The Travel Show: Live from Thailand; Renewing Passports

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kam kun kap and greetings from Thailand. I'm Larry Gelwicks,
the Getaway Guru. Last week I was in Bangkok and
we had a wonderful show back on January the fourth,
and it's a week later now it's January the eleventh,
and I'm with an incredible group of travel show listeners

(00:20):
on Thailand and the legends of Sayam Tour. It's an
annual tour that I do. I'd like to welcome to
the program Wendy Frakia, Group department manager at Morris Columbus Travel. Wendy,
kab kun.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Kapu kab kun ka.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know that I do explained that last week that
that's the native greeting like buenos dias, guten tag aloha,
maloele lea, all of this here in Thailand. Of course,
the Getaway Guru fluent in Thai and all languages. That's
how you greet someone. I also explained the why not

(00:59):
the score down south, but it's that's how they greet people.
You put your hands together in the you know, palms together,
fingers together in a prayer. It is usture with a
bow and I would say copcounkup and you would say
comku ka copcun ka.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
It is just such a welcoming greeting. It truly is
just pure kindness from people.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
You know you've heard me say to our listeners many
many times. If it weren't for my kids and grandkids
who own me, my grandkids are also bankrupting me. But
I am a willing participant in the bankruptcy, especially after
last month's Daniel River Christmas market, because you know, I

(01:48):
brought an empty suitcase. I am not a.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Should you feel it all the way more than.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Fill it all the way. Then I had to take
a big hand carry on bag of stuff. But you know,
I hate shopping. I don't even like to shop for
socks and I this is my fourth time doing the
Christmas markets of Europe. I knew what lie ahead of me.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
You were prepared.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
I was prepared.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
So tell me what is your favorite thing to buy
in Thailand?

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Food?

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Okay, what is your favorite souvenir? Let me qualify.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
I don't buy anything for myself, yeah, but for others,
for others. Let me think here, well, silk, yes, wood, handicrafts,
wood carvings, and you know what, the really cool things
you get, these beautiful little zipper purses. They're about like

(02:47):
four inches by four inches.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Right, like a little queens pick.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Them up for like twenty five cents and I bring
them back. People go crazy over them. And I got
off the hook for about a quarter on a gift.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
It is so great. I'll tell you. When I was
in Cambodia last time, we were going through the temples
and Ankorwat and there was this young boy who was
doing paintings on the paper that they make out of.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
The elephant dung.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
No nohants, it's these were more like lee, but they were.
It was such a beautiful picture that he was painting
of a monk going through the jungle, and that is
actually one of my favorite souvenirs from that region.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
Well, people ask me all the time, why, Larry, why
do you love Thailand and Southeast Asia so much? It's
the people, the culture, the food. There is a graciousness
about him. It's exotic. It's different, everything from tropical islands
to rice patties to elephants to the foothills of the Himalayas. Yeah,

(03:58):
it's just crazy. Now Kathy and I have a goal
because I get to Thailand three or four times a year.
She comes with me most of the time, and massage
is a part of the culture. And you know, I'm
talking about all legit all right, like a time massage
to actually give you like hospital scrubs. It's more of

(04:19):
an acu pressure what we would call a Swedish massage.
They would call it aroma therapy. It's a scented oil,
very appropriate, all of that. But Kathy and I have
this joke of a goal we have which we have
never accomplished and we never will. But every time we
go to Thailand, I say, Okay, Kathy, or she'll say

(04:39):
to me, Larry, this time, we're going to get a
massage every free day. And we've never won. You know,
what's Your's a really good goal though it is. What's
really fun is the foot massage. You get a foot
massage for about six dollars for you know, forty five
minutes or something like that. Your feet are like rubber
at the end of it. Last week I was in

(05:02):
with this our group Bangkok, the Venice of the East.
I talked about the tax He's over three hundred canals,
the Grand Palace, the Chao Praya River, the dinner crews
that we do well today. I Am in chang My, Thailand.
Now this is in the north of Thailand, in the
foothills of the Himalayas. And the things I love so

(05:26):
much about chang My first of all, my favorite temple.
I of course, being a temple going man, I cover.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
All the center of your life, that's right.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
I go to the cathedral, the Buddhist temple in Thailand,
the oldiest temple. You know, I'm trying to cover all
the bases. Sure, just in case we're wrong. Wow, anyway, anyway,
I'm going to Hell for sure, aren't I? Anyway, what

(06:00):
is the word for temple? W a t what dous
sutep is means the top of the mountain, and so
the most sacred temple in northern Thailand, I think, well,
with the exception of the Grand Palace Temple. But northern

(06:21):
Thailand is the foot hills of the Himalayas. No, you're
not going to see Mount Everest, but you're gonna see mountains.
It's very, very different than the midlands of Sukotai or
Fitzanuluk or Bangkok. And the history of the temple, well,
the legend is a monk named suman Antera brought from Sukotai,

(06:43):
which is the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Siam,
discovered a bone fragment from Lord Buddha, was a shoulder
bone and it had supernatural powers. As the legend goes, well,
he took the fragment to the Lana King Knew Nahoon,
who they kind of broke it in half went into

(07:06):
a temple. The other half was put on the back
of a white albino elephant. Now, elephants are sacred in Thailand,
but a white albino effort excuse, an elephant is supernatural
gifted powers, and they knew that with the shoulder bone

(07:27):
of Lord Buddha, they had to build a temple. Now
we're going back to the sixteenth century, because the excuse
me the thirteenth century. The construction on this temple goes
back to thirteen eighty six. So they put the bone
on the back of the white elephant and said, the elephant,

(07:51):
with its supernatural powers, with the bone of Lord Buddha,
he will tell us where to build this most important
The elephant wandered for three days through the valleys, through
the mountains, and finally walked to the very top of
a mountain Deussutep and trumpeted three times, laid down and died.

(08:18):
They took this that King nu Nahoun took this as
a sign from the heavens. This is where what dous
Soutep should be built. Now, what again is the Thie
word for temple? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
day Saints has a temple in Salt Lake City. The
Ties would call it what salt Lake City or what

(08:43):
salt Lake So what simply means a temple? So we
have what Dousutep and it's my favorite temple. It's the
gold temple. People say, oh, it has a little bit
of gold. No, you don't get it. It is a
gold temple and it's a working temple. So it's you know,
it's since thirteen eighty six, it's been a working temp.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
What does that mean. It's a working temple. You see
the monks.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
The monks are there, they're in their prayers and their rituals.
And one of the really fun things is there's an
area that you can go and you either sit cross legged.
You never put the soles of your feet with or
without shoes, facing the Buddhist priest and certainly not facing
Lord Buddha, So you can go down on your knees

(09:30):
and just kind of sit back on your haunches or
just sit cross leged. This is out of respect and
the priest will bless you. Now he'll dip a lily
pod into some holy water which is taken right out
of the river, which means don't leave your eyes open
or your mouth open the water, but it has been blessed,

(09:52):
and he will bless you. Just you know who's ever there.
We take our group in for anyone who wants to.
It's a wonderful experience. Oh yeah, Well, then we go
into the cheng Dal Valley, the ultimate elephant experience, and
we've carefully vetted the camps. Not all of them are

(10:13):
what I would call ethical. We usually use the Makaman
camp and it's carefully vetted. My colleague in Bangkok is
an animal rights advocate, very strong one, and he has
vetted this one tremendously. There's another camp that we don't
take the whole group two where you can actually become

(10:35):
the mahout. That's like the Bruwana kid sitting on the elephant.
I'll tell you more about that when we come back
from Cheng Mai Thailand. Welcome back to the Travel Show.
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru, and I've gotten away

(10:56):
to the Kingdom of Thailand with a wonderful group of
travel show listeners. Now we're actually fourteen hours ahead of
you folks back in Salt Lake City. And so what
is it about twenty minutes after eleven or something like
that back in Salt Lake. Well, it's twenty minutes after

(11:20):
one am. And now why am I so live and peppy?

Speaker 2 (11:24):
Dyke coke diet coke.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
I've overdosed on it, you know. That's actually and I'm
joined today by Wendy from our Salt Lake office, the
group department manager. That's actually what I do when I
travel trans oceanic. I have a prescription sleeping pill that
would put an elephant down. I sleep across the ocean,
and then I overdose on diet coke when I get to.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
The ear to get the blood moving again.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
That's right. I'll tell you something about overseas. They really
don't have diet coke. They have coke light and coke zero.
The coke light, no, no, it doesn't taste good. It's
not our diet coke. I love the McDonald's diet coke,
but so we always do coke zero when we're overseas

(12:11):
McDonald's diet coke when we get back. I was talking
about the elephant experience, and you know most of the
elephant adventures in Thailand it's like writing Dumbo on the
back around Kmart parking lot. Well, we do a real
safari and the animals are well taken care of. There

(12:31):
is another camp called Patara Elephant Farm in the Chengmai area.
Now I've done this, I don't take a group to
it because it's all morning and afternoon. The handler is
called a mahout. You know. I got my daughter Emily,
she was over there with me and I was telling,
did you know that Gandhi from India was actually Thai?

(12:55):
Of course I was totally sucking her and he wasn't
He's Indian. No, no, no, he wasn't Indian. He was a
tie and he actually was a mahout. He grew up.
She's going, you mean Gandhi in India and the and
I said, yes, you know his name, mahut Ma Gandhi.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
That was awful. Still joke about that.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
But the mahout is that I call him the Buwana kid.
I say that with respect. There sits on the top. Right. Well,
you can become a mahout for the day. The real
mahout will be with you. But it's one on one
with the elephant. You do the work, the labors. They
they put you on the back, uh so, and then

(13:39):
you can get in the water with it and and
wash it, scrub it down. Everything a mahout would do
with the elephant. Yeah, it was. It's a great experience.
There's nothing like it in the world where you're actually
I rode on the back of the elephant between you know,
the kind of on the neck, and that's where the mahut. Right.

(14:00):
I've got some great pictures of myself. And since I'm
getting in the water, I'm in my shorts, you know,
and uh we get I'm walking the elephant to the
to the lake.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Sure.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
It was incredible, incredible. Well, listen, I do this Thailand
and the Legends of Siam, which is all of Thailand,
the midlands Bangkok up to the foothills of the Himalayas,
chang Rai, chang Mai, the jungles of Thailand down to
the islands Pouquette. We have an option to Cambodia Anchor

(14:35):
Watt PanAm Pen. I do it once a year.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yes, you did keep as many times as we beg you.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
You and Brand have been after me to do it
more often, but no, I keep it once a year,
and we may actually increase.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
The intention is to increase it. That's absolutely right.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
But I keep it to thirty six people, first class hotels,
deep dive into the culture, the food, most of your
meals are included.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
Well, that's what I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Go ahead, I just say the dates for twenty twenty six.
We'll leave the US January fourth. Now it's a midnight flight,
so you can even go to work that day January fourth.
If you do just Thailand, you'll be back the eighteenth
at another four or five days. If you want to
go to Camber and you want to go to Camber's,

(15:27):
come on, you're in the neighborhood at Anchor wise.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
One of the great wonders of the world.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
It's absolutely amazing. I think we're talking about twenty six
right now, and it's crazy. We're just here at the
end or the beginning, excuse me, of twenty five, and
there's still so much of twenty five ahead.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
Of us.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
But twenty six really is the focus of travel. You
should be booking about a year out. We do still
have product for twenty five. Actually, your twenty five Thailand
Vietnam tour is also sold out. That's happening this year.
It's a year in advance that we're taking weight list
on it. But your twenty six tour, the one that

(16:08):
you're just talking about, would be fantastic to jump on
before it sold out.

Speaker 1 (16:12):
It's already about I was looking at the numbers online
and it's over a third sold out and we just
put it out for sake. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
Time is just crazy how these things are moving.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
Okay, if you want to plan for twenty twenty five,
twenty twenty six and beyond, mark on your calendars. The
Utah Travel X. Yes. Now we have two locations in
southern Utah. It will be Wednesday, January twenty second at
the Black Desert Resort in Ivans that's just outside of

(16:44):
Saint George, New The admission is free and it goes
from eleven am to six pm. Again at the Black
Desert Resort in Ivans. Now in Salt Lake is the
mother of all expos It's Friday and Saturday January twenty
fourth and twenty fifth. Now, this is a ticketed event

(17:05):
six bucks and tickets. However, however, we got a link
for our Travel show listeners. It's a gift for Morris
Columbus Travel because you listen to the Travel Show. If
you'll go to morriscolumbus dot com forward slash free. The
only thing better than cheap is free. Morriscolumbus dot com
forward slash free. You can print all the tickets you

(17:28):
want to print them for your family, your friends, your neighborhood,
your church, your synagogue.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
You have to have them.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
But you have to have them and you can't print
them on the day of the expo. You got to
get them in advance.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, this is a new change. This is not the
way that it's been in years past. You've been able
to show up with the coupon. This year, you have
to have the ticket with the QR code.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
You know what's cool about the expo in Salt Lake,
there will be one hundred and seven travel vendors. Those
are airlines, cruise lines, resort or tour companies. Safaris down
in Saint George will be about sixty. It's a smaller venue,
but every hour, travel awards, cruises, airline tickets, hotel and

(18:13):
resort days will be given away. No purchase is required,
but you do have to be there. Somebody's gonna win it,
and it may as well be you. Hey, when we
come back, Wendy's gonna talk to us about group travel.

(18:34):
You're listening to the Travel Show every weekend at this
time on this very station. I'm Larry Gelwick's the Getaway Guru.
I'm joined today by Wendy Frakia, group department manager in
the Salt Lake office of Morris Columbus Travel. And well,
actually you moved from Salt Lake to the Bountiful office.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
We have we have moved north. We've gone into Davis
County and we are now headquarters out of the Bounty
Full office.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
What does a group department manage your You know that
especially question?

Speaker 2 (19:08):
You know what I ask it every day. It is
such a funny title. No, Honestly, what I get to
do is I get to develop the tours and work
with our tour directors as we are trying to find
what are the destinations that we can benefit you, the
listeners by doing as a group. What kind of like

(19:32):
we said this before, we talked about Hawaii. Hawaii is amazing.
We don't do a lot of groups to Hawaii because
you really don't need to be there as an individual traveler.
But you know, going to Thailand, like what the experience
you're having now going to South Africa, that is an
experience that you can have so many benefits by doing

(19:54):
with the group. Europe. So many people have done Europe
before individually, and it is a great place, and there's
so many countries that you can do individually, but there
are still so many benefits that you can do by
doing a specific group focused experience. So that's one of
the things that we get to do.

Speaker 1 (20:14):
My wife Kathy came up with a absolutely brilliant statement,
as she does every day. She said, one of the
great benefits of group travel is there's one thing, and
one thing only that you have to remember, show up
on time, show up on everything else is taken care of. Now,

(20:34):
approximately how many groups does Morris Columbus travel. I'm talking
about escorted groups all over the world to every corner
of the globe. Approximately how many do they offer? Understanding
that Holy Land is a big part of that, which

(20:54):
we're not doing now, but in a typical year, including
holy Land. Because I'm expecting to come back.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
This year this fall, I can tell you that for
twenty twenty five, we've got sixty two tours on our books,
and that does not include our Holy Land. Our expected to.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
Twenty or so. That puts it eighty plus tours.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
We may not get twenty to the Holy Lines out
this year, but in a typical year. So we've got
things going on every month to every area of the world,
and experiences that are going to let you travel stress
free because we're taking care of all your arrangements, that
you're going to find the best value. We say we

(21:38):
are not the least expensive tour company out there, but
you will never get as much value for your dollar
as what we pack in on our trips. That we
have exclusive accesses and opportunities for things that you don't
get to do on your own for individual traveler, and
I could list several other benefits.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
Well, you know, when you say say it's not the cheapest,
tours come in a variety of packages. I've always said
it's critically important to shop price, but I think more
important is to shop value. Now we have some very
high end tours, but I'll be talking later in the

(22:20):
show about a cruise that you can take your family
on for three hundred and sixty two five day crews
to Mexico and back three hundred and sixty two dollars
per person for two adults two kids, including all taxes
and fees. Now you have some real bargains also, that's

(22:40):
what everything is offered. Now, I'm going to put you
on the spot here. Of course I would never do that.
I do it on a daily prisis. Thank you very much.
You've got sixty to eighty tours in a typical year.
They're all wonderful to different parts. But you know, we
all have personal favorites. What's a couple of the tours understanding?

(23:03):
They're all wonderful, but that are just light you and
your husband art up.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
Well, okay, if you're going to put me on the
spot like that, I'm going to start. I'm going to
start with Italy. It's splenders of Italy. We have got
a tour that is Venice, Florence and Rome. It is
the best of Italy. It is the best sites, it's
the best food, it is the best inclusions. It is amazing.
So Italy is always going to be close to number one.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
Now that tour is that the one in April with
Mick Smith.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
It is the one. We've only got a few spots
left on.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
His wife are fantastic.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
It is going to be such a great tour. So
if Italy is on your list this year, and it is,
we've talked about the the the special pilgrimage tours this
year with it being a jubilee year. But then I'm
going to talk about Switzerland because Switzerland has become so

(24:03):
narro and dear to my heart, the experiences that we
are having there.

Speaker 1 (24:06):
It's it.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Is experiences is what people are buying. And when we
go to Switzerland, Switzerland is the most expensive. Did you
know that the most expensive country in Europe? Right now?

Speaker 1 (24:18):
To travel cost me like four or five euro for
a coke? Zero?

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Oh, and then it was lucky if you found it
for that price.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
But on our tours we do it by train like
the Swiss do. We have so many experiences packed into
it and we're saving money. So Switzerland's on your budget,
I mean, on your radar. This is the way to
do it.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
What you want to do, folks, is go to Morriscolumbus
dot com. Morriscolumbus dot com. And on the home page
just scroll down a little bit you'll see Morris Murdoch
Escorted Tours. That's like the brand name. It's like you
got General Motors, but Chevrolet is the We're not a Chevrolet,
We're a Rolls Royce. But if you'll look at that,

(25:05):
and then when you click on Morris Murdock Escorted Tours,
if it's a cruise, click on cruises. If otherwise, click
the geographic era Europe, Holyland, Asia, South Pacific, Africa.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
You know, cruising is still the number one type of
travel that people are picking best value. And I told
you experiences are what people are buying this year. It's
the number one thing on their list. And I'm just
going to go out and say you've got to come
with me to Croatia in July and the star Clippers cruise.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
The tall Ship.

Speaker 2 (25:38):
It's the tall ship. Leaving out of Venice. We're going
to cruise the Grand Canal then go down the coast
of Croatia and we're going to do it on the
Royal Clipper, the largest of the Clipper ships. A true
sailing vessel, a true sailing vessel going into the intimate
little islands of Croatia, and again you get the taste
of Italy on the Jubilee. But yet you have this

(26:02):
whole very exotic experience on a tall ship.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
You know, I've sailed with star Clippers, a tall ship,
a true sailing ship. It also has propellers. It's smooth sailing.
They knock it out of the park in the dining room.
It's a great experience now.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
And there's limited cabins. These are the things that we
do still have availability for some of our twenty five tours.
But these are things that you need to go and
get deposited.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
On morriscolumbus dot com. Scroll down on the homepage to
Morris Murdock Escorted Tours. For this one, click on cruises
or for others. A geographic destination now, Wendy, the South Pacific,
the South Seas, Polynesia, the spirit of a loha. See

(26:51):
it just has a drawing pipe.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
I can smell it as you're talking about it. I
can smell it.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
What is that drawing pole of Polynesia?

Speaker 2 (27:02):
It's the relaxation, It's the romance. It is the relax
I mean the relaxation of it. That's what it brings
to me.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
I think it's it conjures up incredible images. Oh yeah,
of the South seas well. We've got a couple of
programs going that I'll have the privilege in twenty twenty
six of personally escorting. Do I have the best job
in the world?

Speaker 2 (27:28):
Yes, you do.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
They pay me to take you folks around the world.
I mean it's a pretty good deal.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Can you're retiring when? Never?

Speaker 1 (27:38):
When I'm six feet under. The first is February in
twenty twenty six. You know this, February twenty twenty five,
just next month, we have that fabulous Australia New Zealand cruise.
It also has some land tour options sold out yep.
And the people are still calling. Can I get with Larry?

(27:58):
You know? In February of twenty Sarah Lociento can't do it. It's
sold out. So we're gonna do the same basic cruise
itinerary with Holland America, a premium cruise line in twenty
twenty six. Will board this ship in Sydney, Australia on
February fifteenth, the day after Valentine's Day. We'll sail Sydney

(28:22):
and Melbourne down to the island of Tasmania, the North
and the South Islands of New Zealand, will cross the
Tasman Sea. We'll be in Fjordland National Park, Milford Sound, Wellington,
Tarong and Tarong is one of my favorite places. It's
kind of like Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Newport Beach. It's

(28:42):
a beach community. And remember February is summertime down Under.
It'll be nice and warm to Watangi, the Bay of
Islands and will disembark in Auckland. Now, Wendy, you and
your expert staff will arrange a pre cruise Sydney option.
I'm feeling three days.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
Oh yeah, if you.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Can come, just get on the ship. But you'll never
see someone.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Would you do that?

Speaker 1 (29:07):
When are you ever going to get back?

Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (29:09):
And the same thing post cruise with Auckland. That's on
the website just click on cruises now. Another one that
I want to introduce today. I am so excited about
this is sailing from Tahiti to Hawaii. Yes, it's with

(29:30):
Norwegian Cruise Line which has the free air promotion the
Bogo buy one getting ready free. It's a great deal. Anyway,
we'll board the ship in Tahiti on May fifteenth and
sail French Polynesia, the islands of Tahiti, Moorea, right Yetaya, Bora, Bora.

(29:52):
Then we'll head north, cruising through the Tuomotu Islands, crossing
the equator and set sail for Hawaii. Will visit the
Big Island, Hilo Kona. I love Kailua Kona, a little
village in the west side of the Big Island in Kawaii.

(30:12):
And then to Honolulu. Now why not go to Tahiti
a little bit early, certainly stay in Hawaii afterwards. The
dates on that one again in twenty twenty six is
May fifteenth to May twenty seventh. And I got to
tell you that Raiateaya is a very interesting place. It's

(30:34):
the site of the recently announced LDS temple. They have
one in Papieta. It's just up the road from the pier.
But it's also the site of the ancient temple going
back to the let's see the ninth century of Hawaiki,
where the voyagers who set out across the vast reaches

(30:57):
of the Pacific would come to be blessed by the
priest at Hawaiki. And I've often wondered, and people speculate
did some of these voyagers first find the islands of Hawaii,
naming it after the temple Hawaiki becomes HAWAIII. Hey more.
When we come back on the Travel show, seleny kop

(31:25):
and greetings from Thailand. I'm the Gaway Guru Larry Gelwicks,
and I've gotten away to the Kingdom of Thailand with
a wonderful group of travel show listeners. Today we're in
cheng Mai and shortly in a few days we'll be
leaving for the island of Phuquet, one of my oh
my gosh, one of my favorite areas. I'm joined today

(31:47):
by the Group department manager in Salt Lake, Wendy Fraka,
who've just moved the group department from the Salt Lake
office of Morris Columbus Travel to the Bountiful office. Wendy,
welcome to the travel s Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
You know, we haven't really told everybody about our move,
simply because it doesn't affect a whole lot of things. Emails,
phone numbers are all still the same, website still the same,
but if you come and visit us, you'll have to
go north.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
Well, you know what, people ask, what's behind the move.
It's really quite simple. The Group Travel escorted. Group Travel
is growing so rapidly under Wendy's leadership that they've run
out of room in the Salt Lake office, and we're
able to expand room in our Bountiful office, which is
you can see it from the freeway there at the

(32:37):
fifth South.

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, wait, as you're driving by, you very.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Very much, you'll see the signage Morris Columbus Travel. But
they're just growing so much and there's no room to
grow in Salt Lake. Now, you and Art, I know,
love to cruise, Art being your husband. Yes, what's the
perfect length of a cruise for you? Guys?

Speaker 2 (32:59):
Okay, so perfect length? I'm going with ten days, seven days.
You're still you're having to push me off the ship.
I'm not ready to leave yet, but depending on the area,
I'm thinking ten. I like ten.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
I'd like twelve to fourteen. Now. I did a sixteen
day cruise through the in October from La to Tampa,
Central America, South America, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean and Mexico.
We just did in November the Spice route, which is Dubai, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore.

(33:34):
That was fourteen days. I in agreement. A seven day
cruise is nice, but you just start taking it's a taste.
It is just a taste three or four days.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
I think anything more than fourteen days, I'd be way
too comfortable, and I wouldn't want to ever get off. Well, here,
I'd be one of those lifetimes.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Here we go. Here is an interesting offer from Virgin Voyages,
which is a deluxe adults only eighteen years of age
and older cruise line. A one year pass, not on
the same ship across their fleet. You could cruise all year.

(34:16):
You can pick. I want this one, I want that one.
They're promoting this for people who are remote working, like
most of our federal employees, like like six percent of
the federal employees actually show up at the office and
on this It's an annual pass giving unlimited cruises for
one year from the date that you start, and the

(34:38):
opportunity to work remotely by traveling at sea. The pass
gives passengers access to the entire fleet, which they call ladyships.
What's very interesting. In a recent poll, eighty seven percent
of American workers said they'd be willing to work remotely
if given the opportunity. Well, Richard Branson, the Virgin Group

(35:00):
founder also Virgin Atlantic Airways said what started as a
sought after work at sea concept with our season pass
has evolved into something even more special. You can jump
on any of our ships, he said. Now here's what
happens the pass holders. You get it one year, we'll

(35:21):
receive perks of unlimited Wi Fi access to events and
one hundred dollars bar credit per cruise.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
I love it. Per Voyage forget Bountiful. Now I'm going
to Virgin So here's.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
The nice thing. You buy the pass. Now, you can
buy a companion pass, but you don't have to name
who the companion is. So if art starts giving you trouble,
you can take somebody to take justin your son exactly.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
I think I'm grabbing my sister.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
We're on our way on, so you can the person
who is your plus one can rotate. Now you're all excited,
but sit down. The cost of a one year pass
is one hundred and twenty thousand dollars excluding taxes and fees. Now,
if you put that out there, it's about on a

(36:12):
weekly cost. It's about the cost of a balcony cabin.
By the way, you're getting a balcony cabin, a balcony
cabin in Alaska. Okay, So I mean, yeah, that's a
lot of money, but sell your house and do something
like this. Now here's the other thing. You could actually
purchase this with cash, credit card, or bitcoin. And I
know you and heart have some of that stashed away.

Speaker 2 (36:35):
Oh you know it.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Now, pass holders can choose a start date between now
and April of twenty twenty five this year, activating the
pass for a year, but you have to buy it
by the end of March. Now I have a proposal. Kathy,
my lovely wife is listening. She is planning to put

(36:57):
me into some care facility. Now, you know what, are
you going to pay four to ten thousand dollars for
a care facility? Fair enough? Sure you can pay more,
you can, yeah, but most of them in that five
six thousand dollars you can find inside cabins on a cruise,
averaging about five hundred and ninety nine dollars. If it's

(37:19):
the Caribbean, not in Alaska. Well that's going to be
about twenty four hundred dollars a month. So Kathy, just
find a nice ship where I have all my meals
included entertainment. I'll see exciting ports of call. Even the
light bulb will be changed for me. Movies, television and
you go.

Speaker 2 (37:39):
That's the kind of care facility.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
I do want you to waive aloha to me as
you push me out into the Caribbean. So that's my
answer to care facilities. More. When we come back in
our number two from Thailand, the Travel Show, Saladi cop

(38:01):
and welcome to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwiz, the
getaway Guru. Higher than a kite on my coke zero.
You know. I'm joined by Wendy, the group department manager
back in Salt Lake City here on the broadcast. Wendy
for the folks in Salt Lake. It is twelve noon
jo a m. Sunday morning here, all right, keep it going.

(38:25):
I'm getting ready to go to church. I actually do
go to church over here. I always go to the
tie speaking wards because I don't feel guilty sleeping than
in church, because I can't understand what they're saying. I
just tell people, well, I just those just tell them.
Larry is such a religious man. He's praying. Actually, when

(38:47):
I start snoring, I tell him speaking in tongues. Hey, listen.
It was just announced that China as in the PRC
People's Republic of China May inland China has just dropped
the visa requirement, which has been one hundred and forty bucks.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
One of the biggest hurdles.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, for Americans traveling to China if your stay is
ten days or less, and it's applicable to just about
anywhere a tourist would want to visit. It's not good
in the backwoods of China, but Hian, the terra Cotta Wars, Shanghai, Beijing,

(39:31):
guang Zho, all of that it's applicable to. And by
the way, you don't need a visa to Hong Kong, China,
right but to mainland China you do. Morris Columbus hasn't done.
In fact, I haven't seen any real China business out there.
Have you thought about starting up China tours again?

Speaker 2 (39:51):
We have, and we're actually in the process of working
on it right now. We've looked at several cruises that
depart out of China and go to Japan, but it
doesn't quite give you the whole experience in your and
because the visa was in there, if we wanted to
go a day or two early and going through the

(40:11):
Great Wall, go and see some of these bucket list
items for people you would have had to gone through
that whole visa issue in order to depart on this cruise.
And so yeah, we are definitely looking at getting back
into the market. That is something that we're working on.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
Tell me about the Utah Travel Expo.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
Oh my goodness. I'm actually one of the people who
love our Travel Expo. I love getting to see the
people and talk about all the things they're excited about
doing and traveling. And this year it's going to be
in Saint George on Wednesday, the twenty second, and then
Friday and Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
And down in Southern Utah. I'll actually be at the
Black Desert in an Ivans, which is just a bedroom
community of Saint George, and Friday and Saturday, January twenty
fourth and twenty fifth at the Mountain America Expost Center
in Sandy. The Salt Lake event is a ticketed Southern
Utah is not, but and it's only six bucks a ticket. However,

(41:17):
for our Travel Show listeners, we have set up a
secret link where you can get all the free tickets
you want. Just go to Morriscolumbus dot com, forward slash
free print them for your neighborhood, your family, your friends.
I mean, it's only six bucks, but you know that's
a cheeseburger and a diet Coca McDonald's these days.

Speaker 2 (41:36):
You know. One of the things that people tell me
that they like most about coming to our travel expos
are the seminars that we offer. And Saint George, where
we've had our expos in the past, we really have
only been able to operate a small expo room and
do like maybe four or five And in Salt Lake

(41:56):
we have three rooms that rotate as well as the
one that we do specific in the group department. This
year at the Saint George location, we will have two
expo rooms, and so this is an opportunity to listen
to the experts at the different destinations, the different cruise
lines talk about these exciting travel plans, and you get

(42:21):
to interact and ask them all the questions. It's not
it's what four to D is that what it is.
It's interactive and so that's one of the best things.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
It's going to be a lot of fun for me.
The best part, I mean, those information seminars are great.
But for me, the best part is the free travel giveaway.
Airline tickets, cruise, everything free. Every hour a travel award
will be given. You don't have to buy anything, no
purchase required. You do need to be present to win,

(42:53):
or at least register for that. I keep asking them
and tell me if this would be a problem, Wendy
I being the getaway guru, of course I would like
to pick the winner. And would it cause a problem
if I picked the name Kathy Gelwicks of course? Yeah,
all right. You know there are scammers everywhere, unfortunately, and

(43:16):
you know I talked last week about at the airport
not using the public Wi Fi there unless you have
a VPN, you just open yourself up for theft of
personal and financial information. There's a lot of travel scams
out there, and I want to draw your attention to
a couple of them. One is bogus online travel agents.

(43:41):
You'll get a note of some fabulous trip. I told
the story last year about a companys asap tickets dot
Com who was trying to tell me they could fly
me from the United States to Bangkok round trip, including
all taxes and fees, for three hundred and seventy three dollars. Yeah,

(44:03):
you can't even fly to LA for three hundred and
seventy three dollars. So I said, tell me the airline.
They would tell me the airline after I gave them
my credit card. They were also literally in ta Zakistan.
I asked them where they were, and you know, there's
all these red flags going on. They have ads all over.

(44:24):
Now are they legit? Are they a scam? I can't
say that over the radio, But what I know is
you cannot fly from the US to Bangkok for three
hundred and seventy three dollars. They wanted all my personal information,
but they wouldn't give me a routing, They wouldn't give
me an airline. Just be very very careful. Another bogus

(44:46):
one is you get an email that says you've won
a free trip, but you have to pay like a
fifty dollars reservation.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
See taxes and fees.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Yeah, just don't do it. Don't do that. One. One
of the ones that's really I got to say is creative.
So you check into a hotel room, you get a
call from someone purporting to be the front desk of
the hotel saying, listen, the credit card that you've registered

(45:17):
with us is not going through? Could you just you know,
review that with me give me the number again, you know,
I'm Marty at the front desk. What the scammers are
doing is they'll call a hotel and just say room
three forty two and do that, and some people give
them the credit card. So if you get a call

(45:40):
like this saying this the front desk, we've got a
problem with your credit card. Could you just give it
to us over the phone so we can verify it,
Say thank you very much and hang up. Then call
the front desk on your phone say did you just
call me? And if they say yes and it's legit,
go down and.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
Tak down dad. Never, I'll never do it.

Speaker 1 (46:02):
Over the phone. One of the other ones that I've
I've seen people say they got sucker punched on this
is and particularly with AI these days, they can they
can mimic voices. You know, I don't even I don't
even answer the phone anymore unless that numbers in my directory.

(46:23):
I figure if it's important to leave me a voicemail.
There's so many robo calls and what they will here's
a scam, So I call you and I'm a scammer,
and I say, if you know is this Wendy Frakia,
what would your answer be?

Speaker 2 (46:40):
Yes, it is, Yes, it is.

Speaker 1 (46:42):
I have recorded that now, and then I'll go through
some bogus thing, but I've recorded you saying yes, this
is Wendy Frakia. Yes, and then I will charge. I
will find a way to charge you or sell you something,
and I will insert that into a recording that I
would send to your credit card company. I've stolen your

(47:04):
credit card at a restaurant, at a gas station or somewhere,
and now I've got a recording Wendy, this is ABC,
and we're charging your credit card one hundred and forty
nine dollars. Is that okay? Now they've inserted your recording.
Yes it is. And so what's the credit card company
going to do. They're going to run it and make

(47:25):
you pay for that. Well, a lot of scams out there.
By the way, did you know you can renew your
passport online.

Speaker 2 (47:31):
Which is not a scam.

Speaker 1 (47:33):
It is not a scam. It was rolled out as
a pilot program in twenty twenty two. It's now up
and running. Congrats to the DOS. And here are some
of the requirements to this is renew By the way,
you can apply for a passport. This is a renewal.
You've got to be at least twenty five years old,
living in the United States or a territory, have a

(47:57):
passport that's been issued within between nine and fifteen years ago,
have the old passport with you, and currently no plans
to change your name, gender, date of birth or place
of birth. How do you do this? Go to travel
dot state dot gov. That's travel dot state dot gov.

(48:19):
Click on get a US Passport and then it'll come up.
Click on I'm an adult renewing online and follow the instruction.
It's that simple. Travel dot state dot gov, get a
US passport, I'm an adult renewing online and bam, it's
right now. Take you six to eight weeks. There is

(48:41):
no expedited if you do it online. More to come
on the Travel Show. Welcome back to the Travel Show.
I'm Larry Gelwiz, the Getaway Guru. May I give you
a very personal and heartfelt thank you for joining us

(49:02):
every weekend here on the Travel So. I just look
forward to Saturdays and any even when I'm out of
the country, which is about half the year, I look
forward to joining you from wherever I may be. And
today I'm in chang My, Thailand and it's in the
wee hours of the morning, but coke zero has kept

(49:22):
me awake. Now, Wendy, I know you and your husband Aret.
I'm joined by Wendy Frakia, our group department manager back
home with Morris Columbus Travel. Check out their listings. Go
to Morriscolumbus dot com. Scroll down on the homepage to
Morris Murdoch escorted tours and then click on cruises or

(49:44):
a geographic area and it is usually between sixty and
eighty escorted tours. Now, Wendy, I know you love cruising.
Your husband Art loves cruising. Do you ever get the
drink package?

Speaker 2 (49:59):
We do depend on on the cruise line that we're
traveling with.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
Art likes to get up on the on the deck
and slam down a couple of cold ones.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
You know what. Absolutely, depending on if we're with a
group or not.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
That's there. You go. Well, you know, I'm asked all
the time, Wendy, is the drink package worth it? Because
it can run forty to fifty dollars a day? You
want premium spirits, it's even more now some of the
cruise lines are offering for about half that amount, sometimes

(50:33):
a little bit less, a non alcoholic drink package. So
people ask, is the regular drink package, which includes both
leaded and unleaded drinks, alcohol and non alcohol? Is it
worth it? If you have to buy it, it's worth it,
And I say worth it as far as getting your
money's work worth in alcohol, you have to drink about

(50:58):
seven drinks a day to break to break even.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Yeah, and some people on a cruise that's just before noon.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
That's right. You know, we are lubricating our liver.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Waity buy it. They're going to use it when I
say worth it.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
For other people, it's simply the convenience of it. So
as a financial matter, unless you're dropping six, well about
seven or eight alcoholic drinks a day, that's a lot
of booze.

Speaker 2 (51:26):
Well in the soda packages also though it's kind of
the same things.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
You have to drink. Yeah, you have to drink about
six sodas a day, six or seven sodas a day
just to break even. But it's a convenience fact out.
Some cruise lines in their promotions will include the drink package,
but there's a big difference Princess for example. In some
promotions will include the drink package, but you do not

(51:55):
have to pay a twenty percent gratuity. You just get
the drinks. But nor Agion Cruise Line. They on some
of their promotions used to be called free at Sea.
It's now called more at Sea that gives you, you know,
like the specialty dining, the Wi Fi, the things like that.
They will include the drink package, but they also charge

(52:16):
you for a twenty percent and they have an estimated cost.
So think you know about ten to fifteen bucks a
day gratuity that you have to throw on on top
of that.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
That's that's right. So you you really do have to
gauge how much you are going to be drinking and
if it's really worth it.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
Okay, cruising, I love Alaska. Alaska is like the hottest
cruise commodity. What is it about Alaska that is I
don't know, it's just so exciting.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
Well, it's the nature. To me, it's the opportunity to
go and be in the great Wilderness, to see the
glaciers and the icebergs, and the eagles and the whales.
And that's what to me is Alaska.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
If you want an Alaska Cruise for this summer. Space
on many cruises is sold all out, so call your
Morris Columbus travel advisor and see what's available. Cruise lines
are shifting from those last minute dumping on the market discounts.
Princess says, we won't even do that anymore, and so
you want to look ahead. There's still some space on

(53:39):
the Alaska Cruise that I will be personally hosting August
twenty third to the thirtieth, and it's I love it
because it's Vancouver to Anchorage. We have two glacier days.
We'll see Juno catch a can Skagway and then the
granddaddy of them all, Glacier Bay. What's really exciting is

(54:01):
College Fjord. It's a fejord call carved millenniums ago by
the glaciers, and from College Fjord from the ship you
can see thirteen different glaciers.

Speaker 2 (54:14):
It's amazing.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
It's pretty exciting. August twenty third to the thirtieth. By
the way, you know what we haven't played in a
long time.

Speaker 2 (54:23):
Stump the dummy.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
Stump the dummy. So I want you to this one
is real easy. Of the United States, what is the
what state is the northern most state Alaska? Yeah, that's
really worried waiting for a trick. Would I ever trick you?

Speaker 2 (54:43):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Right? Southernmost state Hawaii? No, what is it Florida?

Speaker 2 (54:50):
See, I'm looking for.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
The but if you do the territories, it's American some
all but I said states, Yeah, now this is real easy.
The western most state.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
Alaska, Alaska.

Speaker 1 (55:06):
Okay, now here is a hard one. What is the
eastern most state in the United States? The state that
is the Furthest East main Er?

Speaker 2 (55:20):
No, okay, what is it Alaska? The Furthest East.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
That's the trick question because the International date Line and
you get out there in the Aleutian Islands, and you
if you go to the United States and go east
around the globe, you will come to the Aleutian Islands
or a portion of them before you hit the International

(55:46):
date line. A trick question, A trick question. Did you
know that almost one third of Alaska is in the
Arctic Circle? Wow, that's crazy. There are two hundred and
twenty four federally recognized tribes and twenty indigenous language include
including Smack by the Teenagers. Alaska contains more than one

(56:11):
hundred volcanoes, and volcanic fields, three thousand rivers, three million lakes.
I love wilderness Alaska more when we come back on
the Travel Show. Welcome back to the Travel Show. Thank

(56:43):
you again for joining us. And it's what a week
and a half since New Year, but still a very
happy new Year. I hope that your dreams and aspirations
and what you want to accomplish as a person, as
a with your spouse or partner, with your family, with
your community, with your church or synagogue. I hope you
realize all those dreams. You know, my wife Kathy and

(57:05):
I have this philosophy that whatever it is you want
to do in life, anything be it travel, family, a
personal history, professionally, do it while you can. Go while
you can. We all know people. It may be them
their spouse, their partner, their family, their job, their income, environmental,

(57:30):
their health. Something happens overnight and instantly many of the dreams,
if not all the dreams vanish. You can't do it.
So whatever it is you want to do in life,
plan it, go at the appropriate time, but go while
you can do it while you can.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
There is nothing sadder than to hear somebody call and
say this was always the trip I was going to
do with but now they can't or something to that matter.
And the experiences we know are why we're traveling. It

(58:12):
is what it gives you personally, and that's why travel
is always a gift that continues to give.

Speaker 1 (58:21):
It really is. You know, I love cruising, I love
land tours. Check out all of the Morris Columbus escorted
tours at Morriscolumbus dot com. On the home page, just
scroll down on a wee bit and click on Morris
Murdoch Escorted Tours. That's our brand name for Morris Columbus Tours.

(58:41):
It's like I've said General Motors in Chevrolet. That's right,
you know, it's a brand name. And then click on
cruises or click on a geographic area and see some
sixty to eighty escorted tours. And remember all you have
to know is show up on time. The other thing
that people need to do is talk to their Morris

(59:04):
Columbus travel advisor and ask some very pointed questions, particularly
you know what is included, what's not included? How much
walking is there? How you know is it strenuous? Is
it appropriate for a walk or a cane a wheelchair?
And there are some tours that are not appropriate with

(59:28):
some limited mobility, and some that are very appropriate.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
It is so important to know this before you go
on any travel experience. Is how are you physically going
to be able to do the experiences that you want
to do when you get there is not the time
to find out that you're unable to do this tour
because you can't you can't handle it, or it's just

(59:57):
not suitable.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
Well, let me tease your dreams with through three new
cruise tours. I say cruise tours because the cruise is involved,
but we have land tours pre and post and we
love to do our short excursions. Now, with all respect
to the cruise lines, they organize good short excursions, but
there's two problems with them. One they plan it for

(01:00:18):
the nearly dead, and secondly, they're way overpriced, way overpriced.
We love our short excursions. So I'm going to lay
out three new cruise tours that I will personally be hosting,
and I'd love to have you join me. One is
a Christmas present that Kathy and I gave to all

(01:00:39):
of our children and grandchildren. We're taking the whole family
and they love it because Larry and Kathy are paying
for it, and that is a I call it the
spring break cruise. Now for most of the school districts
in Utah. I haven't checked southern Idaho, but you can
easily do that. The spring break is a Monday through Friday.
Of course you have the weekends, but trusted up on

(01:01:00):
each end. April six to ten. Next year twenty twenty six.
Now not all the districts, but I know Salt Lake District,
Granite District.

Speaker 2 (01:01:11):
Provo the outline.

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
I haven't looked at all, and there's too many school districts.
But for those who have a break April six to ten,
check this out with Royal Caribbean on the Navigator of
the Seas. I flat out love this ship. April six
to ten. It's a five day cruise, five days, four nights.

(01:01:37):
We sail round trip from Los Angeles Port, which is
really San Pedro, and it's closer to the Long Beach
Airport than to lax but they offer transfers the shuttles there,
so we'll board the ship on Monday, April the six.
We have a kind of a day at sea. You
bored in the afternoon, sail in the afternoon. Tuesday, we

(01:01:59):
find ourselves in Catalina Island. Now, I love Catalina. It
is also a mix of Santa Monica, Santacaus, Newport Beach,
San Diego. There's a beautiful beach there, and there's that
beach community resort you can there's well whale watching during
the season, dolphins. There's a bison herd there. I've been

(01:02:22):
known to course wrestle the bison, but that's another story. Yeah,
there's so many fun things to do there. That's Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a day at sea cruising the blue waters
of the Pacific. We hit Mexico and Encinata on Thursday
and then leave late afternoon. We have another half day

(01:02:43):
cruising at sea back to La on Friday. Now, I've
got prices here, and remember that all prices are subject
to change and availability at the time of booking. Here
it is a Saturday for you folks back in the
US of A. It's Sunday morning for me here in
changed My Thailand. These prices they may be higher, they

(01:03:06):
may even be lower come Monday, but I'll give them
to you as of today. For a family of four. Now,
this is perfect for singles, couples, or families with children.
I'm just taking a family of four, two adults, two kids.
Royal Caribbean defines kids is twelve and under. Now, if
they're thirteen or up, there's only a few dollars difference.

(01:03:29):
I priced that out too. It's like I said, okay,
if an adult is thirteen, which mentally they're not, but
for price wise, it's just a few dollars more. I
put in four adults, but here it is two adults,
two kids. April sixth to the tenth, five day crews,
including all taxes and fees. Fasten your seat belt, Wendy.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Okay, I'm ready.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
Three hundred and sixty two dollars. Wow, three hundred and
sixty two dollars for person per person based on quad
occupancy to adults, two kids, and there's ocean view for
about another fifty bucks or something Balcony sweets. It is
an incredible, incredible offer to take your family on. Let's

(01:04:16):
move to my second home in Asia. Now, you actually
found this one for me, you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:23):
Know I did, and I knew you would fall for
it the minute I told you, Dan.

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
This one is April of twenty twenty six. All of
these cruises are twenty twenty six. These New Ones. We
call it the Pearls of Asia. It's a fourteen night
cruise two weeks. I told you that was my favorite.
We board the ship in Singapore and we disembark in Tokyo,

(01:04:49):
and the cruise dates are April seventeen to May first.
By the way, I love that time of year in Japan,
and we actually have four ports in Japan. So catch
this ITINERI Singapore and we'll offer a pre cruise and
a post cruise. This is with Royal Caribbean. So we'll
sail from Singapore to Vietnam, to Hong Kong to Taiwan.

(01:05:15):
I love Taipei. It is such a fabulous that we're
going to talk. Then South Korea and then to Japan.
We'll visit Nagasaki and the Peace Memorial Park where in
nineteen forty five the second bomb was dropped. Then we
go to Kobe and Shimizu. Shimizu is where you see

(01:05:39):
Mount Fuji, the Japanese Alps. Kobe is everything you think
of a Japanese traditional city, and then into Yokohama Harbor
and Tokyo. Again, we'll offer a pre cruise Singapore option.
Otherwise you don't see the city and a post cruise Tokyo.
Otherwise you don't see too including an opportunity to run

(01:06:02):
out to Tokyo Disneyland.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
Oh, that is going to be something that people have
actually been asking you to do.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
Yeah, we did the Pearls of Asia about three years ago.
It's a different itinerary. I like this one much.

Speaker 2 (01:06:14):
Yeah, this is this is one of those epic itineraries
that we don't see come along every year. So you
have to jump on this one.

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
And this is on Ovation of the Seas, one of
their newers.

Speaker 2 (01:06:25):
One of their new megazations.

Speaker 1 (01:06:26):
April seventeen to May one, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan,
South Korea and Japan.

Speaker 2 (01:06:36):
As a matter of fact, I think I'm coming with
you on this one. I hope so, because this is
an itinerary to me that just hits all of my
bucket list. There.

Speaker 1 (01:06:45):
Do you see those in your pack and unpack one time?

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Yeah, even if you're on it, I'll still go.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
Now, moving on this one I have not seen before,
and you found this. You've been turned into quite the
cruise sleuth, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
But I'm looking for unique opportunities for you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
Well, this is unique. You're going to put me instead
of a senior care facility in a cruise for a year.
That's what you want, That's what I want. You're going
to save a lot of money, all right. This one
is March eleven to twenty eight. It's a sixteen night cruise,
so basically two weeks. Just put on your seat belt

(01:07:24):
for this itinerary. We board the ship in lim actually Calile,
which is the port city for Lima. We will have
a pre cruise Machu Pichu Cousco option. We'll sail then
from we include Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua,

(01:07:48):
El Salvador, and Mexico. You're really seeing all of Latin
America there on the Pacific side again, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Tamala,
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and catch these ports in Mexico.
You've heard me talk before about one of my favorite

(01:08:09):
places on the Pacific side, right down near the southern
border of Mexico, Waltuco Hua Tulco, Waltuco. And it's kind
of an oxymoron because it's called a urban planned community.
Is there such a thing as urban planning in Mexico?

(01:08:30):
I don't know, but we'll visit Waltuco, Acapulco, Manzanillo, Puerto Fivayarta, Cabo,
San Lucas, and then disembark in San Diego again the
dates March eleven to March twenty eight. It's still snowy
and cold here, and will hit the beaches and the sunshine,
blue waters of the Pacific, palm trees and trade winds

(01:08:54):
of South America, Central America, Mexico and San Diego.

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
And of course we're going to offer the pre tour
for the diehards who want to go down early and
see Machu Picchu.

Speaker 1 (01:09:09):
That's right. So what we've got is the spring Break Cruise,
the Pearls of Asia, and we haven't named. We've got
to come up with a name. We have Pearls of
Latin America. No, I don't think so. Hey, when we
come back, we're going to talk about world's longest weekly commuter.
You won't believe what you're about to hear.