Our Travel Video Website Page


By Hank Schrader, USMA ’71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert

www.dreamdestinations.com

A unique feature of the content on our website is the Travel Video Page.  Most travel agencies post video made by others or shoot small snippets of a tour or ocean liner or rivership.  We have taken a different approach—each video is a collection of our pictures put together in a video slide show.  By the time the whole project is finished, we will have 28 videos with over 945 individual pictures—almost 99% taken by us.  We are very proud of this project and we hope you will be thrilled to share some of our travel experiences.

There are presently 17 videos posted on our Travel Videos page.  It is located under our topic of Resources on our website.  Here is the link to the page:

https://www.dreamdestinations.com/travel-videos/

The videos are organized into 4 categories.  They are: 1) River Cruises (3 videos); 2) Castles & Palaces (5 videos); 3) Regions of Europe (6 videos); and 4) Delightful Discoveries (3 posted; 10 completed but not yet posted and 1 in draft status).

We feature a video on our home page and change the video ever 2 weeks to keep it fresh.  Currently the highlighted video is the Christmas Market of Europe.

So, let’s see why you should view one or more of these videos—what new perspective will you gain about a possible vacation you desire to take?

Overview

The idea of these videos is to provide you inspiration for your future travel, by traveling vicariously through our eyes and camera lens.  It is a great way to explore the wonders of river cruising and Europe.  These videos cover a wide range of interests, to include what it is like on a Europe river cruise; the many castles and palaces we have visited; regional descriptions and some key sights in countries of that region and themed collection of pictures we call Delightful Discoveries.  While the first three categories are pretty straightforward and easy to understand, the Delightful Discoveries is a collection of items that covers topics such as food and food markets, colorful towns, interesting street signs, small cars—now I’m sure you get the concept.

We hope we will inspire you, challenge you and delight you with these videos!

River Cruises

There are 3 river cruise videos.  It covers the 3 most important Europe River Cruises routes.  This section starts off with the Danube River—the second longest river in Europe after the Volga (European Russia)—and covers the Upper and Lower Danube River Cruise Routes.

The next video is about French River Cruises.  It covers trips on the Seine, Rhone and the Bordeaux region-- 3 great trips that is a favorite among many of our clients.

The last video is a description of the routes along the Rhine River and its key tributaries.  It includes the Tulip Time cruise (only offered in the spring) which covers the Netherlands and Belgium; the middle Rhine are on the Main and Mosel tributaries and the Rhine cruise from Basel to Amsterdam. 

Here is a sample video:

 
 

 

Castle & Palaces

There are 5 videos in this section.  They are 1) Castles of Germany and Austria, Rhine River Castles (our most popular video), Castles of the UK (covers castles of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), Castles of Eastern Europe, and the Palaces of Europe.

Here is a sample video:

 
 

 

Regions of Europe

There are 6 videos in this section.  It starts off with the Benelux countries.  Other videos include: 1) the Iberian Peninsula, 2) the Balkans, 3) Scandinavia, 4) Islands of Southern Europe and 5) the Italian Peninsula.

Here is a sample video:

 
 

 

Delightful Discoveries

There are 3 videos posted in this section.  Currently we have posted 1) Christmas Markets of Christmas (the current bi-weekly video on our home page), 2) Colorful Towns of Europe and 3) Europe’s Interesting Bridges.

Here are the completed videos that will be posted shortly to our Travel Video website page: 1) Europe’s Gardens & Flowers; 2) Europe’s Shop Signs, 3) Europe’s Small Cars; 4) Famous Europe Art & Museums; 5) Famous Landmarks of Europe; 6) Food Markets of Europe; 7) Interesting Town Squares of Europe; 8) Religious Structures of Europe; 9) Some Great Eating in Europe; and 10) World War II Sites of Europe. 

The last video, Europe’s Walled Cities is in draft form but needs some additional editing.

Here is a sample video:

 
 

 

My Final Thoughts

Every wonder why we claim to be Europe river cruise experts and European Destination Specialists?  I think it is clear that few travel advisors in America have been to so many Europe Destinations as we have.  The pictures are clear proof—our first-hand experience is extraordinary.  While first-hand knowledge is great, it is not meaningful to you unless we can apply that experience to get you a better trip.  In my mind, it is where we excel—we listen, match your desires with our vast experience and the outcome is a great vacation that will exceed your expectations.

We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise experts, and Europe destination experts.  We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe.  We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you.  We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.

When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip.  You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience.  And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process.  We think we have all these qualities.

Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you!  We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel.  Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com.  We want to help you:  Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations!  Your journey begins here!

Hank Schrader.JPG

HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 45 years.  He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).  This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years.  He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees.   His other Certifications:

  • AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist

  • Viking River Cruise Specialist

  • Scenic River Cruise Specialist

  • Emerald Waterways  Specialist

  • Avalon Waterways Specialist

  • Brit Agent