discount.  Because New Yorkers know how to bargain.  Details here or call Vivian Ng at 646-252-4530.

From This Sunday's NYT . . . Helpful Account of iPhone Travel Apps

The iPhone is a marvelous device, though phones with Android platforms are starting to catch up with the useful applications iPhone has been able to offer for a couple of years now.

I think travel apps are still in their infancy, though Google does a good job of mapping routes and reporting on real-time traffic situations in large cities. 

Writing in this Sunday's New York Times, Michelle Higgins offers a review of more than a dozen apps that travelers might find useful. 

I'm surprised she didn't add Layar, which will become increasingly more important as users are able to add more and more things to the program that lets you explore the immediate neighborhood you're in.  You can "layer" Wikipedia and learn about points of interest that might be a block away from where you're standing.  Or if you're curious about what folks in the neighborhood are tweeting about, just layer Twitter over it and click on the little balloons floating in front of you.  This should be a reminder that anything you Tweet can be read this way--I've been privy to juicy (if brief) details of someone's previous night's date as well as helpful information on local restaurants.  

Southwest Flight Attendant As Rapper Delivers Standard Safety Announcement

I write on this, the busiest travel day of the year when it comes to commercial flying. 

If there's anything that will help get you through the airport and flying on this Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it's a sense of humor.  And maybe you'll be lucky enough to be on a Southwest flight with David Holmes, a flight attendant who sometimes delivers the obligatory, you've-heard-it-a-hundred-times, pre-flight safety announcement as a short rap song.

In an interview with National Geographic Traveler, LasVegas-based Holmes said his is "an evolving performance" that began when he was training as a flight attendant and delivered the standard announcement for his flight attendant's graduation class.  Realizing many passengers tuned out the routine instructions, he thought he'd try it on board a real flight, and a Southwest flight attendant supervisor happened to be on board.

"Nice job," she said, and he's been rapping off and on ever since.

A passenger caught his performance with a cell phone and told him she intended to post it on YouTube.  So far, says Holmes, no recording contract has come his way.  But 80,000 folks have caught him on YouTube, and Holmes continues the Southwest tradition of letting its employees make flying a bit more fun.

 

World's Ten Best Airports In Which to Layover: Casinos, Golf Options, Xmas Markets

USA Today today (I love saying and writing that) was kind enough to ask me my favorite ten airports in which to have an extended layover.

Here are my picks. You may be surprised at some of the amenities forward-thinking airports offer passengers who--willingly or not--have long layovers between flights.  Singapore's airport, for example, will take you on a free tour of the city if you're layover is five hours or longer.  (The tour lasts two hours.)  And I've never lost at blackjack at Amsterdam airport's casino

Sometimes, being in an airport can be downright fun.  Just click here. 

Guy Who Doesn't Listen to Audiobooks Holds Forth on Audiobooks Blog

Jonathan Lowe of Greenville, SC, writes a handsome blog on audiobooks, and he asked me to do a short Q&A on the subject of my fave audiobooks.  Sad to say, I've never listened to an audiobook, but he settled for an interview about my favorite times to visit Paris and elated topics. 

It's at his website.  If you're an audiobook fan, give it a look, and you can ignore my section.

British Airways/Chase VISA Card: 100,000 Miles Sign-Up Bonus

Sign up for most credit cards linked to an airline's frequent flyer program, and you'll usually receive 25,000 bonus miles.  Sometimes, for a premium card such as Delta's American Express "premium" card (that comes with a hefty $450 annual fee), you can receive more; I applied for the Delta card because it delivered 20,000 bonus miles plus 20,000 miles that were counted as elite-qualifying miles.

But Chase and British Airways are offering, apparently for a limited time, a VISA card with a $75 annual fee that can put 100,000 miles into your British Airways frequent-flyer account.  Sign up for the card and receive 50,000 miles when you first use it.  Then, if you spend $2,000 in the first three months of having the card, you receive another 50,000 miles.  

That's a VERY impressive offer if you're working British Airways' frequent flyer program.  You'll also receive $50 off any BA ticket you purchase by year's end at a special web page.  And 2.5 points for every dollar you spend on BA tickets using the card plus 1.25 points per dollar spent on other purchases.  You'll also receive a free companion ticket if you spend $30,000 on the card the first year you carry it.  While this may be difficult for most individuals, businesses might be able to meet that threshold easily. 

And remember that BA allows households to pool their miles.  So if two of you apply for the card (cost: $150) and each spend $2,000 in three months, you'll collect a whopping 200,000 miles. Considering the fact British Airways has a stingier point-collection scheme (as the Brits would word it) than most other airlines (mileage earned is dependent on category of ticket purchased, and the cheapest tickets earn precious few miles), this is an excellent offer. 

Tips for Saving on Ski Lift Tickets This Winter; Act by Nov. 22 for Colorado

If you’re thinking of taking a ski vacation this year to any of the Western states known for great snow, you’re in for a nice surprise if you do some advance planning.  Many lift prices are less than last year, and there are hotel deals and package deals that will save you lots of money if you know where to look. First of all, you have until Nov. 22 to take advantage of Vail Resorts EPIC pass, which is a flat-rate pass good for lift tickets all season at not just Vail Mountain but also at Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, and Heavenly.  Price is $599, or about the retail price of six days worth of ski lift tickets.  So if you intend to sky those mountains more than a week this winter, make your move and get an EPIC pass at snow.com. You’ll also find other discounts, resort packages, a link to receive automatic ski condition updates at that web site. 

Another web site, Liftopia also offers discount lift tickets and other ski deals worth checking out in Colorado, Vermont, Utah, California, New York, and New Hampshire.  Liftopia works with dozens of resorts that adjust their prices up and down depending on demand.  You'll almost always save by buying lift tickets ahead of time rather than paying retail upon arrival.

A San Francisco Christmas Treat & a Deal on Luxury River Cruising

The Westin St. Francis right on Union Square in San Francisco is going all out this Christmas to put you in the holiday spirit.

First, you'll be in a good mood when you enter the hotel's lobby and oooh and ahhh over the 15-foot, silver-and-white holiday tree adorned with $40,000 worth of holiday decorations including energy-saving LED lights that change colors. 

And to teach your kids--or to remind ourselves--that the holiday season is as much about giving as receiving, the hotel will invite you to choose a child's name from a holiday giving tree and to give that child an unwrapped gift.  The hotel will provide everything you need to make a gift card and then make sure the gift reaches the recipient.

You'll save up to a third off your stay if you check in for three nights--how does $104 a night for a double sound?  Stay two nights, and rates begin at only $112 a night.

There are several package deals, such as the Macy's shop-'til-you-drop offer.  Pay $131 a night for a three-night stay and receive a $100 gift certificate good for the Macy's store just across the street. That almost covers the cost of a night's stay.

If taking a leisurely river cruise, with all meals (and wine and beer at dinner), plus shore excursions, airport transfers, and on-board lectures included, is more your style, the Uniworld Unique Boutique River Cruise Collection is worth a careful look.  

Book and pay for a 2010 cruise before the end of November and a couple can receive up to a $1,200 discount.  Simply book a trip and pay a deposit before the end of the month, and a couple can realize a savings of up to $600.

Destinations including rivers in Europe, Africa, Egypt and China.  It's a gorgeous and easy way to see the world up close from the comfort of a river boat.

At Four Seasons Hotel in DC, You Can't Fold Your Newspaper At Breakfast

Well, you may not be able to fold your morning paper, but the hotel is offering guests at breakfast in its restaurant something even better and more high tech.

Each guest at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC, receives a Kindle with which they can access newspapers from around the globe. So if you're visiting from Chicago, and you want to read every word in your hometown newspaper about the Bears or Bulls, the Kindle can deliver the paper right next to your orange juice.

And if there's some foreign paper that requires a fee for you to access it, the hotel will cover the cost.

As an aside, I will tell you that as a former newspaper guy (I was an investigative reporter and columnist at The Washington Post for 13 years out of college), I and my friends who are also in the print business have been lamenting for years now the decline in newspapers.  Both from a financial perspective as well as from the viewpoint of quality. With the mass migration of classified ads and other advertising (remember those big ads airlines used to run in major and not-so-major newspaper?) to the Internet, newspapers have had to lay off reporters, editors, and photographers.

I sometimes wonder what they're teaching journalism students at colleges these days, since it appeared the demise of the newspaper is drawing near.  But it's technology that is giving me some hope.  After all, if someday we all receive our news via reading devices like the Kindle, that frees news-gathering organizations from having to invest in expensive paper, trucks, and printing presses.  And the Kindle and new, competing devices are conditioning Americans to pay for subscriptions to newspapers and magazines.  At prices much cheaper than having a physical product delivered to your door each day.

And my buddy, Robert Stephens, who founded Geek Squad and sold to Best Buy, tells me, we're not far from a color Kindle and all kinds of additional, even more snazzy devices hitting the market.  We're not far from having Kindle-like devices that will be able to be rolled up just like a New York Post under your arm in a Manhattan subway.

So maybe good journalism will survive after all.  Much as I like blogs (and I'm writing one, obviously), I fear the loss of news-gathering organizations that have the time and money to do investigative reporting while attempting to be unbiased.  New technology that has so affected traditional newspaper and magazines (have you seen how thin Time and Newsweek are these days?) may wind up saving journalism.

Deal(s) of the Week: Vegas' Platinum Hotel, Alaska Airways to Ski Country

You go to Vegas.  The traffic on the Strip is nuts, economic downturn notwithstanding.  It takes the valet guy at the big casino/hotel a half hour to retrieve your car or you stand 20 minutes in line waiting for a taxi. 

Now consider the Platinum Hotel & Spa, just a block off the Strip.  It doesn't have a casino or megamall.  It doesn't have 2,000 rooms.  All it has are spacious rooms--suites, really, since this used to be an apartment building--and a quite good restaurant.  Oh, and a great rate between Nov. 8 and Dec. 28. 

How does $106 a night sound?

Need a few more perks?  How about free wi-fi, a late check out at 4 p.m., and a couple of drinks on the house at the hotel bar?

Just visit the hotel's web site.  I did this afternoon and was offered rooms at $119.  I can't explain the $13 difference, so I'd suggest you call the hotel directly and ask for rate of $106 + the perks.  Dial: 877-211-9211.

If snow is more your thing, Alaska Airlines is putting ski trips to cool destinations including Sun Valley and Mammoth on sale from Dec. 17 through Mar. 21.  Or Apr 11, in the case of Mammoth. 

The airline begins new service to both those destinations beginning in mid-December, so that explains the nice, introductory fares: Los Angeles to Mammoth, $147; LA to Sun Valley, $332.  And there's service from other cities, as well, mostly through Seattle.  Note that there aren't flights every day, and there's only one, non-stop flight to and from Los Angeles. So shop carefully, my friends, and act fast because, as you know, it's the early skier who gets the best snow and the best deals.