I visited Orlando this Spring. The purpose of the trip was to familiarize Maritime travel agents with the Orlando area but more importantly, that Orlando is so much more than Disney World. Which was a good thing because we did not visit Disney World. We would have needed another week! We stayed at the Regal Oaks Condominiums in Celebration which is between Kissimmee and Lake Buena Vista. The 2, 3 or 4 bedroom air-conditioned townhomes come fully equipped and well-furnished. The 4 bedroom that I stayed in had 3 full bathrooms and a powder room. Wi-Fi is Hot tubs are located in screened lanai's at the rear of each home. A large freeform pool is located centrally and guests may use it at their leisure.  Groceries can be bought within 2 miles. There is a Publix grocery store and local Wal Mart for all your essentials. I loved this particular area because of the multitude of dining options, shopping, bars and nightclubs within walking distance. There is also "Old Town" a block away that offers a carnival type atmosphere. Especially in the evening with everything lit up! Walt Disney is located a mere 4 miles away. SeaWorld and Universal Studios are approximately 12 miles away and Downtown Orlando is 20 miles away. It's an easy drive to all the above locations due to the exceptional highway systems. Some roads do have tolls so make sure you have lots of quarters! We did not use the toll roads except for driving to and from the airport. On our second day in Florida, we spent the morning at Aquatica. This waterpark is located by Sea World and you can purchase passes individually or  for both. (We did drive from the parking lot at Aquatica to the parking lot at Sea World as they were not walking distance to each other.) Aquatica had plenty of lockers located throughout. You had to use them because there wasn't any place to set your items while you enjoyed the water slides. I do have to note that it is not viable to do both parks in one day. There were only so many water slides that I was able to get on because of the lineups. There is a fantastic wave pool with real sand and beach chairs where you can relax and catch some rays. I thoroughly enjoyed the lazy river and the rapid river. Life vests are available free of charge and you can float your way around to your hearts content. SeaWorld Orlando has taken a beating in the media as of late due to the movie Blackfish. I must confess that I was not thrilled about visiting this attraction but it was in my best interests to see the other side of the coin for myself. I am so glad that I did so. The park is immaculate, the animals look extremely healthy and well cared for. SeaWorld Parks cares for approximately 67,000 animals, the largest animal collection in North America. SeaWorld commits itself to  world-class standards of care, state of the art animal habitats and a commitment to animal welfare. As for the shows, they are outstanding! Pets Ahoy was incredible to watch. Dogs, cats, birds, ducks, pigs and even a skunk and hamster were part of the show. You have to see it to believe it. I loved it!! One Ocean is an aquatic symphony of dancing fountains, majestic killer whales and dolphins. A large screen video plays in the background. Blue Horizons is a theatrical water show featuring a combination of outstanding acrobats, dolphins and tropical birds, What an enthralling spectacle. You definitely need at least a day for SeaWorld. Between the shows and the rides, time flew at an astounding pace. Speaking of rides...WOW! Antarctica: Empire of the Penguins is an absolute must. Bring a sweater as you will need it following the ride. You can choose the mild or wild version of the trackless, motion-based simulator experience. Following the ride, you can explore the penguin colony which is kept a cool temperatures for the Penguins comfort. There are 4 species in residence. I only had time for a few rides one of which is Kraken. Fantastic roller coaster! My absolute favourite at SeaWorld. Mind you, I did not have the opportunity to go on Manta. Not enough time. Will definitely return sometime in the near future. My best tip: purchase the Quick Queue Unlimited ticket. You can skip the regular lines at the most popular attractions as many times as you want , all day long. You can also purchase one-time reserved seating with the SeaWorld Signature Show ticket. Other extras worth considering: All day dining deal (convenient all-you-can-eat deal allows you to eat around SeaWorld at tons of restaurant locations all day until closing), and preferred parking pass which allows you to park closest to the entrance. Great if you have little ones or limited mobility friends and family. Day 3 we transferred to a Florida Holiday Home in Orange Tree. The house was exceptionally large and featured private outdoor pools in a screened lanai. Perfect for cooling off on those hot days following a full day of activities. I did find that the holiday homes were considerably farther away from the attractions than the townhomes we had just vacated. I think they are a good idea if you are staying at least one week. Shorter durations might find it inconvenient with the constant driving back and forth to the attractions.  The home itself featured 4 bedrooms with 3 baths. All are furnished and provide the basic amenities and Wi-Fi. Publix grocery stores and 2 Wal-Mart's are located in the area. Outlet stores are approximately 15 minutes away for those who love to shop. Restaurants are in the area but not as many as in the Kissimmee/Celebration area. We visited Capone's which was an amazing dinner show and is staged in the early 30's with a cast of "Gangsters". The show is entertaining and interactive. The food is buffet with good choices and alcoholic beverages are included. There are plenty of photo opportunities and some cool, kitschy souvenirs available for purchase. I enjoyed everything about the show and laughed till my face hurt! Day 4: Wild Florida. LOVED IT!!! Highlight of my trip. Located 45 minutes from the major attractions, Wild Florida is a wildlife park full of family fun. Our group whizzed through the Central Florida Everglades on an airboat. What a thrilling ride. For those with delicate hearing, earphones are available. We spotted alligators, eagles, spoonbills and turkey vultures. Then it was on to the wildlife park to view the zebras, zedonkeys, lemurs, sloths, and a diversity of bird species. One of my peeps encouraged a lovely bird to sing and dance. Who knew she was a bird-whisperer!. We ate at the Chomp House grill which had one of the best menus to choose from. Alligator, turtle (in-season), frog legs, catfish alongside burgers, pulled pork and salads. Plenty of options for the adventurous and non-adventurous alike. I chose the pulled pork bbq sandwich with a side of Cajun gator bites to share with the group. Delicious!!! Busch Gardens on Day 5 was a fun-filled day. I remember visiting here when I was a child. I had more memories of this place than the Magic Kingdom. There is a train that flows throughout the park that allows you to view the animals that live here as well as providing a hop on-hop off between different areas. Park hours are between 10am and 6pm. They close earlier than other theme parks so that the animals get some rest and relaxation from all the hustle and bustle of visitors. You can purchase a variety of tickets based on your needs. Busch Gardens offers a play and dine ticket as well as 2-park tickets for Busch Gardens and Adventure Island as well as SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. One great tip: shuttles to and from Busch Gardens are available from various locations in Orlando. We were picked up at strip mall where we could leave our cars and let someone else do the driving. Refillable cups are great to purchase. Drinks are free the first day of use and then a minimal charge for each refill on subsequent visits. It is hot! You will drink more than you think. Choices included lemonade and other fruit drinks as well as sodas. Cool off by enjoying several misting fans located throughout the park. There are a variety of animals to view in the park. My favourite was the Gorilla exhibit. I could have spent hours there! Busch Gardens offers exclusive park experiences for an additional cost. Examples include the Serengeti Safari, Guided Adventure Tour and a behind-the-scenes look at the Animal Care Centre. The rides here are very good. Cheetah Run was as fast and thrilling, Kumba had a steep drop and amazing loops with moments of weightlessness, Congo River Rapids cooled you off with waterfalls and water caves. We stood in line for Sheikra but there was a thunderstorm on the horizon. I learned that the theme parks will shut down all rides if lightning is within 4 miles. Fortunately, the lightning moved away quickly and the rides opened back up. Falcon`s Fury was our good-bye ride of the day. Very similar to drop zone at Canada`s Wonderland but with a twist. The seats pivot so that you are facing straight down when you plunge. Believe it or not, it was kind of a snore after all the roller coasters:) NOTE: You must use lockers throughout the property. There is no place to leave your items when you are on the rides. In fact, a couple of the rides with inversions, made you go through a metal detector to ensure that you did not have keys or change in your pockets. My complaint with all this is that you had to pay for a  locker every single time. I guess if we had known this was the case, we would have picked a locker and left everything there all day. As it was, we were moving around the park and had to buy at least 4. The other option would have been to drive our own car and we could have left everything in there. Day 6..the day I have been waiting for!!!The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. There are no words to describe how fantastical this place is. Universal Studios requires at the very least, 3 days and 1 of those days is needed to explore Harry Potter World. There are 2 theme parks in Universal: Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Islands of Adventure. Diagon Alley is in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Hogsmeade is located in the Islands of Adventure. The Hogwarts Express travels back and forth from one to the other.  My best advice is to purchase the Park to Park admission ticket which will give you access to both theme parks PLUS access to the Hogwarts Express which is only available with the Park to Park ticket. With the exception of Cabana Bay, the other on-site hotels include skip the lines for free with Universal Express for participating attractions. Does not include the attractions Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey or Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts. Attractions are too numerous to list. I will mention the ones that I had the privilege to enjoy. Let`s start with Shrek 4D. Don't waste your time. It was extremely lame. It would be perfect however for those who hate the rides. Transformers the Ride 3D was very good. Diagon Alley will blow your mind. Extremely realistic! We had lunch at the Three Broomsticks and the food was exceptional and well-priced. I had the fish & chips with a beer for $13USD. I tried a sip of butter beer as well and it is extremely tasty. There were plenty of children lined up to purchase their wands from a shop in Diagon Alley. We took the Hogwarts Express to the Islands of Adventure. The line up was quite long but moved quite quickly. It looks like a genuine train station with antique luggage stacked up on the platform. The window and door screens feature Harry Potter scenes and they are 2 different ones. One for each way of the trip. We arrived at Hogwarts Castle and promptly headed to the Harry Potter and Forbidden Journey ride. This ride is not available for skip the line, however, if you are willing to go as a single, you will get on almost immediately. I chose this option as the ride was very busy. There are lockers to store your items but unfortunately, the design is terrible. You have people trying to put stuff in this small locker room before the ride and other people exiting the ride trying to get their stuff out of the locker. Very trying to say the least. The ride is a mix of motion, part roller coaster and multi dimension graphics. The interesting part for me, was that the ride broke down halfway through. You get so involved in the experience that you are not aware of what is physically happening to you. I could `feel`myself swooping and diving with wind in my hair but I had no real concept of how that was happening. Well, when the lights came on, I got the idea. You are in a 4 seat pod that follows a track through an enormous warehouse. This pod is on a lift that raises and lowers the pod as well as tilting and turning. When we finally got the ride going again, we were able to get right back on because of the breakdown. This went without a mishap and I was again completely immersed in the ride. It is the best immersion ride I have ever experienced. Another favourite was the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. Definitely in my top 5 list. Camp Jurassic was a great ride with good quality mock-dinosaurs. Despicable ME's Minion Mayhem was an excellent simulator ride. There were so many rides that I did not have an opportunity to try. It is a must that you spend at least 2 nights here to get as much out of the parks as you can. Universal City Walk is an entertainment mecca with numerous dining options, bars , nightclubs and shopping. Entertainment options include Blue Man Group and Hard Rock Live Orlando features big-name talent in music and comedy. There is also a 36 hole mini golf course and a Cineplex with IMAX. Special Occasion visits centre around seasonal festivities including A Celebration of Harry Potter, Mardi Gras, Rock the Universe, Halloween Horror Nights, Macy`s Holiday Parade and Grinchmas  Our last day was spent downtown Orlando. There is a new entertainment complex which houses the Orlando Eye,  SeaLife Aquarium and Madame Tussauds. SeaLife is a small version of Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto. The kids will enjoy the exhibits. Teens will recognize most of the celebrities and famous "people" in Madame Tussauds. I found the wax figure of Steve Jobs to be extremely life-like. Even the employees have said that it freaks them out! The Orlando Eye is basically the same as the one in London, Las Vegas and Hong Kong. You can see the airport on one side and Disney World's Epcot on the other side. LEGOLAND tickets and shuttles are available from here as well. You can purchase all the options together or individually. Outside the building, there are numerous restaurants and bars to choose. One can spend an afternoon and evening here with family and friends. The following morning, we headed back to the Orlando airport, The funny thing is, I was flying out of Terminal B and the other ladies were flying out of Terminal A . We dropped off the rental car in Terminal A and I proceeded to make my way to Terminal B. I wasn't sure how to get there and assumed that I would have to take some kind of shuttle to the other terminal. Lo and behold, they are in the same building on the same floor. A shopping and restaurant mecca lays right in the middle of both. It took me 3 minutes to walk from one terminal to the other. It was a fantastic trip! You cannot do it all in one week especially if Disney World in involved. If you have the time, take 2 weeks and enjoy all that Orlando has to offer. Thank you Holiday Escapes, Visit Kissimmee, Visit Orlando. CLC World and Orange Tree plus all the Attractions for showing us such a wonderful time.          

We started our day exploring the hotels of Universal. Cabana Bay is an on-site hotel with plenty of amenities to offer. This newly opened hotel offers 1800 moderate and value accommodations. Guest services include self parking (daily fee applies), car rental desk, Laundromats and complimentary Wi-Fi. With your stay, you receive exclusive theme park benefits: early park admission to Wizarding World of Harry Potter (valid theme park ticket required), complimentary shuttle buses and walking paths to both Universal Parks and Universal City Walk, resort-wide charging privileges with your room key card, complimentary delivery of merchandise purchased in the theme parks, and complimentary scheduled transportation to nearby Wet N Wild, SeaWorld and Aquatica. Features of the hotel include a 10 lane bowling alley, zero-entry poll with dive tower waterslide, interactive kids play area, a lazy river with waterfalls and geysers  plus an arcade. Dining options include: Bayliner Diner (food court), Atomic Tonic (pool bar), the Hideaway Bar & Grill, Starbucks and Delizioso Pizza Delivery. Loews Sapphire Falls will be opening in 2016 and will be similar in services to Cabana Bay. The deluxe hotels Loews Portofino, Loews Royal Pacific and the Hard Rock Hotel offer extensive amenities and exclusive privileges. In addition to the early park entrance, Universal Express, complimentary shuttles etc., they offer free water taxis and priority seating at select restaurants throughout the resort. Loews Portofino offers 750 guest rooms featuring one king bed or two queen beds. Rooms can accommodate up to 5 with a rollaway bed for an additional charge. Recreational facilities include 3 themed swimming pools, one complete with a Roman aqueduct themed water slide, the serene Villa Pool with cabana rentals and the secluded Hillside Pool. The Mandara Spa is beautiful! There are jogging trails, Bocce Ball courts and upscale shopping. Guest services include self parking and valet parking for a daily fee, Resort Kids Camp (fees apply), full service concierge, Hertz rental car desk, business centre and....Loews loves pets! Pets are permitted with a fee per night. (restrictions apply) Dining options are extensive with choices of Northern Italian, family style dining, Harborside wine bar, Market Deli, Gelarteria and poolside pizza plus 24 room service available. Loews Royal Pacific features 1,000 guest rooms including 51 suites. (This was my favourite!) Maximum occupancy of 5 persons. There are 5 restaurants to choose from: Island Dining Room, Emeril's Tchoup Chop, Jake`s American Bar, Bula Bar & Grille and Orchid Court Sushi Bar. Guest services are similar to Loewe`s Portofino. Recreational facilities include an ocean-sized lagoon style pool complete with sand beach, interactive water play area for children and private cabanas for rent. For entertainment, there is a weekly Wantilan Luau dinner show with hula and fire dancers (at an additional cost). There is a gymnasium on-site as well for fitness buffs. Hard Rock Hotels accommodates 650 guests in rooms featuring king bed, 2 queens and a rollaway cot for the 5th person. It is the perfect mix of funk and just plain fun. You are surrounded by rare rock memorabilia worth over $1 million dollars. I took plenty of photos! The 12,000 square foot pool is complete with an underwater sound system, sand beach and waterslide plus private rental cabanas. There are 5 restaurants on-site. Pets are also permitted at this resort. Camp Lil Rock offers supervised children's activities (fees apply). Velvet sessions is the Rock N Roll cocktail party held on the last Thursday of the month and features live concerts from legendary rock bands.

My husband and I spent 5 nights at the Sandals Negril in April 2015.  The Sandals Negril resort is beautiful as is typical with Sandals. Our room was beachfront so we were able to enjoy the crystal clear waters and had an opportunity to see stingrays almost everyday. There are plenty of dining choices and the watersports selection is the most extensive that I have ever seen anywhere. And, it's all included! You can check under "Resort Reviews" in this profile for more details. Negril is a 90 min drive from the Montego Bay Airport. The highway is built along the coastline so choose a seat on the right-hand side heading towards Negril for incredible views. The left-hand side features mountain views and is quite stunning in it's own right. The Negril area is laid-back and has the best beaches in Jamaica. The Seven Mile beach is famous and deserves it's Top 10 in the World status. You can walk many miles and meet plenty of interesting characters along the way. There are souvenir shops and seafood shacks in between the hotels. Lobster tails and huge crabs can be enjoyed for much less in price than we would pay here in Canada. Best buys in the shops are Blue Mountain coffee, Bob Marley items, Jamaican Rum and local Jamaican art.  Local tours include: Catamaran cruises, 4x4 road safaris, Bamboo River Rafting, Dolphin Swim, Horseback riding, YSL Falls and Black River tour. There are tours further away in the Montego Bay area and Ocho Rios. Mo Bay is 90 mins away and Ocho Rios is a good 3 hours drive. Ocho Rios has the Dunn River Falls, Zip Line and Bob Marley tours nearby.  All tours can be found on the Island Routes website:http://www.islandroutes.com/  This is my favourite area in all of Jamaica!!!    

What a fascinating mix of Eastern and Western architecture and culture. Skyscrapers surrounding Portuguese Colonial buildings. The Kowloon area reminded me of New York City with the extensive shopping, dining, museums and the incredible transit system. The subway was inexpensive and effective. Bus service was also frequent and covered any place you needed to go. The Island of Hong Kong is a juxtaposition of skyscrapers and outstanding natural beauty. The South side of the island had many coves and beaches on the South China Sea. The area is mountainous and very green. Around every bend in the road, you would see spectacular views and after being in the city, you could smell trees, flowers, and the salty air. Best markets ever! Hong Kong is a great place for a 2 night stopover or longer!

Great resort, beautiful island. The food was wonderful with plenty of dining options. Aruba is great for families with clear, calm water, white-sand beaches, American cuisine and fresh, drinkable tap water. Very friendly locals and extremely safe off resort. I highly recommend this destination!

My favourite resort. I have been here twice. The food is unbelievable and the service outstanding. The second time around, I took the time to participate in local excursions and loved the island and it's people. I was not a particular fan of downtown Castries but the flea market sure had lots to offer. We did an afternoon/evening dinner cruise which toured the west end of the island. It was a great opportunity to see the other resorts and their beaches. The Island tour was also informative and lots of fun was had with our tour guides. No tour is complete without a visit to the natural clay bath. Great place for couples who enjoy fine dining!

My home away from home! Dramatic scenery, rugged coastlines, ancient castles, fairy tales, acclaimed poets, incredible cuisine, there are so many unique and varied aspects to the Emerald Isle. This is a must-see destination for everyone. Make it a part of your bucket list, you will not regret it!