The Pleasure Paradox

The pleasure paradox, also sometimes called the paradox of hedonism, refers to the practical difficulties encountered in the pursuit of pleasure. Unfortunately for the hedonist, constant pleasure-seeking may not yield the most actual pleasure or happiness in the long run—or even in the short run, when consciously pursuing pleasure interferes with experiencing it. At least so says Wikipedia. The subject of this week’s blog is the Amusement Park — that modern construct (both literally and metaphorically) beloved of holidaymakers

The Success story that is MSC Cruises!

When Captain Gianluigi Aponte purchased his first, small ship in Belgium in 1970, just as globalisation was taking off which would soon be fed by the containerisation revolution, little could he have imagined that the small company that he had just founded in Brussels would one day come to employ more than 60,000 people located in over 150 countries around the world. That company was MSC Group, parent of MSC Cruises! (more…)

Theme Parks with a difference — Part 2

Last week, I listed details of seven theme parks with a difference around the world that you might be interested in checking out because of their novelty value. In this weeks’ follow-on blog, I conclude with a few more that may capture your imagination even further. People assume that theme parks are all about roller-coaster rides but of course they can adopt any theme that they like, particularly if the founders think that there is

Theme Parks with a difference — Part 1

Which of us does not have found memories of Disney films, Disney characters and, ultimately — Disney theme parks. My first ever experience of the Disney ‘product’ was a visit to the original Disney theme park in Anaheim with two of my three kids back in 1992 and it was an amazing experience. Since then, I’ve visited Disneyland Paris twice and Disneyworld in Orlando once. Am I likely to complete the whole set by visiting

Would you like to win €2,500?

The phrase, 'Lies, damned lies and statistics' is generally attributed to have been coined by Benjamin Disraeli, the famous British Prime Minister. The standard definition of statistics is 'the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring proportions in a whole from those in a representative sample' The bigger the sample, the greater the likelihood of the inferences that are drawn from that sample in

Timely Advice

    It’s that time of year again when most people’s minds turn to New Year resolutions, the next credit card statement and of course the inevitable where to go on this year’s holiday and, equally importantly — when to book it? Many people still mistakenly think that if you are flexible in when you can take your annual leave and are also a bit of a gambler then it is always worth your while

It’s that time of year again!

The one thing that you can always be sure of at this time of year is that the media and airwaves will feature wall-to-wall editorial content on all things Christmas. From 'How to roast the perfect turkey' or the 'Best way to wrap presents', we, as consumers seem to have an insatiable appetite for all things christmasy (and yes, there is such a word as every one uses it!). So why try to fly in

All roads lead north at this time of year!

With just seven short weeks left before Christmas is upon us, I thought that now might be a good time to extol the virtues of you and your kids going to visit Santa rather than him always having to visit you! As we all know, Santa lives in the North Pole but what some people don’t realise is that because the lines of longitude converge, the nearer they get to the pole, the greater the

Self-catering or all-inclusive — which represents better value for money?

I'm sure that this is a question that gets asked often in many households as moms and dads discuss the annual question of whether or not they can afford a family holiday in the sun. Unfortunately, like so many other things in life, there is no definitive right or wrong answer. It simply depends! Self-catering certainly comes out tops in terms of it usually representing the cheapest headline price but of course you need to

The ‘other’ Los Angeles

Like all large cities, Los Angeles or 'LA' as it is more affectionately known, is really just a large collection of separate communities that have coalesced into one almost homogeneous whole over the course of the past 50 years or so in much the same way that Malahide or Rathgar or Dun Laoighaire are all part of the greater Dublin metropolitan area but with each having its own, distinct personality and reasons for going there.

Keeping the magic alive!

Every year in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, conversation increasingly turns to the subject of whether or not we'll get to experience a white Christmas. Sadly, because of the temperate latitude that we enjoy in Ireland that is a statistically unlikely event. There are, however, many many places around the world (and particularly around Europe) where one can experience a picture postcard white Christmas — just like they do in the movies! Last

Now that’s big!

As Irish consumers begin to vary their travel diet more and more, some of them are starting to discover the joys of cruising. Long considered the preserve of the `newly-wed, over-fed and almost dead', cruising still suffers from an image problem — mostly, it must be said — in the eyes of those who have never stepped aboard a cruise ship. The fact of the matter is that there are as many cruise products as

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).