Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Travel Agent, Disney and Beyond, your Canadian connection to theme park news, travel information, practical tips, and vacation savings. I'm your host, Stephen Payne. Stay tuned because on today's episode, we'll have an interview with Michelle Croft for Celebrity Cruises all about Celebrity River Cruising, as well as about the upcoming journey with us March Break Cruise 2027. We'll also talk about Disney's Epicot Wine and Food Festival, Niagara Grape and Wine Festival's Branch by the Lake event, and the Wonderland's Gold Palace, packing your clothes for travel, and Expedia's Ultimate Getaway Sale. So much to take in with lots of variety, so keep listening. If you want more information about cruising and travel, including the latest cruise promotions and limited time offers, subscribe to my Expedia Cruises personalized email newsletters. Simply click on FanMail and send me your name and email address, and I'll send you my mailing list for the newsletter as well as for show updates and information. You can also email your name and email address to the following email stepravelagent.ca. Stephen is spelt S-T-E-P-H-E-N, and make sure that you spell agent with an E H because we're Canadian. That email once again is stephen at the travelagent.ca. This information will also appear in the show notes.

Niagara Grape and Wine Festival's Brunch by the Lake

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Now before we get into our various segments for the show, I thought we would first talk about the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival's Brunch by the Lake. This is an event that's put on at Charles Daly Park in St. Catharines, Ontario. My wife and I had a chance to attend. It was last August the 16th, and it was a fantastic event that I thought maybe you should know about, since it could be a local travel opportunity for some of you. It'll have to be next year, but hearing about it this year, maybe you'll put it into your list of things to do. So the event, as I say, took place at Charles Daly Park, and there is a pavilion there, where eight chefs presented various options for brunch. And for each brunch selection, there was also a wine paired with the brunch selection. So eight chefs and eight wineries combined, and they were all working towards victory in what's called a brunch battle. So what happens is you know, you arrive at the park, you're welcomed in, it's a cordoned off area, and there are tables everywhere. There are tables with umbrellas, there are other types of seating, some high chair seatings and tables, some picnic tables, all kinds of a variety of seating. In fact, there was also a VIP section that you could have paid a little extra for, and that was an area close to the pavilion where they had tables that had fancy white linens and just was a little higher scale, more luxurious than the rest of us who were in the regular section. In and around this area in the park, which by the way is on the lake on Lake Ontario, you had uh various things like a mimosa and non-alcoholic cocktail bar. You had an area where there was live music, there's, as I said, seating and various tents. There are various photo opportunities available, the kinds of things you could put on Instagram, so little frames you could stand in that had flowers in them that said, you know, brunch by the lake, that kind of thing, and the and the year. And there was a photo booth. You could take advantage of this photo booth and it was free of charge. You could go in and have your pictures taken to commemorate the experience, and my wife and I did that and it was a lot of fun. This event started at 11 a.m. So we arrived probably around quarter to eleven to make sure we were there on time, and the event lasts until 3 p.m. And that's probably a good thing because when you're going around sampling eight different brunch items, and each one has a selection of wine with it, well, you're drinking a fair amount of alcohol, so you want to take your time. And then of course there's some mosas, which we couldn't really resist. And I did have one or two non-alcoholic cocktails as well. The choice was fantastic. What you're supposed to do is you're supposed to go and sample each one, and of course, rate them. Now, when you entered the park, they gave you a lanyard, and in the lanyard was a passport, a nicely printed passport. There was also a pencil, and there was a gold coin that said Nagro Greek and Wine Festival on it. The idea was that as you're walking around, you can pull out your passport at any time. Usually, of course, we would do that while we're sitting at the table after we just finished uh selection. And in that passport, each page shows you the brunch selection and the wine pairing that you're dealing with. So there's details about what you're eating, there's details about the wine, who provides them, and so on. And then at the bottom of the page, there's a spot for rating between one and five stars, along with some space to write notes. So as you go from selection to selection and you're eating these various brunch selections, you can write down your ideas and thoughts and comments. And so at the end, what you do is you take that gold coin and you find the booth of the chef that you like the best or the chef and wine pairing you like the best, and you drop the coin into a silver jug that's on the table. At the very end, near the end of the event, someone comes up where the music has been presented, and of course there's a microphone there. Someone comes up who is one of the organizers and announces the winner of the brunch battle. So it was kind of fun at the end of it all after having sampled all the various brunch items, to see if the one that you liked the best was the winner. Here are the pairings we encountered at this event. Now I'm going to give you seven of them. That's because one of the chefs apparently did not show up to the event, so in fact there were only seven comparisons to be made. The first thing we had was Ultimate French toast. That's Hala French toast with lemon, basil curd, blueberry gel, pickled blueberries, and maple honeycomb. And that maple honeycomb was delicious. In fact, the whole selection was delicious. And that was paired with a musk spritz. And then there was the brunch brisket, egg and cheddar biscuit, an irreverent brunch brisket biscuit with fried egg, cheddar, slow-braised biscuit, and spicy maple drizzle. And that was paired with a backyard bubbly by Creekside Estates. Then there was mini pancake parfait, fluffy mini brûlé pancake parfait layered with bubbly berry coolis, topped with decadent candied bacon. And that was paired with a bubbly blossom rose. We had black truffle croque mesure, house-smoked ham, and gruyere on griddled sourdough, black truffle bechamel, white wine Dijon, and garden herb salad. And that was paired with a rose as well, but I didn't write down which one it was, so I can't tell you about that. We had smoked salmon tartine with house-smoked salmon mousse, crispy focaccia, pickled red onion, and local herbs. And that was paired with a 2025 Redstone Vineyard Rose. We had a salmon lover's pokebowl with sushi rice, salmon shashimi, fresh vegetables, seaweed salad, apple yuzu dressing. And that was paired with a 2023 Riesling. And the last one I have here is the Niagara Gold and Bacon Grilled Cheese. That's an Ultimate Brunch Grilled Cheese with Upper Canada Cheese Company, Niagara Gold, double smoked bacon, curried ketchup and kettle chips. And that was paired with Flat Rock Cellars 2023 Special Edition Twisted. So that's the menu items that we had. And they were all quite delicious. In the end, the French toast did get my ultimate vote. But the salmon tartine came in a close second. So again, if you are looking for a really nice outing, little little more upscale. I mean it was casual, but at the same time, you're you're sampling these various special brunch items and wines. There's a certain vibe to that. But I highly recommend this outing. It was excellent. It was $110 per person, but you certainly got your money's worth, and both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our time

Mouse Minutes: Epcot's Food and Wine Festival

SPEAKER_00 8:51

there. Now speaking of food, we should get to most minutes. And it's going to be an easy transition because we're still talking about food. I wanted to mention the Epcot Food and Wine Festival that's running from August 27th to November 21st. This happens in the Epcot Park in Disney World, Orlando. And in that case, you have Epcot chefs serving up selections from across the globe. You know, the first time we were at Epcot, my kids really enjoyed the front part of the park where there are various attractions and so on, but they didn't really have an interest in the world showcase. And the world showcase is an area where there are quite a few different countries represented, and you walk around a lagoon and you visit these various pavilions that are representative of the countries. And in our first visit, my kids couldn't see how that could be interesting. But in subsequent visits, my kids actually loved that area. They loved seeing the different countries and the offerings that were there. They could look around the stores and see the interesting gifts and toys and all kinds of other things that were being sold. They could also look at and sample various food items from these different countries. And so in Epcot, there's quite a variety of foods. So at the Epcot Wine and Food Festival, you're going to have quite the variety. And this year, it's apparently the 30th anniversary of the festival, so there are 30 special dishes from over the years that are being highlighted. Now there are more than 30 dishes on offer at this food and wine festival, but part of the celebrations is to have 30 highlighted special dishes, and these are dishes that people have really appreciated from the years past. There's also something called a meal's fromage montage, which I think is a pretty good name. It's basically a food stroll. You get a passport, I guess similar to Brunch by the Lake, and you collect stamps. And if you get five items, these are special items that are indicated for the passport. If you collect five items and get five stamps, you can then show up at Shimmering Sips and you can earn a festival treat. I have no idea what that treat is, but it's a treat, so it's gotta be good. Maybe. Also, there's an exhibit at Communicor Hall about cheese. I don't know about you, but I love cheese. Um I like sampling all kinds of different cheeses. That's a staple in my diet. And at this cheese exhibit, you can get a cheese flight. That sounds fantastic. You could sample different types of cheeses. Also, if you really like macaroni and cheese, there are quite a variety of macaroni and cheeses to sample at this exhibit. And you can brush up on your history of cheese if you're so inclined. However, I'm less interested in the history of cheese myself and more interested in just eating it. Now the menus at the Apcot Food and Wine Festival are pretty extensive. I looked through them and uh there's there's no way I could tell you everything that's on offer. There's just so much. And just keep in mind there's a huge variety. I've just picked out a few things that sounded interesting, but you know, there were so many to choose from. So for example, they have uh cannoli milkshake that is topped with chocolate shavings, cannoli shell, and a Muraschino cherry. This is a non-alcoholic milkshake. It sounds quite good. There is the frozen pomegranates and raspberry tea featuring twinnings, pomegranate and raspberry herbal tea with orange ice cream molecules. See, that intrigued me. That's why I wrote it down. I'm like, what are orange ice cream molecules? And that might actually be kind of interesting. I saw that there was a pistachio chocolate mochi donut. There is a seafood pot pie with shrimps, scallops, and lobster bisque topped with puff pastry. There's smoked chocolate bread pudding with chocolate ganache, vanilla bean bourbon sauce, and smoked sea salt. There's a dumplings trio with an assortment of pan-fried chicken, pork, and vegetable dumplings with housemade sweet and spicy sauce. And there is warm roclette, Swiss cheese on a baguette with jambon, and apple mustard relish. There is Basque cheesecake with orange sauce. There's chicken souvlaki gyro with shaved lettuce, tomato, cucumber relish, and tazuki on warm pita. So those are just some examples of many, many examples. And some of those are pretty straightforward and not as exotic. There are many unusual dishes that are available, and there are all kinds of different types of drinks. And so you're just remembering that all these menus are from all the different countries represented in the world showcase. So the countries that are represented in the world showcase are Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. So a pretty good variety of tastes and flavors represented. And that's the great thing about Epcot. There's so much variety in one place. I think the Epcot Food and Wine Festival would be a great event to attend when you are visiting Disney World. Now, most of the time when I visit Disney World, it is before Epcot Food and Wine, so I've never really had the chance to experience the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. I have been there for the Garden Festival. So one of these days, I'm going to get out there and maybe at that point I can then give you a firsthand review of what it's like.

Park Pulse: Canada's Wonderland's Gold Pass

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Now in partpulse, let's talk about Canada's Wonderland Gold Pass perks. I just thought I would bring this up today because I am going to make use of my gold passport in a way I haven't yet done so, and I thought that might be worth calling attention to. So, first of all, as far as the gold pass perk goes, or as gold passes go at Wonderland, this is also a timely reminder about that because they are on sale right now, and they are on sale until September the 7th. So you can purchase your gold pass before September the 7th and get the following things. You can get free parking included, which isn't always included with a gold pass, and you can get a bring a friend ticket for free. And those are things that are added bonuses for purchasing during this sale. Now you could get a prestige pass as well, which is more expensive and will give you more perks, but I'm just focusing on the gold pass today, basically because that's what I'm using and the point I want to make relates to my gold pass. Now, if you buy a gold pass right now, one of the great things is that it is valid for the rest of 2026 and for the entirety of 2027. So if you've never had a pass before or you haven't had a pass in the past few years, here's a chance to buy a pass and get a year and a half's worth out of it. So that's a pretty good deal. And the passes, I think, start at $99. That's not really too bad for a year and a half of unlimited visits to the parks. The park that I wanted to call attention to today is the fact that you can get admission to other Midwest parks. Here are the parks that will also accept your Canada Wonderland Gold Pass. There is Cedar Point and Cedar Point Shores in Sandusky, Ohio, King's Island in Mason, Ohio, Six Flags Darien Lake and Hurricane Harbor in Carfu, New York, Six Flags Great America and Hurricane Harbor in Gurney, Illinois, and Hurricane Harbor, Rockford, in Cherry Valley, Illinois. Now most interesting from that list is probably Cedar Point. The reason that one is the most interesting is because Cedar Point is renowned for having quite the collection of roller coasters. And so it's not that far a drive from where I am, which is situated in Hamilton, Ontario. It's about a four and a half hour drive. So it's within striking distance for a visit, and there are quite a few great roller coasters to try there, including things like Millennium Force. And that's what I'm going to do this coming weekend, actually. I'm going to visit Cedar Point with my Canada's Wonderland Gold Pass. Last year I bought my pass and I got the same perks. I got the free parking, the bring-a-friend ticket, and so on. And so when I go to Cedar Point this weekend, I am going to be able to park for free. So that's an additional thing that's a bit of a perk. I'll get the admission to the park. And then on my season pass, I have the season pass food and drink option. And that also can be used at Cedar Point. So basically, I am planning a little getaway where we're going to visit Cedar Point. And when we're there, well, I won't have to pay for any food while we're there because I can just use my food pass and my drink pass. So for us, it's going to be a relatively inexpensive trip. We just have to pay for the drive, for the gas, and we are going to stay overnight at one of the hotels at Cedar Point. Now that's another thing. With that season pass that I have for August, there was a discount offered for stays at Cedar Point Hotels. So I also got the hotel room at a discount rate. So all in all, that seems like a pretty good deal. And of course, I want to make use of my season pass, so this is a great way to do that. Now, I haven't been to Cedar Point before. And you know, if you're listening to this podcast or if you've heard my advertising for the trailer, I am a theme park enthusiast. So I am really looking forward to going to Cedar Point. I've heard about it for years and have never pulled the trigger on it. But this is my chance, right? I've got my gold pass. I've got all my freebies. Well, they're not freebies, I paid for the addition, the add-ons for the gold pass, but it's free to me now. So I'm really looking forward to giving it a try. And of course, you're going to hear about my impressions of the Cedar Park Amusement Park in one of the park pulses in upcoming episodes.

Cruise Contemplations: Interview with Michele Croft

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Now it's time for cruise contemplations. For cruise contemplations today, we are going to talk about celebrity cruises, specifically celebrity river cruises, which is a very brand new feature. And we are going to talk about the celebrity apex in connection to my agency's Journey with Us March break trip in 2027. And to do this, we are going to talk to Michelle Croft from Celebrity Cruises. Here's the interview. Joining us on the Travel Agent, Disney and Beyond, is Michelle Croft from Celebrity Cruises. Welcome to the show, Michelle.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Thank you so much, Steven. Such a pleasure to be here with you.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Michelle, before we get right into it, can you just uh let us know your role at Celebrity Cruises?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Absolutely. So I am pretty bonded to this brand. Um, so I have been the field sales manager for two years now, covering Eastern Ontario and Manitoba. But prior to that, I actually was the marketing manager for Canada for 10 years, supporting the Canadian sales team. And full disclosure, my father was the director of sales for all of Canada for celebrity cruises. So I really have grown up with this brand. And so when I say I'm bonded, it is truly through blood. I love this brand. It is truly in the family, and I can't tell you how much I love just talking about it and uh working with agents like you to help sell it to your clients.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

That's perfect for us today, for sure. I didn't know that it was uh it ran in your family, so to speak.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

It is, it's a family affair.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

Yeah, I guess you know the brand inside and out, probably.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Since birth, it was destined in the stars. This is what I was gonna be a celebrity cruise sales manager.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Now Michelle's back from a trip to Alaska, I believe. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 20:54

It is. I just got back on Sunday, and I have to tell you, Alaska is such a dreamscape. I am so in love with this place, and I really was not in love with Alaska prior to going there. I thought it was very similar to Canada, and I thought, what more could Alaska show me in this place that I've already seen in my own country? And I misjudged Alaska so terribly. So if you have not gone to Alaska, I encourage you. It is absolutely a dream. And I was on our renewed solstice. So this beautiful vessel just came out of dry dock and had a lot of new enhancements. Um, she is absolutely gorgeous with lots of new uh restaurants and amenities and just a 10 out of 10 experience. So yeah, it was amazing. Just got back.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Yeah, you know, I haven't actually been on an Alaskan itinerary, but everyone who goes just loves it. And it in fact, I had a client go one time and and I they invited me over to their house and they they showed me pictures and talked about their cruise for I think it was about three hours. Like they they just loved it. Yeah, and and and uh I've never heard a bad thing about the Alaskan itineraries.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

No, and that's the thing. I'm not an Alaska person because you know you think of the person that wants to go to Alaska as maybe the barefoot backyard kind of person who loves kind of hiking and outdoors and camping. I'm none of those things. I'm kind of like Sawgirl. Uh and I am not what you would assume as the classic Alaska lover. And I have to tell you, if Michelle can love Alaska, you absolutely can. It's got something for everyone. It is truly an incredible the last frontier, as we say.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Well, it's definitely on my bucket list for sure.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Awesome. We got to get you there.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yeah. My son and his girlfriend are also on a celebrity cruise right now. They're on the Celebrity Beyond, somewhere in the Caribbean. But they are having a blast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Oh, that's amazing. Oh, I love Beyond.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

They were at the uh British Virgin Islands yesterday and uh said the breach day was amazing. They've been getting uh art from the art auction. And the I guess the art auctioneer was really kind to them and gave them a bonus print as well. And they've been to this, they've been to the spa. They're just loving it, you know, the food and the dining and everything. I keep hearing all these amazing things about the their crews. And of course, it's so one of the dangers of being a travel agent is when people tell you about their experiences and and you kind of have that FOMO thing going on. And you're like, wow, I need to go on a beyond, you know, and that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Absolutely. It's uh one of our beloved shifts within our edge series class. And so, yeah, she is truly uh magnificent. And yeah, doing a rotation in the Caribbean right now. Um, so we okay, two things we've learned. We need to get you to Alaska, and we need to get you on Beyond.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Yes, that that would be amazing for sure. Yeah. My experience is I I was on the Apex, which is also one of your uh edge level ships, and that ship was absolutely beautiful. And that's one of the things I like about celebrity cruises and their ships. I just think the design of the ships, they're quite luxurious, and and the the artwork that's in them and the design of the rooms and so on is just all so beautiful, and the food is exquisite. So I am also a fan.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Yeah, it's funny you bring up artwork and your and your your son uh, you know, and going to the art auctions. I mean, really when I think of our edge series class, I truly think of these vessels as like floating art galleries at sea. I mean, just the architecture, but uh uh just the artwork, and you see some of the sculptures. I'm sure you saw like on Apex, on our pool decks, we have different sculptures on each of our Edge Series ships, just absolutely breathtaking. So yeah, I truly look at those things as art uh installations at sea. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Yeah, I agree completely. Okay, so I have a lot of clients, of course, who've only been on ocean cruises. They have never been on river cruises. And I understand that Celebrity Cruises is entering the river cruise market. So my first question for you is for these clients, how can you convince the ocean going travelers to consider river cruising?

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Wow, great question. And yeah, this is such an exciting time for our brand, Stephen. Like we are really going full headfirst into the river cruise space. So, you know, a lot of people have, of course, only known us as an ocean liner brand, but we are doing a full expansion into river, starting with two ships starting in 2027, um, and then five ships for 2028. And then by 2031, so five years, we will have 20 ships. And so, and that's just the first order, guys. So we are really, this is not just a tiptoe into river, this is a full head-first dive. So I would say, listen, if you are a fan of Celebrity Cruises Ocean liners, the reality is that experience and what you've come to know and love about our brand is going to be just an extension into river and into a product that you know can just deliver on its promises to you. So the cool thing about it is that now we're going to be able to introduce new destinations that you have not been able to visit with us as a brand before. And I think that's really the biggest feature to say, listen, you know you love the service on celebrity, you know you love the culinary, you know you love everything about our brand already. We are going to make sure that that is now a full extension over into our River Cruise product. So what you've come to know and love is just going to be offered in a different place on Earth, which is great because we just want you to be able to travel with us to new and exciting destinations. So I look at it as almost like the vessels that we have for our ocean liners are now being created and by the way, built from the ground up. These are not refurbished ships, these are brand new being built in Holland. And we're sort of bringing our edge series class design and aesthetic down to the micro river level. So again, if you're a fan of we've talked about our river ships, excuse me, our ocean liner ships and the design, the aesthetic, um, that sort of five-star premium experience when it comes to culinary and service. That's just going to be now extended onto the beautiful rivers of the Danube and the Rhine in Europe.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

That sounds pretty exciting. And you answered a couple of questions I had in my mind, which was how many ships? And I'm amazed at how many ships you're building within a couple of years. And also, I was wondering if there were going to be repurposed ships. You know, sometimes brands do purchase ships and re-repurpose them, but these are all brand new, eh?

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Yeah, absolutely brand new. And as I said, just the first order. So just think of Celebrity as a river cruise brand now. So it we're gonna start taking people to new beautiful places on Earth, which I'm really excited about. Full disclosure, I've never taken a river cruise, so I'm quite doomed to experience this. I need to see this firsthand. So, of course, I believe my first river cruise experience will be on Celebrity. So this is gonna be again just more of the brand I love and experiencing it in a new way.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

So you may have answered this a little bit already, but uh of course, in river cruising, there are quite a few suppliers out there who offer a river cruise. What is it um that you think celebrity has that that makes them worth choosing over other suppliers?

SPEAKER_01 28:07

That's an awesome question. So um there's a few things that I would say would make us stand out amongst the crowd. So, first thing being, I think you know this, but culinary is a real big pillar to our brand. So if you're a foodie listening to this podcast right now, um, things that we're gonna be offering, we have two dining rooms on our river shifts, which is pretty much unheard of in the river cruise space. So, you know, most places will have um one dining venue. We're gonna have two venues for you to choose from. We're also gonna have a lot of grab and go options. There's gonna be some in-suite dining options for our sweet guests, continental breakfast options for the guests in our other categories of state rooms. Um, we'll have Cafe Albacio on board, which is a beloved cafe that people love with the celebrity brand offering those grab and go bites as well. So definitely culinary is a pillar. Something else we're offering is a full classic drink package all day. So for every guest on board, you're gonna have your drink package available to you, where I know some other competitors might only have maybe beer and wine or maybe a cocktail hour at certain times of the day. We have your full classic package that's available to you. And if you're in a suite, you have a premium package, and that's again 24 hours a day. And I would say the third thing, Stephen, would be our um shore excursions, which we have called discovery models. So we have put a lot of research, time, and just investment into curating some of the most beautiful and interesting type of shore excursions. So these are going to be offered one complementary shore excursion per person per port. So that is included with your fare. But these discovery models are not your standard cookie cutter, um, sort of tour operator style model shore excursions. We've worked with locals and uh really grassroots type of organizations to get people more close and more engaged from an authentic perspective when it comes to these short excursions. We want you to experience this port of call as if you were a local, because local people will be the ones that are actually going to sort of dive in and take you sort of into the heart of these different ports of calls. So there's different options available when it comes to our discovery models, and guests on board will be able to pick from a variety of them. So we have, for example, a storyteller series where you're working with a local maybe artist or writer or someone that has deep roots in the community, and they are taking you to some sort of off-the-beaten track places that you wouldn't normally get to see and do. Um, we have sort of a workshop series, um, which is called our skillmaster series, and maybe you're doing sort of a wine tasting or something more hands-on where you're making a pizza or something of that nature. That's another type of model that you can choose from. We have different types of models, so it's really great because we're offering a lot of variety when it comes to the shore excursion. And our research has told us that the real benefit to taking a river cruise is experiencing the destination. It's maybe not even necessarily about the ship, although, of course, our ships are going to be absolutely gorgeous. It's really about getting a full 360 view and experience from start to finish at these different ports. And we've made sure that we've curated these short excursions to be memorable, authentic, and again, inclusive. So meaning that it's going to be one per person included per port.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

That sounds great. Um, I know certainly for myself and I think a lot of clients, the idea of getting into the culture, the not the not the touristy culture, but the actual local culture of these different uh destinations is something that that we really value, you know?

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Okay, so um what kind of itineraries are offered um right now for these different river cruises? Uh, where where can clients go?

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Yeah, we are starting our inaugural season is actually next year, so 2027. We are sailing in the Danube and the Rhine. So we will be doing that for 2027 and 2028. So beautiful destinations, of course, in the Danube, Vienna and Budapest, and in Rhine, it's Basel, Strasbourg, Amsterdam. So these are going to be the two rivers that we're sailing through for 27 and 28. Obviously, more to come as we add more ships. So stay tuned for the new destinations we'd be going across the globe. Um, but yeah, that's where we're starting. Of course, we're doing the Christmas markets, uh, the New Year's time. Um, those are very, very popular. So I encourage you, if you're interested in sailing any of those time periods, you're gonna want to work with your Expedia Cruises agent to get yourself locked in and booked. They are selling out. This is a very, very popular product that we've launched. Of course, people are really excited about it. It's new, it's fresh. And so, um, but Danube and the Ryan for 2028, we are adding a couple extra different itineraries just in 2028. So we have a tulip time itinerary for the spring season, which is absolutely amazing. I don't know, I'm a big tulip lover. I absolutely love flowers. So this is something I want to do. I'm trying to get my husband to come with me to do a May 2028 sailing, but again, through, of course, uh Amsterdam, seeing these beautiful tulips, these rows of fields of flowers. So that's a new itinerary we're offering in 2028. And then um we're also offering an eight-night itinerary with an overnight stay in Bucharest. So that is another new itinerary that we're offering for 2028. So most of them are seven-night sailings, but you have the option, of course, in 2028 to do an eight-night. And actually, on the note of the two of time, it is offered seven nights. But if you did it as a back-to-back sailing, um, if you look at the itinerary, it allows you actually to do 14 nights seeing 14 different ports a call. So you could do it as a back-to-back sailing, and that one would be really, really cool to see. So some new exciting places.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

I was gonna say that's um what I was gonna mention. Uh these river cruises, they basically stop every day, right? There's a new location every day. And that's why yeah uh you're looking at the destination more than you're looking at the ship, even though you want a good ship to be on when you're in those spaces, but but really it's about the destinations, and it's fantastic that of course the excursions are included, right?

SPEAKER_01 34:11

So exactly. And of course, the great thing about it too is that you're stepped off of the ship into the destination. That is obviously the benefit of a river cruise because you're not having to take a bus to a certain location to get sort of in the heart of the port of calling. You are just getting off the ship and you're there. And so that, of course, is such a benefit to a river cruise, of course.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

In terms of of the ship itself, I'm thinking about the various spaces that are on the ocean liners. Obviously, everything's going to be quite a bit smaller, right, in scale. How many people uh would be on a typical river cruise ship?

SPEAKER_01 34:45

Yeah, so it's 172 passengers, uh, 86 staterooms on our initial uh river ships. I mean, I'm not sure to say after our five that have been built if we're gonna make them any larger, but I think we're probably gonna keep in line with the same amount of uh passenger count. So, yep. Of course, a lot smaller, but bigger is not always better, guys. I mean, of course, you know, some things call what do they say? Some of the best gifts come in small little boxes. And so, you know, I again just to say that it, even though it's a smaller experience, it doesn't mean it's going to be less than. And so there's going to be again that same service level, that same culinary experience. And it really is all about making sure that you're getting that cultural, authentic experience at this port of call. Is there a pool on the ship? There is, yeah. So we actually have a plunge pool at the back of the ship, and it's got these amazing shaded leaf structures that kind of move and pivot where the sun is shining so that you're constantly not cooking out in the sun. Um, yeah, very, very modern design. So yeah, one of the few brands that actually has a pool on their river ships. So yeah, very, very grateful to have that, especially in those warm, very hot uh European summers.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Yeah. And then um, as far as the, you know, if entertainment goes, do they do they have entertainment on board or is that because I mean you're in the destination every day, so the requirements to be entertained on the ship are a lot less, right? You don't have sea days and that kind of thing, but do they are will there be any forms of entertainment offered at all?

SPEAKER_01 36:12

Yeah, there will be some onboard entertainment. Of course, it's not going to be to the scale of our ocean liners, uh, just given, of course, the space and dynamics of a small river ship. So there's not going to be a grand theater. Um, we do not have a casino on board, but there's going to be, of course, we'll have some musicians and things like that. We're still working through the programming for our entertainment on board since we're just about a year out. So we're still working through all that. But again, it's still going to be that high caliber premium entertainment level experience that you can come to know and love about our brand. Um, but just of course brought down to a micro level for our river ships.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

I know some river cruise ships have only, you know, window rooms and balcony rooms. They're just they're all suites, that kind of thing. What's the rooming situation on the Celebrity River cruise?

SPEAKER_01 37:00

Yeah, great question. So our river ships are four decks high, and we have two types of suites on board and three types of standard state rooms. So we have for our suites our Skylight Infinite Balcony suite. So there's four of those on our ship, and then we have our Vista balcony suites, and there are eight of those on board our ship. So those are the two suite categories that you can choose from. Every suite comes with a butler, as I said, premium drink package with a suite. Speaking of culinary, as we were before, they also will have sort of a specialty dining experience on board our ship. So it's not a separate specialty dining restaurant, not to get confused because we already have quite a bit of dining venues already for a small ship, but we will have some sort of curated dining experience for our suite's guests. Um, and then we have in our standard balcony state room categories, we have our infinite balcony, which is a balcony that allows you to push a button and the window comes up or down and it's just an extension of your stateroom. That's a great option for people who just want to be able to still have those views, but still, if the weather's not cooperating or you know, have maybe some mobility issues and don't want to come outside of their stateroom, they can use that to open and close their window. And then we have our standard balcony stateroom. So there are 11 of those, and that's where you have your lovely stateroom, and then you can exit out and close your door. And then our river view stateroom, that is what you were talking about when you talk about with the window. So that would be our version of an ocean view stateroom, which has uh a window in it. So we have some of those on board. There's about four of those type of staterooms on our ship. So lots of different options for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Yeah, I was just gonna say that's quite a variety, actually.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Quite good. I like the uh infinite balcony. You know, as you say, it kind of protects you from the weather when you need it, and it usually gives you a little bit of extra space in the in the room as well, eh?

SPEAKER_01 38:50

It's a very versatile type of state room. That's really its biggest feature. People love it for that reason.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

You already mentioned that you were thinking about going yourself on a cruise to see the tulips.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

I'm trying to convince my husband.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

Yeah. So you are planning a cruise for yourself. What do you what do you think is the most exciting thing about anticipating a river cruise for yourself?

SPEAKER_01 39:12

Well, it definitely is going to be the destinations. I just, for me, I have not seen some of these ports of call. Of course, I've done quite a bit of cruises in my life, uh, just having been in this sphere for quite some time. And I've seen many of these different destinations in Europe, but with a river cruise, I just have not had the opportunity, having never taken one, going into some of these more small local spots. And I but I've seen some of these beautiful river ships at different ports of call sort of lined up. And I always think to myself, oh, it'd be so great to experience it. But full disclosure, you know, I just turned 40 this year. I always thought, and this again, Michelle prejudging things she doesn't know anything about, I always thought river cruising was actually for an older demographic. You had to sort of be maybe retired and sort of well into those uh years. And I just never thought of river cruising as something that would be for me. Well, I've come to learn now that we are a river cruise brand, it actually is for so many different types of age groups. Like we have people in my age group that are like exclusively sailing on the rivers. Um, that's their vibe. They want to see these places, they want to have that excitement to go to a different port every day. You know, it's all about getting up close and personal with these destinations. So for me, I think it is going to be just new territory that I've never been able to see and experience before. Um, and of course, on a new ship, that's always fun, right? This is like brand new, you know, we have just started building these beautiful vessels. So I'm really excited to see how it's all going to come together. I love my brand, of course. So uh the dining I know is gonna be good. I'm a big foodie. So dining on the river, I mean, just having those views, being so close to seeing just castles going by, everything the, you know, some of the beds are facing out towards your window and your balcony when you're in our state room. So just waking up to seeing that, it's it's different, right? It's a different type of experience. It's very up close. It's very, uh, very personal in that way.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Yeah, again, that sounds amazing. That's a good point you brought up about ages too, yeah. Because I think that's changing. I think it might have been true years ago that maybe it was more um older people going on these river cruises, but I I'm quite convinced that's changed and is changing. And there's quite a few options for a younger crowd, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Yeah, it's a very active type of cruise I've come to learn, right? Because you're you're out, you're on the go every day. So, you know, it's it's it's not like you're sort of lounging by the pool all day long taking sun. You're you're actively going out. You know, you're bicycling, you're taking short excursions. It's a very active type of uh cruise experience. And so now that I know more about it and I've taken the time to sort of get my feet wet, so to speak, with this type of thing, I I'm very excited to try this. I'm very, very excited.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Now, uh usually river cruises um cost a little more per person than an ocean cruise. What should clients expect in terms of budgeting for a celebrity river cruise?

SPEAKER_01 42:01

So, I mean, of course, yeah, it is going to be a more premium luxury experience. Um, and again, the entry-level uh cabin category is our river view. So if you know you're more looking for something more of a budget option, you can work with your agent. The pricing, of course, is dynamic. So you're best to always book early. Do not wait, because as most of you guys know, probably listening to this podcast, the closer you are to the sailing date, the prices are usually skyrocketing in the upwards direction. Because as the ships sell out, of course, supply and demand dictates that the prices are just going to go up. And our brand is on fire when it comes to Celebrity River right now. People are so excited about it. So if you're interested, 2027 and 2020, 2027 has some limited inventory left, but 2028, we just launched deployment, oh, just a couple months ago. And there's still quite a bit of inventory for 2028 still available. So your best, I know it's kind of weird to start thinking about a vacation two years from now, but you're wanting to lock in that best price. You're going to want to make sure that you do that sooner rather than later. As I said, the drink package, Wi-Fi is included as well. And so things that you would just need to budget for are um like, for example, your gratuities, things like that are not included, maybe your airfare, stuff like that. But altogether, I mean, beverage package, your short excursion per day, and your Wi-Fi are already complementary. So work with your agent to see what type of cabin category works within your budget and try to get booked in honestly as soon as possible, just so you can lock in the best rates possible.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

That's uh important too for clients to understand that there are things included in the river cruise that you would not have included in an ocean cruise. So when you book an ocean cruise, you know, you have to pay for the excursions you then would want to pay for the drink package and possibly Wi Fi and so on. Whereas in the river cruise, all this stuff is included. So when you're looking at the pricing, you have to understand that Absolutely. Yeah. There's more value for the money you're putting in there.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

Exactly. Yeah, it is more of an inclusive product in that regard.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

I think the advice you gave us was spectacular. The idea of booking early. I'm always telling my clients to book things early because that's usually the best way to go. And so by booking early, they're already going to get a competitive rate. I don't know. Are there any specials on it at the moment for booking early or?

SPEAKER_01 44:15

Um there's no early specials, let's say, but we do have a current promotion right now. Um, you could save up to $1,050 per stateroom. So that is an offer that is for our brand that extends to ocean and river as well. But you're gonna want to make sure that again, the best tip I can give you is just to book early. Our river product is in high, high demand right now. So again, just getting yourself locked into a price point now versus closer to sailing is just gonna make sure that you're saving yourself all of those extra dollars. So yeah, it is a high demand product. Can't deny it. So we want to make sure, and of course, limited inventory, right? So you only have 86 state rooms per ship. So when we're out there, you know, it's it's not as big as our ocean liners, not as much inventory, of course, available. So that would be my my biggest uh tip for all listeners would be really just get book A S A P.

SPEAKER_00 45:06

I also wanted to talk today about the March break cruise that my agency is is offering for clients. This is called Journey With Us, and it is on the Celebrity XL, I believe. And it is a seven-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Uh, what can you tell us about the Celebrity Xcel?

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Oh, she is our newest and brightest in the Edge Series class. So uh very, very beautiful ship. I was just on her in um November last year for her inaugural sailing. She is truly a superstar because we took, I think, everything from what we learned when we started with Edge Series, so all the way from Edge all the way now, all the feedback, everything we've learned along the way now to Excel. Um we've taken all that time feedback, and I think we've just perfected it when it comes to this ship. And what I would say, I think the ethos of the Celebrity Excel ship is just fun. It really brings a new level when it's we talk about entertainment. So we added a lot of new types of venues to this ship that are um not on her sisters in the edge series. So for example, we have the bazaar. So that is what it's called Eden on the other ships, but the bazaar is brand new and it's on Excel, and it's all about bringing the shore side to the ship. So let's just say Mother of Nature is not cooperating on your sailing. It can happen. No one wants it to happen, but it can. Or maybe um, you know, you can't get off the ship for whatever reason. We don't want anyone to miss out on those cultural experiences. So the bazaar is a venue now that brings those places to life on the ship. So they have an incredible feat. Our entertainment staff have to change this venue constantly. So everything when it comes to the culinary, the food that they're offering at this venue changes on the daily. The um aesthetic of the venue changes on the daily. They're putting on festivals, so things to do like a Caribbean festival, or if it's like they're in Europe and it's a sort of a Greek-inspired experience. It's really making sure that people feel like they are immersed in that destination. We've also worked with local vendors and makers to bring their products on board so people can have sort of a local shopping experience for those destinations. So that is a beautiful venue. We have some new spaces called the club, which is another entertainment venue where the staff comes, puts on shows. There's Attic at the Club, which is a second-tier level where there's gaming, there's one of those golf simulators, there's all kinds of activities to do there. So just bring an extra level of fun to our guests on board is really what I would say Excel does. And I think it's so great that your agency has taken this group out. You've done such a great thing by locking in some incredible pricing for your clients. And the great thing is that I know that this sailing and ships sell out like crazy fast. So the fact that they can book through you and get that incredible pricing is such a wise thing. And again, during a time, a high season period like March break, this is great because you're gonna have the great price point and the amenities that are included, which would be the beverage package and the Wi-Fi. So again, just a full bundle, being a wise person to book through your agency. I I think that's just so so awesome. We'll call it so excellent for Excel.

SPEAKER_00 48:27

Yes, very appropriate.

SPEAKER_01 48:30

Very appropriate.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

I love Eden, but that bazaar does sound uh amazing, uh, especially if you like variety, which I do, you know. Uh that would be quite amazing. And to see how the bazaar is kind of reflecting the port you're in would be quite something.

SPEAKER_01 48:45

So it's super exciting because actually Excel is going to some really great destinations. I love the Eastern Caribbean myself, but I thought I'd mention some of my highlights for your listeners. So it goes to Saint Martin, Saint Thomas, it's also going to the Dominican. So if you're in Saint Martin, I would definitely recommend Maho or Great Bay Beach. These are absolutely beautiful white sand, lovely destinations. Of course, if you're a jewelry fan, you can always go get some nice jewelry at some of the shops uh in Saint Martin. And then if you're in St. Thomas, I would recommend doing the sky ride gondola ride. So it goes like 700 feet above the harbor and um it goes to Paradise Point. And obviously, you're just gonna get some like Instagram worthy photos from that destination. That is such a gorgeous, gorgeous spot.

SPEAKER_00 49:33

Um I've been there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:35

Oh, have you?

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Yeah, um, and there's a nice little bar at the top. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

You can get a drink when you're up there.

SPEAKER_00 49:42

Yeah, take the pictures.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

Yeah, it's amazing. And then in the Dominican, um the 27 waterfalls of Samaha Guab uh is just absolutely stunning. So, again, more of those beautiful uh Mother Earth destinations, but these are like again, getting those great photos for your uh camera roll. I would say definitely in the Dominican, check out the waterfalls, they're absolutely gorgeous. And the food, I love the food in Dominican. Again, being a foodie, some of that little spicy flair is always something to you know try and get when you're when you're in the local destination. So great destination on our newest ship. Um, again, with amazing prices during uh a wonderful time, go away, you know, as a family during March break. It's it's just a whole package rolled into one. It's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

Yeah, and I was just gonna say, in terms of the waterfalls, remember I was talking about my son being on the beyond. And in fact, they were there a couple of days ago, and uh he went on one of the waterfall excursions and um he loved it. He said it was it was just amazing and got to swim in there and I don't know, slide down waterfalls, who knows? I I don't know what he was doing, but it sounded great.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Well, if I can have a moment for waterfalls, I just came back from an Iceland cruise in July, and I had never I've been like I've stopped in the airport at Iceland, full disclosure, I never actually spent time there, and there are so many waterfalls. It's absolutely stunning and breathtaking, and they are again photo upworthy. So if I can have a moment for Iceland on this call, I would definitely pitch it because that's another destination if we want to see some incredible waterfalls.

SPEAKER_00 51:17

Um, so with the Journey with Us group that uh my agency has booked, another great thing about that is that what happens is there are travel agents on that trip, including in most cases, usually my manager comes along. And um, he likes to treat his clients very well. So anybody who's connected to our agency, he's gonna make sure that you're well looked after, that there are some surprises or little extras, pluses, if you want to call it that, that are provided to our clients of the agency. And if there's any issues or anything difficulties, of course, uh you've got your travel agency on board with you. So I think that's a really neat aspect to to going on a journey with us uh trip. And then because we're excited to have you come along, I would just mention too that we'll arrange to have uh $100 of USD onboard credits that would go along with your booking as well. So if what you're listening to right now is interesting to you and you're looking for uh an itinerary for March break of twenty twenty-seven, I'd encourage you to look into it. I can get you some pricing. Just send me an email at steven at the travelagent.ca. That's s-t-e-p-h e-n. And then when you spell the travel agent, make sure you replace the A in agent with E-H because we're Canadian. So yeah, give me an email and let me know what you're interested in, or if you're interested in what type of category, what room category you're interested in. Or if you have any questions, let me know and we'd be glad to help you. Okay. Well, Michelle, that was pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 53:00

This is great.

SPEAKER_00 53:01

Yeah, we covered a lot of ground. I think that you provided us with an incredible amount of information, even little tips on what kinds of things to see at Ports of Call. Uh, so I've really appreciated you being on the show, and we hope to have you back.

SPEAKER_01 53:17

Stephen, it is such a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much. And yeah, you guys are an incredible agency. So for all the listeners out there, encourage you to work with this agency. Um, and Steven is an amazing individual, he will take care of you. But I think you hit the nail on the head. These hosted groups by um Xpedia Cruises Oakville South are the top of the line experience because, as you said, you're gonna have your travel agent there with you the entire week, hosting you, making sure you're fully taken care of. And I just don't think there's a better experience out there. So uh make sure you're you're tapping into to the agents at Xpmedia Oakville South. But it's been such a great afternoon. What a great podcast! Thank you so much for inviting me. I have really, really enjoyed the conversation.

SPEAKER_00 53:58

Thank you so much, Michelle. Okay, thanks again to Michelle for that interview. I am inspired. I'm inspired to go check out River Cruises, and I'm also inspired to perhaps go on a cruise to Alaska, and I would probably like to check out the Celebrity Beyond, as my son and his girlfriend have just done. Now

Canadian Compass Travel Tip of the Week: Packing

SPEAKER_00 54:20

for the Canadian Compass Travel Tip of the Week, I thought I would bring up the topic of packing your clothes. Now back in the day when you packed your suitcase, at least when I've packed my suitcase, I mean, all I did was just fold and stack my clothes into the suitcase, or the duffel bag if I'm using a duffel bag, and I didn't think much of it. But interestingly, one day someone came along and said, hey, you know what you really should do is roll your clothes. And my wife and I have been doing that ever since. We always roll our clothes when we load up the suitcase, when we're going somewhere. And I have to say, that really works for us. I think for sure it creates less wrinkles. And the greatest thing is when you open up your suitcase, you can see all your clothing items. They're not buried. Uh, not really anyway. It's pretty easy to see what's available and grab what you need. Now it turns out these days there is a lot of debate online about how to pack your clothes, and I find that pretty interesting. People love to talk about things, and I think they love to talk about things relating to travel because ultimately people love to travel. I know I certainly do. I suppose there's a few people who don't, but they're in the minority, I think for sure. Anyway, as far as I know, there are four ways of packing your clothes. There could be more, and you guys can let me know by sending me an email and telling me all about it. But here are the four that I know of. Number one is stacking, as I mentioned, where you're just folding and laying the clothes in a pile in your suitcase. But there is also the Konmari method, which you've probably heard about. Conmari is a way of organizing things. In this method, it is a folding method, but in the end, your clothes end up in a small rectangle, almost like a roll. And so when you're packing your suitcase, it has the same advantage as rolling your clothes. You're able to see things a lot better. It's almost like they're stacked, but not uh vertically, but horizontally in your suitcase. Then there's packing cubes. Lots of people love the packing cubes and are constantly saying how great they are for traveling. You would buy a packing cube and you'd fold all your clothes into these packing cubes. They're basically small rectangular or square spaces, and you fold your clothes to the size of the packing cube and put them in, same as the stacking method in a way. But the advantage to the packing cubes is they are self-contained into the square space of the packing cube and you can zip it up. And some of these packing cubes have a compression zipper. So when you're zipping it up, you're helping to squeeze out all of the air and compact down your clothes. And so it is seen as a space-saving advantage when you're packing for a trip. And a lot of people swear by these packing cubes. Honestly, I've I've never used them. I continue to roll my clothes, which is method number four, rolling. And that's what I do. But I have noticed there is a method called a ranger roll, which to be honest, I haven't actually used. But I am planning to give it a shot on my next vacation because I think it looks like it might really be helpful. A lot of you may have heard about the ranger roll before, but hey, I don't really watch a lot of packing videos, so I was ignorant for a long time. But basically, what you're doing is you're folding up your clothes on a flat surface, but the bottom part, say of a shirt where it's open at the bottom, you would actually fold two inches up there from the bottom, creating this sort of lip. And this two-inch lip, when you finish the roll, because you're rolling towards that lip, when you get to the end of it, you use the two-inch folded part to wrap up over the roll and act as a pouch for the rolled item. Now that's the best explanation I could give, and I could try to explain it in more detail so that it was visually easy for you to see, but frankly, it might be better for you just to watch a video. So I have put a video from the website Travel and Leisure into the show notes. And if you're interested in the Ranger roll, this video is actually excellent for showing you how to do it. Um, and there are different items that they show how to roll, how to fold first and then roll. And they in fact show you how you can even add, you know, three or four items into a roll. So have a look at that video. I think it it could be helpful. So each method probably has its advantages and disadvantages, and I've mentioned some of them just in passing as I've been talking about it. And these advantages and disadvantages essentially they come down to you know the speed of the packing, you know, how fast you can pack. So a lot of people say, yeah, the folding stacking method isn't quite as space-saving as others, but you can do it a lot faster than say rolling. Visually being able to locate the clothes is an advantage that seems to be offered by the Kanmari method and the rolling method. And there's also less wrinkles in some of these methods than others. Obviously, ultimately, you have to find out what you're comfortable with, but you can find people advocating for all of these methods online and giving their reasons why their idea is the best. I'm recommending rolling for most things. And when I first thought about talking about packing your clothes, that is what I initially was thinking. I was just going to talk about how rolling is what we've been using and we found really useful when we pack. And I would suggest the ranger roll. But I think there are some things that you might just stack because they're too bulky. Bottom line is I guess you have to try these out for yourself. But if you haven't tried rolling your clothes, give it a shot. Of course, when I get to my favorite vacation spot, um, those clothes aren't staying in the in the case anyway. Although that would be helpful. Like if you're using the rolling method and you're keeping your clothes in your suitcase, it would be useful because it'd be easier to pull the items out. But when I get to my favorite vacation spot, whether it's a state room at a cruise or a hotel room, I'm taking everything out of the case and hanging it up and tucking it into the drawers where it'll lay out better and it's easy to access. Now it's

Deals Dish: Expedia Ultimate Getaway Sale

SPEAKER_00 1:00:33

time for Deals Dish. Today we're going to talk about Expedia's Ultimate Getaway Sale. And the reason we want to talk about this today is because tomorrow is when the sale begins. The sale begins on August 26th and it ends on September the 4th. For the Ultimate Getaway sale, basically you're either getting additional onboard credit for crucifications, or if you're looking at a resort vacation, you'll get resort credits for all inclusives. These offers that are in the Ultimate Getaway sale can be combined with other offers from the supplier, and that's the beauty of it. You're getting the supplier sale and you're stacking onto it the Expedia Ultimate Getaway sale, and so you're getting additional savings when you book through the sale. So I am just going to run through what's available very quickly so that you're aware. So Carnival Cruises is a part of things, and for Carnival Cruises, they are offering some discount rates and up to $25 on board credit. Celebrity Cruises is going to offer up to $100 in onboard credit. Holland America Cruise Line will offer up to $150 on board credit. MSC Cruises, they're offering up to $250 on board credit. Norwegians offering up to $200 on board credit. Princess Cruises is offering $100 or up to $100 on board credit per cabin. And in addition to that, they're offering a coupon book which has about $900 USD worth of offers. And they are also providing a reduced deposit. Royal Caribbean, they're offering up to $100 on board credit. Virgin Voyages is offering up to $200 in what they call Sailor Loot, which is basically onboard credit. And then we have some of these all-inclusive opportunities. So WestJet Vacations has resort credits at Select Ibarostar Beachfront Resorts. Sunwing Vacations are offering resort credits at Select Ryu Hotels and Resorts. And Apple Vacations is offering savings up to $150. And Vacation Express has what they call the Goodbye Summer Sale, so discounts on some of their all-inclusive offers. Now Air Canada Vacations is to be a part of this event as well, but at this point in time, I don't know what Air Canada Vacations is offering. It is indicated as to be decided. Just a note about the various offerings for all inclusives from the suppliers Sunwing, WestJet Vacations, Air Canada Vacations, Apple Vacations, and Vacation Express. These are also, I believe, available to the general public, not just through Expedia, but they are part of the Ultimate Getaway sale. Now, just a reminder too, that when I mentioned all of the onboard credits, the onboard credits that you get on a cruise are in US dollars. And so that's great news for us Canadians because when it says $100 or up to $100 onboard credit, we're actually talking about more than $100 Canadian. We're talking whatever it might be, $140 Canadian. And so we're getting a little more value for money there. So that's the Expedia Ultimate Getaway Sale. Again, it's stackable with other offers. So if Norwegian is saying they have 50% off their cruises, you are also going to get the $200 USD of onboard credit that they're offering along with the 50% off sale. And that's true for all of the other cruise lines. They will also combine this offer with their own offer. So if you'd like to take advantage of the Expedia Ultimate Getaway sale, obviously you would have to book through Expedia Cruises. And of course, that's where I can help you as I work for Expedia Cruises. So just let me know, send me an email if you want to take advantage of that sale or you need more information.

Outro

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Coming up in next week's episode, we'll talk to either my son or his girlfriend or both about their adventure on the Celebrity Beyond this past week, and we'll take a closer look into Villains Land, present to you a holiday offer from Universal Studios Orlando, and explore Viator as a way to book excursions. Along with this, I'll have a new Deals Dist to share with you. If you're enjoying the information and inspiration provided in this show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or any other podcast reviewing platform. Links to the show's page and to Apple Podcasts can be found in the show notes. Also feel free to follow me on Instagram. Just search up at the TravelAgent. Agent spelt with it. If you want to respond to anything I've talked about on the show, or if you want to offer topic suggestions or ideas, please send an email to stephen at the travelagent.ca. You can be part of building the content for our community, and I really would love to hear from you to start building that community, and I would love to have the interaction with my listeners. Thanks for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed the show. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep planning, and keep exploring.