Cruising with a purpose...a great way to raise funds for your non profit organization

Charity fund raising programs with Planet Travel offer donors so much more than a candy bar or candles from a catalogue. Capable of generating a significant amount of money for your non-profit organization, charity, church or school, Planet Travel Cruising with a purpose is an innovative approach to getting people to support your organization financially by giving them something very special in return - a truly unbeatable deal on a cruise vacation and memories to last a lifetime.


Charity Fund Raising Cruises - How it Works

Through Planet Travel, in cooperation with several major cruise lines in the industry, organizations can plan the best charity fund raising event ever seen in their community. And the best part is, Planet Travel does all the work for you. We'll negotiate the deal with the cruise lines, help figure out the best scenario for your group financially and organize all of the details. All you have to do is decide which one of the gorgeous ships you wish to board and which amazing destinations you wish to call upon.

Our mission is to provide top quality cruises for non-profit entities and to give those organizations an opportunity to raise funds for worthy causes world-wide and to also empower them to create enriching memories of fun and fellowship for their members.

Charity Fund Raising Cruises - Group Deals

The cruises offered through Planet Travel charity fund raising are in fact the best deals around because of the savings you receive from booking with the group. A portion of that cost is set aside for your group and some cruise lines will actually match your total donations allowing you to make twice what you would raise in other programs. For example, if your group booked an 8-day Caribbean cruise and your donation portion per passenger was set at $35, Carnival Cruise Line would match that $35 and virtually double your funds.

Charity Fund Raising Cruises - Event-full or Laid-back

Make what you want out of this charity fund raising opportunity. Plan events for every night onboard, just one evening of events or more of a freestyle, "you're on your own" cruise that is free of obligation. Whatever you decide, people will enjoy the savings they receive and will most likely remember the experience forever. Perhaps, they might even rally to do it again the following year!

Charity Fund Raising Cruises - Destinations

Your charity fund raising group will choose from a variety of world-wide destinations including the coral reefs and pristine beaches of the Grand Cayman, or the ancient Mayan ruins of Cozumel or the inspiring wildlife in Alaska. And the shore excursions available on cruises are equally thrilling with everything from scuba and snorkeling to sport fishing or river rafting. Our Cruise Specialists are knowledgeable and extremely helpful in choosing destinations for your organization. You can also customize private shore excursions as well.

Charity Fund Raising Cruises - More Information

The best part about this avenue of charity fund raising is that our Group Cruise Specialists will do all the work for you, handling deposits, reservations, payments and travel documents. Please give us a call for more information on this innovative alternative or see our website planetravelonline.com for more information about Cruising with a purpose.

JAMAICA | Indulging in an all-inclusive resort on Caribbean island makes for an enjoyable vacation

A positive review of the Grand Lido Negril Resort from the Chicago Sun Times. Enjoy Extreme Savings of up to 65% at Grand Lido Resorts & Spas at our travel insiders all inclusive wed site for travel up to December 20.

link to Planet Travel's All Inclusive Vacations web site

Our free gambling guide....another reason to book your next Las Vegas vacation with Planet Travel

If you are headed to Las Vegas you may be interested in testing your luck while you are there. Clients who book their vacations with Planet Travel will receive a free copy of our "Insider's Guide to Gambling in Las Vegas...Evening the Odds with the Casino."

It is a $19.95 value and it is yours free.

Topics include:

Higher denomination machines have a higher payback. You should therefore play higher denomination machines. Wrong. We will explain why downgrading is one of the best moves you can make in a casino.

What is the best system to beat the slots?

Should you play progressive slot machines?

Why playing craps may be your best bet at the casinos.

Why we gamble. We really are programmed to be gamblers.

Why you should search out high frequency machines.

Our own reports about gambling and what we found that worked and what didn't.

And more.

We searched for the best advice we could find about today's high tech gambling world and condensed it in this free report. No hype. No crazy systems. Just good information.

It is yours free when you book your next Las Vegas Vacation with Planet Travel.

link to Planet Travel's Las Vegas connection

Update On Passport Requirements

By many accounts, a meltdown in processing that held up passports for thousands of Americans earlier this year has eased. But new delays might be on the horizon. Here is an update from the Chicago Tribune.

Travel agents staging a comeback

WHEN SHE WAS PLANNING her birthday trip to New York City, Caroline Koons Forrest started where most of us do: online. She checked everything from Hotels.com to the Four Seasons' site. No luck. Everything was booked solid, outrageously priced or completely unfamiliar to her (the Days Hotel, anyone?). So the West Palm Beach architectural designer did something she hadn't done in ages: switched off her computer and called a local travel agent. Minutes later Stacy Small of Elite Travel International phoned back with a room at her first-choice hotel, the Four Seasons, at half the $1,600 price tag for a suite Forrest had spotted on the web. The icing on the cake? An actual birthday cake, which awaited Forrest and her husband when they entered their room.

After more than a decade of decline, the humble travel agent is staging a comeback. Frustrated with the recent rash of sold-out hotels and airline seats, travelers are discovering that for all the hype, web sites like Hotels.com, Orbitz and Travelocity are losing some of their edge, especially when it comes to high-end locations. And customer displeasure is starting to show; growth in the once red-hot online travel business is cooling, up 20% last year after a 28% increase in 2004. Enter the travel agent, the most savvy of whom can use longtime connections to secure that "sold out" room or coveted aisle seat. Written off as dinosaurs not so long ago, agents are seeing a welcome bump in business, with the 2006 average weekly sales per agent location up 15% over the year before. High-end travel is turning up as well, with members of Virtuoso, a consortium of more than 300 luxury agencies, racking up $4.2 billion in sales last year, an 11% jump over 2005.

Read more by clicking the above link from Smart money.com

The air travel nightmare continues

The media has a certain fascination with the airline industry.

The press has not been good this summer.

Here is a link to the Denver Post detailing the misery of air travel

The Philadelphia Inquirer has some tips on how to fly and survive this summer.

The Chicago Tribune has a front page article about flying the angry skies.

And the Chicago Tribune companion article about 2007 being the worst year ever for air travelers.


We recently flew Southwest to Las Vegas. Somehow despite the problems of other airlines, our Southwest flights arrived on time, were 90% filled, the planes were clean, the seats were not broken, the rows have more room than other airlines, and Southwest managed to serve everyone a drink at no charge and a small box of snacks. Which brings me to the Southwest paradox. How did this airline, the greyhound of the air, become the market leader? They steadfastly avoid assigning seats causing passengers to line up hours before the flight leaves to get a "good seat." Although there are rumors of a change in boarding policies. They set the prices in any market they serve. Their recent fare increase was matched immediately by their competitors and their soon to announced sale fares will be matched as well. Southwest airlines employees are genuinely friendly and seem to like their jobs.

And Southwest airlines is profitable, but that profitability is being threatened by higher fuel costs and increased competition.

Hopefully the things that make flying Southwest more attractive today, won't disappear as a result of the squeezed profitability and increased competition.

"Our customer service providers recognize the additional stress and tension of traveling today,"

USA Today reports that flight attendants are feeling the wrath of flyers. Flying today is a very unpleasant experience and apparently some are fighting back...literally.