Life is Suite on Avalon Waterways

DREAMING DOESN’T STOP   As we return to traveling, river cruising will be a popular alternative to the crowded ocean cruise ships.   Your travel inspiration has arrived! In just a few minutes, you’ll be envisioning yourself on your next dream vacation. As you flip through the pages of these brochures, your dream vacation will start becoming a reality and that’s where I come in. I’m here to help you plan every detail of your vacation because I’ve been there and done that and can share with you my travel expertise and experience. Your dream vacation starts here and it starts with me. Let’s start planning today.
Diary of Our   click image for stories & photos Latest River Cruise	13 Day River Cruise from Zürich to Amsterdam This exciting river cruise vacation has it all! Arrive in Zürich and transfer to your ship, which is docked in Basel. Then, head north on the Rhine and enjoy guided sightseeing in Strasbourg, Cologne, and Koblenz. See the Roman ruins at Trier, Reichsburg Castle above charming Cochem, and the unique Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum in Rüdesheim. Sail past the legendary Lorelei rock and through the dramatic Rhine Gorge, visit pretty Bernkastel, and a windmill in Kinderdijk, and enjoy excursions to majestic Heidelberg and to Germany’s legendary Black Forest.
Enjoy Luxury River Cruising          VIEW OFFERS
Christine Pappin, MCC Toll Free  (800) 697-9515 (630) 837-7295    RESERVE YOUR RIVER CRUISE WITH US TODAY!

Worldwide Web Meets Cruise Industry

#WWW_2019

How the WWW has Impacted Cruise Industry

Today marks the 30th anniversary 
of the World Wide Web

You are fast asleep and all of a sudden you decide to see what cruise ships are sailing to Aruba next month. OK, so you weren't fast asleep after-all. Nevertheless, you get out of bed and grab your cell phone or turn on your PC.

Picking from your browser favorites you pull up your favorite search engine and fill in a few options and there you have it a list of several cruises to choose from. You narrow your selection to several on one of the cruise lines. Next, you want to learn more about the ship so you select their brochure from the website's brochure rack and begin navigating the pages.

Next you put together a request for a price quote to your travel agent, via their website, or through your email client. Now, finally, you can go back to bed dreaming about sunny days laying by the pool or beach with a drink in your hand. All this without human intervention. Of course, you have several questions for your professional travel planner, but that can wait until morning.

Life Before WWW

Prior to the days of the WorldWideWeb, this same desire for information would have had to wait until morning, unless you already had hard-copy brochures for the various cruise lines. You would have then made a phone call or visited your local travel planner who would probably have had to take some time to do some research. 

You may have been able to fall asleep dreaming about Aruba, but you wouldn't have known whether you could be going there next month. 

Nowadays, you can enjoy instant (as fast as your internet speed) information, tailored to your specific needs. Even if you are mobile, as long as you have an internet connection, there isn't any waiting for information.

This is only one way that the WorldWideWeb has impacted the Cruise Industry.  With technology advancements, it's possible to stay connected even while sitting by the pool sailing in the middle of the ocean.   This need for connectivity has spurred upgrades on most of the cruise ships afloat today.

We've covered that topic in past articles on our blog.

Onboard Ships

Passengers want to stay connected to friends, family, and possibly work while on their cruise. The cruise lines have responded, with improvements to their networks. Most lines offer a variety of options so that every passenger can be accommodated based on their requirements. Not all passengers need streaming video for example, so those that do, pay a premium price to get that option.

Network speeds have improved, but there is still a ways to go in most cases. Even so, with unlimited packages, at least passengers now have a fixed cost option should they wish to access the internet onboard the ship.  Whether you used your personal PC, tablet, phone, or ship's devices, you can stay connected to the internet throughout your voyage if you desire.

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Worldwide Web Meets Cruise Industry

#WWW_2018

How the WWW has Impacted Cruise Industry

You are fast asleep and all of a sudden you decide to see what cruise ships are sailing to Aruba next month. OK, so you weren't fast asleep after-all. Nevertheless, you get out of bed and grab your cell phone or turn on your PC.

Picking from your browser favorites you pull up your favorite search engine and fill in a few options and there you have it a list of several cruises to choose from. You narrow your selection to several on one of the cruise lines. Next, you want to learn more about the ship so you select their brochure from the website's brochure rack and begin navigating the pages.

Next you put together a request for a price quote to your travel agent, via their website, or through your email client. Now, finally, you can go back to bed dreaming about sunny days laying by the pool or beach with a drink in your hand. All this without human intervention. Of course, you have several questions for your professional travel planner, but that can wait until morning.

Life Before WWW

Prior to the days of the WorldWideWeb, this same desire for information would have had to wait until morning, unless you already had hard-copy brochures for the various cruise lines. You would have then made a phone call or visited your local travel planner who would probably have had to take some time to do some research. 

You may have been able to fall asleep dreaming about Aruba, but you wouldn't have known whether you could be going there next month. 

Nowadays, you can enjoy instant (as fast as your internet speed) information, tailored to your specific needs. Even if you are mobile, as long as you have an internet connection, there isn't any waiting for information.

This is only one way that the WorldWideWeb has impacted the Cruise Industry.  With technology advancements, it's possible to stay connected even while sitting by the pool sailing in the middle of the ocean.   This need for connectivity has spurred upgrades on most of the cruise ships afloat today.

We've covered that topic in past articles on our blog.

Onboard Ships

Passengers want to stay connected to friends, family, and possibly work while on their cruise. The cruise lines have responded, with improvements to their networks. Most lines offer a variety of options so that every passenger can be accommodated based on their requirements. Not all passengers need streaming video for example, so those that do, pay a premium price to get that option.

Network speeds have improved, but there is still a ways to go in most cases. Even so, with unlimited packages, at least passengers now have a fixed cost option should they wish to access the internet onboard the ship.  Whether you used your personal PC, tablet, phone, or ship's devices, you can stay connected to the internet throughout your voyage if you desire.

Join Us for a Fun Hour on Twitter Wednesday Nights

If you love Food & Travel you should join #FoodTravelChat every Wednesday at 8 PM Eastern.  I'm one of the chat moderators.  Each week we discuss a new food and travel related topic.

 

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Meet Us at Streamwood Summer Celebration

Meet us at the show

Once a year we participate in our local Chamber of Commerce hosted Summer Celebration.
This will be our 12th appearance at the show.  Last year I turned over my role as Chairman of the Chamber's Summer Celebration Committee so I shouldn't have to split my time between the Chamber Booth and my personal one, and look forward to meeting many of our fans during the three day event.

For those in the area, it is your chance to meet us in person to discuss your vacation plans, pick up some brochures, and take advantage of our exclusive offers.   Here is one of those specials that we will be featuring during the event July 27th - 29th.  We also extend the offers to our readers - ask us for complete details.  (click the link above for times and location)

Select from Cruises, Resorts, & Tours

Where do YOU Want to Go - So Many Choices

Explore Tours  ---  Explore Cruises

Perhaps the hottest new destination for 2018 and beyond is Cuba.  

Several cruise lines offer People-to-People experiences which include overnights in Havana, Cuba. This is perhaps the best way to visit Cuba because it eliminates any fears about the country's infrastructure not supporting tourism - your ship is your oasis.

President Donald Trump announced last year he would reverse the historic thawing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba made under the Obama Administration. The new actions are aimed to once again restrict travel to Cuba and block business deals between the two countries. If you have a remote interest in visiting Cuba, then perhaps now would be the time to plan a visit before travel is once again restricted.

Exclusive Offers

Even if you aren't able to visit us at our booth, you can still take advantage of our special offers like this one from Royal Caribbean and other Cruise Lines.

You may be familiar with BOGOHO promotion where you get 50% second guest. Now the offer is even better when combined with Kids Sail Free promo. Additional amenities are also now combined to make this an even more attractive offer (Valid on select ships & sailings).

Hurry - These are Limited Time Offers!

We rarely write about our cruise and land offers in our column, but these were too good to pass up.  Don't miss out on these great deals! 

We hope to meet many of our local fans at the Summer Celebration.  This is one of the best parts of the business - being able to have 1-1 conversations in person to help plan your dream vacation.  So where do You want to go?

Click for Schedule of Events

Brochures

We get several calls for cruise ship and land vacation brochures.   In this day and age, the majority of the suppliers have cut down on printed materials and replaced them with online versions.

We stock brochures that are available from our suppliers on a regular basis and increase our stock in time for this annual event.   If you are in the area, this is a great opportunity for you to browse our "wish books".

Did you know that was how I convinced my husband to take an Alaska cruise?  He had said, "It's cold there.   We live where it's cold.  Why would I go on a vacation to somewhere that is cold?"   Well we've been back to Alaska several times since that initial look at an Alaska brochure.



What's on your wish list?   If we don't have a brochure, we'll be happy to do some research and provide you with all the details.

Come see us if you are in the area last weekend of  July  - or call us afterwards to discuss your wish list.

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