2016 is not the year to hold off booking your holiday arrangements!

It is part of the human condition to want to try and beat the system and the travel industry is no different in that respect. Every year, intending travellers tend to look into their respective crystal balls to find out when they should book their holiday arrangements. They reason (not unreasonably) that since commodities such as airline seats and hotel rooms are essentially perishable products, it makes more sense to leave making such arrangements until

Where to go for next year’s holidays?

It's a question that many people begin to ask themselves around this time of year; the plan being that they'll book their next holiday once they get the expense of Christmas out of the way. The question of where often comes down to a few critical issues such as price, availability and accessibility. Next year, people will be adding at least one more criterion to that list: security! Following the recent spate of terrorist attacks

Now that’s big!

As Irish consumers begin to vary their travel diet more and more, some of them are starting to discover the joys of cruising. Long considered the preserve of the `newly-wed, over-fed and almost dead', cruising still suffers from an image problem — mostly, it must be said — in the eyes of those who have never stepped aboard a cruise ship. The fact of the matter is that there are as many cruise products as
safeness

Where should I go on my next holiday?

There are all sorts of reasons why people choose the destinations that they do. For some it’s simply price, for other’s weather is their primary concern. Some choose destinations based on their proximity whilst other travellers choose places based on their ‘safeness’. It is therefore interesting to note the results of the latest biannual report from the World Economic Forum which rates countries around the world based on a wide ranging set of metrics that

How travel decisions can sometimes be based on incomplete information

Trip Advisor is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The global review site started out life above a Pizza shop called Kosta's in Needham, Massachusetts in February, 2000. It is a great site without question and I must admit that I have started contributing to it in recent times as I realised, belatedly, that I had a lot to contribute given the amount of travelling I do (and have done). What prompted me to write

Some things are hard to quantify …

When people talk about destinations around the world whether they be cities, regions or indeed whole countries, their merits tend to be measured in terms of specific and tried and tested attributes such as quality, value-for-money, culture, friendliness and so on. Similarly, specific travel products such as airline catering, hotel facilities, coach bus seating also tend to be referenced against a range of generally agreed upon criteria. Well I'm here to tell you that the

Foodies Paradise!

There are many reasons why an increasing number of people choose to go cruising. For some, it's the convenience and civility of being able to experience a couple of destinations (and indeed countries) over the course of a week or two , without having to constantly pack and unpack as one would otherwise have to do if you were doing a coach tour or travelling independently. For others, it's the safety of numbers or the

The World of Travel — where misconceptions abound!

There are many misconceptions that continue to prevail to this day among travellers about various types of travel activity. The famous phrase:  'Newly-wed, over-fed and nearly-dead' was the disparaging comment that was often made in relation to the cruise industry and although that was never the reality, it gained traction, particularly in the minds of people who had never actually cruised. The same phenomenon that causes certain people to condemn some controversial book, song or film even though they've

Are you a fan of Downton Abbey?

If you’re like me, then you’re a sucker for period dramas such as Downton Abbey — the costumes, the characters, the luxury, the opulence etc. Sadly, it’s just make-believe TV,  but such dramas take their cue from the way that the upper classes actually lived. Now while the days of the Downton Abbey’s of this world are long gone, it is still possible to get a sense of what it must have been like to

Choose your holiday based on value for money rather than price alone!

It's perfectly understandable that intending holidaymakers should compare prices between competing products, destinations or suppliers when researching whom they should book their next travel arrangements with. It's all too easy though to lose sight of the most important criteria of all — which one represents the best value for money? Everyone is familiar with the old saying 'You get what you pay for' and rarely is that more true than when making travel arrangements. Because the true cost of a holiday

€249 for a round-trip airfare to the Far East — where’s the catch?

You've all heard the old adage  '... If it sounds too good to be true ...' and generally speaking, it's usually a reliable rule of thumb to adhere to. Every now and then though, a deal comes along that proves the exception to the rule and the latest example is from none other than Azamara — the boutique cruise division of Royal Caribbean. Azamara  occupies the upper end of the cruise market and boasts small

May Day, May Day!

OK, we've cheated a little — we should have said May Month but that doesn't really have the same resonance now, does it? What on earth are we on about? It's just our ham-fisted way of drawing your attention to the fact that during the entire month of May, Royal Caribbean (along with its sister brands of Celebrity and Azamara) will be offering savvy consumers just like you, amazing deals, discounts and free upgrades across

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).