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. Today we are going to revisit our discussion about Lakeshore Lodge, as Disney has released new information which will help you know what to book and when. I'll share with you my thoughts about Cedar Point based on my recent trip there. We'll find out whether there are any all Canadian cruises available to consider security while traveling, and as always, we'll look for deals in dealing. 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 fan mail and send me your name and email address, and I'll limit you to 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 stephen at the travelagent.ca. Stephen is spelled S-T-E-P-H-E-N, and make sure you spell agent with an E-H because we're Canadian, eh? That email once again is stephen at the travelagent.ca. This information will also appear in the show notes. Now, if you're interested, I just wanted to confess that I never used to be a cat person, but that all changed one day when I received a cat that I was kind of fostering named Charlie. Charlie was a wonderful cat, loving, always welcoming me home, giving me hugs with paws around the neck, sleeping with me all night. Charlie was a friendly cat, and I think that was my problem. In the past, any cats that I ever owned were not so friendly, and they tended to attack me and that kind of thing. One infamous time, I was sitting at the dinner table in my in-law's house, and a cat just leaped onto my back for no apparent reason at all and grabbed on with his claws. And that was not fun. And so that probably shadowed or shaded my thoughts about cats, but since Charlie's been around, my views have changed. However, unfortunately, Charlie is now gone and uh moved on to the cat world in the sky, I guess. But I just thought I'd let you know that there's a new cat in the house now. Her name is Willow. So a cat has returned to my household. But it was a cat that came from the streets, so to speak. It was a stray cat, and we're sheltering her. But we were in for a big surprise when we found out that Willow is going to have at least one kitten. We didn't know at the time when we took her in, but she was pregnant. And now we're just waiting, it's days away, I'm sure. We're waiting for these new kittens to make an appearance. So I'll keep you posted about the kittens. Maybe next week I can report back, and we'll have even more cats in the

Mouse Minutes: Lakeshore Lodge Rooms and Pricing

SPEAKER_00 3:05

house. Speaking of cats, it's time for Mouse Minutes. Now for Mouse Minutes, as previously advertised, I wanted to revisit Lakeshore Lodge, the new Disney World resort, that is now opening on July 1st, 2027. We didn't know that until last week, when Disney announced the opening date. And when it announced the opening date, it also announced when you could actually get online and book rooms. But before I let you know those dates, I thought I would just explain to you what kinds of rooms are available in Lakeshore Lodge. So there are 967 rooms in total. Each room is designed to capture the beauty of nature as seen through the eyes of Disney artists and storytellers with natural materials, earthly color palettes, and original artwork from classic Disney films with outdoor settings. So being close to nature would include, of course, being right on the water, and this lodge is on the shores of Bay Lake, which is the body of water that is in front of the Magic Kingdom. So I'll just walk you through the room categories quickly. There are very fancy waterfront lake houses. These are either one bedroom or two bedroom, and they're freestanding with A-frame architectures, kind of like a cottage, I guess. They have floor to ceiling windows, they sleep between five and eight people. There's a private porch overlooking the water, and you've got your full kitchen, a washer and dryer. And the theming is inspired by the film Brother Bear, and its Alaskan setting, but the theming is subtle with the focus on the nature scenes and elements from the landscape rather than the characters of Brother Bear. Then you have nature-inspired studios and villas. There are several in this category. For example, there's Duo Studios, which is exactly as they sound. They're designed for two people. They are inspired by Encanto and Colorful and Cozy. There are Deluxe Studios, and they will have the vibe of woodland charm from the film Bambi. So think about the colors and the artwork in that film. That's the kind of thing that will be reflected in the room, and these are designed for up to four guests. There are one and two bedroom villas, and they are also based on Bambi, but designed to host five to nine guests, and they are also rooms that have full kitchens, a washer and dryer, and a private patio, and spacious living and dining areas. And then if you have a lot of people in your party, you can book the three-bedroom grand villa. These villas are themed after the artwork of Fantasia. They sleep up to twelve guests. They have multiple bathrooms, a full kitchen, a private patio, and of course breathtaking bay views. Another category would be elevated resort rooms and suites. These are basically the rooms in the resort and also suites. I like that they put elevated there just to make it sound special. So there are resort studios and they sleep up to four guests. And there are resort studio king rooms sleeping up to two guests. The rooms in the lodge are themed after Pocahontas, and bringing its sweeping landscapes to life. There will be club level resort rooms that will allow guests access to the artist's nest, a concierge lounge perched above the treetops, offering personalized service, complimentary refreshments, and views of the Magic Kingdom. It would be a great spot to watch the fireworks show as you're looking towards the Magic Kingdom and over the lake. Finally, there is the hidden hollow presidential suite. This has views of Bay Lake and the Magic Kingdom with fireworks. It sleeps up to six guests, has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and access to the artist's nest. Now I was planning on visiting Disney World next year and that's still in the works. I already have a room booked, but I have a room booked at the Coronado Springs resort. And when I look at this Lakeshore Lodge, I think to myself, man, if I'd have waited, maybe I should have tried staying at the Lakeshore Lodge. And maybe I'll look into it. But as of now, I'm just staying at Coronado Springs and I'll just have to go and visit the Lakeshore Lodge. And of course, the big question is how much is it going to cost? And that might be a factor on whether I actually stay there or not. There are no prices released yet, but we will be able to find out when it's time to book. And here is the information on when to book. If you are a Disney Vacation Club member, you can have access starting on October the 6th. But you only get one day, because on the next day, October 7th, I shouldn't say you only have one day, you have one day lead to start booking. Before, on October the 7th, Walt Disney World annual pass holders will have access. And then finally, on October the 8th, the day after, all guests will be able to begin booking rooms starting on October the 8th. So I wish I was a Disney Vacation Club member, but I'm not. Neither am I an annual pass holder, although I have been in the past. So I, along with most of you probably, would be able to book these rooms starting on October the 8th. And I really don't know how popular this will be, but I have a suspicion a lot of people would be jumping at the opportunity to stay in this resort, because it does sound nice with all the natural setting and it being on the lake and so on. But I do think it's going to be pricey. I mean, staying at Walt Disney World does cost money, and I feel like I I don't really know where the pricing is on this. I don't even know if they've mentioned whether it's a you know deluxe resort or moderate resort or a value resort because they have those categories. I'm kind of thinking it would be a deluxe resort because it's on the lake with views of the Magic Kingdom, so it's not that far away, but maybe not. We'll have to find out. But I suspect, as I say, that it will be more expensive than staying at the value resorts anyway.

Park Pulse: Cedar Point Review

SPEAKER_00 9:11

Now for Park Pulse, if you've listened to this podcast, you know that I went to Cedar Point last week and I said I would bring you a review. And that is what I'm gonna do. Now I know in a previous episode I said that we were going to talk about the best attraction at Islands of Adventure in Universal Studios, and I still want to do that, but I'm postponing it for a week because I thought I would talk about my Cedar Point visit. I'm glad to report that everything went smoothly. In fact, it was very smooth. As I mentioned before I left, one of the reasons I was going is because I have a gold pass, season pass for Canada's Wonderland, and in case you didn't know, that pass allows you to get into other Six Flag resorts and parks nearby. You know, in the northwestern United States. And Cedar Point is one of those. So I used my gold pass and it definitely covered my parking. It also covered my admission, and on my season's pass I have an all-season dining plan as well as an all-season drink plan, and that paid for all of my drinking and eating at the park for the most part. And then on top of that, uh, because it's a season's pass, there were special perks which included an extra 10% off any food and merchandise that you purchased, beyond what was covered by my all season's food pass. Now, overall, I'm just gonna say it was a better experience than Canada's Wonderland. Sorry, Canadians. But uh I realized pretty quickly that the reason it's better is likely just it's been there a long time. I realized when I was there that this theme park comes from the turn of the century. And it does. I looked at the sign and it said Cedar Point since 1870. And it was pretty evident, you know, because of the setting. It's on a point surrounded by water. And you know, when you look at those old school pictures of amusement parks in the past, they were always built on lakeshores, are often built on lakeshores. You know, kind of like the boardwalk scenario with the carnivals and the Ferris wheels and all that kind of stuff. And you could tell that this park had been originally one of those, and it's just grown ever since. And so it's been there for a long time. So it's bigger than Wonderland, and it has many, many more roller coasters. Anyway, I was gonna get back to setting. So as far as setting goes, it's really nice, right? Like it's on a point surrounded by the lake, and every time you went up high on a ride, you could just look around and see this landscape of the lake surrounding you. And that was pretty sweet, kind of better than northern Toronto. It was also a better experience when it came to theming. I really noticed how it looks like they care. And that's one of the, I guess, criticisms you might have of Canada's Wonderland. They have different areas in the park and they they sort of have themes, but they're not really committed to them, if you know what I mean. I'm used to going to Disney World and even Universal Studios where they go all out with the theming to really make you feel like you're in that particular era or time period or or land. And Wonderland has areas, but and and they are themed, but they're just nods to the theming as opposed to going all out with details. At Cedar Point, I noticed the details. You know, they have their sort of frontier land area, and there's all kinds of spots where they've spent a lot of time detailing out their theme. So there's posters everywhere and buildings that are decorated the way they should be, and so on. I really noticed this on the train ride. I we went on the steam train that goes around the park. There are little vignettes that you can see as you're passing by. They have an area they call Boneville, and there's these different scenes where skeletons are doing certain things in an old west setting. And what I noticed was that everything was working, and there were lots of, as I say, details there. So for example, you know, there's a a skeleton and it's smoking a cigarette, and at the end of the cigarette is this little little red light that's going off to show that it's on fire, you know? And uh some of the scenes, there was smoke coming out of the buildings, and there were gunshots and there were skeletons shooting things. And there was a scene where there was a building on fire and there were flames in the window and smoke pouring out. Like everything was working, like I said. And it just made me think of Canada's Wonderland and the back stunt coaster, I think it's called, where uh back in the day, you know, all the uh effects would work. If you've been there, you get to that spot where you come to a stop and you're kind of in a, I don't know, by a warehouse and there's barrels and there's a helicopter. And it used to be that the helicopter's blades were rotating and there was an explosion and all kinds of stuff that was kind of neat. And now when you go through there, nothing happens. It just stops and you look at stuff and then you keep moving. And that's why I say like Wonderland doesn't really look after the details. I realize it costs them money, but you know, the details make it special. And I found that at uh Cedar Point, they looked after all the details, things were working, and there were lots of elements that enhanced the theme. Food quality? Well, uh Cedar Point beat the pants off Wonderland when it comes to food. We stopped at various places to use our meal plan. So the first stop was the farmhouse kitchen and grill where I had wood-fired steak, Brussels sprouts, and a biscuit. I mean, I don't think you can get steak at Canada's Wonderland, but that's a meal that was delicious. We went to Coasters. It's a 50s style diner, and there's one just like it in Canada's Wonderland. They served double cheeseburger and fries there, which is what I got. And um you know the burger was good. But it it was pretty typical theme park food. But the next day we went to the Cedar Point Grand Pavilion. I had fish and chips and tropical fried rice. Now the tropical fried rice, that was pretty awesome. I've never really had anything like that. It had uh pineapple in it and peppers and it was delicious. And finally we ate at Backbeat Q and I had pulled pork, baked beans, and cornbread. All of these meals were fantastic. Um it was great to use the dining plan and get a good quality meal, and that kept us going for the day. But beyond those meals, we just purchased um beignets, we split a beignets plate with uh whipped cream and strawberries. Trying to think if we bought anything else, I don't think so. So the food's better than Wonderland. I'd love it at Wonderland up to their game when it comes to food, because it's quite ordinary and the the the choices are limited. And then when it comes to rides, well you have a much bigger selection of roller coasters, of course. There's so many. It was funny because my wife and I didn't really pay much attention to it for a while. We just were riding things. We knew which coasters had a reputation of being great. So we were just going around the park and riding uh various roller coasters and other attractions. It wasn't until the end of the second day where we started to think how many are there, and we were sitting over a meal, calculating how many roller coasters there were in this park, and it turns out there are 16 roller coasters that are adult roller coasters, and then there's two more in the kitty section. So altogether there's 18 roller coasters, 16 for adults, and we realized that we'd ridden, I think it was 12 of the 16, and it was near the end of the day, and then we're like, well, wait a second, maybe we should try riding everything. And we gave it a valiant attempt, but we were um interfered with by the weather. But we managed to ride 15 out of the 16 roller coasters there, and uh some of them we rode more than once, the ones we really quite enjoyed, and it was a lot of fun. The only one we didn't ride was called Corkscrew, and it's similar to Dragonfire in Canada's Wonderland. Now, as far as best rides go, Siren's Curse was our favorite. You know, it's pretty tough because Siren's Curse, Steel Vengeance, and Top Thrill 2 and Maverick and Gatekeeper and Millennium Force are all pretty spectacular. The reason we liked Siren's Curse the best, and we we talked about it and agreed on it. The thing about Siren's Curse was it has two elements that we really liked. This is the roller coaster that you know you get to the peak of the hill and it's on sort of a platform, and the platform's jutting straight out, but then it's on a pivot, and it pivots down and then holds you there over the top of the hill, looking straight down, similar to what you experience on Yukon Striker, where it just holds you before it drops you. And so Siren's Curse tilts you down and then you just sit there for a minute and then it lets go. That's a neat little uh section of the ride. But the other thing we really liked is just the theming, right? Siren's Curse, it kind of reminds us of the film Odyssey that's out now. And as you know, the sirens uh live on this island and they call you in and uh you're attracted to the sirens and you go in, but you're going into your fate, your doom. You're trapped there forever. So on this roller coaster, the audio, I think, is what we really liked. It's a very smooth coaster, which is great. And it's got that pivoting platform. But you're going up the hill and you're hearing this audio, and it's the sirens calling you, basically. So you got these siren voices, and they're telling you to come and and visit, and it draws you up to the top of the hill, and then it lets you go, and there's this music that plays throughout, and it just creates sort of an atmosphere, a vibe, which we really liked. And there's a little section too where it dips underground and there's smoke and so on. So just the overall feel of the ride, the combination of the audio, the platform, the tilts, and the smoke and the smoothness, the overall sense of that ride we really enjoyed. Now that's not to say these other rides weren't great. I mean Top Thrill 2, that is quite the experience. It's exhilarating. It launches you three times in two directions, and it's one of those ones where you go high up and over a very steep loop. The height of the loop is 420 feet, and the speed you're going when you're going up that loop is 120 miles an hour. So you can imagine when you're in a coaster car going 120 miles per hour, that's that's quite exhilarating and somewhat frightening. But we survived and we rode it more than once because it was fantastic. It was it was that kind of thrilling. Steel Vengeance is a coaster which I've never experienced before. It's lengthy and it twists in and out, and it's a roller coaster that looks like a traditional wooden coaster, but it is a hybrid wood and steel. The tracks are made out of steel. And interestingly, I've never seen a roller coaster like that go inverted, but it does invert in a section or two. So that was a thrill as well. We really enjoyed that. You know, it's funny because the the first ride we went on was Maverick, and unfortunately, we had to wait for that one for a while because of shutdowns and weather. And it was the first ride we would ride in the park. It was a real eye-opener. Uh, when we got on the ride and it launched, we we really had no idea what to expect. And we discovered that it's extremely fast and it's also kind of lengthy. Reminds me a little bit of Alpin Fury, but it's not quite the same. We really enjoyed it, but my wife and I looked at each other on the ride and with eyes wide open, going, What did we just get on? Right. And when we came off, we were just kind of stunned. We're like, Whoa, that was quite the ride. Something we weren't expecting because we hadn't really seen it. We just walked into the ride without really knowing what it was. Subsequently, I've been told by my son's girlfriend that Maverick is supposed to be mimicking the feeling of being on a bucking horse. And you know, when she told me that, I thought, that's about right. That's exactly what it felt like. So it's a little uh little crazy, but lots of fun. And I'll just mention two other things. Uh we rode Gatekeeper, which is a ride that's near the front of the park, and you sit in a car that sort of dangles off to the side. It feels like you're open and in the air because you're not really over the track, right? You're over the air in your seat. And that was kind of neat because it was a very smooth coaster and it makes you feel like you're flying. And I did say that as we were on the coaster, I looked over to my wife and said, I'm flying. And uh we agreed after we got off that that's definitely how it felt. And again, my son's girlfriend said when we got back, Did you ride gatekeeper? And I said, Yeah, and she said, It feels like you're flying, right? And I'm like, Yeah, that's exactly what it felt like. In fact, I said so. Speaking of flying, when you're on Millennium Force, that is a super fast coaster with big hills, and that's a crazy one too. But the funny thing about that one was it was evening. We were riding and it was it was drizzling a little bit, and so when we got off. And we looked at each other, we realized that both of us had bugs on our face. I had bugs in my beard, she had bugs on her forehead. So when we were riding, it's going super fast, and you're it's like your car. You're colliding with bugs as you're flying along. And uh yeah, they were stuck to our face. Other rides, uh, Valraven, that was another one that we rode. Um, Blue Streak is a more an old-fashioned coaster, maybe like the ones you might have had. Maybe not at the turn of the century, but I remember riding the comet at the CNE in Toronto, and it was a lot like that, the Comet, or some of you have visited Crystal Beach, the old coaster there. I think was that called the Comet too? I don't remember. But old-fashioned wooden coaster, and it was funny because my wife and I both rode that one and we looked at each other and said that was a lot of fun, even though, of course, it pales in comparison to all the other coasters in the park. But there was something very nostalgic about it, and it was a fun ride. So, yeah, the best ride. Well, I would say, I don't want to say Siren's Curse, Steel Vengeance Top Thrill 2. Maverick and the Gatekeeper and Millennium Foyer Force are the best rides there, and it's certainly something you should experience if you're a roller coaster enthusiast. I was also going to mention that we stayed at Cedar Express Hotel, which is a Cedar Point Hotel. There's several of them that are related to the park. Cedar Express Hotel, I compare it to sort of the value resorts at Disney. It's not on property. Hotel Breakers is. That's another one. But Cedar Express Hotel is, I don't know, maybe a kilometer away. And uh the location is fantastic though. And the pricing is extremely reasonable. And I was impressed. It was very clean, the room was spacious, it had a dorm-sized fridge in it, it's very comfortable there. No complaints at all. Uh, and the location was great too, because it's very close to restaurants. So I walked across the road to go to McDonald's in the evening. Cedar Express Hotel, like I say, is kind of considered their value resort. But I booked it intentionally because I didn't need any of the amenities, right? I mean, we're only going there. We were staying one night. We were gonna go to the parks the night before, then we're gonna go to the hotel and stay overnight and sleep, and then we're gonna get up in the morning and go to early entry. So we're just sleeping in the room. And for that, it was perfect. So if you're considering staying overnight at Cedar Point, yeah, Cedar Express Hotel really works. And of course, the great thing about staying at a hotel or resort that's related or linked to the park is that usually you get early entry privileges. And we did. The only thing you need to be aware of is that you're needing to ask. You need to ask for the early entry tickets. Which is kind of funny. Because I did, I asked, I knew about that, and and you know, when we checked in, they didn't offer it or anything. We put all our stuff in the room, and then I went back to the desk and I said, Hey, um, do you have early entry tickets? And he said, Oh yeah, yeah, you know, no problem, how many? And so he printed out tickets for us. And I thought, oh, good job, I asked, right? But then we went to the park the next day, and to be honest, nobody asked to see our ticket. We just got admitted. So I don't know. I'm not sure how diligent they are in making sure that only the hotel guests are getting in on early entry. Maybe some days they're more diligent than others because we were there on a Monday at the very end of August and the crowds were pretty low, so maybe they just weren't worrying about it. Also, you know, I don't have any experience to prove this, but I have read online people's commentary about the hotels and resorts at Cedar Point, and there were a lot of people who said that the Cedar Express Hotel is actually quite a bit nicer than Hotel Breakers. But Hotel Breakers is the one they charge you extra money for because it's right in the park, or the park is very accessible to you when you stay at Hotel Breakers, you can just walk out the door and go to the park. There's more amenities. It's supposed to be a nicer resort, but a lot of people were saying it's it's a bit more run down and worn out, and Cedar Express is nicer. So that's something to consider if you're planning to stay there. Yeah, so Cedar Point, definitely something to consider if you haven't been, and um I give it two thumbs up.

Cruise Contemplations: Canadian Itinteraries

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Now for cruise contemplations, I thought I would talk about Canadian-only itineraries. And to be honest with you, I had to do a little bit of research myself on this because I'm aware of Canadian itineraries. But my question was, you know, based on the fact that there are a lot of Canadians who would like to stay in Canada and not cross the border to the United States. The question I was researching was, well, how many cruise lines actually offer an only Canadian itinerary where you're only stopping at Canadian ports? And it was interesting because I discovered that there really aren't that many, but I thought I'd tell you about the ones that do exist. You know, for 2027, it seems like there are only really this is not quite true, but I was gonna say there's only two cruise companies that are offering all Canadian itineraries. That's not quite true because there is another one, and we'll talk about that in a minute. The first cruise company that offers an all-Canadian itinerary is Silver Sea, which is a luxury brand of cruising. And the itinerary consists of nine ports. It starts in Montreal in Quebec, and then it goes to Quebec City, Saguenay, Statile, Hav Saint Pierre, Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, Saint Pierre, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. So because you're visiting Saint Pierre, you're technically visiting two countries on this itinerary. So there are three days at sea, fifty-seven possible shore excursions, and this cruise goes from October the 5th to October 17th. So it's a longer cruise, and it's on a cruise ship called the Silver Shadow. So that's a pretty nice itinerary, and many of the cruises that are Canadian go in the fall. I think the idea is you can see the fall colors. So it wouldn't be a warm cruise. You'd have to take your fall jackets at the beginning of October. It could be cool. But you'd certainly see some great things, great stops. The other thing to note is this itinerary is offered twice, so October the 5th to 17th is the one itinerary, and then it goes and does this again between October the 17th and the 29th, 2027. Keep in mind that Silver Sea, as I say, is a luxury brand, and that would mean you're getting luxury suite accommodations, personal butler service, gourmet dining, unlimited drinks, onboard tips, and Wi-Fi. So some things that on other cruise lines you have to pay for are included in the pricing for this particular itinerary. The only other thing to consider is price, and because it's a luxury cruise line, you're looking at a price that is probably around $10,000 a person. Okay. Now, the other company, I said there were two plus an extra. The other company that offers this kind of itinerary is Seaborne, and Seaborne is another luxury cruise line, and it is offering a 12-day Newfoundland and Gulf of St. Lawrence Reverie, is what they call it, on the Seaborne Quest. Similar kind of itinerary as you saw or heard about with Silver Sea. Again, starting in Montreal, stops in Quebec City, Saguenay, Havre Saint Pierre, La Ange au Meadows in Newfoundland, Saint John's in Newfoundland, Saint Pierre, and then Cap au Meux, and then it comes back to Montreal. So again, all Canadian, uh, but it also is a luxury cruise and would likely be around ten thousand dollars a person. I'm just throwing out a ballpark number there. You'd have to look it up to be sure. And that begs the question: if you wanted something that was uh not luxury class but more contemporary class, is there anything available? And the answer is actually no. But there was. So Holland America is another company that will sometimes do an all-Canadian itinerary. But what I found when I was looking into it for this podcast was that they're not advertising it at all for next year. But I know that there is an all-Canadian itinerary because I have a client going on it. The example of a Holland America cruise, it's called Ten-Day Canada and New England Circle, New France and Montreal. That's the name of the itinerary on the Volendame. And the itinerary has you sailing from Montreal again, stopping at Quebec City, and Saguenay, and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, St. John's, Newfoundland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and then back to Montreal. So very similar. So that's obviously the Canadian itinerary. Now, if you were sailing with Holland America, you might find the pricing more to your liking if you don't want to spend as much as the luxury cruises cost. With Holland America, my clients were paying for two people about $12,000, so $6,000 a person approximately. And that's quite a bit less than the other cruise lines, Seaborne and Silver Sea. So if you are trying to do a Canadian cruise and avoid visiting the States, those are your options. There are other cruises that stop in Canada, but many of them go down to Maine or to Boston and sometimes to New York. So, in fact, there's some that stop in Canada, but then go or start in Canada and then sail down to Miami. So there are some other options, but they do have stops in the US.

Canadian Compass Travel Tip of the Week: Safe Traveling

SPEAKER_00 32:17

For the Canadian Compass travel tip of the week, I thought I would just spend a moment talking about security while traveling. I was thinking about this this week, and of course, you know, we're going to talk about tips. The idea of traveling securely is a good one. And so I have three thoughts. First of all, when you're traveling and you're particularly in larger cities tourists like to go to, like Paris or Athens or London, England, and so on, one of the things you have to have is some situational awareness. I mean, you should have situational awareness anytime you're traveling, but you do have to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Just taking everything in, that really helps for you to be cautious and to be aware of what's happening around you. And that will play into the story I'm about to tell you in a minute. The second thing I would do is consider how I'm going to carry my valuables. That's an important question, right? You gotta give some thought into where you have anything valuable on your body while you're walking through these various touristy areas. For example, as a guy, where am I gonna put my wallet? Now, I always carry my wallet in my front pocket because I am concerned that it's too easy access in my back pocket. And uh, I think a lot of people know this already, but that's just a good tip. In fact, I always carry my wallet in my front pocket all the time, even when I'm at home and wandering around the local grocery store. I just I'm I feel uncomfortable with it being in my back pocket. I think the access is too easy there. But especially if you're in a city and you're you're going uh touring around, definitely you want to keep that wallet in the front pocket. Um, even better, having some zippers, you know, having shorts with zippers on them, that would deter someone from possibly pickpocketing you. And if you have a handbag of some sort, you know, you might even want to look at whether there's a possibility of having some kind of locking system on that zipper. My wife, when we travel, often has like a body bag that is a small bag that's against her body, even under her clothes sometimes. These are all good ideas. When I was in Athens, we actually took the subway from the airport to our hotel. And so, yeah, we looked like typical tourists traveling through the city, and it was interesting because on the subway, when we were uh about to get off on our stop, the subway was rolling to a stop, and then apparently there was an issue with the doors. And this is the interesting thing, you know, we were queued up in front of the door trying to get out, and these young men were there and they were talking about the door and trying to unjam the door. But what was really interesting, and this is where I'm sort of mentioning situational awareness, I realized pretty quickly that there were two guys, one on each side of the door, and there were two guys sort of behind us on each side, one on my wife's side and one on my side. And, you know, they're sitting there trying to unjam the door, and I put that in air quotes because I don't think there was an issue with the door. And they get the door open, but for I don't know, three or four or five seconds, my wife and I were standing surrounded by four guys on our corners, so to speak, waiting to get off the subway. And my spidey sense went off. And sure enough, as we're standing there and waiting for that door to open, I felt some kind of movement in my front right pocket, which is where I kept my phone in my wallet. And uh of course I immediately snapped, get out of my pocket! And and the guy quickly removed his hand and away we went. But uh yeah, I'm quite certain that that whole setup of the doors not opening and the men magnanimously trying to open the door for us and make sure we can get out, was just a setup to put us in a situation where it was easy to pickpocket us. Didn't work though, thankfully, because I had my I think it was my phone that was in my pocket, um, but it was in my front pocket, and so it was it was tightly held to my body and I I could feel it because I had my spidey sense was going off and I knew something was up. So that's how it happens, right? So, you know, if I'd had a zipper on the pocket, that would have made it even more difficult for this guy. But that was our event in Athens where we nearly got pickpocketed. And, you know, no disrespect to Athens, but we had another, well, it was another interesting scenario in Athens, um, which adds to another tip, which is if you have a small knapsack of some sort that you're carrying around, especially in big cities, it's a good idea to wear that bag or knapsack in the front of you rather than in the back. Well, I was already aware of that scenario and that it might be a good idea to wear the bag at the front. However, I was carrying a bag around the city and it didn't have anything valuable in it. I don't remember what was in there. It was like a water bottle and a couple of other things that really was of no value. But it was interesting, you know, because I'm walking through an area in Athens and several people stopped me, and just citizens of Athens, and they said to me, hey, listen, like put your bag in the front of you. Uh it's it's safer. There's there's there's people around who'll try to take stuff out of your bag. And um, like I say, more than one person. Uh I just said to them, yeah, like I'm not worried about it. But it just goes to show you, like, as uh it's another tip that people talk about when it comes to walking around cities to have the bag in front of you rather than have a backpack on your back, so that nobody can have easy access to your backpack while you're walking along. All of this shouldn't mean you should be paranoid. I don't think you should be paranoid when you're traveling. I mean, there's risks in Toronto when you're walking through Toronto of getting pickpocketed and so on. It's just the nature of the world that there are people out there with untoward ambitions. And uh so you probably always have to be, you know, aware and smart. But I just find, you know, you don't want to be in a situation when you're in a foreign country and you lose your your ID and your wallet and so on. So I think about it a lot when I'm traveling, I guess, but I don't think anyone should be paranoid. I don't think you should have it prevent you from visiting a city or traveling. I guess the other thing about situational awareness, though, is being familiar with the city that you're going to. Maybe do a little research ahead of time to understand what parts of the city might be a little more dangerous than others, right? Most cities have some areas where there are social issues and so on that might make that particular area more concerning than others. And a third point about security and traveling securely, a good piece of advice would be to take a digital photo of your passport that you can access, one that's likely backed up in the cloud. So that if you do lose your passport for some reason, I mean people have had passports even stolen out of hotel safes. If your passport's missing, you still have a way of proving your citizenship and identity. If you have a picture of it, it really helps. And then if that picture is backed up on the cloud in some way, like my photos are backed up on Google Cloud. That way, if you do lose your phone as well, you can still get to a computer or a laptop and pull up the picture of your passport, which you might need if you've lost all your ID.

Deals Dish: Labour Day Sales and Expedia Exclusive Staterooms

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For Deals Dish, I wanted to mention that right now there are a lot of Labor Day sales. Now I'm recording this right before Labor Day, but by the time you hear it, Labor Day will have passed. However, all of the cruise lines seem to be having some kind of Labor Day sale, and some of the travel companies that offer all inclusives are also having a Labor Day sale. You know, a special day is a chance for them to try and promote their products. So in these Labor Day sales, what you're going to get, especially with the cruise lines, is you're going to have like a their regular sale that they're offering pretty much all the time, but there's also a bonus of some sort, which would be either a number of dollars off, $200 off, $400 off, that kind of thing of the cruise fare, or they might be offering additional onboard credit. And the other thing they like to offer is reduced deposit requirements so you don't have to put as much money down at the get-go. All of the cruise companies, from what I see, are offering some kind of Labor Day sale. So if you are thinking about booking a cruise, it might be worth having a look. I could give you examples, but like I say, they all are offering something or other. So I won't go through what the specific offers are, but be aware that most of these sales will end either on September the 10th or the 14th. So if you want to have a look at the Labor Day sales, you need to have a look at them this week. Or if you'd like, you can contact me and I'll give you a hand. The second thing I wanted to bring up in Deals Dish is that MSC is offering a flash sale. They say that you could cruise from $269 plus kids sail free to the Caribbean and the Bahamas. You could have an extended weekend getaway or an extended holiday. All you need to do is book a cruise that's four nights sailing or longer. And of course, there's a stop at their private island, Ocean Key. And the only thing I'll say about this is it does apply to select sailings. And of course the prices vary depending on what itinerary you're looking at. But they've got the sale going on, so there's a little bit of an extra savings, and there's some that are probably quite affordable. This sale ends on September the 10th. But also at the same time, they're having a Labor Day sale, which is 40% off, and up to $400 off and kids sale free. But like I said, you have to be kind of savvy with these things. Like MSC already offered the 40% off and the kids sale free prior to Labor Day. The only additional thing there is that there's up to $400 off. So there's a little bonus, and that's what I'm saying about these Labor Day sales. There is usually a little bit of a bonus of savings of some sort. Finally, I wanted to tell you about Expedia exclusive staterooms. These are rooms that Expedia has reserved on cruises, not all cruises, but certain cruises. And if you can find an Expedia exclusive stateroom, you can often save yourself a lot of money. And I'm going to give you an example. Basically, what happens is Expedia books a block of rooms and they get it at a certain special pricing, and that pricing stays. And so while the cruise lines rates are going up over time, the rate for the exclusive Expedia State Room stays the same. The only thing about the Expedia exclusive stateroom is you can get the savings on a booking for two people. Once you add more people to the room, things change. So here's an example. You can go on a sailing on March the 6th, 2027 with the Regal Princess. It's an eight-night Southern Caribbean itinerary, a round trip from Fort Lauderdale in Florida. So the rate on the cruise line is $3,039 per person. But the exclusive Expedia State Room group rate is $1,997. So in fact, if you were to book a room on the Regal Princess March the 6th, 2027, with an eight nights Southern Caribbean itinerary from Fort Lauderdale, you're going to save yourself $1,042 for that stateroom. And then on top of that, because it's an Expedia exclusive stateroom, you're also going to get $50 on board credit per stateroom that you book. So that's quite a deal, quite a savings. $1,000, over $1,000 of savings there. Another example would be the Harmony of the Seas, a January 9th, 2027 sailing. Seven Nights Eastern Caribbean, round trip Port Canaveral. The regular rate is $2,931. The Expedia Exclusive rate is $2,225. So you're saving $676 there. And you also again get $50 onboard credit. So the Expedia Exclusive State Rooms are a great way to save money. And I certainly, when I thought about the Deals Dish segment, I've often thought I should present some of these in Deals Dish so that you're aware of them because sometimes the savings are quite incredible.

Outro

SPEAKER_00 44:56

On next week's episode, we'll see what the land of Monstropolis is all about. We'll have that postponed discussion about the best attraction in Islands of Adventure, and I'm hoping to share an interview with you either about touring Portugal or about sailing on Norwegian's Pride of America and its Hawaiian itinerary. You'll have to tune in to find out which interview it is. 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. With an EH, of course. 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 travravelagent.ca. You can be part of building the content for our community. Thanks for listening, everyone. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep planning, and keep exploring.