local businesses only offering two weeks annual holiday, Cup Match is an ideal time for Bermudians to squeeze in a three or four-day mini-break. With so many destinations within easy reach of Bermuda and the recent series of airline seat sales, there are more options and packages than ever before and, with most agaents taking late bookings, there is still time to plan your trip.

The Caribbean and the major North American cities remain the most popular Cup Match destinations and this year, LPG is offering a combination of the two with a special package to Toronto's Caribana Festival from July 25 to August 1.

Dubbed "the Northern Hemisphere's liveliest street party'', the Caribbean-style carnival has been an annual fixture in downtown Toronto for some years and attracts visitors from all over North America and the West Indies. "We decided to promote it this year because we've managed to get some excellent hotel rates,'' said LPG Travel Manager Mac Mitchell.

LPG's package costs $850 per person, based on double occupancy, and includes round trip airfare to Toronto on Air Canada, seven nights at the Chestnut Park Hotel in the heart of Toronto, reserved seating at Exhibition Stadium for the parade, tickets for the Carnival Dance at the Holiday Inn plus insurance, airport transfers and Bermuda departure tax. There are also special triple and children's rates available.

Further afield, LPG is offering two fascinating cruises with Royal Caribbean Lines to Alaska and the Baltic.

The Alaskan cruise, from July 23 to August 2 aboard the Nordic Prince, sails from Vancouver and prices range from $2,400 to $2,625 (based on double occupancy). The price includes round trip airfare to Vancouver, two nights at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver, all transfers and taxes plus a grand tour of Victoria.

The more elaborate Baltic cruise to Russia and Scandinavia leaves Harwich, England on July 26 and calls in via the Kiel Canal to Stockholm, Helsinki, St.

Petersburg, Visby, Copenhagen, and Oslo, returning to London on August 10. The $3,850 price (based on two people sharing a cabin) includes round trip airfare, two nights first class hotel accommodation in London and all transfers and taxes.

Meyer Agencies is running a special promotion to the end of September with Crown Cruise Lines, who have formed a marketing consortium with Cunard Line.

Over the Cup Match period they are offering two seven-day cruises to the Caribbean on the Cunard Crown Jewel out of Palm Beach, Florida starting at $845 per person, based on two people sharing a cabin.

The first cruise, leaving Palm Beach on July 25, tours the western Caribbean visiting Nassau, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The second, leaving on August 1, takes in the eastern Caribbean, including Salvador Island off the Bahamas, St Thomas,San Juan and Nassau.

Prices do not include airfare, port charges or Bermuda departure tax. Delta, Continental, US Air and American all fly into Palm Beach via Atlanta with return fares around $524.

Meyer also offers three, four and seven day cruises from Florida on Carnival's 10 ships. A three-day cruise from Port Canaveral to Nassau costs $303 per person, excluding airfare to Orlando, about $523 on American, Delta or US Air.

And it's not too late to book. "We will try to get people on board the week before sailing,'' says Meyer agent Heather Henneberger. "The biggest advantage with a cruise is that everything is pre-paid.'' Meyer's other big Cup Match promotion is the popular Reggae Sunsplash festival in Jamaica.

More than 500 Bermudians are expected to travel to the annual event that features the world's top reggae artists in a week-long series of concerts from August 1-8 at Portsmore, just outside Kingston.

Meyer is running a direct charter flight to Kingston for the first time, leaving Bermuda on August 1, at $514 per person. Meyer Agent Barbara Bean Lowe says hotel space in Kingston is limited at best but can offer accomodation in Port Antonio or Ocho Rios, about 90 minutes drive from Kingston on Jamaica's north coast, from $60 to $250 a night. Car rentals are $60 a day and up.

Among the all-inclusive packages on offer is a two-bedroom unit in Goblin Hill, Port Antonio with car rental and maid service for $1,876 (seven nights).

Also getting in on the charter business are Creative Associates, who successfully ran flights down to Barbados for the recent West Indies-Pakistan Test matches. They are offering a $549 charter to Barbados for Crop Over, the week-long carnival marking the end of the sugar cane harvest. The charter leaves Bermuda on July 28 and returns August 4. Or you can gamble on a trip to Las Vegas ($649), leaving on July 28 and returning August 1. Both flights are subject to Creative Associates filling a minimum 120 of the 173 available seats.

Closer to home, American Airlines has a special deal to Raleigh-Durham and US Air is running a two-night package to New York City.

American's offer, which is open to September 13, leaves Bermuda at 5 p.m. on Cup Match Thursday (July 29), returning on Sunday morning. The special return fare is $382.50 and must be paid 14 days in advance. Hotel rates in Raleigh start from as little as $42 a night at the Ramada Inn, Crabtree Valley. The city has become a popular shopping destination with Bermudians but it has a range of other attractions, including an impressive outdoor amphitheatre, for example, featuring top artists with ticket prices much lower than in bigger cities.

The New York package is available any day of the week, leaving Bermuda at 12.30 p.m. and arriving in La Guardia at 1.46 p.m. local time. Daily departures from La Guardia are 11.20 a.m., arriving back in Bermuda at 2.20 p.m.

The package, a great opportunity to take in a Broadway show, sightseeing and shopping, includes two nights at the Deluxe New York Palace (formerly the infamous Helmsley Palace), airport transfers by private sedan, and a New York Welcome kit.

The package is priced at $497, based on double occupancy, with a $50 discount if paid 14 days in advance.

(Both packages priced by Butterfield Travel).

If cricket's not your game, Cup Match is an ideal time to take a golfing break. The Innisbrook resort just outside Tampa, Florida remains popular with Bermudians as it not only offers several first-class courses but also tennis and spa facilities and an extensive activity programme for children. A one-week package for two, including green fees and golf cart rental, is about $850. The drawback is the high season midweek fare to Florida, around $523 round trip.

Alternatively, you can tailor your own package via non-stop connections to other major US gateway cities such as Boston, Atlanta, Baltimore or Philadelphia.

For example, you can leave Bermuda on the Wednesday before Cup Match, catching the 5 p.m. American flight to Raleigh-Durham or Delta's 4.55 to Boston (both $361.50 return, not including Bermuda departure tax). Or you can hop on American's 7 a.m. earlybird to JFK on Thursday morning ($312.50 return).

All fares must be paid two weeks in advance and travellers must stay a minimum of three days.

Check with your travel agent for bargain hotel rates -Marriott's Marquis Hotel on Times Square, for example, is offering a special $129 per room flat rate (up to five people) for the July 29-August 1 weekend. The Marquis, a popular Bermudian haunt, is offering similar deals from August 19-22, August 26-29 and September 2-6. Selected Marriott hotels and resorts throughout the US are also offering family room deals with up to 50 percent discounts and free meals for two children under 10 with every adult meal.

Toronto's Caribana Festival (above and right), which takes place July 25 to August 1, has been called "the Northern Hemisphere's liveliest street party''.

RG MAGAZINE JULY 1993