KCAA: Let's Dine Out with Allan Borgen (Sat, 11 May, 2024)

KCAA: Let's Dine Out with Allan Borgen on Sat, 11 May, 2024

Episode Transcript

(00:26):
Welcome to another delicious edition of theLet's Dine Out Show. Yum Yum.
This food critic Allen Borgan, andwe have a fun show today. We
have a special guest on who Ifyou like to travel, this is the
kind of person you want to schmoozewith and get become best friends with.
This woman knows everything about especially cruising. If you've never been on a cruise,
this is this is a reason tolisten to the show and you're gonna

(00:49):
learn a lot. And we havea special cruise coming up next August and
it's gonna be to Alaska, andIzzy and I will be going with a
couple other listeners and we'll be talkingabout that. But with us is Betsy
Webber. She's from Connection to Cruisehere in Redlands and I don't know how
the website did. Connection to Cruisedot dot com dot com. Okay,
and it's connection plur not plural singularconnection two cruise dot com dot com.

(01:15):
Sounds good. How you doing,I'm great, I'm so happy to see
you. And she's a foodie.I forget to see it. Oh yeah,
time food I was a free andyou didn't mention I'm going to be
going on that Elastkak. My husbandand I are yeah to be joining too,
so as a lot of good foodthere too. So uh and we
welcome to the show. We've hadyou on before and you're you're just a
wealth enough of knowledge And how longhave you been cruising yourself? And about

(01:36):
how many cruises? I lost trackafter thirty? Uh? We started,
I believe in two thousand and five. Wow, our son was about nine
years old. And we went througha certain travel agency that's probably well known

(01:57):
it it's has three letters in itsname, That's all I'm gonna say.
And they led us completely the wrongway. Oh really yeah, I mean,
we had a wonderful time on thecruise, but the experience of using
a travel professional to guide you wascompletely lost on us. Instead, you

(02:17):
decided to go into it pretty much, and and you know it's it didn't
dampen my love for cruising. Butwhat it did is it showed me that
if somebody is going on a cruise, I personally am going to do everything
I can to make it the bestcruise possible, to give you as much

(02:38):
information to make it fun and easygoing. Right, And that's why every
time we've gone on our own it'sbeen not that good. But every time
we've gone with with like a companylike Connection a cruise is fantastic. Oh
that's good to hear. There's alwaysbeen problems different, you know, things
that wasn't their fault or anything.But again we called Marlo's up and Marlo's

(02:58):
help us and she pretty much cantook of it. Are guided us to
on how to do it. Ohyeah, thanks. Things come up,
the weather can change itineraries can change, but your travel professional can help guide
you through all of those and itdoesn't cost anything more than just on your
Yeah, not a bit. Infact, they can oftentimes save you a
lot of money because we know allof the great specials and because we can

(03:23):
communicate directly with the vendor, wecan arrange that discount. If you find
out that the cruise or the tripthat you planned has now gone on sale,
we can arrange usually for that discount. So you schmoozs with them and
wei sh moves with you. Thisis a teamwork. This is good.
Yeah, exactly, this is good. So okay, one thing you wanted

(03:43):
to talk about, you know,since you are a food let's get that
out of the way. You talkedabout many times to me, and I
haven't heard the whole thing, okay, but your most memorable meal you've ever
had, period and especially on acruise, and so let's talk about that,
because this is something that I'm justlooking at is like, oh my
goodness, and reading about it isnot the same. It's an actual dining

(04:08):
experience that my husband and I willnever forget. It's called the three sixty
Dining Experience. It is only availableon two of the Princess ships, the
Discovery and the Enchanted, and rightnow the Discovery is in southern California,

(04:29):
but unfortunately at the end of theyear they will be moving to Australia,
so the time to have that dinneris very very shortly. And if you
remember on previous shows, I wasnot a proponent of the three or the
four day crews. However, I'mgoing to amend that unless you're going on

(04:54):
the Discovery just to enjoy this onemeal, I think it's totally worth it
you with that me. So I'llexplain to you what it is. I'm
going to actually read it from therebecause they put it into words much better
than I can. So this isan epic seven course journey that takes you
through the tastes, sites, sounds, textures, and even sense of the

(05:17):
Mediterranean. It blends storytelling with visuals, music, and world class cuisine as
well as wine and champagne to transportyou to the hilltops of Santorini, the
Amalfi Coast, Barcelona and Provence.So it started out where I made the

(05:38):
reservations actually from home before we evenboard it, but you can make these
restorations on board as well. AndI picked, I selected the evening and
the time that we wanted, andwe were given an invitation and we were
told where to meet. And whenyou meet, it starts off where you're

(05:58):
treated like a VIP. You havethe red velvet ropes and you have the
placard behind you where they take yourphotograph and they lead you into the restaurant
with a three piece you know,violins and it was really a marvelous thing.
So you go into this private diningroom. The room is pretty large,

(06:18):
it's round, and it has around banquet table that's open in the
center for the weight staff and eachcouple has their own waiter or waitress.
Wow, so you get really personalizedservice and on the walls surrounding you are

(06:42):
is a three sixty screen. Sowhen you start off, for example,
when we start off in Greece,there'll be images of Greece, so that
you feel like you're either sitting atan outdoor cafe or maybe you're in the
middle of a field, or you'reright along the wall front and I swear
you can hear the seagulls and smellthe salt water. I mean, it

(07:04):
was really amazing. They started itstarted us off with a delicious cocktail that
had a foamy top that was delicious, and then every course had a different
glass of wine. So take yourtime past yourself. So the first course

(07:27):
was a sorted marinated Greek kalamada oliveswith Greek yogurt and peta bread, okay,
and then it was followed by searedoctopus. Now I'd never had octopus.
I had tried calamari. I wasn'ttoo impressed. It tasted good with
the sauce, but otherwise I didn'tthink it had much flavor. However,

(07:50):
this octopus was so delicious I actuallyforgot to take a picture of it because
I just wolfed it down so quickly. It it had Greek feta cheese,
melt pepper, coolie and olive powder. And it was the texture. The
only thing I could compare it towould maybe be a scallop perhaps, Okay,

(08:16):
so it was real tender, thenvery tender. Yeah, of course
I even got all the way downto the tentacles. So whatever, it
was really good. And then ofcourse in Italy we started with buffalo mozzarella
with heirloom tomatoes and basil, andthen of course we had to have Nona's

(08:37):
tagliatel pasta a la lamone. Onceyou're on the Malfa Malfy coast, it's
all about the lemons. The reallysurprising dish came. Uh well, it
wasn't actually dish, but it waswhen we arrived, so to speak air
quotes to Spain. They have awine that after they bottle this wine,

(09:05):
they put them in these metal baskets. They dropped them into the ocean very
gently, and they age under thesea. Wow. So then they bring
these baskets up and the bottles areall encrusted with seashells and sand and anyway,
it was the best wine I've everhad. And each couple had their

(09:28):
own bottle to use to share,and they said that they unfortunately did not
sell the wine on board. Itwas only for guests of this dinner,
and each wine bottle cost nine hundreddollars, So for the one hundred and
forty nine dollars fee for this exquisitefeat, well worth the price. Believe

(09:50):
me, it was incredible. Sowith that fantastic wine, we had a
Spanish charcoutery with Torriso and Aberraco LomitoBarra bread that the combination was perfect,
and that was followed by a beeftenderloin with grilled vegetable and Demi glass.

(10:13):
You know what it didn't say onhere is they had a big ball of
butter that was completely covered with blacktruffle, and so of course I smeared
that all over the tenderline. Itwas, it was wonderful. And in
France we had a dessert that wasactually white chocolate with lavender essence and honey

(10:37):
jelly. Now what I didn't saywas, besides the three sixty screen all
around us, our table was moreor less like a hologram. And we
each time, each village that wevisited on this this epicurean journey, each

(11:00):
village had its own uh decor.So when we were in Greece. We
had a plate in front of usthat wasn't really there. It was just
an image of a plate and whenyou touch it it shattered, you know.
And and then you know, gettingdown to when when we had the
dessert with the lavender and honey,our plate was swarming with little bees and

(11:24):
we were chasing the bees with herwith her fingers. It's like on Celebrity
they have chef, which is amazing. If you've never seen that before,
I highly recommend. At first itwasn't. I was like, yeah,
it's for kids. No, no, no, right, well, and
and it is very similar that theyuse the same type of technology, but
this is definitely not for kids.Yeah. This this is a real grown

(11:48):
up version of that. And itwas followed by actual friend champagne, not
sparkling wine like we usually see inCalifornia, So I'd never had that before.
So uh, the whole experience wasjust wonderful. And as I said
before, it is available on theDiscovery Princess, whether it's a three day,

(12:13):
four day, five day, orseven day cruise. I highly recommend
it. Okay, you got ajob, now, Okay, you got
to get us on Okay, definitely, and we'll do a whole show on
them. Oh and the whole ship. We're talking to the food and beverage
everything. Hey that's what she musing. Does we worked together? Yeah?
No, really, I would loveto do something I got talking about you
really? You really it sounded sounusual, so different, and I think

(12:35):
our foodies would love that. Soyeah, yeah, talk afterwards. Yeah,
okay, definitely my best friend nextto is he second best friend?
So wow? Yeah, But toask you a question, were you full?
Uh? You know what I think? Because it was a nice slow
paced dinner. How long was itbut maybe an hour and a half maybe

(12:58):
two hours? Yeah, it was. Yeah. We don't get their watch.
It's like, uh yeah, keepbringing more and more. Uh,
but you know, the portions werejust perfect. I pretty much cleaned my
plate, So I did really,I did really well on that one.

(13:20):
Wow. Now, overall, Princesshas really good food. I've heard nothing
but pretty good things about that.They really don't. I'm sorry, I'll
cut you off. I've been onNorwegian, I've been on I've been a
bunch of them, but I haven'tbeen on the Princess. I don't believe.
Yeah, I think this is goingto be your first time. You
know, a lot of people assumethat when you're on a cruise ship the

(13:43):
only place to eat is the buffet, and the buffet has its place,
you know, if you come backfrom an excursion late at night. Yeah,
or like you said, you're ina hurry, and I've I actually
am really happy with a buffet becauseI like to kind of pick and choose
and taste a little bit of thisand that. But they're dining room experience,
which is free. It's always includedin the fair is something not to

(14:05):
be missed. It's white table,white linen tablecloths, and you you always
have a main server and then hisassistant, and then you also have someone
that brings your drink so much so, Yeah, the food is exquisite and
you have a different menu every night, but you also have standards. So

(14:26):
if you have certain things that youjust you're just a hamburger guy through and
through. You want that hamburger everynight, you can get that. And
best of all, if you havea hamberg and it's not good, guess
what, I don't want this,I got something else. Oh my fac
I want two of those. They'lldo that for you. They'll bend over
backwards to make it right. That'son most cruises, I think, and

(14:46):
which is a really good thing.That's why I don't complain too much,
because if you don't like something,okay, fine, it's bad, then
get something else. Yeah. Youknow, I have other issues with you
know, like menus saying one thingand what you get is sick you separate.
Oh right, that's another issue we'lldeal with one day. But no,
Princess. I've heard, you know, really good things about that.
So and you two have decided toupgrade to the Princess Plus package. Right,

(15:13):
well, let's talk about that.We're going next September, I mean
August, the end of August.It's a sixteen day cruise to Alaska and
it's inside outside. Do you havethe information on that. I do.
It's actually it's August of twenty twentyfive, so yes, it's a year
from August. Save your money,yes, And what's wonderful is right now,
it's only a ninety nine dollars depositper person. I can't beat that,

(15:35):
and it's thirty five percent off.And what's really amazing for families is
the third or fourth passenger that sharesyour cabin are free. They only have
to pay the taxes and port fees, so that's like nothing. So don't
know how long that sale is goingto last. And that particular cruise is

(15:56):
the only cruise not just from Princess, but the only cruise period that goes
directly from Los Angeles up through Alaskaand then round trip back to Los Angeles.
So no flying, no running.Yeah, we were I was on
a one so and I think weflew to I want to say Vancouver,
yes, and we did all therunning around there. Then we had to

(16:18):
fly back and you know, whenyou had air fair and everything else,
it's expensive and it costs just asmuch to do it for a seven day
cruise. This is a sixteen daycruise, yes, So when you save
the money for traveling and everything,it's such a good deal. But you
get to see so much more becausethere's going to be a total of six
ports plus one full day of cruisingthrough the glaciers, right, And that's

(16:41):
something that is very relaxing and it'smagnificent. I didn't want to go to
Alaska, really, but my directorsaid no, we got to do a
TV show there, so we did. We did a let's sign out show,
and I was glad we did.I mean there was moments when this
was the last cruise out in winter. It's the very last cruise, so
everything was seventy five percent off andoh but standing on the bow the ship,
it's it's misty and cold and rainy, as it should be. But

(17:04):
you're just like, wow, youdidn't care. It's like we just sat
there and looked and it was Imean TV doesn't really you know, show
that. No, And that's whyI want to bring Izzy's gonna love it.
You haven't been there. I've neverbeen to Alaska, so this is
like I was like, this isgreat. Bang it all out in inner
passage, outer passage. No stress. It's the running to gate to get

(17:26):
meet the you know, like ohmy god, I'm missed a connecting flight
or whatever. I do this Mondaythrough Friday on a weekly basis, So
on my vacation, I rather cutthat all out. So this is like
I just need drive to a portor uber to the port, literally get
on the ship, and then Ican shut it off for two weeks.
I don't have to worry about anything. This is gonna be like the I

(17:51):
totally look forward to try to dosome specials there with our group. We
have a few other people that arecoming with us listeners, and it should
be just a lot of fun.And again, this is the only one
out of Los Angeles, So ifyou ever want to go to Alaska,
you're gonna have to do look intotraveling, look into airfares and all that
stuff, because it's gonna cost you. Yeah, and especially if you go

(18:11):
a night before you get to stayat a hotel, which I would highly
recommend rather than go from the airportdirectly to the harbor. But again,
you know it's it's yeah, it'sround trip from LA I mean all the
food you want, all the drinksyou want for you can buy packages too,
food packaging, I mean drink packages, beverage packaging, and you know

(18:32):
on Wi Fi and stuff like that. Yeah, and we could customize the
trip to fit your needs and yourtime frame and your budget, so that's
not an issue. And from theInland Empire it's only maybe an hour and
a half drive. But once youget there is he you get on the
ship, you unpack one time,and it makes a difference. It's your

(18:52):
home away from home. Yeah,yeah, that's why I like to have
the round trip to one destination.I just the running around. And you
know, we loved the trip wewent to Asia. It was tons of
running around. But if you weren'trelaxing, that was not it. Yeah,
so this is what I'm looking forwardto, something more relaxing, lower,
you know, slower pace. Iget to done wine and I'm not

(19:15):
all the knots I've been working onfor the last you know, year or
so. And everybody that's that's traveledon Princess Ship they all agree. They
have the best mattresses. Good,they are so comfortable you will get a
wonderful night's sleep. And I've evenbut you know, they have what's called

(19:37):
movies under the stars where on theon the pool deck they have a big
screen TV and they have the paddedlounge chairs. They give you blankets,
they have pre popcorn and chocolate chipcookies. And I think we'll make it
through this. Yeah, I have. I have partially fallen asleep there full

(20:00):
oft times, but and there,and they're fairly first run movies, maybe
maybe a month out after they've they'veleft the theaters, but still that will
be a first run for me.And I even had I even had the
opportunity to watch the In twenty twentythree when I was on the World cruise,
I watched the Super Bowl on thebig screen. We had a huge

(20:22):
deck party. I painted a bigcase on my face, oh club,
because of course I was rooting forthe Chiefs and they won. Yay,
and uh. Anyway, there's justthe there's so much that you could do
that I'd be have to be herea week to tell you all. We
can work on that. So yeah, I listened to let's sign out right
here on AM ten fifty one sixpoint five FM, the stations I leave

(20:45):
the littles behind. See, Iwas a little first time. I mean,
if you look at the side withus is Betsy Webber from Connection to
Cruise. And if people want toget ahold of you, what's the best
way? You can reach me directlyat AERA code nine zero nine five five
six nine five three nine, oryou can contact Connection to Cruise either on

(21:07):
their website or call their number whichis nine zero nine seven nine eight nine
one three three. We'll get anumber out later too, thank you.
Okay, you know a lot ofpeople the negative thing about cruising that some
people think it's too long. Icould never be on a cruise that long.
There's so much going on there,even things that you don't want to

(21:27):
get involved with, you get involvedwith, like bingo and everything, lectures
and bingos and hair things and massagesand sports and I mean you name it,
exercise, they've got it there.And especially with kids too. Every
every almost every cruise line has incrediblyreally good what do you call it?

(21:48):
Kids clubs. When I got divorced, one time I brought My kids are
really young at the time, andI never saw them. Yeah, I
thought it'd be a good time tobond with daddy and kid. I never
see them, honestly all the time. Hi dad, my dad. Right
at nighttime they sit up for themidnight of fay and then I see them
coming in and that's it. Itwas safe. They had so much fun.

(22:08):
Yeah, and I really learned alot from it. And your kids
clubs are free. It's free babysitting. How can you not love that?
And they give a T shirts,they give them all kinds of arts and
craft things. Yeah. And thisthis Leigh which I'm wearing. I'm dressed
specifically because you know, I amyour favorite planner. So I wanted to
dress like I was on vacation,but I actually made this leigh at one

(22:30):
of the craft classes. Cool atone of the craft classes on board the
ship. Uh, there are somany activities. I can't do everything that
I want to do now. Thecrews that were going on again next year.
Yeah, the first it's a twenty. It's they pay per person thirty
five percent off for two people.The next two people are free. If
you want to bring in your samecabin yea. If you want to bring

(22:52):
your mother in law on a child, you can do that, yes,
absolutely, Wow, or two kids, it doesn't matter. They don't have
to be children. They can beadults. But you do need to share
the cab. So technically, ifI could be the adult and I can,
I can with Izzy, I cansay she's my child. No,
it has adult, Well should knockackone? That's that's another issue. But
or actually it doesn't. It doesn'thave to be too adults. It could

(23:14):
be one adult and three children forexample. Wow, you can't beat that.
Yeah. Uh, so you're payingfor the first two firs, but
then the second two fairs regardless ofno way, you can share the whole
experience with your child or children andWhat a time to get together and do
things as a family. There's nooutside pressures. You don't need a phone
if you don't want it, butyou can use your phone on board.

(23:36):
You can. They do have WiFi, the best WiFi at sea. Actually,
uh, you're going to get thatfree of charge with your Princess Plus
package. So you had that tooloud, My work might want to contact
Okay, we'll keep that part toourselves. So if you if you have
you put your phone on Wi Fi. You can talk on the phone or

(24:00):
just talk through Facebook, you know, FaceTime people. You can still you
know, play your your video gamesor whatever you do on your phone.
We can do a show there.Oh cool sho. If we want to
do the show on the phone inon a cruise in Alaska? Do you

(24:22):
think we could do that if youbring me along. Hey, you could
be our third kid. Yeah,there you go. I have an idea.
He's not sure in my room anyway, I wanted to tell you these
are the ports that we'll be stoppingat. Okay, so the first port
we're gonna help, we're gonna headstraight up to Uh. We leave out

(24:45):
of San Pedro right and they havea very safe parking lot that you can
keep your car there or like yousaid, you could Uber have you up.
Yeah, it's it's really easy.Uh. Anyway, we're going to
be going to Juno, which isthe capital where the Mendenhall Glacier is.
It's really nice. And then theyhave a the Mount Robert skytram that takes

(25:07):
you to the top of the mountain. They have really really good restaurant at
the top with an amazing spectacular viewafter and there's enough time that you could
do both in one day. Alsoa great destination for whale watching, which
is what I did this last August. Yes, that was exciting. And
then from there to Skagway where theyhave the whites Pass railroad that takes you

(25:32):
up into the Yukon. Now isthere enough time for that? That's a
separate, separate port. So youcan spend the day in Skagway and do
the train trip, which I havealways recommended except this last year. I
did you know? The train goesalong the side of a huge ravine and

(25:53):
when you're on the train you cansee there's a road on the other side
and you can see buses occasionally pass. Well. I just I want to
see what the heck is on theother side. So they have a bus
that takes you to the very topin the Yukon. You actually go into
Canada, and at the top theyhave a suspension bridge that goes over this

(26:14):
huge gorge. It was just outstanding. It was so beautiful. And then
on the way back they take youto this little village where you have a
salmon bake with the blueberry cobbler fordessert. Yeah, it was really really
nice. So I'm kind of tornbetween referring the train. What I liked
about that it was like a clogthe old clog train. Oh yeah,

(26:36):
it's very old, old fashioned trafashion, and it's like clock clock club.
I mean it's all gears and everything. It's very different. I mean
I sound like a train right clockclock. The any bad things. We
never saw any animals. I waslooking Show me a bear, show me
something, have a mural. Idon't care. Well, the last time
we were on the Skagway, thetrain whites passed. You know, I'm
trying to take pictures through the windows, and I have to tell you,

(26:59):
my husban knows I am really afraidof heights ordinarily, but something about being
on vacation or putting a camera inmy face. Yeah, it goes out.
It just goes out the window.So I couldn't take pictures as well
as I wanted to through the windows. So they have these little iron step
just between the cars. It's onlylike maybe a foot or two wide.

(27:23):
Is moving, the train is moving, and there's nothing but a little skinny
chain and yeah, and you lookthrough the bottom. It's a great and
you could see the rails going pastyou and everything, and of course you
know when the train's coming around tobend. I wanted to get a really
good shot of the front of thetrain, so I have to lean away.

(27:45):
Yeah, don't even think about it. But I saw a black bear
and I banged down the window andI said, there's a bear. There's
a bear, and everybody in thecar. I thought the train was gonna
tip over there by the time wewent past it. Unfortunately, they just
got a brief glimpse. So uh, yeah, I did. I was

(28:06):
really lucky to see a bear atthat time. And that was early in
the year. That was in I'vebeen in Alaska, May, July,
August, and September, and thislast trip was August, and I have
to say that that was the besttime I saw more animals. I saw

(28:26):
the salmon running when in Ketcha Can, I mean, where do they wind
up? Which city was it?Ketch Can is the salmon capital. That's
where you have thousands and thousands youwant to jump in and take some to
take home for locks. Yeah,I mean, I've never seen so much
salmon and oh my god, no, don't die. No, yeah,

(28:47):
it was. It was really thrilling. I walked down to the creek and
we watched them, you know,swimming up river. And then we go
to the ladder where you see them, you know, chomping out of the
water to get up stat Skagway.That no, that's catchcat, catch can
Okay, So okay, Juno first, then Juno first, and then Skagway.
I'm going to make sure I gotthe order right. And then it's

(29:10):
a small picture, so I'm notsure I have the exact order right.
But then Icy Street Point, whichwas a new destination they added on our
second to the last trip. It'sa Huna is the city there. It's
very small, but they have whatdo they call that zipline? They have

(29:30):
a big zipline, so it's avery adventurous place. Look at her.
Yeah. Yeah, And I've gotpictures of the tram that goes to the
top of the mountain. I didn'tgo on the zip line, but we
took the tram and I'm not kiddingyou, it went straight up. I
think I would have been better offon the zip line, to tell you
the truth. And then it's avery very short walk from the ship into

(29:56):
town and there's a place that sellsfresh homemade don't nuts in the morning,
and everybody was coming back with theirlittle bag of warm doughnuts. So that
that's that's something to look forward to. And then Sitca. I cannot tell
you anything about Sitcup because I havenot been there on all four cruises.
This is a brand new destination,at least for me. So they're they're

(30:18):
adding Sitcup. But from what Ihear, everybody loves it. It's it's
much more, uh, you know, it's not as built up or tourist
oriented. Yeah, so I thinkthat everybody will love that. And then
what I really love is on theway back, we get to stop in
Victoria, British Columbia. Did youdo that one? It's just beautiful and

(30:41):
really it's a it's a very shortride into the downtown area. You can
take a bus or at tax yourit's a small yes, yeah, And
I mean botanical gardens are my mypassion, and I definitely recommend bot shark
cartons. But if you can't go, the city itself has so many flowering

(31:06):
plants and trees and totem poles.I mean, in August is the best
time to go to British Columbia becauseit's actually very sunny of this most sun
in that time of year. Yes, actually worked up there and we spent
I think two weeks going just aroundand like renting a low boat and everything,

(31:27):
going around the islands and go toVictoria and it's just beautiful weather.
I mean, you know, usuallyit's always rainy and cold, but this
that time of year, August,it's like prime time, perfect to be
outside. In fact, the lasttime we were in Victoria, I had
the cutest little, you know,vest, furry vest with a long sleeve

(31:48):
sweater. It was Oh, Ijust felt so styling and by they got
to by the time I got tothe city, I went into the Empress
Hotel and I bought a T shirtbecause I was dying. I was so
is that a big hotel there.Yes, that's fous for their tea,
their high tea. Yeah, wewent there, but it was all closed
out. But they also do atea ceremony at Butchart Gardens, which I

(32:13):
recommend. Yeah, we did thatwhere you have the little sandwiches and the
petty forest before you go, butyou'll be hungry. Yeah. Well,
anyway, it's a nice experience anyway, and the fact that we have a
small group going, you know,we we tie the reservations together so that
we can dine together. Which bringsme to what's new in UH In cruising,

(32:36):
Princess Thank Goodness has gone back totheir old way of dining, which
is, uh you either have earlyseating, late seating, or anytime dining.
What that means is you can selectahead of time if you want to
eat as early as five or sixo'clock or as late as eight o'clock,

(32:57):
and if you're not sure, yougo to there's one restaurant that's specifically for
walk ins, and sometimes you couldgo straight in. Sometimes you might have
to stand and wait a little bitlike you would at any restaurant. But
they had tried, you know,doing the reservation for set time, and
it just was not working. Yeah, it was just a little too confusing

(33:21):
for everybody. So by the timewe go on that cruise, they I
think actually by this September, they'regoing to have it switched over. Now,
how many other restaurants do they haveon the ship? Don't they have?
Oh? Okay? So they havethe three main dining road okay,
which are all included. They alsohave, uh, the buffet. They

(33:42):
have the buffet which is huge.Yeah, and they changed the menus daily.
Let's see, they have a hamburgerstand where they also sell chicken hot
dogs. Yeah, but they havesomething new. They even have lobster the
lobster sandwich, losterol, lobsterol.Yeah. So they have a pizza stand

(34:09):
where, you know, every daythey have a specialty pizza and you know,
I just really love grabbing a sliceof pizza out there by the pool
and a soda. I mean,there's nothing like that. But they do
have the Alfredo's. It's the nameis different depending on the ship. It's
either Gg's or it's Alfredos, butit's the same concept. And they have

(34:31):
cal zones and salads and uh,really delicious pizzas, ice cream. Uh
not at that restaurant, but theyhave they do have a gelato bar and
your Princess Plus package entitles you.It's ridiculous. Two giant We're talking foot

(34:52):
at least a foot tall gelato Sundaysto each every single day, every day,
every day. What they did isthey balanced that out by giving you
a free fitness class each day.A little bit silly, but a diabetic
coma really yeah, we only didit one time. That was speaking of

(35:14):
which, if you come with somenutritional issues you know, a little carb
or yes, or you know thatlittle salis of kosher, they take care
of all that, don't they.Yes, you could arrange for it ahead
of time through the Princess app throughthe medallion. But if you if you
don't do that ahead of time,you just speak to your waiter or your

(35:34):
matre d and they will he hasproblem with peanuts and she just you know,
they ask us you have any allergies? Is there anything you don't want
on something? You know, onionsor garlic? And I mean every time
they knew you, every time,it was really funny. You can go
to the same table, they knowyou, they know here's your drink.
You don't have to ask for it. And what's nice is you literally only
have to ask for it one timebecause of the medallion. I know,

(35:57):
I spoke a little bit about themedallion. That's different. It is and
it's unique only to Princess Cruises,and every single ship in their fleet uses
a medallion. It's about the sizeof an AirPod AirPod, and I wear
mine on my wrist. They giveyou a free land you'red you could buy

(36:17):
clips, you could wear it asa pretty necklace. You can. But
what's nice is, for example,when you get to the port and you
already you've already ordered your medallions,they come to you in the mail.
The check in process is a breeze. I mean, just like three minutes
nothing. It's so easy. Andthen once you're on board and you're within

(36:43):
three three feet of your cabin,it automatically unlocks the door for you.
So when you have your hands fullof all those you know, the pizza
from the pool deck or or theluscious desserts from the Sunday International Cafe by
the way open twenty four hours.Uh, pannini, sandwiches, soups,

(37:04):
salads, desserts. I'm looking atAlan. Yeah, yeah, you know,
it's so active. There's time about. There's times you're so busy during
the day and at nighttimes sometimes youcan't sleep. It's two o'clock. What
do you do, net, Yeah, go down to the International Cafe and
there right next door. They haveroom service too, right of course,

(37:25):
yeah, room service, but theselections the smaller. Yeah, the selections
at the International Cafe are so delightful. And they do have bowls of fresh
fruit, so you don't have toyou don't have to indulge if you don't
want to. And you can geta decaf coffee right next door and head
back up to your room. Actuallyyour room is on the same floor.

(37:46):
You only have to walk about fiftyfeet. Sorry, I made it to
so good. This is bring thescooter. You don't have to walk fish
it pays the schmooth. I'm tellingyou, folks. There you get there,
you go again. I listen tolet's sign out, y'all. Right
here on AM ten fifty one ohsix point five that found the stations that
leaven no listener behind and with usis Betsy Weber. She's from Connection to

(38:07):
Cruise. This is I've never metanybody. It's gone on more cruises.
I'm not even MARLSS and Georgia.But you guys, have you been on
so many cruises and this is aspecial one that we're going to. It's
a Princess one. It's leaving LosAngeles Harbor, which is San Pedro Long
Beach. So for all of uswho live in the in an empire,
he just Uber there. I wouldsuggest Uber there and basically Uber back,

(38:30):
and it's real simple to get in. They're very organized and I've heard nothing
but great things about Princess. I'venever heard of a negative thing about Princess.
Plus. The only cruise that's goingto the Inner Passage, the Outer
Passage and round trip back to California. Yes, it's a sixteen day cruise,
thirty five percent off per person.The third and fourth person are free

(38:53):
in the same cabin. So ifyou have a brother and sister, if
I mean, you could take advantageof this. Really you can stand them
and you're cabin for sixteen days.Yeah yeah, but even at thirty five
percent off, give them their owncabin, yeah, connecting cabin and then
you and then they have doors thatopen up between the balconies. So then
you have which we've done, youhave a balcony twice as big. Oh

(39:14):
cool, And again the prices ofthese are very different. If you don't
care about the scenery, which alot of times you're gonna be out there
outside any way. So to behonest, you really don't. You don't
get classophobic, you don't really don'tknow. You're not in your room that
much. Number one. But youcan have inside patch, which is a
cheaper one, and then you canhave the outside. I mean, you
can get as fancy as you want. But there's all types of different ones,
but they are selling out quickly,that's one thing. So if you

(39:36):
do want to go, when togive you all your information? Again?
Okay, Yeah, if you wantto go, you're welcome to give me
a call directly at area code ninezero nine five five six nine five three
nine, or you can contact Connectionto Cruise via their website Connection to Cruise
dot com exactly and their phone numberis Arie code nine zero nine seven nine

(40:00):
eight nine one three three. Nowtell them you heard Betty, Betsy,
Betty, Betty, I'm hungry alreadyBetsy on the Let's sign out show and
they'll get you'll get right in touchto you apps and Betsy's really good about
calling back. So yes, especiallyyour food. You just mentioned food.
If you love food, and thatsaid, she'll be all all of you
too, So yeah, and I'mhappy to give you as little or as

(40:20):
much information as you want. Obviously, I'm passionate about food. I'm passionate
about traveling and especially cruising. Andhonestly, kid, unless it's so it's
not rough the waters, it's usuallyreally really those ships are gigantic. I
mean they're not going to roll overlike the Titanic and stuff. I mean
it's really really good. Plus,you're never going to be bored there.

(40:43):
There's so much to do if youjust want to kick back and read.
Yeah, there's so many nooks andcrannies you can good. They have a
library, libraries there. They haveall kinds of women and crass and crafts.
I mean, anything you think ofthat you somebody might like to do
when they're relaxing. I mean thatis the way to Literally it's a no

(41:04):
brainer. I mean, you don'thave to go far for food, you
don't have to go far to doanything you like, and literally you can
just switch it all off. Youknow. It's it's like the ideal vacation
for me. Plus a good thingtoo about traveling on a cruise is you
get to different spots to go to. This is just Alaska, but if
you go to a different country likewe went on we went to Macau,

(41:25):
went to Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. You know, we've never been there
before, so now we're able togo to see some things. So now
we know where we want to goback exactly. It's kind of an a
lousee boosh. Yeah, you geta little taste of each city and then
you know, okay, that's theFor example, Ketcha Cant just happens to
be my favorite of the port.And what's interesting about Ketcha Cant is you

(41:49):
can only get there by boat orby plate. It's an island, so
it has that charm that's just alittle bit of Nantucket. It's it's amazing.
I love it. But uh yeah, I've had people that have that
they're a little bit nervous about thefact. Okay, what about the weather

(42:10):
or what if there's a storm.I mean, as you said, the
ships are so huge and they havethese stabilizers that you don't feel the rocky
at all. And I would bethe first to tell you that I do
I don't like a lot of movement. I you know, I have to
sit in the front of the car. You know, I can't sit in
the back seat. But you know, there's so many different uh you know,

(42:34):
supplements that you can take that nondrowsy. Uh. There's ginger candies,
there's a ginger gum. There's thesewristbands that they had medical staff there.
Oh. Yes, as he gotsick on had nothing to do with
the cruise. She just got youknow, and saw doctor there, very
very nice doctor called the room upto make sure she's okay. I mean,
it was just like your own privatedoctors. So there's really no fear.

(42:55):
Yeah, and even if there were, you know, uh, heaven
forbid an emergency. Uh. I'vebeen on on a a cruise where they
they stopped the ship and a helicopterflew out and they airlifted the passenger to
safety. So, I mean,you don't have to feel like you're on
an island. You're you're you're coveredin the United States territory. That's the

(43:20):
other thing you're not, that's anothercountry. Yeah, you're not around country
really. Yeah. The furtherest farthestyou go in is Canada and that's literally
a neighbor, so you know you'regoing to get home really quickly if anything
happened. And we always recommend travelinsurance. It's purely optional, but it's
such a good idea because you arecompletely covered not only for any medical uh

(43:42):
situations that could arrive, but forlost or damaged luggage, which fortunately has
never happened to me. Or iffor some reason, uh, you have
a medical issue where you have tocounsel your cruise, for example, at
the last minute, and maybe you'llwant to reschedule it. Uh, that
part is covered. Well. Thathappened to me once and one time I
had insurance. One time I didand so the one time I didn't be

(44:06):
lost on me. But yeah,it happens. So yeah, and we
you know, at Connection to Cruz, we can certainly handle that for you.
And if you do select a cruisethat involves air flight, we can
arrange that for you as well.Want to make we want to make your
vacation as relaxful as possible. Rightbefore we come back, let's do a

(44:27):
few commercials that we have and thenwe'll come back and give some more information
on hon holdio. Okay, you'veeaten lots of great food and lots of
great food at restaurants. Cowboy Burgersin Fontana and now on Arlington and Riverside
will fast become one of your favoriteswith their delicious, mouth watering burgers and
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(44:50):
ribs, dry tip chicken, coldpork sandwiches, as well as lunch and
dinner plates. Everything is made fromscratch, including their delicious side dishes like
coal slap potatoes, barbecue beans,and much much more. Check out their
rich decade it chocolate brownings. Hi. I'm food critic Allen Morgan, and
you can dine in, take foodout, or have them cater your next
special event. I highly recommend CowboyBurgers and Barbecue at their new location at

(45:15):
five five seven three Arlington Avenue inthe Riverside. Just look them up on
the Internet. That's Cowboy Burgers andBarbecue, happy eating and perfect for the
holidays. Cowboy Burgers and Barbecue isalso available for catering. That's Cowboy Burgers
and Barbecue in Fontana and now inRiverside on Arlington. Redlands Ranch Market is

(45:38):
a unique, full service international grocerystore that specializes in authentic food items from
Mexico, India, and from manyMediterranean and Asian countries, including popular items
from the US. They offer freshbaked items from their in house bakery,
housemade tortillas from their tortilla area,a delicious array of prepared Mexican foods,
a terrific fresh food and juice bar, and a large selection of meats,

(46:01):
seafoods and deli sandwiches, salads andhalal meats. Their produce department is stocked
full with fresh, local and hardto find international fruits and vegetables that you
cannot find anywhere else. Don't forgetto step into the massive beer cave and
experience the largest selection of domestic,artisan and imported beers in the IE.

(46:21):
They can also cater your next eventwith one of the delicious takeout catering trays
of food. Visit them at Redlandsranchmarketdot com. That's Redlands ranch Market dot
com. Redlands Ranch Market a uniqueand fun shopping destination. Hi On food
critic Allenborgan and I'm excited to tellyou about Raised Shanghai Bistro in Redlands,
rais Shanghai Bistro offers the largest,hym most delicious array of traditional and original

(46:46):
Chinese dishes available in u an Enquirement. Some of my favorite dishes are the
house beat hot stickers, the crisppork sphrubs with garlic, their unique spicy
land with bamboo, the sweetened tankEat, deep fried orange peel beef,
and the savory Basos spicy shrimp,plus lots of vegetarian dishes. Whether you

(47:07):
dine in, pick up the food, or have them cater your next party
or special occasions, you will seewhy ray spelled r Ui of poster fs
Shanghai Bee Stroll is truly the bestChinese restaurant in the Land Empire. Make
sure to check out their new locationat four h five West Stewart Avenue in
Redlands, California, right across fromthe Sprout's Grocery store that's raised Shanghai Bestroll.

(47:37):
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(48:47):
Weber and we have three minutes left? Okay, thanks, you give me
the fingers, so little humor here, Okay, Bessie, Just to get
a hold of you again one moretime. Anything to do with cruising or
any travel you're any connection. Cruiseis kind of as leading. It's not
just Cruise. They specialize it,but they can go anywhere. So absolutely
yeah, connection to Cruz. Youcan lo find them online or call them

(49:12):
directly at area code nine zero nineseven nine eight nine one three three.
Okay. And as for Betsy oranybody else, anybody can help you,
obviously, Betsy wants to share withus about some exciting news about Carnival.
Yes, you know, I startedout with Carnival and it is a it's
a great ship, especially with kids. But as our kids got older moved

(49:35):
out of the house, I wantedto be with people you know more yeah,
more, less party, more ourage. So we moved over to
Princess and it's still my favorite,I admit it. But I was fortunate
enough to be invited to the dedicationceremony of the Carnival Forenzae, which was
purchased from the Coast to brand inEurope, and oh my goodness, it's

(49:58):
now in the Carnival family. It'sgoing to be on the West coast.
Oh cool and perfect for families totake a trip to the Mexican riviera,
whether it's four or five or sevendays. I highly recommend it. That
the decor is just beautiful and thefood was spectacular, much better than the
usual. Yes, it's not likethe carnival of old there's been. I've

(50:22):
been on one carnivor I went to. I volunteered to go cooking. It
was so bad, oh I know. And and the one that I went
on, the best food that Ihad was on the whole trip was off
the ship unfortunately, so long time. And that's true, but no,
it was. We had an amazingmeal on board, wonderful service, beautiful,
beautiful roots. Let's try that onetoo. Yeah, I think it'll

(50:44):
be great, Okay, cool.Also the grub Club, if you want
to go into a dinner, ourdinner, it's kind of like a cruise
eating. It's about ten items,tax and tip included, and it's usually
between fifty and sixty dollars a person. You can't get that anywhere. So
we go to join grub Club,g r U B Club, Join grub
club dot com. That's joined grubclub dot com. The next one is

(51:06):
going to be next Sunday. It'sMother's Day. It's this Sunday tomorrow,
so it's next Sunday. It's gonnabe in Lake Elsnore. It's called for
olive tree, right and so goto grub club dot com. It's got
all the information. So anyway,I'm giving all kinds of fingers here,
so I'm not friendly either. SoBetsy, thank you so much, and
thank your husband for joining us,and we'll definitely have you on. And

(51:28):
we're on every Saturday from four tofive right here on AM ten fifty or
one of six point five f M. The stations that leave no listening behind.
Take care everybody happy eating crazy?Are you? I don't wanna d
page, don't want to hear aboutwhat food you hate. You won't get
noticed er tell you clean up yourplate, so eat it. Don't you

(51:51):
tell me your foot up somewhere chickenhave some more pies and doesn't matter.
And had just hates just hated yourtable. Manos are a crime and shame

(52:15):
your family your food to somef somekind of games. Now if you start
to dance, you'll just ap yourselfa lame all ate it just aid it.
AA is your CNBC News abiligate wherethe station that gets down to business

(52:36):
open for takeout and delivery. Hell, Tapiac Mexican food restaurant in the Tri
City center of Redlands is back.Their entire family is on hand to serve
up their delicious burritos, but chakacharizo, wavos, Ranchero's steak and eggs
just part of their mouth watering greatfood. Since fifteen thirty one, people
have marveled at the miracle of ElTapiac and now you can marvel at the

(52:57):
great food the Logo family has beenserving up for over two decades. Nestled
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Order up a tasty meal on thephone for delivery or takeout for breakfast,

(53:21):
lunch, or dinner from ten amto six pm. Called nine to nine
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is a unique full service international orgrocery store that specializes in authentic food items

(53:43):
from Mexico, India and from manyMediterranean and Asian countries, including popular items
from the US. They offer freshbaked items from their in house bakery,
housemade tortillas from their Tortilla area,a delicious array of prepared Mexican foods,
a terrific fresh food and juice bar, and a large selection of meats,
seafoods and deli sandwiches, salads,and hellal meats. Their produce department is

(54:05):
stocked full with fresh, local andhard to find international fruits and vegetables that
you cannot find anywhere else. Don'tforget to step into the massive beer cave
and experience the largest selection of domestic, artisan and imported beers in the IE.
They can also cater your next eventwith one of the delicious takeout catering
trades of food. Visit them atRedlands Ranchmarket dot com. That's Redlands ranch

(54:29):
Market dot com. Redlands Ranch Marketa unique and fun shopping destination. This
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million listeners depend on AM radio eachmonth. It's also the backbone of the
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by the National Association of Broadcasters.Tune into The Faran Dozier Show, US
Marks Place in Time, the soundtrackto Life. Sunday nights at eight pm
are kcaa radio playing the hottest hitsand the coolest conversations. Sunday nights at
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(55:55):
sports, community outreach, and veteranresources. With the hits from your sixties,
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ten fifty am The Farando Zia Showon KCAA Radio. Hi, I'm Kaylee

(56:30):
Spear, a license agent with LitchfieldInsurance Associates here in Beaumont. A large
portion of Americans don't have life insuranceor don't have enough, whether you need
a temporary policy, something to helpwith income during retirement, or making sure
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would love to be the one tohelp you. I'm Kaylee Sphear for your
free consultation. People are calling nineseven six' nine zero zero zero five
nine seven six nine zero zero zerofive NBC News Radio. I'm Chris Garagio.

(57:22):
Thousands of Palestinians civilians are being toldto evacuate the southern Gaza city of
Rafa. The Israeli military ordered themove as its forces prepared to expand ground
operations. Palestinians were instructed to leavethe area and head to the north or
the west overnight. The move followsPresident Biden's decision to withhold sending weapons to
Israel if it attacked the city,where thousands are seeking shelter. The UN

(57:45):
agency helping to provide food, water, and medicine to Palestinians said at least
three hundred thousand people are affected bythe evacuation orders. The New York judge
and Donald Trump's hush money trial istelling former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to stop
talking about the case. Judge Wanmershanissued the warning yesterday after Donald Trump's legal
team brought up recent statements by Cohen, who went on TikTok this week wearing

(58:06):
a T shirt that appeared to showTrump behind bars. Cohen is set to
testify at the trial Monday. TheUniversity of Southern California is valedictorian who's canceled
graduation speech spurred pro Palestinian protests,received a standing ovation at a graduation ceremony
on Friday. Asna Tabasam received cheersfrom fellow graduates at the School of Engineering
yesterday afternoon. Tabasam was originally supposedto speak at USC's graduation ceremony before the

(58:30):
school canceled her speech citing security threatsafter complaints were received about her pro Palestinian
social media posts. This led toprotests that resulted in the arrest of close
to one hundred demonstrators. Jill Bidenis calling for free community college. The
First Lady gave a keynote speech atMaset Community College's graduation ceremony Saturday, celebrating

(58:50):
opportunities community colleges provide. I teachat the community college for the same reasons.
Students go to community colleges possible andthey need people where they are.
Biden was met with cheers when shesaid community college should be free in America,
saying it provides invaluable career training.This comes after Biden spoke to education
professionals at the annual meeting of theArizona Education Association Friday. I'm Chris Garagio,

(59:15):
NBC News Radio, NBC News onCACAA Lomelinde sponsored by Teamsters Local nineteen
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