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Sceptre Tours, known for its vacation packages to Ireland and Britain, has just expanded its product line with escorted vacations to Italy and European river cruises.
Escorted Italy vacations range in price from $1,739 for an eight-day “Italy’s Great Cities” tour (Rome, Pisa, Florence, Verona) to $3,279 for a 15-day “Best of Italy and Sicily” tour to Rome, Florence, Venice, Ravenna, Assisi, Pompeii, Naples, Sicily, Palermo, Marsala and Capri. Prices include some meals, sightseeing, and hotel accommodations.
Sceptre’s river cruise program features Avalon Waterways. The boats offers large staterooms (172 square feet), the most staterooms with sliding glass doors/French balconies, modern private bathrooms with showers, comfortable hotel-style beds, European-style duvets and Egyptian super-combed cotton linens, flat- screen satellite TVs, spacious closets, and such amenities as minibar, safe, hair dryer and individual climate control. Sceptre’s cruising tours, priced from $1,859 for a nine-day cruise (not including airfare), feature the Saône and Rhône Rivers in France, the Rhine, Danube and other rivers. (www.sceptretours.com)
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Adventures by Disney announced it will add eight new destinations to its list of trips, offering a total of 23 destinations in 2009. Since 2005, Disney has created family-friendly adventures in places around the world. Groups, as well as families, can book the trips, which work as family reunions, girlfriend getaways and other affinity adventures. The eight new itineraries for 2009 are “Alpine Magic” - Italy and Switzerland; “Beantown & The Big Apple” - Boston, Newport and New York City; “Bella Italia" – Sorrento and Florence; “Gateway to the Galapagos” – Ecuador and Galapagos Islands; “Golden Path to Yosemite” – Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park and San Francisco; “Rocky Trails and Mountie Tales” – Montana’s Glacier National Park and Alberta’s Banff National Park; “Safari to South Africa” – Cape Town, the Garden Route and Kapama Game Reserve; and “Taming the Last Frontier” – Fairbanks, Denali National Park and Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. Other foreign destinations include Spain, Ireland, England, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Costa Rica, Peru, China and Australia. Domestic trips visit Disneyland and Hollywood, Arizona/Utah canyon country, Wyoming’s Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, and Philadelphia/Washington/Williamsburg. “In 2009 we will continue to be innovators in the family and group travel business,” said Ed Baklor, senior vice president, Adventures by Disney. “By offering 23 destinations, we are giving our guests the opportunity to enjoy authentic experiences and magical moments only Disney could create in more places than ever before.” Also new in 2009 will be Adventures by Disney Signature Trips. Specified departure dates on the “Safari to South Africa” and “Golden Path to Yosemite” itineraries will be identified as Signature Trips. Guests will enjoy upgraded accommodations and special amenities and events not offered on standard departures. Each trip is accompanied by two Disney-trained guides and features local experts and historians along the way. Special touches set each trip apart from the rest. Groups, for example, may enjoy tile-making or flamenco lessons in Spain, a scavenger hunt in The Louvre or pasta-making in Como, Italy. Tour members ride camels in the Australian Outback, go whale watching in Alaska, and meet historical characters in Boston, Philadelphia and Colonial Williamsburg. Whitewater rafting awaits in Arizona and Wyoming. (877-728-7282, www.adventuresbydisney.com)
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Collette Vacations has introduced the use of Whisper® headsets on select European tours. During the walking portion of tours, the local guide and Collette tour manager talk into a small microphone. Passengers don a comfortable headset to hear about the sights they are seeing, even on busy walkways or in places like museums where it may be difficult to communicate verbally. “By using Whisper headsets, our passengers will no longer feel the need to jockey for a position closer to the tour manager or local guide in order to hear what they are saying,” said Cyndi Zesk, Collette’s vice president of marketing. “Now when they are seeing Italian landmarks like the Colosseum in Rome and St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, they can wander off a bit, take photos, and see what interests them most without feeling like they are missing important information.” Collette has been using this audio technology on select Italy itineraries, especially in busy cities where ambient noise can make it difficult for travelers to hear their tour manager. The headsets are also available on select Explorations by Collette tours, including its 11-day T"reasures of Spain." With only 16-24 passengers per trip, passengers on an Explorations tour enjoy the ease and convenience of group travel with the freedom to have unique and personal adventures off-the- beaten-path. Passengers on Smithsonian Journeys Travel Adventures “Crossroads of Sicily” tour will also have the option of using the headsets and, for this learning vacation, they are available every day. (www.collettevacations.com)
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Trafalgar Tours has released its new 2009 Europe & Britain vacations in a series of three brochures - one to fit every traveler and interest. First Class Europe, Europe - The CostSaver Way and Breakaway together feature eight styles of travel and more than 150 itineraries. Trafalgar presents six new tours in the 2009 First Class brochure:
•The 10-day Eastern Europe Splendors, priced from $1,950 per person, double (land only)
•The 10-day Irish Pubs and Folklore, priced from $1,965 per person, double (land only)
•The 10-day Contrasts of Scandinavia and Russia, priced from $2,625 per person, double (land only)
•The 11-day Contrasts of Spain and Portugal, priced from $2,450 per person, double (land only)
•The 13-day Highlights of Italy and Switzerland, priced from $2,775 per person, double (land only)
•The 17-day Southern Spain and Portugal with Douro Valley Cruise, priced from $4,150 per person, double (land and cruise only) Trafalgar adds the authentic and personal touch to its tours with its Be My Guest program, which invites travelers into local family homes or local venues for the opportunity to have authentic home-cooked meals and one-on-one cultural encounters. This exclusive new feature gives travelers an authentic taste of Europe and is included in all French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan Regional and Free & Easy tours. "Trafalgar has been providing passengers with culturally rich and authentic experiences for over 60 years and in 2009, we are taking this a step further by introducing our 'Be My Guest' program," said Paul Wiseman, Trafalgar President. "If the way to a person's heart is through his stomach, this new dining experience is a sure way to win many hearts, whether it is a family meal cooked by a local 'Mama' on a Tuscan Hills farm or a feast in a centuries old Spanish Bodega." Also in 2009, Trafalgar introduces four new tours in its CostSaver brochure, including three specially designated Family Experiences. These tours offer features and inclusions designed for the fastest-growing segment in travel today: families. Based on Trafalgar’s classic tours, but with extra enticing features for families wanting to explore Europe together, these three vacation options are suitable for kids, parents and grandparents alike. (866-544-4434, www.trafalgartours.com)
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Austin-Lehman Adventures (ALA) has expanded its South American trip portfolio to include an adventurous journey along the Cusco to Puno corridor through Peru’s Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu and then on to the waters of Lake Titicaca. “Our trip represents one of the most comprehensive overviews of Peru and its indigenous cultures available to today’s time-challenged traveler,” says Dan Austin, ALA co-founder and director. ”We accomplish this journey in a 9-day/8-night package from start to finish,” he says, noting that it took three years to carefully research and plan what he calls a “perfectly paced” program that includes Machu Picchu, the pre-Incan ruins at Pucara and a number of unheralded sites such as a kayak excursion on Lake Titicaca to Isla Taquile where residents are in native costume and thrive without electricity. One highlight of the adventure is biking the Tinajani canyon alongside towering rock formations. Nights are spent in exemplary lodgings or luxury campsites. There are four scheduled 2009 departures: Mar. 25- Apr. 3, June 6-14, Aug. 1-9, and Oct. 17-25. The nearly all inclusive, per person (double) rate is $3,998 ($880 single supplement). Internal air is $360. The trip is featured online at:
http://www.austinlehman.com/trips/peru___machu_picchu_to_lake_titicaca_adventure/60.php Austin-Lehman Adventures manages all of the arrangements for its selected destinations that include iconic regions of North, Central and South America as well as southern Africa and Europe. Small groups are limited to 12 guests, or 18 on family departures. (800-575-1540, www.austinlehman.com)
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