Archive for category: Blog

Over the Easter holidays I was lucky enough to take a Caribbean Cruise with my family to celebrate a big birthday this year! You may already know that I love the Caribbean and have been lucky enough to visit many times both on work trips and on family holidays. However, two of the islands on the cruise were ones I haven’t visited before and I was very much looking forward to seeing them.

They are both French islands. The first one being Guadeloupe, where the popular, light hearted, murder mystery BBC drama, Death in Paradise, is filmed. I am a very big ‘Death in Paradise’ fan and have seen all 56 episodes since it first started in 2011, so I was very excited to finally visit the island where it all happens.

It didn’t disappoint! Guadeloupe is a beautiful group of islands, shaped like a butterfly, with the main island being a natural masterpiece with mangrove forests and coral reefs. It is very undiscovered, as yet unaffected by major tourism. Every inch of the island’s tropical forest is covered with wildlife and the oceans burst with the colour of schools of bright fish.
For the ‘Death in Paradise’ fans amongst you, we did get to see Honore Police Station, we had a beer in Catherines Bar and even saw them building the Inspectors shack on the beach ready for them filming the new series in 3 weeks time! The beach here is absolutely stunning!

The second French Island which we visited was Martinique. The town here, Fort de France, was very pretty with wonderful colonial French architecture. We wandered around the streets looking at the lovely buildings and enjoyed a drink at one of the pavement café bars. You could just imagine you were on the streets of Paris, with everybody speaking French and the currency being the Euro. There is even a small version of the Sacre Coeur on the island and there is also a Galeries Lafayette in Fort-De-France.

We should also have been visiting the lovely nature island of Dominica, but after the two hurricanes last year, the island hasn’t yet fully recovered and wasn’t taking cruise ships. I guess this is a great reason to go back when it is fully open for business and inspect what this beautiful island has to offer.

For more information on getting to, and the options for staying on one or all of the islands in The French Caribbean, call Lisa at Caribbean & Exotic Boutique on 01706 507175

Planning your holiday is an exciting time, but it can also be a daunting task, and some holidaymakers find searching for the perfect getaway quite stressful.

Now is the perfect time to turn your thoughts to your travel plans for 2018 and find a hassle-free holiday of a lifetime. We have put together a short guide with reasons why now is the best time to organise and prepare your perfect 2018 holiday.

Book early for the best value and widest choice

Booking a holiday always seems to bring about the same dilemma, will I save by booking early? Or are their better deals available at the last-minute? The simple answer is, generally, the earlier you book your holiday, the better value you will receive.

Booking early means that you can take advantage of early booking discounts, great added value offers and the widest choice.

You will have the pick of the bunch so to speak – the flight date and times you want, the best seat on the plane, the hotel room with a view, the cruise itinerary you have always dreamt about, and the cabin that suits your needs. This is even more relevant if you are looking to travel during peak periods.

As January is usually when airlines and tour operators slash their prices to fill their order books for the year ahead, it’s a great time to snap up a bargain and book your holidays early, reducing the stress of finding the right holiday later in the year.

Be flexible with your travel plans

As much as booking early will give you the widest choice, being a little flexible with your travel plans can really pay dividends. Flights, for example, a day before or a day after your intended departure date may save you a good amount of money, even looking to travel earlier or later in the day can make a difference to prices.

A slightly bigger ask, but if you can be flexible with where you go on holiday, as in the hotel, resort or even destination, you could open up options that could save you money, or better still improve the quality of your holiday. Just think about it, changing destinations could mean the difference between a 4-star hotel, and a 5-star all-inclusive resort for example!

Do your homework

Your travel agent can, and will, help to recommend where you could go on holiday, but it’s always advisable to do a little research before you start your booking process.

Start by thinking about your favourite holiday destination, your budget and style of holiday you would like. Then check our website for some examples of current holiday deals, to get a feel for what offers are available and whether they would fit your budget and expectations.

We have put together a range of amazing destinations for you to choose from, from the finest resorts in the Caribbean and Maldives with a premium all-inclusive concept; family trips to the Walt Disney theme parks, and journeys to the historic streets of vibrant European cities.

If you prefer to travel in small groups, there are some interesting options for escorted tours. These could include a journey to the world-famous Golden Triangle including a safari in Ranthambore to see the elusive Bengal tiger, a visit to enchanting Vietnam with a cruise on the Mekong Delta, or an exciting 4×4 adventure holiday in Iceland.

Getting a good feel for the type of holiday you are really looking for will help your travel agent tailor make your perfect trip, and deliver on your expectations.

Book with a local travel agent to save time and money

Lots of choices can be a good thing, but it does also mean you may find it hard to find exactly what you want. The internet is OK for booking simple holidays, a flight and hotel for example when you know where you want to stay and who you want to fly with. However, your local travel agent will likely have access to far more relevant holiday options. Furthermore, their experience and knowledge is really where they shine.

Your travel agent will be able to create a holiday tailored to you, by accessing a huge range of product from tour operators, hotels, car hire companies and more. During sale periods, they will know which offers are relevant to you, and significantly cut down the time you would otherwise spend researching what to book and with whom.

Booking with your local travel agent will ensure you receive exceptional value for money, and you will also benefit from genuine peace of mind, knowing that should anything go wrong with your holiday, they will be there to help fix the problem – in person, over the phone or on email.

Another huge benefit travel agencies have over booking on the internet is being able to pay in instalments. You can often secure your summer holiday in January, by paying a small deposit.

Watch this video to find out why you should book your holiday with a travel agent.

Don’t delay, book today

Our final tip is, don’t delay in booking a holiday if you find what you are looking for today. Holiday prices change almost by the minute, so whilst a price may be available today, if not secured with a deposit, it could be more expensive tomorrow, or worse, not available at all!

For more details of our exciting 2018 holiday offers, look on our website or call us today and speak to one of our travel experts.

https://www.caribbean-boutique-holidays.co.uk/caribbean-holidays-special-offers.html

In September I was lucky enough to go on a familiarisation visit to Grenada courtesy of the Grenada Tourist Board. We had a fab trip and visited and stayed in lots of different hotels. Grenada is a wonderful island which caters for all markets, but in particular for independent adults who like to get out and about and see more of the island. It is a very safe island with lots of things to see and do.

Our first few nights we were staying at The Radisson Grenada Beach Resort. This hotel has a perfect position on the beautiful Grand Anse Beach. The staff were friendly and the breakfasts were wonderful.

On our first evening, we visited Blue Horizons Garden Resort and dined at the amazing Dodgy Dock Restaurant, on the oceans edge, where they were holding a ‘street food’ event. This was a great way to sample different local food made by local suppliers but they were all under one roof. It was a brilliant atmosphere with a local band playing into the early hours (we didn’t last that long as we were all suffering a from jetlag!)

On our second day we visited more hotels including Blue Horizons, True Blue Bay and Rex by Grenadian. The first two are fabulous options for independent travellers. They are in a great position for getting out and about and offer a good standard of hotel.

The Rex is a great 3-star plus all-inclusive property on Pink Gin Beach. It has a choice of restaurants and lots of activities including non-motorised watersports, tennis, golf etc.

During the week we visited a few Chocolate factories and sampled their yummy offerings. Grenada is famous for its dark chocolate. We also visited a nutmeg factory ( one of Grenada’s biggest exports)

We sampled a lot of the local food at various restaurants and I would definitely recommend getting out of your hotel and sampling the local food and drink.

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For one night only, we were treated to a night at Sandals La Source Grenada. I was lucky enough to be given a butler suite all to myself! I had my own pool on the balcony and an enormous, living room, bedroom and bathroom plus a fully stocked bar. It is a pity we were only staying one night!

Sandals is a fabulous couples-only, luxury included property on Pink Gin Beach with 10 restaurants and 6 bars. It offers lots of activities including a dive centre, watersports, entertainment, spa etc.

The island tour took us to Fort Frederick, Annandale Falls, Fort George and The Spice Market.

We enjoyed snorkelling at the world famous Underwater Sculpture Trail and sampled the river tubing which was great fun!

Our last stay was at Mount Cinnamon Resort & Beach Club. The villas were fabulous with stunning views across to St George’s. It had it’s own beach club with a bar and restaurant which you could walk down to in just a few minutes or there is always somebody on hand to run you down and back again ( all the way to your villa!)

Grenada is improving all the time and as September is out of season, a lot of the hotels were having refurbishments. We had a tour of Spice Island Resort, whilst it was closed, and had a sneak preview of all the improvements which they are making.

The View from our Veranda at Mount Cinnamon.

There was also a couple of new hotels being built and we were lucky enough to receive a hard hat tour of the 5-star Silver Sands Resort which will be opening next year. This looks an amazing project!

We like to give back something whilst we are visiting the Caribbean and so we took with us some pencils, books, toys etc and visited a local school to present them to the children.

All in all it was a fantastic trip and I would definitely recommend Grenada to anybody wishing to make a visit to the ‘real Caribbean’.

Caribbean & Exotic Boutique in Lancashire can help arrange your perfect holiday to Grenada. Visit our website for more information – Grenada Holidays.

Not everybody wants to sit on a beach sipping cocktails all day whilst on honeymoon. More & more people are looking for something a bit more adventurous!

Here are a few suggestions which you may wish to consider;

ALTERNATIVE HONEYMOON SUGGESTIONS

1) African Safari & Indian Ocean

For the best of both worlds why not consider a safari in Africa followed by a few days chilling out on a beautiful beach in the Indian Ocean.

There are several different possibilities depending on personal requirements and budget;

Masai Mara, Kenya & Zanzibar Honeymoon

One option is to experience a few days in the Masai Mara in Kenya, famous for the great Migration each July to September, where hundreds of thousands of plains game migrate into the reserve. Here you could add on a Champagne Balloon flight over the Masai Mara which is a lovely, romantic experience.

Following your safari, fly across to the island of Zanzibar, just 25 miles off the Tanzanian Coast. It is a large island characterised by sandy beaches fringed by coral reefs and is the ideal place to relax after your safari.

Capetown, Kruger and Mauritius Honeymoon

A second option is to see some of South Africa, maybe flying into Capetown for a few nights to experience the Winelands, take the cable car (or walk) up Table Mountain, visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for many years and visit the V&A Waterfront.

Afterwards fly up to Kruger National Park for a safari at one of the Big 5 Game Reserves. After your safari, you could then fly out to Mauritius with superb white sandy beaches, lush vegetation and exotic fauna. Many hotels offer special honeymoon upgrades here.

2) Galapagos Islands and Peru

Enjoy a 7-night cruise around the Galapagos Islands on a luxury boat and experience close encounters with many species of wildlife including iguanas, Waved albatross, Giant Tortoise, Hammerhead sharks etc.

Galapagos.jpg After your cruise fly to Cuzco in the Andean Highlands, a Spanish colonial city built on Inca foundations. Enjoy a couple of days walking, horse riding or mountain biking in the Sacred Valley before catching the train to Machu Picchu, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. If you prefer more active pursuits why not experience a guided trek. The Classic Inca Route trek takes 4 days and you stay under canvas or (as it is a honeymoon) you can choose the more luxurious six-day trek along the Salkantay trail, and stay in welcoming purpose-built Mountain Lodges of Peru accommodation.

3) USA Multi Centre

New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles Honeymoon

The options are endless in America. If you are city people, you could start your honeymoon in New York and enjoy the sights and sounds of The Big Apple, before flying across to Las Vegas for a few nights. Here you can experience the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’ with its themed hotels, excellent shopping and of course you must have a flutter in the casinos. We highly recommend that you take an excursion out to the Grand Canyon, the 8th Wonder of the World.

After Las Vegas you could fly to Los Angeles with its endless array of sightseeing and entertainment, including Universal Studios, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and maybe head down to Santa Monica to end your honeymoon on the beach.

Maybe you would prefer to sample the food, history and music of the multi-cultural southern states. Visit Elvis’s home, Graceland, in Nashville, follow the urban Bourbon Trail in Louisville, with more than 50 different bars offering 50 different Bourbons, visit the Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge and enjoy the jazz in New Orleans.

For something romantic why not sample a 7- night cruise on Board American Queen, the largest most opulent riverboat on the Mississippi, cruising from Memphis to New Orleans.

This is just a small sample of suggestions for your honeymoon with a difference.

Now read our Guide to choosing The Perfect Honeymoon – read blog here

We can make lots of other suggestions to suit your budget and your requirements. Do get in touch and we can discuss your requirements further.