Mike and Darlene’s Weekly DEAL!

Good Morning Everyone, and Happy Friday!

We have good news and bad news this morning… The good news is that cruise lines are reporting brisk sales and the sentiment that the economy is strengthening! The bad news? We’ve had email alerts this week from more than one cruise line that due to strong sales, cruise fares will see a general increase in March, from 5% and up. That means that if you are planning on booking a cruise for this summer, fall, or even into spring of 2011, NOW is the time to make those plans!

We have a great ship featured today; the Norwegian Pearl! She’s a beautiful ship, built in 2006, with a guest capacity of about 2400. She has 13 dining options, 13 bars and lounges, 2 swimming pools + kid’s pool and hot tubs, a BOWLING ALLEY, ROCK CLIMBING WALL, great casino and the luxurious South Pacific Spa and Fitness Center. Add to that an amazing early-season Alaska itinerary (wildlife is more active in the cooler months), and you’ve got a combination that can’t get much better!

She starts in Vancouver, a beautiful city, on May 1st; where you might want to schedule an extra day, pre-cruise, to have time to explore. (We rented bikes and rode the coastline trail for HOURS, it was a great day!) Then board the ship and enjoy the gorgeous Inside Passage, and view the Sawyer Glacier on your way to Juneau. Look at the time you get in Juneau and Skagway! Plenty of time to take a shore excursion with free time on your own! Then, on to Icy Strait, a magical place of pristine scenery with water falls, sheer cliffs and quiet! Add Ketchikan and Victoria to that mix of port stops, and you’ve got one great cruise!

Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Pearl
Day	Date	Port	Arv	Dep
Sat	05/01	Vancouver, British Columbia – Embark – Time subject to change		04:00 PM
Sun	05/02	Cruise Inside Passage
Mon	05/03	Sawyer Glacier, Alaska – Cruising
Tue	05/04	Juneau, Alaska	08:00 AM	10:00 PM
Wed	05/05	Skagway, Alaska	07:00 AM	09:00 PM
Thu	05/06	Icy Strait, Alaska	07:00 AM	03:00 PM
Fri	05/07	Ketchikan, Alaska	06:00 AM	01:30 PM
Sat	05/08	Victoria, British Columbia	06:00 PM	12:00 AM
Sun	05/09	Seattle, Washington – Disembark – Time subject to change	08:00 AM

We said it couldn’t get much better, but it actually does: Take a look at these great fares for an 8-night cruise: Interior staterooms, with port charges and tax INCLUDED, start at only $714.47 per person! Book an ocean view for only $899.57 per person, or give yourself a real treat with a private balcony for only $1331.57 per person!

These are great fares for a cruise with 4 port stops, two BEAUTIFUL cities on either end, and fantastic scenery in-between. And it’s almost March, so these fares may go up be 5% or more in less than a week!

Give us a call today at 1-800-267-7613 and we’ll help you plan a great cruise vacation with whales, eagles and many more types of wildlife in the bargain!

Until then, have a great Friday!

Darlene & Mike

Remember…if you’d rather not receive our Weekly Deal, simply hit reply with “remove” in the subject line and we’ll take you off of our list. Fares include port charges and taxes and apply to this specific sailing date. Airfare, transfers, and optional travel insurance are additional.

Never Too Late

By Mike & Darlene Jordan
It was a Friday morning a few weeks ago. We were working on this column when the phone rang.
“Hello, my name is Bob,” the deep, older voice with a Boston accent on the other end said. “I’d like to go on a cruise with my friend.” It was nothing unusual. That’s how most of our phone inquiries start.
“We want to go to the Panama Canal.”
Since this is an itinerary that we had recently become very familiar with, we were happy to talk to the gentleman about it.
“We just returned from there,” we began, but Bob continued to talk.
“I usually use a travel agent in Taos,” Bob said. “But I saw you in the phone book in Ft. Garland. I’ve been to Fort Garland; there’s nothing there! Where are you?”
We started to explain that we work from home using the telephone, email, and the internet, but he broke in again.
“I’m not sure about that. I’m 82 and I’m used to doing business with a check. Can I use a check?” We told him that he could, but that credit and/or debit cards were how most of our business is conducted, but he broke in again and we began to understand that we’d be listening much more than talking in this conversation.
“Well, I’d want to use a check. I’m going to pay most of the trip for me and my friend. He’s 92, but he’ll be 93 when we take the trip. He’s a World War II veteran and was hurt in Italy. He doesn’t get around to good, but, otherwise, he’s healthy. We don’t have too many trips left,” he said.
He continued by explaining when they wanted to go (April), that they wanted a room with a balcony, and that his friend would need some special needs item in the room.
We assured Bob (not his real name) that we could accommodate him and his friend and found a nice itinerary on the Celebrity Infinity, and were able to provide his friend with what he needed in the room. Since the cruise is close-in, I explained that he’d have to make his payment in full immediately.
“OK, but I have to meet you. I’ll drive to Fort Garland (he lives in the Alamosa area). My friend and I, Ralph, will come together. He likes to get out once in awhile. Did you know he likes to go to Taos? He’s a World War II vet. Did I tell you that? We call him Jose. His friends call him Jose; that’s his middle name.”
We’ve learned over the years that, if a client wants to talk, well, let them talk. It’s good for them and it’s good for us. We learn a lot.
Bob and Ralph did indeed drive to Fort Garland, check in hand, and we met them at a local coffee shop. Bob is pretty spry for 82, and Ralph needed his help in walking up the ramp to the door, using 2 canes for balance.
“Ralph is very excited! We don’t have that many trips left, you know,” Bob told us as we sipped coffee and visited. He was very nervous about handing a sizeable check to us, but we assured him that it would go straight to the company HQ in Fort Lauderdale by Priority Mail with delivery confirmation.
A few days later, Ralph and Bob came back to Fort Garland (at their own insistence) to do their Homeland Security online check-in, since they didn’t have computers of their own. We assured them that we could to it over the phone, but Bob wanted to see where we worked.
“Look at that view!” he kept saying. “Ralph, look at the view! This is just an amazing place up here in the hills. I wish I had looked up here.” Neither Bob nor Ralph seemed to be the type to look backwards very often, though. Ralph did offer that he had been through the canal before when he was on a troop ship in World War II, and he said he hoped the accommodations would be better. We assured him that they would.
Bob and Ralph leave for their cruise in a month or so. Both are so excited that they call every few days to talk about it. These two have taught us a lot about living in the few weeks we’ve known them; mainly that you’re never too old to make a dream come true.
We’re mentally and spiritually richer for it.
Until next time…Get Out the Map!

Getting Married at Sea

By Mike & Darlene Jordan
It’s the stuff of many a Hollywood movie. The hero or heroine saves the day, falls in love, and the couple calls on the captain of the ship to perform a wedding ceremony. Everyone lives happily ever after!
Well…maybe. We get calls all the time from people who’d like to get married on board a cruise ship, captain presiding, amid all the confetti and champagne. Reality, as they say, bites. The truth is, only a very few weddings can be performed by sea captains. The problem is, most ship captains don’t have the legal right to perform a wedding. The captain would also have to be a judge, justice of the peace, minister, or some other kind of recognized officiant, such as a notary public, and the state in which you live would have to recognize that captain’s credentials.
There are exceptions, most notably Princess Cruise Lines. Princess ships are registered in Bermuda, and their captains must be licensed there. Bermudan law authorizes ship captains to perform weddings that are legally recognized, so, if a captain-officiated wedding is the dream of a bride and groom…Princess is the line to do it on.
That is not to say that other cruise lines don’t do weddings¬—almost all do—just not by the captain. Cruise line weddings (including those on Princess) are usually arranged by the line’s independent wedding coordinator, an outside company that specializes in getting everything done for you, including arranging photographers, food, beverages, decorations, etc. Naturally, there is a fee for their services. At Princess, the coordinator fees start at about $1,800.
You can make arrangements on your own, if you want, but it’s much more complicated unless your wedding will be very simple. We were on a Carnival cruise several years ago where our table-mates at dinner were a couple that got married on the beach during our stop in St. Thomas. The ceremony involved just the two of them, and they had arranged the wedding on their own. They actually tapped a couple they met in a bar on the ship to be their official witnesses!
Most cruise line weddings are performed while the ship is in port. This can be either in the embarkation port or a port along the itinerary. Having a wedding at the embarkation port has its advantages, the most obvious being that your entire guest list doesn’t have to actually take the cruise with you in order to attend the wedding; they just get off before the ship sails (and the cruise line will make sure that they do). We do have a number of couples, though, who have the whole guest list stay aboard for a week-long party!
Some travel agencies (including ours) offer a Bridal Registry for the express purpose of helping pay for at least the honeymoon portion of the celebration the same way guests buy the right china pattern for the happy pair. The couple simply reserves a honeymoon cruise, registers with the service, and then their guests can contribute to the cost of the honeymoon online. This is especially nice for more seasoned couples who already have all the china, silverware, coffeemakers, and dessert trays they need.
Cruises make great wedding venues, honeymoon destinations, or, with a little extra advance planning, both. As always, your arrangements are best started with a travel agent who can steer you toward the itinerary and line that will make the perfect, memorable start for a life together.
 Best wishes…and ‘til next time…Get Out the Map!