A Chance to see the real Santa
Travel specialists Tom Mannion Travel in Ennis are to repeat their very popular Christmas time day - trip from Shannon to Lapland again this year , so children from Clare will have a chance to meet the 'real Santa' in person. The trip will take place on Saturday 8th December and each family will have a private meeting with Santa. There will also be an opportunity for some Christmas shopping in ' 'Santa Claus Village', and Christmas cards can be sent worldwide bearing the official North Pole Post Office postmark. Included as well will be a crossing of the famous Artic Circle.
The fully escorted package includes Flights, transfers, local guides, all meals, thermal clothes, and a full activities programme to include reindeer - sleigh and husky-rides, tobogganing, sledding, and snowmobile. The package sounds exciting and certainly is a wonderful opportunity for children to enjoy the adventure of a lifetime.
For further details and bookings - tel 065 6824211.
Travel Cuttings
Wines From Spain
Regular visitors to Spain are no doubt fully aware of the quality of wine available in that country, but when travelling by air its only possible to bring a couple of bottles back to enjoy at home. However top quality Spanish wine can be obtained without the hassle from several excellent Irish Wine Importing Companies. To highlight the choice on offer and to introduce a range of new wines to Ireland the Economic and Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy together with the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) recently held a tasting event showcasing some 150 wines in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. The Tasting was attended by both media and trade. Celia Perez Ibanez Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Embassy of Spain pointed out that recent years have witnessed the emergence of a new generation of new Spanish Master winemakers who have learned to blend tradition and quality with innovation, giving rise to unique wines of unprecedented quality which enjoy unqualified success worldwide. Check out www.winesfromspain.com
Cruise Ferry To Begin Service in Early December
Irish ferries has taken delivery of their new Ireland to France cruise ferry, the Oscar Wilde, it has been announced. The vessel will spend the next month or so at dry docks in the Danish port of Fredericia where some new facilities, interior styling improvements and minor technical modifications will be added before it begins operations into and out of Ireland. This work includes restyling of restaurants, bistros, lounge bars, children's play areas , and a major upgrade to the main restaurant - the Left Bank Brasserie.
The Oscar Wilde is due to commence service on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route in early December.
World Cruises
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have announced they will operate two World cruises in 2009. The vessel 'Black Watch' will depart from Southampton on 6th January 2009 for 97 nights travelling in a Westerly direction. This cruise will take a course via the Canaries to the Caribbean and a transit of the Panama Canal, then on to French Polynesia and the islands of Tahiti, Tonga, and Fiji en route to Australia.
The second cruise on the 'Balmoral' will take a very different route on February 14th 2009 when she leaves Dover on a 104 night voyage travelling in a Northerly direction. For further information tel 01 248 2833 or log on to www.fredolsencruises.co.uk
Launch Of New Flights To Brisbane And Singapore
Etihad Airways which launched 4 flights a week between Dublin and Abu Dhabi in July have added new services to Brisbane and the South Eastern Asian island of Singapore. The airline will now operate non-stop flights from its Abu Dhabi hub to Singapore three times each week, with the Brisbane service also operating the same number of days from Abu Dhabi via Singapore. Beatrice Cosgrove, Etihad Airways Irish Manager , says the airline has been eager to expand the Dublin offering even further and Singapore and Brisbane are the ideal destinations to add to their flight network. "Our Irish customers can now travel from Dublin to Singapore via Abu Dhabi and onwards to Brisbane, which is the gateway to Queensland and the Gold Coast", she said. Australia is now a popular holiday destination for Irish travellers, and Etihad passengers travelling to Brisbane have the option to avail of the airline's convenient one hour stopover or choose to enjoy a multi-centre holiday, allowing them to explore Singapore and Brisbane at their own pace.
The Shannon To Heathrow Saga
The ongoing controversy regarding the Aer Lingus Shannon - Heathrow service continues unabated. Gearoid Mannion of Tom Mannion Travel gives ADMAG travel readers his opinion on the whole sorry affair.
So Aer Lingus management have done it again ! They have no love for Shannon and they have really proven it this time. It looks like they are off to Belfast with our Heathrow slots. So where do we go from here?
At the time of going to press Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) are still talking to BMI who seem interested in the Shannon - Heathrow route, and they would have their own slots there, though it seems likely that - if they do begin on this route - they would provide less than four daily services which we traditionally had. Most likely they would provide 2 services daily in each direction - hopefully early morning and mid afternoon. Timings are important. 'Connectivity' - its all about what onward airlines and which routes we can connect to 'through' Heathrow. If you are only going to London for the weekend, or to visit your auntie Agnes in Croydon then Shannon to Gatwick, Stansted, or Luton will do just as well, but if you are going to Munich on business, or Australia on holidays or to a whole range of destinations worldwide, then Heathrow is the key. The excellent Atlantic Connectivity Alliance document published some weeks ago revealed that 'Heathrow provided a connection to 46 worldwide cities (business and leisure destinations) which are NOT served by other London airports'. Paris( CDG) and Amsterdam (Schipol) have been mentioned as possible alternatives to Heathrow, but there is no comparison in terms of direct links to the vital global airport-hubs. These destinations are red-herrings in the debate. They were simply introduced to deflect from the key issue. When it was agreed to part-privatise the state-owned Aer Lingus ( in which we all had a stake), it was clearly intended that the Government would retain a 25% share to secure vital Heathrow slots for Cork, Shannon, and Dublin. The Government are now abdicating from their responsibility in this regard. This will not easily be forgotten by the people of the Mid-West at the next day of reckoning".
