Stephanie The Travel Agent Next Door: March 2022

Friday 11 March 2022

Disney Cruise What's Next?

While onboard your Disney cruise you can book up to two placeholders for future cruises. The deposit is $250 USD and allows you to book a cruise within 2 years and is fully refundable. It also allows for a 10% discount on a cruise although there are a few blackout days that apply. Usually holidays. When you book you do have to pay the full deposit minus the $250 USD of course.

So me being me. I love to cruise with my family I purchased two placeholders on my first day of the cruise. This information gets forwarded to your Travel Agent so you can continue to get your great service. Of course, I love my travel agent so no changes are necessary but you can transfer to another agent or to Disney at that time if you so wish.

Now that I am back home this has led to debates on what cruises we should pick. The kids are leaning towards another themed cruise. That leaves us with four options.

Option # 1 is Star War day at Sea. Which is very similar to Marvel Day at Sea. I have a few Star War lovers in the house who this very much appeals to. This is a seven-day cruise as opposed to a 5-day cruise.

Option # 2 is the Pixar Day At Sea. This is a brand new option debuting in 2023 and will also be a seven-day cruise. This one really intrigues me. I love my Pixar characters, especially the ones from In and Out. Who are your favorite Pixar characters?

Option # 3 is Halloween at High Seas. These cruises take place in September and October and are seven days also. As you can guess the ship is decorated with a Halloween theme and many events revolve around the holiday. This is my oldest daughter's favorite holiday so it really appeals to her.

Option # 4 is Merry Christmas Cruise which is of course Christmas-themed with giant gingerbread houses and Christmas trees. I personally kind of like the idea of this and skipping Christmas at home altogether but I don't think the family would go for that.

I really wish they would do a villain's day at sea. They have them at the parks. I definitely would go on one of those cruises? We also need more Eeyore love so a 100-acre woods-themed cruise would be awesome also just in case anyone is taking note of what I would like. Our cruises will have to be 2023 as I have four booked this year with one already down and 3 to go. But I also have 2 booked for 2023 already. So many cruise options and just not enough time.

So which would you choose for your family?

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor
Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca
Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 50021282
55 York Street, Suite 1003
Toronto, On M5J 1R7
Office Phone 416-367-8264 ext 2625
Direct Phone 613-543-3006

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto. I am a home-based travel agent and I live in South Dundas I can service clients anywhere in Canada. But, I meet with clients in the SD&G area

Where you can find me:

Tuesday 8 March 2022

The Everglades!!! Alligators

On Thursday morning we got off our cruise and headed to our hotel. We were staying an extra night so we would have time to test get results and head back home. We were at the hotel by 9:00 am and could not check in that early so we stored our luggage with the concierge and had him set up an everglades tour for us. We had checked out their tour options when we were there before the cruise. We were once again staying at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Miami airport.

So we headed out on an airboat tour of the Everglades to see some Alligators!! We had to stop and pick up another family going on this tour at another hotel. Ironically they had been on the Disney Magic with each other and our paths had crossed a few times. It really can be a small world.

They were from Michigan and we discussed the different masking/vaccination rules. What we enjoyed on our cruise etc. Made for a very pleasant ride. Let me also tell you when you get to the area every five feet there is an Air Boat alligator tour. All of them declare they are the best. We did have a great time at this one and I would recommend it. We got the ride to the park. Entry inside and a ride back to the hotel for less than $200 USD for the 3 of us.

So the first thing they do is have you stop at a green screen and take a picture. It is a cheesy alligator chasing your scene. They have it ready when your ride is done. Yes, I did buy it. We have something similar from Cozumel and we will try and get one for every family cruise from an excursion.

So we boarded our ride it is about 30 minutes give or take. The guide was great. He explained different wildlife. He also explained things you could eat to survive if you ever got strained in the everglades. Interestingly enough the water is not much more than a foot deep all around. So you can walk right out.

After the ride, you get to go to an outside area where the owner of the park explains things about the alligators he actually gets right in with them to show you different things about their anatomy. It was quite interesting. He also brought out an albino boa my children ran lol. He explained how the snakes have become an invasive species to the everglades. When he was done we got to snap pictures of ourselves with a baby alligator.

There was also a nature trail you could walk down. We chose not to. We went and checked out the gift shop. Then we grabbed a small snack from the restaurant. All in all a day was well spent and when we got back to the hotel our room was ready for the night. Great end to our trip.

Where you can find me:

Monday 7 March 2022

Professional Photo Shoot!!!

So when you are on your Disney cruise getting pictures done at the photo screens you may be asked if you would like to have a private photography session. It is free, you only pay if you want to order pictures. Normally they would do them in their studio but in this case, we were offered an appointment on the open deck so we could get some pictures done without our masks on.

I will be honest when you have more than one child you do things differently with each one. Things you learn, timing, money, etc.. So many factors play a role in this. For example, my oldest had professional pictures done on many occasions, so did my middle daughter. My youngest daughter and son never had any done. It just did not happen. So this opportunity seemed like a really good idea to me.

We set an appointment for our last afternoon on the ship before supper. We meet with the photography. She spent half an hour with us and then sent us on our way to dinner. She told us to come to see afterward and we would be able to look at the photos and options.

Well, she took about fifty photos of us. I know you have seen many pictures of all of us over the last few days and you may have noticed that Daniel was definitely not feeling having his picture taken at all. But in the end, we did get some pictures that were keepers.

Normally you would have the option of purchasing pictures in an album or USB drive. With covid, they were only offering the USB drive, The price of the packages you pick determines how many pictures you get. Let me first say this offer was not for the faint of heart. Normally I would not have even entertained it but for the above-mentioned lack of pictures of the two youngest, I decided to make the leap. I purchased the 30 picture package and the photographer threw in 2 extra. We were going to do 20 but it was very hard to narrow them down.

These were some of my favorite pictures. I really would recommend this opportunity if you have the funds available and are looking for something unique for your family.

Where you can find me:

Sunday 6 March 2022

Magic Shots

So I told you guys about buying a photo package before you board as it is $50 less buying it in advance and you actually pay onboard. So if you need to cancel your cruise you do not have to wait for it to be refunded. On this cruise, they take pictures at boarding, at dinner, and at screens, some have backgrounds some are white so they can do magic shots. As discussed with characters pre covid there would be someone with all of them as well to help capture the moments as well. Which makes the package worthwhile. We had a total of 92 pictures taken. My friends who are avid Disney cruisers often get into the 200 hundred. Remember they tend to sail 7 days while this was just a 5-night cruise.

I am sharing some of our pictures. As you can see they change backgrounds shots to go with the themes as well.