Celebrate the holidays in style on board one of three Windstar Cruises’ luxury yachts exploring the hidden harbors and secluded coves of the world’s most sought- after destinations. Windstar provides the perfect winter holiday vacation in an elegant and relaxed atmosphere in the Caribbean or Costa Rica to rejoice with travel companions.

Wind Spirit’s 7-day holiday cruise features sparkling white sands, tropical fish and turquoise waters and departs from St. Thomas on December 20 visiting St. John, St. Martin, St. Barts, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda. Cruise rates begin at $2,249 per person, double occupancy.

For many, the Caribbean evokes visions of sunbathing, shopping and sightseeing. Those looking for a more experiential Caribbean vacation, however, need look no further than an MSC Cruises sailing.

MSC Cruises offers guests the opportunity for some exciting — even adventurous — experiences on its 2008-09 Caribbean itineraries. Several shore excursion options enable guests to explore the Caribbean over land (by motorcycle, bicycle, ATV or horseback), under the sea (snorkeling, SCUBA diving and glass-bottomed kayak) and through the air (attached to a cable between 100-foot-high trees). There is also the chance for unique ecological experiences and, of course, plenty of fun and sun.

Passengers on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air can now receive up-to-the-minute flight information via e-mail or text message for their entire flight itinerary, including segments on other airlines. The new Trip Alert System is the first airline notification solution to be powered by the FlightStats(TM) Itinerary Monitoring platform and lets customers set up a single profile
once for all future travel.

Customers who have booked a trip at alaskaair.com or with an Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air reservations call center or ticket counter since June 25, 2008, receive an e-mail inviting them to create a profile. The profile specifies the traveler’s preferences for receiving e-mail alerts to a desktop PC, PDA or mobile phone.

Alaska Airlines today will inaugurate daily, year-round service between Seattle and Kahului, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. Flights from Seattle will depart daily at 8:20 a.m. Pacific time and arrive at 11:35 a.m. Hawaii time. Return flights will depart at 1:05 p.m. Hawaii time and arrive at 9:45 p.m. Pacific time.

“Our customers have welcomed our new Hawaii service with open arms,” said Gregg Saretsky, Alaska Airlines’ executive vice president of flight and marketing. “In addition to Kauai and Honolulu, which we began serving last winter, customers now can enjoy Alaska’s unique brand of service and earn Mileage Plan miles to the beautiful island of Maui.”

Hotwire’s mission is to offer unbeatable low prices on airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, vacation packages and cruises. Through our partnerships with leading travel companies, we can get you low prices that can’t be found anywhere else.

How does it work? Our partners allow us access to their unsold inventory - empty seats on flights, empty hotel rooms, and unrented cars - at big savings. By showing the name of our travel partner after you book, Hotwire can get you travel deals that are significantly below published prices.