Whirlwind Disney Trip

People say all the time they are going to take a “quick trip” somewhere.  I have friends who take a quick weekend trip to Walt Disney World.  Next week is my turn.

I will be attending the Grand Opening of the New Fantasyland, preview of Splitsville and Grand Opening of Test Track which has been reimagined.  While the highlight of the trip is the New Fantasyland Grand Opening, I am looking forward to the entire experience.

We will start the trip with a preview of Splitsville.  This state of the art bowling center will be opening late 2012.  With two floors, 30 lanes and live music, this place is sure to be a hit!

Next we’ll move onto the New Fantasyland Preview and Dinner Party.  Here we will be able to preview the new attractions, entertainment and dining in the New Fantasyland area of the Magic Kingdom Park.  We will be able to experience Celebrate the Magic, followed by Wishes and finally a holiday “kiss goodnight”.

The following day, we will attend the New Fantasyland Grand Opening, learn about new changes for the Walt Disney World Resort and end the day at the Grand Opening of Test Track Re-Imagined.

So which part of this are you most interested in?  We’ll be posting updates and reviews next week as we experience all of this, plus the holidays in Disney World.

Give the Gift of Travel This Holiday

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have everyone out shopping for holiday gifts for loved ones (and themselves!).  But what do you get for the person that has everything?  When my husband or I want something, we just go and get it.  This makes gift giving difficult though.

Consider the gift of travel.  This doesn’t mean give your loved one a trip somewhere.  That could be much more than you were planning on spending.  There are many ideas that you could use.

• Travel related equipment.  This would include luggage, travel kits, travel pillow, alarm clock, space saver bags, anything to make travel easier.
• In-room gift.  If they already have travel planned, you could have something delivered to their room when they arrive, whether it is a bottle of wine, treats or, in the case of a cruise, an onboard credit to use on whatever they would like.
• Prepaid gift card.  This could be either a Visa/MasterCard gift card or if they are going on a Disney vacation, a Disney Gift card.
• A gift certificate.  If you are not sure where they might want to go, you can always give them a travel gift certificate.  We offer gift certificates in any amount that can be used towards any travel plans.  Just ask your Travel On A Dream agent for details.

Answers to Where in the World is ToaD

Yes, we are getting ready for a new adventure and want to take you along with us. Tomorrow we fly to a destination where we have been before with completely new experiences! A lot of familiar places that have undergone many changes since we last saw them.

Where are we going? Here are the answers.  How did you do?

Where in the World is ToaD?

Yes, we are getting ready for a new adventure and want to take you along with us.  Tomorrow we fly to a destination where we have been before with completely new experiences!  A lot of familiar places that have undergone many changes since we last saw them.

Where are we going?  We’ve got some photo hints for you.  See if you can guess!

Check out our blog tomorrow for the answers and follow along next week!

What Our Clients Say About Us

There are thousands of travel agents in the world that you can use, even thousands that are experts with your travel dreams, whether it be cruising, Disney trips, all-inclusives, anything!  What makes a particular agent a great agent is not just what they are expert in, but also how they interact with you, their clients.  I would like to share what some of our clients have had to say about our agents.  You can find this information on our website here.

I have used my agent as a travel agent on multiple occasions. Each time, I have been more than pleased.

When Will The Rest of 2013 Disney Cruises Come Out?

That is a question I’ve been hearing (and asking!) a lot lately.  That plus “when will 2014 bookings come out”.  I must say that Disney is not that far behind with releasing dates as compared to other cruise lines.  In fact, at times, Disney is ahead of the other cruise lines.  However, for those who have only cruised Disney, it does seem as if they are waiting longer and  longer, but maybe that is because we are getting more anxious to find out where they will go next.

Booking Onboard Can Save You On Future Cruises

Many clients always ask how to get the best price for a cruise.  In general, the best way is to book early and keep checking pricing.  Sometimes though it isn’t possible to book when the pricing first is available.  Cruise lines typically release their schedules up to two years in advance.

There is another way that can also save you and in some cases will be a lower price than was originally available when the cruise date opened. Many cruise lines have a Future Cruise Sales person or department that is available onboard your cruise to book a future cruise date.  Some cruise lines will give you complementary upgrades, deposit discounts, room discounts or even onboard credits for your future sailing if you book while you are on your current sailing.

You are going on a cruise but don’t know when you are going to cruise again.  You’re out of luck, right?  Wrong!  Many lines also offer an option to book a future cruise credit or a “dummy” date.  What this does is it gives you the promotion offered (or another offer) that you can apply to a new date as soon as you know when you want to go.

On some lines, like Norwegian Cruise Line, you will purchase a Cruise Reward.  You pay a set amount for the reward (or deposit per person for some other lines) and you get a certificate that can be used for a future cruise deposit.  Some of these have an expiration date, others do not.  When you book your next cruise, you or your travel agent will contact the cruise line and have your Cruise Reward applied to the deposit.  The cruise line agrees to accept the cost of the Cruise Reward as your deposit in the future.  In our case with NCL, we paid $250 for the Cruise Reward and can apply that to a future sailing.  If the deposit due is more than $250, we don’t have to pay it at the time of the booking (it is not discounted off the cost of the cruise, just a lower deposit is required).

Other lines will have you book a specific date to get the promotion.  At Royal Caribbean, you can select either a confirmed date or a non-confirmed future sailing.  With Disney Cruise Line, you must book a future sailing, but you can change the sailing date as many times as you wish.  The discount and onboard credit will move with the reservation.

It is important to note that you must complete this transaction while onboard the ship to receive the promotion.  If you wait until you get home, the deal will not longer be available to book.

The best part is you can select your travel agent at the time of booking.  By doing this you save yourself some time (filling out transfer forms).  Some travel agents offer booking incentives such as onboard credits when you book with them.  When you name the agency onboard as your agency of choice, you qualify for both the cruise line’s promotion AND the travel agency’s offer.  Keep in mind, while you might be able to transfer your reservation to a travel agent after the cruise is over, some agencies will not give you the full amount of their offer.  This is because some of the cruise lines will withhold a portion of the commission.  If the agency is making less in commission, there is less money to offer you in an onboard credit.  Also keep in mind that some cruise lines have a limit to the length of time you have to transfer a reservation (some are as soon as 30 days after booking).

If you are not using a travel agent on your current cruise or using a travel agent that you are not happy with, you can still name another agent at the time of booking.  Give us a chance to help you with your future cruise sailings.  You’ll be happy you did!  Not only will you receive our Customer Loyalty onboard credit, you will also get great customer service from one of our agents.  Our agents have experience with many different cruise lines, not only booking and servicing them, but also cruising them as well.  While our onboard credits are not the highest in the industry, our top-notch service makes up for it.  Let us know if you have any questions about booking your future sailing onboard, we’re happy to help!

Disney’s Late Summer Discount

Yesterday, Disney announced a new promotion where you can save up to 30% for stays from August 15 to September 29, 2012.  This promotion must be booked by August 14, 2012.

We are finding that in most cases, the pricing is better with the Free Dining promotion that is available to book until May 19, 2012 where for non-discounted stays between August 25 and September 29, 2012, you can add on select Disney Dining plans to your package for no additional costs.  With the value resorts, this includes the Quick Service dining plan and with moderate, deluxe and deluxe villa resorts, it includes the Plus Dining Plan (one snack, one counter service and one table service per night’s stay per guest).  This promotion is available at the Art of Animation resort while the room discount promotion is not.

Of course if you are going between August 15 and 25, 2012, the only promotion you qualify for is the Late Summer Discount.  This discount is working a bit different than some past promotions.

You can save up to 20% at Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort, Disney’s All-Star Music Resort, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Contemporary Resort and Disney’s Polynesian Resort.

You can save up to 25% at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort Cabins.

You can save up to 30% at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, Disney’s BoardWalk, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Resort (standard view), Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and Disney’s Old Key West Resort.

I did notice some savings at resorts not listed above, so definitely check before assuming there is no discount at the others.  The number of rooms available are limited.  This promotion excludes suites, 3-bedroom villas and is not valid at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.  Cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts.

“How Much More Will This Cost Me?”

This is a very typical question for anyone planning a cruise of any kind and a question I have recently received from a client going on the ToaD Fantasy sailing on October 20, 2012 (space still available and the rates are great!).  I decided to do a blog about the typical costs to expect on a cruise but thought it would be better broken down into a couple blogs.  This one is going to be specific to our 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy.  In the future, I will do a blog that is more general to all cruise lines.

Some people believe that a cruise is all-inclusive.  While a cruise is more inclusive than most vacations (excluding all-inclusives of course), there are some things that are not included.  That said, you can keep the costs down with some planning.  I have broken down the possible costs associated with a cruise.

Quality versus Quantity

I was asked the other day about cruise bookings for summer 2012 and how they relate to 2011.  While checking numbers I found the trends to be interesting.  But it also got me thinking.  What is more important to people in recent years – more time off or higher quality in the time off that you have.

This is an interesting choice and it isn’t necessarily the same for everyone.  It comes down to one question – What do you want to get out of your vacation?

Some people just want the downtime, and the more, the better!  Staying in a value resort just so you can go on vacation as often as possible is worth it to them.  It may mean driving more often to a destination than flying there so save on airfare. Getting away for a long weekend in a nearby city to catch a show or concert, go to a spa or nothing at all!

For others, it is totally about the destination.  You don’t care where you stay, how you get there, what you eat, you just want to be there.  For a Disney vacation, this could mean eating offsite more frequently, getting a resort with a kitchen or kitchenette to be able to cook some meals in the room or getting annual passes for the discounts and lower cost of admission (assuming you visit enough times to make this happen).

Still others are wanting the deluxe experience, regardless of what it will cost.  However, they may need to cut back on some of the options to make this happen.  Instead of a ten day vacation, they may cut back to only five days.  They may decide that instead of a couple trips a year, they will only take one, and make it a good one!  Or take some short weekend trips instead of a second vacation.

What I noticed while studying my sales numbers is that people weren’t cancelling vacations when the economy started to fail, they were just changing how they vacationed.  This is where working with a good travel consultant can help.  The agent that you use for all your vacation plans will know what you like and dislike, know what’s important to you on vacation and how you can scale back that usual vacation so you still get your well deserved break, yet don’t break the bank.

What are you doing with your vacations?  Is the economy affecting how you vacation or not?  We’d love to hear from you!