Now, this is my kind of vacation

February 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Picture from 9beaches.com

I love to read about travel or destination articles especially beach or island destinations. One of the places that I have always dreamt about going is the On-The-Water hotel. But we all know how ridiculously expensive these type of hotels are. I mean they aren’t meant for typical working mom like me but for celebrity or millionaires who can shell out $2K a night just like we buy 1 penny item in Publix.

Till now, meet 9 Beaches Bermuda Resort. Recent article (or maybe not so recent. It just happened that I just found it) on MSN Travel section gives the detail on this resort. I didn’t even care to read the whole review. Just the idea of something a little bit more within reach and closer appeals to me to have to put it on my to-travel list.

There are different cabana types that you can choose from in this resort. The most expensive ones are the one that sit directly on the water. They called ‘Paradise Pier Over the Water’. Appropriately named if I may. It looks like a real paradise.. The rate as of 2008 is ranged from $370-$470 per night. Ok.. It might not be that cheap but when you compare to what you will be paying in let’s say Bora Bora, this seems like a good bargain to me. And the most importantly it’s within reach. I just have to wait for maybe 2 years. :)
Filed Under: Beaches, Travel in Caribbean

One Tree Hill's groupies!!!

January 14, 2008 By 1 Comment

Ok. I confessed.. I’m a big fan of One Tree Hill and Dawson’s Creek shows. Well, for Dawson’s Creek I got to start watching when the show was already canceled. I caught the whole series on rerun while on maternity leave a few years back. And last night I got to watch the season premiere for One Tree Hill. It brings another potential trip that is yet another advantage in living in Atlanta.

One Tree Hill is filmed in Wilmington, NC. Wilmington is about 7-8 hours from us. So this will be a long weekend trip. It’s a city on the coast with the small town feeling. Looks like it can be a good vacation for us. The kids will get to visit the Battleship and we can take a tour to the studio for the sets of One Tree Hill..

There are several places that we can check out.

1) Screen Gems Studio – They offer the tour every Sat. It will be nice to get to see the sets of the shows and movies that I like. Ok.. Sound so much like movie groupies, heh?

2) USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial – I’m sure the kids and us will have a blast checking out the battleship. I have never been on one. So I would love to check out the history and get the real sense of the history of this ship.

3) Bellamy Mansion – They have tour for the mansion that also operates as a museum of history and design arts. It’s time to take in a little bit of culture..

4) Relax on the beach – We will have to plan this in Spring or Summer to also take advantage of many beaches that we can choose from in Wilmington. I would love to walk on the board walk on Carolina Beach to check out the archade, restaurants and a pier.

5) Ride around town in this cool fun wheel suitable for the whole family. And what could be better way to check out around town than with this fun wheel from wheelfunrentals..

There are probably more stuff than I can think of right now that we can do there. Now we just have to find the perfect weekend and plan our trip.

Filed Under: Beaches, Day/Weekend Trips, Travel in North America

126 Days to go..

January 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Yup. That’s my countdown for our cruise this May to the Carribean on the Carnival Victory. Well, finally I have made up my mind on the excursion on Ocho Rios. One port down and 2 more to go…

In Orcho Rios, I decided to go with Carnival excursion to Bamboo Beach Club. As typical with my luck when I tried to do it online the system is not available. So I will have to wait till tomorrow to do so.. Gosh!!! Don’t they want my money. I hope I won’t change my mind till then.

The Bamboo Beach club seems to be a nice, low-key, all-inclusive beach club that we can spend the rest of the day after the Dunn’s River Falls. Plus it doesn’t hurt that we don’t have to worry about food and drink. The kids will get a chance to enjoy some beach time there. The price of this excursion is not bad for $45 if that price will remain the same after they upgrade the system. :)

The reason that we didn’t book Dunn’s River Falls because our son age doesn’t meet the minimum age so they won’t allow us to book that excursion. I guess on the bright side we will get to just have yet another relaxing day and save some money for more shopping. I know that most of the review for Jamaica says Dunn’s River Falls is a must but quite frankly I have seen prettier falls in Thailand. So I rather spend time on the beautiful beach which is what Jamaica is famous for and indulge in food and drink.. Just think about it already want me to push the fast forward button to our trip… 126 days to go!!!!!
Filed Under: Beaches, Carnival Cruise, Cruising, Travel in Caribbean

Daydream…Hawaii cruising

January 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Hawaii has been one of the destination that I have been daydreaming about for years. I don’t know what with it. Might be all those travel shows and articles that talk about how beautiful it is or might be just something that might help me feel more like my homeland a little bit more. Thailand is a tropical country and where I grew up was in the South that we have beaches everywhere. So in the sense, Hawaii has that and more.

Thanks to the highspeed highway for the 21st century that allow me to daydreaming more effectively with photo and articles. There are too many things to do with so little money so I don’t even know where to start on planning when I go to Hawaii.
So my first choice is Hawaii Cruise with NCL America. I know.. cruising won’t give you justice what each island has to offer. But I consider this as the sample trip so that I will get a chance to explore Hawaii. And if God provides, I will have a chance to revisit each island again.

NCL America is the only cruise line that can cruise Hawaii islands without having to visit another island outside the State since they are registered as American ships. There are always negative and positive reviews about the ships. But I believe that you make your own fun for your trip. If you go on vacation with the negative attitude and expect everything to be perfect then why bother, mind as well stay at home and watch Travel channels.

Currently, there are 3 ships that cruise around Hawaii islands but I believe NCL America will retire one of the ship this Feb. Well, I sure hope that they will keep the other two ships till I can save enough money. :)

This cruise is actually the first one I considered for our vacation this year. But after looking at the price and tickets (since we can’t possibly drive from GA to HI, we will have to fly), I think this will be more long term project and need more funding.

Wait for me Hawaii.. I shall see you some days soon.
Filed Under: Beaches, Cruising, Travel in North America

Last port on our list – Orcho Rios

January 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Orcho Rios in Jamaica is the last port on our trip. I have heard both good and bad things about Jamaica so I am still undecided as to what to do. One thing for sure is that we will book our excursion with the cruise on this trip. In reality, there are not that many choices we can do with small kids here. Majority of excursions involve a lot of activities and sometimes are not suitable for small children. I will be happy just to see the country and visit the beach. After all, that’s what this country is all about. Beautiful beach, laid back people and good food.

The most talk about place to visit is of course the Dunn’s River Falls. But I don’t know if I want to do that since the kids are too small to walk up the fall anyway. Then again, how often we will get to go to Jamaica.

Another option is to buy an admission to one of the all-inclusive resort by the beach and enjoy another nice and relaxing day on the beach.

Thanks to various resources on the web. I have a lot of homeworks to do for Orcho Rios.
Filed Under: Beaches, Jamica, Travel in Caribbean

Carnival Planning – Grand Cayman

January 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Next stop on our itinerary for the cruise is Grand Cayman. After looking at several excursions I think it’s hard to not try Stingray City. My hubby is a little bit iffy about it after the crocodile hunter incident. But I have heard that it’s very safe for these stingrays as they are tame.

Now, whom to book the excursion with. The obvious choice is through the cruise line. But then the downside is it’s more expensive than independent reputable local tour operator. Also it will be larger group and that won’t be fun snorkling with lot of people around you. So I have looked at a few local tour operators.
1) Captain Marvin – Looks like he is a very reputable one and has received a lot of great reviews. The one thing I have to make sure is timing on the booking and arrival of the ship. Looks as though we will be on the same timezone. The ship will arrive at 7AM. and the earliest time is 8AM. But will that be enough time for us to tender to port? Or we can opt for half-day trip which will push the time back to 9:15 AM. The price is only $5 difference and we will get more stops and extra half an hour.
2) Buccaneer Catamaran – This is another highly recommended tour operator. The plus side for this tour is they meet at 10AM.

Well, my unable-to-decide skill will keep me waited for a while again. Hopefully, I will be able to make my choice soon. Till then at least I know where I will be going. Just the matter of with whom.

Oh! tips from experience cruisers. Shop in Grand Cayman and don’t forget Coconut Rum Cake. Hmm.. I like this tip!

Filed Under: Beaches, Cayman Island, Travel in Caribbean

Carnival Planning – Cozumel

January 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Our first stop for our next cruise for the Carribean is in Cozumel. This will be our first time to go to Mexico and Cozumel. I plan to take it easy in this port as we will vacation with the kids so need to keep that in mind. Plus I don’t want to overdo things to stress ourselves out from relaxing vacation.

After searching and reading through several forums, I think we will settle for a day at Chankanaab National Park. And I opt to do this myself instead of buying a shore excursion from Carnival. I consider myself as a pretty well-traveled person so I don’t think there will be any problem getting a taxi to the park. Need to learn a few spanish and probably bring some dictionary. :) Just to be on the safe side.

The park seems to be very nice and perfect for a day on the beach with kids. Also I found a discount coupon on their website for $2 off per person. Not bad considering the ticket price is $16 per adult and $8 per kid. Hopefully, the price will remain the same in May.

Filed Under: Beaches, Travel in Caribbean
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