August 2, 2024 • 53 mins
The Wishing Well's Terrie Dean and Harry Reif discuss this week's travel news and Hot Deals!
Ahoy, travelers! In this episode we’re setting sail on an adventure across the high seas as we dive into the world of cruise getaways. Whether you’re a seasoned cruiser or a first-time sailor, this episode is packed with tips, insights, and stories to help you make the most of your maritime journey.
Whether you’re dreaming of a relaxing getaway or an action-packed adventure, this episode has something for everyone. So, grab your life jacket and join us as we embark on a journey to discover the magic of cruise getaways. Bon voyage!
Ahoy, travelers! In this episode we’re setting sail on an adventure across the high seas as we dive into the world of cruise getaways. Whether you’re a seasoned cruiser or a first-time sailor, this episode is packed with tips, insights, and stories to help you make the most of your maritime journey.
Whether you’re dreaming of a relaxing getaway or an action-packed adventure, this episode has something for everyone. So, grab your life jacket and join us as we embark on a journey to discover the magic of cruise getaways. Bon voyage!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. It's a travel show and
podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well two forty
three f Avenue and harshmerg and online at the wishing
Well dot this. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury
concierge travel agency and A Lifeless Ordinary is a travel
show and podcast hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over
forty years of experience in the travel industry to help
(00:20):
guide you to great experiences in your travel, whether it
be around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello, Chris, good morning,
good morning. Ye ask how I am? And well, let's
try this, Harry, how are you? I'm just so well Chris,
seeing Harry knows how to play along. Welcome to a
(00:40):
Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I'm doing quite well. Thank you. Good.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm happy to hear that I'm sick of the heat.
I know, I think we all are. And you know
it's funny what happens even on the highway when heat
is up. Temperatures are high to so you know, people
just get annoyed and a little gnarly, you know, well said, yeah,
(01:05):
just a little gnarl but it's okay. You know what,
everybody listening this morning, just play along.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Just that's the point of the show. Relax and think
about how your life, yes, is not ordinary, it's extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It is extraordinary. This is and welcome to a life
less ordinary.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Well said. I always worry when we're having this much
fun a minute into the show what the next hour
will entail.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
What just means everybody else will do? You know, let's
get into what's happened over the past week with travel news.
I think it's a great idea. I'm going to turn
it over to Harry for a very timely article that
just made it across our disk this week, and it
involves the Middle East.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Yeah, tensions are rising in the Middle East nevoloti so
this week. Not surprisingly, both Delta and United Airlines have
canceled all flights Chris into Tel Aviv effective yesterday, and
European carriers are also halting selected flights to the region
as well. Despite earlier reports of the contrary, British hears
(02:18):
said they're going to continue to fly as well Israel's
flight character carrier. I'm sorry LLL so that's a little
sad news. United has been increasing ramping up their flights.
They've been doing fourteen flights a week to tel Aviv,
so this is a big, you know, a big slam
(02:39):
to that. But they're still flying to some nearby countries.
They're flying to Aman, they're flying to Athens, they're flying
to Dubai, and you can transfer to other carriers, so
they're not suspending service to the region, but just selectively
to Tel Aviv. They're affecting the European carriers heading too
the Middle East. Luft Hanza Group it's also suspending flights
(03:02):
from Beirut up to and including August the fifth, just
around the corner, and Luftan's on Wednesday night canceled the
flight from Cyprus to tel Aviv after Iron announced it
was temporarily closing its airspace. So a lot of volatility
going on in that part of the world right now.
In our hearts go out to all those people and
to those people who had intended to travel to those regions.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Absolutely, and it's something that obviously we want to keep
our eyes on. You know, I've said to you many times,
Chris here on this show that it's amazing how literally
everything that goes on on this planet affects the world
of travel. It absolutely does. I don't care whether it's political, economical, geographical,
(03:46):
if it's whether you name it. We feel the ripple
of that throughout our industry. So we're keeping a close
eye on that and speaking of, you know things that
we do need to keep an eye on new story
that affects our good neighbors in Canada, particularly in Jasper.
Since July the twenty second, what became the area's largest
(04:11):
fire in the country, has caused a wave of destruction
in the Canadian National Park. Around a third of structures
in the town of Jasper have been destroyed and all
residents were evacuated. Now as of July the thirty first,
which was just a couple of days ago, the wildfire
remains out of control, meaning it's expected to continue growing now.
(04:35):
Although the fires have been extinguished in the town itself,
here's the problem. Residents are still under evacuation orders and
don't know when they can even return, if they will
ever be able to return to the home they knew,
and that to me is heartbreaking. Currently the entire park
(04:55):
is closed and there is no estimated date for reopen.
If you're planning a trip to Jasper in the near future.
Please keep an eye on the Parks Canada site and
Municipality of Jasper websites for updates. Parks Canada has automatically
canceled and refunded all camping reservations through September the third.
(05:20):
Many of the highways are also closed in and out
of that area, and it's interesting. Additionally, a ninety three
miles stretch of Alberta Highway which is known as the
ice Fields Parkway, and parallel stretch of ninety three a
also known as the BAMF Windermere Highway between Jasper and
(05:42):
River Crossing are also closed, so it really is quite
a broad swath. Train travel has also been impacted. Via
Rail Canada has canceled its train service without offering alternate
transportation between Jasper, Alberta and Prince George Bridge, Columbia, until
August sixth, and between Vancouver and Edmonton until August fifth.
(06:06):
The Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tour Company has modified routes taken
by their Journey into the Clouds and Rainforest to gold
Rush journeys until August the eleventh, and is contacting ticket holders.
Those routes will now travel through BAMPF National Park instead
of Jasper, and flights to the closest airports, Edmonton and
(06:30):
Calgary remain operating as normal. Now I bring that up
and bring it to the attention of our audience today
because many of our lovely clients were to have joined
us in the end of this month in August on
our Journey through the Clouds Rocky Mountaineer Tour. We're still
working on modifications to our own group tour, which is
(06:53):
scheduled on August to twenty seventh. We don't have any
definitive details on that yet, but I just want to
say a very heartfelt sympathy goes out to all of
those folks in Jasper, because I cannot imagine what they've
been through. The closest thing I've seen to this was Maui.
The devastation has been unbelievable, and still fires continue to
(07:17):
rage on the West coast. We know that the fires
that are in California right now have burned literally a
swath the area of Los Angeles itself. We're talking major,
major destruction. So anyway, just a lot going on right now.
I think things to certainly keep your eyes on, and
(07:38):
if you're affected by this, I am truly sorry, but
you can always count on the folks at the Wishing
Well to bring you the latest information when it happens,
when we know it. And also we are great at
offering protection for our clients, as we want to make
sure everybody's safety is at the top of our minds
and first and paramount as far as what we do.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
And you've talked a lot of times, Terry about travel
assurance as well as travel insurance. In the case of
this trip, the Rocky Mountaineer trip, I think listeners might
be interested that we have been working pretty much all
this week to reaccommodate people. Lots of people are still
waiting to be reaccommodated by Rocky Mountaineer. Because we have
(08:22):
some contexts, because we have a great relationship with them,
we were able to get through and we are much
closer to a resolution of our problem. That's the time
that having a great travel agent in your front pocket,
back pocket, any of your pockets is just invaluable. Chris.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You know the interesting thing, and I made this observation
not long ago, even before these fires in California and
Jasper broke out. My mother and I were actually traveling
across the new Market Mountain here not long ago, and
as you may remember, very recently our own area here
in the Chendal Valley experienced quite a fire and it
(09:01):
devastated a lot of the mountainous area in Page County,
especially across new Market Mountain. Nature has such a fabulous
way of regenerating, you know. And really just shortly after
those fires were put out, and we even got some
nice rains to help the firefighters do that, which thank
(09:24):
goodness for that, but the nature had already begun to
spring up new growth when my mother and I were
back over there, really just weeks ago. So as devastating
as these fires are, and truly they are, we know
the severity of what we've seen and continue to see
in the news. I just want to leave this story,
if we can, with an upbeat note, and that is
(09:48):
that it will regenerate. You know, many times our National
Park services have even ignited fires to regenerate positive growth.
So you know, we're going to look at this as devastation,
we know that, but also an opportunity for it to regenerate.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I know there are some pine trees that the cones
are so tough and hard they have to burn to
pop them open so their seats can get out.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So they can't regenerate without a fire.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Oh how about that? I do not know that.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So, yeah, it's part of the part of your nature's process.
The unfortunate part is we're also nestled in that nature,
and so you know, our prayers are with the people
who have homes.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And businesses that are.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Being affected by that.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, So, Harry, I think you've got another
piece of news that folks might be interested in.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
One of the things that comes up a lot with
questions at the wishing Well. People call us and ask
us questions about hotel wi fi, and so I thought
i'd take a minute and talk about that this morning.
If you are one of the people that use Wi
Fi in a hotel, maybe you're checking on a flight,
maybe you're catching up on email, staying in touch with
loved ones, whatever you're doing. If you're using Wi Fi
(10:58):
in a hotel, we're sking that you take special care
today and onward to think about using the hotel's WiFi.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Harry, you're making me nervous.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Well, you should be nervous, because even the hotels systems,
they're in house systems have suffered breaches. There's no secret
that there are people out there attacking systems, banks, schools, hospitals,
everything else. Hotels fall into that category, Chris, and they
have a lot of people in hotels. They're attractive targets
(11:29):
because they're spending money on discretionary you know, lodging, they're
on vacation, so they know there's credit card information and
other banking information that's potentially at stake there. So if
you're using hotel WiFi, don't walk in thinking it's as
secure as the Wi Fi that maybe is at your
work or at your home, because it's not. It's a convenience.
(11:51):
Hotels are offering it as a convenience, so they're not
investing millions of dollars into protecting those networks. But the
things that I want to point out, I'll give you
a couple examples, and then I'll tell you a couple
of things that you can do to help yourself from
becoming a victim to the easiest ways for them to
get to your passwords is through unsecured networks. Those are
(12:13):
typically wireless networks, and that's what most of us use.
That's not what you have on your phone but this
is what you're using with your computer. When you connect
your phone to a wireless network inside a hotel, if
you have an opportunity to connect in the hotel, use
your phone's network. Don't have your phone connect to the
wireless network. There's all kinds of attacks that are out there,
(12:36):
and a couple tips. If you're going to be using
the hotel Wi Fi, think about this. Keep the software
on your computer or iPad or whatever it is that
you're using updated. Having the most up to date software
is going to give you the most protection. Avoid sensitive transactions,
my gosh, don't do your banking on a hotel's Wi
(12:57):
Fi network. It's fine to check your airline reservation, it's
fine to look at your email, but don't start opening
anything that's sensitive. And just be careful of hotel networks
out there. That's the that's the tips in the news today.
People are becoming victims to that kind of theft.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Harry, I'm going to tell you I am one of
those people who never get on Wi Fi networks outside
of my home. That's smart. I was on a business trip.
I was up in Winchester and for whatever reason, I
didn't have cell service, so I use the hotel Wi Fi.
I fingers crossed. Nothing bad happened. I don't know. The
computer's still running, but who knows if they good for you? Yeah,
(13:41):
I want one of the things you can do. You
can pair your computer to your telephone. If you don't
know how to use that, ask your kid. I mean,
I'll tell you no, I do that all the time.
I use my phone as a hotspot, so that creates
the Wi Fi. But I didn't have cell service, so
I couldn't use the phone as a hotspot. It's a shortcoming. Yeah,
I have cell service the madness, and it was one
of those where I had to get on. I was
(14:01):
doing something for work, so it wasn't like I had
an option. And I'm glad we're talking about it now
because I was scared when I did it, and now
I'm more nervous about the fact that I did, and
you should be well.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Another piece of news that everybody might be interested in
is something that's happening on airlines. You know, we can
never get through a week, Chris. I don't care how
long we go without the airlines making it sneaking into
our news stories. You know, no matter what we do,
isn't that the truth? It seems like every week, Yeah,
every week. And this is in regard to the space
(14:36):
shortage that is starting to occur under the seat of
your plane. A fragile medical device, an overstuffed roller board,
a large cooler with snacks. You'd be shocked by what
passengers trying to fit under their economy class seat these days.
Even more surprising or probably the reasons. But as a result,
(14:58):
the space wars have moved from the overhead been to
under the seats, and passengers are jamming everything under their seats. Now,
why the change and will it last? Well? Anybody who
knows they can tell you that this is a problem.
The average seat pitch in an economy class seat right
(15:20):
now is thirty to thirty two inches, and the average
seat with is only seventeen inch inches. And those numbers
are meaningless to passengers because they don't consider the seat
material and design and they don't care. They just want
to get their stuff on board. Now, here's something to watch.
(15:41):
When an airline announces a new cabin interior, it often
moves to thinner seats, which allow it to add more capacity.
More capacity, Chris equals more money. Right, you get it.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I'm just less space for everybody too.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
You're getting indignant here, I can see it all over
your You're not liking this news.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
This reminds me of my grandmother trying to get her
footback in that shoe. It's just not fair to those
of us who happen to be a little wider around the.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Midst She's an awesome analogy, I will say, but I'll
tell you installing those extra rows of seats usually means
subtracting legroom. That's what happens, and the amount of room
under this seat varies too. One clue as to the
amount of leg room is the airline's size limit for
underseat carryons. For example, on American airlines, it's eighteen inches
(16:35):
by fourteen inches by eight. On Jet Blue it's seventeen
inches by thirteen inches by eight. The bottom line is,
you never know how much room you're going to have
on a plane, but chances are it will not be much.
Now again, I can hardly believe what's happening on planes.
Here are some of the things that people are trying
(16:56):
to fit under their seat. As I said, they're coolers,
over size medical devices, which you know. These are the
sea pat machines, ordinarily things that used to go in
the overhead and then the wheeled roller board luggages now
the reason that people are trying to wedge everything under
their seat. Well, earlier this year, US airlines raised their
(17:16):
check baggaged fees, and that pushed a lot of travelers
to carry on more onto the plane. Overhead bends quickly
began to fill to capacity, and that left only the
space under the seats. Airlines are trying to stop that
now by limiting passengers to a personal carry on a
personal carry on, and some airlines even force you to
(17:39):
pay to carry on an item, But the air travelers
still show up to the gate with a large wheeled
bag and a personal item, hoping the flight attendant will
look the other way or say hello, sir, can I
gate check that for you? Do you know what that means, Chris?
Do you know what a gate check is?
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Yes? Bag That happens a lot when you fly out
of Charlotte Filter, you know, they do. You take your
stuff on board and they're like, well, let's put a
tag on that, and they put it, they put.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
It under the belly. Yeah, and then and then you
can reclaim it gate side. But the trend here is
to stay, at least for now, and it's going to
take about five to ten years before passengers stopped trying
to take too much with them on the plane and
then attempt to wedge it under the seat. So those
are some things that are going on in the news
(18:26):
this week. You know, we've got a lot of interesting
things happening.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I want to add one more thing to our news.
This is an update to the story that you brought
us a couple of months ago. But the US Transportation
Department that rule that they put in place that airlines
would have to disclose their hidden fees. Yes, sir, a
judge threw it at Actually a three panel judge in
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans threw
(18:50):
it out said that it likely exceeds the agency's authority
and will irreparably harm airlines. So now we've got to
come up with a different way to.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Find You just had to do it, Chris. You just
ruin my day. I'm sorry, it's ruined. I've been waiting
for that, when waiting for a positive outcome on that,
and there we go, and you've heard it here.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I'm the bringer of the bad news.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
So the next time you go to the grocery store
to buy buy box of wheaties, you're going to buy
the wheaties and then they're going to charge you for
that wrapping around them and the paper container that the
cereal comes into. Because it's I mean, I'm judging New
Orleans and said, why not. It's what they're doing with
concert tickets too. That's really ridiculous. I mean, I'm so sorry.
I'm going to take a professional stance on this right now.
(19:34):
I think I believe in complete transparency. We practice that
with our own clients. I am absolutely incensed by organizations
that get away with not being able to do that.
And if you're charging extra fees airlines, hotels, you know
who you are, stop it.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Stop it. Unless you're going to tell people what you're
charging them for, just stop it, you know. Okay, there
I got it off my chest. Thank you Chris for
letting me rant. Really, doll you step off the soap
off my box. Man, I've got a cold towel. Shall
put it on their forehead.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Chris, I think we should spend the rest of our
show talking about something much more fun. We should we should,
so last week our show was entitled one if Fine Land.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, and you know what comes after that, right, Well.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We'll find out next here on a lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls
they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We'll plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at tho Wishingwell dot biz or call us
at five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(20:45):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
The washing Well really does make dreams come true.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And welcome back to a life lest Ordinary. The travel
show and podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well.
You can find them on f Avenue in Harrisonburg, on
the web at the Wishingwell dot biz, or give them
a call five four oh nine oh eight twenty three
thirty three. So we said last week's show was one
if by Land, so naturally, this week's show is two.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
If by Sea.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I do too.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
I like it too, So what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Well? And I think that's probably going to make sense
to a lot of people. You know, we talked about
really traveling on land last week, which was fabulous if
you have not listened to or didn't join us last
week and here our show, we talked about some fabulous
luxury train experiences. This week, we're going to talk about
(21:38):
two ocean cruises that we have booked and are making
available at the Wishing Well for twenty twenty five vacation year.
So we're excited about it. Two If by Sea We've
got two of the most wonderful, extraordinary experiences to share
with you today. That's what two If by Sea is. Well,
then let's start talking because this sounds fun. And we've
(22:00):
talked a lot here Chris on a Life Less Ordinary
about the benefits of people being able to travel together,
people that you're like minded with, kind of share a
particular passion with, and the benefits of traveling together as
a group. They're extraordinary. People make friends, they develop lifelong
relationships with people, they stay in touch. It's coast to
(22:21):
coast kind of trips or just your family just you
get closer to your family. And we've heard the old
saying the more the merrier, and truly traveling with a group,
I think embodies that saying, and once you've done that,
I think it's safe to say that you're going to
be a believer. You know, more than merrier. Is absolutely true.
And at least once a year I try to take
(22:43):
some time out here on our show to let you
know about a few great opportunities that we've got planned
as well in advance of the upcoming year ahead, to
kind of give you the optimum time you need to
plan for them and seriously consider joining us on your adventures. Today.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
So, I'm going to be sharing two great travel opportunities,
as I said, that are going to be just in
time for planning your next year's vacation. And all you
have to do, Chris is pack. That's it. It's going
to go ahead, pack, I know, right. So, our first
opportunity is going to take you into some of the
most beloved of the Caribbean islands and some lesser traveled
(23:23):
ones too, I think. And while that might be the case,
we've got a wonderful and very unexpected surprise on this
group experience at the very end. Now, our next option,
also timed perfectly over vacation season, is going to transport
you to some of the most popular destinations slated for
(23:46):
twenty twenty five, and those are Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Now,
as I did some extensive research for booking this particular
group travel option, over and over and over again, Chris,
those three international destinations kept making it to the top
of the travel trend list for twenty twenty five. And
(24:07):
to be sure, I got to tell you, Harry, is
it not true that we have so many people who
walk through our door and those are the three destinations
we get most asked about?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
It most certainly is. And part of the reason that
we chose them is because people ask them. And part
of the things that we do all along every year,
every trip, we're always asking travelers, Terry, where do you
want to go next? Absolutely, it's amazing how many people
you know will name those destinations. It's amazing also how
many people will tell us, whatever you do, we want
(24:38):
to go. What you said earlier about the groups and
the just the friendships and affinities that happen during the groups,
It's just been amazing.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
And that information that you all give us doesn't just
go and sit on a shelf. We actually act on that,
We take action on the suggestions and the information that
we glean from you all. You all are our compass,
so and everybody who doesn't need a compass, you know,
we all need where to need to know where to go.
But having been to this area of the world, I
(25:09):
can attest to the fact that it's one of the
most incredible experiences you will ever hope to have. And
again we've made it easy at the Wishing Well because
the hardest thing you have to do even on this
trip is pack. Now, a few other key things to
know about what you, our faithful travelers, have shared with
us is you want convenience, Chris, who doesn't want convenience
(25:32):
when they travel?
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Right?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
You want to travel to airports and you want that
to be easy and pleasant. You want comfortable ease of travel.
You want to only unpack once. Well, guess what that means, Chris.
That means our clients love to go cruising. And cruising
we will do at least for these two amazing experiences
that I've begun to share with you today. That is
(25:56):
what we're going to do. So let's first of all
talk about why cruising is such a favorite for travelers
these days. I mean, there's a million reasons, but and
I know what you might be thinking, cruising for old people, right, Well, no, wrong,
We've come a long way, baby, and today cruises are
so so much fun. They are so exciting. They are
(26:18):
such a great way to travel to new places. I
actually went on my very first cruise about forty years ago.
It was on Norwegian Cruise Lines SS Norway and at
the time she was the largest cruise ship in the water.
And I remember having one of those the best weeks
of my life. For the whole whole week while I
was on board the ship, and I thought it was
(26:39):
just amazing to have this floating hotel that allowed me
to wake up in a new destination every day. I
couldn't wait to get off the ship at each port,
explore each new city. That's the exciting part, you know,
that's when you know you're living. You know, it's not
just you're not just existing anymore. You're actually living and
you're experiencing something and you're developing some memories to go
(27:03):
back and tell everybody about. That's fun. Days at sea
also give you a totally new meaning to the words
ultimate relaxation. I certainly got my money's worth at the
epic food buffets and on this first cruise experience. For me,
I experienced my first days in a floating spa. You
(27:23):
want to talk about relaxing. Who knew, you know that
ships could have such great spas. And then there were
the shows I actually saw. Jack Jones. I don't know
if that name means anything to you. You've been in
the radio industry for a long time. Jack Jones, you know,
famous recording artist. You know he was the original singer
of the love boat song. Yeah, remember that? Well I
(27:44):
was Jack Jones. Yep. He was our spotlight entertainment on
the SS Norway. Great great memories and the truth be told.
I think everybody who has ever cruised has their own
list of great memories. These are mine. But why cruising
is so enticing to them? But there is another why
if you've never cruised before, that I think might just
(28:06):
make you fall in love with cruising. And there are
some very specific things that go into that I want
to talk about. We are going to talk about our trips,
but first of all, I thought it would be interesting
to let people know, especially those who have never cruised
with us before, some of the great reasons why they
might want to choose cruising as a vacation. First of all,
(28:28):
it's like I said, the ship is a gigantic floating.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Hotel and more like a floating city.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
It is really today, You're right, And it's also an
uber right exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yes, it's like your dreams. You go to sleep at night,
think about where you want to be in the morning.
It's not where you were today. But you wake up
in the morning and lo and behold, here you are
at this new place for another day of exploring and
getting ready for going to sleep the next night, and
another day of new expiration.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
And you know, they of course have hundreds of rooms,
multiple floors. As a matter of fact, I can tell
you that the largest cruise ship right now, which is
going to be one of the ones that I'm going
to tell you about that we have actually booked and
blocked group space on for this sailing, holds over six
thousand guests.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
We've talked about. That's a city. That's a city.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Ye, multiple floors, they've got hordes of bars and restaurants,
plenty of shops. Your cruise ship is going to feel
like the biggest all inclusive hotel you've ever seen and
ever been to. And then some Now, at first you
might get lost trying to find your room. I've done
that before. You won't be able to remember which bars
are in which direction, but trust me, that's all kind
(29:38):
of part of the fun. It's like discovering a new
hotel or a new resort every single day. But the
best bit is that you're staying in one place the
entire time, and you're not packing and unpacking. And that's
the real zinger here is that I don't have to
pack and unpack. I'm just going to wake up somewhere
different every day. And you know the other that brings
(30:03):
me to another key reason, and that is your all
inclusive package will be worth it when you cruise that cruise.
Like Harry said, it's not just your quote unquote uber
and your transportation around these islands. But guess what, it's
also your restaurants, it's your entertainment. It's everything you could
hope to have for one great price.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
So all the shows are included.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
I don't have to buy tickets.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
You do not buy tickets for shows on board the
cruise ships, and you don't pay extra for that, and
in many cases you don't even have to make reservations
for it. You just show up. I like that, I
know most people do. It's really great. And then you've
got the other attractive feature, which is one of my favorites.
The sale in and sail away days are Amazing. Was
(30:52):
without a doubt and still remains one of my favorite
parts of cruising. The sale away on our first night
was so much fun. We had a live band play
party music as we left the port of Miami. This
again was the very first cruise I took had all
that beautiful skyline in the distance in Miami, made our
way out to see and another one of my favorite
sail away cruise experiences had to be on the Queen Mary. Here.
(31:15):
You're going to remember this. It was our group that
we took to Canada and New England out of the
Port of New York, and I remember so very vividly
standing on the deck and sailing directly by the Statue
of Liberty. Both arms got goosebumps when we did that.
It was amazing, And I mean, it's just I mean,
(31:35):
if you're an American and you love American, you love
everything iconic about America, and you're on a cruise and
you're about to sail away for a week's long vacation.
I mean, there's nothing better is there that's amazing And
sailing into a new destination every day also super exciting.
You can get up as early as you like in
the morning, head to the top of the deck, be
(31:56):
one of the first on board to take in all
of those fast sites as you sail into another port
for the day. And I've never really experienced anything like
it before. Just breathing in the fresh sea air, kind
of enjoying that all those panoramic views that are just
out there ahead of you. Really has been a culmination
of all these great sail away and sail in moments
(32:19):
that I realized just how special cruising was and that
I'd totally fallen in love with it.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Well, you didn't even mention the sunrises and the sunsets.
That's the reason. If you're not an early morning person
when you're on a cruise, become an early morning person
for at least one morning. Go up and watch the sunrise.
If that doesn't give you a different perspective on the world,
there's something wrong with you. Likewise, at night, go watch
the sunset. There's just nothing like being on a cruise
(32:45):
for having that clear view and feeling that breeze. It's
just a very very special feeling that you can only
get when you're on a cruise and if you're on
that top deck. Terry was talking about the top deck,
You're not going to have a whole lot of people
up there. It's beautiful, it.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Is, and you know, Chris, I want to circle back
around to the entertainment. The interesting part about cruising, and
want to again going back to my forty year ago
experience on board the SS Norway, is that the entertainment
was captivating to me. I was young in the travel
industry then, hadn't been around very long, and everything was
(33:24):
new and exciting to me. My goodness, I hadn't even
been to New York that many times to even experience
a Broadway show. But what I realized on board this
ship was, guess what Broadway shows take place on board
cruise ships and you pay nothing for those. I've paid
upwards in the neighborhood of almost three hundred dollars a
(33:45):
ticket for a Broadway show before for something that I
really wanted to see. Do you know what I paid
for Cats on board my last cruise ship.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Zero.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
I paid zero dollars and I got to see a fabulous,
fabulous experience. I had a front row seat. It was
I mean, it's all of that wrapped into one that
make cruising, I think again, just such a fabulous choice.
And again, as you know, as Harry said, the sunrises
and sunsets, and then the other added features that you
(34:15):
wake up some place new every day. The cruise ships
strategically kind of gauge their departure times from each port
that you've entered the day of, and they do that
usually over your dinner time. So while you are having
dinner enjoying shows at night, off you go. You're sailing
(34:36):
off to another great new port that you'll reach by
the next morning. And that's always been very exciting to me,
especially if I had a balcony cabin, because first thing
in the morning, I could get up when I woke up,
and usually, you know, on about six or seven o'clock
in the morning, the cruise ship is actually pulling in
(34:57):
and tendering into our next new port, so you get
to actually see the action and the life that's going
on when you pull in.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Do you sense any of that is happening if you're
not specifically looking to watch, you know, the cruise ship
coming into the dock. I mean, is that are you
feeling that? Are you sensing that there's more activity or.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Oh yeah, there's a flurry of activity that your companies
a cruise ship coming into a port. You know, first
of all, all of the vendors, of course, who are
have wares to sell, they get excited about the crews
coming in. They want to welcome all the crewise passengers.
There's short excursions that are taking place, so you've got
all the tour operators that are gathering at the piers,
(35:39):
and then of course you've got all the dock workers.
And let me tell you, if you've never seen a
cruise ship anchored before, that's quite a feat. And let
me tell you, I've seen as few as three men
do it, and that to me is amazing. When you
think a cruise ship the size of a small city,
carrying six thousand passengers and you watch three grown men
(36:00):
in not even strapping men, but three grown men pull
that cruise ship in to port. Harry, is that not
the most incredible experience.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Well, I'm fascinated by that. I'm an engineer by training,
so I like to look at all of that going on,
and it's the best organized frenzy that you can imagine,
because everybody's got a job. Everybody's doing it, and they're
provisioning the ship at a lot of these ports. Also, they're
bringing on you more food because people like me are
on board and consuming it like crazy, and it's just
(36:29):
a it's a magical thing to watch.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I watched a documentary just recently about how they, you know,
keep everything moving on these ships. It's unreal. It is No,
it's schedule. Yeah, it's a schedule, and everybody is. Everybody is.
That's a good schedule.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
It's a dance and it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
And the quantity of food they were bringing, I mean
it was tractor trailer after tractor trailer bringing stuff in
and they act like a distribution center at the port
where perfect arm there's sort of things out for the ship,
and then it's getting loaded so that it can be
unloaded as it choosed in the right order.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
No, it's it's magnificent and that's all that all that's
because one of the things, Terry, that you didn't mention,
you mentioned that that you have food on board. One
of the things that I like about a cruise ship.
You don't have to choose the same restaurant each night.
There's a variety. There's a better variety of restaurants on
most cruise ships than there are in many towns.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Of what you want it? Can I do a restaurant
crawl in a single evening? Can I hit five restaurants
as you can? And the best? The best part about that?
Speaker 4 (37:38):
And Terry Terry will will say it, so I might
as well say it too. If you get an entree
that you like and you think that was really good,
maybe I'll have another. Just ask and another will show up.
That's true for desserts, that's true for entrees, It's true
for anything that you want in that restaurant. Their job
(37:59):
is to feed you, and they do their job very
very well.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Bring an extra set of clothes, the size larger. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Now, you know the other thing that is so exciting
to me when I sit here with you week after week, Chris,
is I just made just a personal observation, and that
is how excited you get. Well, that too, but about
some of the travel experiences that we bring to this show,
because what's very interesting to watch is that you actually
(38:32):
react very much like some of our clients in office
do when they're hearing about something like cruising for the
first time. And that's the joy for me in this
business is to see someone react, but with something like
that that I know they're going to love once they
do experience it. So we got to get you on
a cruise.
Speaker 4 (38:52):
I got to get you on a cruise, and we
got to get you you know, like we do with
every client that comes in that wants a cruise. Terry
will sit down with you in front of the big
TV in our office and she'll she'll get you all
hyped up, all psyched up, because not only will she
tell you about the things that we talk about on
a life less Ordinay, she'll bring up videos on the
screen and say, here's what it's going to look like.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Chris and Beck and I were just talking about this
again and when when it's time, I think we want
to do a cruise up through New England.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Oh it's wonderful, so beautiful. That's a great experience. It
is and everybody should do that, I think at least once.
And so you know, we've talked about the why you
should love cruising so much. I want to talk Chris,
if we can't about the what the wishing Well has
arranged to take you on some of these most wonderful
journeys this summer of twenty twenty five. So our first
(39:47):
group cruise experience is going to be on a real
crowd favorite. It's on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Interestingly enough, if
you were listening earlier, I told you about my first
cruise experience, Well that was also on Norwegian Cruise Line.
And we're going to be sailing on one of their
brand new Prima class ships called the Aqua and she
(40:10):
is divine. She is tricked out with more expansive outdoor
spaces now than any other ship, unobstructed scenic views, more
than any other vessel out there. And on board you're
going to enjoy some of the first of its kind
experiences like the all new Aqua slide coaster. Now we
(40:31):
know what roller coasters are. This is a slide coaster
and it is bohemoth. It is the largest slide coaster
I have ever seen on a cruise ship.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
What is a slide coaster.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Well, it is it's tied to the water features that
they have on board, and you get in it and
it is it's tubed. Oh, so you're not gonna fly
off you, Nicol fly off the ship. But it is
this Matt and I'm not kidding bohemo massive tube ride
that is very thrilling that goes around almost the entire
(41:07):
deck of the top of the ship.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
I've seen some of those where they actually take you
out over the side, so you oh yeah, oh yeah,
I don't know how I feel about that one. Yeah,
this is a grand Kid special, yep.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
And you feel right at home with a greater variety
of spacious suites they have on this And guess what else, Chris,
she's brand spanking new. I mean, she's going to hit
the high seas, only coming this spring of twenty twenty five,
actually in April, and we the wishing Well grabbed a
front row seat to her entrance. Now, if you just
(41:38):
happen to not be too keen on extreme sports and
the idea of the Aqua Slide coaster doesn't excite you,
and that's not you're saying, you might want to just
soak in something else on board this ship, and that's
the Serenity Vibe Beach Club. It's exclusive for guests eighteen
years of age and older. You sit back, you can
toast to incredible views with a glass of bubbly maybe
(42:02):
from the full service bar, then you can dip into
the beautiful Infinity hot tub enjoy the stunning views from there.
Or if you're taking your little ones along, they have
even something called the Aqua Park on board that's a
perfect place to let them kind of splash around and
play the whole day way, So a lot for adults,
(42:22):
something for the kids. I think you can clearly see
we kind of plan this pretty strategically, so there's something
for everybody on board. Now. I think it's pretty clear
to see that this ship itself could be the destination. However,
we haven't even talked about the great ports of call yet,
so I want to do that. And spoiler alert again,
there's a surprise ending. I told you that before and
(42:45):
when we set sail on this one, our first port
of call will be in porta Plada, Dominican Republic. Now, interestingly,
porta Plata Chris has a lot of things in common
with the big island of Hawaii, which is kind of interesting.
First of all, porta Plata has some of the most
beautiful beaches in all of the Caribbean, as does Hawaii,
but they also handle a large production of one of
(43:07):
the country's leading coffee growing regions, so that tends to
be a tourist gathering spot. People want to see that.
It's something to see as a matter of fact. Now,
one of the other attractions of porta Plata includes something
called the Ocean World Adventure Park, where you're likely to
see dolphins, sea lions, sharks there. Don't worry, they won't
(43:28):
bite you. They're completely contained. And that's just at your
first port of call. Next you're going to head to
the jewel of the US Virgin Islands. That's Saint Thomas. Now,
this is a great island for travelers with all kinds
of diverse interests. There are, of course beautiful beaches, but
it's also a great island to participate in some water activities,
if that you're saying, everything from snorkeling to scuba diving there.
(43:52):
And another great feature of Saint Thomas is it's very
close proximity to another island called Saint John. Now that's
another one of the beautiful and less commercial islands in
the US Virgin Islands, a great one. It's one of
my favorites, which is just a short shore excursion away
from Saint Thomas. So you can hop on a shore
excursion and actually get a twofer like two islands for one,
(44:16):
quite quiet private beaches there in Saint John full Day
at maybe an inclusive resort they have that option. Or
maybe you want to just want to go for a
dune buggy ride all around the island, create your own
kind of special. You can do whatever you want. And
after a day in the US Virgin Islands, you get
up the next day we're gonna slip right on over
to the British Virgin Islands and the amazing island of Tortola.
(44:40):
And this is an island. I like to say, this
is the island of peace. It's gorgeous. As a matter
of fact, visitors often come to Tortola to just relax
rather than to be constantly active. History buffs are going
to like it too, because you can find plenty to
explore there. You can pay a visit to the seventeen
eighteen low A State Sugar Works Museum. That's interesting. They've
(45:03):
got Coldwood's Rum Distillery that draws a lot of visitors,
you know it does. And then the O'Neill Jr. O'Neill's
Botanic Gardens are there as well. There are two coveted
days at sea on our fabulous cruise here, which you
will absolutely relish, especially considering what wonder this cruise ship
(45:24):
has for you. Now, as always when you travel on
most of our wishing Well groups, we're going to be
departing right from in front of the wishing Well. Hello.
All you have to do is part conveniently in our
parking lot. That's free parking, by the way, and we're
going to transport you via luxury motor coach to the
airport where we're going to catch our direct NonStop flight
two port Canaveral, which is the beginning of our journey. Now,
(45:47):
when you hear all about what this cruise offers and
the incredible ports of call, that alone would probably be enough.
But wait, just like Gensu knives Chris, there's more.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
There's more. You know.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
I mentioned earlier that this great NCL cruise would be
departing and returning from Court to Canaveral, which just happens
to be conveniently located about an hour from a big
amusement park. Do you know which one, Disney Walt Disney World. Yes,
so this is our surprise feature. We saw that as
a great opportunity, and so our very own rockstar Disney specialist,
(46:23):
Paul Hellmuth is going to be traveling with you and
introducing you to a taste of Walt Disney World with
a two day two park extension of this already great
vacation experience. And guess what, He's even made arrangements when
you stay at Disney for you to continue your Caribbean theme,
because you're going to stay two nights at the fabulous
(46:44):
Caribbean Beach Resort, which is an on site Disney hotel.
And I can see you're intrigued, right I am?
Speaker 1 (46:52):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (46:53):
The cost of this great cruise vacation includes round trip
motor coach Luxury motor coach from the wishing Well and
free parking just outside our door. Round trip direct NonStop
airfare to Port Canaveral I mentioned that, and transfers of
course to and from the cruise. Peer a balcony cabin
(47:13):
aboard your luxury seven day Caribbean cruise, a premium drink
package for the duration of the cruise, plus specialty dining inclusion.
You've got free Wi Fi, free shore excursion credits at
each port of call, and the all important trip protection
insurance cost per person for everything I just mentioned, plus
(47:37):
a whole lot more. Well, that balcony cruise vacation comes
in at a very affordable thirty four hundred dollars per person.
That's complete from door to door in a balcony with
your airfare. You're not at all obligated to purchase the
Walt Disney World add on, but what a shame to
be so close and not do that. Right, But the
(48:00):
optional Walt Disney World add on is starting at about
only eight hundred and fifty dollars per person, and that's
on site Disney accommodations, your part passes, plus Paul Helmuth
as your escort. He's absolutely amazing when it comes to Disney.
So a great overall vacation and priced right and just
(48:20):
in time for vacation season. This particular trip is going
to take place at the very end of May May
of twenty twenty five, so if you're interested in that
particular one, give us a call. There are so many
things we want to tell you about it and introduce
you to The aqua on the Norwegian Cruise Line is
(48:40):
going to be amazing.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
We need to take a quick break when be right
back and we'll talk more about two if by sea
here on a lifeles ordinary.
Speaker 4 (48:47):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls.
They can spoil your hard earned vacation, will plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at though wishing Well dot biz or call
us at five four zero nine zero eight two three
(49:09):
three three. That's five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three. The washing Well really does make dreams
come true.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
And welcome back to a lifeless ordinary Terry. We were
talking about our first cruise and got so much into it.
Our hour is almost expired. We've just got a couple
of minutes to talk about our second group cruise travel option.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
I know and this is a great one because this
one is our fabulous Spain, Portugal and Morocco cruise nine nights,
once in a lifetime experience. We're going to be on
the celebrity Equinox and this two is going to be
a most popular and quick to sell out all for Chris.
We only just now are announcing this cruise and we've
already got two cabins booked by just speaking to people
(49:49):
about it in the office. So what's not to love.
You've got accommodations on board the Equinox, nothing short of amazing.
We've chosen to ensure that you've got nothing short of great,
lug jurious experience by blocking only balcony and concierge suites
on board this cruise. And you know what, you might
decide that the only way to truly experience this perfect
(50:10):
international cruise is a concierge suite. So what will you
get anyway, Well, a dedicated concierge is just steps away
from your room to assist with any of your vacation needs.
But I want to talk about this itinerary. We're going
to start with direct flights, also right out of the
Wishing Well, same starting pattern. We're going to fly into
Barcelona and end in Barcelona. In between, we're going to
(50:34):
be visiting Savella in Spain. We're going to be spending
two full days in Lisbon, Portugal, which is fab uless,
and also Porto, the home of port wine and great
food in Portugal. We will then make our way. Our
final stop on this cruise is Tangier, Morocco, known for
(50:55):
their idyllic beaches in the Mediterranean Sea. It kind of
all starts as a Phoenician town and trading center, and
Tangier has been really a nexus for a lot of cultures.
In nineteen twenty three it became an international zone managed
by colonial powers, and it just became a destination for
a lot of European and American diplomats, spies, bohemians, writers
(51:18):
and businessmen. And today it is a great cruise port stop.
It's amazing. This is what I'm going to call our
Kaleidoscope cruise because it is really amazing. And once again,
all of the other things that we talk to you about,
we're going to offer you and treat you to premium
economy class air on this experience. With your all inclusive
(51:39):
cruise package. Your starting price on this experience comes in
at just about sixty two hundred dollars. And again, Chris,
that's all your meals, drinks, your shipboard credits for shore excursions,
and the escorts services of someone at the wishing.
Speaker 1 (51:58):
Well, and it's how many days, Herry.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
This is a non night cruise.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
And door to door again, right door to door experience.
Speaker 2 (52:04):
So I think all in all, what we've learned today
is that cruising, first of all, is a great option.
We know that we've learned all about that today, and
we're providing our guests with two fabulous offers. The first
one at the end of May. The other one comes
to you in June the nineteenth. That's Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
If you are interested in any of these, we would
(52:25):
covet your phone calls and your feedback let us know
what you want more of, But we would love to
have you sign up for one of these today.
Speaker 4 (52:33):
And if you need more information about it next week.
We've been running like crazy, but next week I promise
they will be on the web for you so you
can take a look there. And one of the important
things that we don't often mentioned, Chris, A lot of
the people that join us for cruises don't only join
us from Harrisonburg. They don't only join us from the
listening area you know, locally here, but they join us
(52:54):
from out of state. So if you aren't out of
state person, please, please please, if this has got your interest,
let us know. We'll figure out how to get you there,
and we'd love to have you join our group.
Speaker 2 (53:03):
And we know you want to go, don't you, Chris?
I'm ready amen?
Speaker 1 (53:07):
All right? How do we get information if we want
to talk to you in person about that?
Speaker 2 (53:11):
We're easy to find. We're located at two forty three
NEF Avenue in the Valley Center in Heresonburg, Virginia. You
can call us at five four O nine zero eight
two three three three, or look us up.
Speaker 1 (53:21):
On the web. We are at the Wishingwell dot biz.
This has been a life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three NEP Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
(53:42):
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see you
again next Saturday morning at ten for a life Less
Ordinary from the wishing Well
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. It's a travel show and
podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well two forty
three f Avenue and harshmerg and online at the wishing
Well dot this. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury
concierge travel agency and A Lifeless Ordinary is a travel
show and podcast hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over
forty years of experience in the travel industry to help
(00:20):
guide you to great experiences in your travel, whether it
be around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello, Chris, good morning,
good morning. Ye ask how I am? And well, let's
try this, Harry, how are you? I'm just so well Chris,
seeing Harry knows how to play along. Welcome to a
(00:40):
Lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I'm doing quite well. Thank you. Good.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I'm happy to hear that I'm sick of the heat.
I know, I think we all are. And you know
it's funny what happens even on the highway when heat
is up. Temperatures are high to so you know, people
just get annoyed and a little gnarly, you know, well said, yeah,
(01:05):
just a little gnarl but it's okay. You know what,
everybody listening this morning, just play along.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Just that's the point of the show. Relax and think
about how your life, yes, is not ordinary, it's extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
It is extraordinary. This is and welcome to a life
less ordinary.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Well said. I always worry when we're having this much
fun a minute into the show what the next hour
will entail.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
What just means everybody else will do? You know, let's
get into what's happened over the past week with travel news.
I think it's a great idea. I'm going to turn
it over to Harry for a very timely article that
just made it across our disk this week, and it
involves the Middle East.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Yeah, tensions are rising in the Middle East nevoloti so
this week. Not surprisingly, both Delta and United Airlines have
canceled all flights Chris into Tel Aviv effective yesterday, and
European carriers are also halting selected flights to the region
as well. Despite earlier reports of the contrary, British hears
(02:18):
said they're going to continue to fly as well Israel's
flight character carrier. I'm sorry LLL so that's a little
sad news. United has been increasing ramping up their flights.
They've been doing fourteen flights a week to tel Aviv,
so this is a big, you know, a big slam
(02:39):
to that. But they're still flying to some nearby countries.
They're flying to Aman, they're flying to Athens, they're flying
to Dubai, and you can transfer to other carriers, so
they're not suspending service to the region, but just selectively
to Tel Aviv. They're affecting the European carriers heading too
the Middle East. Luft Hanza Group it's also suspending flights
(03:02):
from Beirut up to and including August the fifth, just
around the corner, and Luftan's on Wednesday night canceled the
flight from Cyprus to tel Aviv after Iron announced it
was temporarily closing its airspace. So a lot of volatility
going on in that part of the world right now.
In our hearts go out to all those people and
to those people who had intended to travel to those regions.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Absolutely, and it's something that obviously we want to keep
our eyes on. You know, I've said to you many times,
Chris here on this show that it's amazing how literally
everything that goes on on this planet affects the world
of travel. It absolutely does. I don't care whether it's political, economical, geographical,
(03:46):
if it's whether you name it. We feel the ripple
of that throughout our industry. So we're keeping a close
eye on that and speaking of, you know things that
we do need to keep an eye on new story
that affects our good neighbors in Canada, particularly in Jasper.
Since July the twenty second, what became the area's largest
(04:11):
fire in the country, has caused a wave of destruction
in the Canadian National Park. Around a third of structures
in the town of Jasper have been destroyed and all
residents were evacuated. Now as of July the thirty first,
which was just a couple of days ago, the wildfire
remains out of control, meaning it's expected to continue growing now.
(04:35):
Although the fires have been extinguished in the town itself,
here's the problem. Residents are still under evacuation orders and
don't know when they can even return, if they will
ever be able to return to the home they knew,
and that to me is heartbreaking. Currently the entire park
(04:55):
is closed and there is no estimated date for reopen.
If you're planning a trip to Jasper in the near future.
Please keep an eye on the Parks Canada site and
Municipality of Jasper websites for updates. Parks Canada has automatically
canceled and refunded all camping reservations through September the third.
(05:20):
Many of the highways are also closed in and out
of that area, and it's interesting. Additionally, a ninety three
miles stretch of Alberta Highway which is known as the
ice Fields Parkway, and parallel stretch of ninety three a
also known as the BAMF Windermere Highway between Jasper and
(05:42):
River Crossing are also closed, so it really is quite
a broad swath. Train travel has also been impacted. Via
Rail Canada has canceled its train service without offering alternate
transportation between Jasper, Alberta and Prince George Bridge, Columbia, until
August sixth, and between Vancouver and Edmonton until August fifth.
(06:06):
The Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tour Company has modified routes taken
by their Journey into the Clouds and Rainforest to gold
Rush journeys until August the eleventh, and is contacting ticket holders.
Those routes will now travel through BAMPF National Park instead
of Jasper, and flights to the closest airports, Edmonton and
(06:30):
Calgary remain operating as normal. Now I bring that up
and bring it to the attention of our audience today
because many of our lovely clients were to have joined
us in the end of this month in August on
our Journey through the Clouds Rocky Mountaineer Tour. We're still
working on modifications to our own group tour, which is
(06:53):
scheduled on August to twenty seventh. We don't have any
definitive details on that yet, but I just want to
say a very heartfelt sympathy goes out to all of
those folks in Jasper, because I cannot imagine what they've
been through. The closest thing I've seen to this was Maui.
The devastation has been unbelievable, and still fires continue to
(07:17):
rage on the West coast. We know that the fires
that are in California right now have burned literally a
swath the area of Los Angeles itself. We're talking major,
major destruction. So anyway, just a lot going on right now.
I think things to certainly keep your eyes on, and
(07:38):
if you're affected by this, I am truly sorry, but
you can always count on the folks at the Wishing
Well to bring you the latest information when it happens,
when we know it. And also we are great at
offering protection for our clients, as we want to make
sure everybody's safety is at the top of our minds
and first and paramount as far as what we do.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
And you've talked a lot of times, Terry about travel
assurance as well as travel insurance. In the case of
this trip, the Rocky Mountaineer trip, I think listeners might
be interested that we have been working pretty much all
this week to reaccommodate people. Lots of people are still
waiting to be reaccommodated by Rocky Mountaineer. Because we have
(08:22):
some contexts, because we have a great relationship with them,
we were able to get through and we are much
closer to a resolution of our problem. That's the time
that having a great travel agent in your front pocket,
back pocket, any of your pockets is just invaluable. Chris.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
You know the interesting thing, and I made this observation
not long ago, even before these fires in California and
Jasper broke out. My mother and I were actually traveling
across the new Market Mountain here not long ago, and
as you may remember, very recently our own area here
in the Chendal Valley experienced quite a fire and it
(09:01):
devastated a lot of the mountainous area in Page County,
especially across new Market Mountain. Nature has such a fabulous
way of regenerating, you know. And really just shortly after
those fires were put out, and we even got some
nice rains to help the firefighters do that, which thank
(09:24):
goodness for that, but the nature had already begun to
spring up new growth when my mother and I were
back over there, really just weeks ago. So as devastating
as these fires are, and truly they are, we know
the severity of what we've seen and continue to see
in the news. I just want to leave this story,
if we can, with an upbeat note, and that is
(09:48):
that it will regenerate. You know, many times our National
Park services have even ignited fires to regenerate positive growth.
So you know, we're going to look at this as devastation,
we know that, but also an opportunity for it to regenerate.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I know there are some pine trees that the cones
are so tough and hard they have to burn to
pop them open so their seats can get out.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So they can't regenerate without a fire.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Oh how about that? I do not know that.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So, yeah, it's part of the part of your nature's process.
The unfortunate part is we're also nestled in that nature,
and so you know, our prayers are with the people
who have homes.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
And businesses that are.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Being affected by that.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, So, Harry, I think you've got another
piece of news that folks might be interested in.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
One of the things that comes up a lot with
questions at the wishing Well. People call us and ask
us questions about hotel wi fi, and so I thought
i'd take a minute and talk about that this morning.
If you are one of the people that use Wi
Fi in a hotel, maybe you're checking on a flight,
maybe you're catching up on email, staying in touch with
loved ones, whatever you're doing. If you're using Wi Fi
(10:58):
in a hotel, we're sking that you take special care
today and onward to think about using the hotel's WiFi.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Harry, you're making me nervous.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Well, you should be nervous, because even the hotels systems,
they're in house systems have suffered breaches. There's no secret
that there are people out there attacking systems, banks, schools, hospitals,
everything else. Hotels fall into that category, Chris, and they
have a lot of people in hotels. They're attractive targets
(11:29):
because they're spending money on discretionary you know, lodging, they're
on vacation, so they know there's credit card information and
other banking information that's potentially at stake there. So if
you're using hotel WiFi, don't walk in thinking it's as
secure as the Wi Fi that maybe is at your
work or at your home, because it's not. It's a convenience.
(11:51):
Hotels are offering it as a convenience, so they're not
investing millions of dollars into protecting those networks. But the
things that I want to point out, I'll give you
a couple examples, and then I'll tell you a couple
of things that you can do to help yourself from
becoming a victim to the easiest ways for them to
get to your passwords is through unsecured networks. Those are
(12:13):
typically wireless networks, and that's what most of us use.
That's not what you have on your phone but this
is what you're using with your computer. When you connect
your phone to a wireless network inside a hotel, if
you have an opportunity to connect in the hotel, use
your phone's network. Don't have your phone connect to the
wireless network. There's all kinds of attacks that are out there,
(12:36):
and a couple tips. If you're going to be using
the hotel Wi Fi, think about this. Keep the software
on your computer or iPad or whatever it is that
you're using updated. Having the most up to date software
is going to give you the most protection. Avoid sensitive transactions,
my gosh, don't do your banking on a hotel's Wi
(12:57):
Fi network. It's fine to check your airline reservation, it's
fine to look at your email, but don't start opening
anything that's sensitive. And just be careful of hotel networks
out there. That's the that's the tips in the news today.
People are becoming victims to that kind of theft.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Harry, I'm going to tell you I am one of
those people who never get on Wi Fi networks outside
of my home. That's smart. I was on a business trip.
I was up in Winchester and for whatever reason, I
didn't have cell service, so I use the hotel Wi Fi.
I fingers crossed. Nothing bad happened. I don't know. The
computer's still running, but who knows if they good for you? Yeah,
(13:41):
I want one of the things you can do. You
can pair your computer to your telephone. If you don't
know how to use that, ask your kid. I mean,
I'll tell you no, I do that all the time.
I use my phone as a hotspot, so that creates
the Wi Fi. But I didn't have cell service, so
I couldn't use the phone as a hotspot. It's a shortcoming. Yeah,
I have cell service the madness, and it was one
of those where I had to get on. I was
(14:01):
doing something for work, so it wasn't like I had
an option. And I'm glad we're talking about it now
because I was scared when I did it, and now
I'm more nervous about the fact that I did, and
you should be well.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Another piece of news that everybody might be interested in
is something that's happening on airlines. You know, we can
never get through a week, Chris. I don't care how
long we go without the airlines making it sneaking into
our news stories. You know, no matter what we do,
isn't that the truth? It seems like every week, Yeah,
every week. And this is in regard to the space
(14:36):
shortage that is starting to occur under the seat of
your plane. A fragile medical device, an overstuffed roller board,
a large cooler with snacks. You'd be shocked by what
passengers trying to fit under their economy class seat these days.
Even more surprising or probably the reasons. But as a result,
(14:58):
the space wars have moved from the overhead been to
under the seats, and passengers are jamming everything under their seats. Now,
why the change and will it last? Well? Anybody who
knows they can tell you that this is a problem.
The average seat pitch in an economy class seat right
(15:20):
now is thirty to thirty two inches, and the average
seat with is only seventeen inch inches. And those numbers
are meaningless to passengers because they don't consider the seat
material and design and they don't care. They just want
to get their stuff on board. Now, here's something to watch.
(15:41):
When an airline announces a new cabin interior, it often
moves to thinner seats, which allow it to add more capacity.
More capacity, Chris equals more money. Right, you get it.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I'm just less space for everybody too.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
You're getting indignant here, I can see it all over
your You're not liking this news.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
This reminds me of my grandmother trying to get her
footback in that shoe. It's just not fair to those
of us who happen to be a little wider around the.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Midst She's an awesome analogy, I will say, but I'll
tell you installing those extra rows of seats usually means
subtracting legroom. That's what happens, and the amount of room
under this seat varies too. One clue as to the
amount of leg room is the airline's size limit for
underseat carryons. For example, on American airlines, it's eighteen inches
(16:35):
by fourteen inches by eight. On Jet Blue it's seventeen
inches by thirteen inches by eight. The bottom line is,
you never know how much room you're going to have
on a plane, but chances are it will not be much.
Now again, I can hardly believe what's happening on planes.
Here are some of the things that people are trying
(16:56):
to fit under their seat. As I said, they're coolers,
over size medical devices, which you know. These are the
sea pat machines, ordinarily things that used to go in
the overhead and then the wheeled roller board luggages now
the reason that people are trying to wedge everything under
their seat. Well, earlier this year, US airlines raised their
(17:16):
check baggaged fees, and that pushed a lot of travelers
to carry on more onto the plane. Overhead bends quickly
began to fill to capacity, and that left only the
space under the seats. Airlines are trying to stop that
now by limiting passengers to a personal carry on a
personal carry on, and some airlines even force you to
(17:39):
pay to carry on an item, But the air travelers
still show up to the gate with a large wheeled
bag and a personal item, hoping the flight attendant will
look the other way or say hello, sir, can I
gate check that for you? Do you know what that means, Chris?
Do you know what a gate check is?
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Yes? Bag That happens a lot when you fly out
of Charlotte Filter, you know, they do. You take your
stuff on board and they're like, well, let's put a
tag on that, and they put it, they put.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
It under the belly. Yeah, and then and then you
can reclaim it gate side. But the trend here is
to stay, at least for now, and it's going to
take about five to ten years before passengers stopped trying
to take too much with them on the plane and
then attempt to wedge it under the seat. So those
are some things that are going on in the news
(18:26):
this week. You know, we've got a lot of interesting
things happening.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
I want to add one more thing to our news.
This is an update to the story that you brought
us a couple of months ago. But the US Transportation
Department that rule that they put in place that airlines
would have to disclose their hidden fees. Yes, sir, a
judge threw it at Actually a three panel judge in
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans threw
(18:50):
it out said that it likely exceeds the agency's authority
and will irreparably harm airlines. So now we've got to
come up with a different way to.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Find You just had to do it, Chris. You just
ruin my day. I'm sorry, it's ruined. I've been waiting
for that, when waiting for a positive outcome on that,
and there we go, and you've heard it here.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I'm the bringer of the bad news.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
So the next time you go to the grocery store
to buy buy box of wheaties, you're going to buy
the wheaties and then they're going to charge you for
that wrapping around them and the paper container that the
cereal comes into. Because it's I mean, I'm judging New
Orleans and said, why not. It's what they're doing with
concert tickets too. That's really ridiculous. I mean, I'm so sorry.
I'm going to take a professional stance on this right now.
(19:34):
I think I believe in complete transparency. We practice that
with our own clients. I am absolutely incensed by organizations
that get away with not being able to do that.
And if you're charging extra fees airlines, hotels, you know
who you are, stop it.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Stop it. Unless you're going to tell people what you're
charging them for, just stop it, you know. Okay, there
I got it off my chest. Thank you Chris for
letting me rant. Really, doll you step off the soap
off my box. Man, I've got a cold towel. Shall
put it on their forehead.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Chris, I think we should spend the rest of our
show talking about something much more fun. We should we should,
so last week our show was entitled one if Fine Land.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Yeah, and you know what comes after that, right, Well.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We'll find out next here on a lifeless Ordinary.
Speaker 4 (20:23):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls
they can spoil your hard earned vacation. We'll plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at tho Wishingwell dot biz or call us
at five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
(20:45):
That's five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.
The washing Well really does make dreams come true.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
And welcome back to a life lest Ordinary. The travel
show and podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well.
You can find them on f Avenue in Harrisonburg, on
the web at the Wishingwell dot biz, or give them
a call five four oh nine oh eight twenty three
thirty three. So we said last week's show was one
if by Land, so naturally, this week's show is two.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
If by Sea.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I do too.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
I like it too, So what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Well? And I think that's probably going to make sense
to a lot of people. You know, we talked about
really traveling on land last week, which was fabulous if
you have not listened to or didn't join us last
week and here our show, we talked about some fabulous
luxury train experiences. This week, we're going to talk about
(21:38):
two ocean cruises that we have booked and are making
available at the Wishing Well for twenty twenty five vacation year.
So we're excited about it. Two If by Sea We've
got two of the most wonderful, extraordinary experiences to share
with you today. That's what two If by Sea is. Well,
then let's start talking because this sounds fun. And we've
(22:00):
talked a lot here Chris on a Life Less Ordinary
about the benefits of people being able to travel together,
people that you're like minded with, kind of share a
particular passion with, and the benefits of traveling together as
a group. They're extraordinary. People make friends, they develop lifelong
relationships with people, they stay in touch. It's coast to
(22:21):
coast kind of trips or just your family just you
get closer to your family. And we've heard the old
saying the more the merrier, and truly traveling with a group,
I think embodies that saying, and once you've done that,
I think it's safe to say that you're going to
be a believer. You know, more than merrier. Is absolutely true.
And at least once a year I try to take
(22:43):
some time out here on our show to let you
know about a few great opportunities that we've got planned
as well in advance of the upcoming year ahead, to
kind of give you the optimum time you need to
plan for them and seriously consider joining us on your adventures. Today.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
So, I'm going to be sharing two great travel opportunities,
as I said, that are going to be just in
time for planning your next year's vacation. And all you
have to do, Chris is pack. That's it. It's going
to go ahead, pack, I know, right. So, our first
opportunity is going to take you into some of the
most beloved of the Caribbean islands and some lesser traveled
(23:23):
ones too, I think. And while that might be the case,
we've got a wonderful and very unexpected surprise on this
group experience at the very end. Now, our next option,
also timed perfectly over vacation season, is going to transport
you to some of the most popular destinations slated for
(23:46):
twenty twenty five, and those are Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Now,
as I did some extensive research for booking this particular
group travel option, over and over and over again, Chris,
those three international destinations kept making it to the top
of the travel trend list for twenty twenty five. And
(24:07):
to be sure, I got to tell you, Harry, is
it not true that we have so many people who
walk through our door and those are the three destinations
we get most asked about?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
It most certainly is. And part of the reason that
we chose them is because people ask them. And part
of the things that we do all along every year,
every trip, we're always asking travelers, Terry, where do you
want to go next? Absolutely, it's amazing how many people
you know will name those destinations. It's amazing also how
many people will tell us, whatever you do, we want
(24:38):
to go. What you said earlier about the groups and
the just the friendships and affinities that happen during the groups,
It's just been amazing.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
And that information that you all give us doesn't just
go and sit on a shelf. We actually act on that,
We take action on the suggestions and the information that
we glean from you all. You all are our compass,
so and everybody who doesn't need a compass, you know,
we all need where to need to know where to go.
But having been to this area of the world, I
(25:09):
can attest to the fact that it's one of the
most incredible experiences you will ever hope to have. And
again we've made it easy at the Wishing Well because
the hardest thing you have to do even on this
trip is pack. Now, a few other key things to
know about what you, our faithful travelers, have shared with
us is you want convenience, Chris, who doesn't want convenience
(25:32):
when they travel?
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Right?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
You want to travel to airports and you want that
to be easy and pleasant. You want comfortable ease of travel.
You want to only unpack once. Well, guess what that means, Chris.
That means our clients love to go cruising. And cruising
we will do at least for these two amazing experiences
that I've begun to share with you today. That is
(25:56):
what we're going to do. So let's first of all
talk about why cruising is such a favorite for travelers
these days. I mean, there's a million reasons, but and
I know what you might be thinking, cruising for old people, right, Well, no, wrong,
We've come a long way, baby, and today cruises are
so so much fun. They are so exciting. They are
(26:18):
such a great way to travel to new places. I
actually went on my very first cruise about forty years ago.
It was on Norwegian Cruise Lines SS Norway and at
the time she was the largest cruise ship in the water.
And I remember having one of those the best weeks
of my life. For the whole whole week while I
was on board the ship, and I thought it was
(26:39):
just amazing to have this floating hotel that allowed me
to wake up in a new destination every day. I
couldn't wait to get off the ship at each port,
explore each new city. That's the exciting part, you know,
that's when you know you're living. You know, it's not
just you're not just existing anymore. You're actually living and
you're experiencing something and you're developing some memories to go
(27:03):
back and tell everybody about. That's fun. Days at sea
also give you a totally new meaning to the words
ultimate relaxation. I certainly got my money's worth at the
epic food buffets and on this first cruise experience. For me,
I experienced my first days in a floating spa. You
(27:23):
want to talk about relaxing. Who knew, you know that
ships could have such great spas. And then there were
the shows I actually saw. Jack Jones. I don't know
if that name means anything to you. You've been in
the radio industry for a long time. Jack Jones, you know,
famous recording artist. You know he was the original singer
of the love boat song. Yeah, remember that? Well I
(27:44):
was Jack Jones. Yep. He was our spotlight entertainment on
the SS Norway. Great great memories and the truth be told.
I think everybody who has ever cruised has their own
list of great memories. These are mine. But why cruising
is so enticing to them? But there is another why
if you've never cruised before, that I think might just
(28:06):
make you fall in love with cruising. And there are
some very specific things that go into that I want
to talk about. We are going to talk about our trips,
but first of all, I thought it would be interesting
to let people know, especially those who have never cruised
with us before, some of the great reasons why they
might want to choose cruising as a vacation. First of all,
(28:28):
it's like I said, the ship is a gigantic floating.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Hotel and more like a floating city.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
It is really today, You're right, And it's also an
uber right exactly.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
Yes, it's like your dreams. You go to sleep at night,
think about where you want to be in the morning.
It's not where you were today. But you wake up
in the morning and lo and behold, here you are
at this new place for another day of exploring and
getting ready for going to sleep the next night, and
another day of new expiration.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
And you know, they of course have hundreds of rooms,
multiple floors. As a matter of fact, I can tell
you that the largest cruise ship right now, which is
going to be one of the ones that I'm going
to tell you about that we have actually booked and
blocked group space on for this sailing, holds over six
thousand guests.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
We've talked about. That's a city. That's a city.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Ye, multiple floors, they've got hordes of bars and restaurants,
plenty of shops. Your cruise ship is going to feel
like the biggest all inclusive hotel you've ever seen and
ever been to. And then some Now, at first you
might get lost trying to find your room. I've done
that before. You won't be able to remember which bars
are in which direction, but trust me, that's all kind
(29:38):
of part of the fun. It's like discovering a new
hotel or a new resort every single day. But the
best bit is that you're staying in one place the
entire time, and you're not packing and unpacking. And that's
the real zinger here is that I don't have to
pack and unpack. I'm just going to wake up somewhere
different every day. And you know the other that brings
(30:03):
me to another key reason, and that is your all
inclusive package will be worth it when you cruise that cruise.
Like Harry said, it's not just your quote unquote uber
and your transportation around these islands. But guess what, it's
also your restaurants, it's your entertainment. It's everything you could
hope to have for one great price.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
So all the shows are included.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
I don't have to buy tickets.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
You do not buy tickets for shows on board the
cruise ships, and you don't pay extra for that, and
in many cases you don't even have to make reservations
for it. You just show up. I like that, I
know most people do. It's really great. And then you've
got the other attractive feature, which is one of my favorites.
The sale in and sail away days are Amazing. Was
(30:52):
without a doubt and still remains one of my favorite
parts of cruising. The sale away on our first night
was so much fun. We had a live band play
party music as we left the port of Miami. This
again was the very first cruise I took had all
that beautiful skyline in the distance in Miami, made our
way out to see and another one of my favorite
sail away cruise experiences had to be on the Queen Mary. Here.
(31:15):
You're going to remember this. It was our group that
we took to Canada and New England out of the
Port of New York, and I remember so very vividly
standing on the deck and sailing directly by the Statue
of Liberty. Both arms got goosebumps when we did that.
It was amazing, And I mean, it's just I mean,
(31:35):
if you're an American and you love American, you love
everything iconic about America, and you're on a cruise and
you're about to sail away for a week's long vacation.
I mean, there's nothing better is there that's amazing And
sailing into a new destination every day also super exciting.
You can get up as early as you like in
the morning, head to the top of the deck, be
(31:56):
one of the first on board to take in all
of those fast sites as you sail into another port
for the day. And I've never really experienced anything like
it before. Just breathing in the fresh sea air, kind
of enjoying that all those panoramic views that are just
out there ahead of you. Really has been a culmination
of all these great sail away and sail in moments
(32:19):
that I realized just how special cruising was and that
I'd totally fallen in love with it.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
Well, you didn't even mention the sunrises and the sunsets.
That's the reason. If you're not an early morning person
when you're on a cruise, become an early morning person
for at least one morning. Go up and watch the sunrise.
If that doesn't give you a different perspective on the world,
there's something wrong with you. Likewise, at night, go watch
the sunset. There's just nothing like being on a cruise
(32:45):
for having that clear view and feeling that breeze. It's
just a very very special feeling that you can only
get when you're on a cruise and if you're on
that top deck. Terry was talking about the top deck,
You're not going to have a whole lot of people
up there. It's beautiful, it.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Is, and you know, Chris, I want to circle back
around to the entertainment. The interesting part about cruising, and
want to again going back to my forty year ago
experience on board the SS Norway, is that the entertainment
was captivating to me. I was young in the travel
industry then, hadn't been around very long, and everything was
(33:24):
new and exciting to me. My goodness, I hadn't even
been to New York that many times to even experience
a Broadway show. But what I realized on board this
ship was, guess what Broadway shows take place on board
cruise ships and you pay nothing for those. I've paid
upwards in the neighborhood of almost three hundred dollars a
(33:45):
ticket for a Broadway show before for something that I
really wanted to see. Do you know what I paid
for Cats on board my last cruise ship.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Zero.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
I paid zero dollars and I got to see a fabulous,
fabulous experience. I had a front row seat. It was
I mean, it's all of that wrapped into one that
make cruising, I think again, just such a fabulous choice.
And again, as you know, as Harry said, the sunrises
and sunsets, and then the other added features that you
(34:15):
wake up some place new every day. The cruise ships
strategically kind of gauge their departure times from each port
that you've entered the day of, and they do that
usually over your dinner time. So while you are having
dinner enjoying shows at night, off you go. You're sailing
(34:36):
off to another great new port that you'll reach by
the next morning. And that's always been very exciting to me,
especially if I had a balcony cabin, because first thing
in the morning, I could get up when I woke up,
and usually, you know, on about six or seven o'clock
in the morning, the cruise ship is actually pulling in
(34:57):
and tendering into our next new port, so you get
to actually see the action and the life that's going
on when you pull in.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Do you sense any of that is happening if you're
not specifically looking to watch, you know, the cruise ship
coming into the dock. I mean, is that are you
feeling that? Are you sensing that there's more activity or.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Oh yeah, there's a flurry of activity that your companies
a cruise ship coming into a port. You know, first
of all, all of the vendors, of course, who are
have wares to sell, they get excited about the crews
coming in. They want to welcome all the crewise passengers.
There's short excursions that are taking place, so you've got
all the tour operators that are gathering at the piers,
(35:39):
and then of course you've got all the dock workers.
And let me tell you, if you've never seen a
cruise ship anchored before, that's quite a feat. And let
me tell you, I've seen as few as three men
do it, and that to me is amazing. When you
think a cruise ship the size of a small city,
carrying six thousand passengers and you watch three grown men
(36:00):
in not even strapping men, but three grown men pull
that cruise ship in to port. Harry, is that not
the most incredible experience.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
Well, I'm fascinated by that. I'm an engineer by training,
so I like to look at all of that going on,
and it's the best organized frenzy that you can imagine,
because everybody's got a job. Everybody's doing it, and they're
provisioning the ship at a lot of these ports. Also, they're
bringing on you more food because people like me are
on board and consuming it like crazy, and it's just
(36:29):
a it's a magical thing to watch.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I watched a documentary just recently about how they, you know,
keep everything moving on these ships. It's unreal. It is No,
it's schedule. Yeah, it's a schedule, and everybody is. Everybody is.
That's a good schedule.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
It's a dance and it's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
And the quantity of food they were bringing, I mean
it was tractor trailer after tractor trailer bringing stuff in
and they act like a distribution center at the port
where perfect arm there's sort of things out for the ship,
and then it's getting loaded so that it can be
unloaded as it choosed in the right order.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
No, it's it's magnificent and that's all that all that's
because one of the things, Terry, that you didn't mention,
you mentioned that that you have food on board. One
of the things that I like about a cruise ship.
You don't have to choose the same restaurant each night.
There's a variety. There's a better variety of restaurants on
most cruise ships than there are in many towns.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Of what you want it? Can I do a restaurant
crawl in a single evening? Can I hit five restaurants
as you can? And the best? The best part about that?
Speaker 4 (37:38):
And Terry Terry will will say it, so I might
as well say it too. If you get an entree
that you like and you think that was really good,
maybe I'll have another. Just ask and another will show up.
That's true for desserts, that's true for entrees, It's true
for anything that you want in that restaurant. Their job
(37:59):
is to feed you, and they do their job very
very well.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Bring an extra set of clothes, the size larger. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:07):
Now, you know the other thing that is so exciting
to me when I sit here with you week after week, Chris,
is I just made just a personal observation, and that
is how excited you get. Well, that too, but about
some of the travel experiences that we bring to this show,
because what's very interesting to watch is that you actually
(38:32):
react very much like some of our clients in office
do when they're hearing about something like cruising for the
first time. And that's the joy for me in this
business is to see someone react, but with something like
that that I know they're going to love once they
do experience it. So we got to get you on
a cruise.
Speaker 4 (38:52):
I got to get you on a cruise, and we
got to get you you know, like we do with
every client that comes in that wants a cruise. Terry
will sit down with you in front of the big
TV in our office and she'll she'll get you all
hyped up, all psyched up, because not only will she
tell you about the things that we talk about on
a life less Ordinay, she'll bring up videos on the
screen and say, here's what it's going to look like.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
Chris and Beck and I were just talking about this
again and when when it's time, I think we want
to do a cruise up through New England.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Oh it's wonderful, so beautiful. That's a great experience. It
is and everybody should do that, I think at least once.
And so you know, we've talked about the why you
should love cruising so much. I want to talk Chris,
if we can't about the what the wishing Well has
arranged to take you on some of these most wonderful
journeys this summer of twenty twenty five. So our first
(39:47):
group cruise experience is going to be on a real
crowd favorite. It's on Norwegian Cruise Lines. Interestingly enough, if
you were listening earlier, I told you about my first
cruise experience, Well that was also on Norwegian Cruise Line.
And we're going to be sailing on one of their
brand new Prima class ships called the Aqua and she
(40:10):
is divine. She is tricked out with more expansive outdoor
spaces now than any other ship, unobstructed scenic views, more
than any other vessel out there. And on board you're
going to enjoy some of the first of its kind
experiences like the all new Aqua slide coaster. Now we
(40:31):
know what roller coasters are. This is a slide coaster
and it is bohemoth. It is the largest slide coaster
I have ever seen on a cruise ship.
Speaker 1 (40:42):
What is a slide coaster.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Well, it is it's tied to the water features that
they have on board, and you get in it and
it is it's tubed. Oh, so you're not gonna fly
off you, Nicol fly off the ship. But it is
this Matt and I'm not kidding bohemo massive tube ride
that is very thrilling that goes around almost the entire
(41:07):
deck of the top of the ship.
Speaker 1 (41:09):
I've seen some of those where they actually take you
out over the side, so you oh yeah, oh yeah,
I don't know how I feel about that one. Yeah,
this is a grand Kid special, yep.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
And you feel right at home with a greater variety
of spacious suites they have on this And guess what else, Chris,
she's brand spanking new. I mean, she's going to hit
the high seas, only coming this spring of twenty twenty five,
actually in April, and we the wishing Well grabbed a
front row seat to her entrance. Now, if you just
(41:38):
happen to not be too keen on extreme sports and
the idea of the Aqua Slide coaster doesn't excite you,
and that's not you're saying, you might want to just
soak in something else on board this ship, and that's
the Serenity Vibe Beach Club. It's exclusive for guests eighteen
years of age and older. You sit back, you can
toast to incredible views with a glass of bubbly maybe
(42:02):
from the full service bar, then you can dip into
the beautiful Infinity hot tub enjoy the stunning views from there.
Or if you're taking your little ones along, they have
even something called the Aqua Park on board that's a
perfect place to let them kind of splash around and
play the whole day way, So a lot for adults,
(42:22):
something for the kids. I think you can clearly see
we kind of plan this pretty strategically, so there's something
for everybody on board. Now. I think it's pretty clear
to see that this ship itself could be the destination. However,
we haven't even talked about the great ports of call yet,
so I want to do that. And spoiler alert again,
there's a surprise ending. I told you that before and
(42:45):
when we set sail on this one, our first port
of call will be in porta Plada, Dominican Republic. Now, interestingly,
porta Plata Chris has a lot of things in common
with the big island of Hawaii, which is kind of interesting.
First of all, porta Plata has some of the most
beautiful beaches in all of the Caribbean, as does Hawaii,
but they also handle a large production of one of
(43:07):
the country's leading coffee growing regions, so that tends to
be a tourist gathering spot. People want to see that.
It's something to see as a matter of fact. Now,
one of the other attractions of porta Plata includes something
called the Ocean World Adventure Park, where you're likely to
see dolphins, sea lions, sharks there. Don't worry, they won't
(43:28):
bite you. They're completely contained. And that's just at your
first port of call. Next you're going to head to
the jewel of the US Virgin Islands. That's Saint Thomas. Now,
this is a great island for travelers with all kinds
of diverse interests. There are, of course beautiful beaches, but
it's also a great island to participate in some water activities,
if that you're saying, everything from snorkeling to scuba diving there.
(43:52):
And another great feature of Saint Thomas is it's very
close proximity to another island called Saint John. Now that's
another one of the beautiful and less commercial islands in
the US Virgin Islands, a great one. It's one of
my favorites, which is just a short shore excursion away
from Saint Thomas. So you can hop on a shore
excursion and actually get a twofer like two islands for one,
(44:16):
quite quiet private beaches there in Saint John full Day
at maybe an inclusive resort they have that option. Or
maybe you want to just want to go for a
dune buggy ride all around the island, create your own
kind of special. You can do whatever you want. And
after a day in the US Virgin Islands, you get
up the next day we're gonna slip right on over
to the British Virgin Islands and the amazing island of Tortola.
(44:40):
And this is an island. I like to say, this
is the island of peace. It's gorgeous. As a matter
of fact, visitors often come to Tortola to just relax
rather than to be constantly active. History buffs are going
to like it too, because you can find plenty to
explore there. You can pay a visit to the seventeen
eighteen low A State Sugar Works Museum. That's interesting. They've
(45:03):
got Coldwood's Rum Distillery that draws a lot of visitors,
you know it does. And then the O'Neill Jr. O'Neill's
Botanic Gardens are there as well. There are two coveted
days at sea on our fabulous cruise here, which you
will absolutely relish, especially considering what wonder this cruise ship
(45:24):
has for you. Now, as always when you travel on
most of our wishing Well groups, we're going to be
departing right from in front of the wishing Well. Hello.
All you have to do is part conveniently in our
parking lot. That's free parking, by the way, and we're
going to transport you via luxury motor coach to the
airport where we're going to catch our direct NonStop flight
two port Canaveral, which is the beginning of our journey. Now,
(45:47):
when you hear all about what this cruise offers and
the incredible ports of call, that alone would probably be enough.
But wait, just like Gensu knives Chris, there's more.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
There's more. You know.
Speaker 2 (46:01):
I mentioned earlier that this great NCL cruise would be
departing and returning from Court to Canaveral, which just happens
to be conveniently located about an hour from a big
amusement park. Do you know which one, Disney Walt Disney World. Yes,
so this is our surprise feature. We saw that as
a great opportunity, and so our very own rockstar Disney specialist,
(46:23):
Paul Hellmuth is going to be traveling with you and
introducing you to a taste of Walt Disney World with
a two day two park extension of this already great
vacation experience. And guess what, He's even made arrangements when
you stay at Disney for you to continue your Caribbean theme,
because you're going to stay two nights at the fabulous
(46:44):
Caribbean Beach Resort, which is an on site Disney hotel.
And I can see you're intrigued, right I am?
Speaker 1 (46:52):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (46:53):
The cost of this great cruise vacation includes round trip
motor coach Luxury motor coach from the wishing Well and
free parking just outside our door. Round trip direct NonStop
airfare to Port Canaveral I mentioned that, and transfers of
course to and from the cruise. Peer a balcony cabin
(47:13):
aboard your luxury seven day Caribbean cruise, a premium drink
package for the duration of the cruise, plus specialty dining inclusion.
You've got free Wi Fi, free shore excursion credits at
each port of call, and the all important trip protection
insurance cost per person for everything I just mentioned, plus
(47:37):
a whole lot more. Well, that balcony cruise vacation comes
in at a very affordable thirty four hundred dollars per person.
That's complete from door to door in a balcony with
your airfare. You're not at all obligated to purchase the
Walt Disney World add on, but what a shame to
be so close and not do that. Right, But the
(48:00):
optional Walt Disney World add on is starting at about
only eight hundred and fifty dollars per person, and that's
on site Disney accommodations, your part passes, plus Paul Helmuth
as your escort. He's absolutely amazing when it comes to Disney.
So a great overall vacation and priced right and just
(48:20):
in time for vacation season. This particular trip is going
to take place at the very end of May May
of twenty twenty five, so if you're interested in that
particular one, give us a call. There are so many
things we want to tell you about it and introduce
you to The aqua on the Norwegian Cruise Line is
(48:40):
going to be amazing.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
We need to take a quick break when be right
back and we'll talk more about two if by sea
here on a lifeles ordinary.
Speaker 4 (48:47):
Protect your vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional.
The wishing Well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls.
They can spoil your hard earned vacation, will plan your
trip and have your back as you travel. All of
this without support or so called convenience fees. We're on
the web at though wishing Well dot biz or call
us at five four zero nine zero eight two three
(49:09):
three three. That's five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three. The washing Well really does make dreams
come true.
Speaker 1 (49:16):
And welcome back to a lifeless ordinary Terry. We were
talking about our first cruise and got so much into it.
Our hour is almost expired. We've just got a couple
of minutes to talk about our second group cruise travel option.
Speaker 2 (49:27):
I know and this is a great one because this
one is our fabulous Spain, Portugal and Morocco cruise nine nights,
once in a lifetime experience. We're going to be on
the celebrity Equinox and this two is going to be
a most popular and quick to sell out all for Chris.
We only just now are announcing this cruise and we've
already got two cabins booked by just speaking to people
(49:49):
about it in the office. So what's not to love.
You've got accommodations on board the Equinox, nothing short of amazing.
We've chosen to ensure that you've got nothing short of great,
lug jurious experience by blocking only balcony and concierge suites
on board this cruise. And you know what, you might
decide that the only way to truly experience this perfect
(50:10):
international cruise is a concierge suite. So what will you
get anyway, Well, a dedicated concierge is just steps away
from your room to assist with any of your vacation needs.
But I want to talk about this itinerary. We're going
to start with direct flights, also right out of the
Wishing Well, same starting pattern. We're going to fly into
Barcelona and end in Barcelona. In between, we're going to
(50:34):
be visiting Savella in Spain. We're going to be spending
two full days in Lisbon, Portugal, which is fab uless,
and also Porto, the home of port wine and great
food in Portugal. We will then make our way. Our
final stop on this cruise is Tangier, Morocco, known for
(50:55):
their idyllic beaches in the Mediterranean Sea. It kind of
all starts as a Phoenician town and trading center, and
Tangier has been really a nexus for a lot of cultures.
In nineteen twenty three it became an international zone managed
by colonial powers, and it just became a destination for
a lot of European and American diplomats, spies, bohemians, writers
(51:18):
and businessmen. And today it is a great cruise port stop.
It's amazing. This is what I'm going to call our
Kaleidoscope cruise because it is really amazing. And once again,
all of the other things that we talk to you about,
we're going to offer you and treat you to premium
economy class air on this experience. With your all inclusive
(51:39):
cruise package. Your starting price on this experience comes in
at just about sixty two hundred dollars. And again, Chris,
that's all your meals, drinks, your shipboard credits for shore excursions,
and the escorts services of someone at the wishing.
Speaker 1 (51:58):
Well, and it's how many days, Herry.
Speaker 2 (51:59):
This is a non night cruise.
Speaker 1 (52:01):
And door to door again, right door to door experience.
Speaker 2 (52:04):
So I think all in all, what we've learned today
is that cruising, first of all, is a great option.
We know that we've learned all about that today, and
we're providing our guests with two fabulous offers. The first
one at the end of May. The other one comes
to you in June the nineteenth. That's Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
If you are interested in any of these, we would
(52:25):
covet your phone calls and your feedback let us know
what you want more of, But we would love to
have you sign up for one of these today.
Speaker 4 (52:33):
And if you need more information about it next week.
We've been running like crazy, but next week I promise
they will be on the web for you so you
can take a look there. And one of the important
things that we don't often mentioned, Chris, A lot of
the people that join us for cruises don't only join
us from Harrisonburg. They don't only join us from the
listening area you know, locally here, but they join us
(52:54):
from out of state. So if you aren't out of
state person, please, please please, if this has got your interest,
let us know. We'll figure out how to get you there,
and we'd love to have you join our group.
Speaker 2 (53:03):
And we know you want to go, don't you, Chris?
I'm ready amen?
Speaker 1 (53:07):
All right? How do we get information if we want
to talk to you in person about that?
Speaker 2 (53:11):
We're easy to find. We're located at two forty three
NEF Avenue in the Valley Center in Heresonburg, Virginia. You
can call us at five four O nine zero eight
two three three three, or look us up.
Speaker 1 (53:21):
On the web. We are at the Wishingwell dot biz.
This has been a life Less Ordinary, the travel show
from your friends at the wishing Well at two forty
three NEP Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions
on topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing
Well online at the Wishingwell dot biz or five four
oh nine oh eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes
(53:42):
are available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see you
again next Saturday morning at ten for a life Less
Ordinary from the wishing Well
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