April 19, 2025 • 52 mins
The lure of cherry blossoms in full bloom across Japan's ancient temples. The majesty of New Zealand's Milford Sound as your ship glides through nature's cathedral. The small but significant victory of securing a proper window seat on your next flight. These travel experiences—both grand and granular—shape our journeys and memories.
Fresh from exploring MSC's stunning new World America during its inaugural sailing, Patrick broadcasts live from Miami Beach while Mark shares invaluable insights on experiencing Japan, where language barriers make guided tours or cruises particularly valuable for first-time visitors. Whether drawn to Tokyo's anime-filled Electric Town, Kyoto's living museum atmosphere, or Hiroshima's profound historical sites, travelers can explore these destinations through Globus Tours' small-group discoveries (currently offering savings up to $1,500) or via Norwegian Cruise Line's comprehensive 11-day itineraries.
For those dreaming of Southern Hemisphere adventures, we dive deep into Australia-New Zealand cruise options, highlighting an 11-day Norwegian Spirit journey featuring the breathtaking fjords of Milford Sound and a luxurious 22-day Oceania voyage extending from Auckland all the way to Singapore. Both offer distinct ways to experience the region's natural wonders during the optimal December-March window.
The conversation shifts to practical air travel wisdom—finding seats with actual windows (using specialized mapping tools), understanding airline upgrade opportunities (including little-known bidding systems offered by carriers like Air Canada and Singapore Airlines), and navigating airport etiquette with minimal friction. From downloading airline apps to respecting assigned seating, these seemingly small details can significantly enhance your travel experience.
Ready to transform travel dreams into reality? Connect with Blue Planet Vacations to access exclusive promotions while benefiting from expert guidance that only seasoned travel advisors can provide. Because the world is waiting, and life is too short for missed opportunities.
Mark as Played
Transcript
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 Coming up.
On today's show we will betalking about Japan, common
cruise ship mistakes made bynovice cruise passengers,
finding the best seat on anairplane, and plane boarding and
seating etiquette.
Let's start the show.
(00:20):
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacationsations.
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 (00:43):
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 hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:07):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:18):
Coming to you live from Miami Beach, Florida.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Mark Faldmo is back in SaltLake running the show.
I am just getting off MSC'sWorld America.
We just took the inaugural paidsailing and that, Mark, as you
(01:42):
make your way back into thestudio, is an absolutely
beautiful ship.
Mark Faldmo (01:46):
Yep, it is, I was on it the week before you were
on, and it was quite amazing.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:50):
It was one of the most beautiful ships I've
ever been on and I realize thatit's a brand new ship, but it
really was spectacular.
I couldn't believe how great itwas.
I'm doing the radio show downhere in Miami Beach.
I'm about six miles away fromthe Miami cruise port and doing
the show from the hotel.
It is so beautiful down here Iforgot how great Florida is.
(02:13):
It's only been a year since youand I've been down here, but I
forgot how great this city is.
Mark Faldmo (02:19):
I love South Florida.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:20):
Nikki and I are going to take a couple of
days off here.
We'll be here Saturday, SouthFlorida.
Nikki and I are going to take acouple of days off here.
We'll be here Saturday, Sunday,and then we will take off on
Monday to board NCL's brand newAqua, the inaugural sailing.
I'm excited for this one Comingup.
In this segment of the show,Mark and I will be talking about
Japan.
(02:41):
We received a text.
No, this was actually a call,wasn't it?
A call, yeah, From John whowants to go to Japan.
Let's just start there.
Mark Faldmo (02:49):
John is asking when is the best time to go to Japan
and what should be on hisitinerary the best time to go to
Japan is springtime and falltime Springtime probably a
little bit more because of thecherry blossoms and Japan has
also been one of the mostrequested.
(03:09):
The last few weeks I've hadseveral requests and trips
booked for Japan.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:15):
In addition to asking what should be on his
itinerary, he's also asking whatshould a first-time visitor to
Japan do?
Should they go on a tour orshould they do it by cruise ship
?
Mark Faldmo (03:28):
I would do it by tour or cruise.
You'll probably get a littlebit more in-depth by a tour.
I think there are three citiesthat you should visit in Japan.
One is Tokyo, the other isKyoto and Hiroshima.
Two others that would be onthere would be Okinawa and Osaka
, but those first three are kindof the main cities that I would
(03:50):
go to.
In Tokyo they have a tourthat's called street karting.
You're actually driving aroundthe streets of Japan on a
go-kart.
I want to go to a sumowrestling match.
Yeah, that would be kind of fun.
Ride the bullet train in Japan,and actually some of the tours
that we'll talk about in aminute do include the bullet
train.
Akihabara district, which iscalled Electric Town that's the
(04:15):
anime area.
It's all themed after theJapanese anime and then also do
a cooking class.
Those are some of the things todo in Tokyo.
What about Kyoto?
Kyoto is a very traditionalcity.
It's kind of like a livingmuseum, so that's what you'd go
there for to see thattraditional Japanese life.
(04:36):
And then also near there is thebamboo forest, and that's also
one of the best places to seethe cherry blossoms in Kyoto.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:44):
And what would you do in Hiroshima?
There's the World War IIhistory.
That's also one of the bestplaces to see the cherry
blossoms in Kyoto.
And what would you do inHiroshima?
Mark Faldmo (04:47):
There's the World War II history that's there.
Go see the Peace Memorial, seewhat the effects of the atomic
bomb were on the city.
Just a very historical andinteresting place to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:00):
We'll take an early break here.
We have an interview coming upin the next segment, the Hot
Travel Deal of the Week, with TJMcAvoy of Globus talking about
touring options, and we'll alsohave the Hot Travel Deal of the
Week where you can save up to$1,500.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
(05:21):
show continues Alongside my goodfriend Mark Faldmo and, my name
is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (05:31):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(05:51):
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (06:05):
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Show Voice (07:00):
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.
(07:21):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:32):
Thank you so much for allowing us to be part
of your weekend.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show live from Miami, Florida.
This weekend just got off thebeautiful and I do mean
beautiful MSC World America itis the inaugural sailing and
(07:53):
wanted to hang out here for acouple of days before Nikki and
I jump on Norwegian's Aqua,which is literally on Monday.
So this will be the fourth offour cruises starting on Monday.
So this will be the fourth offour cruises starting on Monday,
and it has been an absolutetreat to be down here in the
Bahamas in Florida for the last,pretty much the last month,
(08:13):
Mark.
It's been pretty great.
Where are you this weekend?
I'm just back home.
This is the hot travel deal ofthe week.
And, Mark, for the last fewweeks well, really for the last
year and a half since we've beendoing the show we've talked
about Europe extensively and wehave found a terrific way to go
see Europe.
If you've never been, you'rekind of nervous to go, you don't
(08:33):
know what to do, you don't knowhow to get around.
We have found a really goodsolution and that is Globus
Travel.
Mark Faldmo (08:41):
Yes, it's a great way to see Europe and other
places around the world.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:45):
So Mark took the time to go find somebody who
really knows Europe, and wefound that guy.
His name is TJ McAvoy.
It's good to have you here.
TJ McAvoy (08:54):
Great to be on here, Patrick.
Thank you so much for having me.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:57):
We've been pushing Globus pretty hard on
the radio show lately.
How long has Globus EscortedTours been around?
TJ McAvoy (09:05):
We've been around 97 years.
It all started with theMontegazza family running little
tiny boats across Lake Lugano97 years and we've grown that
Family-owned company, which isamazing.
So we got two families that ownthe company the Montegazza's
and the Albeck's.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:19):
What does Globus actually do?
TJ McAvoy (09:22):
So Globus is the brand of touring.
It's first-class touring, whichwould be first-class or
four-star hotels.
You're going to be in the heartof the destination, no matter
where you're staying.
All the must-see sites areincluded, VIP access.
So it's basically first-classtouring, basically everything
you're going to want to see inthat destination.
We're in six continents, sowe're everywhere.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:42):
What are some of the most popular vacations
that Globus hosts?
TJ McAvoy (09:46):
I would say for 97 years.
Our top land seller, which isGlobus, is Italy.
So within Italy, over timeeverybody that's been in Italy
did the Rome, Florence andVenice, so now we've got tours
all over the place, off thebeaten path destinations.
We have tours with just Sicily,also Cinco Terra area, which is
one of the most beautiful areasin the world.
(10:07):
So definitely Italy, and thenSpain is right up there.
Spain's our number two sellerhistorically and especially of
late.
And what's really hot for usright now is Ireland, Scotland
those are also selling reallywell as well as Greece.
So I'd say I'd probably go.
Italy, Spain, Ireland, Scotlandand Greece right now are
(10:27):
probably our most populardestinations.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:29):
Which one is your favorite one and do you
host any?
TJ McAvoy (10:32):
Yes, I do so.
As a matter of fact, I'mactually going on an Italy tour.
I did go to Italy but I haven'tbeen to Rome, Florence and
Venice Of the ones I've done.
So I've done Eastern Canada.
I also did New Zealand, bothislands I would say I loved the.
New Zealand was amazingQueenstown.
So far it's that.
But I have a feeling once I getto Italy, which is crazy.
(10:52):
I haven't been to Italy becauseI've been with the company 22
years, but I'm sure that willrank way up there, probably
number one.
But as of right now, I think myNew Zealand vacation was
probably my favorite so far.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:03):
Hey, Mark, while I've got you here, what is
your favorite Globus tour?
Mark Faldmo (11:10):
One thing that I like that Globus offers is their
panorama tours.
When I graduated from highschool, my father's always taken
us on a tour, and so mine was atour that visited several
countries.
So we did a tour England,Germany, Austria, Switzerland
and France oh wow, you know,that's.
One thing that I like is youcan do those country-specific
(11:32):
tours as well as multiplecountry tours and get a really
good overview of a specificregion of the world.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:40):
What's the Canyon Country Adventure?
TJ McAvoy (11:43):
So our Canyon Country Adventure, so that's going to
be a lot of the national parks,probably starting in Vegas and
then hit up all the nationalparks around Arizona, Utah,
Colorado, Wyoming.
The great thing about all ournational park itineraries on
Globus you will stay in the park.
So not only our competitorsstay in the parks, you'll
actually be in the park.
(12:04):
So if we're at Yellowstone,you'll be in Yellowstone
National Park.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:07):
Oh, wow.
TJ McAvoy (12:08):
Yes, we have several different national park
itineraries.
Some are longer than others, soyou'll get more national parks,
but pretty much any parks youwant to see you can see through
Globus up close and personal andthe parks.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:20):
This has nothing to do with Globus, but
while we're talking aboutYellowstone one of my favorite
adventures and I think that'sthe right word I actually got on
a pedal bike and did the entireYellowstone loop.
You talked about getting up andclose with nature buffalo,
black bears they were just inthe distance.
I'm like I got to go.
I got to go.
I got to pedal hard, I got toget out of here.
TJ McAvoy (12:43):
That's awesome.
I love that.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:46):
You guys go to London and Paris.
Do you go to Ireland?
TJ McAvoy (12:49):
We do.
And actually, now that I'mthinking about it, when you said
my favorite destination, I didsay New Zealand, which was
fantastic, but I did Ireland,Scotland, wales, so, yeah, so
you'd asked about Ireland.
Yeah, we have a ton to Ireland.
That's one of our hottestdestinations right now.
In fact, it was a panorama,like Mark was mentioning Three
nights was Ireland that I wenton, but now my next adventure I
(13:11):
want to do is just Ireland, likea 14-night Celtic Highlights
tour, but, yeah, phenomenal.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:21):
Because we live in Utah and we have
enormously large families here,at least some.
What are the best options forfamily travel through Globus?
TJ McAvoy (13:26):
We have what we call independence by Globus.
So it's kind of like a hybridbetween a independent itinerary
and kind of guided.
What it is.
It's locally hosted, so we'llhave a local host at the hotels.
The transportation is typicallygoing to be plane or train,
like first-class train.
You're not going to be part ofa group, let's just say to be
(13:47):
plane or train like first-classtrain.
You're not going to be part ofa group, let's just say you do
London and Paris, like we talkedabout earlier.
You would have basicallybreakfast every day, half-day
city tour, high-speed train toParis and you'd have a new local
host there.
It's like having a best friendin town is what the local host
is.
So definitely the Independenceby Globus.
So we got Europe and then wehave some exotics.
So if you're looking at exoticson our Independence by Globus,
many of those are private tours.
(14:08):
So if you have a family of six,that's who's going to be on
your tour.
For example, all of Asia is100% private.
Eastern Africa.
So Kenya, Tanzania is 100%private.
So a lot of our very exoticdestinations are going to be
private.
Those are phenomenal forfamilies.
Obviously, if you have olderteenagers Globus, there's some
great options there.
And then we do have anothermore budget itineraries, cosmos,
(14:32):
where you do get free time,more free time because there's
less inclusions, but I wouldreally, you know, with younger
children, definitely theIndependence by Globus is always
probably the best choice on theEscort or Guided Tours.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:42):
So when it comes to Globus, I guess you can
pretty much customize your owntour then.
TJ McAvoy (14:47):
Exactly, yeah.
So just to kind of give you anidea, like you're going to get
all the must-see sites.
It's going to be a half-daycity tour.
So let's say it's Rome, you'regoing to get the Vatican,
Sistine Chapel, all thosemust-sees, and then the rest of
the time you have free.
But local host is like yourbest friend in town.
You could ask him for advice,you could have him book other
elements to the itinerary or youcould just have free time and
(15:07):
explore.
Very customizable on theindependents.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:10):
See, I didn't know that.
I thought these were just kindof canned tours.
I didn't know you couldcustomize.
That's really good to know.
TJ McAvoy (15:15):
I do want to mention one other thing that I was just
thought of.
So we have private touring byGlobus, okay, so we introduced
that a few years ago.
So what you can do is take anytour that we already offer in
Europe and book any amount ofpeople, and then you just pay a
supplement depending on how manypeople there are.
So let's say, there's 20 inyour family, an extended family
(15:36):
you can get the whole bus andyou can kind of customize it
that way because you're the onlyones on that motor coach.
So private touring is also anoption on our standard Globus
Europe itineraries.
Mark Faldmo (15:46):
Patrick and PJ.
That's another thing.
I think I've talked about thistour on the radio before.
My family heritage is in Norwayand we did a private tour with
about 30 family members andstarted in Stockholm, Sweden,
went up to Narvik in Norway andthen bus bus down to Oslo,
Norway, down the coast, and thatwas a private tour, very
(16:07):
similar to what TJ said withGlobus, and so that is a great
option for those that want atour with the guide, with all
the assistance, all theknowledge that comes with that,
but private, just for your group.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:20):
That's a huge selling point.
I thought it was.
Here's a group of four, six,whatever the number is.
I thought that, well, I guessit would include this too, so
you could either have it privatefor a family or friends or
whoever is going with you, butyou can also join an existing
group, so you'd be part of agroup of, I'll say, somewhere
between 20 and 40.
Is that an option as well?
TJ McAvoy (16:41):
Yeah.
So I mean you could either,yeah, book it.
Majority of our business comeswith individuals, which is
typically seven or fewer thatjoin an existing tour, so that's
kind of our bread and butter.
But then if you want to say,take the entire coach, motor
coach, you could turn that exacttour into a private and kind of
how it works.
So let's say it was $2,000 perperson.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:10):
So, depending on the amount of people, you
just pay an additionalsupplement on top of that, maybe
three or $400, but yeah, youcould just make it all for you
or join an existing tour.
Okay, so both options Correct.
That's fantastic.
Globus versus the competitorswhat differentiates Globus from
the competitors?
TJ McAvoy (17:20):
I'm going to go back to that 97 years A big stat I
always like throwing out therewhen I'm doing shows and talking
to people.
We have 52% of the global shareon touring worldwide, which is
massive.
So we have offices everywhere,though Our main headquarters
Lugano, Switzerland.
We have offices in Paris,London, Sydney, you name it.
(17:42):
We're everywhere.
So you got the boots on theground, so to speak, where
you're always well taken care of.
Our mission is always to createhappy guests.
Also, we really pride ourselveson having more inclusions, so
more of those excursions thatyou want to go to we're going to
have more than our competitors.
And we have our productmanagers that help create these
itineraries.
They do their research everyyear, make sure we have the most
(18:03):
inclusions.
But the thing that we do that'skind of a staple of ours, local
favorites.
So let's say, flamenco dancingin Spain or a chuckwagon cookout
in Jackson, Wyoming, could be alobster bacon bar harbor.
So we're always going to pepperthose into the itineraries.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:20):
What is a travel style and what are the
different travel styles?
TJ McAvoy (18:24):
Anytime I'm talking about travel styles, there's the
staples of Globus.
That'll always be there.
So any of these differentstyles I mentioned, you're
always going to have one of thegreatest tour directors in the
industry.
Driver, all logistics arehandled, all the must-see sites.
You're always going to havefour-star hotels.
So those staples will alreadybe there.
What we're really excited a newstyle that we just came out with
(18:45):
we launched it in August of 24is our small group discoveries.
This could be a great optionfor families as well, where we
have these tours that are a maxof 18 passengers.
We're averaging about 15.
So 15 passengers for Europe andabout 18 for US.
We've created small groupdiscoveries.
We have 50 small groupdiscoveries worldwide.
(19:06):
So you're talking like 18 orfewer passengers on all these
destinations.
So that one's really hotbecause you know it's kind of a
new style that we've gotten outthat there's a high demand for.
So then we have this Globuschoice touring.
So that means you'll havechoices on your included
excursions.
So let's say, you may have anoption to see all the must-see
sites, do an escorted bike touror do a vineyard tour.
(19:29):
So you will have two to threeoptions typically, and those are
all included Undiscovered toursby Globus.
So the reason we came out withthese it's exactly how it sounds
undiscovered, so off the beatenpath, destinations.
So like Italy, our most populardestination, that's where we
start, our undiscovered.
It's grown to many regions.
For example, we have a GourmetTuscany itinerary.
(19:51):
We're just in Tuscany andMontepetini.
We have Cinque Terre, we havethe Italian Lakes.
We have all these differentitineraries that are off the
beaten path.
So if you've been to Rome,Florence and Venice, you
probably want to go back toItaly and kind of do something
different.
Our Undiscovered tours arefantastic for that, especially
Italy, and kind of do somethingdifferent.
Our Undiscovered tours arefantastic for that, especially
for Italy.
Also, we have them in Britain.
So really, those differentstyles.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:12):
It's like you have the best of both worlds.
You have the experience of aguide, but you get to go see
everything and they can eitherturn you loose or you can
include it as part of thepackage.
TJ McAvoy (20:22):
Absolutely yeah.
I mean, we just had a tourdirectors traveling with us
doing shows.
Let's say you've been, you'reon a Globus tour with friends or
family and maybe you've been toa certain destination, but you
kind of just want to explore iton your own.
We'll let you do that.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:34):
So there is free time, yeah.
TJ McAvoy (20:36):
So a couple of ways we build in free time.
So the guest, which would bethose that are listening right
now, you could do that whilewe're on tour.
So let's say you're in Rometour.
So let's say you're in Rome, wehave a half day city tour,
three to four hours.
Let's say you've been around afew different times, you kind of
want to go out on your own.
You just talk to the driver.
It'll be me back at this spotat 2 pm, right, because we're
always going to.
Even if you take thesightseeing, we're going to give
(20:56):
you free time in those citiesbecause you want that free time.
Also, with vip access to allthe all the sites and excursions
.
You never wait in line.
That builds in free time,because you're not.
You can go to the coliseum andbe in line three to four hours
easy yeah but instead you goright in and so with that you
get all the must-see sites anddone and then now you have three
(21:17):
or four hours in that city toexplore, and evenings too we
like to keep.
We'll usually throw in a coupledinners, have optional
excursions where you purchasedinners, but that's another
great time.
Where you're going to want yourfree time is those evenings and
you're going to be in the heartof the destination.
So any of those museums oranything that you want to see in
like the bustling part ofcities, you'll have free time to
(21:37):
do that.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:38):
So you have the connections at a lot of
these venues, the touristdestinations, and you basically
skip a line.
TJ McAvoy (21:46):
Yeah, we call them happy lines.
And then those that don'ttravel with us, those are called
the unhappy lines, becausethey're they're waiting in line
arguing with their significantother or friend.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:58):
It's so hot out here.
Yeah, oh, my goodness, that'sfunny.
You guys are living likeanimals.
You need to go with Globus.
TJ McAvoy (22:06):
Yes absolutely, we'll pamper you.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:10):
I just thought it was funny how he said the
happy lines versus the unhappylines.
Mark Faldmo (22:15):
Yeah, and that is a great perk of Globus.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:17):
It really is.
Mark Faldmo (22:18):
A lot of their tours have the skip the lines
and they really get you in tosee the sites.
I think Globus is the best wayto see a destination that you've
not been to or you want toexplore in depth.
You're there with local tourguides.
You get great insight.
I've always been on those toursand watch the other travelers
with their faces in theguidebooks, trying to figure out
(22:39):
what to do next, trying tofigure out where to go, and I
love when the local tour guidejust says go here, do.
This gives you all thebackground of the sites.
It's a great experience.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:48):
That leads into the hot travel deal of the
week, always in this segment ofthe show, and, of course, it's
all about Globus.
And what is the hot travel dealthis week?
Mark Faldmo (22:59):
So Globus is currently offering up to $1,500
off select tours.
These are for 2025.
What's remaining?
There's not a lot left, andthen also in the 2026 tours.
This is for all destinations.
They're Europe tours, they'reUS tours, they're Asia tours.
A few weeks ago, we weretalking about Croatia.
(23:19):
They have a really good Balkanitinerary if you're keen to go
to Croatia, Serbia, Montenegroreally good tours in every area
of the world.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:29):
If you want to look at the current deals, just
go to blueplanetvacations.
com.
That's Mark's website.
It's how we connect withcustomers, and our thanks to TJ
McEvoy with Globus for doingthat interview a little bit
earlier this week.
Thank you doing that interviewa little bit earlier this week.
Thank you Coming up in the nextsegment.
It is time for the infamousJust Cruising segment.
(23:52):
That is next with the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues alongside my goodfriend Mark Faldmo.
He's a good dude.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thanks for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (24:06):
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.
(24:28):
com.
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Patrick Wiscombe (25:00):
All right, we're back.
Welcome back to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show Coming up.
In the next 28 minutes we'll betalking about a Japan tour and
cruise, how to find the bestseat on an airplane, and
cruising to Australia and NewZealand.
Let's get back to the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
(25:20):
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 thatmay be time-sensitive All offers
and information were accuratewhen the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are
capacity-controlled and subjectto change without notice.
Show Voice (25:44):
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
(26:06):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (26:22):
All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising
segment here on the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
We hope you are having aterrific weekend.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,alongside Mark Faldmo, owner of
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Coming up in this segment,always at the bottom of the hour
, is the infamous Just Cruisingsegment.
We'll be talking about cruisingto Australia and New Zealand,
(26:44):
and we'll also be talking aboutgoing to Japan, whether it's on
a tour or a cruise.
We'll also tell you how to findthe best seat on an airplane.
And you know, there's justsomething about being in Miami
Beach that is just special.
How many times have you been toMiami Beach?
I don't know, I can't evencount.
Mark Faldmo (27:02):
So I've taken so many cruises out of Miami that
it's probably 30 to 50,somewhere in between that range.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:11):
This is special down here.
It is so beautiful down here inMiami Beach.
It is one of the most beautifulneighborhoods I think I've ever
been in.
Everything is just picturesqueBlue skies, few clouds.
It is just amazing.
Out here In segment one we hadto cut the segment short because
of our interview with TJ McAvoywith Globus.
(27:31):
Let's finish John's question.
He wanted to go to Japan and hewanted to know the best time to
go and what should be on hisitinerary.
Let's just start there for him.
Mark Faldmo (27:42):
We briefly answered his question.
The best time is spring or fall.
I particularly would preferspring for the cherry blossoms.
And then we said probably thetop three cities that should be
included are Tokyo, Kyoto andHiroshima.
We just got finished talkingwith TJ on the hosted and
escorted tours that Globusoffers, so I did choose a tour
(28:05):
from Globus and I think this oneis fantastic.
Right now Globus has a save upto $1,500 off select Japan tours
and the tour I chose it's an11-day tour.
It starts in Tokyo, Then youtake the bullet train to Nagoya,
Spends one night in Nagoya, twonights in Kyoto to Nagoya,
(28:26):
spends one night in Nagoya, twonights in Kyoto and then, after
two nights in Kyoto, you spendtwo nights in Okayama and then
one night in Matsui and then twonights in Hiroshima.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:37):
I'm glad you spent a little bit of time there
.
I think a real flashpoint, nopun intended in history of the
world.
Mark Faldmo (28:49):
It is yeah, yeah.
And so the last part of thattour is by bus and the first
part of the tour is by train.
One thing that I didn't mentionthe reason why I recommend
taking a tour or a cruise isbecause of the language barrier.
It is nice to have someone withyou that speaks the language.
So on the tour you have a tourguide with you the whole time
that can help you navigate thecultural differences and help
(29:11):
you navigate the languagedifferences.
On a cruise it's somewhatsimilar You're taking tours out
with an English-speaking guidethat can help you navigate while
you're in port.
But back to this Globus tour.
That price starts at $5,449 perperson.
The departure I looked at was afall departure of this year and
(29:31):
that was about $1,200 off theregular price.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:35):
So that $5,400 price includes that discount
Does include that.
Mark Faldmo (29:39):
Okay, this was for one of the touring styles that
TJ talked about.
This was on a small group tour,so it's a maximum of 24 people
per tour.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:47):
So that's the land portion.
Let's talk about the cruiseportion then.
Yeah, so cruise portion.
Mark Faldmo (29:53):
I found a really good cruise on Norwegian.
This actually starts in Seoul,Korea.
It has one port in Seoul andthen the rest of this 11-day
cruise is in Japan.
It does include Hiroshima,Kyoto, Nagoya and then ending in
Tokyo.
Plus there's a few other portsthat it includes along the way.
(30:14):
But the price on this thisagain was in the fall.
This is a September 24thdeparture date.
Inside cabin starts at $1,336per person and a balcony cabin
starts at $2,506 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:29):
What NCL ship is this this?
Mark Faldmo (30:30):
is on the Norwegian Spirit.
Okay, it's one of their smallerships but also one of my
favorite ships.
I love the back part of thisship because it has a terraced
back where it's all around apool.
They have part of the buffetline up at the top.
I love the Norwegian spirit.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:46):
Always at this segment, the infamous just
cruising segment we've got thecruise deal of the week and Zell
.
Was this a text?
I think it was.
It's just a text, yes, so Zellis texting that she wants to go
to Australia and New Zealand andshe's asking the best time to
go and what itineraries do wehave for her.
(31:07):
What do you recommend?
Mark Faldmo (31:10):
So I did find two itineraries that are good.
First of all, the best time togo is our winter, their summer,
so these cruises generallyoperate December through March.
There are some that operateyear round, but typically most
people from the US want to gothat January, February, march
(31:30):
timeframe.
The first cruise that I foundthis is an 11 day Australia New
Zealand.
This is on the Norwegian Spirit, the ship we just talked about
in Japan, so it comes down inthe winter time to do Australia
New Zealand.
This is a cruise between Sydneyand Auckland, so in Australia it
has Sydney and Melbourne andthen it goes down to do the
(31:52):
South Island of New Zealandcruise Milford Sound, Douth
Sound, dusky Sound so all sceniccruising and then a few other
ports along the South Island andthen Wellington on the North
Island, Taranga, and ending inAuckland.
I think these Australia-NewZealand cruises are probably one
(32:13):
of the best ways to see thisarea of the world.
This one was a January 17thdeparture and the cruise starts
at $18.95 per person for aninside cabin or $3618 for a
balcony, kind of like Alaskawhere balconies are in a premium
.
Yeah, I've seen Milford Soundand some of the glaciers and
(32:35):
fjords there on the South Islandof New Zealand are one in a
kind in the world.
They're absolutely beautiful.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:42):
And that's the 11-day Sydney to Auckland
11-day Sydney to Auckland.
Okay, is there a longer cruiseavailable?
Mark Faldmo (32:50):
I did find one more cruise.
This was on Oceana Cruise Line.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:54):
Generally speaking, what's your thoughts
on Oceana?
So?
Mark Faldmo (32:57):
Oceana.
It's owned by Norwegian CruiseLine Holding.
It's one of their higher-endluxury cruise lines, kind of
smaller ships but very high end.
They do a lot of uniqueitineraries, which this
itinerary certainly is.
Oceana what ship it's?
The Riviera is the name of theship.
(33:18):
It leaves from Auckland.
It does not do any of the SouthIsland, but it sails from
Auckland to Sydney and thensails along the northern shore
of Australia.
It hits Carnes, Darwin, andthen it sails off and ends in
Singapore and there are twostops in Singapore and then in
(33:40):
between Darwin, Australia andSingapore, it has two stops in
Indonesia.
This one is a 22-day, veryunique itinerary and, again,
Oceana is a higher-end cruiseline.
Inside cabins start at $5,299per person and a balcony starts
at $6,970 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:00):
Beautiful ship .
I'm just looking it up rightnow because I'm not familiar
with that one, and that's a niceship.
Mark Faldmo (34:06):
It is.
Yeah, they do a great job onOceana.
They're kind of laid back.
Luxury is their you know kindof country club casual luxury is
kind of their style.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:18):
Well, apparently that is my style.
Yes, take advantage of thatoffer If you've always wanted to
go to New Zealand, Sydney.
It's a part of the world thatis just amazing, absolutely
spectacular.
Call Mark at his office, justget the conversation started
(34:38):
during the break 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he will also post this onblueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
Man, we're getting hammeredwith caller questions and text
questions this week.
James says that he does not flymuch, but he does like to sit
(35:03):
in a window seat.
How do you find the best seatis basically his questions.
We'll answer that question next.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show, alongside Mark Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (35:23):
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.
(35:44):
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (35:49):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
Escape to Cancun's Riviera Mayawith authentic all-inclusive
luxury at an El Dorado SpaResort.
Show Voice (36:13):
To book your romantic beach getaway.
Contact Blue Planet Vacationsat 888-718-7717 or
blueplanetvacations.
com.
This is the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show with
Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmopresented by
blueplanetvacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700, and now yourhosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
(36:37):
Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:43):
Coming to you live from the beautiful city of
Miami, Florida, mark, it isabsolutely beautiful.
Nikki and I have spent theentire week on MSC's World
America and can I just say thatship is genuinely beautiful, not
(37:05):
only is it gigantic, it's iconof the seas type size, but it is
so tastefully well done anddecorated.
The soft goods, the ship.
It is awesome.
I can't even tell you.
If you're thinking about goingon a cruise, just consider
getting on World America.
It is amazing, you will not bedisappointed.
Mark Faldmo (37:28):
Yeah, and I got off that the week before you got on
it and I think when we uh, whenyou get back from your travels,
we're going to have a goodin-depth review of all the four
cruises.
You've taken three so far andyou've got one more to go.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:42):
Got one more, got the.
Uh, the brand new, spanking newNorwegian Aqua is the next one.
Mark Faldmo (37:48):
Genuinely excited to get on that one too, you've
been doing a lot of cruising andone week left to go, it's
almost been a month.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:55):
That's what's crazy to me and we've just been
doing the show on the road.
Fortunately, with Starlink, youcan do the show anywhere.
I don't want to sound like anold guy, but all I have here is
a wireless setup Wireless setupand we're doing the radio show
from Miami.
We're just doing it from ahotel lobby right now.
This segment is all aboutMark's travel tips, and we've
(38:17):
also got a.
Was this a text or an emailfrom James?
This was an email from James.
Okay, I don't fly much, but Ilike to sit in the window seat.
I recently took a flight andreserved a window seat, or so I
thought, but it did not have awindow.
I've since looked on theairline's website and it does
not say that there is not awindow, so he thought he was
(38:38):
getting a window.
I've since looked on theairline's website and it does
not say that there is not awindow, so he thought he was
getting a window.
There was no window.
His question is how do I avoidthat in the future?
Mark Faldmo (38:47):
This is one of the frustrating things for me when
flying is I am also a windowseat person and so many times
I've booked that window seatthat is a non-window seat.
Oh, you've done this too, then.
It's happened to me a few times.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:03):
Oh, you were not happy then?
Mark Faldmo (39:05):
No, I was not, because I like to lean into the
window.
There's a little bit more spaceand people get the aisles for
the same reason, but then you'reoften run into by the carts
going through the aisle orpeople walking up and down the
aisle.
So that's why I like the windowseat to have that extra
shoulder space.
For this reason, on the blueplanet vacations dot com website
I have added a link to a toolthat can help with this and this
(39:29):
works for any seat on theairplane.
It works for all airlines, allaircraft types.
So if you go to blue planetvacations dot com, scroll down
to the very bottom, to thebottom footer of the website.
There's a link to travelresources.
On that travel resourcesthere's a button for find the
best seat airline seat maps.
(39:51):
When you go to that link you caneither put in your airline and
flight number and travel dateand it will generally pull up
your aircraft information, oryou can just go to airlines,
click on the airline and findthe type of aircraft you're
flying on.
The reason why I like this siteand every time I book I go to
(40:13):
this because there are severaldifferent versions.
Let's just take a 737.
That non-window seat is notgoing to be in the same place on
every airplane.
Airlines also have severaldifferent configurations
depending on how they do firstclass main cabin economy seats.
There's all sorts of differentways, so even the 737-900 on
Delta might be completelydifferent from the exact same
(40:36):
airplane on United or American.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:38):
Oh, wow.
Mark Faldmo (40:39):
So, I always go to this just to make sure that I'm
choosing the right seat.
So on here it'll bring up theseat map and it's color coded.
So, for instance, red might sayit's close to the exit, it has
a restricted recline, it's neara restroom, so it'll be a red
seat saying it's not preferred.
Then they have orange, which isthe same.
(41:02):
It's a little bit better, butthere still is a bad something
that you may not like about thatseat.
And then it has yellow, which inthe map I'm looking at right
now, it says the seat has apartially missing window.
On other versions again,depending on how the seats line
up, it would be red for it ismissing a window.
On other versions, again,depending on how the seats line
up, it would be red for it ismissing a window.
So it'll tell you for everyseat on the airplane whether or
(41:23):
not it's a good or bad seat andit'll tell you why it has color
codes.
For if it's a window seat buthas a view of the wing, it'll
tell you if the wing blocks theview.
Most of the seats it just saysit's a standard seat and so it's
a really good way tool to findwhere to sit on an airplane.
Patrick Wiscombe (41:44):
Okay, so blueplanetvacations.
com, and at the bottom it iswhat.
Mark Faldmo (41:48):
Travel resources, which will take you to the whole
page with all of the travelresources that I've gathered.
So state department passportservices, all of that, but one
of them is find the best seat onan airplane.
And so if you do that, it'lltake you to that site and you'll
be able to look at the seatmaps.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:05):
Very, very helpful.
This is not on the rundown, soit's kind of a big question, but
I think it's a good questionthat most people might think how
can you get an upgraded seat?
So let's just say you're inMaine coach, not economy, you're
just in Maine and my questionis how can you get an upgraded
seat, or is that even possible?
Mark Faldmo (42:25):
There's a few ways to do that.
There are a few airlines that,once you book and pay your
ticket in full, actually have abidding process.
You can go in and it'll say ifyou want to upgrade to a first
class seat, you can put in a bidto upgrade to first class.
So not all airlines have thisbidding process.
(42:45):
A few that do are Air Canada,air New Zealand, Air Lingus,
Hawaiian Airlines has thisprocess.
Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines,virgin Atlantic all have some
form where you can bid toupgrade to business or first
class.
A lot of the airlines likeDelta, American, united, a lot
(43:09):
of our domestic airlines, do nothave this process.
But what those airlines do haveis if there are seats available
.
When you book, I know throughthe Delta Airlines app, when you
click on your flight it'll sayupgrade to first class for this
amount of dollars or this amountof points points or dollars,
and sometimes that doesn'thappen until a few weeks prior.
(43:31):
Sometimes it doesn't happenuntil when you check in, because
the airlines are always lookingfor ways to maximize seats.
If they can get someone to gothrough that upgrade process and
go to first class, that meansthey have a chance to bring some
of their standbys on and haveor just sell those seats last
minute so they can try and sellevery seat on the airplane.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:54):
So what you're saying is that there's a chance
.
Mark Faldmo (43:57):
Yeah, there is a chance, those airlines that have
the bidding process.
I've never tried that before,but I have seen where they'll
just let you outright buy anupgrade, and it's usually a
discounted upgrade on the otherairlines right away.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:11):
Let's continue on with Mark's travel tips as
we wrap up this week's show andI know that this is something
that can be very controversialand that is general tips for
flying.
Let's talk specifically aboutboarding and seating etiquette.
Mark Faldmo (44:27):
And these are tips and etiquette for various
aspects of flying.
The first one is boarding andseating etiquette.
Number one thing is be preparedwhen you reach the security
checkpoint and when you're readyto board.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:42):
And those are two different points in the
airport anyway.
Mark Faldmo (44:45):
Correct.
Yeah, there's nothing morefrustrating for me getting ready
to board and the person infront of you is fumbling on
their phone trying to find theboarding pass.
If you're in that boarding line, make sure you have your
boarding pass ready.
I've talked about it on othershows.
I always have a paper boardingpass printed anyway, so in case
my phone is not ready, I canjust scan the paper boarding
(45:07):
pass to board Along with that.
Make sure you have yourdocuments and ID ready.
You'll need it in most cases toget through the security
checkpoints and, depending onwhere your flight's going, you
may have to have your passportready to show before boarding
the plane.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:24):
Hold on when you travel domestically and you
don't need a passport fordomestic flights, obviously you
will still need your driver'slicense.
Do you just bring your passportanyway and use that as kind of
like your driver's license?
Mark Faldmo (45:38):
I always have my passport with me when traveling,
but I usually use my driver'slicense, although now, with the
TSA pre-check, it's all facialrecognition anyway.
So, if you're in that line, yougenerally don't have to show
your ID.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:55):
Oh, that's right.
Mark Faldmo (45:56):
Domestically.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:57):
Yes, okay so yeah.
Okay, so when you talk aboutdocuments, you're talking about
either a passport, your driver'slicense or your boarding pass,
either on your phone or thepaper document, correct?
Mark Faldmo (46:09):
Yeah, okay, all right.
So those are all the documentsyou could need when going
through various checkpoints inthe airport.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:15):
Okay, very good, all right.
What's the next tip for gettingon an airplane?
The next thing, and this is bigis.
Mark Faldmo (46:21):
Respect assigned seats.
We've done several stories overthe past few years about people
just sitting in a seat andsaying, no, it's mine.
That's caused to people gettingin fights on plane people
getting banned from flying.
Just respect the assigned seat.
There's nothing wrong withasking others if they'll switch
(46:45):
with you.
Generally, if there's a parentflying with children, I will
switch with them because youdon't want the young kids
sitting alone on that.
Just be respectful when you'reasking to switch seats.
If you can switch seats, butalso don't think that if you're
in coach, don't assume that youcan just switch for like a
comfort cabin or a first-classcabin.
(47:05):
There have been people so upsetbecause someone won't switch
with them for a comfort seat andsend the other person who paid
for the comfort seat back toeconomy.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:14):
So that actually happened to me a year
ago in Hawaii.
Dickie and I were going over toHawaii, some guy was literally
standing in front of my seat andhe goes, hey, can I trade with
you?
And I'm like no, he wasn't backin economy, but he was in the
main cabin, but his family wasup there, and so he was asking
me to go back there.
Mark Faldmo (47:30):
And I'm like uh no no, thank you.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:33):
I you know I was very polite, very kind, and
fortunately he didn't throw toobig of a stink, but I won't say
it was confrontational, butthere was a little bit of
friction.
Mark Faldmo (47:42):
The next thing is be efficient during the boarding
process and don't hog theoverhead bin space.
Some people put several thingsup in the overhead bin space.
Follow what the airline says.
After the boarding process youcan always put things back up
there.
A lot of cases not all there isspace left over afterward.
(48:02):
Just be efficient.
One thing I would say also isif you have a backpack on, don't
board with the backpack on yourback.
Carry the backpack on.
Yeah, I've seen people walkingthrough the aisles turning and
their backpack hits everybodysitting in the aisle seat there.
So be conscious of that.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:21):
What recommendations do you have for
travelers?
Mark Faldmo (48:24):
The number one thing for flying is download the
airlines travel app.
Yes, it makes getting to theairport boarding.
If your flight is delayed orcanceled, usually those apps
will pop up.
Here are your options and it'sjust a one-click accept the
change or change it.
You don't have to stand in lineif that happens.
(48:44):
The Airlines app is generallyso easy to use and can save you
a lot of time at the airport.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:52):
It's how the airline communicates with
travelers.
That's their first, that's thefirst thing that they do.
They alert everyone through theapp, so it just makes sense to
have it.
Mark Faldmo (49:01):
The next thing is check in online or through the
app.
That'll save you a lot of time.
A lot of airlines now have kindof a self-service baggage, so
if you've checked in on the app,you just walk up to a kiosk
scanner that prints out your bagtag to put on your bag and you
can just go drop it off.
It saves a lot of time if youcheck in online.
The next thing and we've talkedabout this before and we kind
(49:24):
of talked about it last weekwhen we talked about the cruises
have your boarding pass, bothdigitally and a printed boarding
pass.
It can just save some headachesthere.
And then the last thing isconsider travel insurance.
We're always talking about this.
People probably roll their eyes.
I've seen so many of people'stravel investments saved by
having the travel insurance.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:46):
So helpful.
This is coming from the guythat has traveled over 4 million
miles and has done over 150cruises.
Mark knows what he's doing.
If you want to take advantageof any of the promotions that
we've had on the show, call Markin his office.
As soon as we get off the airhere he'll be available
(50:07):
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And, of course, the travelresources that we were talking
about in this segment are onblueplanetvacations.
com.
Mark, we're done Time for me totake a couple days off and then
it's off to Bimini Islands onNorwegian's Aqua.
(50:29):
So I guess I'll see you whatnext Saturday in person in the
studio.
Finally do it.
First time in a month.
Yep, first time in a month, youcan listen to this show again
tomorrow morning in person inthe studio.
Finally do it.
First time in a month.
Yep, first time in a month.
Yep, you can listen to thisshow again tomorrow morning.
We're on every Saturday andSunday morning at 11 am right
here on this radio station andaround the country.
Plus, you can stream, downloadand subscribe to the podcast at
(50:52):
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
If you just want to go to thewebsite and just stream it
without subscribing, of coursewe want you to subscribe.
You can just stream it on thewebsite, inside travel talk dot
com.
We are on also all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Okay, it's your turn to get outand explore the world, because
(51:13):
you never know what curve ballslife is going to throw at you.
And, as we say each and everyweek as we close out the show,
live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally.
And thank you so much forlistening.
Really, we don't have a show ora business without you.
Thank you so much.
Have a great week.
Show Voice (51:34):
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.
(51:54):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
It is time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show Coming up.
On today's show we will betalking about Japan, common
cruise ship mistakes made bynovice cruise passengers,
finding the best seat on anairplane, and plane boarding and
seating etiquette.
Let's start the show.
(00:20):
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacationsations.
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 (00:43):
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 hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:07):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:18):
Coming to you live from Miami Beach, Florida.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Mark Faldmo is back in SaltLake running the show.
I am just getting off MSC'sWorld America.
We just took the inaugural paidsailing and that, Mark, as you
(01:42):
make your way back into thestudio, is an absolutely
beautiful ship.
Mark Faldmo (01:46):
Yep, it is, I was on it the week before you were
on, and it was quite amazing.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:50):
It was one of the most beautiful ships I've
ever been on and I realize thatit's a brand new ship, but it
really was spectacular.
I couldn't believe how great itwas.
I'm doing the radio show downhere in Miami Beach.
I'm about six miles away fromthe Miami cruise port and doing
the show from the hotel.
It is so beautiful down here Iforgot how great Florida is.
(02:13):
It's only been a year since youand I've been down here, but I
forgot how great this city is.
Mark Faldmo (02:19):
I love South Florida.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:20):
Nikki and I are going to take a couple of
days off here.
We'll be here Saturday, SouthFlorida.
Nikki and I are going to take acouple of days off here.
We'll be here Saturday, Sunday,and then we will take off on
Monday to board NCL's brand newAqua, the inaugural sailing.
I'm excited for this one Comingup.
In this segment of the show,Mark and I will be talking about
Japan.
(02:41):
We received a text.
No, this was actually a call,wasn't it?
A call, yeah, From John whowants to go to Japan.
Let's just start there.
Mark Faldmo (02:49):
John is asking when is the best time to go to Japan
and what should be on hisitinerary the best time to go to
Japan is springtime and falltime Springtime probably a
little bit more because of thecherry blossoms and Japan has
also been one of the mostrequested.
(03:09):
The last few weeks I've hadseveral requests and trips
booked for Japan.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:15):
In addition to asking what should be on his
itinerary, he's also asking whatshould a first-time visitor to
Japan do?
Should they go on a tour orshould they do it by cruise ship
?
Mark Faldmo (03:28):
I would do it by tour or cruise.
You'll probably get a littlebit more in-depth by a tour.
I think there are three citiesthat you should visit in Japan.
One is Tokyo, the other isKyoto and Hiroshima.
Two others that would be onthere would be Okinawa and Osaka
, but those first three are kindof the main cities that I would
(03:50):
go to.
In Tokyo they have a tourthat's called street karting.
You're actually driving aroundthe streets of Japan on a
go-kart.
I want to go to a sumowrestling match.
Yeah, that would be kind of fun.
Ride the bullet train in Japan,and actually some of the tours
that we'll talk about in aminute do include the bullet
train.
Akihabara district, which iscalled Electric Town that's the
(04:15):
anime area.
It's all themed after theJapanese anime and then also do
a cooking class.
Those are some of the things todo in Tokyo.
What about Kyoto?
Kyoto is a very traditionalcity.
It's kind of like a livingmuseum, so that's what you'd go
there for to see thattraditional Japanese life.
(04:36):
And then also near there is thebamboo forest, and that's also
one of the best places to seethe cherry blossoms in Kyoto.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:44):
And what would you do in Hiroshima?
There's the World War IIhistory.
That's also one of the bestplaces to see the cherry
blossoms in Kyoto.
And what would you do inHiroshima?
Mark Faldmo (04:47):
There's the World War II history that's there.
Go see the Peace Memorial, seewhat the effects of the atomic
bomb were on the city.
Just a very historical andinteresting place to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:00):
We'll take an early break here.
We have an interview coming upin the next segment, the Hot
Travel Deal of the Week, with TJMcAvoy of Globus talking about
touring options, and we'll alsohave the Hot Travel Deal of the
Week where you can save up to$1,500.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
(05:21):
show continues Alongside my goodfriend Mark Faldmo and, my name
is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (05:31):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(05:51):
We'll be right back.
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Show Voice (07:00):
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.
(07:21):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:32):
Thank you so much for allowing us to be part
of your weekend.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show live from Miami, Florida.
This weekend just got off thebeautiful and I do mean
beautiful MSC World America itis the inaugural sailing and
(07:53):
wanted to hang out here for acouple of days before Nikki and
I jump on Norwegian's Aqua,which is literally on Monday.
So this will be the fourth offour cruises starting on Monday.
So this will be the fourth offour cruises starting on Monday,
and it has been an absolutetreat to be down here in the
Bahamas in Florida for the last,pretty much the last month,
(08:13):
Mark.
It's been pretty great.
Where are you this weekend?
I'm just back home.
This is the hot travel deal ofthe week.
And, Mark, for the last fewweeks well, really for the last
year and a half since we've beendoing the show we've talked
about Europe extensively and wehave found a terrific way to go
see Europe.
If you've never been, you'rekind of nervous to go, you don't
(08:33):
know what to do, you don't knowhow to get around.
We have found a really goodsolution and that is Globus
Travel.
Mark Faldmo (08:41):
Yes, it's a great way to see Europe and other
places around the world.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:45):
So Mark took the time to go find somebody who
really knows Europe, and wefound that guy.
His name is TJ McAvoy.
It's good to have you here.
TJ McAvoy (08:54):
Great to be on here, Patrick.
Thank you so much for having me.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:57):
We've been pushing Globus pretty hard on
the radio show lately.
How long has Globus EscortedTours been around?
TJ McAvoy (09:05):
We've been around 97 years.
It all started with theMontegazza family running little
tiny boats across Lake Lugano97 years and we've grown that
Family-owned company, which isamazing.
So we got two families that ownthe company the Montegazza's
and the Albeck's.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:19):
What does Globus actually do?
TJ McAvoy (09:22):
So Globus is the brand of touring.
It's first-class touring, whichwould be first-class or
four-star hotels.
You're going to be in the heartof the destination, no matter
where you're staying.
All the must-see sites areincluded, VIP access.
So it's basically first-classtouring, basically everything
you're going to want to see inthat destination.
We're in six continents, sowe're everywhere.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:42):
What are some of the most popular vacations
that Globus hosts?
TJ McAvoy (09:46):
I would say for 97 years.
Our top land seller, which isGlobus, is Italy.
So within Italy, over timeeverybody that's been in Italy
did the Rome, Florence andVenice, so now we've got tours
all over the place, off thebeaten path destinations.
We have tours with just Sicily,also Cinco Terra area, which is
one of the most beautiful areasin the world.
(10:07):
So definitely Italy, and thenSpain is right up there.
Spain's our number two sellerhistorically and especially of
late.
And what's really hot for usright now is Ireland, Scotland
those are also selling reallywell as well as Greece.
So I'd say I'd probably go.
Italy, Spain, Ireland, Scotlandand Greece right now are
(10:27):
probably our most populardestinations.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:29):
Which one is your favorite one and do you
host any?
TJ McAvoy (10:32):
Yes, I do so.
As a matter of fact, I'mactually going on an Italy tour.
I did go to Italy but I haven'tbeen to Rome, Florence and
Venice Of the ones I've done.
So I've done Eastern Canada.
I also did New Zealand, bothislands I would say I loved the.
New Zealand was amazingQueenstown.
So far it's that.
But I have a feeling once I getto Italy, which is crazy.
(10:52):
I haven't been to Italy becauseI've been with the company 22
years, but I'm sure that willrank way up there, probably
number one.
But as of right now, I think myNew Zealand vacation was
probably my favorite so far.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:03):
Hey, Mark, while I've got you here, what is
your favorite Globus tour?
Mark Faldmo (11:10):
One thing that I like that Globus offers is their
panorama tours.
When I graduated from highschool, my father's always taken
us on a tour, and so mine was atour that visited several
countries.
So we did a tour England,Germany, Austria, Switzerland
and France oh wow, you know,that's.
One thing that I like is youcan do those country-specific
(11:32):
tours as well as multiplecountry tours and get a really
good overview of a specificregion of the world.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:40):
What's the Canyon Country Adventure?
TJ McAvoy (11:43):
So our Canyon Country Adventure, so that's going to
be a lot of the national parks,probably starting in Vegas and
then hit up all the nationalparks around Arizona, Utah,
Colorado, Wyoming.
The great thing about all ournational park itineraries on
Globus you will stay in the park.
So not only our competitorsstay in the parks, you'll
actually be in the park.
(12:04):
So if we're at Yellowstone,you'll be in Yellowstone
National Park.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:07):
Oh, wow.
TJ McAvoy (12:08):
Yes, we have several different national park
itineraries.
Some are longer than others, soyou'll get more national parks,
but pretty much any parks youwant to see you can see through
Globus up close and personal andthe parks.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:20):
This has nothing to do with Globus, but
while we're talking aboutYellowstone one of my favorite
adventures and I think that'sthe right word I actually got on
a pedal bike and did the entireYellowstone loop.
You talked about getting up andclose with nature buffalo,
black bears they were just inthe distance.
I'm like I got to go.
I got to go.
I got to pedal hard, I got toget out of here.
TJ McAvoy (12:43):
That's awesome.
I love that.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:46):
You guys go to London and Paris.
Do you go to Ireland?
TJ McAvoy (12:49):
We do.
And actually, now that I'mthinking about it, when you said
my favorite destination, I didsay New Zealand, which was
fantastic, but I did Ireland,Scotland, wales, so, yeah, so
you'd asked about Ireland.
Yeah, we have a ton to Ireland.
That's one of our hottestdestinations right now.
In fact, it was a panorama,like Mark was mentioning Three
nights was Ireland that I wenton, but now my next adventure I
(13:11):
want to do is just Ireland, likea 14-night Celtic Highlights
tour, but, yeah, phenomenal.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:21):
Because we live in Utah and we have
enormously large families here,at least some.
What are the best options forfamily travel through Globus?
TJ McAvoy (13:26):
We have what we call independence by Globus.
So it's kind of like a hybridbetween a independent itinerary
and kind of guided.
What it is.
It's locally hosted, so we'llhave a local host at the hotels.
The transportation is typicallygoing to be plane or train,
like first-class train.
You're not going to be part ofa group, let's just say to be
(13:47):
plane or train like first-classtrain.
You're not going to be part ofa group, let's just say you do
London and Paris, like we talkedabout earlier.
You would have basicallybreakfast every day, half-day
city tour, high-speed train toParis and you'd have a new local
host there.
It's like having a best friendin town is what the local host
is.
So definitely the Independenceby Globus.
So we got Europe and then wehave some exotics.
So if you're looking at exoticson our Independence by Globus,
many of those are private tours.
(14:08):
So if you have a family of six,that's who's going to be on
your tour.
For example, all of Asia is100% private.
Eastern Africa.
So Kenya, Tanzania is 100%private.
So a lot of our very exoticdestinations are going to be
private.
Those are phenomenal forfamilies.
Obviously, if you have olderteenagers Globus, there's some
great options there.
And then we do have anothermore budget itineraries, cosmos,
(14:32):
where you do get free time,more free time because there's
less inclusions, but I wouldreally, you know, with younger
children, definitely theIndependence by Globus is always
probably the best choice on theEscort or Guided Tours.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:42):
So when it comes to Globus, I guess you can
pretty much customize your owntour then.
TJ McAvoy (14:47):
Exactly, yeah.
So just to kind of give you anidea, like you're going to get
all the must-see sites.
It's going to be a half-daycity tour.
So let's say it's Rome, you'regoing to get the Vatican,
Sistine Chapel, all thosemust-sees, and then the rest of
the time you have free.
But local host is like yourbest friend in town.
You could ask him for advice,you could have him book other
elements to the itinerary or youcould just have free time and
(15:07):
explore.
Very customizable on theindependents.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:10):
See, I didn't know that.
I thought these were just kindof canned tours.
I didn't know you couldcustomize.
That's really good to know.
TJ McAvoy (15:15):
I do want to mention one other thing that I was just
thought of.
So we have private touring byGlobus, okay, so we introduced
that a few years ago.
So what you can do is take anytour that we already offer in
Europe and book any amount ofpeople, and then you just pay a
supplement depending on how manypeople there are.
So let's say, there's 20 inyour family, an extended family
(15:36):
you can get the whole bus andyou can kind of customize it
that way because you're the onlyones on that motor coach.
So private touring is also anoption on our standard Globus
Europe itineraries.
Mark Faldmo (15:46):
Patrick and PJ.
That's another thing.
I think I've talked about thistour on the radio before.
My family heritage is in Norwayand we did a private tour with
about 30 family members andstarted in Stockholm, Sweden,
went up to Narvik in Norway andthen bus bus down to Oslo,
Norway, down the coast, and thatwas a private tour, very
(16:07):
similar to what TJ said withGlobus, and so that is a great
option for those that want atour with the guide, with all
the assistance, all theknowledge that comes with that,
but private, just for your group.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:20):
That's a huge selling point.
I thought it was.
Here's a group of four, six,whatever the number is.
I thought that, well, I guessit would include this too, so
you could either have it privatefor a family or friends or
whoever is going with you, butyou can also join an existing
group, so you'd be part of agroup of, I'll say, somewhere
between 20 and 40.
Is that an option as well?
TJ McAvoy (16:41):
Yeah.
So I mean you could either,yeah, book it.
Majority of our business comeswith individuals, which is
typically seven or fewer thatjoin an existing tour, so that's
kind of our bread and butter.
But then if you want to say,take the entire coach, motor
coach, you could turn that exacttour into a private and kind of
how it works.
So let's say it was $2,000 perperson.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:10):
So, depending on the amount of people, you
just pay an additionalsupplement on top of that, maybe
three or $400, but yeah, youcould just make it all for you
or join an existing tour.
Okay, so both options Correct.
That's fantastic.
Globus versus the competitorswhat differentiates Globus from
the competitors?
TJ McAvoy (17:20):
I'm going to go back to that 97 years A big stat I
always like throwing out therewhen I'm doing shows and talking
to people.
We have 52% of the global shareon touring worldwide, which is
massive.
So we have offices everywhere,though Our main headquarters
Lugano, Switzerland.
We have offices in Paris,London, Sydney, you name it.
(17:42):
We're everywhere.
So you got the boots on theground, so to speak, where
you're always well taken care of.
Our mission is always to createhappy guests.
Also, we really pride ourselveson having more inclusions, so
more of those excursions thatyou want to go to we're going to
have more than our competitors.
And we have our productmanagers that help create these
itineraries.
They do their research everyyear, make sure we have the most
(18:03):
inclusions.
But the thing that we do that'skind of a staple of ours, local
favorites.
So let's say, flamenco dancingin Spain or a chuckwagon cookout
in Jackson, Wyoming, could be alobster bacon bar harbor.
So we're always going to pepperthose into the itineraries.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:20):
What is a travel style and what are the
different travel styles?
TJ McAvoy (18:24):
Anytime I'm talking about travel styles, there's the
staples of Globus.
That'll always be there.
So any of these differentstyles I mentioned, you're
always going to have one of thegreatest tour directors in the
industry.
Driver, all logistics arehandled, all the must-see sites.
You're always going to havefour-star hotels.
So those staples will alreadybe there.
What we're really excited a newstyle that we just came out with
(18:45):
we launched it in August of 24is our small group discoveries.
This could be a great optionfor families as well, where we
have these tours that are a maxof 18 passengers.
We're averaging about 15.
So 15 passengers for Europe andabout 18 for US.
We've created small groupdiscoveries.
We have 50 small groupdiscoveries worldwide.
(19:06):
So you're talking like 18 orfewer passengers on all these
destinations.
So that one's really hotbecause you know it's kind of a
new style that we've gotten outthat there's a high demand for.
So then we have this Globuschoice touring.
So that means you'll havechoices on your included
excursions.
So let's say, you may have anoption to see all the must-see
sites, do an escorted bike touror do a vineyard tour.
(19:29):
So you will have two to threeoptions typically, and those are
all included Undiscovered toursby Globus.
So the reason we came out withthese it's exactly how it sounds
undiscovered, so off the beatenpath, destinations.
So like Italy, our most populardestination, that's where we
start, our undiscovered.
It's grown to many regions.
For example, we have a GourmetTuscany itinerary.
(19:51):
We're just in Tuscany andMontepetini.
We have Cinque Terre, we havethe Italian Lakes.
We have all these differentitineraries that are off the
beaten path.
So if you've been to Rome,Florence and Venice, you
probably want to go back toItaly and kind of do something
different.
Our Undiscovered tours arefantastic for that, especially
Italy, and kind of do somethingdifferent.
Our Undiscovered tours arefantastic for that, especially
for Italy.
Also, we have them in Britain.
So really, those differentstyles.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:12):
It's like you have the best of both worlds.
You have the experience of aguide, but you get to go see
everything and they can eitherturn you loose or you can
include it as part of thepackage.
TJ McAvoy (20:22):
Absolutely yeah.
I mean, we just had a tourdirectors traveling with us
doing shows.
Let's say you've been, you'reon a Globus tour with friends or
family and maybe you've been toa certain destination, but you
kind of just want to explore iton your own.
We'll let you do that.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:34):
So there is free time, yeah.
TJ McAvoy (20:36):
So a couple of ways we build in free time.
So the guest, which would bethose that are listening right
now, you could do that whilewe're on tour.
So let's say you're in Rometour.
So let's say you're in Rome, wehave a half day city tour,
three to four hours.
Let's say you've been around afew different times, you kind of
want to go out on your own.
You just talk to the driver.
It'll be me back at this spotat 2 pm, right, because we're
always going to.
Even if you take thesightseeing, we're going to give
(20:56):
you free time in those citiesbecause you want that free time.
Also, with vip access to allthe all the sites and excursions
.
You never wait in line.
That builds in free time,because you're not.
You can go to the coliseum andbe in line three to four hours
easy yeah but instead you goright in and so with that you
get all the must-see sites anddone and then now you have three
(21:17):
or four hours in that city toexplore, and evenings too we
like to keep.
We'll usually throw in a coupledinners, have optional
excursions where you purchasedinners, but that's another
great time.
Where you're going to want yourfree time is those evenings and
you're going to be in the heartof the destination.
So any of those museums oranything that you want to see in
like the bustling part ofcities, you'll have free time to
(21:37):
do that.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:38):
So you have the connections at a lot of
these venues, the touristdestinations, and you basically
skip a line.
TJ McAvoy (21:46):
Yeah, we call them happy lines.
And then those that don'ttravel with us, those are called
the unhappy lines, becausethey're they're waiting in line
arguing with their significantother or friend.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:58):
It's so hot out here.
Yeah, oh, my goodness, that'sfunny.
You guys are living likeanimals.
You need to go with Globus.
TJ McAvoy (22:06):
Yes absolutely, we'll pamper you.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:10):
I just thought it was funny how he said the
happy lines versus the unhappylines.
Mark Faldmo (22:15):
Yeah, and that is a great perk of Globus.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:17):
It really is.
Mark Faldmo (22:18):
A lot of their tours have the skip the lines
and they really get you in tosee the sites.
I think Globus is the best wayto see a destination that you've
not been to or you want toexplore in depth.
You're there with local tourguides.
You get great insight.
I've always been on those toursand watch the other travelers
with their faces in theguidebooks, trying to figure out
(22:39):
what to do next, trying tofigure out where to go, and I
love when the local tour guidejust says go here, do.
This gives you all thebackground of the sites.
It's a great experience.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:48):
That leads into the hot travel deal of the
week, always in this segment ofthe show, and, of course, it's
all about Globus.
And what is the hot travel dealthis week?
Mark Faldmo (22:59):
So Globus is currently offering up to $1,500
off select tours.
These are for 2025.
What's remaining?
There's not a lot left, andthen also in the 2026 tours.
This is for all destinations.
They're Europe tours, they'reUS tours, they're Asia tours.
A few weeks ago, we weretalking about Croatia.
(23:19):
They have a really good Balkanitinerary if you're keen to go
to Croatia, Serbia, Montenegroreally good tours in every area
of the world.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:29):
If you want to look at the current deals, just
go to blueplanetvacations.
com.
That's Mark's website.
It's how we connect withcustomers, and our thanks to TJ
McEvoy with Globus for doingthat interview a little bit
earlier this week.
Thank you doing that interviewa little bit earlier this week.
Thank you Coming up in the nextsegment.
It is time for the infamousJust Cruising segment.
(23:52):
That is next with the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues alongside my goodfriend Mark Faldmo.
He's a good dude.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thanks for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (24:06):
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.
(24:28):
com.
We'll be right back.
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Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Anna.
Waterways, From castles andcapitals to vistas and villages
visit some of Europe's mostremarkable sites and cities to
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Patrick Wiscombe (25:00):
All right, we're back.
Welcome back to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show Coming up.
In the next 28 minutes we'll betalking about a Japan tour and
cruise, how to find the bestseat on an airplane, and
cruising to Australia and NewZealand.
Let's get back to the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
(25:20):
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 thatmay be time-sensitive All offers
and information were accuratewhen the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are
capacity-controlled and subjectto change without notice.
Show Voice (25:44):
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
(26:06):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (26:22):
All aboard for the infamous Just Cruising
segment here on the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
We hope you are having aterrific weekend.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,alongside Mark Faldmo, owner of
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Coming up in this segment,always at the bottom of the hour
, is the infamous Just Cruisingsegment.
We'll be talking about cruisingto Australia and New Zealand,
(26:44):
and we'll also be talking aboutgoing to Japan, whether it's on
a tour or a cruise.
We'll also tell you how to findthe best seat on an airplane.
And you know, there's justsomething about being in Miami
Beach that is just special.
How many times have you been toMiami Beach?
I don't know, I can't evencount.
Mark Faldmo (27:02):
So I've taken so many cruises out of Miami that
it's probably 30 to 50,somewhere in between that range.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:11):
This is special down here.
It is so beautiful down here inMiami Beach.
It is one of the most beautifulneighborhoods I think I've ever
been in.
Everything is just picturesqueBlue skies, few clouds.
It is just amazing.
Out here In segment one we hadto cut the segment short because
of our interview with TJ McAvoywith Globus.
(27:31):
Let's finish John's question.
He wanted to go to Japan and hewanted to know the best time to
go and what should be on hisitinerary.
Let's just start there for him.
Mark Faldmo (27:42):
We briefly answered his question.
The best time is spring or fall.
I particularly would preferspring for the cherry blossoms.
And then we said probably thetop three cities that should be
included are Tokyo, Kyoto andHiroshima.
We just got finished talkingwith TJ on the hosted and
escorted tours that Globusoffers, so I did choose a tour
(28:05):
from Globus and I think this oneis fantastic.
Right now Globus has a save upto $1,500 off select Japan tours
and the tour I chose it's an11-day tour.
It starts in Tokyo, Then youtake the bullet train to Nagoya,
Spends one night in Nagoya, twonights in Kyoto to Nagoya,
(28:26):
spends one night in Nagoya, twonights in Kyoto and then, after
two nights in Kyoto, you spendtwo nights in Okayama and then
one night in Matsui and then twonights in Hiroshima.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:37):
I'm glad you spent a little bit of time there
.
I think a real flashpoint, nopun intended in history of the
world.
Mark Faldmo (28:49):
It is yeah, yeah.
And so the last part of thattour is by bus and the first
part of the tour is by train.
One thing that I didn't mentionthe reason why I recommend
taking a tour or a cruise isbecause of the language barrier.
It is nice to have someone withyou that speaks the language.
So on the tour you have a tourguide with you the whole time
that can help you navigate thecultural differences and help
(29:11):
you navigate the languagedifferences.
On a cruise it's somewhatsimilar You're taking tours out
with an English-speaking guidethat can help you navigate while
you're in port.
But back to this Globus tour.
That price starts at $5,449 perperson.
The departure I looked at was afall departure of this year and
(29:31):
that was about $1,200 off theregular price.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:35):
So that $5,400 price includes that discount
Does include that.
Mark Faldmo (29:39):
Okay, this was for one of the touring styles that
TJ talked about.
This was on a small group tour,so it's a maximum of 24 people
per tour.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:47):
So that's the land portion.
Let's talk about the cruiseportion then.
Yeah, so cruise portion.
Mark Faldmo (29:53):
I found a really good cruise on Norwegian.
This actually starts in Seoul,Korea.
It has one port in Seoul andthen the rest of this 11-day
cruise is in Japan.
It does include Hiroshima,Kyoto, Nagoya and then ending in
Tokyo.
Plus there's a few other portsthat it includes along the way.
(30:14):
But the price on this thisagain was in the fall.
This is a September 24thdeparture date.
Inside cabin starts at $1,336per person and a balcony cabin
starts at $2,506 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:29):
What NCL ship is this this?
Mark Faldmo (30:30):
is on the Norwegian Spirit.
Okay, it's one of their smallerships but also one of my
favorite ships.
I love the back part of thisship because it has a terraced
back where it's all around apool.
They have part of the buffetline up at the top.
I love the Norwegian spirit.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:46):
Always at this segment, the infamous just
cruising segment we've got thecruise deal of the week and Zell
.
Was this a text?
I think it was.
It's just a text, yes, so Zellis texting that she wants to go
to Australia and New Zealand andshe's asking the best time to
go and what itineraries do wehave for her.
(31:07):
What do you recommend?
Mark Faldmo (31:10):
So I did find two itineraries that are good.
First of all, the best time togo is our winter, their summer,
so these cruises generallyoperate December through March.
There are some that operateyear round, but typically most
people from the US want to gothat January, February, march
(31:30):
timeframe.
The first cruise that I foundthis is an 11 day Australia New
Zealand.
This is on the Norwegian Spirit, the ship we just talked about
in Japan, so it comes down inthe winter time to do Australia
New Zealand.
This is a cruise between Sydneyand Auckland, so in Australia it
has Sydney and Melbourne andthen it goes down to do the
(31:52):
South Island of New Zealandcruise Milford Sound, Douth
Sound, dusky Sound so all sceniccruising and then a few other
ports along the South Island andthen Wellington on the North
Island, Taranga, and ending inAuckland.
I think these Australia-NewZealand cruises are probably one
(32:13):
of the best ways to see thisarea of the world.
This one was a January 17thdeparture and the cruise starts
at $18.95 per person for aninside cabin or $3618 for a
balcony, kind of like Alaskawhere balconies are in a premium
.
Yeah, I've seen Milford Soundand some of the glaciers and
(32:35):
fjords there on the South Islandof New Zealand are one in a
kind in the world.
They're absolutely beautiful.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:42):
And that's the 11-day Sydney to Auckland
11-day Sydney to Auckland.
Okay, is there a longer cruiseavailable?
Mark Faldmo (32:50):
I did find one more cruise.
This was on Oceana Cruise Line.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:54):
Generally speaking, what's your thoughts
on Oceana?
So?
Mark Faldmo (32:57):
Oceana.
It's owned by Norwegian CruiseLine Holding.
It's one of their higher-endluxury cruise lines, kind of
smaller ships but very high end.
They do a lot of uniqueitineraries, which this
itinerary certainly is.
Oceana what ship it's?
The Riviera is the name of theship.
(33:18):
It leaves from Auckland.
It does not do any of the SouthIsland, but it sails from
Auckland to Sydney and thensails along the northern shore
of Australia.
It hits Carnes, Darwin, andthen it sails off and ends in
Singapore and there are twostops in Singapore and then in
(33:40):
between Darwin, Australia andSingapore, it has two stops in
Indonesia.
This one is a 22-day, veryunique itinerary and, again,
Oceana is a higher-end cruiseline.
Inside cabins start at $5,299per person and a balcony starts
at $6,970 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:00):
Beautiful ship .
I'm just looking it up rightnow because I'm not familiar
with that one, and that's a niceship.
Mark Faldmo (34:06):
It is.
Yeah, they do a great job onOceana.
They're kind of laid back.
Luxury is their you know kindof country club casual luxury is
kind of their style.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:18):
Well, apparently that is my style.
Yes, take advantage of thatoffer If you've always wanted to
go to New Zealand, Sydney.
It's a part of the world thatis just amazing, absolutely
spectacular.
Call Mark at his office, justget the conversation started
(34:38):
during the break 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he will also post this onblueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
Man, we're getting hammeredwith caller questions and text
questions this week.
James says that he does not flymuch, but he does like to sit
(35:03):
in a window seat.
How do you find the best seatis basically his questions.
We'll answer that question next.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show, alongside Mark Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (35:23):
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.
(35:44):
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (35:49):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El
Dorado Spa Resorts.
Escape to Cancun's Riviera Mayawith authentic all-inclusive
luxury at an El Dorado SpaResort.
Show Voice (36:13):
To book your romantic beach getaway.
Contact Blue Planet Vacationsat 888-718-7717 or
blueplanetvacations.
com.
This is the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show with
Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmopresented by
blueplanetvacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700, and now yourhosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
(36:37):
Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:43):
Coming to you live from the beautiful city of
Miami, Florida, mark, it isabsolutely beautiful.
Nikki and I have spent theentire week on MSC's World
America and can I just say thatship is genuinely beautiful, not
(37:05):
only is it gigantic, it's iconof the seas type size, but it is
so tastefully well done anddecorated.
The soft goods, the ship.
It is awesome.
I can't even tell you.
If you're thinking about goingon a cruise, just consider
getting on World America.
It is amazing, you will not bedisappointed.
Mark Faldmo (37:28):
Yeah, and I got off that the week before you got on
it and I think when we uh, whenyou get back from your travels,
we're going to have a goodin-depth review of all the four
cruises.
You've taken three so far andyou've got one more to go.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:42):
Got one more, got the.
Uh, the brand new, spanking newNorwegian Aqua is the next one.
Mark Faldmo (37:48):
Genuinely excited to get on that one too, you've
been doing a lot of cruising andone week left to go, it's
almost been a month.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:55):
That's what's crazy to me and we've just been
doing the show on the road.
Fortunately, with Starlink, youcan do the show anywhere.
I don't want to sound like anold guy, but all I have here is
a wireless setup Wireless setupand we're doing the radio show
from Miami.
We're just doing it from ahotel lobby right now.
This segment is all aboutMark's travel tips, and we've
(38:17):
also got a.
Was this a text or an emailfrom James?
This was an email from James.
Okay, I don't fly much, but Ilike to sit in the window seat.
I recently took a flight andreserved a window seat, or so I
thought, but it did not have awindow.
I've since looked on theairline's website and it does
not say that there is not awindow, so he thought he was
(38:38):
getting a window.
I've since looked on theairline's website and it does
not say that there is not awindow, so he thought he was
getting a window.
There was no window.
His question is how do I avoidthat in the future?
Mark Faldmo (38:47):
This is one of the frustrating things for me when
flying is I am also a windowseat person and so many times
I've booked that window seatthat is a non-window seat.
Oh, you've done this too, then.
It's happened to me a few times.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:03):
Oh, you were not happy then?
Mark Faldmo (39:05):
No, I was not, because I like to lean into the
window.
There's a little bit more spaceand people get the aisles for
the same reason, but then you'reoften run into by the carts
going through the aisle orpeople walking up and down the
aisle.
So that's why I like the windowseat to have that extra
shoulder space.
For this reason, on the blueplanet vacations dot com website
I have added a link to a toolthat can help with this and this
(39:29):
works for any seat on theairplane.
It works for all airlines, allaircraft types.
So if you go to blue planetvacations dot com, scroll down
to the very bottom, to thebottom footer of the website.
There's a link to travelresources.
On that travel resourcesthere's a button for find the
best seat airline seat maps.
(39:51):
When you go to that link you caneither put in your airline and
flight number and travel dateand it will generally pull up
your aircraft information, oryou can just go to airlines,
click on the airline and findthe type of aircraft you're
flying on.
The reason why I like this siteand every time I book I go to
(40:13):
this because there are severaldifferent versions.
Let's just take a 737.
That non-window seat is notgoing to be in the same place on
every airplane.
Airlines also have severaldifferent configurations
depending on how they do firstclass main cabin economy seats.
There's all sorts of differentways, so even the 737-900 on
Delta might be completelydifferent from the exact same
(40:36):
airplane on United or American.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:38):
Oh, wow.
Mark Faldmo (40:39):
So, I always go to this just to make sure that I'm
choosing the right seat.
So on here it'll bring up theseat map and it's color coded.
So, for instance, red might sayit's close to the exit, it has
a restricted recline, it's neara restroom, so it'll be a red
seat saying it's not preferred.
Then they have orange, which isthe same.
(41:02):
It's a little bit better, butthere still is a bad something
that you may not like about thatseat.
And then it has yellow, which inthe map I'm looking at right
now, it says the seat has apartially missing window.
On other versions again,depending on how the seats line
up, it would be red for it ismissing a window.
On other versions, again,depending on how the seats line
up, it would be red for it ismissing a window.
So it'll tell you for everyseat on the airplane whether or
(41:23):
not it's a good or bad seat andit'll tell you why it has color
codes.
For if it's a window seat buthas a view of the wing, it'll
tell you if the wing blocks theview.
Most of the seats it just saysit's a standard seat and so it's
a really good way tool to findwhere to sit on an airplane.
Patrick Wiscombe (41:44):
Okay, so blueplanetvacations.
com, and at the bottom it iswhat.
Mark Faldmo (41:48):
Travel resources, which will take you to the whole
page with all of the travelresources that I've gathered.
So state department passportservices, all of that, but one
of them is find the best seat onan airplane.
And so if you do that, it'lltake you to that site and you'll
be able to look at the seatmaps.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:05):
Very, very helpful.
This is not on the rundown, soit's kind of a big question, but
I think it's a good questionthat most people might think how
can you get an upgraded seat?
So let's just say you're inMaine coach, not economy, you're
just in Maine and my questionis how can you get an upgraded
seat, or is that even possible?
Mark Faldmo (42:25):
There's a few ways to do that.
There are a few airlines that,once you book and pay your
ticket in full, actually have abidding process.
You can go in and it'll say ifyou want to upgrade to a first
class seat, you can put in a bidto upgrade to first class.
So not all airlines have thisbidding process.
(42:45):
A few that do are Air Canada,air New Zealand, Air Lingus,
Hawaiian Airlines has thisprocess.
Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines,virgin Atlantic all have some
form where you can bid toupgrade to business or first
class.
A lot of the airlines likeDelta, American, united, a lot
(43:09):
of our domestic airlines, do nothave this process.
But what those airlines do haveis if there are seats available
.
When you book, I know throughthe Delta Airlines app, when you
click on your flight it'll sayupgrade to first class for this
amount of dollars or this amountof points points or dollars,
and sometimes that doesn'thappen until a few weeks prior.
(43:31):
Sometimes it doesn't happenuntil when you check in, because
the airlines are always lookingfor ways to maximize seats.
If they can get someone to gothrough that upgrade process and
go to first class, that meansthey have a chance to bring some
of their standbys on and haveor just sell those seats last
minute so they can try and sellevery seat on the airplane.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:54):
So what you're saying is that there's a chance
.
Mark Faldmo (43:57):
Yeah, there is a chance, those airlines that have
the bidding process.
I've never tried that before,but I have seen where they'll
just let you outright buy anupgrade, and it's usually a
discounted upgrade on the otherairlines right away.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:11):
Let's continue on with Mark's travel tips as
we wrap up this week's show andI know that this is something
that can be very controversialand that is general tips for
flying.
Let's talk specifically aboutboarding and seating etiquette.
Mark Faldmo (44:27):
And these are tips and etiquette for various
aspects of flying.
The first one is boarding andseating etiquette.
Number one thing is be preparedwhen you reach the security
checkpoint and when you're readyto board.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:42):
And those are two different points in the
airport anyway.
Mark Faldmo (44:45):
Correct.
Yeah, there's nothing morefrustrating for me getting ready
to board and the person infront of you is fumbling on
their phone trying to find theboarding pass.
If you're in that boarding line, make sure you have your
boarding pass ready.
I've talked about it on othershows.
I always have a paper boardingpass printed anyway, so in case
my phone is not ready, I canjust scan the paper boarding
(45:07):
pass to board Along with that.
Make sure you have yourdocuments and ID ready.
You'll need it in most cases toget through the security
checkpoints and, depending onwhere your flight's going, you
may have to have your passportready to show before boarding
the plane.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:24):
Hold on when you travel domestically and you
don't need a passport fordomestic flights, obviously you
will still need your driver'slicense.
Do you just bring your passportanyway and use that as kind of
like your driver's license?
Mark Faldmo (45:38):
I always have my passport with me when traveling,
but I usually use my driver'slicense, although now, with the
TSA pre-check, it's all facialrecognition anyway.
So, if you're in that line, yougenerally don't have to show
your ID.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:55):
Oh, that's right.
Mark Faldmo (45:56):
Domestically.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:57):
Yes, okay so yeah.
Okay, so when you talk aboutdocuments, you're talking about
either a passport, your driver'slicense or your boarding pass,
either on your phone or thepaper document, correct?
Mark Faldmo (46:09):
Yeah, okay, all right.
So those are all the documentsyou could need when going
through various checkpoints inthe airport.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:15):
Okay, very good, all right.
What's the next tip for gettingon an airplane?
The next thing, and this is bigis.
Mark Faldmo (46:21):
Respect assigned seats.
We've done several stories overthe past few years about people
just sitting in a seat andsaying, no, it's mine.
That's caused to people gettingin fights on plane people
getting banned from flying.
Just respect the assigned seat.
There's nothing wrong withasking others if they'll switch
(46:45):
with you.
Generally, if there's a parentflying with children, I will
switch with them because youdon't want the young kids
sitting alone on that.
Just be respectful when you'reasking to switch seats.
If you can switch seats, butalso don't think that if you're
in coach, don't assume that youcan just switch for like a
comfort cabin or a first-classcabin.
(47:05):
There have been people so upsetbecause someone won't switch
with them for a comfort seat andsend the other person who paid
for the comfort seat back toeconomy.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:14):
So that actually happened to me a year
ago in Hawaii.
Dickie and I were going over toHawaii, some guy was literally
standing in front of my seat andhe goes, hey, can I trade with
you?
And I'm like no, he wasn't backin economy, but he was in the
main cabin, but his family wasup there, and so he was asking
me to go back there.
Mark Faldmo (47:30):
And I'm like uh no no, thank you.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:33):
I you know I was very polite, very kind, and
fortunately he didn't throw toobig of a stink, but I won't say
it was confrontational, butthere was a little bit of
friction.
Mark Faldmo (47:42):
The next thing is be efficient during the boarding
process and don't hog theoverhead bin space.
Some people put several thingsup in the overhead bin space.
Follow what the airline says.
After the boarding process youcan always put things back up
there.
A lot of cases not all there isspace left over afterward.
(48:02):
Just be efficient.
One thing I would say also isif you have a backpack on, don't
board with the backpack on yourback.
Carry the backpack on.
Yeah, I've seen people walkingthrough the aisles turning and
their backpack hits everybodysitting in the aisle seat there.
So be conscious of that.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:21):
What recommendations do you have for
travelers?
Mark Faldmo (48:24):
The number one thing for flying is download the
airlines travel app.
Yes, it makes getting to theairport boarding.
If your flight is delayed orcanceled, usually those apps
will pop up.
Here are your options and it'sjust a one-click accept the
change or change it.
You don't have to stand in lineif that happens.
(48:44):
The Airlines app is generallyso easy to use and can save you
a lot of time at the airport.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:52):
It's how the airline communicates with
travelers.
That's their first, that's thefirst thing that they do.
They alert everyone through theapp, so it just makes sense to
have it.
Mark Faldmo (49:01):
The next thing is check in online or through the
app.
That'll save you a lot of time.
A lot of airlines now have kindof a self-service baggage, so
if you've checked in on the app,you just walk up to a kiosk
scanner that prints out your bagtag to put on your bag and you
can just go drop it off.
It saves a lot of time if youcheck in online.
The next thing and we've talkedabout this before and we kind
(49:24):
of talked about it last weekwhen we talked about the cruises
have your boarding pass, bothdigitally and a printed boarding
pass.
It can just save some headachesthere.
And then the last thing isconsider travel insurance.
We're always talking about this.
People probably roll their eyes.
I've seen so many of people'stravel investments saved by
having the travel insurance.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:46):
So helpful.
This is coming from the guythat has traveled over 4 million
miles and has done over 150cruises.
Mark knows what he's doing.
If you want to take advantageof any of the promotions that
we've had on the show, call Markin his office.
As soon as we get off the airhere he'll be available
(50:07):
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And, of course, the travelresources that we were talking
about in this segment are onblueplanetvacations.
com.
Mark, we're done Time for me totake a couple days off and then
it's off to Bimini Islands onNorwegian's Aqua.
(50:29):
So I guess I'll see you whatnext Saturday in person in the
studio.
Finally do it.
First time in a month.
Yep, first time in a month, youcan listen to this show again
tomorrow morning in person inthe studio.
Finally do it.
First time in a month.
Yep, first time in a month.
Yep, you can listen to thisshow again tomorrow morning.
We're on every Saturday andSunday morning at 11 am right
here on this radio station andaround the country.
Plus, you can stream, downloadand subscribe to the podcast at
(50:52):
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
If you just want to go to thewebsite and just stream it
without subscribing, of coursewe want you to subscribe.
You can just stream it on thewebsite, inside travel talk dot
com.
We are on also all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Okay, it's your turn to get outand explore the world, because
(51:13):
you never know what curve ballslife is going to throw at you.
And, as we say each and everyweek as we close out the show,
live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally.
And thank you so much forlistening.
Really, we don't have a show ora business without you.
Thank you so much.
Have a great week.
Show Voice (51:34):
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.
(51:54):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
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