Charm of Holland

Hop right into all the action in the world-famous South Beach in Miami.  This amazing two-day adventure lets you explore all the great things South Florida has to offer.  Visit the renowned Everglades and get up close and personal with our friendly reptile, the alligator! Enjoy a thrilling airboat ride, and then watch and learn as our expert reptile handlers teach you all about these amazing creatures. For the brave, photo opportunities are always available. Miami is a place like no other.  Your first taste of the beautiful city will start with a visit to the Bayside Shopping Complex. Situated on the Biscayne Bay, this complex offers specialty boutiques, name brand stores, restaurants on the water, and spectacular views. Your accommodations are provided right in the heart of the Art Deco District in South Beach. Just seconds away from restaurants, shops, museums, night clubs, and the beach, you will always have something to do. Day two you go for a morning swim with the dolphins!  Day 1    • World-famous South Beach, Miami, sightseeing and shopping   • Airboat through the Everglades and meet a live alligator   • Stay in the Art Deco district      Day 2   • Stay in Miami  Or  • Swim with dolphins! Remember that dolphin interaction is guaranteed! • Short stint in Miami to top off that golden Florida tan before returning to Orlando.   Hotel rooms: One room with one King bed will be allocated to groups of two or less unless otherwise specified. One room with two double beds will be allocated to your group for every four passengers. Two rooms with a total of four double beds will be allocated for groups up to eight.  Should the above bedding arrangements not suit your parties’ demographics, you may request additional rooms (at an extra charge). These cannot be guaranteed UNLESS reserved at the time of making this reservation.  A valid photo id and credit card will be required at check-in at your hotel for incidental charges.    Upgrade your trip to include a Dolphin Swim in Key Largo.  Optional Dolphin Swim Program-This is your once in a lifetime opportunity for a dolphin swim in the beautiful Florida Keys.  During your swim, you can expect foot pushes, dorsal tows, water fights, kisses and handshakes as well as a number of other amazing behaviors.  Learn all about the dolphins and what to expect during your 45 minute orientation.   Swimmers must be at least 7 years old to participate. Participants should be comfortable in water that is 12 - 15 feet deep. A participating parent or guardian, age 18 or older must accompany swimmers age 7 to 9 years. Swimmers age 10 to 17 must be accompanied at the facility by a participating or observing parent or guardian age 18 or older, but can enter the water independently. No pregnant swimmers allowed.   Persons with disabilities can be accommodated but are required to fill in an eligibility form for review by our facility prior to booking being confirmed.   Participants must understand English or bring someone that can translate in order to take part in the swim program. We require a minimum of 72 hour(s) in advance to book this activity online. PERSONAL ITEMS: Camera (underwater not allowed), film, suntan lotion, insect repellent. Earplugs will be provided for airboat ride. Money needed for food/drinks and souvenirs. Swimwear/towels and an overnight bag.     **Notice to Single Travelers: mandatory supplemental charge of $95 built in to the room rate

Enjoy a journey through the underwater world! 5.000 dazzling creatures in 37 lifelike fresh and saltwater pools. Which creatures are your favourites? Here at AquaDom & SEA LIFE Berlin you can make up your mind and see them all - from the curious and the rescued to the rare and the enigmatic. One of the highlights is the themed exhibition 2018: “World of Claws”. It shows crustaceans from close proximity and in full action. And you’ll be able to get closer to them than ever before. Many of our creatures are on the endangered list, have been rescued and cannot be released into the wild or have been born and bred as part of our SEA LIFE conservation projects. At the end of your visit, you will see another highlight: the ride in a glass elevator through the AquaDom – the world’s largest, freestanding, cylindrical aquarium with 1 million litres of saltwater. Please note, that children under 15 years must be accompanied by an adult.

Flagship's harbor cruises are the most beautiful, comfortable, educational way to enjoy the best of San Diego. Take in the sights, sounds and stories of the bay on a relaxing cruise. Enjoy a unique perspective on San Diego that you can only get from the water. Your professional local guide will share entertaining facts and history that helped to shape our city’s distinctive waterfront. Our luxury ships feature three levels with comfortable indoor and outdoor seating, 360-degree views, and an onboard snack bar serving snacks, soda, beer, wine and cocktails. Our North Harbor and South Harbor tours explore unique scenic waterfront architecture, landmarks, sea life and spectacular photo opportunities. For the best value, choose the 2-hour combined tour and see it all! Now with free WiFi onboard.

You'll be treated like royalty from the moment you receive a welcome drink on boarding the Aphrodite. Then lie back and enjoy the breathtaking scenery as you feel the gentle swell of the sea. You'll see hidden treasures of the southwestern coast unfold before your eyes, water cascading down rugged cliffs, dark mysterious caves and the secluded Gui-Gui beach where we will drop anchor so you can go for a swim in the clear blue waters. This is one of the most exciting and beautiful places for you to spend some time at.Then enjoy a sumptuous buffet lunch with unlimited drinks before returning to port where your bus will be waiting to take you back to your resort. Please give details of your hotel or apartment when you make your booking so that we can arrange transport for you. Your on board menu includes: Cheese from the Canary Islands, Nuts, Tomato, onion and tuna salad. Tropical salad. Entrecote steak and grilled chicken. Canarian potatoes with mojo picon sauce and drinks of wine, beer, soft drinks and mineral water. A meal fit for a king on this very regal vessel - Aphrodite. Languages: Spanish, English and German.

Adventure Cat: For an hour and half, you'll be treated to fantastic views of Alcatraz Island, the city skyline, the Golden Gate bridge and the Pacific Ocean. Recorded audio tour handsets are available for free upon request, 8 languages available (English, French, German, Spanish, Portrgese, Chinese, Italian, and Korean) Things to Remember:
Bar and snacks available onboard, accepting cash and credit cards.
Arrive 30 minutes early to find parking and to locate us on Pier 39, Gate J, next to the sea lions.
Bring a jacket and wear soft-soled shoes.
No outside beverages may be brought on board.
Cancellations must be made 3 days before day of Cruise
California Academy of Sciences: One general admission includes access to all museum and aquarium exhibits, including the rainforest, planetarium, and living roof. Admission to this popular Bay Area attraction includes a wide range of daily programmes and activities, including dive shows, penguin feedings, swamp talks and more. It's fun for the whole family! The Academy is a single structure but contains multiple venues, including the aquarium, the planetarium, the natural history museum and the 4-story rainforest. In addition, there's a 3D theater, a lecture hall, a Naturalist Center, two restaurants, an adjacent garden and aviary, a roof terrace, and an Academy store. The building also houses the Academy science labs and administrative offices, including an extensive library and scientific archive consisting of more than 26 million specimens. The Academy is now the largest public Platinum-rated building in the world, and also the world’s greenest museum. The Academy earned the platinum rating (highest rating possible) for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). This commitment to sustainability extends to all facets of the facility - from the bike racks and rechargeable vehicle stations outside the building to the radiant sub-floor heating inside the building to the energy-generating solar panels on top of the building!

Shearwater is a classic Newport-style schooner yacht, only recently recognized as a national landmark in 2009.  The vessel was built by Rice Brother Corporation in East Boothbay, Maine, back in a time when yachting was a rare combination of elegance and adventure; Rice Bros. were well known for building luxury pleasure yachts and produced some 4,000 hulls over a period of 64 years. The keel was laid down on January 4, 1929 and a news clip from the Boothbay Register reflects alongside a photograph "Tyler Hodgon at the old Tide Mill is getting out timbers for the schooner to be built at Rice’s. Vessel to be built of native white oak." Traditionally built from hand-hewn native white oak, she was the last boat to be constructed at that yard - likely due to the ensuing Great Depression brought on by the Stock Market Crash that occurred later that autumn.  East Boothbay was a small coastal town with shipbuilding being its only industry. About 40 workmen were employed for the construction of SHEARWATER. Her designer Theodore Donald Wells was born in Hudson Falls, N Y on October 22, 1875. He was a naval architect and marine engineer, a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and also the Institute of Naval Architects London. His education included post-graduate work at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He began his career as a member of the firm Herreshoff and Wells, N. Y. City in 1902. Working with Herreshoff no doubt had an influence on his designs, which bear similarities to many of the famous Herreshoff designed yachts of that time. From 1903 to 1907 he worked for Wintringham and Wells and then began practicing his profession under his own name. Mr. Wells joined the Navy Department in March 1917 and became Superintending Constructor of the Baltimore District U. S. N. Notable yachts designed and constructed under his supervision are "Viking" a 272 foot steel motor yacht built for George F. Baker in 1929 by Newport News and "Karina" a three masted schooner built for Robert E. Tod in 1932 by Staten Island Shipbuilding. Mr. Tod was a well-known offshore yachtsman as was his former yacht ‘Thistle", which competed in the Emperors Cup ocean race. SHEARWATER was launched on May 4, 1929 and photographs in the Boothbay Register reflect her graceful and elegant lines. Her first Captain, Leon Esterbrook of Edgarton, MA, arrived to take charge of the fitting out. Her owner Charles E Dunlap was a member of the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, NY and this became SHEARWATER’s first homeport after her completion in late September 1929. It was there in Oyster Bay that she first started to thrill those who sailed in luxury aboard her and those who were privileged to crew her on race day. Since her launching and documentation in Lloyd’s Register of American Yachts in 1929, she has had a colorful history and has been carefully maintained and restored to standards that few contemporary vessels are able to match and is truly a piece of American Maritime History. On November 7, 1942 SHEARWATER was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and became a member of The United States Coast Guard’s Coastal Picket Patrol during World War Two. She was painted gray and bore the numbers CG67004. Based at Little Creek, Virginia she patrolled the waters east of the Chesapeake Bay entrance and south towards Cape Hatteras. Her skipper during that period reflected on how they used their free time while out on submarine patrol to race against other yachts and in his own words "sailed in tandem with the schooner Lord Jim, racing in and out of port, up and down the east coast and winning." She was designed and built as a gaff rigged schooner but during this period was changed to a Marconi rig. She carries over 2,550 square feet while under full sail. A true veteran world cruiser, she first transited the Panama Canal in July 1946 and in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s completed a two and a half-year global circumnavigation. In December 1971 Mrs. John B. Thayer of Rosemont, wife of a former trustee and treasurer, donated SHEARWATER to the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute of Environmental Medicine. She was used by the university as a laboratory for research on physiological responses to the stresses of living and working underwater. Captained by James Shearson, she was fitted with compressors, generators, monitoring instruments and a small decompression chamber. She has participated in many Ancient Mariner and Classic yacht races in U S waters as well as racing in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand while on her circumnavigation in the early 1980’s. It is rumored she was once dismasted in the famous Newport to Bermuda race. She was last raced by the current owners in San Diego in May 1995 in the American Schooner Cup and finished second overall. She entered the yacht charter industry in 1966 whilst on the West Coast sailing to the Channel Islands and was again used to generate income to keep her shipshape while owned by the University of Pennsylvania. During the chartering industry’s infancy in the Caribbean, SHEARWATER was known as the " Queen of the Fleet". Today she continues this tradition offering the most unique sailing experience and has passed rigid Coast Guard inspections and can carry up to 49 passengers. We welcome you to join us for an excellent opportunity to experience the ambiance of a vintage sailing vessel while delighting in the splendors of The Manhattan sky-line, the Statue of Liberty or the beauty of the oceans beyond.