Bags, Boats, and Beach Bargains: Saving on Hawaii, Europe and Cruises

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
It is time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show.
Hi there Coming up.
On today's show, we will betalking about Southwest's new
bag policy.
We have updated informationabout their bag policy.
Spirit Airlines says that theywant to become a premium carrier
.
We'll see how that goes.
Norwegian Cruise Line takesdelivery of their brand new ship

(00:22):
, aqua Nikki and I will be onthat ship and we're also going
to tell you how to save $6,000on a Europe river cruise.
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.

(00:44):
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.

Show Voice (00:54):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by blueplanetvacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
And now here are your hostsPatrick patrick Wiscombe and

(01:17):
Mark Faldmo.

Good morning.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
Hello there, my name is PatrickWiscombe.
Mark Faldmo will be in thestudio here in just a minute.
He's off printing some thingsin the other room.
The entire purpose of thisradio show and podcast is to
help you plan and book your nextvacation or give you ideas of

(01:51):
where you would want to, or atleast consider to, go on your
next vacation, and this show ispresented by blueplanetvacations
.
com, and thank you so much fortaking the time to stop and
listen.
Whether you are listening to uslive on the radio on Saturday
and Sunday or you're listeningto us at a later date via the
podcast, you can stream andsubscribe to the podcast at

(02:16):
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
And Mark is making his entranceinto the studio it's good to
see you.
I haven't seen you all week ismaking his entrance into the
studio.

Mark Faldmo (02:26):
It's good to see you.
I haven't seen you all week.
Yeah, it's good to be here.
I've been away this pastweekend at a family's cabin up
in Driggs, idaho, family's doingskiing at Targhee and just
relaxing in the cabin.
It's a nice weekend.

Nothing better than having it snow outside and
you're inside the cabin.
That setting is just awesome.

Yeah, and it did snow the whole time we were
there, so it was nice.
It's just awesome.
Yeah, and it did snow the wholetime we were there, so it was
nice Coming up on this show.

we're going to talk about Southwest's bag
policy.
We talked about it last weekhow they said no more carry-on
bags.

Ad Voice (02:53):
Well, we have an update.

Oh, I'm sorry.
Yeah, check bags, but we dohave an update on that policy.
In fact, mark, let's just startthere.
What new information do we haveabout Southwest's new bag
policy?

And just to quickly review for any flight booked
after May 28th, you will nolonger get two free checked bags
, unless you're a Rapid RewardsA-list member or traveling in
Business Select.
Then you get the two freechecked bags.
If you have the Southwest RapidRewards credit card, you do get
one free checked bag.
So that's the changes.

(03:24):
But there's been some prettybig backlash to this.
Southwest has actually alreadyseen bookings decline because of
this, and I saw an interestingarticle just one little piece
that I pull out of it.
Southwest officials estimatethat bag fees will bring in
about $1.5 billion a year.

(03:44):
Wow but they also expect it tocost the airline about $1.8
billion in lost business.
So, a net negative.
A net negative, they say, overtime in the next few years, as
people get used to that, theyexpect the fee to outweigh the
loss in business.
Yeah, but they are alreadystarting to see the loss in

(04:06):
business.

Massive upheaval right now, but really
what they're saying is let thatdie down.
People are going to come backanyway.

Another thing that the CEO of Southwest Airlines,
out defending this, said thatthat was a mainstay, but the
analytics support that peopledon't care about the free bags.

Oh interesting .

Why is that support that people don't care about
the free bags?
Oh interesting, why is that?
Southwest has allowed theirfares to be out on the online
travel sites and the meta searchsites and their numbers show
that people chose the lowestfare, regardless of bag policy.
Basically, what they're sayingis if Southwest was a hundred
dollars, butine A was $90,people are always choosing

(04:47):
Airline A, even though theymight've had to pay $35 for
their checked bags, which doesmake that more expensive Airline
A more expensive, but they werechoosing what they saw on the
screen and not taking intoaccount the cost of baggage
anyway.
So that's one reason whySouthwest decided to change this
, because their internalanalytics show that people that

(05:10):
that perk of two free bags wasnot affecting people's decision
to fly with Southwest.

Here's something that I want to do with
you.
I think we should do it withHeather, of course.
Nikki, I say we jump on JSXAirline and the first question
to whoever's listening is who is, or what is, jsx Airline?
To me, this is very exciting.

JSX Airline has been around for a while.
They're based in SouthernCalifornia and what they are
it's called a public charterservice.
They call it Hop-On Jet Service.
They fly the Embraer RegionalJets.
They're configured hop-on jetservice.
They fly the Embraer regionaljets.
They're configured basically inall first class.

One person on the left side, one chair on the
right.

On the right?
Yeah, so one one.
And they fly several places forour audience in Salt Lake.
They fly from Salt Lake toBurbank, California, Denver, Las
Vegas, Colorado, and Scottsdale, Arizona, and they don't use
the main airport terminals here.
They fly out of what's called afixed-based operator, so

(06:14):
basically out of the generalaviation side of the airport.

Not airport number two in West Jordan, but
this would be east of the SaltLake International Airport.
Is that the general aviation?

Yeah, the general aviation side, okay got it,
where a lot of the private jetsfly in and out of Okay.
Last week, when we talked aboutthe TikTok trend about saying
you can show up 20 minutesbefore your flight and still
make it, that actually is thecase for JSX Airlines.

Okay, so if you want the challenge, go on
something that actually works.

Yes, although I still wouldn't do that in this
case.
No, I wouldn't either.
Their flights, because theirprices are not all that much
higher than regular flights toany of the places that they fly
from Salt Lake are about $200one way.
Yeah, a little bit more than$200 one way, which is slightly

(07:08):
higher, but that's probablyabout what you'd pay for the
Comfort Plus seats, let's say,on Delta, but you're flying in
first class in a more, I guess,luxurious setting.

Spirit Airlines says that they're gonna
rebrand to become a premiumcarrier.
I don't think at this pointthey really have a choice,
because they're sinking anyway.

Spirit has always been kind of the brunt of jokes
People saying you're going toneed to take a pocket full of
quarters in case you need to usethe restroom because they're
charging for everything.
You need to pay for theseatbelt latches and everything.
There's been jokes like thatbecause they really did seem to
kind of nickel and dime you.
Last fall they went intoChapter 11 bankruptcy.

(07:50):
They just recently emerged oh,I didn't know that From
bankruptcy a few weeks ago andthey're really focusing more on
these bundles Similar to whatthe airlines are doing.
They're going to have stilltheir very cheapest seats, but
they're also going to havebundles Similar to what the
airlines are doing.
They're going to have stilltheir very cheapest seats, but
they're also going to havebundles where you can get a seat
, where you can get a bag,premium seats, first-class seats

(08:13):
, and so they are starting tobundle the fares more like the
mainline airlines are.

We received a.
Was this a text or a?
Did someone call the office?

Was this a text or did someone call the office?
This was a phone call to ourpodcast radio line.

So if you have travel-related questions, text
or call the studio at801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
She called and said that shewants to know more about Croatia
.
No one loves Croatia more thanMark.

That area of the world I just find so fascinating
.
When we grew up, that was a warzone, yeah, and now it's one of
the most beautiful places inthe world to visit.
When is the best time to visit?
It's like a lot of Europe.
I think the best time to visitis May and September.
The peak season is the summermonths of June, July and August.

(09:06):
I think the best city to visitis Dubrovnik, especially for
those that are Game of Thronesfans.

Cersei Jon Snow.

That's where a good part of that was filmed.
There's actually Game ofThrones tours.
It's about a three-hour walkingof the city and they take you
to all the points of where theshow was filmed at.

What else do you like doing there?

Dubrovnik is a walled city on the ocean and so
you can get up and walk aroundthe whole city on the city walls
, which is pretty cool and it'sa small.
That inner city of Dubrovnik issmall.
There's a harbor and then thewalled city.
You have to walk in through thecity gates and it really puts
you back kind of in medievalEurope.

(09:50):
Did you say you can walk?

on the walls.

On top of the walls .

Yeah, oh, that'd be fascinating.

Yeah, so there's a whole trail that goes around the
whole city and it's small.
I think that whole track isprobably two miles or less if
you walk all the way around it,so it's not too far.

So when you say it's a small city, you're
not kidding.

Yes, but Croatia in general has mountains, so you
can have ocean island life.
You can have mountains, streams, lakes, waterfalls, and then
you can have the history andculture in Croatia.

What do you think are the best ways to see
Croatia, then, other than hikingthe?

wall, yeah.
So there are kind of three waysthat you can see Croatia that I
would recommend One is a landtour.
So you know, we've talked,often talked, about Globus,
which does have a seven night,eight day tour in Croatia.
You can do it by river cruisewhich sees the Eastern part of

(10:48):
the country.
Done that before.
I've talked about the Budapestto Bucharest, Romania.
It does have several stopsthere in Croatia.
The other is on ocean andthat's how I've done it.
Most is oh, so you did thecruise then.
Yeah, so a cruise.
So either stops in Dubrovnik,split or both, which I've been

(11:09):
to both places in Croatia or Ithink the best way and I have
not done this but I really wantto do this it's called the
Katerina Line and they doDalmatian coast cruises.
That whole coastline of Croatiais islands.
They take small yachts withanywhere from 10 to 30 people on
them and you just hit all ofthese places along the Dalmatian

(11:33):
coast.
Oh, wow, they have severaldifferent small ships that you
go on.
They have classic cruises anddeluxe cruises, but if you take
one of their classic cruises youcan do these seven-day cruises.
They start at €1,350 Euro perperson, so €1,350.
So that's roughly $1,500 aperson for these small cruises

(11:56):
that just cruise the smallislands and interesting ports in
Croatia, and they have eight ornine vessels, several different
itineraries.
There is no bigger advocate forCroatia than Mark Faldmo.
How many times have you beenthere?
Probably eight times.

(12:16):
Oh, between ocean cruises andriver cruises.

Go to Croatia.
I haven't been there.
I know that Nikki and I willget there.
Did Heather go?
Heather has been Okay.
All right, call Mark in hisoffice.
Nicole, if you are interestedin going to Croatia or have
additional questions, certainlyyou're going to have more.
Call Mark in his office, get itbooked, ask the questions
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717 toget the conversation started, no

(12:51):
obligation.
When we come back, it is thehot travel deal of the week.
We've got some additionaltravel news headlines and we're
talking Hawaii.
Save it up to $200.
That is next with the InsideTravel Talk podcast.
The radio show continuesalongside my good friend Mark
Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll be right back.

Show Voice (13:12):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.

(13:32):

Ad Voice (13:39):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
Escape to Cancun's Riviera Mayawith authentic all-inclusive
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To book your romantic beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet

(14:01):
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
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Show Voice (14:06):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
And check out the podcast atInsideidetraveltalk.
com.

(14:27):
Here's Patrick and Mark.

Broadcasting from the Wiscombe-Faldmo Radio
Studios in Salt Lake City, Utah.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, my nameis Patrick Wiscombe.
Coming up in this segment ofthe show, we have the hot travel
deal of the week.
We are talking about Hawaii andwe're going to tell you how to

(14:57):
save up to $200.
And then we've also got someadditional travel news headlines
.
But Mark was telling me a funnystory during the break that I
wish he would have brought up onthe air.
But I guess we're on the airnow.
Can I put you on the spot herefor a second?
Yeah, that's fine.
Okay, so if you missed thefirst segment of the show, we
were talking about vacationingin Croatia.

(15:17):
Nicole had that question andsomething kind of unfortunate
happened to your tour guide, butthen it also got you too.

It was one of the walking tours that's there
inside the walled portion.
Tour guide was standing theretalking, looked up One of the
many seagulls got her.
Oh, a her, I thought it was aguy, no, it was a her.
And Mark has a pretty easy gagreflex, so everyone can guess

(15:47):
from there.
So so the seagull pooped?
Yes, gratuitously and Mark lostit.

You know what?

but other than that , Croatia is wonderful.
Heather is a big shopper forChristmas things, for nativities
and the wooden carved ChrisKringles Christmas, whatever he
is, Chris Kringles, yeah, ChrisKringles, Chris Kringles.
And they have a great Christmasshop in Croatia there.

I'm sorry that happened to you, but that is
funny.
Yes, let's get to the travelnews for this segment and then
we'll get to Hawaii.
Consumer Price Index shows goodnews for consumers A 4% drop in
airfares.

Between January and February, there was a 4% drop
in airfares.
Between January and February,there was a 4% drop in airfares
according to the Consumer PriceIndex, which is the first drop
since last July.
Year over year, in Januaryfares had been about 7.1% higher
, and so now there's lower fuelcost, there's less demand, and

(17:00):
so airfares are starting to drop, which is good news for
consumers, not necessarily goodnews for airlines, but we'll see
where that gets us.

Construction has started on Margaritaville
Island Reserve Resort in Roatan,Honduras, also one of your
favorite destinations.

I think we talked about Roatan, honduras, also one
of your favorite destinations.
I think we talked about Roatanlast week.
I've only been there on acruise, but I'm very excited for
this Margaritaville IslandReserve Resort.

Hawaii tourism .
I love Hawaii Anytime I can getto.
Hawaii.
I will go to Hawaii.
Hawaii tourism is stable, butit's also not growing, at least
according to this article.

Aside from Maui, which is still struggling,
Hawaii is kind of seeing a shiftin their markets, where the US
market is strong, growing alittle bit, but other markets
that they rely on, particularlythe Japanese market, is not
recovering well.
Japan's economy is a lot slowerthan a lot of places in the

(17:57):
world, and so it's reallyaffecting Hawaii tourism.
Looking at the overall hotelrates, they've actually dropped
a few percentages the last fewmonths.
Maui in particular is facingprobably its lowest occupancy
rate ever.

So they must have thought the entire island
caught on fire.
That's just a little tinycorner.
Maui is where the wildfires are.

It was a dramatic event, oh yeah, but it was still
a smaller portion.
Unfortunately, it was Lahaina,which I think was the best place
in.
Maui yeah, but people juststill aren't going to Maui.

That's unfortunate.

I think airfares and hotel rates are going to
have to come down even furtherto Maui to kind of stabilize at
least the tourism numbers.

Right near Lahaina.
What's the name of that placethat you like to go when you're
on Maui?
Kaanapali, yeah, Kaanapali, youlove it there.

I do yeah.
So when you go to Maui, that'syour preferred spot?

Ad Voice (19:02):
Well, there's two spots.
I like the Grand.

Wailea on the other side of the island.
I think that's probably myfavorite, but Kaanapali would be
number two.
There's more hotels in theKaanapali area.
There's actually more morehotels in the Kaanapali area.
There's an actually moreaffordable hotels in the
Kaanapali area as well.

That will lead into our hot travel deal of the
week always the second segmentof the show, and what are the
details?
To get over to Hawaii and whereexactly are we going?

So it's here.
Discount based on the overallcost.
It basically equates to about afour or five percent discount
in the hotel cost wheneverything's said and done.
But I'm going to go through andgive prices for all the four
main islands.
These are for the end of May.
This is a May 17th departure ohdate for five nights from Salt

(19:50):
Lake City.
We'll first start in Oahu, soWaikiki Beach area packages
start at $999 for Pershton.
Wow, and that includes theflights, that includes the
flights and that includes alsoall of the estimated resort fees
and everything.
So taxes, resort fees, all ofthat $999 for a five-night stay

(20:13):
and airfare from Salt Lake City.
I think probably the best dealon Oahu Waikiki is the Hyatt
Regency Waikiki Resort, which isa four and a half star resort
Nice resort, very nice Niceresort for $1489.
Or the Moana Surf Rider, whichis a Weston $1,489.

(20:38):
Or the Moana Surf Rider, whichis a Westin, also a very nice
five-star resort $1,499 perperson.
Okay, the Westin is on thebeach and on one side of it
there's only beach, no otherhotels, and then the other side
of it is the I believe it's theOutrigger Waikiki.

Man, that's a nice resort too.

On the other side of it.

I wish I was going this year instead of last
year.
Yeah, holy cow, it's a wholelot less expensive.

And then we'll move on to the Big Island, which
also has rates starting at $999per person.
Staying at the Royal Kona threeand a half star, starting at
$999 per person.
Royal Kona is one of myfavorite hotels.
It is a three and a half starhotel but I love the location of

(21:21):
it and they recently justrenovated the rooms about two
years ago.
They have their restaurant isjust right out on the point, so
there's kind of ocean all around.
You know three sides of therestaurant and it's a wonderful
location.
And then probably one of myfavorite hotels in all of Hawaii
is the Hilton Waikoloa VillageFour and a half star hotel

(21:45):
starts at $1189 per person.
When I was younger we stayedthere and I was just fascinated
by it.
They have three differenttowers and you either take a
tram to get to the towers orthey have a boat transfer.

Ad Voice (21:59):
That takes you, I would do all of the towers.

So it's a unique hotel.
And then we'll go to kawaii,which has rates starting at
$1029 per person, five nightsairfare from salt lake city, and
this is at at the Hilton GardenInn Wailua Bay, which is a
hotel that is beachfront, and soyou know it's a good three and
a half star hotel.
And then I think my pick on theisland it's the Royal Sinesta,

(22:25):
starting at $1329 per person.
The Royal Sinesta used to be aMarriott hotel.
It's right by the cruise portwhen you were there on the
cruise.
It's right there.
It's on a golf course.
It has a little beach that'sprotected by the marina area.
It's a great hotel there onKauai.

Kauai was nice .
It was lush and green.
I didn't know that there couldbe so much difference between
all of the islands.

And.

Kauai was amazing.

Any promotion for Maui Most expensive of the
islands and Kauai was amazing.
Yep Any promotion for Maui Mostexpensive of the islands but
still a pretty good rate.
So Royal Kahana by Outriggerthree-star hotel starts at $1139
.
My pick on that would be theOutrigger Kaanapali Beach Hotel.
That starts at $1459 per person.

That is a beautiful part of the island.

Yes, yeah, and both of those hotels.
The Royal Kahana is a littlebit further west than the
Outrigger Kanapali Beach Resort.

I follow what is it?
Millie, Hawaii or something onInstagram and every day, or
almost every day, they have apicture coming out of Kanapali
beach area that I'm just likewhy do I live here?
I love Salt Lake, I love livinghere, but it is just different
living there and it isspectacular, just visually, just

(23:47):
to be part of the island.
If you have not been to Hawaii,go to Hawaii.
It is a vacation that you willnever forget and it will be
something that you will talkabout for the rest of your life.
I've been to Hawaii.
How many times have you beenthere to Hawaii?

I can't count, probably 25, 30.
And there may be more.

I've only been there I think it's three or
four times.
It is it's just different, it'sspecial.
It is paradise.
Call Mark during the break,just get the conversation
started, no obligation, and ofcourse, you're going to have
questions about where you wouldlike to stay and he'll customize

(24:32):
a vacation for you.
Call him into the office888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
When we come back, it is timefor the cruise news of the week,
the infamous just cruisingsegment.
We'll be talking aboutNorwegian's Aqua, we'll be

(24:53):
talking about MSC World Americaand we'll be talking about how
to save up to $6,000 on a Europeriver cruise.
That when we come back.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.

Show Voice (25:10):
They've literally traveled millions of miles to
answer your travel-relatedquestions.
Yeah, they really have.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
America's best travel advisors,Patrick and Mark, will be back
after these messages.

Ad Voice (25:41):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
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To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
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Thank you so much for listening to the Inside
Travel Talk podcast and radioshow.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,coming up.
In the next 28 minutes we willbe talking about apartments by
Marriott Bonvoy Resort.
Ncl has taken delivery of theirbrand new cruise ship called
Aqua Nikki and I will be on thatship about a month from now.

(26:21):
The six must-see attractionswhen you sail on MSC's World
America and we will tell you howto save up to $6,000 on a
Europe river cruise.
Let's get back to the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may

(26:42):
be time-sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are
capacity-controlled and subjectto change without notice subject

(27:03):
to change without notice.

Show Voice (27:04):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
America's best travel advisors.
Hit us up right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick and Mark.

All aboard for segment number three, the
infamous Just Cruising segmenton the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show, andcoming up in this segment of the
show, we'll be talking aboutthe apartments by Marriott
Bonvoy Resort NCL.
Taking delivery of their brandnew ship, the Aqua Nikki, and I

(27:54):
will be on that cruise.
What is it Mark In about?
I guess it's about a month fromnow yeah, about a month from
now, and we'll tell you how tosave up to $6,000 on a Europe
River cruise.
But let's first get to thecruise news headlines.
Let's start with NorwegianCruise Line taking delivery of

(28:15):
the brand new Norwegian AquaDude.
That is a nice looking ship.

It is, yeah, and last week was kind of a
milestone for these ships.
Norwegian took delivery of theNorwegian Aqua and they also
floated out the Norwegian Luna.
The next ship oh, I didn't knowthat floated out the Norwegian
Luna.
The next ship oh, I didn't knowthat.
And so the Norwegian Aqua leftthe shipyard area.

(28:41):
The Norwegian Luna was floatedfor the first time and it moved
into the spot where theNorwegian Aqua was so it could
get all of its internal stuffcompleted.

So when does the Luna come out?
Does that come out later thisyear, 2025?
, or that feels like it's nextyear.
Actually, Spring of 2026 iswhen the Luna Luna come out.
Does that come out later thisyear?

2025?
Or that feels like it's nextyear.
Actually, spring of 2026 iswhen the Luna will come out.
Norwegian has always pushed theboundaries of what they can do
with shipbuilding.
It's kind of between Norwegianand Royal Caribbean, one ups
another.
I think this ship is going tobe amazing, really push the
boundaries of their more at seaconcept.
The one thing I'm veryinterested in on the Norwegian

(29:16):
Aqua Norwegian is known fortheir dining and their specialty
dining.
They actually have a Thaispecialty restaurant on board.
Thai food is one of my favoritefoods, and so I'm looking
forward to seeing how they do atsea with Norwegian.

I'll have to check out that new restaurant
for you.
Let me know how it is.

With your Morrissey , you do get specialty
restaurants.
Oh, I didn't know that.

Let's go in today and get your reservations
made after the show.
I would be just fine with that,which, by the way, one of the
things that we want to do as aradio show, mark and I want to
get on every single cruise shipwhen it's new, we're going to
film it, we're going to recordit so everyone can see it.
Mark will be on the mediacruise for the MSC World America
, so he's jumping on and then,as he's getting off three days

(30:05):
later, I am jumping on, so we'llhave full review of these ships
coming up a little bit laternext month.
We are not a political show atall, but there was a story about
one of the senators from Alaska.
They are pushing to let cruiseships bypass Canada.
So is he saying that forget theinternational port, let's just

(30:26):
forget Canada here?

That is what he's saying.
That's always been a challengefor cruising to Alaska is
getting that international stopin Victoria was one of our
favorite stops.

Oh, my goodness.

But on Alaska, because of how it works, most
cruise ships get there about 8pm and leave at midnight, so
it's more a technical stop.
So you don't even get to seethat.

And that's disappointing because Victoria,
I think, is probably I won't saythe showstopper port, but if
you could see it during the day,it is a showstopping place.
It is beautiful and spectacularyeah.

What he is asking for I kind of wish would just go
away.
It's called the PassengerServices Act, which does require
that foreign port.
Otherwise the ship has to meetcertain conditions, like be
crewed by all Americans and bebuilt in America.
So I kind of wish that would goaway anyway.
It was suspended coming out ofCOVID, because Canada had such

(31:27):
strict laws.
So they suspended it so thatcruise ships could start back up
and not have that.

So it can be done.

It's whether they want to Whether they want to,
and the reason why the Alaskasenator is doing this because
Canada implemented a tariff ontrucks going from the US to
Alaska driving through Canada,so kind of this trade war thing
that's been going back and forth.
So that's his proposal tobypass that.
Personally, I wish it would goaway anyway, regardless of trade

(31:57):
war or not.

Heather, your wife is excited to go on MSC's
World America.
You are too, yes, but I thinkshe's more excited for seeing
Orlando Bloom.
And apparently Orlando Bloomhas six must-see attractions on
MSC's New World America.
I'm curious what they are.

I'm curious, as if these are really Orlando Bloom's
things.
I think this was just writtenand they were paid to use his
name.
There we go.
Msc World America does havesome pretty interesting things
on board.
One is cliffhanger, it's overwater swing at sea.
So I've seen that on theircommercial, where you're

(32:39):
swinging out over the water.
That looks like a pretty funthing to do.
Are you going to do?

that I think I am, I am, I think, if they'll
allow me to take my phone or theDJI, the Osmo Pocket 3, and
I'll just hold it, clutch ittight, I think I'm going to do
it.
The Osmo.

Pocket 3, and I'll just hold it and clutch it tight
.
I think I'm going to do it.
Do it yeah.
So that looks fun, you know.
That kind of reminds me Ialways love doing the big shot
on top of the stratosphere inLas Vegas.
Yeah, when you get up there andyou can't see anything below
you.

That is terrifying.
I didn't know you'd done that Acouple of times.
Yes, that I gave myself amuscle strain because I was
holding on so tight.
I was like, ah, and thehelicopter was.
I leveled a little ways away.
I was like, okay, wow, we're uphere.
I'm sorry I completely digress.

Well, I got us into that it's your fault.
The next thing is an area onthe world of America called the
Harbor.
It's an area designed for kidsand family to engage in outdoor
activities, so it's kind of likea boardwalk.
They have kind of food stationareas.
Is that the back of the ship?
The back of the ship?
Okay, it has the aqua park.

(33:49):
Okay 11 story dry slide ropescourse.

Oh, isn't that the Venom, the Venom slide
Venom.

Yeah, oh boy.
So that's a pretty interestingarea.
I love how these bigger shipsand Royal Caribbean started this
, having these neighborhoods ordistricts.
So MSC is calling themdistricts, where Royal Caribbean
they're neighborhoods and theyjust have different themed areas
.
And you know, I'm reallyexcited to see how that works on

(34:17):
this ship.
Everything I've seen just lookamazing.
The next thing which we'vetalked about before is the Dirty
Dancing in Concert 90-minuteperformance at 90 minutes
featuring the music from Dirty.
And then also I'm kind ofexcited for this one the new
Lego experience.

(34:38):
So world America has a wholeLego family zone.

Oh, they're going to have us.

I hadn't heard of this one, yeah, a Lego parade at
sea and then just differentLego related things.
I I was always a Lego fangrowing up, but I remember a kid
moved into our neighborhood andwe went up there and he had a
room full of Legos.
I was so jealous A room, roomfull of Legos.

(35:04):
They have a Lego game show,family challenge.
That will be there in that area, where I guess it's who can
build what the fastest.

So I'm going to be no help.

Nikki will probably do great.
Those are some of theinteresting things coming on MSC
World America.

My friend.
His name is Mike Kidd and hejust got off.
I was texting with him a weekago and he was on MSC Seascape
and I told him I was going onMSC World America and he was
like I am so jealous, I thinkthe ship is sold out, mark.

It is.
You're on the very first paidpassenger sailing of the ship.

So I'm kind of surprised that we got a room.
What did we book this likethree weeks ago?
Three weeks, Yep.
Anyway, are there any deals forMSC World America?
Maybe not the inaugural sailing, but what deals are there for
the ship?

Right now for MSC in general they have 35% off and
kids sail free.
There's some pretty good ratesstill on World America for being
a new ship November 29th, thisis an Eastern Caribbean cruise.
I think it's the same oneyou're doing, so it's Miami, san
Juan, puerto.
Yeah, um, so it's miami, sanjuan, porta plata and private

(36:17):
island, ocean k, but November29th, inside cabin starts at 704
for a per person wow, and abalcony cabin starts at $1024
per person for msc world americafor world america.
So you know, for a brand newship within its first year,
that's right after Thanksgiving.

(36:38):
That's probably, if you're everlooking for a good cruise rate,
no matter where you go in theworld, that's probably going to
be the best date to sail.
On price-wise, looking earlierin November, those prices jump
about $150 per person.

Let's talk about the cruise deal of the
week.
Those just happen to be newsstories.
What we were talking aboutbefore.
This is the actual cruise dealof the week.
Avalon Waterways has apromotion where you can save up
to $6,000 on a Europe rivercruise.
So if you've ever wanted to doit, listen up.

Avalon Waterways has this great promotion.
It's for select 2026 rivercruises.
So for next year, and they kindof have a tier that 6,000 is
the highest and it goes down.
You know they have a 4,000, a3,000 and a 1,500 price range
that they do, but for 2026,there are two sailings that I

(37:31):
found.
One is a 22 day.
It's the Rhine Danube and Maineriver, so it's three rivers and
that's for November of 2026,but it is save a $6,000 total
per cabin, so that's 3000 perperson.
Wow, that date for that longcruise starts at about $9,000

(37:53):
per person and that seems like alot, but for a river cruise
that is a pretty good deal.
How many days is that?
22 days.

When people hear $9,000, they go what?
It's actually a good price forriver cruising.

And then another one that has saved $6,000 is the
Rhine and Rhone River, and sothis is, you know, south of
France plus the Rhine River, andthis one starts at about 5,000
per person for 15 days.
That's still good too, that isyeah.
And then a shorter cruise eventhan that.

(38:28):
Now, this one isn't the full6,000.
I think this one is 1,500 offper cabin, but it's the Romantic
Rhine, so just the Rhine Riverstarts at 2,500 per person, and
that's for an eight-dayfour-country tour.

What countries are we going to on that one,
that one?

is Switzerland, france, germany and Netherlands.

And you really like Avalon Waterways.
They're the ship that actuallyhas the beds that face the
balcony, so you're actuallylooking out instead of having to
go out on the balcony.

Correct.
It's where almost the wholeroom feels like your balcony,
because they just have floor toceiling sliding doors that you
can open up all the way, so yourwhole room turns into the
balcony on Avalon Waterways.

Go see the world.
Get out, see the world.
Call Mark, he can help you doit and he'll give you great
personalized service.
Call him during the break.
Get the conversation started,no obligation 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he'll also post all of thison blueplanetvacations.

(39:39):
com.
When we come back, we will talkabout Viking and tell you how
much of their inventory isalready sold out, and it seems
like we talk about this about Idon't know once every.
I don't know once every.
I don't know three weeks.
Europe's etias.
They're delayed again.

(40:04):
I'm so tired of this story.
Hopefully they can just get itonline.
We'll talk about that next andwe'll wrap up the show.
Give you mark's travel tips.
We will be right back.

Show Voice (40:18):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.

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They'll help you plan and book your next vacation
.
Yeah, really, you're listeningto the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show presentedby BluePlanetVacations.

(41:37):
And now here's Patrick Wiscombeand Mark Faldmo.

We are absolutely thankful for you
taking the time to stop andlisten each and every Saturday
and Sunday to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show.
Hello, there, I'm PatrickWiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo,
coming up in this final segmentof the show.
We've got Mark's travel tipsand we've got some additional

(42:10):
cruise news and travel headlines.
In fact, let's just start there, mark.
I know that last segment wasthe infamous just cruising
segment, where it is only aboutthe cruise news and cruise deals
, but I forgot about this storythat Viking has sold how much of
their 2025 inventory.

They're 88% full for 2025.
Jeez Viking has both rivercruises and ocean cruises.
So the ocean side they've sold87% and on the river side
they've sold 89%.

What is going on with river cruising?
It just feels like it's gonefrom kind of a I won't say a
cottage industry to all of asudden it's almost mainstream.

It was.
River cruising was gettingreally popular in the late 2010s
, so you know, between 2015 and2020.
And I think COVID kind ofchanged the way people travel,
looking for these unique, moreimmersive experiences, and river
cruising does that.
Viking is 26% higher than theywere same point in time last

(43:12):
year in booking, so people arebooking further out and looking
at the rivers.
That's remarkable for Viking.
They own a 52% market share inriver cruises, so they're by far
the largest.
I think a river cruise isprobably the best way to see
Europe.
I've always liked the escortedbus tours because I love the

(43:35):
commentary you get, yeah, butsometimes I wish a little bit
more flexibility in theitinerary.
A river cruise gives you all ofthat itinerary with a lot of
the flexibility, and you don'thave to pack and unpack.
So I love river cruises forseeing Europe.

Because we're talking about Europe, let me go
to this Europe ETIAS Mark.
We have been talking about thisstory for I don't know how long
, but I'm getting tired of it,but the ETIAS system is delayed
yet again.
So let's just define what ETIASstands for and then tell what's
going on.

It's European Travel Information and
Authorization System.

Which means what?

So before you go to Europe at some point, whenever
this goes into effect, you'llhave to get a pre-authorization
to enter Europe.
So go on their website, fill itout, get authorization which is
connected to your passport, sothat you can enter Europe.

If people are like what Isn't a passport
enough?
No, the answer is no, notanymore.

Not anymore.
Yeah Well, it's supposed tohave been in effect right now.
It's been pushed back.
This is now the fourth delay init.
The last delay was untilOctober of this year, but now
it's going to be the fourthquarter of 2026.
So more than a year away.
So we'll be talking about thisagain.
I'm sure Now the UK was able toget theirs in, which did go

(44:56):
into effect on January 8th ofthis year.
So if you are traveling to theUK, you do need to fill out
their ETI system for the UK, butEurope in general.
You don't need to do that rightnow until they figure out how
to get this going.
Until they figure out how toget this going.

Hold on, you brought up something just there.
There's the Europe version ofthis and then there's the UK
version of this.
Did I get that right, correct,and you can help people with
this?

right?
Yes, we can direct you to theright place.
As soon as this goes intoeffect, we'll have a link on the
Blue Planet website.

Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy Resort.
This is interesting.
That means I won't say they'regetting out of the hotel
business, but I will say thatthey're trying to get into
residence now, which I think isinteresting.

They're almost like the planned communities in
Florida.

Which, by the way, those are spectacular too.

Yeah, they are, and so this is kind of like a
vacation home, but with all ofthe resort amenities.
Their first version of thesejust opened up in central
Florida, which is close toOrlando.
This resort, it's 270 villasranging from four to nine
bedrooms, big houses, thenranging from four to nine
bedrooms, big houses, then Bighouses, but then it has all of

(46:16):
the amenities of a resort.
A four-night stay about $500per night for one of the
four-bedroom units.

All right, that's comparable to a very nice
Airbnb.

Other places they found them for as low as $330 a
night.
If you look at the Marriott inOrlando right there by Disney
World, you probably won't beable to get just a one bedroom
studio that's there for lessthan $500 a night.
So these are pretty good rates,especially if you need that
larger four to nine bedroomunits.

So, mark and I want to respond to your
travel-related texts, and we gota text.
Who is this from?
Was this Rachel?
I think it was Rachel.

Yeah.

You can text your travel-related questions
and we will answer them on theair 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700 is the phonenumber and the text line she is
asking.
She wants to charter.
I hope we can answer this.
Charter a private boat to goaround the Caribbean to the

(47:23):
Caribbean islands.
Is that an option and, if so,what is the process?
First of all, I like how you'rethinking, rachel.

Yes, and this is definitely something I can help
out with.
I have a company that I'veworked with on this it's called
the Moorings, and they actuallyhave a few different options.

What did you say?
The Moorings, the Moorings.

The Moorings.

I thought you said the morons.
I'm like what?
Okay, Moorings.

The Moorings, okay, what?
Okay, moorings, the Moorings,okay, the Moorings.
Moorings, yeah, and theyactually do.
These yachts all around theworld.
They have them in the Caribbean, central America, mexico,
mediterranean, tahiti, thailand,and the seashells is where they
can offer these services.
They have two options.
They have sailing boats andthey have motorized boats, and

(48:15):
you can take those captain orfully crewed, and so if it's
just captained, that meansyou're in charge of your food
and cooking your food.
If it's fully crewed, thatmeans they have a cook on board
to prepare all of the meals foryou.

If you have a whole crew, it's going to be
more.
It is yeah so all right, that'sdecision number one.

I was just looking in the Caribbean at what they
have to offer for one of their10 cabin sailing boats, fully
crewed for six nights, was about$16,000.
That's 10 cabins, so you couldget up to 20 people on that,
yeah that kind of makes it very,very affordable actually.
If my math is right, that'sabout $800 a person.

(48:58):
Yeah, do it, and they haveboats as small as three cabins.
Now you do have to take one ofthe cabins out because that's
for the captain and the othercrew member, which is usually
the captain's spouse, which isthe cook.
That's a great way to see theCaribbean and you just go,
you're on a little boat, pull upto the little islands.

(49:19):
To answer Rachel's question,yes, there is a way, and a
fairly affordable way, tocharter a boat, either a sailing
boat or a motorized boat, inthe Caribbean.

When she was talking about chartering, I had
like an excursion, like aday-long excursion in my head.
I love this option even more.
In fact, I didn't even knowthis was an option.
This is great.
We should charter a boat andthen just invite listeners to
come with us.
Yes, that would be great.

Oh my word, I have a travel agent friend back East
that actually does that inCroatia.
They just charter a sailingboat, do a similar thing.
They do a seven night thing,charter it in Croatia and do
similar to what we talked aboutdoing the Dalmatian Islands.
But it's just an all privategroup.
Oh see I love that idea.

I think we just found the next chapter of
what we're doing.
Before we take off, let's hurryand recap the hot travel deal
of the week, which was Hawaii.
Save up to $200 per person.

Hawaii.
We found rates towards the endof May starting at $999 per
person for five nights andround-trip airfare from Salt
Lake City.
That's kind of the first timethat's dipped below that $1,000
mark in several months, soprices are coming down.

And I do want to emphasize that does include
the airfare.
That's not just your hotel.

That includes everything, yes, yeah, well,
maybe not food, but it includesflight and hotel yeah, you can
find all of those on blue planetvacations dot com as well, as
if you sign up for the hot dealupdate, you'll get notifications
.
Like earlier this week we didsend out that six thousand
dollar off on avalon waterwaysthrough our email list, so those

(51:03):
on that list got it a littlebit before the listeners on this
show this hour always goes byso fast.

If you want to take advantage of any of the
deals that we've talked about,call Mark in his office as soon
as we get off the air888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
And, like he mentioned, you cango to blueplanetvacations.
com.
Go see the world, go explorethe world.

(51:34):
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning, Sunday,
at 11 am, right here on thisradio station and around the
country, and you can stream,download and subscribe to the
podcast at insidetraveltalk.
com.
We are on all the major podcastplatforms.
Podcast at InsideTravelTalk.

(51:55):
com.
We are on all the major podcastplatforms and if you don't want
to subscribe, you can juststream the show right at
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We've done our job.
Get out and explore the worldwhile you can, because you never
know what curveball's life isgoing to throw at you.

(52:16):
And hopefully nothing big anddramatic happened to you in the
last seven days.
Live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally,
and thank you Truly.
Thank you for listening.
Mark and I will talk to youagain next week.
Have a great week.

Show Voice (52:33):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.

(52:54):
Thanks for listening.

Ad Voice (53:08):
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Travel X is known for theiraward-winning customer service
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