My globe-trotting daughter’s overseas travels will soon be coming to an end. She has finished up her month-long community health nursing studies in England and will be flying back to Chicago this coming Wednesday. She’s had a thoroughly marvelous time and says she will really miss lovely England and all of the other places she has visited. Clearly the travel bug has bit hard, and neither of us is unhappy about that at all. Fortunately, aided by plenty of planning and preparation and a slew of good advice from others who were familiar with the cities on her itinerary, she met with few bumps in the road or unexpected difficulties along the way.

Since this journey was first planned, the final leg, after the studies in chilly England were complete, was to be a long weekend in Greece, primarily in Santorini. Jenny and her friends decided that rather than spend time in another big city, they would only stop over for a night in Athens on either side of some island time. The idea of warm days (at least, comparatively warm) spent at a relaxed pace after all the rush and bustle of the rest of the trip has been a bright beacon for the last several months.

So it is with some trepidation and more than a little interest that I’ve been watching the news of financial crisis and strikes in Greece over the last several weeks. Jenny has had little desire or opportunity to closely follow the news while abroad, but I didn’t burden her with constant updates about what I was hearing concerning her final stop. I did give her a brief heads up a few weeks ago when the stories of the first batch of strikes cropped up. I purposely kept my remarks low-key; I saw no need to make her anxious and figured if something of the events in Greece filtered through to her, better that it come from me. I didn’t want to scare her or her friends off of their plans; the situation doesn’t seem dangerous to them, and the last thing the Greek economy needs is tourists and their money staying away.

This past Wednesday saw the largest demonstrations (mostly peaceful) yet in Athens, with civil servants protesting the government’s austerity plans aimed at fixing the debt crisis and proving to the European Union that it can get the economy under control. In addition, strikes grounded flights, stopped ferry service and affected public transportation in Athens. I let Jenny know all of this, since they were to fly to Athens, take the metro to Piraeus where they would then catch a ferry to Santorini. I told her that I doubted more strikes would follow so quickly on the heels of this one-day event. I was glad to hear that she was not overly concerned, even if her travel plans might be affected along the way. She seems to have acquired enough travel savvy and confidence that the recent events in Greece will not faze her or deter her from her plans.

From what I can tell from a few brief lines on Jenny’s Facebook page, so far everything has gone as planned. Santorini is “gorgeous” and time at the beach is on the schedule for today. I’m so thankful my little girl has had such a fantastic and horizon-expanding trip. Even if she should meet with a few unexpected surprises on her way home, she’ll be able to add them to her list of events that have helped her evolve into an experienced global traveler.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Yesterday I blogged about some of the efforts that have been directed towards Haiti and relief for the survivors of the January 12 quake. As mentioned there and in GT’s January 21 edition of the eFlyer newsletter, a number of businesses in the travel industry have stepped up to offer large donations of supplies, money and aid. One company, Royal Caribbean International, has received a lot of attention over the past week for the decision it has made to continue port calls of its cruise ships at the line’s private resort in Haiti.

The company’s CEO, Richard D. Fain, in a letter on RCCL’s website, explained why they decided to continue to bring cruise guests to Labadee, located some 60 miles from Port au Prince and undamaged by the quake. He outlined the company’s ties to Haiti: a relationship that dates back over 20 years, hundreds of Haitians employed on the ships and at the resort, previous and future plans to provide humanitarian aid to the people. He noted that a broad spectrum of people, from taxi drivers to the U.N. Special Envoy of the Government of Haiti, had asked that Royal Caribbean continue to provide its vital revenue stream to the country in the form of tourist dollars. The website also notes the many ways that RCCL is providing aid beyond those dollars: a pledge of at least $1 million, supplies delivered with every ship docking, a promise that 100 percent of the net revenues from those port calls goes to relief efforts, and providing guests the opportunity to make donations directly by putting a charge on their onboard accounts.

In scanning through the comments to this letter and to the blog of Adam Goldstein, Royal Caribbean International’s CEO, I see that the majority of respondents are in favor of the company’s decision to continue its cruise visits to Labadee and praise the aid being provided. There are some sharp objections as well, though. One writer asks why at least one of the ships isn’t offered for use as a safe haven for Haitians and/or rescue workers. Another asks why Royal Caribbean places guests in proximity to “the Horror” and doesn’t simply provide monetary compensation to the vendors who would be impacted by the ships going elsewhere. One woman who is booked on a February cruise firmly states that she does not wish to go to Haiti but cannot get a refund from either the cruise line or her travel insurance if she cancels. I have to admit that I agree with her when she writes: “To vacation in such proximity to a disaster zone of this magnitude is disgusting. It’s not a zoo . . . .” Others express security concerns and worry about the spread of infectious diseases. Bizarrely, one man suggested that the company  organize special shore excursions which would allow cruise guests to tote backbacks loaded with relief supplies to areas in need!! (For a wise discussion of “Voluntourism,” see Richard Newton’s article on the subject in the January 2009 issue of Global Traveler.)

I’m curious what our educated and well-traveled readers think about this controversy. Do you think Royal Caribbean has made a wise decision in continuing its port calls to its resort on Haiti at this time? If you were booked on such a cruise, how would you feel about that part of the itinerary? Would you cancel the cruise? Go, but stay on the ship, or go ashore and spend liberally and donate heavily? What say you?

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Last year I vowed not to stay home for the New Year’s holiday this year, but guess what I did? Stayed home. I did some quick Internet searches, several times, on Orbitz, Travelocity and Kayak, but I found nothing that jumped out at me. I wanted to reach out to some of my client friends in the industry, but I was so bogged down with business and year-end work, I just never got around to reaching out.

So I was here the day after New Year’s, watching the news, when I saw that Hawaii is continuing a two-year downward slide. I happen to be a big fan of Hawaii and think it is a great destination. Many people think it is too sterile and too expensive, but when you go to Hawaii, everything works and the people cannot be more friendly. As far as the expense, I have a friend who refers to it as “Hawaii money,” and when I traveled there with my family, no matter where we ate dinner, it was always the same price. Expensive, but orderly, friendly and tasty; so definitely worth it.

But have you see a lot of promotions for Hawaii? Have you seen any spectacular marketing or advertising about the Islands? I haven’t. Additionally, Hawaii and its hotels cannot get their sights off the West Coast market. This is where they spend nearly all their marketing dollars. In case they haven’t heard, California is in the dumps, so perhaps they should open their minds and reach out to the less-recession-hit East Coast?

Several years ago, Hawaii won Best Domestic Tourism Destination from the readers of Global Traveler. When I reached out to the CVB, I received a less than “aloha” response. I was a little shocked. Not only did they seem not to care, but they were not interested in coming to the awards ceremony or responding to me as if they were honored.

Now they think President Obama’s trip to Hawaii is their best marketing tool. This is the same guy who told travelers not to go to extravagant meetings and not to travel (the AIG effect), which resulted in the loss of 100 meetings in Hawaii. Companies canceled their meetings in fear of what these meetings would look like in the AIG effect-hungry press. In my opinion, Hawaii could not have picked a worse spokesperson.

Hawaii is obviously misguided and has no idea how to get people back to the islands. It was an easy out to blame the economy. Perhaps the CVB needs to talk to some of the people who check guests in at hotels, who serve the meals and who attend to your needs while in Hawaii. They are the people that make Hawaii great. The guys at the Royal Hawaiian’s Tiki Bar have better insight on the true Aloha spirit than anyone at the CVB.

To all our blog readers, subscribers and friends of Global Traveler, a Happy New Year!

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

I’ve always believed time is a necessary concept, but a strange one at best. Time is determinate depending on whether we are stressed or relaxed. If we are on deadline: stress; but on the first day of vacation we often say we have plenty of time.

The first time I realized that time was all relative was in high school. I was on tour with the Long Island Youth Orchestra and giving a concert in Western Samoa. We were staying with local families in their homes, and before we left the group, the conductor urgently stressed that we be on time for rehearsal the next day, “be on New York time.” I didn’t know what that meant until the next day when our host “dad” got us ready and drove us around the beautiful island on the way to rehearsal. Being semi-conscientious kids, not wanting to be scolded upon arriving late, we urged our host to cut the gorgeous detour short and go to rehearsal. He said, “Don’t worry, relax; you’re on island time now!”

I’ve also been awed at our own bodies when it comes to the concept of time and how we know when it’s time to do certain things in the morning, like get up, for example, without an alarm clock. This morning, however, it was the reverse; my body knew it was definitely NOT time to get up. Now, I’m sure all of you have stories similar to mine this morning.

I had to get up for a 7 a.m. flight and set my alarm for 4:45 a.m. When my alarm went off I got up, begrudgingly, brushed my teeth and did the whole morning routine feeling even more tired than I knew I should have. I went about my business and looked at a clock in a different room. It said 3:00 a.m. I looked again; yep, still 3 a.m. Somehow when I set my alarm I must have changed the clock settings as well. My body knew it was not yet time to get up, even at that hour. Happily, I went back to bed, but had to laugh at myself for making a silly mistake, but I was even more happy that I didn’t show up at the airport two hours early!

– Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher 

About four weeks ago, I took a very short trip to Bermuda to play golf at the newly renovated Port Royal Golf Course.  At the last minute, I decided to take my 15-year-old daughter so she could enjoy a quick little trip before heading back to school this fall.

We flew from Philadelphia to Bermuda on US Airways. During the flight I was pleasantly reminded it is just a two-hour trip.  In a short time we arrived, were through customs and out to the front of the airport to meet our waiting ride. We were whisked off to the Cambridge Beaches Resort and Spa on the other side of the island.  The drive was beautiful, and during our trip we rented scooters for a few hours to scoot to the end of the island and do a little shopping.

While I played golf at the Port Royal course,  which will be featured in a future GTee, my daughter took the day to have a facial and manicure at the Cambridge Spa.

The course is in great shape. The renovations were completed to prepare the course for the Bermuda Grand Slam, which takes place this fall and had traditionally been played at the Mid Ocean Course — another great Bermuda venue.

Bermuda has a lot to offer and is so close — well worth a short vacation or a long weekend getaway!

–Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO