For All the SuperShe’s Out There
Guest Post by Amy Perry Basseches
Guest Post by Amy Perry Basseches
Nearly a week after Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico, many residents are in critical need of supplies. Food, water, and medicine are dwindling and the island is expected to be without power for several months. The international airport in San Juan continues to operate on limited emergency power with fewer than ten commercial flights to the US each day. Instead, Puerto Rico is relying on cruise ships to bring resources to the devastated island. Royal Caribbean Cruises cancelled its Adventure of the Seas cruise to utilize the ship for evacuation and humanitarian efforts. The ship arrived in San Juan yesterday, before heading to St. Thomas and St. Croix to aid in the evacuation and donate critical supplies to each destination. Adventure of the Seas will bring evacuees to Fort Lauderdale before returning to San Juan on October 6. Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line, also has been helping with the aid effort. Carnival ships are currently traveling to destinations in the Caribbean that have been impacted by both Hurricane Irma and Maria.
We always ask new members of ActiveTravels how they found us. As we enter into our fifth year of business, more and more clients are saying that they came upon us in a Google search. Very few things make me happier than having complete strangers from around the globe ask us for our travel expertise. Sure, we love referrals, but there’s something terribly exciting about getting an email or call from the UK, Switzerland, New Zealand, and across the US from someone out of the blue. I mentioned this to our social media guru, Ross Lasley, owner of the acclaimed Internet Educator, and it resulted in one of his columns. I came across it recently and I was flattered. Ross understands that nobody finds you on Google by luck. It comes from years of hard work, getting your business out there through all channels of social media. I’ve been blogging regularly since 2009, probably the same I time I joined FaceBook and LinkedIn. The Twitter account came in 2011, Instagram this past year. It’s a steady stream of content, not unlike the hundreds of articles I wrote the 20 years prior. Build it and through hard work they will come.
Holland America just announced a new cruise departing from Boston to Greenland the summer of 2021. Three 17-day Greenland, Newfoundland & New England Discovery cruises aboard the Rotterdam will depart in July and August and sail roundtrip from Boston to the remote shoreline of Greenland and Newfoundland. Ports include Paamuit, Qaqortoq and Nanortalik, Greenland; St. John’s, Red Bay, St. Anthony and Corner Brook, Newfoundland; Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; and Bar Harbor, Maine. If you book a suite on any of the 2021 Canada and New England itineraries by February 28, 2020, they’ll throw in free drinks, free dining package, and free gratuities. Please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll check availability and pricing.
This past Saturday on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, the circa-1913 Capawock Theater reopened for the first time in years. Soon to reopen in less than a month is the historic Strand Theater in Edgartown. The person to thank for this monumental effort is Mark Snider, founding director of the newly formed Martha’s Vineyard Theater Foundation. He recently persuaded singer Carly Simon to join his board and help finish raising the $1 million needed for renovations.
The Lake Geneva region is often referred to as the Swiss Riviera, trying to match the tres chic atmosphere of Antibes and the French Riviera. Walking the esplanade of Vevey, lined with cafes and patisseries on one side and the stupendous vista of the Alps across the Lake Geneva waters, it’s easy to understand the comparison. This is especially true if you stay at two of the most upscale properties in the region, Lausanne Palace and Spa and Vevey’s Grand Hotel du Lac.