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People always ask what can a travel agency do that the Internet can't. Well, for starters, the Internet has been around for less than 20 years and still has some kinks to work out. Our Carlson Wagonlit Travel agency celebrated its 50th birthday in 2006. In 50 years, we've become experts at understanding what clients need to have a great honeymoon, destination wedding, or vacation and how to bring it all together to ensure that your experience is the best it can possibly be.

If you search the web for Mexico or Europe, you will get over 1 million hits. Do you have time to sort through page after page of websites to find out what you need to know? Didn't think so...Will the cruise line's website tell you that your cruise ship port in Rome actually lands pretty far from what you went to Rome to see, and that you'll need a transfer service to get you to the heart of your vacation plans? How would you make those arrangements, now that you know, and how can you be sure that those arrangements will be trustworthy? Who will you call if you miss your flight or get bumped from your air seats?

When you have a travel agent helping you, you get your questions answered and your needs anticipated with no hassle, and your service doesn't end when you head for the airport, but remains as close as a phone call away throughout your trip. Travel professionals know what you don't, and work with trusted partners to assure quality and safety for clients. They ask you about your expectations and needs, figure out how to meet them, then coordinate it all, leaving you to focus on other things, like your beautiful wedding and the fun activities you want to do on your honeymoon.

You hire professionals to do your hair, plan your wedding and bake your cake. Let professionals take care of your most special travel plans too. If your ready to make your travel plans easy, give Carlson Wagonlit Travel Center a call at 253-617-7200 or check out our website for all our locations, specials, and more contact info at www.travelcenter4u.com

By the way, if you saw our ad or visited our booth for the Tacoma Bridal Expo, our Expo specials are good up to 7 days after the event so you still have a few days to save $50 off qualifying Pleasant Holidays vacations or get $300 worth of coupons to use during your Carnival cruise.

Everyone wants to give a really special gift to their Significant Other for the holidays, but sometimes it's hard to think of anything special enough. We have an idea for you, of course. Yes, you're planning a wedding, but maybe you don't know just where you want to honeymoon yet, or maybe that Big Day is still a long ways away, so why not try this...Give that Special Someone a Special Getaway for two. Whether it's a weekend in Vegas or a test stay at a place you're considering for the honeymoon, you can take your Loved One there with a gift certificate from Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Imagine the surprise on your Beloved's face when they open the gift of travel! Call us at 253-617-7204 or 800-935-0123, or check out the website at www.travelcenter4u.com for info and fabulous gift ideas.

We all have expectations about things. Sometimes they live up to them and sometimes they don't. Everyone wants their wedding and honeymoon to meet their expectations, but how can you assure that? The main way is probably planning. Plan early, investigate options, and set realistic goals. Here's an example of what I mean. I was recently on a Celebrity cruise where I talked with a lot of passengers. I asked one woman if this was her first cruise and she said no, she'd gone on one before on a different cruise line but she hadn't enjoyed it. I asked her why and she said it was because that cruise fell short of her expectations. Further discussion uncovered the fact that she had gone on a low-budget cruise line and had not gotten the elegance and service she had assumed was part of every cruise. She had not investigated the options or talked to anyone about different cruises. You can avoid this disappointment by taking the time to talk to your partner about what you want, then take some time to research your choices. We know that your wedding plans are your first priority, but your travel plans are our first and only priority, and we have the expertise to help you find the options that best fit your expectations and help you plan a realistic budget to have the honeymoon or destination wedding you expect. Call us at 253-617-7200 or visit our website at www.travelcenter4u.com to find out more about making sure your expectations become your reality.

Oh yeah! If you love cooking and the holidays, come visit us at the Seattle Cooks Show at Qwest Field Exhibition Hall November 3-5. Might be a good place to find a caterer for your wedding reception too. You can also visit us at Booth 584 at A Victorian Country Christmas at the Puyallup Fairgrounds November 29-December 3.

Have you even thought about planning your honeymoon? Where to go, what to do, how to pay for it and all with the other stress of planning your wedding. ACK! As a person who honeymooned with no pre-made reservations and ended up spending my wedding night IN THE CAR because all the hotels in Washington were full in beautiful late July, I can definitely sympathize. One of the coolest things we give out at Bridal Shows is a Honeymoon Planning Guide that has a timeline to help you decide where to go, get your reservations made and then be packed and ready without last minute stress on the Big Day. We also have a bridal registry service to let your guests help you pay for it once you've decided where you want to go. If you'd like us to send you one of our Honeymoon Planning Guides, just hit our website and shoot us an e-mail. The website is www.travelcenter4u.com and from there you can get an e-mail contact for whichever of our 8 branches is closest to you.

Happy February to you! As brides-to-be, we know this is an especially fun time for you and hope it's every bit as romantic as you could hope for. Don't forget that your travel agent can send you on that exciting weekend getaway as well as that extended honeymoon.

Another great thing about February is that Carlson Wagonlit Travel has another fantastic cruise special for you: Get up to a 7-category upgrade and a $50 travelers check when you book your Holland America Line cruise with us by Feb. 28, 2006. Check it out at www.travelcenter4u.com.

To go on a shopping trip with your girlfriends? The holidays are all about re-bonding with our friends and families. For Brides-to-be, it's a great time to play & shop together, maybe go on that last bachelorette fling. Have you looked into what's going on near you? Sleigh rides, neighborhood light shows, public holiday celebrations? At Carlson Wagonlit Travel, we've taken a look at these events and have a lot of fun ideas for that girls' night or weekend out. Give us a call or a click to see what we can do for you to make your holidays a little more fun! Our number is 888-278-7036.

After a couple of months of preparation, our Ship sails tonight and you're invited!
Carlson Wagonlit Travel has taken CLIA's Cruise Night challenge to the limits. We have attempted to recreate the cruise experience at our World's Largest Cruise Night Event. We've done it for you, so that you can have the opportunity to learn about all the difference choices in cruising, everything from ship sizes to cruise ambience. We have 12 cruise lines represented at our show this evening, and all of them are offereing show specials to save you money. These specials range from free cabin upgrades to reduced deposits, to pure dollars off savings on your voyage. We also will be giving away door prizes to our guests. The event is tonight from 5:30 till 8:00 PM at the Tacoma Sheraton Pavilion at 1320 Broadway Plaza in downtown Tacoma WA. Need more info--give us a call at 800-935-0123.
See you there!

We are looking forward to meeting all you brides-to-be at the Tacoma Bridal Expo this weekend at the Tacoma Dome. We have some really fantastic vacation values for you, including some just for the Expo! We look forward to this event every year because it's so much fun to see all the hopeful brides and grooms planning their futures, full of excitement and joy. Come see us at the Carlson Wagonlit Travel booth and let us know how we can help make your wedding or honeymoon an event to remember, whether it's to help you choose just the right honeymoon for your budget or showing you how to make that budget stretch by using our Honeymoon Registry, we're here for you.

Hello Future Bride!

Welcome to Carlson Wagonlit Travel's new blog. Let us first congratulate you on your upcoming wedding! We wish you a bright future full of joy and hope that we can get you started on your new life by helping you plan a fantastic honeymoon or destination wedding.

With almost 50 years in the travel business, we've planned hundreds of honeymoons, destination weddings and, because of our dedication to service, anniversaries too! We have several ways to help you, including a honeymoon planning timeline brochure, bridal registry service that lets your loved ones help with the costs of your honeymoon, as well as the experience to provide you with important information on how to handle the issues surrounding travel documents that changing to your married name can cause.

Please watch our blog for more information and, of course, travel specials to help you have a successful honeymoon or destination wedding. Please visit our website at www.travelcenter4u.com for the contact information that works best for you.

Bridal Shows

Get a list of upcoming bridal shows in cities near you. Shopping at a bridal expo beats driving all over town so take advantage of this opportunity.

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