Cruise Specialists Blog

After an amazing tour of the Antarctic Peninsula we began our long sail north - past Elephant Island - an ice covered island off the coast of Antarctica - famous as the refuge of Ernest Shackleton’s crew in 1914 following the loss of their ship in the ice.

By now, our ship was beginning to be covered in ice and snow - crew members from the Philippines and Indonesia who had probably never seen snow before, built a snowman on the outside Lido deck, which gave us a great photo
opportunity.

Cruise Specialists Sends Off World Cruise Guests In Style

The luxury cruise and tour agency welcomed hundreds of clients
to Fort Lauderdale with a celebratory bon voyage party

Seattle, WA (February 03, 2010) –Each year Cruise Specialists looks forward to the momentous day in January when it is time to send another band of hearty world cruisers off on their nearly four month voyage around the world. The luxury cruise and tour agency recently welcomed hundreds of clients to Fort Lauderdale with a celebratory Bon Voyage Gala that would mark the beginning of their 114-day Holland America world cruise.

Exciting itineraries, handsome ships, and gracious hospitality are just a few of the reasons why Cruise Specialists’ Greg Nacco recommends clients take a cruise vacation on Holland America Line this year.

“We have been booking passengers on Holland America Line for over twenty years,” explained Nacco, vice president of Cruise Specialists. “Our clients have consistently found Holland America to provide incredible value whether they are taking a 12-day Alaska Cruise-Tour or a 110-day World Cruise.”

Recently I was lucky enough to travel aboard Holland America Line’s ms Eurodam, which made its debut in summer 2008, to the sun-filled Caribbean. I thought I would take a moment and let you know all the fabulous things activities I did while in the Caribbean.

Right now we are at home, packing for our next voyage of the Fall Colors in New England and Canada. We just came back from our Viking Cruise on the Maasdam.

This cruise is always very successful. Lots of beautiful ports to visit. The ports are very versatile. Also lots of different sceneries, with ice-bergs, glaciers, fjords. We also visited lots of European countries. It is always great when you see repeat Cruise Specialists families. A lot of guests have cruised this particular cruise many times over and over again, due to the beautiful scenic cruise days and ports.

Recently my husband and I visited many ports of Alaska’s fascinating Inside Passage from our Holland America Line Alaska Cruise. We were amazed by the sheer rugged beauty of this untamed wilderness that surrounds these small port towns, some only accessible by sea plane or boat.

My husband and I boarded our first Holland America Line cruise in not-so sunny Vancouver, BC for seven-days sailing Alaska. From the moment we entered the ship we were immersed into the friendly, warm atmosphere of the ms Volendam. In a later posting I’ll talk more to the destinations we visited, for now I’d like to share with you our Holland America experience.

We have completed our exclusive Cruise Specialists Shore Excursion programs for these two exciting voyages. The ms Prinsendam 2010 Grand South America Shore Excursion materials were recently mailed and later this week we plan to mail the ms Amsterdam 2010 Grand World Voyage tour materials.

We have some incredible tours planned including a safari to Thornybush Private Luxury Game Reserve, a fabulous trip to Machu Picchu (on the World Cruise) and also a special cruise on Li River with a visit to Terracotta Warriors.

Congratulations to Janet Lanterman, Founder of Cruise Specialists who has been voted a “Top Travel Specialist” 10 years in a row by Condé Nast’s Wendy Perrin.

The m.s. Rotterdam’s 2009 World Cruise was truly spectacular! There was a wonderful ambience onboard, which made for very happy passengers who got lots of attention. The food was a cut above the usual world cruise fare, too. Kudos to the kitchen and dining room team! The whole staff bent over backwards to accommodate everyone from the master on down!