Liz Hough, Author at LiBT Agents ONLY site

Cruising Mistakes…what you should know.

Cruising is one of the best vacations you can take. You have a floating hotel, people are waiting on you hand and foot, shows and activities, and you have all the food in the world you could desire. The best part is, ONE price! However, if you make a few mistakes, it could ruin your cruise vacation. So let’s talk about what not to do…

1.Picking the “right” cabin. – If you think that you want to save the most money and pick the cheapest cabin this could be your worst investment ever. It may not be your cup of tea being on the lowest deck near the engine. You wake up every morning to the sound of rotating motors and your cabin vibrating. This could definitely ruin your trip! Talk with your travel agent about what type of things you are looking for out of your cabin, and they can work with you in picking a great spot while still saving you money.

2. Don’t spend your money if you don’t need to! – There are many great shops on the cruise where you can purchase Duty-Free items. However, it doesn’t mean that you need to go overboard on purchasing everything onboard…no pun intended! Shopping onboard is like shopping at the outlets, ask yourself if you would get it at the outlets. If not, then pass. Also, the beverage package can be great for those who drink a lot of soda or alcohol. However, if you don’t plan on drinking that much then just pay as you go.

3. Not using the WiFi once on land. – The WiFi on ships is extremely slow. Many clients tell me that it took them 30 minutes just to get onto the page they needed, and then only had 30 minutes left to do work! Money right down the water slide…pun intended. We also recommend that once you get to your destination, find a coffee shop that has free WiFi. Here you can get a few things done and even make phone calls over the WiFi. In the Caribbean I have used Dunkin Donuts many times.

4. Elevators, maybe pass on using them. – The glass elevators on the ships are beautiful. They allow you to see everything as you are going up or coming down. There is a huge bottleneck in getting where you need to be though, they stop on every floor where someone is waiting to get on. It may take you 10 minutes to get downstairs by using the elevator, but only a 5-minute walk. Head to the stairs to go down and save yourself some time, and you can avoid being smushed in an elevator.

5. Forgetting the crew. – The crew is there to also make sure that your experience is amazing. Many times, they will have been on this same ship for months. They see new people every 7 to 12 days. A simple “Hello” or “Thank you” goes a long way with them. On one of the cruises that I took, I made sure to thank our stewardess every day we saw them. Every night we came back with a different towel animal on our bed with a note saying have a great night. I made them smile, and they made me smile.

Make sure keep these few things in mind when taking your next cruise and it will make for a better vacation for sure!

Did you know that Life is Better Traveling gets many EXTRAs for our clients when they book their cruise with us? That’s right! Our clients have seen $300 onboard credits, Free excursions, and even an amazing cocktail hour on the helipad of the cruise ship! Give us a call and let’s see what we can get for you!

Fill out the form below to get started planning your next European Vacation. Looking for a motor coach tour, self-drive, or private tour, we can easily put together the perfect European vacation for you and your family’s needs.

When you book your vacation with a member of the Life is Better Traveling Team, you are supporting local families and business. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 4 years, we have become an AMAZING travel agency due to your support!

Our Lady of Paris is also known as this cathedral in Paris

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If you keep up with the news you had seen that last week one of the most iconic cathedrals in Paris succumbed to a major fire, Notre-Dame de Paris or Our Lady of Paris. This medieval cathedral begun construction in 1160 and was mostly completed by 1260. For almost 500 years continual modifications were done, but during the French Revolution much of these modifications were either damaged or destroyed. Then in the 19^th Century Napoleon I had his coronation in the cathedral, and the popular book The Hunchback of Notre-Dame was released. Seeing renewed interest in the cathedral, new projects including cleaning the facade from centuries of soot of grime gave a new look to Our Lady of Paris.

12 million people visit this cathedral every year, making it the most visited monument in Paris. People come to see the arches and buttresses of the nave, the 19^th century spire, the gargoyles, and the illustration of the Last Judgement all around the outside. Once inside the cathedral, seeing the North Rose Window depicting scenes from the life is Christ is breath-taking. The massive organ originally built in 1403 but was replaced in 1730 with a much larger organ, is one of the largest organs in Europe with more than 8,000 pipes. Bells, crypts, and galleries filled with priceless materials are also things people flock this beautiful building.

On April 15^th, 2019 many people watched in horror on various news outlets as a huge fire consumed the roof of the cathedral. Watching and waiting to hear what had been damaged made many people feel like they were on pins and needles. The thought of this iconic structure and all its priceless relics being destroyed was heart-breaking.

After a few hours, the fire-fighters finally got the fire under control before determining that if the fire had continued just a few more minutes and the worst may have happened. A week later we are finding out that most of the facade, towers, walls, buttresses, the pipe organ, and stained-glass windows remained untouched. It was also determined that many statues and relics had been removed for cleaning purposes while construction workers worked in the area where the fire started. Sections of the stone ceiling had collapsed when the iconic spire came down.

It is amazing that this structure that has been around for almost 900 years had to go through this massive fire. However, I was thankful to hear that much of this iconic, well-known cathedral will be fine. Rebuilding will be the next step, with many billionaires already pouring in pledges of hundreds of millions of Euros to restore it. With each end comes a new beginning, so I hope this Lady of Paris has a bigger and brighter spire ahead.

Want to really immerse yourself in the culture? Try this….

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Catacombs…

When visiting Europe, most people tell me they want to visit famous paintings and sculptures in museums and galleries, 500-year old churches and basilicas, taste wine from some of the most respected vineyards, and enjoy new spices and food. Yes, Europe is spectacular and has all these wonderful things. No matter how many times I visit Europe, I always see something amazing and learn about a new culture. One cultural difference that I have always found fascinating were how Europeans treated their dead. Burying them in vast chambers called Catacombs.

The very first catacombs were a system of underground tombs in Rome where the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul were said to have been buried. Since Rome originally created these tombs, cities thereafter also called their catacombs, Roman Catacombs. It wasn’t until after the early 1800’s that each city started to name their own catacombs including the city of Paris, which infamously holds the remains of close to 2 million people.

My first time going to visit a catacomb was to the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo in Sicily. I wasn’t sure what to expect from these 400-year old catacombs. Quite frankly, I thought I was going to walk into a dark, chilly, and smelly underground chamber of bones. I was quite surprised. These catacombs were well lit with natural light from the outside and lights inside. There was a nice walkway with railings for support. Some of the dead were dressed in their burial clothes, while others were just bones. It was quite surreal to be walking around all these bones. At the same time, I felt a sense of togetherness. A culture that was keeping all their dead together, and were allowed to visit to see them whenever they wanted.

This experience has taught me to open my eyes to new adventures. What I see on the television or through pictures is not the same as what it is really like when you are there in person. I am sure that not everyone enjoys going through catacombs, but for me it was an experience that I will never forget. I learned about another culture’s view of the death. I learned that it was not as scary as I thought it would be and that despite many catacombs being depicted as dark, chilly underground layers, it was quite nicely displayed.

Various European Cities are well-known for their catacombs. Besides the most well-known ones in Rome and Paris, there are some in London, Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Ukraine, Malta, Finland and Greece. There is even a catacomb here in the US at the St. Patrick Old Cathedral located in New York City.

I get a lot of requests where people want to immerse themselves into the culture of the country they are going to visit. I recommend that one way you can do this is to go visit the catacombs in that region. This will really give you a good glimpse into how that particular culture views deaths and takes care of their dead.

Some recommend tours in Europe:

Rome: Skip the Line: Crypts and Roman Catacombs Small-Group Walking Tour
Paris: Skip-the-Line: Paris Catacombs Tour with VIP Access to Restricted Areas
Sicily: Palermo Catacombs and Monreale Half-day Tour
Czech Republic: Kutna Hora Half-Day Tour Including the Bone Church Kostnice

Kids Table Talk-Secret Places in Universal

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We talk about all the amazing rides at Universal Studios. Make sure to find out about one of our favorite “secret” places to go at Universal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0-4QtTKkk8&feature=youtu.be

Table Talk…Why USE a travel agent?

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So let’s talk about Why to USE a Travel Agent! We get this question sall the time, Why Should I USE You? Well, we are going to answer all those questions and myths that come along with using a travel agent.

When you book your vacation with a member of the Life is Better Traveling Team, you are supporting local families and business. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past 4 years, we have become an AMAZING travel agency due to your support!

The #1 Visited Cathedral in Ireland!

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral

In just a few short months I will be taking a group of people through the Irish Countryside visiting castles, libraries, museums, ruins, and of course distilleries. Many times when people call me about putting together a trip to Ireland they want me to include Blarney Castle but one of the most iconic churches is never on the list. Is it forgotten or just off the beaten path?

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is the largest church in all of Ireland. This majestic cathedral has been witness to nearly 800 years of Irish history. Is St. Patrick’s Cathedral related to St. Patrick? Not so much a relation but it is believed that the church was founded on the site where St. Patrick baptized converts. If you visit the church you can not only feel the presence of what happened on this spot, but enjoy exquisite stained-glass windows, marble statues, and medieval tiling.

Besides this spot being a spot for literary pilgrims, the author of “Gulliver’s Travels,” Jonathan Swift once served as dean here and is now buried within its gray stone walls. If you decide to visit the castle and do an independent tour a guided tour, make sure to stop by to see all this amazing cathedral has to offer. You might want to make sure you opt in for the skip-the-line access to get into the cathedral.

Things to Know Before You Go

Travelers can explore independently or take part in guided tours, which take place several times daily from Monday to Saturday.
The cathedral is wheelchair accessible.
The Dublin Pass includes cathedral entry.
Take time to stroll through the adjacent St. Patrick’s Park, a grassy square with perfectly framed views of the cathedral.

How to Get There

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is located in the heart of Dublin city center, within easy strolling distance of several other big-name attractions, including Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle. Ride the Luas Green Line tram to the terminus, St. Stephen’s Green; St. Patrick’s is about a 10-minute walk from there. Dublin Bus run several routes (49, 54a, 56a, 77a, and 151) to the cathedral.

Hours: Mon-Fri: 9:30am-5pm. Mar-Oct: open Saturday from 9am-6pm, Sunday 9am-10:30am, 12:30pm-2:30pm, 4:30pm-6pm. Nov-Feb: open Saturday from 9am-5pm, Sunday 9am-10:30am, 12:30pm-2:30pm

Admission: Adults: €6.50

Some information provided by Viator.com

As always, Life is Better Traveling!

TableTalk : Disney’s Bounceback Offer!

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Our fifth table talk is about Disney’s Bounce Back Offer. You want to make sure you listen to this one as you can save thousands of dollars while on your next Disney Vacation with what we talk about.

Table Talk… Interview with a Travel Agent

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For some time I have been wanting to sit down with travel agents to ask the hard questions. I am no Diane Sawyer or Barbara Walters, but I wanted to get down to some of the tough questions that as travel agents we get asked.

I came up with a series called Table Talk…Interview with a Travel Agent. I sit down with either one of the agents under the Life is Better Traveling brand or another brand and we talk about the questions we get a lot from our clients.

For our first Table Talk…Interview with a Travel Agent I sat down with Heather Joyce with Life is Better Traveling. Heather focuses on helping plan vacations that for people either wanting to do a Disney Destinations and/or a cruise. We talked about Walt Disney World Resorts. We discussed the Pros and Cons of each category, and why we liked some resorts over other resorts. We got through some really good information in just 15 MINUTES!

This was our very first table talk, but we have many more to come. We hope you enjoy these videos and that they help. Let us know if there are any topics that you are interested in us discussing and we will make sure to cover them.

As always, Life is Better Traveling!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLeAPC6-jgM

Traveling with a group? How to break the ice and make new friends.

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How to “break the ice” with new people in your group?

My travel business is primarily group travel of friends and family. When becoming a travel consultant I didn’t expect to be doing a lot of group travel but it fell into my lap and I absolutely love it! I love that there is a group of people with a common goal, TRAVEL!

When booking a group one of the more common concerns people have is that do not know everyone in the group. I believe it is human nature to initially feel timid around people you don’t know. I know I do and I found myself always asking the wrong questions. Where do you work? How many children or grandchildren do you have? These are some of the questions that seem to be common but are a bit awkward. I have always found that people don’t want to talk about their work. After all, they are on vacation and really don’t even want to think about work, so I would avoid this question like the plague. My advice: Keep It Light!

We want open ended questions that will help get you information about them so you feel like you are connecting with them. Their reasons for taking the same trip should be one of your first questions. This is a great ice breaker because it isn’t a Yes or No question. They have to answer you with information. For example: “I am taking this trip because my husband and I have been wanting to take a cruise around the world for years. We didn’t want to go ourselves and when we heard from our friend that they were going with a group of people they knew, we thought it would be more fun to travel with a group than just the two of us.” This is a great information.

Even though they do travel on their own, they love to meet new people and experience new things. There are even more questions that you can ask from this one answer and the conversation will keep going and going. Before you know it, you have made a new friend!

Traveling with family can be an exciting experience also. For many years my husband and I traveled with my family. We trekked around Europe by boat, motor-coach, train, and buses. We had a lot of fun seeing new places and experiencing new cuisines together that we still talk about them today. Even though we crafted memories of a lifetime, there were a couple of times during the trip when I found myself needing a moment for myself.

I love my family, but I quickly learned that we didn’t have to do all the same excursions, tours, or even eat at the same restaurants. This holds true to any group who travel together for an extended period of time. You don’t have to do everything together ALL the time. It is your vacation too so pick the excursions that you want to take or eat at a restaurant one night that you want to enjoy.

Some of my best memories are the ones where my husband and I enjoyed our time away from the rest of the group. Like when we ate dinner by ourselves on our anniversary in a small pub on Rose Street in Edinburgh or the two of us almost getting lost in the bazaar in Tunis.

When you think about your next vacation don’t be afraid to say yes to a friend who is getting together a group trip. You will meet new people and experience a vacation in a whole new light. I promise you that you will have the most fun on any vacation that you have ever taken, but you have to make sure that you give yourself some free time for you or you and your loved one.

Here are some ice-breaking questions to ask people in your vacation group:

Question #1: Why did you decide to take this vacation?

Question #2: What do you think will be the most interesting place we see?

Question #3: Who do you think will be the person in the group that will make us laugh the most?

Question #4: Which tours or excursion have you chosen to take?

Question #5: What is your most favorite place in the world that you have already traveled to? (I love this questions because people will go on for minutes telling you why they loved that place and convince you that you need to go there too.

Vacation Rentals : Good or Bad?

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I recently had a person contact me regarding helping plan a vacation to Italy. Before wanting to work with me in planning this trip with them they had one question…”Do you book Air BnB? We want the Authentic Italian Vacation feel and we feel that staying at AirBnB places will do that for us.”

Year after year, more and more vacation requests come in asking us if we book vacation rentals, specifically AirBnB. Even though there are many vacation rental sites, AirBnB has become synonymous with vacation rentals. With this request however, I was a bit unsure why it wouldn’t be authentic to stay in a hotel? After all, how can you get more of an authentic Italian experience then by staying in Italy itself.

I am going to be openly honest right now with spoiler alerts about vacation rentals. If you don’t want to know these spoilers because you like vacation rentals, then I recommend closing this email right now. If you are interested in finding out the truth, then let’s get started. There are many vacation rental sites out there just like AirBnB that you can book your stay for your upcoming vacation. It seems like a great deal that you can stay in a 2-bedroom apartment in New York city overlooking Time Square for $100 a night or rent out an entire Tuscan Villa for a week for just $800!

I remember when I was little my mother always told me that if it sounded too good to be true it probably was too good to be true. Many times, these amazing deals that you find aren’t as they are advertised or marketed. Yes, you get the 2-bedroom apartment overlooking Time Square but the rooms are the size of a bathroom and over-looking means turn your head all the way to the left to see Time Square. Maybe the Tuscan Villa you rented doesn’t look like anyone has lived it in for 15 years and the beds are even older than that. If this is the type of authentic experience that you are looking for, then you won’t be disappointed.

With so many vacation rental sites on the internet, many people will put their house, apartment, or villa up for you to rent. They go up so fast that my one concern is who is vetting these people or even going to the places. The worse part is that you won’t know for sure until you actually get to the destination if the place is going to work for you. Unfortunately, the amount of vacation rentals that go up a day is more than the company can actually verify. The best way to know if the place that you are renting is what they say it is, is by checking the verifications of the person who is renting. When someone stays at a person’s rental property they then can review the person and property on the vacation rental site. This helps give you a better understanding of who is actually legitimate and good to rent from for your stay.

Once you have verified who you want to stay with, it is a matter of seeing availability and pricing. If the place is available then it is time to book it. This is where you need to read the fine print. Last year a friend of mine decided to rent a house at one of the Delaware beaches through one of these vacation rental sites. She picked her house, booked it, and was billed an extra $300 that was not part of the booking process. This additional $300 was “hidden fees.” I would say they were more than “hidden,” they were really non-existent until she got her credit card statement. However, if you read the fine print it will tell you how much you will pay in additional fees to use these sites.

Ok, now you have booked your stay and you have calmed down about the extra fees, there is still more fine print to read! Yes, there is so much paperwork involved when booking a vacation rental. Don’t forget to read what is actually included in the rental. Is Free Wi-Fi included, a cleaning fee, use of the pool if the property has one, use of anything else that the property may have you thought you could use, what time you need to be there to get the keys, and the list goes on and on.

One of the main things in Europe when staying at a vacation rental is making sure that you are there at the exact time stated you need to be there to get the keys. The owner will only wait for a few minutes and then be gone leaving you with no place to stay for the night. Yes, this is a big compliant from vacation rental people. Many people just assume like a hotel the owner will be available for check-in when they are available to get there. This isn’t the case, so make sure to read the fine print as to what time you need to be there.

Now that you have a bit more understanding of how vacation rentals work, and going back to my original request to book an AirBnb, Life is Better Traveling does book vacation rentals with our reputable suppliers. We do not specifically use AirBnb, which again, I know the name is synonymous with the term vacation rental. What we do for our clients however is also look to see if a nice hotel with breakfast included is cheaper than staying at a vacation rental. I have personally found for some of my clients that a 2-bedroom vacation rental is more expensive than staying at a hotel in town with breakfast included. You then also get all the amenities that a hotel provides including a check-in desk to check-in at your own convenience, a concierge, a place to store your luggage until you check-in or check-out, spa services, a gym, laundry, and the list goes on.

If you are thinking you want to do some type of vacation rental either in Europe, the Caribbean, or here in the states make sure to contact one of our travel agents to help you find a great place with a reputable supplier.