Disney deals will excite the little ones

Oh to be young! Contiki is offering tours for people 18 to 35. 

Two of my friends have used them and they both would travel with Contiki again.

They offer three types of tours from superior, concept and budget, depending on how much money you have to spend. Basically the only thing that changes is the accommodations or transportation. 

One of my friends did a budget tour, which was done on a coach and ferry. The accommodations and had a mixture of hotels, hostels, and a campsite (in trailers). 

A sample 12-day budget European tour visits seven countries: England, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. Six UNESCO World Heritage sites will be stops during the trip. 

During the tour you would also get nine breakfasts and six dinners. 

The total US$ price (not including plane ticket to get to the starting point in London) starts at $1,439 per person or $120 per day. It’s not a bad way to see Europe fairly inexpensively.

The website (www.contiki.com) has a latest deals section and does a variety of trips all over the world. If you are looking for a specific activity like diving/snorkeling, skiing or cruising, it has those options as well. 

At every stop you’ll have free time to go explore on your own but there are also optional tours you can sign  up for (which is an added cost).

Maybe you’re looking to travel to regions of the world that might stretch your comfort zone if you were on your own, then this might provide some security of being with an organized tour that would help bring you peace of mind.

It’s also great for singles who don’t want to travel alone.

Norwegian

The cruise line is offering free balcony upgrades when you book a new cruise vacation from now through August 3. You can also get upgraded to an ocean view stateroom for the price of an inside stateroom. 

See your travel agent or go to www.ncl.com 

Who’s the best?

Frequent Business Traveler recently did a survey asking people how satisfied they are with their frequent flier programme’s redemption policy. I’m a big supporter of collecting as many air miles as I can to earn free trips. 

Alaska Airlines was the top rated, which doesn’t do us in Bermuda too much good, but Southwest’s Rapid Rewards (what AirTran is being merged into) was number two. In order, the airlines with service to Bermuda were — Southwest, American, JetBlue, United, British Airways, US Airways, Delta and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. There wasn’t much to choose from at the bottom of the pile as both Air Canada and Delta’s SkyMiles had an over 67 per cent ‘Not satisfied’ rating. 

Disney deals

If you have little ones that go nuts for Mickey, Donald, Goofy and the gang, you might try going to mousesavers.com for discounts. It goes beyond Disneyland and Disney World to include Disney cruises, Disney vacation packages, and the ice shows.

The latest newsletter includes loads of discounted hotels around both American Disney theme parks.

One of the Disney cruises can be had for $125 per person per day, which is a great price as Disney is a premium cruise line.

And, of course, links for cheaper tickets for the theme parks. One sample price is a two-day park Hopper ticket for $205 for an adult or $192 for a child (ages three to nine).