The Benefit of Group & Family Travel

Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist

www.dreamdestinations.com

We have a guest blogger today—our fearless leader of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC—my lovely wife Anne! So here are Anne’s thoughts:

I know this week’s blog is starting a bit differently and hope you’ll bear with me before I turn it over to the usual, intellectual, and proficient author (this is a bold overstatement of my writing skills—Hank). But I had an idea and wanted to steal a moment of your time.

Anne’s Inspiration for this Blog

Hello!

One thing captured my thoughts today, for a lot of different reasons. Maybe because it’s the first day of Spring; maybe it’s because we’re planning so many wonderful trips for clients who have become friends through the years (they usually start contact over the phone and through e-mails and have grown into close relationships); and thankfully, so many new people who have taken their desires to travel and have chosen us to assist them when their planning and letting us make their trips to Dream Destinations a reality!

(See what I did there? I like to think I am the clever one – hahaha!)

Traveling With Clients

Sorry, back to why I’m sharing my thoughts . . .

It has not only been our business, and a tremendous amount of pleasure working with people, but one of the biggest highlights throughout our years, especially since 2009 when we started river cruising, has been traveling with clients. We’ve gone on numerous trips: ocean cruises, river cruises, land tours with people we already knew and some who joined us are no longer strangers. They have become amazing friends, and we continue to have the opportunity of spending time together, exploring Europe.

The Benefits of Europe Group Travel

I’m going to tie this thought of Spring and a new beginning with a look at the past and hope it will encourage you to try something a little different.

How about getting a group of your friends and/or family together to take a trip together in Europe?

I know how difficult it is to arrange schedules, believe me, my sister has been trying to get the 4 of us brothers and sisters, along with our spouses together for years, just for lunch! Not to mention she’s hoping grandchildren could get time to join us.

But when you make a trip decision that has so much to offer for everyone (perhaps a river or ocean cruise) and no one would have to worry about the headaches that often accompany a group getting-together, like the host finding enough beds for sleeping arrangements, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning for a group for multiple days, definitely makes the agreement to meet and travel somewhere “neutral” with most obstacles eliminated look pretty enticing!

The additional fact that there is no worry about what to serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, doing the dishes, making the beds, making sure there’s plenty of snacks, having enough towels (not to mention keeping bathroom products in stock), the advantage of having options that would provide individual interests and entertainment during the trip removes the thorns and leaves just the rose on the bush!

We’re here to assist you in planning and booking your group trip. As always, we have photos to prove how much fun traveling with others has enhanced our lives and hope you’ll consider it for your travels.

Please enjoy these photos of some of our past groups:

Part of the 33 Folks on our 2019 75th Anniversary of D Day Group

Our Final Thoughts

Thanks to all of you for letting me sneak in this week and to all of you who have shared your time with us. A big thank you to those in the photos with whom we have made memories.

We’d love to do it again, just give us a call!

Great job Anne—I think we should invite back as a guest blogger soon!

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts. We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe. We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you. We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, 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@visitdd.com . We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!

ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 26 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 52 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

The Benefits of Group and Family Travel

Join Our Mailing List