Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
It is the weekend, which means that it's
time to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show
Coming up.
On today's show we will betalking about the US Virgin
Islands Nikki and I will bethere shortly A flight deal to
Australia and five.
Count them one, two, three,four, five, five great cruise
(00:20):
deals this week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice us Explore your
(00:55):
world.
Show Voice (00:55):
It's the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:22):
It is the weekend, which means that it is
time to talk about travel.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
Thank you for taking the timeto stop and listen and if you
are brand new to the show, oreven if you're a longtime
(01:43):
listener for the last year and ahalf, the entire purpose of
this radio and podcast is tohelp you plan and book your next
vacation or just give you ideasof where you want to go on
vacation next, and we arepresented by blueplanetvacations
.
com.
I always love talking travel.
Mark Faldmo joins me in theWiscombe Faldmo radio studio.
(02:06):
How are you?
I haven't seen you all week.
I haven't even talked to you.
Mark Faldmo (02:10):
Yep, I'm good, I'm kind of recovering from earlier
this week when we were in themid-60s, but we're back down to
the mid to low 30s now.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:19):
Even if it was just a few days four or five
days in the 50s and 60s that wasnice.
Mark Faldmo (02:24):
I went out and did some yard cleanup, so I did yard
work last week.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:28):
Coming up in this first segment of the show,
we've got the travel news and,of course, we always have the
destination highlight, and thisweek we're talking about the U S
Virgin islands.
Nikki and I will be there nextmonth.
Very, very excited to go.
Nikki and I are going there.
Right, you are going there.
Yes, okay, make sure thatthat's one of the Virgin Islands
.
Mark Faldmo (02:47):
Yes, it is.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:49):
Let's first get to the travel news headlines
.
I thought that this story wassignificant in the travel world.
Celebrity Cruises has announcedthat they're going to launch
river cruising.
That is a big deal.
That is.
Mark Faldmo (03:04):
And I was very surprised when I saw this.
I've been thinking about thisover the last few days when this
news was announced.
I think Celebrity is probablythe best ocean cruise line that
was the best positioned to gointo river cruising.
I've often wondered why there'snot a little bit more of the
ocean cruise lines that do rivercruise lines.
We've had Viking start as ariver cruise line and now they
(03:27):
do ocean cruises, but it hasn'tever gone the other way.
Celebrity has put in an orderfor 10 river ships and they're
going to start sailing in 2027.
So that's not too far off.
Those will probably be for salein the next little while here,
once they get a little bit moredown the road on this 10 ships.
They're serious, they are.
(03:48):
They're going to take theinspiration from those ships,
from the Celebrity Edge classship, and they're obviously not
going to have some of thefeatures that don't work on a
river, but they are taking theirinspiration from those ships.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:03):
So Nikki and I will be on the Celebrity Ascent
next month.
It will be my first timegetting on an Edge class ship
and I got to be honest I thinkI'm going to spend some time
just hanging out on the flyingcarpet.
Yes, which?
Mark Faldmo (04:16):
is something that won't be on the river.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:19):
A nine-story elevator on a river cruise.
Mark Faldmo (04:22):
On a river cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:24):
United Airlines is bringing back their
elite status match program.
This is good news, because Ithink that they're starting to
kind of lose ground to some ofthe other airlines.
I'm assuming that's why they'rebringing it back, or at least a
reason, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (04:38):
So they've brought this in for 2025, where they'll
match status with most otherairlines.
And all you have to do if youwant to match the status is
there's a form to fill out atunited.
com and after approval, you haveto take a United flight within
90 days and then, after thatflight, you'll be granted your
(05:01):
matching elite status.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:03):
Are you going to sign up for this?
You're a Delta guy mostly, butI know that you've flown United.
And who's the other one?
American, American?
Mark Faldmo (05:11):
If I have an opportunity to take a United
flight, if it works out, I'll doit.
So if I have something comingup, I'll do it, just to get the
status for a year.
I probably wouldn't fly a wholelot on United, but it is nice
to have that status.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:25):
If United is bringing back their status match
program, do any other airlinesdo that In the past.
Mark Faldmo (05:31):
American has done it and Delta has done it, but
that was two years ago when bothof those airlines had a status
match.
I've not seen anything onstatus match on at least
American or Delta.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:45):
Okay, so nothing really, nothing really.
Us Virgin Islands set a newtourism record in 2024.
As I mentioned, Nicki and I areheaded there next month.
What kind of numbers were theyseeing last year?
Mark Faldmo (05:58):
So they had an increase of almost 6% over the
previous record.
It doesn't say when that recordwas possibly 2019.
Oh, pre-covid, pre-covid.
But over their best year ever,they had a 6% increase in 2024.
This kind of goes to the trendand we've talked about this in
(06:19):
the past where people want to goto a tropical beach destination
but don't have a passport.
So the Virgin Islands is aplace you can go without a
passport, and the Virgin Islandsis kind of a whole new world
and we'll talk about that injust a minute.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:36):
Other than a cruise line?
How do we get to the VirginIslands?
Mark Faldmo (06:40):
First of all, there are kind of three main islands
in the US Virgin Islands.
There's St Thomas, St Croix andSt John.
You can get there by flight toSt Thomas and St Croix.
St John you can only get thereby ferry from the island of St
Thomas.
St Thomas is the most visitedof those, followed by St Croix
and then St John.
(07:00):
St John most of the island is anational park, so there's not a
lot of development there.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:07):
Quick question Maho Beach, where planes fly in
literally just feet over yourhead.
Which island is that?
Mark Faldmo (07:15):
on.
That's not in the US VirginIslands, that's in St Martin.
Okay, there we go, which is aFrench or Dutch island,
depending on what side of theisland you're on.
You are going to St Thomas asone of the ports on your cruise.
You'll be in St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:31):
A lot of saints in there.
Mark Faldmo (07:33):
Yes, St Thomas, St Croix, St John, British Virgin
Islands, and they're all saintstoo Well let's talk about St
Thomas first.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:43):
some of the things to do there.
Mark Faldmo (07:44):
Let's talk about St Thomas first, some of the
things to do there.
St Thomas is known for itsshopping and also its pirate
history.
As on all of these islands,there's good beaches.
You can go to Megan's Bay.
What I like about St Thomas andthis was kind of my very first
impression when I stepped off,and this is actually on all of
the US Virgin Islands is theydrive on the left side of the
(08:06):
road.
It's the only US territory thatdrives on the left side of the
road, and so you really can feellike you're in a foreign
country, but you don't need apassport to get there.
What about St John?
So St John and this is probablymy favorite island of all of
these Again, you get there bytaking a ferry from St Thomas,
(08:32):
but it's known for its beachesand hiking.
Most of the island is anational park.
There are few hotels, a fewthings that were kind of
grandfathered in.
Most of the island is anational park, but one of the
best beaches probably in theworld, which is Trunk Bay,
snorkeling just a beautifulbeach there in St John.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:46):
Let me ask you about snorkeling.
Do you snorkel with one ofthose pool noodles or do you
like going underneath the water?
Mark Faldmo (08:54):
I like to snorkel with some type of flotation
device.
Ad Voice (08:56):
Oh, okay, all right, so you're buoyant, just so I
don't have to work.
Mark Faldmo (08:58):
I just don't have to work as hard, so you can just
look around without swimming.
Okay, and the one thing at TrunkBay on St John is they kind of
have a little circuit that yousnorkel.
There's a little island thatyou snorkel around which is a
very interesting place tosnorkel because it goes through
different depths of the bay.
There that's a very popularthing to do.
(09:21):
There's also a little drinkshack up on top of the hill in
St John where you can look overand see the British Virgin
Islands.
They're all fairly close.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:32):
One if by land , two if by sea.
Mark Faldmo (09:34):
Yes, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:37):
St Croix.
What do you like doing there?
Mark Faldmo (09:39):
This island has a lot of history.
The thing I think that'sinteresting about it is how many
different countries have ruledthis little piece of land.
It's fallen the flags ofNetherlands, England, France,
the Knights of Malta and Denmark.
In its history, it was once thecapital of the Danish West
Indies and it's known for its18th century butter-colored,
(10:02):
red-roofed buildings.
You know this would be a placefor beaches, water sports, if
you like, sailing.
It's a little bit more laidback than St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:12):
Off-air.
You had mentioned somethingabout St Thomas that you didn't
mention during this show.
Let's go back to St Thomas fora second.
Mark Faldmo (10:20):
One particular activity that I like.
It's a tram kind of a skyridething.
Oh, I know what you're talkingabout A viewpoint on top of the
mountain.
This is located kind of rightby the cruise port, so it's a
pretty popular thing to do ifyou're taking a cruise.
But you get up there and youhave a whole view of the city of
Charlotte Amile, which is thecapital city there in St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:44):
I remember seeing pictures of that going
ooh, we have to do that.
Mark Faldmo (10:47):
It's a great experience.
If you're on St Thomas, you canjust take a day trip to St John
.
Very easy thing to do.
Go out, hike some of thosetrails on St John, visit the
beaches.
I love the US Virgin Islandsand you don't need a passport to
get there.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:02):
If you're coming in port on a cruise, do
you have enough time to do a daytrip to St?
Mark Faldmo (11:07):
John, yes, you do.
In fact, if you purchase theexcursion through the cruise
line, the ferry boat comes andpicks you up right at the pier
of the cruise terminal.
You just get on kind of theexpedition safari trucks.
It'll take you either to TrunkBay or the Circle Island tour.
That's something I highlyrecommend, for cruise passengers
is to do the St John tour whenthey're in St Thomas.
(11:30):
Otherwise, if you're on acruise, you have to go to the
other side of the island, whichis where the main ferry terminal
is at.
So you can do it, then you cando it.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:38):
Oh good, okay.
Well, I am excited to go, Nickiand I will be there next month.
And I am excited to go, Nickiand I will be there next month.
And I am excited to go, do allof this stuff.
And I owe it all to Mark.
Honestly, he's the one thatbooked it for us.
If you want to head to the USVirgin Islands, whether it's
cruise or you just want to gostraight there, call Mark in his
(11:59):
office during the break just toget the conversation started.
Office during the break, justto get the conversation started.
Phone number is 888-718-7717,888-718-7717.
Or you can also go toblueplanetvacations.
com.
Coming up in the next segment,we've got the hot travel deal of
(12:21):
the week, regardless of thedestination, but this time we
are headed to the land downunder Men at work.
Australia is on sale.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (12:43):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(13:04):
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (13:17):
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Show Voice (14:06):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, and
check out the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
(14:27):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:36):
Welcome back inside of the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show.
Hello there, hope you're havinga terrific weekend.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
With my co-host, mark Faldmo,we love talking travel each and
every weekend and we areimmensely grateful to all of you
(14:57):
who subscribe to the show,listen to us on the radio
network and subscribe to thepodcast at insidetraveltalk.
com.
Coming up in this segment wehave the hot travel deal of the
week and this time we're goingdown under.
But let's first get to thetravel news headlines for this
(15:18):
week.
In light of everything, I kindof get it.
But there is a plea from LosAngeles hotels Please come.
Please come to LA.
We need you.
So Los Angeles is kind of getit.
There is a plea from LosAngeles hotels Please come,
please come to LA, we need you.
Mark Faldmo (15:26):
So Los Angeles is kind of experiencing the same
issues that Hawaii faced afterthe Maui fires.
What they're saying is lessthan 1% of the area of Los
Angeles was affected by thefires, and so they're asking
people not to cancel their trips.
Things are still open.
Travel industry is, I guess,kind of really fickle.
(15:49):
Big newsmakers seem to affectpeople's travel decisions, even
though it probably reallyshouldn't in some cases.
What Los Angeles is faced withis they have over 540,000 people
working just in Los AngelesCounty in the tourism sector.
So if people don't travel,those people don't have jobs.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:11):
What happened was absolutely significant.
But I think the Maui comparisonis good, where it made sound
like the entire island of Mauihad burned down when it really,
from a geographical standpoint,Maui was kind of small.
Mark Faldmo (16:24):
Yes, and then you know even Hawaii, other islands,
so Oahu, kauai, the big island,all faced downturns in tourism
because of the Maui fire, all of.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:35):
California Beautiful.
I love LA.
I just won't live there.
Yeah, delta Airlines is set tolaunch a new LA to Melbourne
flight.
What details do we have on that?
Mark Faldmo (16:48):
This is going to be three days a week.
It's going to fly Los Angelesto Melbourne Monday, Wednesday
and Friday on its new AirbusA350 flight and that is set to
start later this year, I thinkin May.
That is really opening upAustralia.
Right now, united and Qantasare the only airlines that fly
(17:11):
to Melbourne, and now Delta willbecome another option.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:17):
Yet another reason referencing what we
talked about in segment oneUnited Airlines bringing back
their status match program.
Southwest has postponed thestart date for installing extra
legroom seats.
Mark Faldmo (17:29):
Yeah, so this is a story we talked about oh maybe
two months ago, where Southwestannounced they're going to put
in extra legroom seats and starttheir assigned seating policy
and they were going to startthat the middle of 2025, but
they have delayed that now untilfirst half of 2026.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:50):
Let's get to our hot travel deal of the week,
always in this second segmentof the show, and this week we
are going down under.
Mark Faldmo (17:58):
This is a great price to get to Sydney from Los
Angeles it's $848.
Really.
And it does connect through NewZealand to get to Sydney, but
for that price that connectionis probably worth it.
Oh yeah, that's probably fiveto even $700 lower than the
(18:19):
normal price to get to Sydney.
There are blackout dates.
You can add a stopover in NewZealand if you would like to.
There's a fee.
I think it's $75 to add astopover in New Zealand.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:32):
So let's talk about some of the things to do
in Sydney.
Where would you start Sydney?
Mark Faldmo (18:38):
I visited twice Sydney.
Both of them have beenrelatively short.
They've been less than six days.
A lot of people say that's along flight for just such a
short time, but I actuallyenjoyed that.
Things to do in Sydney.
The first thing I would get isthe Sydney Explorer Pass.
With the Explorer Pass you getto choose a few different things
(19:01):
, attractions you can do.
You can choose three of 12 ofthe main attractions in Sydney
to do.
Included in that pass is theSydney Zoo, the Hop On, Hop Off
Tour and the Sydney Aquarium.
Those are probably the three Iwould choose, but there are
other options in the SydneyExplorer Pass.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:21):
You mentioned there was about 12.
What are the other nine, justso listeners can know what they
can choose.
Mark Faldmo (19:27):
So the other things you can choose within that pass
are the Sydney Tower Eye, whichis the radio tower building
that you go up.
There's a revolving restaurantup there.
Okay, the National MaritimeMuseum.
You can take a lunch cruise.
There is an option for theSydney Opera House tour.
You can take a jet boat ride inthe bay.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:49):
I know what Patrick's doing.
I didn't realize how much Ilike being on boats.
That's kind of a new thing thatI've found about myself.
Mark Faldmo (19:57):
Yeah, I love being out on the water, out on the
ocean.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:00):
What are some of the other things to?
Mark Faldmo (20:01):
do.
Probably one of the mostexciting things, I think, is the
Sydney Bridge Climb, and sothis is where you get hooked up
in harnesses and you walk up tothe top of one of the stanchions
of the Sydney Bridge.
Oh man, great views, oh.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:20):
I bet.
Mark Faldmo (20:21):
That's a very popular thing to do.
One of the things I enjoyedmost was taking a ferry over to
Manly Island.
Oh, I bet face at Luna Parkthere, Bondi Beach, which is one
(20:44):
of the famous beaches there.
One thing I really enjoyed wastaking a Sydney Harbor cruise at
nighttime see the skyline atnight.
I kind of took a dinner cruiseto do that.
Probably the thing I enjoyedthe most was a day trip to the
Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains is a scenicarea.
It's a full day trip but ascenic area near Sydney.
(21:05):
Along the way you stop at akangaroo kind of sanctuary place
where you get to feed thekangaroos and kind of play with
the kangaroos.
The most favorite part of thisday for me was the Scenic World
Railway.
It's an old mining railway andit's the world's steepest
railway, at 52 degrees incline.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:25):
I'm actually kind of impressed that it can go
up that steep of an inclineyeah.
Mark Faldmo (21:29):
Yes, so it's actually hooked to a cable, so
it's pulled up?
Patrick Wiscombe (21:34):
I would hope so, wow.
Mark Faldmo (21:35):
So, yeah, it's pulled up, there's great views
at the top and then when you getdown at the bottom of the
railway there's hiking trails,kind of a nature preserve.
It was a wonderful day, Eventhough I've only been to Sydney
on short trips.
I think it's well worth thatand if you want to extend your
trip, you can go up to the GreatBarrier Reef, go up to Port
(21:58):
Stanley, which is rainforest, goout to the desert Ayers Rock.
There's lots you can do inAustralia from Sydney.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:08):
What do you call a lazy kangaroo?
I don't know what.
A pouch potato A pouch?
Mark Faldmo (22:14):
potato, a pouch potato, that's great.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:19):
Sorry for the bad humor.
Mark Faldmo (22:22):
No, humor is always good.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:23):
Even though it's bad.
Okay, I had that coming.
You know, what's funny is thatNikki and I have actually been
talking about Australiaralia,but we didn't know if we wanted
to fly or do a cruise andhonestly, I don't know what
we're gonna do now.
Mark Faldmo (22:41):
Yeah, either way, it's a great way to visit.
Go to Australia.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:46):
If you've always had desires to go to
Australia, call mark.
Call them during the break.
Just Just get the conversationstarted.
No obligation, 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And you can also see theAustralian vacation options on
blueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
(23:10):
It is the infamous JustCruising segment.
This week we literally havefive great cruise deals.
Do not miss this next segmentof the show coming up after the
news update.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
Show Voice (23:34):
We will be right back.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
(23:55):
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (24:11):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
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Patrick Wiscombe (24:30):
Okay, we're back.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show Coming up.
In the next 30 minutes we willbe talking about the five cruise
deals of the week the mostcruise deals we have ever
discussed in one segment, andwe're rolling it back to 1987.
We're talking Patrick Swayze,Jennifer Grey we have a live
Dirty Dancing concert.
(24:51):
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (25:09):
Us this is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
(25:36):
And now here are your hostsPatrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Patrick Wiscombe (25:50):
All aboard for segment three of the Inside
Travel Talk podcast and radioshow.
We hope that you are having aterrific weekend.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,alongside Mark Faldmo,
broadcasting live here in SaltLake City from the Wiscombe
Faldmo radio studios, and thanksto all of our radio affiliates
(26:12):
podcast listeners, we couldn'tdo this show without you.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend
Coming up in this segment of theshow.
Of course we've got the travelnews headlines, but we've also
got the cruise deal of the week.
We just simply call it theinfamous Just Cruising segment
and we've got five cruise deals.
(26:32):
We've never had that manybefore in a single segment.
But before we get to the cruisedeals of the week, let's get to
the travel news headlines.
Carnival is tightening therules for minors accommodations.
What does that mean?
Mark Faldmo (26:46):
Yeah, so this really affects families
traveling together.
So the new policy for Carnivalis guests 14 years of age and
under must be booked with arelative or guardian 25 years or
older in the same cabin or in aconnecting cabin.
The previous policy allowed forguests 12 and younger to occupy
(27:09):
a cabin directly across thehall or next door, but now again
for guests 14 years of age oryounger, they have to be in the
same cabin with a relative orguardian.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:20):
I'd like to hear the backstory of why that
policy changed.
Mark Faldmo (27:24):
And that's actually a little bit more in line with
what some of the other cruiselines are doing.
Oh, so it is.
When we book families weusually have to put one parent
in a room with some kids andthen another parent in a room
with kids just to get aroundtheir age policies.
Other ages have not changed, soI guess 15 to 17 can be in
(27:44):
their own room, separated by upto two cabins, as long as
there's a parent or guardian 25years of age or older in that
main cabin.
There.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:56):
What do we do about individuals aged 18 to 20?
Mark Faldmo (28:00):
18 to 20 can be anywhere on the ship, but they
do have to be linked to a parentor guardian at least 25 years
or older.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:08):
So not even 21 .
Mark Faldmo (28:10):
Yeah, so, oh, interesting.
So to sail with no restrictions?
Both guests have to be 21 yearsof age or older to sail on
their own.
The exception to that is ifthey're legally married couples
or qualified military personnelcan also sail if they're 18 or
(28:30):
20 in a cabin, but it's veryrestrictive.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:33):
So in the eyes of cruise companies, an adult
is 25, not 21.
Mark Faldmo (28:38):
25 if there's a minor involved.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:41):
Okay, got it.
One of the private islands thatI've never been to is called
Great Stirrup Cay.
I think it's owned by NCL orNorwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
They announced that they'redoing some construction or pier
construction work.
What's the timeframe on thatthis?
Mark Faldmo (28:59):
is Norwegian Cruise Line Holding, which is
Norwegian Cruise Line, OceanaCruises and Regent Seven Seas
Cruises.
They all use Great Stirrup Cay.
Previously, this private islanddid not have a pier, so you had
to tender in previously thisprivate island did not have a
pier so you had to tender in.
The tender in was an improvementfrom what it was before.
The first probably 10 times Ivisited this island you went on
(29:22):
almost like a World War IIlanding craft.
So they would beach it and thenthe front would come down and
you'd walk off like you're doinga beach landing.
It's a pretty unique way to getto the island.
This is also the first privateisland in the cruise industry,
so Norwegian was the first.
They later added a littleharbor where the tenders could
(29:44):
come in, made it a little biteasier to get to the island.
But now they're adding a pier,which construction started
earlier this year and should beready by the end of the year.
Norwegian was really the firstcruise line to really enhance
their private island.
We've often talked about MSC'sprivate island and all the neat
things to do there.
(30:04):
Norwegian was the first cruiseline to really make their island
more than just a beach day andshould make it so the ships
don't have to miss the island asmuch.
A lot of times, duringinclement weather or windy
conditions, the ship misses theprivate island.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:21):
My perception is, royal Caribbean has really
outdone NCL, and even MSC mayhave outdone NCL.
Mark Faldmo (30:29):
Or is that not fair ?
I don't think that's fair.
Norwegian's island iscomparable or in some ways
better than MSC's island as faras the facilities that are on
there.
Now, to begin with, it was justbeach chairs and a little
thatched roof place where theyserved food, so it was a very
basic island.
(30:50):
But when they made theinvestment a few years ago, it
was the first to make those biginvestments.
Norwegian was the first torealize that these private
islands could be the mostpopular port on the itinerary,
which they have become with mostcruise lines.
Royal Caribbean's island isamazing with what it has
facilities wise.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:10):
Is that perfect day at Coco Cay?
Mark Faldmo (31:13):
Yeah, perfect day at Coco Cay, which is actually.
You could swim from Norwegian'sIsland to Royal Caribbean's
Island, except for the cruiseemployees that are sitting there
stopping people from doing that.
That's how.
That's how close they are, okay.
So they're that close.
They're that close, okay.
Yeah, in fact, if you go to theBlue Planet Facebook page, the
(31:34):
other week when I flew into NASA, I flew right over the islands.
I took a picture of it so youcan see how close the two
islands are.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:42):
I could just see police in between the
islands.
Hey, out of the water, come on,yeah, let's get out.
Come on, yeah.
One of the most popular moviesfrom 1987 was Dirty Dancing
Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze,and it looks like.
Well, Patrick won't be there,well, I guess Jennifer Grey
won't be either.
But they are bringing DirtyDancing in concert to MSC's
(32:05):
World America, a ship that bothof us will be on in.
When is it April?
Yeah, I think it's April.
Yeah, okay, so Dirty Dancing inconcert, that's the headline.
I think it's in April.
Yeah, okay.
So dirty dancing and concert,that's the headline.
So that's what will be seen.
Mark Faldmo (32:17):
Yeah, so they just made this announcement.
This will be one of their maintheater shows.
Msc is really trying to makeinroads with the American
vacationer.
Msc seems a little bit moreEuropean and so they've built
the ship MSC World America toreally appeal towards the
American traveler.
And adding a show like DirtyDancing in concert I think will
(32:42):
do that.
You know it's great music,music that everybody knows.
I think this will be popular.
This is actually one of sevennew productions that MSC will
have on this ship.
They have an acrobatic show,they have an illusionist show,
which MSC calls the largest everillusion production show at sea
.
They have a special effectsshow which is put on by the
(33:05):
people that did special effectsin Back to the Future, Mission
Impossible, the Mummy, and thenthey have a live pop concert.
Patrick Wiscombe (33:13):
So when we had Laura Okonowski of MSC Cruises
on what was it two or threeweeks ago, she said that it was
kind of the modern beauty ofEurope, but with American
comforts.
That's what I'm hearing you say.
Yeah, always in this segment ofthe show bottom of the hour
we've got the cruise deal of theweek and in this case we've got
the top five cruise deals ofthe hour.
(33:33):
We've got the cruise deal ofthe week and in this case we've
got the top five cruise deals ofthe week.
So let's start there and thenlet's talk about how people can
get in touch with you or thewebsite to book these vacations
this week.
Mark Faldmo (33:43):
I thought I'd just highlight some of the cruises
that are listed onblueplanetvacations.
com In cruise deals.
I have a section called the topfive cruise deals where I
really go each week and try andfind the best cruise deals that
are out there.
Currently there are 11 cruisedeals listed on this page, but
we'll highlight a few of thembecause I think there's some
(34:05):
really good offers.
I think the best deal that islisted there is a seven-day
Alaska cruise round trip fromVancouver on Norwegian Cruise
Line.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:16):
Do we know which ship that one's on?
Mark Faldmo (34:17):
Yes, it's on the Norwegian Sun, which is one of
the smaller ships in Norwegian'sfleet.
But what makes this aparticularly good deal is the
date and the price.
So it's on June 20th, right inthe middle of the summer, which
is the perceived best time to goto Alaska, but the balcony
cabins on this start at $1,389per person.
(34:39):
Whoa, yeah when.
If you look at other cruiselines balconies, they're well
above $2,000.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:47):
Yeah, I was going to say.
Mark Faldmo (34:47):
For this time frame in June.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:50):
Yeah, so summertime is Alaska prime time.
Mark Faldmo (34:54):
Yeah, this cruise again leaves from Vancouver,
goes to Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneauand goes to Icy Strait.
So I think that's the overallbest cruise deal that's out
there.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:06):
That's deal number one of five.
What's deal number two?
Mark Faldmo (35:09):
I'd say deal number two let's go to the other side
of the country.
Seven-day Canada and NewEngland cruise.
This is September 6th, so thiswould be to the start of the
fall foliage.
No guarantee if there will befall colors at that time, but
there could be Again.
September 6th on PrincessCruises, balcony cabin starts at
(35:31):
$989.
Wow, which is great for that.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:35):
Even though you can't guarantee the colors,
you can guarantee that therewill be leaves on the tree
somehow.
Mark Faldmo (35:40):
Yes, yeah, yeah, because the inside cabin is
almost the same price as thebalcony cabin, so just go with
the balcony cabin on that.
Deal number three is aseven-day Norwegian fjords
cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:54):
Oh wow, this is on.
Mark Faldmo (35:56):
Cunard Cruise Line Leaves from Southampton July
18th, right in the middle of thegood season, to go to the
Norwegian fjords.
Balcony cabin starts at $1769per person.
Wow, what I like about this oneis how port intensive it is.
Goes to Stavanger in Norway,goes to Hardinger Fjord, goes to
(36:20):
Skolden and goes to Aalesund.
Aalesund is one of my favoriteplaces in Norway.
From there you can get to aplace called the Troll Road and
it's a switchback.
It goes up to like 10,000 feet.
It's a pretty interesting port.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:35):
What's the date on that one?
Mark Faldmo (36:37):
And so the date on that one is July 18th.
What's deal number four?
Deal number four we're going togo to the Caribbean this is
October 12th on MSC cruises onthe MSC seashore.
So inside start at 548 perperson and a balcony cabin
starts at 769.
Wow.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:58):
I've got to hand it to MSC.
They are coming into theAmerican market and I know that
they've been doing it for awhile.
But my point is they arebreaking in and they're doing it
with pricing and they've gotnice ships too.
Yes, they do.
Mark Faldmo (37:10):
New ships.
You know the seashore, we wereboth on the seashore earlier
this year, Yep, and and actuallythis is the itinerary that you
did, so leaves from PortCanaveral, Ocean Cay, Cozumel
and Costa Maya.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:22):
Deal number five in the infamous just
cruising segment is let's see.
Mark Faldmo (37:27):
I'm having a hard time choosing between the
remaining of the 11 that are inthat A 11-day Iceland and UK
cruise.
Ooh good choice.
This is August 6th on VirginVoyages, so this leaves from
Portsmouth.
So basically, London goes toAmsterdam, goes to Lurick in the
(37:48):
Shetland Islands Now, last weekwe talked about the Faroe
Islands, the Shetland Islands,very similar and then it does a
circumnavigation of Iceland,goes to three different ports in
Iceland, ending in Reykjavik.
This one starts at $2369.
So it's a little bit moreexpensive than what we've been
talking about, but for 11 daysthat is a pretty good rate and
(38:12):
it's a very interestingitinerary.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:15):
And the deals that you've been talking about.
They can obviously call you.
Let me just give out thenumbers we go to break here
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
But I think one of the coolestthings that you have on blue
planet vacations.
com is the not only the top fivecruise deals of week, but
(38:38):
you've got an entire cruisesection on the website that you
can kind of play around withdates and destinations and then
just book it right on thewebsite.
You can it's been very helpful.
Honestly, I reference it.
I don't know if you've seen thestats, but Patrick has spent a
little bit of time on your site.
Mark Faldmo (38:57):
Yeah, it's a great little tool for people to look
at when searching for cruises.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:02):
Take advantage of the offer 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
com.
When we come back we've gotMark's travel tips.
We'll wrap up.
The US has issued a do nottravel warning for parts of
Mexico.
That's just one of the storieswe'll talk about when the Inside
Travel Talk podcast, a radioshow, continues.
(39:24):
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll be right back.
Show Voice (39:30):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalkcom.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (39:57):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
authentic tall ship sailingexperiences featuring creative
itineraries throughout theMediterranean Caribbean and
Central America.
To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
(40:18):
blueplanetvacations.
com.
Show Voice (40:31):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
bluelanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And now your hosts, PatrickWiscombe and Mark Faldmo and
(40:56):
Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (41:02):
Final segment of this week's Inside Travel
Talk podcast and radio show.
Thank you to all of ourlisteners, all of our
subscribers, for taking the timeto listen to us.
We don't have a show, we don'thave a business, so I just want
to say thank you.
I hope you can hear thesincerity in my voice.
Mark and I love talking traveland, honestly, we can't do it
(41:24):
without you.
If you're new to the show or ifyou're just tuning in right now
, this show is all about travel.
It's only about travel, and wewant everyone to get out and
explore the world.
Whatever part of the world,whatever part of the world you
(41:45):
want to go to, we can help youwith.
So, with that being said,coming up in this segment, we've
got the travel news headlinesand we're also going to talk
about Route 66.
Mark, how many times have youbeen on Route 66?
Mark Faldmo (41:59):
I know of probably two times, but probably a little
bit more than that.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:04):
Route 66 is fascinating to me, and so we'll
talk about that here briefly inthis final segment of the show.
But let's start with the travelnews headlines.
As we went to break, Imentioned that the United States
has issued a do not travelwarning for parts of Mexico.
Let's just start there.
Mark Faldmo (42:22):
What parts of Mexico.
It's the border areas of Mexico.
In the travel world this kindof comes down like we were
talking about earlier, with LosAngeles to geography.
Some people hear that the StateDepartment adds a travel
advisory to Mexico.
I'm not realizing those traveladvisories are compartmentalized
state by state in Mexico.
(42:43):
This is the border areas, areasthat travelers go to which
would be Mexico City area, theYucatan.
Those remain at level one.
Exercise normal precautions.
Other places that travelers goto, like Puerto Vallarta, are
exercise increased precautions.
Yeah, so level two, but still alevel two.
(43:05):
Right Places like Paris andLondon are all level two.
This is a good chance forpeople to think about looking at
these warnings.
If you go to the Blue PlanetVacations website, in the bottom
footer there's a resource pagewhere you can click on the State
Department's warnings on searchcountry by country, which, if
you click on Mexico, it willbreak it down kind of region by
(43:28):
region as to what the travelwarnings are.
And also a good time to talkabout the State Department's
STEP program.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:35):
Yeah, the STEP program basically.
Level one just exercise normalcaution.
Level two is increased caution.
Step three is I forgot whatstep three is Reconsider travel.
Yeah, reconsider travel.
Step four is just do not travel.
Mark Faldmo (43:50):
Again on the Blue Planet vacation.
There's a thing where travelerscan enroll with the state
department and it's called theSmart Travel Enrollment Program,
and this will let the statedepartment know where travelers
are and if there's anything thatis needed.
It helps if there's a naturaldisaster and you have to be
evacuated.
It just lets the statedepartment know where travelers
(44:11):
are at and gives you up-to-dateinformation on what's happening
in the country.
Patrick Wis (44:15):
BluePlanetVacations .
com just go to the very bottom.
Is that where it is?
Mark Faldmo (44:19):
I think it is yeah, yep, in the bottom footer.
Okay, it's in resources, okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:24):
Let's say that you need to cancel your trip.
I haven't had to file a claim,but I have had travel insurance.
This seems like a natural wayto just talk about travel
insurance for a minute and thebenefits of having it Travel
insurance and we've said manytimes, it's highly recommended
to protect your travelinvestment.
Mark Faldmo (44:43):
Booking a trip is an investment.
You want to protect that.
A lot of travel insurancepolicies will cover pre-existing
conditions if you pay for thepolicy within a certain
timeframe from booking your trip.
But, most importantly, they canprotect you from if you need to
cancel for covered reasons butwhile you're traveling.
(45:03):
The health insurance benefitsare very important.
Our private health insurancehere won't cover you in most
foreign countries.
It's a very good idea to havethat insurance that will cover
for sickness If you get aninjury.
We've told the story severaltimes.
On air I had a client that hadnot an aneurysm but had
(45:26):
something happened in his brainand had to be medivacked from
Australia back to the US.
The bill was something like$350,000.
And the medical insurancecovered that, and so you don't
want anything to happen, butthings can happen when you
travel.
So protecting your trip withtravel insurance is always a
(45:47):
good idea.
You don't buy insurance hopingto use it.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:53):
Let me switch gears here.
Let me talk about airplane modeon your phone.
When flying, I've noticed thatthe pilot or the attendants are
saying put your phone inairplane mode.
Mark Faldmo (46:04):
This is something that passengers are kind of
going back and forth on.
They don't want to put theirphones in airplane mode, which I
don't understand.
What's the big deal?
Which I don't understand?
Yeah, I think if someone wasmaking a phone call next to me,
that would be very annoying in aflight In Europe.
As long as you have 5G service,you don't have to put your
(46:24):
phone in airplane mode.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:26):
Oh, interesting.
Mark Faldmo (46:27):
I think they still say you can't make calls, but if
the plane will pick up data,you can use that 5G data.
But in the US it doesn't matterwhat you have, it is still the
official rule to put your phonein airplane mode or turn it off
when flying.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:42):
Yeah, just do it Last thing before we take off
.
I can't believe I'm going tosay this, but Route 66 here in
America celebrating 100 years,and one thing I didn't know is
that it went from downtownChicago to Los Angeles,
basically the Santa Monica Pierin LA.
How many times have you been onRoute 66, knowingly?
Mark Faldmo (47:06):
Knowingly.
I've been on it twice, mainlyin the Illinois area.
Last time I was in Chicago Iactually sought out a little hot
dog stand.
That was on Route 66.
Route 66 stretches goes Chicagoto St Louis, to Tulsa, to
Oklahoma City, then across tothe panhandle of Texas, across
(47:29):
New Mexico, Arizona and into LosAngeles area and then at Santa
Monica Pier.
One thing I found interestingwhen looking at this the
National Park Service hasdesignated over 250 structures
along Route 66 on the NationalRegister of Historic Places.
There's lots of goodrestaurants, diners, Chicago
(47:51):
area.
Lou Mitchell's Diner is one ofthose favorite and famous diners
.
One place that I've kind ofalways wanted to visit is the
Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino,California.
I don't know why, just alwaysas a kid I've seen that pop up
on movies and think that's beeninteresting, did you say the
(48:12):
Wigwam Motel.
Wigwam Motel.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:14):
Wait, isn't that the one with?
Mark Faldmo (48:15):
like teepees and Yep.
They're all teepees yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:20):
All the rooms are teepees.
Okay, I know what you'retalking about.
It started business in 1949,and it looks like rates are
basically like $100 a night, $90, $110.
And these teepees have doors.
Yes, Very motel style.
You know, pull up in front ofyour teepee and check in, and
you know that is interesting.
Mark Faldmo (48:42):
Yeah, I mean there are some really interesting
things along Route 66.
Some old kind of classic 50sstyle motels and cafes, old
filling stations.
I just think it would befascinating to drive that the
whole route.
One place that I've kind ofalways wanted to go is Mr D's
Route 66 Diner in Kingman,Arizona.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:04):
Yeah, I've been to.
Mark Faldmo (49:05):
Kingman yes, yeah, and so you know that's something
that close enough for us herein Salt Lake I could get down to
if I really wanted to.
For those road trip enthusiasts, I think this is probably on
everyone's bucket list and Iwould love to do that someday
one of the things about thewigwam motel is that discover
(49:28):
comfort in your unique teepee.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:31):
That is not something that you normally see
and they do have a swimming pool.
What a fun way to end the show.
I knew we were going to talkabout Route 66, but what I
didn't know is that we weregoing to zero in on the Wigwam
Hotel.
I'm glad that that's one ofyour memories.
Yeah, what a fun show this week.
(49:54):
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
Take advantage of the five well, really 11 cruise deals on
blueplanetvacations.
com.
We talked about the US VirginIslands.
We talked about the flight fromAustralia.
What a great time to be alive.
That we can just hop on a plane, that we can hop in a car.
(50:15):
Go see the world.
Go do it.
Call Mark in his office if youneed help booking anything
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
Also, go to blueplanetvacations.
com to book those vacations.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning at 11 am
(50:38):
right here on this radio stationand on the Blue Planet
Vacations radio network, and youcan also stream, download and
subscribe to the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Well, that's it.
We've done our job.
It's your turn.
Get out and explore the world,because you never know what
(51:02):
curveball's life is going tothrow at you.
As we like to say, live yourlife deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thank you so much for listening.
Have a great week.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
Show Voice (51:19):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
That's 888-718-7717.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
It is the weekend, which means that it's
time to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show
Coming up.
On today's show we will betalking about the US Virgin
Islands Nikki and I will bethere shortly A flight deal to
Australia and five.
Count them one, two, three,four, five, five great cruise
(00:20):
deals this week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice us Explore your
(00:55):
world.
Show Voice (00:55):
It's the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:22):
It is the weekend, which means that it is
time to talk about travel.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
Thank you for taking the timeto stop and listen and if you
are brand new to the show, oreven if you're a longtime
(01:43):
listener for the last year and ahalf, the entire purpose of
this radio and podcast is tohelp you plan and book your next
vacation or just give you ideasof where you want to go on
vacation next, and we arepresented by blueplanetvacations
.
com.
I always love talking travel.
Mark Faldmo joins me in theWiscombe Faldmo radio studio.
(02:06):
How are you?
I haven't seen you all week.
I haven't even talked to you.
Mark Faldmo (02:10):
Yep, I'm good, I'm kind of recovering from earlier
this week when we were in themid-60s, but we're back down to
the mid to low 30s now.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:19):
Even if it was just a few days four or five
days in the 50s and 60s that wasnice.
Mark Faldmo (02:24):
I went out and did some yard cleanup, so I did yard
work last week.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:28):
Coming up in this first segment of the show,
we've got the travel news and,of course, we always have the
destination highlight, and thisweek we're talking about the U S
Virgin islands.
Nikki and I will be there nextmonth.
Very, very excited to go.
Nikki and I are going there.
Right, you are going there.
Yes, okay, make sure thatthat's one of the Virgin Islands
.
Mark Faldmo (02:47):
Yes, it is.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:49):
Let's first get to the travel news headlines
.
I thought that this story wassignificant in the travel world.
Celebrity Cruises has announcedthat they're going to launch
river cruising.
That is a big deal.
That is.
Mark Faldmo (03:04):
And I was very surprised when I saw this.
I've been thinking about thisover the last few days when this
news was announced.
I think Celebrity is probablythe best ocean cruise line that
was the best positioned to gointo river cruising.
I've often wondered why there'snot a little bit more of the
ocean cruise lines that do rivercruise lines.
We've had Viking start as ariver cruise line and now they
(03:27):
do ocean cruises, but it hasn'tever gone the other way.
Celebrity has put in an orderfor 10 river ships and they're
going to start sailing in 2027.
So that's not too far off.
Those will probably be for salein the next little while here,
once they get a little bit moredown the road on this 10 ships.
They're serious, they are.
(03:48):
They're going to take theinspiration from those ships,
from the Celebrity Edge classship, and they're obviously not
going to have some of thefeatures that don't work on a
river, but they are taking theirinspiration from those ships.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:03):
So Nikki and I will be on the Celebrity Ascent
next month.
It will be my first timegetting on an Edge class ship
and I got to be honest I thinkI'm going to spend some time
just hanging out on the flyingcarpet.
Yes, which?
Mark Faldmo (04:16):
is something that won't be on the river.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:19):
A nine-story elevator on a river cruise.
Mark Faldmo (04:22):
On a river cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:24):
United Airlines is bringing back their
elite status match program.
This is good news, because Ithink that they're starting to
kind of lose ground to some ofthe other airlines.
I'm assuming that's why they'rebringing it back, or at least a
reason, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (04:38):
So they've brought this in for 2025, where they'll
match status with most otherairlines.
And all you have to do if youwant to match the status is
there's a form to fill out atunited.
com and after approval, you haveto take a United flight within
90 days and then, after thatflight, you'll be granted your
(05:01):
matching elite status.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:03):
Are you going to sign up for this?
You're a Delta guy mostly, butI know that you've flown United.
And who's the other one?
American, American?
Mark Faldmo (05:11):
If I have an opportunity to take a United
flight, if it works out, I'll doit.
So if I have something comingup, I'll do it, just to get the
status for a year.
I probably wouldn't fly a wholelot on United, but it is nice
to have that status.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:25):
If United is bringing back their status match
program, do any other airlinesdo that In the past.
Mark Faldmo (05:31):
American has done it and Delta has done it, but
that was two years ago when bothof those airlines had a status
match.
I've not seen anything onstatus match on at least
American or Delta.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:45):
Okay, so nothing really, nothing really.
Us Virgin Islands set a newtourism record in 2024.
As I mentioned, Nicki and I areheaded there next month.
What kind of numbers were theyseeing last year?
Mark Faldmo (05:58):
So they had an increase of almost 6% over the
previous record.
It doesn't say when that recordwas possibly 2019.
Oh, pre-covid, pre-covid.
But over their best year ever,they had a 6% increase in 2024.
This kind of goes to the trendand we've talked about this in
(06:19):
the past where people want to goto a tropical beach destination
but don't have a passport.
So the Virgin Islands is aplace you can go without a
passport, and the Virgin Islandsis kind of a whole new world
and we'll talk about that injust a minute.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:36):
Other than a cruise line?
How do we get to the VirginIslands?
Mark Faldmo (06:40):
First of all, there are kind of three main islands
in the US Virgin Islands.
There's St Thomas, St Croix andSt John.
You can get there by flight toSt Thomas and St Croix.
St John you can only get thereby ferry from the island of St
Thomas.
St Thomas is the most visitedof those, followed by St Croix
and then St John.
(07:00):
St John most of the island is anational park, so there's not a
lot of development there.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:07):
Quick question Maho Beach, where planes fly in
literally just feet over yourhead.
Which island is that?
Mark Faldmo (07:15):
on.
That's not in the US VirginIslands, that's in St Martin.
Okay, there we go, which is aFrench or Dutch island,
depending on what side of theisland you're on.
You are going to St Thomas asone of the ports on your cruise.
You'll be in St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:31):
A lot of saints in there.
Mark Faldmo (07:33):
Yes, St Thomas, St Croix, St John, British Virgin
Islands, and they're all saintstoo Well let's talk about St
Thomas first.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:43):
some of the things to do there.
Mark Faldmo (07:44):
Let's talk about St Thomas first, some of the
things to do there.
St Thomas is known for itsshopping and also its pirate
history.
As on all of these islands,there's good beaches.
You can go to Megan's Bay.
What I like about St Thomas andthis was kind of my very first
impression when I stepped off,and this is actually on all of
the US Virgin Islands is theydrive on the left side of the
(08:06):
road.
It's the only US territory thatdrives on the left side of the
road, and so you really can feellike you're in a foreign
country, but you don't need apassport to get there.
What about St John?
So St John and this is probablymy favorite island of all of
these Again, you get there bytaking a ferry from St Thomas,
(08:32):
but it's known for its beachesand hiking.
Most of the island is anational park.
There are few hotels, a fewthings that were kind of
grandfathered in.
Most of the island is anational park, but one of the
best beaches probably in theworld, which is Trunk Bay,
snorkeling just a beautifulbeach there in St John.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:46):
Let me ask you about snorkeling.
Do you snorkel with one ofthose pool noodles or do you
like going underneath the water?
Mark Faldmo (08:54):
I like to snorkel with some type of flotation
device.
Ad Voice (08:56):
Oh, okay, all right, so you're buoyant, just so I
don't have to work.
Mark Faldmo (08:58):
I just don't have to work as hard, so you can just
look around without swimming.
Okay, and the one thing at TrunkBay on St John is they kind of
have a little circuit that yousnorkel.
There's a little island thatyou snorkel around which is a
very interesting place tosnorkel because it goes through
different depths of the bay.
There that's a very popularthing to do.
(09:21):
There's also a little drinkshack up on top of the hill in
St John where you can look overand see the British Virgin
Islands.
They're all fairly close.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:32):
One if by land , two if by sea.
Mark Faldmo (09:34):
Yes, yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:37):
St Croix.
What do you like doing there?
Mark Faldmo (09:39):
This island has a lot of history.
The thing I think that'sinteresting about it is how many
different countries have ruledthis little piece of land.
It's fallen the flags ofNetherlands, England, France,
the Knights of Malta and Denmark.
In its history, it was once thecapital of the Danish West
Indies and it's known for its18th century butter-colored,
(10:02):
red-roofed buildings.
You know this would be a placefor beaches, water sports, if
you like, sailing.
It's a little bit more laidback than St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:12):
Off-air.
You had mentioned somethingabout St Thomas that you didn't
mention during this show.
Let's go back to St Thomas fora second.
Mark Faldmo (10:20):
One particular activity that I like.
It's a tram kind of a skyridething.
Oh, I know what you're talkingabout A viewpoint on top of the
mountain.
This is located kind of rightby the cruise port, so it's a
pretty popular thing to do ifyou're taking a cruise.
But you get up there and youhave a whole view of the city of
Charlotte Amile, which is thecapital city there in St Thomas.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:44):
I remember seeing pictures of that going
ooh, we have to do that.
Mark Faldmo (10:47):
It's a great experience.
If you're on St Thomas, you canjust take a day trip to St John
.
Very easy thing to do.
Go out, hike some of thosetrails on St John, visit the
beaches.
I love the US Virgin Islandsand you don't need a passport to
get there.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:02):
If you're coming in port on a cruise, do
you have enough time to do a daytrip to St?
Mark Faldmo (11:07):
John, yes, you do.
In fact, if you purchase theexcursion through the cruise
line, the ferry boat comes andpicks you up right at the pier
of the cruise terminal.
You just get on kind of theexpedition safari trucks.
It'll take you either to TrunkBay or the Circle Island tour.
That's something I highlyrecommend, for cruise passengers
is to do the St John tour whenthey're in St Thomas.
(11:30):
Otherwise, if you're on acruise, you have to go to the
other side of the island, whichis where the main ferry terminal
is at.
So you can do it, then you cando it.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:38):
Oh good, okay.
Well, I am excited to go, Nickiand I will be there next month.
And I am excited to go, Nickiand I will be there next month.
And I am excited to go, do allof this stuff.
And I owe it all to Mark.
Honestly, he's the one thatbooked it for us.
If you want to head to the USVirgin Islands, whether it's
cruise or you just want to gostraight there, call Mark in his
(11:59):
office during the break just toget the conversation started.
Office during the break, justto get the conversation started.
Phone number is 888-718-7717,888-718-7717.
Or you can also go toblueplanetvacations.
com.
Coming up in the next segment,we've got the hot travel deal of
(12:21):
the week, regardless of thedestination, but this time we
are headed to the land downunder Men at work.
Australia is on sale.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (12:43):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(13:04):
We'll be right back.
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Show Voice (14:06):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, and
check out the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
(14:27):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:36):
Welcome back inside of the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show.
Hello there, hope you're havinga terrific weekend.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
With my co-host, mark Faldmo,we love talking travel each and
every weekend and we areimmensely grateful to all of you
(14:57):
who subscribe to the show,listen to us on the radio
network and subscribe to thepodcast at insidetraveltalk.
com.
Coming up in this segment wehave the hot travel deal of the
week and this time we're goingdown under.
But let's first get to thetravel news headlines for this
(15:18):
week.
In light of everything, I kindof get it.
But there is a plea from LosAngeles hotels Please come.
Please come to LA.
We need you.
So Los Angeles is kind of getit.
There is a plea from LosAngeles hotels Please come,
please come to LA, we need you.
Mark Faldmo (15:26):
So Los Angeles is kind of experiencing the same
issues that Hawaii faced afterthe Maui fires.
What they're saying is lessthan 1% of the area of Los
Angeles was affected by thefires, and so they're asking
people not to cancel their trips.
Things are still open.
Travel industry is, I guess,kind of really fickle.
(15:49):
Big newsmakers seem to affectpeople's travel decisions, even
though it probably reallyshouldn't in some cases.
What Los Angeles is faced withis they have over 540,000 people
working just in Los AngelesCounty in the tourism sector.
So if people don't travel,those people don't have jobs.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:11):
What happened was absolutely significant.
But I think the Maui comparisonis good, where it made sound
like the entire island of Mauihad burned down when it really,
from a geographical standpoint,Maui was kind of small.
Mark Faldmo (16:24):
Yes, and then you know even Hawaii, other islands,
so Oahu, kauai, the big island,all faced downturns in tourism
because of the Maui fire, all of.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:35):
California Beautiful.
I love LA.
I just won't live there.
Yeah, delta Airlines is set tolaunch a new LA to Melbourne
flight.
What details do we have on that?
Mark Faldmo (16:48):
This is going to be three days a week.
It's going to fly Los Angelesto Melbourne Monday, Wednesday
and Friday on its new AirbusA350 flight and that is set to
start later this year, I thinkin May.
That is really opening upAustralia.
Right now, united and Qantasare the only airlines that fly
(17:11):
to Melbourne, and now Delta willbecome another option.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:17):
Yet another reason referencing what we
talked about in segment oneUnited Airlines bringing back
their status match program.
Southwest has postponed thestart date for installing extra
legroom seats.
Mark Faldmo (17:29):
Yeah, so this is a story we talked about oh maybe
two months ago, where Southwestannounced they're going to put
in extra legroom seats and starttheir assigned seating policy
and they were going to startthat the middle of 2025, but
they have delayed that now untilfirst half of 2026.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:50):
Let's get to our hot travel deal of the week,
always in this second segmentof the show, and this week we
are going down under.
Mark Faldmo (17:58):
This is a great price to get to Sydney from Los
Angeles it's $848.
Really.
And it does connect through NewZealand to get to Sydney, but
for that price that connectionis probably worth it.
Oh yeah, that's probably fiveto even $700 lower than the
(18:19):
normal price to get to Sydney.
There are blackout dates.
You can add a stopover in NewZealand if you would like to.
There's a fee.
I think it's $75 to add astopover in New Zealand.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:32):
So let's talk about some of the things to do
in Sydney.
Where would you start Sydney?
Mark Faldmo (18:38):
I visited twice Sydney.
Both of them have beenrelatively short.
They've been less than six days.
A lot of people say that's along flight for just such a
short time, but I actuallyenjoyed that.
Things to do in Sydney.
The first thing I would get isthe Sydney Explorer Pass.
With the Explorer Pass you getto choose a few different things
(19:01):
, attractions you can do.
You can choose three of 12 ofthe main attractions in Sydney
to do.
Included in that pass is theSydney Zoo, the Hop On, Hop Off
Tour and the Sydney Aquarium.
Those are probably the three Iwould choose, but there are
other options in the SydneyExplorer Pass.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:21):
You mentioned there was about 12.
What are the other nine, justso listeners can know what they
can choose.
Mark Faldmo (19:27):
So the other things you can choose within that pass
are the Sydney Tower Eye, whichis the radio tower building
that you go up.
There's a revolving restaurantup there.
Okay, the National MaritimeMuseum.
You can take a lunch cruise.
There is an option for theSydney Opera House tour.
You can take a jet boat ride inthe bay.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:49):
I know what Patrick's doing.
I didn't realize how much Ilike being on boats.
That's kind of a new thing thatI've found about myself.
Mark Faldmo (19:57):
Yeah, I love being out on the water, out on the
ocean.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:00):
What are some of the other things to?
Mark Faldmo (20:01):
do.
Probably one of the mostexciting things, I think, is the
Sydney Bridge Climb, and sothis is where you get hooked up
in harnesses and you walk up tothe top of one of the stanchions
of the Sydney Bridge.
Oh man, great views, oh.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:20):
I bet.
Mark Faldmo (20:21):
That's a very popular thing to do.
One of the things I enjoyedmost was taking a ferry over to
Manly Island.
Oh, I bet face at Luna Parkthere, Bondi Beach, which is one
(20:44):
of the famous beaches there.
One thing I really enjoyed wastaking a Sydney Harbor cruise at
nighttime see the skyline atnight.
I kind of took a dinner cruiseto do that.
Probably the thing I enjoyedthe most was a day trip to the
Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains is a scenicarea.
It's a full day trip but ascenic area near Sydney.
(21:05):
Along the way you stop at akangaroo kind of sanctuary place
where you get to feed thekangaroos and kind of play with
the kangaroos.
The most favorite part of thisday for me was the Scenic World
Railway.
It's an old mining railway andit's the world's steepest
railway, at 52 degrees incline.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:25):
I'm actually kind of impressed that it can go
up that steep of an inclineyeah.
Mark Faldmo (21:29):
Yes, so it's actually hooked to a cable, so
it's pulled up?
Patrick Wiscombe (21:34):
I would hope so, wow.
Mark Faldmo (21:35):
So, yeah, it's pulled up, there's great views
at the top and then when you getdown at the bottom of the
railway there's hiking trails,kind of a nature preserve.
It was a wonderful day, Eventhough I've only been to Sydney
on short trips.
I think it's well worth thatand if you want to extend your
trip, you can go up to the GreatBarrier Reef, go up to Port
(21:58):
Stanley, which is rainforest, goout to the desert Ayers Rock.
There's lots you can do inAustralia from Sydney.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:08):
What do you call a lazy kangaroo?
I don't know what.
A pouch potato A pouch?
Mark Faldmo (22:14):
potato, a pouch potato, that's great.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:19):
Sorry for the bad humor.
Mark Faldmo (22:22):
No, humor is always good.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:23):
Even though it's bad.
Okay, I had that coming.
You know, what's funny is thatNikki and I have actually been
talking about Australiaralia,but we didn't know if we wanted
to fly or do a cruise andhonestly, I don't know what
we're gonna do now.
Mark Faldmo (22:41):
Yeah, either way, it's a great way to visit.
Go to Australia.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:46):
If you've always had desires to go to
Australia, call mark.
Call them during the break.
Just Just get the conversationstarted.
No obligation, 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And you can also see theAustralian vacation options on
blueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
(23:10):
It is the infamous JustCruising segment.
This week we literally havefive great cruise deals.
Do not miss this next segmentof the show coming up after the
news update.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
Show Voice (23:34):
We will be right back.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
(23:55):
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (24:11):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
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Patrick Wiscombe (24:30):
Okay, we're back.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show Coming up.
In the next 30 minutes we willbe talking about the five cruise
deals of the week the mostcruise deals we have ever
discussed in one segment, andwe're rolling it back to 1987.
We're talking Patrick Swayze,Jennifer Grey we have a live
Dirty Dancing concert.
(24:51):
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (25:09):
Us this is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
(25:36):
And now here are your hostsPatrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Patrick Wiscombe (25:50):
All aboard for segment three of the Inside
Travel Talk podcast and radioshow.
We hope that you are having aterrific weekend.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,alongside Mark Faldmo,
broadcasting live here in SaltLake City from the Wiscombe
Faldmo radio studios, and thanksto all of our radio affiliates
(26:12):
podcast listeners, we couldn'tdo this show without you.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend
Coming up in this segment of theshow.
Of course we've got the travelnews headlines, but we've also
got the cruise deal of the week.
We just simply call it theinfamous Just Cruising segment
and we've got five cruise deals.
(26:32):
We've never had that manybefore in a single segment.
But before we get to the cruisedeals of the week, let's get to
the travel news headlines.
Carnival is tightening therules for minors accommodations.
What does that mean?
Mark Faldmo (26:46):
Yeah, so this really affects families
traveling together.
So the new policy for Carnivalis guests 14 years of age and
under must be booked with arelative or guardian 25 years or
older in the same cabin or in aconnecting cabin.
The previous policy allowed forguests 12 and younger to occupy
(27:09):
a cabin directly across thehall or next door, but now again
for guests 14 years of age oryounger, they have to be in the
same cabin with a relative orguardian.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:20):
I'd like to hear the backstory of why that
policy changed.
Mark Faldmo (27:24):
And that's actually a little bit more in line with
what some of the other cruiselines are doing.
Oh, so it is.
When we book families weusually have to put one parent
in a room with some kids andthen another parent in a room
with kids just to get aroundtheir age policies.
Other ages have not changed, soI guess 15 to 17 can be in
(27:44):
their own room, separated by upto two cabins, as long as
there's a parent or guardian 25years of age or older in that
main cabin.
There.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:56):
What do we do about individuals aged 18 to 20?
Mark Faldmo (28:00):
18 to 20 can be anywhere on the ship, but they
do have to be linked to a parentor guardian at least 25 years
or older.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:08):
So not even 21 .
Mark Faldmo (28:10):
Yeah, so, oh, interesting.
So to sail with no restrictions?
Both guests have to be 21 yearsof age or older to sail on
their own.
The exception to that is ifthey're legally married couples
or qualified military personnelcan also sail if they're 18 or
(28:30):
20 in a cabin, but it's veryrestrictive.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:33):
So in the eyes of cruise companies, an adult
is 25, not 21.
Mark Faldmo (28:38):
25 if there's a minor involved.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:41):
Okay, got it.
One of the private islands thatI've never been to is called
Great Stirrup Cay.
I think it's owned by NCL orNorwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
They announced that they'redoing some construction or pier
construction work.
What's the timeframe on thatthis?
Mark Faldmo (28:59):
is Norwegian Cruise Line Holding, which is
Norwegian Cruise Line, OceanaCruises and Regent Seven Seas
Cruises.
They all use Great Stirrup Cay.
Previously, this private islanddid not have a pier, so you had
to tender in previously thisprivate island did not have a
pier so you had to tender in.
The tender in was an improvementfrom what it was before.
The first probably 10 times Ivisited this island you went on
(29:22):
almost like a World War IIlanding craft.
So they would beach it and thenthe front would come down and
you'd walk off like you're doinga beach landing.
It's a pretty unique way to getto the island.
This is also the first privateisland in the cruise industry,
so Norwegian was the first.
They later added a littleharbor where the tenders could
(29:44):
come in, made it a little biteasier to get to the island.
But now they're adding a pier,which construction started
earlier this year and should beready by the end of the year.
Norwegian was really the firstcruise line to really enhance
their private island.
We've often talked about MSC'sprivate island and all the neat
things to do there.
(30:04):
Norwegian was the first cruiseline to really make their island
more than just a beach day andshould make it so the ships
don't have to miss the island asmuch.
A lot of times, duringinclement weather or windy
conditions, the ship misses theprivate island.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:21):
My perception is, royal Caribbean has really
outdone NCL, and even MSC mayhave outdone NCL.
Mark Faldmo (30:29):
Or is that not fair ?
I don't think that's fair.
Norwegian's island iscomparable or in some ways
better than MSC's island as faras the facilities that are on
there.
Now, to begin with, it was justbeach chairs and a little
thatched roof place where theyserved food, so it was a very
basic island.
(30:50):
But when they made theinvestment a few years ago, it
was the first to make those biginvestments.
Norwegian was the first torealize that these private
islands could be the mostpopular port on the itinerary,
which they have become with mostcruise lines.
Royal Caribbean's island isamazing with what it has
facilities wise.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:10):
Is that perfect day at Coco Cay?
Mark Faldmo (31:13):
Yeah, perfect day at Coco Cay, which is actually.
You could swim from Norwegian'sIsland to Royal Caribbean's
Island, except for the cruiseemployees that are sitting there
stopping people from doing that.
That's how.
That's how close they are, okay.
So they're that close.
They're that close, okay.
Yeah, in fact, if you go to theBlue Planet Facebook page, the
(31:34):
other week when I flew into NASA, I flew right over the islands.
I took a picture of it so youcan see how close the two
islands are.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:42):
I could just see police in between the
islands.
Hey, out of the water, come on,yeah, let's get out.
Come on, yeah.
One of the most popular moviesfrom 1987 was Dirty Dancing
Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze,and it looks like.
Well, Patrick won't be there,well, I guess Jennifer Grey
won't be either.
But they are bringing DirtyDancing in concert to MSC's
(32:05):
World America, a ship that bothof us will be on in.
When is it April?
Yeah, I think it's April.
Yeah, okay, so Dirty Dancing inconcert, that's the headline.
I think it's in April.
Yeah, okay.
So dirty dancing and concert,that's the headline.
So that's what will be seen.
Mark Faldmo (32:17):
Yeah, so they just made this announcement.
This will be one of their maintheater shows.
Msc is really trying to makeinroads with the American
vacationer.
Msc seems a little bit moreEuropean and so they've built
the ship MSC World America toreally appeal towards the
American traveler.
And adding a show like DirtyDancing in concert I think will
(32:42):
do that.
You know it's great music,music that everybody knows.
I think this will be popular.
This is actually one of sevennew productions that MSC will
have on this ship.
They have an acrobatic show,they have an illusionist show,
which MSC calls the largest everillusion production show at sea
.
They have a special effectsshow which is put on by the
(33:05):
people that did special effectsin Back to the Future, Mission
Impossible, the Mummy, and thenthey have a live pop concert.
Patrick Wiscombe (33:13):
So when we had Laura Okonowski of MSC Cruises
on what was it two or threeweeks ago, she said that it was
kind of the modern beauty ofEurope, but with American
comforts.
That's what I'm hearing you say.
Yeah, always in this segment ofthe show bottom of the hour
we've got the cruise deal of theweek and in this case we've got
the top five cruise deals ofthe hour.
(33:33):
We've got the cruise deal ofthe week and in this case we've
got the top five cruise deals ofthe week.
So let's start there and thenlet's talk about how people can
get in touch with you or thewebsite to book these vacations
this week.
Mark Faldmo (33:43):
I thought I'd just highlight some of the cruises
that are listed onblueplanetvacations.
com In cruise deals.
I have a section called the topfive cruise deals where I
really go each week and try andfind the best cruise deals that
are out there.
Currently there are 11 cruisedeals listed on this page, but
we'll highlight a few of thembecause I think there's some
(34:05):
really good offers.
I think the best deal that islisted there is a seven-day
Alaska cruise round trip fromVancouver on Norwegian Cruise
Line.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:16):
Do we know which ship that one's on?
Mark Faldmo (34:17):
Yes, it's on the Norwegian Sun, which is one of
the smaller ships in Norwegian'sfleet.
But what makes this aparticularly good deal is the
date and the price.
So it's on June 20th, right inthe middle of the summer, which
is the perceived best time to goto Alaska, but the balcony
cabins on this start at $1,389per person.
(34:39):
Whoa, yeah when.
If you look at other cruiselines balconies, they're well
above $2,000.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:47):
Yeah, I was going to say.
Mark Faldmo (34:47):
For this time frame in June.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:50):
Yeah, so summertime is Alaska prime time.
Mark Faldmo (34:54):
Yeah, this cruise again leaves from Vancouver,
goes to Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneauand goes to Icy Strait.
So I think that's the overallbest cruise deal that's out
there.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:06):
That's deal number one of five.
What's deal number two?
Mark Faldmo (35:09):
I'd say deal number two let's go to the other side
of the country.
Seven-day Canada and NewEngland cruise.
This is September 6th, so thiswould be to the start of the
fall foliage.
No guarantee if there will befall colors at that time, but
there could be Again.
September 6th on PrincessCruises, balcony cabin starts at
(35:31):
$989.
Wow, which is great for that.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:35):
Even though you can't guarantee the colors,
you can guarantee that therewill be leaves on the tree
somehow.
Mark Faldmo (35:40):
Yes, yeah, yeah, because the inside cabin is
almost the same price as thebalcony cabin, so just go with
the balcony cabin on that.
Deal number three is aseven-day Norwegian fjords
cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:54):
Oh wow, this is on.
Mark Faldmo (35:56):
Cunard Cruise Line Leaves from Southampton July
18th, right in the middle of thegood season, to go to the
Norwegian fjords.
Balcony cabin starts at $1769per person.
Wow, what I like about this oneis how port intensive it is.
Goes to Stavanger in Norway,goes to Hardinger Fjord, goes to
(36:20):
Skolden and goes to Aalesund.
Aalesund is one of my favoriteplaces in Norway.
From there you can get to aplace called the Troll Road and
it's a switchback.
It goes up to like 10,000 feet.
It's a pretty interesting port.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:35):
What's the date on that one?
Mark Faldmo (36:37):
And so the date on that one is July 18th.
What's deal number four?
Deal number four we're going togo to the Caribbean this is
October 12th on MSC cruises onthe MSC seashore.
So inside start at 548 perperson and a balcony cabin
starts at 769.
Wow.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:58):
I've got to hand it to MSC.
They are coming into theAmerican market and I know that
they've been doing it for awhile.
But my point is they arebreaking in and they're doing it
with pricing and they've gotnice ships too.
Yes, they do.
Mark Faldmo (37:10):
New ships.
You know the seashore, we wereboth on the seashore earlier
this year, Yep, and and actuallythis is the itinerary that you
did, so leaves from PortCanaveral, Ocean Cay, Cozumel
and Costa Maya.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:22):
Deal number five in the infamous just
cruising segment is let's see.
Mark Faldmo (37:27):
I'm having a hard time choosing between the
remaining of the 11 that are inthat A 11-day Iceland and UK
cruise.
Ooh good choice.
This is August 6th on VirginVoyages, so this leaves from
Portsmouth.
So basically, London goes toAmsterdam, goes to Lurick in the
(37:48):
Shetland Islands Now, last weekwe talked about the Faroe
Islands, the Shetland Islands,very similar and then it does a
circumnavigation of Iceland,goes to three different ports in
Iceland, ending in Reykjavik.
This one starts at $2369.
So it's a little bit moreexpensive than what we've been
talking about, but for 11 daysthat is a pretty good rate and
(38:12):
it's a very interestingitinerary.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:15):
And the deals that you've been talking about.
They can obviously call you.
Let me just give out thenumbers we go to break here
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
But I think one of the coolestthings that you have on blue
planet vacations.
com is the not only the top fivecruise deals of week, but
(38:38):
you've got an entire cruisesection on the website that you
can kind of play around withdates and destinations and then
just book it right on thewebsite.
You can it's been very helpful.
Honestly, I reference it.
I don't know if you've seen thestats, but Patrick has spent a
little bit of time on your site.
Mark Faldmo (38:57):
Yeah, it's a great little tool for people to look
at when searching for cruises.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:02):
Take advantage of the offer 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
com.
When we come back we've gotMark's travel tips.
We'll wrap up.
The US has issued a do nottravel warning for parts of
Mexico.
That's just one of the storieswe'll talk about when the Inside
Travel Talk podcast, a radioshow, continues.
(39:24):
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll be right back.
Show Voice (39:30):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalkcom.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (39:57):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
authentic tall ship sailingexperiences featuring creative
itineraries throughout theMediterranean Caribbean and
Central America.
To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
(40:18):
blueplanetvacations.
com.
Show Voice (40:31):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
bluelanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And now your hosts, PatrickWiscombe and Mark Faldmo and
(40:56):
Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (41:02):
Final segment of this week's Inside Travel
Talk podcast and radio show.
Thank you to all of ourlisteners, all of our
subscribers, for taking the timeto listen to us.
We don't have a show, we don'thave a business, so I just want
to say thank you.
I hope you can hear thesincerity in my voice.
Mark and I love talking traveland, honestly, we can't do it
(41:24):
without you.
If you're new to the show or ifyou're just tuning in right now
, this show is all about travel.
It's only about travel, and wewant everyone to get out and
explore the world.
Whatever part of the world,whatever part of the world you
(41:45):
want to go to, we can help youwith.
So, with that being said,coming up in this segment, we've
got the travel news headlinesand we're also going to talk
about Route 66.
Mark, how many times have youbeen on Route 66?
Mark Faldmo (41:59):
I know of probably two times, but probably a little
bit more than that.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:04):
Route 66 is fascinating to me, and so we'll
talk about that here briefly inthis final segment of the show.
But let's start with the travelnews headlines.
As we went to break, Imentioned that the United States
has issued a do not travelwarning for parts of Mexico.
Let's just start there.
Mark Faldmo (42:22):
What parts of Mexico.
It's the border areas of Mexico.
In the travel world this kindof comes down like we were
talking about earlier, with LosAngeles to geography.
Some people hear that the StateDepartment adds a travel
advisory to Mexico.
I'm not realizing those traveladvisories are compartmentalized
state by state in Mexico.
(42:43):
This is the border areas, areasthat travelers go to which
would be Mexico City area, theYucatan.
Those remain at level one.
Exercise normal precautions.
Other places that travelers goto, like Puerto Vallarta, are
exercise increased precautions.
Yeah, so level two, but still alevel two.
(43:05):
Right Places like Paris andLondon are all level two.
This is a good chance forpeople to think about looking at
these warnings.
If you go to the Blue PlanetVacations website, in the bottom
footer there's a resource pagewhere you can click on the State
Department's warnings on searchcountry by country, which, if
you click on Mexico, it willbreak it down kind of region by
(43:28):
region as to what the travelwarnings are.
And also a good time to talkabout the State Department's
STEP program.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:35):
Yeah, the STEP program basically.
Level one just exercise normalcaution.
Level two is increased caution.
Step three is I forgot whatstep three is Reconsider travel.
Yeah, reconsider travel.
Step four is just do not travel.
Mark Faldmo (43:50):
Again on the Blue Planet vacation.
There's a thing where travelerscan enroll with the state
department and it's called theSmart Travel Enrollment Program,
and this will let the statedepartment know where travelers
are and if there's anything thatis needed.
It helps if there's a naturaldisaster and you have to be
evacuated.
It just lets the statedepartment know where travelers
(44:11):
are at and gives you up-to-dateinformation on what's happening
in the country.
Patrick Wis (44:15):
BluePlanetVacations .
com just go to the very bottom.
Is that where it is?
Mark Faldmo (44:19):
I think it is yeah, yep, in the bottom footer.
Okay, it's in resources, okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:24):
Let's say that you need to cancel your trip.
I haven't had to file a claim,but I have had travel insurance.
This seems like a natural wayto just talk about travel
insurance for a minute and thebenefits of having it Travel
insurance and we've said manytimes, it's highly recommended
to protect your travelinvestment.
Mark Faldmo (44:43):
Booking a trip is an investment.
You want to protect that.
A lot of travel insurancepolicies will cover pre-existing
conditions if you pay for thepolicy within a certain
timeframe from booking your trip.
But, most importantly, they canprotect you from if you need to
cancel for covered reasons butwhile you're traveling.
(45:03):
The health insurance benefitsare very important.
Our private health insurancehere won't cover you in most
foreign countries.
It's a very good idea to havethat insurance that will cover
for sickness If you get aninjury.
We've told the story severaltimes.
On air I had a client that hadnot an aneurysm but had
(45:26):
something happened in his brainand had to be medivacked from
Australia back to the US.
The bill was something like$350,000.
And the medical insurancecovered that, and so you don't
want anything to happen, butthings can happen when you
travel.
So protecting your trip withtravel insurance is always a
(45:47):
good idea.
You don't buy insurance hopingto use it.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:53):
Let me switch gears here.
Let me talk about airplane modeon your phone.
When flying, I've noticed thatthe pilot or the attendants are
saying put your phone inairplane mode.
Mark Faldmo (46:04):
This is something that passengers are kind of
going back and forth on.
They don't want to put theirphones in airplane mode, which I
don't understand.
What's the big deal?
Which I don't understand?
Yeah, I think if someone wasmaking a phone call next to me,
that would be very annoying in aflight In Europe.
As long as you have 5G service,you don't have to put your
(46:24):
phone in airplane mode.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:26):
Oh, interesting.
Mark Faldmo (46:27):
I think they still say you can't make calls, but if
the plane will pick up data,you can use that 5G data.
But in the US it doesn't matterwhat you have, it is still the
official rule to put your phonein airplane mode or turn it off
when flying.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:42):
Yeah, just do it Last thing before we take off
.
I can't believe I'm going tosay this, but Route 66 here in
America celebrating 100 years,and one thing I didn't know is
that it went from downtownChicago to Los Angeles,
basically the Santa Monica Pierin LA.
How many times have you been onRoute 66, knowingly?
Mark Faldmo (47:06):
Knowingly.
I've been on it twice, mainlyin the Illinois area.
Last time I was in Chicago Iactually sought out a little hot
dog stand.
That was on Route 66.
Route 66 stretches goes Chicagoto St Louis, to Tulsa, to
Oklahoma City, then across tothe panhandle of Texas, across
(47:29):
New Mexico, Arizona and into LosAngeles area and then at Santa
Monica Pier.
One thing I found interestingwhen looking at this the
National Park Service hasdesignated over 250 structures
along Route 66 on the NationalRegister of Historic Places.
There's lots of goodrestaurants, diners, Chicago
(47:51):
area.
Lou Mitchell's Diner is one ofthose favorite and famous diners
.
One place that I've kind ofalways wanted to visit is the
Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino,California.
I don't know why, just alwaysas a kid I've seen that pop up
on movies and think that's beeninteresting, did you say the
(48:12):
Wigwam Motel.
Wigwam Motel.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:14):
Wait, isn't that the one with?
Mark Faldmo (48:15):
like teepees and Yep.
They're all teepees yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:20):
All the rooms are teepees.
Okay, I know what you'retalking about.
It started business in 1949,and it looks like rates are
basically like $100 a night, $90, $110.
And these teepees have doors.
Yes, Very motel style.
You know, pull up in front ofyour teepee and check in, and
you know that is interesting.
Mark Faldmo (48:42):
Yeah, I mean there are some really interesting
things along Route 66.
Some old kind of classic 50sstyle motels and cafes, old
filling stations.
I just think it would befascinating to drive that the
whole route.
One place that I've kind ofalways wanted to go is Mr D's
Route 66 Diner in Kingman,Arizona.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:04):
Yeah, I've been to.
Mark Faldmo (49:05):
Kingman yes, yeah, and so you know that's something
that close enough for us herein Salt Lake I could get down to
if I really wanted to.
For those road trip enthusiasts, I think this is probably on
everyone's bucket list and Iwould love to do that someday
one of the things about thewigwam motel is that discover
(49:28):
comfort in your unique teepee.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:31):
That is not something that you normally see
and they do have a swimming pool.
What a fun way to end the show.
I knew we were going to talkabout Route 66, but what I
didn't know is that we weregoing to zero in on the Wigwam
Hotel.
I'm glad that that's one ofyour memories.
Yeah, what a fun show this week.
(49:54):
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
Take advantage of the five well, really 11 cruise deals on
blueplanetvacations.
com.
We talked about the US VirginIslands.
We talked about the flight fromAustralia.
What a great time to be alive.
That we can just hop on a plane, that we can hop in a car.
(50:15):
Go see the world.
Go do it.
Call Mark in his office if youneed help booking anything
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
Also, go to blueplanetvacations.
com to book those vacations.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning at 11 am
(50:38):
right here on this radio stationand on the Blue Planet
Vacations radio network, and youcan also stream, download and
subscribe to the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Well, that's it.
We've done our job.
It's your turn.
Get out and explore the world,because you never know what
(51:02):
curveball's life is going tothrow at you.
As we like to say, live yourlife deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thank you so much for listening.
Have a great week.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
Show Voice (51:19):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
That's 888-718-7717.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
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