Hotel Ending Room Service
Starting this summer New York City’s largest hotel will no longer be offering room service to its guests. This move comes as a result in a continued decline in requests for room service. The hotel will instead have a self-serve, cafeteria style restaurant.
New York City’s Largest Hotel Ending Room Service
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/04/travel/new-york-hotel-no-room-service/index.html?hpt=tr_c2
What do you think? Will this trend continue?
Learn to Raise Chickens at a Resort
Have you ever wanted to raise your own chickens but not sure where to start? Well, believe it or not you can learn at a resort in Austin! The Travaasa Austin Resort has a new urban farming program where guests can learn about seed germination, plant transferring, and of course raising chickens.
Check In With Your Inner Chicken Keeper
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324789504578384941838075034.html
Travaasa Experiential Resort and Spa
http://travaasa.com/austin/
Go on a cruise with me (part 17)
Communication is a big part of hospitality and tourism, and it’s a huge part of this floating city. Before I left home, I read the Carnival online information about phone and WiFi connections. I updated my iPhone at the AT&T store with my favorite manager, Rocky (who happens to be a hospitality graduate from Texas Tech). Getting on the ship’s WiFi has been easy, and the nice (and cute) Internet Cafe manager has helped me set up an account and log in. The charge is by the minute, so it’s easy to track.
Information is communicated to passengers in several ways. Each night a printed schedule of the next day’s events is brought to the cabins. I use this to plan the next day–wouldn’t want to miss the line dance class!
Over the P.A. system, the captain makes announcements about the boat and wind speed, rough or calm seas, and other interesting bits of info (and all with his great Italian accent). Over the ship’s TV, the Cruise Director, Tex, presents a summary of the fun things coming up each day. One of the TV channels has a map that keeps passengers informed of the ship’s progress. (Notice in the photo the wind speed today. That was a fun ride. Weeeee!)
In my visit with the ship’s Hotel Director (more about that coming later), he talked about communications among personnel and the many meetings held daily or weekly at all levels of staff and crew. It is no accident that this ship runs efficiently and safely.
Go on a cruise with me (part 10)
Busy day so far and it’s only noon. I rode the hotel shuttle back to the Newark airport, found the Carnival representative, and went on their bus to the pier. Long shore men unloaded our baggage, and I won’t see my suitcases for a few hours when they are delivered to my cabin. I’ve shown my passport and boarding documents to the appropriate people, and now I’m waiting to board. There is a wedding party waiting all dressed and ready. Talk about event planning! A wedding on a cruise ship.
Now for the other news. I received an e-mail last night from Carnival. Passengers on Carnival and other cruise lines who got off on Grand Turk Island returned from their excursion with digestion problems. (Yuck!) so to keep us from encountering this problem, we aren’t stopping in the Turks and Caicos Islands. For me, this means I’ll miss the scuba adventure I’d signed up for. But I REALLY don’t want to get sick, so I’m happy they are delaying embarkation a few hours so they can clean and disinfect the ship as an extra measure.
The photos are of trucks lined up to load everything we will need for two weeks, and the other is of part of the happy wedding party.
Go on a cruise with me (part 9)
I’ve completed the online check-in for Southwest Airlines because it is less than 24 hours until I board the plane bound for Newark, New Jersey. I’ll land just across the Hudson River from New York City and the pier where the Miracle will be docked. On Saturday, about 2,000 passengers will disembark in the morning and then I and about 2,000 new passengers will get on in the afternoon. I can’t imagine all of this going on while at the same time enough food and supplies for two weeks will be loaded on the ship. And all of this will happen in New York traffic. If you are interested in provisioning a cruise ship, there is a list of what is loaded on a ship a similar size as mine at Provisioning (cruise ship) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisioning_%28cruise_ship%29 You’d have to be good at restaurant and hotel management to put together a shopping list like this!
Speaking of the ship—what’s the difference between a ship and a boat? A ship can carry a boat, but a boat cannot carry a ship. I’m keeping copies of this illustration so I can find my way around the ship.
U.S. News and World Report Best Hotels 2012
U.S. News and World Report recently compiled a list of the best hotels in the USA for 2012. To learn more about each hotel visit the following Web site. As a project, have students research the hotels from the list and present their findings to the class.
Best Hotels in the USA
http://travel.usnews.com/Hotels/USA/
The Happiest Places to Work
Where are the happiest places to work? Check out the annual rankings by CareerBliss.com to see what companies made the top 10.
America’s Happiest Workplaces
http://money.msn.com/investing/americas-happiest-workplaces
Hotel Rankings and Reviews
Travel Web sites have significantly changed the way travelers make decisions. Numerous sites provide reviews and ratings for hotels and other accomodations. Can the reviews, good or bad, be trusted? Have students read the article below and discuss the use of travel Web site reviews.
The Big Flaws in Hotel Rankings
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577323874046732602.html
Food Allergy-Friendly Hotel Meals
Many hotels are altering menus to accomodate a variety of special dietary needs. Have students locate hotels and resorts that are offering specialized menus.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450004577277731385556646.html
Meeting the Needs of Older Adults in Hospitality and Tourism
As a class, read the following article. Although the article focuses on air travel, lead students to discuss the needs of older adults in all areas of the hospitality and tourism industry.
Flying Tips for Older Passengers
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/travel/for-older-fliers-plan-ahead.html?ref=travel