Author: TravelBloggers.ca

TravelBloggers.ca, Maid Of The Mist, Niagara Falls

Three New Boats Ready to Showcase the Infamous Niagara Falls In 2014

  Last year (2012), Hornblower Niagara Cruises [NiagaraCruises.com], won the contract to operate cruises from the Canadian side of the Niagara Gorge to the base of the Horseshoe Falls. Maid of the Mist Steam Company has been operating the tours since 1854 (originally they were ferries between Canada and the U.S. as far back as 1846) – and will continue to offer tours from the U.S. side of the river. For anyone familiar with the sights of the Maid of the Mist boats, it’s going to be quite a surprise to see the new catamarans running alongside the traditional-looking boats. The catamarans’ features include: improved manoeuvrability in the water, enclosed viewing areas for those who don’t want to get wet, an outdoor deck with tiered viewing areas to provide maximum sightseeing and they’ll also have seating, on-board washrooms and licensed concessions for new evening and night time cruises. The catamarans, (26 metres long and 10 metres wide), will arrive in Niagara Falls sometime in January 2014. One has already been built, with the second one …

TravelBloggers.ca, camera

Take a road trip, take a picture, win a free road trip

SYLVANIA Canada is offering Canadians the opportunity to win a free road trip just by posting their photos on Instagram using the #SeeCanadaBetter hashtag. TORONTO, Nov. 4, 2013 /CNW/ – SYLVANIA Canada is encouraging Canadians to share their views of the country through photos. Using Instagram, anyone across Canada can submit their photos of the way they’ve seen Canada. “Canada has such a rich, beautiful landscape and while the seasons might be changing from surfing the coast to skating on backyard rinks, as proud Canadians we never let a cold front keep us indoors,” said Colleen Applebough, OSRAM SYLVANIA communications and marketing services manager. “For us Canadians, the difference between 20 degrees above or below zero is simply a matter of whether or not you’re boarding on the lake or on the slopes. We want you to show us the photos of your Canada.” Now anyone can take in a virtual tour of the country through the cameras of Canadians everywhere. By checking out the #SeeCanadaBetter hashtag on Instagram, visitors can enjoy pictures from British …

TravelBloggers.ca Plane

Survey Shows That Canadians Have A Poor Understanding of Travel/Vacation Health Coverage

Vacations aren’t always carefree – 21% have required medical attention and 6% don’t pack underwear TORONTO, Oct. 22, 2013 /CNW/ – The Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THiA) conducted a national survey* of Canadians about their travel habits and their understanding of provincial health coverage. The survey revealed that 35% of Canadian travellers do not buy travel health insurance. “Only six per cent of Canadians realize that provincial health plans cover approximately nine per cent of medical expenses when travelling outside of Canada,” said THiA President, John Thain. “Travel health insurance is designed to protect against unforeseen medical expenses.”

TravelBloggers.ca

Iconic Neuschwanstein Castle – An Inspiration For Fairy-Tales and Children’s Dreams

Touring one of the world’s most infamous castles Walt Disney built his empire around a beautiful castle, that castle was inspired by the magnificent Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. Neuschwanstein Castle and the surrounding village of Schwangau are spectacular and quaint all at the same time. The splendour and grandeur of the castle paired with the rustic feel of the country-side with the distant sound of cow bells echoing through the valley – this truly is a place where fairy-tales are born. Neuschwanstein Castle (pronounced: Noysh-vine-stine) is one of the most popular of all the palaces and castles in Europe, seeing more than 1.4 million visitors annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer, so depending on when you visit and try to book a tour, your wish may or may not be granted – so plan ahead!

Karlsruhe Zoo – Is It A Park With A Zoo Or A Zoo With A Park?

After driving around in circles for what seemed hours (but was only a few minutes), we found a parking garage and parked. Phew! Glad that was over..We’d been following our friend through the modern and very clean city of Karlsruhe – trying not to lose him, while at the same time making sure we were not running red lights or breaking the law! (Karlsruhe is located 50km south of Heidelberg) For a city this large it was strange to see plenty of parked cars by the side of the road but few people actually walking about. Street after street of parked cars, but there was no inclination that there could possibly be a park – let alone a zoo in this neighbourhood. Once we’d parked the car, we came out of the underground garage into a large open plaza surrounded by buildings. On the far side were a few trees and off we went towards them – still wondering how they’ve managed to hide a zoo in the middle of the city. We got to …

TravelersMobile, TravelBloggers.ca

Travelers Mobile – The Goal Is To Eliminate Expensive International Mobile Roaming Fees

Celebrating its first anniversary, Canadian Travelers Mobile Limited is working to eliminate international roaming fees by using the natural forces of completion. Vancouver, British Columbia (PRWEB) September 10, 2013 Travelers Mobile was launched in September 2012 to offer Canadian and international travelers visiting the USA access to a local carrier, operating on the American AT&T network – effectively eliminating roaming fees and saving travellers up to 98% on their phone bill. Since the launch, Travelers Mobile has added Canada and the UK to its list of destinations. Visitors to Canada are able to access service on Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest mobile carrier, and travellers to the UK have access to service on Lebara, which has special international rates and runs on the Vodafone network in the UK.

TravelBloggers.ca

Dress for the Fest – Oktoberfest!

A few months back, Gail and I were telling her BFF about our trip to Germany and our Oktoberfest experience when she said: “Let’s get dressed in the German outfits and go to Oktoberfest in Kitchener this year!” Having gone to Oktoberfest in Stuttgart, it was seeming kind of odd that we’d travelled some 5,000+ kilometres to Germany, but had never bothered to drive an hour up the highway to visit Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario for Oktoberfest – especially since it’s said to be Canada’s best Bavarian Festival! Gail & I looked at each other…and thought, hmmm not a bad idea, but we’re not German – wouldn’t we be insulting them if we bought authentic Bavarian outfits and went to Oktoberfest as frauds? What to do!? … Google it (of course)! After a bit of quick research we found that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with dressing up as Bavarians – quite the opposite in fact! Information we found indicated that lots of people get in the spirit and “fake it ‘til they make it” at Oktoberfest – …

TravelBloggers.ca Plane

Angry Customer Buys Promoted Tweets To Bash British Airways For Losing His Luggage

Could this be the next trend for people to finally get the attention of large companies with bad customer service? It’s so much easier now to embarrass companies through Twitter and Facebook by reaching out the very customers they need to stay in business. Unfortunately it will lead to crack-pots doing the same thing for minor or insignificant claims – or competitors doing likewise to ruin good reputations. This could be beneficial for a short time until it’s abused and then companies might abandon Twitter & Facebook altogether!   – TravelBloggers.ca Angry Customer Buys Promoted Tweets To Bash British Airways For Losing His Luggage British Airways allegedly lost a man’s luggage, then wouldn’t return his emails. The man turned to Twitter to vent. But he didn’t just vent to his 500+ followers. Instead, he purchased promoted tweets, Twitter’s form of advertising, to spread his message far and wide: “Don’t fly @BritishAirways,” the man with the handle @HVSVN wrote on Sunday evening. “Their customer service is horrendous.” His tirade continued: