Babymoons?

It is Monday, and I have several things I need to do. I’m kind of just wanting to get this done, so I can get on to some others.

 

As a travel agent, I am taught about different times that couples want to take trips together. There is the honeymoon, of course, and then most couples like to do a lot of traveling once they retire. There are family trips in between. But couples often like leaving their children with people they trust, and having sometime to relax and reconnect as a couple. And today I am going about something I haven’t heard of until I started working in the travel industry. This is a trip couples take after having a baby, and it is called a babymoon. Today, let’s explore what that is. And now that I’m looking online, it seems like babymoons are what most people call a trip you and your husband take during your pregnancy. We’ll probably take a look at the first trip away from baby later this week.

 

Perhaps you are an expecting mother, wanting to get away with your husband for a few days. Please e-mail me if you are interested in planning something like this. I will be more than happy to help you plan something like this.

 

You’ll definitely want to consider when you want to take this babymoon, though somewhere in the middle of your pregnancy will likely be ideal. You will likely want to plan a pretty relaxing trip. Think about pampering yourself by laying out by the pool, getting massages, and eating your favorite foods rather than doing a tour somewhere that is going to keep you busy from morning to night. This is not a time to go to a foreign country. Plan on no more than four hours of travel. You might want to get an out of the way room, or even get a cabin.

 

I really need to get some other things done. I am going to go on for today.

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Cruising

It is Friday, and I’m not sure what to do, where to start on the different projects I’m feeling like I need to do.. I have some different trainings I want to go through. I feel like I need to give my e-mail boxes a thorough going through. I check e-mail each day, answering the things that need to be answered, but I put things that I think will take a while off. Might wait until Monday, but feel like I keep putting everything off. And I don’t like that about myself. But whatever I decide to do, this needs to be done. So here goes.

 

In exactly one month, I have some clients, well, actually they’re my family, going on a Carnival cruise. This will only be my second trip I’ve book. I’m nervous and excited all at once. So today I’ve decided to do some training with Carnival. This class is going to be about first time cruisers, which my family members are not. But maybe you are, so I might be talking directly to you. Perhaps you are at the point where you know you want to take a vacation, but you are not sure what you want to do or what you want to do. First, if that is where you are, please e-mail me. I would love to help you through the decision-making process. I do a lot of research on trips and have lots of resources to help you plan the perfect trip. I would love more business.. But anyway.. Should you go on a cruise? Are you going to feel confined on a cruise ship? Is there going to be enough for your kids to do? Will I be bored on a cruise? First of all you are going to have a lot to do on the ship. And second, ships usually stop at a lot of different ports, allowing you to explore different islands. So cruises are anything but boring. And nowadays, no one tells you what to do on your vacation. And if you are going on a cruise for your honeymoon, don’t worry, you can be alone as much as you want..

 

I think I am going to stop for today… Please let me know if you want my help planning a trip.

River cruises part #2

I am working on a trip for friends of my parents. I’ve sent some information about a couple of different places to them. Hopefully we are going to figure this trip out. I am going to do this while I wait to hear back.

 

Back to river cruises. You are not going to have to worry about how you are going to get from one place to the other on river cruises, all of that is covered for you. They have complimentary wi-fi, although I’m not quite sure what that means. Uniworld calls itself a six-star experience. And the first star represents their expertise. They are the oldest river cruise line to cater to the North American clientele. Most of their cruises are to Europe, so the crew knows the destinations well. They have a ratio of one staff member for every three guests. Most cruise lines have that ratio as one to four. Uniworld also prides itself on having pretty unique décor, décor that is most like what you would see in Europe.

 

You are going to also experience some wonderful cuisine on board these ships. They have one master chef who oversees all the food that you will be served. They make it a point to buy locally, enabling you to have very fresh food. They mostly serve food that is inspired by the places you are visiting… If you were to go on one of these cruises, you would have several choices each day as to what you would do at each port of call.

 

You will be getting a great value on your trip. Everything is included in the price of the cruise itself except anything you would have done at a spa or anything you buy at the gift shop. Everything about these ships is luxurious. Think of a country club floating on the water.

 

I think it is time for me to stop once more. Is anyone interested in a river cruise? Please let me know.

Home/River Cruises part #1

we’re just getting back from being gone ten days, and I’m trying to figure out what to do first. I know I have some training stuff that I need to get into.. That is going to take a good while, because I really want to take my time, go through everything well, and hopefully figure out more of what to do with my business. I’m just at a point of not being sure what to do about anything. Maybe this is mostly because I’m just getting back from being gone. We had a pretty nice trip, though to me it felt like a lot of time in the car. We spent a good bit of time with old friends which was my favorite part of the trip. But back to this training, I don’t think this is something I should blog about, it is more business stuff.. I have checked e-mail on and off while we were gone, but haven’t had much internet access. And when I did have access, we were also with friends, and I was not wanting to work much… I’ve also found out that we’re going to take another vacation later in July. That trip should include more of my family, and I’m looking forward to that a lot.

 

I think I am going to start a destination training and get back to it tomorrow. We are going to be talking about river cruises. More specifically, we are going to be discussing boutique river cruising by Uniworld. River cruising is a fairly new type of trip, so let’s discuss what it is first. Uniworld does more upscale vacations. Uniworld makes sure absolutely everything is covered on your cruises, and that does include drinks and gratuities. Everything on shore excursions is covered as well. Also, these cruises are much smaller than average, giving them a much more intimate feel.

 

I am going to go. I need to start working through my e-mail and things like that. I’ll pick this back up tomorrow.

Leaving

It is Friday, and I’m tired. I know we’re leaving on Sunday, and I’m guessing we’ll be back the Tuesday the week after that.. I really don’t know how much internet access I’ll have, or how much I’ll want to work while we’re out of town. I’m guessing that I will be checking e-mail from time to time, but will probably not do this unless I get bored and have internet.. I’m feeling pretty unsure of what to do right now since we’ll be going out of town. It kind of feels dumb to be doing anymore marketing until we’re home again anyway.

 

So today I think I’m going to write about leaving your small business for meeting. My business feels very small right now. Really don’t feel like an leaving is going to make me lose business, I don’t have much going on anyway.. Maybe I should have written some posts ahead, but it feels too late to try anything like that now. But anyway, my business is a sole proprietorship, so if I’m not doing it nothing is getting done. I’m sure everything will be fine. I am going to be looking into putting an away message on my e-mail. Or I thought about it until I read business owners shouldn’t do that. I’m not sure what to do now.

 

what I have to remember is that people know that most everyone takes a vacation in the summer, and that I should be able e-mail once a day, hopefully… And getting out and talking to people is a good way to get business which I need.. I’ll give a report once I’m home.

Hotel ratings

It has been kind of a crazy day here, just have had to do a lot of waiting around for other people. That’s just part of life, especially when you need help doing everything. But anyway, I should have several hours to work now, which is a nice feeling.

 

Having been a travel agent for less than a year, there is so much to learn everywhere I turn. And since learn best writing things out, I’m kind of using this blog to learn the different things I need to. I’ve truly gotten my curiosity up about how hotels and other properties get their stars. So let’s take a look at that today. Is there even a consistent rating system in place? What I’m reading so far is that there is no one standard, and that hotel do rate things differently according to their tastes. Aha, this is only in some parts of the world. However, since they are all looking at the same criteria, it is not likely that one critic would rate a hotel a five star, and another would give it only two.

 

There is a standard in North America. The go to people in this industry are now called Forbes. And they are now the people that decide everything. The AAA [American Automobile Association] does the same thing in the United States.

 

I feel like I’m moving about as fast as a snail today, so I am going to go. I would love to know your thoughts on this.

Avanti’s Italy part #3

I think we are going to continue on with Italy. There is more of this training, and I’m finding it fascinating… I am going to be honest, my family rarely stays in hotels, we’d rather stay with friends or family, and when we do have to have a hotel it’s the cheapest place we can find. I don’t know anything about starred hotels or what that even means. [Alert : this is likely to be a future post] but even the three star hotel looks very nice to me. And this hotel is in Florence. It actually looks more like a home there would instead of your average hotel.

 

san Gimignano is another place you can visit through Avanti. This city is in North Italy, and is famous for its architecture. It is also known for its white wine, apparently they grow the perfect grapes to make the wine. You can see the vineyards… Another city is Lucca, and this is a walled city. You can walk around the walls of this city and get an amazing view. Montepulciano is a city you should visit if you are into history. This city is also known to have excellent food and wine.

 

Besides hotels, Avanti also has villas you can stay in villas. These are perfect if you are traveling in a group. Or villas are also a nice option to consider if you decide to go to Italy with Avanti on your honeymoon.

 

Avanti really wants you to immerse in the culture of wherever you are going. So they are going to give you the cooking classes and the wine tastings. They want you to get to know the people, and what their lives are really like in the cooking classes, you will not only learn to cook, but you will also learn how the locals shop.

 

I I find it interesting that one of the tours they call romantic is in what was once a monastery. It has now been turned into a five star hotel. It has two restaurants on the property, and you will mostly be served very fresh foods.

 

I’m still not through this training. And I’m not sure whether I am going to pick this back up tomorrow. But I would love to know your thoughts so far.

Avanti’s Italy part #2

I am hopefully going to be writing a magazine article this week, honestly, it’s just an online magazine. And I’m doing this to get some advertisement for my business. I’ve always loved to write, and hope this is my first of many ventures toward publication… So I need to get this done and move on to other things.

 

Let’s get back to Azamara’s Italy.. One thing I did not mention yesterday is that most of your tours should be covered in your package price, you will not have to pay extra on most things. With Avanti, you are going to be staying in very nice accommodations. The lowest places you can stay at are three star hotels. I’m seeing pictures of rooms that are absolutely stunning.

 

from Rome, we are moving on to Venice, which is where most of you’re traveling is done by water in gondolas. But there are some actual roads there. Not much has changed in Venice in the last six hundred years, wowzers! And again, with Azamara, you are going to stay in very nice hotels. One of your hotel options is a refurbished palace. This hotel does have internet, and also has an elaborate breakfast which most Americans just love. This is what is called a 3+ star hotel. But you can always upgrade to a nicer hotel if you like.

 

Next, we are going to talk about Florence. The picture they have up to introduce Florence is a beautiful picture of a lake at night, with lights shining off of it. You should go to Florence if you love art. This is the city where the Renaissance started, so you are going to see some of the world’s masterpieces.

 

I think that is enough for today.. I think Italy may be one of the places I’d personally like to visit most. What about you?

Avanti’s Italy part #1

I had a really nice weekend, and have several things planned for evenings this week… I also heard that the next couple of weeks we are going to be doing some traveling. We aren’t going anywhere until after Friday, so this week should be pretty normal with work, but after that I’m not sure how much I’ll be around for the next couple weeks. I have several things I want to do today, so let’s get started.

 

Today let’s look at Italy, and what people might do there. Not only is my Grandma Italian, I also have some clients hoping to go sometime next summer… This training I’m listening to is by Avanti, and I think they tend to be on the nicer end of travel. Avanti does not have trips anywhere in the world. They want to do the destinations they do have to perfection, so that’s why they are limited. Avanti has a whole lot of connections with all aspects of travel, making it easier for you, and me, your travel agent, to plan excellent trips without a lot of trouble. You need to describe your dream trip, and Avanti and I can make it happen.

 

Moving on to Italy itself, it sounds like you are going to do a minimum of a six night stay. You will be staying in at least three star hotels. Your breakfasts will be part of the travel package, as well as one three-course dinner at each of your destinations, meaning each city you visit. You can do three days in Rome, three days in Florence or Venice. But really where you go and what you do are up to you. Avanti’s packages are mostly suggestions. You are going to be able to customize anything you wish. You are also more than welcome to add a river cruise before or after your trip to Italy. Italy is great for those who love art and culture, as well as those that love food and wine. Rome itself has a ton of history, because of the great Roman empire which we all learned about in history. And it is also the center of the Catholic faith, of course. You can choose different tours you would like to do. The Vatican is one of your options. You can also do art tours or do a tour of the colleseums. All of these are three-hour tours, but if you decide to do a Pompeii tour, that is going to be twelve hours.

 

I am going to stop this for today and get to some other things… I will pick this back up tomorrow.

The letter