Archive for the 'East Coast' Category
Walt Disney World deal: Free food with family resort packages
June 29, 2010 5:58am
Walt Disney World in Florida has a late-summer offer for families. Select a ticket-and-room package and get the dining plan for free.
Deal: The magic number for the Magic Your Way package with free dining is four — two adults and two children. The Free Disney Dining Plan with this offer includes one sit-down meal, one quick-service meal and one snack per day for four at more than 100 restaurants at Walt Disney World.
To take advantage of this deal, you must reserve a room at one of the resort’s moderate-priced hotels that comes with Magic Your Way Base Tickets that admit each family member into one of four theme parks per day, including Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Prices for a five-night package start at $1,843, plus taxes and airfare. The minimum stay is three nights, and the maximum is 10.
When: The free-dining offer is good for stays Aug. 15 through Sept. 30. You can book this offer, based on availability, through 8:59 p.m. PDT Aug. 14.
Fourth of July travel: Chicago tops Priceline’s list for top spots, while L.A. is MIA
June 28, 2010 3:14pm
Hey, Los Angeles, no one’s coming to visit for the Fourth of July, at least according to the 30,000 hotel room booking requests made on Priceline.com. (Well, hardly anyone.)
The online booking company Monday released its annual survey of Top Destinations for July 4th, and Chicago’s downtown Millennium Park area took the top spot. Los Angeles didn’t make the list, according to spokesman Brian Ek. “L.A.’s not a big July 4th destination for our customers,” he wrote in an e-mail. “They seem to prefer San Diego for the holiday weekend.”
Ouch!
The last time L.A. appeared on the list was as No. 50 in 2007. The Disneyland area in Orange County, however, ranked No. 18 in 2009 and No. 21 in 2008 but didn’t make the cut this year.
The big draw appears to be Midwest and East Coast cities with festivals and big fireworks displays. Chicago claims spots one and five on the list, downtown St. Louis comes in second, Boston’s harbor area comes in third and downtown Toronto claims No. 4.
Manhattan: New luxury hotels opening this summer
June 28, 2010 10:36am
How can new luxury hotels opening up in New York City this summer be the “end of an era”? Travel industry newspaper Travel Weekly reports that after these posh newbies make their splashy debuts, few new luxury hotels will rise anytime soon because financing dried up when the economy went south in 2008.
Still, 33 hotels are scheduled to open in New York this year (a dozen of those in the “luxury” category), with 10 scheduled for next year, the report says. So keep your eyes peeled for some of these upscale-and-coming sites.
InterContinental New York Times Square, 300 W. 44th St., (800) 496-7621. The 36-story contemporary hotel with 607 rooms is set to open July 12 with sweeping river and city views, a 2,700-square-foot presidential suite that features panoramas of the city, a French bistro led by chef Todd English and more.
Andaz 5th Avenue, 485 5th Ave. at 41st St., (212) 601-1234. This hotel, scheduled to open July 5, claims to be bookishly similar to the New York Public Library, which sits across the street, but can any Andaz be that subdued? The limestone facade is historic — the 1916 Rogers Peet Building — and the hotel promises high ceilings with 184 rooms. The hotel is offering a preview rate of $295 per night, excluding tax, from July 25 through Sept. 1.
AirTran fare sale starts at $124 each way to Atlanta and $129 to Baltimore
June 28, 2010 8:55am
Airfares are up about 24% this summer over last year, Bing Travel recently reported. Now AirTran Airways offers a little relief with a fare sale that includes flights from Los Angeles to points east that may be good for college kids who are returning to school in the fall and looking for a cheap one-way ticket. But act quickly; the offer ends Tuesday night.
Deal: The sale includes AirTran flights from more than 70 cities. From Los Angeles, one-way fares start at $124 to Atlanta, $129 to Baltimore and $114 to Milwaukee; prices don’t include taxes and fees. The lowest fares are for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and a 10-day advance purchase is required.
When: The special fares are available for travel starting July 8 (if you book Monday) through Nov. 17, but you must reserve by 8:59 p.m. PDT Tuesday. Blackout dates are July 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25 and 30; and Aug. 1, 6 and 8.
Regent Seven Seas: 2-for-1 sale on cruises to Europe, Caribbean and more
June 23, 2010 5:57am
Regent Seven Seas Cruises has a sale on selected 2010 trips that expires June 30: 2-for-1 fares and an added discount of up to $3,000 per person.
Deal: Regent Seven Seas bills itself as the “all-inclusive” cruise line, so let’s start with what’s included in the rates: round-trip airfare from more than 20 U.S. and Canadian gateway cities, including Los Angeles; ground transfers; shore excursions; meals; beverages (including wine, beer, etc.); in-suite minibar; and room service. The special offer calculates 2-for-1 fares from the brochure rate — and adds a discount of up to $3,000 per person on top of that figure.
When: You can sail as late as December, but you must book by June 30.
Tested: A 10-night sailing from Venice to Athens that departs Oct. 17 showed brochure rates starting at $15,595 per person based on double occupancy. The 2-for-1 fare started at $7,550 per person, based on double occupancy — roughly half the brochure rate with an additional savings of $500 per couple.
Big entertainment and big on-board features define Norwegian Epic
June 18, 2010 1:19pm
With Blue Man Group hitting the big blue sea for the first time, the Norwegian Epic is more than ready for its close-up. The largest ship, with a colorful flourish on its hull, in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet makes its debut leaving England on June 24 and arriving in New York City on July 1. The seven-day cruise is sold out, but the company is keeping a wait list, just in case there are cancellations.
Once the 4,200-passenger vessel is in New York, country singer Reba McEntire will christen it on July 2, and the Epic will make its TV debut when the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks celebration is broadcast live from the ship.
And then there’s everything that’s happening on board. Aside from things like the largest spa and largest LED chandelier on the ocean, the big drawing card for this cruise ship is big entertainment. The Blue Man Group will be featured at a 685-seat theater. Then Headliners Comedy Club, which seats 280, will feature acts such as the Second City Comedy Troupe, and a big-top-style show called Cirque Dreams and Dinner promises “music, mayhem and acrobatic imagination.” (Leaves me wondering what’s for dessert.)
Pay $169 to stay at Manhattan’s St. Giles Hotel-The Court
June 16, 2010 5:57am
St. Giles Hotel-The Court near Grand Central Terminal (in photo above) in New York City has a summer sale on rooms that starts at $169 per night, but you have to book online by Friday to get the rate.
The deal: This hotel and its sister, the Tuscany, are former W hotels that were sold to London-based St. Giles Hotels in April. I found this online-only deal for the Court on Travelzoo, so make sure to use the promotion code “tzoo” when booking. The $169 per night rate (plus tax) includes a room, with a king-size bed, sporting the hotel’s chic red-and-black design.
When: The rate is available through Sept. 6. Book by 8:59 p.m. PDT Friday.
Tested: I found availability on the Fourth of July weekend and other weekends at the $169 pre-tax rate. The same room costs $259 pre-tax per night without the special rate, according to my online check of selected dates.
Caveats: You must pay in full when you book this deal, and no refunds or exchanges are allowed. And Just a heads-up that the hotel charges $14.95 per day for Internet/WiFi access in your room, although you can use WiFi for free in the lobby.
Contact: St. Giles Hotel-The Court, 120-130 E. 39th St.; (212) 686-1600
— Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger
Photo: The interior of New York’s Grand Central Terminal, which is near St. Giles Hotel-The Court Credit: NYC & Co.
New York: Cruise past the Statue of Liberty and enjoy lunch too
June 13, 2010 7:01am
If you’d like to ask Lady Liberty to do lunch without stopping to climb her pedestal, here’s your chance.
Starting June 17, Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, together with its sister company World Yacht, will offer a two-hour Statue Lunch Cruise to the Statue of Liberty three times a week.
The cruises will be aboard World Yacht’s Duchess, which will sail toward the iconic statue (without docking) while a buffet lunch is served. On the return trip, guests will take in the sights of New York Harbor, New York City and New Jersey.
Big screens going up at airports around the globe for World Cup soccer fans
June 10, 2010 12:37pm
Where will you be watching the World Cup?
Dubai-based Emirates airline said Thursday that it will install a number of plasma screens at airports around the world — New York, Zurich, London (Heathrow), Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Hamburg, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Dubai — so that fans who are on the road won’t miss the action, which starts Friday in South Africa.
The airline, which is a sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, also plans to screen recent matches on board its flights and provide text updates on all the action during the month-long event.
Heathrow Airport was the first to post special maps on its website, using soccer-ball icons to point visitors to the newly mounted 60-inch screens in Terminals 1, 3, 4 and 5.
— Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger
Photos (from top):
An Emirates flight attendant poses with Zakumi the leopard, the official World Cup mascot, to kick off the in-flight soccer viewing service. Credit: Emirates
Map of soccer-viewing spots in Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 1. Credit: www.heathrowairport.com
Got seersucker? Take a stylish spin through Washington, D.C.
June 6, 2010 1:10pm
Ask yourself: What would the Tour de France be like if the sought-after yellow jersey were made of, oh, say, seersucker? OK, maybe not, but there’s something about wearing the crinkly cool fabric to go bicycle riding that just screams retro summer.
At the Seersucker Bike Ride and Social on June 12, you can stylishly cycle a 5-mile route around Washington, D.C., and then attend an apres-bike party at the tony Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. This hidden gem near Rock Creek Park features 14 acres of stunning gardens and a Georgian-style mansion that was once the home of socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post cereal fortune.
