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Janelle Ortiz
Travel Specialist
Escape.Explore.Experience

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Cruise Planners is Celebrity's Home Based Partner of the Year

Three consecutive years as Celebrity's Home Based Partner of the Year

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Posted on December 04,2010 in

BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE: RIO AND BEYOND

Brazil is not one of the places that we see a lot about in travel magazines or on the web. It is a place that offers much for the traveler. My husband had talked about seeing the "statue" in Rio for quite sometime. Last year while cruising with Princess they highlighted a repositioning from Rio to Fort Lauderdale. That was made just for us. We left Houston on the long flight to Rio to board our Princess Cruise ship.

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Posted on May 13,2010 in

A culinary detour to ancient Jaffa offers a walkable feast

Jaffa, Tel Aviv's twin city, offers a food lover's walking tour of delicatessens, specialty markets and street stands.

The ancient, annexed port city is a favorite haunt of Janna Gur, editor of the popular Israeli food magazine Al Hashulchan (``On the Table'') and author of The Book of New Israeli Food (Schocken, $35).

``Jaffa's a culinary melting pot, with remnants of a disappearing culinary world,'' she said as we headed down the main drag on a sunny Sunday.

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Posted on May 13,2010 in

In Seattle Area, an Assortment of Treats

The factory, in the Fremont neighborhood, occupies a building that was once a trolley barn and later a brewery. Tours of its production line are conducted several times a day. With frequent samples to keep us focused, we were instructed at length by our guide, a pipe-thin woman dressed in funky hand-sewn clothes, on the origins of chocolate, its cultivation and, naturally, the virtues of Theo’s environmentally conscious method.

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Posted on May 13,2010 in

Princess Cruises’ Medical Departments Earn Unique Distinction with Prestigious Quality Certification and Accreditation

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (May 6, 2010) – The Princess Cruises  Medical Departments have once again been credited with meeting the quality health standards of an internationally recognized healthcare organization.

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Posted on May 06,2010 in

West Coast cruising suffers another blow with Mariner pullout

 

By: Johanna Jainchill

May 03, 2010

When Royal Caribbean International said last week that it was pulling the Mariner of the Seas off its Mexican Riviera itinerary, the blow was painful but familiar to the ports along Mexico’s Pacific coast and in Southern California.

The region will see a major reduction in cruise traffic over the next year.

 

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Posted on May 04,2010 in

Underwater adventures: Top Caribbean dive sites offer an array of attractions

BY ANNE KAZEL-WILCOX

SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD

I've been a scuba diver for over 20 years. My dive travels have spanned Baja and Bali, the Mediterranean, Australia's Great Barrier Reef and more. But give me the Caribbean any day for its amazing diversity of underwater attractions.

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Posted on May 04,2010 in

New Ship Celebrity Eclipse Swaps Launch Celebrations to Support UK Holidaymaker Repatriation Mission

New cruise ship Celebrity Eclipse has cancelled the first leg of her launch celebrations - scheduled to begin on April 22 - in order to assist U.K. travelers whose return from their Easter break has been halted due to the impact of ash clouds from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland. Celebrity Cruises is working with U.K. tour operators to collect these stranded vacationers affected by the airport closures and subsequent flight cancellations that have affected travelers in Northern Europe. 

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Posted on April 20,2010 in

Cruise Planners Rakes in the Honors

Mar 19, 2010

Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, was recognized by three top travel companies with awards reflecting dedicated corporate partnerships and support to the cruise travel industry. The awards include the “Globe Award” from American Express Vacations; the Globus “Top Producing Premier Partner” award; and recognition in Oceania Cruises’ Cruise Connoisseur Club.

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Posted on March 20,2010 in

CRUISE PLANNERS DONATES $18,000 TO FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION

MIAMI, FL – February 24, 2010 –Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, donated $18,000 to the Fisher House Foundation as part of its CP Cares initiative. The funds were collected at the company’s annual convention late last year through Cruise Planners t-shirt sales and a silent auction.

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Posted on February 24,2010 in

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES REPORTS RECORD WAVE SEASON ACTIVITY

Summer Price Increase Effective March 22

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Posted on February 24,2010 in

2/17/10 - COSTA DELIZIOSA: ITALIAN STYLE COMES TO THE ARABIAN GULF

Only 6 days to go to the big inauguration event for the Costa Deliziosa (www.costadeliziosa.com), the new jewel of the Costa Cruises fleet,  which will be held in Dubai on February 23 in a unique and innovative ceremony staged by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) together with Europe’s n.1 cruise line.

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Posted on February 18,2010 in

2/15/10 - PAPUA NEW GUINEA ADOPTS NEW CRUISE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Peter Vincent, Chief Executive of Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Promotion Authority, announced today the adoption of a comprehensive cruise development strategy for the nation. The strategy will be released in full on March 30. Key elements will be available to cruise lines and others for whom PNG is destined to become a focus of interest over the next five years.

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Posted on February 18,2010 in

POLAR ISSUES RAISED

Passengers from Orion on a Zodiac.The polar regions are seeing an increased push in demand for voyages and landings. With more ships and capacity appearing in these regions over the last decade, there is no shortage of issues at hands for the lines to deal with. 

“All of a sudden we have a situation where there is a lot of interest in the Polar areas with the climate change hype,” said Sven Lindblad, president and founder of Lindblad Expeditions. “Companies are waking up and saying ‘hey we’re going to take some people to Antarctica today,’ without any prior knowledge. It would be like me waking up tomorrow and wanting to run tours in Vegas.”

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Posted on February 08,2010 in

GET THE ORDERS ROLLING; ‘NEW GETS OLD'

Angela Reale Mathisen & Oivind Mathisen

The Maasdam calls in Saguenay This is a time of contrasts. The industry is introducing ever more amazing ships while raising standards and the bar on product delivery. At the same time, ticket prices are dropping lower than ever due to the economic downturn. We are seeing seven-day Caribbean cruises being offered as low as $399 per person this coming winter; year-end sales; and two-for-one pricing for 2010.

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Posted on February 08,2010 in

MEDITERRANEAN CULINARY ADVENTURE AWAITS GUESTS ON WINDSTAR’S WIND SURF

Windstar Cruises, which operates a three-ship fleet of luxury yachts that explore hidden harbors and secluded coves of the world’s most treasured destinations, unveils its new dining experience in Wind Surf’s Degrees restaurant

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Posted on February 08,2010 in

Royal Caribbean & Haiti Relief

The devastating earthquake in Haiti has saddened us all at 
Royal Caribbean®.



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Posted on January 25,2010 in
 
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