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Blue Bay Travel   Reviews

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Reviews 4.9.

7,414 total

Most relevant

The easiest holiday booking!

I am so impressed with booking our holiday with Blue Bay Travel! It has never been so easy and no hidden costs etc., It was a breeze .. Naomi and Jodie were just fantastic. Excellent customer service. I shall book all our future holidays with Blue Bay travel!

Date of experience : 12 April 2024

Excellent service as always from Caribbean Warehouse

Excellent service as always from Caribbean Warehouse. Jodie Barber looked after us superbly well. This is the third Caribbean holiday we’ve booked with CW in the last seven years. I have recommended them to friends and family continually. Uk landline answered promptly with no holding queue. Nothing is too much trouble. Thank you again Jodie!

Great personal service

Phones answered quickly by real UK based people. Georgia understood our needs, went and got the answers we needed, with useful suggestions, so we could complete our booking within minutes.

Excellent service from the onset

Easy to book and provided immediately with relevant information. More or less immediate contact after initial email sent. Georgia understood immediately when she contacted me that I was just looking for information to consider and then if I was interested would contact. Was impressed with no hard push , just made aware she was there to help if needed. Excellent service, friendly , appears to be excellent value for money. Hope the holiday lives up to my expectations but Georgia provided plenty of information prior to booking. Very happy.

Date of experience : 10 April 2024

Always book with Blue Bay

Always book with Blue Bay. Outstanding service. Nothing is too much trouble. Naomi amended our booking swiftly and was extremely helpful and very friendly. Thank you!!

Date of experience : 13 April 2024

Another easy booking

Another easy and professional booking done with Amy Boon Her knowledge and efficiency in booking is the reason I always book with her. Highly recommend Amy and Blue Bay Travel

First class!

Sorted out my holiday with lots of patience as I kept changing details. Efficient and friendly with it. I will certainly be recommending and booking all my holidays here in future!

Booking was easy

Jodie made booking our holiday such a great experience. From beginning to end she was helpful knowledgeable professional and friendly. She gave us precise information and followed it all up in an email too. I called her the following week to add a friend onto the same holiday and she remembered all the details!! I would highly recommend her and Bluebay Travel. Thank you Jodie

Date of experience : 25 March 2024

Lynda was great

Lynda was great. She was very patient, happily answered my numerous questions and obviously knew the area in which I was booking my holiday. I will definitely use the company again in the future.

Date of experience : 11 April 2024

The fastest and easiest holiday booking!

I was so impressed with the customer service experience with Jodie! Booking our holiday to the Caribbean was exceptional! I shall book all our future holidays with Blue Bay Travel! Thank you!

Amazing great service as always

Amazing great service as always. Leighton did a superb job at trying to get the best deal he could with me being so eager to book!!

Polly Understood The Assignment!

When I say Polly understood the assignment that's an understatement. She made sure me and my partner had the best holiday. I was very specific with what we wanted, white sands, near the beach, clean hotel etc.... and she went above and beyond what we asked for and still within budget. Our travel was easy. Our taxi driver was friendly and was available for any trips we needed. It was such a positive experience from beginning to end. Polly really knows Barbados and her recommendations of where to visit were just the cherry on top! We will definitely be using Polly again. We highly recommend Polly if you need a communicative and attentive travel consultant. She knows her stuff and makes sure that everything is in order. We made some truly lasting memories!

Date of experience : 01 February 2024

Reply from Blue Bay Travel

Thank you for taking the time out to give us a 5* review! Your feedback is so important to us. We're so pleased you had a fabulous holiday and can't wait to hear from you again to book your next getaway! Best wishes, Sophie

Just booked our second holiday!

Just booked our second holiday with Kerry at Blue Bay Travel… nothing is too much trouble, even when I’m picky and keep saying no to hotels! Kerry doesn’t give up until we find the perfect deal and then she takes all of the hassle and stress away. She even reminds me when to pay! Superb service, highly recommended.

Date of experience : 08 April 2024

Thank you so much for your lovely review and kind words about Kerry! We really appreciate you taking the time to send us feedback, and it will help us continue to deliver the 5* service we pride ourselves on. We hope you have a brilliant holiday, and we can't wait to hear all about it. :) Best Wishes, Sophie

Absolutely fantastic service received…

Absolutely fantastic service received by David. Received a call 5 mins after my enquiry even 7pm on a Sunday evening. Offered lots of information regarding flight options which was so helpful Have travelled with Blue Bay travel before & had no hesitation booking a holiday with them again. Thank you David

Date of experience : 07 April 2024

We're so glad to hear your experience with us was stress free! Thanks so much for your fab feedback, we really appreciate it, and it will help us continue to deliver the 5* service we pride ourselves on. David will be thrilled to hear your kind words and we all wish you an amazing holiday! Best Wishes, Sophie

Georgia Copestick did an amazing job…

Georgia Copestick did an amazing job booking our holiday by email whilst we are thousands of miles away in the Caribbean. She took great care with our details and answered all my questions fully and with patience. Third time we’ve used Blue Bay. We get good prices and excellent service. Will be using them certainly in the future.

Date of experience : 03 April 2024

Thanks so much for your fab review. We always do our best to deliver great deals as simply as possible, so it is a pleasure to hear you find the BBT experience so great. We really appreciate your feedback and anything else we can do to help, just let us know. Best Wishes, Sophie

David Coulter - Top Agent

David was so efficient in making the booking for us that the time spent on the telephone was minimal compared to other travel agencies we have used in the past experiencing almost an hour to achieve the same goal. He also confirmed the booking with a follow up call on the day he said he would.

Bluebay were able to meet my itinerary wishes.

I had excellent service from Bluebay. They worked with me to meet my itinerary choices for my solo November trip to Sri Lanka. Including transfers, independent stay in Colombo before and after my 7 day tour with a driver/guide. A very satisfactory 2 weeks mix of independent city break and more organised tourist trail. Bluebay used reliable Companies in Sri Lanka.

Date of experience : 20 November 2023

Really helpful and super efficient

David was extremely helpful and super efficient. Our first choice of holiday dates was not available but he found us a cracking deal to the Caribbean. Thank you.

Date of experience : 04 April 2024

Molly-Faith

The service was faultless. I messaged for a quote, on a deal I'd seen to Barbados. Within half hour I'd received a call and a voicemail. I called back, Molly-Faith, who was so lovely. Patient, especially with regards to my slight speech impediment. Let me take my time & complete my purchase. I know my stuff with regards to holidays, no messing around, Molly was great. Barbados booked for September, sooo excited..... 😎😎xx

Date of experience : 06 April 2024

Thank you for your kind and honest review, your comments are invaluable, and Molly will be so happy to hear your wonderful words. We are happy to be a part of your holiday making and can't wait to hear all about it, have an amazing getaway. Many Thanks, Sophie

Mauritius…through Kevin Hall

We've booked our holiday to Mauritius through Kevin Hall. He was so patient during the booking and planning process and was happy to answer any questions. He went above and beyond and found us direct flights with AirMauritius rather than having a stop over (which we preferred). He's been ever so helpful with queries even after we've booked. Would 100% recommend and would use again!

Thank you so much for your lovely review and kind words about Kevin! We really appreciate you taking the time to send us feedback, and it will help us continue to deliver the 5* service we pride ourselves on. We hope you have a brilliant holiday, and we can't wait to hear all about it. :) Best Wishes, Sophie

Blue Bay Travel - Ownership and Business Overview

Leisure company, blue bay travel ownership, who owns blue bay travel, blue bay travel business overview, where is blue bay travel headquartered.

Blue Bay Travel is headquartered in Staffs, United Kingdom.

What sector is Blue Bay Travel in?

Blue Bay Travel is a leisure company.

When was Blue Bay Travel founded?

Blue Bay Travel was founded in 2003.

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Blue Bay Travel

Blue bay travel ltd..

Unit A4 Bellringer Road, Staffs, ST4 8GB United Kingdom , +08444 999 333 www.bluebaytravel.co.uk

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Blue Bay Travel is an online travel agent specializing in long-haul holidays to the Caribbean, Mexico and Indian Ocean. The business operates under several specialist brands – including Caribbean Warehouse, specialising in destinations such as Mexico, Dominican Republic, Barbados and Saint Lucia – and Tropical Warehouse, focusing on the Indian Ocean and Far East. Blue Bay Travel was founded in 2003 and is based in Staffs, United Kingdom.

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Alistair rowland to join blue bay travel as group ceo.

Midcounties Co-operative’s chief retail officer Alistair Rowland is to join Blue Bay Travel as group chief executive. 

He will depart Midcounties at the end of this month after nine years with the business.

Blue Bay’s current chief executive, Stuart Wilson, will take the role of group executive director.

Current Blue Bay chief executive, Rowland’s wife Maxine Rowland, will step down from the role and take up another within the business.

Rowland said: “Blue Bay Travel is an exceptional business and one I’ve admired for a long time because of its commitment to personal service, technology and its entrepreneurial leadership. Businesses across the world are facing significant challenges currently, but Blue Bay Travel’s ongoing investment in its products and relationships means it is well placed to respond to future market demand. I look forward to working with the team to deliver against its growth plans in coming months.”

Wilson added: “To have someone with Alistair’s experience brings a new dimension to our business as Blue Bay Travel looks to the future. Alistair is the ideal person to drive the company through its next phase of expansion. The track record he brings of scaling business and his deep expertise of the travel industry is second-to-none. I look forward to working with him, our colleagues and investors to achieve our growth ambitions.

“We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved in recent years and I’d like to wholeheartedly thank Maxine and the team for steering us through this growth.”

Phil Ponsonby, Midcounties Co-operative chief executive, said: “I would like to express my deepest thanks to Alistair for his support and contribution over many years. He has played a crucial role in the growth of our travel business, which is now the leading travel cooperative in the UK, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him as he joins one of our key travel consortium partners.”

Rowland added: “I would like to thank Midcounties Co-operative and the great teams I have worked with for the last nine years. I’m delighted that the Co-op Travel brand remains prominent in the high street, online and through its PTA network, along with the support offered to its independent owners through the consortium partnerships. I am excited to continue to work closely with the Co-operative Travel team as a Non-Executive Advisor to Midcounties and in my new role at Blue Bay.”

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Blue Bay Travel   Reviews

In the Travel Agency category

Visit this website

Company activity See all

Write a review

Reviews 4.9.

7,414 total

Most relevant

The easiest holiday booking!

I am so impressed with booking our holiday with Blue Bay Travel! It has never been so easy and no hidden costs etc., It was a breeze .. Naomi and Jodie were just fantastic. Excellent customer service. I shall book all our future holidays with Blue Bay travel!

Date of experience : April 12, 2024

Excellent service as always from Caribbean Warehouse

Excellent service as always from Caribbean Warehouse. Jodie Barber looked after us superbly well. This is the third Caribbean holiday we’ve booked with CW in the last seven years. I have recommended them to friends and family continually. Uk landline answered promptly with no holding queue. Nothing is too much trouble. Thank you again Jodie!

Great personal service

Phones answered quickly by real UK based people. Georgia understood our needs, went and got the answers we needed, with useful suggestions, so we could complete our booking within minutes.

Excellent service from the onset

Easy to book and provided immediately with relevant information. More or less immediate contact after initial email sent. Georgia understood immediately when she contacted me that I was just looking for information to consider and then if I was interested would contact. Was impressed with no hard push , just made aware she was there to help if needed. Excellent service, friendly , appears to be excellent value for money. Hope the holiday lives up to my expectations but Georgia provided plenty of information prior to booking. Very happy.

Date of experience : April 10, 2024

Always book with Blue Bay

Always book with Blue Bay. Outstanding service. Nothing is too much trouble. Naomi amended our booking swiftly and was extremely helpful and very friendly. Thank you!!

Date of experience : April 13, 2024

Another easy booking

Another easy and professional booking done with Amy Boon Her knowledge and efficiency in booking is the reason I always book with her. Highly recommend Amy and Blue Bay Travel

First class!

Sorted out my holiday with lots of patience as I kept changing details. Efficient and friendly with it. I will certainly be recommending and booking all my holidays here in future!

Booking was easy

Jodie made booking our holiday such a great experience. From beginning to end she was helpful knowledgeable professional and friendly. She gave us precise information and followed it all up in an email too. I called her the following week to add a friend onto the same holiday and she remembered all the details!! I would highly recommend her and Bluebay Travel. Thank you Jodie

Date of experience : March 25, 2024

Lynda was great

Lynda was great. She was very patient, happily answered my numerous questions and obviously knew the area in which I was booking my holiday. I will definitely use the company again in the future.

Date of experience : April 11, 2024

The fastest and easiest holiday booking!

I was so impressed with the customer service experience with Jodie! Booking our holiday to the Caribbean was exceptional! I shall book all our future holidays with Blue Bay Travel! Thank you!

Amazing great service as always

Amazing great service as always. Leighton did a superb job at trying to get the best deal he could with me being so eager to book!!

Polly Understood The Assignment!

When I say Polly understood the assignment that's an understatement. She made sure me and my partner had the best holiday. I was very specific with what we wanted, white sands, near the beach, clean hotel etc.... and she went above and beyond what we asked for and still within budget. Our travel was easy. Our taxi driver was friendly and was available for any trips we needed. It was such a positive experience from beginning to end. Polly really knows Barbados and her recommendations of where to visit were just the cherry on top! We will definitely be using Polly again. We highly recommend Polly if you need a communicative and attentive travel consultant. She knows her stuff and makes sure that everything is in order. We made some truly lasting memories!

Date of experience : February 01, 2024

Reply from Blue Bay Travel

Thank you for taking the time out to give us a 5* review! Your feedback is so important to us. We're so pleased you had a fabulous holiday and can't wait to hear from you again to book your next getaway! Best wishes, Sophie

Just booked our second holiday!

Just booked our second holiday with Kerry at Blue Bay Travel… nothing is too much trouble, even when I’m picky and keep saying no to hotels! Kerry doesn’t give up until we find the perfect deal and then she takes all of the hassle and stress away. She even reminds me when to pay! Superb service, highly recommended.

Date of experience : April 08, 2024

Thank you so much for your lovely review and kind words about Kerry! We really appreciate you taking the time to send us feedback, and it will help us continue to deliver the 5* service we pride ourselves on. We hope you have a brilliant holiday, and we can't wait to hear all about it. :) Best Wishes, Sophie

Absolutely fantastic service received…

Absolutely fantastic service received by David. Received a call 5 mins after my enquiry even 7pm on a Sunday evening. Offered lots of information regarding flight options which was so helpful Have travelled with Blue Bay travel before & had no hesitation booking a holiday with them again. Thank you David

Date of experience : April 07, 2024

We're so glad to hear your experience with us was stress free! Thanks so much for your fab feedback, we really appreciate it, and it will help us continue to deliver the 5* service we pride ourselves on. David will be thrilled to hear your kind words and we all wish you an amazing holiday! Best Wishes, Sophie

Georgia Copestick did an amazing job…

Georgia Copestick did an amazing job booking our holiday by email whilst we are thousands of miles away in the Caribbean. She took great care with our details and answered all my questions fully and with patience. Third time we’ve used Blue Bay. We get good prices and excellent service. Will be using them certainly in the future.

Date of experience : April 03, 2024

Thanks so much for your fab review. We always do our best to deliver great deals as simply as possible, so it is a pleasure to hear you find the BBT experience so great. We really appreciate your feedback and anything else we can do to help, just let us know. Best Wishes, Sophie

David Coulter - Top Agent

David was so efficient in making the booking for us that the time spent on the telephone was minimal compared to other travel agencies we have used in the past experiencing almost an hour to achieve the same goal. He also confirmed the booking with a follow up call on the day he said he would.

Bluebay were able to meet my itinerary wishes.

I had excellent service from Bluebay. They worked with me to meet my itinerary choices for my solo November trip to Sri Lanka. Including transfers, independent stay in Colombo before and after my 7 day tour with a driver/guide. A very satisfactory 2 weeks mix of independent city break and more organised tourist trail. Bluebay used reliable Companies in Sri Lanka.

Date of experience : November 20, 2023

Really helpful and super efficient

David was extremely helpful and super efficient. Our first choice of holiday dates was not available but he found us a cracking deal to the Caribbean. Thank you.

Date of experience : April 04, 2024

Molly-Faith

The service was faultless. I messaged for a quote, on a deal I'd seen to Barbados. Within half hour I'd received a call and a voicemail. I called back, Molly-Faith, who was so lovely. Patient, especially with regards to my slight speech impediment. Let me take my time & complete my purchase. I know my stuff with regards to holidays, no messing around, Molly was great. Barbados booked for September, sooo excited..... 😎😎xx

Date of experience : April 06, 2024

Thank you for your kind and honest review, your comments are invaluable, and Molly will be so happy to hear your wonderful words. We are happy to be a part of your holiday making and can't wait to hear all about it, have an amazing getaway. Many Thanks, Sophie

Mauritius…through Kevin Hall

We've booked our holiday to Mauritius through Kevin Hall. He was so patient during the booking and planning process and was happy to answer any questions. He went above and beyond and found us direct flights with AirMauritius rather than having a stop over (which we preferred). He's been ever so helpful with queries even after we've booked. Would 100% recommend and would use again!

Thank you so much for your lovely review and kind words about Kevin! We really appreciate you taking the time to send us feedback, and it will help us continue to deliver the 5* service we pride ourselves on. We hope you have a brilliant holiday, and we can't wait to hear all about it. :) Best Wishes, Sophie

Alistair Rowland

CEO Approval Rating

Private Independent Company

http://www.www.bluebaytravel.co.uk

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Recruitment FAQs

A frequently asked questions resource for recruitment and onboarding.

Who are Blue Bay Travel

Do we offer fully remote positions, how does the team communicate, how is feedback given, how long has the team been together, what is the business tech stack, what is the interview process, who takes the interview.

Blue Bay Travel was formed in 2003 and we are based in Stoke-on-Trent.

We are the UK’s leading independent travel agent and we were founded with the vision of being a customer-focused travel company. We operate under three different sub-branches, Blue Bay Travel, Caribbean Warehouse and Tropical Warehouse. We pride ourselves on excellent service and unbeatable deals, which is proven by 100+ award victories.

Yes. All developer positions are remote.

We do have an office in Stoke-on-Trent where candidates can work if they prefer an office environment.

We communicate using Slack, Microsoft Teams and email. We use these methods when communicating between ourselves, the rest of the business and new candidates.

For recruiters, we communicate using LinkedIn and email.

Whether you are a candidate or a recruiter, we aim to give feedback quickly.

For candidates, we will keep in constant contact with you after the interview. The majority of that feedback will be via email. We will also be available for extra video calls if you have additional questions.

For recruiters, after an interview, we will get back to you within 24 hours, via email.

The Head of Brand and Development has been at Blue Bay Travel since 2007. The Software Development Manager joined in 2012. Currently, there are five other developers in the team. All have been with the business for over two years.

We want to build a long-term team.

PHP, JavaScript and MySQL. All our projects follow this stack. Within these languages we have used the Laravel framework since 2014 and Vue.js since 2015.

We try to keep it simple and enjoyable for each candidate.

We do a 50-minute Microsoft Teams interview. Candidates do not need to install Teams to have the interview. We will invite them to a meeting which gives them a link to a web version of the app.

In this meeting, we ask candidates questions that are usually based on their CV. Then we allow candidates to show us their portfolio projects. Finally, we allow candidates to ask us any questions they may have.

After this, if another interview is needed, we try to focus on the candidate’s problem-solving abilities. We will show the candidate a coding problem and ask them to talk through their methods of debugging an issue like this. We’re hoping to see what resources and techniques they use. We will not ask the candidate to live code a full solution.

Alex Bowers, the Software Development Manager, will usually conduct the interview. There is sometimes another person involved, to take notes. This will either be a Development or HR team member.

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Planning to Combine Business and Leisure Travel? You’re Not Alone.

As employees increasingly add leisure time to their business trips, companies are trying to figure out where their duty of care obligations begin and end.

Credit... Aart-Jan Venema

Supported by

By Amy Zipkin

• April 7, 2024

On a Sunday in late January, Melinda Buchmann, who lives in Florida and supervises client relations for RevShoppe, a 30-person remote company advising organizations on sales techniques and strategies, arrived in Banff, Alberta, to help set up a four-day company meeting.

The last day of the event, her husband, Josh, a director of strategic partnerships for the delivery company DoorDash , who also works remotely, joined her. They spent two leisurely days hiking in Banff National Park and visiting Lake Louise.

“I take advantage, because I don’t know when I’m going to return,” Ms. Buchmann said of the decision to combine downtime with a business trip.

As postpandemic work life has changed, and arrangements now include full-time office attendance as well as hybrid and remote work, so, too, has business travel. The phenomenon known as bleisure, or blended business and leisure travel, was initially embraced largely by digital nomads . But such combined travel is now also popular with people outside that group . Allied Market Research, a subsidiary of Allied Analytics, based in Portland, Ore., estimated that the bleisure travel market was $315.3 billion in 2022 and would reach $731.4 billion by 2032.

As employees increasingly add leisure time to their business trips, companies are struggling to determine where their legal obligation to protect employees from harm — their so-called duty of care — begins and ends. And workers may think that because their trip started with business, they will get all the help they need if something goes wrong on the leisure end. Instead, they should generally consider the leisure part of a trip as a regular vacation where they cover all expenses and contingencies.

Companies are responsible for knowing where their employees are during a business trip, covering expenses if an accident or emergency occurs, securing new lodging if a hotel is damaged, even swapping out a broken down rental car. Still, it’s not entirely clear if that coverage ends completely after the conference or the last client meeting.

Companies recognize that threats are increasing, said Robert Cole, senior research analyst focusing on lodging and leisure travel at Phocuswright, a market research company. They are trying to figure out how to take care of a valuable company resource, the employee, without leaving themselves open to financial risk or potential litigation.

“Crafting a comprehensive policy that balances business objectives, employee well-being and legal considerations can be challenging,” Nikolaos Gkolfinopoulos, head of tourism at ICF, a consulting and technology services company in Reston, Va., wrote in an email.

Employees may be on their own without realizing it and may be surprised by out-of-pocket expenses if they require hospital care abroad or evacuation, said Suzanne Morrow, chief executive of InsureMyTrip , an online insurance travel comparison site in Warwick, R.I.

Ms. Morrow said medical coverage provided by a company “is generally only for the dates of the actual business trip abroad.” If travelers are extending the trip for personal travel, she added, “they would want to secure emergency medical coverage for that additional time abroad.”

Employers and employees are left to figure out when the business portion of the trip ends and the leisure segment begins, a significant detail if an employee has a medical emergency. “Where does the corporation liability end?” said Kathy Bedell, senior vice president at BCD Travel, a travel management company.

Companies have varying policies to deal with the new travel amalgam. The chief executive of RevShoppe, Patricia McLaren, based in Austin, Texas, said the company provided flexible travel options and allowed employees to work anywhere they choose.

Even so, there are constraints. The company requires all employees, including executives, to sign liability and insurance waivers when they are on a voluntary company-sponsored trip, such as an off-site meeting. Such waivers typically place responsibility on employees for their own well-being. And if they bring someone, they are responsible for that person’s expenses.

Employees are responsible for requesting the paid time off and notifying their managers of their whereabouts, although that part is not a requirement. Managers have to ensure adequate staffing, Ms. McLaren said.

Elsewhere, employees may not bother to mention the leisure portion of their trip. Eliot Lees, a vice president and managing director at ICF, said he had been on trips as a child with his parents when they combined business and leisure. His parents were academics, who would piggyback vacations onto conferences.

Now he does the same. “I don’t think I ever asked for approval,” he said. (ICF has no formal business-leisure travel policy. It’s allowed as part of personal time off.) After a conference in the Netherlands last year, he spent four days hiking in the northern part of the country.

“I go anywhere, and take more risks than I should,” he said. He said he didn’t carry personal travel or accident insurance.

Any nonchalance may quickly evaporate if a threat emerges. Security experts say even low-risk locations can become high-risk for a few days or weeks of the year.

“Companies are concerned about losing visibility into a traveler’s whereabouts if they booked flights and hotels outside their corporate travel management company,” Benjamin Thorne, senior intelligence manager in London for Crisis24, a subsidiary of GardaWorld, wrote in an email. “The company may think the traveler is in one city when, in reality, they could have booked a holiday package to another nearby city. This lack of visibility by the company makes it difficult to support travelers when a disaster occurs.”

He also raised the possibility that “a traveler with bleisure travel reservations and expectations may find their work trip canceled due to changes in the risk environment or company policy, disrupting their leisure plans.”

Will a company step in off hours if there’s a problem? “That depends on how you are booked,” Mr. Cole, the senior research analyst at Phocuswright, said. A rule of thumb is the further you get from corporate control, the greater the gray area gets.

Half of GoldSpring Consulting’s clients take the responsibility for the entire trip, said Will Tate, a partner at the consultancy based in Cross Roads, Texas, and a certified public accountant. They don’t want the reputational risk. The other half say: “The business trip ended Friday. That’s when we end our duty of care.”

Some companies are trying to define and narrow the gray area. “If you are clearly on personal time, there is no legal requirement for your employer to provide for you,” said Nicole Page, a lawyer whose practice includes employment law at Reavis Page Jump in New York.

Uber provides employees with advisories before a trip, travel assessments, safety tips while traveling and emergency travel assistance, including medical aid, airport travel support, urgent and emergency assistance, and lost or stolen personal property insurance whether they are on business or pleasure travel or a combination.

And at DoorDash, Chris Cherry, head of global safety and security, wrote in an email that “while personal travel is not something we track, we have received requests to extend our travel support capabilities to personal travel.” Mr. Cherry said in those cases, the company has manually added employee leisure itineraries to its travel risk management system and “provided the same level of overwatch that we do for regular business travel.”

The Buchmanns plan to travel this month to Barcelona, Spain, for the McDonald’s Worldwide Convention. DoorDash will have a booth, and Mr. Buchmann will work on the exhibit floor and also entertain clients.

Ms. Buchmann will accompany him. She plans to go sightseeing in the morning, and work in the afternoons and evenings Barcelona time. She will also take three days of paid time off and has shared her plans with Ms. McLaren, the RevShoppe chief executive.

They will stay a day after the conference and plan to visit the Dalí Theater and Museum in Figueres. “I’m sure there will be no shortage of tapas and window shopping along way,” Mr. Buchmann said. He expects to be back at work the next Monday.

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What time the 2024 solar eclipse started, reached peak totality and ended

By Sarah Maddox

Updated on: April 9, 2024 / 5:04 AM EDT / CBS News

The 2024 solar eclipse will be visible across North America today. As the moon's position between the Earth and sun casts a shadow on North America, that shadow, or umbra, will travel along the surface from west to east at more than 1,500 miles per hour along the path of totality . 

That means the eclipse will start, peak and end at different times — as will the moments of total darkness along the path of totality — and the best time to view the eclipse depends on where you are located. Some places along the path will have more totality time than others.

In Texas, the south-central region had clouds in the forecast , but it was better to the northeast, according to the National Weather Service. The best eclipse viewing weather was expected in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, as well as in Canada's New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

What time does the 2024 total solar eclipse start?

The total solar eclipse will emerge over the South Pacific Ocean before the shadow falls across North America, beginning in parts of Mexico. The path of totality , where onlookers can witness the moon fully blocking the sun (through eclipse viewing glasses for safety ), is expected to first make landfall near the city of Mazatlán around 9:51 a.m. MT. 

The total solar eclipse will cross over the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas, where it will emerge over Eagle Pass at 12:10 p.m. CT and then peak at about 1:27 p.m. CT.

In Dallas, NASA data shows the partial eclipse will first become visible at 12:23 p.m. CT and peak at 1:40 p.m. CT. The next states in the path of totality are Oklahoma and Arkansas, where the eclipse begins in Little Rock at 12:33 p.m. CT. 

Cleveland will see the beginning of the eclipse at 1:59 p.m. ET. Darkness will start spreading over the sky in Buffalo, New York, at 2:04 p.m. ET. Then, the eclipse will reach northwestern Vermont, including Burlington, at 2:14 p.m. ET. Parts of New Hampshire and Maine will also follow in the path of totality before the eclipse first reaches the Canadian mainland  at 3:13 p.m. ET.

Although the experience won't be exactly the same, viewers in all the contiguous U.S. states outside the path of totality will still be able to see a partial eclipse. Some places will see most of the sun blocked by the moon, including Washington, D.C., where the partial eclipse will start at 2:04 p.m. ET and peak at about 3:20 p.m. ET.

In Chicago, viewers can start viewing the partial eclipse at 12:51 p.m. CT, with the peak arriving at 2:07 p.m. CT.  In Detroit, viewers will be able to enjoy a near-total eclipse beginning at 1:58 p.m. ET and peaking at 3:14 p.m. ET.

New York City will also see a substantial partial eclipse, beginning at 2:10 p.m. ET and peaking around 3:25 p.m. ET.

In Boston it will begin at 2:16 p.m. ET and peak at about 3:29 p.m. ET.

The below table by NASA shows when the eclipse will start, peak and end in 13 cities along the eclipse's path.

What time will the solar eclipse reach peak totality?

Millions more people will have the chance to witness the total solar eclipse this year than during the last total solar eclipse , which was visible from the U.S. in 2017. 

The eclipse's peak will mean something different for cities within the path of totality and for those outside. Within the path of totality, darkness will fall for a few minutes. The longest will last more than 4 minutes, but most places will see between 3.5 and 4 minutes of totality. In cities experiencing a partial eclipse, a percentage of the sun will be obscured for more than two hours.

Mazatlán is set to experience totality at 11:07 am PT. Dallas will be able to see the moon fully cover the sun at 1:40 p.m. CT. Little Rock will start to see the full eclipse at 1:51 p.m. CT, Cleveland at 3:13 p.m. ET and Buffalo at 3:18 p.m. ET. Totality will reach Burlington at 3:26 p.m. ET before moving into the remaining states and reaching Canada around 4:25 p.m.

Outside the path of totality, 87.4% of the sun will be eclipsed in Washington, D.C. at 3:20 p.m. ET, and Chicago will have maximum coverage of 93.9% at 2:07 p.m. CT. New York City is much closer to the path of totality this year than it was in 2017; it will see 89.6% coverage at 3:25 p.m. EDT. 

Detroit is another city that will encounter a near-total eclipse, with 99.2% maximum coverage at 3:14 p.m. ET. Boston will see 92.4% coverage at 3:29 p.m. ET.

What time will the solar eclipse end?

The eclipse will leave continental North America from Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NT, according to NASA.

At the beginning of the path of totality in Mazatlán, the eclipse will be over by 12:32 p.m. PT, and it will leave Dallas at 3:02 p.m. CT. The eclipse will end in Little Rock at 3:11 p.m. CT, Cleveland at 4:29 p.m. CDT and Buffalo at 4:32 p.m. ET. Burlington won't be far behind, with the eclipse concluding at 4:37 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the viewing will end in Chicago at 3:21 p.m. CT, Washington, D.C. at 4:32 p.m. ET, and New York City at 4:36 p.m. ET. 

In Detroit, the partial eclipse will disappear at 4:27 p.m. ET, and in Boston, it will be over at 4:39 p.m. ET.

How long will the eclipse last in total?

The total solar eclipse will begin in Mexico at 11:07 a.m. PT and leave continental North America at 5:16 p.m. NT. From the time the partial eclipse first appears on Earth to its final glimpses before disappearing thousands of miles away, the celestial show will dazzle viewers for about 5 hours, according to timeanddate.com . 

The length of the total solar eclipse at points along the path depends on the viewing location. The longest will be 4 minutes and 28 seconds, northwest of Torreón, Mexico. Near the center of the path, totality takes place for the longest periods of time, according to NASA.

Spectators will observe totality for much longer today than during the 2017 eclipse , when the longest stretch of totality was 2 minutes and 32 seconds.

The moon's shadow seen on Earth today, called the umbra, travels at more than 1,500 miles per hour, according to NASA. It would move even more quickly if the Earth rotated in the opposite direction.

What is the longest a solar eclipse has ever lasted?

The longest known totality was 7 minutes and 28 seconds in 743 B.C. However, NASA says this record will be broken in 2186 with a 7 minute, 29 second total solar eclipse. The next total solar eclipse visible from parts of the U.S. won't happen until Aug. 23, 2044.

Sarah Maddox has been with CBS News since 2019. She works as an associate producer for CBS News Live.

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What Traveling to a Blue Zone Can Teach You About Living Well

By Julia Eskins

It’s just after sunrise, and I’m sitting in a barrel sauna watching howler monkeys devour mangoes in a tree. As one of the primates roars, I plunge into my private ice bath at Silvestre Nosara Hotel & Residences and spring out of the water a couple of minutes later—invigorated equally by the Costa Rican fauna and my suite’s health-focused amenities. In the wellness world, the topic of longevity has never been hotter. And in the surf town of Nosara, nestled on the Central American nation’s Nicoya Peninsula, healthspan-boosting practices like saunas and cold therapy feel especially apt.

This rugged Pacific peninsula dotted with picturesque beaches isn’t just a magnet for surfers and yogis—it’s also one of the world’s original Blue Zones , where people live longer than anywhere else. These geographic areas (the others being Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California) were identified in the aughts. There’s now a revived interest in exploring them, thanks to best-selling author Dan Buettner’s hit Netflix docuseries Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones .

Traveling to a longevity hot spot isn’t always easy. Some Blue Zones have changed drastically due to modernization, and others require a level of discomfort that many travelers would find off-putting, Buettner explains. The Nicoya Peninsula, however, offers a sweet spot in the middle. He points to Nosara as a “gateway destination” to the Blue Zones, where it’s easy to embrace the “Power Nine” principles of centenarians, like moving naturally, eating plant-based foods, and socializing, all while staying at a nice hotel.

“Nosara happens to be in a Blue zone, but it’s an anomaly,” says Buettner. “It offers a remanifestation of a Blue Zone lifestyle in more of a 21st-century American format.”

At the sleek and community-focused Silvestre Nosara, living well is effortless by design. The property, which opened in February 2024 just steps away from the world-famous surf break at Playa Guiones, combines the amenities of a luxury hotel, the comforts of a private home, and the benefits of a health retreat. Days start with private surf lessons, Blue Zone-inspired breakfasts on the rooftop, and yoga classes in a cool subterranean wellness studio.

“These are also great places to meet people and connect,” says Chris Ingham Brooke, co-founder of Silvestre Nosara. “If you’re surrounded by natural beauty and activities, services, and food that benefit your health, it’s very easy to live well.”

Designed in collaboration with local architecture and design firms, the property’s nine spacious residences are ideal for families and groups of friends (think full kitchens that can be stocked with ingredients from the region’s top producers). Most of the bonding happens at the serene rooftop bar and restaurant—complete with an infinity pool overlooking a canopy of reforested trees and craft cocktails featuring local ingredients like naranjilla and cactus juice.

By Hayley Maitland

By Christian Allaire

By Hannah Coates

It’s here I get a taste of Nicoya’s most tangible fountain of youth: its food—and the kinship shared over an inspiring meal by Silvestre’s private chef, Esteban Rojas. Between bites of cassava croquettes and “Grandma’s Glory” plantains with buffalo milk gelato, our group spends hours chatting and sipping wine (a Blue Zone-approved pairing) under the stars.

Rojas is one of the few chefs in Nosara specializing in high-end Costa Rican cuisine, though the area has a top-notch restaurant scene. For a truly local experience, he recommends Soda Playa Garza, where you’ll find a woman in her 90s cooking up casados (combo plates of rice, beans, plantain, vegetables, and a protein) by the ocean.

“This region has a lot to offer—beans, fresh seafood, clean air, and healthy crops—but more than food, it’s also the lifestyle,” says Rojas. “We can learn a lot from the locals. Life’s too short not to enjoy the small moments.”

Simple pleasures weave the fabric of Nosara’s tight-knit community. Watching the sunset is a daily downshifting ritual on Playa Guiones. The neighboring beach, Playa Pelada, offers an equally gorgeous vista, best enjoyed at La Luna restaurant. Between surfing and sound bathing, I explore the town’s fresh array of cafés and shops: Alberka and Love Nosara are go-to boutiques for elevated beachwear; Destiny Café and Organico Bakery offer fresh smoothies and salads; and a bustling farmers market happens every Tuesday.

On my final night in Nosara, we make the pilgrimage up to Coyol , a hilltop restaurant with a million-dollar view. A wall of photographs of wise Nicoyans greets us at the entrance of the rustic farmhouse-style building, which opens up to a spectacular 180-degree panorama over a valley and the ocean—and as we watch the sun plunge into the Pacific, leaving behind a lasting golden glow, time seems to stand still. Traveling to a Blue Zone won’t necessarily extend your life, but it might teach you a few lessons about living it to the fullest.

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Latest Headlines | Rachel Kippen, Our Ocean Backyard | By-the-wind…

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Latest headlines | rachel kippen, our ocean backyard | by-the-wind sailors make seasonal appearance on the central coast.

In the past few weeks, Monterey Bay beaches have been carpeted with the bright blue and transparent bodies of Velella velella, also known as “By-the-wind sailors,” which are colonial, gelatinous animals that often travel in rafts and are propelled by the wind and ocean currents.

There is something magical about observing thousands of these otherworldly, miniature sailboats that have traversed the world’s oceans for approximately 350 million years. It feels extra special to encounter them gliding between actual sailboats. It reminds me of videos I’ve seen of vultures soaring next to humans paragliding. Nature is the original architect.

A relative of jellies, coral and anemones, Velella are hydrozoans, a subset of the phylum Cnidaria, a grouping of animals that are soft bodied with stinging cells. Each Velella is a colony of all-male or all-female individual polyps. Polyps are grouped by specialization within the colony – some provide structure, some protect the colony, some feed, and some reproduce – all polyps work together to survive.

Velella are what is known as neuston, organisms that live on the surface of the water and at the interface between the water and air, partly in and partly out of each.

Electric blue and sometimes purple, they are found throughout the world’s oceans and feed on zooplankton and fish eggs. According to Jellywatch.org , a community science website created by MBARI scientist Steve Haddock, the blue serves as “a combination of camouflage and protection from the sun’s rays.” Their diet is supplemented by symbiotic zooxanthellae, or algae cells that photosynthesize to harness the plentiful energy from the sun available on the open ocean’s surface.

Their design is impressive. Velella have flattened, oval bodies full of gas-filled pockets which act as floats. Their underside looks like an upside-down anemone. Tentacles splayed beneath the oval serve to ballast the organism while also catching prey. Affixed atop the flattened oval is a firm, upright, triangular sail called a dorsal extension. With no independent form of movement, Velella rely on the wind to travel. According to the Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network ,

Velella “almost always tack at about 45 degrees to the right of the prevailing northwesterlies. This is normally enough to keep them offshore, however southerly or extremely strong onshore winds can cause them to spin around and follow the wind at a much closer angle that brings them toward land.”

Scientists and observers describe individuals as either “left-handed” or “right-handed” based on the direction of the s-curve of the sail when looking at the animal from above. Left-handed refers to animals with a sail that goes from the upper-left to lower-right along their long body axis. Right-handed means the sail extends from the upper right to the lower left. According to the National Park Service, “Due to the prevailing winds in different parts of the world, left-handed Velella are usually found in the Northern Hemisphere, while right-handed ones are usually found in the Southern Hemisphere.”

You may have noticed a particularly fishy smell wafting from beaches where they’ve found their final resting place and begun to decompose. You might have even walked by dozens on the sand without knowing, as they can hang around in the wrack line blending in with white, scattered bird feathers. As they dehydrate in the sun and die, they lose their pigment and can be mistaken for pieces of plastic. The circular ridges on their body look similar to a fingerprint, almost like peeling Elmer’s glue from your finger pads.

Locally, beachgoers have reported mass numbers throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, including along North Coast shorelines and extending beyond county lines into San Mateo and at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica. A blue tide of Velella continues to strand on Monterey beaches, floating into Monterey harbor and bobbing along in the tide pools of Pacific Grove like toy boats in a bubble bath. Mass strandings are not guaranteed each year but tend to occur in the spring, aligned with shifts to prevailing onshore winds, and continue into late summer. Oregon reported strandings in March of this year. Millions of Velella washed up along the Pacific coast in 2014 and 2015.

If you’re fortunate enough to spend time on the water with living Velella, don’t worry, they’re not dangerous to humans. Their sting can kill small animals like larval fish and plankton, but our skin protects us from the sensitivity required to feel much of anything. Maybe, just don’t try to lick one or swim bare faced into a bloom.

Velella have relatively few predators as they are toxic and have low caloric value. They are hunted by an equally fantastical pelagic sea slug named the blue sea dragon and are a favorite snack for ocean sunfish. Lucky kayakers and boaters occasionally catch a glimpse of sunfish surfacing under floating rafts of Velella, funneling the gooey boats into their mouths. I’ve observed several individuals caught and eaten by anemones aggregating on jetty walls, pier pilings, harbor docks, and tide pools. Occasionally they are eaten by birds and turtles.

This month I spent an afternoon paddling off the coast of Monterey where clusters of hundreds of Velella drifted in patches, and, depending on their location, broke up and floated individually. Their locations clearly mapped the often-unseen movement of wind and water. Hordes of Velella entangled in the tops of kelp forests and shoved plush against docks.

Other patties buoyed peacefully, protected from wind surges behind structures like jetties and the overhanging decks of oceanfront restaurants. On the high tide, Velella moved in and hugged the coast. As the tide receded, the less fortunate animals flipped and tumbled in the surf and wound up too tattered to function or ultimately landed on the sand.

Gelatinous organisms can be indicators of a changing climate as some species do well in warmer and more acidic water. According to a study published in the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal in 2021, Velella blooms and strandings need further study to determine their prevalence and relationship to climate change factors like increasing ocean temperatures.

Although they are a pelagic species, due to the nature of some of their travels concluding nearshore and beached, strandings are opportunities for the general public to contribute meaningful data to scientistic studies. Community members are encouraged to photograph and report Velellas and any other gelatinous organisms at jellywatch.org and through the iNaturalist application by visiting inaturalist.org .

Rachel Kippen is an ocean educator and sustainability advocate in Santa Cruz County and can be reached at [email protected].

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