For Vacation Fun...a travel blog

When we booked the Yacht Club level on the MSC Meraviglia, my mind wandered back to the movie ChittyChitty Bang Bang. Remember the scene where the bumbling spies capture the wrong Mr. Potts? Yeah, I sang that song in my head a lot. The Yacht Club is considered a cruise within a cruise.  Before we even exited the parking area, we were invited to leave our luggage at a Yacht Club luggage drop off.  It was very convenient and simple.  Having attached our luggage tags before leaving the house made it even faster! We were escorted through security and to a private wait area with champagne, juice and snacks. Before we could even finish our champagne,  our butler arrived to ecort us onto the ship and to the Top Sail lounge.    Fresh drinks and a great view of lower Manhattan welcomed us. Our butler, Faisol, had already taken our personal item to our room. We followed after finishing our drinks.    Throughout our stay...

My spouse and I recently went on a week long cruise out of Brooklyn NY on the MSC Meraviglia. We had a great time on the cruise and can't wait to do another.  The basics: • December 2 to 9 • Yacht Club balcony cabin ▪︎ Ports: Port Canaveral, Ocean Cay, Nassau Bahamas I am going to share aspects in a few different posts to help keep the posts shorter. Definitely they will be picture heavy! Sailing out of Brooklyn was surprisingly easy. Just as easy as sailing out of Manhattan. We drove from Pennsylvania and parked right at the Port. It cost $340 for the week which is comparable to what we would pay in Manhattan,  and less than what we would have paid for car service or for flights to Florida. The view of lower Manhattan was great and we enjoyed picking out landmarks and favorite haunts from my college days at Pace University.   The view of the Statue of Liberty and sailing under the Verrazano Bridge were wonderful from our balcony! ...

 I love when I have the opportunity to visit trade shows promoting a destination or my professional association, ASTA.  I always learn some new thing about a destination, or meet a new business vendor to work with. I attended an ASTA event recently and made some great new connections along with reconnecting with long time business partners.  It gets me excited to promote things like the new MSC cruise ships coming up soon. Did you know that MSC Cruises also leave from Brooklyn, NY? A great spot for folks in the Northeast who would rather not fly to Florida.  I picked up a few luggage tags to give clients staying at Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in Jamaica in a few months and found out some fun facts about that property.  Iberostar is not just the Caribbean, but is throughout Europe and has many beautiful properties.   We chatted with a rep from Tenerife - I did not know that this beautiful island in Spain, part of the Canary Islands, offers a little bit o...

If you are an American, you probably don't spend much time thinking about how you approach vacation is very different than Europeans. But there are definite differences. Americans on average start out with 2 weeks of paid vacation a year, or 10 days.  Some companies add to that based on your length of service other factors, but think about your 10 days.  Maybe you chip away at  them during the year for family activities like a child's dance recital out of state, or a wedding that requires you to leave on a Thursday or a Friday. People who live in the European Union get at least 20 paid vacation days each year - twice what Americans receive.  So when American's finally are able to take vacation time and experience their vacation, they are often trying to jam as many activities into that 5 or 10 day trip as possible.  You've heard people say they want to "Make the most" of their trip, or "we want to do everything because we probably won't go...

If you have visited Disney World with your children, you have spent major bucks on an exhausting, foot aching, long days vacation.  And it was fun. The kids laughed, smiled, hopefully gave you lots of appreciative hugs.  But you needed a vacation to recover from your vacation. So let's talk about visiting Disney World WITHOUT the kids.  Yes. You can. And it's great! Enjoy your resort. Book a deluxe resort...the amenities are worth it for your adult vacation. Sleep in and then take a book and a beverage and relax poolside. No rushing to get to a park. No guilt for sitting still, and no whims to cater to except your own. Visit your favorite park for a casual trip. You don't have to do every ride and attraction. Get a beverage and people watch. Have a conversation with your partner, or even a stranger.  Do one or two favorite spots and then leave before its steamy hot. Visit an upscale restaurant where you can enjoy a meal and, in some cases, a b...

  What is friend therapy? If you have to ask, YOU NEED A VACATION!    Friend trips are often laid back, low pressure, no-stress trips.  We all love our families, but as mom or dad, we find our selves having to be boss, driver, financier, decision maker and ringleader of a 3 ring circus.  Days of working, evening of running to sports and recitals followed by meal prep, homework, chores..it adds up.  Sometimes you just need to spend a few days away to recharge. Pick your bestie, your sister or brother, your lunch buddy from work, and get away.   Explore a new town that's halfway between where you each live, take a cruise, hit Vegas and enjoy some night life, visit a new country, relax at the beach.   Schedule a call with your travel agent to talk about your time and budget - if you're feeling really adventuresome, let your travel agent surprise you. 

Setting the pace for a family vacation can be difficult, especially when your family is a mix of go-go-go, chill-by-pool, and I-can't-people-today.    That's my family.  We all enjoy trips, and of course, we all compromise, but ultimately each person needs to have time to do their thing.   As a mom, I have learned over the years to identify the signs of who needs downtime, who needs alone time, and when everyone is ready to jump all into a day full of activities. As a travel agent, I talk with my clients before anything else happens. Its important to get the feel for the people going on their trip, and sometimes they don't even know themselves.  A conversation helps bring things to light - like is your family on the go all the time, heavy into sports and dance? Or do you tend to spend weekends on a hike? Or geocaching in a new city?   Plan your vacation days to give downtime to the people who need it, but maybe plan some alternate activities ...