International Vacation Exchange

It was a dream of mine to see Alaska…and in September that dream became a reality when I had the most amazing adventure aboard the Golden Princess on a cruise to the Inside Passage.  There were so many activities on the ship, so I was always able to find something fun to do.  One of the most exciting places on board was the Piazza.  While I was there, I felt like I was sitting at a sidewalk café in Europe.  Street performers juggled, danced, and performed magic tricks. And there was always really good food at the international café.

But the highlights of our trip to Alaska were the visits to the ports and our excursions…one which included whale watching! But the best excursion was the helicopter ride to the glacier in Skagway.  The ride over gave us the most amazing views and I was lucky enough to sit beside the pilot…which was the best view of all.  A guide met our helicopter and took us on a hike around the glacier. The glacier was beautiful and I am so glad I got to see it up close.

This was one of my most memorable vacations and a trip I would recommend to everyone.

Come back to the RCI Blog this week to find cruise-themed stories and photos from RCI subscribing members. And, as always, if you have a cruise story or photo of your own that you would like to share, click here.

Leslie is a guest blogger who works at International Cruise & Excursion Gallery, Inc., d/b/a Our Vacation Center, which administers purchases and exchanges for the RCI Cruise program, under contract to RCI.

My daughter's school decided in 2008 that they would not be able to take any international trips. Her older brothers and sisters were able to visit Europe and also Mexico. Needless to say, she was very disappointed. I then decided to try to take her to Mexico myself. I got on the internet and searched for an RCI vacation exchange. The great news was that there was an opening at the Mayan Palace on Riviera Maya available during our spring break. I quickly booked the week and then the airfare. I even rented a car for the week that we were down there. It has been one of the best and most rewarding vacations I have been on. We visited the Mayan Ruins, took the ferry over to Cozumel. Each day we traveled to a new destination and saw even more than she would have on her school trip. We went out for supper each night and did a lot of shopping. Yes, we danced at Senor Frogs! Having the rental car was easy and without it we wouldn't have been able to do all the things we did! We kept our cost down and really enjoyed ourselves on our schedule. This will most definitely be one of my top vacations.

Our first international exchange was to Mitterfels, Germany. This was also our first overseas vacation, so we were eager to experience as much local "culture" as possible. Imagine our delight to find that a motorcycle club was staying at our resort that weekend and there was a Beerfest, complete with Oompah band and giant pretzels and singing! A perfect introduction to Bavarian hospitality.