Cheapcaribbean.com has rounded up some deals at a variety of new and/or renovated resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Pricing starts at $399 / person, based on double occupancy, and include airfare; some resorts are all-inclusive while others are not. Some of the deals offered include resort credits, and many offer an additional $100 off the price of these trips if booked within a certain time period – definitely worth clicking around.

Check out the deals here.

While on fall break Wade and Katie Linder have fun “monkeying” around during a family cruise that included stops in the ports of Cozumel and Calica. Wade and Katie had fun holding the monkeys, but not removing the sunflower seed shells from the hair and body afterwards!

Pam and Steve McNatt of Nesbit, Miss., travelled to Niagara Falls, Canada to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary.  This picture is taken from Canada with the American Falls in the backgroud.  They enjoyed the falls immensely including a ride on the historic Maid of the Mist and enjoyed visiting the various parks and histroic sites in the Niagara Falls area.

Tina Birchett (left), Mary Taylor, Virginia Allen and Norma Lester are pictured on the Island of Mykonos during a recent trip to Greece to trace Apostle Paul’s footsteps. The trip was spearheaded by Pastor Keith Norman of First Baptist Church Broad. Although the decreased value of the American dollar hampered shopping activities, the trip, including travel by land and sea to Athens, Delphi, Meteora, Kalambaka, Thessaloniki, the Islands of Patmos, Rhodes and Mykonos and a brief stop in Turkey was said to be a wonderful spiritual experience by all.

Lily Kate Anthony (right), 13,  and her mother, Lauren, of Memphis were captured at the Leprechaun crossing at Ladies’ View overlooking the Lakes of Killarney. They were visitng Ireland with Lily’s grandparents, Courtney and Kathleen Anthony in September.

Dominic and Kamryn “KK” Keilty, of Lakeland traveled with their parents on an educational tour this fall break.  Their vacation included all the sights of Chicago, staying at DePaul University, Notre Dame to visit a cousin, Detroit and Niagara Falls, Canada.  Dominic and KK are pictured embarking on the Maid of the Mist heading into the Falls.

After taking the Carnival’s Freedom cruise to eight Mediterranean cities, including the Walled City of Dubrovnik, Croatia where they are pictured, Collierville residents Dennis and Betty Wallin spent another eight days in Rome,  their favorite vacation spot.

John and Carolyn Malish of Germantown celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to the outer banks of North Carolina. They visited Ocracoke Island, Rodanthe (where the movie “Nights in Rodanthe” was filmed), Nags Head, Cape Hatteras and Kitty Hawk with the Wright Memorial in the background. Carolyn is director of Music at Church of the Holy Spirit and John is recently retired from Northwest Airlines.

Denice Pian (from left), Gisele Goldstein and Barbara Evangelisti spent 11 days in Italy from Sept. 19-30. Goldstein, a mathematics professor at the University of Memphis, was a guest lecturer at a conference in Cortona Tuscany. Sisters Pian and Evangelisti tagged along. Their first stop was Rome for a tour of the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of St. Peter where they took the Scavi Tour through the excavations down under the Basilica of St. Peter’s tomb. While Goldstein was lecturing, the sisters toured and shopped in Cortona, Florence and Assisi. The group spent their last four nights in Venice where they made a day trip to Padua to see the Basilica of St. Anthony and the Scrovegni Chapel. They also shopped and dined in Venice. They are pictured on the plaza in front of the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice.

During a two-week vacation, Larry and Peggy Barton of Southaven (from left) and Marilyn and Howard Barton visited Virginia, Washington, DC and New York. Pictured in an RV park in Canada, the group spent one week in Montreal and dropped by Niagara Falls on their way home.

Kiana Gleeton (center), the granddaughter of James Gleeton and great grandniece of Melzani Killebrew both of Memphis, recently joined her parents on a one-week vacation to Maui, Hawaii. Kiana, a second grader at Batesville Intermediate School who wants to return to Maui and spend more time at their Boys and Girls Club, lives in Hernando with her parents, Keith and Cynthia Gleeton.

In September, Germantown resident David Ruhland (from left) and two of his four sons, Matthew and Michael, spent six days hiking 50 to 60 miles in the Bechler River Canyon located in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park.

John and Marguerite Osby (left) of Collierville and Oliver and Elizabeth McKinney of Memphis took a seven-day Alaskan cruise aboard the Holland America Line MS Volendam Aug. 24-31. Ports of call included Juneau, Skagway, Anchorage and Ketchikan, Alaska. The quartet are pictured before the captain’s dinner in the two-tier Rotterdam Dining Room.

Friends Wendlandt Hasselle (left) and Virginia Peterson (right) joined Gail Giaramita (2nd from left) and her aunt Velma Coughlan of Memphis, Sept. 18-26 on a trip to the Holy Land. The group visited Jordan and stopped at the Jordan River, New & Old Jerusalem, several durze villages and had the opportunity to stand on top of a hill that overlooked Bethelem. Although this was Coughlan’s second trip to the area, she did not know the prayers placed in the cracks and crevices in the wailing wall were buried until this trip. “What was astonishing was the price of food!” said Coughlan who paid $47 to eat at a buffet in Tel Aviv and $36 to dine in Jerusalem. “Thank goodness for peanut butter and crackers!”

Alan Mori (left) and son Luke Mori,5,  with Capt.Paul (right) fishing in Destin harbor. It was Mom Pam Mori’s birthday.

Wearing similar jackets, Shirley Cherry and Tom Douglas are pictured in Ketchikan, Alaska during a seven-day cruise aboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Norwegian Star taken June 7-14.

Twins Michelle Arbeit (left) and Wendy Arbeit took a 12-day tour of northern and central India Sept. 28-Oct. 10. Pictured in traditional punjabi style clothing at the Taj Mahal in Agra, the twins enjoyed watching a Bollywood film, staying at a centuries old fort in a rural village, exploring Rajasthan and taking a boat ride on the Ganges River in Varanasi. The Arbeit’s live in Germantown.

Sheila Crout (from left), Josie Gelman and Marcie Waites are pictured behind Above the Clouds, the house they vacationed at Sept. 26-28 in Rising Fawn, GA. In Rising Fawn the ladies discovered a farmer’s stand that sold the best peaches Gelman has ever tasted, muscadine grape slushies, homemade jalapeno beef jerky and a variety of Amish products. The trio also drove to and spent time in Chattanooga where they visited Ruby Falls and went to Rock City Gardens in Lookout Mountain, GA.

Heather responds:

There is certainly a lot of talk about seat shortage.  It is a major concern for travelers calling in to Travelennium, but if you are flexible, you should be just fine. 

The biggest tip other than the obvious “buy now” is to just be flexible.  An example of this: we just booked a couple that wanted to go to Cancun for three nights to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on Jan. 22nd.  Of course, the couple wanted to be in Cancun ON Jan. 22nd, but by them waiting just one day and leaving on Jan. 23rd, it saved them over $500 on the airfare alone.

Okay, so Christmas isn’t even here yet - so why are we talking Spring Break?

Because it is NEVER too early to book a trip - especially at peak travel times.

I asked Heather Strickland from Travelennium about booking now, given the tough economy.

Heather’s answer:

 Surprisingly, it’s not too early to start talking spring break because even in a recession, depression or time of financial crunch, teens and college kids will ALWAYS be planning for spring break! 

Of course, spring break travelers want the most for their money - and time frame.  Instead of week-long trips to Costa Rica, Europe or Hawaii, what we ARE seeing is an influx of shorter trips….3/4/5-day cruises are very popular this year.  They usually start booking early - sometimes as soon as the school calendar comes out. 

Die-hard spring break travelers never wait to the last minute.  I always feel sorry for the people who do wait until the last minute because these travelers usually are simply unaware that what they want will sell out or has been sold out for months.

Delta announced changes to both the Delta SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks programs, and here the most important part:

In early 2009 – date still TBD – you’ll be able to transfer miles between your existing Delta SkyMiles and Northwest WorldPerks accounts.

Late next year, the two programs will be merged into a single program, but until then, here’s more of what’s in store for frequent fliers of Delta and Northwest, according to a press release from Delta:

Starting in 2009, the programs will offer segment qualification, currently a WorldPerks benefit, to allow members to reach elite status by flying a designated number of flight segments on either Delta or Northwest operated flights.Additionally, SkyMiles and WorldPerks members will continue to earn a minimum of 500 Elite Qualifying Miles and base miles per flight. This makes Delta the only major airline to maintain this minimum for all customers.

Qualification requirements for Elite status, which enables members to receive additional program benefits and complimentary upgrades, will be as follows:

SkyMiles and WorldPerks elite members now have the ability to receive complimentary upgrades on both airlines. (Complimentary upgrades are subject to availability and offered on most Delta and Northwest flights within or between the 48 contiguous United States, Alaska, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and northern South America.)SkyMiles members will qualify for Medallion Threshold Rewards when they surpass Platinum Medallion status. As members reach designated thresholds they will earn additional bonus miles and/or other exclusive benefits or gifts. (still undetermined what that mileage number is, look for info in early ’09).

Northwest WorldPerks members will continue to enjoy similar Elite Extra Perks program benefits when they surpass the Platinum qualification requirements.More information on the programs are available online at

delta.com/skymiles and nwa.com/worldperks.

With the economy tanking, you can bet we’ll see even more deep discounts - perhaps not as much for airfare, but certainly at hotels and resorts.

I asked a few of my travel agent friends if any of their vendors were offering screaming deals on holiday travel; Heather Strickland, my go-to agent at Travelennium – offers up these deals from a few of her vendors and some booking advice as well.

Heather says:

There are absolute screaming deals on holiday travel right now!  We are receiving lots of especially exciting deals lately.  As you know, hotels, cruise lines and resorts are realizing the pinch of the economy just as much as any other business - if not more so!  That means for those of us on an ever-tightening budget (and who isn’t these days??), there is still hope for a retreat from everyday worries and hassles!  Ahh…

Basically, there are two types of deals you will be seeing a lot of: price and availability.  It may sound strange, but availability is actually rare thing when it comes to holiday travel and getting the seats you want, the dates you want, the hotel you want, etc.

One great find is holiday availability at the Amelia Island Ritz Carlton in Florida.  This is an incredibly beautiful 5-Star property spread over 18 acres.  Resort amenities include championship golf, tennis and world-class dining.  The resort has ”view rooms” still available at $199 per night!  And Northwest Airlink offers non-stop flights to this location at a reasonable rate.

A really magical deal can be found at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  Restrictions apply, but basically if you book a 4 night package (hotel & park tickets) anytime before Dec. 20, 2008, and travel for stays most nights Jan 4-Apr 4, 2009 and Apr 19-June 27, 2009, you get THREE NIGHTS FREE.  This includes hotel nights and tickets.  You can bet this won’t be around for long, so you may want to take advantage pretty quickly.  One scenario: You can stay in a standard room at a Disney Value Resort - for stays most nights Jan 4-Feb 12, 2009 - for only about $1271 for a family of four.  That’s about $46 per person, per day, for a 7-night package.  M-I-C…K-E-Y…M-O-U-S-E…!  What a fabulous Christmas gift this trip would make!

Airline seats are tight in general for the holiday season, but if the traveler is a little flexible, a good travel agency (like Travelennium of course!) can generally find a routing which gives lower pricing.  In general, non-stop equals higher fares, but that’s not always the case.

And speaking of flexibility, don’t forget to consider off-season places, such as going to the beach in December.  Prices are usually always lower when you travel off-season.

Heather Strickland is an agent with Travelennium, an American Express agency. Contact her at 762.7040 or learn more about the agency online at www.travelennium.com.