GROUP TOUR AND CRUISE PLANNING FOR 2008
A magnificent cruise opportunity
For a number of years our church group tours have included wonderful cruises. We have cruised the Caribbean many times and the Alaska inside passage several times. We have traversed the Panama Canal and enjoyed the fall colors of New England. By the time you read this, we will have completed our 2007 cruise on the Mexican Riviera.
Next year we would like to explore the unique opportunity to cruise from the west coast of the U.S. to the Hawaiian Islands. This is a 14-day cruise with several days at sea coming and going to Hawaii, allowing great times for worship services. The projected dates for this cruise will be Oct. 15-29, 2008.
After reaching Hawaii, there will be ports of call at Hilo and Kona on the Big Island, Kauai, Maui and Honolulu. This kind of cruise provides opportunity to experience Hawaii in a way a normal vacation does not, since most people fly to Hawaii and stay at only one location.
Because autumn cruises have been popular with our church members, we have been asked many times to expand our itineraries from the well-liked 7-day cruises, to 10-day cruises. Now we would like to explore a 14-day cruise for those who would like to have this exceptional opportunity.
Of course, a longer cruise is more expensive than our seven-day cruises, but we would like to see if there is sufficient interest. On a positive note, we have been quoted a very good pricing structure with a beginning cost of $1,545 per person for an inside cabin (and that includes port fees)!
In addition to experiencing all of the ports mentioned above when considering the expense of a Hawaii vacation, keep in mind that your flight from your home area will be to California, rather than the more expensive airfare all the way to Honolulu. When all is said and done, the cost of a 14-day Hawaiian Fellowship Cruise is one of the best and most affordable ways to experience the islands, fellowship and worship.
If you would like to consider this Hawaiian cruise opportunity, as with the Bulgaria and Greece group tour, we are forming an interest list. Please contact John Siston at john@travelgallery.com or call him at 800-858-6999. For those who would like to secure space on the Hawaii cruise, Travel Gallery is accepting deposits immediately.
Caribbean cruise
While we are on the subject of 2008 tours and cruises, if there is sufficient interest in continuing our long-standing seven-day Caribbean cruises, we can certainly plan an October Caribbean cruise. If you are unable to consider the Bulgarian group tour or the 14-day Hawaii cruise, but you would like to think about a more affordable Caribbean cruise, please let John Siston know of your interest.
We are not asking for commitments for any of these 2008 activities at this time, but I do want to emphasize the importance of your response if there is even a slight interest. If we don’t have enough participants, we will not proceed with our plans. We hope to hear from many of you in the near future.
Ronald Kelly, Group Tour Coordinator
Trip planned for Bulgaria and Greece
We are in the early planning stages
for an unusual group tour activity for 2008. In a recent update to our pastors,
Joseph Tkach wrote about a church group in the Eastern European nation of Bulgaria
that has partnered with our international denomination. The leader of the group,
Our thinking at this time is to plan
a trip during early September 2008. The European tourist rush will be over, but
the weather should still be mild, and prices are more affordable in September
than during the summer months. Some say that autumn in this region is the best
time to travel.
This group tour will provide an opportunity
for a “mission” style trip to assist Nickolay and their small church as they minister
to their community. We also plan to spend three or four days in the Black Sea
resort community of Burgas, where we will have worship services and bus tours
to some of the region’s historic sites.
We are pleased to announce that my wife
Norva and I will be joined by John and Pat Halford as tour hosts. The Halfords
and Kellys have coordinated many tours for the Worldwide Church of God and Travel
Gallery, including a rewarding and exciting tour of Russia in 2003.We will work
hard to insure that this will be a memorable trip.
Our early planning includes flying from
the U.S. (or your home country) to Bulgaria via a major European city. We are
currently talking with Austrian Airlines, which means flying into Vienna. There
is a same-day connecting service to Bulgaria. When our tour of Bulgaria is complete,
we plan to make our way to Greece, where we will spend a few days experiencing
the wonders of ancient Greece and some of the most intriguing places visited by
the apostle Paul almost 2,000 years ago—Thessalonica,
Athens and Corinth. It has been several years since we had a tour to Greece, but
anyone who has been there would agree Greece is an exciting destination.
If we use Austrian Airways, the return
journey home from Athens stops in Vienna, where we can add a three-day optional
extension of the tour for those who would like to experience one of the most interesting
and historic cities of Europe. For those who need to travel home right away, there
will be a connecting flight back to the U.S.