Expectations
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Anne Schrader, Certified Travel Counselor & Certified Luxury Cruise Specialist
While you expect great trips that we help you discover when you use our trip planning services, we also have a strong duty to help you to control risk during your travels; and set clear expectations when you use our services. The result will be excellent outcomes; with good vacations you will remember for a long time.
There are 4 main ways we build trust. They are documentation, communication, boundaries, and consistency. Sometimes it means being a little blunt, but travel does involve contracts and terms and conditions which effect you directly when we offer you a trip from one of our vetted suppliers.
While we are knowledgeable about most possible vacation options; we care deeply about your trip and satisfaction; and we try to be responsive, this approach can lead to confusion. There is a risk you may be confused with our friendly approach and not realize we are professionals who have important procedures we must follow for both of us.
The goal of this blog is to ensure you know how we work, and how we want to work with you using our key values of trust and client first as the guiding principal.
Hank and Anne on one of their 31 River Cruises
Procedures and Documentation
We have some important procedures we must follow to provide you with the trip you are expecting. What we are trying to avoid are 3 problem areas. They are: 1) a lack of explanation, 2) items not properly documented and 3) what might be left open to interpretation. The procedures and documentation we use are very comprehensive and probably cover items you would not have considered if you planned your trip on your own.
Our first procedure is our Travel Request, as it helps you and us focus on exactly what you want to do and allows use get some basic information that our suppliers need to make you an offer for a trip. We require this of all new prospects. Here is the link to our Travel Request:
Some of you may be surprised we have written Terms and Conditions for using our services, as sometimes in the past we have just provided these verbally. We now provide these with any formal offer we make from a supplier, and they are on our website.
The goal of our terms and conditions is to clearly establish our professional relationship and remove any doubt about that relationship. Here is the Link:
You might be surprised we even have Terms of Use of our Website. With all the websites we all visit, even if they have these, most of us have never bothered to read them. I know I seldom read them or even look for them, as we have become numb to just accepting these by default.
Perhaps what is most important about website terms is that we try or best to provide accurate information, but sometimes it can quickly become outdated, and you need to realize this. Also, we clearly state how you can use our intellectual property such as our PowerPoints and pictures.
Here is the link:
Finally, we are very concerned about your privacy. It is posted on the footer of our website. We only pass your personal information that you provide us with to the necessary suppliers and never sell it to or provide it to third parties.
To coduct business on your behalf, we are required by vendors to collect personal information. We use this information for only those purposes. To learn more about our privacy policy, please click on this link::
Communication
Maybe the hardest part of our task is to balance being responsive without overpromising. It takes time to find the right trip and communicate this clearly. In the past, I would sometimes be guilty of this, and I am really working hard to be more realistic.
We are very detailed in our communications and proud of being precise.
Perhaps the best way for you to understand this is to use an example from the way we explain an offer from a river cruise company.
We emphasize benefits of the trip and how it matches what you wanted but also add enough information to protect you from unwise purchases that does not benefit either of us (remember our company value of client first).
Our goal here is to let you know when we send you a quote, it has our personal touch ensuring you know exactly what you are buying and how much it costs.
First, we provide a recap of the cruise, cruise ship, stateroom selection, dates of cruise, savings on the booking, land extensions, deposit date and final due date. Here is an example of an email we have sent showing how we recap the cruise:
“As promised, here is your offer from AmaWaterways on the AmaVenita on 16 June 2026 with the Lake Como 3-night land package starting on 13 June 2026. You will be in Stateroom 203, which is a BB category (twin balcony).
The total cost of this package is $15,756.
This offer expires on 9/10/2025.
Your final payment is due 3/18/2026”
Second, we provide Warnings about supplier terms and conditions (example $400 non-refundable of $800 deposit); explanation of insurance with math example, and the scope of our services. Here is an example we recently sent a prospect:
“To accept this offer you must make a deposit of $800 but please remember that $400 is non-refundable. Also realize by making the deposit you are accepting the terms and conditions from AmaWaterways, which are included in the formal offer attached to the bottom of this email.”
Then, we make clear that you are actually hiring us.
The example: “By making the required deposit, I am hiring Visit Dream Destinations LLC to plan my trip and agree to their terms and conditions which are located at the bottom of this email”.
By now it should be crystal clear what our professional relationship is.
Next, we provide more information about insurance
We provide the cost of the trip insurance of the supplier and information about coverages. We also require that:
“While you are not required to purchase insurance to take this trip, we always recommend some form of travel protection and will require you to indicate that you decline insurance by either the vendor or by other insurance quote we would provide from another insurance company by email if you do not desire the included insurance plan”.
Finally, we provide our payment procedures and the scope of our services. The example:
“We always take credit card info over the phone for security reasons. We pay AmaWaterways directly on your behalf and do not deposit any funds in our accounts. We only pay the amounts you authorize during your verbal agreement on the phone.
By providing your credit card information over the phone:
I am authorizing Visit Dream Destinations LLC to charge my credit card in the amount indicated during the phone call and agree to the terms and conditions of the booking which are located at the bottom of this email, including suppliers' and agency cancellation and refund policies, which may limit my right to a refund, if I cancel or change my plans.
One last point--we are not providing any travel services; we are acting as your agents to help you make the best possible decisions for your wonderful trip, but we accept no liability if the services are not properly delivered. Please rest assured that this is a great company, and we expect they will exceed your expectations. Again, this is to point out the scope of our services”.
While some of this might seem blunt, travel professionals, like us, are protecting you by removing any doubt what our relationship is—we both win when there are clear expectations.
My guess is that you might seem a little surprised about the amount of detail we provide you, but our experience is that it causes you to carefully consider our services and actually read the suppliers’ terms and conditions.
Boundaries
We try to be responsive, but we might not meet your expectations, unless you understand we have normal operating hours and how we operate. Here is what we list on our website:
“Our normal operating hours are 0900 to 1700 Monday thru Friday Central time, but we will make exceptions depending upon the circumstances and urgency of your request and we understand there may be time zone differences. We are not open on the weekends, nor on Major Holidays. If these hours do not fit your schedule, please text or email us your desired contact time and we will do our best to accommodate you.
We do answer texts when our clients are traveling and are available 24 hours”.
Also recognize that the hours of operations and our ability to contact our vetted suppliers will often delay our response time.
Our procedures act to protect you, and these boundaries help us build proper, and productive relationships.
Consistency
I think we do this very well. We honestly tell you what is available and alert you when we can to changes made by suppliers. Our offers now follow these procedures we have outlined in this blog.
We try our best to respond within 48 hours for emails and phone calls. Sometimes our clients and prospects expect better response times, but it is not always possible.
Another key factor is the urgency of the communication—a trip 8 months from now is not as urgent as a key deadline or personal emergency that requires an immediate response.
Still, we do understand to you, this is the most important trip in your lives, and you are excited to make it happen, so we will try to inform you when our response is going to be delayed.
Our Final Thoughts
We hope you find this blog interesting and meaningful to you. The better we can connect with you, the better we can serve you. For years, some in the travel industry have tolerated loose processes and undocumented practices. We want to avoid this, so we can concentrate on providing you with great trips!
We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, 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 with high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@visitdd.com . We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
ANNE has earned a degree from the University of Houston in Hotel and Restaurant Management. Serving as the President of Visit Dream Destinations, LLC, since 2016, she is uniquely experienced professional travel advisor with over 30 years’ experience in the travel industry. Among her numerous certifications, she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) by the Travel Institute, considered the gold standard in travel agent certification and she is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC) by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), as well Luxury Cruise Specialist also from CLIA. Having traveled often to Europe since 1989, she has expanded on her certification as a Destination Specialist in Western Europe (DS) with extensive first-hand experience in luxury vacations. She holds numerous other specialty designations from individual vendors. An expert photographer, she delights in capturing the true essence of destinations to share with all.
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 55 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). His last major certificate is a Verified Travel Advisor (VTA) certificate earned from the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA). 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
Avalon Waterways Specialist
CLIA Riverview Certificate
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Riverside Luxury Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Brit Agent
