From Russia with love and other exotic destinations

Our latest podcast feature Bob Rech talking about some off the beaten path destinations and non conventional cruising with National Geographic.


To listen to our podcast click on this link

Planet Travel Podcast for November 6, 2013

Bob, Alice and Don from Planet Travel talk about the TSA know before you board program, where are clients are going, some exotic and some not so exotic and why we like Sandals. 

Now is the time to book last minute travel.


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Planet Travel Insider Podcast

Hello world.  We are up and running.  Sorry about that rather annoying buzz.  Our technical wizard took the day off.  But here is some good  information from your friendly Planet Travel Travel Geeks.



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Wash Your Hands Often and Drink Lots of Water

Marketwatch recently published a list of  "Ten Things Cruise Lines Won't Tell You."


Including:

3. “We’ve got a drinking problem.”

As the abundance of phrases like “three sheets to the wind” (meaning very drunk) and “splice the main brace” (an order to drink, delivered by a commanding officer) suggests, drinking and sailing have long gone together. And they continue to do so today. “Cruising is vacation,” says Colleen McDaniel, managing editor of consumer site CruiseCritic.com. “People like to relax, try the drink of the day, sample some wines or enjoy some celebratory champagne.

While some small luxury cruise lines like Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn and Chrystal Cruises are essentially open bar, mass market lines treat booze as big business. Since on most cruise lines, food and some nonalcoholic beverages are included in the ticket price, it’s that much more urgent that they make some profit off the booze. Ships sell drinks with restaurant-style mark-ups or through all-you-can-drink packages. (Carnival’s Cheers program costs $42.95 a day, although they do cut people off after drink number 15.) When CruiseCritic polled readers in 2011, more than a fourth of respondents said they typically spend more than $200 on drinks per cruise. (The average cruise lasts seven days.)

The trouble with drinking on a ship, some say, is that many cruises have instituted policies that prohibit passengers from bringing aboard bottles (either from home or purchased ashore). That means passengers are stuck paying the ship’s prices. Royal Caribbean, for instance, does not allow guests to pack beer or liquor. While it does permit two bottles of wine per room, a $25 corkage fee applies for each bottle consumed in a public area. Experts say some passengers have responded to the policies by trying to sneak past them. But when contraband is found, typically when bags go through the security screener, it’s confiscated.

Royal Caribbean didn’t respond to requests for comment. The Cruise Lines International Association says such policies help crews make sure overzealous passengers don’t end up too drunk. 

Read more by clicking on this link. 

We miss the peanuts

Yahoo just listed this Readers Digest/ABC report:  "13 Secrets Airline Pilots Won't Tell You"


The safest and most comfortable seats are over the wings.  Turbulence won't cause a plane to crash.  And you should try to fly early in the morning.


Read more by clicking on this link.

When it the best time to buy domestic air ticket? 49 days in advance

From Yahoo finance.


Bargain-conscious travelers have been trying to answer the question for years and are still stymied: How far in advance do you have to book to get the best airfare?

According to new research by CheapAir.com based on the travel site's review of 560 million airfares, the optimal time to book a domestic flight is 49 days in advance. If you're flying overseas, you should book almost three months -- 81 days, to be precise -- before you travel.



Read more by clicking on this link.

A Quick Review of the New Hollywood Casino St. Louis

In October 2012 Penn National closed on its purchase of Harrahs in Maryland Heights.  We recently spent a Sunday evening checking out the new owners of the newly renamed Hollywood Casino St. Louis.  It was no secret that the Harrahs now Caesar's corporation has been hit with some hard times.  Evidence of Harrah's deferred maintenance is in abundance. Penn National has it work cut out if it is going to upgrade this property to the 21st Century.  This casino is still in transition with banks of slot machines labeled to be replaced.  The non-smoking section has been reduced by half.  Although Harrahs marketed itself as having the largest non smoking slot section in St. Louis our visits found that this section was an empty wasteland most the time.  Even on a busy Saturday night. Smoking and gambling still go hand in hand.

Missouri Casinos have always maintained a larger slot hold than their neighbors.  And Hollywood Casino is no exception.  Expect tight slots. Midwest players love their penny machines and majority of the slots are pennies at Hollywood.  Competitor Ameristar Casino, across the river, has had a policy of upgrading their slot floor with newer slot machines for the last few years.  We believe that "new" is another word for tight.  We thought the Hollywood Casino slots were tighter then Ameristar and that is saying something.  With the casino noticeably missing patrons, and those that were gambling noticeably complaining about their losses, Hollywood really failed to make a good impression during our visit checking out the new owners. We have never seen so many slot machines were the players quit with payouts of less than a dollar in a very long time.  90.6 aggregate pay out is not going to crack it with competitors such as River City, Casino Queen, and their sister property the Alton Belle offering higher slot paybacks.  We know that Harrahs always ran neck and neck with Ameristar as the casino with the tightest hold in St. Louis but it doesn't seem to be the ideal business model for competition of the local's dollar.   Especially when you are the new kid on the block.    

Hollywood Casino has more than 90 table games. We have dabbled at the craps table with no luck. $5.00 minimum tables are available throughout the week. Young son swears by the blackjack tables. Have not seen any 6-5 tables, though.  We assume that  $15.00 minimum bet will be the norm on Saturdays.  Like Ameristar, Hollywood offered gimmick versions of blackjack. 21 plus 3 handed poker for example.

Hollywood players club transferred Harrahs comp balance to their system.  A very good thing. Apparently you can redeem comps for cash but the system wouldn't let us do it during our visit.

Hollywood has kept the Eat Up! Buffet.  With out a doubt still the premier buffet in the St.Louis area.  However we couldn't help but notice during our lunch that the lines to get the food were longer than ever for some reason.  And frankly some of the food was cold and some of the dishes were empty with no replacement during our visit. They sat there empty the entire time we were dining.  If they kept the same Harrah's employees it has to be the management that needs to work out the kinks

Charlie Gitto's.  Hollywood's version of the venerable Hill restaurant offers an extremely attractive early dining special menu. Most entrees are under $15.00.