New Mexican Law on Accepting U.S. Dollars

The Mexican Government passed a new law which went into effect in Mexico on September 14, 2010. With this new law, you can only purchase items up to $100 in U.S. Dollars. After that you must use Pesos or a credit card.

Other payment methods such as credit cards of all types and all issuing banks, Travelers Checks, Mexican pesos and non-American foreign currencies (such as Euros or Canadian Dollars) are not affected in any way by this new law.

The most noticeable differences will be:
Hotels and Exchange Booths, and Local Banks will only be able to change a maximum of $1,500 USD CASH per person per month into Mexican Pesos. Previously there was no limit.
Businesses (including restaurants, shops, and Destination Management Companys) will only be able to accept a maximum of $100 USD CASH per transaction - but the number of transactions per customer is not restricted. Certain businesses may not be able to, or may choose not to accept American Dollars for any purchase at all (this may include shops, etc), however still accepting Mexican Pesos.
If a customer wants to purchase an excursion (for example) that costs $150 US dollars per person, customers will only be able to pay $100 of this amount in USD CASH and the remainder will need to be in another form of payment (credit card, Mexican pesos, etc).

Airlines are advising they will only accept Mexican Pesos and credit cards for any fees (including baggage fees).

Vacationers should never carry large amounts of American dollars with them to Mexico, but instead they should consider either using a Credit Card, taking or locally withdrawing Mexican Pesos, or use Travelers Check's (of any currency).

Sneak peak of Allure of the Seas

I will be sailing on the Allure of the Seas for a special 2 night pre inaugural sailing in late November. Here's a sneak peak of the construction progress. http://tinyurl.com/2awelzl

Disney Wonder Tour

This week I got a chance to tour the Disney Wonder cruise ship. The Wonder calls Port Canaveral home, at least for the next few months, then it will move to Los Angeles. The new Disney Dream will replace the Wonder in January. I have sailed on most cruise lines except Disney, so I was excited to get a chance to tour the Wonder. When you come onboard the crew announces your family and everyone clasp!! A cute way to start your vacation. You first enter the atrium, which I found to be smaller than most ships I have seen. But the classic touches of Disney characters is a beautiful sight. Since the crew was cleaning the ship for the next voyage I was not allowed to take many pictures, but I can tell you I was very impressed with the ship and staff.
I was given the tour along with two other travel agents and two members of the Disney sales staff. My biggest surprise was the size of the staterooms, even the inside staterooms.

They were bigger than I was expecting. The smallest cabin, the Standard Inside Stateroom is 184 square feet. It does not have the split bathroom, but still has enough room for a couch and desk. The Deluxe Ocean view stateroom is 214 feet and the Deluxe Ocean view stateroom with Verandah is 268 square feet.

We were allowed to view the Walt Disney suite, but could not take pictures since it was still being cleaned. This was the gem on the Wonder. It is 1,0239 square feet including the verandah and sleeps 7. There are 2 bedrooms (one with queen-size bed; one with 2 twin beds and 2 pull-down upper berths), 2.5 bathrooms including whirlpool tubs, living room, media library with wall pull-down bed, dining salon, pantry, wet bar and walk-in closets.

I got a chance to check out the two pools and quickly realized which one would be my kids' favorite. The Mickey Mouse shaped pool also has a water slide for the young and young at heart!! The other pool has the large movie screen so pool goers can take in their favorite Disney movies or shows. But if you are cruising without kids or would like some time to yourself while your kids are in the kids' club, there is an adult-only pool as well.

I thought one of the cutest areas of the ship was the Oceaneer's club. Disney's Oceaneer Club is the ideal place for children 3 to 12 years of age to dress up as their favorite princess or hero, play games, use the computer lab and enjoy a wide variety of supervised activities throughout the day. I know that my youngest would never want to leave this area!!
The Disney Wonder will be offering 3 & 4 night sailings to the Bahamas until the Disney Dream takes its place in January 2011. The Disney Magic is similar to the Wonder and offers 7 night sailings to the Caribbean while in Port Canaveral. For more information on a Disney cruise, please email me at jeanie@becktours.com.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Today I endured 95 degree heat, high humidity and long lines to tour the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And it was worth it all!!! Located at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, the new attraction is a hit!! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened two months ago. We arrived at the theme park about 10:30am and made it as far as the Jurassic Park area when we had to stop and wait in line. We were given tickets to enter the Wizarding World area. I took my two eldest children with me today and we were told the wait was about 90 minutes. Fortunately we only waited about 35 minutes to get into the main entrance of the magical attraction.
We immediately decided to pass on any of the rides. The ride wait times ranged between 30 to 75 minutes. Since it was so hot and humid we opted to walk around the attraction and take in the atmosphere and check out the shops. The snow covered buildings made me long for cooler weather! We walked to the back of the attraction to find Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was an impressive structure. It houses the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride and a small gift shop. There is also a wand stand nearby. Each wand is $30.84 with tax. You can choose your wand. My kids' both chose Harry Potter's.

I had been excited to try butter beer and am still craving more. For $10.50 you can buy the butter beer in a souvenir cup. I also purchased the pumpkin juice as well. The pumpkin juice was very refreshing, but the butter beer was amazing. I tried the cold version. They sell cold and frozen. I talked to a few people who loved the frozen as well. I have to say I would pay money to return to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter just for the butter beer.
The theme of the day was long lines. There was even a line to get into the Three Broomsticks restaurant for some fish and chips or shepherd's pie.

I plan to return in mid October to see if the lines have died down, but I highly doubt it.
For a quick tour of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, check out my video on the right hand side of this page.

Freedom of the Seas

I spent this July 4th holiday onboard the beautiful, Freedom of the Seas! The Royal Caribbean ship sails out of Port Canaveral, Florida. Since I live in Orlando, it was a short drive to the Port. We actually arrived later than we normally would for embarkation, about 1pm. The terminal was packed. It took about 30 minutes from the time we got through security until we were onboard the ship. Embarkation itself, was smooth and we had no complaints.
Since we arrived after 1pm our stateroom was ready when we boarded. We stayed in an E2 balcony cabin on deck 6. Cabin 6626 to be exact.
We had lunch in the Windjammer Cafe. The food was very good. We pre-registered my son for the Adventure Ocean club. This was our biggest complaint of the cruise, through no fault of the staff. We have sailed on Princess with my 4 year old many times and he was used to the large kids' club onboard those ships. Princess' newest fleet offers a mini-rock wall in the kids' club, a climbing gym, about 6 computers, play areas, large flat screen tv and an oustide big wheel track. My son walked into the Freedom of the Seas club and was not happy to see only a boat with a slide, a lego table and small tv with a couch. The staff was wonderful, but Spencer didn't enjoy the kid's club very much.
We chose late traditional dining and were seated in the Leonardo Dining Room on deck 3. I was happy with the food, desserts and after dinner drinks that were offered nightly.
Our waiter Raj was fantastic and a true professional.
We sailed to Coco Cay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Coco Cay was the only washout. We did some quick shopping on St. Thomas and spent the day on the beach on St. Maarten.

For those looking for a cheap day on the beach, take the ferry over to the shopping area ($6 round trip) and walk to the white umbrellas to the right. The Holland House offers 2 chairs, umbrella and 5 iced cold drinks for only $15. We also rented a jet ski for $55. St. Maarten is my favorite island. The waters are so clear and I love the landscape.

Back on the ship, we passed on the shows, but did try the Flow Rider and rock wall. Make sure to wear shorts over your bathing suits ladies, the current is VERY strong. The sports deck has plenty of activities including mini-golf, basketball and ping pong.
Overall, this was a wonderful cruise. However, be warned that Royal Caribbean no longer offers chocolates on your bed at night (much to the disappointment of my 4 year old) and ice is only offered in the afternoon, unless you ask for more. I would definately sail this ship again!
For videos of my trip, go to my YouTube page, http://www.youtube.com/user/becktours.

Sundial Beach Resort

I spent most of my childhood summers on Sanibel Island, Florida. My parents were school teachers in Indiana and had summers off, so we would always drive down to Sanibel for a couple of weeks each year. I still have a fondness for Sanibel and wanted to share that with my children. Last month my husband and I packed up the car, kids and drove the three and a half hours down to Sanibel. We spent a week at the Sundial Beach Resort. When I booked the resort I asked for a first floor room near the main building. When I checked in there were no first floor rooms still available. At first I was not happy, but this turned out to be a blessing. When I saw our second floor condo I was very happy. We had an amazing ocean front condo. Had I been on the first floor all of the bushes would have blocked most of the ocean view. We chose the 2 bedroom condo. The master bedroom had a king sized bed and the second bedroom had two twin beds. There was also two family living areas which offered two pull out couches. The rooms were clean and there was daily maid service. We ate in the hotel's restaurant the first night and had a wonderful meal. I had the tuna steak and it was perfect. The kids' meals were all to their liking (chicken fingers & hot dogs). There are many wonderful restaurants on Sanibel Island, but we were too tired from packing, unpacking and driving to venture out for the night. The Sundial Beach Resort has 5 pools. We were in building K which is next to the main pool. The pool was huge and had a slide for the kids or kids at heart. We spent more time in the pool than on the beach. The resort does offer beach chairs and umbrellas. The beach is small, but nice. Plenty of great shells to collect. You can also rent bicycles by the day or week. We rented bikes for the entire week and rode most every night down to the Dairy Queen for dessert. Overall, I was very pleased with the resort. It was very family friendly. There was an arcade, a kids' club and daily planned activities. I look forward to our next family vacation to Sanibel and the Sundial Beach Resort.

Passport fees to go up on July 13th

Now is the time to get a passport if you do not have one. New higher fees will take effect on July 13th.

Here is a link with more information.
http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2010/06/passport-fees-going-up-july-13/98299/1?loc=interstitialskip