Insider Info on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas

As I mentioned in my first blog, sometimes we'd give you a little "insider" information from the travel industry. Well, the biggest buzz in the industry now concerns Royal Caribbean's newest addition to their fleet, the Allure of the Seas, scheduled to debut in November. A sister to the Oasis of the Seas, which began sailing last December, this will be the second largest passenger cruise ship in the world. With seven neighborhoods and over 6000 passengers, she will be a small city.
At the recent Vacation.com Conference that we attended in Orlando, we met with some of the executives at Royal Caribbean and were given some details of what to expect on this mammoth ship.
1. CHICAGO - the Broadway musical will be performed on each sailing, and the cost of your ticket is included in your cruise fare.
2. Dreamworks is also coming onboard with all of the Dreamworks characters. There will be character meals for the kiddos as well as for the adults who like to think of themselves as kids.
3. There will be 3D movies onboard at no additional charge
4. iPod docking stations will now be in each stateroom.
5. If you didn't know there is an Aqua Theater on the Aft of the ship where water shows, diving exhibitions and dancing fountain shows are held. On the Allure, the penguins from Madagascar will do a water show.
6. There is also an ice skating rink onboard, and the show in this theater will be How to Train Your Dragon.
7. There is a Coach store on the Oasis. There will be a Guess store on the Allure.
That's the scoop on the Allure. Will let you know when we hear more incredible things about this fantastic ship.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Well, I finally did it. I have succumbed to the world of Droids and Smart Phones. Got my new Samsung Galaxy S this week and have spent the last two hours just trying to learn a small portion of what this gadget can do. I know I'm going to love it when I can figure out everything on it. Anyone have any advice? Now I have to figure out how to make my Facebook account read in English instead of French. Later.

Big Tip for Pin Trading at Disney

When we took the first grandchild to DisneyWorld and found out about pin trading, we knew Disney had found an incredible way to separate people from their money. We bought Maeve a "starter" kit with six cheap pins to trade. Pins range in price from $4-$20, depending on if they have a "Hidden Mickey" or are a collector's pin. Here's how this works:
* Any Disney castmember (employee) MUST trade pins with any child.
* The child can trade the least expensive starter pins for a collectible if the castmember has one.
It's amazing how quickly the kids get into this. All three of our grandchildren who have been to Disney with us loved wearing their lanyard with their pins proudly displayed. They would be on the lookout for castmembers who had pins on their lanyards so they could trade.
Here's a really great tip that we learned after taking two of the kids with us. Go to E-bay and search for Disney Trading Pins. You will find literally hundreds of people selling "lots" of pins - anywhere from 30-40 in a lot. Cost is generally $30 for 40 pins.
We purchased a lot of these before we took Ian in April. Some of the pins in the lot were collectibles; some had Hidden Mickeys on them. Those we kept until Ian found out that there were other pins he wanted. Then we might trade one of the Hidden Mickeys.
This is great fun for the kiddos and we enjoyed just watching them ponder over the pins that they could trade.

It all started.....

....when my granddaughter, Maeve at 4 1/2 years old, got up in my lap at my brother's 50th birthday party to tell me that she was going to Disney World. Being the Grammy that I am, I was so excited for her and asked her who she was going with. Imagine my surprise when she announced, "Why, with you and Pa!" Of course, Pa and I didn't know anything about this, but the more we thought about it, the more it seemed like a great thing to do.

So, a tradition was born.

When each of the grandchildren reach their fifth birthdays, they get a 3-night/4-day trip to Disney World with us - just us. No parents. No siblings. No cousins. Just one child and the two of us. It's been so much fun for us to see the wonder in their eyes as they step onto the Magical Express that takes us to our hotel.

Four years ago, we took Maeve. What an experience with a little girl. It was all about the Disney princesses, getting character autographs and pictures, and spending most of our time at the Magic Kingdom. I thought she was going to hyperventilate when she saw Minnie Mouse for the first time. She was also the kid who wanted to spend time at Animal Kingdom.

Then two years later it was Truman's time to go. He was all about the Monorail and Epcot Center. I spent an entire afternoon just riding the Monorail to everyplace it would take us. He also loved "Talking with Crush" at Epcot Center.

This year we took Ian, and what a difference his experience was. It was rides, rides, and more rides. He especially loved the Buzz Lightyear ride at the Magic Kingdom, but his very favorite was the Star Wars ride and the Indiana Jones stunt show at Hollywood Studios. Ian is a big Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan, and he loved sitting atop a star fighter for pictures.

I'll be sharing some of our insider tips with you later. Stay tuned.

Welcome to Outta Here!

For months I've thought that our company, Just Cruisin' Plus, needed a company blog. After some coaxing from family and friends, I finally got off my duff and have started writing. Some days, I'll write. Some days Charlie, my hubby and business partner, will write. We'll post information on vacations, destinations and some "insider" info as well. If you have something you're interested in, let us know and we'll research it for you. If you have questions about travel, ask away. We may not know all the answers, but we will know someone who can help us find them.

By the way, I'm Sherrie Funk, and I started this little company out of the basement of our home in 1981. This was during the time when the term "home-based" was unheard of. In 1982, I moved 3000 people to the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville. Anyone remember those wonderful Petros made with Fritos, chili, and cheese? No cholesterol there. But, oh, so good!

This venture led to sending more and more people away on incentive trips and primarily dealing with groups. We took groups of UT Vol fans to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and Vandy fans to Birmingham for a bowl game there. We even took Vandy fans to the Great Alaskan Shootout in Anchorage. School groups, church groups, every type of groups you can imagine became our specialty.

However, some of these group members soon wanted us to book their individual vacations. So, in 1987, we bought my partner out, changed the name and direction of the company and re-surfaced on Jan. 4, 1988, as Just Cruisin', Tennessee's first cruise only agency. Two years later, we realized that we needed to book more than just cruises, so we added the "Plus" to our name.

In 1990, we were named Carnival Cruise Lines' "Agency of the Year", an honor we cherish today. We have won numerous awards from all of the major cruise lines over the years. Now, we focus on vacations of any type - cruise, land-based travel, escorted tours, group travel, incentive travel, river cruises in Europe, China, Egypt and Russia.

Hope you'll subscribe to our blog, and encourage others to do the same. By the way, be sure to visit our website at http://www.jcp.travel/.

Welcome!