Pearl Travel » travel

Pearls of Wisdom – Secure Flight

Pearl Travel Blog — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:48:37 +0000

Are you flying this summer? How up to date are you about the latest TSA requirements and Secure Flight? Just what is Secure Flight you ask? In August of last year Full Secure Flight was implemented and now impact all air travelers. It doe not matter if you arfe flying into, out of, and over the United States this applies to you. The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) now compares pre-departure lists of passengers to the federal government watch list. When you have booked an airline ticket you must now supply to the person/website/airline you are making the reservation through your Full Legal Name, your Gender, and your Date of Birth. You may also provide your Passport number, and Redress number (a Redress number is provided by the department of Homeland Security tohelp prevent future delays for travelers who have been misidentified in the past. You can apply for a redress ) to help aid identification. Your passport number and expiration date must be supplied if traveling internationally. I hope that this information will assist you when you next plan a flight.

Traveling with children

Pearl Travel Blog — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:37:43 +0000

During the Holidays and over the summer many families will be traveling with children big and small and that can be trying for all involved so I thought this might be the right time for a few “pearls of wisdom”.

Some security tips:

Always arrange for a meeting place if you get lost or separated and as soon as you arrive at a location make sure to point out a uniformed person that your child can go to for help.

It is a good idea to have a recent photo of your child with you this can be really helpful if get separated.

Walkie talkies and or cell phones are a great way to keep in touch with older children and other family members.

When you arrive at your hotel get a card from the hotel and have each child in your party carry it so they will always be able to tell someone where they are staying.

A few flying tips:

When flying a ’sippie’ cup with a lid is a great idea and a supply of favorite snack items will make the trip go faster.

A 24 hour supply of food for infants and toddlers is a great idea in case of delays.

For Toddlers making a little packet of goodies and surprises is a great idea and will give your child a special treat on the plane or even in the car (the dollar Store can be a great source for little surprises.)

A children’s book about animals from the area, fish from the sea if you are going to the beach, or the geographic area you are going to is a great idea.

Traveling with children can be a special experience for both you and your child no matter where you are going or how you get there so have a wonderful trip. Happy travels.

Barcelona day 2

Pearl Travel Blog — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:18:13 +0000

IDONDE ESTA LORENZO? Our second day in Barcelona was completely free and so we decided to explore. We learned that when traveling in foregin areas you need to be specific about what you are looking for. We headed off on the Metro, which is superb and so easy to use just watch you pockets and purses and ended up at what were the Olympic Village when we really wanted the Olympic stadium sites. We finally made it there and saw the entrance to the Olympic area very impressive and now put to wonderful use as musuems, and convention centers. We then decide we wanted to see another building by Antoni Gaudi so headed off on the metro fo Casa Mila. We had to change from one line of the metro to another and as we were heading off we suddenly turned around and Idonde esta lorenzo? (where is Larry?) We had lost him. After some discussion we headed off for our original destination and since we were extremely hungry we stopped for lunch and then as we were approaching the Casa Mila there was Lorenzo – he had gotten on the wrong metro. We did indeed see the building and then headed back to our hotel for a rest before we went to a Flamingo show. this was fantastic there were times when the feet were moving so fast you could barely see them. After this we had our ‘thanksgiving’ dinner paella at a sidewalk cafe. It was a wonderful end to an adventure filled trip. This was a superb trip with many ports of call as well as our two land stays. I was very pleased with the Oceania Cruise, Shore Trips, and Comtours in Spain they all did a wonderful job that enhanced our trip.

Barcelona Day 1

Pearl Travel Blog — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:59:54 +0000

I would be remiss if I did not finish our trip and our adventures with our stay in Barcelona. Again we were so very impressed with this beautiful city filled with impressive buildings. On Wednesday morning we bid farewell and Happy Thanksgiving to those who were on their way home to Cleveland and departed the cruise ship early in the morning. After checking into our hotel we set off to explore the city seeing a market that was filled with so many things to eat that we headed off for lunch which we had at a tapas sidewalk restaurant. We then had an afternoon tour of a portion of the city. This tour included the public gardens first started by Gaudi as a residential development then donated to the city. We had an overview of the city before going the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) church that has been under construction since 1882 and is not expected to be completed until 2020 or 2030. This church is called a temple and is said to be the masterpiece of architect Antoni Gaudi. Truly a magnificent structure even with all the cranes and construction going on. We dined at a local restaurant specializing in seafood.

Marsielle

Pearl Travel Blog — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:08:15 +0000

Yesterday we were in Marseille and doing a wine tasting of Chatreauneuf du Pape and then on to Avigon. The wine tasting was very good and the wine was excellent. We drove on to Avigion and saw the bridge of song fame or what is left of it. Today we have a relaxing morning – breakfast in our robes in the café was a hoot this morning and this afternoon we will be in Mallorca for a wine tasting and stop at a pearl factory. This will be my last blog for now as my computer time is running out. See you all back in Cleveland.

Monaco, Monte Carlo, and the Amalfi Coast

Pearl Travel Blog — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:04:55 +0000

Today I bring you an update from Monaco and the Cote d’Azure. We have spent the past to days at a pier in the harbor of Monte Carlo in Monaco. I woke up this morning and looked out and wondered if this is where you live would you get tired of the wonderful sight that greets you every morning. This is truly a jewel nestled in the Mediterranean Sea.

Yesterday we spent the day on our own and strolled around Monte Carlo. We saw the Prince’s palace, changing of the palace guard, the course for the Formula 1 race and generally rode around and viewed the sights.

Today we had a day on the Cote d’Azure our guide Tony and drivers Patrick and John Jacques gave us a wonderful tour around the country. We drove up saw lovely views overlooking Monaco and then on to Nice and again overlooking it nestled by the sea. We were able to have lunch in a sidewalk café outside our weather has been truly fantastic. We drove on to Eze a medieval village up in the mountains where we did some shopping for things of Provance – lavender. We saw several other villages and sights along the way before returning to the ship.

Cinque Terre and Livorno

Pearl Travel Blog — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:05:24 +0000

Going to catch up on two days today. Yesterday we were in Cinque Terre. I stayed on the ship but most of the group went off on their own and did the 5 towns of Cinque Terre by train and walking. All said it was a beautiful area and they really had a great time walking between the villages and stopping at them as they progressed through the area.

Today we were in Livorno and Joe and I did a tour of Lucca and the wine tasting at a boutique winery. This small winery has about 16 hectares of grapes that they grow and produce wine form. They only produce wine from their own grapes. They also have 4 hectares of olive trees and produce EVOO cold pressed olive oil. Unfortunately they do not ship wine to the US so we could not buy any but I did buy some EVOO. This was an excellent tour put on by the cruise ship and we really enjoyed it. Much of the other group went to Florence and really enjoyed it. John and Char did the Discovery walk tour and said it was excellent. Several of the other members of the group acquired new leather articles. Florence is definitely the place to buy leather and gold.

Sardinia

Pearl Travel Blog — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:37:52 +0000

Yesterday we were at the island of Sardinia. Really a very beautiful island but we were personally disappointed in the shore excursion we took spent more time standing around than on the actual excursion. It did not seem worthy of an Oceania type shore excursion and we did complete a complaint form regarding it. On the plus side the weather yesterday was fantastic and when we came back to the ship we were able to spend some time in the hot tub! It was over 70 degrees here – who would have thought it in November. Last night we had dinner at Paulo’ one of the specialty restaurants (no additional cost) and had a superb meal. Definitely fine dining at its best. Today we are at La Spezia – Joe and I are taking it easy but most of the rest of the group are off exploring Cinque Terre by train and foot on their own. After yesterday’s wonderful weather today it is cloudy overcast and foggy – we will see how the day develops perhaps it will burn off. I continue to be impressed with this line and their excellent treatment of passengers. Ta Ta for now more tomorrow

Napoli

Pearl Travel Blog — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:13:45 +0000

As we continue on our way to Barcelona today we were on a private tour along the Amalfi Coast. We had 2 vans with 6 passengers each and we had a wonderful day. We visited a cameo factory and saw the cameo carved by a master craftsman. We stopped at an inlay wood factory and learned about that. We visited Sorrento and ate lunch on the side of the hill above Positiano. Our Lunch was at a little restaurant where MAMA made everything including her home made Lemoncello which was quite good a mixture of tart and sweet. This evening we had dinner in the grand dinning room and spent a pleasant time listening to the piano player in Martini’s lounge. All in all a wonderful day in the Naples area. Tomorrow we are in Sardinia where we will do a wine and spirits tou

Bon Voyage

Pearl Travel Blog — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:19:45 +0000

Today we left Rome and made our way to board the lovely Oceania Ship Insignia. This is definitely an above average ship with personal attention to detail by all the crew. We will be spoiled for the next 10 days as we cruise the Western Mediterranean. Our cabin is a well appointed verandah cabin on deck 7 about the same size as the cabin on the Disney cruise ship. The ship is beautifully decorated in a style of quiet elegance. The port for Rome is Civitavecchia and it is truly a large commercial port located about an hour and a half from the city. I would never recommend anyone sailing from here to not take a few extra days and spend some time in the eternal city. Now we set sail in about a half an hour and we are off to toast our sail away.