PRIDE Travel Blog

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Archive for June, 2009

Pride Travel’s Rocky Mountain Rail Journey Through Canada – Day 5: Whistler to Quesnel on the Rails

Jun 30

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in North America, TripJournals | Comments off

Day 5 – Whistler to Quesnel on the Rails

The early wakeup call turns out not so bad as we had dreaded. Having packed the bags the night before and requested an orange juice & tea wakeup call, our attendant delivered our drinks with a pleasant smile and gently whisked away the bags. There’s something to be said for luxury porterarge service whereby your luggage is taken from your room in one city and returned to your room in the next without you having to lift so much as an ounce. Of course, we still had to carry our day bags, but the load was significantly lighter without the larger pieces. Since our departure was so early, we did not have the opportunity to checkout at the gold desk nor to grab a light pastry from the Fairmont Gold lounge. Our disappointment was short-lived, however, as we knew a nice hearty breakfast awaited us aboard the Rocky Mountaineer.

As was the case with Whistler Mountaineer, GoldLeaf express boarding was swift and easy. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Adventure, Banff, BC, British Columbia, Columbia Icefield, Glacier, Jasper, Mountaineer, Quesnel, Rail, Rockies, Rocky Mountain, Train, Vancouver, Whistler

Pride Travel’s Rocky Mountain Rail Journey Through Canada – Day 4: Leisurely Whistler Monday

Jun 29

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in North America, TripJournals | Comments off

Day 4 - Leisurely Whistler Monday

Today began with pastries; phenomenal, crunchy butter croissants that crumbled gently in your mouth. Fresh juices, granola parfaits, smoked salmon, three varieties of eggs, hot sides and just plain goodness. Nathan commented that this was perhaps our best continental breakfast ever. Sure, we’ve had better made to order and hot ‘American’ breakfasts before (our best recently in Meunich), but never such a wide selection of high quality goods so arranged in a ‘cold’ self-service buffet.

We were hoping to ride the ski lift and complete a circuit this morning: up the wizard express to Blackcomb, across the peak to peak to Whistler, and down the Whistler gondola into whistler village in time for our afternoon massage and treatments. Alas, distracted by pastries and fruit parfait, our morning breakfast combined with our 1:30PM spa treatments did no allow for the two to three hours necessary to traverse the mountaintops and take pictures. But, ever optimists, we leave this excursion undone as a reminder of and incentive to visit this quaint ski lodge village once more. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Adventure, Alberta, Banff, BC, British Columbia, Columbia Icefield, Glacier, Jasper, Mountaineer, Rail, Rockies, Rocky Mountain, Train, Vancouver, Whistler

Pride Travel’s Rocky Mountain Rail Journey Through Canada – Day 3: Vancouver To Whistler; Sea To Sky

Jun 28

Posted by Nathan, Owner/Manager & COO in North America, TripJournals | 1 Comment

Day 3:  Vancouver To Whistler; Sea To Sky

Well, Marc says it’s my turn to blog today and I couldn’t be happier.

Today was full of excitement as it was our first real “rail” day. We started our morning with an early wake up call at The Fairmont Waterfront. After slowly waking up and getting ready, we made our way down to the lobby of the hotel to await our transfer to the train station.

Our train was scheduled to leave at 8:30 AM, and at 7:35 we started to worry since the rep for Rocky Mountaineer had not arrived yet, however the concierge reassured that the train company was very reliable and we needn’t worry. Sure enough about 10 minutes later the bus for the transfer arrived. Checking in for the train and receiving our rail vouchers was a breeze, and before we knew it we were on the bus headed over the Lion’s Gate Bridge to North Vancouver to catch the train. Our journey throughout the rocky mountains is in Rocky Mountaineer Vacation’s “Gold Leaf” service, the highest level of service available on this journey, and it feels great to be treated like a star. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Adventure, Alberta, Banff, BC, British Columbia, Columbia Icefield, Glacier, Jasper, Mountaineer, Rail, Rockies, Rocky Mountain, Train, Vancouver, Whistler

Pride Travel’s Rocky Mountain Rail Journey Through Canada – Day 2: Vancouver at Leisure

Jun 27

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in North America, TripJournals | 1 Comment

Day 2 – Vancouver at Leisure

We had a full day today, totally unplanned of course. An early (for us) wakeup call was a good start to the day for handling online chores, and the modern conveniences we cannot seem to part with even while on vacation. By 10 we were ready for a bite, and wanted to go out and hit the town.

As part of our rail journey, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations provides an attractions pass booklet which, for Vancouver, included a hop on hop off bus tour service. Not normally our cup of tea, we decided to try something different and ‘hop on’ at the second stop on the tour across the way at Canada Place. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Adventure, Alberta, Banff, BC, British Columbia, Columbia Icefield, Glacier, Jasper, Mountaineer, Rail, Rockies, Rocky Mountain, Train, Vancouver, Whistler

Pride Travel’s Rocky Mountain Rail Journey Through Canada – Day 1: Transit to Vancouver & Vancouver

Jun 26

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in North America, TripJournals | Comments off

Day 1 – Transit to Vancouver, Vancouver

Never wait till the last minute to pack your suitcase(s)…. at least don’t wait until that last minute to launder and pick out the clothes, fold them, and organize your travel gear. Wise words to live by, and ones we always strive (yet, sadly fail) to adhere to. It’s the curse of the frequent and experienced traveler. Subconsciously, we think we have all the time in the world; we’ve done this a thousand times before, after all.

Of course, as is always the case with travel-day, there are over a million things that needed to be done: chief among them, one high-visibility deliverable that MUST be emailed, bills that MUST be paid, chores, chores, chores to prepare for the almost two weeks away…. and OH! don’t forget about who’s baby-sitting the cat! Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Adventure, Alberta, Banff, BC, British Columbia, Columbia Icefield, Glacier, Jasper, Mountaineer, Rail, Rockies, Rocky Mountain, Train, Vancouver, Whistler

Pride Travel’s Rocky Mountain Rail Journey Through CANADA’s Majestic Rockies Begins!

Jun 25

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in TripJournals | Comments off

Join us for our amazing adventure through the Canadian Rockies on Rocky Mountaineer Vacations’ luxury trains as we trek in opulence through mountains, to lakes, snow capped peaks, and stretches of forested parks.

PRIDE Travel will be blogging on our journey daily on this blog, as well as posting photos on our official Facebook page. Make sure to look at the itinerary map posted to see our journey’s route. Visit the facebook page by clicking the button at the bottom of our homepage at www.pridetravelonline.com or directly by using this URL : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pride-Travel/82073804377?ref=ts

Map of PRIDE Travel’s full Journey on the Rocky Mountaineer Vacations Grand Circle through the Canadian Rockies

Sneak Peak — Our Itinerary for the next few days… Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Adventure, Alberta, Athabasca, Athabasca Glacier, Banff, Banff National Park, BC, British Columbia, Columbia Icefield, Glacier, helicopter, Jasper, Jasper National Park, Lake Louise, Mountaineer, Rail, Rockies, Rocky Mountain, Train, Vancouver, Victoria Glacier, Whistler, Yoho National Park

Is it OK to steal Hotel Ameneties ??

Jun 17

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in *Hot*, TripClips | 1 Comment

By Lynn Yaeger

(Travel + Leisure) — I stole a laundry bag from the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires. It was made of thick ivory linen, embroidered with the words “dry cleaning” in cerulean blue, and looked like something that I could have found at an antique textiles show. But that wasn’t the case.

I’m usually pretty scrupulous about purloined souvenirs. Of course, I help myself to soap and shampoo, sewing kits, even those black sponges meant to spruce up your shoes — oh, and ballpoint pens and darling little notepads. But the laundry bag was my first sojourn into the land of, what shall we call it … outright theft?

How widespread is this brand of petty larceny? Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Amenities, Bathrobes, Hotel Amenities, Hotel Toiletries, Resort, Slippers, Stealing, taking, Taking from Hotel, Toiletries

Travel Insurance – What it is, and why you should invest in it for every trip

Jun 16

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in TripClips, TripTips | Comments off

What it is –travel insurance comes in three flavors:

  1. •By far the most grotesque nomenclature used in the industry, the so-called “Accidental Death &Dismemberment” or AD&D Coverage is a form of limited life insurance to cover your family, loved ones, or beneficiaries. in case of a severe accident or death.
  2. •Trip Interruption coverage begins from the moment your scheduled trip begins until it ends and covers all that can go wrong during the trip. Some of the core coverages include your or a family member’s illness, travel delays, baggage loss or delay, and expenses to catch up to your remaining trip due to interruptions.
  3. •Trip Cancellation covers the things that can go awry before your trip even begins, such as your or a family member’s illness, certain partner and family situations, some work related cancellations, job termination, or insolvency of the tour operator, among others.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: cancelation coverage, coverage, insurance, travel insurance, trip insurance, vacation, vacation insurance

Reminiscence of Christmas Past – Our Christmas Time 2008 River Cruise aboard the MS AMAcello from Nuremburg to Budapest with Christmas Markets.

Jun 15

Posted by Nathan, Owner/Manager & COO in *Hot*, Europe, TripJournals | 1 Comment

Join PRIDE Travel as we reminisce of cooler and more festive times this summer, about where many of our signature holiday traditions—Christmas trees, gingerbread, nutcrackers, St. Nick, and candy canes—come to us from in Germany, Austria, and the heart of Europe.

Come discover the medieval atmosphere of Nuremberg’s Christmas Market with us, and sample its famous holiday gingerbread or hundred-year-old secret recipe Gluhwein. Stroll through Regensburg’s romantic Christmas Market, savoring dumplings with vanilla sauce. In Passau, shop for unique crafts like hand-painted porcelain and Bohemian glass ornaments. In Melk, visit the awe-inspiring Abbey whose library is legendary. Come with us this hot summer’s eve as we wistfully recall the spirit of the Holiday Season…
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Tags: AMA Waterways, Amacello, austria, bavaria, budapest, Christmas, Christmas Market, Christmas River Cruise, germany, Holiday Market, Holiday River Cruise, hungary, melk abbey, neuremberg, nuremberg, nurnberg, prague, River Cruise, vienna

Condo Units vs Hotel Rooms – Condo units mean larger accomodations with more features, amenities, and extras

Jun 14

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in TripClips, TripTips | 1 Comment

When you’re traveling with a group of four or more, cramming into a single hotel room or trying to arrange adjoining rooms can be a challenge. Most of us don’t realize that Condo resort units are so much different than hotels and a great alternative. Even couples traveling along looking for the extra value of deluxe suite or villa at minimal costs will find condo rental a good option.

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Tags: condo rental, timeshare, timeshare rental, vacation rental, villa, villa rental

Vacation Villa and Condo Unit Rental Tips: Strategies to ensure your expectations are exceeded and your experience maximized

Jun 14

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in TripClips, TripTips | 1 Comment

Weigh the pros and cons of renting privately.

Independently renting a vacation may be slightly cheaper, since owners aren’t paying fees to real estate or property management firms. On the other hand, though, rental agencies pre-screen properties, have better access to unbiased information, provide alternative options, and can present you properties touting such concierge services local guides, housekeeping staff, chef, and other amenities.

Order your priorities

Decide on the kind of experience you want, Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: condo rental, rental, timeshare, timeshare rental, villa, villa rental

PRIDE Travel receives runner-up 2009 Trendsetter award -Best Community Service by magazine Travel Age West for contributions to the LGBTQ Community

Jun 11

Posted by Marc, Owner & CEO in *LGBTQQ*, News & Press Releases | Comments off

 PRIDE Travel was awarded runner-up “Best Community Service” by TravelAge West magazine at this year’s black-tie Wave Awards benefit dinner for exemplary contributions to The Center, a community services organization catering to the local and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer communities. PRIDE Travel is the first gay & lesbian travel agency to ever receive this honor.

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Tags: 2009, award, community service, gay, pride travel, travelage west, trend setter, trendestter