NEWS

Virgin America, the high-tech budget airline based in Silicon Valley, is paying tribute to Steve Jobs by naming an airplane after him – well, sort of.


The plane, an Airbus A320, is actually not named "Steve Jobs" - it's named "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish," after Jobs' popular quote from his 2005 Stanford commencement speech.

Jobs said at the time, referring to the last issue of The Whole Earth Catalog, "On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: ‘Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.’

“It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you."

Steve Jobs was one of those unique individuals who actually do change the world. The commencement address is well worth reading in its entirety.
 

 

 

Secrets Huatulco Resort & Spa 5*

Opens December  2011

As though carved into the foothills of the coastline where it hugs the glistening shores of the Conejos Bay, there sits a place where even doing nothing is amazing. With its golden sand, beautiful rock formations and sapphire waters, Conejos Bay will soon welcome adults-only Secrets Huatulco Resort & Spa. Here, the exceptional amenities and services of Unlimited-Luxury® await, beginning with unlimited food and premium beverages from eight reservation-free, gourmet restaurants and four stylish bars and lounges; pool and beach wait service, and 24-hour room and concierge service. All of it without wristbands.

399 gorgeous ocean front suites begin with daily refreshed premium mini bar, furnished patio or balcony and spectacular views, while select suites will have an outdoor Jacuzzi or swim-out pool access. For leisure, a variety of daytime and nightly activities are available to entertain and amuse.

You're going to love it. The it that is Unlimited-Luxury®. Your all-access pass to limitless gourmet food and top-shelf beverages from eight gourmet restaurants, four comfy bars and lounges, and a daily refreshed premium mini bar, in-suite. You'll have snacks and cocktails delivered to you poolside and on the beach. You can ride the waves on a Hobie Cat, go snorkeling and windsurf; come ashore for billiards, ping pong and tennis, and move into the evening with theme parties, movies on the beach and live entertainment.

What's also nice is it's all wristband free. 24 hours a day. Without exception.

Unlimited-Luxury®, for your consideration and pleasure:

  • Full breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks each day
  • Bottomless fruit juices and soft drinks
  • Limitless international and domestic premium beer and top-shelf spirits
  • Handsomely-appointed suites with the world-class amenities
  • In-suite mini bar refreshed daily with soft drinks, bottled water and premium beer
  • Eight gourmet reservation-free restaurants, four bars & lounges
  • Endless daytime activities and nightly theme parties, live entertainment and movies on the beach
  • Nightly theme parties, live entertainment, movies on the beach
  • Pool and beach wait service
  • 24-hour room service

All taxes and gratuities

November 29 from Calgary - 7 nts of luxury $1185

Paradisus Play del Carmen La Perla 4+*

Located in a stunning little bay, Paradisus Playa del Carmen for Adults is the superior luxury resort in the Riviera Maya, combining a prestigious Caribbean setting with world-class facilities, including Royal Service, the ultimate in spa treatments, a relaxed ambience, and flexible meeting spaces with state-of-the-art equipment. This elegant resort has a Mayan ecological feeling, and an oceanfront location surrounded by a lush tropical mangrove preserve and with views of Cozumel Island. Take your senses on a culinary tour through eleven remarkable restaurants serving delicious cuisine from all around the world and ten bars serving unlimited international Premium brand drinks. Enjoy life-enriching experiences such as tango dance classes, sushi-making, and sensorial experiences.

This adults-only luxury All-Inclusive resort is located about 45 minutes from Cancun International Airport and just steps from extraordinary beaches and attractions such as Playa del Carmen's 5th Avenue, Xcaret, Akumal, Xel-Ha, and near world-famous Mayan archaeological sites such as Tulum, Chichén Itzá and Cobá.

Click on the photo above for the new video

Princess Cruises is promoting fitness with Zumba!

Zumba® Fitness, the exhilarating dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music and contagious choreography, is rolling out to the entire Princess Cruises fleet. Since December, passengers on many Princess ships have been joining in the hip-shaking fun with complimentary classes taught by licensed Zumba instructors. The classes quickly became among the most popular activities on board, and now additional staff members will complete the official training to become licensed Zumba instructors as the program expands fleetwide.

On land, there are more than 110,000 Zumba classes held in gyms, fitness studios and even nightclubs, attracting millions of enthusiasts around the world. At sea, Princess ships offer the complimentary workouts once or twice per cruise, transforming venues such as Club Fusion, the Piazza or the outside decks adjacent to Movies Under the Stars into a high-energy Zumba fitness party.

"The energetic atmosphere and popularity of Zumba classes inspired us to send our staff members for official training to become licensed Zumba instructors, so that we could offer this fun new fitness option to our passengers," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. "As a result, our onboard Zumba classes are always packed, and consistently receive positive feedback from passengers who are happy to have the opportunity to try something they've been hearing about, or to continue with the program they have at home."

Zumba classes were first introduced in December 2010 and are currently offered aboard Caribbean Princess, Dawn Princess, Diamond Princess, Emerald Princess, Grand Princess, Golden Princess, Island Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess and Star Princess. The program is expected to be available fleetwide before the end of the year.

The Zumba program is a fitness party that fuses international rhythms with exotic beats and has helped to melt the pounds and inches off 12 million Zumba enthusiasts in 125 countries. Zumba classes provide an effective total-body workout, which successfully tone and sculpt while burning fat.

Call us to book your next Fitness Cruise aboard a Princess ship!

 

27 MAY 2011: Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas arrived in the Victoria Shipyards last week to undergo renovations that include the addition of 15 new cabins of which three will be for single travellers. This will be the first Australian-dedicated ship to offer solo cabins.


It is considered an experiment by Adam Goldstein, President of the cruise line who has been quoted as saying, "We recognise that there is a demand for the single traveller business. We are going to be revitalizing our older ships such as Radiance of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas, and so we will have opportunity to create spaces for single travellers then."

Pricing for a solo cabin has not been announced but it is expected that it will be far less than the single supplement charge from the past.

P & O has committed 18 cabins to single guests on the Azura.  Chief Executive David Dingle said the company was considering retro-fitting existing vessels with single cabins when they are due for refurbishment.

He added “I am very keen to have lots of single cabins on any other ships we may bring into the fleet.”
 

SECRETS ROYAL BEACH PUNTA CANA 5*

Opening May 1st, 2011
Ideally situated on the picturesque palm-studded, sugar white Playa Bavaro beach on the eastern coastline of the Dominican Republic, Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana offers adults all the privileges of Unlimited-Luxury®.
Guests will immediately be embraced within an extraordinary environment where luxury illuminates every detail and our high level of personal service is unmatched. To ensure your romantic escape is everything you've imagined, every detail of your stay will be flawlessly provided and superbly attended to.
This tranquil, romantic haven in Playa Bavaro is like nothing else you've ever experienced before.

Guests will be treated to elite services, superior accommodations and a wide array of amenities with all the privileges of Unlimited-Luxury®.
Take a dip in our free form swimming pool. Order a refreshing cocktail - Our pool and beach wait staff is at your beck and call. Practice your two-step with our complimentary dance lessons. Get your heart rate going at our full-service fitness center. Enjoy a live performance at the indoor theater. It's all this and more at Secrets Royal Beach Punta Cana.
A free form pool winds its way through the perfectly manicured gardens and lush vegetation providing guests with the opportunity to sit back and enjoy the stunning surroundings. 373 spacious guestrooms offer unparalleled views and superior amenities to provide guests with an indulgent hideaway. Each room features fine quality linens bedding, daily refreshed mini bar, a terrace or balcony with exterior Jacuzzi, flat screen TV and so much more.
From the finely-appointed rooms to the expansive sugar-white beach, you'll find everything you need at your fingertips. Daily refreshed minibar, pool and beach wait service, gourmet dining with no reservations required, premium brand beverages, 24-hour room service…just to name a few. Swim, sail, snorkel or windsurf in the turquoise Caribbean or take an introductory scuba diving lesson! For golf enthusiasts wanting to tee off in paradise, a world-class 18-hole golf course is just minutes away.
 

Trafalgar Tours has introduced a “Kids Fly Free” offer on all European tours from its 2011 Family Experiences brochure. For each adult paying full airfare, one child aged five to 12 can fly free (kids 13-17 pay $299) on a choice of six different Family Experiences tours. The offer is valid for bookings made between March 23 and May 31 for 2011 travel. Taxes, fees and surcharges are additional. As well as the free airfare, young travellers can save 10% off the land package price.
The Kids Fly Free offer applies to the following tours: Magic & Make Believe featuring London and Paris; Castles & Kilts, offering three nights in London, a two-night stay in a medieval castle and a visit to Harry Potter’s Oxford, as well as two nights in Scotland’s Edinburg; Magical Matterhorn featuring the Swiss Alps; Gladiators Gondolas and Gold, with three-night stays in Rome, Florence and Venice; Spanish Salsa, beginning in Madrid and ending in Barcelona; and European Wonderland, which starts in Rome and ends in London.  Ask Sundial Travel for rates and dates!

 

Crystal Cruises is going all-inclusive. Effective spring 2012, cruises on Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity will include fine wines and premium spirits throughout the ship, open bar service in all lounges, and pre-paid gratuities for housekeeping, bar and dining staff. The complimentary gratuity amenity also includes Penthouse butler service, as well as service in all of Crystal’s fine specialty restaurants and sushi bar. The new benefits begin with each ship’s first transatlantic sailing next year: Crystal Symphony’s “Beyond the Sea” sailing from Miami to Lisbon on March 19, 2012, and Crystal Serenity’s “New World to Norway” voyage from New York to London on May 8, 2012.

 

 

Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand and The Presidents Cup 2011 in Melbourne, Australia. Sundial Travel has exclusive access to blocked air and hotel space for each event, and, of course, we have all the pre & post event product in place for any travel extensions.

Secrets Huatulco Resort & Spa 5*

 Opens November 2011 

As though carved into the foothills of the coastline where it hugs the glistening shores of the Conejos Bay, there sits a place where even doing nothing is amazing. With its golden sand, beautiful rock formations and sapphire waters, Conejos Bay will soon welcome adults-only Secrets Huatulco Resort & Spa. Here, the exceptional amenities and services of Unlimited-Luxury® await, beginning with unlimited food and premium beverages from eight reservation-free, gourmet restaurants and four stylish bars and lounges; pool and beach wait service, and 24-hour room and concierge service. All of it without wristbands.

399 gorgeous ocean front suites begin with daily refreshed premium mini bar, furnished patio or balcony and spectacular views, while select suites will have an outdoor Jacuzzi or swim-out pool access. For leisure, a variety of daytime and nightly activities are available to entertain and amuse.

You're going to love it. The it that is Unlimited-Luxury®. Your all-access pass to limitless gourmet food and top-shelf beverages from eight gourmet restaurants, four comfy bars and lounges, and a daily refreshed premium mini bar, in-suite. You'll have snacks and cocktails delivered to you poolside and on the beach. You can ride the waves on a Hobie Cat, go snorkeling and windsurf; come ashore for billiards, ping pong and tennis, and move into the evening with theme parties, movies on the beach and live entertainment.

What's also nice is it's all wristband free. 24 hours a day. Without exception.

Unlimited-Luxury®, for your consideration and pleasure:

  • Full breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks each day
  • Bottomless fruit juices and soft drinks
  • Limitless international and domestic premium beer and top-shelf spirits
  • Handsomely-appointed suites with the world-class amenities
  • In-suite mini bar refreshed daily with soft drinks, bottled water and premium beer
  • Eight gourmet reservation-free restaurants, four bars & lounges
  • Endless daytime activities and nightly theme parties, live entertainment and movies on the beach
  • Nightly theme parties, live entertainment, movies on the beach
  • Pool and beach wait service
  • 24-hour room service

All taxes and gratuities