Destinations - Destinations! Where will we go' In January
2005 my fianc'(now husband) and I started planning our honey moon. When
you get down to actually looking into what options you have it becomes evident
that you can literally go anywhere and do anything! I was slightly overwhelmed
- I was new to the industry and therefore didn't know what aspects to look
into or what options need to be taken into consideration. Travel conditions
for the time of year, weather, seasons etc. So we enlisted the help of some
of the agents in the office. Their knowledge of what there is and the best
time to do it was so relieving to me. We were getting married in June and
wanted to take our honey moon in July ' they advised us of what we could
expect during the summer season, how much precipitation is in each of the
destinations we were looking into.
We first looked into going to a resort ' while this sounded
like a lot of fun and would definitely be an intimate escape we decided
to keep checking our options. The agency has videos on some of the different
resorts, cruises, tours and destinations ' these were so interesting to
watch and really excited us to keep looking for what would fit both of us
perfectly.
After looking into a resort we looked into doing a tour
' how wonderful it would be to have a honey moon in Paris or Venice even
both depending on what tour company we looked into. This looked like it
was going to be the best ' we would still have our time in a romantic place
but would be escorted around to make sure we visited the most important,
historical, and beautiful areas. We weren't completely ready to commit to
the tour yet, there was something else there. I can't explain it, but it
didn't seem that this was it. So the agents starting giving us more ideas
' wow did they know a lot about where to go, what to do, and when to do
it!
Next step to look into was big ship cruising ' Royal
Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess, and the
list goes on. We didn't know which line would 'fit' us best, so we asked
the agents what is the typical crowd like on each line ' again they came
through for us and we thought Royal Caribbean would suit us best. All of
these cruise lines seemed great because they all have ports out of Florida,
for almost any Caribbean or warm weather destination. Being the bride to
be of coarse I wanted to know more options ' I wanted to make sure I had
checked into everything before we decided on what we were going to do for
our honey moon. This could very well have been one of the most important
decisions I had made, since accepting his proposal of coarse.
I couldn't believe the agents still had more ideas for
us ' they asked more specific questions, what do we like to do, what are
our hobbies and interests. We both love sailing and being out doors, I guess
you could say somewhat adventuresome.
Then one of the agents suggest doing a Windjammer cruise,
(I have to admit I looked at her like she had two heads). What is a Windjammer
cruise I asked. This is basically a big sail boat but definitely considered
a ship. They have different ships to choose from depending on where you
want to go and what you want to do. We chose the S.V. Yankee Clipper doing
St. Vincent & The Grenadines. The agents did warn us we were going right
in the middle of hurricane season, but this was it, we had to do it! This
is by far the best way to really appreciate the Grenadines. The ship was
able to sail right up to the shore or better yet we were actually able to
jump off the ship into the water! This was so exciting! Just as the agents
advised there was a hurricane.
Hurricane Emily was headed right for us. Windjammer handled
everything with superior service and amazing order. We had to spend the
night at a resort in Grenada ' which proved to be fun as well. The Yankee
Clipper sailed around to the other side of the island into a mooring to
bunker down. The next afternoon we received word that the ship and crew
were okay and we could get back on.
As we were boarding the ship, the crew who had just weathered
out a category 1 hurricane, were taking our bags and giving us our afternoon
rum swizzles (two at a time). It was incredible how special and important
everyone made us feel. This trip was so exciting and invigorating, by far
the best vacation I have ever had ' the perfect choice for our honey moon.
I have to say that this would have been an especially grueling and exasperating
process if it weren't for all of the help and ideas from the ones who know
best ' the travel agents! I can't wait for the next time we can take a vacation
like this ' maybe our 20 year anniversary...
