South America Cruise Photobook

Princess Cruise Line has been voted the best for romance and the best for weddings and honeymoons. We chose an itinerary around South America for our own wedding and honeymoon and thought you'd like to see what kind of activities and sights you might see if you chose the same itinerary. This was a back-to-back cruise, which means it was two two-week cruises put together. The first was Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile, and the next was Santiago to Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Click here to see Our Cruise Around South America .

Scrapbooking Traveler

Many years ago, I fell in love with the business end of a camera. As a child, I set up a dark room in my parents' kitchen and was lucky enough to attend a high school that offered photography and yearbook classes as electives, along with a workstudy program in offset printing. I learned how to put the science together with the art of composing photos and layouts that are both compelling and pleasing to the human eye.

Then my children came along and like any good parent, I created baby books and photo albums. Not content to just add photos to those old magnetic-page albums, I scouted magazines and old books and ephemera to cut out little embellishments for the pages. With a tiny pair of scissors, I practiced scherenschnitte to create my own little stickers and borders for the pages. Fast forward 25 years and the scrapbooking industry is in full swing with hundreds of thousands of embellishments, cutting and embossing systems, inks and stamps, fibers and brads, all available for purchase by the leisure crafter. Like quilting bees of old, ladies now get together at "crops" to share stories as they cut and paste beautiful albums of their favorite photos. While the younger women are busy creating memory books of their childrens' first day at school, soccer games and sleepovers, many of us are also documenting our travels.

This week, I just finished an album that displays all the fun, romance and nature we encountered on our Star Flyer cruise from this past December. We have photos of our land tours of the Espiritu Santo Coffee Plantation where Calvin got to strap on a harvet basket and actually pick ripe coffee "cherries." We enjoyed petite cups of the plantations best freshly-brewed organic coffee, so I took pictures of the little coffee cups. We toured the plantation owers' residence (a rustic two-room shack with cast iron stove and no plumbing), the weighing and sorting equipment, painted oxcarts, and terraced rows of coffee plants under a canopy of shade trees. Everywhere we looked, there were opportunities to make beautiful photographs, and that was just our first tour of the day. A wooden bead and basket factory tour followed, including the water wheel that powered the saw mill. On to Sarchi where we saw the largest painted oxcart in the world, as verified by Guiness Book. Marvelous! Centuries-old churches, a handcrafted nativity scene in the village's central park, and local Ticos (Costa Ricans) all provided many opportunities to make pictures. Traveling to new worlds is an opportunity to see how other people live, and photographs help you remember when you return home.

Sailing on the clipper ship is an experience everyone should have at least once in their lives. Especially on relatively calm seas in a tropical climate, sailing is easy when strong young men in striped sailor shirts take care of all the work of raising the sails and tying them off. For a photographer, the 21 sails, ships wheel and nautical compass make excellent subject matter. For a traveler, there is nothing more relaxing that watching the moon and the stars glide by as the sails gently sigh and clap. Day or night, passengers can relax with a boat drink and a good book, visit with fellow travelers, eat fabulous meals and plan the shore excursion at the next port of call. With a digital camera, you can spend a whole afternoon making detailed photos of ropes and sails, nautical equipment and beautiful scenery of the beaches and hills over the rail as your ship rolls by.

On this Costa Rican cruise, each time we went ashore, there was a "wet landing." This means we took a zodiac raft to the beach and jumped out into water about two feet deep. Fun! We were prepared with an underwater case for our camera that kept it from drowning. We used it while snorkeling, and also out of the water for photos of interesting rocks and shells that we wanted to remember but not cart home. A waterproof case also floats, so if you happen to drop it off your kayak while getting video of two fighting iguanas, you don't have to jump into the river with the crocodiles to retrieve it. Bonus!

Here are my recommendations:
1. Travel.
2. Enjoy.
3. Take plenty of photos.
4. Come home and re-live your trip as you scrapbook your adventures.

The Commodore Certificate

When the mail arrived at the Suite Romance Travel office today, it contained this certificate. I had been waiting for it for several weeks and it finally arrived with my matching lapel pin. I wish the envelope and the certificate inside hadn't been wrinkled, but it doesn't diminish the knowledge I gained while studying with the Princess Academy. I intend to take advantage of the Academy's new courses as they are developed or updated, so I will have the latest information for all of my Princess clients. 

Local Travel Agent Earns Prestigious Top Rank in Princess Cruise Academy

Vacaville, CA (January 11, 2011) – A Vacaville travel agent has achieved prestigious Commodore status in Princess Cruises’ Academy training program, certifying her as an expert cruise professional. As a Commodore, Staci Kendrick-Jones of Suite Romance Travel joins an exclusive group of travel agents who are now recognized by Princess at the Academy's highest level for their unique qualifications and knowledge as a cruise planning professional. Staci earned this distinction after completing the minimum 25 courses necessary to graduate from the program.

“We at Princess are very proud of Staci’s dedication, as she put in extra effort to offer clients exceptional knowledge regarding our cruise vacation product as well as our worldwide destinations,” said Jan Swartz, Senior Vice President of Customer Service and Sales at Princess. “Travel agents who reach this top level in our Academy program have completed hours of course work to become a cruising expert, which will prove invaluable to providing clients with a great vacation.”

Princess Academy is the cruise industry’s most comprehensive online training program available to travel agents in the U.S. and Canada. Agents who complete the extensive coursework become experts on a wide range of topics, offering travelers full knowledge of important details about a Princess vacation such as the different passenger amenities on the line’s 17 ships, the company’s worldwide destinations and the many special programs available onboard.

“I'm thrilled to be a Princess Commodore. Along with my personal cruising experiences, the knowledge I've gained from the Academy makes me a more valuable resource for my clients, and enables me to recommend the very best vacation to match all of their needs,” said Staci Kendrick-Jones.

To become a Commodore, travel agents must fulfill 25 required and elective classes and exams, representing course work covering worldwide destinations, onboard programs, and customer service skills. As they complete courses, agents receive their “stripes” through four levels: First Officer, Staff Captain, Captain and finally Commodore. Agents can continue to take elective courses to expand their knowledge and keep their Commodore status current. Also, as a member of the Cruise Lines International Association, Inc (CLIA), Staci has also successfully completed all of the coursework required to become a CLIA Accredited Cruise Counsellor.

Suite Romance Travel is a local agency owned and operated by Staci and her husband, Calvin Jones, and can be contacted at www.suiteromancetravel.com. With travel consortia partners like Princess and Vacation.com offering the best in competitive rates, Staci offers personalized service to her clients not available through internet shopping. The agency offers a full line of travel services including hotel and resort accommodations, transportation, and family fun parks. Suite Romance Travel specializes in cruising and the romantic opportunities that cruises offer for weddings, honeymoons, anniversaries, family reunions and other special occasions.

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Update on the Amazing Race

Last night, Calvin and I sat down to watch the last two episodes of this season's Amazing Race. We were off on our own A.R. to Central America when the episodes originally aired, so we recorded them on our DVR. I think this is the first time since we've been watching that the team I was rooting for actually won. The female doctors, Nat and Kat, worked really well together and never complained or acted out against other competitors. Being a reality show, there is always some drama created for ratings, but we prefer to watch nice people succeed.

Next season, A.R. will feature past non-winner contestants including the cowboys, Jet and Cord, and the mom and her deaf son (sorry I don't remember their names). These contestants also had integrity in the face of adversity, which I admire. The next season starts in February and I am looking forward to it.

While most of the activities set up by Phil Keoghan and his crew are extreme and not likely to be encountered by regular travelers, they do show us places around the globe that we might not otherwise think of traveling. It is a peek into other cultures, and methods of trasportation. From shacks to castles, modern airports to ox-driven carts, we get to see how other people live. Isn't that one of the reasons why most of us travel? Traveling always reminds me how blessed we are to live in the United States.

Amazing Race Inspires Travelers

The 17th season of The Amazing Race has begun on CBS. Airing on Sunday nights, it seems to enjoy 'reality show' status without all the usual backbiting, secret alliances and voting people off. I missed the first 14 seasons, somehow, but got hooked when I found out that the contestants were traveling all over the world and engaging in outrageous adventures. Last year, we were rooting for 'the cowboys' and will forever remember one of the brothers (was it Jet or Cord?) who always said, "Oh, my gravy!"

The aerial shots of beautiful scenery and city skylines as the contestants travel around the world are awesome.  Some of the travel challenges are funny, and some are frustrating, but the destinations are always inspiring to those of us who love to travel. It is too early in the season for me to pick out a favorite team of two contestants to win the million dollars, but I was sorry to see the first team lose their chance after getting lost looking for Stonehenge. While one contestant had never heard of "stone hedge" and was surprised to find out it was just a "pile of rocks" I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it someday soon. 

I recommend reading Phil Keoghan's book, No Opportunity Wasted: 8 Ways to Create a List for the Life You Want Now. I picked up a copy late in 2008 and it (along with the very cute Pixar movie, Up! ) inspired me to take a journey around South America and how my life has changed since then! While I don't recommend Phil's Amazing Race strategy of racing through your travel until you are exhausted, I do embrace the excitement, challenges, and adventure of traveling abroad and meeting people of all cultures.

World's Largest Cruise Night

October is National Cruise Vacation Month 2010. To celebrate, CLIA, the international cruise line association, is sponsoring the World's Largest Cruise Night (WLCN) and you are invited!  Just go to http://wlcn.cruising.org/StaciKendrickJones for your virtual cruise night. Feel free to share the link with your friends, as well.  The World's Largest Cruise Night is held on October 13th this year, but you can access the virtual cruise night all month long from October 1st through the 31st. Part of the fun is watching any or all of the videos provided by the cruise lines to get inspired. Suite Romance Travel is recommending several of the cruise lines because of our personal experience. Each line has a unique personality, so let us be your guide to a perfect match for you.

Please come to our virtual cruise night, and give us a call when you are ready to book your next great adventure. Remember, bookings during the WLCN month receive special amenities that you won't want to miss out on. The cruise lines provide extra incentives to CLIA members like Suite Romance Travel that we can pass along to our clients. Early cruise bookings garner the best staterooms on your chosen ship, but best of all, the sooner you reserve your next cruise vacation, the more time you will have to plan and anticipate all the special memories you will be making.