Today feels like it should be a somber day. But even with the 9/11 remembrances and the first anniversary of the attack on Bengazi, I still can't help but be excited because it's looking like I'll be taking a short and CHEAP cruise in November. It looks like I have made it into my first "fam" trip as a travel agent. I'm still waiting for the final word, but I sent my final registration in yesterday. Now all I have to wait for is room assignments and then to pay.
"Fam" is short for Familiarization trip. It's usually a short trip to a destination or on a ship that a travel supplier is trying to get agents to sell. In this instance it's been a totally last minute thing. Normally, you know about them 6 months or more in advance. This one has just come about in the last few weeks. You see, Royal Caribbean is taking their ships through dry dock right now one at a time so that the can revitalize them and perform heavy maintenance. They are adding some new things that they have on the newer ships to these ships, replacing carpet and old fixturing and just basically sprucing things up in addition to doing work on mechanical things that can't be performed in their normal rotation while it's in the water.
Vision of the Seas will be in dry dock in October and the beginning of November, but things seem to be progressing so well on the ships that are going through the process now that they feel they'll be able to bring Vision out of dry dock early. Since it will be back in the water with no planned itinerary, they have decided to fill it up with travel agents and take it out for a spin on a 3 night Bahamas cruise. It was just announced a few weeks ago. The price for the travel agent and travel companion was an astounding $299 total and includes taxes and gratuities. You can't pass something like that up! All you have to do is get yourself to Miami. Once the announcement was made, you only had a few days to respond, then they chose from the responses they got. Everyone could not make it on board since the ship isn't that big and there are a lot of travel agents in the US who want to go.
Last week my host agency sent an email out that there would only be 10 slots for our entire group. There are hundreds of us. So I was pretty sure that since I haven't booked many RCCL cruises yet, I wouldn't make it. Then over the weekend, I got an email saying that I was on the list and to wait for an official invite before proceeding. Yesterday the invite finally came through! So, on November 9th, my travel buddy Jenny and I will be flying to Miami, hopefully using some frequent flyer miles, spending one night at the Hyatt Regency Miami for the tidy some of $100 dollars and then boarding Vision of the Seas the next day.
As many cruises as I've been on, I've never been to the Bahamas. So this will really be exciting. There is one 2 hour session that I must attend during the cruise, but that is a small price to pay for a deal like this. Plus I'm hoping to get to see some behind the scenes stuff during that session anyway. I hope they'll take us into the suites, galleys and things like that. I've never been into a suite on board a ship. How can I possibly be expected to sell one if I've never experienced it myself????!??!? I was on a galley tour once on a Princess ship and loved it! It is so cool to see how they manage to get thousands of meals prepared every day and make them all look so pretty.
I'm particularly excited that this will all take place on a Vision Class ship. They are my favorite class on Royal Caribbean. I like them because they are RCCL's smaller ships. Other Vision Class ships include Splendour, Rhapsody, Grandeur, Legend and Enchantment. Of those ships, I have sailed on Splendour and Rhapsody each one time. Splendour was my very first cruise ever. My parents and I went on a 5 day cruise out of Galveston to see if we would like it. In case you were wondering the verdict was YES! My nephew Matt and I were on Rhapsody for his graduation cruise. I enjoy the smaller ships. I think part of what makes them so great is that they don't have too many bells and whistles to attract families with small kids. There is no flow rider, no water park or water slide, no ice skating rink.... It's just a ship with some nice restaurants, a couple of nice pools a casino, and a lot of really great places to relax and have fun.
It's geared more toward couples and singles. I think of the Vision Class ships as more of what Celebrity is like. With this revitalization, they will be adding an outdoor movie screen and several other things. But they still won't add all of the kiddie attractions to the Vision Class ships which makes me happy. At double occupancy, this ship only carries a little over 1900 passengers. At full capacity, it's just over 2400. Compare that to Oasis of the Seas which at double occupancy carries 5400 passengers. I've lived in towns smaller than that!
Last night as I looked at the deck plans, I confirmed that the ship has the most important thing to my travel buddy Jenny and myself. Right there on deck 4 hidden away from the crowds just slightly is the Champagne Bar. Yep! November is going to be good.
I'll let you know when I get my final confirmation. Until then, have a great Wednesday and Never Forget!
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