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vendor reviews: travel companies |
Honeymoon & Wedding-Moon specialists give you the personal assistance you need to plan your magical getaway Reviewing: Jeanne Hall, Manager & Lynn Livingstone, 'Wedding-Moon' & Honeymoon Specialist, of Uniglobe Discover Travel
Manager, Jeanne Hall sat down with The Ring to explain how her travel team - including an in-house Honeymoon & 'Wedding-Moon' Specialist, Lynn Livingstone - inspires couples to trust them with one of the biggest events of their lives, especially when it involves traveling into places unknown...
Options, technology & experience from the beginning... With their doors first open in 1985, Discover is owned by Paul Tribe and managed by Jeanne and Lynn. The Stanley Park Mall, Kitchener location is just celebrating their tenth anniversary.
Paul Tribe is an expert in travel, both through his career as a consultant and owner, and through his travels from Prague to Punta Cana. Paul has coordinated large and small group getaways, tropical and European vacations for all clients, as well as found a number of unique, unknown, high-priced vacation options that many agencies may not even be aware of.
Before Discover's opening, Jeanne spent years working in travel. Jeanne noticed that the travel industry as a whole was evolving dramatically but that most local agencies weren't evolving along with it, so she decided to make her mark on the community.
Discover quickly earned popularity by being one of the first travel agencies in the
community to become fully automated - tapping into a real-time worldwide
database of flight, hotel, cruise and tour operator information with the ability
to book and print tickets on the spot. Jeanne also chose to avoid becoming a
preferred agent of just a few tour operators and instead, cater to clients who
wanted
A specialist just for the bride and groom If you are a bride or groom, it's Lynn that you'll meet with in most cases. Lynn started Discover Travel's Kitchener office together in 1996. "I've been planning travel for clients since 1989," she said, adding "I have the best job of all... making dreams come true!" Lynn is known as the in-house 'Honeymoon & Wedding-Moon Specialist' (Wedding-Moon is travel lingo for Destination Wedding!).
Honeymoons If you're designing your Honeymoon, it's Lynn's job to have more than a few ideas. At Discover, they believe that one of the reasons couples put their trust in them is because the travel consultants and specialists have personally traveled to most of the places that they recommend." If you ask Lynn, Jeanne or another travel consultant, they can often describe the thickness of the duvet and the view from the balcony of your Splendide Etoille hotel at the base of the Champs Elysees in France. They can walk you through the experience of an ocean-side couples massage at their favourite all-inclusive Mexican resort. There isn't a corner of the Earth that one or all of the Discover staff haven't either been to, sent clients to, or learned just about everything about.
Your Honeymoon plans will revolve around you, the type of couple you are, and what you're dreaming about. Discover has planned dream Honeymoons for couples that want a private ocean-side suite on a powder-white beach that you could never walk to the end of. At the same time, they've also planned treks through Costa Rican rain forests. Each couple is different and there is a Honeymoon for every budget." The options are endless, the ideas are yours, and the details will be taken care of by Lynn.
Wedding-Moons With the rising popularity of Destination Weddings (or 'Wedding-Moons'), Uniglobe Discover Travel specialists love rising to the challenge of becoming your wedding planner. "There are a lot of ways to have a beautiful wedding in another country. But there are also a lot of details to consider." Destination Weddings mean wedding planning from a distance, legal fees, licensing, documentation, waiting periods, making sure your marriage is recognized when you come back, contacting family and friends to attend, how to make sure your bridal gown gets on the plane with you, and more. Lynn takes care of just about all of these details for her brides and grooms. Anything she can't do, she'll point you in the right direction. From creating a letter inviting your family and friends to attend and book in advance to downloading legal forms, Lynn is at your disposal and happy to be so. She can even set up a bridal registry, or provide friends and family with gift certificates for the bride and groom.
Wedding packages commonly give several options for your ceremony site such as gazebo, garden, beach area, etc. There is often a wedding planner to meet you once you arrive. Lynn will make sure that she has all of your arrangements and will give you the heads up on any extra costs you may be looking at, either in your wedding package, or for legal fees to perform your ceremony, etc. Lynn will advise you on insurance, taxes, and other costs that sometimes come as a surprise if you aren't using an experiences travel consultant.
Where to start Whether you know exactly what you want or you don't have a clue, Lynn can answer your questions and walk you through a few dozen ideas at your appointment. You can discuss options (cruise, hotel, resort, safari...), weather (hot or not, rain or shine), and dozens of other topics. "It's all up to you. I can give you a lot of ideas and then we can narrow it down together..." Sometimes couples are surprised when a Uniglobe Discover Travel specialist can find them an amazing extravagant European Honeymoon for the price range of the Caribbean resort they'd seen on television or the Internet.
• Uniglobe Discover Travel can book nearly any flight, hotel, resort, cruise, wedding package, or vacation option available across the globe & on the spot. • Often, only a deposit of approximately 10% is required to book your travel plans. • The balance is due six weeks before your departure date. • An appointment is recommended to ensure time to speak in detail about your ideas. • Travel can be booked as far ahead as far as 12 months ahead and as late as a day or two ahead.
Inotherwords... "My husband and I booked a honeymoon with Sue Croft at Uniglobe Discover Travel last March 2004. We went to the Adventura Spa in the Mayan Riviera and had a fabulous time." - Laura Goodfellow
Other ways to contact Uniglobe Discover Travel... Uniglobe Discover Travel is located in the Stanley Park Mall at the corner of Ottawa & River Roads, at 1005 Ottawa Street North in Kitchener. The staff of travel consultants can be reached by phone at 519-746-8747. Lynn's direct line is 519-896-2300. You can also reach Lynn by email at lynn@uniglobediscover.com. Check them out online at www.uniglobediscover.com.
- The Staff at TheWeddingRing.ca * Prices are all approximate and are subject to change and verification by authorized staff and management of Uniglobe Discover Travel. |
to know all their travel options. "Travelers want to know that they can
go anywhere, that they can design a getaway that's perfect just for them...
We couldn't do that if we only sold for certain groups." So, with an endless
list of vacation ideas and a staff of six that, on average, have each worked
with Jeanne for over ten years, Uniglobe Discover Travel has become an agency that the
community has come to know and trust.
Many resorts have
wedding
packages, but
it's a travel consultant with Uniglobe Discover Travel's experience that can tell you which package
offers the best romance, options, and value for your money. Lynn has a mental
list of her favourites and is on the first name basis with many of the resort
wedding planners. "I've learned from experience, where you can hold an amazing
wedding, who I can trust to take care of my couple and their guests once they
are out of my hands."
