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This was the best part of our trip. Aloha Airlines delayed our flight both coming into Lihue and leaving Lihue (hence the name eight days, nine nights). We were supposed to stay for seven nights but ended up with nine nights because of delays. On a side note, don't fly Aloha at all. Service, food, comfort levels all horrible. The Radisson was our choice for hotels when Aloha delayed our flight leaving Lihue. Their pool is split into four good sized pools (one three foot depth kiddie pool and a separate beach-like sand pool) and includes a spa/hot tub. They have a decent restaurant and nightly fire-lighting ceremonies as well as evening musical entertainment, occassional luaus, and a nightly happy hour when they serve free mai tais, beer, and other drinks for an hour. Their meals at the bar are good and relatively inexpensive for good burgers, etc. Entertainment at night in the family friendly lounge was awesome thanks to Tim, the ukelele master! The accommodations themselves were great. The room we stayed in was an ocean-front deluxe suite which was absolutely huge! King-sized bed, sofas, chairs, desk, and a tiny kitchen area were great. The view was fantastic. Service was excellent! Overall, fully recommended for a good time!

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We stayed at the Princeville for the last 3 nights of our honeymoon after a week in Maui. From the very start it was pure luxury. We would definitely recommend spending more time there if you can afford to! The room was great with the "magic window" as promised, and we had a partial ocean view. The endless pool and private beach were wonderful treats. We attended the luau the first night we were there, and while it was pricey, it was definitely worth it....great food, great entertainment and seemingly endless mai tais and midori sours. The only possible drawback to the hotel might be the extremely costly restaurants. We dined elsewhere for most meals, but stopped for coffee and dessert on our last night. The total for one (shared dessert) and one pot (2 cups) of coffee was somewhere in the $40 range. It was good, but I'm not sure it was THAT good. That being said, I can hardly complain because absolutely everything was top notch and high class.

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The only reason I booked the Four Points by Sheraton, Darling Harbour, was because it was the cheapest hotel in Sydney in the Starwood network. A firm believer in "you get what you pay for," I had my doubts as to whether this hotel would be near what I wanted to be near or how nice it would be. The hotel put those fears to rest. First thing they did to impress me was to allow check in at 7am. I had emailed the concierge with this request earlier, she could not guarantee it. After a sleepless 15-hour flight, I was relieved to be able to have a bed and a shower. And what a bed; it was a sweet sleeper bed just like at the regular Sheratons. It made the adjustment to another continent easier. The Four Points was a business hotel. Sometimes these come across as stuffy, especially when you’re wearing short and sandals and everyone else was in suits. The amenities were everything you get in an upscale hotel, stocked mini-bar, cable TV, in-room safe, and lovely n bathroom. There was even an electrical converter. Good thing since mine didn’t work. The best thing about business hotels was the room had a king-size bed. Sometimes it’s nice to have a king-size bed to yourself. I had two mishaps while staying here, but nothing that would stop me from staying here again. The first 1 was that I went straight to sleep after my 7 am check and was loudly awakened at 9:30am by the concierge who wanted to make sure the room was to my liking. Although I appreciated the gesture, waking me up from a deep sleep was not the way I wanted to start my day. The second mishap occurred on my last night. I had booked 2 nights using Starwood points and then booked a 3rd that I paid for. To do this I made 2 separate reservations. Even though I pointed this out upon check in and asked if there was anything I needed to do on Sunday, the front desk clerk said everything was fine. Sure enough I tried to get into my room Sunday night and the cardkey didn’t work. I had to back down to the lobby from the 7th floor and get a new cardkey. The best thing about the Four Points was its fabulous location. I was a 15-20 walk from the ferry terminal, add another 10 minutes from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Darling Harbour was a great place to see in itself and it’s connected by a pedestrian bridge right from the hotel. I had no idea all the great places right behind me -the city aquarium, a huge shopping mall and all sorts of fabulous cafes and restaurants. I was at the hotel for a few days and was unable to sample the 2 restaurants and 24-hour fitness facility. When I go back to Sydney I will definitely stay at this location again.

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We loved the Hilton! Do not hesitate to book this hotel, it is outstanding. The pools are beautiful, as is the beach. There are tons of comfy, padded lounge chairs in both areas for total relaxation. The hotel is in the corridor which means it is about twenty minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas. Perfect for us as we only went to town twice. If staying put is not your thing, you can take the shuttle that runs every couple of hours for fifteen dollars a day per person. A taxi will cost twenty-five dollars one way. We preferred the quietness of the Hilton vs. the hotels by the marina. The restaurants are good, pricey as others have said. Drinks are pricey too. We went to the deli and bought our own, prices there were reasonable. Upgrade to a full ocean view it's worth it. We paid for a partial ocean view, and it was ok when you looked to the ocean, ugly when you looked the other way at a dirt parking lot. Once there we moved to a better room on the second floor that had a terrace with two lounge chairs with a great ocean view (cost twenty dollars per day plus taxes). Definitely made our stay that much better. I will definitely come back to this hotel!

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We have two children Age 11 and 7. The family pool and slide were great. Staff was friendly. Upon checking in they had us in a room with a bay view and I really wanted a pool view. They switched us without an issue. The bellhop took our bags to the room but first gave us a quick tour of the hotel. This was terrific and helped us get acclimated much quicker. Breakfast and dinner buffet (they had a childrens buffet too) was good but if you wanted a quick bagel and coffee breakfast, I found that expensive. $2.50 for a standard yogurt is excessive.The pool closed early on a weekday (8PM) but stayed open until 10 on weekend nights. Hotel room was clean and turn down service was nice. I thought the grounds could have been a little better. There were leaves in the hot tub and that surpirsed me. Not a great big deal but I did notice it. Overall I would stay again without hesitation.

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We recently stayed at a relatives time share and are so fortunate to have been placed at the sheridan vistana. Everything about this resort is awesome. Staff is friendly and very helpful. Our villa was beautiful and felt like home. Very clean and never a problem to get anything you might need. The pools are beautiful and there is never a problem getting a lounge. Since there are 7 pools if one is to busy you can always go to another pool. Food is very good but a little pricey on site. The location is the best. You are right in the middle of a million things to do. The longest we drove to go anywhere was 30 minutes. Disney is about 15 minutes away. We had a rental car but there are shuttles at the hotel running all the time. Yes, the resort is large but we did not find it at all difficult to get around. We would definetly stay here again and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to stay in orlando especially if you want to be close to the theme parks. Don't miss the arabian nights dinner show; it is well worth the money. This hotel exceded our expectations.

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Upon arriving we were moved to another of their hotels a block away, probably because we were staying one night and it was a holiday week, May Day. Rome was extremely crowded that day, waits for the sistene chapel were around 5 hours unless you paid extra for a tour. Which we did, still took about 2 hours. This hotel was a block from the train statiion about 5 blocks from the Colluseum. Had to take the metro to the Vatican. Very simple in Rome as there are only two main lines to travel on the metro. Lots of history and we would go back and stay longer in the future. But not during a holiday. Staff was helpful and friendly and kept our luggage all day for us to sightsee on our last day. Location was good but I would try something new next time in a different area.

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Everything about this hotel (except price, of course) was perfect. the public areas are unbelievably beautiful, the rooms are spacious and well-appointed, housekeeping is attentive and the service is sublime. Regarding location, the Palace is in the most interesting part of town, across from the Prado and near the other major museums, the "downtown" part of Madrid is an easy walk away, the city's parks are an easy walk in the other direction, and the hotel borders on the old part of the city, which include the best restaurants, shops and clubs. During our stay the hotel hosted a visiting American NBA team who were playing one evening on their tour entitled NBA Europe. Despite the potential for disruption typically caused by the press, PR types, and sports groupies who are always present at such spectacles, the hotel staff was able to control the entourage and maintain a serene sense of calm the entire time. I would strongly recommend the Westin Palace to any business or tourist visitor to Madrid, and would definitely stay again.

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This was our first cruise on Azamara Journey and our second cruise in the Baltic Sea, the previous cruise being on Maasdam in 2000. We have been cruising for over 19 years and have cruised the Caribbean, South America, Asia, Alaska, Mediterranean and the Panama Canal sailing on assorted cruise lines and ships, 20 in total. This cruise was a 12 night cruise sailing roundtrip from Copenhagen visiting Warnemunde (for Berlin), Sea Day. Helsinki, St. Petersburg (3 Days). Tallinn (Estonia), Stockholm (2 Days), Sea Day, Traemuende (for Luebeck or Hamburg) returning to Copenhagen. The cruise departed on a beautiful warm Sunday (high 20s C or 80s F). We had excellent weather especially for the Baltic in early June, with only 2 showers, one at sea and the other in Traemuende. We had to abandon the shorts and t-shirts after we reached Helsinki but it was still very comfortable time of year to visit the region, very green and lush. Azamara Journey - Ship Information One of two former Renaissance ships (R Six) in the Azamara fleet. The ship is beautifully fitted out and gives you that premium feeling while being intimate, less than 700 passengers and a little over 400 crew. Many of the passengers we met had planned to sail or had sailed Oceania and remarked how much the enjoyed Azamara Journey and one passenger who was a travel agent said he would be directing his clients to Azamara in the future because Azamara was better value for money. If we had a concern about the ship it would be the gym while well maintained was warmer than most gyms and the Hot Tubs on deck seemed a little light on the bubbles. One final point about the ship that is often left out of the reviews we have read about Azamara Journey is that her size allows her to get into smaller ports much closer to the city center. With the exception of Stockholm where there are restrictions on ships staying overnight at the close in piers, we were walking distance at every port we visited. For example in St Petersburg we docked in the city center (English Esplanade) only a 10-minute bus trip to the Hermitage. If we had Russian visas we could have walked into town. This is wonderful having visited St Petersburg in 2000 on Maasdam, we had 45 - 60 minute bus trip to the same location and that was provided there was no traffic. If you have been to St Petersburg you know how bad the traffic can be. Service, Captain, Officers and Crew We must say on the twenty cruises we have been on this cruise had the most visible, accessible and personable officers. We have never met so many of the ship's officers and the senior hotel staff on a ship. Many of the officers we met would stop and talk to you every time you met. The Hotel Director, Phillip Herbert and his direct reports were always around the public areas and keen to chat. Phillip was genuinely anxious and sincere in making the cruise enjoyable as were all of the officers. Dottie Kulasa was our Cruise Director and what a refreshing change from the Caribbean mega ships. She was the right mix of outgoing and cheer. Many of the ships we have been on the Cruise Directors always want to be the Life of the Party and for us this gets old. Dottie, like her staff seemed to be very visible and approachable. They really made us feel at home and kept us smiling. Our Captain was Carl Smith, the first British captain we have had the pleasure to sail with and definitely our favorite. In addition to the daily statistics at noon he would give the passengers information on the voyage and what might be of interest. At departure he would explain over the public address system how he would be casting off, which ropes, how the currents would affect the pull away from the quay, etc. It may sound like too much detail but everyone we met loved it. Shore Excursions As we mentioned this was our second Baltic cruise and we lived in Hamburg for three years so we only planned two excursions both in Russia because you cannot leave the ship except with a Russian visa that must be bought in advance or on a ship organized excursion. We strongly recommend if you are the independent sightseers and you are on Azamara in St Petersburg, that you get the tourist visa before you leave home. On Azamara you are so close to everything it would be great to have the freedom to walk off the ship. Both excursions we went on were very well organized and the guides were great. We took the 'Canals and Shopping' trip in St Petersburg which was great for us. We could snap pictures from the canal boat without all of the traffic. Our second trip was the one-day tour of Moscow. We left the ship at 7am and with our St Petersburg guide and were driven by coach to the airport for a flight to Moscow aboard the Russian airline and a Russian airliner, a Tupolev 155M. The flight to Moscow was on time but the return flight was about three hours late, not too different from a Western airline, and we got food on board on hour long flight! We do recommend the Moscow trip, the St Petersburg guide accompanied us the whole day and we had a local guide in Moscow and another guide in the Kremlin, all excellent. We had very nice dinner in the Writers' Club before returning to the Moscow airport. All the remaining ports we did on our own and as mentioned before we were within walking distance of the city centers except Stockholm where the cruise line provided a shuttle for a nominal fee. Having been to most of the tour locations we stayed in Travemuende and Warnemunde. Both towns were picturesque and not overrun with tourists. We do recommend that if you have the opportunity while cruising the Baltic or North Sea do try to visit Hamburg. Most non-German tourists do not know much about the city. It is beautiful, the city center surrounds two lakes and there are numerous canals running through the city with gorgeous homes and gardens. The city is the second or third largest city in Germany but you cannot tell. There are very few tall buildings as you find in Berlin and Frankfurt. It is also the richest city in Germany and the homes and buildings reflect it Copenhagen Airport, Transfers and Embarkation We booked our cruise quite late and we were traveling from London so we made our own arrangements. We had big problems due to delays by our budget airline. We had the port agent's contact details from our Azamara travel documents so we contacted the agent who was very helpful and let us know that we had enough time to get a later flight and make our ship. We recommend you carry the port agent details, had we not contacted the agent we may have not tried to meet the ship in Copenhagen and gone on to Warnemunde and missed a day on the ship. Within 35 minutes of leaving Copenhagen airport we were at the pier. Within another 15 minutes we were on board. We had preregistered so our only complication was that we didn't have luggage tags as all our documents were electronic. The shore staff had to find us luggage tags, which was done promptly. Stateroom We had a beautiful Sky Suite on Deck 8. The cabin was one of the biggest cabins we have ever had. The bathroom was very large with a bathtub / shower combination. The bathroom is appointed in granite or marble. Plenty of hot water and the extra thick bath sheets and towels were wonderful, not the highly bleached towels of the mega ships. The bed was very comfortable with European linen and mattress topper. The veranda was also very large though a bit narrow. We had a small fridge that was kept stocked with soft drinks and bottled water compliments of Azamara. Even though our cabin was near the elevators and below the Windows Café it was very quiet. Our butler and his assistant were very good and not obtrusive. They kept the cabin clean and comfortable throughout our cruise. We had room service breakfast on two mornings and the first time we were not clear on our order form so the steward called and clarified our order and everything arrived perfect. Dining Dining on Azamara Journey was wonderful. We enjoyed dinners in each of the two specialty restaurants twice. Prime C focuses on the Steakhouse feel and Aqualina's menu was seafood and Mediterranean cuisine. The service and the food were excellent in both. The Discoveries Restaurant was the main dining room and was open seating. The service and food were also excellent and they were more than willing to accommodate special requests such as my wife's favorite ice cream. We also had breakfast in Discoveries on three mornings and they were more than willing to fit our schedule i.e. fast service or a leisurely pace. The Eggs Benedict were outstanding. While there were minimal dress code requirements in the dining rooms there were no formal nights, which we missed. We did like being able to dine at Discoveries without a fixed seating but missed having the same waiting staff each night who are then able to learn your likes and dislikes. It also makes it harder to meet people. The remainder of the mornings we had breakfast in the Windows Café buffet or in our cabin. The Windows Café had a wonderful buffet that changes regularly even for breakfast. At breakfast they even had a smoothie bar where you could choose your own fruit combination from a wide range and it was made up for you right there and then. For lunch we had a mix of dishes from the Pool Grill and Windows Café. The Pool Grill was wonderful and everything was made to order which meant it was fresh however we recommend that if you are getting food from the grill and the café that you order from the grill first and then it will be ready after you get your other food from the café. One last point on dining or drinking, we love to have a quiet drink before dinner and seek out a reasonably quiet bar on the ship such as Michael's Club on Celebrity Cruises. Unfortunately on Azamara Journey the Michael's Club is the library. We asked the Maitre d' and he arranged with the Sommelier from the nearby specialty restaurants to find us a quiet corner in Michael's Club to enjoy our glass of champagne each evening before dinner. Summary A wonderful cruise in all ways, the itinerary was great and though we had been most places before we thought we enjoyed them more this time. The ship and our cabin were beautiful and comfortable with ship's size making everything, both on and off ship more accessible. The food and service was outstanding. Finally, the captain and his officers and crew made it most enjoyable.

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I sailed on January 6 with the Adventure of the Seas. This was my first RCCL cruise, having only sailed once before on MSC in the Mediterranean. I sailed with a group of 8 including one 15 month old. Logistically it is challenging to keep a group of this size occupied and happy, but the Adventure of the Seas is a big enough boat that it delivers. The itinerary was Southern Caribbean stopping in Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Having the cruise start in San Juan saves a day at sea in getting to Aruba. There are other itineraries on other ships that leave from Florida, but it takes two days to get to the deep south. The one flaw of the cruise was embarkation. It was extremely time consuming, taking over two hours to board. We purposely avoided going to the pier at the every start of embarkation to avoid the crowd. But despite that, there were over 1000 people in line when we arrived. The process is compounded by the fact that over 3600 passengers sailed on our cruise. The embarkation process proved to the be the only major hiccup on our trip. As many reviewers comment, the ship is very large. The central promenade is a very pleasant open space that has shops, some lounges and a 24 hour coffee shop. For its size, there was minimal to no movement felt on the boat. The itinerary included two days at sea. However due to good weather, a rock climbing wall and plenty of decks to explore, the days at sea passed quickly. The ship is big enough that I did not feel that I was sharing it with 3600 other passengers. The rooms have shown their age. I booked a balcony about 45 days before departure to get the best deal. Balconies are the way to go! There is nothing like sitting outside at 2am and seeing the stars go by and the moon shimmer on the water. That said, as many other posts have alluded to, carpets and furniture are stained and definitely need to be revamped. The AC was good and felt I had enough space with my wife and 15 month old child. There is enough insulation between cabins that I only heard a muffle from the neighbors. Dining was excellent. The central dining room is a three story, "Titanic-style" grand dining room. The staff were very attentive and the food was top notch. I heeded the previous reviews and avoided the buffet. The food there was marginal and I too saw little kids playing with the food with their fingers. The staff was sometimes attentive in removing the offended food. Disembarkation was very orderly taking only 30 minutes. It was very easy to get a taxi back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I highly recommend the Adventure of the Seas for its size and great dining. I will wait till it gets refurbished before I sail on it again.

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Carnival Conquest Our family of 5 (mom, dad, twin boys age 10, and our little girl age 7) arrived around 1pm and the place was already packed. The port parking lot was already full and we had to park in a hotel parking lot at an expected rate of $20/day. We waited about 30 minutes before we were signed and then passed to another desk down the hall where the keys/cards awaited us with virtually no waiting. The last step where you where corralled through four different areas (two waiting, one photo, and then security before we were able to board. Carnivals security system that takes your picture entering and leaving the ship (at ports) is pretty neat and quick. Food Taste/Quality We have sailed four times on RCCL and I guess we were spoiled. As I am writing this, we are at day 4 of our 7 day inaugural cruise and we have yet to have an "outstanding" meal from the dining room. (OK-the last night was a pretty decent meal.) The quality of food made us question whether we wanted to dress for dinner and go to the dining room or just go to the Lido deck for a good meal. The food in the outlying areas/lounges has been better than the offerings in the evening dining room. The Grill, Pizzeria and PC's Wok, and Lido deck buffets were all very good. I haven't personally tried Paul's Deli as of yet but I have heard good things onboard from others that it is well. The Chocolate Extravaganza (2 complete buffet's of Chocolate on the last sea day, also on the Lido deck) was a big hit (and a long long line!) I didn't go to the Midnight Gala Buffet, and only heard one comment that it was "so-so" afterwards. Dining room Service Again here I assume that Carnival and RCCL are just in different classes when it comes to service. In the Renior dining room, we were NEVER offered anything other than water to drink. Although when I did ask for ice tea it was presented each evening. Our waiter complained that there was not enough work space for the staff and therefore they had a difficult time in serving us. I would say by day three they had worked out this problem and were serving in a timely manner. The Matre'd had a great voice… but we never saw him except standing at the desk when we entered the dining room. He never came around to the tables either while he was singing, or not. On RCCL, the Matre'D or Head Waiter usually shells anything that needs to be shelled (crab, shrimp, etc.) on the Conquest, I had trouble just getting my water refilled. Other areas service Like any other cruise we have been on the staff were polite, helpful and quick to clean up behind you. Drinks (water, tea, lemonade, orange and apple juice plus a hot chocolate machine that was a big hit) were self serve and spaced conveniently around the Lido deck (9). Room service was extremely quick the few times we utilized it. Although on RCCL the entire menu is available, the condensed room service menu suited our needs and the food was better than expected in any hotel I have been in. Rooms One word here. SPACE. Carnival did well on the rooms. We had two adjoining rooms on deck 2 (2319/2323). Adjoining rooms are only available on decks 1 and 2. No verandahs with adjoining rooms available on this ship. More storage space than we ever could use (three full size closets, cabinets, drawers everywhere). Nice size vanity areas and bathrooms (big shower). Multiple washer/dryers on each floor were very convenient ($2 wash/$1.50 30m Dry). Adjoining doors in a good spot to be out of the way when open. The few times we saw our cabin steward he was very friendly. Did a pretty good job everywhere. Probably left things alone that we wondered why the RCCL stewards were bothering our "stuff" by putting it away, rearranging it, etc. On Carnival, "Juicy" as I called him (couldn't pronounced his French name any other way) kept the cabin clean, everything stocked, and played with towels rather than my wife's nightgown which she cleverly hid. Pools/Slide Water slide was a big hit with the kids. There are four pools (that I saw) on board. And although they first appeared quite small, I never saw any of them really "full". On the last sea day for some reason they started trying to enforce height restrictions (46") on the slide which made my 45" 7 y/o swimmer very unhappy. The aft pool has a retractable roof and heaters so even on overcast cool days (and nights!) it is comfortable to sit on the deck or swim. The pool area is well designed and has a very nice amphitheater design stretching from the Lido deck (9) all the way up to deck 11. Entertainment One word: Fantastic!! Here we have not experienced much of the RCCL entertainment fare.

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This place is the worst place we have ever stayed in. It was dirty, old and falling apart. Your best bet is to keep driving and search for another place. This place needs much work and many updated features to bring it up to speed with other 4 stars hotels. I stayed in a room on the 6th floor, with backyard view and airconditionning noise, and when I asked for a better room I visited different floors which are very much better but with an extra per night... avoid west end hotel.

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I was not impressed by this hotel. It was old and the staff was very rude. On the first night, I called down for towels in my room - not extra towels, just TOWELS. After waiting for 1 hour, I called back - there was no record of me calling the first time! I had to wait another 45 minutes before someone showed up.

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We stayed at the Embassy Suites on a family vacation. At first, I was hesitant to stay downtown, since it is not in the middle of the "action" in midtown, but a subway station is close, and cab fare for the four of us to midtown venues like the theater never exceeded 12 dollars. The location was not an issue at all, and in fact made for a very nice stay. The hotel is on a quiet street, and there was absolutely no street noise - quite a rare find in Manhattan. The area is also very safe and clean, and the downtown area is the oldest part of NYC - dating back to the 1600s - some very cool stuff to see and do. The hotel staff was VERY helpful and courteous, the rooms clean and well-appointed - and larger than most NYC hotel rooms. The only thing I will note is that the hotel no longer offers a view of the waterfront - a condo complex has sprung up between the hotel and the Hudson, so you will not get that "harbor view" that the website promotes. It's totally OK, though - great hotel!!!!

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We stayed at the Sun Palace for the second half of our honeymoon. Coming from Le Blanc, this hotel severely suffered from comparison. If you are lookig for luxury and relaxation, look there first! When we first arrived in our room, we had been upgraded to the junior suite, #531. While the room was large, it overlooked the loud activity pool and construction next door. I called downstairs and asked to see a room on the 6th floor, since I had read about the large balconies on TA. We accepted a "downgrade" to superior room #615 (which is just a bit smaller, but not much) after seeing the balcony. I HIGHLY recommend you do everything in your power to get one of the large balconies. Laying on the balcony bed reading a book or snuggling was the best part of the hotel. The rooms were above average, tastefully decorated, stocked with beverages and had modern bathrooms and large jacuzzis. The bed was quite hard, but that is our only complaint in this area. The pools were nice-looking, but very crowded with SLOW beverage service and the activities were loud and obnoxious at the main pool. Every half hour, they start screaming over the micorphone. Our last day we spent by the ocean instead, and that was much better. The beach is nice, waves were pretty rough, but we swam anyways, nearly losing our bathing suits several times. :) The food was just ok. Of course this part of the experience was ruined since my husband had a worm crawl across his plate one night in the main restaurant. They were very apologetic, but we left almost immediately. The chef sent up a cheese and cracker plate, a fruit plate and champagne in about 15 minutes and that helped a lot! The italian restaurant was pretty weak. Atmosphere was romantic, but everything tasted like it had been reheated. We loved the atmosphere of the asian restaurant, but the appetizers were so awful that we left and got dinner at the italian restaurant instead. (For reference, we ordered the tempura which was very greasy and terrible sushi that didn't taste fresh). The Steak was pretty good, with a large variety. The lobby bar was pretty cheesy, but at least it was busy and had a few games to play. Overall, I would only recommend this hotel if you are young, don't usually travel and are not looking for luxury. I would not recommend for relaxation or people looking to be pampered.

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The service is boarding on absurd, they will not say No to anything. Each floor has a personal butler that will pack and unpack your bags, book excursions or spa treatments. The food at all 3 restaurants were top notch with a huge wine list to choose from. Oriental was superior to all 3 if I needed to narrow it down.The grounds and rooms are clean, luxurious, and well maintained.

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I just returned from vacationing at Le Blanc with my daughter and a friend of hers. I had an amazing experience! The staff at the resort were warm and friendly. They made certain that our every wish was granted. The Spa is an absolute must. This is the best getaway for pure relaxation and if your looking for action, Le Blanc has some of that as well with live entertainment daily. Le Blanc's D.J. is good, he plays mixed music to accomodate everyone. Once you stay at Le Blanc, you won't want to stay anywhere else in cancun. We Will definitly be back, at least I know I will be back.

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This was our second visit to the Riu, having really enjoyed our first visit despite negative reviews (not all) viewed on Trip Advisor. Our stay June 27-30. On check in, we had to stand at the front desk and wait to be attended to while we noticed a lot of other guests being directed to the adjacent bar and offered a welcome drink. They were seated at the bar while they were checked in. We were not!! I advised the check in lady that I had paid extra for ocean view room and wanted to be sure we got what we paid for. Wrong. The room we were assigned had partial, maybe garden view ?from the left of balcony and a view of the rest of the hotel balconies from the right side balcony!! They did try to mask the musty odor in the hallways leading to the rooms, the beach chairs had no shade umbrellas, in fact it was very difficult to get even poolside chairs with an umbrella. People would go down at 7am and place towels and books to reserve their chairs etc. Food was good, the Japanese rest. was a joke!! The Italian was great, the steakhouse great, the Tapas was mediocre. Buffet was good. All in all, we will not be back at this facility, it is too far from the main hotels that enjoy downtown shopping and nicer beaches. At check-in we were not advised of included activities at the hotel. The evening shows were good.

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Alaska, the Last Frontier, may be a cliche statement, but on a recent vacation there I found out how true it is. Miles and miles of awe inspiring scenery, uninhabited by humans, made even this Texan feel small. The Holland America staff had everything well organized on the land tour as well as the cruise, but I still had plenty of freedom to go and do as I pleased. If you go, plan on more than one night at Denali National Park. There's just way to much to see and do there. You won't want to miss the bears, Dall sheep, moose, caribou, Mt. McKinley, .... The personnel at Tramex really worked with me to include every aspect of this vacation that I wanted. All my questions were quickly answered and every bit of information I needed was in the packet I received before leaving. Thanks for helping to make this the vacation of a lifetime. For pictures of the trip: http://www.tramex.com/blog/clientpics/kstork/kstork.htm

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We just took our 7 & 4 year old to Disney World for the 2nd time. We went last summer and came back almost hating Disney but, this year, we were thrilled with our decision to give Disney another try. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and, I will say, it does benefit you to stay at one of the nicer Disney properties and get the meal plan with your park-hopper pass. The kids loved being able to look out of the hotel lobby and see zebras and giraffes - they thought we were staying at the zoo and that was pretty cool to them. This hotel is very well done in an African-safari theme throughout, including the restaurants. The only drawback I had with this is that, except for the casual cafe, all of the menus were African cuisine. Unless you truly love this type of food, you will need to plan on eating dinner at the parks or other Disney resorts. They also had a large pool with a slide which was fantastic and especially refreshing after a day at one of the parks. Since we were staying at a Disney resort, they offered us their "magic hours" which allowed us to get into the parks an hour earlier than the public each day. If you're like me and have small children, this is a MUST! We were the first ones in the park and were able to ride almost everything we wanted to (some things multiple times) before the crowds hit. We typically stayed at the park until mid-day, returned to our hotel to swim and/or rest, then would head back out for dinner at one of the parks or other Disney hotels. Usually after dinner, we still had time to go back to one of the parks and would take advantage of the late "magic hours" - opened late for only those staying at a Disney resort. If you choose to stay late, make sure you get a special wristband from the front gate for each person in your party PRIOR to the park closing. This is how they recognize who/who isn't allowed in the park after-hours. Along with our park-hopper pass, we purchased the meal plan this year. This is a MUST if you're going to stay at a Disney Resort and want to save quite a bit of money. Food and beverages can be really expensive at Disney and this is a great way to save on that. My daughter and I had lunch with Cinderalla one day and were able to use one of our meal options for this, otherwise, it would have cost us $75.00. At the same time, my husband and son were having lunch with Mickey Mouse and this would have cost around $60. The meal plan is roughly $25 per person per day and worth it. Now, Disney does allow you to take a cooler into the parks so I recommend you take plenty of water! We did not take a cooler, therefore, we probably spent around $60 on buying bottles of water in the park in 6 days! The Disney Express is great! We never waited more than 15 minutes for a bus to take us to/from the parks. We had a car last year and it took us forever to park and then take a trolly or cart to the Disney park..plus you pay for parking each day. The buses take you close to the front gate and it is much better! The downside to not having a car is that, if we wanted to go from our hotel to another hotel for dinner, we had to take a bus to one of the parks and then transfer to the bus or monorail that was going to the hotel we wanted to get to. A little more time consuming. We truly enjoyed our vacation and would recommend it to anyone!

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