By Sara K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinel

Celebrity Resorts LLC and its affiliates have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing tens of millions in estimated liabilities.

The Orlando-based time-share company listed just two unsecured creditors, International Escrow Services of Atlanta and Resort Condominiums International of Carmel, Ind. But about three dozen other filings, including Celebrity Resorts of Orlando LLC and Celebrity Resorts of Lake Buena Vista LLC, listed pages of additional creditors.

In the bankruptcy filings, the company’s chief executive officer, Jared Myers, said he is owed $680,812 in unpaid compensation. A lawyer for the company could not be immediately reached for comment.

Celebrity Resorts began showing signs of distress as early as July 2008, when it announced it was cutting an unspecified number of jobs and eliminating an area of its marketing business that was unprofitable.

According to the time-share company’s Web site, Celebrity Resorts has properties in 13 locations across the U.S. The company was formerly known as Resort World, a family-owned business that started selling time shares in the Caribbean in the 1970s and then in the Orlando area in the 1980s

Airfare:
Travelzoo just announced special airfares to Hawaii from 11 US cities including, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Denver, Des Moines, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, Asheville, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. starting as low as $291. Many of these flights normally start at $800 roundtrip or more. Your travel just has to be completed between now and May 20. Go to this link for more information and to book your flight: http://www.united.com/page/article/1,,50078,00.html

Accommodations:
SummitPacific is running a list of owner rented Kauai vacation rental homes and condos that are being offered at up to 40% off the regular low rates. To get these rates visit this link Hawaii Vacation Deals. Although there is only a limited number of properties listed on the above page. You can see more options for great Kauai vacation rentals.

Car Rentals:
And finally, to rent a car on any of the islands at up to 50% off all islands, be sure to check out SummitPacific’s Hawaii Car Rental deals. Summit has negotiated special rates from Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Alamo, and Enterprise. These rates are so low that they aren’t allowed to even mention the company’s name in their advertising, but when you send in your request, you’ll hear back from the car rental company with the lowest rate.

What could be better?  Or easier?

Hale Emmalani in Princeville is a 3 bedroom home that can accommodate up to 10 guests and it even has its own private lap pool.

Hale Kepuhi Beachfront Home is a beach lover’s dream home. Located near the end of the road in Haena, guests can enjoy a gorgeous stretch of beach in front of the home, nearby Tunnels Beach, or they can sit on watch the ocean right from this spectacular home’s large private lanais.

The Dolphin Estate is a 5 bedroom beachfront home perfectly located on Hanalei Bay. This is the ultimate getaway for those that can afford the best.

Kainalu Hanalei is just short walk to the beach and also convenient to the town of Hanalei.

SummitPacific has a growing number of fine vacation rental homes on Kauai available for weekly and monthly rentals. Beach homes and Kauai cottages offer a great value over hotels and resorts, and a large variety of choices is available. SummitPacific has options from Haena, Hanalei, Princeville, Anahola, and Poipu and lots of places in between. You’ll find a wide range of prices to fit your budget.

Vacation homes offer a good value when compared to staying in a hotel. Especially for families or those traveling in groups or with other couples.  When you compare the amount of private living space with a hotel room you’ll see the difference.  Plus, vacation homes don’t have all the extra charges that you’ll incur in a hotel.  Many homes come with extras like entertainment centers, wide screen TVs and DVDs.  Free parking and even garages are available, plus many homes have a closet full of beach toys, coolers and beach chairs waiting for you.

Privacy is also a plus with vacation homes. You can come and go as you please without walking through crowed hotel lobbys.  Vacation homes are more like staying at, well… like staying at home.

Of course hotels do offer some advantages that are hard to beat.  Things like in-house restaurants, bell service, concierge desks, and other services are nice.  But you should consider what type of vacation you are expecting and what is important to you.  Remember, it’s your vacation.

“There was no assessment of any damage in any county, which is quite remarkable,” said Gov. Linda Lingle, who said witnesses had reported seeing “dramatic surges going on in the ocean.”

An official with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the island chain had “dodged a bullet” after smaller-than-expected waves were reported as a result of a massive earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday.

The first waves of the tsunami were recorded on The Big Island around noon (5 p.m. ET), 16 hours after the Chilean temblor.

Gauges showed water levels rising 3 feet in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii and remaining at that level.

“It’s almost the best sort of tsunami you can possibly have, one that’s big enough that everyone sees that something happened, but not big enough to cause any damage,” said Gerald Fryer, a geophysicist with the warning center.

The arrival of the tsunami waves was preceded by receding water that exposed reefs and churned up silt.

Earlier, Hawaiian residents scrambled to stock up on water, gas and food as sirens pierced the early morning quiet across the islands ahead of the tsunami.

Roads to beaches and other low-lying areas were closed and seaside hotels were moving guests to higher ground.

At Honolulu’s Hilton Waikoloa Hotel, guests with cars headed inland and buses moved hundreds of others to a nearby evacuation center.

At supermarkets, residents stocked up on essentials like water and toilet paper in anticipation of the high waters. One sign at a local store limited families to two cases of Spam.

Beaches that would normally be crowded with sunbathers at midday on a Saturday were deserted. Commercial and recreational vessels seeking safe waters lined up a mile off the coast.

County sirens were sounding hourly “to alert residents and visitors to evacuate coastal areas,” Hawaii’s Civil Defense Division said in a statement.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning, the highest level of a tsunami alert, for the entire Pacific region, including countries as far away as Russia, Japan and Australia.

At the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center in Melbourne, Australia, co-director Chris Ryan said tsunami waves were beginning to strike parts of Tasmania “and we expect to begin to see more measurements along the Victoria and New South Wales coasts.”

He predicted waves would reach a height of about half a meter (1.6 feet) above normal tide levels, but predicted they would cause little damage.

California and Alaska are under a tsunami advisory.

Tsunami waves came ashore along the Chilean coast shortly after the earthquake, U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Victor Sardina told CNN.

He said the largest was 9 feet near the quake’s epicenter. Another wave, 7.7 feet, hit the Chilean town of Talcahuano, according to Eric Lau of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Video from the town showed one car sitting in a large expanse of water and boats littering the docks.

A large wave on the island of Juan Fernandez — 400 miles (643 km) off Chile’s coast — killed three people, Provincial Governor Ivan De La Maza said. Ten people were missing.

Navigational buoys in Ventura County, California, sustained minor damage as a result of a 2-foot surge and waves, according to the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. The Ventura County Fire Department had one report of damage to a resident’s dock from the surge.

Speaking Saturday afternoon in Washington, President Obama urged people in Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa, also under a tsunami warning, to prepare.

“We can’t control nature, but we can and must be prepared for disaster when it strikes,” he said in a brief statement at the White House.

The 13th Air Force, in Hawaii, launched planes carrying loudspeakers to alert people in coastal areas not near sirens to evacuate.

Before the tsunami struck, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle said she had already declared a state of emergency.

In 1960, a tsunami triggered by an earthquake on South America’s west coast destroyed much of downtown Hilo and killed 61 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake had a magnitude between 8.25 and 8.5, the USGS said, and the waves in Hilo Bay reached 35 feet, but only 3 to 17 elsewhere.

CNN’s Thelma Gutierrez, Mike Ahlers and Carey Bodenheimer contributed to this report.

The “Big Island” of Hawaii may face the biggest threat of wave damage, officials on the islands said.

“Residents right on the coast should be concerned and evacuate the coast,” especially in places like Hilo Bay on the island of Hawaii, said Barry Hirshorn, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

The tsunami-warning center’s models, based on readings from sensors, are predicting “very rough waves” from six to 10 feet high by the time the tsunami hits Hawaii at about 11:00 a.m. local time, Mr. Hirshorn [cq] said. Any major tsunami waves could be damaging, he said, because “the don’t crash on the beach. They streamroll in and they streamroll out.”

Evacuations were taking place on low-lying areas throughout the state, including the islands of Maui, Kauai and the most populated island, Oahu, where Honolulu lies.

The last time statewide evacuations were ordered for a tsunami was in 1994, but large waves failed to materialize then.

Some of the most intense preparations were taking place in the greater Hilo area, said Bill Hanson, administrative officer with the Hawaii County Civil Defense on the Big Island. The city of Hilo is situated on the southeastern side of the Big Island, facing the direction from which a tsunami wave as high as 14 feet was projected to hit, Mr. Hanson said.

The city is preparing for major damage if the waves are big. “It’s not a matter of if, but when it will happen,” Mr. Hanson said.

Federal officials closed the Hilo International Airport at 5:30 a.m. Saturday so the estimated 5,000 residents of coastal subdivisions lying next to it could evacuate more quickly across the tarmac, Mr. Hanson said.

Hotels were also emptying guests out of resorts. At the beachfront Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, officials said they had begun evacuating guests from the 286-room resort before tsunami sirens were scheduled to sound across Hawaii at about 6 a.m. They didn’t have an estimate on evacuees, but said the hotel was 75% full.

Hotel staff, meanwhile, said they planned to follow suit afterwards. Desk clerk Marian Somalinog said she planned to evacuate at 9:30 a.m. — almost two hours ahead of when the wave was expected to hit — but added that she wasn’t overly concerned. “If it’s my time to go it’s my time to go,” Ms. Somalinog said.

The warnings were being taken seriously in Hawaii because the state — especially around Hilo — has been hit by giant tsunami waves before. At least three big ones have struck Hilo since World War II, including one in 1946 that killed 163 people and another in 1960 that killed 61, said Mr. Hanson.

The most recent loss of life from a tsunami on the island occurred in 1975 when a big wave killed three campers at a beachfront park, he said.

Authorities were hoping loss of life would be minimized this time, in part because tsunami drills are commonplace on the Big Island and throughout Hawaii. Evacuations were also being ordered on other parts of the island, including the affluent Kohala Kona coast where many large resorts are situated.

Waves there were expected to rise as much as seven feet. Other parts of Hawaii, including Maui and Oahu, were not considered in as great a threat because the Big Island lies in the path of the projected tsunami wave and would take the brunt of its force, Mr. Hanson said.

In Hilo, most of the area’s 50,000 residents live on ground high enough to escape much damage from a tsunami. The area of greatest concern is a coastal plain around Hilo Bay where the Keaukaha subdivision by the international airport is located, as well as downtown Hilo.

Elsewhere, the tsunami was disrupting air routes to and from Hawaii. At San Francisco International Airport, delays in flights to airports in Hawaii were being reported as a result of the tsunami preparations.

People should stay away from coastlines for six to 12 hours after the wave to be safe, said Mr. Hirshorn, because the first waves aren’t necessarily the biggest

For reasons that this writer doesn’t understand, Celebrity just doesn’t seem capable of running a restaurant and bar. Not that it and easy business, but with the location, view, and setting of this restaurant/bar it would seem that someone with even a little bit of restaurant know-how could make it work; and work well.

The Happy Talk, once one of the hottest spots on Kauai’s north shore was a great place to hang out, eat a burger, watch a game and listen to some of the best musicians on the island. It was hard to get a table. But for whatever reason, Celebrity hasn’t been able to make it work over the past couple of years. Yes, this is a bad economy. Yes, visitor occupancy at Hanalei Bay Resort (like the rest of Hawaii) is down, but still… people still need to unwind and listen to music right? I thought alcohol was recession proof?

Celebrity Resorts is looking to sell both the Happy Talk Lounge and the Bali Hai Restaurant. Let’s hope they do it soon. Anyone interested in owning a restaurant in paradise?

The ARDEL project will test and evaluate a new radar system planned for the next generation of surface combatant vessels, designed to strengthen the Navy’s ability to detect, track, and provide information required to engage ballistic missiles at greater distances than current systems in use, as well as more elusive long-range air threats, the release states.

The advanced technologies of the new radar incorporate various aspects of ballistic missile defense, air defense and surface warfare.

According to the Department of the Navy’s environmental assessment of the project, the purpose of the ARDEL facility is to test advanced radar technologies including the Air and Missile Defense Radar.

According to AMDR Major Program Manager Capt. Larry Creevy, AMDR is a next-generation radar system designed to address the BMD, AD, and SuW capability gaps identified in the Maritime Air and Missile Defense of Joint Forces Initial Capabilities Document.

AMDR is envisioned to counter current and emergent ballistic missile, air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missile threats.

“This advanced radar project will not only further the Navy’s ability to protect and serve our nation and our allies, but also strengthen PMRF’s status as a diverse and important training and test and evaluation resource for our country,” said Capt. Aaron Cudnohufsky, PMRF commanding officer.

The Department of the Navy chose PMRF for the new ARDEL facility due to Barking Sands’ ability to provide integrated range services in a modern, multi-threat, multi-dimensional environment, from space to the ocean floor, that ensures the safe conduct and evaluation of training and test and evaluation missions.

PMRF was the only potential build location that met the required test and evaluation criteria that could completely support the proposed development of a land-based testing site while providing targets that are representative of the threats Navy vessels may encounter in their operational environment, the release states.

Test and evaluation of the new radar technologies would include the use of targets of opportunity on the PMRF range.

“PMRF has been working closely with the ARDEL project for some time, and breaking ground on the construction of this facility will put us a step closer to actually realizing a new capability here,” said Cudnohufsky.

The two-story ARDEL facility will consist of a radar tower, mechanical and electrical rooms, radar chiller room, control rooms, equipment storage and loading areas, data processing room and other supporting spaces.

The facility will be built with a silver designation of the Navy’s Leadership Energy and Environmental Design building standards.

Developed in the 1990s by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a certification system for environmentally friendly construction, indicating the project meets or exceeds government mandates as well as industry standards.

Buildings can achieve certified, silver, gold or platinum designation of LEED compliance. The Navy requires all construction and major renovation projects to be compliant to LEED silver standards or better, the release states.

The traditional image of a radar antenna is the rotating, parabolic antenna as seen on top of airport control towers and aircraft carriers.

In contrast, the two radars of the ARDEL facility are similar to the radars of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense radar system, currently operating at PMRF, and to the AEGIS system in use on Navy vessels.

“This facility will be the birthplace for the most advanced radar the world has ever seen in the most capable Navy the world has ever seen. It will fulfill missile-defense requirements recently identified by President Obama,” said Creevy.

The ARDEL facility will have six permanent staff that could be augmented to the projected peak number of 40 persons during radar testing.

The facility would be manned 24 hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific awarded the $18.5 million contract to Tomco Corp. of Honolulu for design and construction of the ARDEL facility. The facility is expected to be completed by August 2011.

Prince Kuhio, next to Prince Kuhio Park and across the street from Kuhio Shores, is a hidden gem and a delight. It’s quaint and quiet and close to restaurants, shopping and one of the island’s best snorkeling spots, Prince Kuhio is quite affordable with prices starting at just over $160/night plus taxes and fees.

The resort features a swimming pool, beautiful grounds and an outdoor barbeque area.

I grew up in the high desert regions of the west in Idaho, Utah, and Arizona with a four season’s lifestyle that included mild summers, beautiful fall colors, and very cold winters with lots of snow. (Because the word “cold” is subjective; let me just say that in Idaho, I remember mornings when it was 30 to 40 degrees below zero…Fahrenheit) As I grew up, it seemed that spring came later and later every year. March and April often were just sort of mud months. Things would start to warm up and bam – another snow storm would hit and send us back into winter. Luckily I did a lot of skiing and thought I could never give up my winters. I was pretty sure that I needed four seasons.

Then I got into bike and triathlon racing. In order to have a great racing season, it was necessary to have a long summer with lots of time on the bike. I started to spend my winters in Arizona so that I could train outdoors all winter. I soon realized it was pretty easy to go without snow. I didn’t miss it at all. Spending December in shorts and t-shirts was pretty nice. But let me tell you, summers in Arizona are brutal and worse than winters in Idaho. When people try to tell you that 120 degrees in the shade is okay because it’s a “dry heat” don’t listen to them. 120 degrees with or without humidity isn’t fun.

During the last 30 years or so, I’ve spend weeks and months at a time in Hawaii. Hawaii has an ideal climate year round. From the moment you step off the plane, the first thing that you notice it the moisture in the air; that and the fact that much of the airport in Honolulu is open air. Why have walls when the temperature outside is perfect?

The humidity is only a problem until you learn to dress down and relax. Ditch your shoes and socks and put on some sandals. Put on some shorts and a short sleeve Aloha shirt – after all you’re on vacation. Everybody in Hawaii is on vacation. Even if they don’t know it, they’re on vacation. Once you acclimatize, you’ll start to notice that your body actually likes moisture in the air. Your skin will feel better, your hair will look and feel better, and your sinuses will improve. Why wouldn’t they, you’re breathing clean moist air that has just blown 3000 miles across the Pacific Ocean. When I fly home to the high desert plains of Utah, the first thing I notice is that my nose dries out and my sinuses starts to bleed, my hands and fingers develop painful cracks, and my hair gets all full of static and becomes brittle. My skin dries out and I get itchy. I long for moisture again.

Hawaii’s temperature stays nice all year round. The average temperature in Maui ranges from highs of about 80 to 88 Fahrenheit through the year and lows down to about 65 in January. Water temperatures range from about 75 in the winter to 73 in the summer. Kauai weather is a little cooler with temperatures averaging about 2 or 3 degrees below what you can expect on Maui.

Think of that the next time you’re out shoveling your driveway. I do.

Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii – November 24, 2009 — SummitPacific.com, already a leader in marketing Kauai vacation rentals, is now letting owners of timeshare units a free way to advertise timeshare resales at Hanalei Bay Resort.

Hanalei Bay Resort, a beautiful 22 acre destination resort on the north shore of the Hawaiian island of Kauai is located next door to the new St. Regis Princeville Hotel. The resort has both timeshare ownership and also full unit ownerships. SummitPacific has long provided a way for owners to advertise full owner condos for rent in the popular vacation rentals market, but now for the first time, SummitPacific is also allowing those that have purchased timeshares at Hanalei Bay Resort a way to resale their interval ownerships.

Advertising Timeshare Resales at Hanalei Bay Resort is Free on Summit Pacific.

“What we’re trying to do is offer those that purchased timeshare ownerships at the resort a way to resale those units without incurring a lot of expenses.” said Doug Porter, president of Summit Pacific, Inc (and also a condo owner at the resort). “Creating an aftermarket for timeshares is healthy for the market and takes a lot of uncertainty and fear out of decision to buy a timeshare because people know when they buy they will also have a way to resale it later if they need to.”

Of course the timeshare resale market is great place to pick up deals on vacation rental ownership; especially right now when many people are struggling with financial problems caused by the poor economy. “We’re seeing people offering their weeks for unbelievably low prices – sometimes as low as 10 cents on the dollar.” “This is primarily a short term result of the bad economy and also by the frustration people have had in not having a good way until now to re-sale their units.” “Once these deals are gone, we expect the market to stabilize.”

Summit Pacific is not affiliated with Hanalei Bay Resort or the primary resellers of timeshares at the resort. “We feel we’re more affiliated with the individual condo and timeshare owners at the resort than we have been with the resort operators,” says Porter.