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.

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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

“If I had one wish this holiday season, it would be that all the children of the world would join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace. If I had TWO wishes this Christmas….” – Steve Martin

I invite you to search for “Steve Martin’s Christmas Wish” on YouTube if you’d like to hear the rest of this classic comedy bit.

I seem to be getting a lot of various holiday greetings in my inbox this week, so I struggled whether sending out a “best wishes” email is just more noise in the busy week before Christmas. So perhaps the Steve Martin reminder will set my message apart.

I do – quite sincerely – want to wish you the very best for Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years, and/or anything else you may be celebrating this month. In the travel industry, we are in a remarkably different place than we were last December, and I am greatly appreciative of that fact. The feedback I get from our clients tells me they are very happy to be out exploring the world again too.

Our family’s Christmas explorations this year will be quite low key and tropical. We lived in Mexico for a while several years ago, and we like to spend as much time as we can in this beautiful country. So, Feliz Navidad!

Besides the obvious differences of both weather and language, I deeply appreciate how the Mexicans value family and community in general, and especially at this time of year. Both due our fair complexion, and our bad Spanish, we are clearly visitors here… but we are always made to feel welcome.

My Christmas wish to you is the one so well-demonstrated by our Mexican friends: A Christmas that is less about shopping malls and gifts, and one much more about connecting with family, friends, and neighbours. It used to be this way for us at home, but somehow, we’ve collectively lost our way over the past few decades.

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Just in case you find yourself dreaming of travel over the Christmas break, here are a few year-end offers I found:

SilverSea

SilverSea currently has a number of voyages discounted between 10% and 20% off their regular price. All staterooms on these ships are suites, and your booking includes a shore excursion in each port of call, onboard gratuities, an open bar, Wi-Fi on the ship, specialty dining, and classic luxury service and amenities on board. Here are a few examples of voyages with discounted prices:

ALASKA – Anchorage to Vancouver

1. Departing May 25th, 2023 for 7-nights
2. Visit Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, and Ketchikan
3. Prices start at $2848 per person

ICELAND – Reykjavik round-trip

1. Departing July 4th, 2023 for 10 nights
2. Visit 8 ports of call in Iceland (circumnavigation)
3. Prices start at $4920 per person

PORTUGAL & AFRICA – Lisbon round-trip

1. Departing September 22nd, 2023 for 14-days
2. Visit the Azores, Madiera, Canary Islands, and Morocco
3. Prices start at $6345 per person

THE BONUS: On any of the above departures we can get you an additional $300 per person on board credit through our agency’s exclusive relationship with SilverSea (not available if you book directly with Silversea)

THE CATCH: The above fares require payment in full at the time of booking.

Uniworld

Uniworld is offering savings of up to $1500 per person on select departures. This river line is known as the “Boutique Hotel” version of river ships, with each of their vessels specifically designed and decorated for the area through which it sails. They also include a shore excursion in every port, onboard gratuities, an open bar, and Wi-Fi on the ship. Here are some examples of voyages with discounted prices.

TULIPS and WINDMILLS – Amsterdam to Antwerp

1. Departing March 29th, 2023 (peak of tulip season!). April departures also available.
2. Visit Haarlem, Keukenhof Gardens, Hoorn, Nijmegen (for the Van Gogh Museum), Rotterdam (Kinderdijk), Middelburg, Bruges
3. Fares from $3699 per person

VENETIAN LAGOON – Venice round-trip

If you’ve never been to Venice, this is a fantastic way to explore it in depth. If you’ve been there previously, you’ll get to see it in a brand-new way, with private access to the major attractions in Venice, and also get to visit out-of-the-way places in other parts of the lagoon.

1. Departing April 2023, for 8-days (4 departure dates)
2. Visit Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s before/after hours when it’s not open to the public, Chioggia (little Venice), Burano, and countless other neighborhoods.
3. Fares from $2699 per person.

Bob and I did this trip with Uniworld earlier in 2022 and it was fabulous! Here’s a link to our video about this trip: https://youtu.be/QRIHi6SED6g

Uniworld also has several other specials right now. Here’s a link to their website if you want to see additional itineraries: https://pamperedcruiser.uniworld.com/us/current-offers/2023

Explora Journeys – North America Extended Journey

We featured Explora Journeys in our newsletter a few weeks ago. In case you missed it, here’s the link: https://pamperedcruiser.com/lets-look-explora-journeys/.

Also we recently posted a new video about Explora Journeys on our YouTube channel. Bob interviews Aimee Price – the Head of Sales for USA West and Canada. Besides participating in an in-depth discussion of what to expect from Explora Journeys, Aimee also provided a bunch of photos and videos about the ships and their amenities. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/qxtqmE94EBg

Back to the topic at hand… Explora’s North America Extended Journey.

Grand Journeys on any cruise line are normally in Europe or Asia, and this is the first time we’ve seen an itinerary like this one. You can get on the ship in Vancouver, ride all the way around North America, and get out 53 days later in Quebec City. Conversely, you can opt to do segments of this cruise, and then fly to catch up with the ship (if you wanted to get out and stay for a week in one or more places). Here’s the overview:

1. 53 days from Vancouver to Quebec departing on August 9, 2024.
2. Visit Alaska, California Coast, Pacific Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama Canal, (full transit), Columbia, Honduras, Belize, Bahamas, Miami, New York, Boston, Sydney (Canada), Havre Saint Pierre (Quebec),
3. Fares from $22,250 per person – and remember the base fare on Explora is a 300 square foot suite with a king bed, and a 75 square foot ocean terrace.
4. Includes all taxes and fees, an open bar, specialty dining, onboard gratuities 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

I would be surprised if anyone reading this DOESN’T remember a world without the internet (meaning you’re probably as old as, or older, than me).

As the internet developed, wiki sites appeared to be the antidote to the sales and marketing campaigns of big companies. The definition of “wiki” is a website that allows users to contribute to or edit the content on that website.

Trip Advisor, Cruise Critic, and Facebook Groups are all examples of wiki sites. To be clear, what follows is not a commentary on any of those specific channels, but rather a caution and suggestion of how they should be used.

Wiki sites have undoubtedly added a layer of democracy to the information out there, but like anything else they need to be read with a critical filter – just like the marketing campaigns of travel vendors should be viewed critically.

Here’s a demonstration that will reinforce my point: Think of the most fantastic vacation or travel experience that you’ve ever had. Maybe it’s a cruise, maybe it’s a destination, or maybe even a restaurant or attraction. Go to a wiki site and be amazed by how many reviews there with exactly the opposite opinion than you. Marvel in how many people say that your perfect experience sucked for them!

Part of this is the reality that everyone assesses an experience with different criteria. However, the other consideration is that wiki sites tend to attract participation by those who either have a real axe to grind OR who want to share their perfect experience with everyone. This leads to what the statisticians call a bi-modal distribution – a whole bunch of 1-star ratings, and another large group of 5-star ratings, and very little in the middle. It is binary – it is either the “worst-ever” or the “best-ever”.

Such reviews are not particularly insightful, and you should probably eliminate them from your consideration.

What IS useful are the few comments and reviews that fall between the 1’s and the 5’s – particularly those with specific comments or feedback for how and why they came up with such an assessment.

Here’s suggestion as to how to use wiki sites to your advantage:

1. ELIMINATE all the top and bottom scored reviews.
2. ELIMINATE those without comments or feedback describing how they came up with that rating.
3. IGNORE overall scores – these are easy to manipulate for better or for worse, and not very instructional.
4. IGNORE comments that make sweeping declarations (“This is the BEST cruise line ever”). First of all, anyone who makes such a declaration has almost certainly not been on ALL the others. For the record, I have been on all the others, and I would never declare one to be the best, simply because I know people have different criteria to determine what is best for them.
5. PAY ATTENTION to the very few people out there who are thoughtful enough to objectively state what they like and don’t like and why, and invite others to disagree with them. People with this type of intelligence are a small minority – both on wiki sites, and in our society in general.

This means there is very small percentage of the total reviews and comments on any of those wiki sites that you should actually pay attention to. Consider it like panning for gold – you need to be patient and pay close attention or order to mine out the valuable nuggets.

Sorting through the information on wiki sites with a critical eye is hard work. As our attention spans have shrunk (a measurable phenomenon in the past few decades), we are less practiced at seeing nuance and subtlety, and insist more on seeing things in binary terms: It’s black or white (blue or red), right or wrong, unbelievably fantastic or disgustingly bad.

None of these extremes serve us well when making rational decisions with our vacation dollars (or anything else, for that matter).

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Viking is throwing their FREE AIRFARE promotion at some of its cruises to fill up the last few rooms:

1. Hawaii – round-trip from LA for 17-days departing in December 2023, and February 2024. Fares from $5499 per person.
2. Panama Canal between Fort Lauderdale and Panama City for 11-days departing in Oct/Nov/Dec 2023. Fares from $3399 per person.
3. Panama Canal Full Transit between Fort Lauderdale and LA for 18-days departing Oct – Dec 2023 and Jan – Mar 2024. Fares from $5999 per person.

Remember that Viking Ocean fares include all taxes and fees, ROUND-TRIP FLIGHTS, airport transfers, a 270 square foot veranda suite, a shore excursion in every port, beer/wine with meals, and wifi on the ship.

If you’d prefer to travel on the river:

1. Elbe River (Berlin to Prague) for 10 days, departing March – July 2023. Fares from $3499 pp in March and $3999 pp in July.
2. Holland & Belgium for 10 days, departing March – August 2023. Fares from $4599 pp in March and $3399 pp in July/August.
3. Paris to Zurich for 12 days, departing March – August 2023. Fares from $3599 pp in March, and $3999 pp in August.
4. Amsterdam to Budapest for 15 days, departing May through August. Fares from $5299 pp in May, and $4499 pp in July/August.

Remember, these prices INCLUDE round-trip international airfare.

Just as an aside, please don’t book direct with Viking. We can get you exactly the same price you’d get by booking direct (including any special promotions). PLUS we can always add at least $100 per person onboard credit in addition to anything you receive from Viking. This applies even if you already paid your deposit, or even if you’re already paid in full. If you’re already booked, please get in touch so we can add these extra perks to your existing reservation. By now, hopefully you know there is no fee to work with us (we get paid commission from the cruise lines). So please support a hard-working small business owners by bringing your booking to us. Thank you – we love working with you all!

If you’d rather stay state-side this spring, here’s an interesting one that came across my desk:

American Queen Voyages Kentucky Derby Cruise:

1. Departing Louisville May 1, 2023, bound for Cincinnati (9 days).
2. Inside rooms $3499 per person. Veranda suites $5699 pp.
3. Includes pre-cruise hotel night, open bar, unlimited shore excursions in each port of call, and wifi on the ship.
4. Optional Premium Excursion to the Kentucky Derby including covered seats in the final stretch, VIP access to Churchill Downs, Access to Affirmed Lounge with complimentary food and beverage

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