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April 28, 2009

Maui Vacation Packages: Making Them Work for You

You’re planning a Maui vacation in order to escape from the stress of your everyday life.  The one thing you don’t want to experience during your Maui vacation, therefore, is additional stress.  Planning a trip to Maui, especially if it will be your first vacation there, can take a great deal of time and effort if you want to maximize your experience while minimizing your expenses.

The best way to ensure that you get the most bang for your buck is to choose from among the many Maui vacation packages now available.  Vacation packages are not the same as guided excursions.  Maui vacation packages include everything: your round-trip airfare; your accommodations; and a rental car or other transportation arrangements to get you around the island.  For an extra fee, some Maui vacation packages will provide you with tickets to popular attractions, boat trips, theater tickets, or other extras. 

Play a Round on this Beautiful Maui Golf Course

Play a Round on this Beautiful Maui Golf Course

If you’re planning on traveling to Maui at the height of tourist season, in fact, a vacation package may be your only option.  By far the fastest way to find vacation packages that are available is with an Internet search.  While you’re shopping for your vacation package, however, you should take the time to price each of the features offered in each package separately.  It’s the only way to be sure that your vacation package will really save you money.  One of the problems is that many Maui vacation packages do not include the cost of taxes or service charges, which can add hundreds of dollars to the price of your vacation. 

There are precautions you should take if you decide to choose one of these Maui vacation packages.  Always pay for your package with your credit card, because there has been more than one occasion in which a company  has simply stranded its customers in the middle of their vacation and gone out of business.  If you run into trouble with your Maui vacation package company, your credit card company may be willing to help you get it resolved.

Add to the cost of your Maui vacation package the price of default insurance.  That way, you won’t be out any money if your package company bails out.  Make sure that you only consider packages offered by members of the United States tour operators Association, because those companies are required to set aside funds specifically to cover defaults.

While you’re online, take the time to read reviews on the different tour operators to see which ones have provided consistently reliable and comfortable experiences.  Nearly 50% of the people who travel to Maui on vacation each year use a vacation package.  Because of the large volume of their business, companies offering packages are capable of offering significant discounts, and that is why doing business with them may make sense for you.

So many companies offer so many different vacation packages to Maui, in fact, that you will almost certainly be able to find one which offers the kind of accommodations and attractions you want both for yourself and those with whom you be traveling.  As long as you take sensible precautions when working with a company, you can leave your stress behind and squeeze every drop of enjoyment from your days in the Maui sun!


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April 24, 2009

An Introduction to International Travel Insurance

 


Shop for Travel Insurance Here

Shop for Travel Insurance Here

International travel comes with its own set of rules.  If you don’t believe that, you should see what’s written in the fine print on a US passport:

“HEALTH INSURANCE.  Persons considering foreign travel should determine what health insurance coverage, if any, they require while outside the United States. Medicare does not cover health care costs outside the United States and its territories, except under limited circumstances in Canada and Mexico.”

While the passport warning is only that you should check your health insurance coverage before departing for a foreign country, the same wording could just as easily apply to every area of insurance coverage.  International travel insurance will protect you not only in the event of an illness or injury, but also in the case of a tour or cruise operator bankruptcy; lost or stolen valuables; natural disasters which can leave you without a place to stay; and political unrest or terrorist attacks which make your international travel impossible.

While you’re anticipating having the time of your life exploring exciting new cities, sampling marvelous new cuisine, shopping in some of the Worlds great fashion centers, or doing all of the things which make international travel so appealing, you might be in denial about the risks associated with international travel.  You are no less at risk for accidents and illnesses or natural catastrophes while you’re abroad than you are at home.

Because you’re abroad, however, you’ll no longer have the option of family, friends, or your local healthcare provider nearby to come to the rescue if you need emergency funds, a place to stay, medicine, or first aid.  Having international travel insurance will make the answer to the question “Who ya gonna call?” as simple as looking at the number for your insurance company’s helpline on the policy you are carrying with you.  Having international travel insurance  will ensure that you have care, shelter, transportation, and food while you’re away, and that you can return home safely.

It’s quite simple to tailor your travel insurance coverage for your specific travel needs.  If you attend a backpacking vacation through the Canadian Rockies, you’ll need coverage different from what you might require if you’re going to vacation at the Egyptian pyramids.  There are international travel insurance policies for cruise vacations, and for travelers who will be flying.  There are those which cover only a single trip, and those which will cover multiple trips during a 12 month period.

You’ll make it much easier to find international travel insurance if you first list exactly what your requirements are.  You can then go online and use any of the major search engines to find links to websites of companies offering insurance coverage, and by keying in some basic personal information along with your coverage requirements, you’ll be able to get quotes for comparison.

Price is not the only factor which should determine your choice of international travel insurance coverage.  You should study each policy carefully to find out exactly what is excluded in the fine print.  Some policies, for example, will not cover a trip cancellation due to a flight or cruise delay unless it occurs early enough so that at least 50% of the trip will be put on hold.  If you, for instance, want to cancel the remainder of a 21-day international cruise because your ship has pulled into port for two weeks worth of repairs on the 15th day of the trip, you could be out of luck as far as being reimbursed. 

It’s always better to be safe than sorry when you’re in a strange country, and as long as you understand the terms of your international travel insurance, having it will give you the peace of mind to concentrate on enjoying your surroundings!


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April 22, 2009

Capturing Your St. Thomas Vacation on Film

Filed under: St. Thomas — Tags: , , , , , , , , — myroadtotravel @ 10:00 am


Capturing the perfect scene in St. Thomas

Capturing the perfect scene in St. Thomas

There’s no better way to preserve happy vacation memories than with plenty of photographs and videos. As long as you take precautions to see that your camera or camcorder either isn’t stolen or damaged from exposure to sand and salt water, you’ll return home with your memories safely captured.  While you may have insurance to cover the theft or accidental damage to your photography equipment, receiving money to replace it means nothing if your photographs and videos have been lost!

Don’t think, however, that you have to rush out and buy photography equipment before heading to St. Thomas.  If you don’t already have it, you’d be very smart to wait until you arrive on the island, and purchase it there.  If you’re a United States resident, you can purchase up to $1600 worth of duty-free merchandise while in St. Thomas.  In the capital city of Charlotte Amalie, as well as at the Havensight Mall in Crown Bay, you can buy the finest digital cameras and camcorders at a fraction of what you’d pay if you bought one at home.

The largest camera seller on St. Thomas is Royal Caribbean(no connection to the cruise ships) with five shops on the island, including ones in Charlotte Amalie and the Havensight Mall.  They carry all the best brands of camera–Nikon, Canon, JVS, Sony and Leica among them–and have been in business for more than 30 years with a great record for customer service.  As long as you know what you would expect to pay for the same camera in the US, and are willing to do some negotiating, you can almost certainly get a better price on it in St. Thomas!

Even if you don’t have the budget to purchase a digital camera in St. Thomas, you can still capture your vacation memories with a disposable camera.  The quality of the pictures won’t be as good as those taken with a digital camera, but you can improve them if you have your disposable camera pictures placed on a CD when they’re developed.  You can then use your PC to enchance the photos.

There’s no other place on St. Thomas to get some marvelous vacation memories, than at the former United States communication station on the summit of Saint Peter Mountain.  From this location you can view  20 of the islands surrounding St. Thomas, and was named by National Geographic Magazine as one of the top 10 views on the entire planet!  It’s certainly a view you’ll want to preserve on film, and it might look even more stunning after you’ve had one of the famous Mountain Top banana daiquiris!

Perhaps your trip to St. Thomas will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Or it might be only one of many happy vacations you spend there.  Whether it’s the first-and-only, or the first-of-many, it deserves to be preserved in photographs, as do all the St. Thomas vacations which follow it!


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April 17, 2009

Caribbean Escapes: Romantic Vacations in Montego Bay, Jamaica

Filed under: Romantic Vacations — Tags: , , , , , , , — myroadtotravel @ 10:00 am


Visit Monetgo Bay for your next Romantic Vacation

Visit Monetgo Bay for your next Romantic Vacation

For many people, the island of Jamaica is synonymous with romance.  The mountain ranges cloaked with dence tropical forests; the luxurious resorts would welcome couples with their promises of pampering and seclusion; and the Jamaican people themselves, welcome visitors with open arms and an attitude which makes their arrival in Jamaica feel as if they are truly returning home — all of these elements add up to a perfect romantic getaway.  Even Montego Bay, with all its tourist attractions, has plenty of romantic potential, if you know where to look!  Here are just a few places that will spark romance for you and your partner.

Rose Hall Beach Club

In spite of the sinister history of the Rose Hall Great House for which it was named, the Rose Hall Beach Clubis one of Montego Bay’s true gems.  Gone are the days when Jamaica’s White Witch Annie Palmer cast her voodoo spells in the dungeon of her mansion.  A visit to the Rose Hall Beach Club will fill your days with kayaking, snorkeling, para-sailing, waterskiing, or any other conceivable water sport! Click here for more information.

Chukka Blue Adventure Tours

If your romantic vacation in Montego Bay includes an adventure on dry land, Chukka will accommodate you with its 2 1/2 hour horseback trip to one of Jamaica’s ancient sugar plantations.  Chukka Blue Adventure Tours is located at Blue Hole in Sandy Bay. Their guides will lead you through some of Jamaica’s spectacular landscapes to the sugar plantation. Before ending your ride, you and your horse enjoying a refreshing dip in the ocean.

A Day Trip to Cuba

Perhaps you didn’t realize that the island of Cuba lies only 90 miles off the north coast of Jamaica.  This makes it well within range for a day trip. Jamaica’s Vacation Outlet and Tropical Tours will get you there in time to explore all of Havana’s historical haunts and still be back in Montego Bay to enjoy the nightlife! 

While you’ll never run out of new things to do along the coastline of Montego Bay, should you get tired of the activities on the water, you can take the time for a leisurely couples stroll through the bright stalls of the Crafts Market and the bustling City Center Plaza.  Experiencing a romantic Montego Bay vacation will let the two of you  either relax on the beach and dream of tomorrow, or share the adventures which will create tomorrow’s memories!

For more adventures and things to do in Montego Bay, visit jamaicanexplorer.com.

 




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April 16, 2009

Las Vegas: When You Need Quiet Time

Filed under: Las Vegas — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — myroadtotravel @ 9:15 am

You may not realize it, but Las Vegasdoes have its quieter side.  While most visitors to Las Vegas head there to escape from their otherwise too humdrum existences, you may find that your stay will be enhanced if you take a short break from the neon and noise.  So here are our suggestions for some quiet things to do in Las Vegas:

Visit Las Vegas

Visit Las Vegas

There is far more to the Bellagiothan its Dancing Waters and casino.  The Bellagio, with a lobby ceiling adorned by a Dale Chihuly sculpture containing two thousand brilliantly colored hand-blown glass flowers, is a magnet for art lovers.  Eating in the Bellagio’s Picasso restaurantis more than a gourmet dining experience; it will immerse you in the hotel’s collection of original Picassos! But the Bellagio’s most spectacular artistic displays are in the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, where past exhibitions have treated visitors to the works of Andy Warhol and Monet, as well as delicate Faberge cigarette cases and jeweled eggs.

There are few Vegas attractions as haunting as the Tropicana’s “Titanic:  The Artifact Exhibition,” a 25,000 square foot display of hundreds of items salvaged from the legendary ocean liner which sank almost a century ago.  The exhibit actually includes an enormous section of the ship itself, and a full-sized replica of its Grand Staircase.  You’ll be even more impressed with how cold the night of April 15, 1912 actually was for the passengers of the Titanic when you stand on the recreated Promenade Deck and experience the same freezing temperatures as they did!

If you brought the kids along on your Las Vegas vacation, they’ll love a few hours at the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum.  At 22,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest children’s museums in the US, with exhibits planned to appeal to “kids” from pre-school to high-school! Little ones can try on future careers by working as grocery store clerks or bank employees, or sample the life of a desert miner.  The more active ones will love the Toddler Tower with its enormous Jungle Gym.  Older kids can try acting in their own short stories, or get a taste of rough weather in a hurricane chamber with wind speeds of up to 70 MPH.

Finally, for a look at the place where Las Vegas began, you can visit the 180-acre Springs Preserve.  While the springs for which it is named dried up in 1962, the Preserve has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and provides gardens, hiking trails, and exhibits designed for both education and recreation. Las Vegas is where it is because water once flowed in this place!

Now matter what you are looking for, Las Vegasis definitely the one place where you can find it all.


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