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
October 2024
The crowds are gone. But the weather’s still pretty good. Fall is a fabulous time of year to explore European cities and villages. Here are some of my favorite places to check out in Europe in autumn, including Portugal, Italy, France and Austria. WESTERN ALGARVE, PORTUGAL We stayed in the village of Burgau, Portugal a few years ago with friends, and absolutely loved it. It’s a small, huggable little town with several nice restaurants, but it’s not as well-known as other villages on the Algarve and never seemed crowded with visitors. You’ll find fabulous hiking along the cliffs in both Read more
I always knew I was ahead of my time. Okay, all joking aside, I was happy to read in Travel + Leisure magazine that a poll of 2,000 U.S. travellers found that Maui is the most romantic place on earth. The magazine said that FunJet Vacations recently released the findings of a poll it conducted with Talker Research looking into the most romantic destinations in the world. After polling 2,000 “general population Americans” to find out their preferred spots for romance, it turned out that Maui led the way, with 34% of respondents naming it the most romantic destination in Read more
Conde Nast Traveller this week gave out Readers’ Choice Awards for cruising and cruise ships for 2024, and Viking did exceeedingly well. In the mega-ship category, Princess came out on top, followed by Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises. I had a great trip on the MSC World Europa earlier this year. In the large ship category, first prize went to Virgin Voyages, followed by Disney Cruise Line and Costa Cruises. For medium ships, Viking came out with the gold medal, followed by Explora Journeys and Crystal Cruises. For small ships, the number one spot went to Paul Gauguin Cruises, with Read more
Chicago has been named the best big city in the U.S. for the eighth year in a row, and Victoria has been awarded best small city in the world for the second year running. Conde Nast Travel today (Oct. 1), issued a variety of lists of top cities, best hotels, top islands and more with its 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards. My home state of California came out looking strong, with San Diego being named the number two big city in the States and San Francisco finishing sixth. For International Large Cities, Montreal came in ninth and Vancouver fourth, so kudos Read more
