September 21, 2024 • 53 mins
Ever wondered why planning your next adventure could be a game-changer? Join us as Mark brings Thailand to life with gripping tales from his travels, uncovering hidden gems and practical tips for making the most of this captivating country. We'll keep you up-to-date on the best travel deals of the week and the latest cruise news, such as Royal Caribbean's public Wi-Fi enhancement in Juneau using Starlink, and reveal insights from Google's data on optimal flight booking times. Plus, learn about Japan's innovative travel authorization program aimed at managing visitor stays.
Ready to pack your bags for paradise? Discover the reopening of Maui's Royal Lahaina Resort, which recently provided refuge to wildfire-displaced residents. We’ll explore the resort’s unique allure, from private bungalows to stunning ocean views, and spotlight significant discounts on Hawaii travel packages from Funjet for 2025. Also, don't miss our budget-friendly travel deal for Maui, offering packages under $1,000 per person, including flights, for travel between mid-November and mid-December.
Lastly, we navigate the latest in cruise news, including docking challenges at Grand Cayman and the implications of the EU's new travel authorization system. Listener Jane's query about cruise dress codes gets answered with a spotlight on Carnival Cruise Line's casual and smart casual attire guidelines. We wrap up discussing the critical role of travel insurance, highlighting Travelex Insurance Services' exceptional customer service. Plus, find out how Turo car rentals are now integrated into the Uber app, enhancing your travel convenience. Tune in for essential travel tips, including safety measures for lithium-ion batteries on planes.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
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 subjectto change without notice explore
(00:35):
your world.
Show Voice (00:36):
it's the inside travel talk podcast and radio
show presented by blue planetvacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:10):
It is time for another episode and edition of
the Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, my goodfriend, my name is Patrick
Wiscombe and, if you are justcatching this show for the very
first time, the entire purposeof this show is to help you plan
(01:31):
and book your next vacation.
We are live every Saturday andSunday morning here in Salt Lake
City on radio station KKAT 860AM at 11 o'clock mountain time,
and we are presented byblueplanetvacations.
com Coming up.
On this segment of the show.
(01:53):
We will be putting the travelspotlight on Thailand, a place
that I personally want to go,but Mark has been.
How many times have you been,mark?
I've been twice to Thailand.
We also have the hot travel dealof the week, regardless of the
destination that's coming up inthe next segment, and then, of
course, we have the cruise dealof the week during the infamous
(02:17):
just cruising segment and, ofcourse, throughout the entire
show.
At the top of every segmentwe've got the travel news of the
week.
This is good news.
At At least I thought it wasRoyal Caribbean is helping boost
public Wi-Fi in Juneau.
Man, some of these touristspots, it gets Wi-Fi congested,
I'll just put it that way.
Mark Faldmo (02:38):
Yeah, it does.
And that small area of Juneau,when you have five cruise ships
in on a day, it puts a bigstrain on the cell phone data.
So Royal Caribbean is teamingup with a company to install
Starlink receivers in localbusinesses.
It's going to act as freepublic Wi-Fi for cruisers and
(02:59):
residents.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:00):
I love Starlink internet.
Have you ever used it?
I have on a cruise ship.
Mark Faldmo (03:05):
I think.
So you know, I've never used itknowingly but I've I'm sure
I've connected to places thatuse it.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:13):
My son Nathan and his wife Mackenzie.
They have spent literally thelast year traveling the United
States in a van, and so they'vebeen working from their car and
they have used Starlink for thepast year and I've never heard
them complain once about it.
I've asked Nathan about it andhe goes.
Dad, it is fantastic.
Mark Faldmo (03:34):
They're doing it for the remainder of the cruise
season and then the entirety ofthe 2025 cruise season.
So this looks like it's onlyduring the cruise season that
these receivers are going to beactive.
The rest of the year, theregular utilities can handle it.
This is good for Juno and goodfor travelers to Juno.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:52):
This is good news if you are trying to save
money when booking a flightusing Google's data.
Mark Faldmo (04:01):
Yeah, this is a report from Google Flights and
it tells when the best time tobook flights are.
They put this report out everyyear, so this was for the last
year, but it also compares it toprevious years.
So if you're looking to book adomestic flight, the best prices
are 38 days in advance,anything domestically in the US.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:19):
You've consistently said that, even
without the data, that the besttime to book a flight is about
five to six weeks before youtake off.
Us.
You've consistently said that,even without the data that the
best time to book a flight isabout five to six weeks before
you take off.
Mark Faldmo (04:29):
Correct.
Yeah, the historical pricerange has been between 21 and 52
days, but for the past year itwas 38 days, according to Google
data.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:39):
Can you imagine people planning their
vacation?
Ok, we have a countdown to day38.
Mark Faldmo (04:47):
planning their vacation.
Okay, we have a countdown today 38.
All right, now we can book it.
I mean typically, you knowagain, within that range about
50 days or so prior is usuallywhen I say the best prices for
domestic.
Now, international is differentand it's much further out it's
101 days.
So More than three months outfor international flights.
Thanksgiving the best time tobook Thanksgiving for the price
(05:09):
has been 45 days prior todeparture and Christmas is 58
days prior.
One of the points they analyzedwas what is the best day of the
week to book on.
This isn't travel, this is tobook on.
They say it really doesn'tmatter.
And then days to fly on andthis is something that we've
talked about on the show manytimes Tuesday, Wednesday,
(05:31):
Thursday are typically 13%cheaper than Friday, Saturday
and Sunday.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:36):
That makes sense.
You've been saying thatliterally for the last year
since we've been doing the show.
Mark Faldmo (05:41):
Yeah, so anyway, that's good data from Google,
just to help out.
A lot of it is stuff we'vetalked about, but it actually
breaks it down to the day Japanis set to launch a new travel
authorization program.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:53):
What's that about?
Mark Faldmo (05:53):
This is basically just a pre-passport check before
you travel, so you'll have tosubmit a form.
They'll come back and say, yes,you can travel.
No, you can't travel.
They're looking for risks ofpeople staying longer than they
should.
So apparently a lot of peopletravel to Japan and stay there.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:13):
So this is on top of a regular passport.
So this is passport plus theirauthorization.
Yeah, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (06:20):
So you have to submit your passport.
This is not a full-fledged visa, right?
You just have to submit allyour information and then
they'll bring you back a pieceof paper that you'll have to
show when you go throughpassport control upon arrival.
And this is for 71 currentlyvisa-exempt countries.
So for us from the US, we don'tneed a visa to go there.
They do say if you're rejectedthrough this, then you would
(06:44):
need to apply for a regular visa, and you can probably get in
that way by applying for aregular visa.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:50):
It is time for the destination of the week,
and we are headed to Thailand.
Let's first talk about gettingto Thailand.
What's the best way to do that?
Mark Faldmo (07:00):
So from Thailand.
Currently there are no directflights from the US, so you have
to take, usually, one of theAsian carriers.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:08):
Oh, I didn't know that.
Mark Faldmo (07:09):
EVA Airways, China Airlines, go through Taipei,
Taiwan, go through Japan to getthere.
Eva Airlines is who I'vetraveled on.
I love flying on EVA Airways.
They're a very good airline.
A lot of those Asian airlinesare pretty good.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:25):
Let's talk about the touristy things to do,
the main areas to visit.
Mark Faldmo (07:34):
Chiang Mai is in the north.
It's in the mountains.
A lot of people like going herebecause it's cooler, has more
pleasant weather, but it'sfamous for its historical
temples.
One of the other areas isPhuket.
It's known for its beaches.
It was one of my favorite spotsin Thailand.
And then there's Bangkok.
That's the capital, known forornate shrines.
It's also known as the Veniceof the East.
(07:56):
There's a network of canals andit's great for shopping and for
street food.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:02):
So you take gondolas through the city.
Well, boats, oh boats, they'relong-tail boats.
What are some of the bestthings to do when you're in
Thailand?
Mark Faldmo (08:11):
My favorite things are see the temples and shrines.
Bangkok in particular hasseveral that are just right
there Down in the Phuket area.
You can go out on the AtamanSea and go to Pnangnag Bay.
Some of those islands I thinkwe've talked about this before
they're just islands, smallislands that are kind of like
(08:32):
gumdrops that like shootstraight up from the ocean and
you go, and a lot of them arealso hollow inside, so you can
go in.
You go through tunnels and thenyou come into this middle of
the island.
It's a pretty neat experienceto do that.
One of the things a lot ofpeople like to do go to the
markets.
In Thailand there's a 24-hour,seven days a week flower market.
(08:56):
Thailand is known for itsfloating markets, where all the
vendors are on canoes boats.
You go up and you buy from onecanoe.
It's a pretty interestingconcept for the floating markets
.
There are several of those.
Also, right on the main riverin Thailand there's a it's kind
of like an outdoor shopping mallcalled Asia Teak.
I like that.
(09:17):
I probably had some of the bestpad thai I ever had at the
little food truck that was thereever had at the little food
truck that was there.
Speaking of that.
Thailand is known for streetfood in the Chinatown.
Street food is amazing.
There they have whole foodtours where you just go and eat
street food the whole tour.
One of my favorite things Iactually did a cooking class in
(09:40):
Thailand.
We made things from scratch.
We made the curry from scratch.
It was so good.
The first time we met aboutdoing this was in a Thai
restaurant.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:50):
Wasn't it Simply Thai and Sandy?
Simply Thai and Sandy?
Yeah, they did have some goodpad thai.
Mark Faldmo (09:56):
We talked about Venice Bangkok being the Venice
of the East taking a cruise onthe Chao Phraya River, which is
the river that runs rightthrough Bangkok.
There's dinner cruises that dothat, or you can take smaller
cruises that go up into some ofthe smaller canals.
Bangkok, and Thailand as awhole, is a wonderful
destination to go to.
(10:17):
I didn't even talk about theelephants.
They're elephant rescue becausetraditionally, elephants have
been pretty heavily used workingin Thailand, and so there are
now places that have elephantrescue.
They're all domesticatedanimals so they can't be
released back into the wild andyou really get to learn about
the elephants in Thailand.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:38):
Well, that's going to do it for the
Destination Spotlight.
If you are interested in goingto Thailand, call Mark in his
office during the break.
Obviously you're not going tobook something that fast, but
just to get the conversationstarted accommodations et cetera
call him 888-718-7717.
One more time on the phonenumber 888-718-7717.
(11:04):
Coming up in segment number two, it is the hot travel deal of
the week and we cannot talkenough about Hawaii.
It seems to be Alaska andHawaii are probably the things
that you book the most.
We are going to Maui this time,so if you've always wanted to
(11:24):
go to Hawaii, or Mauispecifically, stay tuned for
this next segment.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,alongside Mark Faldmo.
Show Voice (11:39):
He and I will be right back right back, taking
you to destinations around theworld.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
(12:00):
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (12:23):
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Show Voice (13:16):
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.
(13:37):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:49):
Your attention , please.
Your attention, please.
If you would like to go toHawaii, this is the segment for
you.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show alongside Mark Faldmo, theowner of BluePlanetVacations.
com.
(14:10):
My name is Patrick Wiscombe and, if you can't tell, we are
talking about Hawaii.
This is the hot travel deal ofthe week and we're going to be
talking about some three, threeand a half and five-star hotels
on the island of Maui and someof the things to do in Maui.
If you've always thought aboutgoing to Hawaii, quit thinking
(14:35):
about it.
We've got a killer deal to getto Maui in this segment.
But before we do that, let'sget to the travel news of the
week, and where should we starthere?
You know what let's start with.
Warner Brothers is creating anew theme park and experiences.
Mark Faldmo (14:55):
Warner Brothers has actually created a new business
unit.
It's called Warner BrothersDiscovery Global Experiences
Warner Brothers.
Ad Voice (15:03):
Discovery.
Mark Faldmo (15:03):
Global Experiences, and this is how they're going
to work on developing themeparks, developing studio tours,
developing more interaction withthe brand.
Right now they have apartnership with Universal
Destinations for Harry Potter,and so they're going to continue
to lease that out to Universal,but they are trying to get more
(15:25):
people to interact with theirbrand, similar to what Universal
Studios does.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:30):
That makes a whole lot of sense, because
Warner Brothers my perception ofWarner Brothers is that it is
an enormous company and ifthey've partnered with Universal
Studios, their backlot tour,which, by the way, is fantastic,
I love that tour, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (15:45):
I do too.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:46):
Jaws, the Psycho House, all of the current
TV shows.
It's amazing what you get tosee on that backlot tour.
I'm actually kind of surprisedit's taken this long.
Mark Faldmo (15:55):
Now that's one thing that people are really
craving these days areexperiences, and this new unit
can develop some of thoseexperiences around Warner
Brothers characters themes.
I think this will be a goodthing for travelers.
I'd love to visit UniversalStudios both in California and
(16:16):
Florida, probably even more sothan Disney like what Universal
has to offer.
I know there are some people outthere yelling at the radio
right now.
It's just a differentexperience and it connects you
although Disney does as well butconnects you with the TV shows,
the movies and things that yourelate to.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:34):
Yeah, that you see on your screen every week.
Yes, I thought this was greatand I know that it ties into
Maui, which is the whole purposeof this particular segment, the
hot travel deal of the week.
Mark Faldmo (16:46):
But I saw that Royal Lahaina Resort has
reopened for business on Maui,so Royal Lahaina was one of the
resorts that was used to housedisplaced residents from the
wildfire in Maui.
They're winding that down.
They've gone through somerefurbishments and they are now
open for full business on Maui.
(17:07):
This is one of my favoritehotels there.
As I look through my picturesof Hawaii, I think some of the
best ocean shots I've caughthave been from one of the
balconies, from the rooms of theRoyal Lahaina.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:20):
How close is Royal Lahaina to the burn zone?
Is it in that same area or isit a little bit further inland?
Mark Faldmo (17:26):
It's a few miles down.
Okay, so it's a few miles outof the actual town of Lahaina,
but it is one of the closerhotels to the town of Lahaina.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:36):
If memory serves, the fire was on August
8th 2023.
That place got torched, not thewhole island, just the section
of Lahaina Town Front Street.
Maui is a huge island.
The way that they wereportraying it was that the
entire island burned down.
That's not even close toaccurate.
(17:57):
It was only a section of theisland.
When Nikki and I were there inMarch, you could still see white
ash.
I can't even imagine how hotthat fire was and how quickly it
moved.
Mark Faldmo (18:08):
One of the unique parts about this is it has 127
private bungalows as part of theproperty.
Okay, so it has a hotel sectionplus it has these private
bungalows.
See, I would go bungalowprobably.
This does open up a lot morelodging options for Maui.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:27):
I wanted to recap the Funjet Hawaii offer
that we made.
Was that a couple of weeks ago?
Mark Faldmo (18:33):
I think that was two weeks ago, so we're talking
about this because it does endThursday, the 26th.
You have a couple of days totake advantage of this.
Up to $550 off and this is for2025 packages that are paid in
full at the time of reservation.
They've also added selecthotels.
That's up to 45% discount.
(18:55):
There's resort credits, fifthnight free, kids stay free.
There's all sorts of otheroffers at select hotels for this
offer and that's for travelJanuary 1st 2025 to July 31st
2025.
I did include the Royal Lahainain this.
This is for mid-November tomid-December, so that discount
(19:17):
that we just talked about doesnot apply here.
But I chose these dates because, finally, we're seeing good
Maui packages under $1,000 perperson With flights.
With flights, yeah, so Maui hastraditionally been higher, and
it's been quite a while sinceI've seen prices for Maui this
(19:40):
low.
So mid-November to mid-December, excluding Thanksgiving, is a
really good time to goprice-wise.
Here are some of the hotels theRoyal Kahana, which is a
three-star hotel, $989 perperson.
So that includes flights fromSalt Lake City, five nights
hotel and it includes all of therequired taxes and fees.
(20:02):
This was for a November 13thdeparture date that I looked
here.
And then the Royal Lahaina, thehotel that we just talked about
, which is a three and a halfstar hotel, and this is in their
hotel section, not thoseprivate bungalows.
We can get prices if you'reinterested in those.
It starts at $1,199 per person,again for the flight and hotel
(20:25):
and all the taxes.
And then probably one of myfavorite hotels on the island is
the Sheraton Maui.
This is a five-star hotel.
Yeah, that's a nice hotel andit's in a good location.
It has a nice beach becauseit's kind of in a little cove.
The Sheraton Maui was one ofthe first hotels in the area.
(20:45):
They had their first pick ofthe good beach, so they're in a
great location there.
That one starts at $1659 perperson from Salt Lake City
Five-night package and airfare.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:58):
Let's talk about some of the things to do
in Maui.
I'm really hoping thatHaleakala Volcano is on this
list.
Mark Faldmo (21:07):
It is.
That actually is the number oneattraction on Maui.
I'll turn the tables here onyou.
Why do you hope it was on thelist?
Patrick Wiscombe (21:19):
It was one of the most spectacular ascents.
So Nikki and I took a car upthe mountain and it was visually
spectacular.
It truly was one of the mostspecial experiences I've ever
had.
Going up a mountain, comingdown a mountain, the views were
just unbelievable.
One of the things that wasamazing is that in the morning
and I do mean early morning, andyou have to get a pass for this
(21:42):
where you actually watch thesun go up and you're above the
clouds First of all, listen towhat I'm saying there You're
above the clouds and you'rewatching the sunrise.
And then just the opposite inthe evening, you can actually
watch the sun go down from abovethe clouds spectacular.
Do it, you will not regret it.
(22:05):
We did not do this part becauseit was raining that day.
Uh, you can ride a bike downfrom the top.
I hope they have good brakes,because I didn't do it, but uh,
anyway, you can ride the bikeall the way down to the base of
the mountain.
While I didn't do it, I sawpeople doing it in the rain.
(22:25):
I'm like, well, okay, maybe Iwon't do that in the rain, I
will do it for sure, but justnot in the rain.
It just looked amazing.
Mark Faldmo (22:34):
And I agree with you.
You get up there and the views.
The thing that intrigues mewhen you're up there is you can
look around and see the otherHawaiian islands yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:43):
You can see Oahu.
Mark Faldmo (22:44):
Yep, you can see Molokai, you can see the big
island.
You just see them poking up outof the ocean or through the
clouds.
So it's pretty interesting tobe up there and see that
spectacular view.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:04):
When people think of Hawaii, they just think
of beachfront properties, andthat's true, absolutely it is.
But when you go inland and yougo up, you don't think of
elevation on Hawaii.
Mark Faldmo (23:09):
And it is truly spectacular.
You will not regret doing it.
Haleakala is just above 10,000feet above sea level, which is
about the size of our mountainshere in Salt Lake, but it starts
at sea level, so you've got anextra 4,000 feet above that, so
it's a pretty big mountain andit's quick.
It goes up quick.
Yes, my other favorite thing todo in Maui is the Road to Hana,
(23:33):
just a very scenic road.
You kind of have to be able todrive with white knuckles if you
drive this, because it's anarrow road.
A lot of sections of the roadare one way, so you have to wait
for vehicles and there areservice trucks that are on it
too to get back to Hana todeliver the goods that the town
needs.
It's a spectacular drive.
(23:54):
A little bit past the town ofHana you have the seven sacred
pools, which is actually part ofthe national Haleakala National
Park, and then, of course, inthe winter, whale watching.
Some of the best whale watchingyou'll ever have is in Maui
January, February and March.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:12):
Do yourself a favor, go to Hawaii.
Go to Maui, since that's whatwe're talking about.
But if you just can just get toHawaii, go.
Experience just how specialthis place is.
It is just different, it hitsdifferent.
It's just a differentexperience and you will not be
disappointed.
(24:32):
Call Mark in his office as wego to break here 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
When we come back, it is theinfamous just cruising segment.
We're going to talk about acouple of deals on Carnival.
(24:55):
Cruise Line Princess has an11-night cruise starting from
Galveston.
We'll give those details andwe've got the cruise news of the
week.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe, heis Mark Faldmo.
He and I will be right back.
Show Voice (25:17):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show with PatrickWiscombe and Mark 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.
(25:39):
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (26:03):
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Patrick Wiscombe (27:04):
Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717
or blueplanetvacations.
com.
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 (27:32):
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.
And now here are your hostsPatrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(27:55):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:04):
All aboard for segment number three of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show.
This is the infamous JustCruising segment, where we only
talk about cruises.
We've got the cruise news ofthe week and, of course, we've
got the cruise deal of the weekand I think we're going to I
(28:28):
think we're going to GrandCayman.
Well, I don't know when are wegoing.
Mark Faldmo (28:31):
We're going to the Caribbean.
Okay, and the cruises doinclude Grand Cayman, since it's
one of our news stories.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:37):
Ah, very good.
So that is coming up.
If you've always wanted to goto the Caribbean which Nikki and
I were just there, literallythree months ago it is
definitely worth going.
Let me just visually paint apicture for listeners.
I have never seen so manyshades of the color blue in my
(29:00):
life.
I thought these places werejust fake and made up, and then
I saw it and I went oh okay, allright, now I get it Anyway.
So we'll talk about theCaribbean coming up here in just
a second, but let's start withthe cruise news of the week, and
I thought that this was kind ofan interesting news story,
(29:21):
since we're talking about GrandCayman.
Cruise ship visits are at riskgoing to Grand Cayman, and
that's where I'll let you pickup the story.
Mark Faldmo (29:30):
Last week we talked about ship size big ship versus
small ship.
This whole story is aboutlarger cruise ships can't
necessarily make it to GrandCayman, and so a lot of cruise
lines are opting not to go toGrand Cayman as the ships grow
bigger.
Grand Cayman does not havedocking facilities, so all the
(29:50):
guests have to be tenderedashore.
Tendering 7,000 passengers backand forth just won't work.
They need a pier to do that.
The cruise ships that do go toGrand Cayman are the medium or
smaller sized ships.
They are thinking aboutbuilding a pier in Grand Cayman
that will accommodate the largerships, Although for the time
being, Grand Cayman is one of myfavorite stops in the Caribbean
(30:14):
, mainly for this problem thatwe're talking about.
There still may be four or fiveships there, but they're
smaller ships and the tenderingprocess creates a different
guest flow passenger flow ashore.
Grand Cayman just doesn't feelas busy as some of the other
ports to me, where everyone getsoff the ship at the same time.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:34):
That really does create some logistical
issues.
Mark Faldmo (30:37):
It feels less crowded when you're there on a
cruise.
And also, I don't mindtendering.
I know a lot of people say, oh,I want to avoid tender ports.
To me, I like getting on thattender and going.
It kind of makes me feel likeI'm an explorer.
You know, going to a new place,especially if it's a place I
haven't visited.
I like that process oftendering.
(31:01):
I think it's a great part ofthe cruise vacation.
But obviously, you know a lotof people want to just get to
their activities, get to theirshopping, you know, get to
whatever they're doing.
So tendering can put a delay inthat.
I think it's a great part ofthe cruise experience.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:16):
I think Lewis and Clark have nothing on you.
The great Faldino yeah, therewas a story that France's
Normandy ports director iswarning of longer queue times.
What are the details on thatstory?
Mark Faldmo (31:32):
The story mainly relates to ferry service, but
also can relate to cruisepassengers when they come in.
When the EU institutes theirnew electronic authorization
travel system and this is mainlyfrom the UK we'll need to fill
this out and have this done.
And they say the system hasn'teven been tested.
(31:53):
And yet it's going to launch ina few months.
And so they're just saying beready for longer lines, because
if you don't have your formsproperly filled out, it's going
to delay your time to get intothe country when arriving by
ship.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:08):
What could possibly go wrong?
If you're headed to Normandy,pack your patience.
Mark Faldmo (32:13):
If you're taking a cruise actually to probably
anywhere in France or theEuropean Union, there'll
probably be some issues aroundthis, you know, although in most
cases you'll fly in which thatsystem is okay.
It's the system for theshipping that is a little bit
delayed and that they'reparticularly worried about here.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:32):
I'm glad that we made that clarification,
because if anyone was flying,they were like I don't know.
Maybe we should rethink this.
Mark Faldmo (32:44):
This is just for boats, ships, this is just for
boats, and they haven'tannounced the start date for
flying in, but that one has beena lot more extensively tested
already.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:50):
So okay, as soon as that's announced, we'll
announce it on this show one ofthe things that I want to
emphasize, obviously, becauseyou're listening to us or you're
podcasting this later if youhave travel specific questions,
we have an office number that wegive at the end of every
segment.
But if you have travel relatedquestions or you just want to
(33:13):
plan your own vacation, you cantext us while we're on the air.
Just send your text or you cancall 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And during the break we got atext.
Yeah, this is from Jane.
Jane wants to know if there isa dress code when going on
(33:35):
cruises.
The dress code that I've seenmostly is swimsuits, shorts, but
they do have dress-up night.
What details does Jay need toknow about this?
Mark Faldmo (33:45):
That's a question a lot of people ask because a lot
of cruise lines do have formalnights and some people don't
like to get dressed up.
So I found some information,cruise line by cruise line, as
far as what their overall dresscode is and their evening dress
code.
I'll just pick out a few of themain cruise lines to talk about
, but every cruise line doeshave some sort of a dress code.
(34:08):
Carnival Cruise Line is casualby day and smart casual after
530.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:14):
Do they really enforce that?
I don't know that.
I've ever seen it enforced.
Mark Faldmo (34:26):
Some cruise lines do enforce that on the dress-up
nights.
They'll at least ask men tohave a tie-on for the formal
nights or go to the buffet inthe main restaurant.
So a lot of cruise lines dokind of enforce their dress code
or highly suggest but in theevening time no shorts in the
dining room, no hats, thingslike that.
I wear hats a lot and I oftenforget and I'm asked quite a bit
to take my hat off.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:47):
Really.
Mark Faldmo (34:47):
Okay.
And then Celebrity Cruise Line,which is a little bit higher
end, is smart casual the wholetime.
They do have dress-up nights.
In the main dining room theyhave sports jackets as optional.
You will see a lot of men thatwear sports jackets in the
evening.
On Celebrity Cunard resortcasual by day, smart attire in
(35:12):
the evening.
Some of the restaurants dorequire a jacket in the evening
and on gala evenings you have toat least have a jacket to go
into the restaurants.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:22):
Every time I hear the word smart, I always
think of hey, siri, get medressed, I need to be smart.
Yeah, I don't want to triggersomeone's speaker, so that's why
I said kind of separated thatDisney cruise line.
Mark Faldmo (35:36):
cruise casual is what they call that.
I've not heard of cruise casual, so hopefully that's a little
bit more relaxed.
And then they do have dress-upnights are optional but it's
recommended that people dress upon Disney for their dress-up
nights.
Holland America and Princessboth have the same.
They're smart casual, exceptfor the dress-up night.
(35:57):
They have semi-formal nightsand formal nights on board
Holland America and Princess.
And then we'll just quickly goover one last cruise line which
is Royal Caribbean Casual by day, smart casual in the evening.
They do have a chef's tableexperience.
Which is Royal Caribbean Casualby day, smart casual in the
evening.
They do have a chef's tableexperience which is formal dress
if you do the chef's table, andthe dress code does apply in
(36:21):
that situation to all ages.
So even the children would haveto be dressed up for the chef's
table.
I say in the afternoon,mornings and afternoons you're
fine in most places.
Just no swimwear in the mainrestaurants In the evening.
Men a golf shirt at least, andthen women can wear something a
(36:42):
little bit nicer in the eveningtime.
But for the most part cruiselines are going more and more on
the casual side than the formaldress-up side.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:50):
Yeah, that's what I've seen too.
It's kind of fun to see peopledressed up.
In fact, when you see someonein a tux or a suit, I'm like man
, I feel underdressed here.
Am I doing something wrong?
Mark Faldmo (37:01):
Yeah, I don't necessarily like to dress up, I
don't mind doing that.
The thing I have a problem withis packing that takes up too
much of the suitcases.
I like to travel light and Ihave to pack a suit.
That makes it a lot harder.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:14):
Let's talk about the cruise deal of the
week.
These are the Caribbean cruisesthat visit Grand Cayman, the
story that we talked about atthe very beginning of this
segment.
Let's start with CarnivalCruise.
Mark Faldmo (37:24):
Line.
I found two deals.
The first one is CarnivalCruise Line.
This is a six-night cruise,departing January 26th.
It visits Ocho Rios, which isin Jamaica, Grand Cayman and
Cozumel, with two days at sea.
That starts at $489 per personfor an inside cabin or $849 per
(37:45):
person for a balcony.
Those include all of thegovernment taxes and fees, so
that's the end price after allof the taxes and fees are added,
and actually all three ports onthis Ocho Rios, Jamaica, one of
the most beautiful islands I'vevisited in the Caribbean Grand
Cayman we talked about that.
(38:06):
You know, one thing we didn'ttalk about is going to the fun
spot in Grand Cayman.
There's a town called Hell, soyou can go to Hell.
You can mail a postcard homefrom Hell.
So Grand Cayman also hasStingray City, which is a fun
thing to do.
You go out and swim with thestingrays Then.
Cozumel is a nice port.
(38:28):
I've been there so many times.
Sometimes I don't even get offthe ship or I just go down into
the main town square and havechips and salsa.
There are also seven-daycruises for about the same cost,
but I chose the six-day becausethey have the same ports.
So seven days, just add anextra day at sea.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:46):
Let's wrap it up with the Princess.
I think it's an 11-night cruisefrom Galveston.
Mark Faldmo (38:51):
I chose a longer cruise on this.
It's January 27th and Galvestonwhich the nearest big city is
Houston, about 40 minutes away.
Galveston is becoming anemerging cruise market.
A lot of cruise lines are there.
There's been a new pierannounced.
Galveston is a great access,especially for us in the West,
(39:12):
to the Caribbean.
So this 11-day cruise visitsMontego Bay in Jamaica, grand
Cayman, visits Roatan, which isan island off of Honduras.
You know I've talked aboutRoatan before.
It reminds me a lot of Tahiti.
It was just so lush andtropical.
I really enjoyed Roatan.
(39:32):
It goes to Costa Maya and thenBelize City, which has probably
one of my favorite shoreexcursions of all time.
You go to a Mayan ruin but it'sonly accessible by boat.
So you take a boat for like anhour and a half up a river.
They'll stop and you'll seewildlife alligators, birds,
monkeys, different things andthen you go to this ruin one of
(39:54):
my top shore excursions in BullyCity.
And then it also visits Cozumelbefore heading back to
Galveston.
The price on that for an insidecabin starts at $1,049 and a
balcony at $1,402.
We're right in for an insideless than $100 per person per
day, which is usually the sweetspot for cruises, and that
(40:17):
balcony cabin is an amazingprice as well.
For an 11-day cruise you wouldexpect that to be well above
$2,000, usually for a balconycabin.
Two great cruise deals.
We kind of targeted that oneport of Grand Cayman, but the
Caribbean is a great cruiseoption.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:35):
You can't go wrong.
All right, we're going to takea break here to book the cruise
deal of the week, either the sixnight or the 11 night cruise.
Six night cruise from Miami orthe 11 night cruise from
Galveston.
Call Mark in his office, justget the conversation rolling.
You're not committing toanything.
888-718-7717.
(40:59):
One more time 888-718-7717.
Once you've done it, youprobably will never want to stop
because it's such a great wayto get out and explore the world
.
When we come back, segmentnumber four, the final segment.
Already We've got Mark's traveltips.
We've also got some additionaltravel news of the week and
(41:21):
we're going to talk aboutconsumers visiting 277 websites
before booking travel.
We're not encouraging you to dothat because Mark is basically
the 277 websites.
That is next.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show continues.
I'm Patrick Wiscombe, he's MarkFaldmo.
(41:42):
We'll be right back.
Show Voice (41:46):
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 atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (42:08):
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Show Voice (43:02):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
blueplanetvacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And now your hosts, PatrickWiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:28):
Serving travelers around the world.
Serving travelers around theworld.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
We are here to help you planand book your next vacation.
(43:57):
Whether it's one of thevacations that we talk about, or
if you have your own agenda andyou just want to create
something custom just for you,you can call Mark in his office
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
We are literally on the airevery week to help you plan and
book your next vacation.
So let us help you.
Mark has been on over 150cruises.
He's literally been travelingthe world for the last 25 plus
(44:20):
years Actually longer than that,but I mean in a professional
capacity.
He's been doing it for a very,very long time.
He's helped me multiple times.
Just this year Went to Hawaii.
Last year went to Alaska.
We've gone to the Caribbean.
The guy knows his stuff.
So call him in his office ifyou would.
(44:42):
888-718-7717.
We are here to help you.
Coming up on this, the finalsegment of the show, we've got
the travel news of the week andwe're going to talk about a 20%
offer from Ama Waterways that isgoing to expire soon.
We'll give you the details, andI saw this news story that
(45:03):
consumers will visit 277websites before booking their
travel.
Before booking their travel,I'm telling you, mark is the 277
websites.
Just call him, really.
Just call him.
He knows his stuff.
(45:23):
I saw this news story that Uberand Turo.
Now, if you don't know whatTuro is, turo is a rent-a-car
type company where you rentpeople's private cars, but
they're going to integrate carrentals into the Uber app.
I think that's a good move onTuro's part, because no one
knows who Turo is, generallyspeaking, and everyone knows who
Uber is.
Mark Faldmo (45:39):
I think that's a great move.
I'm a regular user of Uber.
I have used Turo a time or two.
Have you used Turo?
Patrick Wiscombe (45:47):
I was going to try it once, but the car wasn't
available when I needed it orit got rented out from
underneath me, and so I ended upnot doing it.
Mark Faldmo (45:57):
I have used Turo twice, had a really good
experience with that.
It is kind of strange to drivesomeone's private car like a
rental car for me.
I also thought Uber and Lyftwere strange getting a ride from
some random stranger, and now Iuse them all the time.
So these are two companies thatkind of innovated in the travel
(46:18):
area and good to see thatthey're combining forces to
hopefully make some of thesetravel aspects a little bit less
expensive for travelers.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:27):
Here's a story that I just went.
Oh boy, battery powered devicesare overheating more often on
planes.
That is not something I want tosee when I'm flying 35,000 feet
in the air.
Really, I just don't even wantto be off the ground if a device
is overheating.
Mark Faldmo (46:43):
Anyone that's flown .
When they're checking your bagsat the gate, they ask you to
make sure you have no laptops,no batteries.
All of that has to go in thecabin and cannot go under the
plane in the cargo hold, and thereason is because smoke or fire
from one of these devices is alot easier to spot and take care
of in the cabin.
(47:03):
In the cargo hold.
They can't see it.
From 2019 to the 2023,incidence of batteries
overheating or smoking are up28%.
Wow, that's a lot.
Airlines reported that 70% ofthe lithium-ion batteries
incidences in airplanes werefrom e-cigarettes people not
(47:27):
turning them off like they'resupposed to, and overheating.
And before this I was doingsome research as to why these
overheat.
And it's just temperaturechange can do that.
Pressure changes, damagedbatteries can all do that, and I
did learn something.
I've heard an announcement andI've not understood why until
(47:49):
just a few minutes ago in thesafety briefing of when you're
on.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:53):
Oh yeah, we talked about that last week.
Mark Faldmo (47:55):
Yeah, One of the things they say if you lose your
electronic device in your seat,don't adjust your seat.
Let a flight attendant know.
And the reason is becausepeople were trying to adjust
their seat, crushing their phoneand starting the fire or
starting a reaction with theirbattery, and so that's why they
(48:16):
ask you if you lose your phonein the seat, don't adjust your
seat to call a flight attendant.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:22):
I saw this story that consumers visit 277
websites before booking travel.
People are doing their research, but I want to emphasize and
you would expect us to say thisbecause we do this show you, my
friend have helped me enormouslyin the last year with all the
travel that Nikki and I havedone and you said don't do this,
(48:45):
do this.
You've really kind of made thewhole travel experience really
great for she and I.
Mark Faldmo (48:52):
Thank you, and that's you know.
My goal at Blue PlanetVacations and that's our goal is
to really help in that tripplanning.
This segment is kind of why usea travel agent?
I mean, the internet is a goodtool, yeah, but if you're
visiting almost 300 websites andspending eight hours just to
research a trip, that's a lot.
(49:13):
A good travel agent canprobably find just as good or,
in most cases, a much bettertrip.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:22):
Well and can speak from experience too.
Mark Faldmo (49:24):
Yeah, our goal price is important, so we're
mainly looking for the overallvalue of the trip.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:31):
And is it a good way to spend money?
Mark Faldmo (49:33):
Yeah, there's a lot of ways that added values can
be added to trips that don'tcost a lot more.
Your private transfer for thecruise that wasn't a whole lot
more than if you were to takethe bus transfer and you had a
private driver take you there,private driver take you there.
(49:54):
So you know there are a lot ofthings that a travel agent can
do to add value while stillfinding the best price.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:58):
Let's recap the hot travel deal of the week.
Where we went to Maui, we hadthe five-night package.
Let's go over that quickly andthen let's do the cruise deal of
the week for listeners.
Mark Faldmo (50:08):
So the five-night package to Maui included airfare
from Salt Lake City Again, wecan do from other cities if you
want and Five Nights Hotelstarted at $989 per person for a
three-star Royal Kahana or$1199 per person for
three-and-a-half-star RoyalLahaina Just reopened up and is
a beautiful hotel, and theSheraton Maui $1,659.
(50:33):
One of the best hotel locationson Maui.
Patrick Wiscombe (50:36):
Maui is spectacular.
Let's talk about the cruisedeal of the week.
Mark Faldmo (50:41):
Cruise deal of the week.
We had two cruise deals Boththat included Grand Cayman
because that was in one of ournews stories a January 26th
departure on Carnival CruiseLine.
It was six days, starting at$489 per person including all of
the taxes and fees or a balconyat $849 per person.
And then we had an 11-daycruise from Galveston on
(51:05):
Princess.
This one started at $1049 perperson for an inside and $1402
per person for a January 29departure from Galveston on
Princess.
Patrick Wiscombe (51:17):
I cannot believe how fast this hour went
Unbelievable.
If you want to take advantageof these offers that we've made
during this edition of the show,call Mark in his office.
No obligation, just get theconversation started.
His office number is888-718-7717.
(51:42):
888-718-7717.
And you can also visit himonline at blueplanetvacations.
com.
You can pick up the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
We're on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Get out, explore the worldwhile you can, because you never
(52:04):
know what curveball's life isgoing to throw at you.
Live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally,
and just remember today is agood day for a good day.
Have a great week.
We'll talk to you next Saturdaythat's it.
Show Voice (52:21):
that's the end of the show you've been listening
to the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show with
Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(52:42):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Ad Voice (53:07):
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All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
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(00:35):
your world.
Show Voice (00:36):
it's the inside travel talk podcast and radio
show presented by blue planetvacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:10):
It is time for another episode and edition of
the Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, my goodfriend, my name is Patrick
Wiscombe and, if you are justcatching this show for the very
first time, the entire purposeof this show is to help you plan
(01:31):
and book your next vacation.
We are live every Saturday andSunday morning here in Salt Lake
City on radio station KKAT 860AM at 11 o'clock mountain time,
and we are presented byblueplanetvacations.
com Coming up.
On this segment of the show.
(01:53):
We will be putting the travelspotlight on Thailand, a place
that I personally want to go,but Mark has been.
How many times have you been,mark?
I've been twice to Thailand.
We also have the hot travel dealof the week, regardless of the
destination that's coming up inthe next segment, and then, of
course, we have the cruise dealof the week during the infamous
(02:17):
just cruising segment and, ofcourse, throughout the entire
show.
At the top of every segmentwe've got the travel news of the
week.
This is good news.
At At least I thought it wasRoyal Caribbean is helping boost
public Wi-Fi in Juneau.
Man, some of these touristspots, it gets Wi-Fi congested,
I'll just put it that way.
Mark Faldmo (02:38):
Yeah, it does.
And that small area of Juneau,when you have five cruise ships
in on a day, it puts a bigstrain on the cell phone data.
So Royal Caribbean is teamingup with a company to install
Starlink receivers in localbusinesses.
It's going to act as freepublic Wi-Fi for cruisers and
(02:59):
residents.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:00):
I love Starlink internet.
Have you ever used it?
I have on a cruise ship.
Mark Faldmo (03:05):
I think.
So you know, I've never used itknowingly but I've I'm sure
I've connected to places thatuse it.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:13):
My son Nathan and his wife Mackenzie.
They have spent literally thelast year traveling the United
States in a van, and so they'vebeen working from their car and
they have used Starlink for thepast year and I've never heard
them complain once about it.
I've asked Nathan about it andhe goes.
Dad, it is fantastic.
Mark Faldmo (03:34):
They're doing it for the remainder of the cruise
season and then the entirety ofthe 2025 cruise season.
So this looks like it's onlyduring the cruise season that
these receivers are going to beactive.
The rest of the year, theregular utilities can handle it.
This is good for Juno and goodfor travelers to Juno.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:52):
This is good news if you are trying to save
money when booking a flightusing Google's data.
Mark Faldmo (04:01):
Yeah, this is a report from Google Flights and
it tells when the best time tobook flights are.
They put this report out everyyear, so this was for the last
year, but it also compares it toprevious years.
So if you're looking to book adomestic flight, the best prices
are 38 days in advance,anything domestically in the US.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:19):
You've consistently said that, even
without the data, that the besttime to book a flight is about
five to six weeks before youtake off.
Us.
You've consistently said that,even without the data that the
best time to book a flight isabout five to six weeks before
you take off.
Mark Faldmo (04:29):
Correct.
Yeah, the historical pricerange has been between 21 and 52
days, but for the past year itwas 38 days, according to Google
data.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:39):
Can you imagine people planning their
vacation?
Ok, we have a countdown to day38.
Mark Faldmo (04:47):
planning their vacation.
Okay, we have a countdown today 38.
All right, now we can book it.
I mean typically, you knowagain, within that range about
50 days or so prior is usuallywhen I say the best prices for
domestic.
Now, international is differentand it's much further out it's
101 days.
So More than three months outfor international flights.
Thanksgiving the best time tobook Thanksgiving for the price
(05:09):
has been 45 days prior todeparture and Christmas is 58
days prior.
One of the points they analyzedwas what is the best day of the
week to book on.
This isn't travel, this is tobook on.
They say it really doesn'tmatter.
And then days to fly on andthis is something that we've
talked about on the show manytimes Tuesday, Wednesday,
(05:31):
Thursday are typically 13%cheaper than Friday, Saturday
and Sunday.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:36):
That makes sense.
You've been saying thatliterally for the last year
since we've been doing the show.
Mark Faldmo (05:41):
Yeah, so anyway, that's good data from Google,
just to help out.
A lot of it is stuff we'vetalked about, but it actually
breaks it down to the day Japanis set to launch a new travel
authorization program.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:53):
What's that about?
Mark Faldmo (05:53):
This is basically just a pre-passport check before
you travel, so you'll have tosubmit a form.
They'll come back and say, yes,you can travel.
No, you can't travel.
They're looking for risks ofpeople staying longer than they
should.
So apparently a lot of peopletravel to Japan and stay there.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:13):
So this is on top of a regular passport.
So this is passport plus theirauthorization.
Yeah, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (06:20):
So you have to submit your passport.
This is not a full-fledged visa, right?
You just have to submit allyour information and then
they'll bring you back a pieceof paper that you'll have to
show when you go throughpassport control upon arrival.
And this is for 71 currentlyvisa-exempt countries.
So for us from the US, we don'tneed a visa to go there.
They do say if you're rejectedthrough this, then you would
(06:44):
need to apply for a regular visa, and you can probably get in
that way by applying for aregular visa.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:50):
It is time for the destination of the week,
and we are headed to Thailand.
Let's first talk about gettingto Thailand.
What's the best way to do that?
Mark Faldmo (07:00):
So from Thailand.
Currently there are no directflights from the US, so you have
to take, usually, one of theAsian carriers.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:08):
Oh, I didn't know that.
Mark Faldmo (07:09):
EVA Airways, China Airlines, go through Taipei,
Taiwan, go through Japan to getthere.
Eva Airlines is who I'vetraveled on.
I love flying on EVA Airways.
They're a very good airline.
A lot of those Asian airlinesare pretty good.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:25):
Let's talk about the touristy things to do,
the main areas to visit.
Mark Faldmo (07:34):
Chiang Mai is in the north.
It's in the mountains.
A lot of people like going herebecause it's cooler, has more
pleasant weather, but it'sfamous for its historical
temples.
One of the other areas isPhuket.
It's known for its beaches.
It was one of my favorite spotsin Thailand.
And then there's Bangkok.
That's the capital, known forornate shrines.
It's also known as the Veniceof the East.
(07:56):
There's a network of canals andit's great for shopping and for
street food.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:02):
So you take gondolas through the city.
Well, boats, oh boats, they'relong-tail boats.
What are some of the bestthings to do when you're in
Thailand?
Mark Faldmo (08:11):
My favorite things are see the temples and shrines.
Bangkok in particular hasseveral that are just right
there Down in the Phuket area.
You can go out on the AtamanSea and go to Pnangnag Bay.
Some of those islands I thinkwe've talked about this before
they're just islands, smallislands that are kind of like
(08:32):
gumdrops that like shootstraight up from the ocean and
you go, and a lot of them arealso hollow inside, so you can
go in.
You go through tunnels and thenyou come into this middle of
the island.
It's a pretty neat experienceto do that.
One of the things a lot ofpeople like to do go to the
markets.
In Thailand there's a 24-hour,seven days a week flower market.
(08:56):
Thailand is known for itsfloating markets, where all the
vendors are on canoes boats.
You go up and you buy from onecanoe.
It's a pretty interestingconcept for the floating markets
.
There are several of those.
Also, right on the main riverin Thailand there's a it's kind
of like an outdoor shopping mallcalled Asia Teak.
I like that.
(09:17):
I probably had some of the bestpad thai I ever had at the
little food truck that was thereever had at the little food
truck that was there.
Speaking of that.
Thailand is known for streetfood in the Chinatown.
Street food is amazing.
There they have whole foodtours where you just go and eat
street food the whole tour.
One of my favorite things Iactually did a cooking class in
(09:40):
Thailand.
We made things from scratch.
We made the curry from scratch.
It was so good.
The first time we met aboutdoing this was in a Thai
restaurant.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:50):
Wasn't it Simply Thai and Sandy?
Simply Thai and Sandy?
Yeah, they did have some goodpad thai.
Mark Faldmo (09:56):
We talked about Venice Bangkok being the Venice
of the East taking a cruise onthe Chao Phraya River, which is
the river that runs rightthrough Bangkok.
There's dinner cruises that dothat, or you can take smaller
cruises that go up into some ofthe smaller canals.
Bangkok, and Thailand as awhole, is a wonderful
destination to go to.
(10:17):
I didn't even talk about theelephants.
They're elephant rescue becausetraditionally, elephants have
been pretty heavily used workingin Thailand, and so there are
now places that have elephantrescue.
They're all domesticatedanimals so they can't be
released back into the wild andyou really get to learn about
the elephants in Thailand.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:38):
Well, that's going to do it for the
Destination Spotlight.
If you are interested in goingto Thailand, call Mark in his
office during the break.
Obviously you're not going tobook something that fast, but
just to get the conversationstarted accommodations et cetera
call him 888-718-7717.
One more time on the phonenumber 888-718-7717.
(11:04):
Coming up in segment number two, it is the hot travel deal of
the week and we cannot talkenough about Hawaii.
It seems to be Alaska andHawaii are probably the things
that you book the most.
We are going to Maui this time,so if you've always wanted to
(11:24):
go to Hawaii, or Mauispecifically, stay tuned for
this next segment.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,alongside Mark Faldmo.
Show Voice (11:39):
He and I will be right back right back, taking
you to destinations around theworld.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
(12:00):
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (12:23):
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Show Voice (13:16):
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.
(13:37):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:49):
Your attention , please.
Your attention, please.
If you would like to go toHawaii, this is the segment for
you.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show alongside Mark Faldmo, theowner of BluePlanetVacations.
com.
(14:10):
My name is Patrick Wiscombe and, if you can't tell, we are
talking about Hawaii.
This is the hot travel deal ofthe week and we're going to be
talking about some three, threeand a half and five-star hotels
on the island of Maui and someof the things to do in Maui.
If you've always thought aboutgoing to Hawaii, quit thinking
(14:35):
about it.
We've got a killer deal to getto Maui in this segment.
But before we do that, let'sget to the travel news of the
week, and where should we starthere?
You know what let's start with.
Warner Brothers is creating anew theme park and experiences.
Mark Faldmo (14:55):
Warner Brothers has actually created a new business
unit.
It's called Warner BrothersDiscovery Global Experiences
Warner Brothers.
Ad Voice (15:03):
Discovery.
Mark Faldmo (15:03):
Global Experiences, and this is how they're going
to work on developing themeparks, developing studio tours,
developing more interaction withthe brand.
Right now they have apartnership with Universal
Destinations for Harry Potter,and so they're going to continue
to lease that out to Universal,but they are trying to get more
(15:25):
people to interact with theirbrand, similar to what Universal
Studios does.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:30):
That makes a whole lot of sense, because
Warner Brothers my perception ofWarner Brothers is that it is
an enormous company and ifthey've partnered with Universal
Studios, their backlot tour,which, by the way, is fantastic,
I love that tour, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (15:45):
I do too.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:46):
Jaws, the Psycho House, all of the current
TV shows.
It's amazing what you get tosee on that backlot tour.
I'm actually kind of surprisedit's taken this long.
Mark Faldmo (15:55):
Now that's one thing that people are really
craving these days areexperiences, and this new unit
can develop some of thoseexperiences around Warner
Brothers characters themes.
I think this will be a goodthing for travelers.
I'd love to visit UniversalStudios both in California and
(16:16):
Florida, probably even more sothan Disney like what Universal
has to offer.
I know there are some people outthere yelling at the radio
right now.
It's just a differentexperience and it connects you
although Disney does as well butconnects you with the TV shows,
the movies and things that yourelate to.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:34):
Yeah, that you see on your screen every week.
Yes, I thought this was greatand I know that it ties into
Maui, which is the whole purposeof this particular segment, the
hot travel deal of the week.
Mark Faldmo (16:46):
But I saw that Royal Lahaina Resort has
reopened for business on Maui,so Royal Lahaina was one of the
resorts that was used to housedisplaced residents from the
wildfire in Maui.
They're winding that down.
They've gone through somerefurbishments and they are now
open for full business on Maui.
(17:07):
This is one of my favoritehotels there.
As I look through my picturesof Hawaii, I think some of the
best ocean shots I've caughthave been from one of the
balconies, from the rooms of theRoyal Lahaina.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:20):
How close is Royal Lahaina to the burn zone?
Is it in that same area or isit a little bit further inland?
Mark Faldmo (17:26):
It's a few miles down.
Okay, so it's a few miles outof the actual town of Lahaina,
but it is one of the closerhotels to the town of Lahaina.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:36):
If memory serves, the fire was on August
8th 2023.
That place got torched, not thewhole island, just the section
of Lahaina Town Front Street.
Maui is a huge island.
The way that they wereportraying it was that the
entire island burned down.
That's not even close toaccurate.
(17:57):
It was only a section of theisland.
When Nikki and I were there inMarch, you could still see white
ash.
I can't even imagine how hotthat fire was and how quickly it
moved.
Mark Faldmo (18:08):
One of the unique parts about this is it has 127
private bungalows as part of theproperty.
Okay, so it has a hotel sectionplus it has these private
bungalows.
See, I would go bungalowprobably.
This does open up a lot morelodging options for Maui.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:27):
I wanted to recap the Funjet Hawaii offer
that we made.
Was that a couple of weeks ago?
Mark Faldmo (18:33):
I think that was two weeks ago, so we're talking
about this because it does endThursday, the 26th.
You have a couple of days totake advantage of this.
Up to $550 off and this is for2025 packages that are paid in
full at the time of reservation.
They've also added selecthotels.
That's up to 45% discount.
(18:55):
There's resort credits, fifthnight free, kids stay free.
There's all sorts of otheroffers at select hotels for this
offer and that's for travelJanuary 1st 2025 to July 31st
2025.
I did include the Royal Lahainain this.
This is for mid-November tomid-December, so that discount
(19:17):
that we just talked about doesnot apply here.
But I chose these dates because, finally, we're seeing good
Maui packages under $1,000 perperson With flights.
With flights, yeah, so Maui hastraditionally been higher, and
it's been quite a while sinceI've seen prices for Maui this
(19:40):
low.
So mid-November to mid-December, excluding Thanksgiving, is a
really good time to goprice-wise.
Here are some of the hotels theRoyal Kahana, which is a
three-star hotel, $989 perperson.
So that includes flights fromSalt Lake City, five nights
hotel and it includes all of therequired taxes and fees.
(20:02):
This was for a November 13thdeparture date that I looked
here.
And then the Royal Lahaina, thehotel that we just talked about
, which is a three and a halfstar hotel, and this is in their
hotel section, not thoseprivate bungalows.
We can get prices if you'reinterested in those.
It starts at $1,199 per person,again for the flight and hotel
(20:25):
and all the taxes.
And then probably one of myfavorite hotels on the island is
the Sheraton Maui.
This is a five-star hotel.
Yeah, that's a nice hotel andit's in a good location.
It has a nice beach becauseit's kind of in a little cove.
The Sheraton Maui was one ofthe first hotels in the area.
(20:45):
They had their first pick ofthe good beach, so they're in a
great location there.
That one starts at $1659 perperson from Salt Lake City
Five-night package and airfare.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:58):
Let's talk about some of the things to do
in Maui.
I'm really hoping thatHaleakala Volcano is on this
list.
Mark Faldmo (21:07):
It is.
That actually is the number oneattraction on Maui.
I'll turn the tables here onyou.
Why do you hope it was on thelist?
Patrick Wiscombe (21:19):
It was one of the most spectacular ascents.
So Nikki and I took a car upthe mountain and it was visually
spectacular.
It truly was one of the mostspecial experiences I've ever
had.
Going up a mountain, comingdown a mountain, the views were
just unbelievable.
One of the things that wasamazing is that in the morning
and I do mean early morning, andyou have to get a pass for this
(21:42):
where you actually watch thesun go up and you're above the
clouds First of all, listen towhat I'm saying there You're
above the clouds and you'rewatching the sunrise.
And then just the opposite inthe evening, you can actually
watch the sun go down from abovethe clouds spectacular.
Do it, you will not regret it.
(22:05):
We did not do this part becauseit was raining that day.
Uh, you can ride a bike downfrom the top.
I hope they have good brakes,because I didn't do it, but uh,
anyway, you can ride the bikeall the way down to the base of
the mountain.
While I didn't do it, I sawpeople doing it in the rain.
(22:25):
I'm like, well, okay, maybe Iwon't do that in the rain, I
will do it for sure, but justnot in the rain.
It just looked amazing.
Mark Faldmo (22:34):
And I agree with you.
You get up there and the views.
The thing that intrigues mewhen you're up there is you can
look around and see the otherHawaiian islands yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:43):
You can see Oahu.
Mark Faldmo (22:44):
Yep, you can see Molokai, you can see the big
island.
You just see them poking up outof the ocean or through the
clouds.
So it's pretty interesting tobe up there and see that
spectacular view.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:04):
When people think of Hawaii, they just think
of beachfront properties, andthat's true, absolutely it is.
But when you go inland and yougo up, you don't think of
elevation on Hawaii.
Mark Faldmo (23:09):
And it is truly spectacular.
You will not regret doing it.
Haleakala is just above 10,000feet above sea level, which is
about the size of our mountainshere in Salt Lake, but it starts
at sea level, so you've got anextra 4,000 feet above that, so
it's a pretty big mountain andit's quick.
It goes up quick.
Yes, my other favorite thing todo in Maui is the Road to Hana,
(23:33):
just a very scenic road.
You kind of have to be able todrive with white knuckles if you
drive this, because it's anarrow road.
A lot of sections of the roadare one way, so you have to wait
for vehicles and there areservice trucks that are on it
too to get back to Hana todeliver the goods that the town
needs.
It's a spectacular drive.
(23:54):
A little bit past the town ofHana you have the seven sacred
pools, which is actually part ofthe national Haleakala National
Park, and then, of course, inthe winter, whale watching.
Some of the best whale watchingyou'll ever have is in Maui
January, February and March.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:12):
Do yourself a favor, go to Hawaii.
Go to Maui, since that's whatwe're talking about.
But if you just can just get toHawaii, go.
Experience just how specialthis place is.
It is just different, it hitsdifferent.
It's just a differentexperience and you will not be
disappointed.
(24:32):
Call Mark in his office as wego to break here 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
When we come back, it is theinfamous just cruising segment.
We're going to talk about acouple of deals on Carnival.
(24:55):
Cruise Line Princess has an11-night cruise starting from
Galveston.
We'll give those details andwe've got the cruise news of the
week.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe, heis Mark Faldmo.
He and I will be right back.
Show Voice (25:17):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show with PatrickWiscombe and Mark 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.
(25:39):
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (26:03):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
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Patrick Wiscombe (27:04):
Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717
or blueplanetvacations.
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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.
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Show Voice (27:32):
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.
And now here are your hostsPatrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(27:55):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:04):
All aboard for segment number three of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show.
This is the infamous JustCruising segment, where we only
talk about cruises.
We've got the cruise news ofthe week and, of course, we've
got the cruise deal of the weekand I think we're going to I
(28:28):
think we're going to GrandCayman.
Well, I don't know when are wegoing.
Mark Faldmo (28:31):
We're going to the Caribbean.
Okay, and the cruises doinclude Grand Cayman, since it's
one of our news stories.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:37):
Ah, very good.
So that is coming up.
If you've always wanted to goto the Caribbean which Nikki and
I were just there, literallythree months ago it is
definitely worth going.
Let me just visually paint apicture for listeners.
I have never seen so manyshades of the color blue in my
(29:00):
life.
I thought these places werejust fake and made up, and then
I saw it and I went oh okay, allright, now I get it Anyway.
So we'll talk about theCaribbean coming up here in just
a second, but let's start withthe cruise news of the week, and
I thought that this was kind ofan interesting news story,
(29:21):
since we're talking about GrandCayman.
Cruise ship visits are at riskgoing to Grand Cayman, and
that's where I'll let you pickup the story.
Mark Faldmo (29:30):
Last week we talked about ship size big ship versus
small ship.
This whole story is aboutlarger cruise ships can't
necessarily make it to GrandCayman, and so a lot of cruise
lines are opting not to go toGrand Cayman as the ships grow
bigger.
Grand Cayman does not havedocking facilities, so all the
(29:50):
guests have to be tenderedashore.
Tendering 7,000 passengers backand forth just won't work.
They need a pier to do that.
The cruise ships that do go toGrand Cayman are the medium or
smaller sized ships.
They are thinking aboutbuilding a pier in Grand Cayman
that will accommodate the largerships, Although for the time
being, Grand Cayman is one of myfavorite stops in the Caribbean
(30:14):
, mainly for this problem thatwe're talking about.
There still may be four or fiveships there, but they're
smaller ships and the tenderingprocess creates a different
guest flow passenger flow ashore.
Grand Cayman just doesn't feelas busy as some of the other
ports to me, where everyone getsoff the ship at the same time.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:34):
That really does create some logistical
issues.
Mark Faldmo (30:37):
It feels less crowded when you're there on a
cruise.
And also, I don't mindtendering.
I know a lot of people say, oh,I want to avoid tender ports.
To me, I like getting on thattender and going.
It kind of makes me feel likeI'm an explorer.
You know, going to a new place,especially if it's a place I
haven't visited.
I like that process oftendering.
(31:01):
I think it's a great part ofthe cruise vacation.
But obviously, you know a lotof people want to just get to
their activities, get to theirshopping, you know, get to
whatever they're doing.
So tendering can put a delay inthat.
I think it's a great part ofthe cruise experience.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:16):
I think Lewis and Clark have nothing on you.
The great Faldino yeah, therewas a story that France's
Normandy ports director iswarning of longer queue times.
What are the details on thatstory?
Mark Faldmo (31:32):
The story mainly relates to ferry service, but
also can relate to cruisepassengers when they come in.
When the EU institutes theirnew electronic authorization
travel system and this is mainlyfrom the UK we'll need to fill
this out and have this done.
And they say the system hasn'teven been tested.
(31:53):
And yet it's going to launch ina few months.
And so they're just saying beready for longer lines, because
if you don't have your formsproperly filled out, it's going
to delay your time to get intothe country when arriving by
ship.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:08):
What could possibly go wrong?
If you're headed to Normandy,pack your patience.
Mark Faldmo (32:13):
If you're taking a cruise actually to probably
anywhere in France or theEuropean Union, there'll
probably be some issues aroundthis, you know, although in most
cases you'll fly in which thatsystem is okay.
It's the system for theshipping that is a little bit
delayed and that they'reparticularly worried about here.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:32):
I'm glad that we made that clarification,
because if anyone was flying,they were like I don't know.
Maybe we should rethink this.
Mark Faldmo (32:44):
This is just for boats, ships, this is just for
boats, and they haven'tannounced the start date for
flying in, but that one has beena lot more extensively tested
already.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:50):
So okay, as soon as that's announced, we'll
announce it on this show one ofthe things that I want to
emphasize, obviously, becauseyou're listening to us or you're
podcasting this later if youhave travel specific questions,
we have an office number that wegive at the end of every
segment.
But if you have travel relatedquestions or you just want to
(33:13):
plan your own vacation, you cantext us while we're on the air.
Just send your text or you cancall 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And during the break we got atext.
Yeah, this is from Jane.
Jane wants to know if there isa dress code when going on
(33:35):
cruises.
The dress code that I've seenmostly is swimsuits, shorts, but
they do have dress-up night.
What details does Jay need toknow about this?
Mark Faldmo (33:45):
That's a question a lot of people ask because a lot
of cruise lines do have formalnights and some people don't
like to get dressed up.
So I found some information,cruise line by cruise line, as
far as what their overall dresscode is and their evening dress
code.
I'll just pick out a few of themain cruise lines to talk about
, but every cruise line doeshave some sort of a dress code.
(34:08):
Carnival Cruise Line is casualby day and smart casual after
530.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:14):
Do they really enforce that?
I don't know that.
I've ever seen it enforced.
Mark Faldmo (34:26):
Some cruise lines do enforce that on the dress-up
nights.
They'll at least ask men tohave a tie-on for the formal
nights or go to the buffet inthe main restaurant.
So a lot of cruise lines dokind of enforce their dress code
or highly suggest but in theevening time no shorts in the
dining room, no hats, thingslike that.
I wear hats a lot and I oftenforget and I'm asked quite a bit
to take my hat off.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:47):
Really.
Mark Faldmo (34:47):
Okay.
And then Celebrity Cruise Line,which is a little bit higher
end, is smart casual the wholetime.
They do have dress-up nights.
In the main dining room theyhave sports jackets as optional.
You will see a lot of men thatwear sports jackets in the
evening.
On Celebrity Cunard resortcasual by day, smart attire in
(35:12):
the evening.
Some of the restaurants dorequire a jacket in the evening
and on gala evenings you have toat least have a jacket to go
into the restaurants.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:22):
Every time I hear the word smart, I always
think of hey, siri, get medressed, I need to be smart.
Yeah, I don't want to triggersomeone's speaker, so that's why
I said kind of separated thatDisney cruise line.
Mark Faldmo (35:36):
cruise casual is what they call that.
I've not heard of cruise casual, so hopefully that's a little
bit more relaxed.
And then they do have dress-upnights are optional but it's
recommended that people dress upon Disney for their dress-up
nights.
Holland America and Princessboth have the same.
They're smart casual, exceptfor the dress-up night.
(35:57):
They have semi-formal nightsand formal nights on board
Holland America and Princess.
And then we'll just quickly goover one last cruise line which
is Royal Caribbean Casual by day, smart casual in the evening.
They do have a chef's tableexperience.
Which is Royal Caribbean Casualby day, smart casual in the
evening.
They do have a chef's tableexperience which is formal dress
if you do the chef's table, andthe dress code does apply in
(36:21):
that situation to all ages.
So even the children would haveto be dressed up for the chef's
table.
I say in the afternoon,mornings and afternoons you're
fine in most places.
Just no swimwear in the mainrestaurants In the evening.
Men a golf shirt at least, andthen women can wear something a
(36:42):
little bit nicer in the eveningtime.
But for the most part cruiselines are going more and more on
the casual side than the formaldress-up side.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:50):
Yeah, that's what I've seen too.
It's kind of fun to see peopledressed up.
In fact, when you see someonein a tux or a suit, I'm like man
, I feel underdressed here.
Am I doing something wrong?
Mark Faldmo (37:01):
Yeah, I don't necessarily like to dress up, I
don't mind doing that.
The thing I have a problem withis packing that takes up too
much of the suitcases.
I like to travel light and Ihave to pack a suit.
That makes it a lot harder.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:14):
Let's talk about the cruise deal of the
week.
These are the Caribbean cruisesthat visit Grand Cayman, the
story that we talked about atthe very beginning of this
segment.
Let's start with CarnivalCruise.
Mark Faldmo (37:24):
Line.
I found two deals.
The first one is CarnivalCruise Line.
This is a six-night cruise,departing January 26th.
It visits Ocho Rios, which isin Jamaica, Grand Cayman and
Cozumel, with two days at sea.
That starts at $489 per personfor an inside cabin or $849 per
(37:45):
person for a balcony.
Those include all of thegovernment taxes and fees, so
that's the end price after allof the taxes and fees are added,
and actually all three ports onthis Ocho Rios, Jamaica, one of
the most beautiful islands I'vevisited in the Caribbean Grand
Cayman we talked about that.
(38:06):
You know, one thing we didn'ttalk about is going to the fun
spot in Grand Cayman.
There's a town called Hell, soyou can go to Hell.
You can mail a postcard homefrom Hell.
So Grand Cayman also hasStingray City, which is a fun
thing to do.
You go out and swim with thestingrays Then.
Cozumel is a nice port.
(38:28):
I've been there so many times.
Sometimes I don't even get offthe ship or I just go down into
the main town square and havechips and salsa.
There are also seven-daycruises for about the same cost,
but I chose the six-day becausethey have the same ports.
So seven days, just add anextra day at sea.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:46):
Let's wrap it up with the Princess.
I think it's an 11-night cruisefrom Galveston.
Mark Faldmo (38:51):
I chose a longer cruise on this.
It's January 27th and Galvestonwhich the nearest big city is
Houston, about 40 minutes away.
Galveston is becoming anemerging cruise market.
A lot of cruise lines are there.
There's been a new pierannounced.
Galveston is a great access,especially for us in the West,
(39:12):
to the Caribbean.
So this 11-day cruise visitsMontego Bay in Jamaica, grand
Cayman, visits Roatan, which isan island off of Honduras.
You know I've talked aboutRoatan before.
It reminds me a lot of Tahiti.
It was just so lush andtropical.
I really enjoyed Roatan.
(39:32):
It goes to Costa Maya and thenBelize City, which has probably
one of my favorite shoreexcursions of all time.
You go to a Mayan ruin but it'sonly accessible by boat.
So you take a boat for like anhour and a half up a river.
They'll stop and you'll seewildlife alligators, birds,
monkeys, different things andthen you go to this ruin one of
(39:54):
my top shore excursions in BullyCity.
And then it also visits Cozumelbefore heading back to
Galveston.
The price on that for an insidecabin starts at $1,049 and a
balcony at $1,402.
We're right in for an insideless than $100 per person per
day, which is usually the sweetspot for cruises, and that
(40:17):
balcony cabin is an amazingprice as well.
For an 11-day cruise you wouldexpect that to be well above
$2,000, usually for a balconycabin.
Two great cruise deals.
We kind of targeted that oneport of Grand Cayman, but the
Caribbean is a great cruiseoption.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:35):
You can't go wrong.
All right, we're going to takea break here to book the cruise
deal of the week, either the sixnight or the 11 night cruise.
Six night cruise from Miami orthe 11 night cruise from
Galveston.
Call Mark in his office, justget the conversation rolling.
You're not committing toanything.
888-718-7717.
(40:59):
One more time 888-718-7717.
Once you've done it, youprobably will never want to stop
because it's such a great wayto get out and explore the world
.
When we come back, segmentnumber four, the final segment.
Already We've got Mark's traveltips.
We've also got some additionaltravel news of the week and
(41:21):
we're going to talk aboutconsumers visiting 277 websites
before booking travel.
We're not encouraging you to dothat because Mark is basically
the 277 websites.
That is next.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show continues.
I'm Patrick Wiscombe, he's MarkFaldmo.
(41:42):
We'll be right back.
Show Voice (41:46):
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 atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (42:08):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
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Show Voice (43:02):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
blueplanetvacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And now your hosts, PatrickWiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:28):
Serving travelers around the world.
Serving travelers around theworld.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
We are here to help you planand book your next vacation.
(43:57):
Whether it's one of thevacations that we talk about, or
if you have your own agenda andyou just want to create
something custom just for you,you can call Mark in his office
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
We are literally on the airevery week to help you plan and
book your next vacation.
So let us help you.
Mark has been on over 150cruises.
He's literally been travelingthe world for the last 25 plus
(44:20):
years Actually longer than that,but I mean in a professional
capacity.
He's been doing it for a very,very long time.
He's helped me multiple times.
Just this year Went to Hawaii.
Last year went to Alaska.
We've gone to the Caribbean.
The guy knows his stuff.
So call him in his office ifyou would.
(44:42):
888-718-7717.
We are here to help you.
Coming up on this, the finalsegment of the show, we've got
the travel news of the week andwe're going to talk about a 20%
offer from Ama Waterways that isgoing to expire soon.
We'll give you the details, andI saw this news story that
(45:03):
consumers will visit 277websites before booking their
travel.
Before booking their travel,I'm telling you, mark is the 277
websites.
Just call him, really.
Just call him.
He knows his stuff.
(45:23):
I saw this news story that Uberand Turo.
Now, if you don't know whatTuro is, turo is a rent-a-car
type company where you rentpeople's private cars, but
they're going to integrate carrentals into the Uber app.
I think that's a good move onTuro's part, because no one
knows who Turo is, generallyspeaking, and everyone knows who
Uber is.
Mark Faldmo (45:39):
I think that's a great move.
I'm a regular user of Uber.
I have used Turo a time or two.
Have you used Turo?
Patrick Wiscombe (45:47):
I was going to try it once, but the car wasn't
available when I needed it orit got rented out from
underneath me, and so I ended upnot doing it.
Mark Faldmo (45:57):
I have used Turo twice, had a really good
experience with that.
It is kind of strange to drivesomeone's private car like a
rental car for me.
I also thought Uber and Lyftwere strange getting a ride from
some random stranger, and now Iuse them all the time.
So these are two companies thatkind of innovated in the travel
(46:18):
area and good to see thatthey're combining forces to
hopefully make some of thesetravel aspects a little bit less
expensive for travelers.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:27):
Here's a story that I just went.
Oh boy, battery powered devicesare overheating more often on
planes.
That is not something I want tosee when I'm flying 35,000 feet
in the air.
Really, I just don't even wantto be off the ground if a device
is overheating.
Mark Faldmo (46:43):
Anyone that's flown .
When they're checking your bagsat the gate, they ask you to
make sure you have no laptops,no batteries.
All of that has to go in thecabin and cannot go under the
plane in the cargo hold, and thereason is because smoke or fire
from one of these devices is alot easier to spot and take care
of in the cabin.
(47:03):
In the cargo hold.
They can't see it.
From 2019 to the 2023,incidence of batteries
overheating or smoking are up28%.
Wow, that's a lot.
Airlines reported that 70% ofthe lithium-ion batteries
incidences in airplanes werefrom e-cigarettes people not
(47:27):
turning them off like they'resupposed to, and overheating.
And before this I was doingsome research as to why these
overheat.
And it's just temperaturechange can do that.
Pressure changes, damagedbatteries can all do that, and I
did learn something.
I've heard an announcement andI've not understood why until
(47:49):
just a few minutes ago in thesafety briefing of when you're
on.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:53):
Oh yeah, we talked about that last week.
Mark Faldmo (47:55):
Yeah, One of the things they say if you lose your
electronic device in your seat,don't adjust your seat.
Let a flight attendant know.
And the reason is becausepeople were trying to adjust
their seat, crushing their phoneand starting the fire or
starting a reaction with theirbattery, and so that's why they
(48:16):
ask you if you lose your phonein the seat, don't adjust your
seat to call a flight attendant.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:22):
I saw this story that consumers visit 277
websites before booking travel.
People are doing their research, but I want to emphasize and
you would expect us to say thisbecause we do this show you, my
friend have helped me enormouslyin the last year with all the
travel that Nikki and I havedone and you said don't do this,
(48:45):
do this.
You've really kind of made thewhole travel experience really
great for she and I.
Mark Faldmo (48:52):
Thank you, and that's you know.
My goal at Blue PlanetVacations and that's our goal is
to really help in that tripplanning.
This segment is kind of why usea travel agent?
I mean, the internet is a goodtool, yeah, but if you're
visiting almost 300 websites andspending eight hours just to
research a trip, that's a lot.
(49:13):
A good travel agent canprobably find just as good or,
in most cases, a much bettertrip.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:22):
Well and can speak from experience too.
Mark Faldmo (49:24):
Yeah, our goal price is important, so we're
mainly looking for the overallvalue of the trip.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:31):
And is it a good way to spend money?
Mark Faldmo (49:33):
Yeah, there's a lot of ways that added values can
be added to trips that don'tcost a lot more.
Your private transfer for thecruise that wasn't a whole lot
more than if you were to takethe bus transfer and you had a
private driver take you there,private driver take you there.
(49:54):
So you know there are a lot ofthings that a travel agent can
do to add value while stillfinding the best price.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:58):
Let's recap the hot travel deal of the week.
Where we went to Maui, we hadthe five-night package.
Let's go over that quickly andthen let's do the cruise deal of
the week for listeners.
Mark Faldmo (50:08):
So the five-night package to Maui included airfare
from Salt Lake City Again, wecan do from other cities if you
want and Five Nights Hotelstarted at $989 per person for a
three-star Royal Kahana or$1199 per person for
three-and-a-half-star RoyalLahaina Just reopened up and is
a beautiful hotel, and theSheraton Maui $1,659.
(50:33):
One of the best hotel locationson Maui.
Patrick Wiscombe (50:36):
Maui is spectacular.
Let's talk about the cruisedeal of the week.
Mark Faldmo (50:41):
Cruise deal of the week.
We had two cruise deals Boththat included Grand Cayman
because that was in one of ournews stories a January 26th
departure on Carnival CruiseLine.
It was six days, starting at$489 per person including all of
the taxes and fees or a balconyat $849 per person.
And then we had an 11-daycruise from Galveston on
(51:05):
Princess.
This one started at $1049 perperson for an inside and $1402
per person for a January 29departure from Galveston on
Princess.
Patrick Wiscombe (51:17):
I cannot believe how fast this hour went
Unbelievable.
If you want to take advantageof these offers that we've made
during this edition of the show,call Mark in his office.
No obligation, just get theconversation started.
His office number is888-718-7717.
(51:42):
888-718-7717.
And you can also visit himonline at blueplanetvacations.
com.
You can pick up the podcast atinsidetraveltalk.
com.
We're on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Get out, explore the worldwhile you can, because you never
(52:04):
know what curveball's life isgoing to throw at you.
Live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally,
and just remember today is agood day for a good day.
Have a great week.
We'll talk to you next Saturdaythat's it.
Show Voice (52:21):
that's the end of the show you've been listening
to the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show with
Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(52:42):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Ad Voice (53:07):
Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Travelex
Insurance Services.
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people think I'm young andhealthy, I'll be fine.
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