December 2021
Happy Holiday Season, Friend!
I love this time of year because it reminds me to be grateful for all that I have in my life. As friends, family and clients, when I think of all I’m grateful for — I count you twice!
We’re back from our cruise on Celebrity Apex, which was our Dream Vacations Franchise National Conference. It’s an incredible opportunity to network and learn from our preferred partners, get face time with our headquarters team, and collaborate with our travel advisor colleagues.
I have to say that the ship, crew and food on Celebrity Apex were the stars of the show. The ship just launched in June 2021 and the crew could not be happier to have guests on board again. The food was amazing and we ate in a different restaurant every night — that’s 7 restaurants!
Our two favorites were Eden and Le Petite Chef. You know when you have those special meals that are just too good to describe? That was our dinner at Eden! Bob had the deconstructed Reuben as an appetizer — so different and incredibly delicious. My lobster casserole was not a casserole at all, but huge chunks of lobster that were sweet, tender and delicious.
Similarly, the food at Le Petite Chef was incredible, but the show is hard to explain. Luckily, I did shoot a short video, because I have never seen anything like it! If you’d like to see what I mean, here’s a link to Le Petite Chef short video!
Bob and I are both writing blogs about different highlights — so check back for those in a couple of weeks!
Asia is a trending destination right now. Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan are in demand and super fun to plan. We’re working on a land vacation and a cruise vacation for Asia right now.
We still have 2 cabins available for our exclusive luxury wine cruise to South America and we’re working on adding a pre and/or post land program. It just seems crazy to be in Santiago and Buenos Aires and not explore the wine regions further!
Here’s a link to the detailed itinerary, in case you wanted a peek at the details…
We now have 10 confirmed for our Birding Adventure in Chilé — leaving only two spots available — and plan to add the details to our site very soon.
With ongoing uncertainty regarding the omicron COVID-19 variant, the Biden Administration released new guidelines on December 2nd for inbound travelers to the U.S. including U.S. citizens. This comes on the heels of a travel ban from eight countries in southern Africa put in place just over a week ago. Below are the main elements of the new policy, which were effective Monday, December 6, 2021.
U.S. Citizens Required to Test Within One Day of Travel
Effective December 6, all U.S. citizens, regardless of vaccination status, will need to show proof of negative COVID test taken within 1 day of travel, or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, before they board their flight. Previously, all vaccinated travelers were required to produce a negative viral test within three days of travel to the United States, and unvaccinated U.S. citizens to show negative test within one day of departure. The test can be either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) such as a PCR test.
Mask Mandate Extended
The federal mask mandate on public transportation, including international travel, will be extended through March 18, 2022. This includes transportation hubs such as airports and indoor bus terminals. Fines for noncompliance are a minimum of $500 and up to $3,000 for repeat offenders.
What do I think about this? I think that the testing facilities are going to get much better and faster, because our travel partners (cruise lines, resorts, airlines, etc) will demand it.
Look for our next newsletter in early February. And remember, you can unsubscribe anytime and we promise not to take it personally.
In the meantime, we wish you lots of love, laughter, and fun adventures in the coming month. As always, please reach out if we can help you with anything at all. You know we love to help.
Always choose adventure,
