To cruise, or not to cruise

Ever since I can remember, I've been wanting to sail on the Voyager of the Seas!! They've got the Dreamworks experience - for the little girl and the big boy! When I went on the Radiance of the Seas cruise inspection (docked at Circular Quay) late last year we were told that the Voyager would be in Sydney for a season starting this November 2012.

"Radiance of the Seas" docked at Circular Quay

There is an overnight cruise Sampler on the 23rd of November and I am thinking whether we should splurge and go on it. Or, not! Especially since we are looking at heading back to Manila soon, we might be better of just keeping the moolah and spending it more wisely elsewhere. Having said that though, I am so very tempted!! I guess if there is a good travel agent rate then I won't resist!

Fear of flying

Hubby has always not been fond of going on plane rides. He'd much rather go on a month long caribbean cruise or round the world cruise, than catch a plane. He's had a bad experience when he was young, and this explains the fear of flying he developed. It is not uncommon to be afraid of flying, especially nowadays when airlines' (lack of) safety is very much publicized. I know a lot of couples who either both or half the couple would prefer long drives over air travel. I guess this would be good if one lived in a big continent such as Europe, Australia or America. If one lived on an island one would be limited to driving around the island! Of course if one lived on a very nice island then maybe it would be wise to just spend it on that paradise!

Having said that hubby dislikes air travel, on a handful of times I was able to convince him to travel by air with me. We have agreed though, to go on a cruise maybe when baby turns two or three years old. Perhaps we would be able to visit husband's sister in the America on this cruise! If only I can reconcile within myself to travel across the Pacific Ocean for days without seeing land!

The Titanic memorial cruise

I read the other day about the British travel firm that enlisted one whole Fred Olsen Cruise Liner to do a Titanic memorial cruise in 2012. This would be to commemorate the 100th year of the original Titanic's maiden voyage. I think this is a fabulous idea to have come up with. Not to mention that it probably would be quite a healing trip for those who would be going on the cruise because they had a family member who did not make it back then.

There would be the same number of guests as the original Titanic, and they would leave the port at the same time that the Titanic did. Of course, this time around there would be enough lifeboats, and there would be no icebergs.

No, Leonardo diCaprio and Kate Winslet won't be on it.

Exchanging Homes? Why not do Reunion Island?

One type of accommodation option that has emerged in the past decade or so among potential tourists, is the idea of Home Exchanges. We saw this recently in the movie, The Holiday, with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz exchanging their British and American homes to each other's delight. Really, as much as this modern society is more open to these sort of things, one can never be cautious enough in dealing with complete strangers. Especially on the internet. Nowadays, psychos are roaming mad, and a mere innocent look is not enough to see through what one is capable of. How paranoid our society is becoming.

One advertisement caught my eye as I was searching for my apartment. It was from a person from Reunion Island, located near the coast of mainland Africa in the Indian Ocean. I first got familiar with this French island when I went to Mauritius a couple of months back. Most Mauritians raved about this lovely neighbour of theirs. Reunion island is not a very populated destination, with only 700,000 inhabitants. Their culture is a mix of French, African, Indian and Chinese as reflected through their food, music and way of life. Really there are so much that this small island can offer from beautiful landscape, to refreshing seascape. The best time to visit this island is from April to September when the weather is not too hot.

It is not for the faint hearted tourist, as the authentic experience of this island is anything but traditional but everything that one could hope for in a travel destination. I do hope that I can visit this lovely neighbour of Mauritius one day. Costa Cruise offers sailings to this paradise island as seen here. This island is also good for surfing, adrenalin sports, mountain biking, treking, photography enthusiasts, spa lovers, nature lovers, and everyone else.

There is a growing number of resorts from budget to luxury found at majority of the island's towns. A few of them are: Les Villas du Recif, Les Villas du Lagon, Boucan Canot, Novotel Saint Gilles La Reunion, Hotel Saint Alexis, Lodge Roche Tamarin, Palm Hotel and Spa. I was surprised to find out that they had a lot of accommodation types to offer!

Starting April 1, 2009 Air Austral will connect Sydney and St Denis, Reunion Island direct, twice a week. People travelling to Paris will have the chance to see this magnificent island on their way to Europe. Surely this is something I look forward to selling to my passengers!

Coriander Travels: Port of New York

In my perfect travel world, I would be doing at least one relaxing cruise each year. Perhaps a two week long cruise would satisfy my cruise cravings each year. Cruises from New York appeal to me more as it would mean I could spend a few days in New York for shopping or even to just go for picnics and walks through Central Park before going on a cruise. Princess Cruises offer itineraries that allow one to join the ship at the port of New York, and I may as well do that Caribbean cruise while I’m dreaming. Best time to go would probably be in between the peak and low season where there would not be too much or too little tourists (my boyfriend does not like a deserted vacation place!). Cruising around the Caribbean would be the ideal way to do it, since I would like to see a lot of the islands. The joys of cruising can be very interesting, stress-free and comfortable, if done on the proper cruise. In my travel agent job, we try as much as possible to match appropriate clients with the products. Just because they have the money to pay for a holiday doesn’t mean any five star property or cruise would satisfy them. There are small ship clients and there are big ship clients. Having the other go on the other cruise can be a disaster, if one does not know how to do travel counseling. I guess in my case, I do not fall under a particular client category yet. Or maybe, I could not care less if I was booked in a cozy and intimate charter boat, or on some Cunard Cruise Lines ship. I would be too happy to be bothered to complain.

P & O Earlybird Cruise Offer

Okay, for a good hour I got all excited about thinking of going on a cruise. Neither me nor hubby's been on a weekend overnight cruise. P & O Cruise has this earlybird offer, wherein we could do 2 nights Sydney - Brisbane or Vice versa, for about AUD 565 per person, for a 2 night cruise in a Room with Private Balcony, on the Pacific Dawn. This rate includes all meals (a la carte or buffet), and afternoon tea, access to various entertainment and activities.

I opted for this coz the price is reasonably cheap, all inclusive, and the fact that it was just for 2 nights would give us a feel of how cruising is like. For all we know we won't like it. So this won't be too bad, if ever. However, when I had a look at the itinerary, the cruise departed from Brisbane at 8PM on Day 1, and arrived into Sydney on Day 3 at 8AM. That's a bit of a rip off, as it would mean the time we board, settle into our cabin it would be night time! So we won't see the view much. And, we'll only have one full day to appreciate the sights before we arrive after sunrise into Sydney Harbour. Well, come to think of it, seeing Sydney at sunrise or early morning would be quite nice. And, a full day to travel the north NSW coast may be good enough.

Of course am planning on my own again and for all we know hubby won't like this idea. We've talked about it before, but not seriously.

Oh, I remembered I get my travel agent rate, so we won't really be paying the published rate!!! Hmm! I suddenly got excited again! I have til September to think about this. I might ring them up tomorrow to check availability and all. Should you be interested to see what I am talking about, click here to see more information!

P.S. I neeeed this for my job! To make me a better travel agent! Think so?!

Dreaming Cruising

I have always been fond of cruises, although I have never been on any that lasted more than half a day, on a real luxury liner. I’ve been to a lot of sightseeing cruises. I’ve been on a two night cruise from Manila to Cagayan De Oro, but that was nothing like a luxury cruise. Having said that I have booked so many cruises for passengers. One that I have recently booked is the Azamara Cruises. This somewhat new cruise line commenced operation only about two years ago. They offer quite a number of cruises around Asia, South America, Europe, Mediterranean and even Australia! This means I have more chances of going on one around this vast island continent I live in. Perhaps, my next familiarization tour would be some trip on one of their Mediterranean Cruises! The Azamara cruise ships are quite special. They are more intimate, meaning they only have limited guests onboard, and because of the small ship size they have the advantage of cruising along exotic and unreached ports. Each stateroom on the Azamara ships have private butler service ready to action whatever that you fancy.What else could one ask for from a luxury cruise? I am definitely grabbing a chance to cruise when I get the opportunity!