Headed towards Home

I'm finishing off this blog from the Fort Lauderdale airport. I'll have to admit it's nice to be back with the Internet.  I'm hooked on being attached all the time.

Our final day at sea was filled entirely with meetings...general sessions, roundtables and workshops.  Basically, suppliers got 7 minutes to present their product in the roundtables, they then got 20 minutes to present their product in the workshops, and then a select few suppliers got another 20 minutes to present their product in the General Session.  It's all a blur, but there was some useful information.  Travel is a complex business and there's something new going on all the time.  The big news at the General Session is that Avoya is going to add a GDS to their booking system.  For you non-travel folks, a GDS is a General Delivery System lik SABRE through which you can book air, rental cars and hotels.  Looks like the role of the travel agent is expanding and becoming full service like the old days.  Friday night was the final formal night; like a good Durangotang, I'm not a fan of formal.

Saturday we called at Holland America's private island, Half Moon Cay.  It's a beautiful beach and was very pleasant sitting in the shade and listening to the lapping of the waves.  We returned to the ship for lunch and an afternoon of lounging by the pool.  I was frantically reading the second Girl with a Dragon Tattoo book to get it back to the library.  I'm now FINALLY relaxed and it's all over tomorrow.  I think a 10-day cruise (with no work attached) is best.  The year started with the lecture cruise on Oceania and ended with the Avoya cruise.  No more work vacations!

To sum up, it was a pleasant trip, albeit with a lot of work attached.  I was glad to learn more about Avoya and their major suppliers.  I think I'm more of a cultural traveler than a beach destination traveler; I'm hoping to see snow on the ground when we get back to Durango.  It's good to have access to news.  Cruise lines need to do something to improve their Internet service; fortunately, there were no problems with my clients, but I don't like being that out of touch, and what's more, blogging is no fun when you have to worry about Internet minutes and upload speeds.  Anyway, I'm stubborn enough to finish it.

Until the next trip.....