Sunday, May 18, 2014

Please take a look at my most recent vacation blog here.  We had a great time at the Barcelo Bravo Palace Deluxe in Punta Cana!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

           


Hello Arlene,


I just wanted to thank you for being the best travel agent! I'm so glad we met at the Asheville Business Connections Meetup, Asheville, NC.







Your assistance with travel arrangements to go to Vegas and Jamaica was wonderful! I appreciate your attentiveness, as I needed to call you even when I was in Vegas. By the way, Treasure Island was a perfect place to stay! Beautiful!



Thank you again for carefully planning all my business travel arrangements, and taking care of all the details for me; you're the best!



Doris Hullett

Sunday, April 18, 2010







Jamie Bresman Just got back from my 4 night cruise to Key West and Cozumel...had a great time! Great weather, great food, great ship and great fun! Thanks for booking Arlene, you make everything so much easier!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Testimonials





Tina Torres Lewis Thanks Arlene for setting up our amazing honeymoon cruise! We had a blast on NCL! Everything was perfect! Thanks for all the perks too, we definetly enjoyed it & appreciated it!!!






Maria Aponte Arlene! Thank you so much for setting up our cruise & getting us a room upgrade. Thanks for the book too. You are so helpful. I'll post pics here when we get back.Details of the Recommendation: "Arlene booked a cruise for us in May. It was my first. Before I met Arlene, I wouldn't have used an agent. Next time, I will use Arlene again! She was so helpful and told me things I never would have known or thought about. I felt totally prepared and things went smoothly. She is so easy to get along with and she did her best to help with any little detail. I would recommend Arlene to anyone thinking about traveling."


Service Category: Travel Agent

Year first hired: 2010

Top Qualities: Personable, Good Value, High Integrity

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Carnival Glory - Miami/Grand Cayman/Honduras/Belize/Cozumel

Trip notes

Ship – Carnival Glory
Dates – February 21 – 28, 2010


Day 1 – Depart from Miami

Beautiful day! It's warm and sunny; everyone is friendly and the ship is very clean. There's a big-screen over the pool on the Lido Deck!

Had lunch in the Red Sail Restaurant (buffet). Decent selection of good food and salad.

We had the early seating in the Golden Restaurant. We were seated with a couple from Michigan; she is also a travel agent and he's in IT! Dinner was so-so... the Mahi-Mahi was dry and my seat was very low – the table was up around my shoulders, so it was very uncomfortable. I asked to be seated somewhere else so we'll see how they handle it tomorrow.

There were some very good bands playing and lots of room for dancing BUT, every one of the nightclubs was smoking and made us very uncomfortable. After a few minutes, it was difficult to breathe and the smell was awful.



Day 2 – At Sea

It's raining! What a bummer. The indoor pool area is nice (Lido Deck, at the rear of the ship).

Drinks are moderately expensive ($4.95 and up for beer, $7.25 and up for mixed drinks), but the mixed drinks are fairly strong with “double-pours” of alcohol for all of them. All-in-all, not a bad deal!

Disco dancing was a blast. I busted a move (my split) and had a great time.

They changed our table and it was much better. The staff here is fantastic!

The main show tonight, “Living in America,” was excellent. The singing and dancing were very entertaining.

We saw a very funny comedian – John Wesley Austin. We went to the “R-rated” show and it was a riot.



Day 3 – Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman is surrounded by coral reefs, so tenders are used to ferry passengers from the ship to shore. Unfortunately, rough seas today forced them to shut down the tender services for the day, so we have another “full day at sea.” They announced this morning that they will provide another itinerary of events to keep us busy.

The captain took us out to sea and we had a beautiful morning. It sure was packed up on the deck, but we had no problem getting chairs.

We just relaxed for the afternoon and went to the “return guests” celebration in the Amber Room (the theater).



Day 4 – Isla Roatan (Honduras)

We bought the beach package for two for $39.95. It included two beach chairs, a cabana, two floats, and unlimited use of the “Magic Sky Chair” from the main island to Mahogany Beach. The beach itself is very clean and has two restaurants/bars with rest rooms.

Travel tips

We didn't save any money by purchasing the package on the ship, but it was very convenient.

Get a frozen drink at Fat Tuesday on the main island in one of the refillable cups. You can refill them at the bars on the beach for a discounted price.

You may encounter jellyfish at the beach – they are very small and the sting doesn't last long.

They had “color war” where the passengers are divided up by room floors. It really was a lot of fun!



Day 5 – Belize City

We ate breakfast at the restaurant and were seated next to people we hadn't met before. It turned out that he was one of my high school teachers and remembered me! What a small world!!!

The ship anchored several miles out and we took tenders to the port.

We didn't do any of the excursions, opting instead to check out the port. It's a pretty large area, so there were many shops to visit.

I talked to people who went on the “river tube cave adventure” and they were very disappointed. After a long bus ride and orientation, the ride on the river was very slow and crowded.

We saw a couple more comedians (the R-rated shows) and they were both very funny.



Day 6 – Cozumel

More small shops at the pier. We were able to refill our “Attitube” at Fat Tuesday!

We spent most of the afternoon on the ship enjoying the nice weather.

The show tonight was from “Justin Illusion” and it was excellent! I don't know how he pulled off some of those illusions!

I can't stand them, but my husband said the escargot were the best he's ever eaten. They were perfectly cooked and not-to-heavy on the garlic.



Day 7 – At Sea

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and we had rain and cool weather for most of the day. We took advantage of the sales in the shops for the rest of our gifts.



The bottom line

The crew of the Carnival Glory were absolutely wonderful. They displayed very high levels of energy and were very friendly throughout. KUDOS to both the staff and management.

Entertainment

The staff entertainers were very good throughout the trip.

The special entertainment was also very good.

Some of the live bands were excellent. In particular, Music Connection were fantastic musicians.

Get involved in the activities aboard the ship. You get to meet new people and have a lot of fun along the way.

Food

The food in the dining room was rarely better than so-so (other than the GREAT escargot mentioned above). Even the lobster tail was fairly bland.

The Fish and Chips buffet on the Lido Deck was consistently very good.

Don't expect refills on your coffee at breakfast in the dining room. At least not in under a half hour.

Smoking is a real problem on the ship. Virtually all the lounges with dancing music were smoking and we talked to many people who were turned off by this. There were even people smoking in their cabins, making the hallway outside their rooms unpleasant for everyone.

Overall, this was a pleasant vacation, with the wonderful staff and crew making up for the mediocre food and nearly overcoming the smoking issues.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Barcelona - June 2008

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona at 10AM (2 ½ hours late). It was OK since it let us sleep at a good time.  We picked up some Euros at the airport.  


Travel tip: I recommend you go to the ATM in airport for Euros; it is a cheaper rate than Banks in USA.

Travel tip:  A taxi from the airport to a downtown hotel should only be 25-30 Euros (including bag) and they should not charge for each person. We got ripped off the first time when we paid 60 Euros for the two of us.


Our hotel was the Universal Barcelona Hotel and was very close to the port.  This hotel was rated at 3 ½ stars, but was just fine. The room was clean and had plenty of room for us.  It also has a small pool on the roof with a really neat view of the city.  There are also some good cafe's nearby (I recommend these rather than the hotel restaurant, which was over-priced and not that good).


My husband and I took a walk down to the marina where they had a regatta going on with what seemed like hundreds of sailboats!  Take your camera - this part of the city is beautiful with great buildings and statues.  The monument to Christopher Columbus near the marina is incredible!




Our first night in Barcelona
I can't imagine going to Spain and not attending a traditional Flamenco show!  We went to the Palacio del Flamenco at Carrer de Balmes 139.  I highly recommend the Paella dinner combo - it's 45 Euros per person (dinner, sangria, and the show).  The food was great and the show was very entertaining, with a series of skits featuring extraordinarily talented dancers.

The next week was spent on the cruise (that's a separate blog).  However, we spent two more days in Barcelona, so read on!

A new hotel
We changed hotels for the post-cruise time in Barcelona so we could be closer to the center of the city.  This time we stayed at the Avenida Palace on De Les Corts Catalanes.  This is a four-star hotel with a lobby to die for.  Very spacious rooms and wonderfully appointed.



More things to do
Ride the Bus Turistic - this sightseeing bus is one of the best bargains around. The buses run three routes, one on the north of the city (red line) and one on the south (blue line) and green (East of city). The two routes connect at the Placa de Catalunya at the end of La Rambla furthest from the harbor. One ticket allows you to ride on three routes all day long, exiting the bus whenever you like to explore.They offer free ear phones and you hop off and on anytime. The one day ticket is 20 euros and two-day tickets are 26 euros.  They also include good discount coupons for other transportation around the city and to some tourist attractions.  Tickets are sold by the bus driver and in hotels and they run about every 20 minutes. It takes half a day to ride the entire route - if you don't get off to see the sights!


No trip to Barcelona is complete without a look at some of Gaudi's works, especially La Sagrada Familia.  This cathedral has to be one of the most interesting buildings in the world and is still being finished.  It cost 8 Euros to get in and another 2 Euros for the elevator to the top.  Get there early and miss the crowd and bus tours.  Go to the elevator first because the line gets long.


Spain won the soccer World Cup on our last day in Barcelona.  That night, we walked a couple of blocks to the Rambla and got to see a great celebration.  There must have been thousands of people there to celebrate their victory. 


Travel tip: Walk the Rambla and find shops and cafes galore.  





Montserrat
We took a bus tour from Barcelona to Santa Maria de Montserrat, a beautiful monastery built high in the mountains.  This magnificent structure has to been seen first-hand to be believed.  I can't imagine how they built this as it was founded almost one thousand years ago!  It will take several hours for the tour, but it's something you shouldn't miss.



Travel tip: One word of caution - like many large cities, Barcelona has its share of pickpockets.  I've heard horror stories from tourists whose cruise vacations were spoiled by pickpockets in hotels and on crowded streets.  Watch your valuables wherever you travel! Even with this potential threat, I will still  visit Barcelona again and again.  It's a wonderful city on the Mediterranean.  Lots to do - you need at least a week to sight-see.