Glenn Kalina, who has been a radio fixture in the tri – state region for many years, travelled with The Magic Morning Show with Diane De Oliviera down to Riviera Maya.

They broadcasted live each morning from the lobby of Now Sapphire. They also got to experience a true Apple Vacation at Now Sapphire by enjoying the amazing pool, great beach, spectacular restaurants and relaxing spa services. The Magic Morning show were even treated to the Tulum Xtreme Tour where they zip-lined and visited the ruins courtesy of our friends at Amstar Resorts. 

If you are in the area make sure to tune in to the station, over the next few months they will be giving away trips to Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun so that some lucky listeners will be able to have the same great experience.

As told by Ildi Samuelsen with Christmas City Travel

Being a travel agent, this was not my first trip to Punta Cana. However, Riu Palace Bavaro definitely gave me a surprisingly new feeling with all the modern and magnificent luxuries at the resort. For those of you (a.k.a. travel agents and experienced Caribbean travellers) that know the area, it’s located on the beach of Arena Gorda.  These beaches are arguably some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. There’s pristine white sand, turquoise waters, even coconut palm trees growing right down to the sea’s edge. No postcard does justice to the beauty of this place. Hand’s down – I have to say Riu Palace Bavaro is truly exquisite!

Of course the hotel staff was friendly and personable. It was a nice touch to see multi-lingual hotel employees. It obviously made it easier to cater to all kinds of visitors. The accommodations were remarkable and kept with the contemporary style of the resort. My companions and I were joking that we didn’t need the pool or the beach because we could simply spend a week in our luxurious rooms. (I’ll also mention that each room was wonderfully air conditioned and there was 24/7 room service – always a plus in my opinion). For anyone who wanted or needed to do some business on their getaway, there’s a state-of-the-art business center with different office and meeting spaces which included free wireless internet in designated areas. This is where I used the telephone features of the Apple Vacations “On The Go” App to call home and check on my loved ones. 

Needless to say RIU Palace Bavaro has a lot to offer.  

• There’s a limo or town car service available for the guests to use –some of the neat places to visit in town were Aquaworld, Playa Delfines, El Rey Ruins, Las Isla Shopping mall, Luxury Avenue and more
• You can try the ultra-chic and relaxing spa that offers facials, body treatments, massages and other beauty services
• Of course the resort has entertainment for both the kids and adults – A great variety of live music, casino, marine park, and a night club
• For those who like to stay active during their vacation, there was a gym, multiple tennis courts, table tennis, pool volleyball, windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, a beginner class in scuba diving, body boarding, horse riding, and other aquatic activities. There is an eighteen-hole golf course located nearby.

 
If you’re wondering about the food – Don’t worry – There are nine delectable restaurants and each has its own unique theme and culinary specialty. When you want to take a swim, you have four pools to take a dip in, two of them with adjoining Jacuzzis and there’s a children’s pool, too. My friends and I spent a lot of time at the smaller pool where the swim up bar was located. Look at this picture… Need I say more?

I would absolutely recommend this resort and hope that some of you readers get a chance to experience it firsthand.

We want to thank Apple Vacations so much from for such a wonderful trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

We really were amazed the way we were treated. We won the original 3 day fully inclusive trip but live in the Boston area. When we mentioned we would have to fly from Boston to pick up the departure the day before the trip, you upgraded us to a Boston departure, for a 7 day fully inclusive vacation!   Then when the original resort was overbooked, we got upgraded yet again to one of the best on the Island, Secrets Royal Beach. Our room was a beautiful Junior Suite with Jacuzzi and far exceeded our expectations.  The resort was fantastic, it had great food, a great location, and the staff was so friendly and helpful.

We found that the whole trip to be well run and supported by your Amstar representatives. They had all the relevant information for the resort and good advice for day trips that were available. My wife lost a bag on one of these trips and they both followed up with the outside tour operator, they found the bag and got it back to her intact.

The way we were treated was exceptional, and we would not hesitate to use or recommend Apple Vacations in the future. Our daughter who entered us in the contest said how much she had enjoyed using Apple Vacations for her vacation and how accommodating you were. We can certainly confirm that and want to thank you all again at Apple Vacations especially Susan for a wonderful (free) vacation experience.

T & D
Boston, MA

What does this mean to you?  Effective January 26, 2012 all Apple Vacations’ advertised pricing will change.  The price you see in our advertisements will be the complete cost of the vacation including all taxes and fees associated to the airfare.  You will still have the opportunity to add “Apple Extras” to your vacation that can increase your overall vacation price, however, that choice is strictly up to you!  Apple Vacations offers a wide variety of “extras” to enhance your vacation experience including: AV-O.K. Total Vacation Security Plan, Preferred Perks Plus (where available) and numerous resort and destination specific excursions.

A special note to Travel Agents
Any advertising you, as a Travel Agent, place in the market using prices from our website, quoted from our reservation system or taken from our advertisements (emails, website, newspaper ads, faxes, radio ads, etc.) are bound by the same DOT regulations and penalties including any additional services fee you add.

Below are the Final Rules as stated by the DOT.

1.  Full Fare Advertising
Change in Enforcement Policy – The DOT has mandated that “any advertised price for air transportation, an air tour or an air tour component must be the entire price to be paid by the customer for that transportation, tour or tour component”.  However, the DOT’s enforcement policy includes a provision permitting a seller of air transportation to break-out these charges while still displaying the total price to be paid by the consumer.  A separate statement of these taxes and fees must not be false or misleading, must be provided on a per passenger basis and must accurately reflect the cost of the charge to the carrier and may not be prominently displayed.

Please be advised that there are some taxes and fees that are not collected as part of an airfare and are payable at the airport upon arrival or departure based on destination, including but not limited to the following:

Antigua: $28.00 per person departure tax
Costa Rica: $28.00 per person departure tax
Dominican Republic: $10.00 per person tourist card fee

2.  Opt-Out Provisions
The DOT has prohibited “opt-out” provisions by sellers of air transportation.  “Opt-out” provisions involve situations where a consumer is purchasing air travel or an air tour package online and certain fees for ancillary services or products are pre-selected for the consumer and added to the total price to be paid by the consumer at the end of the transaction (i.e. travel insurance).  Under this rule, an optional service can be added to the total price to be paid the by consumer only if the consumer affirmatively agrees to pay a fee for such service, i.e. by checking a box for that service.

Please be aware this applies to Apple Vacations’ AV-O.K. Total Vacation Security Plan.  Apple Vacations has previously included this protection for you, but effective 01/26/2012, we are no longer pre-selecting the AV-O.K. Total Vacation Security Plan option.  So please be aware, if you want to purchase our AV-O.K. Total Vacation Security Plan, you must “check the box” or you will not have protection.

3.  Disclosing Baggage Fees
In this final rule, the DOT requires air carriers and ticket agents (tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents) to inform passengers on the first screen in which the ticket agent or carrier offers a fare quotation for a specific itinerary selected by a consumer that additional airline fees for baggage may apply, and where consumers can go to see these baggage fees.  This notification on the website must be clear and prominent.  To comply with this requirement, ticket agents can choose between referring consumers to their own site where the baggage fees are displayed or to the airline websites where specific information may be obtained.

Apple Vacations will link you directly to the air carrier’s website for information on baggage fees.  When you select your itinerary, a link will be displayed under the air carrier, “Check Air Carrier Baggage Policies”.  This link will direct you to the air carrier’s website to review their baggage fee policy.  Please review the baggage policy for the air carrier you are traveling on in advance of making your purchase so you will know exactly how much you will pay in baggage fees for your vacation.

4.  Baggage Fees and E-tickets
DOT will require air carriers and ticket agents (tour operators, wholesalers and travel agents) that advertise or sell air transportation in the United States to provide information on e-ticket confirmations regarding the passenger’s free baggage allowance and/or the applicable fee for a carry-on bag and the first and second checked bag.  Air carriers are required to include up to date information in text form within the e-ticket confirmation, ticket agents may provide a hyperlink to the specific location on air carrier’s website where this information is displayed.

When viewing your Apple Vacations electronic confirmation, you will see hyperlinks to the baggage fee information on the left hand side.  The “Airline Contact Information” link will bring you to the air carrier’s baggage policy page.

5.  Pre and Post Purchase Price Increases
The DOT has prohibited sellers of U.S. air transportation from increasing the price of air transportation, tour or tour component after purchase (“purchase” is defined as to have occurred when the full amount agreed upon has been paid by the consumer), except in the case of government imposed taxes or fees.  This does not restrict ticket agents from increasing the price of air transportation, tour or tour component prior to full payment being applied to a record of including but not limited to, an increase in the price of the seat, an increase in the price for the carriage of the passenger baggage, an increase in the applicable fuel surcharge, or an increase in a government imposed tax or fee.  Change Fees do not constitute an increase in the price of an already purchased ticket, as technically the consumer is purchasing a new ticket for new travel.

All of these advertising and consumer protection changes have been mandated by the DOT.  Apple Vacations will market the complete price of the package including all pre-collected government taxes and fees with every air ticket or air/hotel package.  To view the complete regulation from the DOT, please consult: www.dot.gov.

The town itself dates back to the summer of 1859 when gold was discovered along the Blue River. The discovery gave way to a bustling mining town and laid the groundwork for Breckenridge’s 350 historic structures that exist today. For years, gold and mining was the town’s pulse until the early 1940s when World War II efforts required mines to focus on melting down metals instead of drawing out metals. After World War II Breckenridge’s prospects were not looking good as it headed toward ghost town status with less than 400 residents in 1960. The hope of skiing, however, brought about Breckenridge’s renaissance when Rounds and Porter Lumber Company of Wichita, Kansas decided to take a stab at the growing popularity of winter sports.

From 1961 onward, Breckenridge has been dolling out firsts in the ski resort world. In 1981, they installed the first high-speed quad chairlift on Peak 9, which catapulted the high-speed quad chairlift revolution. Three years later, Breckenridge did another first in the state of Colorado by opening up the mountain to snowboarding. More than a decade later, Breckenridge was the most popular ski resort in the US with 1,392,242 skier/snowboarder visitors in 1999. In the same year, the resort added the country’s first six-passenger chairlift.

As the firsts continue, the past is not forgotten. The town and its history is what make a trip to Breckenridge even more memorable. The historic district, which is the largest in the state of Colorado, is Victorian-like. The authentic buildings are full of galleries, great dining options and boutique shopping. The Arts District alone is home to entertainment year round with live music, a theater and visual art exhibits from resident artists. The town is also full of massive snow sculptures during the winter, which gives the town a unique western bohemian vibe.

Breckenridge Resort pioneered the way people access the mountain. Being at the forefront of the chairlift evolution and through paving the way for snowboarders it’s clear why Breckenridge is an obvious choice for any winter sport enthusiast. Matched by a town with even more history and personality, there is no question as to why Breckenridge continues to be on the top of any vacationers list seeking the ultimate western experience. 

Want to WIN 3 nights lodging at the Village at Breckenridge for two people with 2 x 2 day lift tickets?

Click here to ENTER

Wait, it gets worse.

It also flurried.

The first official flurry of the season sets me into a panic stricken, snow-driven shame spiral. Stage one, First Flurry Freakout, lasts approximately 15 seconds, and goes a little something like this:

“Is that snow? It’s snowing. That’s not really snow. It is. No it isn’t. Wait, it is. It definitely is. I can’t leave the house. I despise driving in the snow. Do I have canned goods? Do I have good tires? Do I have bread, milk and eggs? No? But I must. I knew I should have gone to the market. We probably should have bought a snow blower. I refuse to shovel. Maybe this is the only snow we will see this year. Think of those poor folks stuck on Lake Shore Drive last year in the Chicago blizzard. I miss Chicago. I miss the shopping on Michigan Avenue. It could be worse; I could be in Michigan – in February. Why didn’t we just buy that snow blower? Remember when snow was fun? The DMV should warn you that the true cost of possessing a driver’s license is losing that magical snow day feeling. We should have moved to Mexico. Next year, we’re definitely moving to Mexico. Does everyone make French Toast when it snows? That’s it. I can’t leave my house. It’s unsafe. I have to quit my job. Say goodbye to my friends. And crawl back into bed for three months. Black ice will never find me there.“

Don’t worry. The above is completely internal.

Once my initial snowspasm grinds to a blinding halt, I commence stage two, the dreaded, three-month long, First Flurry Funk. And alas fine Juice readers, that’s where I am. I wish I could be beach blanket blogging from a beautiful seaside resort, but my next vacation isn’t scheduled until April 1. A crippling 86 days away. (Side note, we’re going to the Riviera Maya, of course, and taking my parents along for the ride. It’ll be their first time ever in Mexico at an All-Inclusive resort, and my father hates sand. It’ll be interesting.)

So why 86 days away? Why not tomorrow? Why, it’s busy season, folks. This is the time we in Reservations and our travel agent partners dig our heels in and book the bulk of your sunny vacations. See, I’m not the only one who gets the Winter Blues. Apparently, it’s a relatively normal process and sends folks on a mad dash to get to a warm and sunny destination.

As I write this, I just grabbed my smart phone and used our On The Go app to check the weather in Cancun. 82° and sunny. Philly? Feels like 46°. And it’s a “good day” here. Sigh.

So here’s my point. If you have the ability to throw on some sunblock and get somewhere warm, why are you still reading this? Now’s the time. We have amazing deals, some of the most affordable peak-season vacation packages we have ever offered. So pack those bags and get beach bound, babies. There’s no better way to burn off the calories consumed over the holiday than breaking a sweat poolside. And please feel free to post your pictures and stories to our Facebook site. It’s the only way this chilly girl can live vicariously through your travels.

Something that many people are not familiar with is how it came to be one of North America’s greatest ski destinations. Skiers started scaling and descending the Tetons as early as 1929. From then on Jackson Hole became home to ski “circuses,” the Teton Ski Club, Olympic ski team members and officially opened as a ski resort in 1965.

Under all these years of history is a cool story about a secret society of expert local skiers – the Jackson Hole Air Force – who literally pushed the boundaries of skiing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Founding members Benny Wilson and Howard Henderson named this fraternity of sorts after its mission: bomb down uncharted territory, huck off cliffs to get some air, bomb down some more, get some more air and repeat. In order to achieve this cycle of ski, air, ski, air Benny and his friends skied out of bounds violating Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s strict policy against out of bounds skiing.

After years of ducking the ropes and eluding the Jackson Hole ski patrol as well as police, the mountain decided to embrace out of bounds terrain and today offers over 5,000 acres of back-country skiing in the Bridger-Teton National Forest to its guests. Ironically, the Jackson Hole Air Force paved the way for an unprecedented guiding program in the United States. You can sign up for a Backcountry Guide experience with “European style off-piste” touring including hiking, mountaineering and downhill riding. The resort guiding program also offers Backcountry Camps for those wanting to earn their Avalanche Level 1. These programs promote the same kind of self discovery that motivated the Jackson Hole Air Force members to duck those ropes some 20 years ago.

Do not fret if backcountry and avalanche courses are not what you are looking for in a ski vacation. This history is what makes Jackson Hole what it is today, but does not define it. There is something for every type of skier and snowboarder. There are nice long groomers as well as great first time terrain. Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is all about taking what you know whether it is nothing to expert knowledge and help you to grow. That might mean following in the legendary steps of the Jackson Hole Air Force or just wanting that one successful ride up the tram and down a groomer.

There are other operators, that once you book your vacation with them, they are done.  Rest assured, when you book with Apple Vacations, we provide service beyond the booking. We are there every step of the way to ensure your vacation is the one you planned. How do we do it?

Apple Vacations has representatives (either airline staff at check-in, or Apple Reps in resort) at each of the airports where our exclusive leisure flights depart. Upon arrival, you’ll be met by our friends at Amstar, a division of Apple Vacations serving as our resort representatives, who will transport you to your hotel. These Apple Reps can recommend excursions to take, places to visit, or help with most any other need you may have while in resort.  Most importantly, the reps are there when you need them for any unforeseen circumstances as well.  

I’ve told this story before, but it is worth repeating. When Hurricane Wilma hit a few years back, I was worried because I had a TOP radio station executive in Riviera Maya, where the eye of the storm had stalled. We were in communication with our Apple Reps to ensure all Apple Vacations passengers were taken care of. But I could not reach him directly. Upon his return, I received an enormous thank you from him stating that he will never travel with anyone but Apple Vacations ever again. The Apple passengers were personally taken care of during the storm, and were the first to be evacuated from Cancun, several days ahead of other passengers who booked online or with other tour operators. He said he felt like a “Rock Star” traveling with Apple because of the priority service the Apple passengers received.

Another example is from a passenger who had to unexpectedly cut his trip short. “…during our vacation, we booked our excursions with Gabbie.  After we made our plans, we got a call to come home for an emergency. The Apple Rep, Benjamin, was early and talked to us until Gabbie arrived. He advised her of our problem.  Gabbie was on the phone unwinding our plans and calling to make arrangements for a return flight home. In less than an hour, our vacation plans were unwound, our flight home and transportation to the airport was booked, and she even contacted AVOK “trip protection” to start the ball rolling on our claim. We cannot say enough of how professional she was, and everything she did was so greatly appreciated. Thanks to your Reps at the resorts and the jobs they do.”

Apple Vacations has been in business for 40 years. When you travel with Apple Vacations, rest assured you are traveling with an experienced vacation company who is there for you every step of the way! It’s the Apple Advantage!

Another option, to receive non-stop transfers, is to book a resort that automatically offers them. On my last vacation to Riviera Maya, I stayed at Now Jade Riviera Cancun. When you book Now Resorts & Spas with Apple Vacations, non-stop transfers are included! We were out of the terminal and on the road in no time and at the hotel in less than 30 minutes.

When booking your next vacation, look for Now Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, Secrets Resorts & Spas or Zoetry Wellness & Spa Resort, as they offer non-stop transfers!