[Travelandtourism] Happy New Year from NFB Travel & Tourism President, Cheryl Echevarria

Mon Jan 7 16:57:36 UTC 2013

Happy New Year and good morning all:
The division is growing every day, and we hope with 2013 in full gear we will make it one of the better ones.
After this e-mail I will  be posting an item that was posted in the Echevarria Travel Blog this morning.  Hopefully we will have pages for blogs on the NFB Travel & Tourism Website that is under construction, I am the webmaster for that, and so it should be up and running by the end of the week. The link will be www.nfbtravel.org

Since we will be in Orlando at the National Convention, a number of the Travel & Tourism officers and myself will be checking out a number of things at Walt Disney World prior to the start of the Convention, as well as, we will be having Mr. Mark Jones, Access Manager, for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland parks at our meeting, which will be July 2 from 1-4pm, and he will also be one of our Tour Guide at the Magic Kingdom this year.  
Some other people who have mentioned they might be coming to the meeting and will give full agenda to the meeting once everything is finalized. Such people as someone hopefully from Norwegian Cruise Lines, BAB - Beautiful Accessible Barbados and others for a panel discussion. So try and make plans to attend the meeting.
Every year, we plan on going to at least one of the theme parks, since we will be in Orlando for the next 6-7 years.
If you haven't registered yet for the convention, as of January 1st, 2013 you can get all the information from the December and January Braille Monitor or go to the NFB.org website and register.
The NFB Travel & Tourism website will be up sometime by the end of the week and we will be having information as well.
Some other things going on.
I know you have seen the postings but I will be posting this again.
Our division is doing its first group trip, it is opened to everyone to join, blind or not.
Here is the information, it is during meet the blind month of October, if you are interested in going the 20% deposit is due by January 30th, if you cannot make the 20% by then please contact me and we can work out the details.
For those who are interested in going, you can contact to book either myself at 631-456-5394 or Maurice Shackelford, Vice President of the Travel & Tourism Division at 770-280-5029
We can accept checks and money orders made out to the NFB Travel & Tourism Division and mailed to our Treasurer, Milton Taylor his e-mail is milt2533 at gmail.com and his mailing address is below, we can also accept credit card payments through paypal.com, let us know and we will send you an e-mail for payment :
Milton Taylor, TreasurerNFB Travel & Tourism 654 W 1820 N,Orem, Utah 84057-2081

Here is the information:
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND TRAVEL AND TOURISM DIVISION PRESENTS:Group Trip to Las Vegas and some of the great National Parks for EveryoneFrom October 9-13, 2013Pricing and Itinerary follows
Pricing per person does not include transportation round trip to Las Vegas, NV, but can be arranged.  Also should you want to stay an extra day prior to the trip starting or after trip ends can be arranged and pricing will vary.  Also travel insurance is offered; please ask pricing upon booking your trip.
If you are totally blind and are worried about not enjoying the trip because it might be to visual for you we are working with Scenic Tours, Ron Helquist who is the owner of Scenic Tours and Jason Murray, who is the manager, will make it happen.  We want everyone to enjoy the trip using all of your senses.
Pricing includes: Tour bus, tour guide, hotels, all meals, entrance fees to the parks, taxes and fees, only thing not included is the tip to the tour guide upon end of the trip.
Payment structure: 20% of trip due at booking, full deposit due 8/1/2013, and final payment due 9/1/2013. But we are offering once 20% of trip has been paid, payment plans can be arranged.
Single Occupancy - $860 p.p.   - $172 per person due at bookingDouble Occupancy - $721 p.p.  - $145 per person due at bookingTriple Occupancy - $625 p.p.    - $120 per person due at booking

Itinerary:Day 1: Las Vegas, NV - Fly into Las Vegas, NV. You will be met at the airport and shuttled to your hotel in downtown Las Vegas. You will have the evening to explore Las Vegas and catch some sleep before our big trip. Lodging at Bally’s Resort Dinner Included
Day 2: Day 2 ThursdayGrand Canyon National Park & Page, AZ - After an early breakfast, we will depart at 7am to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. We will cross over the new bridge in front of Hoover Dam, the largest dam in the United States. We will meet famous Route 66 in Kingman, AZ. After a short break, we will continue down Route 66 until Williams, AZ. From there we will enter into the National Park.
We will make 3 stops along the rim and view this natural wonder of the world. We will also enjoy lunch inside the park before we move on. After leaving the park we will enter the Navajo Indian Reservation. We will traverse the reservation to Page, AZ. We will lodge for the night in Page. Our lodging for the evening will be at Quality Inn, Page AZ.
Lodging at Quality Inn Breakfast & Dinner Included (snacks and water is supplied)
Day 3 Friday - Zion National Park & Bryce Canyon National Park.  Today we will depart Page for Zion National Park. Once we arrive at the park, we will enjoy lunch at the Zion Canyon Lodge. Once we are finished with lunch, we will enjoy seeing the not only Zion Canyon and the beautiful oasis within the canyon, but we will also see the east bench of Zion. It is a unique area that offers a different view of the sandstone cliffs that make up Zion National Park. Once we have enjoyed Zion National Park, we will depart the park and go to Bryce Canyon National Park. In Bryce Canyon, we will visit Fairyland, Sunset, and Bryce Points. Afterward we will check into our hotel at Ruby’s Inn for the evening. Lodging at Ruby’s Inn, UT Breakfast & Dinner Included.
Day 4 Saturday - After a delicious breakfast, we will depart Bryce Canyon and travel down one of the most beautiful highways in America, Highway 12. This road provides you with the beauties of the sandstone canyons and the wonders of 9,500 ft mountain vistas. We will then travel to Capital Reef National Park. In the park we will some petroglyphs, the old school house, and the capitol dome. Once we have finished enjoying Capital Reef, and had a delicious boxed lunch, we will depart for our return journey to Las Vegas. We will travel through the beautiful Aquarius Plateau and then get back to the I-15 corridor. We will stop in St George, UT for a final dinner and a pleasant walk in town. After dinner, we will travel to Las Vegas, NV where we will spend the night. Lodging at Las Vegas, NV Breakfast & Dinner Included
Day 5 Sunday - Breakfast and returning to the airport
Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY State
Leading the Way in Independent Travel!SNG Certified - Accessible Travel Advocate!Cheryl Echevarria, Ownerhttp://www.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations@echevarriatravel.comhttp://www.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com2012 Norwegian Cruise Line University Advisory Board Member.
Affiliated as an independent contractor with Montrose TravelCST - #1018299-10Echevarria Travel and proud member of the National Federation of the Blind will be holding a year round fundraiser for the http://www.NFBNY.org after Hurricane Sandy and other resources. Any vacation package booked between November 6 2012-November 6, 2013 and vacation must be traveled no later than 12/30/2014 a percentage of my earnings will go to the affiliate.  Also is you book a Sandals for couples or Beaches for families and friends resorts vacation, $100.00 per booking will go to the affiliate as well.  You do not need to be a member of the NFB.org, just book through us.