The Travel Show: San Francisco highlights; Tipping guidelines in Europe

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, now
get away Guru, and we've got a great show for you. Today.
We're gonna talk about a legitimate free air promotion. I'm
taking you home to San Francisco with some of the
highlights and some insider secrets. Goofy himself, I mean, Pluto
is in studio. They'll give us some Disney updates. I'm

(00:25):
gonna teach you how to.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Talk like an Ausie.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
And you think tipping is out of control, well, if
you're headed to Europe, I've got the tipping guidelines which
are very very different than here in the USA. And
what does the federal government say if you are denied
boarding because of over of over booking? And then a
big question I want Pluto to answer is why is

(00:53):
a Disney cruise more expensive than other cruises for similar itineries?
And is it worth it? All that and more on
today's Travel Show, I'd like to welcome into studio my
friend and colleague John Potter aka Pluto.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Or is it Goofy?

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Either fits really, let's keep going.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Is it dopey at some days?

Speaker 4 (01:17):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
And some days it's sleepy yep, yep, very especially on
these Saturday mornings.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Thank you very very much. Well, John, it's nice to
have you back here where you belong. Hey, listen. Legitimate airfare.
Norwegian Cruise Lines has what I think is probably the
best cruise promotion that I can remember in decades. It's

(01:44):
called a free air which is really what we call
bogo bog o, buy one, get one.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yes, yes they do. There's a few rules to it,
but for if you book the air with Norwegian, that
is not an inflated price. It's a very good normal price,
or sometimes even lower.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
I usually find the Norwegian air fair price to be
the same or lower than if I bought it myself.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yes, absolutely, And the second person in every cabin flies free.
They do not even pay the taxes. They are one
hundred percent free for the airfare it is now. There
are a few rules. You've got to be more than
one hundred and twenty days prior to travel to get it,
so that's what about four months four months out, and

(02:32):
you do not get to specify which airline you want,
what schedule you want. You cannot upgrade. It's coach seating,
so there are some strict rules. Everybody in your cabin
will be on the same flights. But if you've got
multiple cabins, they do not guarantee that everyone will be
on the same flights.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
It's a great applicable to every cruise. Or is there
a minimum number of nights?

Speaker 3 (02:57):
It's got to be three nights or more for the cruises.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, I don't know of many one night cruises.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
No, why would you do that? Thank you very much.
When you said it's main cabin, you can't upgrade. Even
if you have say like Delta Airlines medallion, maybe you're
a Diamond or a Platinum or a Gold, you can't
upgrade those seats.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
It is coach class.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
I've had some of the higher ups at NCL Norwegian
Cruise Line tell me personally they are working on a
business class and a premium economy Bogo ticket, but it's
not there yet. I think part of it is the
cost of a business class ticket on a buy one,

(03:45):
get one free is outrageous.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
It really is. Those are expensive.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Now, when you say you don't get to pick the airline,
will they take a request. No.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
Why it's their promote, their promotion. You're getting a disc
owned fair and they have different contracted airlines. For instance,
when We did the Hawaii Tahiti crews a few years ago.
We're all Delta people, but we were on Alaska Airlines,
which was fine, but we would all prefer Delta.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
You know, that's very true. It is they're going to
put you on a certified major airline, not Air timbuckto.
It could be United, Delta Air, Tahiti, Air, France, British,
could be anybody. Study. But I think one of the
main reasons they will not accept even a request is

(04:33):
how many people are they moving every week? I don't
know one hundred thousand people least, yes. Can you imagine
how many phone calls. I don't want to change planes
in Dallas. I want Delta because I'm a sky That
would be insanity. Now, one thing I suggested to the

(04:53):
president of NCL, because I was in the meeting with him,
is that allow people to make a request not on
the phone, on their reservation, charge them one hundred bucks
and if if you can work it out, give them
that airline and collect one hundred bucks, and if you

(05:15):
can't work it out, give them their money back. That
might be more work than they wanted.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Viking makes it work. Viking has that option on their cruises,
so you would think you never know.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
Now, Kathy and I did that spectacular Iceland to Norway
to Netherlands to Belgium to England cruise with Norwegian a
couple months ago in June, and luck of the draw
as a Delta sky Miles member, we flew over to

(05:45):
recuvic Iceland on Delta and we flew home from.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
London on the Delta NonStop. Wow, you got lucky.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
And other members of our group were on United or
American or Iceland there.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
It is purely the luck of the draw. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Well, contact Morris Columbus Travel your favorite travel advisor if
you have his or her direct line, call them direct.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
John's direct line is eight oh one four eight.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
Three fifty two fourteen for eight three fifty two fourteen.
If you don't have a favorite Morris Columbus Travel advisor.
Called toll free eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six.
That's eight hundred triple nine forty six forty six. That's
a great promotion. And they have other promotions too. They
call it more at c H and there is a

(06:35):
cost to that and you get free this free, that
free every now. Some years ago, as you know, if
it weren't for my kids and grandkids, John, I would
live in Thailand.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Oh yes, I just feel at home there.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
I typically get there anywhere from three to four times
a year. One year I was there seven times. All Oh,
this funny story behind that, So I really had made
seven trips. It's actually over, not twelve months, at about
fifteen months. Kathy is driving me to the airport. It

(07:09):
was December of twenty sixteen. And in the Gelwick's family,
we never miss an opportunity for cheap and shameless humor.
Se you know this, you know my family. Anyway, So
Kathy's driving me, and it's with a national company. I'm
going to meet the president. They're taking several hundred people

(07:32):
of their top employees to Thailand and we're going to
review the itinerary. And Kathy's driving me says, now this year,
seventh trip this year, you know. I said yes, And
with a smirk on her face, she says, okay, what's
her name? And I said fung Ling, And fong Ling

(07:55):
is one of my favorite restaurants in Hong Kong. Is
the quickest, fastest a sounding name I could come up with,
Pongling to this day, in our family. It's a joke.
My kids will ask me, Hey, Dad, how's the other family?
I always answered, Oh, the kids are growing up, Fongling's
doing great, and Kathy just rolls her eyes as I

(08:17):
never should have said anything. And you know someone's gonna
mention that at your funeral.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yes, where's fong Ling? Okay.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
So on one of my trips to Thailand, of course,
I always put my phone on airplane mode or turn
off the data. I usually do the data is to
keep some other features. Well, on this trip, I thought
I did. I came home to a nine hundred dollars
AT and T bill. You know, most of it international

(08:47):
roaming charges. Now we have virtually unlimited roaming in the US,
but internationally that thing is sucking in information twenty four
to seven. Yeah, nine hundred plus bucks. I call AT
and T and plead my case. They I got to
give them credit. They're very sympathetic. Didn't change a thing,

(09:07):
so how but you know, mercy did not rob justice there.
I had to pay it. Well, people, people find this
out the hard way. A Royal Caribbean cruise passenger just
came home with a thirteen hundred dollars cell phone bill
after making this simple common mistake. The passenger did purchase

(09:32):
Royal Caribbean's Wi Fi package when they boarded the boat,
thinking it would cover cell phone service, but when they
got home from their adventure at sea, they were shocked
to discover a thirteen hundred dollars cell phone bill awaiting them. Well.
After some investigation, they found out that they had not

(09:54):
set it on airplane mode and been racking up roaming
charges as it downloaded updates and background data while sailing around.

Speaker 3 (10:04):
Well.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
The good news is that two mobile phone carriers are
introducing cell phone service on board. It's about twenty bucks
a day. It's Verizon and AT and T. Now they
have the daytime pass, which is AT and T is
twelve bucks a day. And you're calling on land to USA.

(10:25):
Now they're coming out with a cell phone. It's twenty
bucks a day. If you're using Verizon or AT and
T and you cruise, contact them about the cruise cell
phone package, which is different from the land. Hey, when
we come back, we're headed to the City by the
Bay sometimes known as Bagdad by the Bay. Welcome back

(10:53):
to the travel Show. I'm Larry Gelvich, the Getaway Google
joined in studio by John Potter aka Cludo, and we're
glad to spend this time with you. The travel show
is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel
more and pay. Let's check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com,

(11:14):
Morriscolumbus dot com and mark October eighteenth on your calendar.
Now you all are familiar with the January Utah Travel Expo,
the biggest, the most fantastic travel expo on the planet,
and next year it will in twenty twenty six. It'll

(11:35):
be Wednesday, January twenty first in Saint George and then
the Friday and Saturday will be the twenty third and
twenty fourth at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy Butt. John,
we're coming back to Davis County.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
We are, we're excited about this one Saturday, the eighteenth
of October. We will be at the Davis Conference Center
in Leyton. That's a one day event, one day event
on Saturday, and it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
We're gonna have a great time. For all the details
Utah Travel Expo dot com, Utah Travelxpo dot com. Now, John,
I know how long have I known you? Twenty something years,
twenty three years, twenty three years. I know I know
something about your eating habits. This is unrehearsed. If I

(12:25):
had to guess a favorite restaurant for you, it would
be Maddox up there near Bring a breat City in Perry. Yes,
that's a steakhouse.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
I asked John once what his favorite seafood was, and
he replied, thank you very much. Didn't you grow up
on the cattle ranch?

Speaker 3 (12:43):
Yeah, my family owns a cattle ranch and so yeah, so.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
You would pet Bambi in the morning and eat. Oh
that's awful. I'm gonna get comments about that one. Well,
Kathy and I love to go out and eat. We
have some favorite restaurants. And I grew up in San Francisco,
and Kathy and I would fly down for like a

(13:07):
three or four day weekend just to eat down there.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
It's so much fun.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
There are four four hundred and fifteen restaurants in San Francisco.
Fifty four of them have a Michelin Star. Now, John,
if you and I were to dine at every restaurant
in San Francisco once a day, it would take us
twelve years.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Wow, Now think about that.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
It would be what twenty thirty seven, before we ate
at each restaurant. Did you know that Chinese fortune cookies
were invented in San Francisco. They're not from China, No,
and it was invented by a Japanese not Chinese immigrants,
Mokoto Haidigawa, in the late eighteen nineties. They were served

(14:02):
in the tea gardens at Golden Gate, the Japanese tea
gardens serving Chinese fortune cookies. Yeah. And did you know
the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the iconic symbols
of San Francisco. Did you know that the original color

(14:23):
the paint, it was going to be black and gold,
black and gold, but Irving Morrow, the bridges consultive architects
said that more of a reddish orange primer coat would
complement the gray fog, green hills, and blue water. So
the actual color is not golden. It's called international orange.

(14:47):
The Golden Gate Bridge was completed in May nineteen thirty seven.
And yeah, that is crazy stuff, Nevin. One of the
funnest bridges sail underneath. I just love sailing on the
ship under the bridge.

Speaker 2 (15:03):
Yeah, and you know you can walk from one end
to the other.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
It's a long walk but yeah, well it's one point
seven miles. It's a four two hundred foot span. Yeah.
And San Francisco has the oldest Chinatown in North America
and the best. Oh, it is fantastic. You know what.
I recommend The main street, the tourist section of Chinatown

(15:30):
is Grant Avenue. If you'll go one block to the
west to Stockton and Street, not City or basketball player,
thank you very much. That's where the Chinese shop. And
it reminds me of Hong Kong. You'll have little vegetable stores,

(15:51):
meat stores, fish, that's where you'll hang out. It is
absolutely fantastic. Now has been back in the news.

Speaker 3 (16:02):
I've saw that.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
President Trump floated the idea of reopening it as a
federal prison.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
I remember that, kid. It was a federal prison.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
It actually closed in nineteen sixty three. They closed it down.
And there are several suggestions or proposals. One is tear
it down and build a casino. Oh my lord. Another
one was tear it down and like in Buenos Aires, Corcovado,

(16:34):
which was the Christas statue, have a big Christ's statue. Well,
some of the politically minded folks, did I say that
right of San Francisco. Yes, why are you smiling? They
wanted any statue but Christ in their city. But here's
some other things. Al Capone played banjo, you know, he

(16:56):
was the mob boss and he went to the federal
prison in nineteen thirty four. He played banjo in an
inmate band Alcatraz. Excuse me. In spite of the nickname
the Birdman of Alcatraz, which was Robert Stroud, there were
no birds. He didn't do birds there, but he did

(17:18):
birds and wrote a book when he went to Leavenworth
Prison in nineteen sixteen, later transferred to Alcatraz and kept
the name The Birdman of Alcatraz. Now, the very first
inmates at the prison were Civil War inmates, oh wow,
Confederate soldiers. And Alcatraz was also home to the Pacific

(17:42):
Coast first Lighthouse. Now, if you want to go there,
it's a National Park ticket. You get the boat right out,
get the headset, otherwise you don't know what you're seeing.
There'll be all these websites that will sell you the ticket,
but they mark it up as a service fee. Go
to the National Park Service NPS service to get your

(18:05):
Alcatraz ticket and in the summer months it sells out
days in advance. Hey, when we come back, we're going
to the happiest place on Earth. And no that's not Thailand,
It's Disney with Pluto right here on the Travel Show.

(18:34):
Welcome back to the Travel Show. Are we having fun?
Or are we having fun? I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get
away guru for thirty four years. You're host of the
Travel Show, joined today by Pluto himself aka John Potter,
one of the travel experts at Morris Columbus Travel serving
in the Bountiful Office. You want to talk to John

(18:56):
Direct eight oh one for eight three fifty two fourteen.
If you don't yet have a favorite travel advisor at
Morris Columbus Travel, we can get you one call eight
hundred triple nine forty six forty six. John. We were
talking about San Francisco. I have to admit they got

(19:18):
their challenges down there. Now, there's some things. I still
have an absolute love of the city, particularly from the
Ferry Building by the Embarcadero down to Giradella. You know
that's gonna be clean. It's gonna be as safe as
any big city, including Salt Lake City. But the question

(19:40):
I'm always asked there's really two questions. What about the
cable cars what about sourdough bread. Both are very very famous. Well,
first of all, there are as far as public transportation,
there are four modes of public train exportation in San Francisco.

(20:02):
You have the municipal buses called the Muni buses. You
actually have trains, have Coltrain, and some others. The historic
street cars, even the brand new ones are built from
the nineteen thirties Italian style. You look like you're in
Italy in the nineteen thirties, and they're all electric. They

(20:24):
connect to an overhead wire. And then the famous cable cars,
which are not electric but connect to an underground cable.
Originally there are twenty three cable car lines criss crossing
the city. Today there are two, although one of them
you can pick up at near Giridelli Square or Fisherman's Wharf,

(20:45):
and then the two lines merge and they'll take you
down to Union Square and Market Street. And that is
a let's see, that would be a north south run.
The East west run is on California Street from the
Business District over to vanes and it's a lot of fun.
Now here's my recommendation. If you just want a one

(21:08):
way ride, it's nine bucks buy a ticket. You can
use a kiosk or buy it on board. But if
you're going to do round trip or more than one
and by the way, that nine dollars ticket has no
on and off privileges or I stop halfway to Market
Street and you can't do that, don't buy a ticket.
What you want is the San Francisco Visitors Passport one,

(21:32):
three or seven days.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
And what the passport does is give.

Speaker 1 (21:37):
You unlimited rides on all four modes of transportation, including
the cable car, the immuni. You want to go out
to Golden Gate Park and not do an uber, you
can take a municipal bus out there. A one day
pass is only fifteen bucks. Now if you're gonna if
you say you're in Fisherman's Wharf, you want to go

(21:58):
down to Union Square and BA and you buy two
one way takes eighteen bucks. So a one day pass
is fifteen A three day pass is only thirty five bucks.
A seven day pass is an absolute steal at forty
seven dollars. So it's what about just shy seven bucks

(22:20):
a day Now, it's not twenty four hours. They expire
on midnight. Whenever you buy it during the day, it
expires at eleven fifty nine pm. You can purchase them
onlines or at select locations. Now that covers the cable cars. Well,
what about sourdough bread? I'm addicted to it, We grew

(22:43):
up on it. I am looking for a great sour
dough here in Utah and I've only found one, and
that is baked by my daughter in law Sam Samantha.
She does a great sour dough. But if you want
the original San Francisco. And if you folks know of

(23:04):
a great Utah other than Sam sourdough, let me know.
Harmon's has. It's okay, Yeah, I've had that such much.
It's not bad, but it's not San Francisco. Here are
the three that I like. The absolute number one best
sourdough in the world is in San Francisco at the

(23:26):
Tartan Bakery out on Guerrero Street. The New York Times
reviewed it, tasted it, and this was their report. Quote
as bread recipes go, it's nearly perfect. Close quote. People
line up out the door down the street. Now they
have other things other than bread. It's a pastry shop.

(23:48):
The other two that I like is Bodine's. It's been
around since eighteen forty nine, locations everywhere. Their flagship location
right there at Fisherman's Wharf, and then another one. But
they actually bake it in Berkeley, but you can buy
it all over. San Francisco is Acme ac M. If

(24:08):
you want the ultimate Italian deli, it's Mullinaries on Columbus.
You walk in, they got the salami hanging, They're speaking
Italian and they have Actme bread for sandwiches.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Anyway, that's where we go.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
Let's turn our attention to something that will cause John
to salivate all things Disney.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
Give us an update on the world of Disney.

Speaker 3 (24:34):
All right, Well, isn't mentioning San Francisco. That's actually where
the Walt Disney Family Museum is is in San Francisco,
down near Golden Gate Park.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
That's in the Presidio area.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
Yeah yeah, so alrighty, So Halloween season started at Disneyland
yesterday on the twenty second Stop Stop Stopping.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
Halloween's October thirty one. Yeah, and here we are in August.

Speaker 3 (24:57):
Starts August twenty second at Disneyland, so yesterday and it
will go through October thirty first, which is Halloween. If
you want the Halloween party, sorry, it sold out a
couple of months ago, but you can still go see
all the fun.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Things and parades.

Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yeah, all the decorations and they have some real fun
things and of course food items you can buy. And
just as the heads up, November fourteenth is when the
Christmas season starts, so they do it early.

Speaker 1 (25:25):
That's not too bad, no, you know, I mean August
for Halloween pushes the envelope for me. But I got
to tell you, my family and I were at Disneyland
one Halloween season and it was whenever, and we saw
all the decorations, the parades.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
It was mind boggling.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah yeah, so yeah, So the seasons are out there
all right. The Small World for Disney's seventieth Anniverse Robert
Sherman Richard and Robert Sherman, who wrote the original lyrics,
they hear.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
Success away It's a Small World.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
Before he passed away last year, Richard Sherman wrote one
more verse to the song he did and it is
now playing in Small World. It's the very final scene,
and you're gonna hear the lyrics mother Earth unites us
in heart and mind and love we give makes us
humankind the vast wondrous through our best wondrous land, we

(26:35):
stand hand in hand. It's a small world, after all.
You can now hear that at the Small World ride.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Yep, I gotta tell you that song Small World once
and it's a wonderful ride it is.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
I mean, I love it.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah, and you can't get it out of your head
now you are hearing it, singing it the rest of
the day or day.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
It's just one of those implants.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
One of the Disney jokes is, you know, if you
lose your child, We're going to put them in a
Small World and have them sing that song all day.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
So I got something I could place in there. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
Disney has updated their apps both for Disney World and
Disneyland that it is much easier now to make dining reservations.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
On the app.

Speaker 3 (27:22):
You can actually see what's available, and it's easier for
larger family groups to make reservations.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Okay, yeah, let's say we're at Disneyland in Anaheim. The
first one, yes, what not for breakfast, but for lunch
or dinner? What is your recommendation for a casual meal
or an Then secondly, an upscale meal.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
For a casual meal over in the Disneyland Park, I
really like the Mexican restaurant. I can never recall the
name of it, but I really do like that one.
And then for upscale, my favorite is over at California Adventure,
the Wine Country Traditoria. It is an Italian restaurant.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
I haven't eaten there.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
You know, when we go to Disneyland, which is not
weekly like you do, we usually have lunch or dinner
at the Mexican. The food is outrageously priced, as it
is at every theme park, Yes, but we seem to
get more filling for our buck at the Mexican restaurant

(28:29):
than we do elsewhere. Now, a place that we'd like
to eat is what's the name of the one in
the Orleans.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Square, the.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
The Blue Bayou. I know my daughter Jenny absolutely loves that.
I would give John Potter the award as the world's
greatest expert on all things Disney, but second place goes
to my daughter Jenny.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
She's good, isn't She's good?

Speaker 1 (28:57):
She is really really good. Fact, we had her on
the show a few weeks ago, just talking about family suggestions. Yeah,
traveling with small kids. Okay, you know, do you have
any other updates? And then we just place Stump the dummy.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
One Disney cruise line, which rarely has sales, has a
sale on right now on select cruises. Third and fourth
guests get fifty percent off. It is just select sailings
between October third and March thirtieth, and so that's a rarity.

(29:35):
That's a rarity. It has to be booked by October
the twelfth.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
No, we're going to talk in the second hour. Is
a Disney cruise worth the enhanced costs? But you know
what we haven't done in a while, and we always
like to do it with you, John is play Stump
the Dummy. So I've got some Disney trivia that I
doubt you're going to get them all. But let's find out, Okay,
what object carried by Jiminy cricket By the way, that's Jiminy,

(30:02):
not Jimmy jim am I And as in Nancy, why
what object carried by Jiminy cricket was also carried by
Mary Poppins?

Speaker 3 (30:13):
That has an umbrella?

Speaker 1 (30:15):
All right? Name the seven Dwarfs.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
Let's see, we've got Sneezy Dopey, sleepy.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Doc three, mashful two more.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
Happy. There you go, there you go? All right? What
is the name of Mickey's first film, I haven't got you?
It's John three Larry zero. All right, I love this one.
I love the move Bambie, even though it turns out

(30:50):
too sad. Bambi's first word. I think it was bird.
It was bird? One more, one more? We only gonna
use What is the name of the wood carver who
made Pinocchio? You know there's some great Geppetto shops and
Pinocchio shops.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
In Italy, Yes, particularly Enrome.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
Hey, when we come back, we've got more of the
travel show.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
I'm going to teach you how to talk like an
AUSI today night.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Welcome to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gilwick's You're Ausy Expert.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
Do I sound Ozzy John?

Speaker 1 (31:34):
Not really? Not really? Not really? Okay. I love Australia.
I was there earlier this year. Try to get there
at least once a year. Who do I have the
greatest job?

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Or what?

Speaker 1 (31:44):
It is a wonderful, wonderful country. And it was settled
by prisoners from England. You may have heard. And it's
a non offensive term as an english person being a
pawme p o m e. He's a one, and that's
p o emmy. It's an acronym for prisoner of Mother England.

(32:07):
And the jails were getting overcrowded and they didn't have
El Salvador to send anybody to uh or Alligator Alcatra,
but they sent him to Australia. There was there was
no Western civilization there. Well, it's a great country, and

(32:30):
I'm going to teach you how to speak like a nausey.
So let's play another edition of Stump the Dummy. The
last one for Disney was John five Larry zero.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Let's see if I can make it up.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
I want you to probably well on this one. I
want you to tell and by the way, folks, this
is unrehearsed. He doesn't know what I'm going to ask him.
I'm going to give you the Aussie slang. You tell
me what it means in English. I mean, well, our English,
our culture. How about this one barbie, it's not a doll?

Speaker 3 (33:04):
Well that one, I know. Put another shrimp on the barbie?

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Would you put one another?

Speaker 1 (33:10):
Sta Hamburger? Okay, John one, Larry Hey, John Tah for
coming to the studio today. I think it's thank you, Yeah,
Ta yeah, okay, you got to uh here, here's one.
Uh the fact that you would pass up going to Disney.

(33:31):
I would say kriike That means no, doesn't it? Or
surprise surprise Yeah, by kraikee is an exclamation of surprise.
Now Keaton and Sam Keating, my son Sam, his wife
Samantha just had a baby girl a little over a
month ago. We would call eloise an ankle biter, which

(33:56):
means tuppy child or by small child, smell dog. And hey,
it's good to see my mates today. Oh those are
your friends, those are my friends. Okay, John, I want
you to give me the John Dorry of Disneyland. You
don't know this one.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
It's the backstory, okay, and I could do that.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Yeah, Well, John Dorry is a fish and there's no
secret story behind it. But Dorry rhymes with story. So
if you said, what's the story, what's the John Dorry? Now,
we always want to be fair dincome. That's honest, true

(34:38):
and genuine. But here's the last one. When things get tough,
you need to do the Harry means disappear. It was
named after Harold Holt, the seventeenth Prime Minister of Australia.
He disappeared while swimming along Victorious Coast in nineteen sixty seven.

(34:59):
So it's they just gone. Shark probably got.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
Him, you know, now, isn't doesn't.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
Sometimes the auzzi is called dingoes, a dog.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
A wild dog, the dingoes.

Speaker 3 (35:12):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
You know.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
Some of the favorite food is they call them barbie snags.
They're barbecued sausages. This is interesting. One of the favorite
foods in Australia's chicken parmesan.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
Really that doesn't sound ausy.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Fish and chips, fish, crab, lobster, kangaroo. But my favorite
food in New Zealand, Australia and Britain are meat pies.
It's a it's not like a banquet, meat pie in
a tin that's all gravy and a pea and a
carrot singular pee and yeah right, but it's it's you

(35:47):
hold it in your hand and it's feel you know.
They used to be just like beef and chicken and
things like that, but now it's they've gotten exotic. It's
butter chicken, chicken, tika massala, curried chicken, all vegetarian, all
of these. Then they have a satanic spread. That's so

(36:07):
it's called vegamie. Ever heard of VEGEMI.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
I've tried vegemile. It really is. It is really nice.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
They use it like cream cheese.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
Well, they think of it as peanut butter. Don't they
like what you do here? I might rather have the
peanut butter.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
It's a brown spread with vegetable spices and yeast. You
love it or you hate it. The other big one
that kids love is fairy bread. It's sliced white bread,
like a wonderbread, with butter and rainbow sprinkles. Okay, well, I'd.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
Like you to join me in a strain.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
John. You know this is one of our best sellers.
It's February of next year. We'll be sailing two weeks sailing.
I think it's thirteen days. Can I call that two weeks? Yeah?
Thank you? With Holland America. Tell me about Holland America.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
Oh, they're a great cruise line. Premium, premium, very good food.
Everybody loves their food.

Speaker 1 (36:57):
And their ships are about twenty five hundred rather than
five or six thousand.

Speaker 3 (37:01):
Of course they do call them the damn ships. That's
all the ships end in dam Mansterdam, Rotterdam.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
I'll be damned. Yes, yes, all of these things anyway,
we'll be sailing. We board the ship February fifteen, disembark
in Auckland on May March first. We'll have a three
day pre cruise Sydney option to see Sydney, the Blue Mountains,
every you know, get out in the countryside. A couple

(37:28):
of days after the cruise in New Zealand, including Hobbiton
where they film the Hobbit movie. All the houses are
still there, we'll see. We'll be making stops in Australia
including Hobart, Tasmania, and then to the North and South
Island including Lord of the Rings country.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
It's Fjordland. Love to have you join me.

Speaker 1 (37:52):
Contact your favorite Morris Columbus Travel adventuredics for Ask for
Larry Sydney Auckland Cruise in February number two the Best
two hours in Radio. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru,
joined today by John Potter, one of our travel experts
at Morris Columbus Travel. The travel show is sponsored by

(38:15):
Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel more and pay less.
Check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com. Morriscolumbus dot com.
I'm pleased to welcome into the studio one of our
travel experts from the Bountiful Office, John Potter. John, welcome
back to the Travel Show. Thank you. I always love
being here.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
Hey, I know you love Europe.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
Aren't you doing something next year in August on the
Sinn River.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
Yes, next year on the Sin River doing an on
the Waterways cruise. We're going to go to Paris two
days early, spend two days there with the hotel and
the tours included, and then sailing the Senn River on
a seven day cruise that goes down to Normandy. We're
also going to be visiting Rowan Yes, on floor. You

(39:09):
know I've done that. It is fab It's just crazy.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
Now.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
Last month in July I had that UK British Isles cruise.
We made a stop in the Hove there in the
north of France and went to Normandy. I think you've
been to Normandy before. It is a I mean it
brings you to tears. And what's interesting is you want
to be at the American Cemetery at four pm. Get

(39:36):
there a little bit early. Why because they play taps.
Oh I did not know that. And they lower the flag.
There's two big flag poles there they lower the flag
while taps is playing. Everybody stands at attention and you
look out over this graveyard that has over nine thousand graves.

(39:57):
Many more people were killed, but that's what's buried there,
mostly young men, and think fighting a war that wasn't theirs,
in a land that was not their home. And to
this day it's really interesting. In that whole area, private
homes are flying American flags year round. Yeah, and people

(40:19):
will talk about what America's gift to them was was freedom.
So what are the dates on.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
This This one is next year August twenty sixth through
September the fifth, and of course, in John Potter's style,
we will offer an optional tour after the cruise to
go to Disneyland Paris.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
I would expect no less. You want to talk to
John and you ought to book this one with him
eight oh one four eight three fifty two fourteen. Now,
since you're going to Europe, let's talk about tipping. You know,
it's really counterintuitive to Americans that settling a bill at
the end of a meal would not wouldn't include an

(41:00):
automatic twenty percent gratuity. We are seeing more and more
requests for gratuities. Frontier Airlines sometime ago suggested that we
tip the flight attendant, and I'm thinking for what you
go to some of these fast food places, you know,

(41:20):
like get your burrito bowl or something, they turn the
device around and suggesting a twenty three percent tip.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
It's complete even like a sandwich shop. Subway has that.

Speaker 1 (41:38):
Yes, and there are even automated services that want a
tip for a robot. Anyway, Tipping, which I think is
completely out of control, is deeply ingrained in American culture,
so much that even if you're just ordering a to
go cup of coffee or a so that, there's likely

(42:01):
a tip jar waiting for your change, or a digital
prompt asking you for eighteen to twenty percent or more
in gratuity. While tipping was originally intended to reward good,
even extraordinary service, American consumers were getting frustrated at what

(42:22):
some have called tipflation. Now. According to a twenty twenty
five that's this year, of course, survey by a finance company,
wallet Hub, about ninety percent of Americans think tipping has
gone way too far and dislike the social.

Speaker 2 (42:42):
Being in the US has.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
Become and are confused about the increasing prevalence of service
fees and additional charge. Many companies are starting to mandate.
I've seen that on bills it says service fee, yes, well,
service for what, and then the tip line on your
credit card is still blank and there's no real explanation

(43:06):
what it's for or for whom it's going. There are
some hotels that require a mandatory tip for like meals
or if you're organizing a banquet or a function, and
then they disclose that not all the tip goes to
the servers, that the hotel managers and owners keep a

(43:28):
portion of it. Well, this is not the case in Europe.
The good news is in Europe, tipping more than five
or ten percent is not part of the cultures, and
many locals don't even tip at all, and some even
consider it somewhat rude to overtip when traveling there, and

(43:49):
the recommendation is resist the urge to be a tourist
instead of a traveler. Now, these amounts do very slightly
by country. John I've found ten percent as kind of
the upper limit for tipping in Europe. Now, travelers don't

(44:10):
overthink tipping Europe. Waitstaff servers in Europe are paid a
living wage, hence no begging for twenty three percent tips,
So tipping when dining out at a restaurant in Europe
it's usually small again, five to ten percent if the

(44:30):
service is truly excellent and you don't even need to
consider tipping if ordering at a counter or bar in Europe,
and most European credit card slips don't even have a
line for tips, but you have to leave it in cash.
You know something else you can do, john as you

(44:51):
can ask a local for advice, but don't ask your server.
So when it comes to sit down meals with a server,
pro call does vary from country to countries. Many are
are just there's a built in ten percent service charge.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
You don't need to go beyond that, so just be
aware of that.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
In some of the more tourist centric spots, say in
Germany or Austria, sometimes you'll see on your built says
tip is not included. It's at the bottom of the bill,
and they're you know, they may be hoping that the
Americans think they have to do the same thing everybody
with their handout, But five to ten percent is generally

(45:36):
what should leave at a sit down restaurant. For luggage
with a porter, about a euro bag is what they expect.
That's good advice.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
I'm going to be in Europe in two weeks and
I'll have to utilize all this.

Speaker 1 (45:49):
All right, this is one I want you to explain.
All right, all right? You know how airlines have medallion levels,
like Delta's highest is Diamond medallion, then there's Platinum medallion
one step lower. With Hertz rent a car, President's Circle
is their most valued customers. Well, recently a President Circle

(46:12):
member rented a Tesla in Los Angeles. He brings it
back and sees a gasoline refueling charge on his Tesla
for two hundred and seventy seven dollars and thirty nine cents.
Well there's a problem there, John, what's the problem?

Speaker 3 (46:35):
Well, a Tesla's an electric car. It doesn't even have
a gas tank.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
There is no fuel tank on a Tesla. So what
do you do? So he took it back and they
refused to take it up because the contract was closed.
They said, you signed the rental agreement. It says if
the tank's not full, but it's a Tesla. So they

(46:58):
charged him ten bucks gallon on a twenty seven gallon
tank that does not exist on the car. So he's
disputing it with his credit card company. But right now hurts.
I don't get it.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
They're refusing to take off his bill.

Speaker 3 (47:17):
I think it would have been a much bigger issue
if he would have put gas in it.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
I think open the trunk and put twenty seven gallons
a gasoline in it. I think that would have worked
pretty well. Now are you adverse to four letter words?
I can't use some of them? Denny has a edit button.
What are we about six seconds behind? Yeah, but there

(47:42):
is a four letter word that you want to avoid
on your airline boarding pass. Those four letters are S
S S S four s's and it's put there by
the US Department of Homeland Secure. It says secondary Security

(48:03):
Screening Selection.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
So you get the free colonoscopy, yes, or.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
The patent down. Of course, being security minded, I always
ask for a second opinion. But that's another story for
another day. Anyway, it's most often randomly applied, just completely random.
But if your name is on a particular less you're
going to be going to pat down City just about
every time that you go, you want to look at it.

(48:29):
If you have four s's, plan a little extra time
for that. Now, what do you do if you show
up for a flight with a reservation and there's more
reservations than people. That's called denied boarding. I'm going to
tell you what the FED say. Welcome back to the

(48:53):
Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwiz, the Getaway Guru, joined by
John Potter, one of our travel experts. He's currently in
the Bountiful office. And the Travel Show is sponsored by
Morris Columbus Travel. Check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com
and do mark October eighteenth on your calendar. The Utah

(49:17):
Travel Expo will have a one day event in Davis
County at the Davis County Convention Center there in Layton.
It'll be particularly helpful for northern Utah, western Wyoming, southern Idaho.
Of course, the January Mega Expo down in Salt Lake
and Saint George will still be on track. Now, John,

(49:40):
I know you're kind of a party animal. Oh yeah,
and when you go clubbing on the weekend, Denny does
the same thing. When you go clubbing and dancing, I
know you like to do the bump. However, I don't
do that dance. But there is something called getting bumped
with an airl line ticket. What am I talking about that's.

Speaker 3 (50:02):
When they have too many people show up for a
flight than they have seats for and somebody has to
give up their seat.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
So we're talking about you have a confirmed reservation, you've
checked in, you're at the boarding gate on time. Most
airlines will close the doors to boarding about fifteen minutes prior,
so you're there at the appropriate time and they've got
more reservations than seats. Cruise lines do this, hotels do this.

(50:36):
Why Why do they overbook because.

Speaker 3 (50:37):
There's people that don't show up and they don't want
to have empty seats.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Or you've planned this month's in advance and then you
have to cancel. They want to maximize revenue. Is it
legal to overbook? Yes, absolutely, it really is. But the
consequences also can be quite dramatic. So if you are
caught in a situation where you have revation, you've checked in,

(51:01):
you're at the gate on time, and they are asking
first they ask for volunteers. Now that's called voluntary denied boarding.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
Yeah, where they gave you some perks.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
Yeah, and we'll.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
Talk about that. Always negotiate what you would give up
your seat for and go on the next available flight.
But if they can't get enough volunteers. It's involuntary denied boarding.
And here's here is what happens. The airlines have to

(51:37):
compensate you. If an airline bumps you from a flight involuntarily,
meaning you didn't volunteer to give your seat, whether you're
still in the gate or on the airplane, you may
be entitled to cash compensation. Now, this is something new,
the cash compensation according to the Department of Transportation or
DOT rules. You can check all this out at dot

(52:00):
dot GOM. Now, the compensation is based on the length
of the delay in getting you to your final destination.
For example, domestic flights delayed one to two hours, or
by the way, if they can get if you're denied
boarding and say you're flying to Chicago and they can

(52:22):
get you to Chicago within one hour, you're entitled to nothing. Now,
they may give you something as a courtesy, but they
are not legally obligated if they can get you there
within one hour.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
But if the.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
Delay is one to four excuse me, one to two
hours for domestic flights or international flights delayed one to
four hours. Again, not the departure, it's getting to your
final destination. The compensation is two hundred percent of your
one way fare and they still get you there on

(52:55):
the ticket, or a max of one thousand and seventy
five dollars. Now, if the delay is longer than two
hours for domestic flights or longer than four hours for
international flights, or if no alternate arrangements are made, the
compensation increases to four hundred percent of your one way fare,

(53:18):
up to a cap of two thousand, one hundred and
fifty dollars. Now, again, this is this is not mechanical,
This is not whether this is involuntary denied boarding. I
want to get on, but you don't have a seat
for me. Now, here's some things to consider. The compensate.
By the way, the rules in Europe are even more generous,

(53:40):
but they don't here in the US and overseas. They
don't have to give it to you unless you ask
for it. You have to apply for it. So the
questions are voluntary versus involuntary bumping. The rules are different.
Cash or vouchers you have I'm talking about in the US,
you have the right to request cash compensation instead of vouchers.

(54:04):
They don't want to give you travel credits. Yeah, and
maybe there's nothing wrong with that, but you can demand cash.
You are also able to negotiate for higher compensation, especially
if the bumping causes significant convenience. Now notice I said, John,

(54:25):
you may be able to negotiate. I didn't say you
may demand higher compensation right now. The other thing is documentation.
Keep all your flight documents, boarding passes, communication, text messages,
emails with the airline. That's proof. And if you believe
your rights have been violated or you've not been adequately compensated,

(54:47):
you can file a request, which they review with the
dot details on complaints at dot dot gov. I had
this experience years ago with Frontier Airlines simply flying to
Denver and I got involuntarily and they were asking for volunteers,

(55:08):
and they said, so there are eight of us that
didn't get on. They started to hinting the vouchers will
put you on another flight in three hours or something.
Got a meal voucher and the future credit offer and
you have to sign it. But once you sign it,
you have assigned away all of your federally protected rights.
And I said, I want to read it. I already

(55:30):
knew the rules. I wanted to read it before I
sign it. And I said, I said, I'm not going
to sign this right now. I would like a copy
of my federally protected rights, which, by law, if you
ask for it, you're entitled. There's a little sign at
every departure gate about this. You can ask for a

(55:51):
list of your federally protected rights. And the agent knew
nothing about it, called a supervisors oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
fumbled around and found one. I pointed out the cash,
compensation and the ticket in three and a half hours,
and that's what I got. They got flight credits. I
got green packs.

Speaker 3 (56:09):
The important thing is be pleasant and nice. If you're
yelling and screaming and using feul language, they are he.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
Wants to be yelled at.

Speaker 2 (56:16):
Yes, do you hear that, Kathye?

Speaker 1 (56:19):
My wife.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
Nobody wants to know about it.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
No, she doesn't know it. Hey, well, one of the
most popular travel destinations. John's gonna tell us when we
come back, welcome back to the Travel Show. Are we

(56:42):
having more fun than allowed by law? I don't think so.
I look forward to the Travel Show every week. I
actually get giddy getting ready to come down to the
studio to share this time with you. And you know,
we have a lot of fun. A lot of laughs,
but I never take it for granted that you are
the reason why we have such a successful travel show

(57:07):
and a successful Morris Columbus travel I'm joined today by
Pluto himself, John Potter, World's number one expert on all
things Disney. I did I did stump you one time
on an easy question. John. You did EPCOT, yes, and
you had a brain freeze because you knew the answer.
But I did claim that as one victory EPCOT. EPCOT

(57:31):
stands for Environmental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. That's a lot
of fun, it is. Okay, you there are let's see one, two, three, four,
five Disneys. Yes, Hong Kong been to Shanghai, haven't I've
been to Shanghai, but not Shanghai, Disneyland, Anaheim, Florida, and Paris.

(57:55):
So I've been to four of the five. You know
we talked about once we actually got calls. There's nothing
in the works about a kind of like a Pacific
Disney and Asian Disney. Oh we forgot Tokyo, so that's right. Yes,
I've been to Tokyo Disneyland a couple of times. Maybe
if do an Asia Disney sometime. Okay, let me ask

(58:18):
you this your frontline travel advisor. What are people calling about?
What are the the hotspots right now? Right now, I'd
have to say cruising anywhere. Cruising, they're doing a lot
of family groups. Grandma and Grandpa's taking the whole family,
kids and grandkids and in some cases great grandkids. We're

(58:38):
getting a lot of those. Alaska cruises are very popular,
and then a lot of Europe, Italy especially, but we're
getting Italy, France, and we're seeing that people aren't just
wanting to go to one destination. If they're flying to Europe,
they want to do three or four different countries on
lnturs And so you mentioned family. For Christmas twenty twenty two,

(59:05):
Kathy and I gave our five adult married children and
spouses and Alma Waterways Rhine River cruise last summer twenty
twenty four. Said they had a year and a half
to plan, get you know, other grandparents or people to
watch the kids, make sure they had time off work.
We ate dinner together at one big table every night.

(59:27):
It was one of the greatest experiences of having them
as adult children on a Rhine River cruise.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
Now.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
Christmas last year December twenty twenty four, we gave to
all of our children, the five kids and spouses and
all the grandkids. We have thirteen grandchildren. Now, we gave
them a five day cruise over spring break April of
twenty twenty six. I call it the Spring Break Escape Cruise. Now,

(59:59):
for most, not all, but most Utah school districts, spring
break always is Monday to Friday, and it in twenty
twenty six. For most districts, it's April six to ten.
So I found this five day cruise five days fortnits
with the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas. How cool

(01:00:19):
of a ship is one of my favorites. I sailed
on it four times and we gave them this cruise.
Now you've got and I know what's coming out of
your mouth in just a minute. We gave them both
weekends to do what good? There you go, Jenny, I
know will be there.

Speaker 3 (01:00:36):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
The nice yes, she will, I guarantee it. The nice
thing is you can drive down or you can fly down.
I think most of them are driving because it's with
the kids. It'll save a lot of money. There is
a private parking lot right next to the ship. Yeah,
I mean you could get out and throw a rock
at the ship. It's that most Please don't get arrested,

(01:01:00):
you know. And I haven't looked up the prices today,
but for the lead price, we said, we'll give you
the cabin and the taxes you pay, the gratuities you
get yourself there. And I think the lead price right now.
Don't hold me to this because I haven't looked it up,
but it's in four hundred something. Last time I checked,

(01:01:22):
it was in the low four hundreds. And of course
it's subject to change per person, say two adults, two kids.
But John, where can you take a family vacation with
water parks? You have kids programs, teen programs, adult entertainment.
I don't mean that type of adult entertainment for adults. Yes,

(01:01:45):
not you know what I mean. Yes, okay, I'm busy there.
You go, very appropriate, family friendly, but things for the adults.
You have a casino, you have shows, all your meals
are included, entertainment included, and the itinerary is great. We
leave from LA on April to sixth. It's Monday. Yeah.

(01:02:07):
We a Catilena. You mean the Catliina, Yes, I have.
I love Cadley. It's a beach community, boardwalk type communityful Wednesday,
a full day at sea. We stop in Mexico on
Friday and then back to LA and we disembark excuse me,
Mexico on Thursday, disembark Friday in LA. The nice thing
about this whilst passports are recommended, they're not required for

(01:02:32):
this cruise.

Speaker 3 (01:02:33):
True citizenship is yeah, certified birth certificate or.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
The original and for adults a government issued photo ID.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
Yeah. But hey, I'd love to have you join me.

Speaker 1 (01:02:44):
You can check out all the details at morriscolumbus dot com.
Scroll down to the third item, escorted tourist. Click on
cruises April six to ten. You talk about the ultimate
family gifts or just to adults that want to go,
So cruises I think are the best value.

Speaker 2 (01:03:03):
What else is hot?

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
Europe is very hot everybody Italy.

Speaker 3 (01:03:10):
I think because of the jubilee and the new pope,
everybody wants to go see Rome right now, and so
that's very popular.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Paris is a little crowded right now too, it is.

Speaker 3 (01:03:19):
Yeah, the Olympics kind of spurred a lot of people
wanting to go back to see Paris.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
You know, when if you're going to go to Europe,
I think you have to make this decision. You can't
see it all. So do I want the major capitals London, Paris,
Rome or maybe look regionally. I'm going to go to
Scandinavia or Provence or Tuscany. Yeah, and more focus on that.

(01:03:46):
That's true. Yeah, absolutely, Mexico, all inclusives are a good deal.
I've seen prices starting to come down in Hawaii, but
it's still quite expensive. Yeah, yeah, it really is quite expensive.
You know, last week we talked about the so called
secret airfares, which are really a tour operator discounted fair

(01:04:06):
that Morris Columbus is one of the few that has
contracts for him, but we have to bundle it with
something else, right, Hawaii is actually seeing things about a
four percent drop in visitors because of high prices. So
you want to stay tuned to the travel show as
prices come down. Now, let's put you on the spot. John.

(01:04:27):
You you should have been born as one of Walt
Disney's sons.

Speaker 3 (01:04:34):
You know, but you can putting a lot older than
I am.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
Well, you got the gray hair. Where did this gray
hair and you come from?

Speaker 3 (01:04:42):
I think it's been working with stress of the last
few years.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
Yeah, working with me anyway. Disney cruises sales are rare.
Although you highlighted one, right, it's always I mean they're more.
They cost more than say a Princess and NCL for
a similar itinerary. Right, it could be a few hundred

(01:05:07):
dollars more per person. It could be a lot more
per person. Right, Is it really worth it?

Speaker 3 (01:05:14):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (01:05:14):
Absolutely?

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
Why why spend that extra money?

Speaker 3 (01:05:17):
I feel you get it in the value. It's kind
of comparing a Tesla to a Cadillac. Disney is the Cadillac.
They're both good, they'll both get each to where you
need to go, but the experience is going to be
completely different with Disney. All of the sodas are included
free of cost. You don't have to buy that soda card.

Speaker 5 (01:05:36):
You have.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
The best entertainment I have ever been on a cruise
ship is on Disney. They have the Disney Family shows, musicals,
Ellen has it with fireworks, and they're costuming and it
is just amazing. The food is a step above very good,
very good food. And they have food for children.

Speaker 1 (01:05:56):
The chicken nuggets, the hot dogs, things that kids.

Speaker 3 (01:05:59):
Yeah, of course, the Mickey ice cream bars is a
big treat even for the adults. And you rotate through
different restaurants, three different restaurants, right, you have the same waiter,
the same people at your table, but different restaurant with
each different rotates with you. Yes, yeah, so it's good

(01:06:19):
that way. You'll walk up to the ship and they
have different interactive You'll walk up to a picture that's
just a pirate ship and all of a sudden, it'll
come to life and the pirates are shooting at each
other and it's just Disney.

Speaker 1 (01:06:31):
Tell me about the interaction kids have with the Disney characters.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
You have the Disney characters on the ship, they'll go
to the kids programs, they'll go around to the dining
they'll be out in the lobbies so you can meet them.
They're very accessible and you just can't go wrong with that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
The comparison that I make, and I say this with respect,
no denigration. I'm comparing Lagoon Amusement Park to Disneyland. They're
not same, and you're going to pay more at Disneyland
than you are at Lagoon, no disrespect.

Speaker 2 (01:07:04):
To it's a lot of Yes, we enjoy going.

Speaker 1 (01:07:08):
There as a family, but it's not the same at Disneyland,
and I'm going to pay more at Disneyland.

Speaker 3 (01:07:14):
Yeah, I've been on several Disney cruises. I'm going on
one in two weeks and it'll be my ninth. And
I've never once you know, I know I'm paying more
for it, but I've never once got off a Disney
ship say well, I wasted my money. It's always when
can I do this again?

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
There we go listen, Uh, we talk about cruises. There's
ocean cruises and river cruises. One of my favorite cruises
straight up talk, folks, are the Christmas Markets of Europe
on a Rhine River Alma Waterways cruise. The Christmas Markets
are a six hundred year tradition where every city large

(01:07:51):
and small, a wee hamlet and a large metropolitan area
completely lose their mind at Christmas and outdoor festivals. And
Kathy and I will be hosting a twenty twenty six
that's next year. The Christmas Markets on the Rhine will
be visiting Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Will have

(01:08:16):
a pre cruise option in Switzerland because we start in
Switzerland in Basel, in Basel and Strasburg, France is one
of my favorites.

Speaker 3 (01:08:25):
Oh that is my most favorite.

Speaker 2 (01:08:26):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
Then to a Heidelberg.

Speaker 3 (01:08:30):
That's my second favorite.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
I'm on a roll. They're all wonderful. And what we
did is we bought half the ship, and so our
prices are anywhere from several hundred dollars to over a
thousand dollars per person, less than if you bought the
same date the same cruise directly from Almah Waterways, the
Ultimate Deluxe River Cruise Company, or from another travel agency.

(01:08:57):
The dates next year December fourth to the allow love
to have you join me. Christmas will never be the same.
Give Morris Columbus a call. Check out your best state room,
the dates and what we're going to be doing December
fourth to the eleven with Christmas markets on the ride. Hey,

(01:09:17):
we still got lots more when we come back, including
the worst mistakes you can make with booking a hotel.

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Speaker 2 (01:11:27):
Guys, you a testosterol level.

Speaker 1 (01:11:32):
Thanks for listening to the Travel Show. Thank you for
joining us every week, this time on this very station,
for yet another exciting edition of the Travel Show. As
we travel the world, either in person or what we
love our armchair travelers who dream and dream of travel,

(01:11:53):
I'm pleased to welcome John Potter. One of our excellent
travel advisors at Morris Columbus Travel. You want to talk
to John direct eight oh one four eight three fifty
two fourteen and check out the website Morriscolumbus dot com
Morriscolumbus dot com. If you want to look at any

(01:12:13):
of the organized escorted tour programs offered by Morris Columbus,
go to the homepage Morris Coolumbus dot com. Scroll down
on the homepage to the third item and click on
Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours. That's the brand name for the
escorted programs. If it's a cruise like My Christmas Markets

(01:12:35):
on the Rhine, then click on Cruises. Otherwise, click on
the geographic area you're interested in Africa, Asia, Asia, Latin America, Europe,
Holy Land, LDS, Faith based tours and more, and they'll
show you by year what the offerings are. Now, John,

(01:12:56):
we've all booked a hotel room, we've all checked in.
Some times we know what we're getting. Other times it's
a surprise, either for better or for worse. What are
some of the over sites or mistakes that people make,
not only when booking the hotel, but even checking in.

Speaker 3 (01:13:16):
Booking the hotel. I have a lot of people that
will accidentally book the wrong city. For instance, they'll be
going to Disneyland. They'll be looking at Anaheim and not
realize they've booked their hotel in Anaheim Hills.

Speaker 1 (01:13:27):
I want to go to Santase, California in the Bay Area,
and I've booked Santase, Costa Rica.

Speaker 3 (01:13:33):
Yes, and so make sure you are booking the right
place the where you want. And make sure are you
booking a refundable fair or a non refundable fair.

Speaker 1 (01:13:44):
That makes a big difference. It does usually there's a
price difference, but if the price difference is not huge,
I go for the refundabook because things change.

Speaker 2 (01:13:55):
Yes, you know. I think one of the other.

Speaker 1 (01:13:58):
Issues that I see is people not getting all the information.
For example, what is the parking fee? Is there a
resort or destination fee, what room amenities? Does it have
a fridge, does it have a microwave? And some areas,
does it have air conditioning? You know, you look at Hawaii,
the average resort fee can run anywhere from thirty to

(01:14:21):
sixty dollars a day every day, added to your taxes,
your fees, and your room rental. The average parking fee
in Hawaii's about fifty bucks. Yeah, so you want to
know what your cost are. I think one of the
other information I like, John, is if I'm planning to
use public transportation, shopping and restaurants, what is my proximity

(01:14:45):
to all of these? Yeah. You know, one of my
favorite hotels in Kawaii is the Hyatt, but it's off
by itself, but they do offer a shuttle into the
town and that makes a very very big difference. Yeah.
Another one we mentioned a non refundable rate that is

(01:15:07):
so critically important. Some of the other mistakes that people
make is you can ask for a complementary early check
in or late check out. Now, you may or may
not get it right, is the request at least ask also,
are you a light sleeper? You can ask for a

(01:15:27):
specific room. Perhaps right not next to the elevator. We're
overlooking the swimming pool, so that. Yeah, and look at
the bedding as well. You know you've got a room
with one king bed and you're trying to put four
people in there. Make sure you're booking a room with
two beds. That's right. The old joke about b why
you going to the Las Vegas Bowl Football game is. No,

(01:15:49):
you can't put twenty people in a room, but they
show up with one hundred dollars bill and the Ten
commandments and don't break either one of them. Now, listen, folks,
you BYU fans, don't get worked up. I not only
am a BYU graduate, but I played ball for BYU.
I love the school, but I also love good humor. Yes, okay,

(01:16:11):
so if you're offended, chill out. The other thing is
and I'll come back with some few of you and
Utah State jokes too. Forgetting to do a final sweep
of your room, I mean really looking, yes, not a
casual glance.

Speaker 2 (01:16:28):
I also like to take advance of the express checkout.

Speaker 1 (01:16:31):
Not the long line in the morning when people are
checking out. That line is halfway to China. And some
people forget to look at their itemized bill. Yes, sometimes
charges that are not yours show up on your bill,
so you want to be very careful about that. And

(01:16:53):
you know, I like to even pull the bedding back
a little bit, make sure that the sheets are clean, and.

Speaker 2 (01:16:59):
Yes, the bugs aren't there.

Speaker 1 (01:17:01):
I mean, if you're staying in a nice hotel, it's
probably not gonna happen, but just be cautious. We got
about a minute left or so very quickly in thirty seconds.
What's the advantage of dealing with you or another Morris
Columbus travel advisor.

Speaker 3 (01:17:20):
We know all the deals out there. Sometimes we have
exclusive rates to our clients because of the volume the
business we do. We will get you the best price,
and that's our job. We love doing that, and you
don't have to sit on the computer for hours upon
hour looking at all the different rates.

Speaker 1 (01:17:39):
Morris Columbus dot com. That's Morriscolumbus dot com and once
again John's number eight oh one four eight three fifty
two fourteen. Thank you for joining us again on the
Travel Show. I mean that with all my heart. Look
forward to talking to you next week as we explore
the four corners of the globe and the seven seas.

(01:18:02):
Have a great weak and God bless