What’s the difference between Walt Disney and Bing Crosby? Bing sings but Walt Disney.
That’s just one of the jokes you’ll hopefully not hear on this Disney cruise.
Forgive me for trotting out a Dad Joke but it’s just that Daddy’s Little Girl gave me a box of them for my birthday… and some of them aren’t even mine.
So what better match-up than my favourite holiday hosts and my favourite form of travel… a Disney cruise?
Cassidy Travel http://www.cassidytravel.ie is offering a seven-night cruise on Disney Fantasy from €7661 for a family of four of the Western Caribbean.
Visiting Mexico, Grand Cayman and Jamaica from Cape Canaveral.
There will be daily shows and activities, dress-up themed nights, fireworks display and kids’ clubs.
There is even a private island, Castaway Cay, with water sports and sandy beaches.
And, of course, you’ll be sharing the ship with these guys…
Corphew
That water looks so still you could walk on it… the Aegean Sea that is.
So I tried, in Corfu, and ended up swallowing half of it, adding water skiing to a list of water sport calamities.
Which can only grow next week out in Tobago.
But I won’t have the Scary One to burp me like a new-born baby or like Jerry does to Tom.
Corfu is best admired from aboard a cruise ship with a stop-off.
When despite the huge expanse of the Mediterranean she almost bumped me (and others, mostly Scandinavian or German) in Soller in the north of the island.
We played it safe and gave her a story when we got invited to the bridge to see the captain and play with his wheel.
Majorca is much, much more than Magaluf and TUI know it.
They have Hidden Gems, seven nights all-inclusive Cork to Majorca on June 23 on Marella Dream from €11149pps.
I’ve always had a soft spot for TUI as they grew out of Thomson’s which had a newspaper arm, who gave me my first job and my first holiday discounts.
TUI http://www.tuiholidays.ie which gave us the dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s and putting us in the middle and is now branding a range of holidays ‘Blue’.
Just a suggestion but you might want to talk about blue-sky thinking… my usual rate!
TUI Blue for Families
And here’s what they’re offering with their TUI Blue concept resorts.
Family fun
The 5T TUI BLUE for Families Atlantica Aegean in Rhodes sit on the edge of a sand and shingle beach.
With a jungle-themed waterpark bursting with tubes and slides.
And four restaurants with wellbeing at the core.
And it’s all just down the road with a regular bus service into Rhodes Town… http://www.visitrhodes.com.
Then there’s the 4TPlus TUI BLUE for All Grand Azur in Marmaris which comes with its own private Blue Flag beach.
Good clean fun: In the Istanbul hamam
Now as well as the best Turkish cuisine, I’m loving this…. Turkish language classes. Because I love Turkey http://www.goturkeytourism.com.
It can feel positively Arctic in Scotland so it should come as little surprise that Scotland is being billed as part of an Arctic cruise… with our old friends G Adventures.
G Adventures http://www.gadventures.com will be hosting us tonight in Dublin to reveal more of their wares as part of their G Stock Live road trip.
Of course they cover the Seven Seas too and their Galapagos Islands and Cambodia packages from their current sale randomly jumped out at me.
My fjord escort: My own wee Troll
As did their 16-day Cruise the Norwegian Fjords with Scottish Highlands package for May 17.
Which is reduced from €4899 to €4164.
Starting in Tromso, the gateway to the Arctic you’ll travel as far north as Nordkopp where the Atlantic and the Arctic Seas meet before hopping your way down the fjords.
Light up, light up. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
You’ll pop in Shetland Islands, the most northerly point in the UK, whose nearest train station is Bergen in Norway, before finishing off in Edinburgh.
Heck, the Shetland Islands used to be Norwegian before being given to Scotland in a dowry in 1472.
Every day’s a school day on Cruiseday Tuesday!
Tenerife… I’ll be back
The beautiful Garachico. On Tenerife
The sharp Norwegian winter air is bracing but if you prefer a winter warmer…
Then TUI has seven nights on January 17 in an inside cabin on the Marella Explorer from €879pps.
For more on the Canarian Flavours package visit https://www.tuiholidays.ie. Call 1850 45 35 45 or visit a TUI Store / travel agent.
A toast to the Canaries
Unless you’ve been hiding under a stone you’ll know that I’ve been in Tenerife this autumn.
I’ve had more than my fair share of stick… and sticks.
And stick about sticks.
But I’ve become dependant on them, and not just because there are more rings on my trunk now.
I do feel fitter now than I have done for some time and that is in large part down to the trekking trips I have been fortunate enough to go on in recent years.
I have to confess that on the first of those I sneered somewhat when I saw the oldies with their walking poles on their way to the Camino in Galicia in Spain.
But it was me who was left with egg on my face and pains in my calves.
My Dear Old Dad, a doctor by trade, was right when he would say that we all need a stick.
And there was a collection of them in our porch back in Chez Murty when I was growing up.
I added to that too when I transported an adorned and steel-tipped stick back from my fabled Oktoberfest trip. Along with a Stein and a medical bill!
Which my Dear Old Dad, James G as opposed to my James J, discovered when he ‘accidentally’ opened my mail some weeks later.
Walk in my footsteps
I make a point of grinning and bearing any pain abroad rather than going to the hospital now.
Not that any of that will befall you on your CanariaWays.com http://www.canariaways.com trip as you will have the best prep and back-up from your holiday provider.
All of which brings me to a trailer for my Tenerife trek which was published in The Herald newspaper this weekend an in case you missed it….
Only a fool would drive out on the road without first putting it through its paces in a road test.
And the same is the case with cruise ships.
It’s just that a ship is a bit bigger and there are more tests to do.
Hence Princess Cruises spending six days of tests out on the water.
Setting out from Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy the experts tested out a series of manoeuvres to challenge the propulsion, steering and navigational equipment.
The ship will sail a short season in the Mediterranean before heading to the Caribbean.
You will get to enjoy the Princess MedallionClass experience. featuring the complimentary OceanMedallion wearable device, modelled below by this model.
I’m glad that’s all over – the Post-Leaving Cert holidays.
By the time it got to my two the destinations had changed.., it was Lisbon and Amsterdam.
For me and my buddies it was camping in the French Riviera. And, no, of course it wasn’t Cannes.
But St Raphael.
The boys of ’82: Chris, Martin, Bandanaman and Adam
And yes, I’ve had to add that to the list of places I’m banned from.
Castle Douglas, the Lowenbrau and Hofbrau Huis in Munich, Kirchberg in Austria and a hotel in Interlaken, Switzerland spring to mind.
Of course your guys will have booked their richly-deserved hols by now.
But this just gives me the chance to flag up the French Riviera.
Which doesn’t have to cost you un bras et une jambe.
I found seven nights with Click&Go http://www.clickandgo.com for the sample date of September 15 staying at the Appart City Nice Acropolis Aparthotel including Ryanair flights for €933.04.
And family mid-term breaks too are a thing of the past…
I’m in danger of getting nostalgic here but that quickly passes as I remember the Son and Heir ordering a T-bone steak in Majorca as a kid.
And only eating the chips!
But that’s only because I didn’t have this parenting lark sussed out, and I know you do.
TUI http://www.tuiholidays.ie have Dublin to Gran Canaria, seven nights’ self-catering, staying at the 2*+ Jardin Alantico, Playa Del Ingles for a family 2+1 from €1,599 on October 24.
And on the same date, Dublin to Gran Canaria, seven nights’ all-inclusive at the 3* Marina Elite Resort, Balito Beach, 3*, family 2+1 from €2,479 and family 2+2from €3,079
The Deep South
There’s a hairy little Jim waiting for the King
Cities take on a magical quality when you hear them in a pop song.
Unless it’s ‘I was sick and tired of everything when I called you last night from Glasgow.’
Sure Abba might have ‘wished it was the last show’ but Moscow rhymes too.
When I realised a lifelong dream to visit Memphis I just had to reenact every line from the Mark Cohn song in Insta.
I’m not sure though if it did the trick and my friends ‘could really feel the way I feel’.
Luxury Gold www.luxuryvacations.com does, and has a nine-day odyssey, Southern Grace, from Nashville through Memphis to New Orleans on September 27.
So you’ll be musicked out by the end of it all with Country, Elvis, Rock’n’Roll, Blues and Jazz all on the menu.
Luxury Gold offers a saving of €355 per person if booked before August 31. Was €3,525, now €3,170.
The Deep South is everything I thought it would be, and more, and I am drawn to it like a magnet.
I found an economy return for the sample dates of August 31-September 7 from €321.04.
Now I’m a big fan of Kimpton boutique hotels and LOVED the La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood just up from Huntington Beach. Visit http://www.lapeerhotel.com
Start spreading the news… New York is more than just the city, although what a city! So start spreading out to New York State and start to discover its many charms.
Our friends at New York State who are never strangers and regularly come to see us in Dublin were in town again to share their wares.
NYS Partners represents Long Island, Greater Niagara, Buffalo, Wine, Water and Wonders NYS Tour and Dutchess County,
Bandanaman and Long Island are in more than nodding terms… it was my first billet in New York, aged just 17, when I stayed with my cousins.
Water water everywhere: Photo by Chait Goli on Pexels.com
It may surprise some that Long Island isn’t in New York but it’s not one of the five boroughs: Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island.
But who couldn’t be entranced by the Hamptons mansions on Long Island, the setting for The Great Gatsby and still hang-out for the rich and famous…
New York State has water, and what water with Niagara, wine, and Buffalo with its wings and that’s the nourishment I need.
And if you want the last word on it… then New York State came up with the logo I heart NY. Insert the heart emoji yourself. You don’t expect me to do everything for you!
The R&A, the guardians of golf, except for in the US and Mexico (go, figure) were at pains up in Royal Portrush on Sunday to promote the fact that the golf season now moves on.
From the Open Golf Championship… and that the Solheim Cup is on the horizon for Europe and America’s best golfers at Gleneagles.
Maybe you’re already making a late pitch for Catriona Matthew’s European team or you just want a bit of recreational golf. Either way this package at the world’s Best Golf Hotel (World Golf Awards 2018) will be right up your fairway.
Enjoy an overnight stay and two days’ golf at the 5* Dromoland Castle. Arrive on October 20 for a two-course lunch at the Fig Tree restaurant followed by an afternoon Golf Clinic with Head PGA pro Ian Kearney at the Dromoland Golf Academy. You’ll dine at night at the AA Restaurant of the Year, the Earl of Thomond Restaurant.
Don’t get too relaxed though. After breakfast the next day there’s an 18-hole Ladies competition, teeing off from 9am-10.30am followed by the prize-giving.
From €295pps. If you’ve got time you can avail of the self-guided woodland walks around the 450 acres estate and fun use of the Leisure Centre and swimming pool.
This week I hope to meet my cousins over here for a family get-together when the conversation will quickly turn to golf… their great passion. And foreign shores.
A favourite holiday destination of my Uncle and Aunt was the Seychelles and my cuzes could sell Seychelles on the sea shore.
And so can Tropical Sky. Particularly at these prices.
Try savings of up to €1700 per person on seven night stays at the 5* Banyan Tree, Seychelles for travel completed before September 30. The holiday is now €3189pp.
Each villa is furnished in a traditional Creole style and comes with a private pool, indoor sunken bath and the option of in-villa dining or BBQ.
Based on two sharing on a half-board basis and including flights from Dublin and transfers. Visit http://www.tropicalsky.ie or call (01) 664 9999.
And she’s usually (no, make that always) right. She told me that if she wanted my opinion she’d give it to me.
I know she makes a great Mum but I reckon my Scary One would have made a great Mummy in Egypt too.
She did though pass up on a trip out there a few years ago, though in retrospect I think she was wise to hold out for the real Egyptology over the resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Luxury Gold has two itineraries in Egypt in 2020. Each journey includes a luxurious voyage along the Nile aboard the deluxe all-suite River Tosca where you can relax on the sun deck, the pool or the shaded cabana.
Book before August 31 and save up to €1,000 per couple on departures between January and April.
Elegance of the Nile is 12 days with up to €1,000 saving per couple while Elegance of Egypt is seven days with a saving of up to €500 per couple. Visit http://www.luxurygoldvacations.com or call 1800 98 989 98.
All roads lead to Rhodes
Here’s a welcome: Rhodes. Photo by Jean van der Meulen on Pexels.com
You’ve left it late again. Don’t worry there are some great late deals to pick up.
TUI has Dublin to Rhodes, seven nights’ self-catering at the 2*+ Kassandra Apartment at Ialyssos from €449pps on August 28.
Or my old favourite for a late and good budget trip, Bulgaria. TUI has seven nights’ B&B on August 29 from €489pps.
Well, no. The sun may be splitting the heavens but the skiers among us never stop dreaming of a white one.
Crystal Ski Holidays has two for one lift passes on select winter holidays to Andorra, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. With deposits starting from €150pp.
Depart on December 21 and stay in the 3* Borsat IV Apartments, Tignes on a self-catering basis for seven nights from €705pp (four sharing).
Depart on December 21, stay in the 3* Hotel L’Aigulle Rouge, Les Arcs on a half-board basis for seven nights from €879pp.
I’ll come back to New Year later… it would be ridiculous to think of that yet. I’ll leave it a week.
Center of everything
The €233m forest resort that is Center Parcs Longford Forest had a soft opening yesterday.
Special offers from €399 for three or four nights in a two-bedroom lodge off-peak. Visit http://www.centerparcs.ie for a full range of rates.
