Mike and Darlene’s Weekly DEAL! 3/25/2011

Good Morning Everyone, and Happy Friday!

This week we’re featuring a unique itinerary that starts and ends in one of our favorite cities; London! We love the historical aspects of this place, the museums, parks, and shops, and yes, even the food. OK, not the steak and kidney pie, but they have some amazing Indian restaurants, and you can enjoy great food on a budget in London if you like Indian food. Roast Beast and Yorkshire pudding is pretty darn good too!

You’ll fly to London, and we recommend at least a night or two in London before your cruise; then you’ll transfer to Southampton, where you’ll board the Princess cruise line’s Crown Princess on July 8th, 2011. Now, sit back, relax, and get ready to explore the Norwegian Fjords:

Princess Cruises Crown Princess
7-Night Norwegian Fjords, London (Southampton) R/T

Sat 07/09/11 Southampton (London), England – Embark 05:00 PM- Time subject to change

Sun 07/10/11 At Sea

Mon 07/11/11 Stavanger, Norway
07:00 AM – 04:00 PM

Tue 07/12/11 Olden, Norway
08:00 AM – 06:00 PM

Wed 07/13/11 Hellesylt, Norway – Scenic Cruising
08:00 AM – 10:00 AM

Wed 07/13/11 Geiranger, Norway
12:00 PM – 06:00 PM

Thu 07/14/11 Bergen, Norway
07:00 AM – 02:00 PM

Fri 07/15/11 At Sea

Sat 07/16/11 Southampton (London), England – Disembark – 05:00 AM
Time subject to change

Note the comment for Wednesday, July 13: Scenic cruising. They’re not kidding! The small village of Hellesylt is an old Viking port located at the head of the Sunnylvenfjord on the northwest coast of Norway. Here, glacier-fed streams cascade over towering granite cliffs and descend to the calm waters of the fjord. The thundering waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, lakes and crystalline glaciers, inspired Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic masterpiece, “Brand.” WOW. We think you’ll need your camera for this trip.

Your other port stops on this cruise are also beautiful, featuring mountains, gorgeous coastlines, historical sites, markets, including the old Hanseatic wharf, Bryggen, which has been a lively and important part of the city of Bergen through the centuries. This site, which features on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, comprises the remains of the old harbor buildings and is one of the best known medieval city settlements in Norway.

Interior staterooms on this sail date start at $1039.23* per person, and include port fees and tax. And if you book NOW, Princess is offering a “book an ocean-view, get a balcony” promotion! For $1539.23* per person, you’ll be upgraded to a balcony stateroom. PLUS, in any category, you’ll receive a $50 per cabin shipboard credit.

Call us today at 1-800-267-7613, and get ready to stick some pins in your world map!

Until then, have a great weekend, and for all of us in the Southwest-THINK RAIN!

Darlene & Mike

*Fares are based on double occupancy and include port charges and tax. Airfare, transfers and insurance are additional. Fares are subject to change and availability.

We have great shipboard credit offers on select sail dates for Disney cruise line! Call ASAP for best availabiltiy-1-800-267-7613
http://ping.fm/7Xcce

Restaurant Review- B. D. Riley’s Irish Pub

First time in Austin, felt right at home!

We were exploring 6th street, and it was a little early for the music to start, so we decided to try the Pub. We just happened to get there as the Wednesday night Trivia Contest was starting, and our waiter brought us our official Trivia sheet without even asking.

The regulars take this seriously, so we did too, but we did poorly. Even so, we met some really nice folks, including the Pub owner, and it made our first impression of Austin very favorable! The food was good too! I had the fish-n-chips, and MJ had the bangers-n-mash. OK, not traditional Texas fare, but did it ever hit the spot! My fish was delicious, the breading very light and crisp and I didn’t have to ask for malt vinegar, it was right there. The beer and wine selection was good…all in all a very satisfactory meal in a fun and friendly eatery.

If you try it on a Wednesday, ask for the judge, and tell him his new friends from Colorado say hi!

Restaurant Review-Buffalo Nickel Bar & Grill
Fredericksburg, TX

“Nervous waiter, raw steak…1st and last visit.

We had a recommendation for a different place, but they didn’t open for half an hour, and we were starving, so we tried the Buffalo Nickel. The menu looked good, and the place has an interesting appearance, how bad could it be?

I think our waiter might have been new, but if so, he should have been trained better. He just seemed unsure of everything. That would have been ok…I’ve been new at jobs myself. If you try hard and are friendly, things could work out for everyone.

However, and to quote one of my favorite, late, movie reviewers, Reggie McDaniel, “they’s always a howevah in life”, things didn’t work out for us at this restaurant. MJ ordered a Buffalo Strip, medium rare. It came to our table still screaming in pain…he sent it back to be placed on the grill to try to stop some of the blood flow. My Filet was OK, but for $21.75, you should be able to expect something more than “OK”.

Overall, for $81 spent on two steaks, two glasses of wine, and a plate of mediocre poppers, we felt overcharged and underwhelmed.

Next time we’ll buy a bag of peanuts and wait the half hour…

Get Out the Map 3/17/2011

But, what if there’s, like, an earthquake?
By Mike & Darlene Jordan

Since we started writing this column in 2007, we’ve addressed the issue of travel insurance a couple of times, but with what happened in Japan this past week, we thought it might be a good idea to visit the topic again. What’s covered? What isn’t? And…does it cover earthquakes?

Let’s start with the last question. As you might expect, earthquakes come under the category of natural disasters. If you’re scheduled on a cruise (or business trip or land vacation, for that matter) and there’s an earthquake, flood, fire or other natural disaster in the town you live in, the non-refundable costs of your trip should be covered if…and this is a big if…your home or residence becomes uninhabitable as a result of the event.
The same is true if your destination becomes uninhabitable as the result of a natural disaster. So, if your trip was to Senzai, Japan, where virtually the entire town was destroyed, you’d have a valid claim and could recover your non-refundable trip expenses. However, if your destination was Tokyo, that would be a much different story. The earthquake and tsunami that hit in northern Japan had very little effect on Tokyo. The airport is open and there was very little damage to the city. You could not file a claim on the basis that earthquakes are really scary and there might be another one, so you don’t want to go. (Well, you could but it would very likely be denied.)

One question we’ve been asked a couple of times this past week is, “what if you were on a ship when there was a tsunami?” That depends on where the ship is at the time. If the ship was in port when the tsunami hit, the damage would probably be significant. If the ship was out to sea during the tsunami, you probably wouldn’t even feel it, even if it passed directly under the ship. That’s because, at sea, the tsunami is nothing more than a large swell that the ship would simply glide over. A tsunami becomes dangerous when it gets into shallow water and near land.

Tsunamis shouldn’t be confused with rogue waves, which do happen once in awhile. We can’t think of any time recently when there has been serious injury out at sea due to a rogue wave, but there are instances when ships have been damaged by them.

Much more common claims on travel insurance policies are related to illness or personal injury that happens to someone shortly before embarking on a trip. Refunds on travel tend to diminish the closer you get to a trip. In the case of a cruise, for example, if you have to cancel your cruise closer than 75 days to your departure date, you’ll lose your deposit. If you cancel with a month to go, you’ll lose half of whatever you paid, and, if you cancel with as little as two weeks to go, there’s no refund, for any reason.

If the vacation provider cancels your trip, however, that’s another story. They’ll usually refund whatever you’ve paid, unless the cancellation is due to their own financial failure. In that case, insurance would cover your costs as long as the failing company is not on their list of companies that were in financial trouble at the time you booked your trip.

Is there insurance for someone who just decides a day or two before their trip that they don’t want to go? Believe it or not, the answer is, yes. “Cancel for Any Reason” insurance is about 50% more expensive than normal insurance and often only reimburses 75% of your expenses, but it’s better than no insurance at all.

We always take travel insurance. We’ve got stories with happy endings of people who’ve been stricken with disease or injury that had their money and/or their vacation saved by travel insurance, and tragic stories of people who lost their entire vacation expense because they didn’t have insurance.
Travelers should have travel insurance. Protect yourself from losing your vacation…even if it might not cover an earthquake.

Until next time…get out the map!
Mike and Darlene Jordan are franchisees of CruiseOne, and are based here in Southern Colorado. You can contact them at 800-267-7613 or by email at mjordan@cruiseone.com.

Mike and Darlene’s Weekly DEAL! 3/17/2011

Hello Everyone, and Happy Thursday evening!

We’re sending this out a bit early to give you a little extra time to call your family and friends and make a plan. We’ve got a great DEAL for you for a Thanksgiving to remember!

We have block space on the Norwegian Epic, sailing from Miami on November 19, 2011. With our group, you’ll get a $100 per stateroom shipboard credit, and the fares are very good for a holiday sailing. And the Epic offers some of the best entertainment at sea, including the Blue Man Group, a jazz/blues club with some great music, dance venues, a comedy club, a water park, and more. Your family will be giving YOU thanks for planning this trip!

Interiors start at $808.46* per person, and you’d be getting up to a 4 category upgrade, plus that $100 shipboard credit!

Balconies start at $958.46* per person, and as long as they’re available, up to a 5 category upgrade, plus $100 to spend onboard.

Mini-suites have the same onboard credit, and start at $1258.46* per person.

But that’s not all! If you book by Friday, we can combine our offer with Norwegian’s 4 day sale (ending March 18th) and add to your onboard credit! So, an interior stateroom gets $125 to spend onboard, a balcony gets $150, and a mini-suite gets $170 to spend onboard! Plus, the deposit is cut in half; it only takes $125 per person to hold your space! But remember, space is going fast, and time is running out, so give us a call tonight or tomorrow at 1-800-267-7613, and treat your family to an awesome Thanksgiving holiday in the sun!

Until then, have a wonderful evening…Spring starts this Sunday!

Darlene & Mike

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Epic

7-Night Eastern Caribbean, Miami R/T

Sat 11/19/11 Miami, Florida – Embark – 04:00 PM
Time subject to change

Sun 11/20/11 At Sea

Mon 11/21/11 At Sea

Tue
11/22/11 St. Maarten (N.A.), Leeward Islands
08:00 AM- 06:00 PM

Wed 11/23/11 St. Thomas, USVI
08:00 AM- 04:00 PM

Thu 11/24/11 At Sea

Fri 11/25/11 Nassau, Bahamas
12:00 PM- 07:00 PM

Sat 11/26/11 Miami, Florida – Disembark – 08:00 AM Time subject to change

*Fares include port fees AND tax and are subject to change and availability. Fares are based on double occupancy. Airfare, transfers and insurance are additional.

Get Out the Map
Musical Mystery Tour

By Mike & Darlene Jordan

Regular readers of this space know that, each year, we take each other on a mystery birthday trip. It’s usually not far—a driving trip—and as far as Mike could tell his birthday trip last week would follow that pattern.
He was wrong. His ears are still ringing. Read on…
It started as a driving trip. We headed out on a sunny day (always a challenge in March) and wound up in Cripple Creek, staying in a nice B&B just off of the main drag. We had a ball playing in the casinos, and Mike was happy, although wondering if he’d brought enough cash to play in Cripple Creek for four days.
Not a problem. We were up early the next morning, checking out of the B&B. This is not normal behavior during the birthday trip thing. We were now heading toward Denver and DIA—also not normal. Darlene managed to keep the destination a secret all the way to the airline gate, where we boarded a United flight to…Austin, Texas!
Mike is a guitar player when not selling cruises. He loves live music, and Austin bills itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World.” This is not an exaggeration.
We arrived late Wednesday afternoon (rush hour traffic in Austin is worse than anything we’ve ever seen, with the possible exception of Beijing, China) and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn just a block off of Austin’s famous 6th Street District. We dropped the bags and headed the two blocks or so to the beginning of the strip of bars and restaurants that make up this music lover’s dream.
Sure enough, there was live music at the first place we stopped, a solo guitar/vocalist that was quite good, but just the warm-up act for the live band to follow.
We left that club looking for a place to eat and got into a full-contact trivia game at an Irish Pub called B.D. Ripley’s, where we met a Texas Supreme Court Justice who invited us to visit his office at the Capitol the next day! We then headed down the street to a blues bar called the Blue Moon and could not leave. There was a blues band, Sonny Wolf and Mojo Boogie, that was outstanding.
We could fill the rest of this space with the music we enjoyed during the trip—no fewer than 7 live bands over the course of the 3 nights we spent there; all in clubs with no cover or minimum (although we did a lot of band tipping) and within just a few blocks walking distance from the hotel. But there was a lot more to the trip than the music.
Following a very interesting tour of the State Capitol building the next day, including sitting in on floor debate in the Texas House of Representatives, we did visit the Supreme Court Justice in his chambers at the Capitol! We visited him and his staff in his chambers followed by a trip down to the courtroom. The day was absolutely gorgeous, and we didn’t need the jackets that we’d brought along.
On Thursday, we hit the countryside, following a recommendation by a friend to visit Fredericksburg and the Texas wine country. We did buy a couple of bottles of wine, and we also stopped for a fascinating tour of the LBJ ranch. What an interesting place!
The driving tour of the ranch is free and includes a CD to play in your car that describes what you’re seeing, including Lyndon Johnson’ boyhood home, the family cemetery where both the former President and First Lady are buried, the private airstrip on the ranch and the President’s private jet. There is a $2 per person fee for the guided tour of the Texas White House, which we thoroughly enjoyed, featuring interesting personal stories of the first family and the things that happened during the very tumultuous Johnson presidency.
This was a real trip to remember. It far exceeded Mike’s expectations and he has a major challenge. Darlene’s birthday is only 3 months away. The bar has definitely been raised.
Until next time…get out the map!

Mike and Darlene Jordan are franchisees of CruiseOne, and are based in Southern Colorado. You can contact them at 800-267-7613 or by email at mjordan@cruiseone.com.
http://ping.fm/cOEgJ

Good Morning Everyone, and Happy Friday!

We had a little time off last week, enjoying a few days in the live music capital of the world: #Austin, Texas. Great fun, awesome music, nice folks, and it was warm! Couldn’t ask for much more in a short trip.

Now, here’s a suggestion for a great trip for those of you who enjoy a good glass of wine: It’s the #Celebrity Century’s 8-night #Wine #Cruise, May 14, 2011:

Celebrity #Cruises Celebrity Century

8-Night Pacific Coastal, San Diego to Vancouver

Sat 05/14/11
San Diego, California – Embarkation 04:00 PM
– Times are subject to change
Sun 05/15/11 At Sea

Mon 05/16/11 San Francisco, California 08:00 AM

Tue 05/17/11 San Francisco, California 05:00 PM

Wed 05/18/11 At Sea

Thu 05/19/11 Astoria, OR 08:00 AM- 04:00 PM

Fri 05/20/11 Nanaimo, Canada 11:00 AM 07:00 PM

Sat 05/21/11 Victoria, B.C. 08:00 AM 06:00 PM

Sun 05/22/11 Vancouver, B. C. 07:00 AM
Disembark – Time subject to change

Your cruise starts in San Diego, and continues to San Francisco, where you’ll overnight with 2 days in port, allowing plenty of time to visit wine country and enjoy some of the great restaurants in the Bay area. Then it’s on to #Astoria, Oregon, where you can visit more wineries, or simply explore Astoria, nominated as one of the “coolest small towns in America”. Next, you’ll visit a port that is not on most cruise itineraries: #Nanaimo, Canada. With one of the prettiest waterfronts in Canada, Nanaimo is conveniently located to serve as a home base for exploring Vancouver Island. Then it’s off to Victoria, where spring in #Butchart Gardens will offer hundreds of thousands of bulbs in bloom, along with countless flowering shrubs and trees. A great last stop before you disembark in Vancouver.

Interiors on this gorgeous cruise start at $678.99* per person! That’s a great value on an 8-night cruise…and the DEAL is great for ocean views and balconies too. Book an ocean view for $978.99*, and receive a $50 shipboard credit, or a balcony stateroom at $1278.99* per person, with $50 in shipboard credit. But don’t wait, the shipboard credit offer ends on March 31st, and fares are subject to change and availability. Call us at 1-800-267-7613 to book your wine cruise, and invite your friends! This would be a great way to celebrate a special occasion, and it’s always more fun when you’re traveling with a group of people you like to hang out with!

Until then, have a great weekend! Remember, Daylight Savings time starts on Sunday, and spring is only a little over a week away! Wahoo!

Darlene & Mike

*Fares include port fees and tax, and are based on double occupancy. Fares are subject to change and availability. Shipboard credit offer applies to ocean view bookings and above. Airfare, transfers and insurance are additional.

And, if you’d like to receive the DEAL in your inbox every Friday, subscribe at kdscruises@gojade.org-it’s free!

http://ping.fm/cQ6B4

Restaurant Review: Old Pecan Street Cafe, Austin, TX

We enjoyed our breakfast at the Old Pecan Street Cafe. My husband had never had migas before, and he liked them very much. I didn’t order migas, since tortilla chips are not my idea of the breakfast of champions. I went with the pork tenderloin benedict, and it was pretty good. My only complaint was some type of seasoning on the pork which I found overpowering, kind of covered up the taste of the eggs and the hollandaise.

The place is cute, clean and friendly, and they had good coffee, something that is VERY important after a night of bar-hopping and music on 6th street.