Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and USA Today newspaper have launched the Reporter at Sea contest, looking for a talented citizen journalist (blogger?) to cover the pre-inaugural voyage of the Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Oasis of the Sea

Oasis of the Sea has 16 decks and can carry 5,400 guests in 2,700 staterooms.  It’s themed around a neighborhood concept, with specific themed areas:  Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Center, and Entertainment Place.

Starting today, and running through October 9, 2009 at 11:50 pm (Eastern Time) you can submit a creative video that is no long than 45-seconds that showcase your reporting skills, and giving RCCL a reason to choose you to be their reporter at sea for this preview sailing on the Oasis of the Sea.  One winner will be chosen from the United States, and additional winners from Canada, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom will also be chosen.

After the entry deadline, the judges will select 10 finalists from each of the above countries, based on creativity and quality, as well as the entrant’s ability to entertain, effectively bring to life and clearly explain travel or cruising concepts, and articulate why he/she should be chosen to represent their country.

Following the judges narrowing the field, the selection process moves online.  Voters will have the opportunity to choose their favorite video between October 20-25th, with the winner from each country announced on November 4th.

What’s the prize?

The winner and a guest will be flown to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on November 18th, 2009, where they will have overnight accommodations in a local hotel and a $200 allowance for food.  The next day, they’ll board the ship for a 3-night cruise with balcony cabin stateroom.  During the cruise, the winner will experience the sailing right along with Gene Sloan, USA TODAY’s cruise editor, and receive behind-the-scenes information and access to write blogs posts and video clips.

Sounds like a lot of fun, huh?  Who’s going to enter?

Photo credit:  Courtesy of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line

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Our winner is Gayle J, who left this comment:

I have been to Las Vegas twice and still haven’t seen everything. I want to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and want to see the Blue Man group and of course gamble. Thanks.

Congratulations,Gayle.  Now you can go back and see a few more things.  I’m sending you an email to get your personal information so that I can have your prize sent out to you.

A very big thank you to all the readers here at Flyaway Cafe who entered the contest, and to VisitLasVegas.com for providing such a great prize!

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Here are the top things that I found:

• Spent a day at the pool at Mandalay Bay.  Renting a cabana, and have a place to get out of the sun occasionally, made a 100+ degree day at the pool bearable.
• Watched the volcano erupt at the Mirage.
• Saw Disney’s The Lion King at Mandalay Bay.
• Dinner & a show at the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur.

Win a trip to Fabulous Las Vegas!

I’ll be writing about my experience, and providing some reviews and recommendations about them soon, but I wanted everyone to know that I had a GREAT time!  I have some future Vegas trips coming up that will be adult-oriented, so this trip was a little out of the ordinary for me.  But it was was incredibly fun!

How would you like to have a GREAT time in Las Vegas as well?  If you tell me what you would love to see or do in Las Vegas, you just might have the chance to do it!

The nice folks at VisitLasVegas.com are providing one lucky winner a $250 gift card on Southwest Airlines to take a flight to Las Vegas.  SWA flies there from most major cities around the United States.  In addition, the winner will also receive a $150 AmEx pre-paid debit card for spending cash.

To enter the contest all you have to do is leave a comment here on the blog post and answer this question:

When you go to Las Vegas, what do you want to do or see?

Deadline for comments is Tuesday, August 18th, at midnight ET.  After that, I’ll select a random number and match it up with the comment.  You must leave an email so that I can contact you.

Not sure what you want to do?  Or maybe you just need a little help narrowing it down?  Visit Las Vegas will help you out with all sorts of suggestions to tempt you.

Now what are you waiting for?  Enter the contest and tell me what YOU want to do?

Photo credit: Bukowsky18 @flickr

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Maybe what you need to do to get out of your rut is to look at vacation through a different lens, and perhaps a vacation club will help you branch out and see the world.

Royal Holiday is a premiere vacation club, that allows you to purchase credits to exchange for accommodations over the life of your membership.  Unlike a traditional time share, which locks you into one location, the vacation club allows you to choose a different vacation spot each year.    (Okay, if you really want to do the same thing every year, you can still do that with a vacation club, but c’mon – live a little!)

For a warm weather destination you could choose the Paradise Beach Villas in Aruba, or maybe try a cultural destination like Paris or London.  If you’re ready to try something more exotic, try Morocco or Chiang Mai.   And if you really don’t want to get too far from home, there are plenty of locations stateside like Lake Tahoe, Orlando, San Diego and Vail.  There are over 180 destinations in 52 countries, so you know you’ll find somewhere you want to go!

Royal Holiday also has owns and operates a few all-inclusive hotels in Mexico in Cancun, Cozumel, Ixtapa, and Acapulco.  Blogging pal Jon, at The DC Traveler, visited the Park Royal Resort in Cozumel, so check out what he had to say about it.

Because they believe in their premium product, and want you to spend some time checking them out to decide if it’s an option for you, Royal Holiday has offered a GREAT prize for one Flyaway Cafe reader!

First, here’s the prize:

• Royal Holiday-branded polo shirt
• Royal Holiday-branded gym bag
• Royal Holiday-branded hat
• Royal Holiday-branded towel
• Flipcam Ultra

Yep, all that logo swag, AND a Flip video cam so that you can shoot some video on your next vacation.  How great is that?!

Here’s all you need to do:

Go to Royal Holiday and check them out.  Take a look at their history and what they offer. See if a vacation club offers good value for your personal travel style.  Then, go look to see if they have something to offer in your favorite vacation destination – or maybe somewhere that’s destined to become your new favorite location.

Leave a comment here telling me what that location is and why.

Deadline for comments is Tuesday, August 1st at midnight ET.  At that time, I’ll random select a number a match it up with the comment.  You must leave an email so that I can contact you.  This content is only open to residents of the United States, Canada, and Mexico (shipping requirements).

I’ll start it off with my choice of the Sheraton Casablanca in Morocco.  Why?  Morocco fascinates me – the culture, the people, the food.  But I don’t know that I’m adventurous enough to go it alone in the country.   I’d like the convenience of a modern place to stay, alleviating the stress of the unfamiliar place to stay, leaving me free to explore something totally outside by comfort zone during the day.

How about you?  Where do you want to stay and why?

Photo credit:  Royal Holiday

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I have never been out of the US, so I’m sure any place in Italy would be great!

After watching this movie, you’ll be dying to go to Italy, I’m sure.  And yes, Italy is GREAT 

There are all sorts of thrifty ways to save up for travel, as well as ways to manage expenses while on the road.  So maybe we’ll be seeing some of those kinds of tips from Karen. 

I hope you enjoy the movie, Karen.  I know I did!  (You can read what I thought about the movie in my movie review.)

A very BIG THANKS to Miramax and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment for providing the Enchanted April DVD for a giveaway.  It’s available for purchase at your favorite online or brick and mortal store.

Photo credit:  SXC

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The Breeders’ Cup was started in 1982 as a year end event to honor the premiere horses in the sport.  Originally billed as the richest day in sports, Day 2 of the Breeders’ has now become the second richest day is sports (eclipsed by the Dubai World Cu[ Night) with a total of $25.5 million in purses being awarded over the two days.

I stopped by the sports book here at the Palazzo in Las Vegas and placed a little wager on the Classic, choosing Go Between in a $15 combination bet — $5 to win, $5 place, and $5 show.  Not a huge bet by horse racing standards, but a win at 8-1 could yield me a nice little chunk of change.

You can read lots more about the Breeders’ Cup, and the Sport of Kings, at Thoroughbred Fever.  And you can score a win, without ever placing a bet, by entering b5media’s version of the Breeder’s Cup, and a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift certificate.

Photo credits:  personal collection

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Of course, I wanted to share my “masterpiece” with you.  These photos are from the Rodin Museum in Paris, and show a part of the museum and its grounds, as well as a few of Rodin’s marvelous sculptures.

Picnik is a web-based photo editing program that is easy to use and fun.  While it may not do the heavy lifting of some of the other photo editing programs, it’s easy to learn, is compatible with many online photo storage programs, and will occupy you times for hours as you try out all the fun features.

The basic Picnik program is free.  Picnik Premium, with lots of cool bells and whistles, including some advanced collage option, is $24.95/year.

I’ve had such a good time with it that I’d like you to be able to give it a try, so I’m offering one lucky reader a FREE year of Picnik Premium. 

To enter, leave a comment telling me what your first photo collage will be about.  Be brief, go into details, whatever you want to share.  Be sure to include your email address in the comment box or I won’t be able to contact you to tell you that you’ve won.

Contest deadline is Sunday, September 21st at midnight Pacific Time.  One entry per person.  I’ll randomly draw the name of the winner.

Good luck!  And good photo editing!

Photo credit:  personal collection

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