Trip insurance has angered travelers and drawn state scrutiny

Is the nightmarish possibility of being laid off keeping you from taking the vacation of your dreams?

Several travel companies are hoping to allay your fears — and then wish you bon voyage.

Cruise retailer CruiseOne, with several locations in Northeast Ohio, recently added job-loss coverage to its basic travel insurance policy. If you get laid off, you can cancel the cruise with no penalty — provided you’ve purchased the insurance, the price of which varies by the cost of the cruise but starts at $35.

“You wouldn’t think something so simple could make such a difference,” said Becky Piper, who runs a CruiseOne franchise out of her Strongsville home. “My sales have skyrocketed.”

“Everyone is just so fearful,” she said. “They don’t want to make plans for six months from now if they think they might not have a job.”

To qualify for the policy, which is administered by Travel Guard, you must have been employed for a year. Information: cruiseone.com.

Ecruises.com, an online travel agency specializing in cruises, also offers job-loss protection through its basic travel insurance policy; and Ecruises is picking up the cost of the insurance.

Norwegian Cruise Line also recently added job-loss insurance to its travel insurance plan for sailings in May and beyond. Prices start at $29, depending on the fare. Information: ncl.com.

A bed-and-breakfast in Vermont is offering six free two-night getaways to people who have been unemployed for more than six months. Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, on the New Hampshire border near St. Johnsbury, will offer a two-night freebie, dubbed the Pink Slip Getaway Giveaway, each month in April through July and again in November and December. Send a letter or e-mail by Monday, June 1, explaining your story in a page or less: Box 55, Lower Waterford Road, Lower Waterford, VT 05848 or info@rabbithillinn. com.

Ohio’s two CoCo Key water parks, in Newark and Cincinnati, are offering a price break to workers who have been forced to take unpaid time off. For $119, a family of four can spend a night at either resort, which includes two full days of water-park passes. Information: cherryvalleylodge.com or sheraton.com/cincinnatinorth.
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From the Travel Insurance Related Tips weblog

Posted Under: Travel Insurance News
This post was written by admin on March 29, 2009

Cruise Into Recycling

Folks who enjoy vacations at sea should be pleased to note that some luxury liners are stepping up efforts to protect the planet. Though a cruise is by no means the most eco-friendly vacation type, if you are going to go on one, taking the time to look at the line’s environmental policies is a must. Many are choosing to not just pamper their passengers, but also sort their recyclables, lower energy use, reduce waste and boost water efficiency. “Ship to Shelter” Program Ever taken home those tiny bottles of lotion or shampoo from your state room? Holland America Line is putting leftover toiletries and other excess shipboard items to good use in various parts of the world. Along with mini-packets of bath gel and shampoo, the donations from Holland America’s Ship to Shelter program include such items as towels, bed sheets and kitchen utensils. Among the recipients is a social-service organization in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that provides hot showers and food to financially strapped families. Marti Forman, who runs the Cooperative Feeding Program, is delighted to distribute the much-appreciated bounty. Even simple items like disposable packets of soap are a luxury, Forman said, for some of the people served by the programs. Sometimes, the ships’ loot includes offbeat items like exercise weights and silver-plated ice buckets. Those, she said, are great for fundraisers. Taking Advantage of Sunshine Celebrity Cruise’s ship, the Solstice, is equipped to create its own energy from the sun’s rays. Its 216 solar panels produce enough power to handle 7,000 LED lights, or to run the cruise ship’s passenger elevators throughout the trip. Other ships with the Celebrity Cruises fleet are also enjoying some green modifications. They include: * Replacing halogen and incandescent light bulbs with more efficient sources of light, like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescent bulbs. * Adding higher-efficiency appliances. The ice makers, for example, use 65 percent less water and about half the energy of previous equipment. * Conserving water in various areas, from efficient shower heads to the use of river rocks, rather than ice, in buffet displays. * Painting hulls (the body of the ship, part of which is underwater) with an environmentally safe product that creates a smoother surface, aimed at improving fuel efficiency. * Teaching crew members to work toward reducing air-conditioning waste in areas that are not in use. Zero Waste Overboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises are two lines that are going above and beyond: They exceed environmental regulations and do not permit any type of disposal at sea, according to Tim Rubacky, director of corporate communications for Prestige Cruise Holdings, which owns both the lines. Some of the wastewater that’s treated on-board is reused for such things as washing the decks or cooling the engines, Rubacky said.

Cute and Essential Dog Clothes

It’s still cold outside and not spring quite yet so your dog still needs quality and cute dog clothes such as this dog parka. More and more pet owners are realizing that their pets get cold too and so you might be thinking about getting your special dog something warm to wear. Now you can keep your dog warm and stylish at the same time.

With several different types of dog apparel to choose from you are sure to find the perfect dog sweater, dog jacket, and even dog pajamas. Since we all know we are in hard economic times SuppliesJust4Pets.com is offering tiered coupons for customers. You can now save $5 on orders of $50, $10 on orders of $100, or $15 on orders of $175. Find these coupon codes at http://www.suppliesjust4pets.com/coupons.html.

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From the Pets - breeding, nutrition, health weblog

C I Host Refines Colocation and Dedicated Server Portfolio

C I Host, a Cassiopeia Internet, Inc. brand, has announced the acquisition of its shared web hosting interests by X7 Hosting. The move allows C I Host to increase focus on core services while ensuring benefit to all customers.

C I Host will be able to further define a diverse service portfolio geared to Dedicated Server and Colocation customers and enhance existing services.

Chris Faulkner, CEO of C I Host says, “We believe that focus and specialization is a key factor for success in the hosting marketplace. Over the years, our company’s growth and operational expertise has allowed us to target mid- and large-market services and this move enables us to further specialize in these segments.”

C I Host plans to refine client services across the board. In the works are the introduction of dedicated sales and support teams to better meet the needs of customers and a host of other upgrades. C I Host’s multiple data center locations will prove a strong asset with new offerings including geographical load balancing, clustering, and other services that require geographical fault tolerance.

C I Host has been offering dedicated servers since 1999 and colocation services since 2000. The additional asset of their team’s expertise and years of experience will allow new offerings such as managed colocation services in addition to a range of dedicated server solutions.

Erin Bullock, Executive Director of Business Development remarks, “It has always been our goal to provide a superior service experience for all our clients. X7 Hosting has some great new features to offer our shared hosting customers, and focusing our service catalog exclusively on dedicated server and colocation customer needs will allow us to better serve our customers.”

The company continues to invest in research and development.

About C I Host

C I Host ( www.cihost.com ), based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, is a Web hosting, domain name registrar (DNR), and colocation service provider, operating for more than 11 years. C I Host creates business-class Web hosting solutions for the enterprise market, with the broadest portfolio of managed hosting and value-added services in the industry. C I Host is accredited by ICANN to register domain names. C I Host operates multiple data centers across the United States, with its main facility and Network Operations Center in Bedford, Texas.
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From the Where and how you choose web-hosting? weblog

Google’s Behavioral Ads Are Just The Start

Google’s latest privacy flap emerged this week when it announced its “interest-based” ads, which are behaviorally targeted banner ads based on a user’s web-browsing activity. It’s nothing particularly new or ground-breaking, and the company was kind enough to give people a way to opt out, but the way the company presented the new system to users was a little odd. It titled its blog post announcing the new system “Making ads more interesting,” and it later said, “We believe there is real value to seeing ads about the things that interest you.” But are better-targeted ads really something that delivers any benefit to users? The benefit to advertisers and marketers is obvious, but it’s hard to see users really caring enough to forfeit some privacy just so they can help out advertisers.

But web browsing is just the tip of the iceberg: lots of marketers are looking at how to take information generated by mobile phones to hit users with targeted ads. They’re not talking about the worn-out Starbucks example of hitting people’s phones with a coupon when they walk past a store, but building profiles of people based on their travel patterns, favorite applications and web sites, and even gender, age and income information. Again, all of this info given up for the sake of seeing “better” or “more interesting” advertising. That really doesn’t benefit the user, so why should they give up — or be forced to give up — all of this information?
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From the Advertising: tips, articles and advices weblog

Top attractions in Wales

Newport Citadel
If you are visiting Newport, why not go and see the Newport Castle which stands on the banks of the River Usk. It was built in the early 14th century to guardian the area and control the river. Most of the stone structure that still stands is the original structure from around 1405 when the castle was strengthened following an charge by Owain Glyndwr. The castle has three tall towers and its linear formation is dictated by the river usk and its proximity.
The hall had an active life of around 200 years but the lord of the castle was only in residence for a small amount of this. For a short period of span at the beginning of the 16th century, Henry VIII?s uncle, Jasper Tudor lived in the castle.

Newport Medieval transport
Another attraction that is on the river Usk, is the City?s famous medieval ship. The ship was discovered in the banks of the river when the Riverfront theater was being built in 2002. Once discovered, the wind-jammer was excavated by a group of archaeologists and raised from the ground, piece by piece.
Now that the timber from the ship has been recovered, an foreign team of specialists are now cleaning and recording information from all 1700 pieces of timber. This work is being funded by a present from the Heritage Lottery fund and is enabling a lot of interesting information to be gathered from the pieces, including its size and show improvement and where it has sailed to.

This project can be visited by the public thanks to the Newport City Council arranging unobstruct days.

Newport Museum
The Newport Museum and Art gallery has been documenting and collecting pieces of Newport?s sense of values, environment and history since 1888.
The history of the residents that have lived in Newport have been traced back to 250,000 years ago and embody the Romans, Vikings and Normans. The social history of the city is shown through the collection of around 20,700 objects that show distinct aspects of the residents through time. Quite a large portion of theses objects have been donated by local residents.
As well as documenting the people that have lived in Newport, the museum also looks at the experiences of the area itself with its geological story being told through rocks, minerals and fossils. The museum is great for learning some of the telling behind the city of Newport and ideal for school parties to come and visit.

These attractions are great for residents of Newport, visitors or people who are looking to lease property in Newport.

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From the UK Real Estate weblog

Tips to Weather the Current Economic Downturn in Asia

Take our heads out of the sands and disclose that times are harsh. People especially in Malaysia are also feeling the heat of current economic recession. There are innumerable people who are less fake by a weak economy and among them are people who work at freelance markets. Working as a freelancer will not make you rich over gloaming, but will improve your financial situation and shrinkage of wallets.
Right now is actually the just right time to on working in Malaysia freelance market as it is the current trend. Here are few tips, signifying the value of freelance jobs in simultaneous economic downturn in Asia.
1) More Malaysian companies are outsourcing their jobs as an of use method to cut back their overhead expenses. Not only that but, wobbly mercantile conditions push entrepreneurs to outsource their full or part-time jobs.
2) Starting to online freelance jobs is not as knotty as people imagine.
At the outset, you should congregate the correct information. Evidently, your main tool is going to be your PC as you will be working online. Additionally, you have to have a grave speed Internet connection. This high speed internet access is going to be very useful in order to protect time and to work more proficiently.
3) There are many financial benefits working as a freelancer. You are sitting in the comforts of your rest-home and saving on gas and tax benefits. Yes, working in freelance market place won’t get you closer to wealth but will minimize the effects of Known economical shrinkage.

4) Smart people, wealthy people, people who are seldom affected by a frail restraint look for opportunities that will produce a recurring, long term income, while they sleep, while they are on vacation even when they retire. And freelance markets have all these features. However, these types of freelance jobs do not set up themselves overnight. They take some initial endeavor to set up feedbacks from your clients.
5) If writing is a skill of yours there are many freelance websites that’ll pay you for your articles. The monetary situation for many Malaysian is getting bleak. But you can turn around this if you’re working as a freelancer. As you are making money and are saving fortune as well on transportation and taxes, your financial situation will significantly perk up.
The bottom line is, online freelance jobs are a new trend and the number of opportunities is on the rise relentlessly. Freelance jobs are one of the best ways to earn phlegmatic income in this economic down turn in Asia. You can discover numerous different online freelance jobs at one’s fingertips, including graphic design, SEO jobs, translation jobs, content writing and copyrighting jobs, website conception and data entry jobs. There are growingly and the freelance market is awash with new work opportunities.

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From the Finance articles and news weblog