Lee Cruises, Dream Vacations

03/01/2025

Just a heads up for those flying to or thru the UK in the coming months:

IMPORTANT: New UK Electronic Travel Authorization Requirement

As of January 8, 2025, the United Kingdom is implementing a new Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) requirement for travelers to enter or transit through the UK. All guests transiting through the UK (changing planes or airports) are required to hold an ETA. Travelers will need to apply online at least three days before departure.

UK ETAs can be obtained by downloading the UK ETA app on the App Store or Google Play. If you are unable to download the app, you may apply online using the link below.

You will need your passport handy as well as access to your email and a credit or debit card. The process includes filling out a form with your personal contact information, as well as taking a photo of your passport and yourself. The cost of the ETA is currently £10 (approximately $12 USD/$17 CAD*).

For more information, please download the app from one of the above links or click here:

24/12/2024

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2025. May the coming year bring you much peace, joy and happiness!!

14/12/2024

Had a wonderful time onboard Celebrity Ascent in November for our Dream Vacations Franchise National Conference. Our opportunity each year to meet face to face with fellow franchise owners/friends and representatives from travel vendors including pretty much every cruise line. And better yet it always happens on an awesome cruise ship in the Caribbean!

12/12/2024

For those of you south of SLC needing to book flights, don't forget to check flights out of the Provo Airport. More airlines and flights being added every year, very convenient to be only 10 or 15 minutes drive from the airport!

04/12/2024

Finally getting around to our review of our Virgin Voyages 4-night cruise last month that we were able to take prior to our National Conference cruise.

Virgin Voyages (one of Richard Branson's brands) is the new kid on the block as far as cruise lines, and they are definitely going for a different vibe as compared to other lines. No kids (18+ only), and more inclusive than most lines: all food venues and most non-alcoholic beverages are included in the price, as is Wi-Fi, gratuities and fitness classes. They are considered a premium cruise line, as are Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, and Disney.

We'd heard good things about them, but also heard they might not appeal to everyone, so we were happy for the chance to experience them in person. As with most cruise lines there were many things we liked, but also a few things not so much. Check out our PROS and CONS below and also the photos with comments to see if a cruise with Virgin is for you. We've also got some helpful video that we'll post later in some reels.

PROS:
- Great value considering all that is included at no extra cost
- Food is excellent, although there were some misses (see CONS)
- Caters to younger cruisers and average age is lower than other premium cruise lines, probably around mid-40's although plenty of 20+ and 30+ cruisers onboard.
- "Some" of the entertainment was among the best we've seen at sea - their unique, acrobatic performance and take on Romeo & Juliet was fantastic. But some of the shows.... ugh, not so much (see CONS)
- Great choice for fitness oriented cruisers, the gym(s) were awesome and fitness classes are included at no extra charge
- Has an irreverent, kind of Vegas-y vibe that may appeal to some
- We're not drinkers so no big deal for us, but we hear the way Virgin handles drink purchases/packages is more cost effective than other cruise lines
- The hammocks on every balcony (and most rooms are balconies) are wonderful! They might be reason alone for us to sail on VV again!

CONS:
- Their alternative to a traditional buffet (more like a food court, no self-serve) was hit-&-miss for us. It's not that it was bad, but the choices didn't vary much from day to day. And sometimes I just want to make my own dang salad!
- If you don't like to hear salty language from the entertainment performers (at any time of day, not just late night), VV is probably not for you.
- Speaking of entertainment, the performers were all very talented, but some of the shows were just really bizarre and not very enjoyable for us. Maybe we were too old or whatever, but we also noticed some other guests were pretty eager to leave some of the shows very early.
- May not appeal to older cruisers who like a more subdued, old-fashioned experience that you find with lines like Princess or Holland America.

28/11/2024

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! And thank you so much for your friendship and support over the years!

17/11/2024

Time for our 2024 National Conference on board Celebrity Ascent starting today! This week is all about connecting with travel industry leaders and fellow Dream Vacations franchise owners, learning, and networking so we can better serve you. Here's to a week of learning, laughter, inspiration and fun!

11/11/2024

Today we honor all who have served. Thank you Veterans! 🪖🎖️💙

23/10/2024

Getting so dang excited for this river cruise in the spring of next year with our group of 17! There are still a few balcony rooms available if anyone else would like to join us. Just message or give us a call and we can give you all the details. Thanks and have a great day!

With four restaurants, an expansive wellness studio, an onboard cinema and a full-sized pickleball court, AmaWaterways' award-winning AmaMagna is the ideal s...

27/09/2024

Just a heads up Viking is running a bunch of end-of-month promos that are good only through the end of September. Many of these promos are stackable and include discounted deposits, airfare and ship-board credit, and are especially good for first-time Viking travelers. Give us a call if you'd like to price a river or ocean cruise, in many cases we can even add additional ship-board credit through exclusive promos between our Dream Vacations Franchise HQ and Viking. Thanks!

13/08/2024

So we recently wrapped up a 7-night Alaska cruise onboard Princess Cruise Line's Royal Princess. As travel agents we always hear that Princess (along with Holland America) have been doing Alaska longer than other cruise lines and can offer an elevated experience compared to others. But is that truly the case?

THE BOTTOM LINE: Princess does do a great job and certainly offers some advantages over many other lines when it comes to Alaska. But that doesn't necessarily mean they would be best for everyone (see PROS and CONS below). We had a fantastic experience on this trip and Princess played a part in that, BUT I think we have to give the biggest kudos to Mother Nature - who really came through for us with 7 straight days of sunshine, temps in the 60's and 70's, and ZERO rain! That is EXTREMELY RARE for Alaska and we almost feel like we're doing false advertising posting all these sunny photos!

PROS:

1. Having been doing Alaska for so long, Princess does offer some perks that some cruise lines can't offer including the following:
- Access to Glacier Bay Natl. Park
- Preferred/premium docking locations at some ports
- Great pre or post cruise land tours into the heart of Alaska (Princess actually owns many of the trains & lodges that operate throughout the area, with emphasis on Natl Parks)

2. Princess always has an onboard Naturalist who gives lectures throughout the cruise on such topics as "Whales", "Glaciers", etc. These are very well done and draw big crowds. If you do a Princess cruise you should definitely attend these. In Alaska, Princess also brings local experts and park rangers onboard who do a great job giving presentations and narrating over the ship loudspeakers while sailing in Glacier Bay.

3. The itinerary for this cruise, which started near Anchorage (Whittier) and ended in Vancouver allowed for longer stays in most ports and less sea days than a typical Seattle round-trip itinerary.

4. The food and entertainment were great. We especially liked the buffet setup and felt like the food was a step up compared to many cruise lines.

CONS:

1. While the price of a typical Princess Alaska cruise is reasonable, you can usually find less expensive options through Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and maybe others.

2. Princess ships don't usually offer all the fun stuff that kids may expect on a cruise (like water slides, race cars, rock walls, rope courses, etc.). So although Princess does offer kids clubs, and there were many families with kids on our cruise, we did hear cases where kids got a little bored & restless while on the ship.

Check out the descriptions on the photos for more details. Also on this trip we took a lot of short videos that we'll be including in reels over the next few days. Kudos if you've read all the way to here! Thanks and happy cruising!!

17/07/2024

One of the nice benefits we can offer our clients is Cruise Fare Watch. This is how it works: Once you have booked your cruise through Lee Cruises, we set up a cruise fare watch on your cruise that will notify us anytime the price changes. If the price happens to go down, then we will work with the cruise lines to recoup those savings on your behalf - either by rebooking at the lower price, or in some cases getting you onboard credit in the amount of the price difference (sometimes minus a small fee). Now this doesn't always work 100% of the time, but in most cases we can pass those savings on to you.

EASY-PEASY and you don't have to do a thing, we do all the work for you! Just recently Kim was able to give some clients a nice surprise by letting them know she was able to reduce the price of their already booked cruise by a significant amount. They were very happy and we're likewise always happy when we can do this for you!

04/07/2024

03/07/2024

Just a heads up - Viking has some great last-minute deals being offered this week only. DM or call us for more details. And just a reminder.... if you book a Viking cruise through Lee Cruises, we can ALWAYS meet the price you'd get booking direct with Viking, just one of the benefits we can offer as Viking Certified Experts. AND we often have added perks we can offer exclusively through our travel franchise, such as Shipboard Credit Vouchers valued in the hundreds of dollars . Happy Independence Day to you all!!

07/06/2024

*Book & Save 10% on Viator tours and excursions

Hey just a heads up for anyone thinking of booking a tour or excursion through Viator - if you book using the link below and use promo code VIATLN24 on checkout you will receive a 10% discount. *NOTE: this discount is good for any future date tours, but only for bookings made June 8 through June 17.

26/04/2024

Finally getting around to reporting on our 20-day March Ancient Mediterranean Antiquities trip. This trip included 15 days onboard the Viking Saturn ocean cruise ship with visits to ports in Turkey, Greece and Italy. We also spent 3 days in Cappadocia (Turkey) prior to boarding the ship, and 2 days in Rome post-cruise.

BOTTOM LINE: This trip was FANTASTIC, and made extra special in that all of Tom's siblings and spouses were able to be along for the adventure. With only 1 sea day during the entire trip, our days were packed with highly educational, inspirational, entertaining, and just plain FUN excursions and tours. We were often a bit worn out by the end of the day, but after a little time back at the ship to unwind, have dinner, and relax, we were ready for the next day's adventures.

WOULD YOU ENJOY THIS KIND OF TRIP? If you're into ancient Greek, Roman, or Ottoman empire history & architecture, or Spartans & Trojans, or early Christian history including the journeys of Paul, Peter, and John, a philosophy buff, or just really into handmade Turkish rugs, you would LOVE this trip. Or if you like epic cities like Istanbul, Athens, and Rome, or walking the old cobblestone roads through quant little Greek and Italian Island villages, this would also be a great trip for you.

For more details, check out the photos and accompanying descriptions.