by Jim Bellomo | Jan 25, 2019 | Uncategorized
Since I started writing on these pages last month I have had a few people ask me if we are all about cruising. They want to know if we just help clients plan cruises. Nothing could be further from the truth. We at Expedia are a full-service travel agency. On our door is the slogan, “We plan, you pack.” We do have cruise ship in our name and Kathleen and I do take a lot of cruises but we have traveled on land in Europe and all over the USA. Plus, with most of our cruises we usually spend quite a few days either before or after the cruise exploring the city or region we are leaving from on the cruise we are taking.
For instance, we are doing an 11-day cruise from Dublin, Ireland to other ports in Ireland and spending four days in Iceland. But before we get on Celebrity’s Reflection, we will spend four days in Edinburgh, almost a week in Leeds, England visiting good friends and three days in Dublin before we embark. So when a client comes in and doesn’t want a cruise but does want a land trip, we can do it all. We can book you with a tour company who will take you everywhere in the country or region you have in mind. Or I can plan an entire trip just for you.
Last year I had two clients who came in during the spring asking me to help them plan a European trip for their families last summer. One wanted a four country tour with a cruise to the Greek Isles right in the middle of the land visits. The other asked for an eight city, 34-day tour by train, plane, rail and automobile. We arranged flights, rail tickets, hotels, dinner reservations, day trips and guided tours all over Europe. If you would like to see the entire tour, you can click here. It even has pictures and lots of great places you can visit if you are in any of these cities.
If this is the kind of vacation you are looking for, we’re the people to talk to. I love planning stuff like this. BTW: This is not the kind of plan you are going to get from an online or big box travel agency where you talk to a different person every time you call. And believe me, this planning took about two months and countless e-mails, phone calls and texts getting things reserved and set up. For me, it was just fun. For the clients it was a great time…at least that’s what they told me when they got back.
Traveling expands the mind rarely. —Hans Christian Andersen
by Jim Bellomo | Jan 23, 2019 | Uncategorized
Large turtle at the sea edge on background of a tropical landscape
Celebrity Xpedition, XP, Galapagos, Galapagos Islands, Wildlife, animals, iguana
Couple of blue footed boobies performing mating dance
One of the problems with working in a travel agency is that we see so many great travel destinations, that we want to go to all of them. Well, maybe not all of them. There are a few places I don’t care to go to but I never dwell on those. So our destination goal list grows with every presentation we see.
By the way, you may have noticed I don’t use the term “bucket list.” Not a big fan of trying to do things before I die. Always sounded kind of negative to me. Would rather set goals that keep me wanting to go on until I visit all of them. I am going to call them my destination goals. Bucket list is too negative.
So back on the new place we want to go. Last night Marilee Syme from Celebrity Cruises came by. Now we have been on quite a few Celebrity Cruises but we have never been to the one place that they kind of rule the world of ships—the Galapagos. To be honest, I have always wanted to go there. The animals, the flora, so many amazing things to see. So many things to photograph. And Marilee had just been there in September and she had first hand experiences to share and incredible photos she and her traveling partner had taken when they were there. No word fits but amazing.
Did I mention that the ships they have down there are not really ships. They are yachts. Celebrity’s “yachts” that sail the Galapagos hold no more than 100 people. The newest, the Flora, will be launched in just a few days. If this amazing new “yacht” interests you at all, check it out by clicking here: The Flora.
Of course that means we now have another destination to add to our list. But as I posted a few days ago, we plan far, far ahead. But right now, we are planned out about as far as we can go. Maybe 2022. But don’t let that stop you from going right now. If you are interested, let me know and I will set it up for you. You can send us pictures.
I love traveling and seeing new things, learning the histories of different cultures. But I’ve always wanted to go to the Galapagos to see the giant turtles.—Mikaela Shiffrin
by Jim Bellomo | Jan 21, 2019 | Uncategorized
A tiny bit of a European Christmas market taken by my good friend Bob. Read more about his Christmas Market River cruise a few years ago by going here: https://bob221b1.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/european-christmas-markets/
Do you plan your vacations in advance? I mean way in advance? Like two years or more? We do. And for a couple of reasons we recommend that others do too. It’s especially important when you want to go someplace that there are few openings for. Or if you cruise and you want a particular cabin. Let me give you some examples.
Over the weekend we (along with my brother and his bride) booked a Christmas Market cruise on Viking River Cruises for December of 2020. Why so early? Because we really want to do a Christmas Market cruise and we can’t go in 2019 because…Viking is pretty much sold out. That’s right. Most Christmas Market cruises in Europe are sold out for 2019 or there is very little left in the way of space. And the space that is left now, is pretty expensive. By booking for 2020, we got the stateroom we want, we got the dates and the route we want as well. Not only that but because we booked within this month (following our Viking Cruise night at the agency last week) we were awarded additional onboard credit. It was a great deal.
Another example. Last week I had a very nice woman come into the agency to ask about booking an Alaskan cruise for this July or August. It was her, her husband and her two boys in the same stateroom. But the real problem is that there are very few staterooms that will hold four people left on any of the most kid-friendly ships. Category after category are sold out. My suggestion…let’s look at summer 2020. Great deals and the best stateroom selection. Of course there are staterooms like that left, but they aren’t a bargain at this point.
Or…Tonight we had a great friend send us a referral for her brother and sister-in-law who want to sail to the Caribbean next Christmas. This is a GREAT time to book that cruise—during WAVE season (which is going on right now) when all the cruise lines have major specials. There should still be plenty staterooms in all categories available. But if they ask me in August or September, not as many.
Lastly, we got two of our best friends the exact stateroom they wanted for a February 2020 cruise that will stop in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. It was the last of this particular kind of very desirable stateroom. And the best part was that this weekend, that cruise line had a sale with a reduced deposit as well as some other great perks (because it’s WAVE season). If they waited even three more weeks, their deposit would have been 19 times higher. Seriously.
So the message here is, if you know your dates, or know that you can get certain time off, or you are retired and can go whenever you want, then book early! If the price goes down, you can always rebook for the new price. So…if you have any desire to join us on a Christmas Market cruise in December 2020, let me know and I will set it up. Or go anyplace else next year.
Plans are nothing; planning is everything. —Dwight D. Eisenhower
by Jim Bellomo | Jan 18, 2019 | Uncategorized
Just a short post tonight. From time to time at the agency we have a Cruise Night. The means that a representative from one of the cruise lines comes in with all kinds of cool info about their line. We had our first one about a year ago (our buddies Bob and Judy came all the down from BC for that one) and we had about 15-20 people attend. It was pretty cool. We have had about one a month for the last year. The attendance goes up and down but last night was a first. We were standing room only.
Viking Cruise rep, John Jerkovich did an outstanding job telling us all about Viking river cruises and Viking ocean cruises. Viking is known as THE river cruise company (well known from their sponsorship of Downton Abbey on PBS) and now they are totally into ocean cruising with six ships currently sailing and more than 10 planned in the next five years.
If you live locally, you should stop by our next Cruise Night next Tuesday night at 6:30. The topic is The Galapagos. Marilee Syme from Celebrity Cruises will join us to talk about their brand new (it launches in May) Galapagos-only yacht (really—a yacht) that you can sail on. If you are interested in coming, you can RSVP by clicking here. It’s always a lot of fun and there’s wine, goodies, door prizes and more.
by Jim Bellomo | Jan 17, 2019 | Uncategorized
A cruise should NOT have surprises!
Maybe instead of writing about reasons you should use a travel agent when you book your travel, I will just keep writing about what happens in the agency day in and day out. Today is another great example. Here’s the story of why free isn’t always free.
I have a client who came in last week after working out at the gym next door to the agency. She has never cruised before but thought it would be a great idea to take her family (her, husband and two boys) to Alaska on a cruise ship this summer. I got her some pricing and literature and we discussed different options. She had tons of questions. We finally settled on two possible cruise lines that sail out of Seattle that would work for her and her family. Let’s call them Cruise Line A and Cruise Line B. She took the literature home with her and promised to come back this week, which she did this morning.
And when she came in she had a lot of great questions. Her biggest was about the “free” internet package on Cruise Line A. She (unlike many people) had actually read the fine print on the brochures and it indicated that even though they were offering “free” internet, what that meant was 250 minutes on a seven night cruise and can only be used on one device at a time. That meant that her husband, who works for a software company and needs to stay in touch while on vacation, would only have 250 minutes of internet time out of the 10,080 minutes they would be on board on their seven day cruise to Alaska. And it meant that if either of her boys were logged in, dad would not be able to log in. Neither would Mom or the other son. This was a deal breaker for her family. They are connected at home and they want and need to be connected on vacation.
So I went out and did some research and found exactly what the cost is for full time internet connectivity for her party of four and I found out that buying complete internet coverage on Cruise Line B would cost less than adding on to the “free” internet offered by Cruise Line A.
Another example of a good travel agent (I said modestly ?) knowing what to look for. If this client had taken her family onboard expecting “free” internet access they would have been in for a very rude surprise in either additional internet charges or sad Dad and teenagers. Either way, it would have really put a damper on their well-earned vacation.
Most things in life come as a surprise.—Lykke Li