Blog Your Way To The North Pole

by Kraig Becker on

Travelers with an adventurous side have a great opportunity to score the trip of a lifetime thanks to a new contest from Quark Expeditions, who invite you to Blog Your Way To The North Pole. The contest, which runs until February 15th, 2011, will award one lucky winner a trip for two to the top of the world that is valued at more than $54,000.

Much like Quark’s Blog Your Way To Antarctica contest, which ran last year, contestants are asked to write a short (200-400 word) blog entry explaining why they are the perfect person to be named Quark’s Official Blogger to the North Pole. Entrants are also asked to include interesting travel experiences or places that they’ve been to in the past, as well as a recent photo. Once your blog post has been put on the contest website it will be available for others to read, comment and vote on. Those votes will be a crucial element to winning the contest, as they will help narrow the entries down to five finalists in February. After the deadline for the contest has passed, a panel of judges consisting of a professional travel blogger, Quark’s President, a member of Quark’s Expedition team and a member of the Marketing team, will select the winner from those five finalists to go on the trip.

And what a trip it will be. In June of 2011, the winning blogger, along with their guest, will be flown to Europe for an evening in Helsinki, Finland. From there, it’s on to Murmansk, Russia, where they’ll board the Russian ice-breaker 50 Years of Victory to begin their voyage to the North Pole. That journey can take anywhere from 4 to 8 days depending on the condition of the pack ice, and upon reaching the North Pole itself, they’ll disembark from the ship for a champagne toast and lunch on the ice cap. On the return voyage to port, the ship will swing by Franz Josef Land, a very remote and uninhabited island that is home to polar bears and walruses.

So, if this sounds like your kind of adventure, head on over to the contest website and fill out your entry. Then fire up your Twitter and Facebook accounts, call your friends and family, and start rallying the troops to get the vote out. Who knows, perhaps next summer you’ll be taking an adventurous cruise to the top of the world.

Should Splendor passengers sue Carnival after their ship broke down?

by Scott Carmichael on

After the Carnival Splendor incident last week, the logical follow-up is of course whether passengers will sue the cruiseline. Despite being reimbursed for their inconvenience and receiving a free credit towards a future cruise, chances are some of the passengers will only settle for more.

So, online prediction site Predicto Mobile asked the question – will Carnival be sued by angry passengers before December?

Of the 824 votes, 69% suspect they will. Sadly for those passengers expecting a big payout, Maritime cruise lawyer Jim Walker tells passengers that they’d be wasting their time.

In his article, Jim Walker makes some excellent points about why suing Carnival won’t get them anywhere, and how it could end up costing them more and making them lose out on the current offer of a refund and a free future trip.

So, what do you think? Should the passengers from the Carnival Splendor consider suing the cruise line, or just be happy nobody was hurt and accept the current offer?

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New Disney Dream cruise ship sails out to sea

by Leigh Caldwell on

The Disney Dream, the third ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, is now under its own power, conducting tests out on the North Sea.

The Dream left the Meyer Werft shipyard and was towed by tugboats 26 miles down the River Ems to Eemshaven, The Netherlands. This conveyance is unique to ships built at Meyer Werft, because it is so far inland. Some railroad bridges across the river had to be dismantled to allow the ship to pass.

Of course, the whole thing was done Disney-style, with fireworks and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck waving from the decks to residents gathered to watch the spectacle.

After the North Sea tests, known as the “test-and-adjust period,” the Disney Dream cruise ship will be dry-docked for a short time in Germany before being officially delivered to the Disney Cruise Line.

The Disney Dream will sail 3-, 4- and 5-night cruises to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Florida. The inaugural cruise is set for Jan. 26, 2011.

A fourth Disney Cruise Line ship – the Disney Fantasy – is also under construction at the Meyer Werft shipyard. The Fantasy will be completed in spring 2012.

Daily Pampering: Year-round yachting at Radisson Royal Moscow

by Melanie Nayer on

Feel like taking the yacht for a ride through the ice? Not a problem, if you’re in Moscow.

The Radisson Royal Moscow just introduced a fleet of specially commissioned river yachts now equipped with ice breakers — just so that winter travelers can still see the [snow-capped] sights while in Russia.

The yachts provide year-round, private cruises along the Moskva River, where guests can take in the likes of the Kremlin, Christ the Savior Cathedral, etc. River yachts can also be reserved for private parties and events, vodka likely on board.

To celebrate the arrival of the new yacht, the Radisson Royal Moscow is offering a new holiday package that includes a spin around the waters:

  • Two nights in a Superior Room, with upgrade to Deluxe pending availability
  • Daily Super Breakfast Buffet for two in Veranda Restaurant
  • Two-hour private sightseeing cruise on the Moskva River in the hotel’s custom river yachts
  • Access to the Royal Wellness Club and its Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool
  • Festive Sunday Brunch in Veranda Restaurant
  • Early check-in and late check-out, pending availability
  • In-room holiday welcome gift

Rates start at RUB 10,400 per night (approximately $350), based on double occupancy and the package is good through Jan. 16, 2011.

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.

New Antarctic base opens for adventure travelers

by Kraig Becker on

Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) has opened a new base of operations in Antarctica that will serve as a launching point for mountaineers looking to climb nearby peaks, explorers skiing to the South Pole, and other adventurous travelers looking to experience the frozen continent. The outpost is located at Union Glacier and replaces a similar base, known as Patriot Hills, that had been in use for more than twenty years.

The new base has been in development for more than four years and includes a runway built out of blue ice. That runway allows ALE to fly Russian built Ilyushin jets from Punta Arenas, Chile to Antarctica, delivering explorers and adventure travelers to the ice. The Union Glacier base has a heated passenger terminal for visitors to stay in while they wait for the two specially designed 4×4 vans to shuttle them to the actual camp, which sits at the foot of Mt. Rossman, roughly five miles away from the airstrip.

The camp itself offers accommodations for 80 guests and includes a complimentary meal service. The base has been built from the ground up to be environmentally friendly and more efficient than the old camp at Patriot Hills, while delivering a more comfortable space for Antarctic travelers. Nearby, there are a series of groomed trails that have been clearly marked to indicate safe and dangerous areas along the glacier, allowing visitors to hike and ski through the remote and scenic area.

If all goes as planned, and weather permitting, ALE will fly its first guests to Union Glacier today. Amongst those first visitors will be adventurers skiing to the South Pole and climbers headed to Mt. Vinson, the tallest mountain on the continent. But clearly the base opens new opportunities for adventure travelers to visit Antarctica as well, offering them a host of new experiences, albeit at a price.

[Photo credit: Laurens via WikiMedia]