Queen Victoria - Ship Inspection 2/14/12

MY TRAVEL AGENT had the opportunity to inspect Cunard's ship Queen Victoria while it was docked in the Port of Los Angeles on 2/14/12, getting ready to head out on a Hawaiian Islands cruise.

Queen Victoria joined the Cunard fleet in 2007, and proudly exemplifies Cunard Line's heritage and traditions.  The ship simply exudes elegance, with luxurious marbles, woods, plush carpets, rich fabrics and soft furnishings everywhere you look.

Queen Victoria has a passenger capacity of 1,980, and checks in at a gross tonnage of 90,000, which in this day & age of bigger cruise ships puts her closer to the midsize range of cruise ships out there today.

We were only able to view one stateroom class, a balcony cabin on Deck 7.  Nice, but not excessively luxurious, these Britannia class rooms offer 24 hour room service, satellite TV, nightly turndown service, daily shipboard paper, and guest bathrobes.

Our host turned us loose to explore the rest of the ship, which we managed to do before and after being served lunch in the main dining room.  I liked the shrimp, not so much the salmon, and the service was efficient and friendly.

I've posted all of the photos I took while we wandered around the ship on our MY TRAVEL AGENT Facebook page, you can see them all HERE.

Overall impression ..... this is what I imagine when I think of a classic ocean liner, steaming across the open sea.  There is something of a class structure, with separate restaurants for the suite guests and the regular folks, but both areas are equally elegant. 

It's tough to get a real feel for a ship when you're only onboard for three hours or so, but one of these days I think it would be a great idea to book passage on Queen Victoria for a TransAtlantic cruise .....  

MTA website judged in Top 3 at Opal Awards !!

Recently MY TRAVEL AGENT attended the 2011 Corroboree convention for Aussie Specialist travel agents from all across North America. This year the event was held at the Crown Promenade Hotel in Melbourne, and one of the signature events was the 18th annual Opal Awards Gala dinner.

Awards were given to Aussie Specialist travel agents and industry partners in recognition for innovation and expertise in selling Australia to consumers in North America.

MY TRAVEL AGENT's website was judged in the Top 3 in the category of "Outstanding Website Design by an Aussie Specialist".

We are honored to be recognized for our work in upgrading our website so that our clients can have the BEST information they can have before booking an Australian dream vacation with us.

Next year we'll be shooting for NUMBER ONE with regards to the website.  Feel free to check out our website HERE, we hope you enjoy it .....

Too close to call

The highlight of this trip to Australia was going to the Melbourne Cup! We all got dressed to the nines with our hats and fascinators. The day started with a 30 minute cruise up the Yarra River to the Flemington racetrack. We then went into the Carbine Marquee (hospitality area) for drinks and lunch. We watched some of the pre Melbourne Cup races on TVs. Just before the main event we walked over to the Lawn Stand boxes. Watched the horses walk out onto the track and load into the gates. Then they were off! Not only did I get to witness the race that stops a nation, I experienced the closest race in Melbourne Cup’s 151 year history! It was too close to call and the photo finish was amazing. It took almost as long to announce a winner (3 minutes) as it did to run the race. We then went back to the hospitality tent area to drink more while some people cashed in their winning tickets. I unfortunately did not back Dunaden, the winning horse.

QANTAS

Not sure if I am glad Qantas is back to flying or not. Australia is not a bad place to be stranded. I am enjoying the food and wine too much. Maybe it is a good thing they are flying or I would gain too much weight. Also another bad thing is my husband is not here with me. So, after spending the day at the Melbourne Cup (only horse race that stop an entire country), I will have to continue on my trip down to Tasmania and go home when planned on November 6th.

Gone WILD

Australia to me is all about the people and the animals. This blog is all about the animals. While on Kangaroo Island (South Australia) we saw koalas, 1 echinda, seals & kangaroos. Today we went to Phillips Island (Victoria) and saw koalas and the famous little penguins. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are four thousand words…..