News

April 2003
Leslie and Kathy sailed out of Baltimore for a 6-day "Seminar at Sea" aboard Carnival Cruise Lines Legend. Our destination was Bermuda. The Legend is one of three from the "Spirit Class" ships. The Miracle will be the 4th and is due out in 2004. Our first day was spent in a seminar gathering new information about Carnival's fleet and ship itineraries as well as all the wonderful amenities and unique features available on all Carnival ships. We learned about everything from room sizes (did you know Carnival cabins are the largest in their market) to activities for adults and children. And we experienced first hand the award winning entertainment on the ships. In Bermuda, a knowledgeable guide took us all over the island. He shared his love of his island through wonderful stories, history and general information. Our last day in Bermuda, we spent an afternoon soaking up the sun on Horseshoe Bay beach. Our final day on the ship on our return to Baltimore, we spent more time with the wonderful Carnival reps completing our seminar course and earning the title of "Carnival Cruise Lines Certified Specialist".

May 2003
Kathy and Lynn flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico to attend a Seminar aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Adventure of the Seas. The cruise was a 7-night Southern Caribbean Cruise with St Thomas, St Martin, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados as our ports of call. The Adventure is one of four from the Voyager-class ships. These ships have it all including a rock-climbing wall, a miniature golf course, an ice-skating rink, basketball court and more. The Adventure is 140,000 tons of ship and was almost at sold out capacity with over 3,000 passengers. Only a few times did we feel we were traveling with that many people. The common areas such as the Royal Promenade, which is a four-story- mall lined with bars and shops, and the pool decks were always spacious and comfortable. We enjoyed a fantastic ice skating show as well as great nightly performances of a contemporary musical stage production and live music and comedy shows.

While on the island of St Lucia we spent the day at two of the Sandals resorts floating around the pool sampling the tropical drinks. Prior to the cruise Kathy had attended the Sandals workshops and completed the requirements to be a member of the "Certified Sandals Specialist Program". So be sure to ask about the couples only resorts in addition to the Caribbean island destinations.

July 2003
Leslie, Kathy & Deb participated in a travel agent "FAM trip" to La Romano in the Dominican Republic. Apple Vacations hosted the trip and arranged wonderful accommodations and activities for us. Kathy and Leslie had been to Punta Cana in the Dominican so this was interesting to see other destinations on the island. We took part in site inspections to several resorts and all agreed on our favorites. The Iberostar Resorts, which are available in Mexico, Caribbean, South America and the Mediterranean were impressively maintained and manicured. The service at the soon to be Sunscape Casa del Mar was amazing with an unbelievably attentive and friendly staff. We were treated to a choice of an optional tour. We chose the Speed Boat ride to a Natural Swimming Pool, where Princess Taino once swam and bathed. It was beautiful. Apple Vacations will have charters from Baltimore to La Romano starting this fall. So please call us or book your vacation on our web site. Just click on "create your own vacation".

Book On-Line
We have great news! Now you can obtain information about deals, destinations and travel tips on our web site. Once you have the information, call us to answer any questions and we can book your trip. If you are ready to book and would like, you can now book Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii from our web site. Remember, no matter if we book it or if you click away on our site and do it yourself, we will be available for any questions and needs that may arise.