Michael Akana, Travel Advisor

01/23/2024

You are not in Kansas anymore. You are not on land. You are aboard the Icon of the Seas surrounded by an eighteen piece orchestra and drawn in to the Emerald City and world of Oz.

What a privilege to be among the first to see the full production. Photos are from the Common Ground Executive Q&A session on Sunday. Royal Caribbean senior executives—Jason Liberty, Michael Bayley, and Vicki Freed welcomed us aboard, presented the Icon of Seas, and fielded questions. They also gave us a show—one number that morning with full productions in the afternoon and evening.

01/22/2024

I love the elevator system on Icon of Seas. Instead of pressing Up or Down to call an elevator, passengers select their destination floor on a panel. The system chooses the elevator and display the door (A, B , C, D, E, F, G, H, I , J, K) of the elevator that will deliver them to their chosen floor.

Daniel Kline explains the annoyance of waiting on elevators well in a news article. Headline on elevators being a massive problem may be a bit over-sensational, but the story is solid.

The innovation on new ships is exciting, offering new venues and features as well as improving the overall experience.

The cruise line has a clever solution that makes a passenger pain point a positive.

12/02/2022

Michael Akana, ECCS returned to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to board Ponant Le Lyrial for a 10-day expedition to Antarctica in February 2022.

Travel Advisors that achieve Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Elite Cruise Counsellor Scholar (ECCS) certification continue the tradition of a rigorous annual schedule of training, experience and sales, modeling the values of CLIA's certification program.

Why trust your vacation plans to an internet warehouse, big box store or car club? Call an Accredited Cruise Counsellor to book your next vacation.

https://cruising.org/en/find-a-travel-agent

Hint. Enter a zipcode near you. (Try 94019 (or anywhere within 100 miles of Half Moon Bay), expand the search to 100 miles and let us know who shows up at the top.)

12/02/2022

Photos used in the Emblematic Antarctica Video.

Michael Akana, ECCS returned to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to board Ponant Le Lyrial for a 10-day expedition to Antarctica in February 2022.

Travel Advisors that achieve Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Elite Cruise Counsellor Scholar (ECCS) certification continue the tradition of a rigorous annual schedule of training, experience and sales, modeling the values of CLIA's certification program.

Why trust your vacation plans to an internet warehouse, big box store or car club? Call an Accredited Cruise Counsellor to book your next vacation.

https://cruising.org/en/find-a-travel-agent

Hint. Enter a zipcode near you. (Try 94019 (or anywhere within 100 miles of Half Moon Bay), expand the search to 100 miles and let us know who shows up at the top.)

11/30/2022

Elite Cruise Counsellor selling travel since 2006. Visited Antarctica (the 7th continent). Adding here just a few photos.

11/30/2022

Upon boarding the Discovery Princess for the Love Boat Cast Reunion Cruise in October, Michael Akana donned his Ensenada fedora (bought for $8 in June). Lacking a feather, he tucked a Travel Advisor's Handbook business card in the band and posed for a photo. Ok...the cruise photographer used a green screen for the shoot but swore the ship would look "just like the real thing." Only...the fedora had a slight green hue, faded, and merged with the image of the ship. After the cruise I got around to editing the photo just a touch. Details make the difference.

11/30/2022

Travel Advisors that achieved The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Elite Cruise Counsellor (ECCS) certification continue the tradition of a rigorous annual schedule of training, experience and sales, modeling the values of CLIA's certification program.

Here Michael Akana explores South America, the Beagle Channel, Straits of Magellan and the Antarctic Ocean in 2007 on the Star Princess, returning in 2022 for a luxury expedition cruise on Ponant Le Lyrial. With 9 additional cruises during the year including naming ceremonies for Celebrity Beyond and Wonder of the Seas, Michael keeps his relationships and experience with the cruise lines current.

Why trust your vacation plans to an internet warehouse, big box store or car club? Call an Accredited Cruise Counsellor to book your next vacation.

https://cruising.org/en/find-a-travel-agent

Hint. Enter a zipcode near you. (Try 94019 (or anywhere within 100 miles of Half Moon Bay), expand the search to 100 miles and let me know who shows up at the top.)