All-inclusive Resort Vacation for Multi-generational Family

A repeat client called with a request – she wanted to take her family, including her husband, parents, and teenage children, on vacation. Each family member had a specific request – her teenage daughter wanted to shop, her parents are active and wanted fun sightseeing options, her husband and son love history and wanted adventure, and she wanted a great beach. I recommended Playacar Palace, an oceanfront all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen. It is within walking distance to Playa del Carmen’s Avenida 5 and the ferry to Cozumel. The beach has recently been restored to correct erosion and Mayan ruins are within close driving distance.

Kind words from Chrystal: Once again you hit a home run for us!  The Playacar Palace was perfect for our family.  The location was great – so close to shopping and the ferry.  The staff was so genuinely nice and by the end of the stay they really connected with our family.  They loved to tease Morgan.  She even ended up with the phone number of one of the wait staff!!  The maids left flower petals in the shape of a heart on Zach’s bed.

We took complete advantage of the excursions.  We went to Cozumel and snorkeled along the reef;  jumped off the cliffs at Xel-Ha; explored the ruins at Tulum, Chichen Itza and Coba; and spent one entire morning doing the zip line in Cancun.  We visited other Palace resorts and decided that the Playacar was perfect for us.  The brand new beach was beautiful!

Our entire family loved it.  Morgan cried when we had to leave and my Dad said it was the best vacation he’s ever been on!!  Thank you again!!!  ~Chrystal

Destination Wedding in Dominican Republic

I met with Ashley and Barret, who wanted to be married on a beach in the Caribbean surrounded by family and friends. Ashley envisioned standing under an arch with flowers while her guests sat on chairs with bows, looking out at the ocean.  Their family and friends wanted an all-inclusive resort with lots of activities in an area with great sightseeing.

I recommended Dreams La Romana, in the Dominican Republic. Dreams is a luxury beachfront all-inclusive resort with eight restaurants, seven bars, 3 pools, and 24 hour room service. Sightseeing includes local markets, desolate islands, dolphin watching, snorkeling, and golf.

Ashley’s comments about the resort and wedding: Dear Cindy, We had a great time on the trip.  The weather was perfect and the ceremony was absolutely beautiful.  We loved the Dreams resort and would definitely stay at another one.  We have already started to look at the ones in Los Cabos and Cancun Thank you so much for helping us plan our special day, we couldn’t have done it without you. ~Ashley

Welcome Home for the First Time

I recently had the pleasure of helping my clients bring home their new baby boy! I’ve never had the opportunity to work with adoptive parents in bringing their new son or daughter home, but this experience was really special.

I received a call from Abbie, who was in the process of adopting a child from South Korea. She and her husband had completed the massive amount of paperwork involved, but hadn’t found a travel agent they trusted with the most important part of the process – bringing their baby home.

As soon as Abbie received the “travel call,” meaning all the hurdles had finally been cleared and their baby was ready to come home, I set to work finding flights to Seoul. Unfortunately, it was the same week as our local school’s Spring Break, so most flights were full. After numerous phone calls and emails, we finally settled on an itinerary that would allow the new parents time with their son and some sightseeing while they were there.

Can you imagine navigating a new country, dealing with jet lag, learning a new language, discovering new food, AND bringing home a baby? What a great souvenir!

Kind words from Abbie and her husband: After calling multiple travel agents and searching the web, we happened upon Cindy’s website and were impressed by her personal travel experience and the professional appearance of her website.  We gave her a call and through our conversation I knew that she was the one to trust with our travel arrangements.  Yes, we ran into some scheduling difficulty with Spring Break, but Cindy was relentless with her effort to find the best flight for us working within our parameters for the adoption.  She was very prompt with returning phone calls and e-mails, and really understood the urgency with which we needed to finalize our plans.  She made us feel like we were the most important client despite it being one of her busiest weeks with all the Spring Break vacations she was helping to coordinate.  We also felt that she went above and beyond just booking a flight and a hotel for us.  She gave us very helpful international travel advice and emotional support throughout the experience.  It’s pretty impressive that our travel agent called to check in on us once we were back home before our own adoption social worker did!  We would highly recommend Cindy to anyone preparing for adoption travel, and plan on using her again for future vacations and maybe even another trip to South Korea!  Thank you, Cindy, for all you did to help us become a family!  ~Abbie & Kevin S.

Destination Wedding at Grand Hyatt Kauai

Adam and Nacole wanted a Destination Wedding in Hawaii. Nacole really wanted a sunset ceremony on a secluded beach followed by a luau reception with their close family and friends. I suggested the Grand Hyatt Kauai, which has several ceremony locations to choose from including their exclusive beach, a gazebo with oceanviews, a garden with gorgeous flowers and views of saltwater lagoons, and a sheltered terrace surrounded by waterfalls and koi ponds. The Grand Hyatt Kauai has a public luau that accommodates small groups, seating them together with special amenities.

Nacole and Adam were very happy with the resort’s wedding coordinator who handled all the details – arranging the marriage license appointment, choosing flowers, and providing last minute support.

Reflections from Nacole: We loved everything!!!  The resort was fabulous. The wedding was perfect.  Ella had everything I planned….it was perfect.  Adam and I were so relaxed and everything was taken care of .  I wouldn’t change a thing!!!

The luau was a blast.  Adam and I got called up on stage…he had the girls surround him and he had to dance ….the crowd was laughing so hard.  We got to dance our first dance at the luau the the Hawaiian Wedding song…it was really special.
Thank you for all your planning.   ~Nacole

Thoughts from Adam and Nacole’s Guests: Our trip was great. The Grand Hyatt is beautiful. The wedding was wonderful, Nacole was a beautiful bride. She said it was everything she had wanted it to be.
Thanks for your help and good customer service.  ~Marty

The wedding was wonderful.  The weather was great the whole time.  The kids looked so happy.  We had a wonderful time.  ~Shirley

Honeymoon in Jamaica

Nate and Misty wanted to relax at an all-inclusive resort after the stress of their wedding. They requested white sand, a swim-up bar, and great snorkeling.  I suggested Sandals Dunn’s River Villagio in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I thought they would really like the wide variety of watersports offered at the resort, the resort’s two pools with swim-up bars, and the Italian-inspired architecture.

Feedback from Nate and Misty: The trip was GREAT! We had no delays or troubles on our flights. The resort was perfect….just the right size. The staff was incredible. So laid back and accommodating. It was really a great trip. We did head over to the Ocho Rios resort on Thursday night and ate at an Italian restaurant. We enjoyed the Marco Polo restaurant at Dunn’s River the most.
Thanks so much!!!  ~Nate and Misty

Miami Man-cation

A group of guys called and wanted to take a man-cation somewhere warm with great nightlife. I recommended the Kent Hotel on Miami’s South Beach. The Kent is a funky boutique hotel on Collins Avenue, in the middle of the Art Deco district. Lincoln Road, Miami’s famous street lined with restaurants, galleries, and bars is a short walk away.

Thoughts from group member: The Kent was great. It was a great location with a great price. The rooms were somewhat small but fit our exact needs. Most of our time was spent on the beach or out on the town. The rooms were clean and the hotel seemed to cater to a younger crowd.  ~ Jerry

Alaska Cruise Tour

I spoke with Vicki, who was interested in a cruisetour to Alaska. She wanted a seven day cruise between Vancouver and Seward in addition to a tour from Seward north to Fairbanks. She really wanted to see Denali National Park, Mt. McKinley, and Fairbanks. I suggested Princess Cruise Lines Diamond Princess, which departed from Vancouver and stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, and cruised College Fjord and Glacier Bay. The land tour included a rail tour to Talkeetna, two night stay in Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, tour of Denali National Park, one night stay at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, and a riverboat cruise in Fairbanks.

Vicki’s thoughts about their cruisetour:

Cindy,
EVERYTHING was so beautiful!! Our flights could not have been more perfect! Really wish we would have gone early to see Vancouver – I would recommend not repeating our mistake! – what we saw was absolutely beautiful!!

In Ketchikan we went to Totem Bight State Park. It was a good trip and at 2 hours gave us enough time to walk around Ketchikan.

In Juneau we went to the Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Hatchery. We really loved the glacier – and wish we had a little more time here. We didn’t have time to walk to the fantastic waterfall that was near the glacier. We had all day here – we walked a lot – saw the state capitol, Governor’s Mansion, oldest church etc. and Red Dog Saloon. We also went to the library in Juneau to use the internet (really pricy on the ship).

In Skagway we ran into a gal who had taken about 20 tour groups to Alaska, and she recommended the trip called “To the Summit” Travel by mini-bus on the original gold rush Trail of ‘98 to the Summit of White Pass. This was a 1 ½ hr trip with plenty of photo stops and a fantastic narration by the tour guide. The gal who recommended this said” It’s a lot less time invested than the train, costs significantly less than the train ($39 vs. $125), you get to stop to take pictures (not so on the train) and you really get to see just as much. The train goes a little further but you see plenty on the bus ride. It was great!! We still had plenty of time to stop at the Red Onion Saloon and the visitor’s center etc.

The days of cruising on Glacier Bay and College Fjord were awesome.
A shuttle driver advised us to upgrade our Denali park tour for a longer Tundra tour  if we wanted to see wildlife. I’m glad we took that advice. We saw caribou, moose, fox, a wolf, coyote, several grizzly bears and a musk-ox. Well worth the extra $53!
The trip was even better than we could have imagined!! I think I would have liked starting in Fairbanks and cruising last – may not have been so worn out at the end. Talking with native Alaskans (we don’t know any strangers!) they said the weather is best in May. Granted, they did break some records while we were there, but we had 2 days in the low 80’s, the rest in the upper 60’s and 70’s. Sprinkled on us 1 day – the weather couldn’t have been better – I was still glad I too ear-muffs and mittens, for those mornings of whale watching! ~Vicki