Stowe Mountain Lodge and Private Flight Advisors partner to offer chartered flights to Stowe, Vermont for a luxury New England travel experience

The AAA Four-Diamond Stowe Mountain Lodge, a Destination Hotels & Resorts property, has partnered with Private Flight Advisors to offer privately chartered flights directly to Stowe, Vermont.

By partnering with Private Flight Advisors, Stowe Mountain Lodge is able to coordinate with their Alpine Conciere team to help discerning travelers plan a seamless mountain adventure to Vermont at any time of year, from pre-arrival to departure. This also includes accessibility to the Lodge’s fleet of Mercedes Benz for guests to use complimentary during their stay. Stowe Mountain Lodge also offers an “Experience Stowe Package”, which Private Flight Advisors will offer at discounted pricing to guests travelling with them into Burlington International Airport or Morrisville-Stowe State Airport.

With award-winning golf, spa, dining, skiing, outdoor recreation and more, along with accessible luxury travel options through Private Flight Advisors, Stowe Mountain Lodge now offers guests an unsurpassed New England experience. 

For more information, visit www.stowemountainlodge.com, www.privateflightadvisors.com



======================================================== 

Win a Dream Vacation to Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean

Dreaming of a tropical escape? You could win a dream vacation to Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean! Watch video to learn more:

Video courtesy of Grenada Board of Tourism on YouTube

======================================================== 

Historic Providence Biltmore Hotel Acquired By Finard Coventry Hotel Management

Finard Coventry Hotel Management of Boston has closed on its $16 million purchase of the historic Providence Biltmore, a landmark 292-room hotel located in the heart of downtown Providence, Rhode Island.

The new ownership represents the next chapter for this storied property, originally constructed in 1922 and placed on the National Preservation Register. The Providence Biltmore, now affiliated with Preferred Hotels and Resorts, will remain open during a planned $10 million-plus renovation. 

"We are delighted to become stewards of this iconic hotel that is so much a part of the fabric of the city," said Todd Finard, principal of Finard Coventry Hotel Management. But it's not all about bricks and mortar, Finard went on to explain, "It's the people that make the Biltmore such a jewel...from the front desk to the bartenders to the incredible back of the house team...that's the most valuable component to this asset." 

The Providence Biltmore comprises 292 guestrooms; 19,000 sq. ft. of function space, including 18 meeting and banquet rooms and a rooftop grand ballroom that is home to more than 75 weddings per year and many notable events. Guests may also enjoy The Spa at The Providence Biltmore, a luxurious spa retreat perfect for destination spa visits, day-spa use, bridal services or simply as an escape after a day of meetings. The hotel is home to McCormick and Schmick's Seafood Restaurant and a Starbucks, located within the lobby. Other amenities include business center, fitness center, WI-FI Internet access, in-room cable TVs, and valet parking.

The Providence Biltmore is located at 11 Dorrance Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02903. 

For more information about the hotel, visit www.providencebiltmore.com

Princess Cruises Art Connoisseur Voyages Showcase Top Contemporary Artists

Princess Cruises is showcasing some of today’s top contemporary artists and lecturers in a series of special Art Connoisseur Cruises designed for both avid collectors and art newcomers.

A wide range of internationally acclaimed artists will join the ship during these cruises, including names such as bas relief sculptor Bill Mack, Russian American contemporary artist Viktor Shvaiko, and colorful French American painter Duaiv. The voyages offer a variety of events with the artists, such as meet-and-greet sessions, demonstrations, art classes, special art unveilings and interviews where passengers can ask questions. Some artists, including pop fusion painter Eric Waugh even entertain crowds with live painting sessions set to music. 

Other famous names onboard will include "rock star of the art world" Michael Godard, painter Alexandre Renoir, great grandson of the famed French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Christine Argillet, daughter of Salvador Dali’s publisher who will offer her personal stories and insight into of one of the 20th century’s most unique artists. 

Art Connoisseur Cruises are part of Princess’ Fine Arts program, offering passengers the opportunity to see and learn about some of the most notable artwork produced throughout the past century. Each ship features works from collectable artists for sale that are the centerpieces of art auctions held during each cruise.

"These connoisseur cruises give art lovers the opportunity to learn more about the works and artists they admire, or discover new artists," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. "Plus, it's something our passengers might not be able to experience at home, so it's an interesting enrichment option during their vacation." 

Princess’ upcoming Art Connoisseur cruises include:

July 17

Ruby Princess – 12 days Grand Mediterranean
Fabian Perez, Chris DeRubeis, Patrick Guyton

July 20
Caribbean Princess – 12-day Iceland
Michael Godard, Bill Mack, Viktor Shvaiko, Adam Scott Rote

August 25
Caribbean Princess – 14-day Iceland, Greenland & British Isles Explorer
Bill Mack, Chris DeRubeis, Patrick Guyton, Duaiv, Nim Vaswani (art lecturer/historian on Picasso), Christine Argillet (art lecturer/historian on Salvador Dali)

October 26
Emerald Princess –12-day Canada & New England
Alexandre Renoir, Viktor Shvaiko, Eric Waugh, Michael Schwartz (art lecturer/historian on Picasso, Rembrandt, and Renoir)

Many of these artists also sail individually on select artist voyages throughout the year.

Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel agent, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237), or by visiting the company's website at http://www.princess.com.

========================================================

Memorial Day Weekend Kicks Off the NH State Park Season

With Memorial Day weekend as the unofficial start to the summer, New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation announces that all state parks will be open for the weekend. State park beaches are open for the holiday weekend and then will operate weekends only until June 16; at which time all parks will remain open full time through the summer season.

Fishing at Pillsbury - Courtesy of NH State Parks

The Division offers seasonal options for those who will be frequenting the parks more often. For an additional $85 when registering a vehicle in New Hampshire, a State Park Plate can be purchased. The plate allows the vehicle and its passengers to receive free admission for the car and passengers into New Hampshire State Parks' day-use areas. A family season pass is available which gets two adults and four dependents into the day-use parks for the season. Coupon books are another way to save money when visiting several times during the season.  All the options are available on the division's website, nhstateparks.org.

========================================================

Things to Do on Cape Cod

Courtesy of Visit Cape Cod on YouTube

 ========================================================

Princess Cruises Memorial Day Sale - Save Up to $1,000.00

Princess Cruises is marking Memorial Day with a six-day sale offering cruise deals on sailings departing from U.S. shores. The May 24-29 sale features savings of up to $1,000 per stateroom, plus an onboard credit of up to $100.

More than 80 cruises to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Mexico, Canada & New England, and the coast of California are included in the sale, with sailings departing between September and December.

In addition to cruise fare savings, passengers booking interior or oceanview staterooms can receive an onboard credit of $25 (cruises up to 9 days) to $50 (cruises 10 days or longer), and in balcony staterooms or above can get credits of $50 (cruises up to 9 days) or $100 (for sailings 10 days or longer). All onboard credits are offered per stateroom.

Examples of cruise deals include:

•     Caribbean cruise – 7 days: $799 balcony (was $949); $549 interior (was $599)
•     Canada & New England cruise – 7 days: $999 balcony (was $1,299); $599 interior (was $799)
•     Panama Canal cruise – 10 days: $1,599 balcony (was $1,649); $999 interior (was $1,099)
•     Hawaii cruise – 14 days: $1,995 balcony (was $2,445); $1,295 interior (was $1,545)
•     Panama Canal cruise – 14 days: $1,799 balcony (was $2,299); $1,099 interior (was $1,599)

All cruise prices are per person, based on double occupancy. The Memorial Day Sale begins at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 24 through 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 29, 2012 and is available to residents of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Reservations made during the sale require a non-refundable deposit. Additional sale information is available at http://www.princess.com/sale.

In addition to the Memorial Day Sale, Princess is also reminding military personnel that the line offers a special onboard credit program for active military and veterans. This credit of up to $250 (depending upon the length of the cruise) is available year round, and can be combined with the credit available through the Memorial Day Sale. 

Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel agent, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237), or by visiting the company's website at http://www.princess.com.

========================================================

Entertainment Cruises Fourth of July Specialty Cruises Celebrate the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and Star Spangled Banner

Entertainment Cruises, Boston's premier provider of dining cruises and entertainment on the water, will offer cruises on the Odyssey and the Spirit of Boston in celebration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner from June 30^th through July 4^th, 2012. Offering dining, entertainment, narrated tours of the harbor, and close-up views of the Tall Ships, these specialty Fourth of July cruises provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience on the water.

"Watching the majestic Class A Tall Ships sail into the Boston Harbor is a stunning and unforgettable experience," said Entertainment Cruises General Manager Kelley Yelle. "We wanted to offer our guests a front row seat to this Boston tradition that's second to none with breathtaking views."

Tall Ships specialty cruise options on Entertainment Cruises' vessels the Odyssey and the Spirit of Boston include:

"Star-Spangled Sail" in Celebration of the Anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner
Saturday, June 30^th Enjoy a light brunch or breakfast buffet and entertainment during your cruise.
Board 8:00am | Cruise 9:00 - Noon
Starting from $66.90 per person

Viewing Cruises
Sunday, July 1; Monday, July 2; Tuesday, July 3
Enjoy a delicious lunch buffet, entertainment, narrated tour of the harbor, and stunning views of the Tall Ships and Navy Ships.
Early lunch:
Board 9:30am | Cruise 10:30 - 12:30pm
Late Lunch:
Board 2:00pm | Cruise 3:00 - 5:00pm
Starting from $56.90 per person

Blue Angels Constitution Turnaround Cruise
Wednesday, July 4^th Enjoy a delicious lunch buffet and entertainment while watching the USS Constitution and USCGC Barque Eagle underway. The Blue Angels and 50 additional aircrafts will fly over in commemoration of this historic event.
Board 9:30am | Cruise 10:30-2:30pm
Starting from $151.90 per person

To book a reservation on the Odyssey or the Spirit of Boston, please email Cruise.Boston@entertainmentcruises.com or call (888) 741-0285.

Source: Entertainment Cruises

========================================================

Connecticut Tourism: New Branding Campaign Unveiled

Video Courtesy of Connecticut Tourism on YouTube

On Monday, May 14, 2012, the state of Connecticut unveiled its new branding campaign, entitled ‘Still Revolutionary’. The campaign, part of a two-year, $27 million dollar initiative to bolster tourism, will include TV, radio, print, and digital advertising. The new logo will also appear on the state’s social media channels. Click here for the full article. 

========================================================

Receive Up to $200 Dining Credit on Your Weekend Getaway in the Bahamas

Escape to the Bahamas for a weekend of relaxing, dining and unwinding at the award-winning British Colonial Hilton Nassau Resort.

The newly renovated hotel features the only private beach in the city, with its 300 ft of white sands and pristine waters.

This Weekend Getaway Package includes:

• Stay 4 to 6 nights and receive $100 Food and Beverage Credit per room.
• Stay 7 or more nights and receive a $200 Food and Beverage Credit. 

To make a reservation, call 1 877-GO-HILTON toll-free from US/Canada or visit your local Hilton Reservations and Customer Care Office. Mention Plan Code P9.

Offer valid for travel through Dec 20, 2012. Terms and conditions apply.

For more Hilton offers in the Caribbean, visit www.hiltoncaribbean.com

========================================================

A New Luxury Marina for Barbados

A new luxury marina is being built on Barbados by Jada Construction Ltd, the same company that built Port St. Charles. The latter was the first marina in Barbados and was completed in 2004.

The new Port Ferdinand in St. Peter will consist of 120 berths and 96 three-bedroom luxury apartments starting at 2,100 square feet. Each condominium will have wonderful views of the marina, and its own private berth with dock side storage room.

The marina is just five minutes away from the historic town of Speightstown and approximately thirty  minutes from the Grantley Adams International Airport, which is located in the parish of Christ Church. 

Construction of Port Ferdinand began in December 2009 and it is expected to be ready by the end of 2015.

Amenities will include:

• 24 hour security and concierge service
• Membership to Port St. Charles Yacht Club
• 2.5 parking spaces available per apartment
• An island pool and gazebo
• Water taxi service
• Yoga room
• Kids club
• A modern gym & spa
• An experience shower
• Entertainment room (adult recreation center with pool and card tables)
• Business center
• Children's playground, and more.

The 15-acre exclusive, residential, private marina should contribute to Barbados’ foreign direct investment.

In 2011 the construction sector in Barbados grew by 4.4 per cent, contributing just over $73.9 million to the gross domestic product, according to the latest Central Bank report. 

Source: Totally Barbados


========================================================

Princess Cruises Celebrates Mother’s Day With a Sale!

Princess Cruises is celebrating Mother’s Day with a sale on great family cruise destinations from convenient home ports. The May 10-14 sale offers special cruise deals on voyages to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Canada & New England, and Hawaii.

The Mother’s Day Sale offers passengers savings up to $700 per stateroom, plus up to $100 onboard credit on a total of more than 80 itineraries.

In addition to fare savings, passengers booking interior or oceanview staterooms can receive an onboard credit of $25 (cruises up to 9 days) to $50 (cruises 10 days or longer), and in balcony staterooms or above can get credits of $50 (cruises up to 9 days) or $100 (for sailings 10 days or longer). All onboard credits are offered per stateroom.

Examples of cruise deals include:

•     Caribbean cruise – 7 days: $799 balcony (was $949); $549 interior (was $599)
•     Canada & New England cruise – 7 days: $999 balcony (was $1,299); $599 interior (was $799)
•     Panama Canal cruise – 10 days: $1,599 balcony (was $1,649); $999 interior (was $1,099)
•     Hawaii cruise – 14 days: $1,995 balcony (was $2,345); $1,295 interior (was $1,445)
•     Panama Canal cruise – 14 days: $1,799 balcony (was $2,299); $1,099 interior (was $1,599)

All cruise prices are per person, based on double occupancy. The Mother’s Day Sale begins at 12:01 a.m. PDT on May 10 through 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 14, 2012 and is available to residents of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Reservations made during the sale require a non-refundable deposit.

Additional sale information is available at http://www.princess.com/sale.

 ========================================================

Spotlight: Sunset Suite at Calabash Cove St. Lucia

Video courtesy of Calabash Cove on YouTube

Nestled on a gently sloping, tropical beachfront on the northwest coast of St. Lucia, Calabash Cove features 26 suites, all with Jacuzzis and many with private pools, as well as a full-service spa and fitness center, infinity-edge designer swimming pool, restaurant, cocktail bar, library, and game room.

For more about the property, visit www.calabashcove.com

========================================================

Maine Landscapes by Frederic Church on View this Summer at the Portland Museum of Art

This summer the Portland Museum of Art will present Maine Sublime: Frederic Edwin Church’s Landscapes of Mount Desert and Mount Katahdin, an exhibition exploring the half-century during which the famed American landscape painter, traveled to and was inspired by the landscapes of Maine. The exhibition, on view June 30 through September 30, 2012, is drawn from the permanent collection at Olana, the home that Church built for himself in upstate New York. The exhibition includes 25 of Church’s small oil and pencil sketches, highlighting Maine’s two most majestic natural landmarks and many will be on public view for the first time.

Nineteenth-century landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church first traveled to Maine in 1850 inspired by the portfolio of drawings his teacher Thomas Cole, founder of the Hudson River School, and by Andreas Achenbach’s dramatic sea painting Clearing Up–Coast of Sicily exhibited in 1849 in New York City. The artist spent six weeks on Mount Desert exploring the coast, its rocky islands, and peaceful harbors. He sketched the scenery which he described as “magnificent both land and seaward.” In 1852 he trekked inland focusing on the area of Mount Katahdin. During the next decades, Church continued to visit Maine capturing sensational sunsets, robust crashing waves, impressive peaks, and an abundance of wilderness.

Throughout his life, Church continued to visit Maine, sketching, fishing, and hiking. The Katahdin region so intrigued Church that in 1878 he bought land on the lake, the only other property he ever owned besides Olana. The Maine material in the Olana collection ranges from finished oil sketches that Church selected to mount, frame, and display at Olana to pencil sketches and cartoons that he stored in personal portfolios.

The exhibition is organized by the Olana Partnership, Hudson, NY, and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Albany, NY, and curated by John Wilmerding, Sarofim Professor Emeritus of American Art and Chair of the Department of Art and Archeology at Princeton University. Wilmerding is currently chairman of the board of the National Gallery and a trustee of the Guggenheim Museum, the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

Maine Sublime is accompanied by a catalogue co-published by Cornell University Press and The Olana Partnership under the “Olana Collection” imprint and will illustrate additional paintings from museum’s and private collections. Poet, translator, art critic, editor, and curator Vincent Katz penned the introduction and the exhibition’s curator, John Wilmerding, wrote the catalogue essay. The exhibition catalogue will be available in the Museum Store this summer.

The exhibition tour schedule: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in Houston, TX (February through May 2013) and Evelyn and Maurice Sharp Gallery at Olana, in Hudson, NY (July through October 2013).

This exhibition was organized by The Olana Partnership, Hudson, NY, and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Albany, NY. Corporate sponsorship provided by MEMIC.

Visit www.portlandmuseumofart.org

Source: Portland Museum of Art

========================================================

Hospitality Design Magazine Awards Cystal First-Ever Cruise Design Award

Crystal Cruises’ largest ultra-luxe ship, Crystal Serenity, has won its seventh award since undergoing a $25 million “Extreme Makeover” redesign last year: Hospitality Design (HD) magazine’s “Judges Award for Distinctive Cruise Design.”  This is the first time a cruise line has ever been recognized in the premier trade publication’s annual awards.  The esteemed judges were so impressed with the ship’s new look, they created a brand-new category to honor it.  A two-page spread in the May/June issue profiles the work by Crystal and Toronto’s II BY IV Design Associates.

Photo courtesy of Crystal Cruises

“Because design is such a key sensibility of discriminating travelers, we have always been committed to creating ultra-stylish spaces in which our guests can feel at home,” says Alexandra Don, Crystal’s vice president hotel services and design.  “It’s incredibly gratifying to have the industry confirm that our latest vision was something markedly different from an archetypal cruise ship look, and in good company with the most beautiful of esteemed luxury hotels on land.”

Additional honors recently bestowed upon Crystal Serenity include #1 Cruise Ship (Mid-Sized) from Condé Nast Traveler and Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, the Association of Retail Environment’s Crystal design award, and three Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, for luxury ship, suite and stateroom designs.  All 535 staterooms, retail spaces, outdoor pool deck, corridors, and more received a chic “Fifth Avenue”-style facelift during two weeks at Hamburg’s Blohm + Voss shipyard last May.  Crystal Symphony will be undergoing her own “Extreme Makeover” there this June, completing a five-year plan to redesign the entire vessel.

  

For information about Crystal Cruises, visit www.crystalcruises.com.