Travel gifts that capture a moment when we were with someone at some special place can be as simple as a smartphone photo taken at just the right time. A bar napkin from a time and distant place shared, snuck into a Christmas card, brings us right back to that place. Just one pebble taken from a beach during an enchanting vacation, on our desk back in the real world, can bring a flood of great memories when needed. As holiday shopping season approaches, taking some time now to consider thoughtful travel gifts can make for some of the best gift giving possible.
How about cufflinks that have the exact spot on the planet where we met our special someone engraved on them?
That’s exactly what American Samantha Jenkins gave to Bengali Rham Khandoker to remember when they met and instantly fell in love several years ago. Forbidden by his Islamic religion from being with Rham, Samantha had these cufflinks made as a symbol of their love that can exist only via Skype, email and text, but never in public. It’s about as close of a real world, physical symbol that they may find.Surely that’s an extreme story but not a bad idea for a travel gift with meaning. Skip the tourist attraction bobble-heads, T-shirts, snow globes and other trinkets. With holiday shopping coming up, think about something someone could not buy for themselves. Something unique that will be around for years to come, long after the clothing, gift card or wish list item someone else gave is gone.
Cruise lines like to dazzle passengers on their ships with some of the best cuisine available, sourced from around the world. Cruise travelers often have so many choices that deciding what to have for dinner is a difficult decision. Those who have never been on a cruise anticipate culinary offerings but don’t know exactly what to expect … until now.
Celebrity Cruises, with a reputation for extraordinary cuisine, is bringing its onboard fare to Stable Café in San Francisco’s Mission District via a popup restaurant. Its just for two days, November 14 and 15, 2012, but Celebrity’s John Suley, Director of Culinary Operations, and his team of chefs will be presenting menu items inspired by seasonal, local ingredients and flavors in and around the San Francisco area.
Those wishing to attend the nearly sold out event sign up in advance for a lunch or dinner reservation. When they do, they are also entered into a giveaway to win a seven-night Alaska cruise for two on the stunning, luxurious Celebrity Solstice in 2013. No purchase necessary.Proceeds from your ticket go to support the Celebrity Cruises Scholarship at the Culinary Institute of America.
This is not the first land-based public event Celebrity has sponsored. Not long ago, Gadling reported that Celebrity Cruises had commissioned Kurt Werner, the inventor of 3-D street art, to create an art installation at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the arrival of the cruise line’s newest Solstice-class ship Celebrity Silhouette.
Universal StudiosOrlando announced Thursday a new ride based on the Transformers movies to open next summer. That’s big news for theme park fans around the world.
The new four-minute Transformers ride in Orlando will be entirely in the dark and use 3-D flight simulator technology, said to be the next generation of Spider man, much like Transformer rides already in motion at Universal Studios Hollywood and Singapore.
Continuing a move by theme parks to make rides more experiential, riders are recruited in waiting queue by the Transformers. Their job is to help keep the AllSpark energy source away from the Decepticons who will surely use it to take over Earth. Not everything goes well there though and a high-speed chase/battle to the death (of the Decepticons, not those on the ride) follow.
Perhaps bigger news comes from the magical world of Disney who agreed to buy Lucasfilm, heralding in a new era of Star Wars.
Three more Star Wars movies, the first to open in 2015, are in the works on top of the original films, which have earned $4.4 billion so far.
“I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime,” Lucasfilm founder George Lucas said in a statement reported by Travel Weekly.
It looks as if Star Wars will live on the silver screen and in theme parks too. Already a hit during Star Wars Weekends, Disney looks for more from the Star Wars franchise rolled into Disney products, including theme parks.
It seems the Universal Studios is making a second trilogy out of the popular “Transformers” movie series.
Florida’s Universal Orlando Resort has just announced the amusement park will unveil the third Transformers-themed ride in summer 2013. The ride, which is already attracting fans at Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Hollywood, takes the hugely successful toy line and movie and makes it into a simulator ride that pits the Autobots and the Decepticons against one another, with riders as an audience.
Universal said constructing the ride in Florida is one of the company’s “most ambitious projects ever,” pointing out that the attraction will have one of the shortest build times in Universal history.
“The attraction combines the larger-than-life Transformers characters and an exciting storyline with life-like HD CGI media, state-of-the-art 3D technology and amazing special effects to place riders right in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil,” Universal said in a press release.
Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported the ride – which is simply called “Transformers: The Ride” – cost $100 million to create. It opened in Singapore in 2011 and earlier this year in Hollywood, and was done so under license from Hasbro, Inc., with close supervision of Michael Bay, the award-winning director of the “Transformers” film series.
Three blockbuster films released by Paramount Pictures have so far grossed more than $2 billion under the Transformers name: “Transformers” (2007), “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009) and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (2011). The films were all directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
Guests who haven’t experienced the Transformers ride in Singapore or Hollywood but have ridden the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man attraction located in Islands of Adventure in Orlando have an idea of what to expect from the new ride, in which thrill seekers watch a film while moving through the attraction.
Other films and film franchises made into amusement park rides include “Dumbo,” “Wayne’s World,” “Terminator,” “Indiana Jones,” “Shrek,” “Twister,” “Police Academy,” “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter.” What’s your favorite movie-turned-attraction?
“Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2″ opens worldwide on November 16 and fans of the series have some unique options for getting excited about the final installment. Fan clubs, cinemas and tour operators from around the world are offering special events, viewings and even a chance to be on the red carpet with the stars of the film.
In theaters-
Across the country and around the world, theaters have different versions of a Twilight Saga Marathon, showing all five films. In Seattle, not far from Forks, Washington, where the story originates, Regal Cinemas has a special deal: a $15 marathon package that gets loyalty club members the entire saga from the first episode, ending with the 10 p.m. showing of “Breaking Dawn Part 2.”
Starting with a pre-reception with the film’s director Bill Condon along with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and other actors from the film, the winner and three guests then go to the Nokia Theatre where VIP seats await for the world premiere, followed by an after party with the cast.
Fans can bid on the package between now and November 7, 2012. At last look, the bid stood at $6000.
Remote but personal-
Can’t make it to the premiere anyway? Yahoo! will exclusively Livestream the world premiere on Monday, November 12, starting at 8:30 Eastern time. That streaming video will no doubt be the backdrop for “Breaking Dawn” premiere parties held around the world.
Coming from around the planet-
Interest in the “Twilight Saga” is worldwide and the vacation planners at Tour America in Dublin have suggestions for fans of the series that visit the places where the movie was filmed.
One idea is to fly into Seattle for a three-night stay in the Warwick Seattle Hotel, in the heart of the city. Pick up a car and head west towards Port Angeles, a coastal town with access to “Twilight” locations including Bella Italia, the restaurant where Edward and Bella had their first date.
Another idea puts visitors at The Quality Inn Uptown, which has views both of Port Angeles harbor and Olympic National Park where the National Park Service cares for mountain vistas, meadows of wildflowers, colorful ocean tide pools and some of the largest remnants of ancient forests left in the country, not far from the town of Forks.
Win a trip to Italy-
To celebrate the conclusion of the “Twilight” series, our friends at AOL’s Moviefone and Summit Entertainment are giving away an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy, one of the locations on the Cullen’s global quest.
The winner gets a six-day stay in “Lo Stivale.” To enter, like Moviefone’s Facebook page and leave your name and email on the “Breaking Dawn” tab.
To date, the Twilight franchise has grossed over $2.5 billion in worldwide box office. Since the 2005 release of the first novel in the series, Twilight, the books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide with translations into over 30 different languages.