Last month, Salem Radio Network host Dennis Prager suffered a severe injury from a fall that left him hospitalized. Little did Mike Gallagher and Hugh Hewitt know that would lead to a change in plans in their Thanksgiving schedules.
Prager was scheduled to lead a cruise comprised of his radio listeners on a nine-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale through the Southern Caribbean that began on Black Friday.
Unfortunately for listeners, however, the date they could receive a refund for their cruise had already passed, locking them into the trip. That’s when Salem Radio Network got creative, asking morning host Hugh Hewitt and midday host Mike Gallagher if they would be interested in filling in for their injured colleague.
“These poor people were kind of stuck,” Gallagher said of the Salem Radio Network listeners signed up for the cruise. “So Salem reached out to Hugh Hewitt and me to see if we could essentially parachute into this cruise at the last minute and entertain our passengers. When we do these listener cruises, we do a lot of on-board events. We always work out of their big stage, where all of the productions take place, and we present video and audio clips, and PowerPoints. We do a lot with our audience. Salem really scrambled and Hugh and I did it. We pulled it off.”
Due to the length of the cruise, the two hosts split their time on the trip. Hewitt accompanied the Holland America ship through the first few stops before Gallagher joined in Aruba. However, due to maritime procedures, the exchange had to take place in Aruba, leading to the two radio hosts crossing paths in the island nation.
The Mike Gallagher Show host had high praise for the nearly 300 listeners that had expected to spend their vacation with Dennis Prager.
“These people were amazing,” Gallagher said. “They were certainly disappointed that Dennis couldn’t be there, but once they understood the very serious nature of his injury, I think they understood that it was unavoidable. They were so gracious and appreciative of us being there for them. We put together panel discussions and had a lot of great content. I told Hugh Hewitt we’re gonna be lucky if the Prager fans don’t throw rotten tomatoes at us and make us walk the plank. They didn’t. They were wonderful, and kind, and understanding. It turned into a really great experience.”
Gallagher admitted he didn’t have much to research the destinations the ship would reach, let along prepare for any off-ship activities. He was simply focused on providing the best experience possible for the travelers who signed up for the adventure.
But despite that last minute nature of the injury to Dennis Prager and the change in hosts, Gallagher said he was able to rely on past experiences as a cruise host to provide what had been promised to the guests.
“Sebastian Gorka and I co-hosted a cruise to Alaska this past July. So, quite frankly and candidly, I was able to take a lot of material for that cruise and turn it around,” said Gallagher. “I also did a presentation on my visit to Israel after the October 7th terrorist attack … the audience was about 25% Jewish, so there was a good mix of Christians and Jews who seemed to appreciate my talk on the Israel visit. We pulled it all together. I think we gave them a lot of solid material they seemed to appreciate.”
Allen Estrin, Prager’s longtime producer and co-founder of PragerU, was also on board the ship, which fans of the program appreciated. Gallagher said, naturally, many of the guests were interested in hearing any update about Dennis Prager’s condition. In recent weeks, his podcast co-host Julie Hartman has shared that she has visited the longtime radio host in the hospital. And while Carl Jackson will serve as the fill-in host for The Dennis Prager Show until he is ready to return, many have shared that the recovery timeline for Prager will be a long one.
But overall, the guests on the cruise appreciated the two Salem Radio Network hosts who were available for the trip cutting their Thanksgiving plans short in order to make the best of a difficult situation.
And while Mike Gallagher and Hugh Hewitt would have much preferred that Dennis Prager was healthy and able to cruise the Caribbean with his devoted fans, it did make for an unrepeatable encounter.
“It worked out great, but it was one of the more unique experiences I’ve ever been through, just because of the last-minute nature of it,” concluded Gallagher.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
