Cruises and group tour for 2006

By Ronald Kelly
Group tour coordinator

PASADENA—Would you believe it is already time to make plans for our special group fellowship activities for 2006?

Looking back over the many cruises we have offered during the past several years, the most popular cruise itinerary has been the Alaska Inside Passage. Although slightly more expensive than the seven-day Caribbean cruises, the Inside Passage with a day in Glacier Bay National Park and ports of call in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway offers opportunities found nowhere else in the world.

Usually we book a Caribbean itinerary in September or October to obtain the best pricing. That’s great on one hand, but this limits families with children. Such families have asked us many times to have a church-sponsored cruise in the summer when the entire family can take part.

With that in mind, we have worked out a special group cruise with Holland America Line that will depart Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday evening, June 28, sail the Inside Passage and return to Vancouver on Wednesday morning, July 5.

These dates provide an opportunity for families to experience the joy of cruising and will take in the July 4 holiday. Because many employees will have holiday time on Monday, July 3, as well as July 4, fewer vacation days will need to be requested. Plus the weather should normally be wonderful with long, cool summer days.

The Inside Passage cruises operate only from mid-May to mid-September, and the dates we have selected are at peak time. However, Holland America is offering us good pricing with cabins starting at $729 per person (double occupancy, excluding port and tax).

We suggest booking by Oct. 1 for best cabin selection. Unlike the Caribbean cruises, Alaska cruises for these prime dates in the middle of the summer begin to fill by November, so we wanted you to be ahead of the crowd.

This does not mean we are abandoning our autumn Caribbean cruise. Perhaps the most attended cruises we have offered have been in the Caribbean because the pricing is so affordable. Several thousands of our members have enjoyed a variety of Caribbean routes. We hope to offer yet another group cruise in this region in October 2006.

We are working with Princess Cruise Lines for a cruise departing Oct. 7, 2006 sailing the Western Caribbean and returning on Oct. 14. The cruise fares on the Caribbean Princess will begin at $699 per person (double occupancy).

In addition to our cruises, thousands of members have participated in land tours to places such as Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, China and Thailand. It has been several years since we have had a group tour to the Holy Land, and a number of members have asked when we can set up such a tour. With sufficient interest, we can offer a seven or eight day tour to Israel in September 2006. We normally would need to have at least 45 participants to put together a group—90 would be even better.

So if you have always wanted to visit the Holy Land, this would be a wonderful time to consider a Worldwide Church of God fellowship group tour. If you are interested, contact John Siston at Travel Gallery for further information. At this time, we are only putting together an interest list, and if enough are interested, we will contact you with further details and pricing.

So, whether you are interested in Israel in September, a Caribbean cruise in October or an Alaska Inside Passage cruise in late June and early July, please e-mail John Siston at john@travelgallery.com. You can call him toll free at 1-800-858-6999.

Remember, the earlier you book the better opportunity we have to secure space and pricing as well as incentives. So if one of these fellowship activities is something you would enjoy in 2006, contact Travel Gallery right away.

On a personal note, although I officially retired from full-time employment July 22, WCG President Joseph Tkach has asked me to continue coordination of our group tours and fellowship cruises. He certainly didn’t have to twist my arm to continue this opportunity to organize these events. My wife, Norva, and I hope to see many of you in 2006.