First annual group cruise with FantaSea Travel

Here I am dreaming of my next cruise. I really have 3 vacations in the plans and am really excited about all of them.
 I am a travel agent, and vacation lover!!! I have a family of 5. Husband, and 3 daughters. Mu oldest is about to be 21 and doesn't that make me feel old!!! My other two daughters are in there teens trying to make their way through high school. All of my daughters dance. My oldest DD is now a coach for her college team, middle DD on the high school team, and youngest DD is in a studio for ballet.
 The reason I love to travel so much is because I love photography. I have a wall in my house that has a 5x7 pic from every place I have been. Its full and am starting on a new wall.
 My last trip in 2016 was San Francisco. You should read that blog too. It was quite an adventure and this year will be repeating that in a new location. stay tuned for that blog later on.
 This one will be a work in progress. Adding as I go, I will keep you updated.
A year ago I with my very good friend decided we needed to do another trip together. The first trip was actually her wedding she let me do the travel for in Jamaica. Except for the rain on a few days the trip was great! We chose a date for March of 2017 when her sisters coul dhave some time off to join us.
 As a Travel agent I know the best time to plan and get a Group going is sooner than later. Group space is a premium and cruise lines have very strict rules about them and holding space.

Sailing from Port of Miami ( Carnival photo credit)

 I was lucky to get the date and ship we wanted. Carnival Glory 3-25-2017. My very first cruise was on that  ship so I find it very fitting that my first annual cruise with FantaSea Travel be on that ship as well.
 The ship is in dry dock a few weeks before we sail on it so it will be fresh and updated. Its a medium sized ship in todays fleet. With Guy's Burgers, Blue Iguana Cantina, an Alchemy Bar, and movies under the stars. All my key features I love on a cruise ship.
 My group is complete and we have an awesome group put together. Some people I know very well, and some new friends I know I will love to be cruising with. I made a facebook page for us that we can all talk, exchange ideas, and I post tons of info about the cruise and everything else.
 Our Itinerary I have done before. It never gets old tome. There is always a new adventure every time I go. We stop at Grand Cayman, Roatan, Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel.
 With only 2 months to go until we cruise I am super excited!!!
 Stay tuned for more entries and a full cruise review when I get back.

San Francisco Day 2 part2

Muir Woods was never a place i had ever heard of before. It is part of the National Park system. It has Redwood trees and apparently not a good as the Redwood National Forest but they are the closet to San Francisco and good enough for me.
 We found excellent parking...we got the last place in the closest parking lot. If you go here get there early. It is no joke we saw parking down the road for miles(not exaggerating) when we left the park.

Here is the Tunnel we got to drive through on the way the the park. I love tunnels. Growing up in upstate NY we had a tunnel that you drove under the locks. So instead of dirt above the tunnel we had water and ships.  

 

From the front parking lot youcantake some paths that go left or the path that goes right...right to the visitor center. Our adventurous daughters wanted to take the left side trail, and silly me thought it would end at the visitors center also. The trail is just like you would think, dirt and rocks. NO fancy concrete or man made steps. We walked up hill for about a half a mile. Im not in shape so I was a bit winded. I also am still recovering from a rather severe fracture of my ankle that left me without the flexiblity and strength I have in my good ankle. I had to use my tip toes to go up the steep trail as my ankle does not flex enough. IT was definitely a good workout.

 One we were not prepared for. We didn't have water with us or the proper shoes.

So about 20 minutes into our hike going straight uphill we asked a couple that was heading down how much farther the top was and if the view was good. They said your about halfway there and the view was great!!

 I had to think about this for a minute and we all agreed we just could not go any further. My ankle was already swelling and painful and my calves were getting a great workout using my tip toes to climb!

So we turn around and not a minute later an older man about 80 something years old seriously was running down the hill...for fun!!!! or exercise!! Wow did I feel like my self esteem dropped about 20 notches down! A few minutes later..my guess is it she was the old guy's wife as they were the same age about runs past me!! What the heck?? Now my self esteem is shot!! 

 I am struggling not to fall and bust my leg again (that's how I broke it in the first place..falling walking down a hill..on ice, but the dirt rail is slippery :O/)
 We made it back to the beginning of the trail with a collective thansk God thats over!!


 WE headed to the visitors center to get our passes to enter the park. They did have a snack shop and we got a much needed bottle of water at airport prices.







 Below you'll see a cross sectional slice of a Redwood that fell in park years ago. and below that a close up of the dates of some rings to show how old the tree was. Amazing.

 This is a picture I took looking straight up at the sky.

 MY husbands family is Irish, so I had to take a picture of the beautiful clovers. The patches of them were so big and lush.

The park...or really it's a monument is really worth an afternoon of your time if your in the San Francisco or Oakland Area. The incredible fresh air. Was so clean and wonderful!! The park is mostly shaded , I didnt even wear my sunglasses.

My younger daughters. 

After getting back to the rental car we ate some of the peaches we bought from the farmers market that morning. They were the juiciest sweetest peaches I have had in a long time!! Mike had a pluot (plum/apricot mix) it was a pretty pink flesh that was really good and sweet.

Driving back along the road past where we parked (we parked for free) we saw cars parked along the road for a few miles. There is nothing else around except the park, which is why we were so glad we were there early in the day.

Back in San Francisco we parked in a parking Garage right by the Fisherman's Wharf area. The girls wanted Crab really bad so we ate at Joe's Crab shack. We always get great crab there. The crab you will get in the local eateries is dungeness crab. I prefer Snow crab as its easier to eat. Joe's is the only place to get Alaskan Crab.

There is a Walgreen's on the next block from Joe's and we stopped there on our way back to the car to pick up soda and snacks for the hotel. 

I did not know this but in San Fran you have to pay for shopping bags? Even the cheap plastic ones. Glad I had a bag with me, and you should bring one too!!

LAter on at the Hotel we had a nice relaxing time in the hot tub and watched some TV. We were tired from all the walking and hiking.

Next up: Alcatraz, ghost Hunters..did we see a ghost? Great white sharks in the bay, and the hunt for a good lunch in Fishermans Wharf....

after that a place where cannibals lived, Lake Tahoe, a real ghost town, Yosemite, Sequoia and back to San Fran.

**Thanks for reading my review of my family vacation to California and Nevada.There is a lot more to come, subscribe like my Facebook page www.facebook.com/fantaseatvl

Vacation Day 2..San Francisco

ON to Day 2!!
 Waking up early on vacation seems rather bad right? I hate getting up early, especially on vacation. Why do I get up early anyway? I also hate sleeping the day away when I paid good money for a trip I want to experience it all!!
 So, coincidence has it that we get to sleep in on our first day of vacation!!! Seriously, sleeping in until 7am Pacific time is awesome! I live in the central time zone, so it was like 9am at home and that counts as a sleep in day!!!
 Our hotel has absolutely the very best free breakfast I have ever had at a hotel. When we checked in they gave us coupons for free breakfast in the lobby. NO one ever checked to see if we had them. They had on one side a made to order omelet station and they also served pancakes, or french toast, hash browns and bacon and sausage. In the center they had pre made scrambled eggs, and potatoes, meats and pancakes. Then on the other side they had fresh fruit, toast and bagels, cereals, and juices plus a whole lot more. We even grabbed some bananas and apples for the room as a snack for later.
 Our hotel was in the blocked zone for a Diva's race today so we couldnt leave until about 8:45.

Diva's Race

 




  Here is a photo from my room with a great view of the starting line. Most of the racers are in pink T's and pink tutu's.

  Notice on the right hand side of the photo you can see some of the bay. Every morning the tide is out and the water is stagnant. It was really weird not to see even small waves hit the shore. In the afternoon there were small waves hitting the shore like normal.







Okay so off we go go to downtown San Francisco!! I plugged Fisherman's Wharf into my google maps on my phone and it took us right there. The traffic was pretty heavy but using the phone made the navigation easy and we had no issues. We drove west of the Wharf to the old military base and found free open parking. The Marina is there and the Crissy Park.
 We are kind of winging it to see where the best place is to get a good picture of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Lucky us there was an open farmers market right there at the old base!! Inside they had a bunch of stand selling fresh fish, fruits, veggies, honey, flowers, and food stands. Many had free samples. The fruit was amazing. They were perfectly ripe and delish!! We bought peaches, Pluots, cherries and Strawberries. They were all organic too!

 Above are giant lemons and some apricots




The flowers to the left were huge and gorgeous!

Above is rotisserie chicken. They also had rabbit and some other different meats

peaches and nectarines

The onions above were so pretty...if onions can be pretty!


The strawberries were delicious and juicy! The flavor is a million times better than buying in the store.








After putting our finds into the rental car we went for a walk to Crissy Field to get good pictures of the Bridge. San Fran is known for fog and today is no exception. Its cool out, breezy and foggy.  We walked along the marinas and took some picture of the boats and birds. NO sea lions out though.
You can see Alcatraz so close, you wonder why no one could survive the swim in the past. I try and get some good pictures from my DSLR camera and want a few to post on facebook for friends at home. So I grabbed my phone out of my jeans pocket and there in the wind I see cash fly out of my pocket into the water. Now, the sidewalk where I am standing is about 5-6 feet higher than the water. I see two $1 bills and then a $5 bill... For $2 I am willing to let it go...for $7 I am kinda mad! The $5 bill is on the rock ledge that is like mini steps. too difficult to try and get, but I stand there for several minutes staring at my cash wondering how I can get down there to get it. I could dangle my feet down and have someone hold my hand. There are sharks in this water and if I fell in I would freak out. Mostly from getting wet. My husband was like just let it go, at least its not a $20 or $50!!
Ok Darn! I walk on and get a few more pics of the bridge and Alcatraz. I cant let go of the money loss!! It bugs me!! still even now I wonder is it still there? After walking down closer to the bridge we see a map of the area. The husband noticed how close Muir Wood is and always wanted to see Redwood trees. So we all quickly decide that we wanted to see them and then tour San Fran again tomorrow.
  Walking back to the car my two $1 bills are floated away but my $5 is still there!!!

Now we get to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. As we do many movies come to mind where this is the spot they choose to kill off a character. 6 lanes wide and still very foggy. Pedestrian traffic is heavy too. You do not have to pay toll going this way.

The road to Muir wood is very twisty. Hair pin turns and steep hills. There are a ton of bicyclists, so be carefull. sometimes you dont see them right away because of the turns in the road, and the roads are very narrow. You cant always pass them for a while.

I am going to leave you now hanging for part 2 of my day.
 I will post more pics of Muir woods and let you know about why I am in horrible horrible shape!!! A wrong turn on a hiking path, and seeing something incredible.




**I hope you enjoy my reviews, and experiences. Leave comments and any reviews of your own on things I talk about.

Vacation Day 1 San Francisco

San Francisco airport (SFO) is really a very nice airport. We landed at 5:30 something pm and is 2 hours behind my normal Central time zone. Its an easy adjustment to make when you gain hours.
 My husband thought he would go get our rental car while we waited for our luggage. Let me tell you it was very slow! But its a big airport. Good thing he waited. So after you get your luggage you have to go down an escalator into a parking garage and then...no signs anymore for rental car pick-up!!! Lucky a guy was there that was familiar with the airport was going the same way we were. Other wise we may still be lost looking for the rental car counter.
 Here's what we had to do from the garage. go up the elevator to the top floor, cross a hallway, up another escalator, get on a train!, all the way to the end of the line. then another escalator. So then my husband gets in the roped off area to start the line and some guy rudely cuts me off to get behind my husband. As if he was going to be first in front of me. This really made me mad so I cut his wife off...so there! Take that! then I cut back in front of the rude Jerk and joined my husband. I bet hes so glad that worked for him!!
 We rented a mini-van. After having one for years and trading ours in for a AWD SUV I developed a hate for mini vans as a mommy grocery kid hauler. Now my kids are grown and 1 has her own car I don't need the space and its like an upgrade to a cool car. NO offense mini van drivers.
 For this vacation the mini van was really nice to have. It gave us all the space we needed for our luggage the 3 teenagers and us parents.
 So after getting the rental counter taken care of, and the Jerk left behind we headed to another parking garage and the guy at the podium told us to have a seat on the bench and they will drive the van around to us. Neat!! I like that service! 30 seconds later he came over and said..Its parked over there you can go get it and gave us the keys. Well! There goes my excellent service I thought I had.
 We loaded our luggage and noticed a guy inspecting his rental for damage before he got in. Great idea! I remembered that you should do this so you do not get blamed and charged with repairs. So I walked around the van and its good I don't notice anything.


credit photo cargurus.com

 So off we go. Our Hotel is supposed to be a short drive away according to my cellphone directions. The airport is unbelievably huge!!! The rental car garage is North of the airport and our Hotel is south of it. So we drove by the entire thing. The highway is right there too and I can see the traffic is heavy even at 6:30 pm.
 Our Hotel is the Embassy Suites in Burlingame. Kind of a suburb town to San Fran. Its located right on the water and has a running path right there too! Checking in went rather smooth, but our room was not ready. at 6:30 something PM?  The reception Woman said they have a Managers reception every night and we were welcome to use that while she found us a room.
 The reception was really great and the best I have ever experience in a hotel. They had a nice Bar with mixed drinks, beer, and wine, soda and juice machines that were self-serve and a snack bar with a zesty Cajun snack mix (I love Cajun!!) and they had chops, great salsa and nacho cheese. We were hungry so we kind of pigged out...we didnt have dinner yet and we had planned on getting a pizza delivered.
 About 20 minutes later, the front desk called my cell to tell me my room was ready. YES!! We are all kind of tired and cranky form the long day flying and sitting in airports. They sent us to the 8th floor a corner family suite. It has a partial Bay view which is great.
 When I walked in the room the patio door was open to the balcony! It kind of was scary because I didn't know if someone was in the room! The curtain was blowing around, so I went to go shut it and I couldn't! Okay..I tried again harder nearly pulling a muscle in my shoulder! That thing was awful!!!
 The balcony was tiny and only 1 person could stand on it, it was that small. The room though was great. When you first walk in there is a sofa and dining table with a TV. A small hallway with a mini fridge and sink, with a coffee maker setup. There is a door to separate the bedroom. Then the Bedroom has a bathroom with a full tub/shower. the the room had 2 full sized beds...not Queen but skinny full beds barely bigger than a twin! OH this will be fun trying to sleep in with 2 adults!!!
 Lucky for me a brought Melatonin! I started taking it help me sleep and this really worked this night.

 Tomorrow is a Sunday!!! There is a Divas race in the area so the roads out of the hotel are closed off and we are happy with that so we can sleep in a bit.
 Next chapter Day2..San Francisco, a pleasant surprise, how I lost $7, and another wonderful addition to our sightseeing plans!!!! This addition turned out to be a wonderful highlight of our trip. Also with many pictures!!!!

Family semi-road trip to California and Nevada

Another vacation complete. I plan for so long and then poof its done and then I am left with.... beautiful memories.
 Let me tell you a bit about our family. We live in a small town just outside of Green Bay Wisconsin. Me, my husband of 20 years, and our 3 daughters. 1 in college, and 2 in high school. 
 I am a small business owner of a travel agency called FantaSea Travel. I book mostly cruises and Caribbean vacations. My Husband is in the paint manufacturing business and travels a lot to many of his plants all over the US. My 3 daughters almost all grown up it seems are for most part good sisters and get along pretty well..

 So, the plan was to fly to San Francisco and then drive to Reno, and the to Yosemite and Sequoia National Forests.

 To begin let me start with our planning. My husband flies a lot for business and earned enough frequent flyer miles on Delta to score us 3 tickets!! I only had to pay for 2 more, as we have 5 in our Family. 
 The trick was trying to get 2 reservations to be the same and getting seat assignments together. I used two computers at the same time to score the same flights so I could compare the itinerary side by side.
 Being a travel agent I researched fares for hotels on all of my vendors and found one where I do not have to put money down at all. This was to my advantage because a month later the prices all dropped and I cancelled them all and rebooked them saving me over $600!!! I keep a close eye on prices, as a penny saved is a penny earned. I keep that philosophy with my travel clients as well. If I save them money and give great service I hope they will be loyal back to me and book with me again. It does seem to work as I have several clients that only book with me. 
Anyway..
 Planning hotels in many locations and what we want to see and how much time we need for each place is a bit stressful. The entire area has so much to see and we could in reality spend a few more days to see things we did miss and are on the bucket list.
 Our bucket list is not written on paper but in my head. Some day I will write it down. 
 So months and months of planning all came down to 6-4-16 at 0830 am when we were all seated on the Delta Flight from Green Bay to Detroit, then to San Francisco..

As I write this a huge storm is brewing!! and I hear major thunder. 
 check back in real soon for he continuation of my Family travels!!!

MY vacation reviews and travel tips and ideas: I booked a cruise........Now what?

MY vacation reviews and travel tips and ideas: I booked a cruise........Now what?: Once I have booked a cruise for myself it begins a whole new adventure in planning and dreaming!! Many people often put the thoughts on the...

I booked a cruise........Now what?

Once I have booked a cruise for myself it begins a whole new adventure in planning and dreaming!! Many people often put the thoughts on the back-burner about their vacation. I don't think I could do that if I tried!!

 Booking a cruise is just a tiny part of your vacation plans! There is so much more to do to make sure you have a smooth sailing process until you are checked-in and on-board the ship.

 Having a great Travel Agent (uhhh-hummm) like myself will guide you through the process of making sure first of all your booking is accurate. I have heard many horror stories of people booking themselves on a cruise an not realizing how important some of the steps are to being accurate and following U.S. Customs laws and TSA guidelines. IF any part of their rules are not followed you could be left at the port as the ship sails away without you and all your money. They do not give refunds because you booked with wrong or erroneous information. Or one of the other reasons you could be denied boarding.

 The cruise lines all have a website that you use to do an early online check-in. Just like the airlines, except this one you do as soon as you book as possible(except Disney-you can not do the check-in until final payment).

 Here are some of the most popular links:

www.royalcaribbean.com/onlinecheckin/

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/checkin/

https://secure.carnival.com/BookedGuest/

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/

https://www.ncl.com/

http://www.princess.com/

Copy and paste to your Browser. If you do not have an account already go ahead and create one. 

Then you will go to the booked guest or Manage tabs.

 The system will walk you through the check -in process. Make sure all data is accurate.

   Once that is done you can officially begin the countdown. 

     Now what can you think about and plan for?

   Start thinking about what you want o see on your vacation. There are hundreds of shore excursion possibilities 

There are many different companies to compare along with the cruise line offerings. 

 Airfare is also a very tricky and sometimes complicated process. When do you buy, what is the best price, do they 

charge baggage fees. There is TSA and Federal Government rules to follow. Some websites I see say the best time to 

book is 45 days out for best price. I kind of disagree. I start shopping 6 months out. Why? Airlines have eliminated many 

flights that often flew almost empty. Now flights are flying full or oversold. Getting the flight times you want and least

amount of connections and shortest flying time is harder to get if you wait too long. 

 I always price compare prices. Airlines do not pay Travel agent's commission. I do not charge my clients a booking fee,

 so I often advise my clients to book their own airfare. I do book for them if they like though, only if they are getting a

vacation package from me.  I do however, look for prices for them. If I see something good I will let them know.

Start or join a Facebook group. This will connect you with fellow cruisers on your ship for fun and information sharing before

you cruise. My groups have a private page and are really fun.  

Ok. So we covered the fact we need to do our online check-in, think about shore excursions and watch for airline prices.

I should back up a little. Ports. Since you are already booked you chose your ports based on maybe price, or specific things

 you wanted to see on each island or port. Shore excursions will cover all the major attractions in each port but there are

 hidden gems you may have to uncover on your own. For example Irie Blue Hole in Ocho Rios Jamaica. They do not

offer an excursion here, you have to get a taxi or private excursion company to take you. Its not touristy at all but is a 

gorgeous place.

Lets talk about some more fun things you can plan pre cruise....

Plan door decorations for your cabin door. A small percentage of people decorate their door. But they are fun to see. I usually put a dry erase marker board on my door and some nautical theme cutouts. Some people get very creative. One great reason other than its fun and cute is that you will recognize your door easily everytime!!!

In one of my future blogs I am going to go over what to bring in your cabin and some hints and tips to make your packing a success. 

Cruise planning can be incredibly fun and build your anticipation for the cruise itself. With some prep work and research you will be able to have a much more relaxed and stress free cruise or land vacation. 

come back again soon for more chapters on cruising tips and hints. My future topics will include, packing tips and what to bring on your cruise you never would have thought of; ship layouts and areas of the ships that are less crowded;all about cruise ports do's and don'ts, and so much more. So stay tuned!!!