Great Caribbean hotels in Jamaica, Bahamas, Saint Lucia and more. A look at new Hilton hotels in Greece, London, California and more. And a look at new cruise ships from Norwegian Cruise Line, Explora and Royal Caribbean. SIX GREAT CARIBBEAN HOTELS AND RESORTS I’ve been lucky enough to visit a couple of dozen islands in the Caribbean. Here are some of my fave hotels in the region. THE CRANE, BARBADOS Established in 1887, this is considered the oldest, continuously run hotel in the entire Caribbean. It’s a posh but not over the top property on the quiet, southeast coast of Read more
Norwegian Cruise Line
My travel report for today looks at travel trends for Canadians, as well as what looks like an inevitable, major expansion of the Toronto Island Airport. I’m also debuting a new “Cruise News and Views” section on my blog to help people keep track of the booming cruise industry. And I’ve got a report on Hilton hotels use of artificial intelligence to help travelers make decisions, as well as an update on European travel. CANADIANS CAUTIOUS ABOUT TRAVEL: DOMESTIC TRIPS STILL A PRIORITY According to the Canadian Automobile Association’s Travel Wise survey, more than half of Canadians (51%) now say geopolitical and 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
Air Transat flight attendants could strike as early as January 3, 2024, a move that would throw the winter travel season into chaos. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced that its 2,100 flight attendant members at Air Transat approved a strike mandate by a nearly unanimous vote of 99.8%, by far the highest tally in the history of the Air Transat component of CUPE. Union officials said the vote reflects the flight attendants’ exceptionally high level of dissatisfaction with their working conditions, particularly with wages and purchasing power. Following a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall outlook Read more
Airlines, cruise lines and tour operators have temporarily halted service in Israel as war rages in the Middle East. Air Canada and other major airlines have temporarily halted flights to Israel, and the Canadian government is warning citizens to avoid all but essential visits in response to the surprise Hamas attack on Israel and the Israeli government’s retaliatory strikes. Some 900 people have been killed in Israel and roughly 650 have died in Gaza due to retaliatory air strikes, CNN reports. The official government of Canada travel advisory site says Canadians should “avoid non-essential travel in Israel, the West Bank Read more
