The Travel Show - NCL's New Ships to Mexico; Report on the African Safari; Beware of Travel Scams

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the getaway Guru who just got back
from Europe with a group of Travel Show listeners and
I'll be giving a review of that. Yes, we're on
the Rhine River. I'm a solo act today. Carlos is
in Peru and so you're gonna have to put up
with me. But I'm telling you, I've been so excited

(00:31):
all week to be chatting with you. This weekend, we
have a great show. I'm going to tell you about
a airline pass that would give you unlimited flights, beware
of the extra charges from hotels and airlines. And new
new cruise ships are coming to Los Angeles.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Derek Lloyd, the vice president.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Of Norwegian Cruise Line, will be joining us here on
the air. And have you ever heard about Queen lili
O Kalani, the last monarch of Hawaii? And we're going
to talk about the coupdeta that took Hawaii from the
Natives into the United States. What are the ten most
expensive cities in the world to live? Seven of them

(01:16):
are in the United States. And you want to book
your Alaska cruise for next summer twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Now.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Believe it or not, some of the dates are already
close to selling out and we are a year away.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
The travel show is sponsored every week by Morris Columbus Travel,
where you always travel more and pay less in Norwegian
Cruise Line, the home of freestyle cruising. You can check
out all the great offerings of Morris Columbus Travel at
their website Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot com. And
if you don't have the direct line for one of

(01:52):
their expert travel advisors, call one eight hundred triple nine
forty six forty six. That's a hundred triple nine forty
six forty six. You know, I love cruising. As I mentioned,
we just got back from the Rhine River sailing.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
With Almah Waterways.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
I absolutely love Almah Waterways and we sailed from Amsterdam
to Basel, Switzerland, through the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland,
and then about half the group joined me for a
three day to night kind of adventure in Switzerland which
was just absolutely spectacular. Now, before this cruise, my family

(02:34):
and I, yeah, we took our adult children and their
spouses with Kathy and I we spent several days in London.
It was Samuel Johnson, perhaps the greatest man of letters
in English history, who made this statement which is so true.
He said, when a man is tired of London, he

(02:57):
is tired of life. And then he went on to
explain that statement, saying London offers everything you could possibly
want in life. Interestingly enough, it's Sir Winston Churchill. He
was often credited with that statement, but he was quoting
Samuel Johnson. One of the cruises that I really like,

(03:18):
and you know, ocean and river cruises are very very different.
They both have their advantages and they both have things
that you wish were different. I love the river cruise.
It's easy on, easy off, usually have about one hundred
and sixty hundred and seventy people. You get into the
big cities, the small hamlets. It's absolutely wonderful. One of

(03:40):
the cruise destinations for ocean cruisings that I think is
sometimes overlooked is the Mexican Rivy Era. Well that is
really Cabo Puerto Vayart Mazeit Lahn And there are several
cruise lines sale at some of just seasonally. But what

(04:03):
a couple of years ago Royal Caribbean put the Navigator
of the Season.

Speaker 4 (04:07):
Now.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
I really like that it's just been refurbished. They've done
a spectacular job on Navigator of the Season. I've had
my family on it. I've had several groups on it.
I think we ought to do another one. But so
popular is it that they're bringing a second ship and
even bigger ship now. Navigator of the Seas will hold

(04:27):
about four thousand guests if it's fully booked. But I
never felt crowded. They're being a larger ship. Royal Caribbean
is the Ovation of the Season now. It will arrive
in June of twenty twenty five, and it's a bigger
ship with forty nine hundred people. So they're going to
have capacity for eighty nine hundred people on the Mexican Riviera.

(04:53):
And what they will be offering is three, four, five
and seven night cruises. Now the three nights are usually
Friday to Monday, kind of a weekend adventure. And it's
leaving from Los Angeles and the port of La really
is San Pedro and which is just south of the
of La It's actually closer to the Long Beach Airport

(05:17):
than it is to Lax but it's it's La Encinata
a day at sea, back to La Friday to Monday
for a four day cruise. Add Catalina to that. Tennis
you have La Catalina. Catalina is a lot of fun.
And then ensnata in La for a five day at

(05:38):
Cabo San Lucas and for a seven day the traditional
Cabo Mazitlan and Porto Yarta. Why do I like the
Mexican Riviera. Now, there are some destinations in the Caribbean
that I probably like a little bit more. I love Mexico.
I love the Mexican people and the Mexican food and

(05:59):
all of that. But the reason I love the Mexican
Rivera and what I would say consider it for a
family vacation or a couple's getaway is the cruise fares
are outstanding, some really good bargains, and you know, when
they're going to more than double capacity Royal Caribbean, not
to mention the other cruise lines that sail the Mexican Riviera,

(06:22):
you're going to get some real specials. It books up
very fast. The other thing I like is it's so
easy to get to Los Angeles. It's a one day drive.
They have parking right at San Pedro Cruise Terminal. I
mean it's literally across the street, across a couple lanes

(06:43):
of traffic. They have a secure parking facility so you
can drive down and whether it's a three, four or
five night think of combining that maybe with Disneyland or
Santa Monica or lagoona Beach or San Diego. You can
really make a great vacation out of it, or just
a weekend getaway. Well, I really like this. We'll keep

(07:06):
you a post on more developments. But Royal Caribbean is
investing big time in southern California and the Pacific Coast,
and I just absolutely love those cruises. Hey, listen, you
know we've talked about what President Biden calls junk fares.

(07:27):
Now he's promised to get rid of them. They haven't
gotten rid of them yet, but I hope they do
a junk fair. The actual name is ancillary fairs. They're
extra add ons on an airline. It might be for
baggage unless you have some medallion status or co branded
credit cards, you pay for luggage. With the exception of

(07:49):
Southwest Airlines. Remember with Southwest you get two bags per
person up to fifty pounds each absolutely free. Now, if
you check in two bags on just about any other airline,
you're going to pay about forty to fifty dollars for
those bags, so it'd.

Speaker 1 (08:07):
Be eighty to ninety bucks each way.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
When you're looking at the cost of your airline ticket,
always figure in will I be taking luggage and will
I have to pay for it? But other ancillary charges
may include chains or cancelation fees, seat assignments, preferred seatings,
if you want a meal or a snack box. Some

(08:31):
airlines will charge you a fee for checking in at
the airport. They require you to check in online before
you arrive, or you pay this outrageous fee. Some airlines
will charge you for a carry on bag. Airlines have
never met a fee they didn't like, you know, and

(08:51):
that's absolutely true. All they care about is whether you
will pay it.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Well.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
Hotels have the same problem. These evil, evil resort or
destination fees can easily add fifty to sixty dollars a
night to your hotel bill, and they are not usually
displayed in the When you're looking at the price of
the room, then it's the price of the room taxes,
and then they add the resort fee. Some hotels charge

(09:23):
for parking, most do, and some even have a required
spending such as food and beverage at the hotel, or
they charge you for it. Well, we've hit the absolute
low with Marriott in their Hall of shame at the
Clancy Hotel, which is just south of Market Street in
my hometown, San Francisco.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Catch this if you want.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
To park your car after paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars,
I mean it's an expensive hotel. If you want to
park your car at the Marriott Clancy in San Francisco,
one dollars a night and then they add the taxes
to it, ninety one dollars a night just to park

(10:08):
your car. It's I think these charges are absolutely out
of control. Now, we talked earlier about some river cruising.
You know, I just got off the rine with a
group one hundred Travel Show listeners I like to do.
You know I do that all the time, Say hey,
I'm going here, who wants to come with me? And

(10:28):
we get a wonderful group of Travel Show listeners. Morris
Columbus Travel, the sponsor of the Travel Show, is partnering
with Viking Cruises for some events in September, and I
want to tell you about him when we come back
here on the Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
Welcome back to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
I'm Larry Gelwicks get Away Guru, and we have an
exciting program today. I told you I just got back
from Europe with a group of Travel Show listeners. And
you know, after those long flights from Europe, for about
the day I get home, I have this thought I
never want to set foot on an airplane again because

(11:18):
it's a long flight. About day two or three, I'm thinking, Okay,
what's my next adventure, And I'm hoping that my next
adventure very soon will be with Norwegian Cruise Line. Actually
I have some groups already booked with them. I'd like
to welcome back to the Travel Show. Derek Lloyd, a
friend of mine, Vice president Agency Sales in North America

(11:42):
with Norwegian Cruise Line. Derek, welcome back to the Travel Show.

Speaker 5 (11:48):
Thank you very much, Larry.

Speaker 6 (11:49):
It is great to be back.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
It is it is you know, so many things are
happening in the cruise industry. One of the things I'm
still try trying to get my head wrapped around, Derek,
is that you guys just seem to be out doing
yourself with every new ship. For example, I think coming
out next year is the new Norwegian Aqua. Why don't

(12:13):
you introduce this. I've been looking at Linda, I'm going,
oh my gosh, this is just too much.

Speaker 7 (12:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (12:21):
So the Norwegian Aqua. She's coming out in April of
next year, and it's pretty exciting. I know you you
are on board either the Prema or the Viva. Right,
she's our third in that class of ship, but she's
actually considered a plus so prima plus category. And the
new thing was with the Aqua is she's really being
built with some of the warm weather destinations in mind.

(12:44):
So she's a little bit larger, about ten percent. A
lot of that is going to be in some of
the outdoor deck areas, and so you'll see like the
Ocean Boulevard of ten percent larger, so more more pool area,
deck area, sun area, et cetera, which is perfect for
going to the Caribbean or Bermuda, et cetera.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
You know, Derek, when.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
You guys are planning a new ship and how it
will appeal to guess, what are some of the questions,
What are some of the issues very briefly that you
consider because every ship. I've been on the Premium. In fact,
I have a big group booked on it next June
from rekuevic Iceland to London, and I've done the Prima

(13:23):
on that same cruise. We had a wonderful group of
travel show listeners on it last year.

Speaker 1 (13:28):
But what what are you thinking?

Speaker 2 (13:30):
I mean, what are the issues on how to have
even a more exciting ship?

Speaker 7 (13:36):
You know?

Speaker 5 (13:37):
A part of it is that's a great question. Part
of it is, especially when you've got a new class
of ships, you really need to when you bring it out,
you really need to see, Okay, where are we getting
great feedback on what is it the people seem to
really like? Like, For example, of the Prima and the Viva,
one of the biggest hits from a dining perspective is
that indulged foot halt. Oh my god, I'm blown away

(13:59):
by how many people love that area.

Speaker 6 (14:01):
And so that's something.

Speaker 5 (14:02):
We're looking at for all of our future ships. We've
got to have something like it's just because it is
so overwhelmed and popular.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
It really is.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
When my wife and I were on the Prima last year,
we ate more at the food court. I'm talking about
lunch and dinner than any of the other restaurants. Hey listen,
moving quickly along. You know when when someone looks at
a hotel price and let's say it's two hundred dollars,

(14:31):
you can put one or two people in it, and
nobody says boo if you're a single traveler. But you
know where I'm going with this, Derek. But with Cruise
Line saying the price of a cabin is sixteen hundred dollars,
but it's advertised at eight hundred, you know, based on
double occupancy, people seem to get worked up about that,

(14:56):
But it's the same as a hotel room giving you
the price for one or two. But NCL, you're doing
something for single guests that is fantastic, not just the
inside cabins, but the balconies.

Speaker 5 (15:11):
You're you're absolutely right if you do look at a hotel,
if you think about it, the pricing is per room.
Cruise lines have always done it per person based on
two in the room. But you're right, it's the same
thing if you're if you're if your hotel night is
five hundred dollars for that room and you've got two
people in there, it's basically three hundred and fifty dollars

(15:33):
per person with with with Norwegian, what we start We
actually started with this with the Norwegian Epic back in
twenty tens. We created a whole new area called the
studio stateroom, and the studio state rooms were tiny, one
hundred square feet, had a studio lounge where just the
people could that were in the studio state room had

(15:54):
access to But the really important thing is these these
rooms were built for a solo traveler, and so there
was no single supplement, and that took off we go.
People were so enthused about it they told out pretty
much immediately, and so every ship that we've built since
the Norwegian Epic had this concept on board with these

(16:15):
inside studio state rooms. What we've done recently, and this
is a big deal, is we've gone through the rest
of our fleet and we've now designated other state rooms,
ocean views and balconies as being solo staterooms. And again,
similar to the studios, there is no single supplement, so

(16:36):
the price that you pay as a solo traveler is fantastic,
no additional charge.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
We're speaking with Derek Lloyd, Vice president Agency Sales with
Norwegian Cruise Line North American believe it or not, Derek,
we got about two minutes left.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
I don't know where the time goes.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
So I want to ask you a couple of questions
and just bam, bam bam, fast answers Cruise first Certificate.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
It's a great way to save money.

Speaker 5 (17:01):
What is absolutely you basically spend one hundred and one
hundred and fifty dollars and we give you a three
hundred dollars credit, so you immediately get one hundred and
fifty dollars towards your careers.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
We are seeing and just the biggest demand for Alaska,
not only this year but next year twenty twenty five.
Some of the sailings are getting close to being sold
out for next summer. What are you guys doing in
Alaska for twenty twenty five?

Speaker 5 (17:28):
Alaska is tremendously popular, as it always has been. For
somebody who's going for the first time, seven days out
of Seattle's fantastic. But if people want to see a
little bit more, highly recommend the one Ways either Vancouver,
we're going up to Whittier this year, or we've got
some nine to twelve day cruises out of Seattle as
well to get you a little bit deeper into the destination.

(17:50):
It's a phenomenal, phenomenal place accruise too.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
I want to mention briefly military appreciation program. You get
a discount teacher discount program. And finally I'm going to
really put you on the spot here, Derek. There are
a lot of really good cruise choices out there, not
just NCL, which I you know, I dearly love. But
with all the good choices, why Norwegian Cruise Line?

Speaker 5 (18:18):
You know, really these days we're paying so much attention
to destination. We got four hundred places around the world,
so if you're looking to explore, that's a way to go.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
I've got to cut you off here, Derek Lloyd, NCL. Thanks,
Derek's thank.

Speaker 6 (18:33):
You, Larry.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
You're listening to the travel show. I'm Larry Gelwick's the
get away Guru. And you know, wasn't that a fun
interview with Derek Lloyd, vice president of Agency Sales for
a Norwegian Cruise Line. I'll tell you on all the
cruise lines, these new ships are really really something. And
that food court it's unbelievable. They have about eight different

(19:08):
restaurants and it's a food court and everything that you
can possibly imagine. Well, we keep trying, you know, cruise
lines keep trying to come up with something unique and different,
and we do the very same thing at Morris Columbus Travel.
Can you guess what this one is? Doesn't it stir
your soul? I know my wife Kathy loves this. Yeah,

(19:32):
there's going to be a brand new tour next summer.
Have you heard of the Scotland Military Tattoo. It is
the largest bagpipe and drum corps festival in the world,
viewed on television worldwide by over one hundred million people.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
It's only in the month of August.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
And tickets are already sold out for years and years
to come. But yeah, Morris Columbus Travel scored some tickets.
They hold the event in the Edinburgh Castle. That's very
interesting about bagpipes. You know, the earliest records of bagpipes
and I mean that is a distinctive sound, isn't There's
no you hear bagpipes, you know what's going on. But

(20:16):
the earliest record of bagpipes in Scotland dates back to
the fourteen hundreds. They would, you know, for ceremonies for
their culture, even going to war, going to battle, you'd
have the bagpipers. But they have wondered where the bagpipe
has originated, and there's a there's discussion on that.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
Some people think.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
The bagpipes actually originated in ancient Egypt. Some people feel
that the bagpipes were first brought to Scotland by the
Roman legions coming north the Scots tribes from Ireland. But

(21:00):
as I said, which I mean the Roman legions would
have been two thousand years ago, Egypt long before that.
But as I said, the fourteen hundreds, that's the oldest
record that we have today of bagpipes in Scotland. Now,
this is a fantastic tour. Some may ask, well, if

(21:20):
it's bagpipes and drum corps, why is it called tattoo?
That's you know, where you have I Love you honey
on my right arm or something. Well, it's a little
different word. The word tattoo as used here doesn't have
much to do with anything on your arm, chest, or

(21:41):
back or legs. And actually it doesn't have much to
do with this performance. It comes from the sixteen hundreds.
It's kind of a last call in Dutch pubs where
the drum corps, the Regimental Drum Corps would play us
a music called dough and taptoe, which would signal to

(22:08):
the pub owners it's time to shut down the tuch.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
It really meant.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
Last call for drinks and turn off the paths, send
the soldiers home.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
Back to their barracks.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well, it became dough ten excuse me, dough Den taptoe
as tattoo, tattoo tattoo, and that became a sticking point.
Now the actual military tattoo, which is beyond spectacular. We're
not talking one or two bagpipers. We're talking hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds. They line up, the different bagpipe cores

(22:42):
and drum corps line up down the Royal Mile Road
leading up to the Edinburgh Castle. They have stadium seating there.
It is absolutely incredible. We've never done anything like this before.
And so our travel dates are next year, Kathy, I'll
be your personal travel host August eleventh to the twenty

(23:07):
first of next year, and we'll start in Edinburgh, Scotland,
and then we'll move on through Scotland, Wales and England.
And it is it is the trip of a lifetime.
Now we put this out what last week, about a
week ago, it's already a third sold out. We're keeping

(23:27):
it to about forty people only. We want a good
intimate group. We don't want a convention. If you're interested
in this, go to Morriscolumbus dot com Morriscolumbus dot com
and on the homepage just scroll down to Morris Murdoch
Escorted Tours. That's the brand name of the Morris Columbus

(23:48):
tours that are hosted Morris Murdoch, preserving that Murdoch name.
You can also on Monday give a call to your
favorite Morris Columbus travel advisor if you have their direct line,
use that. If not, call one eight hundred Triple nine
forty six forty six. One eight hundred Triple nine forty

(24:11):
six forty six. Hey, earlier I told you about some
Morris Columbus Viking events that are coming up. Viking is
a great river cruise line. They sell not only Europe,
but in Asia and Africa.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
Mark these dates.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
On September nineteenth, there'll be a cruise night with dinner
hosted by Viking Cruises and Morris Columbus Travel September nineteenth
at six point thirty at the Union Grill in Ogden.
There is a cost to it eight bucks. That doesn't
even cover your dinner. But it is kind of control

(24:51):
the number of people who are coming to learn about
Viking and enjoy a wonderful dinner at the Union Grill.
Now that's September ninth teenth. On September twentieth, we've never
done anything like this before. We have Morris Columbus Travel,
Viking Cruises and the Utah Symphony down at Symphony Hall

(25:13):
with a performance. And what's unique about this performance is
there's a circday sole type performance going on as a
backdrop to the symphony. And it is a spectacular, absolutely
spectacular event. Now this one for the symphony, and there'll

(25:36):
be some light refreshments and there'll be a presentation separate
from the symphony, a very brief one about Viking cruises.
It's only ten bucks. You can't even buy a symphony ticket.
So that's September twentieth. And then and then in October
seventeenth in Salt Lake City admission free, no meal included,

(25:56):
but Viking Cruises at the Morris colun Umbus Travel Salt
Lake Downtown office, first South and second East. Now that's
a lot to take In September nineteenth in Ogden, dinner
and a presentation September twentieth, Utah Symphony, Light refreshments and

(26:17):
a presentation October seventeenth, a presentation at Morris Columbus Travel.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
Where do you get all the information?

Speaker 2 (26:25):
Just contact any of the Morris Columbus Travel travel advisors,
check it out on the website Morriscolumbus dot com or
call one eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Don't you love Hawaii? Did you know that?

Speaker 2 (26:43):
It was Captain James Cook who was the first European
on his third Pacific voyage, in that first European to
visit Hawaii, And that was the indigenous name Owaihi Owaihi,
almost pronounced with an oh. Well, he changed it to

(27:04):
the Sandwich Islands, named after John Montague, the fourth Earl
of Sandwich back home in jolly old England, who was
his benefactor and patron for it. But it was a monarchy.
You've probably heard of the tragedy of Queen Lilio Kalani,
the last monarch of Hawaii. Let me give you a

(27:25):
brief one. This is a tragic story. She ascended to
the throne in eighteen ninety one and began working a
new constitution to ensure Hawaiian sovereignty, only to be overthrown
by US business interests. Now, the US government was not
directly involved, but US business has had there I think

(27:49):
tactic approval. When Queen liliol Kolani ascended to the throne
of the Kingdom of Hawaii in eighteen ninety one, she
became the first female ruler of the Hawaii and monarchy
and the last ever sovereign monarch. Unfortunately, she gave She
came to power when powerful American business interests, mostly around

(28:12):
the sugar industry, were looking to control the islands for
their own profit and convince the US government to kind
of help them do it. Now, the queen did not
go down without a fight, but her battle against the
American sugar planters to maintain Hawaii's independence saw her overthrow.

(28:32):
And what it was is the Hawaiian Islands was a
sovereign nation and as a result, when sugar went to
the mainland, there was a very high terif on it,
so the and this was a huge business. American business
interests then wanted to take over the islands. They wanted

(28:54):
the US to annex the islands and therefore there'd be
no tariff and their profits would absolutely skyrocket. Well, what
they did is they got a militia together and they
arrested Queen Lili o'colone, put her in jail. They put
her on trial for treason. She's the queen, the monarch

(29:17):
of her own country. They sentenced her to five years
at hard labor and then worked with the US government
to annex the Hawaiian island. Anyway, they worked out in agreement.
They avoided the hard labor, and she was confined like

(29:40):
a house arrest, to one bedroom in Elani Palace, which
is the only royal palace in the United States. Well,
in eighteen ninety just excuse me, she battled them, but
the kingdom was over thrown in eighteen ninety three. The

(30:02):
businessman set up a committee of safety and created a
provisional government. You'll recognize this name, John Dole as in
Dole Pineapple was put in charge. But the queen refused
to seed power without a fight. She led a counter revolution.
It was put down, and finally was sent to a

(30:25):
single bedroom rather than a prison cell to you know,
really remain the rest of her life. It's just a
tragic story that I think is repeated around the world. Anyway,
we do love Hawaii, don't we, And there's some really
good deals out there right now. You know, Hawaii got expensive,

(30:45):
but the Hawaiian experts at Morris Columbus Travel have found
some deals here at a first class four star hotel
at the Ambassador. How about round trip air in six days,
five nights, hotel thirty seven dollars per person that includes
your hotel taxes. Does not include the evil resort fees

(31:05):
because you have to pay those on site. That's a
first class four star hotel the Ambassador. These particular dates
are September fifth to the tenth. The crowds have gone.
Keep in mind that all prices and promotions are subject
to availability and change at the time of booking. We're
going to go from Hawaii to Egypt here on the

(31:27):
Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Welcome back to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the get Away Guru, and may I
just express my appreciation to all of you for spending
the weekend with me. I look forward to this show
every week, and the next hour I'll be talking about
the recently completed Rhyine River Cruise with an exciting group
of Travel Show listeners. I want to invite you to
join me every Monday on KUTV Channel two. Now, this

(32:05):
is something I've been on Channel two for about fifteen
sixteen years on the noon news as a reporter, and
it's travel news. It's usually broadcast. I'm on between twelve
forty and twelve fifty. It's not a commercial, but it's
straight travel news. It may be a airfare sale, a
cruise sale, something that's happening with passport requirements. Again, it's

(32:28):
not a commercial, but it's straight news reporting and I
do it anywhere in the world that I am the
last let's see this last Monday. It was from Requier, France,
which is an exciting city used by Disney as the
inspiration and the movie Beauty and the Beast for Bells Village,
and it looks just like that. Well, we were just

(32:50):
in Hawaii. I want to turn my attention to one
of my favorite destinations, and that is Egypt, and welcome
back to the Travel Show, my good friend Tim Taggard. Tim,
Welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 7 (33:04):
Thanks Larry. Great to be with you. Dan.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
Do you know what you and I have in common.
We're both travel junkies.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
What we're total travel junkies. Yeah, we you host several
tours every year for Morris Columbus Travel, and I know
that this November November ninth of the eighteenth, you have
an exciting Egypt Discovery tour and now Cruz. Now I
want to cut right to the heart of the matter.

(33:32):
The number one question I'm sure people will ask you
is with all that's going on in the Gaza and Israel,
is Egypt safe?

Speaker 7 (33:42):
Egypt is totally and completely safe. There's never an issue.
In fact, one of my friends that was concerned about that,
I said, at the end of this tour, I'll ask you,
were you ever nervous about security at all? And you
will giggle. And that's exactly what happened. There's no concern
for security on the tour.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
And we haven't seen any reports of problems in Egypt.
I would go to Egypt today, I'd take my children there.
But you have this exciting cruise, a Nile cruise with
a land discovery tour November ninth to the eighteenth. There's
still a few spaces available. Why don't you run us

(34:22):
through some of the highlights.

Speaker 7 (34:25):
One of the neat things about this experience is you
have an opportunity in about ten days to do everything
you would do on a three to four week tour
of Egypt. And it's built around kind of like a
cruise where you have opportunities for excursions. There's an opportunity

(34:47):
to prim in everything and see everything. This is just amazing.
We start out with Cairo and the Pyramids Dou Sakara,
then we fly down to the Assa One area, remember
the Aswan Dam. Backing at that huge dam and didn't
have an opportunity for an early morning visit to Abu

(35:08):
Symbol some one hundred and sixty five miles south. That
is just remarkable. Do you remember when they had the
publications about moving that monument? The whole world participated in
saving that from the dam.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Backing right, that was the Aswan Dam, and it is
absolutely overwhelming up there.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
You know.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
I think one of the favorite areas for me and
a lot of people is Luxor in the Valley of
the King.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
You'll be visiting that.

Speaker 7 (35:42):
Yeah, we do that. We get in the cruise ship
in Aswan and then we head up visiting the ancient
monuments as we go up and end that in Luxor
with a marvelous opportunity for hot air balloon in the morning.
The Valley of the kings, King tuts tomb, and the

(36:04):
Temple of Karnak. It's one of the great experiences of
a life. It really is travel destinations unlike any other.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
Tim I've told people, if you haven't visited luxor, you
haven't visited Egypt. It's the It's where it's so much
of the nobility, and the ancient city of Thieves, the
ancient capital.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
You mentioned.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
King Tut or tutin common properly pronounced to amun H.
He ruled from thirteen thirty three BC until his death
just ten years later. He was the young pharaoh, you know,
which is absolutely fascinating. And what's incredible. Right there at

(36:46):
King Tut's tomb, you can see him he you know,
his mummified body. You can even see his teeth and fingernails.
It is the most incredible experience to think, here is
a man that lived thirty three hundred years ago, and
I am actually seeing his himself right there. Tell me

(37:07):
about another place that I really like, and that's the
Temple of hatchet Suit.

Speaker 7 (37:14):
You know, the Temple of hatchet Suit is remarkable first
of all because it's built with a woman. This is
someone who came into power and function as a pharaoh.
The temple itself is remarkable, it's beautifully restored, it's in
the setting just outside of the Valley of the Kings,
and one of the most remarkable parts of this tour

(37:36):
is the opportunity to see it from above. The sun
rises in the morning from the hot air balloons up
above lux Or.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
It's absolutely it really does.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
We're speaking with Tim Taggart, who will be hosting the
Egypt Discovery Tour. All of the details at Morriscolumbus dot com,
Morriscolumbus dot com or call Morris one eight hundred, triple
nine forty six forty six. Thanks Tim, all the best
more when we come back in our number two of

(38:08):
the Travel Show. Welcome back to our number two of
the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks they get Away Guru.

(38:30):
Thank you for joining us and spending part of your
weekend here with the Travel Show family, and it is
a great family. I mentioned that Kathy and I had
the privilege of hosting a group on the Rhine River
which we sailed from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, visiting the Netherlands, France,

(38:51):
Germany and Switzerland with Alma Waterways, a Deluxe over the
Top River Cruise Company.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
And you know, these were the nicest group of people.
They really were.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
Now you hear me say that all the time, but
I think we only have nice people on our groups.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
For some of us.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
We spent some time in Amsterdam a couple of days
before the cruise. Visited the and Frank House, by the way,
if you do that, get your tickets in advance because
it sells out. My daughter and I went to the
Van gou Museum. You can also visit the Hikes Museum,
one of the biggest draws in Amsterdam, which by the way,

(39:30):
was founded in the thirteenth centuries of fishing village. It's
built on the River Amstell. Now, the word dam means
a structure that can block or control the flow of water.
It can also mean a causeway, a street, or a barrier.
So that's dam no n on it dam. So the

(39:53):
river Amstell and they have the structures and the causeway
and the controlling the of water. You add to Amstell
Dam dam and Amstelldam became Amsterdam, think of Amsterdam, Rotterdam,
e Dam, all of these things. Well, it's the canal too.

(40:13):
Now we did that as a group, we got on
a small boats and plied the canals of Amsterdam. Now,
to put things into perspective, everybody thinks of Venice as
the city of canals, and it is one hundred and
fifty canals in Venice, but Amsterdam has one hundred and
sixty five. Now, if you think that's a lot, you

(40:36):
know where I would live if it weren't for my
kids and grandkids. So that would be in Thailand. I
love Bangkok. I'd probably live up north in the foothills
of the Himalayas are down south on the island of Puquet,
But Bangkok is also known as the Venice of the East.
Venice has one hundred and fifty canals. Amsterdam has one

(40:56):
hundred and sixty five. You got your seatbelt on. Bangkok
has one thousand, six hundred and eighty two canals called klongs.
If you stretched all of these waterways together, it's about
sixteen hundred miles of waterway canals in Bangkok in the
greater Bangkok area, now sixteen hundred miles. Think of Salt

(41:19):
Lake City to Chicago. That's about fourteen hundred miles driving
little less as the crow flies. So it would be
about like Salt Lake City to what Detroit or something
in waterways. I really, you know, there's more bicycles than
people in Amsterdam, another favorite stop of mine on the cruise.

(41:40):
And by the way, I would invite any of our
cruisers that were with me to call in and give
your view of the of the trip. One triple eight
five sevenho eighth one. Oh that's one triple eight five
seventy eighty ten. What was your experience briefly as we

(42:00):
plied the waters of the Rhine River together. Now we
stopped in Strasburg. I absolutely love Strasburg. It actually is
the largest city in the grandest region of Eastern France,
the seat of the European Parliament. You've heard me talk
about the Christmas markets. In my forty six years in

(42:23):
the travel industry and having visited one hundred and thirteen countries,
most of them many many times over, the Christmas markets
of Europe is in my top three travel experiences. We've
done it several times, and of course, you know, we
have a Christmas market cruise December fourth to the eleventh.

(42:44):
Just a couple of cabins left at some incredible discount
prices because we bought half the ship, and our rates
run from several hundred dollars to about one thousand dollars
less per person than if you bought it from Almah Waterway.
We'll be sailing on the Danube from Nuremberg, through Vienna
and down to Budapest. But back to Christmas markets. Strasburg

(43:07):
has the oldest Christmas market in Europe, dating back to
fifteen seventy. And it's also interesting they have the oldest
barrel of white wine. Now I'm not a wine drinker,
but I appreciate the history, dating back to fourteen seventy. Now,
this big barrel of wine dating to fourteen seventy has

(43:32):
only been tested three times in history. The most recent
was at the liberation of Strasburg in nineteen forty four
following World War Two. Kind of the centerpiece of Strasburg
is the Strasburg Cathedral. Did you know it's called Notre Dame.
We think of Notre Dame as in Paris. Well, that's

(43:52):
the Paris Notre Dame Cathedral. This is the Strasburg Notre Dame.
Construction was started in fourteen thirty nine.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
Well, it's a pretty old one.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
Just one last thing interesting about Strasburg is. Between eighteen
seventy and nineteen forty five, Strasburg has changed nationalities four times.
The Germans took it over from France what we'd call
France today in eighteen seventy and kept it until World

(44:30):
War One, when France took it back. Well, it was
French from nineteen eighteen to World War Two, which was
nineteen forty. Germany took it back and they changed the
national boundary so it was French. Then it became German.
Then the French took it back over World War one

(44:51):
and in nineteen forty until nineteen forty four, then Germans
took it back and it was considered Germany and it's
just across the river. I mean today Germany's across the river.
Nineteen forty four France took it back. The city itself
originally dates back to twelve BC as a Roman city,

(45:14):
but I wanted to save the best for last. In
our last stop on the cruise, we had one of
the tour offs. Remember all your short excursions are included.
They give you usually four or five at different activity levels.
The easy level kind of catering to those maybe some
mobility issues to more active bike tours and everything in between.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
France.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
Now some years ago Lonely Planet name the Alsais region,
Alsace region one of the most desired and beautiful places
in the world, and rec is in the Alsace region.
It's romantic medieval city between mountains and vineyards, and it's
a combination of history, scenery, food and wine. But really

(46:06):
is a crown jewel hidden in time. Now the old
town is winding alloys and walkways, and it is reported
not as a tourist statement, but as a historical statement.
To look today the main road of old Town to
look as it would have in the sixteen hundreds. You

(46:29):
have color, brightly colored buildings, half timbered houses.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
The city itself.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
Dates back to ten ninety seven, but the Alsace area
was actually settled about two thousand years ago by the
Celtics and the Romans.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
You have to see it to believe it. Now.

Speaker 2 (46:53):
Requeer itself so impressed Disney that it was used by
the Disney Company as the inspiration for Bell's village in
the movie Beauty and the Beast. So if you look
at that, it actually looks like that today. Well lots

(47:14):
of fun right there, Hey, you're looking. I mentioned this
Christmas Market cruise December fourth, the eleventh.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
I'd love to have you with me.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
If you're looking for a great Christmas gift, think of
a Morris Columbus Travel Gift Certificate. It can be applied
to just about anything and everybody gets excited about it.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
I mentioned at the start of the show the ten
most expensive cities in the world, and seven of them
are in the United States. It's the Annual Cost of
Living Index and this is ranked from January of this
year through the middle of the year, and they look
at the cost of living, rent, groceries, restaurants, local purchase power.

(48:00):
Not surprisingly, the top two most expensive cities in the
world and one of them I was just at last week.
Number one most expensive is Geneva, Switzerland. Number two is Zurich,
Number three New York, four, San Francisco five, Boston, Number

(48:22):
six is requievic Iceland. That's expensive. Seven Washington, DC, eight, Seattle,
nine LA and number ten Chicago. So in the top
five you've got New York, San Francisco, and Boston as
the most expensive US cities. With that, now, when we
come back, I've invited a dear friend of mine, Troy Witt,

(48:45):
to join me here. He lives in Livermore, California, and
as a regular listener of the Travel Show. He just
got back from one of our Africa safaris, and I've
asked for an unbridled report of the Great migration here
on the Travel Show.

Speaker 8 (49:06):
You're listening to the Travel Show on talk radio one
oh five nine knrs.

Speaker 1 (49:12):
Just listen and you'll know.

Speaker 2 (49:19):
Jumbo and welcome to the Travel Show. Jambo is the
native greeting in East Africa. It's actually a Swahili greeting
that is like a loja wuennis dis bonjour. But in
Africa and East Africa they say jumbo and please to
Welcome to the show. Troy wed a dear friend of
mine who lives in Livermore, California, down there in the

(49:41):
Bay Area, for which we are so sorry.

Speaker 1 (49:45):
Troy. Welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
Welcome, Thank you, Larry.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
Jumbo, Jumbo, Jumbo Jumbo.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
Now you just got back from one of the Morris
Columbus Great Migration safaris. US kind of an overview of
the experience that you and your wife, Sherry had.

Speaker 4 (50:04):
Yeah, you know, it's something we've always wanted to do,
and we put it off way too long. And that's
probably the first thing I tell everybody. You have a
bucket list of trips you want to take, move them
all down one notch and move this up to the top.
It's just an unforgettable It touches every sense that you have.
You know, as soon as we arrived, we stayed in

(50:26):
Nairobi the first night and then headed up to the Samburu.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
National Park called Buffalo Springs.

Speaker 4 (50:33):
You get to see the way Kenyons live and the
natural just it's so amazing to see how they live
and how different it is from our life. But as
soon as we entered the park, the first part the
wildlife were right there.

Speaker 3 (50:46):
You go through a gate and you enter.

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Within a quarter mile, you're seeing elephants, giraffe, zebra and
paula right away. And then we get to our lodge,
which was amazing, the lodge in Samburu, and you look
out the window of your room and there's a herd
of elephants just tracing through just one hundred yards away.

Speaker 3 (51:08):
And you know, I've always wondered, Shary and I have.

Speaker 4 (51:10):
Watched nature shows a lot, and when I was growing up,
I've always wondered, how do these photographers get these shots.

Speaker 3 (51:16):
They must have a five foot long telephoto lens.

Speaker 1 (51:19):
But you don't do it.

Speaker 6 (51:22):
You don't need it.

Speaker 4 (51:23):
You drive into the park, you drive wherever you are,
and the animals are right next to you.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
If you're brave enough.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
You can reach out and touch them. Now I didn't,
I wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
You wouldn't do that. You wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
do that. You know you can. Yeah, there's great.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
There's great safaris all over Africa, but the great migration
is only in Kenya and Tanzani. And for a lot
of reasons, Kenya is by far the better choice. The
months of July, August, and September. One month you went
in July. I believe one month is not better than
the other, but you have it is the large just

(52:00):
animal migration on the planet. Now in Kenya there are
fifty game parks. There are four of what I call
the Big four. We visit on our safaris three of them.
The fourth one is on the other side of the country.
It's a wonderful park, but you won't see anything there
that you wouldn't see in these others. And what's interesting, Troy,

(52:24):
is that not one park has a fence encircling the
entire park.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
The animals can roam.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
But you know, there's so much food, they tend to
stay in the same areas. Now, tell me if you
had this experience, we give you a booklet that has
pictures of information on oh sixty or seventy animals that
you're likely to see. My experience is by day three
we've checked off fifty or more species, not including the birds.

Speaker 3 (52:55):
Yeah, easily, we kept track.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
Every night we get back to our room and kind
of check the animals we'd seen.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
There were some nights where we couldn't even remember all
that we had seen. And yeah, you just see everything.

Speaker 4 (53:06):
The big five we saw by day two, and the
most elusive one was the leopard. But we found that
one and we saw it then in every single part,
we checked off so.

Speaker 3 (53:16):
Many animals in that list.

Speaker 6 (53:18):
We really did.

Speaker 4 (53:19):
And you know, I think the thing that touched both
of us the most is in the Old Pajetta Reserve.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
That's one of the parks that we visit.

Speaker 4 (53:29):
Yeah, and we stayed at Sweetwater's Lodge, which I would
live there.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
It's just a beautiful place.

Speaker 4 (53:34):
It's a tent camp, and yet you're in a tent
that feels like the King of Siam.

Speaker 3 (53:39):
It's just amazing.

Speaker 4 (53:40):
But the thing that touched us the most is in
that reserve are the last two of species on Earth,
which is the northern white rhino. They're two females and
they're trying to artificially inseminate them from samples that they
collected years ago from males that were alive. But there's
something that touches you deep inside when you were looking

(54:01):
at the last two of any species on Earth.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
Yeah, yeah, let me come, let me comment on that.
What happened?

Speaker 2 (54:08):
What has There was some males that died, they collected
you know, semen from them. But as it turns out,
these two females had trouble. They could conceive, but they
couldn't carry the baby and they just kept miscarriaging. So
what San Diego Zoo is doing right now is like

(54:29):
a surrogate mom. They they conceived with a male passed away,
you know, sample semen and the egg from these females
and it's in San Diego and the surrogate mom hoping
that it will take.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
Hey, we only got a couple of minutes.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
We're talking to Troy Witt from California, who was just
on our great migration. We visit the Samburu, the Old
Pagetta and the Serengetti or Mara, and everybody loves the Sarenngetti.
Tell it to me briefly about the quality of the
accommodations and the dining.

Speaker 4 (55:04):
You know, every place was so wonderful and we were
we were surprised. You see, you hear the term tent
camp and you're not sure what you're gonna get.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
Is it a pup tent or whatever.

Speaker 4 (55:13):
These are luxurious tents that have everything you need fully
stocked bathroom, showers, and the and the buffets that they
serve for every meal, just a variety of foods, highest quality.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
It's it's kind of shocking.

Speaker 4 (55:28):
You don't expect that and you get there and you're
so pleasantly surprised.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
You really are.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
And yeah, I was going to say on the tent camp,
it's more like clamping.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
They we have.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
We have kind of a tent experience in two of
the parks in Nairobi and Sambudu. It's it's a traditional
wilderness lodge hotel in Nairobi and we spend one night
at Lake Navasha on the way back. That's a traditional lodge,
but the tent clamping is for the experience. Now inside

(56:02):
it's a luxurious hotel room with you know, showers and
vanity and all of this, but you have over the
roof and on three sides of the tent. You know,
it's a structure. It's like a wooden building, and it's
just for that experience. I'm in East Africa and I'm
on Sofari. Now we have about thirty seconds left. What

(56:26):
is the best advice you would give to people thinking
about this?

Speaker 4 (56:31):
Yeah, the first one is go just do it whenever
you can, as soon as you can. The second one
is this, you know, we're in a vehicle with only
four people, which if you have more than that, don't
take that trip. You need to be on this experience
with only four people in the vehicle.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
But one of the people that travel with me the
head of camera that you never used it for.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
There we go, Troy, I gotta cut you off. We're
going to break Troy Wi our africatur guide. More on
the travel show. You're listening to the travel show. I'm

(57:17):
Larry Gelwicks. They get Away Guru and last segment we
were talking about in African Safarians. I've said, there's wonderful
safaris all over Africa. There is nothing that's even comparable
to the Great Migration in Kenya.

Speaker 1 (57:33):
For that.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
If you're interested in joining us next year, Morris Columbus
Travel has two great migration safaris, one of which I'll
have the excuse me the pleasure of taking. By the way,
Africa is where I'm going to be next week. I'm
going to be leaving next week for Africa. But for
twenty twenty five, our dates are July twenty to thirty one.

(57:56):
That's the one I'll be taking. That's the date you
leave the US, get back to the US July twentieth
to the thirty first, and then July thirtieth to August
the ninth. There's nothing like it in the world. Love
to have you, Jordan. By the way, my date is
already half sold out, and we keep it to twenty
eight people. As Troy mentioned, we use these new modified

(58:21):
Toyota land Cruisers that seat eight people plus the driver.
We never put more than four in unless it's a family.
Say hey, there's five of us and we want to
be together. Well, that's your choice, but we don't put
more than four in because you've got to move around
stand up. The animals have not learned to only come
to your side of the vehicle. And I see some

(58:42):
of these vehicles that are pat with eight or nine people.

Speaker 4 (58:47):
You know.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
On a previous travel show, I talked about the bevy
of travel scams, and I'll keep you updated on that.
Here's the one that is really getting a lot of
a t and it's using Google Search. Is tricking passengers,
and it's not Google's problem, but people are going on

(59:08):
Google Search tricking passengers into using costly scam travel agencies
and airline numbers. So what happens is you go on
Google and you put in, for example, Singapore Airlines, Delta Airlines,
American Airlines, and there are some scam travel agencies that

(59:30):
have corrupted the results. So you think you're calling an airline,
but the person on the other end charges you for
charges and things that you were entitled to for free,
like a new flight when yours is canceled, or seat
assignments for you. I'll give you one example. Singapore Airlines,

(59:50):
one of the best, greatest airlines in the world, gave
up an old phone number and got a new one.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
One of these.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
Scammers then bought the or signed up for the old
eight hundred phone number and it was still in the
Google search, so when people would call, they would answer
it Singapore Airlines, get their credit card information and run
up a bunch of bills. And these scams are doing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
No good.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
And there's scam travel agencies that are buying Google ads
XYZ Travel and you know two ninety nine Hawaii Air
and Hotel. Well, you know, if it's too good to
be true, it's probably not real. So there's all these
scammers out there. Be very careful. What you want to

(01:00:45):
do is say, if I wanted the Delta Airlines number,
I'm not going to go I'm not going to type
in Delta Airlines telephone. I'm going to type in Delta
Airlines official website and go to their website. They're pick
it up and rather than just take the phone number
off the first reply, a lot of scammeras out there.

(01:01:07):
The other thing, have you gotten these notices on your
cell phone that you've won a free trip or you've
won this, you've won that, and you just click on
this number or click on this link to get the details,
and then they've got you. Be very careful who you
deal with, even here in the great state of Utah.

(01:01:27):
And I know we broadcast all over the country, but
here in my home state. There are frauds out there
with people have lost thousands of dollars. I highlighted months
ago one of them that filed for bankruptcy with over
two million dollars in creditors that's people's deposits and money,
and they had a you know, one hundred thousand dollars

(01:01:49):
in assets.

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Turns out these.

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
Folks have filed for travel bankruptcy with one travel company
after another, time after time after time, and then they
just resurface with a new name, and people think that
they're getting a great deal. And they particularly preyed upon
those looking for an LDS type, you know, a trip
that catered to LDS. They also did non LDS trum.

(01:02:14):
What a bunch of bums. Anyway, you want to be
careful who you deal with. Alaska. I love Alaska. And
when we were talking the first hour to Derek Lloyd,
vice president of Norwegian Cruise Line, we mentioned that twenty
twenty five next year, Alaska is already filling up. There

(01:02:37):
are some dates that are almost sold out. Now keep
in mind there are two type of Alaska itineraries. There's
what I call the round trip Seattle and what I
call the North South. The round trip Seattle's pretty self explanatory.
You sail round trip from Seattle, you'll get the inside
passage and some combination of Juno Ketchikansk Gagway, Sitka, Icy Straits, Victoria, BC.

(01:03:03):
You won't get them all, but you'll get some combination,
and you'll have a glacier day. By the way, be
sure you find out do you actually get up close
and personal. There is such a demand for Alaska and
the ships have to have a permit to get right
up facing the glacier that some cruise lines now call
it glacier viewing. Well, that's great, you'll view it from

(01:03:26):
two or three miles away. You don't get right up
to the glacier. You can't see the calving, you can't
see all the activity that's going on. Make sure that
you're what I call up close and personal and not
viewing from two or three miles away. You also want
to check the time of the glacier viewing because they're
only allowed so much time. They have one ship at

(01:03:47):
a time right there at the glacier. I remember this
one cruise line came out with an itinerary. Yes, they're
at the glacier six am, Like, who is up at
six am on vacation, But that's the only time they'd
get a permit. And people are saying, well I slept

(01:04:08):
through it. Well, sorry, we told you it was six am.
You want to be careful. So the round trip Seattle
is perhaps the most popular because it's so easy to
get to Seattle and.

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
Now you can even drive there.

Speaker 2 (01:04:20):
The North South is the same itinerary except for about
a day and a half, one and a half days
you'll get you know, Juno, Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka, something like that,
some combination, not all of them. You'll generally have two
glacier days, which is really nice. And so the North

(01:04:41):
South is Vancouver to Anchorage or vice versa. On the
North South you do have to have a passport. You
do not have to have a passport on the round
trip Seattle, although it is highly recommended if you have
a medical or family emergency and you have to get
home before the cruise is oh where you know, if
you're in Canada, which the round trip Seattle includes.

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
You can't fly home.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
You have to have a passport, and so that's why
we we recommended. I told you the story oh months
ago about the same thing, the Mexican Revere. We talked
about that with Royal Caribbean adding a new ship. You
don't need a passport. You're sailing round trip from LA

(01:05:27):
you have to have proof of citizenship. But there's a
family of four. The sixteen year old son had a
medical emergency and they said they took him off. They
put him in a mozet Lan hotel and said you
got to get back to the US as fast as
you can. They did not have passports. They didn't want
to spend the money, and it took him a week

(01:05:47):
to get passports from the consulate office, and the kiss
languished in a Mazetlan hospital. No disrespect to Mazitlan hospitals,
but it's not where I want to be back to Alaska.
So the North South, you're going to get two glacier days.
And if you're interested in twenty twenty five, guys, this
is trust Larry time, call now book it now. There's

(01:06:11):
some great deals out there, but it's filling up very fast.
As it fills up, prices go up even for a
year out I've told you before that I am personally
hosting a north south cruise next year August twenty third
to the thirtieth. Now, I like that time of year

(01:06:32):
because you're starting to see some of the fall foliage.
There is an opportunity to see the Northern lights. No
guarantee on that, of course, it's mother nature. But in
that the end of summer and going into September, yes,
the Northern lights are sometimes seen that far north. So
you've got the cruise. It tends to be less crowded

(01:06:57):
as kids are going back to school. You've got a
possibility of the northern lights, fall foliage. And I'll be
your personal host and tour god. We do our own
shore excursions. You want to give Morris Columbus a call,
call your favorite travel advisor or the group department on
my cruise or any of the others. August twenty third

(01:07:19):
to the thirties will be sailing with Princess Cruises. The
Love Boat would love to have you join me. Hey,
we talked earlier about Hawaii. I mentioned the fourth Star
the Ambassador Hotel in Waikiki. Unbelievable September fifth to the tenth.
How about just to quit and get away for six

(01:07:40):
days five nights. You can add more days to it.
But when you can go for six days to Waikiki
airfare hotel including your taxes, for nine hundred and thirty
seven bucks, that's almost the cost of the airfare alone.
That is the secret airfares I've talked to you about,
and you can get that subject to availability at Morris Columbus.

(01:08:03):
If you're looking at Mexico, there's a couple of really
good deals out there, all inclusive. Remember, all inclusive is
everything airfare, hotel transfers, taxes, even your tips, in gratuities,
entertainment meals, drinks.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
Headed to can.

Speaker 2 (01:08:18):
Kun a first class four star at the Blue Bay
Grand As Miralda. I looked at dates September twenty sixth
to October the first on thy eighteen per person.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
Remember it's all inclusive.

Speaker 2 (01:08:32):
You could literally go without a peso and I you
know I love Porto Varta. How about a first class
the Reu r Iu that is one of the best
hotel chains in Mexico, the Riu Hallisco all inclusive. I
looked at September nineteenth, twenty fourth, one thousy nineteen per person.

(01:08:52):
Now keep in mind as We always say that all
prices and promotions are subject to change and availab ability
at the time of booking.

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
Hey, for our.

Speaker 2 (01:09:05):
Listeners who park out or use the Salt Lake Airport,
I recommend Parkinjet and get a twenty percent discount. Simply
go to Morriscolumbus dot com Morriscolumbus dot com and the
tool of the banner at the top you'll see resources.
Click on resources and print off a half a dozen,

(01:09:27):
give them to your friends, forward the link to your family,
but print off a bunch keep them in your glovebox.
That'll give you a twenty percent discount. There are two
major off airport parking facilities. Only Parking Jet is locally owned,
which I like to support. They'll give you a free
car wash too. Parkinjet mooriscolumbus dot com Resources more.

Speaker 8 (01:09:52):
When we come back, you're listening to the Travel Show
on Talk Radio one oh five nine knrs.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
Just listen and you'll know welcome back to the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (01:10:15):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru, and may I say
again thank you for joining us every weekend here on.

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
The Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (01:10:24):
I have a great life, you know, I get to
Travel I have a wonderful family, lots of good friends,
a great neighborhood, and I just want to say thanks
to all of you for being part of the Travel
Show family. Now, my radio nickname is the Getaway Guru.
I'm going to give you a little history about that.
You may remember when my co host was Don Schaeffer

(01:10:48):
some years ago. He and I actually started the show.
Oh my gosh, how long have we been broadcasting? Thirty
three years or something. And in those you know that time,
Don and I were on the show show together and
he just started calling me the Getaway Guru.

Speaker 1 (01:11:05):
And the station was.

Speaker 2 (01:11:07):
Calling me that in their announcements and promotions, and I
said to him, that's the cheesiest name I've ever heard.
Don't call me that, but they Don just kept doing it.
The station kept doing it. It kind of clicked. My
own children started calling me, Oh, the Getaway Guru is home.

(01:11:27):
And you know, now, it's a term of endearment that
I like very much. I was in a store just yesterday,
and this happens about five or six times a week
someone will say, oh, I recognize that voice or from
the KUTV, which is every Monday on the new News
used it between twelve forty and twelve fifty. I told

(01:11:47):
you earlier I do a news, travel news report, not
a commercial. I'm one of the reporters, and they'll recognize me,
and you know, I'm so flattered. I'll tell you something.
Interest thing about KUTV Channel two is I've been their
travel reporter for I don't know, sixteen seventeen years now

(01:12:08):
on the television. And you remember, pre COVID, I would
always go into the studio, sit on the set with
the anchors and as a reporter, give travel news, not
a commercial, travel news, and they're all in nice sets,
Ron and Mary and others, nice dresses.

Speaker 1 (01:12:29):
I always wear a loud Looha shirt.

Speaker 2 (01:12:32):
It was kind of my trademarkt Actually, sometimes people would say, oh,
I recognize your shirt.

Speaker 3 (01:12:39):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:12:39):
During COVID, they said, we want to reduce foot traffic
because of COVID in the studio, so Larry just film
it outside the studio and email it into us, send
it into us. So I started doing that at to
keep that segment going. And then after COVID, the station
said okay, Larry, you can come back in the studio

(01:13:00):
and I said no, No, I like this setup where
I can be anywhere in the world and do my
travel reporting. So what you saw just last Monday, what
was that? The twelfth of August was filmed a couple

(01:13:22):
days before in rec Weer, France, and I just sent
it into them and I talked about recwear. You'll see
a little bit of what I said, and so it's
just a lot of fun. So yeah, the getaway Guru
is a term of endearment and always if you see me,
please say hello. I love sitting and chatting with you.

(01:13:45):
For that listen. A couple of things I'd mentioned earlier.
September nineteenth, a cruise night and dinner with Viking Cruises
in Ogden. September twentieth, the Utah Symphony with Viking Cruises.
We have limited tickets for that event with the Symphony.
October seventeenth, a cruise night at the Morris Columbus headquarters

(01:14:09):
with Viking Cruises. If you want to get all the details,
go to Morriscolumbus dot com. Morriscolumbus dot com click on
resources right at the top of your page, scroll down
and click on travel events Morriscolumbus dot com. Click on resources,
click on travel events. I want to point out just

(01:14:30):
a couple of cruise tours that I would love to
have you join me. They're very, very unique, and you
know that's what I like right now, is unique. The
first is the Empire of Japan and Korea May six
to sixteen. Next know, this ship is almost sold out,
but we visit just about everything you want to see

(01:14:52):
in Japan. We don't go north to the island of Hokkaido,
but that's about it. Tokyo and here Oshima Kochi, the
Japanese outs Mount Fuji, and we go over to Busan,
South Korea. It's a great way to see Japan and
South Korea because you know, Japan is expensive and we

(01:15:16):
will spend We have an option to spend three days
in Tokyo seeing all of Tokyo and then sailing for
the next eleven days with Princess Cruises all throughout Japan,
and it is marvelous. You pack and unpack one time
at a very reasonable price. But again space is extremely limited,

(01:15:39):
and it's next May.

Speaker 1 (01:15:40):
You don't want to wait on. It's a great chance
to see Japan.

Speaker 2 (01:15:43):
The other one that I mentioned briefly in the first hour,
this one is so cool because I've done it before
is Iceland to London on the Norwegian Premia. You remember
Derek Lloyd, the vice president, talked about that ship and
the food court and it is marvelous, absolutely spectacular. We
sail from Rekivic Iceland, making three stops in Iceland, then

(01:16:08):
on to Norway, Olisen and Bergen and the Norwegian Fjords
at flam and then to Amsterdam, Bruges, Belgium, and then
to Southampton, London the port for.

Speaker 1 (01:16:22):
London Southampton. Listen.

Speaker 2 (01:16:23):
That brings us into the travel show. I will be
in Africa next Saturday. Look forward to talking to you.
Then have a wonderful week. Appreciate so much you're joining us.
Give Morris Columbus a call Morriscolumbus dot com or one
eight hundred Triple nine six forty six Jumbo from Africa.