Come Monday, it'll be alright....

Congratulations to the Chinese women's gymnastics team, all of whom turned 9 yrs. old this morning. The eye makeup certainly made you look like MUCH more mature ladies....mid-30's maybe? Sort of like Brooke Shields in "Pretty Baby".

Let's talk about cruise news. In a day and age when complicated travel plans frustrate the poo out of many people, the best thing a supplier could do is SIMPLIFY the procedure. I've always liked simple, and get frustrated when something unexpected jumps into my path. That's actually happened a lot in my life, and some day on my headstone there will be a simple engraving:

"Here lies Cap'n Bob. On the crowded 2-lane highway of life, he was always behind the guy who was trying to turn left."
If that's too deep for you, please return to SesameStreet.com.

But here's the news from Carnival Cruise Line Friday afternoon.....one by one, they are planning to re-categorize their ships over the next year. Why are they doing it? As the old joke goes, "because they can". What does it mean exactly? It means a subtle price increase, for anyone wanting a mid-ship cabin location. In the past, their ships had categories that stretched the entire length of the ship. Example: Category 6A was an oceanview room, anywhere on Riviera Deck. Now 6A is an oceanview on Riviera Deck forward and aft, but all the midship cabins on Riviera Deck will be called 6B. Each deck will follow suit, meaning the creation of new categories. These are not new cabins, just re-named old ones. Carnival's sister companies Holland America, Cunard and Princess have done this for years, so it's not a new concept. They basically just took the EASIEST cruise line to sell and explain to clients, and put it into the same mosh pit as all the rest. Somehow, cruise lines fail to understand a basic concept. And I'm not picking on Carnival, it's every one of them. The people who have never cruised before are not afraid of the water.....that's not why they don't cruise. It's because they're confused and intimidated by 20+ different levels of pricing, which now is expanding even more. With the intimidation factor increased, and for all the good this will do for Carnival's bottom line, it may also have the effect of quietly driving business away. Only time will tell. More and more with itineraries and categories in flux, you need to speak directly with a "live" travel agent, to get the inside scoop. Sometimes there are benefits to things like new categories, and other times they are an illusion. You won't necessarily know the truth if you book direct, or speak to a cruise line rep. Their interest is selling you product, pure and simple. Our interest is selling you the RIGHT product, so you'll come back to us every year, and refer your friends to us as well.

Tropical Storm Fay churns away and has lots of liquid aimed directly at Florida. If it doesn't pack terrible winds, it could actually turn out to be a productive storm. Florida and much of the Southeast is in the midst of a years-long draught, and this could certainly fill the coffers to the brim again. Any time you're traveling during hurricane season to Florida, Mexico, the Caribbean etc. you have to be prepared to be prepared. Yes the prices are great from mid-August to mid-November, but there are reasons for that. Prices down, risk up! We strongly suggest our negotiated AIG Travel Guard trip insurance to clients traveling during that time, as part of your protection and coverage has to do with these major storms. Still, we're hoping Fay is no more dangerous to the USA than her namesake was to King Kong. Maybe Florida's beauty will kill the beast.