Firsts let me define a few terms and offer some boundaries before attempting this loaded subject. 

From my perspective:

1. “Sustainable” travel is about economic sustainability, cultural sustainability, AND ecological/environmental sustainability.  I’ve spoken about all three previously.  Today, I am only attempting to discuss the last one – the ecological perspective.
2. I have no doubt that human-caused global warming is real.  I also am not willing to make the personal sacrifice to revert to an agrarian-based lifestyle of two hundred years ago, so I do the best I can on a daily basis, knowing full well it is not enough.
3. I believe it is possible to both travel AND make choices to minimize our carbon footprint. 

After doing a little bit of research, it seems that a large majority of people see this issue the same way I do, and NOT like the television news represents the issue i.e. a polarity of either radical environmentalism OR climate-change denial.  It seems the majority of people are capable of intelligent thought and reject these two extremes. 

A recent survey determined that 81% of people say that “Sustainable Travel” is important, and 50% of them said that this consideration has changed the way they book travel.  So, what are people doing to minimize their carbon footprint, but still travel?

Here’s a few ideas:

1. Buy Carbon Offsets.  These are now offered by most airlines when you travel, and it only costs a few dollars more. 
2. Don’t fly short-haul.  Aviation is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, and planes emit the most carbon when taking off.  So, fly further.  The European Union is currently in the process of banning short-haul flights.  Of course, the advantage they have is an advanced public rail system that has so far eluded us in this hemisphere.
3. Choose Your Air Carrier Wisely.  Some airlines take environmental stewardship more seriously than others:
4. Best Short Haul:  Top performers include LATAM, Japan Air Lines, and Air France. For comparison United Airlines is #46, Delta #53, and American Airlines is #70.  These statistics leads me to believe there is some public policy work that needs to be done!
5. Best Long Haul:  Top performers include TUI, Air Canada, and KLM.  Again, domestic carrier performance is poor:  Delta #46, United #54, and American #68.
6. The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism identified specific tourist destinations that take environmental stewardship seriously:
7. Finland
8. Portugal
9. Scotland
10. Indonesia
11. Niseko, Japan
12. Guanajuanto, Mexico
13. Vancouver Island, Canada
14. Barbados
15. Oregon Coast

There is a long list of what these destinations do to minimize their carbon footprint both as it specifically relates to the travel trade, as well as in general.

I’m not sure I’m ready to ONLY visit those locations above, but I did take note of them.  If nothing else, next time I’m visiting those places, I will pay particular attention to what they’re doing. 

Like most people, I have concerns about global warming and the environment in general, but I intend to keep travelling, so it is about the small decisions I make on a daily basis.

There are some who will say this is not enough.  They may be right, however doing something is better than doing nothing.

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Explora Journeys Group Rates – Save $3300+ compared to booking direct!

Explora Journeys is making a conscious effort to reduce its carbon footprint, including banning the use of all single-use plastics across the entire operation, building new ships that will be fuelled by LNG, and using shore power wherever such facilities exist.

I’m REALLY excited to tell you about a special savings opportunity with Explora Journeys.

We currently have a big price advantage on several Explora sailings.  Let me explain further.

Explora’s pricing strategy is to increase prices as the departure date gets closer.  Prices went up on many sailings in December, and again a couple of weeks ago.  Anticipating the demand for this exciting new brand, we blocked groups of cabins on a few different sailings BEFORE prices going up, locking in the lower rates.

This means we can offer you these cabins at a better price than is available publicly! 

If you’re interested in one of the sailings below, get in touch with us right away, because we have only 5 suites on each sailing.  Once they’re gone, you’ll pay a much higher rate.

Copenhagen to London departing August 15, 2023 (9-nights)

1. Visit Goteborg (Sweden), Oslo, Stavanger (Norway), Hamburg, Rotterdam, Bruges.
2. Special price $5450 per person (Public Price: $5700 pp) – Save $500 per suite!

New York to Quebec City – departing September 25th 2023 (8 nights)

1. Visit New York (overnight), Boston, Saint John, Quebec City (overnight)
2. $4300 per person (Public Price: $5050 pp) – Save $1500 per suite!

Quebec to New York City – departing October 3rd 2023 (10 nights)

1. Visit Saguenay, Baie-Comeau, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Charlottetown, Halifax, New York (overnight)
2. Bob and I are travelling on date – why not join us?
3. $ 5350 per person (Public Price $6350 pp) – Save $2000 per suite!

New York round-trip – departing September 25th 2023 (18 nights)

1. If you’d like to combine the 2 cruises above and stay on board the whole time (NO ports repeated), you get an ‘extended journey’ discount compared to booking the 2 legs separately.
2. $9100 per person.  (Public Price $10,750 pp) – Save $3300 per suite!

Miami round-trip – departing December 13th 2023 (9 nights)

1. Visit Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, BVI, Guadeloupe, Bahamas
2. $3500 per person (Public Price:  $4700 pp) – Save $2400 per suite!

Bridgetown, Barbados round-trip – departing January 19th 2024 (12-nights)

1. Visit Dominica, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe, Saint Barthe, San Juan, BVI, Saint Kitts, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenadines,
2. $5500 per person (Public Price $6750 pp) – Save $2500 per suite!

Bridgetown, Barbados to Miami – departing March 1st 2024 (7-nights)

1. Visit Martinique, Saint Kitts, Dominican Republic, Bahamas
2. $3000 per person (Public Price: $3650 pp) – Save $1300 per suite!

A further 5 – 10% discount available if you want to pay in full at time of booking rather than doing the normal deposit + final payment scenario.

The prices listed above are for a 300 square foot veranda suite with a king bed with a huge 75 square foot terrace.  If you want more information on Explora Journeys, here’s a link to the interview Bob did with Aimee Price a few weeks ago:  https://youtu.be/qxtqmE94EBg

Depending on which of these voyages you choose, you’ll also receive $500 – $600 Shore Experience Credit per suite as a gift from me and my agency.  We can get you $300 on ANY Explora trip, but you’ll get $500 – $600 on the specific trips listed above, due to my groups on these sailings.

Remember, we’re only holding a handful of rooms at these prices, so once they are sold out, you’ll be subject to the prevailing rate.  Please feel free to share this email with your friends and family!

Viking – Free Air and Silver Spirits Beverage Package (Book by Jan 31)

Panama Canal (18 days)

1. Departing Santiago March 27th, 2023, bound for Fort Lauderdale.
2. Visit Santiago, Iquique (Chile), Lima (Peru), Manta (Ecuador), Panama Canal, Colon (Panama), Cozumel,
3. $7795 for a Balcony room with a king bed.
4. Includes round-trip air, transfers, open bar, landings/shore excursion in every port, Wi-Fi.

Fort Lauderdale to Toronto (16 days)

1. Departing Fort Lauderdale April 13th, 2023
2. Visit Charleston, Norfolk, New York, Lunenburg (NS), Louisbourg (NS), Cap-aux-Meules (QC), Scenic Sail St. Lawrence, Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, Toronto.
3. $7795 for a Balcony room with a king bed.
4. Includes round-trip air, transfers, open bar, landings/shore excursion in every port, Wi-Fi.

Free Air on American Queen Voyages

If you’re looking for a getaway closer to home, American Queen is offering FREE Air on a number of itineraries and dates.  Here are two examples:

Lower Mississippi for 9-days

1. Depart New Orleans June 4.
2. Visit Nottoway Plantation, St. Francisville, Natchez, Vicksburg, Greenville.  Here’s a link to the video when we did this trip last year:  https://youtu.be/HIfirwH0V5M
3. $4569 per person for a Veranda Room.  Save $1500 per cabin.
4. Includes all taxes/fees, AIR, pre-cruise hotel night, open bar, gratuities, unlimited shore excursions, Wi-Fi.

If you’d rather travel in the Western part of the country, to experience mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, wildlife, and wineries, then try out American Queen on the Columbia/Snake Rivers:

1. Depart Portland for 9-days on April 2 bound for Spokane, Washington.
2. Visit Portland, Astoria, Stevenson, The Dalles, Richland, Clarkston.
3. $3719 per person for a Veranda Room.  Save $2000 per cabin.

Have something to say about this?

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

One perk of working in the travel trade is we get invited to try out new travel products and offerings. The vendor’s angle is quite clear: they want us to love it, so we can sell it to others. It’s a reasonable bargain, but the vendors don’t really want travel-trade people taking up valuable space during times when they could easily sell those spots for full price instead. As a result, we often end up travelling in the off-season.

For any European destination or product, that necessarily means we’re there October through March (with the exception of the Christmas Markets, which are a little island of “high season” in an otherwise slow tourist month).

The funny things is – we’ve come to really enjoy Europe in these off-season months. Yes, we have to pack coats, gloves and hats, but we also don’t have to share the tourist sites with overwhelming throngs of people. There are trade-offs involved here, and the “right” answer really depends on how much you value warmer weather versus how much you hate crowded places.

It seems the word is out, because we’ve recently been fielding a fair number of inquiries about the Mediterranean and Europe in the off-season. I personally think it’s a great idea, but it is worth noting a few things:

1. Latitude – The northern Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece) share a latitude parallel with the Great Lakes. Venice, Italy is at the same latitude as Montreal. The weather is more moderate in the Mediterranean but be advised that it’s much further north than is generally perceived.
2. Air Schedules – Even when the commercial aviation industry is operating well (it certainly wasn’t in 2022), there is reduced service to Europe in the off-season. This a purely a function of supply and demand – fewer people are going, so there are fewer planes going there. This may make your routing more complicated, or it might make it slightly more expensive to fly there.
3. Seasonal Businesses – If you’re a shopper when you’re on vacation, there will be fewer choices in some tourist towns – many shops only operate May through September.
4. Major Attractions – the big “tick in the box” attractions in Europe are open year-round; however, if they need to do partial or temporary closures for maintenance work, that will happen in the off-season. This usually isn’t a big problem, but if you’re going to Europe to specifically visit a certain attraction, it is worth verifying it will actually be available to you.

When you travel to Europe by river or ocean ship, you are protected from the crowds when you’re on board. However, travelling in Europe is about being on shore, and besides the occasional “skip the queue” excursions that some cruise lines offer, it will be more crowded May through September. But the weather is usually beautiful.

So that’s your trade-off. Here are a few quiet season Europe travel opportunities:

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Miami to Barcelona with Oceania Cruises – 14 nights, departing April 6th, 2023

1. $2299 per person for a Veranda
2. Visit Nassau, Bermuda, the Azores, Madeira (Portugal), Granada (Spain), Aliconte (Spain)
3. Optional Air add-on $700 pp

Miami to Rome with Oceania Cruises – 16 nights, departing March 22nd, 2023

1. $2799 per person for a Veranda
2. Visit the Bahamas, Bermuda, Azores, Madeira, Malaga, Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa
3. Optional Air add-on $800 pp

Venice (round trip) with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises – 7 nights, departing April 2, 9, 16, or 23 OR June 25th

1. Fares from $2699 per person
2. Includes transfers, a selection of shore excursions in every port, open bar, and Wifi on the ship.
3. Visit Venice, Chioggia, Burano, Mazzorbo.
4. This is on a river ship that enables you to immerse yourself in Northern Italy.
5. Bob and I did this cruise last year and loved it! – here’s a link to our video: https://youtu.be/QRIHi6SED6g
6. Optional land package add-ons to Milan (3 nights); Switzerland by rail (5 nights).
7. More details here: https://pamperedcruiser.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/italy/venice-and-the-jewels-of-veneto/2023-venice-to-venice

(NEW!) Viking River Cruise to Provence AND the Rhine River – 14 nights – FREE FLIGHTS

1. Fares range from $5999 per person in June 2023 to $5299 per person in October 2023.
2. INCLUDES FLIGHTS, transfers, a shore excursion in every port, beer/wine with meals, and Wifi on the ship
3. Fly to Marseille in the South of France, board at Avignon, then visit Arles, Viviers, Tournon, Vienne, Lyon, Burgundy, Breisach, Strasbourg, Speyer, Rudesheim, Koblenz, Cologne, Kinderdijk, before finishing in Amsterdam
4. This itinerary has French farm to table food, visits to wineries in multiple regions, Roman ruins, plus all the art, history and culture Western Europe is famous for.
5. More details here: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/lyon-provence-and-the-rhineland/2023-avignon-amsterdam/index.html?agenturlid=pamperedcruiser

Already booked directly with Viking? Get it touch with me as soon as possible! Viking makes it really easy to book with them online… and sometimes you just phone for information and you end up with a tentative booking! This is all great customer service. But don’t worry, if you want to work with us, just get in touch as soon as possible to let us know about your reservation. We’ll look over your reservation to make sure you’re booked at the best price, and we’ll always be able to add extra onboard credits for you to spend on your trip. I’m sure you know by now, but there is no fee to work with us, and you’ll pay the same price as you would by booking direct. Plus you get extra onboard credits you wouldn’t otherwise receive. When you work with us you’re supporting two small business owners, and there’s no risk because all your payments go directly to Viking.

Have something to say about this?

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

It always seemed strange to me that the photos of Iceland we were shown at school were all about green meadows, volcanoes, waterfalls, and wildlife. Shouldn’t ICELAND be covered in ice?

Conversely Greenland looks like a desolate frozen place, so why it was named Greenland is a complete mystery.

My fascination with Iceland continues today. It’s a very impressive nation. Almost 100% of their energy comes from renewable sources, it’s in the top 5 world rankings for democracy index, the equality index, and median income, and is first in the world on the Global Peace Index. They are apparently getting some things right up there.

It is also spectacularly beautiful.

If you’ve haven’t seen Down to Earth with Darin Ollin and Zac Efron – sit through the Iceland episode, and you’ll want to go there.

What is there to do in Iceland?

Reykjavik is the only city of any size on the island, and it has some great food options, along with other more urban treats. The rest of Iceland is all about scenery, wildlife, and nature:

1. Go for a swim in the hotsprings
2. Try some exotic food in Reykjavik
3. Marvel at the volcanoes and glaciers, waterfalls, and geysers
4. Take a whale watching tour
5. Do an ice cave tour
6. Go to the exact place where the European and North American tectonic plates meet. You can stand in Europe, and your spouse in North America and only be a few feet apart.
7. For the adventure nuts, there’s snowmobiling, glacier hiking or snorkeling (for real).

Iceland is kind of a hybrid of the best of Alaska, and the best of Costa Rica. Vastly different than both, but much more like those places than Western Europe.

Much like Alaska, most of Iceland is very remote, and accessing it by water may be the best way to see it. Several cruise lines have discovered this fascinating little country in the past few years, so there’s lots of option. Often those options include the UK or Ireland, and in repositioning season you can find cruises that start or finish in North America.

Northern Lights? We’re often asked where and when these are most visible. You need relative darkness to see the Northern Lights, and with Iceland’s high latitude, you won’t see much darkness at all in the summer months, so if the Northern Lights are your reason to visit Iceland, you should do so October through March.

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Iceland Intensive & Ireland with Azamara

1. 11-days departing Reykjavik July 9, 2023.
2. Veranda rooms for $6199 per person.
3. Includes open bar and gratuities
4. Visit 6 ports in Iceland, then on to the Faroe Islands, the Isle of Skye (Scotland), Belfast, and finishing in Dublin
5. Book through Pampered Cruiser and you’ll receive an additional exclusive amenity of $100 per person on board credit. That’s in addition to anything you receive from Azamara.

Iceland and UK on the Oceania Marina

1. 15-days departing Reykjavik on August 22, 2023.
2. Verandas at $9699 per person with an optional Air add-on of $900 round trip (to Iceland, and home from London).
3. Visit 5 ports in Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland Island, Hebrides, 5 ports in Ireland, and then arrive in London.
4. Book through Pampered Cruiser and you’ll receive an additional exclusive amenity of FREE GRATUITIES. That’s in addition to anything you receive from Oceania.

Iceland to Denmark on the Seabourn Ovation

1. 8-days departing Reykjavik on July 30, 2023
2. Veranda Suites for $3637 per person
3. Visit 4 ports in Iceland, then on to Skagen, Denmark before finishing in Copenhagen.
4. Includes gratuities, an open bar, Wifi on board, all specialty dining
5. Book through Pampered Cruiser and you’ll receive an additional exclusive amenity of $150 per person on board credit. That’s in addition to anything you receive from Seabourn.
6. Note: this is a really amazing price for Seabourn, which is a true luxury cruise line. Bob and I have travelled a couple of times with Seabourn, and we absolutely LOVE it. Here’s one of our videos with Bob doing a ship tour of the Seabourn Sojourn: https://youtu.be/RJT7BVFpoqo

Viking Flash Sale – Asia 2023 – FREE AIRFARE

Viking just added a Free Air Promo to the cruises below. We very rarely see free air to Asia, and the catch is you’ll have to travel in the next few months:

1. Bangkok to Bali for 13-days departing April 6, 2023
2. Visit Bangkok (2 days), Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta (2 days), Java, and Bali (2 days).
3. $5799 per person for a Deluxe Veranda
4. Tokyo to Vancouver for 23-days departing April 23, 2023
5. Visit Tokyo (overnight), Sapporo (overnight), Dutch Harbor (Alaska), Kodiak, Seward, Valdez, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, fly home from Vancouver.
6. $9599 per person Veranda Suite.
7. This cruise is an interesting twist on the traditional Alaskan cruise itinerary, and on a per-day basis, with the air included, this is pretty hard to beat. Japan has only been open to tourists again for about 3 months, so there’s a lot of demand for this destination.

Viking includes all taxes and fees, round-trip air, airport transfers, a shore excursion in each port, beer/wine with meals, and Wife on the ship. Book through Pampered Cruiser and you’ll receive an additional exclusive amenity of $100 per person on board credit. Already directly with Viking (river, ocean, or expedition)? Get in touch as soon as possible so we can add extra onboard credits (everything about your existing reservation remains exactly the same).

Thanks for supporting two hard-working small business owners! There is no extra fee to work with us, and we earn commission from the cruise lines after you travel, so you’ll pay exactly the same price as you would if you booked direct.

Have something to say about this?

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Seinfeld finished more than 20 years ago, but I still get a chuckle when I run into a comedy bit that very clearly came from that show.

A few years ago, Bob and I were trying to figure out an excuse to have a house party in January (not that you really need an excuse!). The logic was that January is a depressing month – Christmas is over, the days are short and cold, and people are generally less social as they recover from the holidays.

Following George Costanza’s lead, we created our own holiday. We stole “Festivus” directly from him, but our motives were a bit different. In our version of Festivus, we invited a number of friends over at the end of January. Everyone was encouraged to bring a gift they received at Christmas that they didn’t really want or couldn’t use. All the gifts were placed under the steel pole (this part was lifted directly from Seinfeld). Then the re-gifting occurred – it seems one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

The point?

If you can’t find a Hallmark-sanctioned reason to celebrate, then make up your own reason.

Many of our clients take trips to mark specific occasions. Some of those events are quite obvious, but other times I greatly admire people’s determination to celebrate the seemingly mundane. However, life is a series of small moments as opposed to big, once-in-a-lifetime events, so why not treasure them?

Here’s a list of things some of our clients have celebrating by going on a trip:

1. Milestone birthdays or anniversaries.
2. End of chemotherapy, or some other event they’re happy to leave behind.
3. The birthday of a friend or relative who has passed away. What better way to celebrate the departed than to do a trip they would have loved?
4. Reunion of high school, college, or work friends.
5. Last kid leaving the house.
6. The end of a mortgage.
7. Retirement (or the anniversary of a retirement)
8. The return to a place visited decades ago, that left a big impression
9. Milestones of others: a common one being taking grandchildren on trips when THEY graduate from high school or college.

What will YOU celebrate on your next vacation?

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Join Sue and Bob in Canada & New England with Explora Journeys

1. 11-days departing October 3, 2023 (Quebec to NYC).
2. Visit Saguenay, Baie-Comeau, Havre Saint Pierre, Charlottetown, Halifax, overnight in NYC.
3. This is the perfect trip to experience the Canada & New England fall colors. Even if you’ve done the St. Lawrence Seaway previously, you’ve almost certainly not been to all these ports!
4. $5350 per person for a Veranda Suite (heads up: prices are scheduled to increase mid-January)
5. We’re super excited about this trip…. why not join us? A few of you have already signed up and we can’t wait to meet you!
6. See Bob’s video about Explora Journeys here: https://youtu.be/qxtqmE94EBg

Free Airfare on Viking’s “Antarctic Explorer”

1. 13-days departing Jan/Feb/Mar OR Nov/Dec 2023
2. Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, with 6 days of landings on the continent.
3. Veranda rooms from $11,995 per person INCLUDING air from the United States (over 100 gateways). FREE FLIGHTS included in the price is a time-limited offer.
4. Includes Air, transfers, beer/wine with meals, expedition gear, expedition excursions for 6 days of landings, and WiFi on the ship.
5. Click here to learn more: https://www.vikingcruises.com/expeditions/cruise-destinations/antarctica/antarctic-explorer/index.html?agenturlid=pamperedcruiser

FREE Land Packages with Ama Waterways

Most of our clients extend their stays pre and/or post river cruise anyway, so this offer caught my eye right away! Here are a few examples of the land packages you can choose:

1. 3-nights Prague ($1320 pp value). Available on several departures on the Danube and Main Rivers.
2. 2-nights Amsterdam ($ 1215 pp value). Available on several departures on the Rhine River.
3. 2-nights Lucerne/Zurich ($1215 pp value). Available on several departures on the Rhine River.

Click here to see the full list of Free Land Packages: https://www.amawaterways.com/freeland#eligible-sailings/agent/pamperedcruiser

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

My news feed is being jammed up with “Year in Review” stories. I don’t doubt our collective attention spans are getting shorter, but do I really need to be reminded of what happened only a few weeks or months ago?

I thought I’d take the opposite approach and look forward instead. There is inherent risk in attempting to predict the future, so please take mercy on me if you dig this up next year around this time and see how wrong I was. Here’s my attempt at a Preview of 2023 in the travel trade:

General Trends:

1. Longer Trip Duration – we saw this tick up in 2022, and it will continue. Part of this is “revenge travel” after the pandemic, and part of it logistic – if you’re flying to a different continent, you want to stay as long as possible, and do as much as you can. The nasty experience that air travel has become is also contributing to people avoiding shorter trips.
2. Cruise ships will get bigger and smaller – The Icon of the Seas will debut about a year from now and hold 7600 guests when fully loaded (whoa… imagine what that is like??). However, there is more growth in the number of ships holding fewer than 1000 people (now that’s more like it!). So, we’re seeing a move towards both ends of the capacity scale.
3. More overnight port stops for cruise ships – this is becoming increasingly common, and we’ll see this trend accelerate. It turns out people want to spend more than a few hours in the most interesting ports of call.
4. Promotional activity will focus more on adding amenities, rather than reducing prices. Luxury products rarely get discounted, but in mid-market travel products, look for the cruise lines to throw in gratuities, beverages packages, on board credits, or specialty dining instead of reducing prices.

Destination Trends:

Mexico and Canada are the two largest recipients of American tourists, but when we look beyond these two neighbors, here’s some places that will see more interest in 2023:

1. South America – There’s lots to see in the other half of the American hemisphere, so look for more cruise and packaged land offerings here.
2. Dubai and East Africa – Dubai has been popular for a while, but its (lack of) proximity to any other cruise ship port has made it less frequented by cruise ships. We’re seeing more stops in East Africa (Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique) and South Africa, making Dubai a more frequented terminus port.
3. East Asia – Travel to Pacific Asia hasn’t been fully restored yet, so with the exception of China, there will be much more cruise traffic in Asia in 2023.
4. Egypt – There has been huge interest here in 2022. We’ll see more of the same in 2023.
5. Croatia – This segment of the former Yugoslavia already gets lots of visitors. They just joined the Euro-zone, and adopted the Euro, which will make it even easier to travel there. Its proximity to Venice and Athens makes it very easy to find itineraries that include Croatian ports.
6. Saudi Arabia – OK… I don’t fully know how this is going to play out, but the Saudis have been very assertive in marketing themselves as a tourist destination. They also have 1100 miles of coastline, so presumably ships will begin to call in there sooner or later.

Here’s a few other predictions that fall in the “don’t shoot the messenger” category:

1. Airlines will continue to disappoint – Airline performance has improved in the second half of 2022, but air travel is still overwhelmingly the biggest complaint amongst travellers. Unfortunately, I have yet to see any indication that the airlines care to do anything about this, and Washington has done NOTHING in the past 45 years (since they were first deregulated) to address the bad behavior of this oligarchy. Everyone keeps hoping for something better, but hope is not a strategy. Foreign flagged carriers are better regulated, have better performance, and are required to offer meaningful compensation when they mess up.
2. It’s going to cost you more – Demand for travel products is outstripping supply. That alone will drive prices up. When you consider that inflation is running at about 7% in the United States, and even higher in Europe (closer to 10%), nobody should be surprised that travel products are going to cost more. If you’re waiting around for your favorite trip to get cheaper, I think you’ll be disappointed.
3. Shoreside Challenges – the labor shortage that we’re experiencing is NOT unique to the US. Many (if not most) countries where our clients end up are having similar problems. In 2022, it manifested in shortages of shore excursions, transportation, and hotel capacity. This will take a while yet to fix. The same patience that good travellers displayed in 2022 will be required a bit longer. If you’re expecting perfection, then you’ll need to stay at home for a while longer yet.

Today’s Travel Opportunities

OCEANIA

Oceania has a pricing strategy that increases prices at regular intervals the closer to departure. Our sources at the company tell us they are bumping prices up on January 9, so if you’re contemplating travelling with them, you’ll want to jump on it. Here’s a couple of examples:

Australia/New Zealand:

1. Sydney round-trip for 15-days departing February 13th, 2023.
2. Visit Hobart, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Rotorua, Auckland, Bay of Islands
3. Ocean View: $6899 OR Veranda $8999 per person
4. Air add-on for $1700
5. BONUS: 4-day Sydney land package included ($2299 value)

Southeast Asia:

1. Singapore to Bangkok for 15 days departing May 18th, 2023.
2. Visit Indonesia, Brunei, Hanoi, Chan May (Vietnam), Saigon, Ko Samui.
3. Ocean View: $4999 OR Veranda $6599 per person.
4. Air add-on for $1300.
5. BONUS: 4-day Singapore land package included ($1499 value).

BOURBON THEMED CRUISE ON AMERICAN QUEEN VOYAGES

Cincinnati to Nashville for 9-days departing May 8th, 2023:

1. Visit Madison, Louisville, Brandenburg, Henderson, Paducah, Dover
2. Enjoy included Bourbon education seminars, Happy Hours, and Bourbon selections at dinner.
3. Inside: $3499; Open Veranda: $4274, Private Veranda: $5129 per person.
4. Remember that AQV includes a pre-cruise hotel night, open bar, unlimited excursions, and Wi-Fi on the ship.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley