The Daily Cruise and Travel News "Podcast" with Tom Drake · Tom Drake

March 9, 2026. NCL Holdings needs to stop the self-flagellation!

·40 min·2 clips

More than 27,000 Americans have returned from the Middle East since February 28, and many had to arrange travel themselves.

The show starts with sponsor chatter and a quick car-sale story: the host says he just sold his car online through Carvana and got an offer in minutes. The banter keeps the same fast, offhand rhythm through a jab at a new digital picture frame and a general feeling that he wants simple answers, not more hassle. He shifts into a story about honesty and then lands on a repeat phone call from a rug merchant in Kusadasi. According to him, that merchant has called every year for 28 years to say he is in Florida with rugs and asks whether anyone wants to buy one. He uses the story to frame a broader complaint about how business relationships work. The main target is Oceana, which he says he is not disloyal to, but finds really difficult to work with when it comes to groups. He calls the experience brutal and compares it to a root canal without Novocaine. He does single out Nathan Hickman for helping him, and then draws a clear contrast by saying he has a great relationship with Crystal and that their ships are fabulous. He also gives out the booking number and directs listeners to bestseetours.com. Near the end, he says he has a lot of notes and moves to a follow-up on the Middle East situation, calling it a war with Iran and saying it had to be done. The closing note is less polished than emphatic: this is a daily radio-style monologue where travel, ads, complaints, and geopolitical commentary all sit side by side.

As heard by us

A brisk, candid talk-radio segment that turns sales grievances and travel complaints into a running monologue.

The episode moves fast: car-selling chatter, a 28-year rug-sales callback from Kusadasi, and a blunt complaint about doing group business with Oceana, which gets the sharper treatment.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a blunt travel rant with teeth and no smoothing-over.

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