TTI Canada has recently added the facility to process charges in USD for clients with USD credit cards. This can mean that where there are USD deposits or payments made in advance of travel, I can have them applied directly to your USD credit card, thus saving you the foreign exchange transaction fees charged by credit cards, and at least one currency conversion fee. If you have a USD card, then that's probably why you got it - so let me know about it and I'll use it where we can.

Most airfares and my service fee will continue to be charged in Canadian dollars.

Spring Break is often called "Reading Week" so what better excuse to visit some of the greatest libraries in the world. Look over this collection and let me know which one you'd like to get lost in on your next trip!

Vancouver was in spotlight at the 2015 World Airport Awards recently, with Vancouver International Airport and the Fairmont Vancouver Airport receiving top honours from Skytrax.

YVR took the title of Best Airport in North America as well as the best airport in the 10-20 million passenger category, while the Fairmont was named Best Airport Hotel in North America. This is the sixth consecutive year YVR has won the title. The hotel category was introduced five years ago and Fairmont Vancouver Airport has held first place in four of those five years, and remains my personal favourite airport hotel in the world.

Ever wish you could actually see that champagne bottle smash against the hull of a great ocean liner? Here's a video of Her Majesty launching the largest ship in the British cruise industry, the new 4300-passenger MV Britannia launched by P&O Cruises on May 15, 2015. Skip the first 38 minutes of the video as it's just a flag waving (literally). If you just want to cut to the Queen, go to 1:32:37.

Or there's an abridged version here.

Canadians may now submit their requests for the new multiple-entry visa to Chinese consulates and authorities. The new multiple-entry visa, valid for up to 10 years, will ease travel, reduce costs and cut down on delays and time spent preparing for trips to China, particularly for Canadian business people, who regularly travel between the two countries to boost exports, as well as tourists and Canadians visiting family.

This is in addition to the visa-free 72-hour visit for all travellers in transit through Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou or Shanghai.

It's never been so easy to visit the Middle Kingdom!

You know there's a better way! You have just spent ten or twenty thousand dollars on a trip, yet you stand in line to drop off your luggage and you stand at the carousel to collect it, and you pay one tip after another to load it into a taxi, rent a cart, move it through customs, into a limo and up to your hotel room.

Wouldn't it be easier to just arrive in your room and find it already on the bed?

Ship your luggage anywhere, including to a cruise ship, for less than USD 7.00/pound. Ship your bike, golf clubs, skis - anything - anywhere. And then relax. Your vacation has begun. You are Luggage Free!

PS: Let me give you a USD 25.00 Gift Certificate to get you started!

The pending sale of Crystal Cruises to deep-pocketed Genting Hong Kong means new ships, growth and a new era for the luxury line that is the "crème de la crème and Rolls-Royce of the travel industry," according to President and COO Edie Rodriguez. Genting owns about a quarter of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which in turn owns Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a competitor of Crystal.

However, there will be no overlap or conflicts, says Rodriguez. "One-hundred percent, there will be no cutbacks; there will in fact be growth," Rodriguez said. And that growth means a new ship, doubling the capacity of the line, expected to enter service in 2018.

Impatient for a bird's eye view of downtown Orlando? You can now start planning. Merlin Entertainments has announced that its 400-feet (121m) high Orlando Eye will open to the public on May 4. The Eye, which can be seen from Interstate 4, is the largest wheel on the East Coast (London's Eye edges out the height contest at 135m) and features 30 observation capsules, each accommodating 15 people.

Merlin's two other attractions on International Drive - Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and SEA LIFE Aquarium - will also open on the same date.

Venice to Rome in 2016

Our next almost-annual "Reunion" cruise embarks from Venice on September 16, 2016, aboard the luxurious Azamara Journey, visiting Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Crotone, Taormina, and Sorrento before arriving in Rome a week later. The voyage includes one of Azamara's AzAmazing Evenings in Montenegro, a Virtuoso Voyager Club excursion in Kotor, will be the 12th of our Reunion cruises with friends and clients-who-become-friends, and is the only group that Jim, Ian and I personally host.

Book this voyage by June 30, 2015, and receive 50% off the cruise fare of the second guest!