NEW CRUISE LINE

The ships, the 68-passenger Wilderness Discoverer and 60-passenger Wilderness Adventurer, will be deployed in Alaska for InnerSea's first season there, sailing one- and two-week Inside Passage cruises. The vessels formerly sailed for the now-defunct Glacier Bay Cruiseline. 

Dan Blanchard and Tim Jacox who own American Safari Cruises are launching a new line, InnerSea Discoveries, with two refurbished expedition ships formerly part of the Glacier Bay Cruiseline, which is no longer in business. The Wilderness Discoverer carries 68 passengers and the Wilderness Adventurer holds 60. They will sail the Alaska Inside Passage. 


The new line strives to be 'eco-friendly.' All cabins are above deck and have large windows, memory foam mattresses, flat-screen TVs with DVD players and iPod docking stations. The main lounge was designed to feel like a mix between a mountain lodge and a neighborhood pub. Both ships have a sauna, exercise equipment, a resource library, a DVD library, board games and a hot tub with a view. The ships offer complimentary yoga classes on deck. 


Apparently the first season is nearly sold out, so if you're looking for a more intimate cruise experience and less of a big party with hundreds of others you better go on line and check it out.


Meanwhile, I'm packing for my own amazing Alaska Cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl and while I wouldn't mind checking out InnerSeas I love being able to share this with 50 of my fellow travel lovers and have the opportunity to meet many new people. Hey, I'm single and the more guests on ship the more likely I am to meet my match.

SHREK MEETS GAYLORD

Gaylord Entertainment has made a deal with DreamWorks Animation to bring the studio's characters to Gaylord hotels across the country. The Gaylord Palms Hotel in Kissimmee may hold the greatest interest for our family travelers. All the DreamWorks' cartoon characters, such as "Shrek," "Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar," will be part of the new program to compete with theme-park hotels by offering amenities such as character breakfasts, parades, meet-and-greet sessions, poolside activities and more. So far the plan extends only to entertainment and Gaylord is not planning on redecorating their rooms to fit with the child-oriented themes such as princess-rooms. More details and pricing to be announced this summer. The debut of the characters will be Christmas-time events, which begin in November.

Since last year you could experience these characters when sailing on one of the four  Royal Caribbean ships featuring DreamWorks characters. So, if you're looking for a new family experience and your kids (or you) are a fan of Shrek here are some new options for immersing yourselves in GREEN!

LET"S TALK MEXICO TRAVEL WARNINGS

I just returned from a lovely trip to Maya Riviera. Our travel club does numerous trips to the Cancun area as well as Cabo San Lucas and to date we've had no incidents or seen any alarming signs. I'm not saying the U.S. State Departments warning update of April 22  advising against travel to these Mexican states: Jalisco, Nayarit, San Luis Potosi, Sonora and Zacatecas along with the states of Tamaulipas and Michoacán and to parts of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Durango, Northern Baja California and Nuevo Leon should not be observed, I'm saying don't live in fear and be smart about how you travel. Mexico is filled with beautiful, all-inclusive beach-front resorts most of  which have guards at their gates and security patrols on the grounds. You never have to leave them and can have a vacation of a life time. They also work with tour companies for excursions and they have every intention and motivation to keep you safe.




What gets you into trouble is taking off on your own and while this can often lead to amazing experiences and friendships it's not the thing to do when in or around an area on a warning list. We have drug gangs and wars going on right here in America and shootings on our city streets too. Be aware of what's around you and keep your head, don't get drunk in a little bar on a side street, don't engage in any possibly illegal activities, don't allow arguments with locals to start let alone escalate.... Stick to the resorts & sanctioned tour companies and have a great vacation.

Naked Women & Crazy Behavior in the Air!

I just read two insane stories about a twenty-something Playboy centerfold trying to open an exit door to jump out of the plane in flight. She apparently forgot her medication. Then Delta had a twenty-something strip naked while in flight and caused a huge disruption. Both women were taken into custody and may or may not have charges filed against them. What is going on? Is our society that out of control that sitting on a flight for a few hours is beyond being able to maintain personal control and respect for those around us? There is a documentary out called "I AM" and these two stories tell me that we all need to see it and take the message to heart. Re-examine our priorities... reduce the stress inducing people, things and aspirations, and get back to healthy living that revolves not around celebrity and money, but around loving, supportive relationships and our service to others. I don't know, is it just me or is it out-of-control-crazy?

Certainly, if you're on medication don't forget them and make sure they are in your carry-on. Dress in layers and perhaps others will stop you before your get down to your birthday suit!

GREAT DISCOVERY

What's one of the best things about travel? The memories, right? I used to remember everything down to the smallest detail, but in that past few years life is so fast & I get back from a trip & look at various pictures & can't recall which city I was in. This was really tough when I did the Ring Of Kerry because you pass thru so many villages. I try to keep a small note pad with me but it usually ends up with a grocery or "To Do" list of some sort & my travel notes forgotten or tossed without knowing. I've also gone the traditional travel journal but they are just too big & often heavy to cart with you all day on a trip. I just ran across the most amazing travel journal site with compact, waterproof journals specializing in specific types of travel and data entry. A wine journal, a hiking, fishing, music festival... you name it & they have one! I'm not making a penny by shouting out about this, I just want to share a good thing. Here is the URL:http://www.nomadjournals.com/index.cfm and these make nice gifts for your friends who love to travel.... hint, hint, hint... :-)

CHERRY BLOSSOM SEASON

My favorite time of year in Japan is now when the Sakura (cherry blossoms) bloom. I remember walking to the train station, to school or the park after school and being enveloped in a sift pink cloud of delicate silk. The smell is heaven and it's hard to imagine anything but good. You must visit Japan during this season because if you don't believe in heaven you will after walking in a park of cherry trees in bloom.

American Airlines Warning to Fliers

Had a truly horrible American Airline experience and want to give you all a heads-up when flying AA out of Cancun, Mexico. American Airlines had a crazy moment when they decide to have several flights departing out of Cancun all within an hour of each other so the check in line was excessive. You can't check in online, you have to go to the counter. My hotel and shuttle service had no clue AA had lost their senses and said being their 2 hours in advance was enough. Fortunately, they were early and I was actually at the airport 2.5 hours in advance and it took 2 hours to get to the check in counter! Another 20 minutes to go through security and on the plane. As a result I had no time to stop and purchase food. I wasn't worried because I figured I'd buy their food... it was an International flight of 4-plus hours. They had no food! I could buy Pringles for almost $5 or crackers/cheese also expensive for what they are and I am allergic to cow products! The final "food" item was a chocolate chip cookie... pure poison to a diabetic or person with a sugar like myself. The flight attendant was very nice and offered me her own chicken salad or tuna snack that she brought from home for herself. I'm just not the sort of person who can accept such generosity. I hadn't eaten since breakfast at 7AM because I was working in Mexico and had things to do up until the shuttle arrived at 12:45PM and figured I'd eat at the airport or at least buy food to take on the plane. I asked about food from first class but was told they had none. I wasn't asking for the sake of eating to just eat; I felt my blood sugar crashing & still had limited time to go thru customs & change planes in DFW and by the time we landed I'd been without food for 12 hours. I felt faint, but AA doesn't care. Not even a bag of peanuts! It was so bad that they only had a few cans of tomato juice. It was horrible. I kept thinking how many diabetics and hypoglycemic there are in todays world and how foolish AA was not to have some decent protein to keep people functioning. So, be warned; pack plenty of food in advance and don't count on buying it at the airport and certainly not on the plane when you fly American Airlines.