Booked & Boujee

The Wishing Well's Harry Reif discusses this week's travel news and Hot Deals!

Join us as we explore some of the most breathtaking destinations and experiences that offer a touch of class without being ostentatious. 

First, we set sail on the NCL Aqua, cruising through the stunning Caribbean waters. Discover the hidden gems and serene beaches that make this region a paradise for travelers seeking both relaxation and adventure.

Next, we embark on a journey aboard the Celebrity Equinox, visiting historic locations in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. From the vibrant streets of Barcelona to the charming alleys of Lisbon and the rich cultural tapestry of Marrakech, we uncover the stories and sights that make these destinations truly unforgettable.

Finally, we take a step back in time with a visit to Mackinac Island. Known for its timeless charm and picturesque landscapes, this island offers a unique blend of history and natural beauty that’s perfect for a luxurious yet laid-back getaway.

Whether you’re planning your next trip or just dreaming of far-off places, this episode is sure to spark your wanderlust.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a Lifeless Ordinary. It's a travel show and
podcasts from your friends at the wishing Well two forty
three f Avenue in harrismerg and online at the wishing
Well dot this. The wishing Well is your ultimate luxury
concierge travel agency and a Lifeless Ordinary is a travel
show and podcast hosted by Terry Dean, bringing her over
forty years of experience in the travel industry to help

(00:20):
guide you to great experiences in your travel, whether it
be around the block, around the country, or around the world.
Let's bring in Terry Dean and say hello. But this week,
Hello Harry, Yes, silence for Terry. Right, Well, we miss it.
Terry's on leave. Terry's on leave this week, so you've
got me, Chris. I can deal with that. Harry. How
are you.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
I'm doing really good. I just came back for some
great travel. We were talking about you last week. We
were specifically talking about your trip to Vegas, and I
mentioned that you and I had dinner at the fair.
You sat down with your brother in law and my
wife and stepson, and we talked about your Vegas trip,
and we're all a little bit.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Jealous of you.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Here. Well, the at The food at the fair is
always great, but it wasn't exactly Vegas food out there.
But we had a great time. But I came back
from Vegas and I took another trip. I went back
over to that half of the country, and I've spent
the last week and a half in Dallas and in Portland. Wow,
yeahs have hot, hot places. You must have a great

(01:21):
travel agent. I have a great travel agent, and I've
got a boss that I think I've about pushed her
to the edge of her tolerance, Chris, But I'm back now.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
You're not doing the job right if you haven't, Harry,
Thank you so much. So what's going on in travel
news this week?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Oh, travel news this week? Lots of news. I guess
the biggest thing that people will be curious about is
what happened over Labor Day. And lots of things were
happening over Labor Day. One of the things that happened
was out in Seattle. There was some problems at the airport.
Again some foreigners hacked into the system. Foreign agents hacked
into the system, but they got through that. But I

(01:57):
looked at screenings, and it's always good to look at
TSA data. Over the holiday, they said they screened over
seventeen million passengers over this holiday weekend. It's unreal, it
is unreal, And that's about an eight and a half
percent increase over last year. The busiest air Portioneau Surprise.
Boston was on the list, Dallas Fort Worth was on

(02:19):
the list, Heartfield always on the list. In Chicago, O'Hare
on the list. So those were the big ones. But
this is consistent with what we're seeing with volumes of
air traffic worldwide, and it's also consistent with what we're
seeing with prices worldwise. Everybody's talking about inflation, you know,
it's a big, big thing in the news right However,

(02:42):
the travelers don't seem to be affected very much by
inflation at all. Humans everywhere across the planet seemed to
have this insatiable appetite to explore and travel. So the
numbers I saw said that we've spent over one point
five I have trillion dollars trillion. I don't even know

(03:03):
how many zeros is in a trillion, do you? Twelve twelve?
That's a lot, so one and a half with twelve
zeros behind it. Dollars in twenty twenty three and about
a third of that comes from the United States. Can
you guess where the second largest travel spending population comes from?

Speaker 1 (03:22):
What country? China? Exactly right.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
That's why I love having you on the show. You're
so smart, You're the best host I could dream for. Yeah,
China's got the second and they're a distance second. They're
about a third of what the US spends.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
So yeah, US we're going like crazy. Air traffic's going
like crazy. Volumes are up about four point three percent.
People think prices are up this last year. In fact,
they've decreased by almost three percent from North America airfares
Europe growing about six point six percent, and prices are
up about the same a little bit less. Asia Pacific

(04:00):
also up about five percent, and prices pretty steady with that.
One of the things that was interesting I looked at
Middle East air traffic because a lot of thing's been
going on in the Middle East. Volumes actually still grew
by one point nine percent over the year before, and
prices are up about three to four percent. So there's

(04:22):
the place to look for and see that the inflation
is taking effect. Even Latin America Caribbean about a three
and a half percent increase in air traffic and prices
they are up about four or five percent too. So
that's kind of what's going on with people moving around
in Labor Day traffic. One other thing going on. If

(04:43):
you heard about the hotel strikes, I've heard.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Rumors of it. I don't know anything about it though.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, Well, over Labor Day, a lot of people in
the hotel industry decided that they would start doing some
spots strikes and so a lot of travelers holidays were disrupted. Baltimore,
close to us, the Inner Harbor had some issues, and
hotel workers were also on strike up in Boston, Greenwich, Honolulu, Kawhai,
San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle where I was.

(05:11):
So the hotel workers are going on strike and they're
really I think they have some legitimate issues that they're
talking about. They are impacting some of the larger chains
the change like the Marriott, SA Hiltons, the Hyatts, and
what the hotel workers are saying. And this is something
I've noticed is that since COVID, hotels have really cut

(05:34):
back on housekeeping services. And if you stated at a
hotel recently in the last couple of years, you'll notice
that they don't do what was historically done in hotels,
and that is every night they come in or every
morning they come in and make up your bed and
clean up your room, give you fresh towels, and at

(05:54):
night they might turn down your bed, leave some chocolates
on the pillow. Since COVID, they restrict did the entry
to people's rooms, and since COVID has abated a lot,
they have not returned those services in the hotels are
cleaning rooms every other day, every third day, maybe once

(06:15):
during your stay. And the hotel workers are saying, we're
suffering big time because we're not getting the hours that
we used to have and that we thought were coming back,
and so they're very upset about that, and they're working
with the hotels to try and figure out, well, you know,
we're not getting wages, we're not getting hours. We need
something here, and so that's why some of these strikes

(06:36):
are going on. And likewise, not only hotels, but some
of the airline workers are also talking about strikes. The
United flight attendants, we're wearing neck what do you call
the lanyards, you know, talking about you know, we need
some support if we have to strike too. They're looking
for some share of the wages that they say the

(06:57):
executives are getting at the airline industry, but that's not
being passed through the ranks as the airlines are enjoying
these increased volumes and increased revenue. So some workers in
the hospitality industry aren't happy. And we got to fix that.
We got to make that a little bit better. Third
item in the news. Japan is one of the hot destinations.

(07:18):
I know you and Terry talk about Japan a lot.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
I really want to go to Tokyo. I actually want to
go anywhere in Japan just because I want to see
the you know, the old buildings, and I also want
to experience real sushi. And Tokyo just looks like it's
another world. It's like I don't even explain in my
head what I see. It's like an ant being dropped

(07:42):
into a huge ant hill, and I just want to
be a part of it. Yeah, it just looks like
so much energy and excitement and culture, and it just
looks like it would be a great vacation.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, I said here a week after week, and I
watch you in Terry because she has that same level
of enthusiasm for Japan. She's visited Japan before, I have not,
and she says it's one of the most exciting places,
and in fact, it's one of the trending travel destinations.
Lots of travelers go to Japan, and one of the
reasons that Japan enjoys a lot of travelers is because

(08:16):
they have a fairly open system as far as getting
into the country. If you are a citizen of I
think it's over seventy one different countries, it's pretty easy
for you to enter Japan. You don't need any special
visa to enter Japan, and that makes it very attractive,
very easy. Well, that might change. Japan's looking at a

(08:40):
new system that they want to introduce. The target data
is twenty thirty, so we've got plenty of time to
prepare for this. But they are looking to introduce a
system that's going to require visitors to declare some personal
information prior to getting on board a playing and coming
to Japan. This system is not that terrible or unexpected. Actually,

(09:04):
the United States has a system like that too. Foreign
travelers come into the United States. They have to go
through a system to get authorization in a visa to
enter the United States from many many countries around the world, Europe,
is looking at that too, and that's been postponed because
they're having some implementation problems. US visitors going to Europe

(09:25):
will need to go through this system. The one that
most people think of when they talk about it is
called ESTA, or Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Japan's considering
this too. They're looking to bring this system on board
in twenty thirty, and they are doing it because there's
a little concern in Japan about the number of people

(09:47):
who are coming to Japan and then not leaving. So
they want to make sure that if you're coming in,
they know about it, they know about you, and they
have a better way to track you should you decide
not to leave when you say you will, so this
system will help them do that. They are also concerned

(10:09):
about illegal immigrants who may be slipping through the current
system because it's pretty forgiving, pretty easy to cross, you know,
into Japan and come from visa except countries and stay
a lot longer than what the Japanese government would like
them to stay. So if you're thinking about Japan and
you want to make it easy, now it's the time

(10:31):
to do it twenty thirty.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
It won't be awful, but it'll.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Just be one extra step, much like travelers going to
Europe next year, we'll have to do And I think
you and Terry talked about the visa system that Europe
was trying to implement. They postponed it again and again.
It's kind of like our real ID system. They got
a great idea and the politicians said do this, but
the technical group said, we're not ready. So implementation is

(10:58):
always the issue. Yeah, so I think Europe is waiting
on that. The United States, I think finally we're gonna
hit real ID next year. I really believe that deadline's
coming up.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
That's the thing that I have on my driver's license,
a little star in Virginia, you've got a little star
up in the upper right hand corner.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
So you'll either have to have that or you'll have
to have a valid passport or other federal government ID.
If you're a Secret Services agent, you have special ID
that'll work for it. We're not allowed to talk about.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yeah, we can't talk about that.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
I'm not supposed to tell listeners that your secret Service
agent am I.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
I don't think anyone would believe that. Not a chance.
But anyway, so there's Japan. The last one.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
I want to talk about last piece of news. This
is something that really confirmed what Terry and I have
been hearing for the last couple of years. Chris, and
this was a survey that Beaches Resorts ran and they
asked people what's going on in terms of multi generational travel.
We've talked about that lots on this show, multi gen

(12:00):
Travel and how trendy it is, and how more and
more is going on. People want to do multi generational travel.
Virtuoso at the conference always a big theme. We're hearing
about that and about how companies travel providers are doing
things to accommodate families on cruise ships with adjoining suites
and suites that actually the walls open up like a

(12:22):
banquet room to be able to connect multiple multiple rooms.
The Ritz Carlton on their new yachts.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
The rooms just.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Open up and you can make it, you know, pretty
much as big as you want until you fill the ship.
I like it really really cool. Well, Beaches did a
survey and they pulled one thousand people in North America
twenty five to forty five year old, and what they
found is that sixty seven percent of pearents prioritize family

(12:51):
travel over just the mom and dad traveling, or the
mom and dad and the you know, immediate children traveling
because they want to maximize time across generations. They want
to stretch that out and bring in grandkids and grandparents
into that group. And almost half of them are trading

(13:12):
away these solo getaways for multi generation trips. So their
data exactly, you know, in line with what we're hearing
and what we're seeing. They also reported that sixty percent
of the respondents said they have really great memories about
their childhood vacations, and especially about the ones that included grandparents.

(13:37):
I don't know if you remember vacationing with your grandparents.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
Honestly, when I was a kid, if it wasn't for
my grandparents, we wouldn't have been able to do vacations.
So all of our vacations were with grandma and grandpa
or family reunions and things like that.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
And that makes perfect sense because as you just mentioned,
grandparents have some of that discretionary income and they're happy
to you know, to support their kids and their grandkids
if it means time bent together as a family. So
it you know, it all lines up. Seventy percent of
the kids that were part of this survey, you know,

(14:13):
along with their parents, said they rather have time with
their grandparents, and they'd rather spend time with their grandparents
when they're on vacation, either on a cruise ship or
at a resort. They'd rather spend time with their grandparents
than spend time in those infamous kids clubs. Yeah, so
what a what a great idea. Grandparents are are there,

(14:34):
They're often willing to help with the costs. They make
great babysitters. That was part of what I was doing
on my visit last week. I was babysitting, you know,
my grandson, and I was more than happy even had
the privilege, if you can call a privilege of you know,
changing a diaper. You know, I was out there, and
you know, Mom and Dad were real proud that Grandpa

(14:54):
knew how to change a diaper. I think, hey, you know,
that's not a skill that you forget ever. But spending
time with grandkids, and if you're on a vacation, think
about this, Chris, you're on a vacation, the grandparents are
there too. You and your wife might have some time
to go out and spend something, do an excursion, have

(15:14):
that romantic dinner in the city, or on the ship,
knowing that the grandparents have got things under control and
that your kids are really really happy being with their grandparents.
So lots of benefits and it just makes great sense.
And the survey just you know, reaffirmed or confirmed even
more what we have been hearing for the last year

(15:37):
and a half and what we're seeing at the Wishing
Well as well. So many families come in and plan
vacations together.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Great memories with your great grandparents, not great grandparents, but you're.

Speaker 2 (15:48):
Great, you're wonderful grandparents entertaining grandparents, Our.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
Memories you will never forget.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yes, absolutely true. I'm teaching my grandson to play backgammon,
something probably wouldn't learn at a kids club.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
Does he want to learn back he is?

Speaker 2 (16:04):
He is in chance. Just he's enthralled with learning how
to play backgammon because he says it's a really good
thinking game, grandpa, And that's interesting. So we're working on backgammon,
were you know, we're working on chess, all those things,
And what a great teacher a grandpa? Yes, if you,
if you can say so yourself, if I have to

(16:25):
say so, because I didn't hear you saying, and I'll
say it but this story about international about a multi
generational travel is a great lead in for what I
want to talk about in the upcoming segments of our
show today, Chris. So there you go and wait till
you hear the name of our show today because an
explanation will be needed and we'll explain next here on

(16:47):
a Lifeless Ordinary, protect your vacation investment with guidance from
a travel professional. The wishing Well knows travel and help
you avoid pitfalls they can spoil your hard earned vacation.
Will plan your trip and have your back at your
travel this without support or so called convenience fees. We're
on the web at the Wishingwell dot biz or call
us at five four zero nine zero eight two three

(17:09):
three three. That's five four zero nine zero eight two
three three three. The washing Well really does make dreams
come true.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
And welcome back to a life less Ordinary. This is
the travel show and podcast from your friends at the
wishing Well. You can find them on net Avenue in
Harrison Urg online at the wishing Well dot biz, or
give them a call at five four h nine oh
eight twenty three thirty three. Harry Rife is with us
from the wishing Well and we're filling in for Terry.
So we got, well, in her case, small shoes.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
I got small shoes, but really dense, perfecting kind of
content to fill.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
I love it, Harry. Before we went to break, we
mentioned this show has an interesting name and I'm not
even going to try to pronounce it. I have it
written down here, but you're gonna have to say it
because I'm going to get it wrong. Okay.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
So we've talked about Terry not being here this week, right, yep,
Well guess what she's here because this is her word, Chris,
not mine. But I practiced pronouncing this word, and I
don't want anybody listening to laugh if I don't get
it exactly correct. Okay, hit me with it. I'm like,
I'm like you on this one. Okay, Well, we want
to talk about this week. Our title is booked in

(18:17):
Bougie at the Wishing Well. Okay, So I guess the
logical first thing to do is to start with what's bougie?

Speaker 1 (18:26):
That's gonna be my question.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Okay, So you are obviously not a hip hop slang guy. No, no,
because bougie is allegedly hip hop's hip hop slang for
something that is luxurious in lifestyle, yet humble in character.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
Okay, Actually I think I do know this, okay, because
I will refer to when we're like, we got new
curtains for the living room and I said I wanted
to bouge things up.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Bouges, I guess the abbreviation for bougie. I don't know that.
I think I think that you are. You're one hundred
percent accurate on this one. So our post show interview
will be you and I googling bougie right up. Ye,
words that Terry's given us to confuse us. But anyhow
I liked. I had trouble with the word, but I

(19:15):
like what it means. Luxurious in lifestyle, yet humble in character.
That means we can live and feel like a king,
but not feel like we're that ostentatious. We're not. You know,
we're not all puffed up with ourselves and and pride.
But we are living and doing things that are just magnificent,

(19:36):
unusual and all about what a life less ordinary is
the premise for. So by the end of today's show,
I'm gonna try and talk about some trips, and I'm
going to do my best to make sure that you
and everybody listening understands why each of these trips is

(19:58):
in fact booge bouge okay. Over the past years, we've
talked about countless travel specials and sharing them. During this segment,
Terry goes through and find some of the best buys
out there, and she's shared them with lifeless ordinaries listeners
locally and around the country. And we're so thankful for

(20:20):
everybody that listens to the podcast that may not be
in our immediate area, but still we get calls from
people around the country, which really pleases me. It says
this show and the network is great. They ask about
these trips. We've learned about destinations, travel styles and amenities
that are really important to travelers today. By having people

(20:41):
call us, talk to us, visit us, we learn what's
important to them, and we've found what's popular each week,
especially by the number of people that contact us. So
when they tell us what they want, that gives us
a clue. And so today, the list of travel deals
that I'm going to talk about in just a little bit,
it's going to reflect everything that Terry and I have

(21:03):
learned over the last fifteen years. In the last several
years doing this podcast with you as our host, and
we're going to add a little twist today. The things
that I'm talking about are going to each come with
all of the things that make them fantastic destinations, attractions,

(21:24):
pricing unique experiences, but we're going to add one more twist.
Each of the ones I'm talking about today is accompanied
with an in person host from the Wishing Well. So
either Terry, you've heard about Paul, our famous Disney wizard
Paul Helmuth, So Terry, Paul, myself or maybe a couple

(21:48):
of us will be on this trip with you to
curate and make sure everything goes exactly in the best
way possible. Our mission will be to ensure that every
one of the experiences is the top of the shelf
best it could possibly be. And if there are any
reluctant travelers out there, because sometimes we get people Chris

(22:11):
the call and say these strips are fantastic, but I
don't know if I'd be comfortable going out of the country.
I don't know if I'm comfortable, you know, transitioning from
one airplane to another in an airport. I don't know
if I can be around people that don't speak English
fluently like you know as I do, and so for

(22:33):
those reluctant travelers, we're going to be there for that handholding.
If you've considered a great experience, but you are unsure
maybe about traveling alone. Some people don't want to travel
by themselves. So you're going to have at least a
group of two, but you're going to have you know,
someone you know from the wishing Well, plus all of
the other people that are coming along as well, and

(22:54):
you're going to go to a new destination. You're going
to go on a new mode of traveler. You may
be a little bit shaky about or uncomfortable about their
people that are that are shaky about climbing aboard an airplane,
we'll be there with you. So if you're that kind
of person that reluctant travelers I call them, these trips
are for you. They're also for you if you enjoy

(23:15):
being part of a travel family. We've talked about group
trips before. We were talking before we sat down today
to talk through this session. We talked about the Rocky Mountaineer.
We have travel families that go on trips like that
again and again and again. As a matter of fact,

(23:36):
most of the group trips that we do. Whether they're
motor coach trips or luxury trips like the Rocky Mountaineer,
they are made up of at least a third or
a half or more travelers who have traveled with us before,
so we know them. We you know, we talk about
the you know about things at dinner and ask how

(23:56):
each other. You know, kids have been since the last
time we were on a trip together, so they've been
on a previous trip, and so those are people who
are our family members. So the trips we want to
talk about in this next segment that normally are the
deals of the day are going to be the surreal
deals of the day because these deals are particularly chosen

(24:17):
for both types of travelers. If you're a reluctant traveler,
you're gonna love it. If you're a groupie, you're gonna
love it. So you can be one or the other,
or you might be both. Ooh, my interest is Pete Terry.
Let's get into this a little bit deeper and just
the second here on a life less ordinary. Protect your
vacation investment with guidance from a travel professional. The wishing

(24:37):
well knows travel and help you avoid pitfalls. They can
spoil your hard earned vacation, will plan your trip and
have your back age. You travel all of this without
support or so called convenience fees. We're on the web
at tho Wishingwell dot biz or call us at five
four zero nine zero eight two three three three. That's
five four zero nine zero eight two three three three.

(24:59):
The washing Well really does make dreams come.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
True and welcome back to a life less ordinary. The
travel show and podcast from your friends at the wishing
Well and Harry Rife from The wishing Well is here
to answer the question of what kind of traveler am I?
Am I reluctant or am I something else? That was
the question?

Speaker 2 (25:18):
You're reluctant or are you a groupie traveler? Do you
like to travel with groups of people where there are
people there that you know and can have conversations with
and share meals with. Or are you a traveler that
says I'm not sure about this.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
When I do this fit into either of those categories.
I like traveling, I just don't like to do it
with a lot of people around me because I don't
like to talk to people. And what's your day job?
That's why I don't like to talk to people When
I'm not getting paid to. I just want to sit
and relax, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
We have. I have one of the trips, the third
trip that I'm going to talk about today. I'm going
to bait you with this one, Chris. The third trip
that I'm going to talk about today. You can sit
in a rocking chair and stare out across the open
water and you're not on the ocean and you're not
on a ship. Okay, yeah, I'm gonna wait and find out.

(26:17):
You're gonna have to wait. That's the one that I'm
going to talk about there this morning. The first one
I want to talk about is actually four people that
I think are reluctant travelers or might be groupies, and
that is we've got a cruise planned to the Caribbean islands.
We're going to go to four different Caribbean islands and

(26:41):
it's on one of the most modern and new cruise
ships out there. Terry has spoken about this before. It's
one of Norwegian Cruise Line ships. She's called the Aqua.
This cruise is happening next May May twenty fourth through
thirty first. So if you're thinking about the kids in
a school break, this is Memorial Day weekend. If you're

(27:03):
thinking about getting time off of work and having to
not have enough vacation days figuring out how to do this,
this is a good trip for you. It's going on
the ends the Norwegian Cruise lines the Aqua. This particular
trip is escorted, as I said, each one of these
would be. This particular trip is escorted by our very
own Paul Hellmith, and Paul is our among other things,

(27:27):
he's our Disney expert and you'll see how Disney fits
into this later on. This is a great trip if
you have just want if you have a desire to
just explore the Caribbean, or if you have a desire
to do a nice Caribbean cruise and at the end
do something nice with the kids. And the reason for
that is that the Norwegian Aqua is going to be

(27:51):
sailing out of the Port of Orlando. And we all
know where Orlando is. It's in Florida, right next to
that big mouse kingdom down there, So it's going to
be sailing out of the Port of Orlando. The Aqua
is a specially unique ship. Some of the things that
are special for me. You have seventeen different dining choices

(28:12):
on this ship. That means, you know, during the days
that you're on ship, you're on from the twenty fourth
to the thirty first, or you know, eight eight days,
you will not be able to go to each one
of these unless you go to multiple ones in a day,
Separate restaurants Los Hobos, Los Lobos, and Hudson's, lots of
different culinary experiences. One thing that's also very attractive to

(28:36):
me about the NCL Aqua is there's a high crew
to passenger ratio, lots of staffing on this ship, which
means that you're going to have a lot of people
paying attention to you and providing that special kind of
service that you want. And this ship is filled with
a lot of unique onboard experiences. There are infinity edge

(28:57):
pools on there that have day beds right next to
the pool, so you can go out there and sleep,
you know, part of the day off, you can explore
a place called the Ocean Boulevard the whole area of
the ship, and there's entertainment. They have Broadway style shows,
an incredible theater on this ship, and lots of live
music and actors and action on board the ship where

(29:21):
you're going to be stopping. You might ask, well, the
itinery is going to go to Porto Plata. It's got
stunning peaches, beaches, a lot of history there. Saint Thomas
one of my favorite islands because it's absolutely beautiful.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
The bays there.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
Are very very scenic, and it's known for duty free shopping,
so if you have a little extra coin in your pocket,
Saint Thomas is a great place. We're going to go
to Tortola, lots of landscapes, adventure activities there, and then
it's going to also stop at Norwegian's private island called

(29:56):
Great Stirrup k A lot of the crew lines own
islands in the Caribbean and they go there and they
spend the day. There are lots of things to do, beaches, cabanas,
you can spend the day and play in the water,
soak up the sun. Lots of things going on. So
this is a great, great cruise. I'm very excited about it.

(30:17):
We expect that this will fill up when we book
a cruise like this. One of the things that we do,
and I mentioned this earlier, Chris, is we listen to
what people want, what they're doing. So when you look
at cruise ads and you see them on the internet
or you hear them on the radio. A lot of
times they will have some incredible, what sound like deals.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
They are.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
If you're willing to sit in a room that's about
the size of a matchbox, if you're willing to be
in a room that's got new windows you turn the
lights out, you are might as well be in a cave,
not on a cruise ship. And if you are willing
to be surprised at the end of the cruise when
you see, oh my gosh, I've got all these extras

(31:05):
on my tab here. So when we do things at
the Wishing well we try and do what we call
real pricing, and that is we include the things and
we know people are going to want or that people
are going to choose to do during the cruises. So
when we put this cruise together, we said, what do
people want? Well, here we go. One of the things

(31:27):
that makes this great for a group, especially if you
are one of the people that is a little bit
of a reluctant traveler. You don't want to drive or
fly down to Orlando all by yourself. This crew starts
at the Wishing Wells doorstep. You park your car in
our lot, we'll have a motor coach that's going to

(31:49):
take us to the airport. We've got a direct NonStop
flight from the airport to Orlando. We've arranged and included
all of the transfers from the airport to the ship
and back again from the ship at the end of it.
Instead of putting you in that matchbook size room, what
kind of room might you want on a ship. I'd

(32:09):
like to be able to see the ocean, so we're
gonna put you in a balcony. Criss said, how's about
a balcony? You said, you don't want to talk to people,
so this one might not be good for you. But
we're gonna give you a free Wi Fi on the
ship too. We're going to provide you with wife that helps. Yeah,
so you're gonna have Wi Fi. You're gonna have all
the onboard entertainment and shows that come with a great

(32:31):
cruise ship and a cast like they have on the Aqua.
We're gonna include signature dining experiences because you've got seventeen.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Restaurants and by the way, I can hit all seventeen
and eight takes.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
I would like to be on this cruise as part
of your group or have you in my group because
guess we'll be right beside your brother. You know it,
don't you? All right, this cruise also includes the beverage
or adult drink package. Some people are going to be
real excited about that. Some people will be less excited.
One thing I can tell you is you should be excited,

(33:02):
no matter what you're thinking. Is because when you get
on board the ship, you've got juices, you've got you know, mocktails,
you've got real cocktails, You've got all kinds of you know,
things that you might want, specialty coffees. You get to
have as much of that as you want while you're
visiting those seventeen restaurants. Okay, so all of those things

(33:23):
are included. And this trip, get this, with all these inclusions,
it's going to start at thirty four hundred and five
dollars for a whole week. That's your air, that's your transportation,
that's your you know, onboard costs and things that you
have to worry about thirty four hundred and five dollars
while you're sitting in your balcony in between drinking your

(33:46):
specialty coffees and visiting those seventeen restaurants in seeing all
the shows.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
What do you think. I think it's a bargain.

Speaker 2 (33:53):
It is, it really is. And I mentioned that there
was one oh yeah about this trip. Paul, being the
Disney expert that he is, said, we're going to the Caribbean.
When we get done, what if we have a Disney
add on. So we've got a Disney add on for this.
We've got two days, you've got tickets, you can visit

(34:14):
two different parks during those two days, and we're going
to put you in a Disney property hotel and of
all the Disney Property hotels that we could think of,
if you're visiting the Caribbean, we're going to be in
the Disney Caribbean Hotel.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
And you can do that add on.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
That add on is eight hundred and eighty dollars per person.
So we've got a great vacation plan there. Over the
Memorial Day holiday weekend, people have to figure out something
to do that weekend. Anyhow, the kids are off, you're off.
What a great opportunity and a great price.

Speaker 1 (34:48):
All right, So let's recap eight days, seventeen restaurants. That's
all that matters to me. Now, free WiFi, balcony, Disney
add on great shows. Great shows. You start at the
wishing Well, you end at the wishing Well, and you're
escorted the whole way through. In a direct flight to Orlando. Too,

(35:09):
you're not changing planes along the way. So we rab
deal all around. We have our Memorial Day twenty twenty
five all planned out. Did we do bougie?

Speaker 2 (35:17):
That sounds bougie? Okay, good job, all right. So that's
our first opportunity. I want to talk about our second opportunity,
and it's a little bit different, but it's the same,
and it is also very bougee. If you're into history
and you want to see some parts of the world
that are just magnificently just laden with history, this trip

(35:39):
is for you. Our second bougie trip is aboard the
Celebrity Equinox. Now, this is a mid size ship. She's
about twenty eight hundred passengers and that's middle size in
the cruise world. And we are going to visit Spain,
We're going to visit Portugal. We're going to Morocco next June,

(36:02):
from the eighteenth to the twenty eighth. A great ship,
a great itinerary. We're going to start out in Barcelona.
We're going to visit Seville, We're going to visit Lisbon,
We're going to visit Porto, We're going to visit Tangier, Morocco,
and we're going to end up back in Barcelona.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
These are all great historic cities, Chris.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
Ci cities go back to the eighth century BC, so
you're talking about cultures, religions, history that have been around
for thousands of years. Just a great opportunity, and if
you have never been to these cities. A Seville very
historic city, lots of things to see. You can see

(36:46):
in a palace there of the Royal Alcazar Palace, you
can see the Seville Cathedral, you can enjoy the famous
tapis for lunch. I don't have nineteen places, but I'm
sure there are probably about ninety places there. And you're
going to do some walking along some very historic sites
and some very historic places in the city of Seville. Lisbon,

(37:10):
the capital of Portugal, is another very interesting city. It
was settled around eight hundred BC. That's crazy, isn't it crazy. Yeah,
you're talking about places that have been around a little
more than forever.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
Yeah, Well, Lisbon is a capital city, so it's a
very interesting city, Chris, because you've got a mixture of
all that history there, but because it's the capital, you've
also got that hustle and bustle that you would have
an activity that you would have in a capital city.
So you're going to see a lot of different culture.
You're going to really be immersed into the Portuguese culture

(37:48):
because it'll be all around you the modern Portuguese culture
while you're walking around among these historic buildings and cathedrals,
eating in the cafes, shopping in the modern city markets
in the ancient markets at the same time. So it'll
be kind of just a spectrum from both ends of

(38:09):
the old and the new in Lisbon. Porto very interesting
city as well. It dates back about the same time.
I think one thirty eight BC is when Portal was
first settled. Lots of ancient cafes, churches. You're right on
the Duro River, so you are in the middle of history.
Then you're going to be in Tangier. You're going to
be in Morocco. It was found in the fifth century BC.

(38:33):
It was actually a trading post. I didn't know that
until I started learning a little more about Tangier. And
we're going to see one of the most interesting things
that I found. I didn't even know these existed. Remember Hercules, Yeah, well,
Tangier is where you can go visit the legendary caves
of Hercules, the caves that Hercules hung out in. Okay, Yeah,

(38:54):
and I don't know what that means right now, but
I'm really interested in learning.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
More about it. He's even a real person.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Well, he's legendary, so I guess you know, him and
Paul Bunyan might have been friends. I was a real
guy though, so they say. But one of the other
interesting things about Tangier, and I didn't know this until
I did some of my research too, it is the
only and you're the history guy, it is the only

(39:21):
US National Historic Landmark site that's physically outside of the
United States.

Speaker 1 (39:27):
I had no idea about it.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
Well, I didn't either. I'm going to learn more about it.
There's a museum there I want to visit, called the
American Legation Museum in Tangier. So lots of things on
this cruise again June eighteenth through the twenty eighth, leaving
just as the first Bougie trip left. We left from
the doorstep of the Wishing Well. This trip also, you're

(39:51):
going to park your car in the wishing Wells lot,
get on board a coach head up to the airport.
On this one, we have premium are on one of
the nicer overseas carriers, that's British Airways, and we have
reserve space on that both ways across the pond, we're

(40:11):
going to have transfers tune from our ship. Again, I'm
not going to put you in that inside room you
said you want to what kind of room again?

Speaker 1 (40:17):
I want a balcony? You got it, brother, Okay?

Speaker 2 (40:20):
And there even if you're thinking about bringing the family
along on this trip, and this is a trip that
could be just for couples, or it could be for
family too, I mean, especially if you've got some kids
who are interested in being in places were history, well,
you know, was created. There are some options on this
trip for family verandas which are very nice. They're actually

(40:42):
veranda rooms on this ship that have two separate with
a door bedrooms in the family suite. So you got
some of those optioned on there too, not many, So
if you're interested in that, please let us know immediately.
I promised Wi Fi before I can't renig on that
We're going to give you a why again, entertainment and
shows just as before, and the gourmet dining experience. This

(41:06):
is a little smaller ship, so I don't have as
many restaurants. I've only got ten. Can you work with it? Yeah, okay,
I have to hit a couple of them twice. Hey,
you do what you gotta do. On this one, we
didn't include just the drink package. We included the premium
drink package, so if your tastes are a little bit
more bougie, you'll be able to be.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Happy on this too.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
And that's all those specialty coffees and the non alcoholic
drinks as well. But there's one more thing we built
in this trip, Chris. That's a long ride to go
over to Barcelona, a long ride on an airplane. So
when you get off the airplane, when you take a
long trip like this, you're usually a little bit jet lagged.

(41:48):
We have lots of tips to help you avoid jet lag,
but you're going to be a little bit jet lagged.
So what we decided to do is we went to
our Virtuoso partners while we were out in Vegas, and
we have built in a one night stay in a
Virtuoso preferred hotel. These are the best hotels. So we've

(42:09):
got a one night's stay. When we arrive, we're going
to get off that plane and we're going to spend
a night in Barcelona at a virtuoso hotel with all
of the associated amenities. So we don't know what's going
to happen with room upbraids, but we do know that
we will have our complimentary breakfast. And this isn't the
buffet breakfast with the heated little jelly rolls and things

(42:32):
like that. This is a nice breakfast. We'll have a
nice breakfast in a hotel, and everybody will also get
that one hundred dollars Virtuoso credit that they can spend
on dinner or something else that they choose to in
the hotel. So all of that is built into this
bougie trip, and it starts at five nine hundred and

(42:54):
ninety five dollars a person. That's all in Chris, what
do you think.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Ready to have both Memorial Day and now my June
booked up?

Speaker 2 (43:03):
Okay, so this is this is our second big trip,
and I'm hoping that each one of these trips is
showing you that when we say bougie, we mean exactly
what we say, luxurious in lifestyle, yet humble and count
and character.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
I like this. I like both of these trips, but
I like this one because I do like the history.

Speaker 2 (43:25):
I know you're a history buff, and I mean to
go to places that existed BC before Christ. Huh, It's it's,
you know, just incredible. This summer. I spend a little time,
you know, on the trip when we were over in
Italy and Greece, we also went over to Turkey to
Ephesus and to see that history. I'm not the history

(43:45):
buff that you are, but I got to tell you,
when you stand in these places, there's just a feeling
that moves through your body and you think, oh my gosh,
you know, I'm standing where history was made. I'm standing
in a alosseum where gladiators fought with each other. I'm

(44:05):
not there yet to be the buff that you are,
but I'm a whole lot more interested. And I think
that's the greatest part of travel, is that we enrich
our lives with experiences like this and it lights up,
you know, little fires inside of us that we didn't
know were smoldering, and interests that we didn't know were there.

(44:26):
So this trip is I think an incredible opportunity, and
when we saw this, we thought about bringing this trip
on as an individual trip and promoting it, you know,
on the air with you, But we decided once we
start talking about this trip, our big worry was this
is such a fantastic trip and such a fantastic deal

(44:49):
that it was going to sell out before we could
book all of the slots in it. So we reserved
a group on there and they belong to the Wishing
Well now, so we will be selling into that. I
expect this trip will sell out because exactly.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
The reasons that you were talking about. So we started
off the show saying that you have a trip where
I can sit in a rocking chair and get a
great view of the ocean, But I'm not going to
be on a cruise ship, right, you remember that? So
I'm I'm envisioning I'm sitting on top of a lighthouse

(45:25):
in Maine. But I don't think that's probably the boogie
trip that you have in mind. Where are we going next, Harry?

Speaker 2 (45:30):
So we're going to one of my favorite places, a
place that I spent a lot of time at during
my childhood. We talked about where I grew up before
you grew up in the Northwest. I grew up in
the state that looks like a mitten. Oh, Michigan. Terry
laughs all the time. I use that to describe my state.
But it looks like a mitten. I grew up in Michigan.

(45:51):
Are you Upper or Lower Peninsula? I am a Lower
Peninsula guy. There aren't too many of us up, too
many people not of us. I wasn't one in the
Upper Peninsula. But we will be visiting the Upper Peninsula
on this trip. And this trip is a trip that's
happening this year, and it's happening very soon. It's actually
happening October the fifth, And like all the other trips,

(46:12):
this one, it begins in Harrisonburg. We are going to
bord a motor coach in Harrisonburg and we are going
to travel to Mackinaw Island.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
I was gonna say that when you said Michigan, I
wasn't sure if that was actually in Michigan.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
It is one of the iconic places in Michigan, and
it's located right where the two peninsulas, the Upper Lower
Peninsula connect. It is you know, you look at it
as you cross the Mackinaw Bridge. One of the engineering
marvels of the world. And you can see Mackinaw Island

(46:48):
to your east as you're crossing that bridge. It's the
bridge actually connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. That's where
the two of the Great Lakes meet. And if you
go a little bit north from there, not too far north,
you are in Lake Superior. If you remember Gordon Lightfoot
and the Edmund Fitzgeral, that's where she went down. But
you were up in that area. Absolutely pristine, beautiful, And

(47:12):
we're going to start our trip by heading right almost
directly up to Mackinaw Island. We are going to cruise
through the Sioux Locks. We'll be able to step out
there and take a look across and see our brothers
and sisters over in Canada. One of the favorite places
I also have, you know in North America is I
love visiting Canada. And we're gonna go through the locks.

(47:35):
We'll take a little cruise through the locks, because you
don't want just look at locks, you want to experience locks. Right,
We're bougie, right, So we'll take a boat ride through
there and we'll visit the island. Now, one of the
unique things about the island is there's not a road
to get to the island. You've got to take a
ferry ship to get there. And once you get on
the island, you're going to notice something immediately. You said

(47:56):
you didn't like crowds. How do you like traffic? I
like think less than crowds. Okay, you're gonna love Macinn
Island because guess what, they don't allow cars on there.
The only vehicles on that island are emergency vehicles. The
only motorized vehicles. You can travel around by a horse
and buggy. You can travel around by a bicycle, or

(48:18):
you can walk. Those are your three choices. Chris, sounds
like the town of Dayton. No, No, don't diss Dayton.
They are more cars in Dayton. Actually, I know there
are police cars in Dayton. I met one of the
officers in Dayton one time. Here. You're not gonna find
any motorized vehicles except for the motorized vehicles, but you

(48:38):
will find the horse and buggy carriages. We're going to
take a horse and buggy ride to go around and
learn a little bit more about the island. We'll have
a little tour because I don't want to make people
walk and I'm not sure that we can all bike
around there, so we'll take a horse and buggy ride
and we're gonna check out one of the world famous hotels.
There's a hotel up there called the Grand Hotel. It

(48:59):
has what allegedly the longest front porch of a hotel
in the world. And that hotel front porch is the
place where you can get on that rocking chair. Looks
like they've bought out cracker barrels around the world, but
they're much nicer rocking chairs and you can sit in
your rocking chair and look out across the Great Lakes

(49:20):
and just sit in peace. Now this sounds like it's
exactly your style.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Am I right? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (49:27):
Yeah, this is me Yeah. And now they have restaurants there,
but they don't have all of the famous gourmet restaurants
that you and I might enjoy, but they do have
something that's I think almost the next best thing. Mackinaw Island.
Unlike New Jersey when you go to New Jersey Shore,
you're going to bring back some what taffy, Yeah, you
bring back some taffy saltwater taffy. If you go to

(49:49):
Mackinaw City or to Mackinaw Island. You're going to bring
back some of their famous fudge. Yes, they are absolutely
known for their famous fudge. And we're going to be
up there. We're going to be visiting the Upper Peninsula.
One of the things that is also magnificent about the
Upper Peninsula. And I can't promise this one. I promised
a lot of things today, I can't promise this. But

(50:11):
growing up as a young boy, one of the things
I enjoyed about going up to that part of the
state was we saw the northern lights regularly. We picked
the dates for this trip specifically so we might see that.
But I want to tell you about two other places
that we're going to stop at on this trip that
are both I think almost as fantastic, if not more

(50:32):
so than mack and Island. One is there's a town
of Frankenmuth. Frankenmuth is a town that's kind of in
the central part of Michigan. It was founded in eighteen
forties by German missionaries, which is interesting and that's great
for the historian. But what attracts me there and I
think you would join me, is it's got some of
the best German food that you can find. There are

(50:55):
two magnificently sized, authentic German families style restaurants. Besides visiting
their other big attraction, which is the Christmas lights Christmas decorations.
We're going to stop and have a full size, full
buffet German dinner at the restaurant in Frankenmuth, Michigan. We're

(51:18):
going to enjoy all the traditional German foods all the
way down to the apple strudel and the tort But
our last stop, and this one I can't miss, is
Henry Ford Museum. If you have never heard of Henry
Ford Museum, this is where Henry Ford put all of
his favorite things that he collected, including limousines that go
back to presidents, including the one that John Kennedy was

(51:40):
in on that Fateful day in Dallas. He's got a
Bugatti car in there, He's got double sized locomotives in there.
He's got everything that anybody that likes agriculture might enjoy, red, green, yellow,
all the different colors. We're going to spend a half
a day and people will complain because they won't have
enough time there. On this trip, we're going to be

(52:01):
leaving October fifth through the twelfth, This includes round trip
motorcoach transportation from Harrisonburg, seven nights lodging along the way.
We're going to feed you, seven lunches, seven dinners, including
that fantastic ones boat ride, ferry boat, all the inclusions,
tours of the cities along the way. Thirteen hundred dollars
a person, all in Chris, So each of these trips handpicked,

(52:26):
personally escorted, pretty much all inclusive. I promised I was
going to give you some stuff today. That was all bouge.
Did I come through for you?

Speaker 1 (52:35):
Brother? You were bouge to the limit. Okay, I don't
even know if that's if that's what everybody would say. Yeah,
I've never heard that expression. But if that's what it is,
that's what it is. So we are ready to help
you if you're interested in any of these trips. Lots
more information on our website. I've never felt more out
of touch than using the word bougie. You can thank Terry,

(52:58):
all right, Harriet, it's been a blast. But in the
last hour with you, how do we get in touch
with you? If you want to book any of these trips.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
We're really easy to find, Chris. We're on the web
and all The information is on the web under group
Trips at the Wishingwell dot biz. You can look into
group trips find out about these. You can give us
a call. We're at five four zero nine zero eight
two three three three or stop buying business where at
two forty three Neph Avenue in beautiful Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
This has been a lifeless ordinary, the travel show from
your friends at the wishing Well at two forty three
Neph Avenue in Harrisonburg. If you have any questions on
topics discussed today, please reach out to the wishing Well
online at the wishing Well top biz or five four
oho nine eight twenty three thirty three. Past episodes are
available on the iHeartRadio app. And we'll see you again
next Saturday morning at ten for a life less Ordinary

(53:47):
from the wishing Well