Fellow Td's and friends!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Tour Day at Work!
Sailing on the Spirit out of Dana Point Harbor is one of my favorite activities. My groups always love it.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Duffy Boat Training - Newport Harbor
Duffy Boats - For Cruising and Sightseeing in Newport
Harbor
21' Electric Boats
Seat up to 12 people
What: Duffy Boat Training
When: Monday, June 3, 2013
Time: 10 AM to 1 PM
Where: 2001 W. Coast Hwy
Newport Beach, CA 92663
The first Duffy Boat was built by Marshal Duffield in
Newport Beach in 1970. You'll see by the photographs it's come a long
way! Duffy's are now popular around the world in fresh water lakes,
waterways and harbors. Each boat holds from eight
to twelve passengers including the driver. We have over
5,000 Duffy's in our Newport Harbor.
I personally love leading the Duffy Boat tours of Newport
Harbor. We are hired to drive the individual boats escorting the
corporate groups around the harbor sharing the harbor history, stories,
celebrity homes and life styles of the truly rich and famous. (Bacal, Bogey,
Wayne, Cage, Lauper, Jagger, Nicks, Keaton, Woods, Nixon, Kennedy and many
more.) It's great fun. The tours are very popular with DMC
(destination management companies) groups and tours visiting the California
Rivera. Our tours usually last from 45 minutes to two hours.
Recently I've been asked by DMC's for recommendations for
new drivers/guides due to this growing popularity. We need new
guides and the DMC's are bringing in guides from Los Angeles, Orange County
and San Diego. (Most companies pay mileage and a five hour minimum.)
The training isn't only for those in Southern
California. Duffy Boats are around the world. I'll cover working
with DMC's, procedures, safety, harbor mapping, working with individual
groups, variety of activities, scavenger hunts, celebrity's homes, stories
and give you practical experience with narration and the opportunity to drive
the boats. I'll also include a list of DMC contacts.
The training takes place on June 3, the day after the next
Fast Track Classroom Training. (May 29, 30, June 1, 2, 2013).
Space is very limited due to the size of the boats. I will give first
priority to those coming in for the Fast Track Training since their time may
be limited. If you are attending the Fast Track and wish to also
attend the Duffy Boat training, I need to know asap.
Corporate Rental: http://bcove.me/qq59cur0
History of Duffy Boats: http://www.duffyboats.com/about/history
Enrollment - Non-Refundable $150
Paypal: |
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Cruise Director Position
American Cruise Lines - Louisville, KY
Company Description:
The Newest and Most Environmentally Friendly Ships.
The Largest Fleet of Small Cruise Ships in America
Six Small Ships Carrying 50 to 150 Passengers
The Largest Staterooms with Interior Entrances and Large,
Opening Picture Windows
Private Balconies
Elevator Service to All Decks of the Ship
Open Seating Dining Allows You to Eat at Your Leisure, all
Meals Prepared Just the Way You Like
35 Cruise Itineraries to 28 States in America
A True All-American Experience. American Built, Flagged, and
Crewed Ships
The Only Cruise Line with Two Authentic Paddlewheelers
--Queen of the West and Queen of the Mississippi
Complimentary Cocktail Hour Hosted Every Evening Before
Dinner
Complimentary Wine and Beer with Lunch and Dinner
Gracious Hospitality and Personalized Service
--That is the Hallmark of American Cruise Lines
Many Spacious Lounges and Public Spaces on Each Ship
--Perfect for Congenial Camaraderie or Quiet Relaxation
Exquisite Cuisine From our Staff of Highly Trained Chefs
Entertainment Each Evening
Historians, Naturalists, or Local Experts Join Every Cruise
--Daily Lectures Ranging from History & Ecology to
Quilting & Cuisine
Exciting Shore Excursions
--Show You the Best of Each Area We Visit
Job Description:
Cruise Director
(This is an onboard position for 1 of our 6 ships)
Job Description:
American Cruise Lines is the leader in the small ship
cruising industry. We are seeking enthusiastic Cruise Directors to live and
work on board our luxurious ships. This one of a kind opportunity is ideal for
recent college graduates or industry professionals and is a great opportunity
to begin a career in the cruise ship industry. American Cruise Lines offers a
competitive salary, a comprehensive benefits package and great travel
opportunities.
American Cruise Lines operates American Flagged Vessels and carry
no more than 120 affluent guests on board. The crew has a passion for
personalized service and the ability to know every guest on the cruise while
catering to their needs. American Cruise Lines provides our guest with the best
small ship cruising vacation available. Cruise Directors will enjoy a typical
work rotation of 6 weeks on and 2 weeks off while traveling along the East
Coast of the United States.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Comments Made by Tour Members
From Thomas Cook Holidays - listing some guests' genuine complaints:
1. "It should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like
custard creams or ginger nuts."
2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things
during 'siesta' time - this should be banned.."
3. "On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served
curry. I don't like spicy food at all."
4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming
costumes and towels."
7. "The beach was too sandy."
8. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as
yellow but it was white."
10. "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband
spent all day looking at other women."
12. "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."
13. "There was no egg slicer in the apartment..."
14. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."
15. "The roads were uneven.."
16. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans only three
hours to get home."
17. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom
apartment and ours was significantly smaller.."
18. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trained
hairdressers - will we be OK staying there?"
19. "There are too many Spanish people in Spain. The receptionist speaks Spanish.
The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad."
20. "We had to queue outside of our hotel with no air conditioning."
21. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we
travel."
22. "I was bitten by a mosquito, no-one said mosquitos could bite."
23. "My fiance and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded
room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This
would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.."
They walk amongst us and they vote!!! Be afraid!
1. "It should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like
custard creams or ginger nuts."
2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things
during 'siesta' time - this should be banned.."
3. "On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served
curry. I don't like spicy food at all."
4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming
costumes and towels."
7. "The beach was too sandy."
8. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as
yellow but it was white."
10. "Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband
spent all day looking at other women."
12. "No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled."
13. "There was no egg slicer in the apartment..."
14. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."
15. "The roads were uneven.."
16. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans only three
hours to get home."
17. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends' three-bedroom
apartment and ours was significantly smaller.."
18. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the accommodation'. We're trained
hairdressers - will we be OK staying there?"
19. "There are too many Spanish people in Spain. The receptionist speaks Spanish.
The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad."
20. "We had to queue outside of our hotel with no air conditioning."
21. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we
travel."
22. "I was bitten by a mosquito, no-one said mosquitos could bite."
23. "My fiance and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded
room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This
would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.."
They walk amongst us and they vote!!! Be afraid!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Jobs for Tour Guides, Tour Directors and Adventure Guides
I have more requests for US Tour Director and Adventure
Guides. The request is listed
below. You are welcome to contact
Suzanne directly. Be sure to tell her if
you have completed my training through the “Tour Director Training Guide” and
or the other courses. All the best!
Hi Cherie
How are you?
For this season we are still looking for the following:
1- French speaking tour directors that would love to guide
hiking and camping trips through the West's National Parks
2- Italian speaking guides for our active bus tours.........
3 - Spanish speaking driver-guides for our Spanish hiking
tours, hotel based
All of our tours are in the Western USA. We conduct both small group tours, where the
tour director is also the driver, as well as a few bus tours.
If you have qualified guides, please have them send their
resume to us at this email, as well as their availability schedule
THANK YOU
Kind regards / herzliche Gruesse / attentamente / cordiali
saluti / merci
Susanne Lorenz, President
- Official Receptive Operator -
Adventure Travel West, Inc.
PO Box 12181
Denver, Colorado 80212, USA
www.at-west.com
phone 303-697-6688
fax 303-697-5384
toll free 888-233-1297
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Looking for the "Best Guides"for TV Documentary!
This morning I spoke to Blake the casting associate for Punch in the Head Productions out of NYC. Funny name? The name represents their ability to educate people in an interesting and entertaining manner. You may have seen some on their documentaries, programs and or commercials. Here's a link to their website: http://punchedinthehead.com/about/
Punch in the Head Productions is developing a new TV show, "The Best of the Best Tour Guides in the US". It sounds like a wonderful opportunity to introduce viewers to our professional and skilled US guides. Blake describes their casting needs below. We discussed the wide variety of types of tours, programs and cruises guides may work. Right now she is looking for US guides as well as a few international tour directors and or guides. I highly recommend sending Blake your resume and maybe a cover letter why you are the 'best' ASAP. Please list tours you actually lead and consider yourself a true expert. This is not a time to exaggerate your resume. It will only hurt the production and you want to shine if cast. If you know someone that may be a good fit and interested please forward this information. You are welcome to contact Blake directly. If you trained through my "Tour Director Training Guide" and or other classes and you're applying please let me know. The project is moving forward quickly. They hope to have it completed and presented to the network within the next month. Blake plans on contacting about 40 individuals for a telephone interview. Approximately 15 will then be interviewed by Skype I'm excited about the project. It sounds like great fun for the guides, production team and the viewers. I wish you all the best. If you have any questions you let me know. I'll be watching! Cherie Blake's Request: Hi Cherie, It was great speaking with you on the phone! I'm so glad that you share our excitement for this project. I look forward to speaking with some of your past students and colleagues. I've included below a lot of the same information we spoke about on the phone. Feel free to share the below information with anyone who you feel would be a good fit for this TV show. I am a casting associate here at Punched in the Head Productions. We are currently casting a show that will follow the best tour guides, the guides that put a new spin on things. Punched in the Head Productions is a doc reality TV production company based in New York. Our bread and butter is MTV True Life which if you haven't heard of it is a documentary series and each episode tackles a different topic. The new series will follow tour guides across the country. We're very excited because we feel that people don't know very much about the inter-workings of the tour guide profession. There's so much to learn about this profession and all the greatest places in the U.S. We're looking for guides with big personalities that know how to lead a tour that makes everyone laugh. The first step of the process would be to speak on the phone and see if we feel you'd be a good fit for the show. You can reach me by email blake@punchedinthehead.com or call me at EST ext. 117. I look forward to hearing from you all! Blake Cherie Anderson Professional Tour Management Training ( 949) - 830 8603-PST www.tourtraining.com cherie@tourtraining.com |
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Cruise Line Jobs
Travel Guide
Holland America Entertainment - United States
Key Job Responsibilities for Travel Guides:
Performance:
Give dynamic PowerPoint presentations about the ports of call and related topics of interest
Provide knowledgeable and accurate information about the itinerary in a exciting and educational way
Drive revenue to Shore Excursions onboard by promoting tours whenever appropriate
Provide entertaining and informative narration from the bridge in specified scenic cruising areas
http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=6cf4696f4f5891eb&from=tellafriend&utm_source=jobseeker_emails&utm_medium=email&cd+-=tell_a_friend
Holland America Entertainment - United States
Key Job Responsibilities for Travel Guides:
Performance:
Give dynamic PowerPoint presentations about the ports of call and related topics of interest
Provide knowledgeable and accurate information about the itinerary in a exciting and educational way
Drive revenue to Shore Excursions onboard by promoting tours whenever appropriate
Provide entertaining and informative narration from the bridge in specified scenic cruising areas
http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=6cf4696f4f5891eb&from=tellafriend&utm_source=jobseeker_emails&utm_medium=email&cd+-=tell_a_friend
Cruise Director
Holland America Entertainment - United States
Key Job Responsibilities for Cruise Directors:
Hosting:
The Cruise Diretor drives guest satisfaction scores and on
board revenue.
Host all major events as directed by the Manager-Cruise
Programming, setting the tone with energy & enthusiasm.
Promote and support the HAL Entertainment brand identity.
Host hotel parties and functions.
Host ship tours on embarkation day.
Make PA announcements as directed.
Host a disembarkation briefing, adhering to approved script.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Heidi's First Assignment
I asked Heidi if I could share her first job after completing PTMT training in November. It's sounds fabulous!
Hi Cherie
It was so nice
talking to you today!
I wanted to thank you again for all the valuable information
and skills I learned in your classes.
Soon after I returned to DC I started working for a local
DMC. It just so happens the company A..... was spending their yearly reward
meeting in Washington. I was hired as a
tour guide which also led to working dine a-rounds and transportation.
The first night I worked arrivals at the airport.
There I was standing at the airport, with my clear clip
board you gave us in class, holding my sign, and thinking..... {if Cherie could
only see me now!}
We had 3500 people flying in from everywhere and 72 buses ......all to Visit our Nation’s Capitol, and yeah I'm working! I must say The
A..... company went all out. Everything was done first class. They had a
wonderful venue.
One night they rented out two of the Smithsonian Museums. This
was to hold their black tie dinners.
The next night was their Monuments by Moonlight Tours. They hired 72 tour guides and 72 buses.
The last night was fantastic .The company rented George Washington’s
[Beautiful] Mount Vernon Estate! The night was fabulous!
As they came of the buses they were greeted by period
dressed musicians entering the welcome center. Everything was silver service. Serving
hors D’Oeuvres , champagne and ice sculptures, etc. There were horse drawn carriages for
quests that wanted to view the estate.
There was a gigantic tent the size of a large football field
with live bands, and dancing this again is all overlooking the beautiful
Potomac River. Beautiful.
The most spectacular fireworks display at the end of the evening
for a grand finally. It was fantastic!
As a bonus. ... While we had just loaded the buses, there
was a spectacular meteor shower with shooting stars that filled the sky. It was
just fabulous!
While this was all great!.... I forgot to mention...the most
challenging part of the job..... this all went on while we were having one
our unusual freezing cold spells. Most
evenings were an icy 29 degrees. Soo I
dressed R\really warm and kept moving...but it was Cold Burr.....
I know all jobs won’t be like this..... but... I wanted to
share this great experience forever etched in my memory.
I am so thank full for a wonderful first job!
There are so many possibilities and opportunities in the
travel industry .
Thank you again for all your help, and teaching me valuable
skills..in a field I love, to ensure my success!
All the Best
Heidi
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Health Benefits for Tour Directors and Travel Staff
I'm often asked about medical benefits which are
extremely important. Coverage depends on the company, type of employer
and how often you work. For example, most of the major tour operators do
include medical benefits for their full -time Tour Directors/Managers.
The full-time requirements may vary with 26 weeks of travel a year being
typical. The tour operators may, as in most industries, require a waiting
period to qualify. Most will want to see if you're a success before
putting you on their policies.
You may also receive benefits when working in the CMI
industry. (Conventions, Meetings and Incentives) The major
incentive houses offer benefits to their regular full-time Travel Staff and
Trip Directors. The DMC's (destination management companies) are less
likely to offer benefits to their Tour Directors/Guides since most of their
staff works part-time.
If you work in their office full-time most do offer full
benefits. You may be in reservations, account executives, program
managers and etc.
I always make sure I have personal coverage that includes
international travel. Some will offer coverage but will normally include
a lower percentage. For example, a policy in the US that covers 80% may
only cover 50% when traveling internationally. (International charges for
medical care and prescriptions are usually less than in the US.) If you're not
sure of the coverage, you may want to talk to your insurance company.
Link to latest newsletter and January Fast Track Classroom Training:
http://archive.aweber.com/tourtraining/AFCVc/h/Pro_Tour_Management_Training.htmLink to latest newsletter and January Fast Track Classroom Training:
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Professional Tour Management Newsletter - Hiring for 2013
11-08-2012 - Professional Tour Management Newsletter - Hiring for 2013: "Early Hiring Season
The hiring season for 2013 has already started! As I cover in the "Tour Director Training Guide" and my Fast Track Training, the major tour operators normally start their hiring process right after the Christmas holidays. This year it looks like a number of companies have started early. Last year was extremely busy and most are expecting another record breaking season in 2013. The early hiring is a good sign but don't wait too long to apply and or update your resumes and applications. It's all good news.
If you're interested in leading younger tours (18-35) and or sports tours here are a couple links to companies hiring now:
Contiki job posting: http://www.contiki.com/pages/1535-tour-manager-usa
Backroads job posting: http://www.backroads.com/leaders/
"
'via Blog this'
The hiring season for 2013 has already started! As I cover in the "Tour Director Training Guide" and my Fast Track Training, the major tour operators normally start their hiring process right after the Christmas holidays. This year it looks like a number of companies have started early. Last year was extremely busy and most are expecting another record breaking season in 2013. The early hiring is a good sign but don't wait too long to apply and or update your resumes and applications. It's all good news.
If you're interested in leading younger tours (18-35) and or sports tours here are a couple links to companies hiring now:
Contiki job posting: http://www.contiki.com/pages/1535-tour-manager-usa
Backroads job posting: http://www.backroads.com/leaders/
"
'via Blog this'
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Fast Track Classroom Training - November 2012
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