Enchantment of the Seas, Again!!!!

Hi, it's Brandi and January 2013!  I escorted a fundraising group on board the Enchantment of the Seas.  We sailed to the Eastern Caribbean from Baltimore.  While I had been on this ship before this was a different itinerary than last time.  We visited San Juan, St. Croix, Samana Dominican Republic, and Labadee, the private island.  This is a great idea for a fundraiser for any local charity you would like to support.  Each passenger makes a donation and Royal Caribbean matches the proceeds.  It was a great break from the winter weather!

Celebrity Reflection

Hi, it's Brandi again! 
In December I sailed aboard the newest Celebrity ship, Celebrity Reflection.  This was the inaugural sailing of the ship.  She is beautiful with lots of trendy lounges, such as the martini ice bar and the wine bar (one of my favorites).  This is the first experience I had with anytime dining and we loved it because we could dine whenever we wanted.  We also tried one of the beverage packages which worked out well for us.  Unfortunately it rained a lot and the ship was unable to port in Nassau Bahamas, lucky we had been there before.  We did get to visit the private island, Coco Cay Bahamas.  Celebrity is a little more upscale than their sister company Royal Caribbean.  I truly enjoyed the new ship!

Disney Cruise 2012

Hello! This is Meredith and my first blog as an agent here at Travel Leaders Harrisonburg. I have had a great 9 months here and am learning more and more every day. I worked in the airlines as a customer service agent before coming to the "other side" of travel. I must admit it is very different! My post is a little late....but I wanted to tell you about my first trip as a travel consultant.

My husband and I took our kids (4 and 6) on a Disney cruise and fell in love! What an exciting experience to have with our children. It was everything we expected and more. From the moment we stepped on the ship we were treated like royalty. The kids club was awesome as Jackson and Taylor said, they never wanted to come out of there! The food was spectacular and so much to choose from.  Jackson tried escargot for the first time and ate 3 servings! We ate the buffets for breakfast and lunch...which was perfect for us. I will say that we were given the late dining time and were very happy with  it. It gave us a chance to come in and rest  before dinner....we were able to go to the shows before we ate, which was nice. One suggestion I do have is to look at the daily schedule early and make a plan. The kids wanted to do so much...and we didn't have a good plan! Once we figured out what was happening when, we were all set. The fact that Disney made the soda fountain and ice cream self serve was a very nice added bonus. We were able to let the kids get their own without worrying how much it cost. Bring a travel mug....you will be glad you have a cup to fill up while at the pool.
We did western Caribbean, so we didn't get to visit the private Disney Island Castaway Key. We still had wonderful ports of call. Cozumel was our favorite, the snorkeling was amazing! At each port we found a cab driver to take us where we wanted to go, it worked out just fine.

If you are looking for the perfect vacation with your family....I highly recommend a Disney cruise. You will  be surprised how affordable it can  be.....and the quality relaxing time you get to spend with your kids is priceless!

Catching up!

Hello!
It's been another busy year at Travel Leaders! Our biggest news of the year is the addition of our new agent, Meredith. She joined the Travel Leaders team in July of 2012. That same month Raegan went on another trip to Bermuda aboard the Enchantment of the Seas. This was a repeat trip but one can never get enough of Bermuda!! FYI for those of you who have sailed from Baltimore before on the Enchantment of the Seas, the Grandeur of the Seas will be coming in May 2013 to replace the Enchantment so you might want to check her out!

Istanbul, Paris, and London – May 2012

Hi, it's Brandi and in May  I met up with a tour group I put together and my first stop was Istanbul, Turkey.  I was very excited to visit Turkey and it lived up to all my expectations.  I stayed at the City Center Hotel, great location, near Taskim Square.  Great shopping and restaurant areas, all within walking distance of our hotel.  The rooftop restaurants have amazing views of Istanbul.  The Horn is beautiful at sunset.  The second day we took a ferry to one of Princes’ Islands, the smallest of the islands and it was very quaint.  We had lunch and strolled through the town.  There are no motor vehicles on the island and everyone uses horse and buggy to get around.

Day Three – I took an organized tour with She Tours.  The tour is Two Continents – half day afternoon tour – Did you know Turkey occupies two continents; Asia and Europe?  We took the Bosphorus Bridge to the Asia side of Istanbul and visited the summer residence of Ottoman Sultans, the Beylerbeyi Palace, magnificent gardens.  We also visited Camlica Hill, the highest point in Istanbul.  At the top you can see panoramic views of Istanbul and the Bosphorus but unfortunately it was pouring down rain when we were there!

Day Four – We visited all the tourist hot spots like the Blue Mosque, HippoDrome, Grand Covered Bazaar, and Topkapi Palace.  All must see’s while you are in Istanbul!

We also found it very easy to use the underground and ferry system while we were in Istanbul.  With all the street vendors, you can get a snack anywhere you go.  The ekmek (bread) is wonderful. 

Off to Paris ….  The flight on Turkish Airlines was great with all the amenities you could want in coach class.

Paris has always been my favorite place to visit in Europe and it still is J ... The city of love.... what more can I say? I’m a romantic at heart!  We stayed at the Le Meridian Etoile  - great location and the largest hotel in Paris.  After we settled into the hotel we spent the reminder of the day on a riverboat trip down the Seine.  Touring Paris on the Seine is a great way to see many of the city’s monuments, historical buildings, and bridges.  The banks of the Seine were full of people picnicking and enjoying this beautiful city.  The next morning we took a tour of Paris and all the great monuments.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at Montmartre.  There was a food and wine event that day so we made our way through the festival, trying everything made in France.  I also had a crepe with Nutella, yummy.  The Eiffel Tower is amazing at night, a must see if you're in Paris!

The Eurostar then took us from Paris to London.  We stayed at the Royal National Hotel.  Not my first choice of hotel but it was adequate for what we needed.  Good location to hop on the Tube and go throughout London.  The pizza place in this hotel is great.  The London eye gives you amazing views of the city and is great for pictures.  We did a walking tour in London, which I loved, it is much better than being on a motor coach the entire time.  We visited the Tower of London, Big Ben and Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.  We had lunch at a traditional English Pub, fish and chips was a great choice.  Try a hard cider while you’re in London.  We left right before the Queen’s Jubilee weekend of celebration and the city was beautifully decorated.  Everyone in London is getting ready for the Olympics. This was a fantastic trip and I enjoyed it all!

Sandals Grande, St. Lucia

Hello everyone,
This is Jerry and I just came back from staying 7 nights at the Sandals Grande in St Lucia. There are 3 Sandals in St Lucia and when you stay at one you can visit all of them!!
The Grande is the largest of the three with the Sandals La Toc the next and the Halcyon the smallest. If you want to stay at a little more intimate resort you should pick the Halcyon. Sandals has shuttles that run throughout the day so you can go over during the day for the activities or do like I did and just go to one of them for dinner. The Grande is located on a peninsula on Rodney Bay with the Caribbean sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.
The bay is very calm so there is little or no wave action. There are plenty of things to do there from the Hobie cat rides to Kayak to scuba diving to snorkeling. There are also two large peaks where Fort Rodney is located within walking distance that you can hike to, which I did one morning and I recommend you do in the morning because if gets very hot in the afternoon and take plenty of water with you.
The food and service  were great and the atmosphere was very laid back. I loved this resort and I would go back again in a heartbeat!

Carnival Victory Southern Caribbean

Hi!

It's Raegan and I've just returned from a 7 night Southern Caribbean Cruise aboard The Carnival Victory. We flew nonstop from Dulles to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We sailed to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maartin. The Victory is a very nice ship. The food was great and the activities aboard were endless. We especially enjoyed the Serenity adults only outdoor areas with the hottubs and hammocks. In Barbados we went snorkeling with the giant sea turtles and in St. Kitts we rode ATV's up into the mountians for spectacular views down to the sea. In St. Marten we rode a jet ski...what fun!! These are just a few of the many adventures we had on this vacation. Carnival is a great value and I can't wait for my next cruise!