What's a Travel Bubble? Plus 3 Tips For Making the Most of Yours

You might see this view sooner than you think.The world of travel has begun to re-open. But it’s not like the tap has suddenly been turned full blast. More like a trickle. And there’s a clear pattern that’s going to shape your travel opportunities for at least the rest of this year, and possibly into 2021.Bubble TravelHuman interaction has gone from shelter-in-place, work-from-home and no contact with anyone outside your household, to health authorities laying out phases for a return to normal. Phase...

In it for the Long Haul: Cruise Line Marks 147 Years of Sailing History

These historic photos and delightful vintage posters trace one of the longest journeys of any cruise line. Holland America Line commemorates its 147th anniversary in April 2020. While 147 years is not the round number milestone that usually marks big anniversary celebrations, this anniversary takes place while travel has paused globally and HAL cruise operations have temporarily ceased for only the second time in its storied past. Today’s historic times have given us all a moment to reflect, and HAL is no...

The Hotel with the Best Views of Buenos Aires

They call Buenos Aires the ‘Paris of South America’. Historic neighborhoods of elegant, whitewashed buildings with ornate wrought iron trim, its reputation as the global capital of theater with 280 theaters, more than any other city in the world, and the world’s biggest boulevard, lined, like the grand boulevards of France’s capital, with monumental buildings… all add up to a distinctly European feel in Argentina’s capital city. The hotel with the very best view of Buenos Aires has to be the Hotel...

3 New Cruise Line Private Islands

It used to be that private islands were the playgrounds of the ridiculously rich and fabulously famous. Then cruise lines got into the game. Now, cruise lines are competing with each other to build exclusive tropical enclaves in the Caribbean for their guests to experience not just a day on the beach, but create travel memories they can't get anywhere else.Most of the actual private cruise line islands are small, uninhabited islands ('cays', pronounced 'keys') among the hundreds of islands...

Video: Eco-Friendly: Meet this Cruise Line Private Island's In-House Naturalist

This is a cruise line private island experience we haven't seen before. Our Caribbean cruise on Regent Seven Seas Cruises included a day at Harvest Caye, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of our cruise. And when you watch the video you'll see why. Harvest Caye is an island a mile offshore mainland Belize. Like other cruise line private islands, Harvest Caye was developed as a beach port of call in the Caribbean for its...

8 Facts About the Panama Canal

Panama is one of the fastest-growing destinations in Central America, and the Panama Canal is the country's star attraction. Although it's on everyone's list of things to experience, the canal is more important as a global shipping transit than tourist experience. Whether you sail the canal on your next cruise or watch in action from land, here are 8 things you need to know about this wonder of the modern world.1. It's a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.The...

You Can Take a Chair Lift to the Beach on this Island

They call it the 'Magical Flying Beach Chair' and it's probably one of the world's most memorable - and scenic - 6 minute trips to the beach. It's just like the ride you take to the top of a ski hill, except on a snowy mountain, you brace against the chilly wind. But on the tropical Honduran island of Roatan, the breeze off the ocean is a refreshing pleasure as you dangle your flip-flops 67 feet above a tree canopy. And...

Video: Play for a Day on Holland America Line's Caribbean Private Island

Think only the super rich and celebrities get the privileges of private islands?Guests aboard Holland America Line cruises in the Eastern Caribbean can get a taste of private island lifestyle too.HAL's private island is Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, and it's the featured port of call on the Oprah Winfrey Girls' Getaway cruise.BestTrip.TV has already been to this fantasy private island port of call, to share some of its highlights with you.Can you picture yourself there, too?

Picture This: The Largest Cruise Ship Ever to Transit the Panama Canal

As you can see, it was a tight fit when the newest mega-ship at sea arrived at one of the man-made wonders of the world in an iconic photo-op for the modern age of cruise travel. On her inaugural sailing from the shipyard where she was built in Germany, towards her homeport of Seattle, the Norwegian Bliss became the largest passenger ship ever to transit the Panama Canal. The nearly 50 mile-long and 12-hour series of locks, canals, and man-made bodies of...