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WOW!   This is great news for everyone that ever wanted to go to the South Pacific but never had time to fly 17 hours to get there.     

Sandals to build overwater suites at St. Lucia resort

From Travel Weekly:  By: Gay Nagle MyersMarch 10, 2010

I just returned from a great weekend trip to Chicago, one of my favorite cities to explore.     It is a very cosmopolitan city with amazing restaurants, sights to see, a beautiful waterfront and every cultural venue imaginable.  

My daughter and I stayed at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place where we had a spectacular view of Lake Shore Drive, downtown and Lake Michigan from our 24th floor room.     The Hyatt offers free transportation to Watertower, Navy Pier and the Museum Complex.      Many other hotels offer this service as well.     Taxi-Cabs are plentiful as well as public transportation to get around town easily.  



Many of my clients on the East coast have not experienced the "big waters" of the Midwest.     Besides the large rivers (Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers to name a few) we are also have the Great Lakes region.     Chicago covers a large portion of the southwestern side of Lake Michigan.     It is hard to believe, but you can look out across Lake Michigan and it looks just like the ocean as you cannot see the other side no matter how clear it is.   That is how BIG Lake Michigan is!  

I am crazy about museums, zoos, aquariums, and festivals.   Chicago is full of them!     The most popular festival for everyone is the Taste of Chicago.  It is a MUST see for locals and visitors alike.    This year's Taste of Chicago on June 25 - July 4 at Grant Park.  A lineup of internationally renowned entertainers will be performing free concerts during the 29th Annual Taste of Chicago. The food and the atmosphere is great and there is nothing like watching the fireworks over Lake Michigan ... spectacular!




The Museum Complex could keep you busy for a few days.   The Field Museum of Natural History, Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Contemporary Art to name just a few of the interesting museums in the complex and scattered throughout the city.     



You will definitely want to visit Shedd Aquarium to see the Beluga Whales and the Pacific Reef exhibit.    




Your kids will also love visiting the Brookfield Zoo or the Lincoln Park Zoo.   


If it is upscale shopping and dining you want, look no further than Water Tower Place or the Magnificant Mile.  






One of my favorite places to visit in Chicago is a humble one .... Super Dawg!    Not only is the the very best hotdog in Chicago ... but maybe the world.    Served up with it's own special Route 66 Charm.     Out of the way, but worth the trip!

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The sadness and despair of the Haitian people is being felt worldwide.    Many people are donating money, goods, and time to help in the relief effort.    As a travel agent, I recognize that one of the things we can do is to help the island sustain it's economy.   A popular stop for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is Labadee, Haiti.     I have been to this beautiful area and hope that everyone that lives nearby and works at the private beach is safe tonight.   Royal Caribbean has had to suspend service to Labadee temporarily but we are hoping that the cruise line can begin to bring tourists back to Haiti soon.   While tourism isn't as big in Haiti as it is in their neighboring country Dominican Republic (also located on Hispaniola), it is important to realize that we cannot stop tourism to this island.    The most popular tourism area is in the Dominican Republic in the Punta Cana region.     If you were to drive from Port au Prince to Punta Cana it would take a minimum of 10-12 hours part of it over a mountain range.     The Domincan Republic sustained NO damages and everything is operating there as normal.     Below is an official report from the Minister of Tourism in the Dominican Republic:



HAITI EARTHQUAKE- STATEMENT BY THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (DR) MINISTRY OF TOURISM

SANTO DOMINGO, Jan. 13, 2010 -- The Dominican Republic (DR) Ministry of Tourism is deeply
saddened by the tragic loss of life and extensive earthquake damage to the people of Haiti, its
neighboring country. The Dominican government is providing a staging area at some of the international
airports located in the Island.

The DR experienced no damage from the earthquake and all transportation systems, communication
systems, tourism businesses and medical facilities are operating smoothly, making the country available
to offer support to the relief effort in any way needed.

“The DR is making available its medical facilities for earthquake victims and is providing international
relief organizations access to Haiti through the airports and seaports. Our transportation systems,
communications systems, hotels, resorts, beaches and natural environment suffered no damage here.
We are grateful and with deep concern open our hearts to our neighbors and will continue to do
everything we can to help them and reassure global travelers that the DR is receiving visitors.” said Mr.
Francisco Javier Garcia, Minister of Tourism.

The DR shares the eastern third of the Island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Punta Cana, the major global
tourism destination in the DR is located approximately 400 miles (633 kilometers) east of Haiti’s capital,
or a 10-12 hour drive, with numerous mountain ranges separating the two countries.

DR Tourism Update:
 All of the DR’s eight international airports are open and receiving flights.
 All of the DR’s cruise terminals and seaports are open and receiving ships.
 All of the DR’s beaches, hotels, resorts and tourism businesses are conducting normal business
operations.
 At this time, no flights or group tours to the DR have been cancelled.

For more information, please visit: www.GoDominicanRepublic.com or www.DomincanToday.com. To
learn how you can help Haiti, visit: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/.

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Anytime you see me blog about the airlines you can just bet that it is mostly bad news.    Today is not different but there are a few spots of sunlight in this post.  

British Airways (full story in Travel Weekly) - British Airways’ flight attendants voted Monday to go on strike during the Christmas season. Ninety percent voted to strike.   The walkout is expected to begin on Dec. 22 and last for 12 days.   It doesn't sound like a very merry Christmas for travelers flying from or to the United Kingdom this holiday season.

Conflicting Economic News for the Airlines - The first story I read was all doom and gloom about how the airlines were going to lose 5.6 billion in 2010.  Right below that article was one that offered hope due to higher air volume in November.   Of course they neglected to mention that this "rise" was because of the busiest holiday season, Thanksgiving!  The third story was even more euphoric extolling the good news that airline's economic woes must be over because United was ordering new aircraft.  Would you believe that ALL THREE of these articles were in the SAME issue of Travel Weekly?!?


Boeing has announced it's first test flight of the Dreamliner, a Boeing 787.   See it here:   http://www.newairplane.com/.