The Benefit to You from Our Travel Experiences
By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Sometimes, we just have to “toot our own horn” so to speak.
We have unique first-hand knowledge about European travel and especially European River Cruises. We use that knowledge to plan great trips.
The benefit to you is a better vacation.
Our goal is simple--to help you get a better understanding of European travel and the huge value to you of a European river cruise vacation and experience based on our vast knowledge about these travel options. Then you can decide if it is the right option for your vacation.
Ready, to learn more?—let’s GO!
What We Do For You
We pride ourselves in providing travel advice that benefits you in 4 ways. They are:
We design vacations that matches your travel style.
We will help you reach your—Dream Destinations.
We are your travel solution and inspiration!
We design customized trips that are just right for you.
The Importance of First-Hand Knowledge
You want a travel professional who knows from first-hand experience what you will experience on your vacation—that’s us!
We have been on over 25 ocean cruises, and taken 18 week-long Europe River Cruises.
We try to travel to Europe 2-3 times every year, usually escorting clients nowadays.
I have been traveling to Europe for 49+ years, Anne since 1989.
We will provide you amazing information on European trips, since we have written 50 European Cities Destination Guides. We have personally visited 43 of the 50 Cities—most with several days visits. Most of our guides include a PDF slide show of the most important sights to see at that city.
Our Guides provide you a quick, portable summary of 1) the best sights and things to do, 2) transportation option to get around in the city and 3) information about possible day trips to nearby sights that can be easily visited to enhance your vacation experience.
We have written 51 European River Cruise Port Guides. These guides have great value, as they help you decide if a particular cruise route is right for your trip and to help you decide upon the included tours during the trip. It also ensures you won’t miss anything during the visit.
The bottom line is that we use this knowledge to match you to the right vendor, at the right time, to get you the best possible vacation—a true benefit to you!
This a great way to help you decide if we are the right folks to help plan your next vacation, especially for European Vacations and European river cruises.
A Blog Example—Why Buy a Europe River Cruise from Us?
As you may know, we have written over 75 blogs about European River Cruises. Here is one example, detailing why you should use us to buy your European River Cruise.
Summary--There are about 75,000 to 100,000 professional travel agents in business in the United States (at least in 2019—not so sure there are that many in 2020 due to the pandemic and resulting crippling blows to our industry).
There are also the giants of the internet (Travelocity, Expedia, etc.) and wholesalers (Costco). You can also buy direct from many travel vendors. To be sure, you the consumer, have a lot of choices and ways to buy travel.
With the plethora of options, it got me to thinking—Why should you buy a river cruise or for that manner, any travel from us, Anne & Hank Schrader, of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC?
I will begin by answering this question by explaining what the Europe River Cruise Trends are and then talk about sellers of travel (travel agents and others).
For sellers of travel, my game plan here is to define our competition first, and then tell you who we are, what we stand for and who are customers are.
Finally, I will explain why you should buy a river cruise from us.
Why it Matters—you have lots of choices and deciding if we are the right folks to use is critical to your success. Europe river cruising is a wonderful vacation but is often sold by agents who just don’t know enough about the product to make a good vacation an exceptional one that exceeds your expectations.
We gained that knowledge by earning certification as specialists in several river cruise companies but primarily by cruising the European rivers on the companies we sell. There is no substitute for first-hand knowledge.
Did we convince you that we are the right folks to use to plan your Europe river cruise?
Here is the link to this blog
An Example of How One of Our Trips Enhanced a Tour We Led
In preparation for our D Day Tour we led in 2019, we made a recon visit to Bayeux, France. We inspected the hotel we had reserved (3 years earlier) for most of 33 guests that we guided on our 75th Anniversary of D Day tour. Since the hotel did not have an elevator, we selected rooms for guests that would be best for them.
Churchill Hotel in Bayeux—this picture was taken during our 27 November 2018 recon visit
We also scouted out restaurants to recommend to our guests during our 4 day stay in Bayeux, since meals were not included in the tour.
La Din’nette—one of the several good restuarants in Bayeux we found
We also determined our original plan of moving our clients on the tour from the small Bayeux train station with only stairs to Paris for the final night of the tour was not feasible or desirable. We had to get our vendor to provide a round trip motor coach for the transfer from Paris to Bayeux and then return to Paris. This visit enhanced our successful tour and prevented a potential disaster for our guests.
While some of our clients were aware of these efforts, it is the behind the scenes efforts that take a trip from good to excellent. We pride ourselves in providing exceptional experiences and work hard to deliver them to our guests.
Part of Our 2019 D Day Tour at the Airborne Museum on 6 June 2019
Anne and Hank with our 2018 TravelAge West Wave Award—a huge honor for a small travel agency
Pre and Post River Cruise Extensions—Our Knowledge will Enhance Your Trip
Most folks want to extend their stay either pre or post (usually both) in combination of their European river cruise. We excel in comparing the vendor’s offers compared to doing the trip on your own. Here is a great example of how our knowledge can enhance your trip.
Astronomical Clock on the Town Hall in Prague Old Town Square
Prague Old Town Square
Prague is a common pre or post cruise extension for river cruises. On our trips to Prague, we have guided clients and conducted recon visits to prepare our city guide.
On one trip, we were able to compare the offering of one vendor, AmaWaterways, of their extension to an independent trip by our clients or an extension led by us. We were able to go on a guided tour of some of the sights led by a guide hired by AmaWaterways and got to compare our services compared to their offering.
This is a key business differentiator between our services as compared to our competitors. We could now help our clients decide the best option for them during this segment of their vacation.
My Final Thoughts
It is my sincere hope you agree with us, that we have met our two goals of this blog—we can provide you great useful, information that will enhance your next vacation and we are the right folks to help you plan your next vacation.
When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, especially a pricey Europe river cruise, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience. And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process. We think we have all these qualities.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 49 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
