Click for Slideshow of Norwegian Cruise’s “Pride of America”

One of the best, and most comprehensive ways to visit all of the Islands of Hawaii in just 7 days, is to cruise!   Norwegian Cruise Line offers a cruise from Honolulu to 3 outer islands: Maui, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii.  Stops in Kauai and Maui include an overnight stay.  So no rushing!  Imagine visiting 4 islands, and only packing and un-packing once!

Saving money is on everyone’s mind these days.  A great way to save some money on vacation is by saving the expense of passports for the whole family, at about $100 + per person.  Since you are not leaving the USA, a passport is not required.  Another plus is eliminating additional hotel nights.  If you are flying from the West Coast, you can fly from your home city on the morning of the sail date, arriving in Honolulu with lots of time to spare prior to embarkation.  On the return, you will have plenty of time after disembarkation to get to the airport and fly home!

Of course no cruise is complete without a few excursions to see the sights at each port.  Since you will have an overnight stay in both Maui and Kauai, many folks prefer to rent a car and explore on their own.  Even though Hawaii is very exotic and you feel as though you are in a foreign land, you are still in the USA; we drive on the right side of the road, and all of the street signs are in English.  Albeit, Hawaiian names are a bit difficult to grasp at first!   Both Kauai and Maui have handy self guided island tours.  Just stop at the first ABC Store (they are everywhere) and invest in the CD version, about $15, and pop it into the car CD player and enjoy your tour!  And the fact that you are saving a lot of money!

On board the Pride of America, it’s business as usual, even while in port.  That means your meals are still being prepared 3 times a day, snacks are always available, and the bartenders are still on duty!  So if you prefer to return to the ship for your meals, that’s not a problem at all.  Otherwise, having breakfast and dinner on board, and your lunch ashore is still a good way to save some money.  Norwegian Cruise Line was one of the first cruise lines to offer dining called Free Style.  This means no assigned dining time, table or dinner companions.  This gives you even more freedom while in port.

Your stop in Hilo allows plenty of time to visit the Volcanoes National Park, or the Planetarium for some star gazing.  Do you enjoy the chocolate covered Macadamia Nuts…..go right to the source, at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory!  Your friends and family will appreciate your thoughtfulness when you bring home boxes of these tasty bites of Hawaii.

After leaving Hilo you will cruise to the other side of the island, past Mount Kilauea, you will hopefully be able to catch a few pictures the flowing lava in the darkness.  Of course, that’s something dependent upon Mother Nature!

Kona, Hawaii is a great place to explore.  There are so many shops, restaurants (if you choose), and activities, you won’t know which to do first!  A favorite is the Kailua Glass-bottom boat.  You will be able to experience the underwater paradise of colorful reefs full of fish and other aquatic wildlife!

Once back in Honolulu, if you have a late flight, be sure to visit Pearl Harbor and Diamond Head, and of course, Waikiki Beach!

If Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America sounds like the way you would like to see Hawaii, please give me a call or send an email.  I am happy to help you realize the fun of touring 4 islands in 7 days!

sandi@totemtravel.com
425 821-4100 or 1 800-321-7907

If the adults in the family have been dreaming of a cruise to Alaska but thought the kids might not be as excited as they would be for a trip to Disneyland, your day has arrived!

Disney Cruise Line has heard the cries from the West Coast asking for a Disney Cruise Ship.  In 2011 Disney will add a 7 day family friendly cruise to Alaska, cruising roundtrip from Vancouver BC, on the Disney Wonder.  The Disney Wonder is hugely popular on its Caribbean itinerary and it offers so many activities for children and adults that you may never want to leave the ship!

• A Disney cruise is the perfect family vacation! Disney Wonder has several youth clubs which offer all children, regardless of age, a place meet other kids, play some new games, watch a few movies, play video games, and just plain have fun! And we all know that when the kids are happy, everyone is happy!!

• Aloft is a 24 hour club for your teens age 13-17 to participate, with their peers, in dance parties, board games, video games, as well as watch movies and listen to music at various music listening stations!

• The little guys, age 3 months to 3 years, also have their own private club, called Flounder’s Reef Nursery! Activities at Flounder’s Reef Nursery are unscheduled, and based on the mood of your child. However, with movie time, storey time, and nap time, your little ones will be very happy.

• For children ages 3 to 12, Oceaneer’s Club offers many, age appropriate activities. A computer lab with child-friendly computers, a crow’s nest slide and rope bridge for exploring, a dance floor, and a small stage for games, are but a few of the fun options available!!

We did say this was the perfect family vacation, didn’t we?  Studio at Sea offers lots of family entertainment with games, live entertainment, games shows, line dancing and movies!  Live musicals, Broadway style live shows, first run movies, including 3-D shows, and Character greetings, all offer the kind of first class entertainment we expect from Disney.

And food!  Disney Wonder has 9 very different dining options.  Among those is the Animator’s Palate, which celebrates the magic of Disney Animation and includes an innovative dinner show.  If you’re looking for a quick bite, Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, right next to Pluto’s Pool, serves pizza all day long!  For the adults that would like a quiet evening while the kids are occupied at Oceaneer’s Club, Palo offers Northern Italian Cuisine, in an adult’s only atmosphere!

Since this IS an Alaska cruise, Disney Wonder will be making port calls at Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway.  Mendenhall Glacier and panning for gold are top excursions in Juneau.  Ketchikan is a quaint little town with a revitalized shopping area!  The Saxman Native Village, just outside Ketchikan, is a great way to watch Totem Poles being carved and to see some very unusual ones, as well. I saw one with Abe Lincoln on top!!   Skagway and the White Pass/Yukon train are nearly synonymous.  Everyone who visits Skagway wants to ride the White Pass/Yukon train.  The train was established in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush and has been operating since then with a brief shut-down in the late 1980’s.  In the early days of the White Pass Train it served as transportation for people and equipment, but now is primarily a tourist attraction.

Don’t forget the wildlife of Alaska!  During the cruise you will be treated to whale sightings, eagles soaring over the bay, (if you’re lucky you will catch one diving into the water, catching a salmon, and flying off again), and bears, hopefully not up too close!

Hopefully, with Disney Cruise Line sailing to Alaska, this will be your chance to take in a cruise to the Last Frontier, and keep the kids happy and entertained, too!

Sailings are available for booking now, and I would be very happy to help you choose the best sailing for your family.  Please send me an email, sandi@totemtravel.com, or give me a call at 425 821 4100.

Thinking of a family reunion?  A cruise is a great way to go with all meals included and onboard activities for every age group.  And, for 2010, Holland America is offering double group amenity points.  That means you can earn a free cruise and shipboard credits with a group as small as 5 cabins.  Let’s see… Grandma & Grandpa need one cabin, sis needs another and your family a 3^rd… two more to go and someone is cruising free! 

Destinations include roundtrip Alaska cruises from Seattle and cruise tours with extra time at Denali Park and fishing at Copper River.  A great family vacation would be a Caribbean cruise and a great honeymoon  might be a European cruise.  Totem Travel can help you with any of these destinations and I am the cruise specialist for Totem Tavel.  I hope you’ll email or call sandi@totemtravel.com.

I just completed Princess Cruise Lines’ travel agent training program and I am now certified as a Commodore, the highest rank!  The training took several months and covered the entire fleet of Princess cruise ships, all their destinations, cruise tour itineraries and special features and services.

Although I’ve been a travel agent for 13 years and have cruised many times, I still learned a lot.  For example, did you know that you can cruise to Antarctica or up the Amazon River on a Princess Cruise? 

I have sailed with many other cruise lines but Princess is still a favorite.  Their entertainment is simply outstanding and the “Personal Choice” dining option is wonderful.  You can choose where, when and with whom you dine each evening and there are always great restaurant choices like a steak house, Asian cuisine and an Italian restaurant with 16 course dinner… amazing!

In my opinion, Princess Cruises is also the best choice for an Alaska cruise tour with wonderful lodges and a glass dome train to Denali National park where you’ll (hopefully) see the tallest mountain in the U.S., Mt McKinley.  There are also special extras on the cruise like naturalist lectures and guest appearances by well know Alaska adventurers, such as Libby Riddle, the first women to win the Iditarod. 

Another cool feature offered by Princess is the opportunity to be married at sea.  Most cruise lines will arrange a wedding ceremony prior to sailing, but on select Princess ships you can actually be married by the ship’s captain during your cruise! 

Onboard wedding coordinators help with everything from tuxedos to flowers to legal documents and family and friends can even observe your “Love Boat” ceremony live via Wedding Cam.  Pictures are beamed directly from the ship’s wedding chapel to a website where your guests can access them on a private link.  I told you this was cool!

Call or email if you need more information on weddings at sea, Alaska Cruise Tours or any other Princess Cruise destination.  In the interim I’m off to the Caribbean for a future report on Carnival Cruise LInes. 

TTFN!  Sandi  - Princess Cruises Commodore

The best travel agents travel and in 2007 Totem Travel was in Europe, the Caribbean, Mexico, the good ol’ U.S.A. and on the high seas with Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Jennefer started the year with an all inclusive vacation at Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort.  Her next stop was Las Vegas for a special family birthday, followed by an  NCL Alaska cruise and a week in France touring the Loire Valley to complete her France Specialist certification program.  She wrapped up the year with some fun in the sun on the lovely island of St Lucia and is sadly “grounded” until April when she’s off again to Scotland. 

Sandi spent a week in Jamaica, tested her slot machine skills in Reno & Lake Tahoe, hosted a group of friends on a Royal Caribbean fall foliage cruise to New England and visited the Big Island of Hawaii in December.  Some of her favorite vacation resorts were Sandals Dunns River for couples only, Kona Village for Hawaii “the way it used to be” and the Hapuna Prince Resort.

My travels included a family vacation sightseeing in Washington D.C., three weeks island hopping in the Caribbean and a Christmas trip to Playa del Carmen Mexico.  My favorites were Jade Mountain, Ladera and Jalousie Plantation for an intimate and very private villa style honeymoon, Beaches Negril or Iberostar Paraiso Maya for an activity packed all inclusive family vacation, and Sandals Whitehouse or Sandals Grande Antigua for the newest “luxury included” couples only resorts.

As a rule, the staff at Totem Travel is pretty much office bound January through March booking everyones’ sun breaks, school vacations and summer honeymoons.  But you can count on us to hit the road again by April because the best travel agents travel and we’ve got some of the finest travel junkies in the business!