Now Freestyle Certified

Wow, 2 posts: 1 week. I'm on a roll!

I'm just excited, because we just earned Freestlye Certified status from Norwegian Cruise Lines. Here's the press release:



Norwegian Cruise Line is proud to announce that Carmen Shirkey is among the first to graduate from its new online travel agent university, NCL University. This progressive, state-of-the art online school is geared to deliver an enhanced level of knowledge and insight into Freestyle Cruising - NCL's popular style of cruising, as well as NCL destinations, NCL ship programs and operations, and many other behind-the-scenes elements not available anywhere else. Each graduate is required, within one year, to earn a minimum number of credits through a choice of accredited courses and electives. The rigorous curriculum includes testing at every level in order to move forward.

Norwegian Cruise Line's online university opened its virtual doors in 2008 and is one of the most innovative and successful programs available to travel agents today. With thousands of registered students and growing, NCL U plans to expand its training from the interactive experience of its online program to a continuing educational experience that includes a Ph.D. @ Sea program aboard its ships.

At NCL, we highly recommend the use of a travel professional when booking an NCL cruise, says Andy Stuart, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Passenger Services. "With NCL U, we are investing in our travel partners' product knowledge, marketing and sales skills so our guests will know they are relying on an expert who knows our product inside and out."

By earning NCL U's Freestyle Certification, Carmen is considered among the most qualified and expert representatives for NCL's cruise product. Contact Carmen at carmenandjim@cruiseshipcenters.com.

That's in ADDITION to our Princess Commodore status, earned late last year, and our completion of Carnival University. We've got a lot of cruise info in our heads!

Thursday 13 v. 65 Cruise News

Thirteen Pieces of Cruise News from Carmen 1. Princess Cruises is having one heck of a cruise sale to Europe in 2009, plus some bonus incentives, like a $100 on-board credit, a reduced deposit and a $120 coupon book. 2. A comparison of a traditional hotel stay verses a cruise vacation comes down on the side of a cruise vacation every time. For instance, a Caribbean hotel/air stay is around $372 a day, and the cruise is $365. 3. You could cruise for free if you're the leader of a group or club. Book 15 people, and the leader can go for free. Some ships have fewer restrictions. 4. I have a new cruise group on Facebook, called Cruise Fun and Deals. It's open to anyone on crackbook, so sign up. :) 5. Travel Industry Association (TIA) and the Air Transport Association (ATA) both urged Congress and the Bush administration to take action to shore up the credit markets, which provide much-needed support to travel businesses at every level. *My comment, no s*** Sherlock. 6. If you want to go on a cruise in high season, for example, the Caribbean in the spring, booking 6 months in advance is not a bad idea. 7. The much-heralded Celebrity Solstice set sail this week, on September 29. You can read more about it here. 8. October 19-October 25 is World Explorer Week. There are going to be some great cruise offers during this week. Check back here for more information. 9. The Disney Magic went into dry dock, and came out with some enhancements. 10. On September 27, the Queen Mary 2 completed its 100th transatlantic crossing. When she arrived in New York, she had logged 711,288 nautical miles since her debut. Other stats include: More than 229,000 guests crossing the North Atlantic,, 450 pets crossing the North Atlantic, 97,000 pounds of lobster served and enough tea served to fill nearly five Olympic-sized swimming pools 11. If you happen to have 108 vacation days in 2010, you can set sail on a world cruise with Crystal Cruises. 12. The Miami Herald has a good story on which cruises are best if you have teenagers. 13. As always, I encourage you to visit our cruise site, Expedia CruiseShipCenters Website (and enter to win a cruise.)

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Economy Worries = No Travel?

There's been a lot of talk lately about people being scared to spend their money for fear that the economic times ahead are not going to be good.

Here's what I think. I'm not going to stop living my life. If my job is affected, I'll deal with it then. What about you?

A lot of people are saying that they're giving up vacations. Seems to me that now's the time that we all need some serious vacations. I'd give up eating out before I gave up vacations - but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't look for a good deal.

There are tourist services around the world that are seeing the effect of people cutting back on their vacation spending. That's why they are slashing prices and offering incentives like crazy to attract travelers to their products.

Take, for example, Princess Cruises. They are offering some fantastic cruise prices to Europe in addition to bonus incentives. When you book and make a deposit on a 2009 Princess Europe cruise from today through November 15, you also get

-- $100 onboard credit per stateroom
-- Reduced deposit of $100 per person
-- Coupon booklet worth up to $120 in on-board savings

Plus, you pay for the cruise and shore excursions in U.S. dollars, and you don't have to worry about the exchange rate or the dollar taking a plunge.

If you're thinking of taking a cruise next year, now's the time to get an awesome deal. Leave me a comment or send me an email at CarmenandJim@cruiseshipcenters.com, or visit the Web site at www.cruiseshipcenters.com/CarmenandJim. (Though a lot of these deals aren't on the site.)

Thursday 13 v. 64 Princess Cruise Facts

Thirteen Things Carmen learned about Princess Cruises while earning her Commodore status 1. Princess Cruises sails to the Galapagos. One of my dream destinations. Sign me up! 2. Princess is big on the balconies - it has the largest proportion of balcony rooms. 3. For those of you who enjoy scrapbooking, like me, they have a Scrapbooking@Sea program. 4. They feature Movies Under the Stars, with a 300-foot LED screen, where they show first-run movies. 5. They also use the LED screen for Playstation II tournaments, showing the Superbowl, etc. Did I mention the 300-foot LED screen? 6. The Caribbean and Europe are their most popular destinations. I'd like to go on a Mediterranean cruise. Sign me up! 7. They have some exotic destinations on their list - Asia and Australia are a few. 8. You can package your air and any hotel stays with Princess, making it a seamless vacation purchase. 9. Very few people get seasick on cruises. Good news for me. 10. You can chose traditional dining (set time, same table each night) or Anytime Dining. 11. You don't have to go buy the new formal dress, as there are other options, unless you really need an excuse to go buy a new dress, in which case, I'm giving you the excuse on a silver platter. There is at least 1 formal night offered on each 7-day cruise. 12. No Princess employee is allowed to pass a passenger without saying "good morning" or something along those lines. Customer service is an obsession at Princess. 13. If you sign up for my 7Seas list, I can get you some awesome deals on Princess, some of which, I'm not allowed to advertise. You can sign up at my Expedia CruiseShipCenters Website (and win a cruise in September.)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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I'm a Commodore (not the singing group)

I don't know if anyone noticed the new little button over there above the picture of Jim and I, but it certifies that I am a Princess Cruise Commodore.

I suffered through some serious training to get that certification. I had to complete more than 25 online courses, which equaled about 45 hours of my time. I learned about the Princess ships, I learned about the Princess destinations, I learned about the Princess Scholarship@Sea program, I learned about the Princess dining options, I learned about the Princess staff policies - basically, I am an expert in all things Princess Cruises. I even got a little write-up on inRich.com after I submitted my press release.

I think I'm going to start participating in the Thursday 13 again, so my first in a long time may be the interesting things I learned in this course.

Another new thing on the site is below the fold in the right-hand corner. It's my MyBlogLog widget. It's a site that I found to help you monitor all your blogs, your blog stats, your blog friends, etc. If you'd like to become a member of my community, sign on up!