Alaska Rail And Cruise Packages Add Value, Adventure

Alaska rail and cruise packages, commonly called Cruise Tours, are heating up as more travelers opt to see more of what the land of the midnight sun has to offer. Choosing a multi-day land exploration, either before or after a seven-day cruise line sailing, gets passengers deeper into the Alaska heartland than possible by ship only. Now, a third-party travel source is offering to combine their package with a standard cruise line experience for something different.

Rocky Mountaineer is a rail line that offers over 45 Canadian vacation packages on four unique routes through British Columbia and Alberta, each rich in history and natural wonders. The luxurious train travels by daylight through the wild beauty of Canada’s West and is a great way to experience the majestic Canadian Rockies either before or after an Alaska cruise.

Traveling eastbound or westbound on the Rocky Mountaineer, the all-daylight rail journey departs three times per week on both the First Passage to the West and the Journey Through the Clouds routes from the end of April until the beginning of October. The Rainforest to Gold Rush route runs from the middle of May until the end of September, as does the Whistler Sea to Sky Climb route.On board, Rocky Mountaineer offers different levels/choices of service for rail journeys too. All passengers get onboard attendants that provide friendly service and informative commentary of the regions through which the train travels. Gold, Silver and Red levels of service offer more onboard amenities.

Now, combining Rocky Mountaineer extensive experience on land with Holland America Line’s experience at sea, comes a package that bundles it all.

Called Canadian Rockies Highlights & Coastal Passage with Pre-Tour Cruise – 2013, the package includes three days onboard the Rocky Mountaineer, a seven-night Holland America Alaskan cruise, eight dinners, eight lunches, nine breakfasts and five nights of hotel accommodation. Also included are Banff & Seattle tours, a Yoho Park tour and Helicopter Flightseeing.

The offer is simple: book a Coastal Passage rail/cruise trip by March 28 directly through Rocky Mountaineer and earn up to $1300 in credits toward the cruise portion, or extra hotel nights/restaurant meals along the train portion in cities like Seattle, Vancouver and Banff.

Want to know more about what travel via rail in the Rockies is like? Check this video:




[Photo Credit- Rocky Mountaineer]

Travel Bargains: Some Of The Best Go To Loyal Subscribers

Presenting their service or merchandise as a “travel bargain,” airlines, hotels, cruise lines, makers of travel gear and more are looking to catch our attention with a fabulous offer. Sometimes these offers have little extra value, come with restrictions or are good only at a time when it is not convenient to buy. Still, there are some coming out this year that do offer good value and have few rules, prompting savvy consumers, who wait for the best deal, to buy.

TravelSmith online travel accessories had a “buy one, get one for 50% off” sale, one-day only, the day before Thanksgiving. Proving how important it is to subscribe to email updates from preferred providers, only subscribers to TravelSmith’s updates got the offer. Restrictions still applied, the offer was only valid on regular-priced items and to redeem, customers had to click through to the deal via that email.Now that holiday shopping season is officially here, look for more offers like these from other suppliers we can get preferred status with, just by adding an email address to their list.

Don’t want a lot of junk email? Set up a separate email account just for this sort of offer. That way, they can give your email address away all they want to and it all goes to the same place.



[Photo credit- Flickr user Mat Honan]

Brand Wars: The Airline Booking Battle Will Be Televised

Online travel agencies have had a solid run over the past two years. They picked up some market share as would-be travelers were willing to poke around a little more to score cheap tickets. High rates of unemployment and under-employment and general economic uncertainty, of course, were enough to make consumers value every dollar a little more. This opened an opportunity for online travel agencies to advance in the marketplace, and chip away at the dominance of their suppliers (i.e., the airlines) on the web.

Yet, the market is turning. Next year is expected to be a strong one for the air travel industry relative to 2010, and 2010 was a vast improvement over 2009. For online travel agencies, this provides some benefit as a rising tide, but it’s likely to favor their suppliers, as customers are more likely to go with what they know over putting in some effort to find the largest discounts.

Online travel agencies will have to overcome this tendency by investing smartly and substantially in their own brands. This is what we’re seeing in the latest move by CheapOair, the one of the 10 largest online travel agencies in the sector, in its recent announcement of a marketing mix change, which teases a broader strategic shift given changing market conditions.


A Changing Travel Market
From 2008 to 2010, online travel agencies were able to chip away at the online market share of their suppliers, reducing the suppliers from owning 62 percent of the online business in 2008 to 59 percent in 2010, according to travel industry research firm PhoCusWright. Bargain hunters drove the market, which eroded the importance of brand loyalty.

From 2009 to 2010, PhoCusWright notes a “strong countercyclical performance for the OTA category.” In 2009, sales fell only 1 percent for the sector, compared to 5 percent for the total online leisure/unmanaged business travel market. And, online travel agencies have posted double-digit gains in 2010.

Stronger industry conditions, however, are better for the suppliers, and PhoCusWright observes, “With the rebound continuing, supplier websites will likely regain momentum as the OTA fight to hold on to their share gains.”

In regards to the actual travel experience, ostensibly, the airline’s brand matters most. When a passenger books through an online travel agency, the brand associated with the transaction lasts for a few minutes – or a few hours, depending on the diligence of the buyer’s search. Meanwhile, interaction with the airline’s brand starts during the search for a ticket, persists through the flight and ends sometime after the passenger hops into a town car to get to his ultimate destination. To register in the customer consciousness, online travel agencies need to develop the sort of presences that will keep them top of mind.

This runs counter to the traditional online customer acquisition models associated with the online travel agency business, which involve a combination of search engine optimization, online ads, affiliate programs and social media. These are transaction-oriented tactics, which speak directly to the brand-barrenness of big discounting.

More Than the Transaction
The largest online travel agencies have already moved past transaction myopia: everybody knows the Travelocity gnome, Priceline‘s William Shatner and the likes of “Cooper” from Expedia. For all but the top players, however, investments in mass media brand development (such as television) have generally been eschewed in favor of what’s been known to work. Speaking at Business Insider’s IGNITION conference last week, Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow noted that Travelocity grew to $4 billion in revenue through online means before it moved to television to get to the next level.

Yet, for the online travel agency sector to hold its ground – and even grow – in 2011, brand has to matter more, and this means casting a wider media net. This, plus the size of CheapOair relative to its competitors, is what caught my attention about its recent media diversification. The company is launching its first television ad campaign, “Get More for Less,” in an aggressive move to get out in front of the imminent online travel market shift.

The move to television is an aggressive one, and it comes a bit ahead of “schedule” for CheapOair, if you use the Travelocity number as a reference point. Expedia pulled in close to $3 billion in revenue last year, for example, and Priceline at $2.3 billion. Travelong/CheapOair generated $825 million in revenue in 2009 and has grown at a year-over-year rate of 45 percent this year, resulting in forecasted 2010 revenues of $1.2 billion.

The company’s CEO, Sam Jain, says, “TV is a new strategy for CheapOair and as we head into our 6th year we believe this is the right time to expand our marketing efforts. TV is a natural evolution from our current digital marketing and will help build awareness among a larger audience and introduce more people to the brand.” The countercyclical tendencies of the online travel agency market relative to travel as a whole reinforce this point.

Pointing to the potential for a virtuous cycle, CheapOair’s Sr. Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Bill Miller, adds, “This new TV campaign should draw in more customers for us which in turn will bring more value to our supplier partners. Our suppliers — airlines, hotels, car rentals —- want valuable and efficient distribution partners. I believe we are all that and more and this TV campaign is just another example of how we can extend our marketing reach on the behalf of our supplier partners.”

Fashion versus Reality
It’s been fashionable among the digerati to claim the death of other forms of media, and I’m as guilty as the rest. But, the reality is that SEO and online ads (a la Google’s pay-per-click model) are becoming increasingly crowded and competitive. Since they are focused on the transaction rather than the brand, they don’t provide for a relationship with the customer that results in a gradual reduction in cost per revenue over time. It’s strictly “pay by the drink,” and that can get pricey.

With the travel market starting to tip in favor of the travel suppliers over the online travel agencies, the costs associated with traditional online marketing will become even higher, as brand brings customers back to the suppliers and online travel agencies chase a shrinking share of bargain hunters. For online travel agencies to compete effectively, they have to make their own investments in branding – a commitment that lacks the predictability of other forms of marketing.

Strangely, television may become the key to winning on the web in the travel industry in 2011. A better market translates to the amplification of the importance of brand, and commercials are still a critical aspect of this in the consumer world.

A battle of the brands is about to break out. The good news is that it’s for your benefit … and you’ll get to watch it on TV!

[photo by Do u remember via Flickr]

Hilton January: buy now save all year

The end of the holiday season doesn’t mean all the discounts are gone. So, while the big box retailers begin to reset their prices to “normal,” Hilton is extending Christmas cheer through the end of January. The hotel chain is offering cuts of up to 33 percent on weekend rates in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. The brands included are Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites (keep in mind that not all properties are participating, though).

As long as you book by the end of the month, you can secure the discounted pricing for any Friday, Saturday or Sunday stay throughout the rest of the year. So, instead of scrambling at the last minute for Valentine’s Day, birthday or anniversary presents, get it all out of the way now. This could really take the headache out of gift-giving this year.

[Photo by Sue E via Flickr]

Cruising the Greek Isles on the MSC Musica: Best trip 2009

I never saw myself as a cruise ship sort of traveler until MSC Musica made me a changed woman.

I’m the person who lived for two years in N’Jowara, The Gambia in a room at the back of an empty shop house without running water, window panes or electricity. Until my MSC Musica cruise, my extended boat travel was five days on the Niger River in Mali, first perched on feed sacks in a ramshackle wooden cargo boat before switching to a small boat that was poled by a man and a boy. By the time I set foot on dry land in Timbuktu, I thought of changing my name to Huck Finn.

Back in February, I wrote a post on cruise ship deals. By the end of the post, I thought “If this is such a deal, why aren’t I going?” Since one of my mom’s lifelong dreams has been to go to Greece, I put the two ideas together and searched out a cruise. The Musica, one of the ships in the MSC cruise lines fleet, seemed perfect. After one day into the cruise, I knew I picked right .

Unfortunately, my mom had had to pull out of the cruise 10 days before the ship was to depart. Fortunately, my teenage daughter was able to switch in for my mom for a $100 charge to change the ticket.

Why MSC Cruise Lines? When picking a cruise ship, know yourself and what kind of vacation you’re after. MSC is geared towards multi-generational travel. If you’re a single person looking for love, this isn’t it. If kids make you shudder, look elsewhere.

I picked this company because kids 17 and under travel for free if traveling with an adult. One kid per adult. This gave me the idea of taking my seven year old son with us. Originally, my teenage daughter hadn’t wanted to go.

Also, MSC was offering half-price deals. We were able to get a ocean view superior room with a balcony for about $1,600 per person for the 7-day cruise. If I had planned to go without my mom, I would have gone for the inside room for $999 a person.

Other pluses were the ship’s activities–most importantly, Kids Club. The ship also has an exercise room, two swimming pools, a hot tub, various food options and activities geared for people of all ages. There is a stage show each night and the shore excursions promised a wide variety of options from adventure to cultural to historical.

Because MSC is an Italian cruise line, the feel is European. This was a way to travel to Greece with an Italian twist. That also had a big role in my decision to go with this company.

With that said, if you get irritated by hearing announcements in five different languages you might get irritated. Our shore excursions were in English and sometimes in another language. When the guide was speaking in the other language, I was able to let what he or she said in English resonate. I liked this.

Food and Drinks: There were two dining options covered by the cost of the cruise. Two restaurants offered sit down meals where you ordered off the menu and one restaurant was strictly buffet. Ah, the buffet. Located on the top floor of the ship with expansive plate glass windows, the buffet called to us for breakfast and lunch. We also took fruit, yogurt, salami, cheese and bread with us from the buffet so would have a snack on our shore excursions.

During breakfast coffee and juice were included.

For dinner, we were assigned to a table at one of the dining rooms. Because there were only three of us, we were assigned to a table with two American women who were living in Vienna for the fall. Meeting up with them each evening was terrific. They seemed to enjoy us as well.

Dinner was a five-course meal of various options, My son ordered off the adult menu after deciding that the kid’s menu was too normal . At 7, he’s an adventurous eater. The food had a European bent and, in my opinion, was splendid. As a seafood fan, I had my fill. I did order one glass of wine with each meal. The $5 price was fair.

At 4 p.m. each day there was a high tea sort of offering with desserts, coffee and tea. This was also included in the set price, as was the midnight buffet. I only went to that once. On the 2nd to last night, there were ice sculptures and fruit and vegetables that had been carved into animals and flowers.

Along with the included food options, there were other specialty restaurants, but since those cost money, forget that.

I ordered one glass of wine from one of the ship’s bars on a night that I went dancing.

Every day there was a specialty mixed drink, specialty coffee with alcohol and an ice-cream treat concoction, but those cost money too. No thanks.

Before we boarded the ship in Venice, I purchased a water package and a soda package. The water package provided us with two large bottles of water each day and the soda package gave my son and daughter a soda with their dinner. We used one bottle of water at dinner and took one bottle of water with us on our shore excursion. Buying the packages made beverages less expensive. There was a wine package, but since there was only me I figured my kids didn’t need a drunk mom to take care of.

We filled other water bottles with water at breakfast and bought other water on shore.

What did we do on the ship?

I took in the free yoga lessons, stretching classes, dance classes and arts and crafts activities that were offered at various times during the day on the ship’s deck. I also worked out three times in the workout room.

Each night we went to the show that was a mix of dance, singing, acrobatic and magic acts.

My son was thrilled with Kids Club. The hours were extensive. If I had wanted to, I could have left him there when my daughter and I went on shore excursions. Taking him on shore excursions, however, was one of my trip highlights, so he came with us. He did go to the shows at night with the Kids Club gang and stayed at Kids Club doing organized activities each night until 11:00.

One bonus of Kids Club was its international flavor. My son was one of the few kids who spoke English and was the only American. This was something he enjoyed, but he is the type who will talk with anybody. Bruno and Andrea, the two adults in change of his age group were absolutely superb and offered a wide range of activities to help kids feel special and a part of the group.

My daughter was not interested in the teen activities, but was not bored. She read, hung out with me or her brother, and spent time by the pool.

Other teens I met loved the teen activities that tended to be teen driven. Games, contests, dancing–that sort of thing, were offered daily.

I did not get a massage, a facial or pay for other classes that were offered. The prices seemed fair, but I splurged on shore excursions for the three of us.

Shore excursions and why the ship Musica? In the summer, the Musica is used for the Greek Islands in the Sun route. Starting in Venice, it makes port calls at Bari, Katakolon, Santorini, Mykonos, Piraeus/Athens, Corfu, Dubrovnik and then back to Venice.

At each stop we went on an organized shore excursion. In general, shore excursions made our travel experience more meaningful. They weren’t cheap but were well worth the money we paid for them. The only excursion I thought we could have done without was the one in Athens.

From Piraeus, the port town that’s connected to Athens, taxi drivers park right outside the terminal so its possible to hire one to take you everywhere that the excursion wemt and more. Our tour was fine, but there are places I would have liked to see.

Also, the Acropolis was so crowded that we kept losing our tour guide. On the other hand, the tour guide pointed out highlights near our ship like a traditional market and a couple of churches. After our tour was over, I walked around for two hours by myself. If I hadn’t been on the tour, I would have missed them.

Here’s an Acropolis tip. Have your kids wear something red so you can pick them out from a crowd.

On the Katakolon excursion, go to Olympia and include the museum. It’s not much more money and makes the tour more meaningful.

On Santorini, we went to the black sand beach and hung out. Renting an umbrella with chairs cost $5 for the day. We took the cable car down from the town to the boat shuttles that took us back to the ship. Don’t walk along the path. Even though walking is free, the donkeys make a mess of the trail. I heard that from several people. Be warned, particularly if you like your shoes.

The Mykonos stop did not involve a tour. We ate dinner and shopped. Man, I loved this place. Look for items made from olive wood. We also started buying soap for everyone we could think of. By the end of our trip, you’d think our friends and family had a hygiene problem. I loved the soap. Soap packs easily.

At Corfu, our tour took us through the old city and then to the bay of Paleokastritza and up to a monastery. We hopped out at the beach where we took the paddle boat ride before rejoining our tour bus. From this bay you can see the small island that is supposed to be Odysseus’ ship that Poseidon turned into a rock. My daughter saw it first and was thrilled.

Dubrovnik is a gorgeous, gorgeous city that has taken care of its historical architecture. After we took the tour that included the maritime museum and the aquarium, we returned to the 2nd oldest synagogue in Europe, the oldest pharmacy in Europe and went to a gallery that pays tribute to the world’s conflicts through photographs in order to promote peace. Before we left, we had time to walk around the top of the old city walls.

Why excursions are worth the money:

The tour guides provided background history and information that we would not have found out otherwise. As we drove in the tour bus, there was a running commentary of what we were passing.

We were guaranteed we would not get lost and miss the ship. Organized tours watch your back. This lowered my stress level to zero.

Tours were a chance for us to meet and interact with other people. This made the cruise more engaging and friendly.

Because we picked tours that most interested us, we were able to gear the trip towards what we wanted to experience without wasting time at each port as we attempted to find our way.

The variety in the tour offerings made each of our days different than the rest. By the time we arrived back in Venice, I felt we had a rich overview of Greece and knew of places where I would like to return–Mykonos is number 1. Our Bari and Dubrovnik stops were splendid as well. We didn’t stay in Bari, but headed out though the rural landscape to the Crystal Caves.

Because we were on a tour, my children and I were on equal footing. I didn’t have to be in charge to get us anywhere, therefore I could just enjoy myself. Whining by any of us was a minimum.

Tips for picking shore excursions:

Let your kids pick the tours. While I was buying the water and soda packages, I let my kids go through the various tours to pick out what they wanted. I did ask them to pick a variety and not the most expensive ones. Their choices were perfect. My suggestion when picking excursions is to plan a mix where it’s not all beach and not all history. Throw some activity into the mix. On Corfu, we rented paddle boats for an hour.

Do not skimp on excursions. Each time we went to shore, I thought, we’re not going on this trip again, and I’m not missing the money I spent.

Instead, I have memories that reminds me every day at how wonderful my kids are. Sappy sounding, maybe. But, I’m telling you; this trip was worth every penny.

Bribe if you have to: I got my son to agree to walking around the top of the wall of the old city in Dubrovnik by promising to buy him something. I bought him a ceramic fish that looked like one of the fish in the aquarium we visited there. For $6, I got a bargain.

Tips in general for enjoying the cruise: Be open to experiences and people. The more easily you talk with people, the more fun you will have. Eventually, I found out that I knew or at least recognized a lot of people because I was going to classes and taking in activities.

Besides shore excursions and the glasses of wine and the beverage packages, the only other thing I bought was the professional picture taken of us on the way to dinner one night. There’s a really hokey sunset backdrop, but the three of us looked better than usual. I bought the picture for my mom. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have been on this trip.

Take time out for Venice: When booking our flights, I arranged them so we would have two nights in Venice at each end of the cruise. I wanted to give us enough time for a missed flight connection if we had bad luck, get over some jet lag and take advantage of Venice. This also allowed for travel on our own to satisfy the need for unplanned adventure at our own pace.

We stayed the first two nights at the Antico Doge, the most elegant place I’ve stayed in my life–it used to be a palace. For the two nights after our cruise we stayed at the Hotel Abbazia, a former abbey which is an excellent location near the train station, the water taxis and the bus station. Both places served a wonderful breakfast.

If you do have time in Venice, go to the Jewish Ghetto. This is the first ghetto in the world and is being revitalized by the Jewish community who live around Venice. Originally, this is where the city’s foundries were located.

Look for the tribute to the people who died in the Holocaust on one of the plaza walls. You’ll notice it because of the barbed wire. There is also a kosher restaurant that is superb. The owners just opened a guest house next door. The restaurant is located on the plaza.