Vivid Vacations by Akesha Scott

10/08/2024

Amazon Prime deals for travel. Dare to be Different. 🤯

Amazon Prime members will have exclusive access to unbelievable savings on all the travel essentials for a savvy journey.

09/18/2024

Have you been to any of these "low key" countries? Would you consider them as your next vacation location?

Let’s refresh that bucket list.

09/12/2024

The U.K. government has set the deadline for when Americans and Canadians will be required to apply for and obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for travel to the U.K.

Starting on Jan. 8, 2025, all Americans and Canadians will need an ETA to get into the U.K., regardless of how long they are staying or their reasons for travel, including simply connecting through a U.K. airport.

All other international travelers, except for Irish nationals, will also need an ETA, including Europeans, though their deadline is later than January 2025. Those from Qatar have been required to obtain an ETA since November 2023 and others, including those from Saudia Arabia, the U.A.E., and other Middle Eastern countries, have been required since February 2024.

The application portal for Americans or Canadians with travel plans starting on Jan. 8, 2025, will open on Nov. 27, 2024.

08/16/2024

Travel advisory: Be aware of ships that depart or end in Amsterdam – protesters are preventing or delaying ships from getting into the Dutch capital.

As reported by the Maritime Executive, Dutch environmental protesters have already struck twice. The first time, on Aug. 10, the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion prevented Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas from docking at the port by blocking locks the ship needed to pass through. The ship was forced to backtrack and disembark guests at the smaller port of Ijmuiden about 25 miles away from Amsterdam.

Guests scheduled to embark the same day in Amsterdam had to make the same journey to get to the ship in Ijmuiden. Royal Caribbean and the Amsterdam Port Authority provided the transfers both ways.

The following day, Aug. 11, protesters returned and again blocked the lock, this time delaying Seven Seas Mariner by about three hours.

While police did not stop the protest in the first case, they did force them to stop in the second, allowing Seven Seas Mariner to continue on to Amsterdam.

There have been no further protests but the next ocean going cruise ship is not due into Amsterdam until tomorrow, Aug. 16. Serenade of the Seas is scheduled to stop in Amsterdam on Aug. 19 and Jewel of the Seas is due back to the port on Aug. 22.

The protests come a little one month after the City of Amsterdam announced it will cap cruise ship visits to just 100 per year starting in 2026, and will end all ocean-going cruise visits by 2035.

Please contact your travel advisor if you have an upcoming cruise porting in Amsterdam.

07/09/2024

Starting July 1, 2024, Aruba will implement a $20 Sustainability Fee for visitors arriving by air to the island. This fee will support a number of projects aimed at enhancing and improving sustainability efforts on the island.

The sustainability fee will be charged through the online Embarkation & Disembarkation (ED) Card platform while one is completing the ED card to enter Aruba. The website is https://edcardaruba.aw/.

Stay informed: If you are traveling to Aruba in the (near) future, return to this page before you travel, as we are continuously updating details regarding the sustainability fee as they become available.

We strongly recommend to download the Aruba’s Health App on your smart phone prior to your travel, which is solely used by the Public Health authorities of Aruba to properly assist you and inform you on COVID-19 measures, instructions, for more information

03/06/2024

Hey Vivid Vacationers, get ready to pay more. Beginning March 5, Delta will increase fees for first and second checked bags by $5 for most U.S.-originating domestic and short-haul international routes,” Delta said in a statement to TMR on Tuesday.

The first checked bag for most passengers will now be $35, up from $30 and the second will be $45, up from $40. The increase is for new tickets—anyone previously booked will pay the old prices even if their flights are scheduled for after March 5.

01/31/2024

Please be aware of the advisory change for Jamaica travel.

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02/03/2023

There's a great deal going on. Please be sure to read all the details.

Flexible with your schedule? This is your ticket to truly go wild, as often as you like with the GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Pass.

12/14/2022

The requirement for REAL IDs will not go into effect for another two years. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), enforcement of the REAL ID will not begin until May 7, 2025—two full years after the previously set date of May 3, 2023. In the interim, this means people traveling domestically within the United States can continue to use their existing form of identification.

“Under the new regulations published to execute this change, states will now have additional time to ensure their residents have driver’s licenses and identification cards that meet the security standards established by the REAL ID Act,” the DHS said in a statement. “As required by the law, following the enforcement deadline, federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will be prohibited from accepting driver’s licenses and identification cards that do not meet these federal standards.”

This means, every traveler 18 years of age or older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another TSA-acceptable form of identification at airport security checkpoints for domestic air travel.

The extension was “necessary,” in part due to delays in people’s ability to obtain the ID as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the new regulations, beginning May 7, 2025.

“Extending the REAL ID deadline is the right decision, and U.S. Travel appreciates DHS leadership for recognizing that with more than 100 million Americans still lacking a REAL ID, now is not the time to create significant travel disruptions. This delay helps give travelers the time necessary to get the credential needed to fly domestically," said U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes in a statement.

“It remains critical that DHS identify ways to modernize identification standards to make the entire travel process more efficient. We will continue working with our partners in the travel industry and DHS to advance these solutions and get the traveling public fully prepared for the implementation of the REAL ID Act in 2025,” she added.

The Real ID Act was originally passed by Congress in 2005 following the attacks on September 11, 2001. It was supposed to go into effect in 2008 before being pushed back to 2014 for certain federal agencies. All states have become compliant in the meantime but enforcement continued to be pushed back, first to 2021, then 2023 date and, now, 2025.

07/28/2022

Southwest Airlines on Thursday morning moved to give its customers more flexibility with their flight credits.

Effective immediately, all Southwest flight credits, whether current or issued in the future, will no longer have an expiration date, giving flyers the option to hold them for as long as they want.

Customers will soon see a placeholder expiration date of Dec. 31, 2040, on their credits, but Southwest said that will soon disappear as it works to update its technology system to remove expiration dates altogether.

Other carriers, such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, (along with Southwest prior to today) generally allow for one year from the date they were issued for credits to expire. Southwest’s move on Thursday makes it the only major U.S. to issue credits without an expiration date. It also makes its change or cancel policies, which already are fee-free, especially customer-centric.

Southwest, which had been at the forefront of some major, customer-first changes in the industry with things like bags fly free and that no change fees policy, said the move is something that allows it to differentiate itself from its competitors.

05/03/2022

Who else can relate?

yep!

04/24/2022

No need to miss a good vacation.

We will not miss a Vacation 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

08/13/2021

Traveling to New Orleans soon? Please be mindful.

07/16/2021

Hey travelers passports are taking 12-18 weeks to process. The State Dept. is hiring more people but it will take time to train them. Please check your passport expiration dates and apply for renewal or new passport in plenty of time to travel.

05/02/2021

This looks amazing! Who's ready to travel?

All-inclusive, luxury voyages to the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Central America.

04/02/2021

Does ease in travel persuade you to get vaccinated?

They must continue to take precautions like wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowds, maintaining social distancing and washing hands frequently, federal health officials said on Friday.

10/28/2020

Do you agree with Delta's decision?

Delta said wearing masks "is among the simplest and most effective actions we can take to reduce transmission" and banned 460 mask-refusing customers.

06/20/2020

Are you ready to travel? https://travelnoire.com/flight-deal-wow-air-has-flights-to-europe-for-49-one-way

If you’ve been searching for a deal to Europe, now is the time to go. WOW Air has announced a winter flight sale that will get you to Europe for just $49 one-way.