Looking for the ultimate luxury cruise to Alaska? Well this summer, Silversea’s all-suite, 382-guest Silver Shadow will be the only ultra-luxury cruise ship exploring scenic Alaska. Boasting a crew-to-guest ratio of only 1 to 1.29, and a space ratio of 74.0 (or 7,400 cubic feet of space per guest), the Silver Shadow will offer a high level of personalized service and spaciousness that is unsurpassed. And at just 28,258 gross tons, this hallmark of luxury will be served up in a most intimate, club-like environment not available on other, larger ships.

From the majesty of snow-capped glaciers and misty fjords to the awesome beauty of a rain forest, Silversea reveals the natural wonders of Alaska and the Pacific Coast on ten distinctive itineraries of nine to 12 days. Several sailings will feature convenient round-trip departures from Vancouver, with open-jaw voyages also available from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seward.

“Designed to provide a truly exceptional travel experience, our Silver Shadow is the perfect option for the discerning world traveler who wants to be pampered in luxury and comfort while exploring Alaska’s spectacular scenery,” said David Morris, Silversea’s executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. “There are a number of mainstream mega-ships calling in Alaska this summer, but only Silversea offers an exclusive alternative for the sophisticated traveler seeking an award-winning, all-inclusive and intimate shipboard experience.”

Added Morris, “With one voyage already sold out, and others about to, space is filling up quickly — so now’s the time to book.”

In addition to savings of up to 40%, Silver Shadow guests will enjoy spacious, ocean-view accommodations (most with private veranda), sumptuous gourmet cuisine, personalized service, warm Italian hospitality, and Silversea’s generous selection of all-inclusive shipboard amenities, including complimentary beverages, wines and spirits served throughout the ship, 24-hour room service, stocked in-suite beverage cabinet and all gratuities. Plus, complimentary Butler Service is provided in the Grand, Royal, Rossellini and Owner’s Suites.

ENRICHMENT HIGHLIGHTS

The Alaska voyages will showcase a diverse enrichment program of noted scholars, writers, and other experts selected from a variety of fields to share their passion, knowledge and insider views for the entertainment and edification of Silversea’s guests. A small sampling includes:

– For the nature lover, marine biologist John Palmisano (Ph.D.) will host the May 31 Los Angeles-to-Vancouver “Inside Passage” voyage, offering insights on the oceans and diversity of marine life. Silver Sailing fares for this 12-day voyage (3812) start at $5,596 per person (30% savings).

– For the gourmet, on June 21, Silver Shadow’s Vancouver-to-San Francisco cruise welcomes Relais & Châteaux chef Anne Desjardins from the award-winning restaurant and inn L’Eau à la Bouche (Ste-Adèle, Québec) and wine expert John Shafer of Shafer Vineyards and Winery (Napa Valley, California). Early Booking Incentive fares for this 10-day voyage (3814) start at $5,690 per person (15% savings).

– For the nature lover, Sabin Robbins, published author, former zoo society director and writer-editor at the National Geographic Society, will host Silver Shadow’s September 5 “Inside Passage” cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles. Robbins’ field research includes East Africa, Galapagos Islands, Amazon River and the whale nurseries of the Pacific. Silver Sailing fares for this 12-day voyage (3822) start at $4,797 per person (40% savings).

IN-DEPTH EXPLORATIONS ASHORE

Silversea guests can extend their Alaska voyage with optional pre- and post-cruise land programs featuring deluxe accommodations, all transportation, transfers, guided sightseeing and some meals. Prices start from $1,395 per guest.

Highlights include:

– From Vancouver, “The Majestic Canadian Rockies” four- or five-night program explores the breathtaking peaks and valleys of the Canadian Rockies from the comfort of your railcar. Enjoy two nights in Banff and visit the “Jewel of the Canadian Rockies” — Lake Louise, set in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Join the Rocky Mountaineer for a two-day journey by rail through the snow-capped Canadian Rockies, past the Continental Divide, the Spiral Tunnels and Kicking Horse Canyon to Kamloops for an overnight stay. Continue your rail adventure past the Cascades, lush Fraser River Valley and Hell’s Gate, then on to Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean.

– From Seward, the three-night “Denali– Nature at Her Grandest” program features a journey to Denali by luxury rail, crossing the magnificent vista of Hurricane Gulch. Denali National Park, one of the world’s greatest wildlife sanctuaries, offers the chance to spot grizzly bears, caribou, moose and wolves. The park rests under the shadow of spectacular Mount McKinley, North America’s highest mountain.

– Also from Seward, the six-night “Land of the Midnight Sun” offers the ultimate Alaskan experience, combining the grandeur of Denali National Park with a journey of over 300 miles above the Arctic Circle to Barrow, the largest Inuit settlement in Alaska. Here in the land of the midnight sun, stand on the northernmost tip of the continent, encounter the unique traditional lifestyle of native Alaskans and explore the white wilderness of the tundra. The program includes a scenic riverboat adventure from Fairbanks.

Silversea Cruises is recognized as an innovator in the luxury segment, offering guests large-ship amenities aboard four intimate vessels, Silver Cloud, Silver Wind, Silver Shadow, and Silver Whisper, all designed to offer an atmosphere of conviviality and casual elegance.  More more info, click here

After the slaughter of the Dot.com bust and stock market free-fall, many people took managing their investments into their own hands.  Mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer Susan Pravda recalls, “I had a money market fund here, a stock brokerage account there, and a bunch of 401(k) plans floating around.” Even she had excellent returns, Pravda still  wonders whether she might have fared better if she had followed her own advice to clients, and hired a pro to help her devise a custom portfolio.

For many professionals, whose careers and family responsibilities demand time and attention, tackling complex financial tasks–such as building an asset allocation model or a long-term wealth plan — may get pushed to the back burner and stay there, even as their wealth levels grow.

Recognizing this, more financial institutions are particularly targeting women as potential clients, offering to professionally manage their investment portfolios.  Putting all your money in someone else’s hands can be unnerving. Do your research and thoroughly understand, who’s managing your money.  Full article

Who hasn’t heard of Donald Trump? Although he’s better known as that entrepreneur with the funny hairstyle, he’s so much more. Trump has been in the news as much as anyone these days, maybe not always for the right reasons. His well publicized media battle with Rosie O’Donnell was both intriguing and pathetic. Whether you love or hate Donald Trump, there’s no denying he’s a one-man PR machine.

Donald made a public mainstream name for himself as a real estate developer and a celebrity on the television show “The Apprentice”, and is now passing on his know-how through the Trump University, which offers a range of on-line courses and books.

Born in 1946 to a wealthy New York real estate developer, Donald Trump undoubtedly had a head start for his own real estate business – but it takes more than a foot in the real estate door to rise to the level of success of “The Donald”.

A true businessman and entrepreneur, he overcame financial difficulties in the 1990’s through ambitious real estate developments including Trump World Tower and Trump Place, and is a major real estate player in the United States. He is also CEO of Trump Organisation and founded Trump Entertainment, which operates a number of casinos.

His fame and notoriety raised even further with the television reality show “The Apprentice”, in which Donald Trump is both host and executive producer.

His success can be largely attributed to his entrepreneurial vision, hard-hitting business tactics and just the fact that he has set himself some BIG goals. But more than that, he has a burning desire to be a success – and this desire is what keeps him motivated to achieve.

Is “The Donald” your success role model? Find out his own success secrets through Donald Trump University, which was established in 2005 to share Donald Trump’s entrepreneurial know-how with the world through a variety of courses, programs, books and audios. Their mission is to ‘teach success’ by giving people the knowledge needed to succeed and by adopting a hands-on approach to learning – after all, most of us learn better by ‘doing’ than by reading or listening alone.

We’ve all done it at some point in our lives. The rolling of the eyes, the shaking of the head, or just outright laughter as another celebrity hits rock bottom. Whether it’s a DUI, drug conviction, stint in rehab, cheating spouse and subsequent high profile divorce, there’s something that brings us joy in watching a famous celebrity self destruct and meltdown before our eyes.

“There can be no joy in either being smug over the trials of the rich-and-famous or laughing at their addictions,” said Dr. Patricia A. Farrell, a well-known psychologist and author. “What have we become that we eagerly seek out joy in destruction? Is this just the modern version of ‘bread and circus?’ The frenzy that accompanies the current coverage of celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, female rappers and TV actors is spiraling upward. My concern is that it will result in serious physical and mental harm to these individuals as well as innocent bystanders.”

Journalistic archives or “morgues” are full of the stories of the final moments of the famous. “Many of the stories tell about stars committing suicide and provide graphic detail or how they’ve spiraled into addiction. As I’ve said before, who wouldn’t want to escape from the constant pursuit? Do you think a fox in a fox hunt actually ‘enjoys’ the chase? And what happens at the end of the hunt, just before they go to those elaborate buffets? Does the fox come along and laugh about all the near-misses or stumbles of the horses?

These people hunt for what they believe is ‘sport’ of a type and they’ve recklessly rode over people’s property without consideration of the owner’s rights. They believe they have the right to ‘hunt’ and that no one can deny them that pleasure.

“Now, we have a hunt of a different type and the fox often lives to see another day, but in no better shape, mentally. The hunt also has a tradition where the first hunt for a rider is celebrated by smearing blood on the collar of this rider’s jacket. So, the whole intent is blood sport, not riding. I wonder how the papps celebrate their first ‘kill.’ Entertainment is a part of life that all of us need to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“Perhaps it is the war or the present sorry state of the economy,” Dr. Farrell concluded, “but one thing is for sure and that is that things are getting worse, more reckless and the people in the stands watching this chase seem to be giving that ‘thumbs down’ gesture. They don’t seem to want to see a happy ending and that’s not just sad, that’s disturbing.”

Dr. Farrell is the author of “How to Be Your Own Therapist” (Barnes & Noble, 2007, ISBN: 0-7607-9184-8), a licensed psychologist and medical disability consultant. She has appeared on major TV shows such as The Today Show, The View, Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper 360 and is quoted in national newspapers, magazines and news services.

It appears America’s never-ending obsession with looks is skyrocketing, as cosmetic dental procedures such as teeth whitening, continue to increase in popularity. A recent survey by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, showed that the total number of patients seeking procedures to brighten their smiles in 2006 increased by an estimated 12.8%, over 2005.  The dental whitening procedure didn’t come cheap either. The survey shows the average patient spent a whopping $5,640 in 2006.

So what are the reasons for the rise? Well, the leading causes appear to be the non-stop barrage of media attention on looks with in-your-face advertising focusing on rail-thin models with perfect smiles, and reality television shows such as Extreme Makeover, The Swan and so forth.

Another major contributor is that aging baby boomers’ desire to look and feel young, in addition to an overall general awareness of the importance of health and fitness.  Full article

Without a doubt, it’s the M Series cars that make enthusiasts go ga-ga for BMW. Based on regular production series models, BMW’s M cars take performance to a new level, usually through a massaged engine, sport-tuned suspension, and other performance and cosmetic enhancements that turn something ordinary into something extraordinary.

This is it. The car the BMW faithful have been waiting for. The 4.0-liter V-8 up front barks as the tach needle zings around the dial — 6000, 7000, 8000 rpm. I grab fourth just before the 8400 rpm redline — no, that’s not a typo — and turn into the fast right-hander.

The nose pushes gently. Feather the gas momentarily to get the bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport tires up front to bite, then back on the go pedal. Hard. The rear end starts to drift, but that’s okay — your backside feels hardwired into this thing, and you know within a quarter inch how far it’s going to step out. Sliding… sliding… There! The tail brushes past the cones on the outside of the track before the red coupe straightens up for the short chute into a tight right hairpin.

Mash the brakes. The track-spec pads — available over the parts counter at your friendly BMW dealer — grab the massive vented and cross-drilled rotors front and rear. There’s some momentary chatter from the ABS, but it stops like a cat on Velcro as you grab second gear. Then it’s off the brakes as I dive for the apex, getting on the gas early to bring the tail around. The stability control — in track mode — wags an electronic finger, but gets the car straight and aimed at the next turn in point with minimal loss of momentum.

It’s quick and precise; beautifully balanced and brilliantly responsive; deeply confident and inspiringly competent when you ask it the big questions. Yep, the new BMW M3 is everything the BMW faithful have been waiting for — and then some. But ironically, it’s the “then some” bit that might have a few of those faithful scratching their heads.

You see, at first acquaintance the new M3 appears to have — whisper it, now — gone soft. It feels remarkably refined as it loafs along the freeway in sixth gear, even with the optional 19-inch wheel/tire combo fitted to our tester. And although that screaming V-8 develops more than 100 horsepower per liter, it’s a pussycat around town, pulling cleanly from as little as 1500 rpm. The four-cylinder E30 that founded the M3 dynasty 22 years ago was as rowdy and rambunctious as a punk rocker in a ripped T-shirt; by comparison this fourth generation version is as smooth and suave as a banker in a Brioni suit and $1000 wingtips.

Ahhhh, the smoothness of my skin. What’s the secret to smooth skin? It’s Shea Butter.

Shea butter is one of those wonderful things that too few people know about but actually end up paying quite a bit for when it makes a guest appearance in their favourite moisturisers and conditioners. Consider this: a 300 gm of ‘pure’ shea butter from a premium brand like say L’Occitane costs around $40, which is definitely more pricey than your average Nivea or Vaseline lotion! You may well get the same amount of shea butter for a fraction of the price, however, at an organic or health store!

What makes shea butter an essential luxury is that it’s so necessary if soft, supple skin is your aim, but it’s so little known that it’s very hard to find in a place like India! For many people across sub-Saharan Africa it’s as common as, say, coconut oil; increasingly westerners have also woken up to its wonders and now look for it if not in its pure form, then at least as an ingredient in their winter creams and lip balms. Even then, it is still not that well known for it to become commonplace. And the very nature of the way it is made means that it can never become really cheap for the rest of the world.

Everything about shea (pronounced ‘shay’ not ‘she-ah’) is amazing. The thick, waxy trunk of the karite (or shea) tree is flame resistant and very resilient even in poor soil so it grows defiantly across some of the most inhospitable parts of Africa. The first fruits come when only when the tree is 20 years old (hence large scale commercial production has been unviable) but the tree is productive for the next 200 years! The incredibly tasty fruit is greenish yellow and looks rather like a cross between a litchi and an ‘amla’. The all-important butter comes from the kernel, so people simply eat the flesh and save up the pits for this byproduct.

The kernels then go through a complicated 9-stage metamorphosis from sun drying and cracking to crushing, roasting and curing till it attains its creamy dalda-like shea butter avatar, in shades of creme through palest green. The key element that sets shea butter apart from other ‘butters’ sourced from seed oils (and there’s everything from apricot kernel butter to coconut butter!) is the large healing content of the oil, which has Vitamins A and E and other crucial phytonutrients. The higher the healing content of shea butter, the better the quality.

Introduced to shea butter by my sister in law and college mate, I first found the smell not too pleasing; but it disappears so soon after application that it’s a minor discomfort to bear for the wonderful effect it eventually has! Marvellously soft skin, even on trouble spots like heels and hands, are worth the wait — and the Rs 200 tag! Now that may not sound like much, but try to find it in your local store (even ones that stock top of the line beauty brands like Vichy) and you’ll understand why it’s a luxury in my lexicon!

Incidentally, don’t get mislead into buying nice smelling shea butter because the chances are that it has then been altered in some way — which also means it would have shed some of its healing properties.

If the product is two years old or more, it may not be as effective: while the moisturising effect will be there, the healing quotient may have depleted. But once you’re hooked like I am, there’s no turning back. Luckily, shea butter is one of those essential luxuries that aren’t heavy on the pocket, only on your perseverance in finding an honest supplier!

Despite a steep downturn in the U.S. housing market, the luxury home market remains strong in throughout the U.S.  A record breaking $175 million real estate sale in Colorado breaks a new national record for the highest value home ever sold. While the overall U. S. housing market has taken a downturn, wealthy home buyers continue to invest in homes at the very top of the market.

Evidence of the strength of the luxury home segment was revealed in late November with the sale of the Trinchera Ranch in Colorado for a record-setting $175 million. This sale breaks the U.S. residential sales record of $103 million set earlier this year in New York’s Hamptons.

Sellers of the Colorado property were the heirs of the late Malcolm Forbes, who acquired control of the historic Trinchera ranch in 1969. The buyer is billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Moore Bacon, who appears as number 286 on the Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans. Trinchera is the largest ranch in Colorado and its 171,400 acres contain five residences, as well as a Western style lodge with 16 bedrooms.

Although the Colorado sale set a U.S. sales record, it fell short of the world record residential purchase, also set this year, with Sheikh Hamad of Qatar’s acquisition of a penthouse condominium in London for £100 million – equivalent to about $200 million at the time of the sale.

“Although the vast Colorado ranch, the ocean front lot in the Hamptons, and the London penthouse condominium are not apples-to-apples comparisons, they are each indicative of the health of the very top of the world’s luxury home market,” said Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, an international organization which tracks the luxury home market and trains luxury real estate agents.

“These sales illustrate the fact that there are more rich households than ever before and the world’s wealthiest have shifted more of their investment dollars out of alternative investments like commodities and into multiple residences.

Based on this year’s World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch and CapGemini, the world’s über rich have invested 12% of their total portfolios in homes other than a primary residence,” said Moore-Moore. “In short, there is more money than ever competing for homes at the very top of the market. The luxury residential market is the good news story in real estate.”

Mike Montpetit, a real estate professional with Town & Country Realty and member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, agrees. “In most markets across the country, the very top of the market remains healthy – luxury is the ‘sweet spot’ in real estate.”

Facebook is the second largest social network on the web, second behind only MySpace in terms of site traffic. It began primarily focused on high school and college students, Facebook has been fast gaining market share, and more significantly a strong, supportive user base. Since their launch in February 2004, they’ve been able to obtain millions of users in the U.S. alone and expand worldwide to 7 other English-speaking countries, with more to follow. Can this growing phenomenon become he next Google?  The odds are no, but founder Mark Zuckerberg has big plans.

Originally called thefacebook, Facebook was founded by former-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (while at Harvard) who ran it as one of his hobby projects with some financial help from Eduardo Saverin. Within months, Facebook and its core idea spread across the dorm rooms of Harvard where it was very well received. Soon enough, it was extended to Stanford and Yale where, like Harvard, it was widely endorsed.

Before he knew it, Mark Zuckerberg was joined by two other fellow Harvard-students – Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes – to help him grow the site to the next level. Only months later when it was officially a national student network phenomenon, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard to pursue their dreams and run Facebook full time. In August 2005, thefacebook was officially called Facebook and the domain facebook.com was purchased for a reported $200,000.

Unlike its competitors MySpace, Friendster, Xanga, hi5, Bebo, and others, Facebook isn’t available to everyone — which explains its relatively low user count. Currently, users must be members of one of the 30,000+ recognized schools, colleges, universities, organizations, and companies within the U.S, Canada, and other English-speaking nations. This generally involves having a valid e-mail ID with the associated institution.

He didn’t have much choice but to sell. It was summer 2006, a little more than two years after Mark Zuckerberg had created Facebook in his Harvard dorm room as a way for him and his friends to better connect with schoolmates. In the intervening years, he’d raised $37.7 million from venture capitalists and transformed his modest Web site into a certified social phenomenon. College kids across the nation clamored for access, which Zuckerberg doled out, school by school. By mid-2006, about 7 million users, most of them college students, had a Facebook account.

But for all of Facebook’s success, there were also signs of trouble. Zuckerberg wanted the site to be more than a campus thing. He wanted to supplant and surpass MySpace and make Facebook the largest social network on the planet. He wanted it to become the next Google, a site that people of all ages would find useful in their daily lives. But that hadn’t happened. Facebook had cornered the market for college students, but its 11-month-old effort to capture the attention of high school students — and take users away from MySpace — was going nowhere. Indeed, Facebook’s growth was leveling off, inching its way toward 8 million members, while MySpace’s continued to surge, with 100 million members in August of 2006.

At the same time, suitors like Viacom and Microsoft had begun to take a serious look at Facebook, and they were tossing out numbers with lots of zeroes. Some investors and executives began wondering if it was time for Zuckerberg to sell. It was starting to look like Facebook had peaked.

Zuckerberg disagreed, but when Yahoo came calling with a bid of $1 billion in cash, the pressure became too much. He relented in July, verbally agreeing to sell Facebook to Yahoo. Strategically, it seemed like a good match. Yahoo had hundreds of millions of users, but its foray into social networking was struggling. Facebook had cool tools and was looking for a mass audience.

The timing, however, couldn’t have been worse. In the days after Zuckerberg agreed to sell, Yahoo announced it was projecting slower sales and earnings growth, and that the launch of its new advertising platform would be delayed. Its stock price plunged 22 percent overnight. Terry Semel, Yahoo’s CEO at the time, reacted by cutting his offer from $1 billion to $800 million. Zuckerberg, who had been warned about Semel’s reputation for last-minute renegotiations, walked away. Two months later, Semel reissued the original $1 billion bid, but by then Zuckerberg had convinced his board and executive team that Yahoo wasn’t a serious partner and that Facebook would be worth more on its own. He rejected the offer and became famous as the cocky youngster who turned down $1 billion.

Today, Zuckerberg, 23, is famous for other reasons. For one thing, analysts think he could be the nation’s richest man under 25, with a net worth estimated at $1.5 billion. But more important, he has transformed his company from second-tier social network to full-fledged platform that organizes the entire Internet. As a result, Facebook is the now most buzzed-about company in Silicon Valley, and Zuckerberg is constantly compared to visionaries like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Even some of the tech industry’s most legendary figures are genuflecting before Zuckerberg. In an entry on his blog, Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen called Facebook’s transformation “an amazing achievement — one of the most significant milestones in the technology industry in this decade.” Says Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, “I’m in awe.”

But Zuckerberg’s greatest contribution goes beyond Facebook’s success. His company suggests a new model for how connection, communication, and commerce can work online — a radical and ambitious rethinking of the Internet’s potential.

An elite panel of professional media specialists, exclusive members of the industry and World Traveller Magazine readers named Shanghai China’s new Jumeirah Han Tang Xintiandias the ’Most Expected Hotel’.  The Jumeirah hotel was selected for the award due to the group’s innovative plans for the property including; investment in groundbreaking architecture, unique and innovative attractions and incorporation of historical elements from both the Han and Tang dynasties.

On December 27, 2007, Doris Greif, the hotels General Manager, attended the ceremony and received the award on behalf of the hotel. She said: “Jumeirah Han Tang Xintiandi will redefine luxury hotel standards in China and will be the most prominent and prestigious new hotel development in the downtown Luwan district of Shanghai.  This award highlights our continued commitment to our ‘Stay Different’ philosophy and we would like to take this opportunity to thank both the panel and the readers of World Traveller magazine for their votes.”

Recently, the Jumeirah Han Tang Xintiandi had a roof topping ceremony and made an announcement that it completed the construction phase of its first hotel in Asia. This was a significant milestone and hotel is on schedule to open in August 2008.

The Jumeirah Han Tang Xintiandi, will boast several unique attractions once completed – including a purpose-built wedding pavilion and signature Chinese restaurant – to complement the super-luxury guest rooms and service for which Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts have become renowned the world over.

The Jumeirah Han Tang Xintiandiis located in the heart of Xintiandi, an exciting restaurant and bar, retail and entertainment component of a master-planned development in the heart of downtown Puxi, Shanghai. The award-winning development will also encompass prestigious office space, high-end residential complexes and quality retail facilities.

The luxury hotel, designed by New York based Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects and Japanese interior design firm Super Potato, will feature 309 spacious guestrooms, suites and villas, extensive, state-of-the-art conference & banqueting facilities as well as the Talise Wellness Spa, Jumeirah’s global spa brand.  Guests and visitors seeking immediate gratification will also appreciate the hotel’s planned chocolate boutique. Sounds delightful!