By Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from staff and wire reports
Published September 11, 2005
For a another kind of Florida thrill ride, check out Boggy Creek Airboat & Swamp Buggy Rides in Kissimmee.
The family attraction is at Lake Tohopekaliga, headwaters of the Everglades. Four tours are offered: a half-hour daytime airboat tour, a one-hour night airboat tour, private airboat tours and swamp buggy rides. Prices vary from $15 to $50.
All tours take visitors into wetlands, past cypress trees and wildlife (alligators, turtles and birds). The fleet includes 18-passenger airboats and six-passenger boats.
AmericanAirlines Vacations has various Ireland land packages, including castle stays and a Dublin city tour. For example, the $327 "Dublin Experience" includes three nights at the Burlington Hotel with the third night free, Irish breakfast, bus tour, two-day Dublin pass and taxes. Prices are per person double; travel dates vary. Call toll-free 1-800-321-2121 or go to www.aavacations.com
Another package to consider is CIE Tours International's excellently priced eight-day "Irish Spirit" tour. Price is $950 from Boston or New York, airfare and many meals included. The rate is good through April.
Highlights of that fully escorted trip include Dublin, Cashel, Killarney, Galway and Connemara. For more information, call toll-free 1-800-243-8687 or go to www.cietours.com
VENICE IN VEGAS
You won't need to hit the jackpot to stay at the upscale Venetian resort in Las Vegas, with suites from $169 a night through Oct. 23. The Sunday-Thursday rates include a Venezia tower upgrade, $10 off admission for two at Madame Tussauds, and dining and shopping discounts. Usual rates are almost twice as much. For more information, call toll-free 1-866-263-3003, www.venetian.com Mention code GWINO8D.
MAD HOT DANCING
Whether you're a novice or a smooth operator, you can find mad hot ballroom dancing on the high seas.
Carnival Cruise Line has discos for late-night dancing, free ballroom dance lessons on longer voyages, and lessons in other styles such as country/western and salsa. Celebrity Cruises has Latin dance classes, and Big Band music can be heard on every Crystal cruise, with a Tommy Dorsey Orchestra theme on Crystal Serenity's November trans-Atlantic sailing. MSC Cruises also has Big Band theme cruises.
Royal Caribbean's Explorer Academy has lessons in hip hop, salsa and swing.
For more information on cruises, contact a travel agent or go to www.cruising.org
BIRD-WATCHING SERIES
Season's restaurant and Highland Lake Inn - A Country Retreat, in Flat Rock, N.C., are hosts for a weekly breakfast and guided bird-watching series Thursdays through Oct. 13.
On a one-hour tour, participants will learn about bird habitats, identification, migration patterns and ideal locations for birdhouses.
Bring binoculars, hats, walking shoes and bird books. Cost for the breakfast and tour is $25 per person. Call toll-free 1-800-762-1376 or go to www.hlinn.com
GET A CITY PASS
To reduce expenses in a handful of major U.S. cities, consider a CityPass, which provides general admission to many attractions for one price. For instance, the New York CityPass is $53 and includes tickets to six attractions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum and the Empire State Building observatory deck. Other CityPass cities are Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco. Prices vary and most passes are valid for nine days. Call toll-free 1-888-330-5008 or go to www.citypass.com
- Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from staff reports and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Associated Press and Washington Post. She can be reached at 727 893-8586 or krieta@sptimes.com
