“Fair and Balanced”? Yes, Paul Motter/CruiseMates, There Is A Santa Claus…And An Admittedly Good Travel Agent He Admits He Should Have Used!

After almost two weeks of reading about all the allegedly terrible things that supposedly happened on his cruise on the Seabourn Sojourn, today Paul Motter’s rather mild article for Fox News appeared…and so did a couple of rather complimentary comments about me on the CruiseMates.com message board.

Not “looking a gift horse in the mouth” I appreciate Motter’s present comments about me.  For example, one reader commented that it seems from Motter’s comments that guests are expected to know certain things, to which Motter wrote:

[T]his was why I told Seabourn I really prefer to go with a group instead of on my own…Or if a person had a good travel agent, like Eric Goldring, then he could have cooked up some organized activities for the people like me and kept me in the loop.

He then continued:

It’s too bad Eric decided to leave this board, as I now write for FoxNews and not FoxBusiness, 32,000,000 readers/month, and this would have been the perfect opportunity for me to give his agency incredibly valuable publicity. His guided groups would be just the kind of thing a person like me would need. Alas- I had no travel agent at all, and really no guidance at all from the company on what to expect.


The important point is that if you do not know what you are buying, don’t buy it based upon what someone else says and, whatever you do:  Don’t Just Show Up!

For example, just yesterday (while I was watching “my” New York Jets beat the San Diego Chargers) the man next to me said he has never been on a cruise, but his wife says they must go on the Queen Mary 2.  I then asked why and…in between plays…I discovered her desire was based upon misperceptions and marketing.  He now knows what to expect, how it works…and, of course, other options that might fulfil his wife’s actual desires better.  You know she isn’t going to be going on that cruise without a clue, right?

So, if you are interested in taking a luxury cruise…or any cruise…or, frankly, any vacation:  Ask Questions and make sure you receive Real Answers.  And, most importantly, if you don’t actually know the questions to ask, tell your travel agent that and see if she/he offers real information and where to find detailed answers. 

Goldring Travel sells far more than just Seabourn cruises. Whether it is a Crystal Cruise, a Silversea Cruise, Orion Expeditions, Celebrity Cruises or whichever, Goldring Travel provides all of its clients with lots of information. I spend as much time as a prospective or actual client needs.  For me it is about the quality of the pre-cruise and cruise experiences my clients have; not the volume of clients I can book one time.  Goldring Travel wants to book a client’s holidays for their lifetime.

And if you need a testament to why you need an excellent travel agent…Just ask Paul Motter.