2009

You can still visit Wes's Travel Blog at www.CruisePlanners1.blogspot.com.

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It's always amazing to me that when aboard a giant airplane it not only gets off the ground but flies, or that on a floating resort like we will be on in a little more than a week, a hundred thousand tons floats like a Dixie cup.

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While flying to Copenhagen certainly costs more and is considerably less convenient than flying to London from Los Angeles, clearing customs proved to be a breeze, whereas London Heathrow can be a bit of a muddle.

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We are saving the rain forests, for example, by giving them a market of people willing to pay to see them, rather than burning them down to plant corn to be used as bio-fuels, as neo-Marxist “environmentalists” would. Do you think pristine coves would

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The Pack-and-Go promotion offers last-minute inventory with great pricing!

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Just remember you have access to great port information while onboard many mainstream cruises, including this Princess Baltic cruise. If that is something you value, always take the time to check it out.

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This is the kind of place you probably would say we need more to preserve, so why not check out one of the shows? It's a chance to see old Hollywood the way it was intended to be seen: on the sivler screen.

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Anyway, if your family is looking for something to do while in Southern California, take them out to the ball game. Anaheim Stadium is a relatively easy drive from either Long Beach or San Pedro, and while you're in town, there's a mouse and some Goofy fr

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A short drive from the cruise terminal in San Pedro is an area very much removed from the traffic jams and bustle normally associated with Los Angeles.

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Rather than rushing to the ship to pay the price of standing in line to get a free meal, why not splurge a little and enjoy the best of the South Bay? Boarding lines are always much shorter (if not non-existent) about two hours before the ship sails, and you'll actually be smiling for your embarkation photo.

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For anyone catching a cruise in the LA area, Hermosa Beach is a great place to visit. There's usually mild surf with fun waves for body surfing or boogie boarding. Even when there isn't some kind of celebration, there's usually live entertainment and fun at venues on Pier Avenue and the surrounding areas.

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The Lighthouse still has hot jazz and cold drinks, and the prices are always reasonable. On Sundays, you can get a delicious brunch for under ten bucks, accompanied by great music. Bloody Marys are just $3 and quite tasty. It's another terrific choice if you have a cruise from Long Beach or San Pedro in the afternoon.

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Following the traditions of many West Coast-based ships, Wonder will shift to Alaska for the summer season in 2011.  Always thinking ahead about how to make Disney Cruises special for their clients, Disney will put Wonder in dry dock in October and build a new venue called Outlook Cafe on Deck 10 with curved, floor-to-ceiling windows to showcase the amazing views in Alaska.

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One of my favorite spots in all of San Diego is Paradise Point on Mission Bay. You can rent jet skis, sail boats and lots of other fun toys, or just hang out on the beach. After a day in the sun, we've often headed to the Barefoot Bar.

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While working my way through college, one of my jobs was as substitute custodian for a school district. I became the person they called first, because I always showed up and did a good job. That led to a plum assignment of several weeks replacing the Eastwood Elementary School evening custodian, who had a heart attack. It was within walking distance of my mom's house, which is where I lived while in college to cut expenses for both of us. 

One afternoon I was mopping a classroom. I always left the door open to allow a breeze in while working. SPLAT! I turned around and saw a mud-soaked newspaper had landed inside the door and splattered dark brown mud all over. I went over to the door and looked out, but whoever had tossed it was long gone. I cleaned up the mess, and then went on to finish mopping the room. 

SPLAT! Another muddy newspaper had splattered like a dirt grenade, but this time I immediately dropped the mop and raced to the door. I saw two middle school kids on bikes riding off and laughing. 

I was 20 and in excellent physical condition as a result of running every morning with my Labrador retriever Alvin as well as playing half court basketball in pickup games and flag football in a college PE class. I took off after them, not really thinking that much about what I would do if I did catch them. 

They rode off the sidewalk and across the big grassy field, the bumpier ride and soggier surface slowing them down. I began closing the fifty yard gap. In another minute, I was almost on the back biker, maybe ten feet away. He turned back at me, and you would have thought he saw the face of God about to cast him into hell. He yelled, and they both gave it everything they had. I kept up for another fifty yards, but then I let them go. As I said, I really didn't know what I would do if I caught them anyway. I would just get in trouble for beating up some smart ass kids and lose my job, which I needed. 

I walked back to the classroom and finished mopping the floor. Then I went to the next, and the next. Those kids never came back to bother me again. I had accomplished what I intended. 

Now if I had tracked those kids down and borrowed money to set up a college fund for them so they would not lead criminal lives, that would be the equivalent of nation building in Iraq. If I had slacked off on doing homework and spent all my free time and some hard-earned money looking for them, not expecting anything in return for my efforts, that would be the equivalent of Afghanistan. 

What does that have to do with cruising?  Well, if you don't step back every now and then to think about what you're doing, you could end up wasting your life and resources on things you really don't want.  Wouldn't you rather take time to enjoy a cruise instead?  Call me. 

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I must confess I haven't been searching for churches much lately, instead mostly walking along the beach with my wife on Sunday mornings to meet my son Jay at the Lighthouse to listen to Jazz. I've always been someone who just loves God and the world He made for us to enjoy rather than someone particularly religious, anyway. 

However, one semester in college, I started the year by bringing a Bible with me when I went to school. I wasn't bringing it to convert anyone. I was in the process of reading it cover to cover, just as I had recently read "Autobiography of a Yogi" in hopes of understanding more about the subject and giving me extra things to contemplate during my self-directed yoga sessions. I really didn't think much about how others would interpret my reading the Bible between classes. If anything, I was trying to find my inner Kwai Chiang Cane, who of course was a character from one of my Friday night, pre-nightclub favorite TV shows, “Kung Fu” (with "Sanford and Son" being the other). 

At one point in a Manpower Management class breakout session where I worked with a group of six students, somebody let a curse word slip, and then looked at me directly and said, "Oh, excuse me." Now at the time, I was someone who outside of school hung out with rockers, so I certainly was used to hearing worse, though nothing compared to what passes for normal these days in the hip hop community. 

Seeing me read the Bible had changed their perception of who I must be.  To put it in perspective, around the same time frame my friend Chris Crabtree picked up the Bible from my coffee table and wrapped a "Playboy" magazine around it to pretend to hide what he was reading.

Anyway, reading the Bible between classes led to meeting a girl named Mercedes, who was Asian rather than German as you might have guessed. She approached me as I read under a tree at college and invited me to go to church with her on Sunday. 

When we arrived at her church, there were hundreds of people already there with their arms in the air, swaying back and forth to the pre-service music. It turned out I was at one of the churches of Reverend Moon, who later became known as a cult leader to his critics. 

Mercedes had asked me to spend the day with her, so after church, we headed back to her house, which it turned out she shared with another half dozen people from the church. After lunch, which of course involved preparation time, we all laid down to rest and meditate. I was hoping this was one of those Paul Simon things, where the "young girl in the parking lot preaching to a crowd...crept to my tent with a flashlight," which happened to be a song in my repertoire, but it wasn't. We eventually headed back to church for the afternoon service, which was more of the same from the morning service. 

I never returned to the church, and I never called Mercedes again.  

Are you saying yes to life? Are you ready to embark on a new adventure? Call me, and book a cruise. I think you'll like it and call me back.

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Have you ever found yourself trying to sell overpriced wrapping paper or $3 chocolate bars to friends, co-workers and total strangers to support your kid's sports team or school programs?

It's not hard to see how those programs make money. The supplier triples or quadruples the cost and then gives your organization half of the profits. However, you must admit feeling a little guilty when Grandma on a fixed income pays $9 for three candy bars she doesn't need.

Did you know fund raising could be fun?

Think big.

A group cruise is one of the easiest ways to find large, happy, substantial sums of money flowing to your organization even while you relax. Instead of making a hundred sales to people you've guilted into buying overpriced wrapping paper, you simply set up a group and buy a cruise that your own family will love. I'll be happy to put together flyers, cruise nights and other presentations for your group. It gives new meaning to the overused cliché win-win.

How does your organization make money? Much depends on the cruise itself, but on most cruises it is possible to block a group of rooms to be sold to your friends, family and affiliates and earn Tour Conductor Credits (TC) based on the number of rooms sold (usually a minimum of eight rooms and multiples of eight). Often, the person sponsoring the group will share this bounty among their friends by purchasing parties and gifts, but it is also possible to give the TC to an organization sponsoring the trip as a fund raiser.

However, that's not the only channel through which funds can flow to the organization. Some cruises have special amenities for fund raisers, like $50 per room sold going as a bonus to the sponsoring organization, which is in addition to the TC.

Keep in mind that all that money flowing to your organization does not come as a result of overpricing the cruise like you would with wrapping paper or candy. People booking into your fund raising group get the same booking rates generally available to anyone at the time the group is set up. Sometimes, in fact, prices are lower in your group than to the general public.

However, most people are willing to pay a little more to help a good cause, especially when it is something they will enjoy. Your organization can usually add on an extra $50 per person to the price that drops right to your fund raising bottom line, and cruise lines will sometimes include matching funds for the overpayment.

As a bonus, your group enjoys taking a cruise together with each other. Families become closer, and lifelong friendships are formed from casual relationships.

What kind of cruise is best? Most people immediately think of weekend cruises, but because a large portion of the cruise fare on this kind of cruise is “port charges,” the TC level is small, and in addition these cruises require your people to miss work on Friday and Monday at a minimum. In addition, these cruises don't generate much excitement. The next thought is for a cruise in the fall, when prices are lowest, but the reason prices are lowest is because demand is also lowest at that time of year, when people have just returned from summer vacations and are thinking about the upcoming holidays. In addition, these types of cruises sometimes end up having last minute deals that are only available to new bookings a few weeks before the cruise, which can complicate your life when dealing with a large group.

Even if your fund raiser is not for a school, holiday cruises are best. Why? Primarily, holidays are great because kids and teachers don't need to miss classes, which expands your potential market exponentially. Holiday cruises also cost more, so your TC level, which is based on the price, will be highest. In addition, holiday cruises almost always sell out, meaning you have a limited commodity to encourage people to buy early. There's also less of a tendency to cancel plans for a holiday cruise.

What are you waiting for? Call 310-546-9618 to set up your fund raising group today. Think ahead. It's too late for a Christmas cruise this year, but big fund raising opportunities are available for the holidays in 2010. “Better service leads to better trips.”

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