The Best Laid Plans……

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No matter how hard and long you plan for something,  there is still no guarantee that all will go as you hope.  It could be the weather, work-related issues or sickness/injury that puts a kink in your plans, you just never know what can come up at the last minute.  I had been in the process of planning for a group cruise for over a year and wouldn’t you know it, three days before we were to set sail last month, one member of our party fell and broke her pelvis.  With this injury, there was no way she could have gone on this cruise and enjoyed herself.   I didn’t see this one coming!  Rats.

I always recommend to my clients that protecting your cruise vacation with insurance is the smart way to go and my group learned first hand how important this truly is.   Thankfully, they had chosen to protect their investment by purchasing vacation insurance and can expect a full refund.   While it was terribly upsetting that she and her husband had to miss the cruise, at least it wasn’t made worse by being out the money they had invested in the vacation.  Life can throw us surprises and while we don’t always know what’s coming, it is best to be prepared.

On to planning their next cruise vacation…..

Happy Sailing 🙂

 

 

Thank You for Helping Me Grow My Business!

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The month of June has been the busiest month I have ever had in the cruise business and I love it!!!  Cruise vacations must be on the minds of many now as summer sets in.  Lots of great bookings this month, mostly from new clients which means my business is growing, woohoo!! I love the fact that one of my new clients searched for a cruise professional using CLIA credentials and found me on LinkedIn.   (It’s fun to tell that story Natalie :) )  My husband, Jason, of Blue Gurus, thought that was great since he is a big promoter for the business side of social media.   Another new client babysat me when I was a kid 30-some years ago and is from my hometown of Clay Center, KS, how fun is that?!

What has been exciting is the variety of itineraries that I have been researching.   The Mediterranean, Canada/New England and  Caribbean have been top of mind for my clients.  Some sailing this fall and others the fall of 2013 to see the color changes in the Northeast, another planning to be on the inaugural sailing of the Royal Princess in the Mediterranean next summer, wow!  Some are even planning their first Disney cruise for late next year, their daughter cannot wait!

I just wanted to share my excitement for my growing business and my passion for cruising.  Thank you to all my past, current and new clients for trusting me with your cruise vacation plans.  I look forward to your repeat business and any referrals you pass along, thank you!!

Happy Sailing 🙂

 

 

 

Cruise3sixty – Amazing Cruise Training Event

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Wow, what a fabulous time I had in Ft. Lauderdale at the Cruise3sixty conference this year!!  Cruise3sixty, the official travel agency conference of the cruise line industry, is also the leader in educational training and networking opportunities for cruise industry travel  professionals.

I was surrounded by people that love cruising as much as I do and every morning I woke up to a different ship in port!  This year I was also able to attend the graduation event to celebrate my accomplishment of obtaining my ACC (Accredited Cruise Counsellor) certification.  My days were filled with CLIA seminars, cruise line product updates, general sessions with top cruise industry executives and of course, ship inspections.  I was able to tour and have lunch on board 3 ships:  the Emerald Princess, Holland America’s ms Maasdam and the Carnival Valor.  This is a great way for me to see the different products offered by the different cruise lines.  I think the one of the best parts of the ship tours this year was having Carnival’s signature Warm Chocolate Melting Cake on the Valor, the best dessert I’ve ever had on a cruise ship.  Super yum!!  We had it almost every night when we sailed on the Carnival Valor for my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary in 2009.

Having been on board over 15 different ships helps me narrow down the style/type of cruise my clients are looking for.  Each cruise line offers something special and it is my job to match up the client with the right cruise line and ship.  The information that I take away from events like Cruise3sixty is priceless.  It helps me grow my business and makes me an even better cruise specialist so I can help you plan the cruise vacation of your dreams!

Happy Sailing!  🙂

I Needed a Facelift…For My Website

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My husband, who is a social media/website development guy for Blue Gurus kept telling me I needed to update my site.  Yes, I needed a facelift.  My original blog site was designed by my husband when I first started my business 4 years ago and was showing it’s age.  He suggested we make a change and that I should Google “WordPress Travel Themes” to get some new ideas.   I had so much fun looking at all of the different options out there, it was hard to decide.  I gave Jason my top picks and he chose one.  I got home from work one evening and he had surprised me by transferring my content from my old site to the new one and just like that (well, after some work on his part) I had an updated site :)  All of my older posts are still there, nothing was lost in the transfer. We use WordPress which allows me to maintain the content myself.  I love that I am not completely dependent on him for technology :)  I think it is pretty great that we can change the look and feel of my blog just by switching themes and still keep all of the content intact.   So check it out, look through it.  www.curiouscompass.com in case you are reading this as an email and aren’t on my site already.  I’m currently adding pages myself, yay!!  There is a new one you will want to check out about group cruising in 2013.  Let me know what you think of my new look 🙂

Happy Sailing 🙂