Travels With Paula Paula Tanner Travel Advisor with Breakthrough Travel

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The trips I plan best

I specialize in couples, friend getaways and solo trips - curating a vacation that gives something back, not just a break from everyday life.

01 - The Last Frontier

Alaska Land & Sea

The cruise is half of Alaska. The interior is the half people wish they'd added.

A seven-night Inside Passage sailing is a lovely trip on its own. Pair it with a domed rail journey up to Denali and a few nights in the interior, and it becomes the trip people talk about for years. This is the one I plan most carefully, and the one where the right decisions are least obvious from a brochure.

Is northbound or southbound better? What should I pack? When should I go, somewhere between May and September? These are the questions that come up on every Alaska trip, and they're the ones worth talking through before anything is booked.

  • Full cruisetour planning - sailing, rail, lodges and Denali, in the right order
  • Northbound vs. southbound, and which glacier itineraries actually deliver
  • Season strategy - wildlife, daylight, salmon runs and crowd levels by month
  • Which side of the ship to book for glacier viewing, and which decks to avoid
  • Excursions matched honestly to mobility and stamina, not to the catalogue

02 - At Sea

Ocean & Luxury Cruises

When you want more from your cruise experience. Drinks included. Butler service included. Wi-Fi included. Excursions and tours included.

Premium and luxury lines are a different product from the mass-market ships most people picture - fewer passengers, no upcharge at every turn, service that remembers your name by the second morning. The gap between lines is enormous, and matching the right one to how you actually like to spend a day is most of my job.

  • Help planning excursions and itineraries - starting your trip before the trip
  • Cabin and suite selection - which categories are worth the jump and which aren't
  • Knowing when a pre- or post-cruise stay is worth adding, and when it isn't
  • Finding the cruise line and itinerary that fit exactly what you want

03 - Europe's Rivers

European River Cruises

Unpack once. Wake up somewhere new. Walk off the ship into the middle of town.

The Rhine, Danube, Douro, Seine and Rhône are the trips my clients come back and book again. No airports between cities, no dragging suitcases up hotel stairs, and a ship small enough that you'll know the crew by the end. The variables that matter - which side of the ship, which month, which of the seven nearly-identical-looking itineraries actually suits you - are exactly the ones the booking sites won't tell you.

  • Matching river, season and itinerary - seasonal markets, tulips, wine harvest
  • Deck and stateroom choice, including the ones worth avoiding
  • Help determining which cruise line is best for your needs and wants
  • Excursion choices matched to the pace and activity level you want

04 - Before & After

Pre- & Post-Cruise Stays

The nights on either side of a sailing are where cruises are quietly won or lost.

Flying in the morning your ship departs is the single biggest avoidable risk in cruise travel, and it's the mistake I talk clients out of most often. Arriving a day or two early removes it entirely - and turns a city you were going to see through a taxi window into a real part of the trip.

Vancouver before Alaska. Amsterdam before the Rhine. Rome after a Mediterranean sailing. I book these through the cruise line where their package is genuinely the better deal, and independently where it isn't - and I'll tell you plainly which is which.

  • Arriving early enough that a delay never costs you the sailing
  • Hotels chosen for the neighborhood and the walk, not just distance to the pier
  • Transfers and luggage handled between hotel and ship
  • Help deciding which pre- or post-cruise stays work best for your trip

05 - Sun & Sea

All-Inclusive & Island Escapes

The Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii - where the difference between resorts is enormous.

"All-inclusive" covers everything from a spring-break barracks to a butler-serviced suite with a private plunge pool. The listings look nearly identical online. I know which properties have quietly declined, which just finished a renovation, and which ones actually deliver the calm they advertise.

  • Resorts matched to your idea of a good day - adults-only, family-friendly or somewhere between
  • Room categories that matter - swim-out, club level, oceanfront vs. ocean view
  • Anniversary and milestone celebrations arranged with the property in advance
  • Straight talk on hurricane season and how rebooking terms actually work

06 - Together

Deluxe Disney, Universal & Theme Parks

Multigenerational trips where the grandparents enjoy themselves too.

Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Disneyland Paris. Disney Cruise Line. Universal Orlando and Universal Hollywood. And the other parks worth building a whole trip around.

Taking three generations to Orlando is a logistics problem disguised as a vacation. Done well - deluxe or club-level resorts, a private guide, dining booked the morning the window opens, and an itinerary with genuine rest built in - it's one of the best trips a family ever takes. Done by guesswork, it's ten miles a day in the heat and a 40-minute wait for lunch.

  • Deluxe and club-level resorts, with the perks and benefits explained
  • Dining reservations placed the day the booking window opens
  • Private VIP touring - skip the lines and see more of what you came for
  • Day-by-day plans with mid-day breaks that keep everyone speaking to each other
  • Disney Cruise Line sailings, on their own or paired with park days

Don't see your trip here?

Ask anyway. Big trip or small, tell me what you have in mind and I'll help you find exactly what you're dreaming of.

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