Requirements for driving in Florida

If you are planning a trip to Florida and are looking at driving there the laws have now changed and non-US residents now need and International Driving Permit. This law came into effect on the 1st January and is now being enforced.

“The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has advised that should drivers of rental cars in Florida be involved in an accident, or traffic offence or any other reason for interaction with the Florida Highway Patrol, they will be required to have an International Driving Permit in their possession and if stopped, law enforcement may be applied,” Abta said in a statement.

You will also of course require your own driving license too and will need to take both the photograph and paper copy with you.

An International Driving Permit can be obtained for £5.50 from Post Offices, the Post Office website, RAC and AA. If you cgo to the Post Office in person you can obtain the permit there and then.

 

A week in Val D'Isere

I have just spent the last week on my annual snowboarding holiday and had a fab time. This year we travelled with Esprit Ski who are a family ski company and excellent for children and we picked Val D'Isere as the resort.

Val D'Isere is a gorgeous resort with some fabulous shops, although these were way out of my league and it's ski area, when linked with Tignes is vast. As a snowboarder though it does have a lot of flat runs and some walking involved, so the Tignes side of the mountain is preferable.

This year the weather wasn't as great as it could have been. It snowed all day on 4 of the 6 days making visibility poor although it was at least soft to fall on and the day temperatures were in the minus 20's in resort with strong winds high up. I had to wear a huge amount of layers so unfortunately look larger than normal in all my photo's.

My son who has a charmed life and has skied before came on really well this year. He had 'improvers' lessons in the morning and then skied alongside us in the afternoon and even achieved his first black run on the last day. It was wonderful to see him achieve so much and really enjoy himself.

Now that I'm home it's still snowing, which is a shame, I like to come back from snowboarding and look forward to spring plus my warm clothes all need a wash. However I have got my next trip to look forward to which will be on board Royal Princess in the summer.

Gratuity charges on the rise.

Just to let you know that as from this spring both P&O and Cunard will be increasing the amounts that they charge for gratuities.
P&O will now be charging £3.50 per person per night from the following sailings:

Adonia D302 - 03 April 2013
Arcadia J302 - 14 April 2013
Aurora R302 - 24 April 2013
Azura A308 - 04 April 2013
Oceana E305 - 30 March 2013
Oriana X305 - 28 March 2013
Ventura N307 - 07 April 2013

P&O only charged for passengers aged 12 and above and these figures are still low in comparison to the majority of the main cruise lines.

Cunard will now be charging $11.50 per person per night for customers staying in a Britannia stateroom and $13.50 per person per night for those in a Princess or Queens Grill Suite.
Cunard are introducing these charges from:

Queen Elizabeth Q308 - Iberian Adventure - Sunday 7th April

Queen Victoria: V304 - Spring Getaway - Friday 26 April 2013
Queen Mary 2: M304 - Westbound Transatlantic - Friday 26 April 2013

Join me on a cruise.

I have been lucky enough to win a mini cruise on the brand new Royal Princess and I'm very excited.

Royal Princess is the first new ship for Princess in 5 years and she is full of innovative features. Carrying 3,600 passengers she will feature their largest top deck pool ever with a water & light show, and an enhanced Movies Under the Stars® screen. The atrium is 50% larger and piazza style with enhanced entertainments and the dining rooms are richly elegant. I'm sure you'll agree the pictures look amazing.

Royal Princess is doing 2 preview sailings on the 9th and 14th June before her maiden voyage on the 16th June. These 2 night cruises sail from Southampton to St Peter Port in Guernsey for a day and back to Southampton.

In terms of staterooms all exterior staterooms come with a balcony giving you a choice of insides, balconies, deluxe balconies, mini suites and suites.

For the preview cruises prices start at £349pp for a balcony cabin and they go on sale on Wednesday 30th January. Customers  interested in sailing on them are strongly recommended to preregister for the sailing to ensure that you are not disappointed on the day.

So if you fancy joining me one of these memorable voyages just get in touch.

New Silversea Mini Cruises

Silversea have decided to follow Crystal Cruises lead and have announced a series of short duration cruises for this spring and summer. These are fantastic for customers celebrating a special occasion, wanting to try out a luxury cruise line without too much expense or just for a little treat. The sailings range from 4 to 7 nights as follows:

11 March - 5 nights on board Silver Wind
Lisbon - at sea -Malaga - Cartegena - Valencia - Barcelona
From £1190pp

16 March - 4 nights on board Silver Wind
Barcelona - Monte Carlo overnight - Livorno - Rome
From £1040pp

16 April - 7 nights on board Silver Spirit
Lisobon - Portimao - Cadiz - Malaga - at Sea - Ibiza, Valencia - Barcelona
From £1960pp

14 May - 4 nights on board Silver Wind
Rome - Bonifacio - Calvi - Livorno - Monte Carlo
From £1150pp

18 May - 5 nights on board Silver Wind
Monte Carlo - at sea - Soller de Mallorca - Ibiza - Valencia - Barcelona
From £1570pp

25 May - 7 nights on board Silver Spirit
Athens - Katakolon - Corfu - Kotor - Dubrovnik - at sea - Sorrento - Rome
From £1960pp

09 June - 6 nights on board Silver Cloud
Southampton, Honfleur, Ostende, Antwerp, Amsterdam overnight, Hamburg
From £1610pp

15 June - 4 nights on board Silver Cloud
Hamburg overnight, transit the Kiel Canal, Warnemunde, Helsingborg, Copenhagen overnight,
From £1120pp

All of the above are based upon cruise only but can be packaged with flights from around the UK and with pre and post cruise stays as required.

Ports of call....Kotor, Montenegro

At the end of last year I was lucky enough to have Kotor as a port of call on my Crystal Serenity sailing. I will be honest and admit that Kotor wasn't a place that I knew much about and often hoped that customers wouldn't ask anything in depth about the resort. Now that I have been there I thought it was worth sharing my photo's and knowledge on the resort.

Kotor really is an truly beautiful place and to really appreciate it I strongly suggest you go up on deck for the sail in. The waterway into Kotor is a submerged river canyon known as a Ria but it is described as the southern most fjord and only fjord in the Adriatic. Crystal Serenity sailed along the sea into her at about 5.30 am and the scenes were breath taking. I was up on deck with a host of well traveled people who all seemed to agree that it is one of the most spectacular places along this coast line. My pictures really don't do it justice.

Once in port Kotor is a small town built into a hillside. At the base of the hill this UNESCO World Heritage Site offers many cute bars, cafes and restaurants. Built between the 12th and 14th centuries it is a hive of narrow criss cross streets and within them you'll find the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon which dates back to 809 AD. 

 You can wind your way up through cobbled streets and even through people's back yards and up the steps of the ancient walls which ascend 3 miles above the city. You do have to pay 3 euros's to climb these walls so make sure you have some change. At the top you'll find the ruins of the Fortress Sveti Ivan (St John's) and the views over the old town and the bay are amazing.  The walk is long and hard so wear some good trainers and water is recommended too 

I hope this has given you a taste of what Kotor can offer you and if you would like details of cruises that sail here just give me a call.

Free internet access with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Regent Seven Seas Cruises have announced free internat access on 5 sailings this summer, for bookings made before the 31st March. Making them now the most All Inclusive product on the market.

The included sailings are:

 

24 April - Seven Seas Mariner - Istanbul to Barcelona - 10 nights from £2969pp

01 June - Seven Seas Mariner - Venice to Rome  - 10 nights from £3439pp

28 June - Seven Sea Mariner - Venice to Athens - 10 nights from £3719pp

29 August - Seven Seas Mariner - Rome to Venice - 10 nights from £4339pp

06 October - Sevene Seas Mariner - Rome to Monte Carlo - 7 nights from £2939pp

 

Along with the free internet you will also have included in your fare:

Flights

Transfers

A luxury hotel stay before your cruise

A huge choice of unlimited shore excursions

Open bars and lounges including cocktails, champagnes and premium drinks

Mini bar replenished daily

Speciality dining at no extra charge

Gratuities

As someone who's partner works for himself and rarely takes a break this would be perfect for me as I could laze by the pool while he could both have a holiday and keep up with his business. However I'm not convinced that everyone likes to stay on line whilst away so I'm not sure how much this will work to promote sales for them - what do you think?