How to Avoid the Demise of a Vacation

Egypt, Greece and the list goes on of unrest. Hurricanes, volcanoes and the list goes on of natural disasters.

I particularly keep track of those events because I book my clients to cruises all over the world and I myself am taking a cruise that specifically stops in some of these affected places.

If I look on the positive side, I can't help but be thankful for both myself and my clients. Out of all the vacations you can plan, a cruise is one you can avoid most negative elements. We are not stuck in a volatile situation - we can leave a port or not visit a port and move on to the next place. We may have some disruption or changes in our cruise schedule but we are not adding thousands of souls to the damaged areas.

So plan carefully, opt for a cruise if you can and no matter what add travel insurance for the unexpected. Give yourself every out so your vacation has the best chance of survival.

Top 10: How do you know when you have a GREAT travel agent?

Disclaimer: Author is a travel agent :)

1. You have their cell phone number and email address.
   (Or at least they are willing to give them to you when you ask for it.) It’s not about reaching them between set office hours. It’s about how quickly you can get your answers.


2. You get a response within 24 hours or less.
   Now remember, they may be on vacation too but they should have left alternate contact information whom you can depend on just as much.


3. They use social media while on vacation.
   And let me clarify, it’s not for their own marketing purposes. It’s because they are so driven and obsessed with travel and making sure their clients have the latest information they are willing to put out a blog, send a tweet or post to Facebook DURING vacation just so you have the latest and greatest info.


4. They don’t always tell you what you want to hear.
   You enlist the help of a professional because they have the expertise. Like any relationship, you won’t always agree on the options, no one should be pushing agendas and everyone should be compromising for the best outcome.


5. They will, no matter how many times you say no, ask you if you need travel insurance.
   If you were on our end and experienced every single vacation with every single vacationer and heard every single story – good and bad you would never leave home without it – we don’t. So we will always encourage you, multiple times, to get coverage.


6. They will quote you what you ask for and always offer something more.
   It’s not because our main goal is to upsell you (which we should do like any good business person), but because we know how little you get to vacation, how much you spend and how much you really need to get away and sometimes a $100 or two hundred is nothing compared to what you will get in return. We are trying to get you to buy in to the memories.


7. You get a handwritten note from them.
   At least once a year on a special occasion. No matter how many clients you get in a customer service industry, someone should show they took at least a couple of minutes to jot down a few sentences about how important you are.


8. You should hear from them after your vacation.
   Heaven forbid that you don’t hear from them before or during – that is grounds for divorce! But most importantly you should hear from them after you get home. A welcome home card or note, a quick questionnaire to find out how things went, something.


9. They are glad to hear from you.
   No matter whether you are complaining or complementing do they sound happy to hear from you. I certainly hope so – you are never an inconvenience.


10. They want to put things right.
    No matter how great your travel agent is, they are only human and mistakes will occur. This is when your agent will show their true colors. Do they disappear and become difficult to reach, do they give you excuses or do they keep in touch with you every step of the way while some type of resolution is in progress. The outcome may not be what you expect but the agent better be trying 150 percent.

I put together this little top ten on how you know you have a great travel agent based on responses from my own clients as well as my view of other industries and what I expect as far as customer service. I hope these tips are helpful when you look for that life-long partnership with a travel agent.

A day in the life of this Cruise agent

Welcome to my Oasis. It’s a little place where I have joined together my past life as a web production, social media person with my love for cruising. It’s this combination that drew me to CruiseOne where integrating new technologies and cruising specialties make life as a franchise owner easier.

I’m all about easy, simple and balance. I spread that belief throughout my entire life, not just my work, which I even hesitate to call work. Sometimes the required details of a transaction can be less than attractive but I like spending the time in my Oasis and looking up to see the day is done and I never watched the clock. I call it my Oasis because I have created an office desk, which is giant, to look like a Bali spa area not excluding palm trees, coconut oil scent and island music in the background. (See the picture above.) What can I say, my work, I take it with me.

So while I set in the Oasis (after my morning swim – you knew I couldn’t create an oasis without water!) I digest email, drink my vitamin breakfast, read my blogs and feeds, post to Facebook, network on LinkedIn and tweet. I’m also obsessed with learning, so reading my travel subscriptions online, in print and taking webinars is also a large part of my daily tropical experience. I try to limit it all to a couple of hours because I could do that all day. It’s like a good long walk on the beach.

But I do love cruises too, so, moving on…mid-day is about my clients. The ones I send to an oasis while I set in my Oasis. I check in with them, phone them, email, send invites, answer questions about their cruise and talk with them about their families. I don’t know any other way to let them know how important their trip is to me except to treat their vacation like I would my own and that is to nail down all the details. I want them to smell their vacation, I want them stick their toes in the sand before they ever get there.

The latter part of my day is making contact with new clients, implementing pieces of my marketing plan, integrating ideas I’ve come across throughout the day and trying to think of the next big creative thing to wow my clients and soon to be clients. That island music really gets the juices going!

Somewhere in all this, I’m always planning my next getaway – I have an addiction to fill you know and I can only do it vicariously through other people to a point! Of course even these getaways are filled with ship inspections, meeting the crew, begging for an exclusive peak and looking for what my clients would love to experience next. Not because I have to, just because it’s there – why not!

At the end of the ‘work day’ I try to learn from any failures and pat myself on the back for any client praises. Oh and sometimes I have after-hour networking events. May the connections remain as countless as the sands. Please pass me that margarita now, it’s 5 0’clock here.