The SXSW Of Cruise Travel Starts Monday

by Chris Owen on

Considered by many as the SXSW of cruise travel, Cruise Shipping Miami is an annual mega-convention that starts Monday in Miami, Florida. On hand will be cruise line executives and travel experts participating in panel discussions, workshops and more during the four-day event, on track to draw record attendance this year.

The four-day trade show highlights all the latest and greatest would-be cruise ship features that we might see in the future. Press conferences, including a “State of the Industry” panel, will surely address the ongoing issue of safety at sea as well as new, upcoming trends.

As cruise lines focus on differentiating themselves from one another, seminars on everything from expedition cruising to social media, environmental issues and refurbishing older ships. Gadling will be on hand, looking for answers to questions readers have raised since last year’s show.At the 2011 Cruise Shipping Miami conference, we investigated new things you might see on a cruise ship in the future, some of which made it – others not so much. Last year we saw a focus on new ports, top-deck features and safety issues in the wake of the Costa Concordia grounding. Gadling will be on hand this year as well, reporting back with a roundup of the conference and answers to your questions.

Have something you’re dying to know about cruise travel? Now is the time to ask with a comment below. Follow @CruiseShipping and the hashtag #CSM2013 on Twitter for live updates throughout the event.

Cruise Shipping Miami also features exhibits and demonstrations from destinations around the world. At last year’s show, Japanese Taiko Drumming was one such event as we see in this video.




[Photo credit – Flickr user Trondheim Havn]

Aspen/Snowmass Hosts Inaugural ‘Après Ski Cocktail Classic,’ March 14-17

by Laurel Miller on

What’s more fun than drinking an après ski beer at altitude? Attending a post-slopes cocktail festival at altitude. The first-annual Après Ski Cocktail Classic debuts in Aspen/Snowmass March 14-17, and will feature superstar mixologists and boozy experts such as Tony Abou-Ganim and Steve “Wine Geek” Olson, as well as chefs, sommeliers, spirit aficionados and “professional tipplers.”

Events at the Westin and Wildwood Resorts include a Grand Tasting “Village”; a private reserve room of top-shelf spirits; craft cocktails; seminars; snow parties; pop-up bars; demos; “fireside chats”; special on-mountain events; and “The Great Irish Whisky Pub Crawl.”

Pace yourselves. And get your tickets here.

[Photo credit: Flickr user RLHyde]

Flight To Comet Sold Out But There Are Other Options

by Chris Owen on

Astronomers are calling 2013 “the year of the comet” as the first of two comets set to swing by Earth comes within view of the naked eye. Some avid sky watchers may be viewing with binoculars. Others may get an even closer view, thanks to a German travel agency.

On March 16, Eclipse Travel of Bonn, Germany, will have Air Berlin’s flight 1000 full of stargazers, giving them two hours closer to the comet than anyone else on the planet.

The company will fill just 88 of the 144 seats on board the Boeing 737-700, allowing everyone to have a window view at an average ticket price of $500 per person, reports TravelMole.

Wish you had booked a seat? Is astronomy your passion? You have options.

Closer to home, Spears Travel of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has a Sky & Telescope’s Iceland Aurora Adventure set for April 7. Currently, the event is also sold out, but they are accepting names for a waiting list. The seven-night astronomy adventure to view the northern lights in Iceland sold for $2995 per person.Eclipse Tours of Houston, Texas, has more options, planning trips through 2015. Providing guided expeditions of astronomical events throughout the world, Eclipse Tours is the home of Ring of Fire Expeditions (ROFE), the longest consecutive astronomical tour organization in the United States.

This year, Eclipse will visit the island of Tarawa, Kiribati, for its 41st Annular Solar Eclipse Tour in May and space is still available. Another tour heads to Guadalcanal in the South Pacific’s Solomon Islands for a post-eclipse tour.

Even more exotic, Melitatrips, a Travel + Leisure world’s best-award winner, takes the road less traveled for stargazing excursions from Argentina to Zimbabwe. This year, Melitatrips has a Kenya Total Solar Eclipse Safari promising unrivaled views “from the place where man was born,” according to its website. An English Astronomers Tour returns to where the greatest scientific researchers once lived and worked, with stops in London and surrounding towns of Bath, Cambridge and Oxford, with a special visit to Greenwich Observatory and the Maritime Museum.

Sound interesting but not in the budget?

Northern hemisphere stargazers who look to the west as the sun sets should note that just to the left of the horizon they should be able to see the comet Pan-STARRS over the next few days.

“Comets visible to the naked eye are a rare delicacy in the celestial smorgasbord of objects in the nighttime sky,” says NASA on its Asteroid and Comet watch page that offers viewing tips and more information about asteroids and other near-Earth objects.

Another option? Google Sky.



[Photo credit – Flickr user ϟStormLoverSwin93ϟ]

New York Travel Festival Promises An Interactive Experience

by Reena Ganga on

Travel is an industry that’s evolving rapidly and if you like to have your finger on the pulse, attending a travel show is a great way to get up to speed on the latest developments. The first ever New York Travel Festival is coming up next month, and it promises to shake up the traditional concept of a consumer travel show – here visitors are expected to really take part and interact with the exhibitors.

The event kicks off on Saturday, April 20, at NYC’s Bohemian National Hall, where visitors will take part in food and drink tastings, attend travel workshops and learn about the latest trends.

A number of the travel industry’s top influencers will deliver a series of talks on everything from responsible travel to the latest in gay and lesbian travel.

Road warriors with more passport stamps than you can shake a stick at will share their tips on how you can avoid being scammed across the globe, ways to plan your trip like an expert and how you can refine your travel bucket list. Gadling’s own editor, Grant Martin, will share his thoughts during a panel about what we can expect from the ever-changing world of travel media.

Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a “travel” festival if it didn’t include some travel, so on Sunday, attendees will hit the streets of NYC. Some of the guided activities on offer include a tour if the city’s best pizza places, brewery and winery tours, an underground tour of the most interesting subway buskers, immigrant food tours and more.

Click here to buy tickets to the event and register for activities.

Hotels Celebrate International Women’s Day

by McLean Robbins on

Many travelers might not know that today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. The holiday honors female achievement around the world and is celebrated in countries from Afghanistan to Australia.

But it’s not too late to celebrate. These worldwide hotels will honor great women with a series of special promotions and perks.

Dorchester Collection Principie di Savoia
This luxury hotel will celebrate International Women’s Day with a “Women in Wine Road Trip” event at the hotel. Here, the sommelier will compare vintage and recent wines with two wine selections from American, French and Italian wines while inspiring lively discussions on hot topics, trends and being a woman in an industry dominated by men. Female guests staying at the sommeliers’ hotels during this time will also receive a 10 percent discount on select spa treatments and a complimentary glass of champagne during lunch.

Sorrel River Ranch Resort & Spa
This Utah ranch will host a reception today inviting in-house female guests along with women leaders from the local community to celebrate International Women’s Day. Selections of regional wines and local beers will be served, including Sorrel River Ranch’s own Nano Brewery Beers. Signature garden-inspired tapas from Chef Richard Potts will also be served at the event, along with a selection of local Utah Cheeses and Honey. The hotel is also offering a 25 percent discount to anyone who books spa treatments for women on March 8.Dukes St. James
This posh London hotel is celebrating their female guests staying in their Duchess Rooms with special amenities, including complimentary fruit and chocolates, fresh flowers and a personal welcome card from Debrah Dhugga, General Manager. The hotel’s Duchess Rooms are specifically designed to pamper solo female travelers with amenities that include a female staff member to escort guests to their rooms and handle all room service requests, a makeup mirror and hair accessories, a pair of cozy slippers, a choice of glossy lifestyle magazines and a quiet corner table in Thirty-Six by Nigel Mendham, should the guest wish to dine alone.

Hyatt Regency Atlanta
This Hyatt is celebrating International Women’s Day by celebrating female guests and employees. Female guests checking in on March 8 will receive a special gift upon arrival along with information on fighting domestic violence and supporting youth education in women and girls. At the same time, Hyatt Regency Atlanta will honor the hard work and contributions of their 300 female employees with corsages and a special “thank you” reception and information session highlighting Atlanta-area charities that support women and families.

Hyatt is also known for recently conducting special research on the needs and preferences of the woman traveler.

What do you think, readers? Will you be making a special trip out for any of these events?

[Image Credit: Dukes St. James]