Debbie Thomas with March Travel Group, Dream Vacations

23/11/2024

Today is the last day of our amazing Cruise One/Dream Vacations Elevate National Conference. It has been a great week hearing about all the exciting new ships and other offerings from our vendor partners, technical updates to our day to day working systems from our headquarters staff and information on the future of AI from an industry leading outside speaker. All so that we can better serve you as we plan your next Dream Vacation.

21/11/2024

We had some time today after our morning conference session to enjoy beautiful Grand Turk.

20/11/2024

Last night was our awards ceremony. So excited that our franchise was recognized for being the top producer for Sandals. We were also recognized as members of the Circle of Excellence for being in the top 2% of franchises in total sales. I work with a group of talented associates and have amazing owners who have helped me build my business and who continue to support me as I continue gow my expertise in the travel industry so I can customized Dream Vacations to my clients. So happy I embarked on this 2nd career 7 years ago. Here’s to the March Travel Group.

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18/11/2024

We had a windy sail away yesterday as we began our 2025 Elevate Dream Vacations Conference cruise. After our kickoff seminar where we heard from our Celebrity Cruises hosts that information about their next class of ships will be arriving in early 2025 we had the afternoon to explore this beautiful ship. We then had our first fun evening event, a “Sport Your Team” cocktail party. Here’s a taste of what the cabins and pool deck is like on our home for the week, the beautiful Celebrity Ascent.

17/11/2024

So excited to be starting our yearly Dream Vacations National Conference. Looking forward to learning and networking with our amazing head quarters staff and vendors so I can Elevate my game and provide the best experience for my clients. Stay tuned throughout the week as I share my experience on the beautiful Celebrity Ascent.

24/03/2024

Another amazing shore excursion with Virgin Voyages in Tasmania, Australia. Started with Russell Falls at Mount Field national park (a pademelon and some parrots were hiding in the brush). Then on to an animal sanctuary (Tasmanian devils are so cute even though they have a bite force greater than a great white shark).

We had a delicious bbq lunch in historic Richmond (a Georgian town with the oldest Catholic Church in Australia and a bridge built in 1823 that is still in use - we crossed it on our motorcoach). We finished at a wine and cheese tasting at a beautiful winery (there was a kangaroo amongst the vines).

And we had fabulous weather. This trip is truly living up to my bucket list dreams.

21/03/2024

Yesterday we sailed trough New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. The area gets about 180 days of rain a year. Captain did a great job. Got us to each area a little early so we had a bit of sun peaking through in each location. Even with some gray sky’s the sites were wonderful. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

19/03/2024

Another wonderful excursion today. We stopped at the Maoreki boulders twice (low tide and after tide came in some). To me they almost look purposefully place. Then to the historic district of Oamaru. Then we finished the day with private access to an ecosanctuary near Dunedin.

This trip is living up to my idea of a dream vacation to this part of the world.

18/03/2024

Today we journeyed to Middle Earth. We traveled from the port of Timaru through Centerbury to Mount Sunday, where they filmed Edoras in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I just have to keep saying how beautiful New Zealand is. And it snowed in the high mountains of the southern alps three days ago to help make our pictures complete.

Sun came out at all our stops and we capped it off with a rainbow in the quaint town of Geraldine. Welcome to the lands of Rohan.

17/03/2024

Our tour of Wellington had some major glitches and we didn’t get to see everything on the schedule. However we rolled with it and got to see more of this beautiful country. Luckily it was a bright sunny day for our 8 hour tour and didn’t cloud up until we got back to the ship to sail away to our next port. And we finished with a gorgeous moon.

16/03/2024

Fun day at sea on Resilient Lady. Started with delicious brunch at the Wake. Then a day of speed jigsaw puzzles, Jenga, 3 hours relaxing in the spa’s thermal suite (while traveling companions relaxed in cabin and did a fitness class). Finished the day with a Virgin Voyage’s art scavenger hunt, dinner with wine or cocktail pairings at the Test Kitchen and finishing up with a comedy show.

So many options for your current mood on this ship. Let me know if you want to give Virgin Voyage’s a try.

14/03/2024

What happens when you combine an amazing fantasy author, a visionary director and a beautiful 12,000 acre sheep and cattle farm in New Zealand? You get Hobbiton!

Even on a cloudy day we had an amazing time walking around the shire. We also got to explore the newly opened interior of a hobbit hole.

Come explore Tolkien’s Shire with us.

13/03/2024

We are very happy with our midrange hotel, the M Social Auckland at Auckland harbor. We will be able to walk across the road to access the port and board our ship.

12/03/2024

12/03/2024

And the adventure begins. 15+ hour flight in our future. Here’s hoping for a little sleep. Night all. Next stop Auckland.

12/03/2024

We are looking forward to sharing our next travel adventure.

Chris and I are in Houston waiting to board our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. We will then take a day trip to Hobbiton before boarding Virgin Voyages Resilient Lady for a 12-night cruise down the east coast, through the Fjords and then over to Tasmania and Melbourne before disembarking in Sydney.

We are so excited and hope you will follow along on another of our bucket list journeys.