Help ease those back to school hassles

Aug 20, 2009
Kathryn Folliott
Special to the Star

It's just about back to school time and for many families, that means packing up the rental van and shipping the kids off to college or university.

To help ease the transition – and provide a clutter and chaos-free respite from dorms on moving day – Days Inn is discounting its best available room rates by 15 per cent at locations across the country, for students and their families, for travel through Sept. 15.

Days Inn has more than 35 properties in university and college cities across Canada and all offer free high-speed Internet access.

More information can be found at www.daysinn.ca or call 1-800-DAYS-INN 1-800-DAYS-INN (329-7466), with corporate booking code 1000007451.

MICKEY AND THE MED: Mickey Mouse and the Mediterranean? It's not as strange a combination as it sounds. And when you add a Kids Sail Free deal into the mix, it all starts to make perfect sense.

After making its debut in the Caribbean in 1998, Disney Cruise Line arrived in the Med two years ago. For 2010, the schedule includes 10- and 11-night Med cruises on board Disney Magic, the 2,400 passenger, art deco-inspired sister ship to the art nouveau-style Disney Wonder.

Disney Magic's European season starts in April and for sailings April 24 to May 26, kids 17 and under sail free when travelling with two full-fare paying adults in the same stateroom.

Sailing out of Barcelona, Disney Magic's ports of call for the spring season include Malta, Tunisia, Naples (Pompeii), Civitavecchia (Rome) and La Spezia (Florence and Pisa) in Italy, Corsica and Villefranche (Monte Carlo, Cannes and Nice) in France. For details see www.disneycruise.com.
Indochina with Intrepid: Small group adventure specialist Intrepid Travel is cutting prices on trips to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos by as much as 25 per cent.

Travelling by yourself, you'll get a 10 per cent discount. With two travellers, the discount climbs to 15 per cent, then to 20 per cent for three travellers, and 25 per cent for a group of four.

You can also save by booking back-to-back trips – for example, two back-to-back itineraries qualifies for a 15 per cent discount. All bookings must be made by Aug. 21. See www.intrepidtravel.com.

Best Buy of Week: Contiki Holidays' new Europe Winter 2009-10 brochure comes with 10 per cent savings on all 2009 winter departures booked and paid by Sept. 1. There are 20 itineraries in all, including the 26-day Winter Wanderer, covering 12 countries and discounted by up to $366 per person with this promotion. See www.contiki.com.

Kathryn Folliott is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Prices quoted are subject to change and availability.