Can you keep a Secret?

July 16th, 2010 | By admin

My husband Dick doesn’t know, or at least I don’t think he knows.  We are headed to Secrets St James for our 20th anniversary on August 4th.  I booked this trip back in March and it has been so tough trying to keep a secret.  Only a few close friends and our daughter know, and I think they have all been quiet about it.

Well, the plan is to tell him we are going away (and not tell him where), maybe a day or two before (so he can pack), have a limo service pick us up and take us to Logan, where he will see we are going to Jamaica Im sure, but he won’t know where until we get to Jamaica that we are staying at Secrets St James.

Why did I choose Secrets St James?  Well, last fall we stayed at Secrets Maroma Beach in Riviera Cancun and it was SPECTACULAR!  Secrets St James is in Montego Bay, and just opened this past March.  And where did I book this trip…. why, ExpressTravel4U.com, of course!  ;)

So…. shhhhh!  Don’t spill the beans!

Beware of Alligator

November 21st, 2009 | By admin

After debarking from our cruise in Fort Lauderdale, our group went on an excursion to the Everglades.  We got to ride in a air jet boat and saw alligators, turtles, blue herons and all sorts of other birds.  This video shows the alligator show we got to watch after our boat ride.  FUN!!

The Love Boat

November 21st, 2009 | By admin

Although it was the Princess Cruiseline who was known as the original “Love Boat”, my husband and I, along with several others just got back from a Carnival group cruise we put together through Carnival and YTB.

Recently engaged, Steve and Shannon

Our cruise took on it’s very own title of the “Love Boat” this week as friends and YTB TSO’s (Travel Store Owners), Steve Lange and Shannon Lawrence became ENGAGED while on this cruise. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS GO OUT TO STEVE AND SHANNON!!!!!

We started planning this cruise last December and several other couples joined us.  We left November 12th and just returned home on the 20th.  With ports of call in Costa Rica, Panama and Belize it was a very different cruise for any other we have taken.  Watch for additional blogs about the ports we visited this week along with some exciting group cruises coming up.

I need a vacation!

October 31st, 2009 | By admin

Modern technology… just amazing.  Here I am on an jet that has wi-fi and I am posting to my blog.  I look out and see the coast of Florida as we head home to Massachusetts from our week long stay in Playa del Carmen and Poerto Morelas, Mexico.

It was sad to leave our last resort, Dreams Riviera Cancun.  Dick commented that when leaving the resort, they should give you a dry towel to wipe the tears away.  How true!  Upon our arrival we were welcomed with a moist, cool towel and a glass of champagne, so it would be very fitting for the staff to hand us a dry towel, and maybe a cold beer to cry in too.

Although this vacation is over (and what a GREAT time we had!!!), when we get home it will be time to think about our cruise that we go on in 11 days.  This will give us time to catch up on work, do the laundry and re-pack.  Last December we put together a group cruise on the Carnival Miracle, leaving Fort Lauderdale with ports of call in Colon, Panama, Costa Rica and Belize. Never having been to Panama and Costa RIca we look forward to the new experience.  And having been to Belize, we look forward to visiting again. This time with several friends who booked on their own YTB websites.

I found this quote on the internet and thought this would be a fitting way to end this blog:
“No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.” — Elbert Hubbard

Oooh, that feels good!

October 29th, 2009 | By admin

The spa at Dreams Riviera Cancun

While at Secrets Maroma Beach, Dick and I went to their spa for a couples massage.  WOW!  I honestly have to say, that was the BEST massage I have ever had.  With the slogan being “Unlimited Luxury”, they truly mean it!

Now that we have moved over to Dreams Riviera Cancun, we decided we need to check out their spa (after all, how can we recommend their spa services if we don’t try it ourselves!).  The great thing about both of these properties is that you get to use all of the spa facilities with a spa service. They have hydrotherapy, steam room, sauna, whirlpools to use after our massages.  This will be a nice change of pace, we have been walking the beach for an hour or two every morning and then hanging around the pool for the remainder of the day.  We both have gotten pretty dark so I’m looking forward to spending some time out of the sun today. So it’s off to the spa for our massages, its a tough job, but somebody has to do it!  ;)  Stay tuned, we will let you know which spa we liked best.

It’s not your Grandfather’s buffet

October 27th, 2009 | By admin

If any of you are familiar with “Duff’s Buffet”, which my grandparents absolutely loved and always loved taking me there while visiting in Florida, this isn’t it!  Going to Duff’s brings back wonderful memories of times spent with my grandfather George and grandmother Betty. The buffet here at Secrets Maroma Beach is like none other that I have ever seen.  Although not a big breakfast eater myself, there is everything you can imagine and many stations where they are ready to cook just for you.  Starting off with fresh local and exotic fruits (my favorite!), cereals and oatmeals, omelette/egg station with all the fixings, crepe station, nachos, tamales and mexican foods, pastries and breads, salmon and lox, mimosa and bloody mary station.  There had to over 100 items to choose from and I have to say the samplings I had were out of this world.  Definitely not your typical buffet.

We have only had breakfast at the World Cafe which is the breakfast and lunch buffet restaurant, but I have to say the restaurants we have eaten at here at Secrets have been awesome.  Gourmet food and plenty of it too.  I have not been able to finish my meals, never mind have dessert!  But what makes this resort so special I have to say is the service!  The staff goes out of their way to make sure that everything is well taken care of.  Their motto is “Its MY pleasure to serve YOU” and they sincerely believe this.  Everywhere you turn there is staff greeting you and making sure you have what you need. It has been just overwhelming to have this kind of service.  As I said to Dick when we first arrived I could get used to this!

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere

October 25th, 2009 | By admin

Our room with a swim out pool

Wow!  It doesn’t get any better than this.  I am typing this as I sit out at our private patio looking out at our swim out pool waiting for room service to bring our breakfast.  Getting this room was a free upgrade, not sure how you consider it a free upgrade when we are staying here for 3 nights for free to begin with.   As I mentioned in my last blog we got this trip by taking an online webinar about AMResorts newest and upcoming properties.

Dick and I are at Secrets Maroma Beach in Playa del Carmen. Maroma Beach has been rated the World’s Best Beach by the Travel Channel for four years in a row. I can see why its a world’s best beach.  The sand is so fine and soft and very white.  The water is turquoise blue and it is just such a contrast to the sand.  Just beautiful.

When we arrived yesterday we walked into a magnificent lobby.  Unlike your typical lobby desk, we were greeted at the door and “Welcomed Home”.  While waiting to check in we were handed a flute of champagne.  After just a couple minutes we sat down at a private desk (with our champagne) and told about the resort’s amenities.  It was a very nice personal touch.

We went to our room, there we met our personal concierge, Elizabeth.  She was there for us if we needed anything, well we sure did.  We had packed our toothpaste in our carry on and it was confiscated at Logan Airport since it was over the 3 ounce minimum.  Elizabeth arrived back in 5 minutes with 4 tubes of toothpaste for us.  After changing into swimsuits and shorts we grabbed a quick bite to eat down at the pool.  A salad bar with sushi was a perfect lunch. We broke our first “rule” about waiting until 5 o’clock to have a drink and had a couple Corona’s, oh well, its 5 o’clock somewhere!!

Time for a walk on the beach, it’s a long beach and we passed several other beaches. It was quiet and the water was oh-so warm.  When we got back there was a wedding going on at our beach and a group playing volleyball.  Secrets has a large beach with lots of chairs too.  Plenty of room for everyone. We rinsed the sand off our feet and headed to the infinity pool.  Time for a couple more Coronas!

A quick change and we headed to El Patio for a Mexican supper.   Dinner was scrumptious. The hard part about an all-inclusive is we keep waiting for the check to arrive.  Not so, everything is included.  Back to our room we enjoyed a swim in the pool that is just a step off our patio. How cool is that?

Well our breakfast has arrived.  We ordered a simple continental breakfast and coffee and I hear Dick in the room, carrying a glass of champagne and saying “look at all this stuff”.  Two plates of of sliced cantalope, honeydew, watermelon and papaya, a basket of toast, spice cake, soapapillas, jams, butter, orange juice, coffee and champagne mimosas.

Well, there goes our “rule” again for today… oh well…. after all “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere”!!

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho, Its Off To Cancun We Go!

October 23rd, 2009 | By admin

So on October 17, 2007 we started our home based travel business. At first I didn’t do much with it other than book my own travel, but then the travel bug bit. I decided to do more with the business. I took YTB’s First Class training, (we actually were at the filming of it in Wood River IL), the 10 module’s of YTB’s eCampus to become a Travel Agent, along with at least a dozen classes vendors have offered.   The training I want to talk about now are the AMResort courses I took.  They taught me about the 3 brands that make up their properties, Zoetry, Secrets and Dreams.  I graduated as a Master Agent and registered on their website just for Travel Agents.  There I registered for a webinar introducing several new and soon-to-open resorts.  They promoted one attendee would win 3 free nights at a resort of their choosing.

Secrets Maroma Beach

Well, guess what… I won the 3 free nights for 2 and will be staying at Secrets Maroma Beach for those 3 nights. There are non-stop flights from Boston on Saturdays, so it made sense we should stay for a full week. Thinking it would be nice to check out another of their resorts in the area I chose the newest, Dreams Riviera Cancun.  AMResort was offering a special FAM (familiarization for Travel Agents so we can promote the property to our clients) rate along with the 3rd night free promotion because they just opened October 1st.  I’m actually embarrassed to say what we are paying for 7 nights in Cancun at these 2 beautiful 4-star all-inclusive resorts.  Food, drinks, snorkeling, kayaking, non motorized water sports, golf, entertainment are all included. I couldn’t stay in Boston for a weekend for the price I got!

What started out as a what-the-heck do-it-for-my-own travel has turned into a business I have a passion for. Clients are finding great deals and booking on my website, Express Travel 4U. And now I’m visiting the places I have been reading about for 2 years. I’m looking forward to sharing my travel experiences with others. I’m so excited. I really can’t believe it. When I first bought my YTB travel website, never did I imagine it would turn into this.  Headed to Cancun this week, home for 11 days then off on a cruise to Panama, Costa Rica and Belize and hopefully Europe next year. And the 2 free cruises I have earned… that’s another blog for another day.

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.  So it’s off to work I go.  Stay tuned for blogs from Cancun 

Love, Laughter, La dolce vita

October 19th, 2009 | By admin

The awe-inspiring replica of Venice's Caffe Florian

Love, Laughter, La dolce vita.

As a home based travel agent for my business Express Travel 4U, I had the opportunity to take advantage of a ship inspection and travel agent luncheon while the Costa Atlantica was in port in Boston this past Saturday.  My friend Debbie Reilly of Reilly Travel joined me for the 4 hours we spent on-board the Atlantica. Costa put on a very informative presentation, along with a great lunch, with grilled vegetables, pasta, chilean sea bass, wine  and ending with a cannoli. What a beautiful ship! We were very impressed.

As Europe’s #1 cruiseline Costa is the only cruiseline that can immerse passengers in the European culture both onboard and ashore! So that got me thinking what better way to see Italy than by taking a cruise with Costa.   I’m looking forward to put together a group cruise, most likely in June or July of 2011 to Italy and the Greek Isles.  Dates or prices have not been released for cruises this far in advance, but Costa is very affordable and most often children under 18 cruise for free with 2 adults sharing a cabin. By putting a group together, it gives us the best possible rates.

If you are interested in finding out more information, just leave your information in the comments below and we will contact you as soon as we have more details.

Love, Laughter, La dolce vita, The sweet life.