I skipped past pretty cliffside homes painted in shades of pale yellow and robin’s egg blue that looked down on the deep green Atlantic Ocean. I was almost paralyzed with fear from driving a monstrously large SUV down shrub-lined roads built for Austin Minis. I read sad stories about shipwrecks, wandered into funky boutiques and deeply inhaled the salty sea air. I recently spent four days in Cornwall, England, traipsing along the coast in search of the perfect seaside village. I found a fistful of beauties; some bathed in the kind of light you’d see in an Impressionist painting and Read more
Taylor Swift is bringing more than great music and a fabulous stage show to Toronto next month. Destination Toronto says more than $282 million in economic impact and more than $152 million in direct spending is expected during Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour presented by Rogers in Toronto through November 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23. The estimated impact numbers released today by Destination Toronto highlight the significant benefit that comes from visitors travelling to the city for a concert, or for any major event or conference. “The Eras Tour is a great example of the impact major Read more
I haven’t been to every island in the Caribbean, so let me make it clear that this isn’t intended to be a list of the overall best beaches in the Caribbean. Rather, this is a list of the top ten Caribbean beaches that I have been to. I’m sure many will still disagree, but please don’t write me a note and chastise me for leaving your fave beach in the Turks and Caicos or Aruba off my list. I WAS in Turks and Caicos in 2009, but it was just for a day and it was cool and windy, and Read more
I recently spent a week on the Holland America Line Eurodam, soaking up the sights on a seven-day Alaska cruise in an out of Seattle. We saw magical glaciers and wondrous waterfalls, as well as surprising sunsets. We explored fun towns like Juneau and Ketchikan, and enjoyed some fine food and excellent on-board entertainment Here’s a look at the Eurodam, and at our excursions. And here’s a link to my previously published story on Holland America’s Global Fresh Fish program. EXCURSIONS AND SCENERY Our first chance to explore anything on land was in Juneau. It’s fairly commercial, but we enjoyed Read more
The puck is about to drop on another National Hockey League season, and both the NHL and its teams are cashing in. The NHL says it has signed Norwegian Cruise Line to a multiyear sponsorship agreement in the U.S, marking Norwegian’s first tie-up with a professional sports league and the NHL’s first with a cruise line. The deal begins tonight when the league drops the puck on its season in North America following two games in Prague between the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres over the weekend. Norwegian will be the first NHL sponsor to receive exposure via the Read more
A new study has found Vancouver to be Canada’s most expensive city for renting Airbnbs. The research, carried out by financial advice website Money.ca, calculated the cost of renting property on Airbnb in different cities. They used Airbnb’s earnings calculator to work out the average cost of renting out an entire one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom property in Canada’s 50 most populated cities. TOP 11 MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES IN CANADA Ranking Location Average Airbnb cost per night (CAD) 1. Vancouver, British Columbia $325 2. Toronto, Ontario $315 3. Mississauga, Ontario $305 =4. Kelowna, British Columbia $286 Lévis, Quebec 6. Quebec Read more
I’m standing on a dock in Seattle on a Saturday morning in August, just a few feet away from the towering form of the Holland America Eurodam. Eurodam head chef Nata Manilal and I are surrounded by dozens of pallets of fresh fish and produce that are about to be tucked into the belly of the Eurodam for a seven-day Alaska cruise. The loading procedure is an intricate, tightly choreographed dance that happens prior to every cruise, and one that most cruise pax never see. We’re only a couple hours from departure, but Manilal is giving me an up-close and Read more
