What are your favorite Travel Safety Tips?

OK everybody out there in Facebook Land. I am running a little discussion survey on 2 of our company's Facebook pages. Would you like to win 4 FREE nights on the ocean in Miami Beach???? Are you on Facebook????????

If so, I need your help in collecting great Travel Safety Tips. We all love to travel when we can and we all want to be safe. Please take a few minutes to share some of your safety tips with me so that I can share then with others. Here is the scoop below:

Facebook Friends, would you like to win 4 complimentary nights at an oceanfront Miami Beach hotel simply by sharing your favorite travel safety tips? If so use your Facebook search box to find either the Charles Group Hotels "Group" or the Charles Group Hotels "local business" page. Click "Like " and participate in the discussion. We appreciate this info and feel free to share!

I want to give away 4 nights!!! Make me pay up folks!

Spa Month in Miami Beach

EVERYONE LOVES TO BE PAMPERED, DON'T YOU?

Miami Beach Spa Month will run from July 1 - August 31, 2010 and now is the time to to get

some fabulous Spa discounts just when you probably need it the most.

Greater Miami and the Beaches is renowned for luxury spas that are ranked among the "Best Spas in America," and are the favorites of spa connoisseurs throughout the world.

Celebrate with Miami Beach during July and August as we feature the third annual Miami Spa Month where you can enjoy special treatments for $99 at Miami's premier spas. Listed below are participating spas.

• Agua, Delano
• Agua, Mondrian South Beach
• Bliss Spa, W South Beach
• Canyon Ranch Miami Beach Wellness Spa, Canyon Ranch Miami Beach
• Elemis Spa, Loews Miami Beach Hotel
• Lapis Spa, Fontainebleau Miami Beach
• The Palms Spa, The Palms Hotel &Spa
• The Ritz-Carlton Spa, South Beach 
• Spa 101, Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach
• TheSpaAtDavidBartonGym, Gansevoort Miami Beach
• Spa at The Setai 
• Spa at The Shore Club
• Spa Suites at Eden Roc, Eden Roc A Renaissance Beach Resort 
• Spa V, Hotel Victor 
• The Standard Spa, Miami Beach
•  Uhma Organic Spa

For more information go to http://www.miamispamonth.com/

Want to be pampered while in Miami Beach but can't afford to stay at some of these wonderful high end hotels? Then check out http://www.cgh305.com/  for some affordable oceanfront hotel alternatives that will fit all budgets!

After a day of pampering, why not challenge yourself to a game of golf. Greater Miami has plenty to brag about when it comes to golf courses. We feature some of the most difficult courses in the world located in luxurious resorts, and some courses have been rated in the top 10 courses by Golfweek. Play Miami Golf.

For comprehensive information including attractions, events, clubs, accommodations and much more, visit the Greater Miami Convention & Bureau's website at www.MiamiandBeaches.com.

Miami Spice August 1 to September 30, 2010 YUMMMM!

Miami Spice will run from August 1- September 30, 2010 with even more rave reviews!

Miami Spice 2010 is a mouth-watering summer restaurant promotion showcasing the very best of Miami cuisine.

During August and September, Miami’s top restaurants offer three-course meals (Lunch $22, Dinner $35)* featuring signature dishes created by world-renowned chefs. Discover the tropical fusion of ingredients that makes Miami dining so wonderfully out of the ordinary. An epicure’s paradise awaits you in Greater Miami and the Beaches!

Miami Dining


With Miami dining, you will find enticing flavors, exotic ingredients and mouth watering selections. Alfresco or indoors, casual or extravagant, International or Caribbean, New World or Floribbean — an epicure’s paradise awaits you in Greater Miami and Miami Beach.

Miami's dining scene is truly exciting, one of varying tastes that can satisfy the most complete palate or craving. With so many different cultures migrating to Miami, local flavors tend to be much more exotic. The influence of flavors and culture here is almost overwhelming and has many positive effects on menu and recipe design.

Whenever you visit Greater Miami or Miami Beach, you're in for a delectable time when it comes to dining because no matter what you're craving, chances are it's being served somewhere in our world-class destination.


**Check out events at a list of countless restaurants presenting the most delectable cuisine.


Miami Beach/South Beach


660 at The Angler's (D)


A Fish Called Avalon (D)


Ago Restaurant (L,D)


Asia De Cuba at Mondrian (L,D)


Baires Grill Resto (L,D)


B.E.D. (D)


Bistro One LR (D)


BLT Steak at The Betsy (L,D)


Blue Door at Delano (L,D)


Bond Street Lounge (D)


Cavalier Crab Shack (L,D)


China Grill South Beach (L,D)


D. Rodriguez Cuba (D)


DeVito South Beach (D)


Emeril's Miami Beach (L,D)


Essensia Restaurant & Lounge (L,D)


Fogo de Chao Churrascaria (D)


The Forge Restaurant & Wine Bar (D)


Gotham Steak at Fontainebleau Miami Beach (D)


Hakkasan at Fontainebleau Miami Beach (L,D)


Kaspia (L,D)


Kung Fu Kitchen & Sushi (D)


La Marea (L,D)


Lido Restaurant at The Standard (D)


Meat Market (D)


Morton's The Steakhouse Miami Beach (D)


Mr. Chow Miami (D)


OLA Restaurant (D)


Pelican Cafe (L,D)


Philippe Chow (D)


Quattro Gastronomia Italiana (L,D)


Quinn's South Beach (D)


The Raleigh Restaurant (L,D)


Red, The Steakhouse (D)


The Restaurant at The Setai (D)


Sardinia Enoteca Ristorante (L,D)


Scarpetta at Fontainebleau Miami Beach (D)


Shula's Steak House—Miami Beach (D)


Smith & Wollensky (D)


Solea (L,D)


STK (D)


Sushi SoBe (D)


SUSHISAMBA dromo (D)


Tamara at National Hotel (L,D)


Tantra Restaurant & Lounge (D)


Texas de Brazil—Miami Beach (D)


Vida at Fontainebleau Miami Beach (D)


Vita Restaurant & Lounge (D)


Wish (D)


Yuca (L,D)

For comprehensive information including attractions, events, clubs, accommodations and much more visit the Greater Miami Convention & Bureau's online Miami tourism guide at www.MiamiandBeaches.com.

*Advanced Reservations for Miami Spice when you use any American Express® Card! Advanced Reservations for Miami Spice available between July 19 - August 1 when you use any American Express® Card by contacting the participating restaurants directly. Table reservations subject to availability.

Miami Spice is organized by the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau

More on the NCL EPIC

Much of this posting comes from Travel Weekly's newsletter about the EPIC.

NEW YORK — Country star Reba McEntire on Friday named the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic, the largest Norwegian Cruise Line ship ever built and the line' first new vessel since 2007.

Comedian and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Jeff Garlin served as host of the ceremony, which included remarks from NCL CEO Kevin Sheehan and Apollo Management partner Steve Martinez.

The real star of the show was the Epic’s entertainment lineup. Its six main shows — Blue Man Group, Cirque Dreams and Dinner, Legends in Concert tribute show, the Second City comedy troupe and the Howl at the Moon dueling piano show — all were playing on different parts of the ship and beamed live into the Epic Theater. Even the Nickelodeon characters got to show their act. "There is one place on Earth where you can find all of this great entertainment, and it’s on the Epic,” said Sheehan, speaking at the first ship naming during his tenure at NCL.

Martinez said that all ships in the NCL fleet are special, but pointed to the many years and thousands of man-hours that went into delivering the Epic.

NCL has focused on the Epic’s entertainment lineup, calling it the hallmark of its new ship. Garlin tipped his hat to those offerings when he said, "I feel like I’m in Vegas."

The Epic embarks Friday night on a two-day cruise. It returns to New York on July 4 to be the host venue for NBC’s broadcast of Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks show.

I am getting ready to go out on the EPIC's actual Inaugural cruise on Thursday, July 8. What a treat! Thanks NCL for the invitation!