About Us
Company Profile
The cruise industry has changed drastically over the last ten years. The cruise product as it existed 10-15 years ago is extremely rare today. If you haven't noticed, most cruises are more affordable today than ever before. With this increased affordability, has come a change in the product. Where once service, cuisine and pampering were stressed, now 24 hour activity and a Las Vegas atmosphere are. The product has become more mainline, more aimed at middle American tastes. There is certainly nothing wrong with this, as it allows the cruise industry to tap a larger market, and for more and more people to enjoy a cruise vacation. But there are still some of us who enjoy the traditional cruise, the food and the personal service. Personal service gets lost somewhere on a 2500 passenger megaliner.
So keeping this philosophy in mind, we sell only a few cruise lines that still offer this deluxe, upscale, traditional product. And, indeed, there are some companies today who are providing a product that is better than ever before.
We set certain criteria on which cruise lines to represent. We want a ship that feels like a ship, not a floating hotel with no attachment to the sea. We want low density ships, roomy ships, with a high crew to passenger ratio. This necessarily eliminates most new megaliners. We want professional service from a European crew whom we can easily communicate with. This type of crew is becoming extremely rare today, and quite expensive for a cruise line. We want to see an emphasis on cuisine and presentation. We want food at least as good as one would experience at a moderately good shoreside restaurant. No banquet food, please. Keeping in mind that true gourmet food is rarely possible onboard ship given the lack of truly fresh ingredients, we want to see a never ending effort in that direction. We want to see financial stability and a company that knows where it's going, having identified its market. And lastly, but not least, we want to see value for money spent. None of these cruises are cheap, on the contrary they are relatively expensive, but they all offer the best value in relation to other products in their class. In many cases we have chosen selected sailings which we believe represent especially good value in the market place. And in some cases, we have created even better value by taking group space, or entering into marketing arrangements allowing us to offer these selected cruises at even better prices. The following are the products we have found. They provide all we we looking for and more, each being exquisite in its own way.
About out Italian Villas
Over the last four years we have added some very select Italian villas to our inventory of product. This is something that we have wanted to do for quite some time. But up until recently, we have never been totally satisfied with the level of support offered by the local property managers to our clients, once they have occupied their vacation home.
We now feel very confident that we are affiliated with the very best property managers in Italy. These firms are very professional, offer only the best properties, and provide the level of on site service that our clients expect. We have not only chosen to feature only the most select properties, but have tried to offer a variety of different types of properties to suit different needs. Indeed, this variety is one of the great advantages of a villa vacation. Obviously, not everyone is looking for the same type property in the same location.
One of the reasons that we wanted to offer the Villa alternative was to accommodate the needs of families. Luxury cruise lines have a difficult time providing for the needs of children, while still maintaining the integrity of their product. We have recognized this and found vacation villas to be a wonderful alternative, far superior to most hotel experiences. And one has the added advantage of really experiencing the local culture. Have you ever wandered through some wonderful Italian food markets, thinking what fun you could have with those kinds of ingredients, if only you had a kitchen in your hotel room. Well, now you can have that opportunity. But don't feel like you have to be occupied by cooking and household chores all today. Most of these properties come with the option of domestic staff, if so desired, full or part time. Maybe only a couple days per week. You decide. Some properties have a two week minimum, but most will rent for only one week.
You may ask, why only villas in Italy. Well, the villa rental business is most developed in Italy. There is the best availability of properties in Italy. And most of these properties are just so lovely that they become an experience in themselves. All this and the unmatched Italian landscape. These types of properties are rarely available anywhere else in the world on a rental basis. And besides, we love Italy, and as we said above, we only sell what we like.
We have attempted to build the most comprehensive luxury Italian villa site on the internet. We do not represent just one property management firm, but have chosen the best villas from a number of reliable, established companies. If you are looking for truly luxury properties, you need look no further. We have done your research for you. Each property we feature is fully explained, and supported with photographs. We have visited the far majority of our properties within the last two years and would love to share our feelings about them.
We have most recently added some Italian City apartments to our inventory. Again, these are the best available of their type for short term rental. Some are quite luxurious and very unique. We are especially proud of our selections in Florence, Venice and San Gimignano.