When you fly make sure you have some sort of liquid to sip during the whole flight but especially upon take off and landing. Water really is the best, for it will also help you stay hydrated during the flight where the air is forced and often drying. Water will also help your body flush out toxins from the air and keep your body heathly. But sipping water will help your ears by forcing you to swallow and not allowing any build up of pressure in your eustean tubes in your ears.

Another tip, especially for children is to take a low dose OTC decongestion. This will werar off and not harm the child but instead make sure their inner ear tubes are open and able to equalize the pressure. Since children’s ears are smaller, this and the sipping of water will really help keep their ear tubes open. If on a long flight make sure that the decongestant does not run out before the plane lands. Schedule the does to last at least 30 minutes to 1 hour after the plane lands. The ear is usually more painful upon landing than take off.

A warm damp wash cloth over the outside of the ear will also alleviate some of the inner ear pain. Chewing gum or sucking on hard candy has also been known to help, so the swallowing reflex is used to adjust the preassure in the ear.

I suffered for years with very painful inner ear pain while flying and it wasn’t until I had children of my own, and their pediatrician told me about taking decongestant that I finally got relieve for a condition that wrought tears and fusyration to me. With my inner ears tubes open using a mild decongestant I also stopped getting motion sickness on trains, cars, boats & ships! Now I and my family travel pain and motion sickness free.

If you forget before you start travel and have issues try this as soon as you can and you will feel relieve soon. The inner ear is a remarkable thing for all it does for our hearing and our balance. So help it stay heathly and yourself pain free.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Travel Tip: Avoid Painful Ears Or Stuffiness

1. Training – make sure you pet is house broken & trained to meet and greet strangers. Less accidents will happen if they have gotten the proper training to handle new situations.

2. Make sure there are pet friendly places for all of you to stat at and visit. Research pet policies of places you’ll be visiting before you travel, so there won’t be any surprises or wasted days while vacationing.

3. Respect the rules. No pets allowed means everyone including yourself. Don’t try sneaking in your pet, you’ll regret it later!

4. Plan for fun for all. If there are sights you want to see but no pets are allowed, schedule someplace for your pet to enjoy too. Many places have one day pet care available, so take advantage of that service, such as Petsmart Stores. Make reservations ahead of time too.

5. Be Prepared – have a copy of your pets records & shots with you, just in case!

6. Be a Pet Ambassador – Many people will want to meet you and your pet be kind to all who want to talk to you about your pet or who want to play with your pet. Don’t be afraid to say no petting if your pet is having a bad day. Avoid issues like barking, nipping or jumping, people will understand and won’t want to get hurt. If they pressure you, don’t back down say no and stay firm. Always be safe than sorry!

7. Take advantage of pet sitting services – ask the hotel you are staying at or find a sitter on GoPetFriendly.com website. You can get a pet sitter etc. from the locals and enjoy a few hours out and not have to leave your pet alone in the room.

8. Pack extra – Be prepared for delays or the unexpected, just like children you don’t know when something will happen. Make sure you have extra of any medicine needed, special food for diets etc.

9. Don’t push yourself – when traveling with a pet make sure you plan extra stops for stetting, potty breaks etc for you and your pet. If a trip with out the pet normally takes 2 hours, plan for 3. It is best for their health and you to take your time, relax while traveling and take advantage of the extra stops by playing too!

10. Be Flexible – Your pet will be visiting new places just like you are but sometimes they don’t adapt to these changes as well as you had hoped for. That’s ok, plan your activities knowing that they may be changed depending how well you and your pet are adapting to all of the changes to. Like people, travel can cause anxiety in pets, they like routine. So stick to your home schedule with walks and feeding but beware of how they are handling the change of scenery and be flexible to maybe spending an hour at a pet park vs another activity.

No matter what, traveling with a pet can be alot of fun too. Having them with you can create dome extra special memories and often some really great stories to tell everyone when you get home!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Traveling with Pets – 10 Basic Tips

Now that is just good clean fun!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Travel Trivia..Carnival Cruise Line Tidbit

To be safe, before you travel thin down your wallet or even better, carry a whole separate wallet with less cards etc. in it to better protect yourself. Add more pictures, leave more valuables at home safe. Do not carry any identification with your home address on it – a name and telephone number is fine for people to be able to reach you. Keep your drivers license in a different location than your wallet, to keep it safe as well.

Never carry your social security number card in your wallet – keep that safely locked up at home.

Traveling is fun, just be safe while you travel!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Travel Tips For Safety

It is easy. Book yourself into a pre-existing group.

Travel agents, like myself, can get these special amenities for their clients by booking group space with the cruise lines. As a cruise specialist with Cruises, Inc. I have access to hundreds of cabins inside group space booked to offer all of my clients. Group amenities are wonderful to take advantage of when you can be flexible with your dates. Cruises, Inc. offers all types of cabins in pre-booked group space, on almost all sailings, on all the major cruise lines, every week of the year and to all destinations! To book a cabin in a group, reservations must be made at least 3 months in advance, since the cruise lines require travel agents to release any unsold space back to them usually 90-75 days prior to sailing.

All amenities are based on the destination and the length of the cruise. So a travelers will get more options on a longer cruise, than that of short 3 – 4 day cruise. Often there are no amenities offered on cruises less than 3 days.

Another advantage of booking into group space? Cost. Group space locks in cabin rates from future cabin rate increases plus many times there is a lower deposit amount due up front.

Even if you don’t want to meet anyone in the group while you are cruising, you can still take advantage of getting the best deals by booking your next cruise cabin as part of a group, and take advantage of getting all the special amenities the travel agent has negotiated with the cruise line on the groups behalf.

So next time you call or email about a cruise, ask ” Are there any groups I can get a cabin with and get some extra treats?” I know, I always try to offer these to my clients – it is an extra added value to the travel services I offer.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

How To Get The Best Rates & FREE Amenities On Your Next Cruise

Traditional dining is when a set time and table are assigned to cruise passengers for their evening meals in the main dining room. Specialty dining is a program where cruisers can choose a specialty restaurant, such as a steak house but must pay a small cover charge per person. The specialty dining restaurants require reservations and they are a smaller, more intimate dining experience.

The ‘My Time Dining’ enables passengers to eat in the main dining room any time they like during the evenings maining dining times. Along with the ‘My Time Dining’ Royal Caribbean is also introducing a similar program for family’s cruising together with children. This new program is called ‘My Family Time Dining’. All these programs enhance the dining experience on board of all Royal Caribbeans ships to meet every cruisers needs and wants. Since dining is such a big part of a cruise experience for passengers, Royal Caribbean is just rolling out the red carpet for everyone!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Dining Like Royalty On Your Own Time

Or worse yet – taken advantage of…you may be held up somewhere when the local vendor is trying to jack up the price on you and refusing you service to get you back to where you want to be.

Be safe, ask ahead of time for local vendors and do some research. The cruise lines and resorts worldwide have created business agreements with many local vendors to continually do business with them. They don’t want to mess up and lose that valueable business they are given. So when researching a vendor as the cruise line or resort who they use. The prices may be higher through the cruise line or hotel/resort, but the often these companies are bonded and insured. You are much sfaer using a vendor who is recommended by the local Vistors Beuaru or ask your travel agent to help you set up side trips with vendors they know are safe. They are often less expensive and a travel agent often can book the side trips for you and get confirmations with out you having to go through all the hassel!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Beware Of Cheap Excursions

This way you have extra outlets for your cell phone charger, digital camera charger, hair dryer, curling iron etc.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

It’s Electric!

Only in France are ships referred to in a masculin manner.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Travel Trivia – She Sails So Smoothly

My son loves to travel by train, he has an Amtrak frequent user account. I of course am my son’s very own personal travel agent. My son has taken a new job in Austin, Texas and is moving there permanently. So instead of taking an airline flight to Austin he wanted to travel by train. I have made all of his travel arrangements on Amtrak when he was commuting from college in Florida to home in Virginia. I would say am pretty well versed on booking travel on Amtrak, but even I did not question something I read online, which caused a little minor wrinkle in my son’s moving plans. But I was reminded of a very valuable lesson to always double check something if you are not sure.

So as a reminder, if you read something anywhere not necessarily online, check the details. The travel industry, as well as almost every other industry has fine print about what they offer.

The information I learned about Amtrak? Well is has to do with baggage. When you get a confirmation from Amtrak it tells you to go online to find out about their baggage policy. The baggage policy states that you can bring 2 carry on bags and up to 3 checked bags. The policy is displayed really nice with little baggage icons and seems simple and straight forward ….  Ah, then their is their fine print … ‘checked baggage is not available on all trains or in all stations’. So if you are online, what you have to do is then is to check each of the stations you are leaving from and going to … again with a bit a reading the fine print you’ll learn if those stations have baggage service.  Of course, you can always call Amtrak and ask them BUT their agents have to read the fine print as well, or you can call me or your own personal travel agent like my son did.

Hope this little tidbit helps you in the future.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Reading The Fine Print With A Travel Tip Included

Avoid the elevators and take the stairs.

Avoid the buffets – people take more when the go to buffets.

Take walks there are lots of decks to enjoy the views while you trek around the ship.

Use the gyms and the spa facilities.

When looking for something sweet to eat, enjoy all the fresh fruit available.

Check out the healthy choices on all the menus – they are truly delicious and good for you.

Limit yourself to only one dessert after dinner not three or more.

Stay active – enjoy the shore excursions available even walking while shopping is exercise!

Take a moonlit stroll on one of the top decks after dinner.

Go dancing in the disco.

Swim then sunbath, then swim again.

Take the ship map and play a game of treasure hunt – find all the public places on the ship even the laundry room or medical facility – this helps you really get to know the whole ship you are on.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Anchors Aweigh – Tips how not to gain weight on vacation

Currently the requirements are that two forms of identification are needed to travel to locations in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. As of June 1, 2009 all travelers via, air, land or sea must have the required passports or entry to the locations will be denied.

Passports are already required for all other foreign destinations except Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. Passport applications and requirements can be found on the State Department web site at www.State.gov/passport

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Passport Update – Final Deadline Announced

This new technology seems like the next step to being better secure, but I find it odd and unsettling that ideas that I watched on Sci-Fi movies and TV shows are now more of a reality than ever before. Id theft is very prevalent now and so I understand wanting to make sure we have a way to Id people for international travel. It is just odd that now I have to not only make sure that all of my personal documentation is safe and secure I have to make sure all of my fingers stay in tack as well. What if I get a paper cut that leave a minuet scar will I then nit be able to ever cruise again. I’d go through withdrawals I am sure.

Our safety and the safety of others around me is very important, I just don’t know if I am ready for all of these finger scans, voice recognition or other high tech ID authorization processes. If what we do now is not fool proof what makes these new processes better?

Of course this won’t stop me from traveling and seeing the world but it makes me pause and think of how close are we to actually hitting that little button on our chest and saying ‘Paris for dinner please’ and then being actually beamed to Paris. I just better make sure I say Paris, France and not Paris, TX.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Finger tip check in on cruise ships – Is this the start of Star Trek Technology

As a travel agent over the years, I have had numerous clients who have called me from the airport saying they forgot their airline tickets at home on the counter. With electronic tickets that is no longer an issue either.

So what are the top 3 things people forget when they travel?

3. Keys to their house (locking their keys in their cars at the airport for safety is # 4)

2. Sun tan lotion

1. Toothbrushes

This top two items can be easily purchased, no matter where you travel. I try to suggest to my customers to always write down a list of what you want or need to pack for your next trip. Especially with the airlines now charging for a second checked bag, it is wise to follow th list, so you don’t over pack. Also having a written list won’t make you wonder all the time if you are forgetting something (unless you forgot to write it down on the list).

Another simple suggestion, bring an extra set of under garments in your carry on baggage just in case your luggage gets lost. You can wear your clothes again the next day, but it is really nice to have clean underwear to put on if this does happen to you.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Of all the things I’ve lost, it is my mind I miss the most!

Traveling by car was still the main mode of transportation to all of these out of town trips and with the cost of fuel I am sure that this type of vacation will be popular again since a tankful of gas is still cheaper that 4 airline tickets to anywhere now a days. We have brought our own kids to our old stomping grounds and have regaled my own kids (or bored them to death, as they see it) about the good old times. My parents family was always spread out over the eastern seaboard as much as my husbands family is located in the Northwest Pacific states. So besides going on cruises and touring a foriegn country this year we are taking a good old fashion road trip.

We plan on exploring what is right in our own backyards, per se. We live in the Washington DC metropolitian area and have aways said we will explore all the historical places right here but always found something else to do. So this summer we will be taking day trips and long weekends and getting to know what is here in the southeastern part of the USA.

Growing up when we did trips like this we always stayed at a no frills motel, except we always made sure it had a pool. These roadside motels have been around for decades now serving car travelers from one side of the country to another. Some names we used to know have come and gone out of business, some are locally owned motels and some are quaint bed and breakfasts. Whatever your need they have been there.

That is how all of the hotel industry grew in this country from small Mom & Pop motels to now large conglomerate hotel chains. Each staking a claim for the ever growing traveling public. That is how the well known hotels such as Marriott Hotels and the Hilton Hotel chains started in the 1930′s and 1940′s.

One chain, Motel 6, that started as a budget motel in 1962 still is a familiar beacon to travelers on the road for a no-frills, low budget ‘motor’ lodge. While others like Best Western and Holiday Inns, started out the same , they changed their image to a more upscaled motel/hotel chain. Motel 6 founders William Becker and Paul Greene recognized that family travelers were seeking for affordable family lodging with a uniform price and uniform quality. Since they had been lo cost housing developers they put their creativity and knowledge together and created Motel 6.

Now I always wondered why it was called Motel 6. Was it because the founders had 6 children? Did they start out with six motels? Why the number 6? Well I just recently learned that they decided that families traveling together could afford one hotel room with two double beds for just $6 a night. Yes, that is right the cost of a room at Motel 6 when it opened its doors was just $6 a night, no matter the location. Their prices have increased over the years but I also learned another little fact, that most of their prices across the nation can be divided by 6 evenly, so they stay true to their name.

So if you are off to explore our wonderful country or need a place to stay when visiting your relatives there are still places to stay on a budget like Motel 6 and… they’ll leave the light on for you!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Traveling the USA on a Budget

Zoom began service in 2002 as a Canadian based airline that was started to meet the demands of the Canadian leisure travelers needs. They have both scheduled and charter flights available.

Zoom Airlines just announced that they will be offering travelers non stop service from Fort Lauderdale to Bermuda in the Caribbean. This low fare, full service airlines will be offering travelers twice weekly flights from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Bermuda. The departure days are Tuesdays and Sundays.

Bermuda is a very popular tourist destination for travelers going to the many resorts there, but several cruise lines now offer cruises departing from there as well. Bermuda is known for it’s constant sunshine, wonderful beaches, snorkeling and fishing. This addition of flights also helps Bermudians travel to the US with low fares as well with a moderately short non-stop flight.

So Zoom on down to Bermuda for your next land or cruise vacation. To find what cruise lines depart from Bermuda, visit my website at www.TravelLadyCruises.com and use the cruise finder to search for this unique cruise port.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Air Line Flights that go ZOOM

With the introduction of new jet aircraft with the newly designed jet engines air travel times were now cut to hours vs. days. Prior to the introduction of air travel, many people who traveled from New York to London would take a cruise which would average 4-6 days.

Trippe was being interviewed during this new introduction period of jet airline service and stated matter of factly ” In one fell swoop, we have shrunken the world.”

This iconic airline is no longer in service but,  it is true that the world did indeed shrink with the introduction of commercial airlines, because even now anyone can travel any where in the world and all in less that 24 hours! Though I personally, wouldn’t mind being able to leisurely cruise the world on board a luxury cruise ship and take my time exploring. With the world being shrunk by the airlines those so many years ago, just helped us all open our eyes to all the adventures and cultural events we can learn from exploring new destinations.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

The airline that shrunk the world

So your luggage is needing some updating? Need some books to read while on vacation? Want to update or expand your wardrobe? Redecorate ? Check out Freecycle at www.Yahoogroups.com .

What is Freecycle? It is a grassroots movement to save the earth and all of us a few dollars. People give away to have others reuse what they no longer want or use. Membership is free also (that is a price I can afford). No matter how you look at this idea, the prices is right for everyone – especially those of us saving our money for our next vacation.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Get new luggage and other stuff for free

Ask for a cabin upgrade when you check in or go to the pursers office once you board. You may not get one but it never hurts to ask, sometimes you’ll be surprised.

Don’t go thirsty. Pack a personal travel mug with you while you cruise. Fill it with ice and enjoy cool refreshing ice water while you are lounging around the pool. This way you have cool water all the time without having to pay for bottled water while on board.

If you are visiting a port you have been to before stay on board and save on some of the ship services. Often the beauty salon, spa , shops and even the casino will run specials while in port. The shops and casinos are usually open only when the ship is at a private island or out to see. So check on the specials when you first board the ship and make appointments early.

Often the tours that the ships offer can be pricey. If you want a more personal experience when you get to port, hire a private car to take you to the destinations you can research before going on your cruise. Ask the crew when getting off the ship what taxi company they use when they are in port. They often are at the same ports time and time again and can tell you the name of reputable company. Often these drivers can also tell you stories and information about the place you are visiting that you can’t get from a large tour. This way your tour is more interesting and gives you a different perspective that what you would get on a crowded tour bus.

Another plus is that they can tell you when the locals shop and you can get a more local flavor to your purchases an better prices than you can get at the tourist traps.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Simple Tips To Try When You Cruise

To get started on your gift visit www.state.gov/passport and download a passport application for your graduate. With passport photos you can give them a gift card to get these done as well. Make the package complete by wrapping up the present in a really attractive passport holder and your graduate will soon be traveling.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Give your graduate the world!

The size of the ‘Central Park‘ will be as long as a football field and 5 decks tall. There will also be cabins lining the “Central Park‘ area that will have windows and balconies that will be able to look over the ‘Central Park” area. This area will give cruisers the feeling of being in a town square. The ‘Central Park‘ area will also be an open air area of the ship, so cruisers sitting on their balconies overlooking the park can enjoy the fresh air and the park’s activities. Passengers 6 decks up on the pool deck, will also be able look down onto the park from a bridge above the park.

Royal Caribbean has long been the leader in the new and different on cruise ships. They currently have rock climbing walls, 18 hole putt putt golf courses, ice skating rinks, and bungy trampolines.

To view more pictures and artist renderings of what this new class of cruise ship will look like visit Royal Caribbeans website. Be prepared to be wowed by these new cruise ships!

http://www.royalcaribbean-genesis.com/renderings.html

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Look at ‘Central Park’ Royal Caribbean’s newest innovation for cruise ships

Not my cup of tea, but this cruise line had been very popular for those seeking a bit of adventure and truly unique sailing. Their destinations were similar to the larger cruise lines in the Caribbean but because of their ships size, they could also go into the smaller more private ports.

Cruise ships with sails are unique also because there are and have been so very few of them in the past. Just the thought of the huge sails ruffling in the wind could conjure up a few flights of fancy pretending you are sailing on a pirate ship seeking a gold bounty or maybe even the first explorers seeking to find new world.

Windjammer has not had any sailings since August 2007. Their offices in Florida have been closed and they have let their Seller of Travel license expired. Well, maybe when there are fairer winds and less troubled times will their sails unfurl again, and have them sailing into a more certain future, in the meantime, all of those pirates at heart will need to find passage on another ship to seek their adventure.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Windjammer Barefoot Cruises looses the wind for it’s sails

On a cruise, the cost of your trip will include the accommodation’s, your meals, the destinations each ships bring you to plus all the entertainment that is on board for passengers of ALL ages! Think in comparison to a 4-5 star resort… they provide you with your room, one location, pools, spas, food, drinks and limited entertainment.

Looking at the entertainment factor alone, cruise lines offer children several options day & night then the adults have options during the day and at night plus then there is family entertainment which can be enjoyed by all. The entertainment runs from simple piped in music by the pool to small live bands located throughout the ship. There are the small venues to enjoy jazz, piano or easy listening music, or laugh with a comedian or a comic troupe. Of course every night there is the live show in the main theater.

These main theater productions are becoming more sophisticated, high tech and offer a myriad of options for all passengers. Each cruise line offers headline shows that vary and have talented, hardworking professionals who aim to do one thing and that is to Entertain!

Each cruise line has created a theme or special venue for it’s ships that equate to what will not only entertain but surprise passengers. Cruise lines know and understand that not all people will enjoy one type of entertainment and so they have really expanded what they offer passengers now a days with a variety of entertainment on each sailing to really try to meet different likes and dislikes.

Many cruise lines and ships also offer special sailings with theme cruises, such as Carnival’s “Whodunit” cruises. Professional Entertainment companies like the Second City Comedy Troupe are actually on many Norwegian Cruise Lines ships. Many sailings have professional singers like John Legend, bands such as the Guess Who on them to provide an even more attractive entertainment package for passengers.

I will be highlighting the different types of stylized entertainment many of the cruise lines offer on all their upcoming sailings.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

That’s Entertainment! Cruise Ship Style

When returning to the United States, American citizens may bring home a total of $800.00 (USD) of goods for personal use without having to pay duties or taxes. If you buy more than that, ship it home. You can send up to $200.00 (USD) of goods per day to yourself at a valid U.S. mailing address. You can also send duty-free gifts worth up to $100.00 (USD) per person, per day to people in the United States as well. Make these arrangements ahead of time with family and friends. Also make sure you ALWAYS insure your packages when you ship them in case of loss.

Think smart and remember that shipping companies such as FedEx, DHL and UPS always will charge based on the bulk or weight of each package, whichever costs more. So buy light unique items and pack those items efficiently to save on shipping costs.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Great Tip for International Shoppers…I mean tourists

Hint- check with your credit card company BEFORE you travel overseas to use. Some credit cards issued by local banks are not recognized and therefore can not be used overseas.

Also check out when they will do the exchange rate conversion, some banks do not do them daily, so you may get stuck paying a higher rate for your purchases in the long run.

A good hint may be is to get a temporary or “gift” credit card and load it up with a limited amount of funds. This is wise because of several reasons.

1. You have a set limit now for your purchases, so you won’t bust your budget.

2. This “gift” card does not look any different from any other credit card, but if stolen you only loose what is left on the card BUT nobody has access to your personal account.

3. Since these cards are temporary credit cards, you don’t have to worry about the exchange rate as much because once the amount on the card is used up you can’t get any additional charges added later by disreputable merchants.

4. You can add additional fund to this card if you want to, but it does take some time to do so you’ll again be less likely to over spend.

Ask your insurance agent and the bank about the rules of these cards just in case they are lost or stolen. Can the card be canceled and the remaining funds be placed back into your personal account? It never hurts to ask since these types of cards are a growing trend in travel.

Check before traveling if the exchange rate is to your favor and have some currency already in your wallet for taxis or quick purchases while touring, like following your nose to that local bakery that is making your taste buds water!

Also, while traveling, check daily what the current exchange rate is so you can keep better tabs of what your purchases costs are all the time. These can be found through the hotel or concierge staff, they are often listed in newspapers or while exploring stop in at a local bank. If you are traveling with a laptop you can go online and get this information as well.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Planning your first cruise – CHARGE!

SEATS

Try to get a window seat so you can lean against the wall while dozing.

Window seats allow you to have room to move a bit and not fight so much for the arm rests.

Don’t choose the row in front of the exit row or the last row of the plane. These seats often do not recline.

Try to sit towards the front portion of the plane – it tends to be quieter.

Check out SeatGuru.com for other seat information and tips.

LEG ROOM AND LEG COMFORT

Exit rows give you the most room to strech your legs.

If available pay the extra money to get a seat up in the front of the plane for more leg room and a scant extra inches to recline as well.

If you can leave the portion under the seat in front of you empty so you can stretch out your legs. This helps with blood flow too.

Flex your feet before falling asleep and after waking to help keep legs and feet from cramps.

Wear cotton socks and loose fitting shoes or loosen the shoe laces on your sneakers to help with better circulation.
OTHER USEFUL ITEMS

If you tend to be cold, wear an extra cotton fleece jacket for extra warmth.

Try to get a blanket as you board, there is usually a shortage so try to board early or travel with your own small fleece blanket.

Drink water before you get on board the plane so you are hydrated.

Go to the restroom before boarding the plane so you won’t have to wake up during the flight and crawl all over people.

Neck pillows are great-stops you from doing the bobble head routine which will always wake you up. It also protects your neck from cramps.

Slightly under inflate your neck pillow so your head can move easier or use a small koosh pillow they are easy to put on your shoulder.

Since you have to take off your shoes at security, consider wearing fleece lined slippers, they keep your feet warm and not confined.

Drown out the engine noise etc. by using your ipod and/or earplugs.

I don’t like eye masks but know of people who swear by them – especially the gel ones so you don’t wake up with puffy eyes.

Wear cotton clothing on the plane. Your body will breath better with cotton vs. when wearing synthetic materials.

There is less oxygen circulating before take off, so wait until you are air born to catch some zzzz’s.

Loosen your seat belt by two fingers only, so it is easier if you move a bit while you are asleep.

Don’t drink caffine or alchol while waiting to board the plane, it will impede you falling asleep.

If you tend to have ear problems on descent take a decongestant and an antihistamine before the flight to alleviate any congestion.

Don’t lean on the person next to you, even if you know them. They will get uncomfortable and end up jostling you awake(maybe on purpose).

Hope these help and sweet dreams!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Taylor Sailors tips for sleeping (or at least trying to)on an airplane flight

1. Less time in check in lines. Go to the easy check in kiosks get your boarding pass and off to security lines you go.

2. Less to pack and allows you to buy cloths while traveling and ship to yourself on your way home or check in a bag/box on your way home only.

3. You will know where your luggage is at all times. You might be going to Cleavland for business, but your luggage told the handlers they wanted to go to Seattle. So off they went.

4. Most airlines only offer maximum $50.00 for lost baggage, no matter how much those shoes cost you.

5. Get on and off the plan fast and no waiting around with the other 150 people on your flight. So you can get to your ride and destination faster.

6. Don’t worry about size of your shampoos etc. most hotels, resorts etc now have them in all rooms complimentary.

7. Luggage manufacturers are now creating very strong, durable luggage with lots of pockets, zippers, fold in handles and roller wheels for easy of carrying.

8. With 2 carry ons permitted, it is easy to have an over sized bag or backpack as one bag along with a rolling carry on. Just remember that the backpack is your purse/briefcase.

9. when traveling with a laptop a computer backpack is best and it still has lots of room for other items you can bring to have while you travel like that paperback novel you just can’t seem to finish.

10. Before traveling make sure you go to your airline website and confirm that your carry on conforms to the size and weight restrictions for carry on luggage.

So pack light and say Bon Voyage to lost luggage hassles!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Where art thou lost luggage?

Even if you are traveling in a short period of time you can get a passport renewal within a few days. Visit  www.state.gov/passport  for further information to expedite this process or you can visit my website and use our passport and visa company A. Briggs. If you need to get this done but you personally don’t have the time this company will help you accomplish this task at ease. Visit www.TravelLadyCruises.com and look under Before You Go for this very useful service for all travelers.

A passport is not just a little book you are required to carry around with a bad photo in it. It actually has another purpose and that is to contain all the visa’s that are required by foreign countries to enter their domain. Don’t assume that a country you are traveling to does not require a visa. Many more countries have made it necessary to have a passport while traveling within their borders.

The United States is requiring more and more visitors to have a visa and in response so are many of these same countries are requiring the same for US citizens. To find out the requirements needed while traveling visit the State Departments website or mine to see what visa requirements are and the cost to apply for one. The information on my website for A. Briggs will help you find out if a visa is needed, the cost and the needed time to get one before traveling. Visa’s take time to obtain so it is best to plan at least 30 – 45 days prior to your travel to get this paperwork all in order.

Also make sure you are requesting the proper type of visa’s. A business visa is often less time restrictive but may cost more and have many more restrictions that a leisure or tourist visa. If you don’t get the correct type of visa you may run into trouble when you arrive at your destination.

Filling up your passport with visa’s is kinda fun if you think about it. It will show all of the remarkable places you have visited!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Visa’s – It’s for everywhere you may want to travel

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

May I have your business card, please?

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Rub a Dub Dub ….

Be aware that when you travel it is best to make a few copies of your passport and leave them in several different places. This is  a precaution I always advise my clients to take in the case of theft, loss or  illness.  In many European hotels for example they ask for your passport to keep in their safe deposit box. This is good and bad. Most people don’t want to surrender their passports (hint this why you should make several copies). Most people don’t understand why they are asked – it is three fold reasoning.

1. Hotels know you can’t skip out of the country without your passport so it protects them from you skipping out on you bill.

2. Hotel staff know that you need to keep your passport safe and they have the means to do so, but  most international hotels don’t have     safes in the rooms to personally lock up your valuables like in the United States, where it is common in almost all hotels.

3.  There may be local regulations  that must be complied to in other countries and we should respect those.

Why make several copies of your passport?  So if it lost or stolen you have verification with you or can get access to that information which is required to have a new passport issued. So how many? 5 Copies…and here is to whom or where they could be stored.

1. One copy in you locked luggage – even after you have unpacked leave it in there.

2. One copy to carry with you so you have Identification but not the accual passport.

3. One copy to a trusted friend or family member – so you can get a copy from them if you need to

4. One copy to me, your travel agent so I can fax a copy if needed to you and the closest embassy to you to alert them of the situation.

5. One copy to a travel companion or to leave at home for you sake to know there is one more way to get a copy sent to you if needed.

So be prepared and protect yourself and your passport.

By the way…that is a really good picture of you on your passport!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Passports – How To Protect Yourself

If advised before hand, cruise lines can decorate your cabin door (so everyone knows what you are celebrating), or decorate inside your cabin and also have a special cake presented to you on a selected day in the dining room (Yes, they even send out the ‘Singing Servers!’).

If you are on cruise and your family wants to make sure you have a gift, they can also contact the travel agent you are using, go online to the cruise lines web sites (must have your confirmation number) or call the cruise lines themselves. They can have bouquets of flowers sent for birthdays, champaign for Anniversaries and all sorts of other specialty gifts such as chocolate covered strawberries or cookies and milk at bedtime for child who is cruising with their family.

Reunion’s, Weddings, Bridal Showers, Anniversaries….you name it and the cruise lines can help you celebrate it in a special way.

Shhhhh…..don’t tell Taylor Sailor but I ordered a cake for his birthday for next September when we are cruising in Alaska on the Celebrity Millennium.

I always ask if there is a celebration and try to make it a nice surprise for that traveler if I can – just another way I try to provide my clients with extra care and great customer service.

So on your next cruise – Celebrate!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Let’s Celebrate Onboard A Cruise Ship

Besides for transatlantic cruising, as popularized with luxury liners such as the well told tale of the Titanic. Many people who traveled on cruise ships did so to travel in style while sailing to their primary destination, such as Europe.

With the introduction to the Jet Age people no longer had to take the 4-10 day cruises to get to their destinations for International vacations. The cruise industry though it was small then shrunk to an even small niche market. Because of the small availability and lack of cruise ships, the truly vacation cruise lines basically went out of existence.

A revival in the cruising industry began in the 1970′s due mostly to a popular TV show called “The Love Boat”. This program showed vacation consumers that there was an alternate for vacation travel. The cruise industry began to grow in the 1980′s with the introduction of many new ships and cruise destinations around the world. More and more cruise ports were updated or built to accommodate these new ships. The United States alone has 23 cruise ports.

The popularity of vacation travel was now in an upward motion. More and more ships were built and more and more destinations were added. Now it is possible to cruise around the world in luxurious accommodations and cruise even on almost every intercontinental river.

Cruise ships are now not just the vehicle to bring vacationers to exotic destinations but the ships themselves are now the destinations as well, just like popular resorts are vacation destinations.

Cruise lines have also made cruising a very popular destination as a unique location for meetings, conventions and special events. Companies can send their sales people to a sales conference on a cruise ship instead of a land based hotel or resort. There are live Concerts at Sea by well known performers, plan a family or school reunion or plan a wedding at Sea.

With the cruise industry being revitalized and restructured for tourism, the reasons and opportunities to cruise are endless. The ships themselves often rival four and five star resorts.

Cruising offers you the world! Shall we thank Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus for showing us that they were some of the first few world travelers who started the adventure of cruising?

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Brief History of Cruising

This could be a fun vacation get-away for your own family to bond and just enjoy each others company.

What a great way to gather a bunch of your friends and their families together for a Reunion that you have met over the years. Since so many times while in the Military people are moved around allot getting together on a cruise would be convenient for everyone to meet in one place.

Reunions such as this are a great choice for everyone, since cruises offer so many options on board a ship for everyone from singles, to couples to families. Plan for shorter cruise over a weekend or a week long cruise to have more time together. The options are endless and the prices are set just especially for all members in the Military.

Taylor Sailor salutes all those who serve in all the branches of the military

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Thank You For Serving

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

History of the first US Passports issued

It is towel art and it literally takes all shapes! Plus creativity. Not all cabin stewards do towel art and so it is not a standard but it is so much fun to await and then be surprised. Towel art very simply is to take a hand towel or two and mold them into shapes. They can come in all shapes and sizes and even when you are expecting it or not they are always a treat to behold. Some are simple, cute, complex and always a surprise.

I have had created for me swans, octopus, snakes, monkeys hanging from the ceiling, rabbits and elephants. Once I came back to my cabin after formal night to change into some casual cloths to go out dancing to find the jeans, t-shirt and sneakers I had set out in a chair had been created into a towel person! My cloths had been stuffed with towel to look as if someone was sitting in a chair with my hat and sunglasses on on a towel head. First reaction was we thought someone was in our cabin – then we got the worst case of giggles anyone can imagine.

I never tell people about the towel art before they cruise, it is just to much of a fun surprise to ruin. Unfortunately, not all cabin stewards make towel art. I tell you though, besides for my sitting towel cabin mate, the best reaction to any towel art has to be from my sister when we took a “spa” cruise together. It was her first cruise and the night we walked in our cabin after dinner and she found an elephant on her bed she screeched out loud! Giggled, OMG’d a lot then ran out of the cabin and gave our cabin steward a big hug. Yes, my sister is a bit LA LA about elephants, but it was so worth keeping this secret and seeing her happy surprise.

There is actually a book about how to create towel art called “The Lost Art of Towel Origami” by Allison Jenkins. If you like surprises this is a fun book to give as a gift to someone. Make it special for a visiting friend or family from out of town…make a simple towel art on their bed and have the book on their night stand. Just tell your guests that you left the bath towels on their bed and listen and wait to hear their surprise squeals when they have found the treat you have created just for them.

I have added some pictures of towel art to my flicker pictures for you all to enjoy. I found all of these on the web, except the one with Taylor Sailor, I took that one myself. The one with Taylor Sailor and a new friend on taken on his first cruise. He was really taken with this fun art. Just don’t tell anyone who is going to be taking a cruise soon… let it be a surprise.  

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Surprises await you and your towels

Renting a larger car makes sense. You have your family plus all the luggage, the kids toys, and all those extras like blankets, pillows, and don’t forget the gifts. We often will schedule another one of our own cars to go in for its annual maintenance while we are traveling, so we won’t be without our normal car plus we then have the extra space.

Car rental companies also have special equipment you can request that your own personal car may not be equipped with such as GPS or satellite radio. But also ski racks and extra luggage racks – Hide those Santa toys up there away from prying eyes!

So next time you are traveling over the river and through the woods to Grandma’s rent a car and enjoy the extra space, the free DVD player and the MP3 jacks so it is a ride free of hassle or at least less screeching from the peanut gallery …. but you still might want to plans plenty of bathroom stops – kids and pit stops just go hand in hand.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Renting a car to go to Grandmas

Before you even travel, you can search the web for free wifi locations at your destination. The Washington Post recommends www.Jiwire.com. They list places that have wifi available in your own backyard, while visiting family or friends, while on business travel or in many places around the world, no matter how remote. Jiwire provides a wifi hot spot directory for your wireless internet access. So if you need to stay connected while on vacation or on business travel, keep signing onto the web and avoid any power surges!

Here is an idea – if you work remotely for your company anyway…take a world cruise and stay connected. Don’t forget to email all your friends back home those “wish you were here” emails!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Keep your gadgets safe while traveling

With a cruise a couple does not have to decide on just one destination. Such as in the Caribbean 7-10 cruises are available and so you can visit 5-8 different Caribbean Islands during that time. With a cruise all your meals are included and you don’t have to unpack but once when traveling from place to place. The ship itself has pages and pages of activities a newly married couple can enjoy or retreat to their own cabin and order in your meals.

Imagine touring Europe with over 1/3 savings due to the exchange rate because you are buying in US Dollars. Enjoy being served coffee and danish on your balcony as you cruise into the harbor in Rome, Italy.  Or watching the sun set over Barcelona sipping champagne.  Can you imagine taking a bike ride thru small towns after you dock in Nice, France for the day?

Don’t need allot of gifts for your wedding? You can resister for FREE your honeymoon cruise when booked through Cruises, Inc. and have your family and friends contribute to your honeymoon cruise. This makes it particularly easy for out of town family who don’t know what to get you! Another toaster or a donation to your honeymoon cruise?

It is the start of your life together, planning the wedding will be stressful - a memorable honeymoon cruise with be spectacular and will melt that stress away.

Oh and after 27 years of marriage I know it is a lovely state of union, so congratulations on your engagement!    

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Wedding Bells ring at Christmas

Even if you are on the east coast, like myself, you might want to explore a west coast cruise departure to the west coast regions of Mexico. Believe it or not low airfare can be found from east to west coast or west to east coast.  Going from one coast to another too far you to fly?  There are 23 cruise ports in the USA alone to cruise from including some from Galveston Texas, Mobile Alabama, or New Orleans Louisiana.

So check out out winter blues cruise deals available and see where you could be thawing out for awhile this coming winter, even if it is only for a long weekend.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Baby it’s cold outside!

There are also tour guides on all the trains and they are required to be born and raised in Alaska, so you won’t find a 48 stater or a Hawaiian  islander telling you about Alaska history or what you are seeing outside your large train window. They also give you interesting, often comical antidotes about Alaska heritage, history and they have never been accused of being boring like our 5th grade history classes were! These trains are able to go to areas where there are no other vehicles because there are no roads! The Alaskan Railroad tour guides must also complete a 10 week training course and are required to be able to share stories about what it is like to live in Alaska.  

So enjoy a trip into the wilderness – it is sure to be one leisurely ride you’ll never forget, for the amazing memories will have you daydreaming about the time you road the rails in Alaska!

Wait – over there is that a moose ?!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Ride the Alaska Railroad

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Basically this brings up two thoughts in my mind – Always buy insurance and always use a professional travel agent. With 18 years in the travel industry, I can tell you that these two things will save any trip from turning into a nightmare.

Customer Service in all aspects of consumer goods is at an all time low but this is one thing I myself take very personally. The Golden Rule – treat others as you would want them to treat you.

Travel now a days is hard on anyone, but to be taking a trip of a lifetime should bring about only good memories not horrible nightmares.  The Internet is a great thing, but if you have any issues with a company you have nobody working on your side. I have helped hundreds of people over the years and will continue to do so when they are having trouble during their travels. I go the extra mile for all of my customers. Why? Because it is good business, but most of all it is just plain good common decency. Treat each person special and you shall reap many rewards not only in your business but in your personal life as well.

And for all those things I can’t help control, I always suggest taking the travel insurance. It covers the traveler for all those things that could happen but it also create a peace of mind in case Murphy’s Law rears it’s ugly head.

In this case, a 78 year old woman was put on 3, yes THREE flights, to meet up with her cruise ship. As a Cruise Specialist and 18 years in the industry, I would have never put myself on 3 flights, so why was this 78 year old woman put on three flights? Even as a cost saving option I would have advised against it.  I am appalled also by what was reported as a acute case of airlines employees treating this woman rudely and inconsiderate behavior for a fellow human being.  

As a travel professional, I can only hope that the cruise line takes a second look at this situation and reconsider their decision. Having a travel professional like myself working for you and taking care of your cruise travel, I know I could help if a situation arose again because I know all the ins & outs and loop holes of the travel industry. I would provide good customer service before, during and after travel.

The cruise lines, airlines, car companies etc. don’t earn anything really when they sell travel insurance, neither do I. But I do know from experience that things can happen and they do at the worst possible time. Having travel insurance can at least offset any loss that may have occurred during your travel.

So work with a cruise specialist or travel agent like myself next time you travel, and spend the few extra dollars for the peace of mind – for these two items together can help ensure you do get to have the trip of a lifetime.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Insurance can save your trip of a lifetime from being a nightmare

But it gets even better – there are 3 guest chefs on this cruise as well, and they are Floyd Cardoz, Michael Anthony and Bobby Flay (of Food Network fame)! Book a selected suite and you can not only see John Legend in concert, but you can meet him in person as well. Then enjoy a dinner especially prepared by Bobby Flay and then enjoy your dinner in his company!

Surprise someone you love before Christmas with this awesome gift! Contact me today to make all your cruise arrangement for this spectacular cruise. 

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Cruise from NYC and see John Legend live in concert

But you can also earn mileage points while shopping at FTD.com, at Netflix or at your local Safeway store. Each airline offers many varied partners deals that everyone can earn points by using these vendors.  Here is a list of a few Airlines and their partner vendors to earn extra miles.

United – FTD.com, Netflix, Safeway

Delta – Teleflora, Samsonite and Vinesse Wine Clubs

Southwest - Diners Club credit card, Earthlink, Sprint

Jet Blue –  American Express Gift Cards or Traveler Cheques

US Airways – Local Restaurants in your own area or USA Today Newspaper

So don’t forget to check out all the ways you can earn extra miles from your frequent flier airline some by doing ordinary every day chores like grocery shopping! Check out the airlines web sites for all their mileage partners.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Reminder don’t forget to get your milage points

In simple terms, if an airline cancels a flight because of mechanical reasons etc., you do not have to wait for the next flight they have (lets say 6 hours later) you can ask to be protected by Rule 240 and they have to protect you on the next available flight to the same destination, even if it is on another airline carrier.

You must have a confirmed, paid ticket and this is not available for any weather issues. Weather issues are an act of GOD and they have no control of that! This Rule 240 also applies to schedule changes and mis-connections of flights as well.

If you go to any major airline web site, such as United Airlines and type in TERMS OF CARRIAGE, you will find this information in detail. This is also listed on your e-tickets, if you print out the entire paperwork.  The Rule 240 information starts on page 31 of United Airlines TERMS OF CARRIAGE document that they have posted on their website.

So, Know Before You Go, and if you travel often via air knowing and understanding Rule 240 can help you continue your travel instead of stopping you in your tracks.  

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Know Before You Go – Airlines Rule 240 can help

1. Whales – 5 types: Beluga, Humpback, Grey, Orca and Minke

2. Moose

3. Bears – most common are the black bear and the grizzly bear

4. Bald Eagles

5. Dall sheep

6. Caribu 

7. Sea Lions

8. Puffin

9. Sea otters

10. Mountain Goats

Here is a wonderful calendar of what animals you’ll likely see on a cruise in Alaska  http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/viewing/southcoastal.pdf

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Top 10 wildlife you’ll view when cruising in Alaska

My first visits to Alaska was in the early 1980′s when I visited via air plane the intriguing city of Anchorage. I now have the chance to learn even more about the great unspoiled territory we call Alaska. So I am hitting the textbooks, the Internet and learning all I call. Come along with me on this ride while I share some of the adventures you and I can expect while taking a cruise to Alaska.

So far I have 3 things I want to check out while I visit Alaska…

         1. Watch a totem pole artist create one of their masterpeieces 

         2. Go dog sledding on a glacier – I will be the passenger snuggled up and not the driver!

         3. Visit the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka, where they rescue and rehabilitate birds such as bald eagles – to see our national symbol live and in it’s true splendor is something not many people can say they have ever done up close like you can experience here. 

So think about your top three items that you would want to see if you would cruise to Alaska and see if I add them to my list.  I am sure my list will be growing very long and I’ll share with you tidbits that might make them interesting to you also.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Alaska – It just doesn’t get any wilder than this!

The FAA website is instantly being updated as changes occur. So as the Holidays come upon us, remember to contact your airlines before leaving the house for any flight specific delays and check the FAA website for any and all airport delays. Many airline websites also have systems set up that you can check your flight before you leave for the airport as well. But remember flight statuses change constantly for the good and the bad, so leave plenty of time in your schedule for any changes that may occur.

Fly smart, stay informed – it will make your travels go much more smoothly.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Great website to keep your cool when traveling by air

 They make great gifts and are wonderful reminders of the cruise you took and you will look back at them later with fond memories and start your sentences with “Remember when……”  So take advantage of this service the cruise lines offer. The photos can be formal or casual – it is up to you.

See, you should be in pictures! 

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

You should be in pictures!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Travel Tidbit – Car rental deals

1. Remember 3-1-1. For those who don’t check their bags these rules are for all liquids in your carry on luggage. Liquids, such as shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash must be in 3 oz containers. These liquids must be in a 1 quart zip lock bag (which is actually very good in case you forgot to tighten the lid on one- then your clothing stay clean and dry). Finally only 1 zip lock bag per traveler. (Hint-keep on top of your carry on luggage and take out and put in a bin with your shoes or coats right on the top. This way items are out in the open and you won’t be asked to step aside and have your bags rummaged through).  If you have checked bags put these type of items in them (still use a zip locked bag to avoid any spillage problems).

2. Arrive Early. This way you have lots of time to check your bags or to get through security. Also check yourself  in on line 24 hours prior to your flight. BEWARE – recheck in at at the check in kiosks at the airports and get a printed boarding pass there also. The TSA prefers seeing those -I have heard TSA agents tell travelers that they want the boarding passes you get at the airports, because you can’t print them off but 3 hours prior to a flight. I have witnessed them asking people to step out of the security line and get a boarding pass from their airline because they were not accepting the on-line boarding passes. It is better to be safe than sorry and make that just a part of your routine when traveling by air.

3. Traveling with Children. Plan ahead it makes the process easier - pack the child’s back pack with favorite items such as a blanket or stuffed animal, small toys, coloring books and markers etc. and bring several of their favorite snacks. These items will keep them entertained while waiting at the gate as well as on the plane. Bring a sippy cup but also carry some extra cash to buy a bottle of water or juice after checking through the security screening area. For infants – get powdered formula and pack each serving in the small snack size zip lock bags, then put several into a larger zip lock bag. Then buy a bottle of water after getting through security or ask for one on the plane. It helps to have young children to be drinking something as the plane is on the way down so they don’t get the pain in their ears – if your ears start popping then be aware that the child will be feeling the same but can’t help themselves so drinking juice or water from a bottle or sippy cup will help alleviate their pain by releasing some pressure from their inner ears.

I have traveled with my own children over the years many times, so here is a helpful hint - For kids 2 years or older, if you ask for their help to pack their backpack they feel very much a part of their travel experience. Do this together  as a fun activity so their bags are not over stuffed. Let them choose 3-5 different snacks to bring the day before because they could, and often do get fussy about what they want to eat. This way you can ask them of the snacks they packed themselves, which ones they want to eat when you are traveling.     

As for Taylor Sailor, his favorite snacks to bring are goldfish crackers, the peanut butter crackers, green grapes already pulled off the vine and cheese sticks.

Hope these tips help make your trips easy, enjoyable and helps take away some of the stress of travel. The TSA web site is www.TSA.gov to check for any of your future travels. 

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

TSA Travel Tips

Shop while you cruise and wrap gifts with tissue paper packed in your luggage – you were going shopping anyway right? Then fill those stockings or place the gifts under the tree and you’ll have a full fledged holiday. Just for fun…hide some gifts inside the cabin and leave notes for a treasure hunt.

Most of all you get all the fun of a holiday cruise without all the hassle of the holiday because the cruise line will be doing all the cooking and cleaning for you this year!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Create Fun for your Holiday Cruise

The most famous, in my mind, must be the New York Harbor where it acts as an entrance to the United States of American and the site of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Ellis Island was originally designed in the 1770′s as a picnic spot for New Yorkers since it sits a few miles south of Manhattan. The US War Department bought the land in 1808 and used it for varying purposes.  In 1890 Ellis Island was selected to be the new immigration processing center for the New York Harbor. On January 1st, 1892 Ellis Island officially opened with three ships already waiting in the harbor to disembark it passengers to this newly selected facility.  700 people were processed that day, the first being Annie Moore, a 15 year old girl from County Cork, Ireland.

For 50 years Ellis Island had 12 million people enter the United States of America through its doors at this port. Imagine yourself on the deck of a ship, on a misty morning as the sun was awakening the dawn and drawing close to a symbol known around the world as a beacon of hope and the opportunity of a new life. The Statute of Liberty still stands proud at the entrance of the New York Harbor. But it also stood as a symbol for those traveling the world as a sign welcoming them home to the United States of America. Seeing the Statue of Liberty also acted as a testament to all those passengers who were soon to enter the beautiful brick and mortar building that they were a part of history, for their own families and for the United States as well. In 1907 the highest number of people at 1.25 million sailed into the Port in New York and were processed through the buildings on Ellis Island.

Ellis Island began as a small patch of land of 3.3 acres but was developed and enlarged to 27.5 acres by using landfill soil from the construction of the New York City Subway system.  In November 1954 the doors of the Ellis Island Immigration Center officially closed. It was used after that by the US Government for different purposes. In 1965 President Lydon B. Johnson made it a part of the National Parks Service. Restoration of the buildings on Ellis Island began in 1984 and reopened to the public in 1990 as a museum so visitors can trace their own families steps and the history of what these buildings stood for in the growth of the United States.

Still today, the New York Harbor port beckons people from around the world and welcomes home its own citizens back from their travels. Millions of people still search for the Statue of Liberty on the horizon on misty mornings as they sail into the New York Harbor and gaze upon the buildings of Ellis Island as their ships gracefully cruise by bringing them to their destination.        

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Travel Trivia Tidbits – New York Harbor

Now as I was again reviewing these pictures two weeks after I have returned from my cruise I have my Aha moment. People have been cruising for centuries! But yet, even working in the travel industry as I have for 17 years I never looked at it in that prospective. Most people looked at it as a mode of transportation for explorers or for people to emigrate from one continent to another but the pleasure of cruising has been available for centuries. Maybe we had been drilled so in school about Marco Polo, Columbus or Lewis and Clarke that I did not equate exploring(incidentally in a boat) cruising. But for centuries pirates, navy flotilla and explorers have actually been cruising because they , as we do now, had fallen in love with the sea.

I think of when I first recognized that passengers cruised for pleasure and I think of the Titanic. It was built to be a grand ship, full of luxury and the most modern amenities but it was also a mode of transportation for people from other countries to start a new life in America. I tend to romanticise things allot and so the everyday ho hum ordinary way of doing things does not always click with me until I have one of my Aha! moments.

So, it might have started before hand but because of its history, I would think that the sinking of the Titanic (plus the movies made about it) brought about the idea that people have cruised in luxury for some time now. Ah, the Internet I love it for all the facts you have at your finger tips. I went onto the web site RMS Titanic, Inc. and found some facts about what the cost were for people who sailed on the Titanic. 

For 3rd class steerage, where there were bunk-beds in dormitory style rooms one way from South Hampton, England to New York City sold for $36.25. For a 2nd class cabin the cost was $66.00 per person and these fare included 2 simple meals. A 1st class cabin went for $125.00 per person and these patrons could also upgrade their meals to a better restaurant for a surcharge. Finally, the top end suite started out at $4700.00 USD in 1912. These suites were luxurious in every way including separate sleeping rooms and parlors. There was a pool and other amenities still found on modern day cruise ships.

So I checked, in the 96 years since Titanic, the costs of the same voyage from South Hampton, England to New York City has only increased a little over 1% per year for 1st, 2nd and 3rd class passage. Not an outrageous amount if you really think about it, but what does amaze me is that all those same special items such as special restaurants, live entertainment, gambling etc. are still being offered even now in 2007.

Now think back to the pirates and their ships … meals for the captain and crew were served in separate areas of the ships, there were live entertainers to keep up the morale and whiskey and rum were sold to the people on board by the captain.

Aha, not much has changed in cruising for centuries. We are all but explorers searching to find adventure and learn about our world.       

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

An Aha! moment about cruising

Holland America does “Pink Walks” as Dave called them. These are fund-raising walks for breast cancer. Now October is noted as the official month for this cause and so I thought it considerate that he brought it up in his speech, but as Dave usually does he was impassioned about the awe of people on vacation willing not only to donate but actually walk. On everyone of their ships Holland America has a “Pink Walk”.

I thought this was amazing also, not just as a marketing tool but as a company itself that cares, and what a wonderful idea as well. I could actually imagine myself up on the walking deck of one of their ships, dressed in a comfortable pair of shorts , t-shirt and my comfy sneakers and taking a leisurely walk around the ship, over looking a vast blue ever changing ocean.  I could almost feel the ocean breeze make my bangs dance upon my forehead and taking deep cleansing breaths of clean ocean air. I could feel the warmth of the sun shining down upon me but was cooled by the oceans breeze and them warmed again by the smiles of the fellow walkers and those around us cheering us on.

Of course my day dreaming made me miss part of what Dave was saying, but I was there for just a moment in time and again I was inspired to maybe next time I take a cruise and I am strolling on deck that I will pause, take to heart my good health and do my own “Pink Walk” and remember when I get home to write a check to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I have personally done these walks in the Washington DC area but it was too hot, and my feet hurt, and there were too many people, and getting there – well traffic was terrible. But I wouldn’t have all those issues on a cruise ship, for I’d be too entranced looking out at the horizon, maybe seeing the sun set (I am NOT a morning person). I would just let my feet flow with the ocean breeze and think pink!

For more information about Holland America’s On Deck For The Cure ( that is the programs real name) visit the Holland America web site at http://www.hollandamerica.com/about/socialResponsibility.do?social=onDeck  

This promotion is available on every Holland America sailing, so there is no special dates to pick or work around, just enjoy your next cruise vacation and walk.  I’d be happy to help you arrange your very own “Pink Walk” upon the ocean blue.

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Pink Walks on Cruise Ships

Cruise Tips: Eight Packing Strategies Once your major wardrobe selections are complete and the suitcases are ready, devise a streamlined packing strategy. Here are some suggestions:

1. Make a packing list. Assemble everything on the list before starting to pack, and check items off when they’re folded and placed in the suitcase.
2. “Just in case” is never the case. Resist the urge to toss items that you are almost positive you won’t need.
3. Zipper-top storage bags—a packer’s best friend. Undergarments and knits take only a third of the suitcase space they normally occupy when they’re compressed in these bags.
4. Go mini. Plan ahead and shop for sample containers of favorite toiletries.
5. Guarantee a smooth sailing. To help keep garments wrinkle-free, leave them on their hangers, cover them with dry-cleaning bags, and fold over once before placing them in the suitcase.
6. Use the facilities… If the ship has self-service laundry facilities you can pack lighter and wash clothes midway through the cruise.
7. …but remember life is short. Use the ship’s laundry service instead. It’s pricier, but who wants to spend valuable cruise time washing clothes?

Share space. Cross-pack your luggage with your travel companion. Chances are if a suitcase is missing, it’ll turn up eventually. In the meantime, you’ll both have fresh clothing.

One item that is most important of course it to always make sure you have a great time cruising to where ever your heart desires – no matter what clothes you pack!

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Fodor’s Packing Suggestions

Travel Lady Cruises, always providing you with TLC!

Airline miles tip – Beware!