Priceline Cruises kicks off wave season with exclusive Hotel Bonus Cash Coupons and stateroom upgrades. Book an oceanview or higher stateroom on any 5-6 night cruise and receive a bonus cash coupon valid toward a 1-night Name Your Own Price® hotel stay. Book an oceanview or higher stateroom on any 7 nights or longer cruise and receive a bonus cash coupon valid toward a 2-night Name Your Own Price® hotel stay. For full details and restrictions, visit cruises.priceline.com.

Fly to NYC this winter just $49 each way out of Atlanta. The $49 rate is relatively easy to land, and it’s valid on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday with other days priced at $69, even Sundays. Give a 14-day advance notice of travel and finish trips on or before March 11 to take advantage of this deal.

Stay at a small Queen Room at the Ace Hotel in New York City for just $152 a night when you book by January 21 for travel through April 30, 2010. The hotel’s restaurant, The Breslin, doesn’t take reservations, so most patrons have to cool their heels at the bar for hours before snagging a table. Hotel guests, however, can skip the line and get on a priority list.

New York City skiers and snowboarders will want to read Matt Gross’ report on Metro-North Railroad’s one-day getaway to Thunder Ridge Ski Area, in Patterson, N.Y. At $51.50 for round-trip train fare and an all-day lift ticket ($50.43 if you order online), it’s nearly $30 less than comparable bus trips. Even better, Thunder Ridge has night skiing (included in the one-day getaway package), so even with an early-afternoon arrival you can ski for seven hours and catch the 8:55 p.m. train back to the city.

£68 & up for a modern hotel in Amsterdam. Located near the Amsterdam historical centre, it offers high quality accommodation. This modern design hotel offers you trendy rooms, all equipped with contemporary amenities. All rooms and public areas have free Wi-Fi!

Valentine’s Day travel deal: celebrate any day in February at the Ritz-Carlton in Denver. The package is $589 per night, pre-tax, and includes dinner, jewelry, and more. It’s available the whole month of February (based on availability). And you can get it just for one night — there is no two-night minimum, even on Valentine’s Day weekend.

$143 a night for Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards for Thursday-Sunday stays from Jan. 22 – March 31. The AAA 3-Diamond hotel is a short walk to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and National Aquarium. Guests will enjoy the new Marriott Revive bed, high-speed Internet access and fitness club.

$119 and up for stays at Boston’s Waterfront Harbor Hotel. The Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel offers Thursday-Sunday night stays through March 7 for $119-$135 per night. This saves 20% off regular weekend rates during this time.

Also in Boston, $103 a night for the Cambridge Hotel over winter weekends. Located two subway stops and across the Charles River from downtown Boston, the Boston Marriott Cambridge is centrally located in Kendall Square close to top universities such as MIT, Harvard, and Boston University.

Travelzoo’s Senior Editor Gabe Saglie and his team of experts have just released 5 “wow” travel destinations for 2010. The destinations include Las Vegas and the Caribbean, perennial favorites popular among Chicago area travelers. Central America, becoming more popular with Midwesterners also made the list. And for those who want a real “wow”, destination Gabe recommends China and South Africa. And for other great deals, be sure to follow our RSS feed and @BesTravelDeals on Twitter!

Last Friday we reported that the world’s largest cruise ship was scheduled to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale, and our readers turned out in droves to see it! So much so, in fact, that the 225,000-ton vessel, which can hold more than 6,000 passengers, has drawn in a flood of spectators trying to get a closer look and asking to take a tour. Since USA Today is reporting that the large crowds of people and vehicles coming to the port have caused massive traffic jams, why don’t you just click here instead to get a closer look at Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas!

New ARIA Resort & Casino opening in Las Vegas boasts a special introductory offer of $159 a night, plus guests staying through April 1st, 2010 will recieve $75 resort credit! The new resort includes a 150,000 square-foot casino and over 4,000 rooms complete with 42-inch flat-screen televisions, 13 eateries, 9 bars, 3 pools, and an 80,000 square-foot spa.

Be sure to read Tom Koppel’s account of exploring by kayak the ruins of Nan Madol, a former royal city in the South Pacific, and Tom Robbins’ article for today’s The Observer about the best-kept secrets of Switzerland’s Snowmotions, a company devoted to helping skiers and boarders explore the Swiss canton of Graubünden where children can learn to ski safely, and hardcore skiers can find virgin powder fields.

And if you’re looking to sail the Caribbean yet want to spend little or no money, (perhaps even get paid for it!) then you’ll want to be sure to read Matt Gross’ latest article in today’s NY Times entitled ‘Sailing the Caribbean, the Frugal Way’ where he details his experience as a crew-member aboard the S.V. Illusion. He includes a list of where to eat and drink on some of the smaller islands, and even provides a few web sites to get you started finding your own cut-rate deals on a Caribbean vacation.

And, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, now is the time to book your Christmas vacation. If you’re planning to visit New Orleans, be sure to check out the great deals available on the official New Orleans Tourism site, or simply review all the great Christmas Deals the traveler community has posted on our own site, right here at BestTravelDeals.net!