The Sands at Grace Bay would like to introduce Caribbean Travel News, a curated selection of articles about family travel and fun in the sun.
How to Get the Best Price on a Holiday Plane Ticket
While travel advice abounds for the best times to buy the most affordable holiday plane tickets, it’s hard to escape reality: Flying during some of the year’s busiest travel periods generally isn’t going to be cheap.
CNN checked with airfare experts on time-honored ways to dull the price pain.
Cheap Solo Travel: Why Women Don’t Need To Break The Bank To See The World
A boundless passion for discovery has taken one woman to more than 100 countries and six continents — and she says that the more she has traveled, the more ways she has found to save money. This travel expert says, “”No matter your age, income level or marital/reproductive status, a solo trip is something every woman should do.”
Whether you’re driving or flying, successful winter travel is all about planning in advance and taking the weather into consideration.
We all want to get to our destination with minimum trouble and maximum enjoyment. Most importantly, we always arrive safe and sound, no matter what sort of snow, ice, sleet, or freezing rain you may encounter.
With that in mind, here are some winter travel tips and tactics to help you avoid spending the season stuck in airports or on roadsides..
Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Photo by Nevin Thompson
The Ten Most Controversial Travel Destinations In The World
Many of us enjoy traveling abroad to experience and explore different cultures. But how many of us really consider where the money we spend abroad ends up, or if we’re lining pockets of regimes that show scant regard for human rights?
Here are ten locations that raise serious questions on the ethics of travel.
Rubik's Cube Halloween Costume by Fred Benenson. Image license: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Rubik’s Cube Halloween Costume by Fred Benenson. From Flickr. Image license: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
With Halloween just around the corner, it can be tough for busy parents to find the time to brainstorm a creative costume. Often, it’s tempting to just head to a big box store and purchase a ready-made getup from off the shelf.
However, Halloween expenses can add up, and store-bought costumes also can be kind of boring and forgettable.
So, here are five fun and easy costume ideas for Halloween.
To make some of these costumes, you may need:
Glue gun
Double-sided tape
Electrical or black tape
Elastic
1) Gumball Machine
A fun, unusual and unforgettable costume, a gumball machine is a great way to make memories when as you spend an evening trooping around the neighborhood in search of Halloween treats.
It takes about 2 hours to create.
Paint a plastic soda bottle cap with silver paint. With a hot-glue gun, glue to red hat.
Cut a 5 out of black craft foam and glue to pants leg.
Cut hood and sleeves off a clear raincoat; put on backward (snaps in back). Use a 30-inch piece of elastic as a belt; blouse coat over it.
Blow up 20 multicolored balloons halfway. Put in through back of coat. Snap up coat.
Cut off excess, if any.
2) Bubble Bath
This costume also makes use of light, vibrant colors to create a cheery atmosphere on Halloween night. It takes about an hour to make.
On the remaining bottom rim, punch two holes near the front and back. To make the suspenders from wide ribbon, measure your child from shoulder to waist and multiply by 2; cut two lengths of ribbon to that size.
Thread through the holes, knotting the ends underneath to secure.
Blow up 15 white balloons and attach them with double-stick tape inside the tub and to the sides to make it look like bubbles are overflowing.
Accessorize with bath poufs as hair accessories, and you’re ready to go out trick-or-treating!
3) Raining Cats and Dogs
This costume is fun, and takes about an hour to make.
Find a child-size transparent umbrella.
Use stencils to trace cats and dogs (about 15 of each) onto black felt.
Cut out the cats and dogs, and, keeping about 8 in reserve, glue to the outside of the umbrella.
Use a needle and white thread to dangle the remaining cutouts to the edge of the umbrella, as though they were drops of rain.
Wear with a raincoat and boots, and spend the night knocking on doors in search of candy.
4) Spaghetti and Meatballs
An offbeat and memorable costume, this takes about 3 hours to make. You’ll need a lightweight aluminum pot for this costume.
Cut a hole for the head in the center of a red-checkered tablecloth (or 1.25 yards of 45-inch-wide red-checkered fabric) so that it can be worn like a poncho.
Cut 1/2 skein f off-white yarn into spaghetti-length pieces. With a hot-glue gun, glue them in swirls and bunches to a large, sturdy paper plate.
Paint 8 small styrofoam balls with brown acrylic paint to resemble meatballs. Let dry, then glue 4 or 5 balls to top of spaghetti.
Mix brown and red acrylic paint to make a tomato-sauce color; drip that over meatballs and spaghetti. Smear a little on the side of a small pot.
Glue the plate to the front of the tablecloth.
Glue remaining meatballs to tablecloth where you like.
Glue some strands of yarn to the pot “hat.”
Tie under chin if needed to keep pot on head.
5) Rubik’s Cube
An offbeat and somewhat complicated Halloween costume, this takes about 2 hours to make.
Cut holes for the head and arms in a square box (we used a 16 by 16-inch). Cut the flaps off the open end so that child can pull the finished cube over head.
With craft glue, glue four 8 1/2 by 11-inch sheets of green paper to one side. Repeat with blue, orange, yellow and red paper on other sides. (You may need more if you use a larger box than we did.)
Create the squares with black electrical tape.
Wear some dark clothes (be sure to bring a flashlight so motorists can see you!), and you’re set!
Is Halloween Celebrated in Turks and Caicos?
“Is Halloween celebrated in the Caribbean?” is one of the questions our concierge gets asked a lot at this time of year. The answer? “It’s complicated.”
Davy Jones Pumpkin, by Flickr user Loren Javier. Image license: Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Halloween itself is generally not observed in Caribbean culture, which can be quite religious. More than 90 per cent of people in the Turks and Caicos identify as Christian, compared to the more secular United States.
For this reason, and also because Turks and Caicos is a British Overseas Territory, with many British rather than American traditions, Halloween is not as much a part of the culture as on the mainland.
Celebrating Halloween in Turks and Caicos
Still, Halloween starting to be observed in Turks and Caicos each year, making a late-October or early-November holiday in Turks and Caicos great for families.
Different resorts host Halloween celebrations each year, and events for families are typically held in and around the Bight neighborhood, just off central Grace Bay Beach.
In past years a Halloween party was held at Provo Elementary School, but each year it often depends on the resort to organized events, so be sure to check TripAdvisor for up-to-date information.
Now that it’s officially fall, travel season is almost upon us. The days are growing shorter, and the weather is getting colder and wetter… or worse. To prepare you for the months of icy snow and darkness ahead we have some new information on new Turks and Caicos flights. We also have some tips on how to find cheap tickets to save money on your vacation on warm and sandy Grace Bay Beach.
Southwest to Resume Daily Direct Flights to Turks and Caicos
Southwest Airlines has announced they will resume direct flights from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood to Providenciales International Airport (PLS) in Turks and Caicos starting November 4. These flights will connect in Fort Lauderdale to and from cities in the eastern half of the United States such as Baltimore, New York, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa and Washington DC.
InterCaribbean Launches New Turks and Caicos Flights
If you’re planning an excursion to Grand Turk and want to see as much of Turks and Caicos as possible, InterCaribbean’s new service may be of interest.
Turks and Caicos-based regional Caribbean airline InterCaribbean Airways has officially commenced its new service from Grand Turk to both South Caicos and Salt Cay.
List of Flights to Turks and Caicos
There are direct flights between Providenciales Airport (PLS) and many cities throughout North America and Canada, including New York, Atlanta, Miami, Toronto and Montreal.
Schedules for fall and winter 2018 are still being determined, so, for daily flights be sure to check the Turks and Caicos Airport Authority, or check out the airlines’ websites for up-to-date information:
For some people, the actual planning process is one of the most enjoyable parts of taking a vacation. It’s always a challenge to hunt down the best flight deals, so here are a few tips:
1. Search for tickets one seat at a time
If you are searching for tickets for your family, if you really want to save money, try searching by one ticket at a time. This is because most automated systems will show you the highest fare for all the tickets. If you try searching one seat at a time, there may be limited seats on sale.
2. Search at midweek
Airlines tend to launch their sales on Tuesdays and end them on Thursdays, so don’t limit your searches to the weekends.
3. Fly on a holiday
It may seem counterintuitive, but the biggest savings can be found by flying on the actual holiday, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. The exception is if you’re traveling over a three-day weekend—then, everyone is looking to fly on the actual holiday, so that’s the perfect time to try and extend your vacation by a day.
4. Fly on a Tuesday, Wednesday or a Saturday
Why? Because planes are least full on these days of the week, these flights usually have the lowest fares.
5. Monitor Twitter, Facebook and airline emails
Follow your favorite airlines on social media in addition to signing up for discount online travel company emails.
Plan Your Dream Vacation on Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales
Experience an earthly wonder of sand and sea at our 114-suite luxury resort on Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, British West Indies.
Family-friendly, yet ideally suited for romantic getaways and wedding celebrations, The Sands at Grace Bay offers a harmonious balance of home comforts and sublime Caribbean elegance – as well as a picture perfect location on the sparkling shores of Grace Bay Beach.
If you are dreaming of a beach holiday in the Caribbean that gives you the flexibility of having your own fully-equipped suite while enticing you with fine dining, pristine grounds and sigh-inducing vistas, we look forward to welcoming you to The Sands at Grace Bay.
Have a travel tip or a question about flights to Turks and Caicos? Be sure to leave a comment!
