Florida Sweepstakes 2012

Welcome!

I'm back, have been on hiatus for a while. I found a little extra time today to put on my blogger hat.


Hope everyone had a relaxing and reflective holiday weekend, remembering the real heroes who sacrificed so much for our freedom in the U.S.A. (Thank YOU Soldiers.)

In this blog post I will guide you to current Sweepstakes; bringing you closer to winning great vacations throughout Florida! Linking you to each sweepstakes entry page. 

Enter now, you have to be in-it to win-it! :)

Ready, Set, ENTER!...

Win a fabulous getaway to sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida!
ONE Entry per person. Expires: August 8, 2012

Package includes:

* Three nights' accommodations at B Ocean Fort Lauderdale, where each room overlooks the Atlantic Ocean
* Round-trip air transportation for four, courtesy of Southwest Airlines
* Two $99 gift certificates to Planet Massage
* One $150 gift certificate to SAIA restaurant
* VIP cards for four, good for free admission to many area attractions
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Arbys - Universal Orlando Resort Sweepstakes 

ONE Entry per email/household. Expires: June 12, 2012

Package includes:
four (4) day, three (3) night trip for Winner and up to three (3) guests to Universal Orlando® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Plus Air/Hotel. Total value ($4,157.71)  
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WomansDay.com  - Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa in Orlando

ONE Entry per person, per day. Expires: July 6, 2012

four (4) day, three (3) night stay for four at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa in Florida! One lucky winner will receive a four-day, three-night stay for four at the Lake Buena Vista Re-sort Village & Spa in Orlando, FL.

Package includes:
accommodations in a two bed-room suite; one (1) $100 resort credit; two (2) spa treatments at Reflections Spa & Salon; and one (1) dinner for a family of four (4) at Flat Rocks Restaurant. (Transportation not provided.)  
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FloridaTravelLife.Com - Hilton Orlando, Bonnet Creek Summer Blast!
ONE Entry per email/household. Expires: July 31, 2012


Package includes:
3-night family getaway to Orlando - including free breakfast for two adults daily (a $1,050 value) - during SummerBlast! at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, located inside the gates of Walt Disney World® Resort. 

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MagicHat.Net - Jam Cruise 11 Sweepstakes
ONE Entry per person/email. Expires: July 31, 2012_________________


Package includes:
round trip transportation (see * "Conditions") for four (4) persons from Winner's residence to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and accommodations for four (4) persons aboard Jam Cruise 11 (based on one quad cabin, 4 persons). Jam Cruise 11 is tentatively scheduled during January, 2013. The Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of the Prize is $6,820  

* "Conditions" - Air or Ground transportation will be provided to the Winner depending on the distance of Winner's residence to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

That's all for now. I will be adding more sweepstakes within the next week, please check back soon for more sweepstakes to enter!

Good Luck! :)

~ Lisa
Tampa Travel and beyond®...
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NOTE: Tampa Travel and beyond®... has no affiliation with the above mentioned companies and/or their sweepstakes. This blog-post is informational only; we claim no responsibilty for the *sweepstakes rules and regulations.

* For detailed sweepstakes rules and regs, please refer to each sweepstakes entry page to learn more. Some trips may NOT include transportation; this is rare, but may be an important factor for some folks. :) 

New Airline, Soaring Gas Prices, and Spring Break...

Vision Airlines,
the nation's newest big jet, low-cost carrier with flights to five Florida vacation destinations from 15 southern U.S. cities and Niagara Falls, NY, starts airing 30-second commercial spots on selected television channels in its focus markets this Monday.

Americans are grappling with soaring gasoline prices; weighing the costs of driving versus flying to Florida for their spring break vacations.

Vision Airlines flights start-taking off on March 25, 2011; just in-time for the busy spring break travel season. Per the Airlines website; depending on the market, one-way fares to Florida start at $79 and $89 one-way on Vision Airlines."Faced with ever increasing gasoline prices, flying rather driving to Florida is quickly becoming more economical." says spokesman Bryan Glazer.

According to recent reports on ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC; in some parts of the U.S., gasoline could cost as much as $5 per gallon by the end of the year or even as soon as this summer.

"When people start doing the drive or fly calculations they will quickly realize boarding a Vision Airlines Florida flight is a better value than packing up the car and heading down the highway," says Meers.

"In the coming weeks, Vision Airlines will unveil several vacation packages to Florida's Emerald Coast, Central Florida and Tampa Bay," says Clay Meek, the company's sales and marketing director. "When people do the math they'll see the numbers add-up – flying our airline and staying at our member resorts and hotels is the smart choice."

In concert with the debut of the TV spots, Vision Airlines will also announce several promotions, including vacation giveaways on various local morning TV newscasts and radio programs in each of the carrier's departure cities, according to Glazer.

"It is important for our passengers to know that Vision Airlines is not just taking them to Florida but we're bringing jobs and creating business opportunities in the cities where they live."


Vision Airlines Cities

Asheville, NC - Atlanta, GA - Baton Rouge, LA - Birmingham, AL - Chattanooga, TN


Columbia, SC - Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, FL - Ft. Lauderdale, FL


Greenville/Spartanburg, SC - Gulfport/Biloxi, MS - Houston, TX - Huntsville, AL


Knoxville, TN - Little Rock, AR - Louisville, KY - Macon, GA - Miami, FL


Niagara Falls/Buffalo, NY/Toronto, Canada - Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers, FL


Sanford/Orlando, FL - Savannah, GA - Shreveport, LA


St. Petersburg/Clearwater/Tampa, FL

http://www.visionairlines.com/index.html

Keeping up with the latest in Cruise News? New info released January 2011

Royal Caribbean to increase its recommended tip amounts:

Beginning July 1, 2011, Royal Caribbean passengers will have to spend a little more to show their gratitude to crew members.

RCI has increased the amount of the gratuity that it recommends passengers give staff on their ships, from $9.75 to $11.65 a day. In a statement, Royal Caribbean said that this is the first increase in 13 years and that it puts the company in line with other cruise lines increases.

The new guidelines recommend that passengers give the waiter $3.75 per day, the assistant waiter $2.15 and the head waiter 75 cents. It also suggests giving the housekeeping staff $5 daily. For guests staying in suites, the recommended tip for housekeeping staff is $7.25.

The cruise line pointed out that the gratuities are voluntary, though a 15 percent gratuity will automatically be added to bar bills and wine checks.

Information via Royal Caribbean’s gratuity guidelines and The Washington Post

Gifts of Princess toys and beautiful dresses danced in their heads...

Just in the nick of time for your online Christmas shopping! ~ "Princess Time Toys and Pets" carries the finest toys, dress-ups, costumes and more for your prince or princess. Wonderful, quality dress-up costumes that will enrich your children's fantasy play and spark their imagination.

QUALITY Dress-up Costumes meant for play too! Featuring Licensed Disney and Little Adventures products. The dresses are well constructed and made of comfortable materials with rolled seams for durability and stretchy materials in the bodice for the ultimate amount of wearability. They wash well and are adorable. Costumes are traditionally made of inexpensive materials and the seams and hems are serged rather than finished. The costumes are dry clean only or hand wash only in most cases and cannot be ironed because of the fabric they're constructed of. A quality line of dress-ups is the Little Adventures brand. All of there costumes are "mom-designed with kids in mind." There are two lines in the Little Adventures dress-up trunk – traditional and deluxe. Traditional are basic dresses, while the deluxe dresses have more layers of fabric and trims. Both sets have adorable accessories to complete them like cone hats, crowns, cloaks, fullness slips, gloves, and more. Choose from Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Fairies, and more. There are matching adult versions as well as American Girl Doll and bear versions. Little Adventures dress-ups are available at Princess Time Toys. Enough to fill an entire dress-up trunk! Princess Time Toys Shop now for prince and princess themed toys, dress-ups, furniture and more. Costumes for ages 12m to adult. Featuring Disney and Little Adventures products.

Cruise News - Tampa, FL

Norwegian Cruise Line

Tampa, Florida –

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), will base their liner the Norwegian Star in Tampa, Florida -- a first for this cruise line.

Norwegian says the 2,240-passenger Star will sail seven-day Western Caribbean voyages out of Tampa on a seasonal basis starting on Oct. 16, 2011 through April 8, 2012.

The Star will edge out the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend as the largest cruise ship sailing out of Tampa.

Norwegian's new Tampa-based voyages will begin on Sundays and include stops in Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; along with two days at sea.

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NCL at other Florida Ports:

Port Canaveral -

Norwegian also announced the Norwegian Sun will return to Port Canaveral for the winter of 2011/2012, offering alternating seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises.

Miami -

Norwegian says it will position three ships in Miami for the winter of 2011/2012: The Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Dawn.

The Norwegian Epic will sail alternating seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises out of Miami. Norwegian Pearl will sail seven-day Western Caribbean cruises to Great Stirrup Cay; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; and Cozumel. The Norwegian Dawn will operate 10- and 11-day Southern Caribbean voyages.

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http://www2.ncl.com/