Write a blog, go to Antarctica!

by Kraig Becker on

Ever had the urge to visit the Antarctic? Do you have a knack for writing interesting, inspiring, blog posts? Then check out the latest contest from Quark Expeditions, an adventure travel company that specializes in journeys to both polar icecaps.

Quark has launched the aptly named BlogYourWayToAntarctica.com and has invited adventurous travelers to register to the site and write a 300 word blog post on why they should be the Official Quark Blogger. Writers are encouraged to be creative and use their imaginations, as others will be reading, and voting, on the best entry. The blog post with the most votes at the end of September will win an all expense paid trip for two to Antarctica.

The Antarctic cruise is scheduled for Feb. 20 to March 3 of 2010 and includes airfare from the U.S. to Ushuaia, Argentina, as well as one nights stay in that city. The next 11 days are spent aboard the cruise ship Lyubov Orlova exploring the Southern Sea and making day trips to the Antarctic Penninsula.

The contest just got underway a few days ago, and it runs until September 30th, but the sooner you get your entry in, the more time you’ll have to lobby your friends, family, and complete strangers, to vote for you. Head over to the website now and get blogging!

You Deserve a Cruise: A place for finding cruise deals

by Jamie Rhein on

Back in January when I was writing about cruise line deals, I thought that if they are such a deal, I should go on one. That’s what I’m doing in August. My mom, son and I are heading to Venice in August to hop on MSC’s Musica Greek Island cruise. My mom and I were half price and had a free upgrade to a superior ocean view balcony room and my son is free. That’s right FREE. All children ages 17 and under are free with an accompanying adult on all MSC cruises, all the time.

Cruise lines are continuing to be a travel bargain thanks to a campaign held by Cruise Lines International. According to this article in Mercury News the campaign, “You Deserve a Cruise” is highlighting travel deals for later this year and on into next year. There are 23 participating cruise lines which means you can probably find a cruise that matches your tastes and your budget. Here’s a link to the Web site, plus you can check out the deals on the Web sites on the participating cruise lines. MSC is listed as one of them.

The article gives a rundown of some of the deals and perks and tells how to get them. Booking in advance is one way. That’s what we did to get our deal, plus the agent we worked with was able to snag us the better rate for an upgraded room.

The message is cruise lines want passengers and are willing to toss you incentives to tip you over to pulling out that credit card. I’m glad took the bait. I certainly deserve a cruise. And so does my mother. My son gets to go because the way I see it, his presence makes my share of the trip cost a real bargain. With kids’ activities on board, I’m assured some me time. With the money I’ve saved, maybe I will treat myself to a spa treatment. I deserve that too.

Gadlinks for Monday 5.8.09

by Brenda Yun on


This Monday brings some wacky travel posts around the web, as well as some practical tips for summer trips.

  • My True Slant friend, Jeff Koyen, offers up a hilarious list of the world’s worst cruises. Believe it or not, a Twilight cruise is set to sail from Seattle to Alaska in August 2010.
  • What is a sexy beach? Thomas Kohnstamm for Forbes Traveler tells us it’s a combination of sea, sand, and skin and offers up his list of the world’s sexiest beaches.
  • Just a few of Hawaii’s beaches made it onto that list of sexy beaches, but one thing on World Hum’s Pam Mendel’s mind is what value a “Made in Hawaii” label really has and what it really means.
  • Summer means seafood, and what better crustacean is there than the Maine lobster? I became a vegetarian one summer when I boiled a live lobster and heard it screaming at me, but if you don’t have a conscience and are driving up the New England coast, try one of Travel + Leisure’s best lobster shacks in Maine.
  • If you are a vegetarian, though, then you’re already a far “greener” traveler. If you want to be even more environmentally conscious as a traveler, read up on BootsNAll’s beginner’s guide to green travel for tips on the growing eco-friendly travel rage.

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening.

For past Gadlinks, click HERE.

Ecoventura vows to eliminate fossil fuels

by Sean McLachlan on

Environmental tour company Ecoventura has promised to stop using fossil fuels on its vessels by 2015. Ecoventura runs environmentally conscious boat tours to the Galapagos Islands, a unique ecosystem that is under threat by climate change and tourism.

“The Galapagos Islands rank right up there with the Amazon and the Serengeti as one of the richest and best known, yet fragile and threatened, ecosystems in the world. Now, the Ecuadoran government is looking to a range of alternative energy resources to make sure it stays that way,” reports Triple Pundit, a leading website on responsible business practices.

“The Ecuadoran government has turned to wind and solar power as a means of realizing its goals. Along with a range of international aid organizations and private sector businesses, it’s working to eliminate the use of fossil fuels on the Galapagos Islands by 2015.”

One of Ecoventura’s four yachts, the M/Y ERIC, is equipped with solar panels and wind turbines to replace some of its diesel consumption. The company hopes to have these on all its yachts by 2011.

In addition to reducing fossil fuels, Ecoventura donates to carbon-offsetting programs, prompting NativeEnergy to award it with a “Cool Business Certificate” last month. NativeEnergy hosts numerous projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions; the one Ecoventura supports is the Cascade Sierra Solutions Trucking Project, which works to make trucks more fuel-efficient and therefore reduce their carbon emissions.

Ecoventura estimates they have offset slightly more than 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions this year, and hopes to offset more with its renewable energy plan for its boats.

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Epic round-the-world cruise follows in the wake of famous explorers

by Kraig Becker on

In March of 2010, an adventure cruise of epic proportions will get underway from Singapore that will send travelers on a round the world expedition, following in the footsteps of some of history’s most revered explorers.

Cruise West’s Voyages of the Great Explorers will send 120 luck passengers on a 335 day cruise aboard the Spirit of Oceanus, the flagship of the Cruise West fleet. Departing from Singapore on March 6, 2010, the ship will sail west, and eventually return to its starting destination on February 3, 2011. In between, passengers will be treated to 24 individual voyages, encompassed by six defined “chapters”.

Each of these six chapters correspond to a historical figure who explored the world by sea. The first chapter follows the path of Marco Polo, while the second takes the route of Odysseus and the Phoenicians merchants. Subsequent chapters follow the adventures of Lief Eriksson, Christopher Columbus, James Cook, and Ferdinand Magellan. Each cruise within each chapter will follow historical routes and offer insights into what the explorers experienced as they went about their own voyages.

Through the course of the cruise, travelers will experience 242 ports of call spread across 59 countries. They’ll aslo visit 85 UNESCO World Heritage sites, cross 14 seas and oceans, and traverse the Suez, Corinth, and Panama Canals.

So how much will this epic cruise set you back? Good question! You can book any single cruise or combination of cruises starting at $4995. But if you want to do the whole thing, spending all 335 days circumnavigating the globe, it’ll set you back a cool $233,995. I wonder what Marco Polo would think of that.

For more information on the cruise read the press release here.