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river cruising

It’s that time of year again. No, not autumn leaves tumbling to the ground or skeletons hanging from the neighbours tree, but travel list time! Lonely Planet got things started this week with their look at 50 top places in th world to visit in 2027. It’s a nice list that includes some of my fave spots. Here’s a look at a few of their options, followed by the full top 50. FRENCH POLYNESIA – One of my fave places in the world, with dreamy, tropical landscapes, amazing food and welcoming locals with great stories to tell. The main island Read more

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I’ve become acquainted with Marie-Pier Germain from the Germain Hotels Group over the past couple of years. We met in Montreal during the COVID-19 crisis and have spoken by Zoom or on the phone a couple times since then. Each time we spoke, I would gently ask her when her group, which runs sensational hotels across the country, would finally make an appearance west of Calgary.  Germain, who’s ever so accommodating and delightful to speak with, would always look or sound pained when the question came up. “Jim,” she would say, and I’m paraphrasing here. “You KNOW we want to Read more

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The ranking of Canada’s best travel rewards points currencies is back.   Rewards Canada, the premier loyalty rewards resource for Canadians has revived its near decade old feature that looks at thel best rewards points to collect for travel. Canadians looking to save money on their travels or travel more luxuriously should look no further than collecting these top points currencies. The rankings released today can be found at : https://www.rewardscanada.ca/best-travel-rewards.html   “If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck, well bang for your points that is ” says Patrick Sojka, founder of RewardsCanada.ca “you should look at collecting one Read more

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. recently bumped cruise ship travel to its highest travel advisory level, recommending that Americans avoid cruise travel due to “very high” COVID-19 levels. But Avalon Waterways says they operated more than 100 cruises this past summer and fall without incident. “In fact, after operating more than 100 cruises this summer and fall across Europe, Egypt and the Galapagos Islands – and testing every single cruise passenger in preparation for their journeys home – Avalon Waterways ended its 2021 cruise season with ZERO (0) COVID-19 cases onboard. Not one of our Read more

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It’s been somewhat positive in the travel industry the past couple days. Not so much this morning, however. One of the world’s largest tour companies, Globus, says their Globus, Cosmos and Monograms tours are suspended through the end of August, as are their Avalon Waterways cruises. They’re hopeful of starting up again in September but it’s another blow to the travel and tourism industry. The head of Boeing, meanwhile, is warning that things won’t get better any time for airlines. I also have an update on Disney World, which appears to be accepting hotel reservations in July. So there is Read more

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