September 17, 2024 • 27 mins
Get ready to uncover the magic and charm of Celtic Tours in Europe, featuring an in-depth conversation with special guest Diana Sheehan from Celtic Tours. We promise you'll discover all the enchanting travel possibilities that await you in Ireland, from escorted tours and chauffeur-driven Mercedes van trips to unique events like the matchmaking festival in Liz Dunvonen. Whether you're on a quest to reconnect with your Irish heritage or seeking a new adventure, Diana's captivating stories and expert insights will guide you through the diverse range of tours available.
But the adventure doesn't stop at Ireland's shores. Join us as we journey through Italy's charming Tuscany, with its stunning villas and delightful cooking and wine-tasting classes, and explore the festive allure of Germany's Christmas markets that span multiple countries. We'll highlight how Celtic Tours can customize your travel experience to suit your personal preferences, ensuring a trip that's as unique as you are. Plus, stay tuned for exciting travel tips, upcoming destinations, and the enriching experiences that only travel can bring. Don't miss out on the chance to dream big and explore new places!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast.
This podcast is devoted to thetravel industry.
Z says let your imagination runwild and start dreaming about
where you want to go.
And dream big, reach for thestars, and if you only get to
the moon, at least you enjoyedthe trip.
Your guide to travel is ZMichelson, a travel advisor, and
sitting at the controls is JayLawrence, your concierge of
(00:24):
podcast travel.
Now here's Z.
That's me.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
That's me, I'm Z, and the concierge of podcast travel
is sitting right here at thecontrols.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yes, you're the button pusher.
Yes, because I can't push allthose buttons.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
That's all I am is just a button pusher.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I can't push buttons and talk at the same time, yeah,
but I want to let everybodyknow that this is being brought
to you by Collage Travel MediaNetwork, and we do have a lot in
store for you today.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yes, are you excited?
I am very excited because Iwant to know where we're going
next year.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Well, we're going to a lot of places next year, but
we have a guest in the studiotoday, so you are going to want
to get your suitcases ready.
Yes, we are going to talk abouta place that is near and dear
to my heart.
It's home to my grandparents,and my father even lived there
while he was growing up.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
What's your name?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
What was?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
my original name McLarnin, mclarnin, mclarnin.
Yes, so of course we're talkingabout Ireland today.
Oh, yes, and we have DianaSheehan of Celtic Tours with us
today and she's going to let usknow all about the great Ireland
adventures you can go on andeverything that Celtic Tours can
do for you Well.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm eager to hear about this Welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
So welcome to the show Diana.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Thank you, I'm so excited.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Now you too.
I noticed, your name is notItalian.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
No, no, sheehan, yeah , no, definitely Irish.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
So you work, you are the regional sales manager for
Florida and Georgia and then youwork with a lot of travel
advisors and we talk with a lotof travel advisors and you
represent Celtic Tours.
So Celtic Tours is more thanjust Ireland, right?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Oh, absolutely.
We actually started in Ireland,hence Celtic Tours, but we do
all over Europe.
We have several differentdestinations, including Germany,
Italy, Poland.
I mean all types of differentlocations all over I mean all
types of different locations allover.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
That's great.
You know, the Irish side is myfather's side, but Germany and
Poland is my mother's side, soyou know I'm going to have to be
doing a lot of trips here.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So I want to know what was one of the most
outlandish requests you've hadfor a tour.
The most outlandish?
Well, I can tell you it was inIreland.
Okay, I had two sisters whowanted to go meet Willie May,
who happens to be or excuse me,willie Daly, who happens to be a
matchmaker in Ireland, and theyhave this huge matchmaking
(02:59):
festival.
I had no clue.
They wanted to go to thismatchmaking festival and find
the love of their life.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I was going to say did they want to be matched?
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Yeah, they did.
Did they find their matches?
You know what?
I don't know?
That was a couple of years agoand I don't know.
They had an amazing time.
They met Willie and he has thishuge book.
He's been a matchmaker, he'spart of a matchmaker family for
like 120 years and he has thishuge book and I know their names
are in the book.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
But I know they had an amazing time, amazing time.
So their names are in the book.
Their names are in the book.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
And what was the name of that matchmaking company?
It's actually a festival, it'sa matchmaking festival and it's
in Liz Dunvonen and it's everySeptember, every September,
every September, from September1st to the 3rd, and see you can
book for that right.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I probably can book for that.
I'll just call Diana up and sayI need to get some people over
to that festival and we can getthem there.
Yeah, yeah, that would be great.
So that was very unique.
When you're going on Celtictours, what exactly is included?
What do you get?
What can you do?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Well, I like to kind of call it land cruising,
because we are an escorted, wecan do all kinds of things, but
we kind of focus on our escortedtours.
And our escorted tours doinclude, of course, your
accommodations.
They include breakfast daily,except for the day of arrival,
because everybody's arriving atdifferent times.
It includes dinners.
(04:34):
You have your tours, ourescorted drivers.
In Ireland our drivers actuallywork directly for us.
Oh, that's good yeah very good,very good, and they're just
amazing at what they do.
We have some of the bestdrivers in all of Ireland and I
(04:55):
mean you can kind of customizealso.
We do have things on ourwebsite that are already to go,
but you can actually customizeanything as well.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
So if I wanted to do I want to find my family type of
trip I can actually get itcustomized to that Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
You should have had them Z.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, well'm, we're gonna go again.
That's gonna be a surprise atthe end.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
All right, yeah we do um also, you know, chauffeur
driven self drives um nowchauffeur driven.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Explain that to me, because I have a lot of people
that ask for chauffeur driventhat's actually one of the most
popular things that we haveright now.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
chauffeur driven is up to people.
It's no more than 12 people.
It is a Mercedes van, a largeMercedes van, and you have your
own private driver and we wouldgo ahead and set up the whole
itinerary for you where you wantto go.
So if you wanted to go findyour family, you can actually go
to that town and find yourfamily with these private
(05:49):
chauffeur drives.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I like that.
That sounds like a lot of fun.
I've got to figure out where Icame from before I go looking
for my family.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So as we're talking we're talking right now Celtic
tours Of course we're talkingIreland, because that's kind of
the name Celtic.
So tell me, a lot of people saywhere should they go?
You've been to Ireland.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Where did you go that you say you would go back again
.
Oh goodness, I think one of myfavorite places I mean every.
There's something for everybodyin Ireland.
It's not just a you know, yougo, you to go to the pubs and
you drink.
There's something for everybodyin Ireland.
And of course, Cliffs of Moherin the Western Ireland, on the
Atlantic shore, are absolutelybeautiful.
Kilkenny in the southeastregion, it's well preserved and
(06:40):
it has medieval architecture.
But one of my favorite places,I would have to say, is the
Dingle Peninsula.
Oh okay, it is the scenic viewsand the drives and the beaches.
And then they have this littletown, dingle Town, which is a
fishing town, and they have themost amazing fish and chips I've
(07:01):
ever had.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Because it's fresh right out of the water, right
from there.
Yeah, absolutely.
Now some people don't realizehow well Ireland is when it
comes to food.
They think oh yeah, it's justmeat and potatoes but it really
isn't, it isn't, it isn't.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
They have so much to offer Scones.
I've never had a better sconethan and I've traveled a lot and
I've never had a better scone.
I'll have to make you some ofmine.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I have original recipes from my grandmother.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
And it's just.
The food is really really goodand of course, the beverages.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Okay, now you know I've been born with the gift of
gab.
And I know that the BlarneyStone is on one of the
itineraries so people can go andkiss the Blarney Stone, which
is fabulous.
And you know you go to Dublin.
Do you go to Northern Irelandas well?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
We do Northern Ireland, that is, we used to
have a tour that includedNorthern Ireland, which we still
have.
We can do it as an addition.
But, yes, absolutely, belfastis one of the hottest spots in
northern ireland um where theyhave the titanic museum yes and
um, where they can, you know, goand actually see all the
(08:21):
artifacts and they tell you allabout how the titanic was
actually built, because it wasbuilt there.
So, um, yeah, it's, it's agreat place to go visit as well.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It's a great place to go visit now, what it's a great
place to go visit.
Now you say escorted tours.
Do you have to have a groupwith you or can just you and
your spouse go?
Speaker 4 (08:39):
No, you and your spouse can go.
If it's just the two of you, atthat point I would recommend,
like I said, either self-driveor we can do a rail.
We do rails as well.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Oh, rail is becoming very popular.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
It is yes.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So where would the rail go?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Well, it would go anywhere.
I mean, we have rails inIreland, you know, if you want
to do Italy, we have rails inEurope, germany, so you can go
anywhere, but it would depend onwhere you want to stop at that
point.
But we would just book yourrail tickets, we'd book your
accommodations and any toursthat you want, and we can go
ahead and put a whole packagetogether that way as well.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So you can put the whole package together.
You know, your travel advisorcan contact Celtic Tours and say
I have clients that want to dothis, this, this, this and this.
And then you guys get to workand say, ok, here it is
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And my question was how many people are in a group
or in a tour.
Is it from two to 20, or what?
Speaker 4 (09:31):
That's a really good question.
Our groups actually start at 16people.
So if you wanted to do a group,it would be 16 plus people.
If we wanted to put onetogether, correct, correct, and
then the FITs would be up to 15people.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Now a lot of people are listening to this that are
not travel advisors.
Do you want to explain what anFIT is?
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Yeah, that would be just a regular.
That would be a regularreservation, Just, you know, a
reservation for two people orsix people or whatever.
So that would just be anythingthat's not considered 16 or more
.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Mm-hmm.
So you know, and a lot ofpeople say, well, what is your
most popular tour?
What is the most popular tour?
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Our most popular tour is our heart, the Heart of
Ireland tour, and that takes youall over from Dublin all the
way across to the Cliffs ofMoher, all the way down south,
and it is a six-night tour andit includes all of the hot spots
(10:38):
of Ireland.
What's a hot spot Like theCliffs of Moher?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Cliffs of Moher.
That's a big one.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Yeah, that's a big one.
Everybody knows the Cliffs ofMoher.
Yeah, so it takes you, ofcourse, to the Guinness
Storehouse.
Oh, yes, you have to go to the.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Guinness Storehouse when you're in Dublin.
I wasn't there.
My sister and her husband wentto Guinness.
I didn't get to go there but Iwas up in Northern Ireland so I
did see the other thing.
We kind of divided andconquered when we went to
Ireland.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yeah, it just gives you the best.
It goes through Killarney, ofcourse, the Dingle Peninsula,
which is my favorite.
You also get two nights inFitzpatrick's Castle that is one
of the things that we alwaystry to include two nights in a
castle in all of our tours, andmost of our tours also stay two
(11:30):
nights in every location, soyou're not hopping from place to
place to place to place.
Yeah, Now, if you have a sevennight tour, obviously we do two
nights and you have to have onenight somewhere.
But like our six night tours,which is the heart we do, we try
to do two nights in everylocation.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
That makes it really nice, you know because, you can
get to see things and you knowpeople don't like to run around.
But speaking of running aroundand packing for things like this
, you know they shouldn't haveall of that.
What is a good travel tip?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Oh, a good travel tip .
Oh, especially for Ireland theweather, the weather.
You never, ever know what theweather is going to be like.
I was there in May and I wasthere in September.
(12:29):
In May it was cool, a littlecolder than I brought clothes
for, and so and it's an island,so you never know what the
weather is going to be.
So what I definitely recommendis checking the weather about a
week prior before your trip.
Just go ahead, go on to weatherand weather app and just check
the weather and then go aheadand pack for that, but
definitely always bring asweater because layers are good
right At night.
It does tend to get a littlecool this summer this past
(12:52):
summer it's actually been alittle cooler than the last
summer Europe has been really,really weird with the weather
and a lot of places don't haveAC, so watch your summers also
Watch the AC.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
People don't know the AC doesn't always be supplied
to you.
Absolutely.
Yeah, Well, that's really agood tip.
And now I also took a smalllittle hand umbrella with me.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
And I was there in July and it was chilly.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Yeah, you never know when it's going to rain.
It is an island, right?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
So there you go.
We got some little tip thereNow.
Now, what we're going to talkabout is not only Ireland, but
Celtic tours can take us allover.
It can take you to Italy, itcan take you to Germany.
So just because the name saysCeltic doesn't necessarily mean
it's Ireland only.
Have you been to any of theother locations with Celtic
(13:44):
tours?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
I have Italy Okay you've been to Italy.
I have to say that's again oneof my favorite spots Tuscany.
We have a villa that we book inTuscany and you can actually do
tours.
It's right in the heart ofTuscany and it's about 16 miles
from Florence and you can dotours from the villa to Pisa,
(14:06):
san Giammano to Florence.
You can do all of these daytours because it's so so close
in, in proximity well, thatmakes it nice.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Now, something you don't know is Jay's wife is from
Italy booking that?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
would that be a seven day, or how long do you book
that?
Speaker 4 (14:26):
you can actually book that for any anytime you want.
We have again differentpackages now.
What we do have on our websiteis a five night stay, um, but
you can extend that.
I actually used to be a travelagent and that's how I got
introduced to celtic tours, um,and I booked a seven night stay
with this particular package.
I added a couple more nights.
(14:46):
You can add cooking classesthere at the villa, a pizza
making class at the villa.
They have pizza-making class atthe villa.
They have wine tasting.
They have all kinds ofdifferent things that you can do
.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
You know my wife will be there wine tasting.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, but she was also a cook.
She was a professional teachingchildren how to cook.
Yes, yeah, so that was one ofyour other places that you were
in Italy and your website isvery easy to get to.
I've you know, I Tune in allthe time.
It says CelticTourscom and itis available to everyone.
(15:18):
Correct, correct, not justtravel advisors.
So if you're interested intaking a trip with Celtic Tours,
you can go on their website.
You can kind of roam around andsee what tickles your fancy
because they have a lot ofthings that will tickle your
fancy and just call your traveladvisor and say you know, I was
looking at this one tour toItaly and I'd like to add three
(15:39):
or four more days, and thentravel advisor can work with
Celtic Tours to create thatcorrect, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
What's on our website is not in stone.
So if you see something that'son the website and you're
interested in it, but you wantto add additional days or you
want to kind of split it up,just keep in mind that you know
that everything we have there isnot.
You know you can do anythingthat you'd like to do.
Now the set tours that we haveon there does make it nice,
because we have dates, we havepricing, so you'll see when you
(16:10):
go to destinations and you pickyour destination.
We do have set tours that areon there.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
And sometimes that makes it easier for somebody who
just wants to see the placevery quickly.
What I always say is go therefor a little bit, see what you
like and then go back againlater, and then you can really
enhance your visits, and peoplelove that.
So you know, when I'm lookingat your site you have the
must-see attractions sittingright there in your Ireland,
italy, the United Kingdom, ofcourse.
(16:37):
So you said you went to Italy.
Where else did you go?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
I have been all over Europe, but with Celtic Tours.
I was just in Ireland and inItaly.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
We have to get you going some more.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I know However Germany.
I'm originally from Germany, ohwow.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And the.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Christmas markets.
If you have not done theChristmas markets, if you go to
our website, we do have theChristmas markets also and they
are absolutely beautiful.
They have the lights, the food,the atmosphere and, of course,
it's cold being here in Florida.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's a little chillier than Florida at that
time of year Going to theChristmas market is a tip to buy
an extra suitcase to bring ithome.
Yes, I mean, how much do youpurchase on the Christmas tours?
I mean, it seems like I'm goingshopping.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
I don't wonder if you can actually have it shipped
too, oh.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
A lot of things you probably could have shipped.
Yeah, but I always bring anextra suitcase.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Bring one of those foldable ones, Jay.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I pack lightly with clothes.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Now the Christmas markets do those sell out pretty
quickly?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Yeah, they typically do.
We still have some availabilityfor this year, for 2024.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
For 2024, correct but they typically do sell out
pretty quickly.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Now, is there like a limit of how many tours you can
do in each one of these?
Not at all, no, not at all, no,not at all.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
so you know if you have 40 already in a group or a
tour, you can have some morepeople coming along, so you
would just create additionaltours.
Right, correct, correct, yeahabsolutely yeah oh wow, oh wow.
So you've already told us someof the tour stops, which are
fabulous, and your favorite isthe Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
(18:39):
And, of course, when you went toItaly, it was Tuscany, and now
we're just touching the base onGermany.
You know, with the Christmasmarkets, that's one of my things
I want to go see some of theChristmas markets.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
The Christmas markets just aren't in Germany.
It's in Vienna, salzburg,nuremberg, munich, which is
Germany.
Then we have them in Prague,budapest, then also in Poland,
warsaw and Krakow.
So they're not just in Germany,they're actually all over
Europe.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Now I'm going to bring us back to Ireland, of
course, because it's Celtictours and you know people think,
ok, ireland and pubs, just likeyou mentioned earlier.
So is there pubs that you wouldrecommend in Dublin to go see?
You know, maybe do a city thing.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Well, you can't go to Dublin without going to the
Guinness Storehouse.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Right, that's top.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
That's top.
You have to go to the Guinness,even if you're not a drinker,
just to see the history ofGuinness and walk through it and
then, if you are interested,they will actually show you and
allow you to pour your ownGuinness and show you how it's
supposed to be done, how toactually pour a good pint.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
It's very important how to pour a pint.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
And then also they have different mixes, for
instance a black and tan.
That would be a lighter beerwith the Guinness.
Now, I was never, ever a bigGuinness person.
However, when I went there Itold them I didn't like the
bitterness, so they gave me whatwas called a black and black,
(20:19):
and a black and black is blackcurrant with the Guinness and it
gives it that little bit ofsweetness.
Black currant, black currant.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
It's like a berry.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Yeah, it's a black currant syrup and they put it
into the Guinness and it makesit just a little sweet.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
I would say that would be better because, like
you, I'm not a big Guinnessdrinker, because it has a bitter
taste to it, so the currantwould make it a little sweet.
Now, my brother-in-law lovesGuinness, is it?
5?
O'clock, someplace it's 5o'clock somewhere, so I think
Jay and I are going to be goingout for a pint after this.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
But I can tell you that the Temple Bar is also one
of the most popular places andright around the corner from the
Temple Bar you can go to thechurch.
It's called the White FairChurch and the remains of St
Valentine are there.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Ooh, I love history when it comes to that.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
There is so much history in Ireland I mean all
over Europe but I've learned somuch about Ireland since working
with Celtic.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Okay, Well, now that she's learned so much about
Ireland and, of course, her lastname is Irish we're going to
talk about a trivia question,and usually I give these to Jay
and you can help him, Diana.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I need help.
I need help.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
So here we go.
What is Ireland's nationalsymbol?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Come on, Jay A Guinness.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Close, close.
Diana, do you want to help himout here?
Speaker 4 (21:57):
National symbol Mm-hmm, it's a national symbol.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
It's a national symbol A four-leaf clover.
You know you'd be very closesaying that, but it's not Okay.
Ireland's national symbol isthe harp.
Oh yes.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Everybody forgets that.
That's on the Guinness.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yes, so you were close.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
That's why I said that you are close.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
It's the only country in the world that has a musical
instrument as its nationalemblem, and the harp dates back
to the 13th century.
Wow, so the national symbol ofIreland is the harp.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Well, thank you for that trivia.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Yes, and now you can have your that trivia yes, and
now you can have your Guinness.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Hires to you.
There you go.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
So I mean, it's so exciting to know Now Celtic
Tours.
The company is family-owned andoperated.
From what I understand.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
It is yes, we've been in business since 1972, and a
gentleman came over from Dublinto Albany, new York His name is
Mr Noel Murphy and he was acarpenter and all of a sudden,
everybody kept coming up to himand saying I want to go to your
hometown, you know, to your homecountry, Right?
And here we are, almost 53years later.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Yeah, and it's still going strong.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yep and Mr.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Murphy is still.
He is in his 80s and he stillcomes to the office and is part
of the day-to-day and it isbeing handed down to the next
generation, to his daughter, whois the president of the company
.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And because it is family-owned and operated, I'm
sure they take good care of allof their guests that they're
working with and is the bookingprocess fairly easy for both
travel advisors and regularpeople.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Absolutely, because we're a small company, and when
I say small I mean we are reallya small company.
We have probably about 20employees total, so the booking
process is very easy.
Every time you call our office,you are going to get a live
person.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
You're not going to get any animation 24-7?
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Plus two.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Yes, during office hours.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
During office hours, answering the phone.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
However, if you do have uh, anything urgent, if you
have a client, you know who'son a trip and you need urgent
and you know right answers yep,24 7.
We actually do have somebodywho's on call 24 7 oh, good, so
they will pick up that phone.
Yes, always good to know people.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
People need to know that they're not stuck somewhere
, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
But the nice part about calling us and getting
somebody is whether and you askfor Jen, she will always be.
You know, speak with Jen.
She'll be your contact person.
(25:06):
She knows your group, she knowseverything about your
reservation, so you don't haveto explain things a hundred
different times.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Okay, fabulous.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
That person knows all about your booking and what's
going on with it.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Well, thank you, diane Sheehan from Celtic Tours.
We thank you for explainingsome of this stuff to us.
We thank you for coming intothe studio and chatting with us,
and just to let everybody know,I will.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Is this a bulletin?
This?
Speaker 3 (25:32):
is a bulletin.
This is a bulletin.
I am putting together a groupwith Celtic Tours for next
September of 2025.
So if you want to travel alongwith us, let me know.
Shoot me an email that'sZMichelson at gmailcom.
Remember Z is spelled Z-E-E andwe can all kiss that Blarney
stone Except I don't need anyextra Blarney.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
I don't either, certainly not, certainly not.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Thank you again, diana, for coming in today.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Is she coming back again?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
She or somebody else from the company will be coming
and chatting with us.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
We'll be looking forward to that, because we're
going to be talking about the2025 tour.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
We are going to be chatting more.
Yes, yeah, great, yay, well,with that being said, so much
traveling to do, do, so littletime to do it in.
So tune in every week for moretravel info and insights and
just plain fun.
Please follow me and like me onfacebook.
Do you have a favorite locationor perhaps an interesting
travel tip?
(26:30):
Let me know at z michelson.
At gmailcom.
Z is spelt z e e.
I am very excited to leteverybody know that my podcast
can be heard on all yourfavorite podcast players.
Feel free to give me a review.
I'd love to hear what you haveto say.
Thanks for listening today.
Traveling truly opens up theworld to you.
You learn all about thedifferent cultures, the
(26:51):
lifestyles and mine and Jay'sfavorite the food.
Then you realize we really aretruly the same.
So dream, dream big, reach forthose stars and if you only get
to the moon, at least you madethe trip.
If you're looking for greatplaces to travel to, feel free
to visit my website.
It's absolutely free.
Zmichelsontravelcom.
Z is spelled Z-E-E.
This is Z Michelson.
(27:12):
Making your travel dreams cometrue.
Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast.
This podcast is devoted to thetravel industry.
Z says let your imagination runwild and start dreaming about
where you want to go.
And dream big, reach for thestars, and if you only get to
the moon, at least you enjoyedthe trip.
Your guide to travel is ZMichelson, a travel advisor, and
sitting at the controls is JayLawrence, your concierge of
(00:24):
podcast travel.
Now here's Z.
That's me.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
That's me, I'm Z, and the concierge of podcast travel
is sitting right here at thecontrols.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yes, you're the button pusher.
Yes, because I can't push allthose buttons.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
That's all I am is just a button pusher.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
I can't push buttons and talk at the same time, yeah,
but I want to let everybodyknow that this is being brought
to you by Collage Travel MediaNetwork, and we do have a lot in
store for you today.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yes, are you excited?
I am very excited because Iwant to know where we're going
next year.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Well, we're going to a lot of places next year, but
we have a guest in the studiotoday, so you are going to want
to get your suitcases ready.
Yes, we are going to talk abouta place that is near and dear
to my heart.
It's home to my grandparents,and my father even lived there
while he was growing up.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
What's your name?
Speaker 1 (01:09):
What was?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
my original name McLarnin, mclarnin, mclarnin.
Yes, so of course we're talkingabout Ireland today.
Oh, yes, and we have DianaSheehan of Celtic Tours with us
today and she's going to let usknow all about the great Ireland
adventures you can go on andeverything that Celtic Tours can
do for you Well.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm eager to hear about this Welcome.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
So welcome to the show Diana.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Thank you, I'm so excited.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Now you too.
I noticed, your name is notItalian.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
No, no, sheehan, yeah , no, definitely Irish.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
So you work, you are the regional sales manager for
Florida and Georgia and then youwork with a lot of travel
advisors and we talk with a lotof travel advisors and you
represent Celtic Tours.
So Celtic Tours is more thanjust Ireland, right?
Speaker 4 (02:05):
Oh, absolutely.
We actually started in Ireland,hence Celtic Tours, but we do
all over Europe.
We have several differentdestinations, including Germany,
Italy, Poland.
I mean all types of differentlocations all over I mean all
types of different locations allover.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
That's great.
You know, the Irish side is myfather's side, but Germany and
Poland is my mother's side, soyou know I'm going to have to be
doing a lot of trips here.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
So I want to know what was one of the most
outlandish requests you've hadfor a tour.
The most outlandish?
Well, I can tell you it was inIreland.
Okay, I had two sisters whowanted to go meet Willie May,
who happens to be or excuse me,willie Daly, who happens to be a
matchmaker in Ireland, and theyhave this huge matchmaking
(02:59):
festival.
I had no clue.
They wanted to go to thismatchmaking festival and find
the love of their life.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
I was going to say did they want to be matched?
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Yeah, they did.
Did they find their matches?
You know what?
I don't know?
That was a couple of years agoand I don't know.
They had an amazing time.
They met Willie and he has thishuge book.
He's been a matchmaker, he'spart of a matchmaker family for
like 120 years and he has thishuge book and I know their names
are in the book.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
But I know they had an amazing time, amazing time.
So their names are in the book.
Their names are in the book.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
And what was the name of that matchmaking company?
It's actually a festival, it'sa matchmaking festival and it's
in Liz Dunvonen and it's everySeptember, every September,
every September, from September1st to the 3rd, and see you can
book for that right.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I probably can book for that.
I'll just call Diana up and sayI need to get some people over
to that festival and we can getthem there.
Yeah, yeah, that would be great.
So that was very unique.
When you're going on Celtictours, what exactly is included?
What do you get?
What can you do?
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Well, I like to kind of call it land cruising,
because we are an escorted, wecan do all kinds of things, but
we kind of focus on our escortedtours.
And our escorted tours doinclude, of course, your
accommodations.
They include breakfast daily,except for the day of arrival,
because everybody's arriving atdifferent times.
It includes dinners.
(04:34):
You have your tours, ourescorted drivers.
In Ireland our drivers actuallywork directly for us.
Oh, that's good yeah very good,very good, and they're just
amazing at what they do.
We have some of the bestdrivers in all of Ireland and I
(04:55):
mean you can kind of customizealso.
We do have things on ourwebsite that are already to go,
but you can actually customizeanything as well.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
So if I wanted to do I want to find my family type of
trip I can actually get itcustomized to that Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
You should have had them Z.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Yeah, well'm, we're gonna go again.
That's gonna be a surprise atthe end.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
All right, yeah we do um also, you know, chauffeur
driven self drives um nowchauffeur driven.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Explain that to me, because I have a lot of people
that ask for chauffeur driventhat's actually one of the most
popular things that we haveright now.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
chauffeur driven is up to people.
It's no more than 12 people.
It is a Mercedes van, a largeMercedes van, and you have your
own private driver and we wouldgo ahead and set up the whole
itinerary for you where you wantto go.
So if you wanted to go findyour family, you can actually go
to that town and find yourfamily with these private
(05:49):
chauffeur drives.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I like that.
That sounds like a lot of fun.
I've got to figure out where Icame from before I go looking
for my family.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So as we're talking we're talking right now Celtic
tours Of course we're talkingIreland, because that's kind of
the name Celtic.
So tell me, a lot of people saywhere should they go?
You've been to Ireland.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Where did you go that you say you would go back again
.
Oh goodness, I think one of myfavorite places I mean every.
There's something for everybodyin Ireland.
It's not just a you know, yougo, you to go to the pubs and
you drink.
There's something for everybodyin Ireland.
And of course, Cliffs of Moherin the Western Ireland, on the
Atlantic shore, are absolutelybeautiful.
Kilkenny in the southeastregion, it's well preserved and
(06:40):
it has medieval architecture.
But one of my favorite places,I would have to say, is the
Dingle Peninsula.
Oh okay, it is the scenic viewsand the drives and the beaches.
And then they have this littletown, dingle Town, which is a
fishing town, and they have themost amazing fish and chips I've
(07:01):
ever had.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Because it's fresh right out of the water, right
from there.
Yeah, absolutely.
Now some people don't realizehow well Ireland is when it
comes to food.
They think oh yeah, it's justmeat and potatoes but it really
isn't, it isn't, it isn't.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
They have so much to offer Scones.
I've never had a better sconethan and I've traveled a lot and
I've never had a better scone.
I'll have to make you some ofmine.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
I have original recipes from my grandmother.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
And it's just.
The food is really really goodand of course, the beverages.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Okay, now you know I've been born with the gift of
gab.
And I know that the BlarneyStone is on one of the
itineraries so people can go andkiss the Blarney Stone, which
is fabulous.
And you know you go to Dublin.
Do you go to Northern Irelandas well?
Speaker 4 (07:58):
We do Northern Ireland, that is, we used to
have a tour that includedNorthern Ireland, which we still
have.
We can do it as an addition.
But, yes, absolutely, belfastis one of the hottest spots in
northern ireland um where theyhave the titanic museum yes and
um, where they can, you know, goand actually see all the
(08:21):
artifacts and they tell you allabout how the titanic was
actually built, because it wasbuilt there.
So, um, yeah, it's, it's agreat place to go visit as well.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
It's a great place to go visit now, what it's a great
place to go visit.
Now you say escorted tours.
Do you have to have a groupwith you or can just you and
your spouse go?
Speaker 4 (08:39):
No, you and your spouse can go.
If it's just the two of you, atthat point I would recommend,
like I said, either self-driveor we can do a rail.
We do rails as well.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Oh, rail is becoming very popular.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
It is yes.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So where would the rail go?
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Well, it would go anywhere.
I mean, we have rails inIreland, you know, if you want
to do Italy, we have rails inEurope, germany, so you can go
anywhere, but it would depend onwhere you want to stop at that
point.
But we would just book yourrail tickets, we'd book your
accommodations and any toursthat you want, and we can go
ahead and put a whole packagetogether that way as well.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
So you can put the whole package together.
You know, your travel advisorcan contact Celtic Tours and say
I have clients that want to dothis, this, this, this and this.
And then you guys get to workand say, ok, here it is
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And my question was how many people are in a group
or in a tour.
Is it from two to 20, or what?
Speaker 4 (09:31):
That's a really good question.
Our groups actually start at 16people.
So if you wanted to do a group,it would be 16 plus people.
If we wanted to put onetogether, correct, correct, and
then the FITs would be up to 15people.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Now a lot of people are listening to this that are
not travel advisors.
Do you want to explain what anFIT is?
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Yeah, that would be just a regular.
That would be a regularreservation, Just, you know, a
reservation for two people orsix people or whatever.
So that would just be anythingthat's not considered 16 or more
.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Mm-hmm.
So you know, and a lot ofpeople say, well, what is your
most popular tour?
What is the most popular tour?
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Our most popular tour is our heart, the Heart of
Ireland tour, and that takes youall over from Dublin all the
way across to the Cliffs ofMoher, all the way down south,
and it is a six-night tour andit includes all of the hot spots
(10:38):
of Ireland.
What's a hot spot Like theCliffs of Moher?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Cliffs of Moher.
That's a big one.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Yeah, that's a big one.
Everybody knows the Cliffs ofMoher.
Yeah, so it takes you, ofcourse, to the Guinness
Storehouse.
Oh, yes, you have to go to the.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Guinness Storehouse when you're in Dublin.
I wasn't there.
My sister and her husband wentto Guinness.
I didn't get to go there but Iwas up in Northern Ireland so I
did see the other thing.
We kind of divided andconquered when we went to
Ireland.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Yeah, it just gives you the best.
It goes through Killarney, ofcourse, the Dingle Peninsula,
which is my favorite.
You also get two nights inFitzpatrick's Castle that is one
of the things that we alwaystry to include two nights in a
castle in all of our tours, andmost of our tours also stay two
(11:30):
nights in every location, soyou're not hopping from place to
place to place to place.
Yeah, Now, if you have a sevennight tour, obviously we do two
nights and you have to have onenight somewhere.
But like our six night tours,which is the heart we do, we try
to do two nights in everylocation.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
That makes it really nice, you know because, you can
get to see things and you knowpeople don't like to run around.
But speaking of running aroundand packing for things like this
, you know they shouldn't haveall of that.
What is a good travel tip?
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Oh, a good travel tip .
Oh, especially for Ireland theweather, the weather.
You never, ever know what theweather is going to be like.
I was there in May and I wasthere in September.
(12:29):
In May it was cool, a littlecolder than I brought clothes
for, and so and it's an island,so you never know what the
weather is going to be.
So what I definitely recommendis checking the weather about a
week prior before your trip.
Just go ahead, go on to weatherand weather app and just check
the weather and then go aheadand pack for that, but
definitely always bring asweater because layers are good
right At night.
It does tend to get a littlecool this summer this past
(12:52):
summer it's actually been alittle cooler than the last
summer Europe has been really,really weird with the weather
and a lot of places don't haveAC, so watch your summers also
Watch the AC.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
People don't know the AC doesn't always be supplied
to you.
Absolutely.
Yeah, Well, that's really agood tip.
And now I also took a smalllittle hand umbrella with me.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
And I was there in July and it was chilly.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Yeah, you never know when it's going to rain.
It is an island, right?
Speaker 3 (13:21):
So there you go.
We got some little tip thereNow.
Now, what we're going to talkabout is not only Ireland, but
Celtic tours can take us allover.
It can take you to Italy, itcan take you to Germany.
So just because the name saysCeltic doesn't necessarily mean
it's Ireland only.
Have you been to any of theother locations with Celtic
(13:44):
tours?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
I have Italy Okay you've been to Italy.
I have to say that's again oneof my favorite spots Tuscany.
We have a villa that we book inTuscany and you can actually do
tours.
It's right in the heart ofTuscany and it's about 16 miles
from Florence and you can dotours from the villa to Pisa,
(14:06):
san Giammano to Florence.
You can do all of these daytours because it's so so close
in, in proximity well, thatmakes it nice.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Now, something you don't know is Jay's wife is from
Italy booking that?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
would that be a seven day, or how long do you book
that?
Speaker 4 (14:26):
you can actually book that for any anytime you want.
We have again differentpackages now.
What we do have on our websiteis a five night stay, um, but
you can extend that.
I actually used to be a travelagent and that's how I got
introduced to celtic tours, um,and I booked a seven night stay
with this particular package.
I added a couple more nights.
(14:46):
You can add cooking classesthere at the villa, a pizza
making class at the villa.
They have pizza-making class atthe villa.
They have wine tasting.
They have all kinds ofdifferent things that you can do
.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
You know my wife will be there wine tasting.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, but she was also a cook.
She was a professional teachingchildren how to cook.
Yes, yeah, so that was one ofyour other places that you were
in Italy and your website isvery easy to get to.
I've you know, I Tune in allthe time.
It says CelticTourscom and itis available to everyone.
(15:18):
Correct, correct, not justtravel advisors.
So if you're interested intaking a trip with Celtic Tours,
you can go on their website.
You can kind of roam around andsee what tickles your fancy
because they have a lot ofthings that will tickle your
fancy and just call your traveladvisor and say you know, I was
looking at this one tour toItaly and I'd like to add three
(15:39):
or four more days, and thentravel advisor can work with
Celtic Tours to create thatcorrect, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
What's on our website is not in stone.
So if you see something that'son the website and you're
interested in it, but you wantto add additional days or you
want to kind of split it up,just keep in mind that you know
that everything we have there isnot.
You know you can do anythingthat you'd like to do.
Now the set tours that we haveon there does make it nice,
because we have dates, we havepricing, so you'll see when you
(16:10):
go to destinations and you pickyour destination.
We do have set tours that areon there.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
And sometimes that makes it easier for somebody who
just wants to see the placevery quickly.
What I always say is go therefor a little bit, see what you
like and then go back againlater, and then you can really
enhance your visits, and peoplelove that.
So you know, when I'm lookingat your site you have the
must-see attractions sittingright there in your Ireland,
italy, the United Kingdom, ofcourse.
(16:37):
So you said you went to Italy.
Where else did you go?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
I have been all over Europe, but with Celtic Tours.
I was just in Ireland and inItaly.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
We have to get you going some more.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
I know However Germany.
I'm originally from Germany, ohwow.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And the.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
Christmas markets.
If you have not done theChristmas markets, if you go to
our website, we do have theChristmas markets also and they
are absolutely beautiful.
They have the lights, the food,the atmosphere and, of course,
it's cold being here in Florida.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
It's a little chillier than Florida at that
time of year Going to theChristmas market is a tip to buy
an extra suitcase to bring ithome.
Yes, I mean, how much do youpurchase on the Christmas tours?
I mean, it seems like I'm goingshopping.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
I don't wonder if you can actually have it shipped
too, oh.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
A lot of things you probably could have shipped.
Yeah, but I always bring anextra suitcase.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
Bring one of those foldable ones, Jay.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
I pack lightly with clothes.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Now the Christmas markets do those sell out pretty
quickly?
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Yeah, they typically do.
We still have some availabilityfor this year, for 2024.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
For 2024, correct but they typically do sell out
pretty quickly.
Speaker 4 (18:14):
Now, is there like a limit of how many tours you can
do in each one of these?
Not at all, no, not at all, no,not at all.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
so you know if you have 40 already in a group or a
tour, you can have some morepeople coming along, so you
would just create additionaltours.
Right, correct, correct, yeahabsolutely yeah oh wow, oh wow.
So you've already told us someof the tour stops, which are
fabulous, and your favorite isthe Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
(18:39):
And, of course, when you went toItaly, it was Tuscany, and now
we're just touching the base onGermany.
You know, with the Christmasmarkets, that's one of my things
I want to go see some of theChristmas markets.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
The Christmas markets just aren't in Germany.
It's in Vienna, salzburg,nuremberg, munich, which is
Germany.
Then we have them in Prague,budapest, then also in Poland,
warsaw and Krakow.
So they're not just in Germany,they're actually all over
Europe.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Now I'm going to bring us back to Ireland, of
course, because it's Celtictours and you know people think,
ok, ireland and pubs, just likeyou mentioned earlier.
So is there pubs that you wouldrecommend in Dublin to go see?
You know, maybe do a city thing.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Well, you can't go to Dublin without going to the
Guinness Storehouse.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Right, that's top.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
That's top.
You have to go to the Guinness,even if you're not a drinker,
just to see the history ofGuinness and walk through it and
then, if you are interested,they will actually show you and
allow you to pour your ownGuinness and show you how it's
supposed to be done, how toactually pour a good pint.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
It's very important how to pour a pint.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
And then also they have different mixes, for
instance a black and tan.
That would be a lighter beerwith the Guinness.
Now, I was never, ever a bigGuinness person.
However, when I went there Itold them I didn't like the
bitterness, so they gave me whatwas called a black and black,
(20:19):
and a black and black is blackcurrant with the Guinness and it
gives it that little bit ofsweetness.
Black currant, black currant.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
It's like a berry.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Yeah, it's a black currant syrup and they put it
into the Guinness and it makesit just a little sweet.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
I would say that would be better because, like
you, I'm not a big Guinnessdrinker, because it has a bitter
taste to it, so the currantwould make it a little sweet.
Now, my brother-in-law lovesGuinness, is it?
5?
O'clock, someplace it's 5o'clock somewhere, so I think
Jay and I are going to be goingout for a pint after this.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
But I can tell you that the Temple Bar is also one
of the most popular places andright around the corner from the
Temple Bar you can go to thechurch.
It's called the White FairChurch and the remains of St
Valentine are there.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Ooh, I love history when it comes to that.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
There is so much history in Ireland I mean all
over Europe but I've learned somuch about Ireland since working
with Celtic.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Okay, Well, now that she's learned so much about
Ireland and, of course, her lastname is Irish we're going to
talk about a trivia question,and usually I give these to Jay
and you can help him, Diana.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
I need help.
I need help.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
So here we go.
What is Ireland's nationalsymbol?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
Come on, Jay A Guinness.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Close, close.
Diana, do you want to help himout here?
Speaker 4 (21:57):
National symbol Mm-hmm, it's a national symbol.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
It's a national symbol A four-leaf clover.
You know you'd be very closesaying that, but it's not Okay.
Ireland's national symbol isthe harp.
Oh yes.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Everybody forgets that.
That's on the Guinness.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yes, so you were close.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
That's why I said that you are close.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
It's the only country in the world that has a musical
instrument as its nationalemblem, and the harp dates back
to the 13th century.
Wow, so the national symbol ofIreland is the harp.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Well, thank you for that trivia.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Yes, and now you can have your that trivia yes, and
now you can have your Guinness.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Hires to you.
There you go.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
So I mean, it's so exciting to know Now Celtic
Tours.
The company is family-owned andoperated.
From what I understand.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
It is yes, we've been in business since 1972, and a
gentleman came over from Dublinto Albany, new York His name is
Mr Noel Murphy and he was acarpenter and all of a sudden,
everybody kept coming up to himand saying I want to go to your
hometown, you know, to your homecountry, Right?
And here we are, almost 53years later.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
Yeah, and it's still going strong.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Yep and Mr.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
Murphy is still.
He is in his 80s and he stillcomes to the office and is part
of the day-to-day and it isbeing handed down to the next
generation, to his daughter, whois the president of the company
.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And because it is family-owned and operated, I'm
sure they take good care of allof their guests that they're
working with and is the bookingprocess fairly easy for both
travel advisors and regularpeople.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Absolutely, because we're a small company, and when
I say small I mean we are reallya small company.
We have probably about 20employees total, so the booking
process is very easy.
Every time you call our office,you are going to get a live
person.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
You're not going to get any animation 24-7?
Speaker 4 (24:08):
Plus two.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Yes, during office hours.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
During office hours, answering the phone.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
However, if you do have uh, anything urgent, if you
have a client, you know who'son a trip and you need urgent
and you know right answers yep,24 7.
We actually do have somebodywho's on call 24 7 oh, good, so
they will pick up that phone.
Yes, always good to know people.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
People need to know that they're not stuck somewhere
, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
But the nice part about calling us and getting
somebody is whether and you askfor Jen, she will always be.
You know, speak with Jen.
She'll be your contact person.
(25:06):
She knows your group, she knowseverything about your
reservation, so you don't haveto explain things a hundred
different times.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Okay, fabulous.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
That person knows all about your booking and what's
going on with it.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Well, thank you, diane Sheehan from Celtic Tours.
We thank you for explainingsome of this stuff to us.
We thank you for coming intothe studio and chatting with us,
and just to let everybody know,I will.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Is this a bulletin?
This?
Speaker 3 (25:32):
is a bulletin.
This is a bulletin.
I am putting together a groupwith Celtic Tours for next
September of 2025.
So if you want to travel alongwith us, let me know.
Shoot me an email that'sZMichelson at gmailcom.
Remember Z is spelled Z-E-E andwe can all kiss that Blarney
stone Except I don't need anyextra Blarney.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
I don't either, certainly not, certainly not.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Thank you again, diana, for coming in today.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Is she coming back again?
Speaker 3 (26:02):
She or somebody else from the company will be coming
and chatting with us.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
We'll be looking forward to that, because we're
going to be talking about the2025 tour.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
We are going to be chatting more.
Yes, yeah, great, yay, well,with that being said, so much
traveling to do, do, so littletime to do it in.
So tune in every week for moretravel info and insights and
just plain fun.
Please follow me and like me onfacebook.
Do you have a favorite locationor perhaps an interesting
travel tip?
(26:30):
Let me know at z michelson.
At gmailcom.
Z is spelt z e e.
I am very excited to leteverybody know that my podcast
can be heard on all yourfavorite podcast players.
Feel free to give me a review.
I'd love to hear what you haveto say.
Thanks for listening today.
Traveling truly opens up theworld to you.
You learn all about thedifferent cultures, the
(26:51):
lifestyles and mine and Jay'sfavorite the food.
Then you realize we really aretruly the same.
So dream, dream big, reach forthose stars and if you only get
to the moon, at least you madethe trip.
If you're looking for greatplaces to travel to, feel free
to visit my website.
It's absolutely free.
Zmichelsontravelcom.
Z is spelled Z-E-E.
This is Z Michelson.
(27:12):
Making your travel dreams cometrue.
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