If you are stumped for gift ideas this holiday season, why not give the gift of travel! Who wouldn’t want to find a trip down south, an Alaskan cruise, or a gift card to the world under the tree on Christmas Day? Travel is a unique product, and can be given with love and thoughtfulness. Your Merit Travel Consultant will help you navigate the options available to find something just right for the loved ones on your holiday shopping list.

When giving the gift of travel, there are a few things to consider…

• Make it personal: What kind of travel would your recipient enjoy? Lying on a beach? Small ship cruising? Something more cultural or active, perhaps?
• Make it realistic: How long would they be able to travel for? A week? A month? Do you need to schedule the travel around any prior engagements/commitments?
• Make Sure: While cancellation insurance is terrific to protect against unexpected illness, etc., it does not generally cover a ‘change of mind’, so if you’re booking travel that comes with a penalty for changes or cancellations – make certain that you’re 100% sure

So what is a gift-giver to do? Here are some great suggestions for the traveller on your list:

• A Gift Certificate: With a Merit Travel Gift Certificate – there are literally endless possibilities to explore the world and to choose a travel experience that fits the recipient’s needs to a tee. Gift Certificates are also great ideas for people who have already booked travel, but may need extra services such as a hotel night, or an event ticket (such as theatre or sports) to enhance their trip. Additionally, Gift Certificates can be pooled among several gift-givers, creating a “travel registry”, which can be especially useful for honeymooners or families for example. To personalize the Gift Certificate, why not throw in some specialized brochures catered to trips you know the recipient would enjoy!

• Cruises:  Know someone who is just dying to take a cruise? Most major cruise lines allow bookings to be held with a relatively small deposit, which is refundable without conditions prior to the date when payment in full is due. The exact period of time in advance of the cruise departure date will vary by cruise line. This unique feature allows you to give something very specific and special, without locking you or the recipient into a reservation that cannot be changed.

The other alternative, of course, is to give travel as a gift, but not as a surprise! Include your recipient in the planning process, and your gift will result in some quality time together, and will be sure to please.

Stop by one of our Merit Travel offices to take a look at some options for your holiday list, and while you’re there, why not check out some travel experiences for you! Whatever option you choose, your Merit Travel Consultant is available to guide you through every step, to ensure you give (…or get!) the experience of a lifetime.

Royal Caribbean’s 2,074-passenger Splendour of the Seas is currently in dry dock being refurbished, and one of the new additions to the ship will be an iPad for every stateroom. The daily Cruise Compass newsletter will be accessible from the iPad, providing a list of events and activities, personal daily itineraries, and shore excursions. Guests can also watch movies, surf the Internet, look at a restaurant menu or check their bar tab.

Guests will be able to take the iPads around the ship, accessing information from staterooms and any location with a good connection to the ship-wide Wi-Fi network.

Splendour’s sister ships in the Vision class — Vision, Grandeur, Rhapsody, Enchantment, and Legend of the Seas — are expected to take on iPads as they also go through renovations over the next two years.

The first all suite-all balcony ship: Regent’s luxurious Seven Seas Mariner was launched in 2001 carrying just 700 guests. Two years later, the fleet welcomed Seven Seas Voyager; they are still the only cruise ships offering all-suite, all-balcony accommodation.

First real grass on a cruise ship: Celebrity Solstice was the first of five ships in a new class for Celebrity Cruises, introducing a number of “firsts” including a half acre of real grass on its upper deck. The fourth ship in the class, Silhouette, launched last month in Europe.

First real-time view portholes: Disney’s Dream, the line’s first new build in 13 years which launched in January year, has interior staterooms with “magic” portholes, showing a live feed view of the ship’s real view outside.

First female ship’s captain: Karin Stahre Janson, a mariner and self-described “tomboy” hailing from Sweden, took the helm of Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas back in 2007.

First ship within a ship: MSC’s Yacht Club, which is tucked away at the front of two of its ships, MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida, was introduced in 2008. It has superior suites with perks including a private concierge, private lift access, butler service and an exclusive pool and solarium complex.

First cruise to sell out in less than 30 minutes: Queen Elizabeth’s maiden voyage, from Southampton to Spain in October 2010, went on worldwide sale in April of the same year and sold out in 29 minutes and 14 seconds. It narrowly beat the QE2’s final voyage, another record breaker, which sold out in 36 minutes in June 2007.

Cruise with the most guests: It was inevitable that one of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships would set this record, and the honour goes to Oasis of the Seas, which left Port Everglades last April for a one-week Caribbean cruise with 6168 guests on board.

1. Know your cruise’s dress code — To choose your clothes for your cruise, you first need to know your cruise’s dress code. Even if you’ve cruised on the cruise line before, check specifically for your individual cruise. Dress codes are evolving, and some cruises have different dress codes than others.
2. Check your destination and excursion climates — It goes without saying you need to know what temperatures and weather to expect during your cruise, as you move from destination to destination. An excursion may take you a long way from the port, to entirely different climate conditions.
3. Know your excursion dress code — Most cruisers remember to take into account what the weather will be like during excursions, but forget that some excursion destinations might have clothing requirements and restrictions.
4. Consider using the ship’s laundry — Cruise ships today have laundry services available, and some even have self-service laundromats. Especially if your cruise is longer than a week, you should consider the ship’s laundry, even though it’s not necessarily inexpensive, as it enables you to pack lighter, and/or not waste time doing your own laundry. Another alternative is to pack some of those quick drying travel clothes, and do some “wash and dry” in your stateroom’s bathroom. If you do that, bring some travel laundry detergent and inflatable hangers with you.
5. Know the electrical standards of your ship, and of the countries in which you might be staying pre and post cruise — Your cruise ship might not have the same electrical standards of your home country, and the same may be true of any hotels for your pre and post cruise stay, if any, during your trip. If you’re a traveler with a cell phone, laptop computer, digital camera, mp3 player or other electrical devices which need to be charged or plugged-in while away, make sure you have the necessary transformer and/or plug adapters for your devices.
6. Unless you’re certain you never get sea sick, be prepared to prevent it — If you’ve never been on a cruise, or cruised in rough waters, even if you’ve never had motion sickness, be prepared to prevent getting sea sick. Pack a sea sickness preventative!
7. Pack your carry-on specifically for boarding your ship at the start of your cruise — Unlike at the airport, where you get your checked luggage immediately, your checked luggage may not arrive in your stateroom for several hours after you board. In addition, mishaps may occur when loading checked luggage on to the ship. You should pack your carry-on accordingly. Suggestions include: valuables, camera gear, electronic devices, breakables, toilet articles, medications, and a change of clothes.

Would you want to live in an airport for 80 days? Well that is exactly what one “lucky” person will be doing at the Vancouver International Airport. As part of their 80th anniversary, they are running a contest to select one person to live in the airport and report via video, Facebook and Twitter about anything and everything happening.

It’s not entirely a bad deal though, the winner stays at the airport’s The Fairmont hotel, receives three meals a day, a complimentary mobile phone and a $15,000 stipend.

Canada’s big two airlines, AirCanada and WestJet are starting to lower airfares after finding a price ceiling with customers. This comes after five months of raising fares, but has finally hit the point of suppressing demand. If oil prices continue on the downward trend we could start to see the return of deals this fall and winter.

Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America have all announced major changes to their smoking policies. Smoking will soon be banned in cabins on all the ships of all three lines.

The Princess smoking ban, which also applies to cabin balconies, will become effective on all departures after Jan. 15.

Carnival said its ban on smoking in all cabins would go into effect Dec. 1. The line will still allow both cigarette and cigar smoking on cabin balconies.

Holland America said its ban on smoking in cabins, but not on balconies, would take effect on Jan. 15.

Also effective today, Carnival said it was limiting smoking on its ships to dance clubs, designated areas within the casino and casino bar and certain sections on the open decks.

Carnival said it modified its policy as a result of recent guest surveys and onboard testing. Holland America said its new policy is “in keeping with the majority of guest preferences today.”

A fire that blackened 85 cabins on the Star Princess in the Caribbean in 2006 was blamed on a lit cigarette flung off a cabin balcony. The incident led to warnings about the need to carefully dispose of cigarettes.

Princess will continue to welcome passengers who smoke on its ships, with smoking allowed in the Churchill’s cigar lounges, a section of the discos and casinos, and a portion of the open decks.

After the new cabin bans take effect, passengers caught breaking the rules on any of the three lines will be charged a $250 cleaning fee.

Delta Hotels and Resorts has announced the launch of Delta Greens, a chain-wide environmental sustainability program. The company says every one of its more than 8,000 employees at 46 properties across Canada is being tasked with changing the way they work in order to reach the targets set out in the program.

Delta Greens touches on many aspects of the hotel business - guest services, construction, operations, maintenance and how the company works with suppliers and engages with employees. Under the program, all hotels in the chain will commit to decreasing their energy consumption, carbon emissions and water consumption by 30% within five years, as well as increasing waste diversion by 25%.

Delta will track the chain’s progress against targets online, so that Canadians can follow the company’s progress in achieving its goals.

The program’s goals are ambitious, including:

• Saving enough energy to power 21,000 homes for one year
• Reducing carbon dioxide to the equivalent of taking 15,000 cars off the road for one year
• Saving enough water to fill 900 Olympic swimming pools
• Diverting enough waste to fill 500 dumpster trucks
• Reducing by 140 the number of dumpster trucks going to landfill sites

“Delta Greens is nothing short of a revolution in how we approach our business,” says Hank Stackhouse, President and CEO, Delta Hotels and Resorts. “We have examined every aspect of our operations and asked ourselves ‘How could we do this more sustainably?’ We’ve started implementing these changes, both big and small, and hope that our employees and guests feel proud of the commitment we are all making to Canadian communities and to the planet.”

Delta is also committing to sharing its journey towards increased sustainability with the public - via the “IRIS”, an interactive tracking tool that stands for Integrated Rating Indicator for Sustainability. Delta’s IRIS will be posted prominently on the Green Watch page of the company’s website and updated 3 times a year in collaboration with Loop Initiatives, the sustainability integration and measurement consultancy that helped develop Delta Greens.

“Transparency is a critical part of this process,” says Stackhouse. “That’s why we’re inviting Canadians to follow our progress as we work towards achieving these ambitious targets.”

Airfares have repeatedly risen this year, the dollar has struggled against the euro, and Europe’s economic crisis is still rattling financial markets. North Americans planning their summer vacations could well ask what’s the point of going to Europe this year?

But savvy tourists considering the continent might also be wondering if there are bargains to be had, especially in the four European countries worst hit by the economic crisis – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Known in some circles by the derogatory acronym PIGS, these struggling nations rely heavily on tourism revenue, and they are working hard to boost this sector of their economies.

Back in the 1950’s the concept of the all-inclusive holiday was developed by Club Med to offer holiday travellers complete relaxation on beautiful beaches. Now the all-inclusive package resort is a staple of beach vacations - available widely throughout the coastlines of the Caribbean and Mexico.

The concept spread to Sandals 30 years ago starting in Jamaica, and in recent years a number of European brands have been expanding into the market. Canadians are some of the most fervent proponents of the concept; helping bolster it’s popularity and encouraging independent resorts and hotels to embrace the all-inclusive approach.