Okay, it's like this...

So, we're cruising along on Southwest at 30,000 feet on our way to Las Vegas to speak at the Travel Leisure conference as I write this.  It's amazing to me all the things we can do today that we couldn't when I first got into the travel industry in the 70s.  Technology has changed all of our lives!  As travel agents we no longer have to rely on airlines for our air ticketing systems. We don't have to use the telephone to call our cruise line and tour operator partners to book their products.  We can now book air tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and tours online The Internet has changed the way travel agents purchase travel for our customers.  It is certainly more time and cost efficient, and because of this, we are able to pass on additional savings through private sales to our customers.

But, the Internet has done more than that.  Now Mr. and Mrs. Consumer can purchase their travel online as well at what, at first glance, seems to be at lower costs than by booking through a travel agent. 

Or, can you really???

Would you consider doing your own taxes if you had a lot of deductions and filing your taxes took you hours and hours of your precious time?  If you are a two-person working household, would you be willing to give up sending your laundry out and losing that time on the weekends and nights that would be required to take up your time washing and ironing all of those shirts and pants?  Or, if you had appendicitis, would you consider going on the Internet to find out to take it out yourself to save a few bucks?

Of course not!!!  But everyday, we hear of people who are booking cruises online themselves based strictly based on price.  Because we are travel professionals, we know that there are distinct differences in cruise lines, just as there are in hotels and restaurants.  The worst thing that can happen is to book that cheap cruise for your honeymoon and find out that the cabin has upper and lower beds.  That's right, bunk beds!!  But, it was at a better rate than a travel agent quoted.  Why?  Because we know what the categories on a ship are and that we would never give a quote to  honeymooners in a cabin like that one.  Yes, our price maybe $25 per person higher, but it's not bunk beds!!

The Internet is a great place to research travel, especially destinations.  But, when it's time for the pedal to meet the metal, it's time to talk with a professional who can direct you to the vacation that is compatible with your lifestyle.  Save yourself heartache and let us help you fulfill your dreams.

It's Showtime!!!



Charlotte Lawson, our NCL rep

Well, it's that time of year again.  We are definitely in Wave Season, as the cruise lines call it, when the wave of bookings for vacations for the year, picks up steam and culminates in a tsunami as we had last Sunday.  On January 30th, we held our 24th Annual Cruise & Vacation Supermarket at the Cool Springs Marriott in Franklin, TN.  After a very, very snowy week, we didn't know what to expect.  But on that day, the weather was perfect - 50 degrees and overcast.  

Sabrina Hampton, one of our agents





  

We set up our show the night prior and all of our reps from our travel providers were in town getting ready for our show.  We had done all the right things.  Our advertising had been effective and people were calling our office and the hotel daily to get more details.  The unknown in this equation was how many people would show up and how much business we would book.  As it turned out, everything gelled perfectly.  We opened the doors at 10:00 am and about 100 people swarmed in.  By 10:30, our reservations area was full.  By 11:30, we had a line waiting to see an agent to make a reservation.   What an incredible day!!! 

By the end of the day over 3000 had come through our doors.  They attended our seminars on Alaska, Europe and the Caribbean.  They visited the Holland America Alaska motorcoach parked outside the hotel.  The won hundreds of door prizes from our travel providers.  And, they booked vacations - lots and lots of vacations and cruises!!!  We are still booking vacations as hard and fast as we can.  If you were unable to attend, you can still take advantage of our show specials and super sail deals by clicking here.  

We could not pull this show off without the support of our travel providers - Sandals, Island Routes, Travel Impressions, Regent Seven Seas, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Apple Vacations & AM Resorts, Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Cunard, Globus Family (Avalon Waterways, Globus, Cosmos, & Monograms), Azamara Club Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and Celebrity Cruises.

The room at 10:30 am

Here's some more pictures from our show.  Don't you deserve a vacation this year?

Royal Caribbean's booth was very busy all day

Celeste Pevahouse with Princess and Cunard



Erin Miller with Apple Vacations and Carlos Gonzalez with AM Resorts

Dawn Bolte and Kyle Brock with Sandals



Steve Smith from Oceania Cruises



Tracie Mosley with Carnival







Ch..ch..ch..changes!!

When we opened Just Cruisin' Plus on Jan. 4, 1988, there were so many cruise lines operating that it was impossible to know which ones went where.  The days of preferred suppliers was extremely important.  As travel agents, we had to be very selective in which cruise lines we would support and which would support us.

Over the years we have seen change and more changes as cruise lines have taken over other cruise lines, completely changing the face of today's modern cruise industry, then some of these going bankrupt.

The first was a shock when Princess Cruises gobbled up Sitmar and changed the names of all the Sitmar ships to "something" Princess.  Then, Royal Caribbean bought Admiral Cruises, followed by Chandris Fantasy, which changed the name of this cruise line to Celebrity Cruises.  Premier Cruises (The Big Red Boat) purchased Home Lines, taking their one ship (Royale) cruise line to three ships.  Holland America Line bought Windstar Cruises, but have sold this arm in the past couple of years.  Majesty Cruises was purchased by NCL and all of their ships were then named Norwegian  "something". Then, NCL went on their buying spree and purchased Royal Cruise Line, Orient Cruises and Royal Viking Line.  The Royal ships were moved into the NCL fleet; the other two cruise lines kept their names, but eventually went out of business.  Then, Princess took over Cunard.  Dolphin Cruise Line was purchased by a holding company, and their ships became Regal Cruises. Carnival got into the buy-out frenzy and now owns Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; AIDA in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe; Iberocruceros in Spain; and P&O Cruises in Australia. Radisson merged with Seven Seas and became Regent Seven Seas.

Then there were others who were not as lucky.....American Hawaii, Commodore, Premier, American Family, Regency, Epirotiki, Delta Queen, Pearl, Sun Line, Bermuda Star, Dolphin, Ocean, Regal, Windjammer, and Renaissance to name a few.  These companies all went bankrupt or just ceased operations.  The Renaissance ships have all resurfaced today as Oceania Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, and a couple of Princess ships. 

On Saturday,. we got an announcement that another cruise line went bankrupt - Cruise West.  Click on the link to see the details as reported in Travel Weekly today.

If you think it's difficult to keep up with all the changes in your industry, try walking in our shoes.  When we first opened, the changes were occasional.  Now, we see them almost weekly, if not monthly.  But change is good, right?  Right?  RIGHT?

My Sailing Playlist

I love my iPod.  I truly do.  I have a docking station for it on my desk at the office as well as one at home.  One of my "must haves" on my car was a plug-in for my iPod that will play through my sound system.  With over 3000 songs in my library, I have divided them into playlists depending on my mood du jour.  Today's mood is my Sailing Songs list.  There are three versions of Sea of Love, but all of them are so good, I just couldn't resist putting them all on.  There's a lot of Jimmy Buffett on this list as well. 

Nautical Wheelers - Jimmy Buffett
Michael Row The Boat Ashore - Peter, Paul & Mary
Come Sail Away - Styx
Splish Splash - Bobby Darin
Strange Boat - The Waterboys
Sailing - Christopher Cross
Sea Cruise - Frankie Ford
Under The Sea - Mannheim Steamroller
Sea of Love - The Honeydrippers
Shiver Me Timbers - Tom Waits
Sail Away - Neil Young
Coconut Telegraph - Jimmy Buffett
Tryin' To Reason With Hurricane Season - Jimmy Buffett
Sail On - The Commodores
Sea of Love - Cat Power
On A Slow Boat To China - Bette Midler & Barry Manilow
My Bonnie - The Beatles & Tony Sheridan
Sail Away - Joe Cocker
Son Of A Son Of A Sailor - Jimmy Buffett
Stars On The Water - Jimmy Buffett
If I Had a Boat - Lyle Lovett
The Captain And The Kid - Jimmy Buffett
Sailing - Rod Stewart
Terra Nova - James Taylor
Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation
Lovely Cruise - Jimmy Buffett
Sail Away - The Oak Ridge Boys
Boat Drinks - Jimmy Buffett
Beyond the Sea - Bobby Darin
Sea of Love - Phil Phillips

Yep, I'm definitely getting ready for our cruise.....

What The Love Boat Did for Cruising

In the 70s and 80's, The Love Boat was one of the most popular TV sitcoms.  It was set on a cruise ship - the Pacific Princess.  The original 1976 made-for-TV movie on which the show was based, also titled The Love Boat, was itself based on the nonfiction book The Love Boats by Jeraldine Saunders, a real-life cruise director. Each week new guest stars would board the ship with the intentions of having a romantic vacation getaway.  The popularity of cruising began its climb as more and more people wanted to getaway to exotic ports and have a little romance in their lives.  The Love Boat was on ABC, and there were 244 episodes over a ten-season run.      

The original cast of The Love Boat included:
Gavin MacLeod - Captain Merrill Stubing
Bernie Kopell - Dr. Adam "Doc" Bricker
Fred Grandy - Burl "Gopher" Smith
Ted Lange - Bartender Isaac Washington
Lauren Tewes - Cruise Director Julie McCoy

Each had unique traits.  Captain Stubing was very outgoing and caring.  He met all the passengers as they boarded the ship.  He was very visible throughout the cruise and could call most passengers by name.  Dr. Bricker was a womanizer who had a different love interest on each cruise.  Gopher Smith was the yeoman purser, the officer in charge of all money matters on the ship.  In other words, he was the bean counter.  Isaac Washington was a bartender who knew everyone on the ship.  For some reason we never saw any other bartender or server.  He sure could get around.  Julie McCoy was a female cruise director, something we see rarely today.  Like Captain Stubing, Julie knew everyone and loved making sure all of the passengers were having a good time.

The Love Boat was an escapist sitcom where those of us watching it each week could envision ourselves sailing away on a beautiful ocean-liner, sitting by the pool sipping one of those drinks with the little umbrellas in it  while being waited on hand-and-foot. 

Today, cruising is an affordable vacation that includes all of your accomodations, meals, entertainment and the opportunity to visit ports-of-call all over the world.  Isn't it time to treat yourself and your family to the best vacation of your life?   

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!