Sea Tales
2019 Family Cruise Travel Planner
by Heidi M. Allison Shane
R
“The Sea Tales 2019 Family Cruise Travel Planner is a great resource for anyone planning to take their children or grandchildren on a cruise. Not all ships are the same and not all programs are the same so be sure to read through this invaluable guide before you put your money on the line.” - Cynthia Janssens, Former travel editor, The Detroit News, Editor AllThingsCruise.com Credit for these beautiful photos of the destinations, ships and people enjoying their cruise vacations go to Heidi Allison, Author, Publisher and Editor- at- Large for AllThingsCruise.com Dennis Cox, Official Photographer of AllThingsCruise.com Jackie Finch, newspaper reporter, photographer and travel writer Rachel Garrett, Blogger, AllThingsCruise.com & photographer
Cynthia Janssens, Editor AllThingsCruise.com Bob Levinstein, CEO CruiseCompete.com
Members of the Family Travel Association
W elcome to the 2019 Family-Friendly Cruise Travel Planner by Heidi Allison, CruiseCompete, LLC
Dear Readers, My hope is that you find this book so compelling
that you cannot wait to take a cruise vacation with your family. I have been blessed with a career that mixes my love of travel with writing about and sharing it with others. This book is truly a labor of love! Cruise travel has evolved over the years. Most likely you will find anything and everything your family could dream of for their vacation at sea. Including making new friends that may last a lifetime. Over the years, my travel companions have been many and varied. They include a member of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, a young artist in St. Petersburg who drew beautiful paintings that hang in my home, famous sculptors from Nairobi, and travelers from all walks of life throughout the world. It never fails to strike me that, while we may all originate from different nationalities and cultures, we all share common hopes, dreams and aspirations that unite us in the truest global sense.
The opportunity for global travel has increased the ability of people worldwide to broaden their horizons in every sense of the world. From my own experience, some of these personal enrichment opportunities have included, and taken me to… The Hawaiian Islands, where Captain Woo of the lovely SS Independence once sent one of the staff to my cabin to awaken my family at 4 a.m. Once on deck, we watched the sunrise illuminate hundreds of majestic female humpback whales, frolicking with their calves. The Panama Canal, aboard the Pacific Princess, where once I travelled with David McCullough, author of “Path Between the Seas.” This book, about the creation of the Panama Canal won the National Book Award in History. Former President Jimmy Carter later said that the treaties that handed over ownership of the Canal to Panama would not have passed had it not been for David’s book. My travels gave me the opportunity to lecture throughout Canada with Lars-Eric Lindblad, a noted environmentalist and a man who pioneered tourism to many remote and exotic parts of the world. I met him as part of the Orient Lines team when they acquired a Russian ice-breaker and refitted it as the Marco Polo, an expedition ship. Lindblad also believed tourism had been responsible for saving many threatened ecosystems and species. In opening remote and exotic areas of the world to tourism, he became widely recognized as a prominent figure of ecotourism. I’ve had the good fortune of experiencing over 75 cruise voyages (some of which were inaugural journeys) on such well-known
lines such as Princess Cruises, the former Norwegian American Line (owned the Sajafjord and Vistafjord) and American Hawaii Cruises (the only line to carry the American Flag in the last century), Cunard Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Sitmar, Royal Viking Line, Royal Caribbean Line, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival, Holland America Line and my personal favorite, Regent Seven Seas Cruises. (You can read more about my
experience and background in travel here.) Enjoy your cruise trip planning. Bon Voyage! Heidi Heidi M. Allison CruiseCompete &AllThingsCruise
Your Vacation is the Most Important Two Weeks of Your Year. Don’t Trust It to Just Anyone!
R
Throughout this book, we will provide links to helpful sites, including CruiseCompete.com. CruiseCompete.com does not sell travel; it is a free and anonymous service that helps cruisers find the best values for their cruise vacation. Consumers simply submit a ship name and sail date with a few other pieces of relevant information. Top travel agencies then craft custom responses to meet the specific needs of the consumer. Cruisers are notified by e-mail when new quotes are available, so they can view these quotes and contact the agencies directly to book their trips. (For people who need help choosing a cruise, a CruiseCompete member-agency offers Live Agent Help.) CruiseCompete, LLC is an independent organization. We are not a travel agency or owned by a travel agency, and we provide travel agents with a steady stream of easy-to-manage, highly qualified leads. CruiseCompete: Since Our Inception in 2003, We’ve Received Compliments and Mentions fromMany of the World’s Most Influential Publications andWriters:
From the AARP and Fodor’s to The Wall Street Journal to Kiplinger, MSNBC, The Street, Newsday , Travel + Leisure , USA Today, The Washington Post, The New York Times , Zagat, The Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune , Gayot, The Detroit News, and more. The compliments and mentions here can give you insight into our website and why we are so highly acclaimed with travelers and the media alike! Zagat “5 Great Websites to Search for Amazing Cruise Offers” CNN.COM “…Specify which cruise ship you want…agencies then get back to you with best deals they have…” Fodor’s “How to Choose the Right Cruise…” AARP “Great Ways to Save – 16 Ways to Travel Cheap – Number 6” The Wall Street Journal “The Best in Cruise Travel...” See Full Stories http://www.cruisecompete.com/press_quotes.php
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker