Thanksgiving Reflections for 2020

HAPPY
THANKSGIVING 

I hope that you, your family, and friends have plenty to be thankful for this holiday season. I know that I have plenty of things to be thankful for, including my health, family, and friends and the ability to share my love of cruising and traveling with all of you. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to explore new worlds with family and friends again this year, if only for a short time.

Thankful for ... 

 

Experiencing New Destinations 

We arrived in Melbourne, Australia on February 14th to begin our adventure.  As usual we took our own advice of arriving a couple days before we cruise.  This takes the stress our of the vacation since you don't need to worry about missing your ship.  It is especially important when traveling far.  

After 19 hours of flying, we checked in our hotel and then headed to Melbourne's Sea Life Aquarium. We had pre-booked an all day tour with West Tours to Phillip Island for the next day.  The main highlight of that tour was the penguin parade.  Unfortunately, just before the parade, we got an email from Princess Cruises that our cruise would be shortened.  We would not be sailing on to Singapore as scheduled.

See More Southern Australia Pics (here)
See our diary from our cruise from Melbourne, Australia

The weather in Southern Australia in February is gorgeous compared to the cold and snowy winter back home.   The Caribbean isn't the only place you can escape the weather.   We encourage you to expand your cruise vacation destination list to beyond the Caribbean.

The cruise industry is resilient as ever with new ships still being introduced and planned even during a pandemic.  The CDC is working with the cruise lines to formulate plans to allow for resumption of cruising.   It will be a slow process with the first sailings being shakedown cruises to be sure the protocols are in place to assure safety and health for passengers, crew, and destinations.

The value of cruising has never been stronger. Even in these tough times, more and more families are planning to take to the seas. As the pause in cruising continues, in order to accommodate the CDC requirements, the cruise lines have offered bonus FCCs to passengers impacted by the cancellations.  There is a pent up demand for cruising and other vacations.   

Thankful for ... 
Our Travel Partners

Cruises Inc., Cruise One, and Dream Vacations had been scheduled to hold the 2020 National Conference on Celebrity Apex which was starting its inaugural season.  The pandemic had other plans, and our conference switched to a virtual event.  Our cruise line and land partners still participated in this four day event sharing the latest industry news and insights as we begin the recovery process.   

Throughout the pandemic, our travel partners have been there for us and you, providing regular updates, introducing cruise with confidence and relaxed cancellation policies so that our guests could modify their vacation plans as the current situation would dictate.   

We wonder what the Pilgrims, who came to the New World in Tall Ships, would think about Celebrity Apex.  Their ships measured 110 feet, held 150 passengers at most, and took months to cross the Atlantic.  The Apex is about 10 times that length (1004 feet), holds 3405 passengers (double occupancy) and 1320 crew, and took just a couple weeks to cross the Atlantic.

Thank you for making our blog column a part of your lives in 2020.   I hope that the information we share helps you to dream about future cruises or land adventures of your own. I'd be honored to help you plan those trips. I have the best job in the world - helping make dreams come true. For that, I'm truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to All

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