The Travel Teacher

traveling together in groups.

Since 9/11 people have wanted to travel in groups.  Why?  Safety?  Familiarity?  Common interests?  Whatever the reason, I am a Group Travel Specialist and love to help put these trips together.  Let’s look at some groups:

• Meeting groups.  Anyone who is a speaker and has a following, cruising offers the perfect venue for meetings.  Unlike hotels, theatres, conference centers or any other building setting, cruise lines offer their rooms - complimentary.  Bring on a speaker, musician, or entertainer of any kind, and we can set up a meeting room or breakout rooms.  Make it a Vacation with a Purpose.
• Incentive group.  How about a sales team that met a goal last year?  Or a department in a corporation who exceeded expectations?  Cruising is a fabulous way to build “community” in the business and solidifies committment among the staff.  You will close the revolving door in the HR Department.
• Reunion Groups.  Family, class, neighborhood, church, military, good old boy, or business reunions.  Cruising has something for every age.  Get a room to be the hospitality room for gatherings.  Go your separate ways during the day and eat dinner together in the evening.  No one has to cook or do dishes!!
• Non Profit Organizations.  Wanting to put the FUN into FUNdraising?  A great way to bring in some extra money and have a great time doing it.  Also, gives the donors a chance to spend quality time with the board of the organization and that can translate into more donations.  These groups can have mini family groups within the larger group.  Everyone has fun.
• Church Groups.  Do you have trouble getting to know people on a personal level?  Put together a group cruise and now you know some people you might never have met.  We had one of these last year and 2 couples who had had a disagreement were able to sit down and talk and resolved the problem.  Bring on a speaker or musician or just have a “hang out” room for a couple of hours to talk.  Great bonding.
• Sports Teams.  These are great groups for a cruise.  Bring on a celebrity and give some seminars.  Hold competition sports on the ship, i.e. basketball, golf.  Have some golf tee times set up at ports of call for your own group.
• Craft Groups.  Bring on your scrapbooking, quilting, cooking, photography, painting, or other groups.  We can set up rooms with sewing machines or other tools you need to make this work.  Cruising is very flexible for any of these groups.
• Card Groups.  You can have casino tournaments, bridge tables, or any other kind of games.  Just ask how these would work.
• Ethnic Groups.  Wear your native costumes, have a fun night of your own music and dancing.  We can request your own food.  Meet relatives and friends from around the world.
• Clubs.  Cars, chess, fishing, gun, motorcycle, camping trailer, country clubs or any other kind of clubs you belong it.  Maybe in the cruising ports we can find a club that you can join with for a day and get a private tour of their city or island.
• Fraternal Organizations.  Elk, Moose, Eagles, Masons, Knights of Columbus, Police guilds, Sons of Norway, or Veterans of Foreign Wars.  Make some connections with others of your organizations and invite other cities. 
• Families.  How long has it been since all your siblings got together?  Do they now have families and the cousins need to meet each other?  Don’t wait for funerals to meet.  Maybe there has been some strife in the family and it is time to reconnect.  Are your parents still living?  Is it time to give them a special treat and get all the family together?  So many reasons, but don’t wait until you have regrets that you didn’t do it.  Move on those impulses that say “we need to get together”.
• Friends.  How about a Girlfriends getaway?  How about a Single Guys Escape?  Maybe some couples want to spend quality time in a wonderful new destination.  Who do you like to “hang” with?  Plan a cruise together.  You know the saying “friends who cruise together, stay together”.  Well, I made it up, but we have a couple we cruise with every years.  They live far away, but we alway take a cruise.  During the day the guys go somewhere and we gals go somewhere else.  We always eat together and do shore trips together.  Great fun.
• Couples.  Husbands, how long has it been for a little romance in your life?  Need to get away from the kids, the jobs, and the pressures of life and rekindle that romance.  Nothing more romantic than a cruise.  Wives, drop a few hints like a chocolate on the pillow at night.  No matter the budget or the time available, there is a cruise for those special people in our lives.
• Weddings and Honeymoons.  Some ships have wedding chapels.  Have the wedding before you leave on the cruise.  Invite all your friends and family to come and celebrate with you.  Then you can sail away on your honeymoon.  Some ports of call have the ability of have weddings in port.  Many wonderful options and packages. 

If you haven’t tried this before, try it now.  You can have 3,4,5, 7 or more days from ports all over the US and the world.  You dream it, we will work on it.  I am the Group Travel Specialist.

Are you looking for ways to raise funds for a non profit organization?

Two weeks ago I returned from a 5 day Caribbean cruise escorting 246 people from 13 countries, about 50 did not speak English, or spoke very little.  This organization is in many countries around the world teaching married couples how to have strong marriages.  The stories about changed lives were evident in everyone in the group.

So, what is this all about?

Carnival Cruise Lines, the largest cruise line in the world, working with select travel agents will assist Not For Profit organization raising funds.  I call it “Putting the Fun into Fundraising with Carnival Cruise Lines, the Fun ships”.   The cruise line gives back to the organization $200 per cabin after the cruise is over.  Here are some of the details:

• An initial meeting takes place with the decision marker of the organization and myself.  We can move up to the meeting with the board or however the organization is structured.
• The organization picks a time of year for this cruise to take place
• I work with them to pick a destination and length of cruise
• We block a number of cabins.  Five cabins is the minimum for the program
• The organization promotes this to their data base through emails and mailings. 
• Carnival Cruise Lines will coop the cost of the mailings.
• I handle all the bookings and questions with the membership all the way from the initial booking to the end of the cruise. 
• There MUST be a commitment of the Board to go on this cruise.
• We can have a welcome party, meeting rooms with AV equipment - all complimentry.  Even breakout rooms, if needed.
• The organization can bring on speakers, musicians or other dignitaries
• At certain levels, there will be free cabins that can be sold, auctioned, raffled or given to board members
• I go with the group as the escort, thereby freeing the board to enjoy a Vacation with a Purpose.

Besides the fund raising feature, this is a fabulous way for the membership of the organization to have quality time with the board, get to know them on a personal level and hopefully, generate more donations for the future.

As a preferred agent with Carnival Cruise Lines, it would be my great pleasure to acquaint you with this fabulous program

I HAVE A DREAM VACATION.  HOW DO I MAKE IT HAPPEN?  Part 1

Let’s try to make it a “dream”, not a “nightmare”.  No matter what your travel plans are, you need a travel professional.  In choosing one, make sure they have the proper certifications:  CTC (Certified Travel Counselor) and MCC or ECC (Master or Elite Cruise Counselor).  Ask how extensive the agent has traveled and are they constantly in training attending seminars and conventions.  There are many “agents” who are only selling memberships and have no concern in your travel experience.  A legitimate travel professional cares about you and constantly following up on all aspects of your travel.

First of all is the WHEN?

Next is the WHERE?

Last is the HOW?

WHEN??

Every place in the world has an idealic time to visit.  There can be spring, summer, winter, and fall seasons.  Places in the southern hemisphere the seasons are direct opposite from the northern hemisphere.  Tropical places have dry seasons and wet seasons.  Desert places have dry and humid seasons. Along the equator the seasons do not vary much.   For travel seasons there is:

      High season.  When tourism is at its peak.  Usually based on school and tourist holidays

      Low season.  Uusally based on the weather - the least desirable for the most tourists.

      Shoulder season.  In many places, shoulder seasons are idyllic seasons to travel.  Weather is mild, summer crowds are gone and winter weather has not yet become a problem.  Travel prices are lower in shoulder than in summer.

 Holidays need to be considered at your destination.  Sometimes it is a great time to visit a destination and other times it can be very expensive and hard to get accommodations.  For some people, holiday times are the only way they can travel.  PLAN AHEAD.  A professional can give you good advise.

Do you like active travel?  In this case you need the best weather conditions for your activity.  You may also need to take some equipment for your trip.  We can give you advise on how to prepare for packing.  There are many weight and size restructions, especially on airlines.