Cruising Along

Our summer has been busy with vacations and business trips, and I am pleased to say we are making more and more face-to-face meetings. I ended the summer with a trip to San Diego to attend the Global Business Travel Association convention and one last summer trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. While in San Diego, I played golf with a fellow industry colleague at the Grand Course at Fairmont Grand Del Mar resort. Designed by Tom Fazio, the course lies in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve just north of San Diego. I always enjoy playing this course; look for my review in a subsequent issue.

I hope you enjoy our Cruising Issue. We took our first family holiday cruise, a 12-night Caribbean voyage from New York and back, on Celebrity Silhouette, and we were hooked. Since then, we have sailed on Norwegian Gem twice on a similar holiday run, and I regret we planned to make a similar trip in 2019 but could not get our act together ... what a mistake!

In addition, I have taken two crossings on Queen Mary 2 (in the Queens Grill) and one European cruise on QM2. We also took a Royal Caribbean cruise out of New Orleans and docked back in time for Mardi Gras. Upgrading to a suite really makes a difference, offering preferred dining, priority on and off, and special pool lounge access.

Cruising proves a well-suited option for our readers who travel around the world. Sometimes a cruise fits the bill so you can all be together, do your own thing and not unpack more than once. I’m still trying to reschedule my river cruise on Uniworld, but I expect that will be farther in the future. I’m placing Regent Seven Seas Cruises on my agenda, as I understand the service and cuisine match that of a 5-star hotel. This comes from a general manager at one of The Peninsula properties.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate the industry leaders for 2022, whom we honored at our Trazee

Travel and Global Traveler reception in San Diego. Please look for the Trazee Travel digital edition, where we will recap the event and The Trazees winners. You can refer to our August issue for a complete list.

Until next sailing … find the cruise that fits your needs!