Looking for a Relaxing Adult Vacation?

School will be out for most families in the next 2 weeks. That marks the beginning of Family Travel Season - and predictions are that family travel will break records this year. If you'll be planning an "adult vacation" this summer, beware!

The huge explosion in the popularity of Family Vacations has unwittingly caused a challenge for those looking for a quiet, adult atmosphere.  As more and more resorts and cruise lines place greater emphasis on capturing their share of this massive trend, the sanctity of adult-oriented vacation spots is at risk.

Very frequently, a client of our travel agency asks us to arrange a "return" to a special place. Maybe it's the romantic spa resort they loved 5 years ago. The real and present danger is that this resort may have shifted its marketing direction toward "capturing the wave" of family travel. Here's a personal story form a previous blog post that dramatizes how a previously romantic upscale resort quietly (pun intended!) became a family-oriented place complete with water slides and kid's menus.

Over the years, we had a particular cruise line that we liked. Today, it is more like a family cruise line. With Disney Cruise Line, their targeted clientele is obvious... with other upscale lines that historically enjoyed a sophisticated image, it's not so obvious.

When you are embarking upon a relaxing, renewing escape there is nothing worse than finding yourself in "the wrong place"! I urge you to rely upon a good travel professional for guidance - many people think travel agencies are their most expensive option. They are dead wrong! If you don't have a reliable travel advisor, find one!!!!!!

Cheers,

Dick

We've come to the End of the Road...

Summertime is time to park the Tumi in the closet - for awhile! As we begin the glorious summer season at our Minnesota lake place, it's time to stay off airplanes for a few months. In the past several months, I and my wife have enjoyed some marvelous trips - Panama & Costa Rica, Riviera Maya, New Orleans and South Florida. But, now it's time for summer weekends at our lake place in northern Minnesota and to catch up on the golf game! For those of you fellow Minnesotans (and Wisconsinites), you know that there is no greater place to be during the summer than home!!!

So until our next trip to Europe (a Silversea Cruise through the Adriatic Region from Venice in September) our Tumi luggage resides in deep storage!

Speaking of Cruises in Europe, we are seeing the biggest season ever for selling European Cruises at our travel agency - both Ocean cruises and River Cruises. There are more ships in Europe than ever before - and they are largely sold out already. The cruise lines have already opened booking for 2015 - the earliest that the industry has ever come out with future sailings.

Take a look at my previous post on River Cruising… this is a segment of tourism that is white-hot these days! Of particular interest is sailing the Rhine and Danube during the Holiday Markets season throughout Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.

If you are interested in explanations for this phenomenon, go to Cruise News at www.gatewayexpress.com.

Cheers,
Dick

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Europe's Oceans & Waterways

Hi Everyone,
With the terrific popularity of seeing Europe via Cruise Ship - both Ocean and River cruising-  I thought I would blab on the differences between the two cruise modes. As a veteran of many Ocean Cruises in Europe, my wife and I enjoyed our first River Cruise last year... so here's my 2-cents worth:

Strong Points for River Cruising:

• Smaller ships carrying 100 to 140 passengers promotes a more intimate ambiance and a more personal interaction with crew.
• Beautiful scenery while on the move. River ships are cruising during the day whereas ocean ships typically sail during the night.
• River cruise stops are mostly small towns and villages - and the ships dock right in the middle of town so you can walk to most of the attractions.

Strong Points for Ocean Cruising:

• Larger ships provide more creature comforts and more options for lounging (cocktail hours and late evening lounging), dining, entertainment, spas & fitness centers, etc.
• Full days in port and glorious days at sea. More like a floating resort.
• Cruise ports are typically at larger cities with greater variety of attractions and activities.

See what I mean about "different"? 

In actuality, river cruising is better compared to driving through Europe or a Motorcoach Vacation. A terrific alternative to the hassles of driving or riding the highways of Europe vs sitting back and taking in the scenic wonders from rivers rather than highways. And, you are relieved of having to change hotels every couple days - and all the hassles that entails.

Bottom line is that there are two types of travelers to whom we strongly recommend river cruising:

1. People like us who have seen all there is to see of "Coastal Europe".
2. People who ordinarily would wear themselves out with an arduous driving excursion through Europe. (Here's hint: Virtually all the big tour companies in Europe are now offering a River Cruise product - either their own ships or in a marketing agreement with an existing river cruise company.)

As with all forms of vacations, choosing the right line and the right itinerary are the make or break factors in having a memorable vacation. Find a Travel Professional that knows their stuff. (we would love to entice you to contact our travel agency - Acendas Vacations!)

Cheers,

Dick

Kulula Airlines - an Airline with a Sense of Humor!

Kulula Airlines is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn't take itself too seriously. Here's a picture of one of their planes - named "This Way Up".

This is just one of several planes adorned with very creative - and fun - themes. One is "Flying 101" and another is named "Camouflage".

Here's a link to their website fleet photo gallery.

https://www.kulula.com/info/aircraft-pictures-kulula-fleet-photo-gallery.aspx

If that won't open, just go to www.kulula.com and enter the gallery from the home page.

Too bad Kulula doesn't fly in the U.S.!

Cheers,

Dick

Here's Why You Need a Travel Agent

My agency's most popular Sun Destination is the Riviera Maya. If you look at our web site (and I really hope that you do!) you'll see that we claim to feature 3 or 4 different resort groups along this fabulous Mexican "sun coast".

Every one of them is 4-Star or better; and every one of them is very high quality. So, why do we "specialize" more than one? The answer is simple: Every client has a little different set of interests.

For example, our personal favorite has the very best cuisine and a fabulous spa. And, we love fine dining as well as nice spa facilities and service. But, we are not beach people! We prefer being around the resort's pools. This particular resort does not have a particularly great beach. In getting to know our client, we learn that they love walking the beach and playing in the ocean. Further, they are not spa people. So, for them, our favorite is not right for them. We recommend another resort that does have a gorgeous beach.

Another element: A client matching the desires noted above may have been to XYZ Resort seven years ago, loved the beautiful beach and want to go back. What was a beautiful beach before the last hurricane is now gone. We know that... but do they? Will that resort honestly point out that their beach is gone?

Now, if you look them up on-line, the pictures and descriptions are lovely. The price for each is about the same. But these nuances are not contained in the information.That's why you need a professional!

We've been there. And, we get constant feedback from the clients we've sent. Rely upon a good travel agent!!! I would hope you choose us, but there are many good ones out there!

(One final note: Many people think that reviews on TripAdvisor will guide them. But, it is becoming increasingly evident that many reviews are skewed. Resort owners and managers posing as past guests are making glowing comments AND people connected with competing resorts also posing... this time to unfairly criticize a resort. Beware!)

Cheers,

Dick

Grand Velas Resorts are Fabulous!

Last January we loved our stay at the Grand Velas Resort Riviera Nayarit near Puerto Vallarta. In fact, we liked it so much we thawed out at the Grand Velas Resort Riviera Maya near Cancun.


Now we're back in the freezing winter wonderland of Minnesota and the memories of our stay in Mexico last week are all we have to keep us warm!

We have always loved luxury cruises - most notably Silversea Cruises and Seabourn Cruises - largely because of the extraordinarily friendly and efficient service… and the fabulous food. The Grand Velas resorts are every bit as good as those two cruise lines - and that's saying a lot!!!!

Our travel company, Acendas/Gateway Express, recommends Grand Velas Resorts for the very finest in all-inclusive resorts!

If this sounds good to you, I would be happy to share more and perhaps give you some tips. Just email me.

Happy Landing,

Dick

A "Not-So-Great" Cruise Vacation...

Piggybacking on my last post, all cruises should not be painted with the same brush. There are huge differences between cruise lines, cruise ships and itineraries. 

A client of our travel agency just returned from a cruise vacation a bit less than pleased. They have enjoyed a couple cruises in the past and have loved the experiences. This one? Not so much.

Having previously sailed on 1,500 to 1,800 passenger ships of a cruise line that we feel good about selling, this trip was on a 3,000 passenger ship of a line that we don't typically recommend. They said the service was slow and not nearly as cordial as with their previous cruises. And, the dining was - well, let's just say that the Buffets were the best part of their dining all week.

These clients had specifically asked for the ship & line they went on. Our mistake was that we assumed that they knew what they wanted. Rather than trying to persuade them to consider other choices, we "took their order". 

They stressed that they had a good time and that, all in all, they had a nice vacation. Their final comment in telling us about the pro's and con's of this experience was that, "we learned that 1,500 passenger ships are much better than mega-liners that are twice that size". They now believe that maintaining quality food and personal service on these floating islands is impossible. We agree, but need to point out that some cruise lines are more capable than others. 

People rely upon travel professionals to guide them to the best choice and the best value. This time, we didn't perform to our own expectations.

Dick