Southern Australia

Hi! It's Raegan and I've just returned from a familiarization trip to Southern Australia. I flew from Shenandoah Valley to LAX and then from LAX to Melbourne on Qantas Airways. We spent two nights at the luxurious five star Langham Hotel. We enjoyed dinner in the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant which is a working tramcar that tours the city as you dine. We also had some free time in Melbourne to visit the market and do some sightseeing. The next day we visited Warrook Cattle farm and saw kangaroos, emus and sheep. Then we went to the Koala Conservation Center. That evening we went to the Penguin Parade and watched the world's smallest penguins march up the sand to their nesting places. This was the highlight of my whole trip! We drove along the spectacular Great Ocean Road and saw beautiful scenery. We took a helicopter ride over the Twelve Apostles rock formations. Next we visited Grampians National Park and then on to wine tasting in the Barossa Valley. We flew to Kangaroo Island for 2 fantastic days of luxury touring. We walked through the bush and saw wallabies and kangaroos in the wild.We visited amazing seal bay where the seals sun themselves on the secluded beach. We had delicious meals grilled on the "barbie" each day. We visited the Remarkable Rocks rock formations and Admiral's Arch. The scenery was breathtaking! On the last day we flew back to Adelaide and had a free day for shopping and sightseeing. This was one of the best trips I've ever taken in all my years of traveling. I would recommend Australia to anyone!!

Norwegian Cruise Line

Hi there!
It's Raegan and I've just returned from a 7 night cruise to Bermuda aboard the Norwegian Majesty. We sailed from Baltimore. This is a wonderful port. Easy in, easy out and no flying! The ship is very small compared to most cruise ships today, only about 40,000 tons. It is a pretty little ship and the service was great. We ran into some bad weather and got into Bermuda late. We had two days there instead of the scheduled two and a half. It rained most of the time we were there but we still got to the beach for a bit and did some shopping. Bermuda is a beautiful island. It is more tropical than I expected since it so far north. It really feels like you're in the Caribbean. The water is beautiful and they have some of the prettiest beaches in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip!

Riviera Maya, Mexico

Hi, It's Jerry and I just returned from a trip to the Riviera Maya. We stayed at Dreams Puerto Aventuras Resort and Spa. The resort is located about 1 hour and 20 minutes from the Cancun airport in the Riviera Maya. The resort was only about half full but I would say that the service was still very very good. The room was large with a loft area with a spiral staircase. We had a marina view room. The food was very good and they have mostly a la carte restaurants. We took one excursion which lasted all day. We went to the Mayan ruins of Coba and also went to a cenote, which is an under ground sink hole where we went swimming. We also repelled down a cliff, and went kayaking. It was a very good trip. If you think that this sounds like a good time to you, let us know and we will be glad to send you down there to check it out.

Boston

Hi,
It's Raegan again and I went on a weekend getaway to Boston in early April. We flew nonstop from Dulles and stayed at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel. This is a very grand hotel. It is very contemporary and luxurious. While in Boston we visited Faneuil Hall Marketplace and the New England aquarium. We took a hop-on-hop-off trolley tour of the city. We saw Old North Church, Paul Revere's House, Boston Common and we took a tour of "Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution. We drove through Back Bay and by Fenway Park. We shopped and dined and had a great time. Boston is a beautiful city although I wouldn't recommend driving there as the streets are like a giant maze. This is a great weekend destination!

Beaches Boscobel, Jamaica

Hi!
It's Raegan and I went on a travel agent familiarization trip to Jamaica in March, 2009. I stayed at Beaches Boscobel in a concierge level room. This hotel is nice, great for families, with a huge waterpark and the Sesame Street characters on site. The food was excellent, especially the jerk chicken. Beaches is part of the Sandals family and so the service is unmatched! The people were very friendly. The beach is narrow at this resort but very pretty and the water is darker blue because of the reef. I also toured Royal Plantation, Sandals' elite brand resort. It is very luxurious and amazingly beautiful. We also toured Sandals Grande Ocho Rios which is huge, it is built on both sides of the road so they have a beach side and a mountain side. There are dozens of room categories to choose from. It is a beautiful resort as well. My favorite resort that we toured is Sandals Dunn's River. It is smaller than Sandals Grande (I prefer a smaller resort) but very lovely. The beach and water are beautiful and the pool area is very nice. There are many restaurants to choose from and you have exchange privileges between the two Sandals resorts so you can stay at one, play at two. The only drawback to Ocho Rios is the two hour drive from the Montego Bay airport but it is definitely worth the trip!

Beijing, China

Hello. This is Jerry.
I recently returned from a trip to Beijing China!! I flew from Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport to Washington Dulles. I flew nonstop from Dulles to Beijing!! We stayed at the Westin Beijing for two nights and then the Westin Chaoyang for two nights. While we were there we saw the Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace, the Summer Palace and Tian'anmen Square. We also climbed the Great Wall of China! I have to say that the Great Wall is probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen!
The food was very interesting to say the least. It is nothing like Chinese food here. We also went to the Night Market where you can buy a variety of things to eat, like crickets on a stick, snake, star fish, and I tried a water scorpion!! They also had silk worm which I did not try but some of the other agents did. I also went to the Silk Market, where you can buy all types of merchandise, but you need to be good at bargaining!
We were upgraded to business class on the return flight home, and it was 14 hours. Now, that's the way to travel! I'm sure that I could write a lot more but let's just say that this was a once in a lifetime trip. I had a wonderful time!

Jamaica - Riu Montego Bay

Hello, it's Brandi.
I've just returned from a quick getaway to Jamaica. We were there for 3 nights so we opted to stay at the Riu Montego Bay which is only 10 minutes from the airport. It is a small property, which I prefer. The rooms are nice, however, in my opinion the beds are too firm. The food was good, the buffets have a good variety but the downside is this resort only offers buffet dining, no a la carte. The beach is very nice, the water is beautiful. Due to the reef surrounding Jamaica the snorkeling there is excellent. It was a great weekend getaway. I'm sure I'll go again!