Video: Alaska Wildlife Encounters You Can't Miss
Do you ever see social media posts of magnificent wildlife photos from someone's trip to Alaska and think: This just can't be real?But it is. BestTrip.TV cruised from Vancouver to Seward (near Anchorage) on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner, hoping Nature would be kind and we'd encounter at least a couple of the animals and birds Alaska is famous for:WhalesSalmonCrabBald eaglesPuffinsBrown (grizzly) bearsSitka deerSea ottersSea lionsLike you, we were skeptical of shore excursion guides who jokingly promised guests 3 out of...
Video Recipe: Baked Alaska by Regent Seven Seas Cruises
Before there was molecular gastronomy, there was Baked Alaska to awe and delight a table of diners. A miracle dessert of warm, caramelized meringue on the outside, still magically full of layers of frozen ice cream on the inside. A feat of culinary ingenuity in the days of unreliable refrigeration. The story goes that Baked Alaska was created in New York's famous Delmonico's restaurant in 1867 in celebration of the American acquisition of Alaska from Russia. Regardless of its origin, creating Baked...
Top Souvenirs from Alaska
Alaska's breathtaking scenery and wildlife encounters will be memories that stay with you a lifetime. But there are one-of-a-kind tangible memories you can take home as well as your photos and close-encounter stories.Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host of BestTrip.TV and cruise expert, shares her favorite Alaskan souvenirs from her ports of call in Sitka, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Juneau on cruise to Alaska.Alaskan Kelp PicklesFood is such a fun souvenir when it's made from one-of-a-kind local ingredients. I found many flavors of...
Video: Take the Scenic Train from Alaska to Canada's Yukon
It's only 20 miles from Skagway, Alaska's deepwater port on the coast, to the border of Canada's Yukon. But what a 20 miles they are! The White Pass & Yukon Route railway ride is one of the most dramatic scenic experiences in the Alaska Panhandle. No wonder it's an all-time favorite experience for cruise travelers arriving in the preserved, Wild (North)West town of Skagway. The tracks go right onto the dock, so we stepped off the Regent Seven Seas Mariner...
Video: 7 Things you didn't know about Alaska's Hubbard Glacier
The Hubbard Glacier has quite a pedigree.And being named after Gardiner Hubbard, the man who founded or co-founded the National Geographic Society, Bell Telephone and the journal 'Science', puts a lot of pressure on a glacier. Luckily, the Hubbard Glacier is used to pressure, and guaranteed to impress, even awe. This 'river of ice' is a natural wonder of pressurized snow in that magnificent iceberg blue. A trip to the incredible wall of ice that forms the face of the...
Crystal Strikes a Chord with a New Rhine Class of River Cruise Ships
Instead of river cruises, they're calling them river yachts. Crystal has translated its uber-luxury sea experience to the rivers of Europe with a new, 'Rhine' class of river yachts, evoking the great music icons of the region.
5 Adventures in Antwerp
Belgium’s unique character and two-language culture makes it a must-see destination in Northern Europe.But go beyond Brussels. One of Europe's hidden gems is Belgium's second city.Just up the estuary from the North Sea, Antwerp's historic port became its claim to fame and source of wealth as a trading capital 500 years ago. The port is still the second largest in Europe. The wealth of this great trading city financed great art and artists, the world's oldest stock exchange, and an...
Is the Modern Travel Luxury... Sleep?
You can't enjoy life - even luxury travel - if you don't have sleep. That's the premise of the new ship-board wellness program on Celebrity Cruises in conjunction with its spa and wellness partner Canyon Ranch SpaClub.It's not just about getting your 'beauty sleep' these days. It's about stressful lifestyles and poor sleeping habits that have left many of us chronically exhausted. That takes the fun out of even the most amazing travel experience or destination.So what better time than...
Same-Sex Couples Can Get Married on Cunard
Many couples dream of getting married at sea. And now, British luxury cruise line Cunard has welcomed its first wedding booking by a same-sex couple.Cunard has offered weddings on its ships since 2012 and has married hundreds of couples, but can now also conduct same-sex wedding ceremonies at sea.Same-sex marriages have been practiced in Britain since 2014. But the Cunard fleet of ships: the Queen Mary2, the Queen Victoria, and the Queen Elizabeth, are registered in Bermuda. A Supreme Court...
Video: Seabourn Experience: Shopping with the Chef at the Saigon Market
They call it Shopping with the Chef, and it's one of the most memorable of our Seabourn Moments. The Ben Thanh Market in District 1 is one of the earliest surviving structures and a symbol of Ho Chi Minh City - formerly Saigon, which is still the name of HCMC's District 1. A market has been located here in on the river since the early 1600's.Who better than the executive chef on our Seabourn cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore,...