Cuba, Iceland, and Drones This Week on Get Packin'

Carnival Cruise Lines' new ship - the 704-passenger Adonia, that will do "voluntourism" cruises to the Dominican Republic and Cuba as part of Carnival's Fathom brand - is supposed to make its maiden Cuban voyage on May 1st.  Well, despite the thawing of relations between the U.S. and Cuba in recent months, there is still one little-known rule about travel to Cuba that could throw a wrench in those plans.  That's just one of the stories we'll be talking about on this week's edition of Get Packin', our weekly travel radio show you can hear Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. on Freedom 95 (95.9 FM and 950 AM in the Indianapolis area and streaming worldwide at www.freedom95.us).

Ann and her Grand Tetons, one of the
Top Ten Most Visited National Parks.

Also on the show, we celebrate 2016 as the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service by giving you the Top Ten Most Visited National Parks.  Think the Grand Canyon is Number 1?  Think again. It's a very distant second place.  We'll give you the surprising #1 and the rest of the Top Ten,  We'll even throw in #11, since it's fairly close to Indiana.

We're going to talk to Alex Pinelo of Norwegian Cruise Line about the history of the cruise line and how cruising has changed since Norwegian introduced the first modern cruise ship 50 years ago. (Hint: that first Norwegian ship could fit inside the engine room of today's Norwegian mega-ships!)

TRAVEL TIP:  THE SHOWER CAP - IT'S NOT JUST FOR SHOWERS ANYMORE

If you're planning a trip to mainland Europe, Iceland Air has a great offer.  It's essentially a FREE layover in Iceland.  We'll explain when we talk about Iceland as this week's Hot Destination.  There was a midair collision between a British Airways plane and a drone above London's Heathrow Airport.  The plane and passengers are OK.  The drone, not so much.  All that and more on Get Packin', Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on Freedom 95.

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A Perpsective on Snow

"In December it was pretty.  Now it's just a cold bucket of suck.  #winter"

                 (l)Yellowstone.                (r)Cold bucket of suck (aka, our driveway)

That was a Tweet from our friend Greg Cooper on January 20th that pretty much sums up this winter in Indiana.  The first gentle snowflakes of the holiday season gave way to January's Polar Vortex and all it entailed: endless school and business closings, road closings, sub-zero temperatures, etc.  And just when we're about to get to temps above freezing that might actually start to melt the permafrost that's been on our driveway for weeks, there's talk of another Snowmageddon on the way.  Wonderful.

Ann & John at the Grand Tetons

Earlier this month we decided to escape the snow and cold of Indiana and visit... the snow and cold of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  The big difference between the snow and cold of Indy and that of Jackson Hole is that it was by choice.  Oh, that, and the beauty and grandeur of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.  That's a little different, too.

You see, whether you enjoy snow or dread it is a matter of perspective.  Shoveling snow: bad.  Playing in snow: good.  And when you're in Jackson Hole there are any number of ways to play in the snow.  Skiing.  Snowboarding.  Tubing.  Something for every skill level and adrenaline junky.  We chose to snowmobile through Yellowstone National Park.  Old Faithful Snowmobile Tours was our guide on the full-day tour of this beautiful national treasure that took us through the scenic, snow-covered forest,

past the numerous waterfalls and cascades,

around the steaming pools of Yellowstone's many geyser basins,

across the Continental Divide

John, Ann and Ann's son Zack (front)

and finally to Old Faithful herself.

Wow, this thing really blows

During our stay, we also fit in some snow tubing (we don't ski), a drive through the Tetons and a side trip to Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival.

Zack, Ann & John stargazing at Sundance

Under the right circumstances (Jackson Hole), snow is either the direct source of the fun or simply a nice accent.  Under the wrong circumstances (Indiana), it's a cold bucket of suck.

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