By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
We are in the business of turning travel dreams into reality. It sure is fun dreaming about great vacations but, to be honest, challenging to make reservations for trips. The challenge is making the right decisions to get you the best value. Every time we make a reservation for one of the great folks who travel with us, I just wonder why anyone would do it themselves. So, let’s see how we can help you find your Dream Destinations.
The Dream
Our name says it all—Dream Destinations. Close your eyes—where do you want to go, what is your must see place or experience—we can get you there. Every time you see a cool cruise ship or an ad for a river cruise or the iconic sights in a Europe picture, you can’t help but dream a little.
Our thoughts are very powerful—we all have amazing minds that are in constant motion. In fact one survey says that 49% of all leisure travelers reported they started researching online after an ad or picture. (If you are looking for a little inspiration, why not visit our Pinterest page with over 4.500 photos of Dream Destinations—98% taken by us. Here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/visitdd/ ).
While it may be a good idea to do it on your own, we have a better idea—contact us on our web site at www.dreamdestinations.com or by phone 713-397-0188 (Hank) to ask for help. There are 2 ways we can help you get through the clutter. First, on our website we have a great tool banner called Send Us Your Travel Request (located towards the bottom left of our home page) and just answer a few questions about what you want to do for your upcoming vacation. The best part of this is, you do not have to be traveling in the next month or 2 months or maybe you only have ideas now. We will put your ideas in a Future Travel Plans Data Base and when good opportunities that match your dream trip come from travel vendors, we will let you know. It saves you a lot of time and hassle.
The second way we can help you–use our web site to research your travel. There are 37 PDF PowerPoints about ocean cruises, 8 PDF PowerPoints about river cruises and 51 PDF PowerPoints about traveling to Europe. That’s right—96 in-depth slideshows to help you learn about great travel.
Our Mission
Being an ex-military guy, the mission has always been of paramount importance to me. It is what you are going to achieve. Here is our mission:
Visit Dream Destination’s LLC mission is to provide customers with the highest quality, expertly planned domestic and foreign leisure travel with a focus on cruises, European river Cruises and European vacations for groups and individuals.
So, let’s focus on what this statement means to us.
High Quality Travel
My idea of high quality travel is to allow our clients the opportunity to turn their travel dreams into reality. There is no real definition of high quality travel that is right for all folks. It really is a right fit for your trip. It is our job to discover what great is to you, and advise you, our client, how to get it. It is a constant process of getting to know you, building trust, adjusting to lifestyle changes—a dynamic process that requires us to contact you often. The more we know about you, the better job we will do. Travel dreams can become reality if we get it right.
Expertly Planned Travel
Expertly planned travel is knowing the destination and the vendors that service that destination. We need to know the vendor’s advantages and disadvantages. In short, we must know if they have a good product. Second, we must be able to clearly communicate these facts to you, our clients.
Most of you, have a dream trip in mind before you approach us. Maybe you have read a lot of information on the web or seen an ad or received something in the mail. The ideas begin—I think this might be a good trip for me—maybe a dream trip to a Dream Destination. Now, Anne and I have to take those ideas and make it reality. One way we do this, is to constantly learn and update our knowledge about what products are right for your trips. We have to know our products better than you do, if we want to provide accurate assessments. I believe that accurate assessments of vendors or a trip idea, results in expertly planned travel. The correct match is our goal—we always strive to get you the best experiences and value for your travel. You can trust us to tell you the truth.
The Power of Experience
We have helped many folks realize their travel dreams in the 21 years we have been in business. In our mission statement, we focus on cruises, European river Cruises and European vacations for groups and individuals. We good at it—I believe we are one of the best in the travel industry in our focus areas of travel.
As many of you know, I have been traveling to Europe since 1971. Anne and I have been going there together since 1989—usually 2-4 times a year. We have written 50 Europe City Guides. We have taken 13 Europe River Cruises, led groups on tour in Europe and on river cruises. We have a great comparison guide about the 8 major river cruise companies that market to the US travelers. We have taken 25 ocean cruises.
We use our experience to get you the right trip to your Dream Destinations.
My Final Thoughts
What are your Dream Destinations?
Please, reach out to us with your ideas! Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 45 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
- AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
- Viking River Cruise Specialist
- Scenic River Cruise Specialist
- Emerald Waterways Specialist
- Avalon Waterways Specialist
- Brit Agent
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