The Travel Show: Live from the Utah Travel Expo!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, said
get Away Guru with a special edition of the Travel Show. Yes,
we are broadcasting remote from the fall Utah Travel Expo
at the Davis Conference Center in late We're going to
be here till three o'clock and I have joining me
in this segment my good friend and colleague, Brent Jensen,

(00:22):
president of Morris Columbus Travel. Brent, Welcome to the show.
Thanks Larry.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I usually have to beg you to have me on
the show, I know, or.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Pay me anyway. This is a great event, the fall
Utah Travel Expo. Now Columbus Travel used to do a
January Travel Expo and then with the merger to one
bigger and better company, Morris Columbus Travel, this is the

(00:50):
first ever Fall Travel Expo.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
And it's great. Larry, gosh, the weather's the wonderful today.
You look up in the mountain, you see the snow
cap mountains. It makes you want to get to travel,
makes you want to go to Hawaiian, It makes you
want to do something fun.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So what can people expect here at the Davis Conference
Center in Laighton. Just take Antelope drive off I fifteen
it's a free admission. And what can people expect coming
to the Fall Travel Expo.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
First of all, they can expect a fun and festive atmosphere.
There's lots of fun people here today. There's over fifty
vendors here that we have today, Larry cruise lines, tour
companies with specials, exclusive specialists for Morris Columbus Travel advice,
our our clients.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
So there are exclusive and I mean exclusive, absolutely you
can't get anywhere else. And again, it's free admission. We
have a lot of fun. We have regular hourly several hours,
and prizes as well. And prizes. Now I'm a little
disappointed in you Jensen's, because I asked if I could,

(01:55):
you know, for free airline tickets, free cruises, free hotels.
I asked if I could draw the winter, which I did,
and you know, chance, by chance, I drew my own name.
And what did I say?

Speaker 2 (02:08):
I said, no again, Larry, I know he's not.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Fair, he's not nice to be so mention some of
the vendors that are here.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Absolutely some of our biggest, our bigges supporters, you know.
And the best thing about coming to the show is
Morris Columbus is the largest seller of many of these,
these vendors in the whole Inner Mountain, West, Viking Cruises,
Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Norwegian. We've got Delta Vacations, just
tons and tons and tons.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Of course, Delta Vacations is the vacation arm of Delta Airlines.
Did you know that fifty eight percent of all flights
out of Salt Lake City or Delta. I did not
know that you serve on the board, right, So I
know I do on the air services board. So we've
got cruise lines. I'm looking around. You've got Yellowstone here,

(02:56):
You've got Southern Idaho, Star Clippers, Almah Waterway. Absolutely. So
if a person comes, first thing they need to do
is register.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Register for the free prizes that we have. And again
they're wonderful. And once you register, once, you're good for
the prizes all day. Our grand prize today is two
international airline tickets on Delta anywhere in Europe, which is phenomenal.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Can I draw the winner? You me not? Thank you again?
So you know, as president of Morris Columbus Travel, one
of the largest travel companies in America, what are you
seeing as travel trends? You know, where people want to
go and their likes and their favorites. They do change

(03:41):
and people the way people travel now has changed. What
are you seeing as trends right?

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Absolutely, we still have our favorites, you know, the fun
and sun destinations, the Hawaii's, the Mexicos, the South Pacific, Arabia, Caribbean,
things like that. But I think Larry is you and
I both know one of the biggest and most popular
things right now is Europe and especially river cruising too. Europe.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
It really is now. Some people will say, well, gee,
that river cruise is a higher price than my ocean cruise.
In most cases, yes, it depends on what cabin you get.
But keep in mind that with ocean cruises, which I love,
you have to buy a drink package. If you want beer, wine,

(04:26):
soft drinks, things like that, that's an additional charge. Some
of them are charging fifty sixty seventy bucks a day
for a drink package. On most river cruises, soft drinks,
beer and wine are included with lunch and dinner. Absolutely,
but I think the biggest savings brand, and I'll have
you comment on this, is that the shore excursions that

(04:48):
tours are including now, typically you are going to pay
anywhere from one hundred bucks to three hundred bucks per
shore excursion on an ocean cruise, depending on what you do, okay,
and then double that for two yep. But with river
cruises other than an occasional special event, they'll have four

(05:11):
or five shore excursions you pick from that are.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Included, absolutely, and Larry that the really thing that I
like about it the most.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Two is the size of the ships.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
They're smaller one hundred and sixty five passengers to one
hundred and ninety passengers, and you can get right into
the heart of the city. You get out the ship,
you're right there where you want to be. And that's
the best part I'd like about cruising cruise.

Speaker 1 (05:30):
I enjoy the dining on ocean cruises, but the dining
on a river step up is a couple of steps up.
You can do something in the dining room with executive
train chefs for one hundred and sixty seventy people that
you can't do for five thousand, absolutely, and so the
dining experience is extra or Now. What you will miss

(05:52):
on a river cruise is a casino, although a lot
of the ports will have a casino that you get
on an ocean cruise and perhaps a Broadway show. But
what I love about the River Cruise is it's more
of a cabaret environment and local talent.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
Local talent, they bring them in. You know, if you're
when you're traveling in Germany, they're gonna bring on some
Germans that evening to speak to you, to talk to you,
to talk to you about October five.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
All of this Now for Europe, most people are looking
at the Danube, and the Danube goes north south, say
Budapest to Visholfen, Germany. Uh. And it also goes east
to west, which is Budapest to Bucharest, Romania. And you'll

(06:44):
get on that east west, which I shouldn't let the
trivel device are gonna kill me because they say, don't
talk about anything unless it's in our system system. But
you and I communication we do. Elliott there at Alma
Waterways about a Eastern European the Gems of Southeastern Europe,

(07:09):
which will be sometime in the fall of twenty twenty seven.
I will announce it here on the show. Don't call
yet on it, but it will be Hungary, Croatia, Serbia,
Bulgaria and Romania, including Dracula's Castle which is cool.

Speaker 3 (07:26):
And then also you can have a post in Istanbul,
which would be lots of fun.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
I love Istanbul. And you know what happens when Morris
Columbus does a part charter I mean, what does that
translate into savings? Why is the discount so huge?

Speaker 3 (07:45):
Well, first of all, Larry, you know is it puts
a lot of pressure on me and you because we
have to sell it. We purchased this in an inventory risk,
absolutely inventory risk. But what it does is we're able
to negotiate tremendous savings up front which we can pass
along to our clients and they're going to save money
every single time that we do a part charterer.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Here one of the new programs I'll be doing in
June of twenty twenty seven with Alma Waterways. The Deluxe
River Cruise line is round trip from Paris. We visit
Lehave Normandy, the d Day Bitch's Row in which is
Joan of Arc Vernon han Fleur. Here is an example

(08:27):
of what the published trade is. Our discount rate. The
lead cabin our price is one thousand, eight hundred and
eighty dollars per person, less than if you bought the
same cruise directly. From the cruise line or any other
travel agency. Now, if my high school math holds up,

(08:49):
that is thirty seven sixty three thousand, seven hundred and
sixty bucks per couple.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
That's the deal.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
And some of the cabins are two and three thousand
dollar less than the published traits. So that one happens
to be June seventeenth to the twenty fourth on the
sind River. Back to the Utah Travel Expo. For our
people just tuning in, we're here at the Davis Conference
Center in Leyton, right off Antelope Avenue, I think on

(09:18):
seven hundred West. What can we expect here, Brent.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
We're open today till three o'clock, so come on in
and again it's a free ticketed event.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
We would love to have you.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
We have twenty travel advisors here today for Morris Columbus
as well. Actually the rest center right now, Larry, you
and I are looking at it. It's bull people are
booking travel. They're here because they know there's some exclusive specials.
You want to come today. You want to be able
to come and see what's going on, walk around, see
all the booths, see what you like, and then put
it to puzzle down on you.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
What I like, Brent, is that you can sit and
talk to a cruise line, business development manager, YEP, the
Delta Airlines, vacation people, Safari companies, and and ask questions
and figure is this the right vacation for me and

(10:05):
my family?

Speaker 2 (10:06):
Absolutely?

Speaker 1 (10:06):
We're talking to Brent Jensen, president of Morris Columbus Travel,
here at the fall Utah Travel Expo at the Davis
Conference Center in Leyton. Free admission, and when you come,
be sure and register on one of the tablets for
those free prizes, including two round trip tickets on Delta

(10:26):
Airlines to Europe. Now, somebody's gonna win. That might be you,
and it might as well be me not you. Hey more,
we're gonna come back. We're going to be gutting the
woman gave way and Amon we're going to live here
on the Travel you're listening to the Travel Show. I'm

(10:53):
Larry Gelwicks that get away through We have a very
special edition of the Travel Show Today. We're at the
fall Utah Travel Exposed sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, where
you always travel more and pay less. Now free admission.
We're here in Leyton Davis Conference Center. Will be here
till three o'clock with over fifty travel vendors. These are airlines,

(11:18):
cruise lines, tour companies, safari companies with exclusive discounts and
every hour we're giving away free prizes, including the grand
prize today two round trip tickets courtesy of Delta Airlines
to where they fly in Europe. Now that's a great price.
I want to introduce you to one of our friends here,

(11:40):
Matt with the Globus Gateway family of companies and Avalon Waterways,
which is a deluxe river cruise. Matt, and welcome to
the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
Thank you so much. It's so great to be here
with you.

Speaker 4 (11:53):
Larry.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Are introduced very briefly Globus, which is well known for
land tours, and then Avalon Waterways.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Sure.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
So we were founded in nineteen twenty eight, way back when.
So it's almost one hundred years in business, Lake Lugano,
so you know, Oh, it's incredible, and you've been in
this industry a long time. Reputation matters, yes, right, and
so that's really important. So we are a trusted name
in the travel space. So we've started with Globis later
rolled out Cosmos, which is a value to our brand.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
So we've got something.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
Budget Oriental exactly.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Still very quality, yep, very very good quality.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
You've still got you know, your muscy sites, things like that,
your hotels are taking care of, but more free time
built in, so if you're traveling on a budget, that's
a great offer for you.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
There.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
And then our most recent brands about twenty years in
business now here avalon waterways and you know as well
as anybody, river cruising is in the spotlight right now.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well, let's first talk about Globed Globis. You're guided tours. Yeah,
what makes Globist guided vacations different because there's a lot
of good companies out there. What's different about a Globist experience? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Again, write our longevity here, so you have the trust
of a company that you're traveling with. But really it
is stress fee travelery. You know, if you book a trip,
you have to plan hotel or transfers, insurance, all that,
all of that is taken care of upfront when you
book with Globis.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
Do you know what I tell people, Matt, when I'm
talking about land tours or even cruise vacations is if
you go with a Morris Columbus group, if you go
with a Globist group. There's only one thing you have
to remember, show up on time. Correct, That's it? That

(13:43):
is that is it? So as far as your Globist
guided tours, where do you go?

Speaker 4 (13:50):
We go all six continents, I should say six, all
seven besides Antarctica, right, so six continents besides Antarctica, and
we go all over so people, we don't have it
in our but we do African safaris, we go all
over Asia, we do North America, we do Europe, South Pacific.
So really, if it's on your bucket list, we can
help you get there.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
So for American visitors, yep, what's your top sellers?

Speaker 2 (14:17):
Europe has number one? Can you guess it?

Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Italy?

Speaker 1 (14:21):
Italy, Oh, Italy, Yeah, you know. I Where does the
UK run? Because that's quite popular.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
It's second behind Italy.

Speaker 4 (14:29):
So we've got a whole slew of whether it's just
England or Scotland Wales, and.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
You cannot go wrong.

Speaker 4 (14:36):
I'm a foodie and I'm sitting here and that's why
I've got the pooch here because of pasta.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
When I'm in Italy.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
We're speaking with Matt Spildner, field sales manager for the
West with the Globus Gateway family of tour brands and
Avalon Waterways. Let's turn our attention to Avalon. Now, let
me say Viking. Viking a very good cruise line. Everybody

(15:02):
knows that because they spend a gazillion dollars on advertise.
This is not a criticism, it's just a statement. I
don't see a lot of national meeting on Avalon, but
it's a huge repeat business because of the quality. Introduce
us to Avalon.

Speaker 4 (15:19):
Yeah, like you said, every river cruise line there's a
great experience. So no matter who you go with, you're
gonna have a great experience. But what sets us apart
here at Avalon is our award winning panorama. Suite accommodations
matter on a ship, and so we've got a two
hundred square foot panorama sweet and what is different about
that it faces the view. Your bed faces the view

(15:39):
that is eleven feet wide by seven feet tall, wall
to wall, floor to ceiling windows and that matters. And
also less people on board three to one guest to
crew ratio. People don't think it.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
Matters that one. That's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (15:52):
Yes, So everybody's going to Europe to take in the
castle's the scenery, the vineyard zoo sale, so you can
lay in bed, enjoy your room service, breakfast complimentary with
all lunch and dinner as well, and you can just
watch the vineyards and the rivers of Europe past.

Speaker 1 (16:06):
One of the most memorable experiences on any trip, especially
a river cruise, is the dining experience. Talk to me
about Avalon's dining.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
Obviously, with less people on board than you know traditional
ocean ship, right, our max is one sixty six, you
can put a lot more time and thought into the
dining experience and so it is top notch. You will
never go hungry. I know you've done river cruising, so
you've got there. You never go hungry, but you have
amazing breakfast, lunch and dinners. You've got five course dinners,

(16:37):
things like that. What I love about river cruising regional
wine and beer is served with lunch and dinner, soft
soft drinks as well, and sparkling wine with breakfast as well. Yes,
so you do not have to pay for that.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
This is so incredible. Again, I say, I love ocean cruises,
but what executive, highly trained chefs can do for one
hundred and sixty people you simply can't do for five thousand.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Correct, you just can't numbers wise and.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
No disrespect to them. But with your short excursions all included.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
All included, and three sids.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
Beer and wine included. Wi Fi included, a smaller guest
guest a crew ratio, crew ratio. You know what I
also love about Avalon waterways is the easy on, easy off.
There's no big airport type security.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (17:33):
You walk on the ship the day of embarkation. You
don't have long waits for the elevators. Things like that.
Everybody's leaving at the same time. In seconds you're off.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
We got about thirty seconds left. Yeat. What's your number
one selling europe.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
River cruise Romantic Rhyme is best selling river crews four countries.
You can start or end in Amsterdam, go through Germany's,
France and Switzerland and with many extensions as well, so
like home all things like that.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
We'll speaking with Matt Spilder with Avalon and Globus, the
field sales manager West. You can come and talk to
Matt one on one at his table here at the
fall Utah Travel Expo. We're here today till we walk.
Davis Cot said time.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
Thank you very much, the customers.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Thanks a lass you're listening to the Travel Show. We

(18:42):
have a very special edition of the Travel Show today.
We are broadcasting live, well, we broadcast live every Saturday,
but we're live from the Davis Content Center in Layton,
just up Analope Drive at seven hundred West. Now the Fall,
this is a new one for Morris Columbus Travel. Now,
you know we have a travel Expo in Saint George

(19:07):
every January on a Wednesday, and then on the Friday
Saturday of the same week we take over the Mountain
America Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. Now Here at the
Fall Travel Expo, we have over fifty travel vendors. Travel
vendors are airlines, cruise lines, resorts, travel companies and the like.

(19:34):
And you can sit down one on one with them,
talk to them and is this the perfect vacation? Now,
you want to take advantage of exclusive travel Expo discounts
that you cannot get anywhere else and hourly prize drawings
which include the grand prize two round trip tickets courtesy

(19:58):
of Delta Airlines to Europe from Salt Lake City. Oh
I guess wherever you want to fly. But we have
hotel stays and cruise discounts, things that you can take
advantage of, and again these are exclusive to the Travel
Expo here at the Davis Conference. Now, we're going to

(20:21):
be here till three o'clock. Admission is free, but when
you walk in, I want you to be sure and
register on one of the iPads because that's how you
get involved in the drawing. You don't even have to
be present to win. But if you're not here, we
will contact you again. Hotel stays, cruises, airline tickets, special discounts,

(20:46):
all of those here at the Fall Utah Travel Expo. Now,
if you're worried about January, we will be in Saint
George on Wednesday, January the twenty first, and then the
Mountain America Expo Center and Sandy Friday and Saturday, January
twenty third and twenty fourth now because we have more

(21:09):
room there in Sandy, Utah. At the Mountain America Expo Center,
we have over one hundred travel suppliers and vendors. In fact,
last year we had one hundred and seven travel vendors,
travel providers. I'd like to welcome to this show my
friend Charlene Cravens, who is the sales manager for the

(21:33):
Polynesian Cultural Center one of my favorite places. Charlene, I
guess I should say aloha, Aloha, aloha. I think a
lot of people know the Polynesian Cultural Center by the
name PCC. Yes, but let's introduce the PCC to our listeners.

(21:57):
We're syndicated on eighteen stations, so you have a big
audience to tell about one of my favorite places in Hawaii.

Speaker 5 (22:07):
So the Polynesian Culture Center, thank you Larry for this opportunity.

Speaker 6 (22:11):
Is located on the north shore of o Ahu.

Speaker 5 (22:15):
We're a forty two acre lot, lots to do. We
pride ourselves on focusing on cultural preserving the cultural heritage
of the different island villages that are showcased at the
Polynesian Court. We have Hawaii our host island, Samoa our

(22:37):
favorite island. I'm a little partial, Fiji, Tahiti, and out
there mar Cases.

Speaker 6 (22:54):
We have a little for them.

Speaker 5 (22:56):
Yeah, and out the New Zealand, New Zealand, Yeah, Kyoa.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
Yeah Kyota out the was the might say the original
name translated Land of the Long White Cloud. One of
the first sightings of New Zealand they thought was a
long white cloud. And it's been the new you're Samo
I am Did.

Speaker 6 (23:17):
You grow up in Samore No, I'm from La.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
La large Samoan community there.

Speaker 6 (23:23):
Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (23:24):
My parents are both from Samoa someone descent and grew
up in the islands.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
All right, let me let me make your mouth water.
Paula Sami and Coco Samoa.

Speaker 6 (23:35):
My favorite they are.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
I love the food. I've been to Samoa so many
many times, both Western Samo American Samoa and Western Upolu
and Sabai. Yes, all of that. Uh So, at the
polynes And Culture Center, you have just outside the gates, like.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
A little marketplace, marketplace.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
It's all about that.

Speaker 5 (23:56):
Our Ukulo Marketplace is our Aloha setting. You have lunch there,
you can have lunch etiner.

Speaker 6 (24:02):
There lots of shopping. We have several retail shops.

Speaker 5 (24:06):
So the interesting thing about the marketplace is it was
designed around old let Yer. So all of the shops
in the Kila Marketplace are either named after service missionary
that helped start the Polynesian Culture Center or icons in
the community, like Goos Store, which used to be a

(24:28):
staple in the Letya community. Goos Store Nona's Threads is
after Anti Nona, who was one of the first.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
Seamstress and one of my favorite places in the light
air is Pounders Beach. Yes, many a body surfing I
have done there.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
And typically survived.

Speaker 6 (24:48):
You survived, I.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
Survived, but typically the waves of won to Larry zero. Okay.
So we have the marketplace, which is so much fun.
You eat just about everything, including garlic shrimp.

Speaker 5 (25:05):
Oh yes, Tita's grill makes an awesome garlicst.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
We really do. Now let's get into the center itself. Seriously,
it is one of my favorite places. You know. I've
said Charlene that there are some places I've been to
one hundred and seventeen countries, most of them many times over.
There are some places that I call one and done,
glad I went, never have to go back, like Cleveland, okay.

(25:33):
But the Polynesian Culture Center I go back to again
and again. What is the draw? What is that that
link that pulls people back again and again?

Speaker 6 (25:45):
Well, I think put it simply.

Speaker 5 (25:47):
It is part of our slogan, which is sharing Aloha,
sharing one family, sharing Aloha. We have a canoe celebration Hooky,
which is the only so much fun canoe celebration in
all of Holy We're the only floating show on water
on our lagoon, which stretches throughout the.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
Center, and two of the boys always goes in the lagoon.

Speaker 5 (26:10):
We have.

Speaker 6 (26:13):
We got to keep it exciting. We want people to
be intrigued.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
When one buys a ticket for admission, you actually have
some options like the evening show which is not to
be missed, the Luau which is not to be missed,
and the Pineapple Delight at intermission of the not to
be missed. But let's just talk about the admission into
the park. Isn't that good for more than just one day?

Speaker 5 (26:36):
Yes, if you purchase a full package full day package,
which is either the Luau which is Ali Luau or
the Gateway Buffet package, it comes with a three D
of three D I'm sorry, three day promotion where you
can come back for the next three days and revisit

(26:57):
the islands.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
You need more than one, oh, definitely you can. Just
you can get a i'll call it a taste if
you want to. It's tough to do an in depth
because when I go to the villages, I want to
hear the commentary, I want to hear the see the
demonstrations of some of the native skills, and of course

(27:21):
there's some own boys are always climbing up the coconut.

Speaker 6 (27:23):
They are, they are there.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
They're a little antsy, they're a little ancy, they get
up in there. But you know, it is forty two acres.
The property itself is forty two acres, so you can't
possibly take in every single demonstration in one day.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
That's why you go back two and three days. You
know where I love to stay out there is the
Courtyard by Marriott. Oh. Yes, you can walk to the
PCC from It's right there in Lier and the McDonald's
is right next to it. For a true Hawaiian breakfast
of an egg McMuffin.

Speaker 6 (27:53):
I'm told it's the best McDonald's anywhere.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
It must be. You know what I love for breakfast
over the Hawaii is the Portuguese sauce.

Speaker 6 (28:00):
Oh it's a dangerous combination.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
It is. Now back to the PCC. There's different packages. Yes,
you have different options for dinner.

Speaker 5 (28:11):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
And do you still have an option and at a
cost to provide transportation from Waikiki.

Speaker 5 (28:18):
Yes, that is always available through our reservations team from
any Waikiki hotel location.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
I highly recommend it.

Speaker 6 (28:27):
Oh yeah, it's very affordable.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah. The cam Highway and Leaki Leaki and all of that.
It's you know, I tell people, if you're in Waikiki,
you don't need a rental car. No, and so I
would take the transportation. It's safe, it's easy. One of
the other things at the PCC I'm assuming you're still
doing is that if someone wants to see the BYU
Hawaii camp, it's your next door. And don't you offer

(28:51):
a little shuttle over to Yes' tour? Yeah. The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day States has incredibly beautiful
campus is beautiful, and that's an option. You just take
it over there, over to the campus. If you want
to be that go to the bookstore at BYU Hawaii
and get a T shirt that says by h on It. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (29:13):
I believe they still have those right now.

Speaker 5 (29:16):
Much of the campus is under renovation, so they're doing
a lot of upgrading and the BYU bookstore is actually
located in the Ukila Marketplace, right, is it?

Speaker 6 (29:26):
Yes, I'm total for the rest of this year.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Tell me about the evening show. Is it still called
Breath of Life?

Speaker 5 (29:31):
Yes?

Speaker 6 (29:31):
Hat Breath of Life. It is an extraordinary production that.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
Showcases a young man and a young woman of Polynesia
showcases their life, travel and the circumstances that they're put
in from start to finish, and how they react to
that and how they consistently lean upon their culture and family,
which at the Polynesian Culture Center, the most important thing
that we like to put across is our aloha and

(29:59):
the people, because the people are that's why we're here.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
And you do offer a luau dinner again as an option.
Tell us about the dinner choices.

Speaker 5 (30:08):
So the two dinner choices that we offer, well, you
can you can eat dinner in the Hookilaw marketplace Pounder's office,
and we have lots of food truck options. We have
the Gateway Buffet option, which is a world class culinary menu.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
My favorite is Thekla pork. Yes, oh, I think you
put some addictive substance in it.

Speaker 6 (30:30):
You know what, I'll tell you what the secret is.
Lots of aloha.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah, I was hoping you'd bring me kind of a
flash frozen box.

Speaker 6 (30:38):
Of Kylo the next time I come through.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
I bost you. Thank you very We're speaking with Charlene Craven's,
a sales manager with the Polynesian Culture Center. You have
a website, is it polynesia dot com yes, how did
you secure that one?

Speaker 6 (30:54):
You know that was that had to be from the forefathers.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
It was I think so, I think so well. Charlie,
thank you for joining us here at the Travel Show,
the Fall Travel Show, and here on the radio broadcast.
You can come. We're here till three o'clock. Come up
and say aloha to Charlene at Herberts with the Polynesian
Culture Center Mala Noka Oi PCC Noka Oil to the

(31:34):
Travel Show. I'm gonna go with the Getaway Group and
we are having a show edition Love the Travel Show
here at the Davis Conference. You're playing. Yes, it's the
Fall Tom travel sins all the details at to travel
Expo dot com. It is a free admission and you

(31:55):
don't want to miss it. We have over fifty travel vendors, airlines,
cruise lines, tour companies, people coming to us from Mexico,
from the South Pacific, Europe, and free travel awards are
given away every hour, including the grand price too round
trip tickets to Europe courtesy of Delta Airlines. I'd like

(32:17):
to welcome to the show our friend Cindy Garcia Smuigordito.
I'll let you people figure out what I just said
about myself, not about Cindy, not about Cindy. Hy Cindy,

(32:39):
you are with the Puerto Bayota Tourism Board, correct, And
I told you before the show started that I love Mexico.
I mean, I just love Mexico, especially the food, but
it's the people down there that make it so wonderful.
But of all the cities, I love Puerto Vayata the most,

(33:01):
I really do. What is it about Perto Bayarta that
is so appealing that just draws you back year after year?

Speaker 7 (33:10):
Well, Perto Wayarta is the most traditional bus destination in Mexico.
I think the warm of the people makes you feel
like if you're home, welcoming, So I think that's one
of the points that makes you come back there. Also,
we have activities for everyone. I think there it's a

(33:33):
unique play place, like we are surrounded by mountains by
the beach, and that makes you feel like one.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
A of the highlights for me, there's several Always a
visit to our Church of the Lady of Guadloupe. It's
an iconic colonial church. Tell us about the Malican.

Speaker 7 (33:52):
Okay, the Malicon is the perfect place to walk. I
think the downtown area is the perfect place to know
more about.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
It's about one mile right along a boulevard pedestrian only,
right along the ocean.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, with statues, statues.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
And there's restaurants, entertainment, cantinas, bars, bars, uh, street performers.
I mean you could have a whole day there. Now,
I got to talk about something very important. My favorite
taco shop in Puerto Varca, Carbo Sito. It's right at

(34:32):
if you went at where you start the molicon that
leads up to the church at that far end.

Speaker 8 (34:40):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
It's a little taco shop Carboncito and Carboncito the best
tacos in all of Puerto Aartha. Another favorite area of
mine i'd like you to talk about is Zono Romantica.

Speaker 7 (34:54):
Oh yeah, it's really near on the Denson area and
I think it's the most like nice style place. Is
the night life place that is really called for and
you can find really more than nightlife things to do there.

Speaker 1 (35:16):
Now. I have a favorite restaurant there too, the Margharita Grill.
You know, they have outdoor and indoor seating. It's kind
of a covered area, but they have musicians roaming around.
The food is as muy excellente em delioso, and the

(35:37):
prices are very reasonable. Yes, oh my gosh, that's fine.
So talk about some of the activities that one can
do the Sierra Monden Mountains. The Manrietas tell us about
things that we can do. I mean, we love to
sit around the beach. We love our all inclusive retort.

(35:59):
But what are some of the other activities.

Speaker 7 (36:01):
Depending on your mouth. For example, if you're more adventures
in wild, you can fly to the jungle in the
fastest seat line in Mexico.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
And we have also you can ride it's fast.

Speaker 6 (36:18):
Yeah, it's really fast.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
To me about the Mariattas Islands.

Speaker 7 (36:21):
In Snorkeling, Oh, okay, Marita, it has the hide and beach.
It's really famous, beautiful, beautiful. It's more you can snorkel there.
You can see tropical fishes. It's more like a Pacific waste, like.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
An aquarium in the ocean.

Speaker 8 (36:38):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
Now I love going up to the Sierra Madre Mountains.

Speaker 6 (36:43):
The mountains.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
We have a few activities there, like you can San
Sebastian for example.

Speaker 6 (36:50):
San Sebastian.

Speaker 7 (36:51):
I think that's more like a for a walking It's
really near to Port of Wayata is like an hour away.
But it's you can.

Speaker 6 (37:02):
Feel more like warm in there. It's more like a beach.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
It's more.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
It's one of the things is the mountains cascade right
down to the beach. But what cascades is the boguin villa,
the flowers, those beautiful boguin villa flowers you see all
over Porto Ayarta. Do you have a website where our
listeners can go to learn more about Porto Vyatka.

Speaker 7 (37:29):
Yes, is visit Portovayata dot com.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
Visit Portovaya dot com. By the way, I love Cancun,
but in the Caribbean, including Cancun, they have a seaweed
issue from about August to October November. You have no
seaweed problem. That I love about that.

Speaker 7 (37:52):
We are sargassam free, beaches are completely swimming.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
Bore and your website is worked by our dot com
dot com. More at our number two of the travel show,
The Best two Hours in Radio. I'm Larry Gelwicks. They
get Away, Guruth. Thank you so much for spending your
weekend with us. You know, we just we just love

(38:21):
this show and I love spending time with you because
your travel lovers too. Uh, Listen, we have a very
special broadcast of the Travel Show live from the Davis
Conference Center in Leighton. Yes, we're at the Fall Utah
Travel Expo. You can see the tails at Utah Travelxpo

(38:42):
dot com. We opened at nine o'clock this morning. We're
gonna be here till three pm. We have over fifty
travel vendors. You can come in and talk to them
one on one, ask questions, take advantage of exclusive expo discounts,
and then book your travel at savings that you simply

(39:04):
will not get anywhere else. Every hour we have travel
awards and prizes giving away. It could be a hotel stay,
of free cruise, airline tickets, vacation packages. The grand prize
today is two free tickets courtesy of Delta Airlines to Europe. Now,
somebody's going to win all these prizes, and it may

(39:24):
as well be you. Love to have you join me now.
As I mentioned, we are at the Davis Conference Center
in late and it's right off Antelope Drive in nine fifteen.
Go to seven hundred west and turn south and here
we are love to have you join us. Now. Many
of you are aware of the January Annual Utah Travel

(39:47):
Exposed in Saint George and in the Salt Lake City area.
Those will still happen on Wednesday, January twenty forest. For
our listeners in southern Utah listing in on Katie XU
and Saint George and Ksub and Cedar City, we will
be there on Wednesday, January the twenty first for the

(40:10):
Utah Travel Expo, and the granddaddy is the one in
the Salt Lake City area at the Mountain America expos
Center in Sandy. That will be Friday and Saturday, January
twenty third and twenty fourth. You can get all the
details at Utah Travel Expo dot com. Now we got
a lot more room in Salt Lake City. We will

(40:33):
have over one hundred travel vendors. Airlines, Safari companies, resorts,
river Cruise Company, Ocean cruise companies, travel apparel, travel gear,
everything imaginable will be available for you at the Salt
Lake event again, that's January twenty third and twenty fourth.

(40:55):
But today we are in Layton at the at the
Davis kon F Center just off I fifteen. Take Antelope Drive,
come down to seven hundred West and you know what's
nice about this is you can sit down one on
one with airlines we have International airlines, we have Delta Airlines.

(41:16):
Well they're vacation Delta Vacation, which is the vacation arm
using Delta Airlines, and you can talk to them. Safari
companies are here, resorts and cruise lines and you can
ask questions, is this the perfect match for me, my family?
Who's ever going? Now? In the last hour, we talked

(41:38):
to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and I want to give
you some hints on when booking a trip to Hawaii.
Here are some questions that you need to ask. I've
got I've got six of them. First of all, you've
heard me talk about what I call secret airfares. Now

(42:02):
the secret because you can't buy them air only you
call the reservation desk of United Airlines or Delta Airlines
or anybody. They don't even know about them. But what
airlines do is they will take what they project will
be unsold inventory. You know, once the door on that

(42:23):
plane closes, there is zero opportunity to make a sale
and generate revenue. So they'll come to just a handful
of tour operators. Morris Columbus Travel is one of them,
with our own airline contracts, and they'll say listen, we're
gonna deeply discount the airfare. But you can't sell it

(42:44):
air only. You have to bundle it or package it
with something. It could be a car rental, it could
be a hotel, and you don't even have to have
the car or the hotel for the entirety of your stay.
Actually it's a minimum of two nights hotel or two
nights car rental. You certainly can get more, but so

(43:09):
you want to ask on that air and hotel package
when you buy them together. Are you using a secret airfare? Now?
The actual legal term is tour operator fair tof tour
operator fair, I call it secret airfares. Number two, are

(43:29):
you going to go to one islands or two? If
you're there for a week stay on one island? I
think even ten days is a minimum for two islands. Now.
A great way to see all the islands is Norwegian
Cruise Line on their beautiful cruise ship, the Norwegian Pride
sales every week round trip from Honolulu and visiting a

(43:51):
Heilo and Kona, Maui, Kawaii, the big island of course Oahu,
and you can visit all the islands with packing and
unpacking one time, no weights, at airports, all your food
and entertainment included in one very affhotable price. Number three,

(44:13):
ask about resort fees. I think these are evil. President
Biden kept promising to force the resort fees to be
put into the price, and they do this not in Hawaii,
but just about in every place. Catch this while back.

(44:35):
I was in Kansas City at a comfort inn in suites, Okay,
and they had a one dollar and fifty resort fee.
It's not a resort, it's in Kansas City, but it's
just ridiculous. Most of the resort fees in Hawaii will
run you on the low end thirty bucks, on the

(44:56):
high end fifty to sixty dollars taxes. Then you want
to be aware of parking, so it's it is the
resort fee and then parking. Do you really need a
car in Waikiki? I don't think so. What I do
is I don't get a car because the parking fee
will be fifty dollars or more per day to park

(45:19):
at the hotel, plus taxes. What I do is I
can be self sufficient in Waikiki, and then when I
want to go out to the Polonies and Cultural Center,
the North Shore Hanama, Bay makapu U Bay. I'll rent
a car in Waikiki, use it all day, return it

(45:40):
that night, and I avoid the parking fee. Number four
book your activities before you go. So many activities sell out?
And number five I just mentioned do you really need
a rental car? And finally number six, check out the
resort food prices. Are there alternate dining options? Of course,

(46:02):
that's very available in Waikiki, but you know there's some
beautiful five star resorts all over Hawaii, but there's nothing
near it. Now, that's not a problem until you look
at the food prices. Typically at these resorts, the buffet
breakfast will run you with tax and tip forty five

(46:26):
to fifty dollars per person. I don't know about you,
but I've never eaten fifty dollars worth of food for
breakfast in my life, you know, and then lunch and dinner.
You just want to be aware of it. I'm not
saying don't do it, but just be aware of so
Number one the tour operator secret airface number two one
islander two. Number three, be aware of resort and parking fees.

(46:53):
Number four, Book your activities before you go. Number five,
do you really need a rental car in Whyikiki and
number six. Check out the resort food prices. Now, let
me give you some secret airfare promotions. You know Hawaii's
gotten expensive, but Morris Columbus Travel with these contracts can

(47:15):
bring it back into reality. I'm looking at I love
Waikiki beats, so let's start there. I looked at the dates.
A six day, five night program, five night hotel nights
you can certainly extend at January the eighth to the thirteenth. Now,
early January is a great time to go to Mexico
All Inclusives, or Hawaii or even the Caribbean because the

(47:38):
New Year's Christmas crowd has gone. The crowds pick up
about the second or third week of January. How about
the four star Ohea Waikiki studio suites including airfare, taxes
and the hotel Sorry, resort fees not included. Nine hundred
and fifty two dollars per person air taxis hotel for

(48:02):
a four star You want to go to a five
star over the top Hilton Vacation Club in Honolulu just
eleven oh six per person double occupancy. Keep in mind
that rates and promotions do vary by departure dating a
subject to change. Hey, when we come back. I have
a very special guest with Lynden Blad Explorations and Ponent

(48:25):
Explorations right here on the Travel Show. And don't forget.
We're at the Davis Conference Center in Leyton for the
Utah Travel Expo. We're here till three o'clock. You're listening

(48:59):
to the travelers. I'm Larry Gelwicks to get Away Good
You broadcasting live in a special edition at the Travel
Show at the Fall You Travel ex Book at the
Davis Coffee Center. Late you just take envelop drive right
off I fifteen to seven hundred West and here we
are at the Davis Conference Center in Leyton. We have

(49:22):
over fifty travel vendors airlines, cruise lines, expedition companies, safari companies, resorts, hotels,
and you can come talk one on one with these
travel suppliers. Take advantage of exclusive travel discounts only available
here at the expo, and exclusive opportunities to get to

(49:46):
travel more and pay less. I'd like to invite a
very special guest, Mallory Hayes with Lynn Blad Expeditions. Mallory,
Welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 6 (49:58):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so delighted
to be here.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
I can't tell you how excited I am to have
you on the air because you have a partnership. Lynton
Blad is a tour company that does unique expeditions nothing,
no death wish, I mean, very very safe.

Speaker 6 (50:16):
Absolutely, but you have.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
A partnership with National Geographic. Explain that to me, and
I don't know how it gets any better than that.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
Oh.

Speaker 6 (50:24):
Absolutely.

Speaker 5 (50:25):
So.

Speaker 6 (50:25):
We have actually been in the expedition space for a
long time. Our founder, Lars Arklendblad was the first person
to bring private citizens to the Antarctic Anti Galopagos way
back in nineteen sixty six and nineteen sixty seven, and
we are so proud of that relationship with those countries
in those communities. But with National Geographic, we started this
partnership with them, which is really more of a marriage

(50:48):
actually back in two thousand and four and we have
now extended that into twenty forty. And so what that
means for our guests on board is that they get
access to all of the geologists and naturalists, scientist, botanists,
all the iss essentially are going to be on board
to really elevate expert exactly to really elevate that experience

(51:08):
for them and stir up those curiosities and answer all
those questions that they're passionate about.

Speaker 1 (51:13):
You know you mentioned the Galapa ghosts. I've traveled there.
I have an absolute love to me it must be
what the Garden of Eden Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs
must have been like, because the animals have never learned
to fear man. I mean, birds will walk right up

(51:36):
to you, they'll walk on your shoes. About the only
time you'll get a hiss maybe from a sea lion
is if she has pups with her.

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Absolutely, and we have these amazing opportunities where we can
snorkele with the sea lions, and the sea lions, just
like you said, have no fear of humans, that they'll
come up, take a look, throw a little bubbles in
your face, and swim away.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
I've actually had that experience. And I was there, I
was snorkeling, swimming, I had a mask on, and this
baby sea lion comes up about two feet literally from
my mass, just looking at me, and then you know
it had trouble keeping up with me when I was
swimming so fast.

Speaker 6 (52:19):
Oh wow, Yeah, Michael Phelps Okay.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
You mentioned Antarctica and galapagoes. We're talking galapagoes very briefly.
What is a galapago's experience with Lindblad.

Speaker 6 (52:33):
Like absolutely, it is unlike anything else you'll ever have
experience in your life. We have four ships that are
down there year round. We also have a eight cabin
sixteen guest catamaran which is absolutely perfect to host families
and groups on board. Altogether, having a voyage with Lindblad
National Geographic Lindblood into Galopagos is just unparalleled, bef something

(52:56):
new happens every day, different hiking, different bling opportunities. We
also go to the Darwin Institute to learn more about
the Galopagos tortoises, which are they can age up to
one hundred and twenty years, which in line with your
dinosaur comment, that's kind of up there too. So it's

(53:18):
very very unique and you learn so much. It's family friendly.
We love and welcome families on board, especially to the Glopagos.
It's a perfect way to get everyone together in a
warmer climate and just absolutely amazing.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
What is the guest capacity on your four ships. You
mentioned the Cateamor and is that one of the four.

Speaker 6 (53:37):
That is one of the four, So that's hosts sixteen guests.
Our largest ship in the Glopagos is ninety eight guests.

Speaker 1 (53:43):
That is perfect. You know, no disrespect to any ocean
going cruise line, but they'll bring an ocean liner in
there and just kind of sail around. You don't get
the you don't get the experience of being on islands exactly.
You don't get that up close and personal with animals
who have no fear of you. What's the best time

(54:06):
to visit the Glopagos.

Speaker 6 (54:08):
That's such a good question, because any time of year
is a great time, something special, as something special. The
animals are there. It's the perfect climate for all these
different species of birds, whales, sea turtles, Galapagos tortoises. Everybody
is there year round. It's amazing.

Speaker 1 (54:24):
Do you mentioned the Darwin instant. Of course, Charles Darwin
spent I think like six weeks or so in the
Galapagos and formed his evolution theories the species of man.
I am confident that during that time he coined the phrase,
well I'll be a monkey's uncle.

Speaker 6 (54:42):
I believe it too.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Okay, we've only got about two minutes we're speaking with
Mallory Hayes with lynden Blad Expeditions take us to Antarctica
in the next minute.

Speaker 6 (54:52):
Gosh, Antarctica again, something so amazing. We've been going there
since the sixties and we continue to go there with
a few different types of itineraries. We have introduced our
new fly cruise itinerary, so if you have any hesitations
about trekking through the Drake Passage, we have an opportunity
for you to fly over the Drake Passage and then
cruise the continent of Antarctica and fly back on over.

(55:15):
We also have a longer voyage that will go through
South Georgia and the Falklands and that will allow you
to see lots of different types of penguin colonies.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
How many ships are doing Antarctica.

Speaker 6 (55:26):
We have three ships there and the capacity are going
to be under one hundred and forty eight passengers shut
the front door. We are one of the smaller ships
that are down there, and that means that we have
a little bit more time on the continent.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
We can actually have I call it boots on the ground.
They can step on Antarctica.

Speaker 6 (55:44):
Certainly we can kayak through Antarctica and boots on the ground.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
This is critical Again. Ocean Liners they have cruise Antarctica,
Elephant Island. That's wonderful, but I want to actually set
foot on Antarctica. And you have a lot of options
and activities that people can do well. Again, we're speaking
with Mallory Hayes with Lyndba Expedition. You have a website

(56:09):
our listeners can go to absolutely.

Speaker 6 (56:11):
Our website is really really easy. It is just www
dot Expeditions dot com and you can see all of
our itineries all the way through twenty twenty eight. And
that's Expeditions and.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
The show Mallorie Hayes Living Life. Don't check out Expedition
dot Live. You're listening to the travel show. I'm Leary

(56:43):
Gelis that get away through broadcasting live with a special
edition that's of a weekly travel show. Here at the
Fall Job Travel expell at the Davis Conference Center in
late We've got over fifty travel vendors here. We're going
to be open till three. You can come down sit

(57:05):
one on one. Is this the perfect vacation? Take advantage
of exclusive expo discounts. I'm pleased to welcome to the show.
David Schoenberg, the director of Business development Southwest for one
of the actually two great companies. Ponant and Paul Gogon. David,

(57:27):
Welcome to the show. Thanks so much, Lari.

Speaker 5 (57:29):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
Let's first start out with Ponant. Probably not an easily
recognized name by most Americans. Is that a fair statement.

Speaker 2 (57:38):
It's very fair.

Speaker 9 (57:39):
In fact, we are a French cruise line, but we've
been around for over thirty seven years. It's only in
the last ten years that we've really started to make
an impression in the US.

Speaker 1 (57:49):
So you're probably not doing the big ocean liners with
five thousand people. What is your market? Where do you sail?

Speaker 9 (57:59):
Our market is the world. We go to all seven continents,
which means you can take one of our Antarctic expeditions,
or you can take a wonderful Mediterranean cruise with us
and everything.

Speaker 1 (58:09):
Else in between. Now you have twelve ships, don't you absolutely?
And what is the guest capacity? What's the range?

Speaker 9 (58:16):
They've ranged from one hundred and eighty four guests up
to two hundred and sixty four, So we are small.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
That is insane, as in coolly wonderfully insane.

Speaker 5 (58:27):
You know.

Speaker 1 (58:27):
Again, no disrespect to any cruise line there's but when
you've got four or five thousand people. You have four
or five thousand people. But with these smaller ships, I
assume you can get into areas that the big ships can.
It's pretty much what we do.

Speaker 9 (58:44):
We go to off the beaten path places and we
try to schedule our teneraries to go to places where
the big ships are not so you don't have those
big crowds when you get off the ship with.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
Those twelve ships. David, what are some of your favorite
crew itineraries? Just a couple of them, you know.

Speaker 9 (59:03):
For me, Antarctica was quite special and spending ten days
on a cruise in Antarctica and walking amongst penguins and
seeing the whales and the seals up close was amazing.
The other location for me was last year I went
to Japan on one of our.

Speaker 1 (59:19):
I love Japan.

Speaker 9 (59:21):
Japan is such a unique country and we went with
our Smithsonian Journey's partners and there were lectures and on
board enrichment and there was so much to learn, and
then every day we got off the ship and we
experienced Japan.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
Yeah, you have a partnership Ponant with the Smithsonian Institute
of Smithsonian Journeys. Tell us about that partnership because that
is a huge deal. It really is.

Speaker 9 (59:46):
We do about thirty five cruises each year, and these
cruises are scattered across the globe on all seven continents,
and we bring on two guest lecturers from Smithsonian that
are hand picked for the destination, and then once on board,
you have lectures that are offered. They escort the excursions
you go on, and you could even book a table
for dinner and pick their brain about whatever subject you

(01:00:08):
want to talk about.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
That. I mean, you're kind of unique in that respect.
What I'm sure you're available to everyone. But what would
you say is the average demographic of a Pond customer.
It's a good question.

Speaker 9 (01:00:28):
We get them all ages, all ranges, but typically we
are couples and singles in their late fifties through seventies
and even into their eighties. They're well traveled guests, but
they're not typically typical cruiser guests. They might be people
who this is their first cruise, but they choose us. Yeah,

(01:00:49):
they choose us based on the itineraries that we offer,
which are so unique.

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
Do you do anything in the South Pacific? We do
a lot in the South Pacific.

Speaker 9 (01:00:58):
In fact, we have love I just came back about
six weeks ago from Tahiti and I was on our
sister brand, Paul Gogan.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
Yeah, let's introduce that. Now you have twelve ships in
ponand but the Paul Gogan, which is famous for French Polynesia,
you have one ship saving year round. Introduces to Paul
Gogan Cruises.

Speaker 9 (01:01:23):
Paul Gogan is a luxury cruise ship that is a
guest capacity of only three hundred and thirty guests. She
is year round in Tahiti and she sells itineraries between
seven and fourteen nights, and she offers a true French
Polynesia experience.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
What would be a seven night itinerary seven nights is
what I just came off of.

Speaker 9 (01:01:45):
And you'd start in Papaiete, which is the main airport gateway,
and you'd spend a full day in Huahini. You'd spend
another full day on our private retreat in Tahaa. Then
we'd head over to Bora Bora for two full day.
So you're there from me, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
James Mischer, the famous author, said that Bora Boria, in
his view, was the single most beautiful island in the world.

Speaker 9 (01:02:14):
It was to me, and it's hard to really portray
that on radio, but I could tell you I have
some amazing photos and we spent two full days there.
So not only do you spend two days looking at
the beauty, but you also get to go off ship
as much as you want and experience the experts.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
I'm assuming you visit Morea.

Speaker 9 (01:02:33):
So from Bora Bora, we take an overnight and wake
up in Morea and we spend two full days in
Marea as well.

Speaker 1 (01:02:40):
Where do you drop anchor Opinohu Bay, Cooks Bay or elsewhere.

Speaker 9 (01:02:44):
It's a small little bay. We were our only the
only ship there and it's like in between a couple
of places, so we're isolated and we're not surrounded by
other ships or anything else.

Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
What's the best time to visit Tahiti and French Polynesia.

Speaker 9 (01:03:00):
I would recommend between January and December, which means yes,
all year.

Speaker 1 (01:03:04):
January first, December thirty first. Yeah, you may get a
little bit more rain in our winter months, but we
escape the snow and cold absolutely.

Speaker 9 (01:03:14):
And when I was there, I was there seven days
in August and it never rained once on me.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
All Right back to Ponant, I'm so intrigued by that.
We've talked about something very unique about how you operate
your tours and cruise experience.

Speaker 9 (01:03:35):
The tours and cruises are all included, so that means
in every port of call, you get to choose from
several tours and you're off ship for usually half the day,
and that's all included in the cost of the cruise.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
We've been speaking with David Schoenberg with Ponant Cruises and
Paul Gogone, the ultimate luxury experience in French Politages. David,
thank you for joining us. Thank you appreciate it. We're
going to turn our attention to Pleasant Holidays and one

(01:04:09):
of the well known tour company that will take you
just about anywhere that you want to go. I'd like
to welcome Eugene to the Travel Show. Eugene is the
business development manager with Pleasant Holidays. Eugene, welcome to the

(01:04:31):
Travel Show.

Speaker 10 (01:04:32):
Hey, thank you for excuse me.

Speaker 6 (01:04:34):
Thank you, Larry, it's.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Good to have you here on the radio. Now, Pleasant
Holidays really started out in Hawaii, didn't it.

Speaker 10 (01:04:45):
Yes, and we are actually a tour operator that started
Pleasant Holidays Hawaii, but then we went to different directions,
different destinations.

Speaker 6 (01:04:55):
Showed up the word Hawaii. Now We're just known as
Pleasant Holidays exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:04:59):
I reme, I mean the company and this is a compliment.
It has been around a long time, yes, nineteen fifty nine, Yes,
and that gives its stability and you don't have to
worry about who you're dealing with now. You still do Hawaii.

Speaker 10 (01:05:16):
We're in a number oneter operator in Hawaii as well
as Tahiti.

Speaker 1 (01:05:20):
And I was going to say in Tahiti, any other
destinations or French Polynesia, Hawaii.

Speaker 10 (01:05:26):
We have multiple destinations now, but what we are known
for is Hawaii and Tahiti, including Fiji. But we always
expanded to Europe now and then we have you know,
Southeast Asia as well, so pretty much we're all.

Speaker 1 (01:05:42):
Where we want to go. Now. You're also in the
cruise market, aren't you.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
We do have a portfolio of small.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Ship cruises for example, where.

Speaker 10 (01:05:51):
For example it's Tahiti which is Paulkogon or in Fiji
which is Blue Lagoon or Scenic you know, luxury tours,
the Ultra luxury line that goes to Australia and New
Zealand as well.

Speaker 1 (01:06:05):
And of course in Europe, you know, the Blue Lagoon
cruises in Fiji is something I think everyone should experience.
It goes to those outer islands, correct, from Viti Levu,
and it's I mean, you get a peek into native life.

Speaker 10 (01:06:23):
Is the culture, definitely, So they do have it. They
only have one ship though, Blue Lagoon, and it is small.
It's only six to eight passenger. So you got a
book early on that one.

Speaker 1 (01:06:34):
And again it is a and you live aboard the ship.

Speaker 6 (01:06:37):
Correct.

Speaker 10 (01:06:38):
But it's more of you know, you get into the culture.
You know, it's more of a cultural enhancement enhancement program
that they have.

Speaker 1 (01:06:46):
Let's talk about pleasant holidays in Hawaii. There are a lot.
I'm going to really put you on the spot here, Eugene.
There are many good tour companies going to Hawai. Earlier
in the show, I talked about why one should always
consider an air and hotel package, taking advance of tour

(01:07:10):
operator airfares, which I call the secret airfares because you
call the airline they don't know anything about it.

Speaker 6 (01:07:16):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
So a lot of good choices of companies, certainly, pleasant
is among the best. Why pleasant holidays? What makes you different?

Speaker 10 (01:07:30):
We are different in a sense that we work with
a lot of the Hawaii tourist important and also a
lot of hotel properties from three to six stars hotel.
But the good thing about it is that we work
with these properties to get the guaranteed lowest rate.

Speaker 1 (01:07:46):
That are all important. Hawaii has a deserved reputation of
being expensive. It's gotten expensive, but you have a contract
that guarantees the lowest hotel rate.

Speaker 6 (01:08:00):
Correct.

Speaker 10 (01:08:01):
We have four or six properties that doesn't different islands
that does the lowest guaranteed. Great, and we also have
properties that we work with that does not offer resort fees,
and those are great savings.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
They are evil.

Speaker 10 (01:08:18):
Oh, totally fifty dollars at lease.

Speaker 1 (01:08:20):
I just talked about that earlier in the show. When
pricing out Hawaii and other destinations find out are their
parking fees. I don't think you need a car in
white Kiki, But what is the resort fee? I told
experience a few weeks ago. I was in Kansas City
at a comfort in and swite dollar fifty resort fee one. Well,

(01:08:44):
that's not I would be I'd pay that in Hawaii.
But you're talking fifty bucks.

Speaker 10 (01:08:47):
Fifty bucks at least some of them are like expensive
seventy five or so.

Speaker 1 (01:08:51):
What islands do you offer in French Polynesia.

Speaker 10 (01:08:54):
In French Polynesia, we do Tahiti. We also do you
know like the Papaeti motora morea, Yeah, we have those
one too.

Speaker 4 (01:09:03):
In Taiti.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
We're speaking with Eugene, development manager with Pleasant Holidays and
the Course there's exceptional cruises. You can come and talk
to Eugene one on one at her desk. You're at
the Fall, you all travel or you're listening to the

(01:09:38):
Travel Joe. I'm Murray Gelwis. Then get away do you
in a special edition live broadcasting the Fall you can travel.
That's most sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel. You want to
check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morris Coolumbus
dot com. If you already have a favorite Morris Columbus

(01:09:59):
travel advice, continue working with him or her. But if
you don't have a favorite advisor call eight hundred triple
nine forty six forty six. That's eight hundred triple nine
forty six forty six. So we are broadcasting live. We're
still open till three o'clock. We have over fifty travel
vendors here. Airlines, cruise line, safari companies, hotels and resorts

(01:10:23):
where you can come talk one on one get exclusive
expo discounts. And at the break one of the attendees, Scott,
walked past put out his hands to shake hands with me,
which I always appreciate when people recognize me or they
say I hear your voice. And he said, Larry, thank

(01:10:44):
you for keeping the travel show entertaining. And I said,
sit down, put the put the headset on, Scott, welcome
to the travel Show. Thank you, Larry. So I want
to ask you a question. You came up and I'm
so grateful you did, and just said, thank you for
keeping it entertaining. What is it about the travel show

(01:11:06):
that you find so entertaining?

Speaker 8 (01:11:09):
It gives me ideas for where I might like to
travel or what I might like to do different than
what I've done in the past. I've done some river cruises,
I've done a couple of ocean cruises in the last
five years. Wonderful, wonderful times. But I'm looking for something
maybe a little different.

Speaker 1 (01:11:29):
Well, there's some different things here. What city do you
live in? I live in Fruit Heights, and Fruit Heights
you know. Mark on your calendar. January twenty third and
twenty fourth, a Friday Saturday for the mother of all
travel shows. We've got fifty vendors here because that's all
the room we have in their biggest meeting area. But
we take over the Mountain America expos Center. We have

(01:11:52):
over one hundred. Last year we had one hundred and seven.
Now I'm gonna let you in an inside of secret
Scott is. We have a planning meeting for the travel
show every Thursday, about four of us get together. We
don't script it, we just outline it and we never
get through everything. But one of the things I always

(01:12:13):
say is the travel Show first before anything else is entertainment.
I want people laughing out loud or I didn't know that.
That's a great idea. So is there. Thank you for
being a faithful listener. Now we do podcast the show
on our website Morriscolumbus dot com, so if you miss it,

(01:12:38):
you can always catch the podcast. Do you have any
family members you'd like to give a shout out to.

Speaker 8 (01:12:43):
Well, I'd like to say hi to my wife, but
she's over in Rome right now. She just got there
about eight hours ago.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
All right, send her the podcast. How long have you
been married? Thirty five years? Last month she hasn't thrown
me out of the house. Yet. I'm not gonna say
she hasn't wanted to, but well yet, my wife and
I have been married forty eight years and she hasn't
thrown me out. But I tell people, trust me, she's
had cause, Hey, you have kids that might be listening

(01:13:11):
or listening, give me a shout out to you.

Speaker 8 (01:13:14):
Do you have any caids Jennifer and Hope that's my
daughter and granddaughter. They're at home right now. I hope
they're listening, but I don't know if she would.

Speaker 3 (01:13:22):
Be or not.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
Well, Scott, thank you so much. Thank you learning us
here on the Travel Show as a unexpected but much
appreciated guest. Well listen, we still got a couple hours
to go here at the Utah Travel Expo, and we'd
love to have you come down now. You know that

(01:13:43):
I've said many times, if it weren't for my kids
and grandkids, I would live in Thailand. Well, the good
news is that I have added my twenty twenty seven
Thailand and Cambodia tour. Now, this typically sells out in
one to two weeks. Last year, our January twenty twenty

(01:14:04):
six sold out in one week, so I added a
second Thailand tour in February of twenty twenty six. You
know what about four months. It's sold out in a week.
I keep it to just thirty six people. It is
the crown jewel of all my travels. I'd love to
have you with me. The dates for twenty twenty seven,

(01:14:28):
and that sounds like a long time away, but it's
just a little over a year. Will depart the US
January twenty fourth. If you only do Thailand, you'll be
home February seventh. If you join me in Cambodia, we'll
be home honor about February the tenth. We see all
the highlights, lots of the things you wouldn't expect to

(01:14:52):
ever see. I'd love to have you join me in
Thailand and Cambodian. By the way, another tour that you're
going to see later this week, it's not even in
our computers yet. The agents don't even know about it.
Is a cruise on the River sind that's round trip
from Paris in June of twenty twenty seven, and we'll

(01:15:18):
see Paris, Normandy, the d Date Beaches, row In. That's
Joan of arc Confloor Vernon Lehave and we bought half
the ship with Alma Waterways. These savings are anywhere from
eighteen hundred dollars to over three thousand dollars per person.

(01:15:38):
You can buy it directly from Almah Waterways or the
same cruise the same date you can buy from me. Well.
This wraps up another edition of the travel Show. Thank
you so much for joining us. If you missed any
of it, you can catch it on the podcast at
Morriscolumbus dot com. And don't forget the fall Utah Travel
Export the Davis Conference. We're here until three four, d

(01:16:01):
Less had voted for the unsent Filures of the Great Games.