Disneyland —for the eternal youngster in all of us

My first exposure to the Disneyland 'experience' was almost 30 years ago when I visited the original of the species — Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. Having also been born in 1955 — the year that Disneyland first opened to the public — I felt an immediate affinity to the place. Since then, I have been back a couple of times, not only to the Anaheim park but also Florida and Disneyland Paris. In fact

When is the best time to visit Spain or Portugal?

How about now! June is an ideal time of year to visit either country as you get to enjoy the best of all possible worlds. You don't have to endure the high temperatures of July or August; The beaches, bars or restaurants aren't as crowded as school is still not out in a number of countries — most notably our neighbours across the Irish Sea — and perhaps best of all, there are still great bargains to

Malta — proof that the best things sometimes come in small packages!

Reputedly the second-most densely populated area on Earth (after Hong Kong), Malta challenges the first time visitor as to what they think they know about this small 90-square mile rock that lies between Sicily to the north and Libya to the south. Boasting the world's oldest free-standing structures — yes, they're said to be older than Newgrange — Malta is an island of contradictions that will delight the eye, ear and palate of even the

May Day, May Day!

OK, we've cheated a little — we should have said May Month but that doesn't really have the same resonance now, does it? What on earth are we on about? It's just our ham-fisted way of drawing your attention to the fact that during the entire month of May, Royal Caribbean (along with its sister brands of Celebrity and Azamara) will be offering savvy consumers just like you, amazing deals, discounts and free upgrades across

How the role of the humble travel agent has changed in recent years.

Before the arrival of the Internet, everyone used travel agents to book their travel arrangements because agents were able to access information that was not generally accessible to your average traveller. The Internet changed all that and empowered consumers by enabling them to research and find all sorts of interesting 'goodies' online. This democratisation of  travel created the illusion in the minds of many consumers that they no longer needed travel agents and that they

Summer has arrived!

I'm not talking literally of course — just figuratively — and wearing my travel agent hat! Easter has always traditionally represented the start of the summer season as this is when tour operator summer charter programmes begin and winter charter series end. It is also then an appropriate time to remind people of the kinds of things that they need to think of/prepare for, before setting out on their overseas travels. What follows is a

Some Travel Advice

You save long and hard for your holiday — a year (perhaps longer) — and therefore you don't think it unreasonable to expect that everything goes according to plan. Indeed, for the most part, that is precisely what happens day in and day out for countless thousands of satisfied holidaymakers every season. The planes leave more or less on time; the resorts turn out to be exactly as described in the brochures and the accommodation

When is the best time to go on holidays?

This is a question that is often asked of travel agents and the answer obviously depends on where in the world that you're intending on travelling to but as a general rule of thumb, if you talking about holidaying anywhere in Southern Europe, then May or September are usually the two best months in which to take your holidays and for the following three reasons: 1. The weather tends to be quite pleasant (like a

40 is a nice round number

Everyone has heard of the 80:20 rule but have you heard about the 40:20 one ?  OK, I'm teasing a bit but I just thought that it would be a nice way to introduce a bit of good news for all you 'Mickey Mouse' fans out there! Disneyland Paris is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012 and as part of those celebrations (which, incidentally, are going to last for about 12 months) they are offering

Move out of your comfort zone

The world is a big place. We know that we're stating the obvious here but it's worth mentioning if only because we find that most people tend to return to the same places year after year. Nothing wrong with that at all, particularly if those places are ticking all the boxes in terms of cost, convenience, friendliness, value for money, accessibility etc. It's a shame though that more people don't push the proverbial boat out

Value for money is more important than getting the cheapest deal.

Now that we are all economically challenged, there is an understandable tendency to look out for the cheapest deals or packages in order to make our scarce euros go further but this is a mistake. Looking out for value-for-money deals is much more important in terms of getting more 'bang for your buck' and one of the consistently best sources of value-for-money deals is in cruising. Don't be put off by outmoded perceptions that cruising

Avoid making the classic mistakes!

Here's a simple rule of thumb that you should always bear in mind when planning your next trip abroad. If you're planning to travel using a scheduled airline (even low cost ones such as Ryanair, Easyjet etc.), always book your flights as far in advance of your date of departure as possible as the prices increases the nearer you get to your travel date. The reverse is true when it comes to charter services. The

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).