Year 2011 in review –
highlights
Last year witnessed many firsts;
Standard and Poor’s downgrading of the US economy,
the four-year old Euro-crisis, and the Arab
upheaval that saw several long-standing heads of state
removed. Nonetheless, we enjoyed many rewarding voyages
in the year and reflect on some below.
Our 2011 voyage highlights include a
cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Valparaiso with a side
trip to the Antarctic, another from Venice to Athens
(this included the Dalmatian Coast, a visit to antiquity
in the Greek Islands, and the Corinth Canal), and a
third from Venice to Monte Carlo (this included onboard
opera performed by emerging Canadian
artists).
Our visits to the Greek
Islands were unaffected by the economic crisis in
Greece. In Athens, we avoided the afternoon
demonstration by conducting our tour of Acropolis and
the New Museum in the morning.
At Clarkson, we build our group
travel menu from voyages we ourselves have experienced
and judged to have value. We add new voyages as they
become viable, and are pleased to tell you there are
three flavours of South African voyages
now available;
two travel on the Chobe River to Victoria Falls! Call us
for details!
Our “Annual Repeat” voyages are:
· Russian
Waterways; we schedule
this for a June departure when the “white nights” can be
experienced. Your ship is your hotel on this voyage
between Moscow and St. Petersburg...
·
Magnificent
Europe; travel between Amsterdam and Budapest;
experience medieval history; witness Hitler’s Zeppelin
Fields where he addressed and motivated
thousands.
·
The
Black Sea Voyage; travel between Vienna and
Istanbul. Vienna conjures opulence, the era of the
Hapsburg family (“make love, not war”), of Mozart,
Strauss; view Budapest’s chain bridge from the vantage
point of Fisherman’s Bastion from the Buda side; and
there is Istanbul; the seat of Emperor Constantine and
the Ottoman Empire that lasted for over six hundred
years.
·
The Enchanting
Rhine; travel
between Amsterdam and Basel; continue to historic
Lucerne at the foot of the Alps and on to Zurich.
FLASH: Every
ten years, the Floriade Expo is held in Venlo. We have a
special departure in September where we include tickets
to this event. DENIS FLANAGAN of Landscape
Ontario will accompany this voyage, and
is prepared to share his extensive horticultural
knowledge with you. On our May departure, there are
still a few cabins (four at time of writing)
left.
· Magical
Croatia; this intimate voyage travels from
Dubrovnik to Split in July on a 36-passenger yacht.
There is an option for an add-on land tour from Split to
Ljubljana!
You can call us for details on the
above and many more voyages, or download day to day
itineraries from our clarksontours.ca website.
Travel choices – Total Cost of
Travel (TCT)
When booking air travel, we all look
for deals! We balance price and travel-time and pick the
most economical. When booking leisure travel involving
voyages, or stays at resorts, our decision criteria must
differ. Specifically, as travelers, we determine the
“Total Cost of Travel” (TCT), which requires us to match
our lifestyle with that of the travel experience
preferred. We at Cruise Holidays of Clarkson are
prepared to help you plan your dream vacation and to
review TCT with you. Oftentimes, depending on your
preferences, the quality of your vacation can be
significantly enhanced without adding to TCT. Come in
and let us review these options with you.
Our travel menu
Although these newsletters focus on
group travel, our core business remains that of
individual travel where we help you plan and organize
your individual and family events. See us to help you
plan travel occasions such as weddings, anniversaries,
or just plain old getaways. This service is free and is
an opportunity for you to get to know us.
A great planner of meals, Zaneta
applies her gourmet expertise to creating a group travel
smorgasbord. We at Clarkson all get an opportunity to
serve up voyages from her menu as we escort you on
several. Zaneta herself will travel with the Australia
and New Zealand group in February / March. At this time
her sous-chefs have the following serving
assignments:
·
Joe will
accompany the “Musical
Delights on the Danube” in April. Opera and ballet
performances are scheduled in the elegant State Opera
Houses in Budapest and Prague; cabins may still be
available. Join Bill Anderson on this voyage.
·
Victoria
will accompany the following
voyages:
o
“Greek
Glory” in May from Istanbul to Venice – a wonderful,
rich itinerary!
·
Tal will
accompany the
following voyages :
o
“Romantic
Danube” in May from Prague to Budapest; an
outstanding experience!
·
For
gourmet chefs and budding chefs, come with us on
Oceania’s new ship Riviera on the
“Enchanted
Grandeur” voyage from Athens to Rome. Cook along
with Bon Appétit chefs, enjoy private dining with food
and wine pairings and more!
·
Joe and
Zaneta will accompany the “Deluxe
Orient Experience” in November from Bangkok to
Singapore (on train) and Bali to Hong Kong featuring the
famed Orient Express and top hotels.
·
Welcome
in the New Year on Disney’s
Fantasy; departs December 29, 2012, 7 nights, East
Caribbean, and to Disney’s private island – Castaway
Cay.
The assignments above are subject to
group-sizes stipulated in our brochures. There are
several side dishes to Zaneta’s menu in just about every
month of the year; call, us, drop in, our visit our
website.
A feature destination –
Galapagos
Prior to Columbus’ discovery in the
late 15th century that the world is “round”
and not flat, ocean and sea travel was more or less
restricted to the “Middle Sea”, and trade routes to
India. The centuries following saw a deluge of able
navigators, Cook, Magellan, Drake and others, who played
significant roles in “opening up” the globe. We still
use their passages (e.g., the Drake Passage, the
Magellan Straits...) today. When visiting the South
American region, one is struck by the relatively recent
historical events as compared to those of North Africa,
Europe, and China. References are mostly to the
19th century at which time indigenous peoples
inhabited the land and followed survival strategies not
unlike those of the Eskimos of the North. And there
remain mysteries that predate history and continue to
challenge the world’s best minds; for example, figures
etched into the land by the Incas, discernible only from
the air; and what appears to be “landing strips”.
Galapagos, part of Ecuador, has a
strong association with Charles Darwin. It is said that
Darwin developed his theory of evolution here, observing
as he did wild life seemingly preserved in time. It is
amazing that some species of the giant turtle survived
extinction (from the onslaught of whalers and other
explorers who sought their fat). Today, Galapagos is a
national ecological park. Its pristine and peculiar
beauty has attracted curious-minded travelers for some
time. Typical travel to the area includes tours of
Ecuadorian sites (see inset map from Avalon Cruises) and
can be supplemented with a visit to the Amazon for the
nature seeker. There is significant benefit that one can
derive from touching, and experiencing
that
cannot be fully imagined by reading books or narratives.
Many times I have heard “Now that I have visited [that
place] this [article, book]
makes much more sense to me”.
You can
register your attendance at any event that interests you
by clicking on the event you wish to attend on our “
Calendar
of Events” page on our website.
We invite you to
the following events:
Date
|
Time
|
Description of
Event
|
Location
|
Jan 28
|
15:00
|
Meet & Greet; Aus and NZ (Departs
Feb 14)
|
Store
|
Mar 3
|
15:00
|
Meet & Greet: Classical delights on
the Danube with Bill Anderson; (Departs Mar
31)
|
Store
|
Mar 22
|
19:00
|
Information session on our Culinary
Cruise
|
*Julia’s
Ristorante
|
Mar 31
|
15:00
|
Reunion: Aus and NZ (Returns Mar
10)
|
Store
|
*NOTE:
Julia’s Ristorante address: 312
Lakeshore Rd E Oakville, Ontario L6J 1J2; Tel: 905 844
7401
About our “Refer a
Friend” program
We invite you to take advantage of our
referral offer. Refer a friend, have your friend book
and earn CAD 150 bonus on your booking.
Why Cruise Holidays of
Clarkson
Cruise
Holidays of Clarkson is an independently owned travel
agency specializing in group and individual leisure
travel services. Our business relies heavily on word of
mouth and the promise of a lifetime travel experience.
We
consider it important to understand our clients’ travel
dreams, preferences, and needs, to keep abreast of
travel trends, opportunities, and geopolitics, and to
deliver travel services aligned with expectations.
We are
part of the Travel Leaders Group franchised operation
and benefit from the scale of that operation when
dealing with suppliers. This positions us to provide
significant value to our clients.
Cruise
Holidays of Clarkson is a member of Cruise Holidays’
President’s Circle (2009 and 2010) and recipient of
Royal Bank Insurance’s award for quality business.
Best regards,
Zaneta Rochemont
President,
Cruise Holidays of Clarkson
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