Special Savings for my Clients

I want to cover just a few of the savings out there for my clients, it is never too early to plan your next vacation.  If you are looking for a certain vacation let me know and I will keep checking the pricing for you.

This week I want to share a few. 

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has another BOGO sale starting, save 50% off the second person in your cabin. 

Delta Vacations has special savings on Mexico, Hawaii and Caribbean travel just to name a few!  Also I love Delta's Flexible Group travel, call me to get your group started!

Royalton in St Lucia

Viking River Cruises has several offers going on and the savings are great!

Apple Vacations and Funjet Vacations also have some great pricing.


I always tell my clients to start looking early for your travel.  All you need to do is send me an email with your travel needs and I will make sure you are getting the best deal, no service fees. 


Remember these are just a few of the travel savings out there!

Fun in San Diego

I feel like it has been along time since I updated my travel blog, but living in Minnesota we have to take advantage of our summer!  I spend as much time as I can at our summer place so that keeps me pretty busy!  However I recently spent a long weekend in San Diego visiting my son who lives in the area.  I always talk about international travel, but I loved San Diego so much I wanted to share my experience.

The San Diego Airport is really nice, I used Super Shuttle for my transportation to our hotel, I was really impressed with the service.  Of course they had my flight info and sent me a text letting me know when I had my luggage to text them my location and they picked us right up! 
I booked the Embassy Suites Downtown Bayside for several reasons, the location was perfect, free full breakfast and a Managers Happy Hour were great!

I mentioned the location of the hotel, here is a picture from our window.  Isn't this amazing?

I could not have asked for a better location, we were right across the street from the bay and so many things to do and see, in the four days I spent in San Diego I walked more than 20 miles.  We also took many lifts, and the train.  We spent on afternoon at Mission Beach which is beautiful.

I had to add the photo of the sushi burrito!  My daughter Paige went on this trip with me, and it was her birthday during the trip.  She really wanted a sushi burrito and we tried to find that for her birthday but we could not.  So when my son was taking us to the airport she found a place and finally she had her sushi burrito.  I am not a sushi fan but she loved it so if you go to San Diego give it a try!

I had been to San Diego one other time, and we stayed in the Old Town area and loved it but I was excited to see more of San Diego and it did not disappoint.  We spent time in Old Town, Gaslamp, Mission Beach, Little Italy, and the Bayside area where we were staying.  I felt the city was very tourist friendly, clean, and I always felt safe, however we never stayed out too late at night.  And I felt safe because my son is a Marine!

If you are looking for a fun trip I would recommend San Diego, there is so much to do and the weather was beautiful!  

Give me a call for more information 763-878-2763, or email cindy@vacationsrspecialtravel.com 

Looking for a European Vacation?

I went to Spain a few years ago, and loved it!  It was not on my travel list however my daughter(Paige) was doing the study aboard program in Salamanca Spain, so i just had to visit!  It just happened my other daughter (Lynsey) just graduated with her undergrad so why not go to Spain! 

I recommend booking a flight with Delta and selecting the Delta Comfort seats, we had only 2 seats in our area so that was very nice.

As I often say with travel "mistakes were made" this was no different than most vacations and they are great learning moments.  For example when traveling in Europe do not over pack, you are moving that suitcase off planes, trains and buses!  Someone in our group took the large suitcase (not me)!  And when you arrive after your overnight flight do not go to bed!  Yes we did, on the plus side I booked a hotel so when we arrived we would have a room.  However napping all day was not really my plan!  Another mistake was booking a hotel with a shuttle but not knowing how to contact the hotel, and the taxi got lost!  Okay a few more mistakes were made but I do not want to spend the time on mistakes.

We arrived in Madrid, slept, then headed out on the bus the next morning to Salamanca which is a beautiful place with so much history (like all of Spain).  I loved the hotel we stayed at because our balcony was huge, more like a deck, and views of the cathedral! 

Then off on the train to Madrid, then overnight train to Barcelona, now that was an experience!  I loved Barcelona, we did the bus tour which basically kicked us off when they were done so we had to figure out where we were.  Lots of walking, lots of drinking amazing wine, and you can't forget the food!

I loved my trip to Spain, and even if "mistakes were made" it was a great destination. 



If you are interested give me a call at 763-878-2763 or email cindy@vacationsrspecialtravel.com. 

Vacation Option Mazatlan

Hi everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your summer, but before long it will be time to start planning that winter escape!
One of my favorite destinations is Mazatlan!  I have been there about 3 times in the last few years, the first time I went on a FAM.  A FAM is a trip Travel consultants take to get to know a destination, resorts and tours.  I liked this destination because I loved the old Mexico feel to the area.  They have a great boardwalk, great food, and some really fun tours.  My husband and I have went twice, the last time I went with a group of friends and we stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay which is a beautiful resort just a short ride from the main area of Mazatlan.  They have a shuttle that you can take to their sister resort the Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan which is right in the middle of the fun! 

Just a few fun pictures, we did the sunset cruise with our group and it was so much fun, I would totally recommend it!  The resort is landscaped beautifully, I loved the small water ponds and falls with beautiful flowers.  We upgraded to the Master Suite and it was huge, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.  However we spent little time in the room.  They had great dining and you could also visit the sister resort for dinner which had great options.  They also had an adults pool with a bar, and the main pool had a swim up also.  If you want more information about this destination or the resorts please let me know I have been to most of the all inclusive resorts.  Contact me at 763-878-2763 or email me at cindy@vacationsrspecialtravel.com.

And follow my blog so you do not miss a thing!

Office on the lake!

Just a quick note today about what has been going on and when you need to book that next vacation.

Today I get to work from the lake!  It is crazy!  One of the great things about being home based is I can work from anywhere!  Which is great for me and my clients.

Just a quick plug for booking your vacation with a travel agent, just think of us as your travel assistant.  I encourage my clients to contact me with any questions, concerns or needs.  I want to show my clients the value you I can add to their vacation.  We work with our suppliers to make sure everything is taken care of and if you do have an issue it is a lot easier to contact me then one of those toll free numbers that require a long hold time.

I am always around if I am not in the office you can reach me my cell, or email. 

Now is a great time to start looking for your 2019 vacation, prices are starting to come out, it is never too early to begin planning your winter escape!  I have to laugh at that because it wasn't long ago we had snow in Minnesota now we are having record warm temps but while you are relaxing in a pool or lake start planning! 

I work with a lot of friends groups so this is the time to get it figured out, and I mostly do warm weather destinations do not think that is all I do.  I work on many areas of travel such as Eurpope, Disney, domestic vacations, cruises and many other types of travel.

Living in Minnesota we all like to escape the cold with a fun trip so if you need ideas give me a call.  I was in Punta Cana not long ago and that is a great destination for friends, couples and families. 


Okay enough work for now, remember if you need a travel assistant give me a call.  This week you can email me at cindy@vacationsrspecialtravel.com as I will be enjoying the lake!

So why book your next vacation with a travel agent?

I work with many clients some just know what they want and just tell me what to book, so why don't they just book it themselves? 
Well I always like to say they are too smart to do that!  And it is true, travel agents have access to competitive pricing so we often are less or the same as those Internet pricing.  But we offer value with our service.  I do not just book vacations for my clients I help them with all aspects of their travel.  I offer assistance when things do not go quite right!  For example I had a group go on vacation this year and 4 out of the 5 couples did not have rooms.  I worked with the hotel and the supplier and followed up with the clients because that is not the way to start a vacation.  Next day, different client and different supplier, different destination and it happened again!  Usually once you are in travel I can not do much if your flight is canceled or delayed but in these situations I did get involved.  So we are there when are clients need us.

Consider us your travel assistants!  I offer to assist my clients with flights, transfers, tours, special dinners or what ever my clients need.  And with my groups I try to work closely with them to make sure everyone is in the loop!  If you need anything we are there to assist our clients.

We have the knowledge!  Yes that is why I try to take a few work trips every year.  I might not be able to go to every resort or destination but I try!  And through my network of travel agents I probably have access to someone that has been to that destination.  We do the research also, so we can make sure you have the correct information.

We offer travel insurance, some clients do not realize that if you cancel your vacation you could lose some or all of your money!  So we offer, explain and sell travel insurance.  And if you need to use that insurance we help with the forms!

Payment plans!  Yes with most of my suppliers I can make payments so just give me a call with your payment information and I can make payments so you are not hit with a large payment at the end!

Put it on hold!  When a travel agent books a trip for a client we are usually able to have a 24 hour hold to make sure this is the vacation for you!

These are just a few ways we work for our clients, so next vacation give me a call or email for a quote. 

Thanks Cindy
763-878-2763, email cindy@vacationsrspecialtravel.com

Sailing the Suite Life on RCCL's Navigator of the Seas!

I am so excited we finally made a decision on our next cruise!  Of course we loved the Harmony so that did not make this choice easy. 

So how did we finally decide?  It was a long process I took the pros and cons of my top ships.  I felt like I wanted a ship in the Oasis Class because we loved the perks of the suites on those ships, such as suite sun deck and bar, suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen.  And this time we would be sailing without family so go familiar.  Actually I loved the ships but I wanted a slightly longer cruise, and different ports.  I knew my niece and her family had a cruise planned and I liked the ports, we did have to give up the Coastal Kitchen which we loved for breakfast and lunch.  On the Navigator they take a specialty restaurant and open it up for the suite guests for breakfast and lunch with a limited menu, which will be fine for us.  Or we might actually explore the other dining options on the ship!

We have spent about 20 years exploring all inclusive resorts and destinations so it seems strange to all of a sudden love cruises.  It is hard to explain this to friends and family when I do not totally understand the switch.  But I was getting bored with the same thing at a resort we would have breakfast then go to the beach or pool, go to lunch then more of the same, then maybe sit at a bar for awhile then get ready for dinner.  Sometimes we would watch the entertainment or just go to the lobby bar.  The same thing every day!  I like the sun but I no longer like the obvious affects of the sun!  So on a cruise you have options, yes you can go to the pool or beach when in port but you can also do so many other things.  I was ready for a change, and lucky for me I travel usually once or twice a year so I can still spend a few days at an all inclusive resort in a beautiful destination while "working" to find the perfect resorts for my clients!

Now I am not saying anything negative about selecting a all inclusive resort because you do not select that for your vacation for 20 years then suddenly dislike them, we just needed some options to get out of the sun.  I was recently in Punta Cana for a week working, lucky for me it was during the historic snow storm that happened the day I left (great timing) I had a wonderful time and loved the resorts I stayed experienced.  Just remember my favorite vacation might not be yours.  Which is always fun when you have a group of family or friends traveling together and a selection must be made! 

Okay enough about my vacation, if you are looking for a cruise, or any other vacation please give me a call so I can help you plan your vacation.