Cruising with a Purpose

Purposeful Travel

This week Twitter chat #FoodTravelChat, which I help moderate, is discussing "Purposeful Food & Travel".   Each Wednesday evening at 7 PM Eastern, a group of like-minded people get together to chat about food and travel, two of my favorite topics.

click images to enlarge

The 2016 Cruises Inc., CruiseOne and Dream Vacations National Conference aboard Carnival Vista immediately came to mind when learning of the theme for this week.  Obviously one purpose of the travel was to experience the brand new Carnival Vista so that we could share insider information with our guests. We also learned about industry trends, challenges, and upcoming changes with each of our travel partners.

Changing Lives

General Manager of Network Engagement & Performance, Drew Daly, presented “One Day I Will,” at the closing General Session. He spoke about how agents have the ability to change their customers’ lives by encouraging them to live for today. The presentation reflected on the positive impact a dream vacation has on one’s life – both personally and professionally. Armed with all the information from fellow travel professionals and industry leaders, we certainly felt we had plenty to offer our guests plan memorable vacations, but that was really only the beginning of our purposeful travel.

Giving Back

In addition to changing our customer’s lives, Cruises Inc., CruiseOne and Dream Vacations agents are changing the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through Make-A-Wish, the signature charity of parent company World Travel Holdings. Fundraising is a core component of National Conference every year when franchisees, agents, staff and suppliers all come together through a variety of fundraising activities such as guessing next year’s conference date, silent auctions, the fourth annual “Zumba@Sea – Dance For Wishes” and exclusive access to the Skyride and sports deck.

Each year we strive to beat the previous year's total, so the goal was set at $75,000 for the week long event. We not only met that goal, but exceeded it with a grand total raised during the conference of $100,000. That amount will help grant 20 wishes.

It is so rewarding to add a purpose to your travel.  I truly believe that by doing so you get so much more back in return.  When on a cruise, check the daily program for ways that you can participate and turn your trip into Purposeful Travel.

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Where have you explored? 

Gather your travel and food pics and join us Wednesday night for the latest installment of #FoodTravelChat

Pre-Conference Hotel

Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel 

& Executive Meeting Center

The 2016 National Conference for Cruises Inc., CruiseOne, and Dream Vacations was held on board the new Carnival Vista which sailed out of Miami, Florida to the Southern Caribbean. Prior to the cruise, agents and franchise owners assembled at Sheraton Miami Airport for a pre-conference reception.

Arriving from Chicago

We departed Chicago on a 6 AM flight to Miami.  Since the conference was in December, you never know what the weather will be like in Chicago, so that factored into our selection of the early departure flight.

After gathering our luggage from baggage claim, we waited for the hotel shuttle for the short ride to the hotel.  We checked in upon arrival, but our room wasn't quite ready so we took a seat in the lobby to wait until we could get into our room.  We waited about an hour and then headed up to our room to drop off our baggage.

Our Room

The Sheraton is undergoing renovation of their rooms, and we were one of the first to experience the new design.  Amenities included a microwave, small refrigerator, coffee pot, electrical outlets with USB ports, and a flat screen TV.

While we were only spending one night at the hotel, with the new changes, this hotel would be quite enjoyable for an extended stay.

The Rickenbacker

By now, it was time for lunch, so we headed back to the lobby and checked out the menu at The Rickenbacker.

We decided to have something light for lunch. The french onion soup was amazing as was the quesadilla.

The pre-conference cocktail reception was planned for the patio outside the Rickenbacker but unfortunately there were storms in the area that evening and the party was moved inside to the ballroom.

Following the reception several of us decided to grab some food.    We didn't really want to go out in the rain, so once again we stayed in the hotel.
We selected flatbread pizza and a chicken sandwich.



Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts and photos from the 2016 National Conference cruise on Carnival Vista.

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