This week’s broadcast of the Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show comes from the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, California. Infused with a musical flare, this hotel’s main motto is customization. Starting with its staff, it encourages employees to express individuality, such as displaying tattoos and piercings, as well as greeting guests in their own way. The Hard Rock Hotel’s Vibe Manager, James Gibbs, describes some of the ways he helps continue this non-uniform experience for the guest. One of the most popular hotel features are the customized playlists which greet guests as they enter their rooms. Then, USA Today‘s Gene Sloan speaks about how downtown San Diego is an easy walk for those who come to port. He also dives into what cruising trends travelers may anticipate for 2016. He predicts it will be a big year for big ships.
Also joining us is Cruise Critic Editor, Carolyn Spencer Brown, who shares her recent experience aboard the new Norwegian Escape. She loves freestyle cruises like this one because there are plenty of options and no required check-in points. We are also joined by the Curator and Director of Restoration of the San Diego Air & Space Museum, Terry Brennan. He describes some of the aircrafts on display that visitors to the Southern Californian museum can expect to see, such as a Blackbird and a Hellcat. There’s all of this and more when this week’s episode of the Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio Show comes from the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego.
Click here to listen to the show, streaming live from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, January 2, 2016. Call in with your travel questions at 1-888-88-PETER (1- 888-887-3837) or email peter@petergreenberg.com (Write “Ask Peter” in the subject line)
Gene Sloan, Cruise Journalist for USA Today, chats about how 2016 is going to be a big year for big ships. Carnival is building a ship that will be able to accommodate 6,300 passengers. Also continuing its rapid development is river cruising. This year Uniworld expands to India and Disney will join the river cruise market.
Carolyn Spencer Brown, Editor for Cruise Critic, describes her experience on the Norwegian Escape, which she calls a really special vessel. She loves the outdoor activity options and is a big fan of “free style cruising” where you are not expected to be anywhere at any time.
Nicholas Villamill, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego’s Executive Chef, talks about the popularity of its vegan and gluten free options as well as the must-order cumin dry rub wings.
James Gibbs, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego’s Vibe Manager, elaborates on the flexibility his job comes with in creating the atmosphere of the hotel. For example, he chooses all the music, scents, and lighting that the guests experience when walking into the hotel. He gets a lot of requests for the playlists he creates for people’s rooms. He also has created a wine and music pairing experience in the hotel. His craziest request is when people want the white tea and fig scent when you enter the hotel as a perfume.
Terry Brennan, San Diego Air & Space Museum Curator and Director of Restoration, explains some of San Diego’s aviation history. Lingberg had a famous factory in San Diego. The museum has 70 aircrafts on display, including a Blackbird outside…the fastest aircraft ever built. The Blackbird can fly from New York to Los Angeles in one hour. It also has a Hellcat, the most successful fighter plane in World War 2.
Anthony Ridenhour, Executive Director of the Model Train Museum in San Diego, details the museum’s 27,000 square feet of working model trains and the 300 volunteers it takes to maintain them. He describes some of the artifacts dating back to the 1800s, which include metal trains before World War 1. After the war, the majority of model trains were built with plastic.
Courtney Scott, Travel Expert for Expedia, laments the difficulty of air travel with children, but gives helpful tips for making the journey easier. Small things like getting up and walking with your upset child calms them and cools the tempers of other passengers. When other travelers see you actively working on soothing a child, they tend to feel less frustrated by an ill tempered minor. She also dives into the growing world of social shaming for passengers who are rude, unruly, or worse.
Tim Zimmerman , Co-Writer and Executive Producer of Blackfish, expresses his views on Sea World canceling its theatrical killer whale show in favor of a more conservation orientated program in 2016. He also gives the back story of the infamous film’s origin: The concept for the film developed from an article Zimmerman wrote about a trainer who was killed at Sea World in 2010.
By Darra Stone for PeterGreenberg.com
