Stephanie Serino's Travel Blog

One of the highlights of my trip to the Mayan Riviera of Mexico was the excursion to the Tulum ruins . We opted for Amstar ’s “Tulum Express” tour, a small-group tour with a maximum of 12 passengers. It cost around $60 per person, which included all transportation and entrance fees. Secrets Silversands is near Puerto Morelos, about 15 minutes drive from the Cancun Airport, so it was about an hour to Tulum (a little more due to construction). The van picked us up at the resort at 8:00 am, and we returned at 1:00 pm. There were only seven of us in the group. The road is very good but not particularly scenic. There is still a lot of development and construction going on in this area. The parking lot is a distance from the ruins, with a mediocre craft market. A trolley takes you to the ruins for a small fee (included in the tour) or you could walk. Tickets are required to enter the ruins, and there is an additional fee for video cameras (digital cameras and cell phones with video capab...

Here is the view from our Junior Suite at Secrets Silversands on the Mayan Riviera. This morning we're going to explore the ruins of Tulum. Flights from Ithaca on US Airways went pretty well, and the resort is just 15 minutes from the Cancun Airport. The room is very nice, complete with jacuzzi tub and marble shower. Meals have been good, especially the chicken mole. Gotta make time for the spa. I will report in detail soon!

The CityCenter development in Las Vegas is HUGE. They say you'll either love it or hate it but I still can't decide. CityCenter is very grey and the contemporary architecture is very different from the rest of the Strip, but it is sexy. The public art like this eraser by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen (I hope) and Henry Moore's 'Mother and Child" are nice additions. Right between Bellagio and Monte Carlo on the Strip, the location is excellent. Hoards were pouring into Crystals , the mega-mall (correction: "Retail & Entertainment District"). The Mandarin Oriental was having a grand opening celebration which prevented me from snooping. Pedestrians are justifiably outraged by the design, which forces them to walk the equivalent of three city blocks (complete with huge flight of stairs) to keep their driveway free of human obstructions. Perhaps when construction is completed, they'll implement a better solution. I admit to loving the mo...

They have definitely decked the halls Vegas-style at MGM Grand in Las Vegas! The conference was great, I learned a lot. A highlight was the 'Speed Dating' sessions where I met with over 75 representatives from hotels, cruise lines and tour operators in a single afternoon! It was also nice to meet my new colleagues from FROSCH . With 45 locations in 12 states, this huge company still feels like a family business. After the New Year, we will complete the transition by changing logos and email addresses (I'll keep you posted).

Tomorrow, I’m heading to Las Vegas for a conference and will be out of the office Thursday, Dec. 3, and Friday, Dec 4 . I will be checking voicemails and emails periodically, and can book travel, but my response time will be slower than usual. The conference schedule is intense but I do plan to check out the new CityCenter , which opened this week. The following weekend, I am escaping to the Mayan Riviera for some fun and sun. I will be out of the office Monday, Dec. 14, and Tuesday, Dec. 15 . I haven’t been to this region since Hurricane Wilma, and plan to tour the ruins of Tulum this time. For the holidays, the office will be closed Dec. 24–25 and Dec. 31–Jan. 1 . If you have a travel emergency, please call the 24/7 Linden Travel Hotline so one of my colleagues can assist you. The number is at the top of your flight itinerary. There is still holiday space available and great deals for winter travel, although the prices are starting to increase. Please let me know if I can...