Wild Travel Deals by Legacy Travel
January 2008
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Who is Your Travel Advisor?

Who is Your Trip Advisor?

Author: Philip Banks

The internet has become one of our main sources of information in this day and age. Need the phone number for a hairstylist? A chicken recipe for dinner tonight? Just Google it! While the internet is a great and easy way to swap information and communicate with one another, you may want to think twice before you call on it to be your travel advisor.

Travel review websites like TripAdvisor.com, igougo.com, fodors.com and others have great intentions of allowing fellow travelers to share their vacation experiences. However, these sites may not provide accurate accounts and cannot be trusted as the main source of information on a vacation destination. A travel agency is always your best source for vacation advice because agencies can verify the facts from past travelers before conveying them to you. Many things can go wrong with a seemingly harmless and well-intentioned travel review site. While the site creators had a blissful vision of vacationers trading truthful ideas, opinions and advice, that may not be the case.

Some vacation reviewers who post their opinions on the site may intentionally be trying to sway the decision of the reader. Often owners and employees of vacation destinations try to "talk up" their resort to strum up more business. They can easily exaggerate what they may see as the good qualities of their business and downplay what some may see as the bad qualities. The owner or employee can take on the identity of an innocent traveler and voice their review of the destination so that it sounds truthful, easily masking their association with the resort.

This same injustice can be done by employees or owners of a destination to "talk down" their competitors. They can pretend to be a traveler who has just had a terrible experience with a competitor's resort. They will then write a horrible and false review about this destination to try and sway the reader to attend their resort instead of their competitor's.

Some people may write faulty reviews just for the fun of it. Although it doesn't sound like a worthwhile pastime, some site visitors may write reviews on vacation spots they have never even been to. The reviewer may think he or she still knows about a resort even though having not attended, but it still is not accurate since there is no first-hand information on the destination.

Even those vacationers who have attended the resort could be writing a slanderous review without even realizing it. Many vacationers can hold grudges against a resort even if only a few small things went wrong. This can put a bad taste in their mouth throughout the entire trip, leading them to find fault in anything and everything the resort has done. These reviews can be written by the travelers out of anger and without a clear and comprehensible look at the resort they are reviewing.

Often times, vacationers who don't use travel agencies to assist them in choosing a resort may pick one that is not right for them and their vacation needs. This can lead to an unhappy traveler and an unhappy (and unfair) review of the vacation destination. Every traveler has a vision of the "perfect" vacation and each vision is vastly different. For one person who may review a resort as “boring,” another traveler may find the place extremely relaxing and just what he or she needed as a vacation. If you heed the warnings of a reviewer on the internet, you could be missing your dream vacation since it may not be seen as an enjoyable spot to the reviewer. The best way to avoid this bad and often inaccurate travel advice is to go to the experts and those who take the time to weed out the correct information.

Travel agencies do the research and fact checking that is needed to give you an accurate report of a destination. When a traveler is giving the agent his or her review of their past vacation, the agent asks those probing questions that are needed in order to get a precise understanding of the pros and cons of the resort. If a traveler has a compliment or complaint about an aspect of the trip, the agent makes sure this is due to a first-hand experience the traveler had. If the traveler wasn't involved directly in the situation, the agent quickly dismisses the claim and future travelers are not unnecessarily informed of it. The agents take into account the traveler and the traveler's taste and opinions before portraying their experience to future travelers. This way, travelers who are seeking reviews of a resort through their agent get only the facts and a direct and accurate representation of the resort.

Travel agencies call every passenger when he or she gets home from the vacation to get opinions and feedback. The truthful and unbiased feedback is put into the agency's database and every agent is able to review this information to help in choosing the correct resort for the client. The travel agents learn as much information as possible from their past clients about each resort, cruise ship and destination.

This extra information allows the agents to make the correct match for each client. Travel agents take into account the many factors of a client's life, including their likes and dislikes, before setting them up with their perfect vacation.

While surfing some travel review websites may seem like a quick and easy way to get information on travel destinations, it may not be an accurate portrayal of these vacations. If getting the facts about a resort before booking your stay is the most important thing to you, consult a travel agent for the truth. Travel review websites may have the best intentions of sharing experiences and opinions but these opinions may not be accurate. Some of the reviewers may be working for or against a destination for profit and some reviewers may not have actually been to the destination at all. Some vacationers may post their reviews out of anger or because the vacation wasn't right for them, persuading you to close doors to a resort that you might have loved. The internet may be great to look up old baseball statistics or directions to the nearest movie theater but don't rely on it to be your travel advisor…leave that to the experts, the travel agents.

Cruises vs. Resort Vacations

Author: Catherine Banks


While planning your next vacation, this inevitable and tricky question is likely to come up. "What's better- an all-inclusive resort or a cruise ship?" After examining both vacation choices, the conclusion is that it all depends on the type of vacation you're envisioning. Do you want a whirlwind of excursions, nice dinners and multiple islands? Or would you rather sunbathe at the pool and sleep in a luxurious hotel room? There are perks and drawbacks to both all-inclusive resorts and cruise lines. Once you look at the pros and cons of each vacation option, hopefully you'll be able to make the correct decision to fit your traveling style.

A few days on a cruise line can allow you to experience multiple locations. The best part is you can sleep the night away while you're traveling to the next destination, leaving you refreshed to embark on a new adventure. Cruise ship entertainment is always free. It is available both day and night and is generally more engaging than the entertainment that is offered at an all-inclusive resort.

Cruise lines include meals and snacks in their price and these meals can be fancier than most of the meals at all-inclusive resorts. However, a drop in the quality of cruise ship meals has been reported by recent cruise passengers. The staff on a cruise ship is highly trained and experienced. You should find that members of the staff such as the waiter, busboy and cabin steward are polite, service-oriented and attentive. Another advantage to choosing a cruise line is the unique experience of sailing from island to island. The view from a private balcony on a cruise ship is enough to make anyone feel like a world traveler. There are also disadvantages to a cruising vacation.

Each cruise line has different accommodations that are included in the overall set price of the cruise but it generally only includes meals and snacks, beverages at mealtimes, facilities such as the pool, activities and entertainment and transportation between the port-of-calls. The extras that you'll end up paying out of pocket for include soft drinks, alcohol, gratuity, spa treatments, island excursions and any airfare or airport transfers. These extra charges are made to your credit card and will commonly show up on your statement after you've already returned home. Don't think you've escaped an expensive vacation until you've checked your credit card bill for charges you've made while on the ship.

Cruise lines have realized the best way for them to make more profit is to pile more people onto each ship. This can cause your cruise to feel crowded and crammed, even on a large cruise ship. While you'll be able to see more islands traveling by cruise ship, keep in mind you'll usually only have one day, or a total of 8 hours, to explore these destinations. One last disadvantage to traveling by cruise ship is that more than likely, you will have a small cabin room that provides only simple necessities and none of the luxuries you might find at all-inclusive resorts.

All-inclusive resorts give you a single price that generally includes your airfare, hotel room, food, drinks and taxes. These "drinks" not only include soft drinks but also alcoholic beverages so you won't be tacking that on to the total expense. This price also includes nightly entertainment, use of the facilities (which are generally larger and nicer than a cruise ship's facilities) and gratuity. Some resorts even allow you to use their water-sport equipment such as snorkeling gear and surfboards.

At an all-inclusive resort, you are free to do whatever you like. The resorts are much bigger than a cruise ship so you can wonder about without feeling claustrophobic. Since you have a few days at the same destination, you'll be able to truly explore your surroundings and get a more in depth discovery. All-inclusive resorts also provide hotel rooms, which are often more accommodating and larger in size than anything found on a cruise ship.

One disadvantage to choosing an all-inclusive resort is that you will only see one destination. You won't get the experience of traveling around to multiple islands. The entertainment at an all-inclusive resort is also usually less diverse than a cruise ship. You're generally left to find your own activities during the day.

Both cruise lines and all-inclusive resorts have benefits and drawbacks. In your exploration of vacation choices, you will find that more resorts are becoming all-inclusive, giving you a larger selection. However, most all-inclusive resorts are confined to the Caribbean and Mexico. If you were set on another vacation destination, you may want to try a different option. Cruise lines are enticing customers by offering them extremely low cruise prices. Keep in mind that many of these cruises are including fewer accommodations in their prices, making them even less inclusive. Both vacation options offer you excursions to explore the destinations for a fee and both offer great meals.

When deciding whether to take a cruise or visit a resort, think about what you need to have a satisfying traveling experience. The answer to the question "What's better- an all-inclusive resort or a cruise ship?" lies in the eyes of the vacationer.