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mercoledì 3 dicembre 2008

2009 is a Great Year for Cheap Cruises

First of all, you have a great chance of getting a cheap cruise by searching the Internet for last minute deals. These are bargains that are available a few days or weeks prior to the departure of the ship. A good time to look for cheap tickets would be 60 days before the cruise begins. This is because most cruise lines have the rule that people can cancel their reservations up to 60 days before the departure without having to pay penalties. This is the right moment for you to jump in and ask for a cheap cruise ticket. The cruise line will be able to tell you whether there are any cabins left and will offer you a discount as well.Out of season cheap cruises - In case you are looking for a cheap cruise, be prepared to go in the out-of-season period, such as the peak hurricane season in the Caribbean (September to mid November) or just before and after the Christmas. These are periods when the cruise lines offer cheap fares because the majority of people avoid these periods. Don't set your hopes as high as finding a cheap cruise for Christmas or New Year's Eve, because the chances are practically zero. You could be lucky to find a last minute ticket, but don't count on it. In case of many destinations and cruise lines, the difference between peak season and shoulder season is noteworthy. For an Alaska cruise, savings can be as high as 50% leaving the week after peak season! If you want to travel in peak season, plan ahead. Many companies offer cheap tickets in the first place. So search the Internet or go to your travel agent to find out the latest cheap cruise offers.Cruise money saving tips - After boarding on a cruise, in order to keep it cheap, don't register for shore trips. If you are at least 4 people, you can easily hire a guide who will show you the highlights of that cruise. Opt for repositioning cruises. These offer discounts most often because the cruise lines change the itinerary of the cruise. These cruises will be usually longer - 2 weeks instead of one, but it offers great value for little money. These repositioned cruises often present inconveniences for the existing passengers such as having to fly to the starting point of the cruise, so some of them will cancel the bookings. Another good tip to get a cheap cruise: look for eleventh-hour repositioning; these cruises will be very low-priced. If you want to cruise all by yourself, ask for a share rate. This means you will have a cabin mate of the same gender, so you won't have to pay the addition of a single's supplement to your fare.Be very careful when choosing a cheap cruise! If you suffer from claustrophobia, make sure you avoid an inside cabin. Read all the conditions specified on the offer, you might need to buy some airline tickets as well, in order to get to the departure line of the cruise, and that could cost more than the discount. Unfortunately, most of the times, the cheap cruise offers do not entitle you to choose the type of cabin you want. You might end up having to pay for a cabin with balcony, which even discounted is more expensive than a regular cabin. Pay attention to the taxes and extra fees, such as port charges, governmental fees etc. Are they included in the cheap cruise price ? If not, see how much they are and establish if that bargain is a bargain indeed. Try to follow some of the tips above, and you will probably find cheap cruises for your vacation. Good luck!

Expedia Review

Sure, Microsoft has a lot to offer, but would you book a vacation here? The answer is yes. As usual, Bill Gates and company have taken the time and effort to set up a complete operation. From the excellent content at Expedia and its neighboring Mungo Park, to the customer service by World Travel Partners, Expedia is the real deal. The folks at Microsoft Travel Technologies know what they are doing. And now that they've spun themselves off into Expedia.com and gone public, they'll have the capital to make some more improvements to the site.The site interface is well done . It looks good and loads very fast. Microsoft uses a system of frames to make sure that the user is never far from assistance, if he needs it. Some areas of interest are the interactive map planner and the Travel Magazine section that delivers helpful hints. Expedia has also launched a hotelpricematcher and farepricematcher service that will compete with priceline.com. You should check them out, but make sure that you read the rules completely, as they may have some interesting non major carriers you could be flying on.One of the ways that Expedia makes the user feel at home is through the use of "wizards". Just like the guides to adapt templates in Word or Excel, the travel offers are put through in a step-by-step process that allows a good amount of hand-holding by the site. In order to book travel at Expedia , the visitor must register with the site. Its not a lengthy process if you have a fast line and it is well worth the effort. According to Eric Blatchford, Expedia is designed for the armchair traveler--"it is committed to having useful content" for all users. Microsoft will spend 300-400 million dollars over the next few years developing this interactive content. Over 100 full-time employees will generate original content that you simply won't find anywhere else. Expedia is one of the first sites that is not just a place to go when you are online--It is a reason to get online in the first place.

lunedì 21 aprile 2008

Cruise Deal Last Minute

If you're planning to take a cruise you want to make sure you get the best cruise deal bargain offered. And there are many ways to save a bunch of money on your next cruise if you know what to do. It isn't hard to learn the secrets travel agents know when you're looking for the best cruise deal. You can save as much as 65% scouting on your own or from 15-30% from the cruise line brokers and the cruise consolidators as they're called.

There are many sites that offer clearance specials and last minute cruise deals. Then there are the possibly cheaper but much riskier last minute cruise auctions and classifieds which I won't go into here. The last minute cruise deals are not hard to find because the cruise lines don't want to have any empty cabins when they leave port and they make every effort to fill them.

Note that the offers you find on the cruise line sites are NOT going to be as good as those you find elsewhere or from cruise line brokers or the consolidators. So make sure you go to the other sites. Of course you can compare the prices you find with the cruise line 's site.

First of all to get the best cruise deal online you want to look for cruise sites that use the Revelex or OVS cruise reservation systems. This way you can easily compare prices on staterooms for many of the cruise ships at one time. Some of these sites have time limits on their offers so be ready but don't buy on impulse either. Last minute deals can save you a bundle.

Once you find what you think is a bargain or a good deal you can contact your local cruise travel agent and see if they can meet it or beat it. Some of the cruise lines forbid travel agents to discount their cruises but it doesn't mean the agents don't know about already-discounted cruises.

Once you've found some good travel websites, sign up for their email alerts so you'll get fast notice on last minute cruise deals, package deals or clearance cruise deals or any other special offers that might be floating around out there. Sign up at several sites because you want the ones that are going to email you soon and often with the alerts and some of them may be too slow.

You can ask for a discount even on the final price for any cruise. Ask if they have a senior discount, business discount, student discount, health professional discount or AARP discount or AAA for example. There are also resident discounts or special offers if you live in a particular state.

Make sure to visit several sites and compare, don't just settle on the first one No matter what low rate you find keep searching for a lower rate. The sites that compare several cruise lines at once will often bring up comparisons that make it easy for you to find the best rate.

You want to compare the cruise lines, cruise ships and the itineraries besides the price. You're looking for a bargain - the cheapest cruise rates. Make sure to read the fine print on any site so there are no surprises later. It 's absolutely necessary.

Remember that some offers may be for the second-rate cabins. This means the cabins that are near noisy service doors or elevators or under the ballroom floor or near children 's activity areas. You don't want to find out later that the reason your cabin was cheap was due to the location on the ship. Be aware that the last minute cruise deals or clearance cruise specials may be non-refundable. Read the contract closely.

It doesn't matter if you're looking for a Carnival cruise deal, Disney cruise deal. Royal Caribbean cruise deal, Crystal cruise deal or any other cruise line, or if you and a partner and/or your family plan to go to Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii or the Bahamas or cruise with celebrities; if you spend a little extra time learning the ropes you'll not only save yourself a lot of money but you'll get the best cruise deal online.

Last Minute Alaska Cruise

One of the problems with traveling to Alaska by cruise lines is that the cruise lines generally charge more than what you would need to pay for other destinations such as to the Caribbean and even the Bahamas. Still, one need not be disheartened by the high prices, because with opportunities such as Alaska last minute travel to avail of, there is a way to get to travel at greatly reduced prices.

Canceled Travel Plans

When travelers to Alaska cancel their travel plans, it opens the doors for you to avail of these Alaska last minute travel opportunities because as the time to depart comes closer, the cruise companies begin to try and offload unsold seats at discounted prices. So, if you look around for Alaska last minute travel, tickets you will be sure to get greatly reduced fares and you can always check out various websites of each of the major cruise lines for such deals in this regard.

One of the better options for Alaska last minute travel is Alaskatours.com and here you will learn how prices of Alaska travel cruises fall about two months prior to date of departure and the savings are considerable as you can get fares that are more than fifty percent less than the normal quoted fares. You can also get twelve percent off if you plan on traveling a week prior to the departure date.

To get the best from an Alaska last minute travel opportunity, you must have planned well in advance which means needing to look for a deal when bookings first open as that is the time when there are sure to be the best deals being offered. Next, you need to ensure that your plans are flexible and you should also aim for traveling during off-peak times because cruise companies have many unsold berths when the season is low that they would rather sell cheaply than not sell them at all.

Of course, the best source for Alaska last minute travel is to check out the Internet as that is the place where most last minute deals are available including those for Alaska last minute travel. All it really takes is patience and some good planning and getting to know of the best sources where you can get the best Alaska last minute travel deals which should make it possible for you to enjoy your Alaskan vacation at reduced cost.

Last Minute Whistler Accommodation

Whistler is known as a four-season resort, with activities for all the family available all year-round. If you are planning a trip, when should you come?

First we must divide this question into two parts. If you are coming for the legendary skiing on Whistler’s 8000+ acres, you have to choose sometime between November and April. Although there is skiing available later than April it is not for serious skiers, due to the combination of marginal snow conditions and limited mechanized uplift. Within this time, you should definitely avoid November, as although occasionally there is good snow, more often than not it is too thin on the ground. So your choice is between the months from December to April. What are the main characteristics of each month?

December is a game of two halves. The early part will find the slopes deserted, great deals on accommodation and restaurants and a lottery with respect to snow. If you have come in a great early snow year, this will be a fabulous time to visit. If not, bring your rock skis and plan to spend some time in Whistler’s great spas. Later in December, and especially over Christmas and New Year, you will pay the steepest prices of the season, have trouble getting a table in any of the good restaurants and stand in some brutal line-ups on the Harmony Chair. However you will experience the rush which goes with peak season in a top resort: the buzzing nightlife, the parades, the fireworks and the thrill of First Night in the Village.

January often has the best snowfalls of the year (Jan 2006 was the snowiest month in Whistler for 25 years). It also offers discounted accommodation (you can safely wait to the last minute to get a great deal on a beautiful chalet or condo), and no lift lines, except on weekend powder days, when the locals will crowd the lifts lines at 8.00 to catch the fresh tracks. But it can be cold, and it gets dark early. January is the best month for hard-core skiers.

February and March are more crowded, but more mellow. Avoid Presidents Week in February and Spring Break in March and you could have the best of all worlds: plenty of time for snowfall accumulation to have built up, plenty of buzz in town but easy access to the best tables.

April is mainly for the British market, who come over in droves during their Easter holidays. The peculiarity of the April snow is that there is more of it at the top of the mountain, but less at the bottom, so don’t bother to pay the premium for a ski-in, ski-out condo as it may not be possible. Last minute Whistler accommodation discounts are widely available in April.

In the non-skiing season you can pretty much write off the autumn: too cold to swim in the lakes and too much rain. May and June can be fabulous weather-wise; perfect conditions for white-water rafting in the snow run-off and great golfing weather. But you will probably have to leave it to July and August if you are looking for warm water in Whistler’s beautiful lakes.

Henry Schlee owns the leading vacation rental provider in Whistler, BC, repeatedly ranked as North America’s leading 4-season ski resort. Click here if you are looking for a great choice of Whistler BC accommodation or here if you are looking for last minute Whistler accommodation

last minutes flights

Last Minutes Flights are the Best !

My Experience is to go to London from Milan and return... with 10$ bucks !

I use to buy tickets from www.ryanair.com

is a very very cheap Air Company.

But... :

1) NEVER BE LATE IN CHECK IN (they always do overbooking, or don't wait over the time)

2) DON'T BRING TOO MUCH WITH YOU

3) EAT BEFORE... eh eh

Last Minute Disney Cruise

Top 10 Tips For A Last Minute Disney Cruise:


1. Consider booking your Discount Disney Cruise as early as possible. Get a low-priced stateroom and you could get an upgrade. You probably won't spend time in your room much any way so book the cheaper standard inside cabin.

When booking this category, you won't be assigned a room right away, instead Disney Cruise Line guarantees you a room at this rate and waits to see how the ship fills up. Here's where the magic (upgrade) happens. Everyone wants to get the lowest fare that they can so they are probably going to sell out on the lowest fare. Once it's sold out, what's going to happen is Disney Cruise Line will begin to upgrade people to make room to sell more of the lower fares in order to fill up the ship. They reward those that bought booked their fare first with an upgrade.

2. Request an upgrade when you check in at the port. Of course it depends on how full the cruise is but, sometimes you can get upgraded for a much less expensive fee than if you booked that cabin category originally.

3. Book your vacation in the off season. There are usually discounts available in the fall and spring. The cost in October will be much cheaper than July.

4. Book your trip at the last minute. This is a bit more risky, but Disney gives last minute discounts anywhere from 3 months to 3 days in advance.

5. If you are flexible and are willing to wait until the last minute when the cruise operators need to get the boat filled then try looking for deals at places like Priceline.com Cruises. Thier 110% lowest price guarantee is hard to beat.

6. Find a travel agent that specializes in Disney vacations. Sometimes it is worth paying a small fee to get bigger benefits and travel tips out of your package.

7. If you are in the military, then make sure you ask for the military discount.

8. Give Ebay a try. You might be able to find a cruise that someone booked but can't take it. Travel agents will also post special deals there. Try posting the trip you would like in the "Want it now" section.

9. Get a Disney Visa card. If you are saving up for your vacation anyway then you might as well earn some Disney Reward Dollars in that time to apply towards your trip.

10. Don't plan you vacation around your child's school. Everyone does this so when the school breaks happen the ships fill up. Get you kids out of school for a week. The experience they have will become a memory not forgotten.