Promal Vacations

She may not be the prettiest thing on the sea, looking more like a floating hotel than a cruise ship, but she sure is one of the most exciting ships! We waited two years to sail on her and we certainly were not disappointed. Oasis of the Seas is quite the cruise ship, a destination in itself. A little background - we are in our mid 50’s and mid 60’s and were traveling with a group of 18 people. This was our 11th cruise. We sailed Oct. 9, 2010 on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We chose My Time Dining and had a balcony room, 8130 on Deck 8 near Central Park. We’ll rate the cruise on various points with an A - F rating. Embarkation: A+ I’ve read reviews that embarkation is easy and it certainly ... read more

When you think of All Inclusive Resorts, what is your first impression? Cafeteria food and watered down drinks? Expensive spa treatments? El Dorado Resorts in the Riviera Maya certainly breaks away from those impressions of an All Inclusive resort. We recently had the pleasure of staying at the El Dorado Royale in Riviera Maya and visited their other properties (El Dorado Seaside, El Dorado Maroma and the family friendly Azul resorts. El Dorado Resorts are adult only and so very romantic. El Dorado Resorts were rated by Conde Nast as one of the top 100 resorts in the world and are rated 4 Diamonds by AAA. The El Dorado Royale Spa Resort is situated about 20 minutes from the Cancun airport. Upon arrival, you are greeted with a welcome drink and cool towels, just a preview ... read more

Travel agents are notorious for making sure details are in order when booking a clients vacation. We cross all our ts and dot our is so that our clients have no complaints when they come home. Seat assignments on flights are one thing this agent makes sure are carefully taken care of. So when this agent decided to travel on Southwest Airlines with clients - well, we found ourselves in a curious position. The last time we flew Southwest several years ago, the airlines seating policy was "first come, first served". Since we are always early to the airport, this delighted us. Now, Southwest advises obtaining a boarding position number at least 24 hours before flying each way. They also allow some of their ticketing to pay $10 extra for early boarding. That does not work ... read more

Sunset Grand Resort - Ocho Rios We recently went on a travel agent FAM tour of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay given by the Jamaican Tourism Bureau. This four night tour was a great way for travel agents to see several hotels so we can make recommendations to clients. Our first stay for two nights was at the Iberostar Rose Hall in Montego Bay. It was magnificent. Our second two nights were at the Sunset Grand Hotel in Ocho Rios. This towering resort has two bright yellow towers of rooms. The location is on the beach near the cruise ship pier. The surrounding area is not the most scenic - the houses right behind the resort were shacks and not very pretty to look at. We arrived early in the afternoon to the open air lobby ... read more