Home Again, Home Again!

Well, another fabulous trip is, as they say in Hollywood, "in the can". And what a trip it was! Since I blogged from the ship enroute from Tunisia to Cartegena, Spain we 'ate our way' to Malaga, Spain for a day at the Alhambra Palace in Granada then on to Casablanca, Morocco before ending up in Funchal, Madiera.

Although I visited the Alhambra 5 or 6 times back in the 70's, it was still a fun day - I forgot a lot in those 30 years! (Isn't the aging process wonderful?) I also had a small corporate incentive group in Casablanca in the 80's and was astounded at how this exotic destination has modernized in the ensuing time. The contrasts between the modern "business centers" of the city and the "old" parts of the city are striking beyond description. Imagine time-warping between businessmen in suits and ties driving Mercedes and the old markets (Casbahs) where you feel like you're back in the 40's where Humphrey Bogart is likely to appear!

And, then, Madiera! This is Europe's best-kept secret!!! Very quaint and atmospheric. Almost 500 miles off the southern Moroccan coast, this Portuguese island is quite off the beaten path - and thusly ignored by North American tourism. But, it is well worth the effort - a 2-hour flight from Lisbon. More on this later.

I've been preaching this for years, but anyone who likes cruise vacations (and who doesn't?) and enjoys cocktails and fine wines NEEDS to step up and treat themselves to a luxury cruise line. Seabourn, Silversea and Regent Seven Seas are exquisite - service beyond anything anywhere, cuisine beyond anything anywhere, and all the finest in wines and spirits included. Take a look at a more detailed description of "Cruising in Style!"

All that said, It's good to be back home - just in time for Thanksgiving.

Cheers,

Dick

Hi from the Cigar Bar on the Regent Seven Seas Voyager

After port stops in Palermo, Sicily and Tunis, Tunisia we're "at sea" today so thought I would take the opportunity to say Howdy!  As with any of our trips that begin (or end) in Rome, we enjoyed our 'almost annual' dinner at Fortunato al Pantheon near the famous Pantheon (no kidding?) and the Trevi Fountain. Same table for 8; same waiters; same fun - as you see from the picture!

Most of you will agree that there are some places that you visit once and say, "It was a great experience, but one time is enough". (Athens comes to mind!) Rome is one of those places that I will never tire of. It's not only "our" restaurant; it's everything! One almost doesn't even need to "do" or "see" - just be there. Walk the streets, have a coffee or a wine at a sidewalk cafe when the feet get tired, browse the shops. (I feel the same about Paris and London!)

Well, we've been to Sicily a couple times before so this stop, although very pleasant, was pretty uneventful. Tunisia, on Africa's North Coast, was quite a different matter. A Muslim country on the African continent is always good for a "different feel". A wonderful experience, but it does fall into the "former" category defined above... once is enough. Among several interesting stops was a visit to the American Military Cemetery. (Patton's and Montgomery's forces pretty much began their WWII march to Berlin fighting Rommel's forces in the Sahara desert regions of Tunisia.) We, with the help of a remarkable American Serviceman, we found the grave of the brother of a friend... a meaningful day, indeed!

For those of you who may be worried, we're being well-fed (and "watered") on board this fabulous ship. The next two stops are in Spain then another exotic port - Casablanca, Morocco. Then, the end of the road is Funchal, Madiera - one of the most under-rated places in all of Europe! Talk to you again "down the road"!

Cheers,

Dick

Time to Break Out the Tumi

It seems like such a short time ago that I announced that we had come to the end of the road and were parking our luggage in favor of the Lake Season. I looked back at that Blog Post of June 13th with amusement - and frustration with how fast summer zooms by!

Well, as we close up the cabin, it's time to prepare for our November Cruise from Rome to Funchal, Madiera. We ALWAYS recommend to our travel clients that they fly to the cruise departure point a day or two early. (Even for Caribbean cruising; but especially when cruising outside North America.)

Our trip, for the 4th time, will be with an extra day in Rome and dinner at our favorite Rome restaurant - Al Fortunata del Pantheon. This year's adventure will be aboard Regent Seven Seas cruise line and will take us to some "repeat ports" and some exciting new ones such as Malaga, Spain on the Costa del Sol and ports along the North Coast of Africa. 

As much as I hate accepting the passing of summer, we're looking forward to this adventure.

Cheers,

Dick 

Don't Make a Vacation Decision based on Web Pictures!

I played golf yesterday with a guy who had just returned from a 25th Anniversary trip in Hawaii. (Wailea, Maui to be exact.) He and his wife were very disappointed with their gorgeous 5-Star resort hotel. (You may ask how anyone could be "disappointed" with a 5-Star hotel?) The place was beautiful, the service was great... and it was crawling with families with small children!

Your first thought might be that this mainly impacted their time at the pool or on the beach but it affected the entire experience. They knew immediately that they were in trouble - upon settling into their room and changing into tropical clothing they went to the lobby bar for an "Aloha Cocktail". There were a number of preschool-age kids running around the lobby area just 30 feet from them. One was yelling at a sibling; the sibling was crying. How's that for romantic?

This fellow, whom I had just met on the first tee, related that the restaurants were very nice and the food was excellent but, again, they were far from relaxing or romantic. He added that the menus reflected the nature of their clientele.

As it happens, there is another 5-Star resort hotel right next door and I have stayed at both over the years. The ambiance of the two could not possibly be more opposite. Years ago, both were elegant... now one remains so with an adult clientele while the other began marketing to family vacations a few years ago.

If you look at the websites of both, you will not be able to distinguish between them. Both look fabulously classy with pictures that could possibly be interchanged. The only hint, if you have a trained eye, is a water slide in the distant background of one pool picture. A good travel consultant (like my agency - Gateway Express Travel) would have known the difference and saved this fellow's trip!

Cheers,

Dick

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Mid-Summer Report from the Easy Chair at the Lake!

As reported last month, the Tumi luggage is parked for the season and, as much as I enjoy the travel scene, it's sure nice to be "temporarily divorced" from TSA inspectors & molesters! I didn't think I would ever say this, but I truly feel sorry for the airlines. If they just parked their birds and said the hell with it, I don't know if I would blame them.

Actually, business at our travel agency (gatewayexpress.com) has been very good this summer. Given that this is typically the "dog days" for travel in the the Midwest market (we're not the only ones who cherish staying close to the BBQ grill this time of year), things haven't been bad. An increasingly big part of our leisure business over the past several years has been family spring break trips mostly to Mexico. Bookings for next April have begun earlier than I can ever recall.

Oh well, these days at our lake place on Woman Lake near Longville, MN are what life is all about this time of year. But, I must admit that I'm starting to think about that Mediterranean Cruise that we're taking in November. We'll start in Rome (our fourth visit to Rome... which means another dinner at Al Fortunata del Pantheon - our favorite restaurant in the world!) and will end up in Funchal, Madeira, A new port for us. The travel bug lives!

I hope you all are enjoying Mosquito Season!!!!!

Dick
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Whew! I've come to the End of the Road...

... for a while, at least! Since mid-April I've had 5 trips - Tucson, Boston, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Alaska - but have come to the end of the road for awhile! Whew! Now it's time for summer weekends at our lake place in northern Minnesota and to catch up on the golf game! For those of you fellow Minnesotans (and Wisconsinites), you know that there is no greater place to be during the summer than home!!!

So until our next trip to Europe (a Regent Seven Seas Cruise from Rome to Funchal, Madeira) in November our Tumi luggage resides in deep storage!

Speaking of Cruises in Europe, we are seeing the biggest season ever for selling European Cruises at our travel agency. There are more ships in Europe than ever before - and they are largely sold out already. The cruise lines have already opened booking for 2009 - the earliest that the industry has ever come out with future sailings. If you are interested in explanations for this phenomenon, go to Cruise News at www.gatewayexpress.com.

Cheers,

Dick

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Alaska Cruise: All's Well That Ends Well!

Well, we're back in Minnesota looking for the sun! It has rained constantly since we returned - feels like Seattle albeit a bit warmer. In a way, it's hard to believe that it took me 63 years to get to Alaska since our travel agency (www.gatewayexpress.com) has sent hundreds of clients there over the years... but in another way, it's no shock - we hate to leave Minnesota in summer leaving our limited travel time & funds for winter escapes! Our Princess Cruise aboard the Island Princess was spectacular! (At Gateway Express Travel, we feature Princess Cruises and Holland America Line for family travel and Silversea Cruises for upscale, adult-only trips.)

When I last posted we were in Juneau about to head out for an evening of whale-watching. For me, that was the highlight of the whole trip... being able to get within 200 feet of the magnificent beasts! At one point we came up to a mother and baby cavorting playfully together. The youngster was just learning the "moves" and it was fun to watch.

Then it was off to Skagway where we went out for some King Salmon fishing. Although we got skunked, it was a gorgeous day on the water. We saw Black Bears along the shore, Sea Lions and a lot of Bald Eagles. The cruise ended with two days of sailing through Glacier Bay and College Fjord. In the latter, we saw numerous Seals perched on large chunks of ice that had broken off the glaciers. On one of these mini-icebergs we saw a new-born seal with its mother. There was some blood on the ice indicating that the baby had been born within the last couple days. After a very scenic 2-hour rail trip from Whittier to Anchorage aboard the Princess Express that continues on the their Wilderness Lodges in the interior, our day in Anchorage was pretty uneventful. We disembarked about 7:00AM and had a 9:30PM red eye flight home. We intentionally gave ourselves the day to explore Anchorage... that is the one thing we would change. There's not a lot to do or see in Anchorage. We were ready to get home to our 2-year old Cockapoo, Hat Trick! The 1:00PM flight would have been perfect!

Cheers,

Dick

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Alaska Cruising... another vista explored!

Here's more proof of my infinite wisdom... after enduring 6 months of Minnesota winter, I and my family had to find more snow & ice! This post comes from Ketchikan, Alaska - the first stop on our family's 7-Day Alaska Cruise with Princess Cruise Line.

As much as I crave the 70 to 80 degree Minnesota weather we have waited so long for, I must admit that this place is gorgeous! Another favorite routine of mine while vacationing - getting up at 5:30 in the morning and dressing with 6 layers of clothing to avoid hypothermia while Halibut fishing and crabbing. Again, I have to admit that it was a memorable experience even though we only caught two Snappers and two crabs amongst the four of us. The highlight of the day, breath-taking scenery aside, was having 6 Eagles fly right down to within 100 feet of our skiff. The guide whistled and threw out the remains of one of our Snappers and the Eagles came flying. Truly awesome!!!

Well it's back to "work"... I'll talk to you from Skagway, Alaska in a couple days.

UPDATE: Friday, May 23 - After a spectacular day in Juneau, Alaska we are now in Skagway. Yesterday will be hard to top... our boys flew by helicopter to a distant glacier for a glacial trek. While they were gone, we hiked the trails alongside the Mendenhall Glacier (pictured here)... not an easy walk in the park but absolutely stunning!!! That evening we went on a whale-watching excursion that , for us, was the show-stopper! I'll be anxious to share more on that when I get back to WARM Minnesota. (Thought those two words would never be used together!!!)

Cheers,

Dick

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Quiet Las Vegas? I'm not kidding!

If you love to party... but want to be able to "turn it off" at times, there is more to Vegas than the circus-like atmosphere of The Strip. As I wrote about a year ago in my Quieter Side of Las Vegas blog post, there are hotels or sections of hotel complexes where you don't need to wade through throngs of gamblers in a cavernous casinos to get to the elevator to your room. A good example is the new Palazzo Towers at the Venetian. It features a private off-Strip entrance and quiet elegance - still you are just a 5-minute walk to the main attractions of the Venetian. Link back to that post for descriptions of such meccas as THE hotel at Mandalay Bay or the Signature Towers adjacent to the MGM Grand.

On my visit last week, I ventured out to Lake Las Vegas and the incomparable Ritz-Carlton Resort Hotel. This place is magnificent! (What else would you expect from Ritz-Carlton?) The casino is not actually in the hotel, but is adjacent as part of the Italian Village with numerous restaurants and shops. So, you can have the excitement that most go to Las Vegas for - when you want it! And, for a night on The Strip for a major show or just to go for the whole enchilada, you only have a 25 minute drive. I stopped at the Ritz-Carlton for breakfast before playing the incredible Reflection Bay Golf Club. All through my stay in the dining room everybody - even the bus boys - addressed me by name. OK, so that's just very good training. Right? Here 's where they go way beyond training... I walked around the property and the Village including the lakeside stage where Andrea Bochelli performed a couple years ago. Almost an hour later, I came back through the restaurant and again was greeted by name by the hostess. That's cool!

The other Resort Hotel at "the Lake" is Loew's. It's not a bad place but, with the R-C just down the road, don't bother. Very confining since the Reflection Bay golf course wraps around it. There is no comparison! Whatever the price, the Ritz-Carlton is well worth it!

Cheers,

Dick


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Hello from Las Vegas!

This place is ridiculous! My annual sojourn for a technology conference is underway and, as usual, the landscape changes from my last visit are absurd. In just one year, the Wynn Las Vegas has opened a second tower called "Encore", the Trump Hotel & Casino is open, The Venetian has opened a new tower called Palazzo, the second tower at Bellagio is now open as is the 3rd new tower at Caesar's Palace, the massive City Center project (almost 8,000 new rooms) which was just a (huge) hole in the ground 12 months ago is almost half way completed, and the Stardust and Frontier hotels have been bulldozed.

The construction cranes - too numerous to count - have been dubbed Nevada's State Bird!

The ridiculously upscale shops at Caesar's, The Venetian, Planet Hollywood and Bellagio have all been expanded and more are coming. I walked through several of them and, unlike the malls at home, did not spot one single vacancy.

For anybody that worries about our economy, come here for a few days! The place is full with a 94% rooms occupancy - the highest rate in the entire world!

Cheers,

Dick

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...more on our Spa Resort stay:

As I said in the last post, I'm not ordinarily known for an ability to lay around and do nothing. But, this place just soothed the beast! For 3 days my golf clubs sat in the corner... and those who know me would be shocked to hear that it didn't bother me a bit! We did spa treatments each afternoon (I didn't go in for any of the exotic treatments - just some great massages) just before getting dressed for cocktails and wonderful dinners. After dinner, we would go to the wine bar off the outdoor section of the lobby and just sit overlooking the grounds and the ocean. What a way to end a perfect day!

OK; so what's so great about a massage? We all have had them at our local health clubs or day spas, right? Apart from the fact that spas in these 5-Star Resorts are something special, the total environment is one of relaxation. They are so quiet and peaceful that you generally will feel as if you are the only client in the spa.

And here's the real difference: When I go on a golf trip with the guys, the thing that makes it so special is that we are away from all the normal commitments. Nobody is late to the course because of a business tie up. Nobody has run off after golf because of a kid's game or concert. Nobody is pressured to be home in time for dinner. After golf on these trips, all we need to worry about is how much time we have for the pool or hot tub before getting ready to go to dinner! Same thing here: You have enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, taken a walk on the beach and relaxed in the sun at the pool before going to the spa. After your massage, you have as much time as you want to relax in the spa's lounge or whirlpool. Cocktails and dinner are on your terms.

If you are one who THINKS you are not a "spa resort type", think again!!!!!

Cheers,

Dick

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"Our Cabo Stay Got Even Better..."

... the meeting that we were managing in Los Cabos broke up Sunday morning and we headed for a few days of personal time on the Pacific side of Cabo. And, what a treat we were in store for! We drove down through the town center of Cabo San Lucas and up the hills (almost mountains) and down the other side (a winding road for sure!) to the Pacific coast and our new home, the beach side Pueblo Bonito Pacifica - a quiet adults-only holistic spa resort.

The resort is the only structure of any kind on a mile and a half long beach (the picture in my previous post gives you some idea of how expansive and "private" the beach is). So, now, I am a good 30 minutes from the nearest golf course and I wondered how I would exist for 3 days without playing. It was no problem!!! This place was the most relaxing and regenerative place I've ever experienced. Being one that has a hard time sitting still for very long, I had some reservations about this stay. It didn't take long for me to know that I didn't care a hoot about leaving this oasis - much less beat myself up on a golf course.

Passing through, not one - but two security guard stations before arriving at the front door, we walked into the lobby which exuded the soothing spa aroma of lavender that immediately relaxed us. The first thing we did was to go to the spa to reconfirm our treatment reservations. The eucalyptus aromas in the spa practically put us to sleep!

Our suite overlooked the pool, grounds (the picture above and that with the last post were taken from our veranda) and ocean. We were welcomed to our room by soothing "spa music" which was playing from the television. And a candle diffuser that was emitting more lavender aromas.

No children! OK, we all love kids, right? But, who doesn't look forward to a break? This place was soooo peaceful - without being boring! The atmosphere there just breeds "quiet relaxation". Even those of us that aren't exactly known for being quiet and docile just fall into this state of quiet. People all around were visiting but everyone seemed to converse in low volume - almost at a whisper.

Whale watching from our veranda! What a show we were treated to! Because the ocean gets very deep very fast, we saw whales surfacing "up close & personal". A few times we saw 5 at a time and once, while walking the beach, a whale surfaced so close I could hear the exhalation (the water spout). From our veranda one morning, we saw a whale jump completely out of water (as in those Pacific Life Insurance commercials). WOW!

Gotta go... I'll add more to this later.

Dick

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Greetings from Cabo San Lucas!

(Note: This post was created last week from Mexico but, because of a cyber road block, I couldn't upload it until I got home...)

Greetings from Cabo San Lucas! If you look back to my post of mid-December, you'll see that I have developed a new view of Mexico in the last couple years. Nothing could have demonstrated how far Mexico has come than this "return to Cabo". This is my first time back here since 1999 and the changes were astonishing! The "aeropuerto", (still very small) has a new terminal building; the number of private jets parked throughout the airport grounds was particularly eye-catching; a new highway from the airport to "resort row" and the town is now open. And, the new resorts and villas... Our magnificent 5-Star Resort, The Marquis, didn't even exist back then. In fact, there are about 20 high-end resort hotels that are new since then! Finally, a major sign of the "new" Mexico went almost unnoticed - At least if you are staying at an upscale resort or hotel, the old "don't drink the water" mantra is a thing of the past. (All bets are off if you venture into eateries away from the resorts!)

If you are at all familiar with the "Leading Hotels of the World" group of which the Marquis is a member, you know that's all you need to know of a hotel's quality! The service was friendly & efficient and the food was wonderful. If you're a golfer, Cabo is THE place in Mexico for you. And the Marquis is just across the highway from my favorite among the many great courses here - Cabo Real. (For more on the golf, go to my Golf Blog.) The Marquis is a relatively small property that has you feeling quite well-attended. you don't get lost in the crowd - and you don't need to wait for a table or fight for a poolside lounge chair. The best way I could describe the Marquis would be "understated elegance". If you want over-the-top splashiness, I would recommend the Palmilla Resort or Las Ventanas.

It gets even better! We were at The Marquis managing a corporate incentive group (and this place is great for meetings of 50 to 150 people) but when that group disbursed on Sunday morning, we headed to the Pacific side and spent 3 glorious days at quiet adults-only holistic spa resort - the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica (pictured above). Those of you who know me have just fallen off your chairs!

More on that experience in the next couple days.

Dick

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