As Jim provided a pretty detailed overview of our NCL cruise to the Bahamas I figure that I’ll give you all a little feedback about my favorite parts and least favorite parts of our cruise! Overall I really enjoyed our cruise to the Bahamas but there were definitely somethings that could be improved!

Itinerary and Length of Cruise

I chose the short itinerary (3 nights, 2 full days) for a few reasons and I was still glad at the end of the trip that we chose it! Why so short? We could have the ability to “go on a cruise” but not have to commit to a full week, and this was perfect for our friends who this was their first cruise. I wanted to see the Bahamas but I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend a lot of time there since I wasn’t sure what would be there or interesting! Also a nice short cruise allowed our friends who had less vacation time to just take a day off and join us for the cruise.
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A lot of media outlets have made fun of the idea RyanAir is floating – charging £1 for passengers to use the lavatory during a flight but it actually makes sense. By adding that fee, people are more likely to use the restroom prior to getting on the plane, thus making it a little bit lighter. It also means that they’ll be using an airport restroom, which doesn’t flush it’s liquid into the air at 30,000 feet!

The idea of stand up “seats” doesn’t seem to be make much sense though, but the price of around £5 is very affordable. The problem has to do with safety regulations that require seat belts during takeoff, landing, and periods of turbulence. It’s hard to have a seat belt when you don’t have a seat. It’s still a clever idea though… we can always use a little more innovation.

(Photo: aromano)

It’s been a while since I’ve flown an airline that offered a meal and it turns out I was doing myself a favor. In a recent FDA report, as reported by USA Today, it was revealed that the meals served by major airlines are prepared in “unsanitary and unsafe conditions that could lead to illness.” The catering facilities that make the food were cited for health and sanitation violations after an inspection last year.

Now, a few violations are normal in almost any kitchen (yes, scary, but still true), but the number and scope of them is a little scary. Three caterers were cited – LSG Sky Chefs Gate Gourmet, and Flying Food Group. You probably recognize their trucks as they load up your flight, if you’ve ever watched them, and they were cited for cockroaches, storing food at improper temperatures, unclean equipment, and use of works with poor hygiene. It’s pretty gross.

The last place I want to get sick is on an airplane…

(Photo: littledebbie11)

Whenever we go to Walt Disney World, we love staying at a Disney resort. There’s something about enjoying that full Disney experience that really helps us maximize our enjoyment at the happiest place on earth. The last two times we visited, we stayed at the Port Orleans (once in the French Quarter and once in Riverside), one of their most impressive Moderate resorts.

We love staying at Disney resorts mostly because of the transportation benefits, you save a lot of money when you don’t have to pay for transportation to the hotel, car rental, and parking fees each day you’re in Disney. That’s just the start of it, between that and the Extra Magic Hours, there’s little you could say to convince me not to stay at a Disney resort.

Here are my reasons why it’s awesome to stay at a Disney resort: [Read more →]

Royal Caribbean’s loyalty program is known as the Crown & Anchor Society and, much like the other cruise loyalty programs, the first tier starts after the first cruise. I’ve never personally sailed on a Royal Caribbean cruise before but their reputation of building enormous megaliners is well documented. It was founded in 1969 by three shipping companies and their first newbuild cruise ship, the Song of Norway, set sail in 1970. Nowadays, you can recognize a Royal Caribbean cruise ship by a “of the Seas” in their names. Adventure of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas… very magestic.

These days, the largest cruise ships are Royal Caribbean ships – the Oasis of the Seas and its sister ship Allure of the Seas (December 2010). With a capacity of 5,400 passengers, it makes other ships look downright tiny. Let’s take a look at the details of the Crown and Anchor Society.
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With flights so expensive this summer they can be the most cost prohibitive part to going on vacation! This was certainly the case for our upcoming trip to Fallen Leaf Lake. With our trip coming up soon I set out to find the cheapest flights available! After much looking I found the best method was to fly with American Airlines to Reno and with United Airlines on the trip back. When I went to book our flights I saw that both American and United have “promotional codes” fields and it sparked my interest in finding out those codes!

I found that American Airlines has two promotions going on: Century in the Making and the Penalty Challenge. Both give you 10% off American Airlines flights along with the chance to win more exciting prizes!

How do you get 10% off? Its easy and will only take you a few minutes to complete.
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You can get the United States Postal Service to put a hold on your mail when you go on your next vacation without going to the post office. They have an online form that you can fill out and it’s just as easy as the form you get from the post office itself. In fact, by submitting an online request, it’s much easier to edit or cancel your request because you can do it online.

You can get same day service if you submit it by 2AM Central Standard Time from Monday through Saturday and you can set the start date of the hold mail request for up to fourteen days in advance. As is the case with the regular paper hold request, you can hold mail for 3 to 30 days.

When you finish filing, be sure to write down your Confirmation Number. If you need to make a change, you’ll need this number (such as if you return home early).

Best of all, this service is free.

For the last five years or so, I’ve flown Southwest to almost every destination. They service my home airport of Baltimore Washington International and, mostly because I was lucky, they serviced an airport near wherever I was going. I’m a loyal customer because they provide a great service at a fantastic price, because they were almost always the cheapest. In the cases they weren’t cheapest, they weren’t that far off.

One of the reasons why I liked them so much was because they don’t ding you with fees every which way. The price you pay for the ticket is going to be the price you pay to get where you’re going. In an era when airlines will charge for you for the first checked bag, Southwest lets you check two bags without a fee.
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A few years ago, when Baltimore was unveiled as a cruise departure port for several cruise lines, they offered a fantastic residents deal of a 7-night cruise for less than $500 per person. We didn’t take advantage of the deal because of a conflict but many of our friends did and had a fantastic time. Since then, I don’t think anyone, ourselves included, has taken a cruise out of Baltimore!

Part of the reason why no one has gone on another cruise has to do with the destination, most of the shorter cruises out of Baltimore go to Bermuda. While Bermuda is a perfectly fine place, it’s difficult to justify repeat trips within such a short period of time. If you’re willing to go a little longer, the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean start to become options as they are farther away. There’s nothing anyone can do about that, ships can only sail so quickly so your options are always limited.
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I have one question Disney – How did I not know about the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival before? You guys send me lots of letters every month telling me about your hot offers but you didn’t find the quickest way to my heart… my stomach!

From October 1st through November 14th, 2010, Epcot is having their International Food & Wine Festival. It’s the fifteenth time they’ll be doing it and every year it seems to get a huge turnout. The best part is that there is no extra charge, you get in with your regular Epcot admission. The event consists of various marketplaces feating all manner of food and drink spread out around the World Showcase. Here’s how 2009 was described:

This year’s International Food and Wine Festival will play host to seminars, tasting events and sumptuous dinners overseen by top Disney Chefs as well as renowned guest Chefs. Over the course of the Festival, there will be 1200 beer and wine seminars scheduled with complimentary samples. Chefs scheduled to appear are Warren Brown, Cat Cora, Todd English, Gale Gand, Robert Irvine, Art Smith, Andrew Zimmern and more.

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