The Travel Show: Valentines Special!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the Travel Show, another star studded, award winning
radio broadcast, the best radio on the planet. I'm Larry Gelwicks.
They get Away Guru. The Travel Show is sponsored by
Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel more and pay less.
We really got a good show lined up today. Some

(00:32):
of the topics that we'll be covering is we're going
to be headed to Hawaii. The business development manager from
Princess Cruises. Yes, the love boat Love Boat will be
joining us. And today is Valentine's Day. We got some
fun facts and history of Valentine's What about cruising, what
are the cruise cabins that you should avoid? And why

(00:55):
do we love river cruising. We're going to be talking
about some LDS, church history tours, Holy Land tours. Dan Hone,
the Middle East expert, will be calling in to give
us an overview of the Middle East and is it
safe to travel? And then up to Alaska. Well, I
love Hawaii. No, what is it about Hawaii that just

(01:20):
keeps drawing us back? You know, some months ago I
told you that the Polynesian languages are very similar and
in Simon there are two words for spirit. The first
is anganga which has a religious connotation, the Holy Spirit,
the spirit of the Lord. And the other for which

(01:42):
there is no English equivalent, is mana. The Mana is
a power that's in the rocks and the ocean, the sand,
the trees, the flowers, the coconuts, the pineapple. It's everywhere
in Polynesia. And it's a power that like it reaches
out with a long tentacle and grabs you. That's why

(02:05):
Polynesians can be anywhere in the world and they feel
a deep affinity for their native island. And those of
us who've had the privilege of visiting the South Pacific,
visiting Hawaii, we know it as the spirit of Aloha.
It brings us back and back again. And so I

(02:28):
want to talk about Hawaii. You know, it's very interesting
the history. There's really two waves of immigrants. The first
came in three hundred to six hundred AD, probably from
the Marquesis Islands Nukuheva Heva Oa. And then the second
big wave was approximately nine hundred to one thousand AD,

(02:52):
and this was from what today we would call French
Polynesia Huahini Bora Bora and from right Yataya. And by
the way, I've been to all those islands and the
Marquesas Islands. To by the way, on the island of Nukuheva,
there's a one thousand foot waterfall you talk about overwhelming,

(03:16):
one thousand feet. Well on right Yataya, where I will
be when in May. You remember that cruise that i'd
advertise from Tahiti, French Polynesia to Hawaii that I'm taking
with a group of travel show listeners. We stop in
right Yataya. That's also the site of a announced LDS temple. Well,

(03:39):
right Yataya there's an ancient temple where the foundations and
some of the walls are still there, that dates back
a thousand years. And what the tradition is is these
ocean going vessels that the Polynesians would sail on would
come to the priests at the temple in write Yataya

(04:03):
and receive a blessing and then set out into the
vast stretches of the Pacific, some never to be seen again. Well,
the name of the temple is hawaiike, not Hawaii, but Hawaiitkei.
If we had to spell it today'd be ha wai Ki.

(04:25):
And of course the Polynesians had no written language. That's
just translated into English. Well, I've often thought and historians
think that those settlers from right Yetaa, those immigrants, those
ocean going vehicles who were blessed at the Temple of
Hawaiiqi probably named their new home after the temple. Hawaii

(04:50):
was annexed into the United States in eighteen ninety eight.
Was a very sad chapter of US history because they
really overthrew the kingdom, overthrow the king and basically took
the land. I remember in nineteen fifty nine. Yeah, I
was nine years old at the time when Hawaii became
the fiftieth state. So, yeah, Hawaii. There are one hundred

(05:17):
and fifty two islands and atolls, but eight major islands.
Can you name them? Let's see Oahu, Maui, Kawaii, Molokaii,
the pineapple island of Lenaii, Cooho Lave, which nobody lives on.
It was a bombing range island, small island they used

(05:39):
for bombing practice in World War two, in the Vietnam War,
and there's still unexploded ordinances there anyway, and then the
forbidden island of Nihihau, and finally the big Island of Hawaii.
Did you know that pineapples are not native to Hawaii?

(06:00):
Probably arrived in the year eighteen thirteen with a Spanish
group from South America. There are no native snakes in Hawaii,
which is really nice. No billboards and no private beaches.
How about some of the most popular local foods. I mean,
you can get your steak and pizza and all of

(06:20):
that anywhere, but true Hawaiian foods that are the most
popular would include some of these dishes. Have you ever
eaten Loco Moco. It's rice with a hamburger patty with
brown gravy and a fried egg on top. How about
sime in very similar to ramen, but it's Hawaii's favorite

(06:41):
noodle soup dish. The noodles are in a broth with
a variety of toppings, including, of course the cultural favorite
of Hawaii, spam poquet marinated raw fish in a rice bowl.
I love the kalua pork. That's luau pork cooked underground
and pulled apart. Manapua is a very popular when. It's

(07:06):
similar to Chinese charsu power the Chinese buns. It's dough
stuffed with anything and everything. And perhaps the most famous
is shave ice. Now, if you want to know it's authentic,
it's not shaved dah with a d ice. It's shave ice.
And of course I love the coconut shrip. I don't

(07:27):
know if that's Hawaiian favorite, but it's a lot of fun.
What if you had a chance to return to the
Golden Age of Hawaii. Well, I've got a tour group
I just put together that we're going to do a
return to the Golden Age of Hawaii cruising. This will

(07:48):
be a one way sailing. It's a repositioning cruise. April
twenty ninth to May seventh next year, twenty twenty seven,
Honolulu to the West Coast. And so we'll board this
ship in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. We'll sail
the Hawaiian waters, visiting the big island Kailuacona, and then

(08:10):
set out into the vast stretches of the North Pacific
to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Now you know you can
get some great deals on repositioning cruises, and so it
is with this one. Now I'm going to give you
the prices as of today. All prices are subject to
change and availability at the time of booking. So you

(08:33):
want to call Monday morning and lock this one up
the a balcony excuse me, an inside cabin, which I
think you want a balcony on this with the days
at sea. But you can sail on a nine day
cruise Hawaii to the West Coast for seven hundred and

(08:54):
seventy seven dollars now as of today, a balcony cabin
is only one thy twenty nine. This includes all taxes
for a nine day cruis. And so what you want
to do, folks, is go to Hawaii before the cruise,
spend a few days there, spend a few weeks there,
visit the other islands, but make your way to Honolulu

(09:18):
on April twenty ninth, and we are going to sail
to Vancouver. Now we'll be doing our own shore excursions.
I'll be your personal host and tour guide in Hawaii
and on board the sailing to the West Coast, leisurely
days at sea, three hundred and sixty degrees of open
ocean under the sunshine of Hawaii, and we're gonna have

(09:42):
our own seminars and activities on board. It's going to
be so much fun. Now here's what's really cool. The
ship the Anthem of the Seas with Royal Caribbean I've
sailed on this ship. It is fantastic. So many things
to do, so many dining venues. We arrive in Vancouver
on May the seventh. Okay, well you can come home,

(10:05):
you can spend a few days in Vancouver, or what
I'm gonna do is I'm going to stay on the ship.
The Anthem of the Seas starts the Alaska cruise season.
Now this is early Alaska, when the deals are the best,
the crowds haven't arrived yet, and so you can take
a one week Alaska cruise, stay in the very same cabin,

(10:27):
and that'd be May seventh to the fourteenth, at ridiculously
discount prices. So Honolulu to the West Coast April twenty
ninth to the May seventh, with rates starting today at
just seven hundred and seventy seven dollars including all taxes.
But I say get a balcony or sweet cabin for this,

(10:47):
a return to the golden age of cruising. When we
come back, we're talking to the business development manager with
the Love Boat. Welcome back to the Travel Show. I'm

(11:13):
Larry Gelwick, getaway Guru. The travel show is sponsored by
Morris Columbus Travel, where you Always travel more and pay less.
And by the way, happy Valentine's Day. Be sure to
take your honey out and chocolates, flowers and you know
it's not just men giving gifts to women, but women

(11:34):
give gifts to your hunk. Makes for a great day.
I'd mentioned at the tail end of the last segment
we were looking forward to speaking to Dana McCullough, business
development manager with Princess Cruise, as we're having some telephone
connection problems. She lives down in Arizona, and I don't

(11:54):
know if the gerbils are running fast enough and the
telephone company there to keep it going, but we hope
to hear from her soon. But let's talk about cruising.
I want to introduce a new cruise that I am
so excited about. I've done this only three times in
my forty eight year career in the travel industry, four groups.

(12:18):
It's what I call a return to the golden age
of cruising. This is when cruise ships ocean liners were
first used as a means of transportation, certainly having a
good time along the way. Well now, of course, it's
viewed more as a holiday in vacation, and you're often

(12:39):
cruising back to the same port that you departed from. Well,
what I've done three times is found a cruise ship
that is repositioning. I haven't done this one in about
six years. Repositioning you get fantastic rates. And this ship
next year April twenty ninth to May seventh with Royal

(13:00):
Caribbean on their beautiful anthem and the Seas, one of
my favorite ships. I mean, it is just class up
and down. We're going to sail from Honolulu to the
West Coast one way. So what you want to do
is fly out to Hawaii, spend a few days, spend
a few weeks, do whatever you want, and then jump

(13:20):
on board with me. Kathy and I'll be hosting this
cruise April twenty nine to May seventh next year twenty
twenty seventh, so we'll visit Oahu, the Big Island, will
sail from Honolulu, We'll visit Kyluacona, where we actually overnight.
We'll have two days there to explore the Big Island

(13:41):
and then set out into the vast reaches of the
North Pacific headed to Vancouver, British Columbia. Now that's an
exciting time and I don't know what the rates will
be on Monday because they could change, but as of
today it's a nine day. Because it's a repositioning, they

(14:03):
drop the prices to record lows and it's seven hundred
and seventy seven dollars for an inside cabin. Seven seventy
seven that includes all your taxes and fees. Now that's
a nine day cruise, but you don't want an inside
cabin if the finances right now, and balcony cabin is

(14:27):
running just one thousand and fifty eight dollars one thousand
and fifty eight for a nine day cruise in the balcony.
A suite is two thousand and something dollars. Now, we're
going to do our own private short excursions. We'll have
onboard activities and seminars and get togethers. It's going to
be a lot of fun. I and Kathy will be

(14:49):
your personal host and tour guide. Now here's where a
surprise comes. Because the ship is repositioning from the South Pacific.
They're sailing up from a to Hawaii and then we'll
go Hawaii to Vancouver and then we arrive in Vancouver
May the seventh, and then starting May the seventh, this ship,

(15:11):
Anthem of the Seas, starts its summer Alaska cruises, sailing
round trip from Vancouver. What you can do, I mean,
you can just come home right after the Hawaii cruise.
But what Kathy and I want to do is stay
on board in the very same cabin. We don't have
to move state rooms and do an Alaska cruise. It's

(15:34):
a wonderful time early on to visit Alaska. So contact
Morris Columbus travel a return to the golden age of
cruising Honolulu to the West Coast and then an Alaska
cruise if you want to add that. Now, when you're
in port, some cruises are heavy port visits. Others are

(15:59):
a lot of sea days. I personally love the sea days.
Kathy loves the ports where she is single handedly resurrected
the economy of several third world nations. I say that
in jest, of course, but she does love to shop.
But I like a mix ports and sea days. I
love that three hundred and sixty degrees of open oceans.

(16:21):
So here's some things that I've noticed that sometimes people neglect.
In port number one, failing to research a port of
call ahead of time, showing up blind. Now you can
buy one of the ship excursions when you come with me.

(16:41):
We do our own short excursions, always packed in more
at a much better price. You've heard of fomo, fear
missing out. It's a very real thing, but so is romo,
the regret of missing out. So what you want to
do be aware of the main tractions of each port,

(17:01):
even if you're not planning to visit them. What is
the distance from the ship to the attractions to the town.
Sometimes you're miles away from the town. How am I
going to be getting into that. The other is not
bringing enough cash. Of course, with credit cards and ATM cards,
you can make that up. The other thing is I

(17:24):
see people getting ripped off on bad foreign currency exchange rates.
Let me give you an example right now. It's about
eighty nine US cents excuse me, eighty nine eurocents for
one US dollar. I was at the Rome Trevy Fountain.
They have a money exchange there. They were giving seventy

(17:47):
five euro cents for one dollar. I mean they were
just ripping people off because people line up. Well, I
guess this what must be. You can check out the
rate of the true exchange rate, and then you don't
want to lose more than two or three percent. Do
research on the weather, and that makes all of the

(18:10):
difference in the world. Will take care of those things
and you're going to have a great cruise. I've often
wondered if more food is eaten on the first three
days of a one week cruise than the last four.
I don't know. Well, listen when we come back. We
got more of the Travel show. Did that Honolulu to
Vancouver cruise? I'm going to be on the prices are

(18:33):
rock bottom low on a nine day cruise April twenty
ninth to May seventh, twenty twenty seven. Welcome back to

(19:03):
the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the getaway Guru. Be
sure to check out the Morris Columbus travel website Morriscolumbus
dot com. That's Morris Columbus dot com. If you already
have a favorite Morris Columbus travel advisor, stick with him
or her. If you're looking for a new advisor or

(19:25):
don't have one, then give him a call at eight
hundred triple nine forty six forty six. Eight hundred triple
nine forty six forty six. And if you're interested in
any of the Morris Columbus Travel Escorted tours, those are
sold under the brand name of Morris Murdoch Escorted Tours.

(19:47):
Why two names, Well, it's kind of like General Motors
and Chevrolet. There's a different brand name than the parent company. Okay,
today is Valentine's Day, So Happy Valentines February fourteenth. Here's
a few things I've learned about Valentine's Day. The second

(20:07):
largest card sending day, with about one hundred and forty
five million cards exchange. I bet you can guess the
number one card exchanging day, and that's of course Christmas.
Now who gets the most Valentine's Cards? What would you say?
Would it surprise you that school teachers, we're really looking

(20:30):
at elementary school get more cards than any other person.
That's also followed by other children, mothers, and wives. But
an elementary school teacher could have thirty thirty five kids
in the class human and that's a lot of cards
you're getting. Now, this I found interesting. You know, have

(20:53):
you heard of Cadbury chocolate. It's really good. And by
the way, the Cadbury chocolate sold in Europe or Australia
New Zealand is different and better than the Cadbury chocolate
sold in the United States because there are some ingredients
allowed overseas that we just don't see here. Richard Cadbury

(21:15):
was the first one to introduce a heart shaped chocolate
for Valentine's Day in eighteen sixty eight. Now you've heard
the expression you wear your heart on your sleeve. Do
you know where that came from? Yeah, it's kind of
a Valentine's Day. In the Middle Ages, people would draw
names and wear that name pinned on their sleeve for

(21:38):
one week. So you are where you know the drawing
names of people they have some attraction or affection for.
You are wearing your heart on your sleeve because it's
pinned there for a week. Now, the first Valentine's Day
poem that we have any record of dates back to

(21:59):
the year thirteen seventy five. I mean, this is crazy.
Jeffrey Chaucer's poem The Parliament of fowls Now, how do
people celebrate it? Was kind of interesting in South Korea
and Japan on Valentine's Day. I like this approach. Women

(22:20):
give men chocolates on February fourteenth, but one month later,
exactly one month later, on March fifteenth, men return the
favor on a what's known as White Day, whit White Day,
which is a reciprocation day where men give gifts to

(22:41):
women to show appreciation. Now in the United States, we
spend about twenty one billion dollars on Valentine's Day. Now,
Valentine's Day originated about the year four ninety six AD
when when Pope jealousy Us established February fourteenth to honor

(23:06):
Christian martyrs, including Saint Valentine, and that replaced the pagan
luser Caalfia, and since that time it has evolved into
a romantic celebration in the Middle Ages. Now, one last thing,
why is it that we associate red and pink with

(23:29):
Valentine's Day? Well, red symbolizes passion, romantic love, and the
human heart. In the Middle Ages, read also symbolized the
blood of martyrs, including Saint Valentine. In Greek and Roman lore,
red roses were associated with Venus and Aphrodite, the goddesses

(23:53):
of love, establishing red as the symbol of desire. Well,
that's kind of some fuss to fun stuff. I hope
that you'll find you're Swedie and tell him or her
how much you love and appreciate them, have some fun
times together. Well, do you know anything about free city tours.

(24:15):
You know, what do you do with a long layover
at an airport? Well, I had a seven and a
half hour layover just two weeks ago at the Taiwan
Taipei Airport as I was returning from nom Pen, Cambodia
to the United States. Well, there are a number of

(24:35):
airports including Singapore, Istanbul, Doha, Soul, Korea, the Tokyo Narita Airport,
and Taipei that offer tours anywhere from two to two
and a half hours to five and a half hours. Now,
you have to have an established long layover, but simply

(24:56):
google free airport tours. I did that and all sorts
of stuff came up. But it's a great way to
spend the time. Now, when I checked in with China
Airlines in Nampen, Cambodia, I checked my bags all the
way through to the United States. So when I had

(25:16):
the seven and a half hour layover in Taipei, I
didn't have to worry about my suitcase. I do take
my carry on with me and I joined a half
day tour and it was so much fun. So this
is something you want to look in when you're faced
with a long layover. I don't know if the Church

(25:37):
of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints still does this.
I'll do a little research on it. But I remember
for long layovers at the Salt Lake International Airport they
used to offer a shuttle down to Temple Square if
you wanted Temple Square Airport. Maybe one of you could
find out or no, if they are still doing that,

(25:58):
but anyway to look into now, what a nightmare it
would be to show up the airport and not have
your ID. You know that's required for flying. Well, the
TSA Transportation Security Administration announced in December last year, then

(26:21):
it will refer all passengers who do not present an
acceptable form of ID but still want to fly, an
option to pay a forty five dollar fee to use
a modernized alternative identity verification. It's called TSA Confirm ID,

(26:41):
and it's establishing identity at security checkpoints. And it began
this month February first, so it's all it's been implementation
about two weeks. So travelers will be able to pay
the forty five dollar fee to use TSA confirm Dot
ID for a ten day travel period. TSA urges travelers

(27:04):
you do not have a real ID. That's like the
driver's license with a gold star on it, to schedule
an appointment at their local Department of Motor Vehicles to
update their ID. In other words, if you don't have
the real ID and that you have a driver's license
but it's not considered the real ID and that's the

(27:27):
name driver's license, go to DMV and get it updated. Currently,
more than ninety four percent of passengers already use their
real ID. So if you don't have a real ID,
or you simply have lost or your id's been stolen,
there's still is hope. Now, they don't guarantee that you

(27:47):
can fly, but they do make they do have an option,
and they'll do something screening to make sure that you
are who you say you are. Have you ever heard
the term way season. Well, we're in the middle of
wave season, as in an ocean wave right now. Wave
season is the cruise industry's biggest annual sales period, typically

(28:12):
running from say January through March. Now. This is where
cruise lines offer their most aggressive discounts, cabin upgrades, onboard credits,
and added perks like free drinks, specialty dining, Wi Fi
shore excursion credits to boost bookings for the year. Of course,
they'd like to fill all their ships in the first

(28:36):
quarter for the next year or two. Well, it's like
an extended Black Friday sale for cruises, encouraging early booking
with incentives to fill ships for future seasons. Now, some
of the cruise perks that I really like. One is
the onboard credit what we call an ob C onboard credit,

(28:58):
and that's free money to spend on board on virtually everything.
Most cruise lines don't let you spend it in the casino,
but you can do just about anything else with it.
Some of them don't let you pay your gratuities with it,
but you know, just about everything on the cruise ship,
you've got free money. Some of the others I've mentioned

(29:20):
that are perks during wave season is free WiFi, free
prepaid gratuities. That's you know, that's seventeen to twenty dollars
a day that everybody pays. They just assess it to
your account. You can change it. Did you know that
You can change your gratuity amount if you want. You
can raise it, you can even lower it. You can

(29:41):
make it disappear. I don't recommend making it disappear. You know,
these ship board workers, these cruise line workers. They work
their tails off, and yeah, give them, give them a
fair gratuity. They have a suggested amount with that. I
like free and reduced airfare. I see this, It comes

(30:04):
and goes, comes and goes with that. I got to
tell you a great experience Kathy and I had. We're
on Crystal Cruises in the Mediterranean with the group. I
love Crystal Cruises. It's the ultimate deluxe cruise line and
they have a specialty Italian restaurant. At the time, it

(30:26):
was named Prago. I'll tell you it's better than anything
I've had in Little Italy, in New York, San Francisco, La,
or even in Italy, in Rome and Florence and Venice.
The quality of the food was off the charts. And
so Kathy and I are dining there and the waiter

(30:49):
comes up and just says, you know, chatting with us,
and where are you folks from. We said we're from
the United States. He says where about and we said
Salt Lake City, Utah. And he just kind of smiles
and says, oh, Church of the Latter day Saints. And

(31:10):
I said, well, yes, yes, that's headquartered that. He says,
are you members of that church, and I said, as
a matter of fact, we are. And he said, and
he was from the Philippines. He goes, well, so am
I and we get to talking. He joined the Elias
Church at age eighteen, went on a mission now working

(31:33):
on a cruise ship, and he was supporting three families
back home. More when we come back on cruise cabins
to avoid here on the Travel Show. You're listening to

(32:02):
the Travel Show. Thank you for joining me every week
on this station. At this very time, I'm Larry Gelwicks,
the getaway Guru, reminding you that the Travel Show is
sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel, the travel experts, the biggest
sellers of travel in the entire Inner Mountain West. And

(32:22):
check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morris Columbus
dot com. Well, you know I love cruising. At the
end of the last segment, I was telling you the
story about the waiter. I just want to finish that.
I mentioned that this waiter from the Philippines was supporting
three families. He and his wife, he was married, his

(32:46):
own parents and his wife's spirits. You know, unemployment in
the Philippines is just shocking and he was working his
tail off, but he and his wife were expecting their
first child and he didn't have a job lined up.
But he said, as he prayerfully talked to the Lord
about what's going on, he felt he should be home

(33:08):
and be a husband and father and didn't know what
he was going to do work wise, but said he
knew the Lord would bless him and take care of him.
So this was his last contract and he'd be going
home and I think in two months. So I talked
to our group there and we had we had all sorts.
I always do this. I have these get togethers on board,

(33:30):
parties and seminars. It's so much fun. And I just mentioned, hey,
if anybody wants to make a contribution to this young man,
and I asked him to stop by our meeting, and
he didn't know why he was coming, but prior to that,
I said, let's just take up a collection for he
and his family, and they chipped in twelve hundred dollars. Now,

(33:56):
we had a big group on board, but I wanted
to help him out, and so we had it all
there in a nice envelope, twelve hundred bucks to help
him with a get started in something he's got a
new family, a baby coming, and he wept. He just wept.
He said he had been praying earnestly about what to do.

(34:21):
Where am I going to support these three families? And
then he ran into this group of Americans, who I said,
don't be surprised. You have been praying to the Lord
for help, haven't you? And he goes, yes, Well, don't
question when the Lord sends the help to you. So
lots of fun. Let's talk about crews. Cabins you should avoid.

(34:43):
First of all, I don't like the cabin exactly opposite
from the elevator. Your door opens and there's always a
big waiting area there with people. I do like it
just a few doors down the hall. I don't want
walk half a mile to get to the elevator, so,
but I like to be so it doesn't open up

(35:06):
into a public area. You also want to avoid cabins
above the nightclub, unless, of course, you want to hear
rock music going all night long and other late night venues.
Cabins above the casino are not a good place either.
You're gonna get some noise with that. Now. One also

(35:27):
is cabins below the pool deck. No, it's not going
to be Noah's flood number two coming through your ceiling.
But there's so much activity going on in the pool
deck night and day that you can get some of
the noise. I don't like the cabin near the anchor
clunk kung kung kung kung kunk going down and being

(35:48):
pulled up. And I also tend to avoid cabins at
the front of the ship or the bow, because in
calm waters it makes no difference. But if you get
some rougher waters, think of the front or the bow
of the ship bobbing up and down, where midship and
aft or the back of the boat are much more stable. Now,

(36:13):
if you're looking at a cabin ocean view, which is
a window or porthole on the older ships, window on
the newer ships, or a balcony sometimes called veranda, you
want to ask is it an unobstructed view or an
obstructed view. I was looking at a cruise just the
other day and I found a great deal on a

(36:34):
balcony cabin, but it had an obstructed view. Some obstructed
views are partial, others are completely. All you see is
the yellow side of a lifeboat, but you do get
natural light and so make sure if it's an obstructed
or unobstructed and adjoining cabins are great if you're with family,

(36:58):
but if you're not, you can easily get noise coming through.
Those in the Salt Lake area Utah area will know
the name of Abbe Banel, one of my favorite people
in the whole world. A native of England, Great Britain,
and she's a radio personality well known in Utah well.
She is taking a group of radio show listeners travel

(37:23):
show listeners back to her home country, England, Wales and
Scotland this September the ninth to the nineteenth, twenty twenty
six We've had Abby on the show before and I
love her British accent, but England, Wales and Scotland with
a native brit It's eleven days, ten nights plus your

(37:45):
travel time September ninth to the nineteenth, twenty twenty sixth Now.
You can get the details on this at morriscolumbus dot
com Morriscolumbus dot com. On the homepage, scroll down to
Morris Murder Escorted Tourists. If it's a cruise like my
Hawaii to the West Coast, you click on cruises. If

(38:07):
it's a land tour. You pick the geographic area for this.
You would pick Europe and simply in chronological order, looked
September ninth to the nineteenth this year England, Wales and
Scotland with one of the best people I know, Abbi Bannell.
When we come back at our number two, why is

(38:29):
it we love river cruising here on the Travel Show,

(38:53):
Welcome back to our number two of the Travel Show,
the best two hours in radio. I'm Larry Gelwicks. Then
get away the Guru. The Travel Show is sponsored by
Morris Columbus Travel for you always travel more and pay less.
Check out their website Morriscolumbus dot com. That's Morris Columbus

(39:14):
dot com. I want to talk about ocean and river
cruising in this segment, and I actually have a guest
here on the show, an expert in family cruising. I
want to introduce you to Oscar Costada, my grandson ten
years old, and he is an expert in family travel.

(39:38):
He's been to Mexico, goes to Florida to see his grandparents.
But Oscar, when you were seven years old, you're ten
years old. Now, when you were seven years old, I
had a group on a Mexico one week Mexican Riviera
cruise out of La We went to Cabo and Porto
Bayarta and Mazitlan and your grandmother, my wife Kathy couldn't go,

(40:05):
so your mother came with me and you and your
cousin Milo, who's also my grandson, same age at seven,
and so we had a wonderful time. So, Oscar, what
is it about cruising, particularly with family members that was
so much fun for you?

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Well, what I thought was the funnest was probably I
have four things. The ship, the pool, the activities club,
and the food. The all you can eat buffets awesome.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Now I remember you and Milo were all you can
eat ice cream out by the pool.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Yes, every time we'd finish off a cone, we'd get
a coney.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
Now your grandmother and I Nana as you call it,
the Lovely and Talented Kathy Gelwick's for Christmas twenty twenty four.
We went in January of twenty twenty three, but in
Christmas of twenty twenty four, we gave all of our family,

(41:15):
all the families, the grandkids, the moms, the dads, a
spring break cruise that will be going on in April
of this year. You know, the school break is Monday
through Friday, and this year in most of the Utah
school districts, including where you go to school at Eastwood Elementary,

(41:35):
which is part of the Granite By the way, Eastwood
Elementary is one of the top performing academic schools. You
want your kids to have a great experience a great education,
think about taking them to Eastwood Elementary. Anyway, we gave
everybody a cruise. I found a five day cruise Monday
through Friday, and we sail round trip from Los Angeles

(41:58):
and we go to Catalina. We make a stop an
incident out of Mexico. We have some great days at sea.
And now that you're ten years old, how much fun
is this family crew is going to be.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
It's probably probably gonna be a little bit more fun
because it's not just.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Two kids, it's everybody.

Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
But the other thing that I would like to talk
about is the ship. It is gigantic.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
Well, you know, we're sailing on the same ship, Navigator
of the Seas on Royal Caribbean that we went before.
You've been on this ship before.

Speaker 2 (42:39):
Wait, so it has that water slide that goes off
the end.

Speaker 1 (42:43):
Yeah, and wait, it has. It has not only swimming pools,
it has like a water park. It's got one.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
For the little kids and then us.

Speaker 1 (42:54):
Then you for the big kids, adults. All of that. Well, Oscar,
it's going to be a lot of fun. Have you
on board? Now? I have a favor to ask. After
the cruise in April, will you come back on the
radio show and give a full report of what it.

Speaker 2 (43:11):
Was, like a full report. You want me to do
a full on report, like a.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Full on report. Will you do that?

Speaker 3 (43:19):
Sure?

Speaker 1 (43:19):
And you can talk about how your how me your
grandfather kind of hung out at Muscle Beach.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Okay, we're joking because you're not Muscle Beach.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
Oh my gosh. All right, you're off the cruise.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
But the other thing that I wanted to talk about
is that you you bring me adults on more cruises
than you bring us on. Why did you give the
adults a cruise yet last year and this year again
without us?

Speaker 1 (43:49):
Where is this coming.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
From from Christmas?

Speaker 1 (43:53):
Well, Christmas of twenty twenty five? Just what a month
of a month and a half ago?

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Seven the week all the Waterways cruise that's.

Speaker 1 (44:03):
Right on the sand River. You want to go on
that one too?

Speaker 2 (44:06):
I'll take my parents' place.

Speaker 1 (44:09):
Well, thank you, Oscar. You are. By the way, let
me tell you a little bit about Oscar. He's a
very good student. He's an exceptional artist. But he's a
rugby player. He's now in his third year of full
contact rugby. And I will tell you straight up, and
I can say this as a you know, I know
a little bit about rugby. He's a beast on the field.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yeah. The reason why you're a little bit into rugby
is because you were like the rugby go juice, taught
for thirty six years and one.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
Like twenty national championship and.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
Like four hundred something four hundred and eighteen wins and
just ten losses, including twenty national champions So anyway, Oscar,
thank you for joining me here on the travel show.

Speaker 2 (44:57):
And by the way, I'm definitely eighteen.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Oh yeah, okay, ten, Thank you, Oscar. All right. That
was Oscar Costa. What a great kid he is. I
love him to death. And we're looking forward to that
family cruise. You know, we have over one hundred radio
show listeners on the spring Bak cruise. I started advertising

(45:20):
that a year ago and when we first came out
with it. That's why you snooze and you lose. I
said to our kids, we will pay for the cruise.
You get yourself there, and for a family of four
in a cabin. The price are you ready for this
was three hundred and fifty three dollars per person including

(45:44):
all taxes. What can you do for five days for
three point fifty three You spend that much just in
Disneyland in one day. The thing to remember, it's true
of airlines, hotels and cruises that price are not static.
They don't remain the same. As the ship fills up,
the hotel fills up, the air plane fills up, prices

(46:08):
go up. Well, if I had Kathy here, my wife,
she would tell you that she loves ocean cruising, but
she is completely in love with river cruising. And what
is it about a river cruise? First of all, don't
worry about seasickness or motion sickness. You don't get any

(46:28):
rock and roll on the river. Typically, ships in Europe
are about one hundred and sixty sometimes more people. In
Egypt and Africa and Asia, you're usually looking eighty to
ninety people on board. There's smaller ships, and what they
do in the dining room is completely off the charts.

(46:53):
You can do things for one hundred and sixty people
with the upscale dining that you simply can't do with
these new ships that hold seven thousand people. And I'm
not saying there's anything wrong with that. They're three and
a half football fields. And the thing, next time you
go to a football game or look at what look
at the field and think three and a half football fields,

(47:15):
that's how big the ship is with seven thousand guests
plus the crew. And so it's again there's no right
or wrong, it's a matter of personal choice. Well, the
question that we're asked is, how is it that Morris
Columbus Travel offers river cruise prices that are often significantly

(47:37):
lower than buying direct from the cruise line or buying
direct from any other cruise company like travel agency. Well,
it ain't bragging if it's true. Morris Columbus Travel is
the largest seller of travel including river cruises and ocean
cruises in the entire Inner Mountain West. I know with

(47:59):
Viking cruises, Morris Columbus Travel is the largest agency seller
of Viking cruises in the entire Western United States. Now,
when you deal with these volumes in the tens of
millions of dollars. You can do some things because of

(48:19):
the volume that others simply can't do. And one of
the things that Morris Columbus Travel does is will select
certain river cruises. Not every week we sell cruises every week.
We will pick this cruise and that cruise and this cruise,
and we take what's called inventory risk, meaning we go
right in and buy the cabins up front. We own them,

(48:42):
we completely own them, and if we don't sell it,
we still pay for it. But we've never we've never
lost out on this. And what happens when we buy
the cabins that we get discounts usually a one thousand
to two thousand dollars per person below buying a direct

(49:06):
from the cruise line. Now think about that. That's two
to four thousand dollars per couple that's going to pay
for your airfare, that's going to pay for other things.
And we come back in our next segment, I'll give
you a couple of examples of cruises where we have
taken an inventory risk and you can save two to
four thousand dollars per couple. Stay tuned for the update

(49:29):
on river cruising. Welcome back, to the Travel Show. I'm

(49:53):
Larry Gallows to get Away Guru. May I express my
personal thanks and appreciation you for making this show possible.
Without you, I don't have a radio show. This is
now my thirty fifth year of hosting the Travel show.
Can you believe that? And what a run it has been.

(50:15):
Started out with Don Chaffer and I co hosting, and
Don retired some years ago and passed the torch on
to me and I look forward to every Saturday and again,
Happy Valentine's Day to you. Well, we were talking about
how Morris Columbus Travel can take inventory risk, buy the

(50:36):
cabins up front. I'm going to give you three cruises
in which we have taken an inventory risk. Maybe you
have an interest in joining me. You know I love
Southeast Asia. I've told you, if it weren't for my
kids and grandkids, Kathy and I would live in Thailand.
And yeah, I was there last month. I'm going to

(50:59):
be in Thailand this month. Just a wonderful thing. What
is it about Southeast Asia? It's the people, the culture,
the graciousness, the food. It's exotic everything from tropical islands,
rice patties, beautiful white sand beaches and the foothills of
the himalayas well. That's what draws me in. So I

(51:24):
have planned. We have bought cabins on the may Kong,
the riches of the Maekong. Now this is from ci
En Reep, Cambodia. That's the home of Anchor Watt, Anchor
Tom Tapram and the Kamei Kingdom. You're in the Kamei
Kingdom kame spelled k h me R. Some people call

(51:47):
it Kimmer, but it's properly pronounced the Kamei Kingdom. There
are over eight hundred temples in that expanded geographic area.
Only about two hundred have been covered. The most famous,
of course, is Anchor Watt, and it was built in
the twelfth century, although the area was settled back as

(52:10):
far as nine hundred the ninth century eighth century. Even
Anchor Wat's been a working temple since the twelfth century
and from the twelfth to the fourteenth century the most
enlightened educated population base on Earth, and the monks are working.
That started out as a Hindu temple but is now

(52:31):
a Buddhist temple. I was just there last month, just
a few weeks ago, with a group of travel show listeners.
Well we have. These are all one week cruises through
Cambodia and Vietnam. And what's interesting, we'll visit the major
cities like Saigon and Nompen non Pen being the capital

(52:56):
of Cambodia. Saigon now known as Ho Chi Minh City.
But we get to the backwaters tan Choo, it's a
small Makong river town, unspoiled by tourism. You get a
very authentic experience and it's a silk making village. We
stop at tan Choo, we go to Sadek. I mean

(53:20):
it goes on and on and on of the experiences
that we will have in Southeast Asia. And if you,
Kathy and are going to go to Thailand for a
few days before this, I have five cabins left out
of we bought half the ship and only five cabins left.
And the discounts rained from one thousand to two thousand

(53:43):
dollars per person below buying direct from the cruise line.
Another one that I'm very excited about now, This one
Oscar made mention of he wants to go on, but
he's not invited for Chris Miss twenty twenty five. You
know what a month and a half ago we gave

(54:06):
our five married children and their spouses a Senn River
sent Si n E River cruise that flows from Paris
up into the North Sea. So we'll be sailing round
trip from Paris June seventeenth to the twenty fourth next year,
twenty twenty seven. It's a beautiful time in France June

(54:30):
seventeenth to twenty fourth. Now we will see Rowenn. You
think you've stepped back five hundred years, the architecture, the
cobblestone streets, It's where Joan of Arc was tried and executed,
Han Fleur, one of the great cities of Gothic architecture, Vernon,
Les Andeles Lejve. But for me, the highlight, and it's

(54:51):
a very emotional experience is Normandy and the D Day Beaches. Now,
I was in Normandy and the d DA Beaches July
of last year with a travel show listeners group. We
were on a British Isles cruise that included France. And
I'll tell you what I like to do when I
visit places of history is go on YouTube and look

(55:14):
at video actual footage of the D Day landing. There
were five beaches that were involved in D Day June
of nineteen forty four. Two were by the Americans, two
by the Brits, and one by the Canadians. The US
had Omaha and Utah beaches. The Omaha Beach was the bloodiest.

(55:40):
Thirty four thousand Allied troops Americans landed that day and
it was the bloodies. The German bunkers are still there,
and I stood right where I saw some of the
German video. I saw the US video. And then you
go to the cemetery, about ninety six hundred graves in
the American cemetery. There's also a Canadian cemetery and a

(56:03):
German cemetery, but at the American and it's immaculate. You
see as far as the eye can see these gold headstones, crosses,
and mostly teenage boys and men in their early twenties.
Of course there's people of all ages, but mostly these
are young men who fought in a war that was
not theirs to preserve freedom in Europe. And at four

(56:28):
o'clock there's two flagpoles. At four o'clock, they lower the
flags and play taps. Tears came to my eyes thinking
about these lives that were smashed and dashed out in
that area of Normandy. Businesses and homes to this day
fly the American flag year round as a thank you.

(56:50):
Now when we come back, I'll tell you by the way,
we bought half the ship on the Senn River savings
one to two thousand dollars per person. Double that for
a couple two to four thousand dollars. This one is
selling so fast. Snooze and you lose. June seventeenth, the
twenty fourth, twenty twenty seven on the Senn River sailing

(57:15):
round trip from Paris, and we will have a pre
cruise three night Paris option more when we come back.
On the Travel Show. You're listening to the Travel Show,

(57:45):
I'm Larry Gelwicks. They Get Away Guru, joined in studio
today by John Potter, one of our fine travel advisors
at Morris Columbus Travel. You want to talk to John
direct eight oh one four eight three fifty two fourteen.
Now John, we've got on the line. One of my
favorite people and best friends on the planet. He and

(58:07):
I have been the best of friends for fifty years
or more. Now, and that of course is Dan Hone. Now,
Dan is too, Dan, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Dan Is Thank Swarry. You don't have to go anymore,
let's jump into the show.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
Celencio. He's very humble. Yeah, Dan is too humble to
brag about himself, a character trade I've never been accused of.
But Dan was one of the founding members of the
BYU Jerusalem Center, thirty two years with the BYU Department
of Ancient Scripture and Travel Study, got his graduate degree

(58:46):
from an Israeli university, sixteen different languages, most of them
ancient languages, and is the smartest guy I know on
all things Holy Land. So let's start with the Holy
Land in the Middle East. Of course, we follow in
the news some of the troubles over there. What is
the state of things, particularly for American visitors in the

(59:11):
Holy Land, which is much more than just Israel.

Speaker 3 (59:16):
Well, when you talk about the Holy Land, then we're
going everywhere from Turkey through the Middle East to Egypt
and so forth North Africa, and this area of the
world has always had its struggles and things. But you know,
going over there right now is you get so much
in the media and all about what's going on over there.

(59:39):
But in actuality, we're I and my son and others
are in contact weekly even daily with people, and we
hear a different story over there, like Israel, some of
these areas, remember that it's going to open up. And
you know the number one key if anybody's considering going
over there right now, watch brig and Young U University,

(01:00:00):
the BYU drew some students have been there since last
May a year ago, and we've had students changed. The
next group came, and the next group is there right now,
and the next group has already been advertised and open
up to go over there. And if there's any conservative
group about, say that's right, they pull them out when

(01:00:25):
they think it's too dangerous to be there.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
Yeah, I think that's a good barometer. And of course
then later in February you'll be taking group to Egypt.
That's pretty exciting, you know. In the news, Dan, there
have been some new discoveries highlight some of the really
important ones.

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
Wow, it's hard to tell, you know, there's been three
major ones done in this in Egypt and Israel since
January this month, and all that we're finished. He had
just finished where we have, for instance, one of the
great ones that affects us biblically and a lot of
them do just in Israel alone is Toutmosis are Commonhotep

(01:01:10):
the Third's discovery of him. We had his mommy, but
we never had his tomb, and they found the tomb,
and as a result of that, this is one who
lived at the very time of the Exodus and may
have been the pharaoh of the Exodus and all. And

(01:01:31):
his tomb is exciting, not because it's so much elaborate
as some of the other tombs, although it has a
lot of the technical things in it, but the fact
that we have found it, and that tomb is not
where he was buried. He was buried there for a time,
but everything was taken out and rein tired in another tomb.
And so we had the mummy at the Egyptian Civilization Museum,

(01:01:54):
which is one of the places we visit when we
go over there. There in that museum and find, you know,
all the mummies, and there's one I'm an office the
third that his mummy is covered with the kind of
sores or barnacles, much like the Bible describes as the

(01:02:15):
Pharaoh and the excess. And it's the only one that
way that embalming couldn't take calare be able to take
place for salt. And that's just one of many much
about Josiah, much about finding names now in the bu
Eye below the Jerusalem Center there in Jerusalem, where they
were going through all of the things, all of the

(01:02:37):
rebbel left from excavations of underneath the Temple mount.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
A lot of exciting, a lot of exciting discoveries. Now,
one of the things that at firesides and talks that
you have a conductor, that I have conducted also and
spoken on, I'd like you to highlight maybe one or
two of the rituals and ceremonies. Let's start with the

(01:03:04):
ancient temple ceremony in Egypt. Now, I want to emphasize
that we are only talking about verifiable ancient rituals of
which we have evidence and writings and high glyphs. We're
not making a comparison to any religious ritual in any

(01:03:26):
church today. If you want to make that leap, go ahead,
We're not going to make it. We're going to talk
only on ancient rituals. Take us through the temple and
the questions of.

Speaker 3 (01:03:37):
Ma'at well, Ma'at as of course, the truth, the spirit
of truth. You know, for those that know lvs Pearl
great price. When you see the Book of Abraham, the
very second fact simile underneath it underneath the central figure
upside down as a bowl or an that is on

(01:04:01):
top of a little square. That's the maaut stand and
my aut is truer voice, if you will, cheap soot.
The ancient queen talks about her half brother husbands as
the voice of truth. And I'll let's say so, let's

(01:04:23):
talk about a little bit about that and the ordinance,
if you will, that they went through. It was available
not just to the pharaohs, it was available to even
the common people.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
And let me jump in and just kind of an
to understand the background of what we would call a
temple ceremony endowment ceremony. By that I said secular term,
not a Elds religious term. Is it was believed to
be a practice for the afterlife. You go to the

(01:04:55):
temple to prepare yourself to meet God in the afterlife.
And very briefly, we've only got a few minutes left.
Take us through the ancient Egyptian temple ceremony. Again, we're
only talking about ancient, we're not making any comparisons.

Speaker 3 (01:05:14):
Well, we begin actually in a garden place, going to
the temple of Dendera. You still have the garden out there.
There you learn about the creation, if you will, the
rise of the ben Benstone. From there, you're taken into
a central hall where there are many veils. Each of

(01:05:35):
these veils have questions asked, and you must know the names.
Some of the names are over a paragraph long that
you have to recite in order to pass through. And
you're asked the forty two questions. I think you know
those forty two questions.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Well, let me talk. Let me talk about the forty
two questions, because when they do it, they'll change their closing,
they'll be ceremoniously anointed with oil and water, they'll have
an escort and then go into the judgment hall. But
these forty two questions really are about character, morality, honesty.

(01:06:11):
For example, one is are you honest in the marketplace?
Do you do you treat your servants fairly? One of
the most kind of a humorous one, John is have
you committed adultery with your neighbor's wife anybody else? It's okay, yeah,
I guess so, no, just kidding. But I think one

(01:06:34):
of the most telling that I kid Kathy about is
is there one person this one of the questions, is
there one person who is glad that you lived. And
I look at Kathy and she's silent, and I'm saying, Kathy, Kathy,
would you anyway? So take it up. We've changed our clothing,

(01:06:54):
We've been anointed ceremoniously with oil and water. We have
an escort. We move into the Hall of Judgment. The
forty two questions of Lot take us the rest of
the way.

Speaker 3 (01:07:06):
Well, of course, as you go through these, you're ascending,
and the ceiling is actually also reducing so that it
looks like your ascending fast and you think. And as
you go from this, each of the places that you're
clothed in robes of priesthood, power and so forth. When
you finally come to one place, you have a circle

(01:07:28):
prayer that is done there. The incense burning sometimes is
the veil itself between some of the pillars and things
where the rest questions. When you finally get you get
to a final point where you can see what is
being said on both sides. And it's symbols that represent
eternal lives. That is, the on symbol, which is more

(01:07:52):
than just the immortality. Eternal lives has to do with
progeny to the symbol of the jed column backbone jed
pillar that represents strength and domination and ability to rule
over empires and things. Also it represents health, just as

(01:08:15):
the eternal symbol does. So this represents health. And then
the wise scepter, which is authority or power. These are
given at the veil where you're in a sacred embrace,
and then as you as it's given to you. The
symbol there at the bottom is a symbol of Ray,

(01:08:36):
the dominant god Almon Ray, and it's like a sun symbol,
but it also has a chord on it, and what
that represents is to be bound or sealed upon you.
Then you can enter into the presence of the gods.
And of course these were done for the living, but
sometimes repeated for the dead. And some of the most

(01:08:57):
recent discoveries we have made is that that the priest
often did this on a regular break basis for the pharaoh,
so that there was a substitute for them, so that
he could enjoy the blessings too. He may go through
the coronation, he may go through it may be carried
to a degree through some of that to after his death,

(01:09:20):
in order that he might spirit might pass beyond right
and come to the final judgment.

Speaker 1 (01:09:28):
Well it's a fascinating study.

Speaker 3 (01:09:30):
Dan.

Speaker 1 (01:09:30):
We've got about thirty seconds left, and we wanted to
talk about burial practices of the ultra Orthodox in Israel,
the opening of the gates of Mahina. We'll have to
save that for another day. Gahen, I want to mention
this well later in February. You've already got a group
going to Egypt. But this fall October tenth is the

(01:09:53):
Holy Land with Dan. Dan and I are looking at
some dates next year, twenty twenty seven, and I might
say we have a lot of wonderful guides for throughout
the year taking you to the Holy Man. Dan is
one of them. Dan, thank you for joining us here
on the Travel Show, and can I invite you back?

Speaker 3 (01:10:15):
Come?

Speaker 1 (01:10:15):
Very good, very good, Hey, thanks to Dan, Thank you,
thank you Dan Hone. When we come back, we're going
to talk about a special cruise to Alaska and our
best travel advice. Hi, I'm Larry Gelwicks to get away Guru,

(01:10:43):
and thank you for joining me here on the Travel Show.
Was that the most fascinating discussion we had with Dan
Hone on recent discoveries and overview of the Middle East.
Don't forget that Dan personally host Morris Columbus Travel tours
to Holy Lands and Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and I will

(01:11:07):
say there are so many good hosts that we have
at Morris Columbus Travel for the Holy Land. You know,
I would pick any of them to go with. Tim Taggart,
Garrett Dirk, Matt Kay Godfrey, the Ostlers, Joel Judd is

(01:11:29):
a great one, the Proctors and the Mannings. They all
are part of our family. Dan Hone and I have
been the best of friends, as I mentioned, for fifty years,
and we take groups together and do all the commentary.
You know, in talking to Dan, I forgot to tell

(01:11:49):
you about that third River cruise that Morris Columbus Travel
has taken an inventory risk where we have bought the cabins.
Now I mention the Maykong November ninth, the sixteenth this year,
I mentioned the Sen River including Normandy and the d
Day Beaches sailing round trip from Paris that's June seventeenth

(01:12:13):
to the twenty fourth, and the third one that we've taken.
We've taken inventory risk on others, but I'm only mentioning
three is the Gems of Southeast Europe. This is Eastern Europe.
What used to be part of the Soviet Bloc. There's
still a generation behind the rest of the world. In

(01:12:34):
Western Europe. The Gems of Southeast Europe is September twenty
sixth to October third next year, twenty twenty seven. We
sail from Budapest to Bucharest. Now catch this. This is
so exciting. This one is selling off the charts too.

(01:12:55):
We visit the following countries Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.
We're also going to see Dracula's Castle. That's kind of fun.
But think about you probably haven't seen this part of Europe.
Come with us before it changes forever and loses a

(01:13:19):
lot of that old world charm that hasn't enveloped them yet.
It's still a step back in time. The Gems of
Southeast Europe September twenty sixth to October third of twenty
twenty seven. The Send River, the beaches of Normandy and
d Day June seventh, excuse me, June seventeenth to the

(01:13:41):
twenty fourth, twenty twenty seven, and the riches of the
may Kong November ninth to the sixteenth this year, twenty
twenty sixth. Now all of these we offer pre and
post tour options and you can look. I hope you'll
join us, Kathy, and I'll be your personal home on
all of them. Now, you remember we were talking to

(01:14:03):
Dana McCullough, the business development manager for Princess Cruises, in
the first hour, and she mentioned how much she loves Alaska,
and I talked about, you know, places that are won
and done and places I can't wait to remain. A return.
Every year, I'll take a group of travel show listeners

(01:14:24):
with me where we do our own private shore excursions
in Alaska, including chartering our own whale watching boat. We
don't go with anybody else. We go where we want
to go, visiting glaciers on our tours, animal viewing, totem parks.
This particular year, we're doing a July twelve to nineteen

(01:14:49):
on the brand new Star Princess. Now, the Star Princess
was only debuted, only came out in November of last year.
It's three months old. It's brand new. Go online and
read the reviews of the Princess ship the Star Princess.
Everything about it is first class, and that's the one

(01:15:10):
we're on now. Some people have said to me, hey, Larry,
Alaska cruise prices are getting more expensive, and I say,
actually not. Alaska cruise prices are lower this year than
they were last year, but you have to understand the pricing.

(01:15:31):
The reason they've come down is there's more ships, what
we call more deployment, so there's more beds to fill,
and the prices have dropped. Last year it was cruise
fair plus taxes. Taxes on most Alaska cruises are three
hundred and thirty dollars. This year, taxes have to be included.
So for example, this cruise, the lead price we sell

(01:15:55):
round trip from Seattle on the Star Princess, with our
private shore scurs and all of that. I'll be Kathy
and I'll be your personal hosts and tour guide. Love
to have you join us. We have so much fun
even on board. We have private get togethers and activities
and seminars. Right now, the lead price is eleven twenty four. Well,

(01:16:19):
that sounds like a lot, but it includes three hundred
and thirty dollars of taxes. You back out the taxes
to make a comparison. The last year, in the peak
of peak season July, the cruise fair is only seven
hundred and ninety four dollars. Compare apples to apples and
then add the taxes. Now, prices aren't static, because two

(01:16:43):
weeks ago this price was nine point fifty eight, now
it's eleven twenty four. It's come up what about one
hundred and seventy five bucks, and it will continue to
get more expensive. July twelve to nineteen on the Alaska
Cruise with me. Check out all of these at Morris
Columbus dot com. Scroll down to Morris Murdoch Escorted Tourists

(01:17:04):
and click on cruises and with that, Happy Valentine's Day
and we'll talk to you next week here on the
Travel Show