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“All I need is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.”
John Masefield,
Sea Fever
“... and a buffet, a hot tub, a show lounge, a cigar bar, a
thermal spa, a large menu and a good waiter.”
Mike Brais
The Cruise Geek |
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26 August 2009
“One for you, two for me. Two for you, three for me!”
Yes, yes, I
know, five months between posts is deplorable, sloppy and
unprofessional. Boring too. What can I say, I've been head down
working on a million things, staring with longing at the
Alaska-bound cruise ships, and plotting escapes involving
shimmying down ropes dangling from Lions Gate Bridge.
I had a
wonderful 14-day Hawaii cruise, round-trip Los Angeles, on the
Golden Princess in April. This was her last passenger cruise
before dry dock and they were already busy getting ready for the
upgrades. Some passengers weren't too keen on the work going on,
though truthfully I didn't notice much of it. I arrived back
home with something of a tan, a few plus sized Hawaiian shirts,
and a beautiful mahogany concert soprano ukulele. So far, I can
play "Pearly Shells," "My Fat Baby Loves to Eat," and parts of
"By the Light of the Silvery Moon."
Don't book
Carnegie hall quite yet.
Meanwhile,
the cruise industry certainly had a slowdown as consumer
confidence waned, but I'm seeing things picking up and ships
filling up, so I have the feeling a recovery is on the way.
I've added
a few new clients to my little stable of regulars, and they've
managed to talk me into joining them on another cruise next
year. I'm pleased, it's a small ship transatlantic, in December
2010, on the small Pacific Princess, from Rome to Ft.
Lauderdale, and I've always want to cross on her. I intend to
pack plenty of Bonomine.
On the
short cruise side, Janet and I are doing a one-day inspection
cruise on the Pacific Princess next month, from Seattle to
Vancouver, then a seven-day coastal on the Golden Princess from
Vancouver to Los Angeles, via Nanaimo, Victoria, San Francisco,
Catalina, and San Diego. It gives us a chance to revisit the
Golden, now four months out of dry dock, and see how all the new
features are working out.
Now, to the
headline topic of this post. Ok, I realize I'm only a part-time
travel agent, but I have become a victim of the number one
occupation hazard of Cruise Counselors everywhere - the
One-for-You, One-for-Me syndrome. I'm having trouble booking a
trip for a client without booking one for myself.
The most
difficult part is not being overwhelmed the incredible number of
fantastic consumer deals that cross through my email every week.
By the way, I actually only travel on agent fares maybe once
every 18 months. I just received an email offering a 16-day
Trans-Pacific crossing, with return airfare home, for $1,150. Oh
my.
So, tell me
again, how valid is a business plan for a successful travel
agency when I'm my own best client? Lol!
26 March 2009
“… and bless all who sail in her!”
Swing the
champagne bottle out, TheCruiseGeek.com blog is being
re-launched.
Hi, I’m Mike, and I’m a cruise
geek. There is something so relaxing about cruising over the
waves, with nothing to see but blue water everywhere, and the
warm glow that comes from knowing there is a staff of hundreds
dedicated to meeting your every unreasonable whim.
Although the cruising
demographics having been changing from the days when it was
primarily for the newly wed, nearly dead and overfed, I am
firmly in the last camp, and for me, cruising is an ideal
vacation. As a matter of fact, since I started cruising again in
my adult years, I have become so delighted by it that I have
become a travel agent specializing in cruises.
I intend to use this blog to
highlight some fun cruising information, keep in touch with the
fine folks I meet onboard, and post some nice vacation pictures.
I will warn everyone at the outset that my posting habits can be
a bit…. um … erratic. I will probably post a lot when I have a
cruise upcoming or have just returned, but don’t be shocked if
months go by without a post. A stint in journalism school when I
was younger may have improved my syntax a bit, but did nothing
to motivate me to write more often.
Cheers,
Mike
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