National Conference 2015

Cruises Inc. & CruiseOne National Conference was held onboard the brand new Norwegian Escape, which is based in Miami starting this month.  Here was our view from our 31st story hotel room at Marriott Key Biscayne Miami.  We had a welcome cocktail party at the hotel on Friday November 13th.  The rain waited until we were done with our party

Port Miami welcomed the Norwegian Escape into its new home port early Saturday morning.  One of our fellow agents captured these images early in the morning.

Norwegian Escape looks beautiful all lit up in Miami, but she looks even more amazing in full sunlight.  The hull art was designed by Guy Harvey, who sailed with us on our cruise.  He hopes that his art will bring awareness to conservation efforts so that generations to come can enjoy the sea.

Count Down to National Conference 2014

Regal Princess
It is hard to believe that we are just one week away from our 2014 National Conference: GROWTH-Gaining Relationships and Opportunities Through World Travel Holdings. That means we are also one week away from seeing the brand new Princess Cruise's Regal Princess as she sails for the first time out of Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Join Us Live from Regal Princess

Our Blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter followers will have the opportunity to join in the excitement as we bring you highlights from our National Conference onboard the brand new Regal Princess. If you don't already, please follow us on Twitter: @ChrisPappinMCC Pinterest: CruiseWithChris Pappin and Facebook: CruiseWithChris Pappin Cruises Inc.

We will be sharing content with you throughout the conference...

Making a Difference

In return, we have a favor to ask of you...

As many of you know, our Conference and Corporate charity is Make-A-Wish®. Together we have raised over $200,000 from our fund raising efforts at our National Conferences in the past. Last year alone, we surpassed the $100,000 mark and made history by having a Marathon@Sea run by Sean Tolkin, Director WTH. The National Conference is a great opportunity for us to see firsthand how we can come together and be part of something bigger.

Our goal is to continue our record breaking fundraising efforts and to surpass our goal of $75,000. There will be many opportunities during our conference to raise money for our cause, including a Zumba@Sea-Dance for Wishes. Each dollar we raise together will help kids like Bizzy, age 13, who wished to go on a Mediterranean cruise. You can learn more about Bizzy on the donation site below.


Celebrity Cruises has sponsored our Zumba@Sea efforts this year and will be helping us have some fun during the Zumba event, which will be held on Thursday morning on the ship. WTH/Celebrity will match dollar for dollar up to $5,000 in donations made from the Zumba event.

You Can Help Too

Many of you have asked how you can get your family and friends involved in our efforts to help grant the wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions – AND HERE’S YOUR CHANCE! We have a group donation page that you can access using the link below.

If you are interested in supporting this great cause please make a donation using the following link:   
      http://friends.wish.org/100-100/page/CruiseOne-CruisesInc./Zumba-Sea.htm 
Any amount will help us reach our group goal of $5,000 for the Zumba event.

Thank you to Celebrity Cruises & World Travel Holdings and all of YOU for helping to make kids like Bizzy a little happier.   Thanks to the Make-a-Wish foundation for all that they do for kids.

Cruise Like a Norwegian to Bermuda

Norwegian Breakaway Cruise to Bermuda 

CruiseOne Cruises Inc. National Conference 2014 

We are getting ready for our National Conference, so we've just put a photo book together from our last trip to Bermuda on Norwegian Cruise Line. Bermuda is one of the most friendly islands to visit in all the world. There is so much to do as you can see in this photo album. While we put many of our images into this photo album, we didn't put them all, so be sure to visit our Share Site on Shutterfly.

Bermuda a Tropical Paradise

Click here to view this photo book larger

Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.

This is a great way for you to capture your cruise memories. When you get back from your vacation, just upload your images to Shutterfly. Put the photos in albums and share them on a share site. Select some of your favorite images, add some text describing the pictures, and submit your order. I put this one together in a few hours. The hard part is narrowing down the pictures that you want to include. Here's to great cruise vacations captured in print.

Advanced Deposit Promotion

 Too Good Not to Share

Those that read my blog on a regular basis know that our content is primarily world news, travel industry news, cruise reviews, and other articles of interest to our readers.   We shy away from advertisements in the columns.

You also know that I'm an Independent Cruise & Vacation Specialist with Cruise Inc.   This year Cruises Inc. and her sister company CruiseOne are celebrating special anniversaries (20 years for CruiseOne and 30 for Cruises Inc.) and our management wants to share some special offers with our loyal customers.

Today in the Travel Press:

BUY NOW, PAY LATER

In what it says is an unprecedented move, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. will front customers' cruise deposits for bookings made during the rest of February, and possibly beyond.

The "Advanced Deposit (Buy Now, Pay Later) Promotion" runs from Feb. 6 to 29, effectively enabling CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. franchises and agents to book clients with "no money down."

The customers will then pay back the deposit when they make their final cruise payment.

Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne and Cruises Inc., said the program is expected to increase bookings by removing an "impediment to people making the decision to book." 

Since most clients book an average of six months out and final payment is due 90 days out, said Luis Zuniga, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc.'s vice president of marketing, the program is like giving customers "a three-month, interest-free loan." 

The deposit is capped at $500 per cabin, which Wall said was generally the most a cruise deposit would be. The promotion does not apply to group sales, usually eight cabins or more, or river cruises.

Holiday Bills to Pay?   No Money for Cruise Deposit?   

Why Miss Wave Season Deals?

Let Us Fund Your Initial Deposit

Just Pay us Back at Final Payment Time

Having to pay a deposit, along with considering the cost of airline tickets if necessary, can make it difficult to commit to a cruise this time of year.  That means consumers miss out on the plethora of good Wave season incentives from the cruise lines.  CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. have solved that problem for you.

Contact Us to Book Your Next Cruise Today.

Welcome Aboard Allure of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Allure of the SeasSM Day 1

First in a series of articles about our 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Allure of the Seas. Virtually tour with us as we explore the Allure of the Seas and all she has to offer.  We'll highlight some of our adventures on land and sea during the week. 

Allure of the Seas & Emerald Princes - Ft. Lauderdale

Waking early Sunday morning, we went out on our hotel balcony to see the  Allure of the Seas and Emerald Princess completing their docking maneuvers.  Soon we would be onboard the Allure for our National Conference cruise.

We left the Hyatt Ft. Lauderdale hotel around 10:45 AM with another agent couple. After returning their rental car, the shuttle took all of us to Pier 66, which is within sight of the hotel.  We had to wait while for the shuttle, so we got to the pier around 11:30 AM.   By noon we were onboard the ship.


Embarkation Process

Most of you are aware that Allure of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world at present.  She and her sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, are the latest ships in Royal Caribbean International's fleet.   Allure is coming up on her one year anniversary, while Oasis celebrates her second birthday this year.  Fully loaded, these ships accommodate around 6,000 passengers.  Allure sailed at full capacity for our sailing.

The amazing thing is that Royal Caribbean guarantees that you won't have a long wait for embarkation.   This was our second cruise on Allure, and they delivered on their promise both times.  

We are Diamond members, which means there would be a special line for us at embarkation, but we didn't even need to go in that line.   After passing through security, we headed to the check-in lines where we were directed to a gentleman holding up his sign indicating that he was open and waiting for guests.  

The embarkation stations are grouped by deck making for a very efficient process.  After giving the check-in agent our completed paperwork, showing our passports, providing the credit card for onboard purchases, and having our picture taken for our cabin keys, we were off for our first photo opportunity, the Welcome Aboard photo.  He had given us our cabin keys, The Cruise Planner (pictured above), and a fold-up pocket guide map of the ship.   These can be very useful throughout the ship, but if you read our past article, Navigating the Allure of the Seas, you'll discover that there are more efficient ways to find your way around.

Getting Onboard

After our photo, we gathered our carry-on bags and headed to the gangway.   We showed our cabin key several times, including having it scanned, and then we were headed up the gangway to the Allure's entrance.  At the top of the gangway, it's time to sanitize your hands and step aboard the ship.  Cabins weren't ready for occupancy, so it was time to explore the open public areas.

What's the first thing you do when you get onboard - read our next article to see what we did on Allure of the Seas...