Video: The World's Largest Spring Flower Garden - in Full Bloom on a Tulip-Time River Cruise!
They call it 'The Garden of Europe', and it's open for only 8 short weeks every spring. The spectacular Keukenhof garden in the Netherlands is said to be the largest spring flower garden in the world – and it's the highlight of our Avalon Tulip Time river cruise. BestTrip.TV filmed this once-a-year explosion of color of blooming tulips, surrounded by some of the famous Dutch tulip fields. We were there and even we thought it was too incredible to be real! Garden...
Video: The Most Photographed Hotel in the World Celebrates 125 Years
How does a hotel become the most photographed in the world? Many hotels have spectacular architecture, magnificent and dramatic settings... but very few hotel silhouettes define the destination. Fairmont's Chateau Frontenac is to Quebec City what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. The hotel not only evokes the grace and elegance of the French castles that inspired it. It is literally the high point of this historic, 400 year old city's UNESCO world heritage site. Although it appears to rise from...
7 Places Not to Miss in Indochina
Two hundred years ago, Europeans started referring to the region between India and China as Indochina.Already, it was recognized as one of the most beautiful, exotic, culturally unique destinations on the planet. With its very strategic position, Indochina was also center-stage in some of the defining conflicts of the 20th century including the Pacific theater of WW2 and the Vietnam War.Fast-forward to today, and the legendary countries of South-East Asia - SEA for short - are magnets for travelers by land and...
7 Reasons to Cruise Canada and New England on Seabourn
One of the greatest natural spectacles in the world is the unmatched explosion of colorful foliage that takes place in Eastern Canada and the North-Eastern US every autumn. And it's best experienced by cruise ship. Our cruise on the Seabourn Quest navigated the St. Lawrence from Montreal with calls at Quebec City, Canada's Maritime provinces, then along the Eastern Coast. Watch this video for our cruise tour and review.And here are my top 7 reasons you'll want to add a...
What Happens to Worn-Out Hotel Sheets? A Good News Story
How many times can your hotel sheets be slept in once, then washed, and slept in again before they're too worn to use one more time? We don't know.But we do know that there's now a better end story for used sheets than landfill or being tied together to form an escape route out the back window in a romantic comedy. Westin Hotels has decided that there's more to their famous 'Heavenly Bed' sheets than thread count. In fact, their...
5 Reasons To Give An Ovation To Luxury Cruising's Newest Ship
Applause, champagne, and celebration for the Seabourn Ovation. The fifth ship in Seabourn's fleet has her naming ceremony May 11, 2018, officially joining the line's award-winning Odyssey-class ships. The launch of the Ovation is the finale of Seabourn's current expansion plans. Now, the five Seabourn ships: Ovation, Encore, Quest, Sojourn and Odyssey, represent one of the most modern and consistent fleets in ultra-luxury cruising. Like her sister ships, sailing on the Seabourn Ovation is like sailing on a private yacht – but...
5 Little-Known Facts about Africa's 'Big Five' Animals
'Safari'. It's a Swahili word simply meaning 'journey'. But for travel lovers, the word 'safari' ignites our imaginations of exploring vast Sub-Saharan landscapes and encountering majestic creatures in their natural environment .Africa's 'Big Five' list dates from a time when human/animal encounters ended badly for the animal. The Big Five were the hardest to hunt on foot and therefore the most valued trophies.Today, the Big Five remain essential African animal encounters on safari to capture through your camera lens. Here are some things you...
Preserving the World's Heritage: One Cruise Line's Partnership with UNESCO
There are over a thousand World Heritage Sites in 167 countries. Places in the world of such extraordinary cultural or natural wonder, that UNESCO has dedicated itself to preserving them for the ages… and travelers dedicate themselves to discovering them for themselves. One cruise line has partnered with UNESCO to help achieve both goals. Seabourn's ultra-luxury cruises sail to all seven continents. It has a unique ability to bring travelers to many of the world's UNESCO treasures. In fact, over 170 designated...
America's Tallest Monument Park Transformed in Time for One of Nation's Biggest 4th July Parties
The view 630 feet above St. Louis from the top of its defining monument has changed after an immense, multi-year, $380-million renovation to the city's Gateway Arch National Park .The 1965 Gateway Arch became a global architectural icon and helped cement Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen's position as one of the masters of American mid-century design. The striking, modernist monument to the westward expansion of the United States is the world's tallest stainless steel arch, the tallest man-made monument in the United...
This Cruise Line has Plenty to Celebrate in Pride Month
San Francisco, Toronto, Sydney, Berlin… Now you can add another destination to celebrate Pride Month: at Sea. Celebrity Cruises held its first Pride party fleet-wide in 2017, wherever its ships were around the world. Now it looks like the cruise line's new tradition of celebrating LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion during international Pride Month and festivities is here to stay.2018's Pride Month celebrations on Celebrity cruise ships kicked off on the Celebrity Constellation in Sicily, and on the Celebrity Reflection in...