Are We Passing on Secrets..or creating abuses??

[Writeratsea]

Funny thing is now I think I am better informed about cruising than our TA. I research the heck out of particular ship or itinerary (especially with the help of cruise critics) and then call the TA to make the booking. She doesn't have to do any selling because I know what I want. I want to be loyal in giving her the business because she always comes through with the lowest price, but I am amazed at how much information I am giving her about a ship or port of call.

 

Thanks everyone!

All the research that you do helps you to get exactly what you want. You also save your TA the time she would have spent doing the same research you have done, which I am sure she appreciates. Remember, you are not her only customer. She has numerous customers going to different destinations at different times. But you should still pick her brains as well. Ask if she has had clients who have recently taken the cruise you are interested in and what they liked or disliked about the trip. She gets continual feedback from her customers and will give you good advice. All the information from the various sources help you to make a better informed decision about your trip. Every vacation has it pluses and minuses, hopfully the positives outnumber the negatives and you go. It is not only the money involved, but the limited time I can take off from work that makes me nervous about making a wrong decision. That is why the more informed you are, the better the chance that your vacation will live up to your expectations. Once I have analysed all the information available to me, I make my best decision. I then just accept it and try to have the best time I can have. I don't worry about making the perfect vacation, I just go with the flow. I don't let minor mishaps and unforseen circumstances upset me. We are not planning D-Day, just a vacation. Once you make your vacation plans, the just enjoy the time. But be flexible and adjust if you need to.

NCL Majesty Aug 2004

NCL Majesty Sept 2005

NCL Majesty Sept 2006

[Host CMLA]

You better watch out there Cecilia; your going to hurt yourself. Sounds like you dry your hair, curl it with the curling iron, straighten it out, then curl it again with hot rollers. :eek: ;)

Yep...it's dangerous for me to do my hair. But here's the order: Use a round brush to straighten my hair with the hair dryer. Use the flat iron to straighten out the leftover kinks. Use the hot rollers to add back a tiny bit of volume after all the straightening. And use a curling iron to do my bangs. This is the curse of the naturally spiral curly hair.

 

Tony...a flat iron looks much like a curling iron.

[sunshine 229]

The one problem I see in so called over-planning is that sometimes, after you spend a lot of time on putting together a plan, you get overly attached to 'the plan'. Then, if anything happens that throws a monkey wrench into the works, you get all upset and stressed out because you are deviating from 'THE PLAN'. Sometimes too, I get the feeling that THE PLAN becomes more important than the vacation .

 

Sometimes I laugh when I see people running around on vacation with their noses buried in a guide book. I know that guidebooks do give valuable info but sometimes I just want to tell those people to put down the book and look around them. Stop reading about the places and start experiencing them!

[hotspur]

The one problem I see in so called over-planning is that sometimes, after you spend a lot of time on putting together a plan, you get overly attached to 'the plan'. Then, if anything happens that throws a monkey wrench into the works, you get all upset and stressed out because you are deviating from 'THE PLAN'. Sometimes too, I get the feeling that THE PLAN becomes more important than the vacation .

 

Sometimes I laugh when I see people running around on vacation with their noses buried in a guide book. I know that guidebooks do give valuable info but sometimes I just want to tell those people to put down the book and look around them. Stop reading about the places and start experiencing them!

Agree wholeheartedly with all of the above. I am also amused by people who have to take a zillion photographs of everything such that their entire vacation is seen through a camera viewfinder or LCD display. Seems like what matters is having pictures of the vacation, not the vacation itself.

[Mekamax]

It seems like the last posters have the BEST KEPT SECRET right there. ENJOY the vacation, GO WITH THE FLOW, ADJUST to unforseen circumstances and RELAX! :) :) :) Really these will make the BEST vacation ever. I always say - leave a few things to do for your next cruise because you will be back instead of cramming everything in and wearing yourself out... I was posting on a board years ago and we were talking about our best cruises and worst cruises and after getting details from each other me and another poster figured out that my best cruise was her worst cruise - we were on the same cruise! All about attitude! Yes we were dodging a hurricane, the waves were large, lots of rain and were rerouted but my hubby and I had a ball on that cruise - met wonderful people, saw places we didnt' expect and went with the flow. She has bad memories and I have wonderful ones of the SAME cruise... HUmmmm.. :eek: Debbie

[dwrist]

[quote name='Mekamax']It seems like the last posters have the BEST KEPT SECRET right there. ENJOY the vacation, GO WITH THE FLOW, ADJUST to unforseen circumstances and RELAX! Really these will make the BEST vacation ever. I always say - leave a few things to do for your next cruise because you will be back instead of cramming everything in and wearing yourself out... I was posting on a board years ago and we were talking about our best cruises and worst cruises and after getting details from each other me and another poster figured out that my best cruise was her worst cruise - we were on the same cruise! All about attitude! Yes we were dodging a hurricane, the waves were large, lots of rain and were rerouted but my hubby and I had a ball on that cruise - met wonderful people, saw places we didnt' expect and went with the flow. She has bad memories and I have wonderful ones of the SAME cruise... Debbie[/QUOTE]

I agree totally with the [B]best kept secret [/B]idea. Vacations are for relaxing not cramming as much as you can into a short time. Many people become hooked on cruising and my DH and I are two of them.;)
Debbie, I think I would have enjoyed that cruise with you. :D