The Travel Show: Live From Taiwan!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get Away guru, and we have
got a great travel show for you today. Did you
know that there are two mobile cell phone carries that
are going to introduce service on board the cruise ship,
which you don't presently get.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
There's some new travel scams out of there.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I want to take you to Scotland, Wales and England
and sadly, I'm going to tell you about the five
dirtiest plate parts of an airplane. We're going to highlight
one of my favorite European cities, Strasbourg, France, with fun
facts and highlights what to see and what to do.
And you want to get banned for life by a

(00:45):
cruise ship, Well there's no law against stupid, but there
are consequences. Yes, a cruise passenger was just recently banned
for life. And then we'll head into the South Pacific
Polynesia and I want to share with you the love
I have for the tos Maahall in India. Well, all
this and a lot lot more on today's Travel show.

(01:08):
The Travel show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel where
you always travel More and pay Less and Norwegian Cruise
Line the home of freestyle cruising. Well, I should say
happy April. Yeah, April fifth, Happy April. You've probably heard
the proverb April showers bring May flowers.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Do you know the origin of that.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's actually British and the full proverb what they call
it as a proverb is March and April showers bring
May flowers. Of course we would say melting March snow
and April showers, but April showers or March and April

(01:55):
showers bring May flowers. May and April are two very
wet months in the British Isles, and the ground gets soggy,
which is wonderful for the flowers that'll be in bloom
in May, and that water seeps very deep to their route.
So I'll say to you, April showers bring May flowers. Now,

(02:17):
you know, from time to time cruisers make the costly
mistake of using their cell phone on a cruise ship
without checking with their providers first to see if they
have coverage, and up till now the answer is always no.
In fact, you get killed on your cost if you're
using your phone on a cruise ship. While it's true

(02:40):
that there are Internet package and other cellier at sea
plans you can get any time your phone is roaming
or using data, you can expect an unwanted bill. Now
it seems like a no brain, or doesn't it, But
a recent passenger cruise passenger was unaware and was slapped
with a thirteen hundred dollars fee from their mobile provider

(03:05):
when returning back home from their crews. With more cruisers
seeking coverage, I'm pleased to make an announcement that AT
and T and Verizon will be introducing new international calling plans.
They'll be accessible on your cruise ship.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Now.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
The International Day Pass will be offered by AT and T.
It's a plan that will cover up to are you
ready for this four hundred different cruise ships in more
than two hundred international land destinations.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
The pass will allow guests to use.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Their phones just as they normally would for about twelve
dollars per day. You can add a second device for
just six dollars.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Now.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
AT and T allows customers to pay in advance, but
they can also set up the pass that at any
point during their cruise. Though it will not retroactively cover
the charges, it will be set up to go. Customers
can set up your coverage on at and t's website
and the my AT and T app or just contact

(04:14):
customers support.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Verizon's new plan is more specifically catered to cruisers, as
it will not be valid while import The idea is
that they are providing coverage specifically when you're out at sea. Now,
the big difference with this plan is that customers have
to manually set up the Verizon Cruise Daily Pass and

(04:38):
it must be done prior to embarkation at the very
very latest. Now, one of the most well known tips
in cruising is never take your phone off of airplane
mode when you are sailing internationally. So here's what I
Let me give you an example of an Alaska cruise.

(05:00):
I turn my phone off, I put it on airplane
mode when we're at sea, when we're cruising, but when
we come into port, maybe it's Vancouver or Alaska, Juno, Catchikan, Skagway.
Let's look at the Alaska ports that's part of the
United States, and that those Alaska cities I see straits

(05:22):
as Sitka are also included. They will be included in
your domestic plan. But what about Internet, Now, that's just
the phone use it when you're in port. Well, there
are a couple of places where you can always find
free internet, the most obvious being McDonald's. McDonald's always offers

(05:44):
free internet and you can buy yourself a diet coke
or something, or just walk in and sign sign in.
It's free of charge and you can look at your
emails without paying the costly cruise line cost for internet.
And they just kill you on that because you have
no choice. For example, in Juno, well it's McDonald's in

(06:06):
the public library, now you got. I always go to
the public library, very nearest walking distance from the Mount
Roberts tram in downtown, right by the cruise ports of Juno.
In Catcha can the public library. They don't have a
McDonald's there, but at the public library, an easy walk
about four very short blocks, they have free internet. The

(06:29):
same in Skagway there's a public library. So there's a
lot of ways to reduce your cost of internet while
you're on a cruise. Of course, you can also buy
a package, but they're going to get you. I've warned
you in the past about travel scams, and boy, the
scammers are just out there right and left me. Let

(06:51):
me share two new ones that just appeal to us.
One is you get an email or a phone call.
By the way, I don't answer any phone call unless
it's in my directory or I know who is calling.
If it's important. It may just it may be a
friend of mine, someone in my church congregation, but they're

(07:12):
not in my directory. They'll leave a phone mail message
or send me a text. If it's important, I just
don't answer the phone. There's so many robo calls and
scammers out there, but here's one that I see all
the time.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
You've won a free trip.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
You've won a free cruise, a trip to Hawaii, two
free airline tickets.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
All you got to do.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Is pay a fifty dollars reservation fee or fifty dollars
in taxes. Well, sure they're going to take the fifty bucks,
but that's not what they're really interested in. What they
want is your credit card information, and they are going
to blow that up. You've won a free trip, we'll

(07:56):
ask them to send you the details in writing and
look at a website.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
But that goes to the second.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Scam out there is bogus travel websites. They'll offer airline tickets,
they'll offer cruises, they'll offer tours. You pay a deposit
and maybe you pay the full cost of it, but
there is no trip, there is no reservation, and now
they've got your deposit, your final payment, and they are

(08:27):
simply going to clip you with your credit card information.
So this gets to Bogus online internet travel agents. You
see a website, it looks good, it looks secure.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
It's not.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
So what you really want to do is deal with
someone that you trust, absolutely, that you trust like Morris
Columbus Travel. You can walk right in to one of
our many brick and mortar offs, you can talk to
us on the phone. But a Bogus online travel agent

(09:05):
people are getting clipped right and left. So just be
very very careful of who you are dealing with.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
Now.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know I love to cruise. You know what I
love about cruising, I pack and unpack one time. All
my meals and entertainment are included in one very affordable price,
and I see exciting ports of call. I can be
as active or as laid back as I want. Well,
I know we have a lot of teachers out there,
and I love you teachers. You have earned your wings

(09:35):
to Heaven. Norwegian Cruise Line has introduced a teacher cruise discount.
This is good for teachers and staff. And what's really
nice is NCL is really proud to extend this exclusive
discount to you, and no one deserves to make a
vacation more than you do. So here's what the teacher

(09:57):
discount with NCL is five percent off all cruise fares,
and this discount extends to the entire stateroom. Then there's
a fifty dollars per stateroom, not per person. The five
percent is per person off everybody, but at fifty dollars
OBC as we call it on board credit, you can

(10:21):
use it at the spa specialty dining. It's just like
extra cash. But the only thing you can't do with
it is at the casino. And then, of course, all
of these discounts are combinable with their More at Sea promotion,
which I'll be giving you the details of later in
the show. When we come back, we'll be speaking with
Scotty Hawk, business development manager with Alma Waterways River Cruises.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
You're listing to the travel show.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
I'm Larry Gelwicks to get Way Guru, and We're going
to go cruising the rivers of.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
The world with Alma Waterways.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
A deluxe, over the top yet very affordable river cruise company.
I'd like to welcome back to the Travel Show my
good friend Scottie Horn, a business development manager with Alma Waterway.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
Scotty, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Thanks Larry for having me back again.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah I think you were on last month. Yeah, that
was a lot of fun. Okay, let's talk about river cruising.
I love ocean cruising, I love river cruising, but I
absolutely have a passion for river cruising. What is it
about a river cruise that is such a different experience

(11:44):
from anything else.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
I think it's the pace. You know, it's a much
smaller intimate crowd, and I like that word intimate. It
is a much slower pace, but you're seeing the heart,
the interior of the country you're visiting, not just a
peripheral city. You know. Think about it this way. It's
where civilization got start. You needed water for your livestock,

(12:10):
you needed water for your agriculture, and then you use
the water to trade. So these small, little quaint towns
were the very beginning of Europe and it's where it stemmed.
And so it just takes you to the very beginning
of time.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
It really does.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
And you of course visit the big cities and the
small cities, the small hamlets and out of the way places.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
Now, something that I've.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Said before is there are there are a number of
really good river cruise companies, and I'll say, if you
go with this one, this one, or this one, you're
going to have a really good experience. But in my view,
Alma Waterways is just a step above these. Now, if

(12:54):
you go with the others, you're going to have a
good time. But it is such a unique different experience.
It's with Alma. What is the Alma difference.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
Oh, there's a number of things, but it's the passion
in the heart of the people the crew that really
separate the difference. The number of inclusions, the number of
all your excursions being included. The food is not.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Over the top, over the top.

Speaker 3 (13:23):
There are no microwaves, so nothing's fast prepped. There are
no freezers for anything other than ice cream and ice cubes,
and so food is procured fresh every single day. Dietary
needs and restrictions are met. It's it's just different. It's
just special, it really is.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
You mentioned that your short excursions are included. One of
the things I really like that Alma Waterways does is
they give like a activity level everything from very gentle.

Speaker 1 (13:51):
They'll rate them, you know, one, two, three and four,
and you have the I.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Think a five is for wants to go on a
bicycle tour, and that doesn't mean you're going up Mount
Everest on a bicycle, but you have a guide. And
by the way, outside of the bicycle tours, as a passenger,
you can take a bicycle out. We went out on
our own in Vienna on the Alma Waterways bicycles on

(14:18):
a cruise, on a Rhine River cruise. But you also
have the gentle. My aunt who ninety two years old
went with us on the Rhine a few years ago,
and God bless her, she's still with us. She uses
a walker and they had a tour for her and
different for us.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
That's part of the Alma Waterways. Different.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
Now I have got I've got two Arma Waterways cruises
I want you to comment briefly on and we're speaking
with Scottie Horn, a business development manager with Arma Waterways.
These will both be next year twenty twenty six. I've
done them both before and just fell in love with them.
The first is in Southeast Asia, where I would live

(15:01):
if it weren't for my kids and grandkids. The may
Kong River Cruise will be sailing from Anchor Watt, Cambodia,
through Cambodia, across the border through Vietnam and ending up
in Saigon now called Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
The dates of that cruise are November.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Ninth to the sixteenth, twenty twenty six, and we'll offer
some pre cruise options. Scotty tell us about that Maekong
River Cruise, Well.

Speaker 3 (15:29):
Larry, you just did a great job in giving it
an introduction, But it is you should hire me. It is, yes,
we should. The ship is very reminiscent of the destination,
the hardwood floors and the state rooms, the tapestries in
the bedding. Your Asian favorites are all going to be there.
But if you really aren't a fan of Asian food,

(15:50):
then the old western favorites on board the ship were
going to be available. But the delights of the people,
they're so welcoming, and we really envelop you in taking
a rickshaw through seeing the floating gardens or watching the
elephants play soccer, and there's just so many little elements,
little touches all along the way that make it so unique.

(16:11):
But you did a beautiful job in talking about the destination.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
Well, thank you and thank you very much, Scotty. I'll
be your assistant. The next one is my wife's favorite. Now,
I've been to one hundred and fifteen countries, most of
them many times over. This particular cruise that I'm going
to share with you is in my top three or
four trips of a lifetime. It's the Christmas Markets on

(16:36):
the Rhine. The dates or December third to the tenth
and Scotti we got about a minute and a half.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
Tell us about the Christmas Markets on the Rhine.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
What can you say about the Christmas Markets? It is
Christmas Wonderland gone just to the greatest detail, small little
markets of the best of homemade goods. The crafts are
the finest, and they're in these freestanding little kiosks, and

(17:09):
so is the city lights up at night. But during
the day you've got these mulled wines and you're going
to walk from shop to shop and enjoy them. But
there are different ones decorated differently in each little city.
And then you see the cathedrals and the city like
Vienna or not Vienna bit done And I just drew
a blank decorated.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, you have the cathedral in Cologne.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
Quiz it Cologne.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
Thank you was well.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
This cruise is fantastic again make Kong River Cruise November
ninth to the sixteenth. We'll offer a pre cruise option
for a few days in Thailand and a few days
in Anchor Watt and we'll also have a post cruise
option to spend a few extra days in Saigon and
then Christmas markets on the Rhine. This will be from

(17:57):
amsterda a Basil to Amsterdam, so you'll see Switzerland, France,
Germany and the Netherlands. Scottie Horn, business development manager with
Armor Waterways. You can check out all of the Armor
Waterways offerings and these two cruises at morriscolumbus dot com.
That's Morriscolumbus dot com. Scottie, thank you for joining us

(18:20):
on the Travel Show. Welcome back to the Travel Show.

(18:42):
I'm Larry Gelwiz to get Away Guru. It's been my
privilege to be your host for thirty pots, yeah, thirty
four years. Time flies when you're having fun. May I
just express my sincere appreciation and gratitude that you spend
this time with me and with all of our Morris Columbus,
friends and guests here on the show. We all love travel,

(19:05):
don't we.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
You know.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
We're talking to Scotty Horn, business development manager at Alma
Waterways in the last segment, and I mentioned that Maykong
River Cruise. That one is completely outrageously cool. November ninth,
the sixteenth, with pre and post tour options. But we
do stop in PanAm Pen, the capital of Cambodia.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
I got to tell you.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
I've experienced that I had there a few years ago
with the group. There's an old town, you know, the
French colonized this camp what we call today Cambodia, and
there's French influence everywhere, in the food, in the architecture.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
It's almost small, friends, And.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
So they have these three wheel vehicles, two wheels at
the back with a peddler a place to sit, and
one wheel in the front, and then the passenger sits.
It's kind of like a Cambodian rickshaw, but the peddler
is in the back rather than in the front or
running with it in the front. And so we get

(20:11):
the tour group there and we're going to do a
they're called cyclose. We're gonna do a cyclo tour of
old phenomen pen see the old French architecture and the
tree line streets, and it's just absolutely magnificent. So I
say to the the first time we use this particular company,

(20:33):
and he's got the cyclos there. I've got the group there,
and he's I say to him, one or two persons
per cyclo. He looks at our group, looks at the cyclos,
looks back at our group, looks back at the cyclothes,
then looks back at our group and says to me

(20:56):
two Cambodians, one American. Yeah, so we could only fit
one of us in there. Hey, are you following March madness?
You know? Or did you follow March Madness? It's a
lot of really exciting, isn't it. Well you remember, oh,
what a couple of weeks ago, UCLA, in a hard

(21:19):
fought battle, lost to Tennessee sixty seven fifty eight at
the NCAA Tournament. A tournament's back in Kentucky at they're
up arena. Well, there's an interesting report. The UCLA men's
basketball coach, Mike Cronin was asked.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
After their loss.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
Right after the loss, when he would start worrying about
the next season, Crowen had a great comeback and threw
a low cost airline right under the bus coach. Crowan said, quote,
right now, guys, it's twelve forty am and our season
just ended. That's it, and you're gonna ask me about

(22:01):
next year right now? My biggest concern is how bad
the seats are on Allegiant Airlines. Flight on that terrible plane.
We're gonna have to fly home on tomorrow. Close quote.
You can make your own judgment on Allegiant Airlines. Anyway,
that was a lot of fun. One of my favorite

(22:24):
I mentioned. I've been one hundred and fifteen countries and
I just love the British Isles, the United Kingdom, the UK,
which includes Scotland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. Actually
Ireland's the Republic of Ireland's part of the European Union.

(22:46):
Whereas Corse Brexit the British Isles pulled out. I've put
together a tour that we have never done before at
Morris Columbus Travel Scotland, Wales and Now. We've had tours
to the British Isles, but never one that included all
of this.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
The highlight for me.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
We start in Edinburgh, Scotland and you're right there on
the Royal Mile with shops, boutiques, entertainment during the International
Bagpipe and Drum Corps Festival, viewed by over one hundred
million people worldwide, and you'll see drum corps and bagpipe
companies marching through the streets. But the apex of it

(23:31):
all is the festival when all of the bagpipe troops,
all of the drum corps get together up in the
parade grounds of Edinburgh Castle, which is on top of
the rock. They set up stadium chairs. Tickets are just
about impossible to get. We got forty tickets. Now the
tour is almost sold out. We have four rooms left,

(23:54):
either for singles or for couples that will join us
in this adventure or more of Scotland will head down
to Wales. Do you remember the nineteen forty one movie
How Green was My Valley? A black and white movie
showing the life of the coal miners and the troubles

(24:14):
that they had. Well, I will tell you see these
what this is called row houses, you know, just one
house after they're connected together, brick and rock that the
miners lived in. Those homes are still there today. People
still live in them today and then we move on
from Wales into England. We visit Chester and York. York

(24:37):
is everything you imagine Old Britain to be.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
What I like to do.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
There is walk on the ramparts, walk on the city wall.
There's several entrances all around the city and it's steeped
in history. You'll love the architecture by the way in Chester.
Then down to Stratford upon Avon. Now you know that
name and don't you love that name and other names
in Cottswolds Stratford upon Avon. That is the birthplace of

(25:06):
William Shakespeare. He's also buried there. He was baptized in
the Holy Trinity Church which is still there and he's
actually buried inside the Holy Trinity Church. I've been to
his grave. And then down to London. You know, when
a person is tired of London, you are tired of life.

(25:27):
The tour ends in London and the dates are August
eleven to twenty one. It's an eleven day tour. We
do have an option to Paris afterwards. Now I'll be
your host and tour guide in the UK and look
forward with my wife Kathy. Now Kathy's a reason to
sign up for the tour again. We only have four

(25:48):
rooms left. I can take singles or we can take couples.
I'd love to have you join now. You can get
all the details at Morriscolumbus dot com. Morriscolumbus dot com,
scroll down on the homepage and click on Morris Murdoch
Escorted Tours. That's the brand name of our escorted programs.
Morris Columbus Travel is the parent company. And then click

(26:13):
on Europe. Go to August and you'll see this tour.
Love absolutely love to have you with me.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
Now. I want to talk to you about.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
The biggest mistakes people make when booking a hotel room
and the biggest mistakes that so many people make when
you check in. Now here are some of the mistakes
that people make. First of all, not asking about additional
fees hotels. You know, President Biden said he was going

(26:50):
to do away with this. I guess he forgot about it,
but he pledged even in the State of the Union address,
he was going to do away with what he called
junk fees.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
And they never did.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
But ask about resort fees a resort I call them
the evil resort fees. There's no purpose other than to
pick your pocket. Some places will call them a destination fee.
And so you have your you have your room cost,
you have your taxes, and then you have to pay
at the hotel. You know, the hotel room and tax.

(27:23):
You can pay in advance, but you have to pay
the resort fee, like Hawaii, most of them about fifty
bucks a day plus tax, and you really get nothing.
Oh you get you get to use the swimming pool. Oh,
you get to make local calls. Well, big flip and deal.
You also want to ask about parking fees. Most parking fees,

(27:44):
again in Hawaii, which I you know, we were just
there what three weeks ago, are about forty to sixty
dollars a day for you to self park your car
plus tax. So with a resort fee and a parking fee,
you can easily rack up another one hundred dollars a day.
You also want to find out what are the room amenities?
Is there a little refrigerator? Is there a microphone? Another

(28:08):
question to ask is what if you're planning to use
public transportation, what is the proximity to public transportation, shopping
and restaurants. You know, I grew up in San Francisco,
and there on Vaness Avenue, there's several hotels and they
say minutes from Chinatown, minutes from Fisherman's Wharf, and they're

(28:34):
talking about walking distance. Yeah, it's about sixty minutes to
walk to Fisherman's Warf from this one hotel I'm thinking of.
You know, it's an hour and a half walk. So
don't don't trust the hotel's description all that much. Now,
whenever possible, use a You'll get a better rate with

(28:58):
a non refundable price. But I like to do a
refundable if the price isn't too different. I'm looking at
a particular hotel for a trip I'll be in Europe
this summer, and the difference between a refundable and non
refundable is eight dollars. I will pay the extra and
have a way to jump out if something.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Doesn't work out.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
In that, always ask about an early check in and
late check in, and stipulate when you do that a
complementary of what it is. So these are some things
that you want to remember and take care of when
you are at the hotel. It's always a good idea

(29:41):
when you first walk into your room is do a
sweep of the room. Is it clean? Are there fresh linens?
Is anything broken? And take a picture of it and
immediately report it to the front desk. Now I mentioned
before that Norwegian Cruise Lines has a more at See
amenity to their cruises. And what is offered in this

(30:05):
morrit See it used to be called free at sea
is a unlimited drinks, both leaded and unleaded, and now
they are including premium spirits, not just the well spirits.
And of course all your soft drinks and juices unlimited
appear there. And then every cruise line has upscale dining,

(30:31):
you know, specialty dining, like NCL has Cagny Steakhouse, which
is a Ruth Chris wannab. It's not it's not as
good as Ruth Chris, but it's still pretty darn good. Well,
you get some enhanced or upgraded dining on the mor
at Sea, you get the free airfare. It's really a
buy one, get one free. But the cruise line NCL,

(30:54):
they pick the airfare. Excuse me, the airline and the
routing and the schedule. It'll be a major airline. But
you don't picket. You say, I will take the free ticket,
but you've just got to send me there. They also
will give you a fifty dollars per cabin cruise credit
on short excursion.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
So that's called NCLs More at Sea.

Speaker 2 (31:18):
When we come back, we're headed to Strasburg, France.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
You're listening to the Travel show.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
I'm Larry Gelwick said get away guru, and I have
gotten away. In this next segment, we're going to be
visiting one of my favorite places in the entire world, Strasburg, France.
And I want to introduce my friend Mark Levitt, who
lived in Strasburg for a number of years and I
invited him here on the show. He's in studio with

(31:57):
me to talk about life in straw and so Mark,
welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Thank you, Thank you. Larry. Control your excitement anyway.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
What is that you've You've lived in France, You've lived
in Europe, Strasburg.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
I visited you in Strasburg some years ago.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
What is it about Strasburg that absolutely captures the heart
and minds and imagination of visitors?

Speaker 4 (32:27):
So for me, it's you know, you go to Europe
for one thing, and that is to get away from
everywhere else and to really capture the European life. Come
on there and then uh no, but for it being
the you know, seat of the European Parliament, Parliament in

(32:48):
the eighth largest metropolitan area in France, it still retains
the peace and the movement of old France.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
And that's one one of the things that.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
I really loved about that that that place, it's just
it's amazing.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
So it's a magical city mark. And you know, you
have the cathedral. Now everybody thinks Notre Dame is in Paris,
and it is, but the cathedral's name is Notre Dame
of Strasbourg and has one of the largest astronomical clocks.
But I love that plaza around the cathedral. And then

(33:26):
we walk to La Petite France. Would you tell us
about La petite France.

Speaker 4 (33:31):
So La Petite France is not bad, not bad on
your you know, you're you're quite.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
The linguist Glaciers.

Speaker 4 (33:38):
Yeah sure, uh no, La petite France is it's it is.
It's it's like it's as it states, it's it's tiny
France to be you know, correct in the translation there.
But the cobblestone streets, the you know, the framework of the.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Wood timbered buildings everywhere, so you think you've gone back
literally hundreds and hundreds of years.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
Yes, in La Petite France. That's correct.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Now tell us about the Christmas markets, because I mentioned
earlier in segment number two that Kathy and I would
be hosting a Christmas Markets tour on the Rhine next
year with Almah Waterways December third to the tenth.

Speaker 1 (34:24):
You should come.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
But one of our stops is Strasburg, the Christmas markets,
and they do it like nobody else.

Speaker 4 (34:32):
Well, if you know, we've lost a little bit of
the spirit of Christmas in my opinion here in the States.
You want to get a flavor of what Christmas is
really like, go there.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
You know, of the Christmas market in Strasburg is the
oldest Christmas market in France. It dates back to the
year fifteen seventy and one of the oldest in Europe.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
And one of the amazing.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
Things I've known noticed about the Christmas markets and Christmas
in Europe is you go to Christmas markets or department stores.
Here in the United States, you don't see many Nativity scenes.
It's mostly elves, red nosed reindeer and Santa Claus, yeah,

(35:19):
and the Grinch. But I see much more depictions of
the Christ Child of Jesus Christ in Europe, even though
that they're not really a religious people much anymore.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
All I'm speaking generally.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Of Europe, but they celebrate Christ at Christmas.

Speaker 4 (35:38):
They do, and you know that that is the one
thing that they show up one time once a year.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
Hey, I could get used to that. Hey, let's talk
about something important. What are some of your favorite foods
in France?

Speaker 4 (35:53):
Well, I'm gonna first of all, I'm going to say
that when you when when you visited, and we, uh,
there's a rest I forget the name, but you know
where it is.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
I know right where it is.

Speaker 4 (36:03):
I could throw a dart and hit it on a
dartboard and uh it is. Uh. They have the best
steak and palm strites on the planet and it's it's
just the left to the left of the cathedral.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
So I remember that dinner that we had there, and
we keep threatening to go back.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
What are some other things you like to eat, you
believe it or not. I love escargo.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
Those are snails baked in but the alsasren for some reason,
they do it right. And uh, and that with.

Speaker 1 (36:33):
You know that.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
That's but my favorite, the thing I look forward to
the most was I would wake up every morning and
you can smell the the panel at the boulangeriees. So
you walk out of your your flat and it just
filled the air of a fresh bread, a little mix
of chocolate. I'd grab a bag at and then I
would throw some three hundred and sixty five different cheeses.

Speaker 1 (36:56):
So that's one every year, one every day, when ever.

Speaker 4 (36:58):
Excuse me, when every and I would throw one of
those in my back my backpack, and then I'd bet
you go. You know.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
One of my favorite places outside of Strasburg, there's so
much in the Alsace region, is the village of reck Weir.
Now really it dates back to the year ten ninety seven.
It's just forty three miles south of Strasburg, and you
think you're in Disneyland.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
In Fantasyland.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
Recrear was used by Disney as the inspiration for Bell's Castle.
You can easily make a day trip out of Strasburg. So, Mark,
when are you and I going to hit the Strasbourg? Yeah,
as I understand it, we're going to hit it in
three weeks. Right, Well, I don't know about three weeks,
but I would love to go. We're speaking with my

(37:49):
friend Mark Levitt, who lived in Europe, in Belgium and
in France and as a world traveler, and he has
a special love for Strasburg.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
Gonna know to Strasburg. Thank you, Mark, or should I
say me FC you're he in.

Speaker 2 (38:11):
Welcome back to the Travel Show, the Best two hours
in Radio. I'm Larry Gollwicks. They get away, Guru, your
faithful hosts. For lo these thirty four years I've been
on the radio with you, and thank you so much
for joining us. Wasn't that a fun interview with my
friend Mark talking about Strasburg. I love Strasburg at Christmas.

(38:32):
They do it like nobody's business. You know, some of
the fun stops will make on that Christmas markets on
the Rhine. You get all the sight seeing in Switzerland, Germany,
France and the Netherlands that you would get any time
of the year. But then they add the Christmas markets
to it a couple of I mean, they're all fund

(38:53):
stops there, but Strasburg is a special one. I'll tell
you another time about Rudesheim. That may be my favorite
stop there. We also visit Heidelberg, Amsterdam, Cologne. You know
what I love about Cologne is the cathedral. There is
just massive and impressive. There's a crypt at the back

(39:16):
of the cathedral where, according to the local legend, is
the crypt and burial of the three Wise men that
visited the Christ Child in Bethlehem. Well, I don't know
if it really is or not. There's three dudes buried there.
Maybe you know, the three Wise Men took the wrong
left turn at Jericho and just ended up in Cologne, Germany.

(39:40):
I don't know, but certainly a lot of fun right there.
I mentioned earlier, I'd share with you the five dirtiest
parts of an airplane that you want to have your wives.
You know, every day about three million people fly domestically
in the United States, according the FAA, and millions more

(40:02):
travel the globe. I will say, airlines they've got it's
called turning a plane. They turn them around, they get
the people off, get the people on, They become more profitable.
And this is gonna be a huge problem. I think
for Southwest Airlines. You know, they've done away with their
seating policy. They're going to be charging for bags, which

(40:22):
means there's gonna be more and more and more carry ons.
The bins get full. Their turntime, I believe is going
to be longer, and I still don't believe these moves
by Southwest are good. I think they're going to blow
up in their face. I hope they don't, but I
think they probably will anyway. I think there's dedicated cleaning

(40:43):
crews that do their best to scrub every seat, but
you know, things sometimes get missed or stay a little
dirty from flight to fight. Now Here are the five
dirtiest places on an airplane, according to airline flight attendants.
The instruction card, you know that safety card everybody's handle.

(41:05):
They don't get wiped down regularly. So the instruction card
is it's in the seat pocket and they always say
take it out and look at it. The overhead bin
where you put your luggage and you're grabbing it. Those
do not get wiped down regularly, or maybe not with
a clean cloth. They're touched by a lot of people.

(41:28):
Tray tables are obvious. Now a lot of airlines will
spray the tay table, the tray tables that fold down,
but they don't always get all the corners wiped, and
these are being used on most of the flights. How
about the seat covers. They are not always replaced and cleaned,
and not every gross event that may happen in a

(41:51):
seat is reported to the crew. And then of course
the bathroom handles. Yeah, we wash our hands in the
restroom or the toilet there, but then we just grab it.
I always take a tissue and open it because that
bolt that locks and unlocks the door. Hell, they're absolutely filthy.
So you know, flyer beware, you know. I read from

(42:19):
time to time of people who show up to board
a cruise ship and are denied boarding for a variety
of reasons. The most common is they don't show up
in times. See the ship may be sailing at four,
but the cruise line, the cruise ship has a legal

(42:40):
requirement to close the check in and submit the passenger
list to the federal government, and the Feds will give
them a drop dead time, and it's usually an hour
or an hour and a half. That's why most cruise
lines say you got to be there at least two
or three hours prior. But here there are some of
the reasons that you could be denied boarding. And this

(43:04):
actually happened to a family in Florida just a few
weeks ago. They had saved up for a Caribbean cruise.
The whole family is there on time, but denied boarding,
And I'll tell you why. So I already mentioned a
late check in. Cruise lines do have minimum check in times.
Perhaps the most common reason is improper or incomplete documents. Now,

(43:30):
most cruise lines, if you're going to a foreign destination,
require a passport valid for at least six months beyond
your return date. So check the validity of your passport.
Some countries require you to have a blank page for
them in your passport, which they stamp. Does the name

(43:52):
on the reservation match the passport? Is your name William
or Bill? They've got to match exactly. And the documents
usually required for kids and grandkids with different last names
than the parent, grandparent or guardian. Now, in January of

(44:12):
twenty twenty four, I took along with my daughter Kathy
couldn't come with me my daughter Sarah. We took her
son who was seven years old at the time, Oscar,
and his cousin another grandson of mine, Milo, who was
always also seven years old, and so I had to
have a notarized document that I could be their legal guardian.

(44:38):
Now Sarah had no problems being the legal guardian of Oscar,
but she had to have a note from her husband's
you know, we don't want people fleeing the country because
we're going to be sailing to Mexico from her husband saying, yet,
it's cool if they travel alone. And then in case
something happened to Sarah, I then had a notarized document

(45:02):
has to have very specific wording in it that I
could be my grandson's legal guardian, and obviously I needed
that for Milo. If you've had a name change that's
different from the reservation or passport, or a missing middle
name or incorrect spelling of the documents, my best advice

(45:23):
make sure everything is lined up and don't wait till
the last day for them now. Also, the age can
get you denied boarding. Some cruise lines have a minimum
age and do require at least one adult in each cabin.
For most cruise lines, it's not eighteen years old. For
most cruise lines it's twenty four or twenty five years old.

(45:46):
Unless the two occupants, like a couple, are married, then
maybe they're twenty years old, eighteen years old, seventeen years old,
I mean whatever. If they're legally married, bring your birth
to your marriage certificate with you and you can prove
that there are a few cruise lines that require you
to have travel insurance and if you can't produce a

(46:10):
copy of your travel insurance policy, and some countries dictate
or mandate minimum requirements. Do check out if you're expecting
a bundle of joy with a newborn child, check the
rules of pregnancy or infants and check the cruise line. Now,
we had Almah Waterways on the first hour, and they

(46:33):
have a policy that they do not accept children three
years of age and younger. They kind of discourage in
a polite way children four to seven, but they don't
prohibit it. If you want to take a child that's
three or younger, you have to get pre approval from
Almah Waterways. Now, Viking River Cruises they will not take

(46:57):
anyone less than eighteen years of age. Family is that
they'd be and they are a great cruise line, they're
just perhaps not great for families. And then, last, but
not least, prohibited islands or items that most likely be
taken away but could result in a denied boarding. Now,

(47:17):
one thing to keep in mind is even if your
passport is currently valid, there are countries I'm talking about
land tours, cruises, airplanes, everything you may not be able
to enter some countries even with a valid passport. As
I mentioned, there are some countries Thailand, for example, that

(47:39):
require your passport plus blank pages to be valid at
the time of entry for at least six months after
you return home. This would include countries like Kenya, Thailand,
the UAE, Morocco, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, and others. There are

(48:00):
some countries that require your passport to be valid at
least three months after your return to the United States.
This is most of Europe there and even the Turks
and kcoast down in the Caribbean, New Zealand, Norway, Spain,
most of Western Europe, you know, and there are some

(48:20):
countries that simply require your passport to be valid at
the time of entry. The best place to check is
the State Department website Travel dot State dot gov. Travel
dot State dot gov. Click on international travel, then type
in the country that you're going to be visiting and

(48:41):
a plethora of information will come up, including your passport
validity requirements more. When we come back here on the
Travel show, well.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
Know you're listening to the travel show.

Speaker 2 (49:04):
I'm Larry Gelwiz to get Away Gouru, a travel show
is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
We always travel more and pay less.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
If you're interested in any of the escorted tour programs,
simply go to Morris Columbus website. That's Morriscolumbus dot com.
On the home page, scroll down to Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours.
That's the brand name for escorted programs, and then click
on the geographic area. Unless it's a cruise, click on

(49:35):
cruise and then go to twenty twenty five twenty twenty six,
and you will see all these programs, including the ones
that I'll be personally hosting, like that Alma Waterways in
November of next year, May Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam with a
pre cruise option in Thailand, and then the Christmas markets
on the Rhine in December, early December. It is December

(50:01):
third to the tenth. You are home two weeks before Christmas,
and you know, I'm not a shopper, I really am not.
I don't even like to shop for socks. And I
go over there the first time I went. I'm not
a shopper. I told I'm not going to buy anything.
I had to go buy a suitcase and it was
all stuff for the grandkids. You know, my kids keep

(50:23):
asking me. My children are five children, say Dad, where
was all this generosity when we were growing up, Because
you know, the the grandkids get anything they want. You know,
I don't pay attention to what their parents say. I
just nod my head when we watch them. Then we
do whatever we want. I bet you do the very
same thing. Well, cruising is a lot of fun. I

(50:47):
read a story just recently of a couple that was
banned for life. You know, I told you there's no
it's not stupid, is not against the law, but there
are consequences of stupid. And so a cruise vacation didn't
go exactly as planned for Jason and Tammy Merritt when

(51:09):
their luggage never showed up at their cabin on the
Carnival Magic and the incident as it unfolded, I'm going
to tell you, resulted in a lifetime ban for another
passenger in a very complex legal situation. So back to
Jason and Tammy Merritt. This was a anniversary trip and

(51:30):
nine day, eight night cruise from Miami. Jason's suitcase never
was delivered to the room, and yet they had proof
that it had been checked in with the cruise line.
After weeks of searching, they went home without it. They
never got their suitcase. Jason used his air pods left
inside the suitcase to track it down. The couple even

(51:54):
started a Facebook group dedicated to watching the tracking information
from the lost You can also do that with those
Apple I have one of those Apple discs in my suitcase.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
I can see wherever it is. Well.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
The bag was found in another passenger's cabin and she
admitted taking it because she quote liked how it looked
and kept it during back to back cruise. So this
woman had a back to back cruise you know about
what nineteen days. Carnival Cruise Line responded by confining her

(52:33):
to her cabin because they located it through the AirPods.
They went and had a look and banned her from
all future Carnival Corporation cruises. They sent the bag back
to Jason, but sadly many items were missing. This low
life woman, she saw the bag, you know how they

(52:54):
put it outside the door. She saw it, she liked
how it looks, so she stole it and just kept it.
Thought you never be caught, and she never would have
been if the air pods were not in the bag
and locating it. You know, some of the advice that
I would give you in booking a cruise, always always

(53:17):
use a travel advisor. I hope you'll use Morris Columbus
Travel Advisors experts where they book from experience and not
just some textbook. But there's a lot of rookies out there.
And I'll tell you, and I don't mean this to
Morris Columbus on the back, but Morris Columbus Travel is
the largest seller of cruises in the Inner Mountain area,

(53:39):
and they get deals, promotions and amenities that are not
always available to other travel companies. Now that's just a
fact of life. You want to buy one pencil, you
pay a certain price. You want to buy a truckload
of pencils, a case of pencils, you're going to pay
a much lower price. Now, sometimes the different is in

(54:00):
the price. Sometimes you get an extra amenity. And if
the cruise line's going to upgrade anyone, they're going to
upgrade those people from their best travel companies that give
them the most business. And that's just a fact of
life of how it goes. So always use a travel advisor.
I remember, and this happened a couple times where a

(54:22):
senior official from major cruise lines will say, Larry, we're
going to give you this special deal and the people
who book with you are going to get these extra things.
But you can't talk about it on your radio show.
Well I did anyway, but you can't put this in
the newspaper in a flyer because the other travel companies

(54:44):
will lose their mind. Well, but when people call, oftentimes,
not always, but oftentimes we can add something to it.
You often are offered a deposit. It's non refundable and refundable.
If the price difference isn't too great, always go with

(55:06):
the refundable deposit. I recommend travel protection are also known
as travel insurance. What you want to pay attention to
is the emergency evacuation and I like that coverage amount
for emergency evacuation to be at least five hundred thousand dollars.
You have a medical emergency and you're some far off

(55:28):
place around the globe and they can't handle it. Your
emergency evacuation policy up to the stipulated amount would even
pay for a private jet and a doctor to bring
you home. Keep in mind that internet is additional. I
told you earlier how you can score free internet at
McDonald's public libraries, cafes and pick your state room carefully.

(55:53):
Cabins to avoid is right below the pool deck. Now,
no Noah's flood number two is going to come through
your ceiling. But there's so much running around and noise
it may come through the ceiling. I don't want to
be right above the theater or the lounges unless you
want a standing ovation at midnight, unless you have kids,

(56:15):
and I take my grandkids. But unless you have kids,
stay away from the kids area because people are running
up and down the hall. And lastly, avoid the lower
decks at the rear of the ship near the engine room. Well, listen,
let's head to the South Pacific when we come back
on the Travel Show. Welcome back to the Travel Show.

(56:45):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get Away Guru. Thank you for
joining us on this the first show.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
In April twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (56:54):
Well, today Gallop unveiled it's twenty twenty five World Happiness Report,
which shared the happiest countries on Earth and more importantly,
what metrics, what things?

Speaker 1 (57:06):
What makes them so happy?

Speaker 2 (57:08):
And now for the eighth consecutive year in a row,
guess who secured the top spot. Again, this is going
to catch you off guard. As the happiest country the
happiest people, Finland, thanks in large part to its citizens'
commitment to These are some of the metrics that Gallop use. Volunteering,
donating to causes, and helping others in need. Now, the

(57:31):
Finns themselves indicated that they implicitly trust those around them,
with most people responding that they like the police. They
think a neighbor or even a stranger would return their
lost wallet or person no questions asked. And by the way,

(57:52):
you know, Finland wasn't alone in that honesty factor. All
of its neighbors scored high marks too. As to what
it takes these countries happy, Gallup explained that it's the
citizens live with the understanding of being kind to one another.

Speaker 1 (58:08):
I love that isn't that great?

Speaker 2 (58:11):
In fact, out of the report, they said, one of
the report's most striking revelations is that being kind and
expecting kindness from others, believing that your wallet would be
returned if lost are strong predictors of happiness. So let's
all go to Finland. You know, Finland is an interesting country.

(58:33):
It's famous for its sauna culture. That's part of the cultures.
Whole families, they'll go sit in the sauna together, and
of course it's quality of life.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
But it's estimated.

Speaker 2 (58:44):
In Finland there are one hundred and seventy nine thousand
islands and more than one hundred and eighty thousand lakes. Well,
you know what else is interesting. This is a thirteen
year history that Gallup has done. For the first time,
Costa Rica and Mexico score in the top ten as

(59:05):
far as how happy their citizens are. Costa Rica ranked six. Well, sadly,
there's little good news for the good old USMA and
I would never move except to Thailand as it ranked
number twenty four. You want to guess who ranked last?
And happy citizens Afghanistan lots of stuff.

Speaker 1 (59:26):
Hey, if you.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
Are flying out of the Salt Lake International Airport, I
recommend that you use parking Jet. They offer a good
customer service, a free car wash. And if you go
to the Morris Columbus website Morriscolumbus dot com on the homepage,
click on resources and then you'll just see the Salt

(59:48):
Lake parking discount with parkin Jet twenty percent discount. Now
you can save a ton of money with a twenty
percent discount. Well, let's have some fun in the last
few minutes with some strange travel request. This one was
actually asked of me. This lady said, my child, this

(01:00:10):
is you know how people want to lie, but they
don't want to lie. They want to fudge the truth
that they want you to fudge it for them, so
somehow they have a clear conscience. Well, I didn't lie,
this woman said to me. My child just barely turned
to and I don't want to buy an airline ticket
for him if I don't take a carry on, Can
I just put my kid under the seat in front

(01:00:32):
of me in place of my carry on and not
have to buy him a ticket?

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
Now you believe I made that up. I did not.
She actually asked that to me.

Speaker 2 (01:00:41):
I'd another father say to me that there's a family
of five traveling to Hawaii. So I said, you know,
we'll seat you all together. He said, oh, no, no, no.
He did not want any family member seated next to
each other, but evenly spaced from the front of the
plane to the middle of the plane to the back
of the plane. And I had to ask why, and

(01:01:04):
his response was, in case we crash we have a
better chance that at least one of us will survive.

Speaker 1 (01:01:13):
How about that one? Well I did.

Speaker 2 (01:01:15):
Place them far away and the plane did not crash.
Here are some funny requests, these are real requests. Could
you please plan a honeymoon sweet for us and another couple? Yeah,
two couples in the honeymoon sweet. I don't even want
to know what's going on there. Here's another honeymoon request.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
I don't know. This was made by the groom. You
gotta cut the strings at some times.

Speaker 2 (01:01:43):
Son, He said, can you please plan a honeymoon for me,
my bride and my mother. He was bringing his mom along.
Other interesting requests, Can I fish off a cruise ship? Well,
I guess you have to bring your own tackle and
real real on that one. One woman made this request,

(01:02:04):
real request. I'd like to go somewhere where there are
not a lot of men. Okay, how can I get
to Europe without going by air or sea? Well, it's
going to be a long drive. You have to wait
for the northern Cap to freeze up. I suppose. And
this is an actual request for a wedding photographer. Can

(01:02:28):
you set it up so that the whales jump in
the background? At the very same time, I'm proposing to
my girlfriend. Now, how would you answer that particular one? Well,
a lot of fun, hey, do give a look at
morriscolumbus dot commorriscolumbus dot com and any of our travel

(01:02:50):
advisors can help you with international travel. Their pictures and
contacts are there. If you want to check out the
escorted tourists, click on Morriscolumbus dot com and then on
the web page or the homepage the Morris Murdoch Escorted
Tours again. Love to have you with me next November
on the May Kong and next December the Christmas.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
Markets along the Road. Have a great week. We'll see
you next week right here on the Travel Show.