"What do you think of our little boat?"

Applause erupted when our Cruise Director asked us that question last night after our first day aboard the biggest cruise ship in the world, the Allure of the Seas!  It was a wonderful day beginning with the entire boarding process.  What a relief to board the largest ship in the world faster and easier than any other ship that we've ever traveled on.   The staff was extremely proficient, helpful and friendly!

The ship itself is absolutely amazing, and at times you don't even know that you're even on a ship.  The shops, restaurants, bars, show lounges are very unique and have their own little "personalities" and special atmosphere.  One of my favorites is the "Rising Tide", a bar that moves it's patrons from the 5th deck to the 8th and back down.  I absolutely LOVE Central Park, with it's garden's trees, restaurants, and shops, and with it's balcony staterooms looking over all it!  Our balcony over looks the Boardwalk, which is equally as quaint.  The carousel, Mexican restaurant, and the  Aqua Theater can be seen from our room, but never heard!

Dinner was most incredible, and because I never pass up the opportunity to eat a good steak.... the beef tenderloin was my choice for the evening.  And because Rob knew that he could... he had the duck AND the beef.  I think our waiter must have realized that we really enjoy eating, because he suggested 3 desserts for us and brought them all.... the cheesecake, the cherry bake, and the chocolate souffle, none of which disappointed us!  We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner which was accompanied by a beautiful live, rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" on the piano and violin right in front of us.

Now, I must tell you, that I am NOT a show person.  I loved Wicked on Broadway, and maybe a few others, but going to the shows on these cruise ships is not high on my priority list.  However, so that I can experience this sailing to it's fullest, we decided to attend the "Blue Planet" show last night. Wow!!! It was incredible!  All I kept thinking about was Simon Cowell talking about "cruise ship singers", and I couldn't help but think... these guys are SO much better than the American Idol contestants that I've seen lately!  The show was amazing!  I can't wait to see "Chicago" tonight.

On the other hand though, too much of a good thing can be just that... too much.  I think I pushed my luck with the shows when we went to the Ice Skating show.  I'm sure it was a great show, but I can't tell you for sure.  I was asleep on Rob's shoulder within 15 minutes of the show starting.  It had been a long day though!

And now... today is a new day!!! A whole 24 hours left to explore and experience the Allure of the Seas!  Tune in tomorrow and I'll let you know about the jogging track, the gym, surfing on the flowrider, the zip line, "Chicago", the DreamWorks parade and anything else that I can fit in to this day!!!!

3 Islands in 52 Hours

It was a true "whirlwind" trip.  It began at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday as two of my co-workers, and our "cabana boy" (one of their husbands),  and I got up and headed to the Atlanta airport to meet 200 other travel agents and our Sandals & Beaches hosts for the weekend.  4 hours later we boarded our chartered plane and headed to Grand Exuma Island, where we would spend three hours touring and experiencing the food and activities of Sandals Emerald Bay.

As our plane approached the island, it was obvious that the waters surrounding Grand Exuma were probably the most beautiful blue color that I had seen in the Caribbean.  It was breath-taking.  The resort was equally as amazing.  Sandals Emerald Bay is an elegant resort that sits along that beautiful beach.  Sandals greeted all 200 of us with a continental breakfast before we began our tour.  On the tour we were able to see several of Emerald Bay's gorgeous suites.  Every room in this resort is not only spacious and elegant, but it also comes complete with your own butler.  The grounds were absolutely beautiful as well.  Sandals was so gracious to provide a caribbean buffet for us before we headed back to the Exuma Airport ~ which wins the prize for being the smallest airport that I've ever been in.  :)  The stop over in Exuma was a quick one, but so very informative and enjoyable!  

Our next stop..... Providenciales, Turks & Caicos.  Having been to this island just 2 months ago, I could not wait to return!  I knew what waited for me there!!!  I could pick out our resort from the sky as we descended onto the island... Beaches, Turks & Caicos.  While Sandals resorts are  the adult only Luxury Included resorts, Beaches resorts are the family version.  Again, it would be a quick stay, only about 36 hours, so we needed to make the most of it!  

After checking in to our room in the Caribbean Village, I took a quick run and visited the gym for a little while.  I actually am proud to say that after two stays at Beaches, I have my own 3 mile run route around the property.  :)  Then, we got dressed for the evening and were fortunate enough to to catch the Sesame Street Parade come through our building.  Big Bird, Count, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Zoe, Bert and Ernie were all there.  What a blast from the past!   It was fun, even for us adults!  

And again, thanks to our Sandals hosts, we were able to experience and incredible dinner that night.  Sandals and Beaches have a partnership with Martha Stewart, and every Sandals wedding is a Martha Stewart created wedding.  Brides and grooms have several incredible choices to choose from, and we got to experience what a Sandals wedding reception would be like. 

And no night is complete without Club Liquid ....  dance club for teens until 11 p.m., and adult only after 11.  We danced the night away, even though we'd been up for 20 hours, just because we didn't want to waste a single minute of the time that we had there.  Knowing that we had to be up early for a Sandals Resorts Workshop and Tour in the morning, we didn't close Club Liquid down, saving some energy for night #2.  :)

Sunday began early, breakfast at 6:30 a.m. at the restaurant of our choice, and there are MANY to choose from!  After our morning workshop we enjoyed lunch at yet another incredible restaurant, Mario's Italian.  And then onto our Beaches Resort tour.  What an incredible resort... the newest addition, The Italian Village is my favorite.  The two bedroom suite sleeps up to 6 people and has incredible views of the pool and the ocean.  Some rooms come with butler service, which is a service that completely enhances your stay at Beaches.  The Caribbean Village is also a great choice, with many options for room categories, some with ocean view, and most with the pool view.  The French Village is a very quaint place as well.  There is not a bad room on the property.  

Fortunately our tour guide was quick and to the point which gave us a few hours to enjoy at the beach and the pool.  We ran into Bill, the manager of all of the restaurants on the property, who set up an incredible dinner for us at Kimono's the Japanese hibachi restaurant.  Not only did he set up our dinner, but at my request he also set us up with "iPod" the singing cook, and sent us a bottle of champagne as well.  That is just an example of the awesome staff at this resort.  They go above and beyond for their guests.  We had a fabulous, tasty, and entertaining dinner and wrapped up the night at Club Liquid.

Our last leg of the trip began at 6:30 the next morning, where we boarded our flight towards Nassau.  Our last island, and resort, Sandals Royal Bahamian awaited the 200 travel agents.  And again, we were not disappointed!  Although it was a little overcast, and we had a little rain, it did not put a damper on what Sandals provided for us.  After our resort tour, we boarded boats and spent the day on Sandals private offshore island.  Grilled lobster, shrimp cocktail, and fried conch were just a few of the delicacies.   We had live entertainment, only to topped by having a surprise visit from Butch Stewart, the founder of Sandals who spoke to us for a few minutes and stayed for pictures.  It was a lovely afternoon!  

"Sadly", we almost were stranded on this beautiful piece of paradise when the waves got too large for us to return to the mainland.  However, it all worked out, and even though we were several hours later than expected, we finally made it home.... 52 hours and 3 islands later!!!

It was a great trip.  Thank you Sandals and Mr. Butch Stewart for providing us with the opportunity!  I can't wait to return!  Sandals and Beaches are resorts that truly offer something for EVERYONE!  

http://www.facebook.com/classictravelconnection

Traveler vs. Tourist

I found the coolest quote this weekend... 

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." ~Daniel J. Boorstin

This quote really got me thinking about not only where I fall in those two categories, but also about all the different people that I've encountered, traveled with, and observed over the years.  I'm certainly not the world traveler that I'd like to be, but I have been to and seen some awesome places in my lifetime and I've certainly encountered some very interesting people.

Here are some of my favorite examples, and you help me decide.... Traveler or Tourist?

Dorothy, a senior citizen on a Class Reunion Cruise to Belize, Cozumel, and Key West.  She complained about everything, nothing was ever good enough.  My favorite complaint of the week:  We were in Cozumel, eating at an authentic Mexican restaurant on the beach, the Mariachi Band was serenading us, and she said "I can't believe these people are speaking Spanish.  Why can't they learn English?"  Really?  

Sandra, a senior citizen, traveling with her kids and grand kids, on a cruise to  Grand Cayman. Not terribly comfortable in the water or on a boat, but wanted to make the most of her trip with her family, she puts on her life jacket jumps in the water, puts the snorkel in her mouth, and the mask on her face and sees some of the most amazing marine life that she's ever seen in her life.  She went home with some cuts and bruises from all of the adventure on the trip, but it was worth it, so she says.

Andrew, my son, 9 years old in a village on the Amazon in Peru...  His sense of adventure was in overdrive that week.  He left the jungle with no regrets after swimming the Amazon River, running around barefoot with all of the other village children, speaking the Spanish that he picked up that week, going into the children's village huts, meeting their parents, and chasing chickens in the courtyards.  

And one of my favorites of all time, Justin, a friend of mine who is permanently in a wheelchair.  He will never walk again.  On one of our trips to the Western Caribbean, all Justin wanted to do was to get into the crystal blue waters and snorkel.  With the help of several of his friends, they helped make that dream come true for Justin.  What an awesome experience not only for Justin, but also for his friends.  

Other examples... 

I know a family that each time they arrive to a new destination, they ask the first local they see, "What is YOUR favorite place to eat local cuisine?"  And even if it's a hole in the wall... that's where they go for lunch that day.  

I see cruise ship passengers get off of their big ship, with it's own duty free shops, and go straight to the port's shopping area, walk around those duty free shops, and get back on the ship.  Some people decide not to even get off the ship.  For real??? When you can hike or zipline the rainforest, explore the bottom of the ocean, see the world's most beautiful beaches and parasail above the tree lines, or see ancient indian ruins and climb to the top of the pyramids?  God made this world for us to see, experience and enjoy... and we shop?

I don't want to be a tourist in this world.... I long to be a traveler, and I'm so thankful that my kids want to be travelers too!  Live life!  Get out there!  There's so much more to see in this great big world than Gulf Shores and Gatlinburg!!!  You can shop at home.  Be a Justin, be an Andrew, be a Sandra.  Be a traveler!

Please visit our Classic Travel Connection on Facebook, hit "like" and become a fan!  

http://www.facebook.com/classictravelconnection

One of my All Time Favorite Trips!

I LOVE my kids, all three of them.  They are my life, my sunshine, and sometimes what keeps me going throughout the day.  Even at their absolute worst, they are the best kids in the world to me.  I love every minute I get to spend with them.  But I especially love that quality time, when no one is distracted, when the phones are not with us, no facebook, no texting, no working, no homework.  Unfortunately those times don't happen very often, pretty much only when we're on, you guessed it, vacation.

One of my favorite trips was just a girl's trip, one that we took for Morgan's 13th Birthday to Disney World.  It was an INCREDIBLE birthday party!!!  I wish all birthdays could be special as this one was!  We were truly princesses for 5 full days, and loved every minute of it.  I think we only took our tiaras off to sleep, however, we did sleep with the pixie dust still in our hair.  :)

Of course, being the proud mom that I am, I have to tell you that my kids are smart and talented.  Because I am realistic, I know that they are not the smartest, most talented children in the world, but they are mine, and I am thankful for them.  Today I am most thankful for the talent of my oldest, Kayla... who has a LOVE for photography, videography, and who is creating video memories for our family and for my travel company.  Thank you K, for spending the time to work on these videos for me.... and yes, I am paying you.  ;)


Her latest "work" is a sampling of one of my All Time Favorite Trips and Birthday Party...

Best Birthday Party Ever

Enjoy...