Luxurious Escapes: Fiji Wonders, South American Cultures and Night Sky Marvels

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
On today's show, mark is backfrom the Bahamas Nassau Bahamas.
He's going to give us a quickreview of the Sandals Royal
Bahamian.
We're also going to talk aboutSouth America Cruises, fiji, and
we have an interview with MSCCruises' Laura Okanowski and

(00:21):
their brand new ship called MSCWorld America.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastradio show presented by
BluePlanetVacationscom containstravel deals, promotions and
offers that may be timesensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate with the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity

(00:42):
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.

Show Voice (00:59):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by BluePlanetVacationscom.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalkcom.
And now here are your hosts,patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.

It is the weekend, which means it's time
to talk travel.
Hi there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
Thank you so much for takingyour time to stop and listen to
the show.
And, if you are brand new tothe show, the entire purpose of
this show is to help you planand book your next vacation, or
we can just simply give youideas of where you want to go on

(01:53):
vacation next, and Mark and Iare presented by
blueplanetvacationscom and, forregular listeners of the show,
we have a little bit differentformat.
This week Coming up in thissegment, we are going to have
the cruise deal of the week.
We have a little bit differentformat.
This week Coming up in thissegment, we are going to have
the cruise deal of the week,because we do have an extended
interview with MSC's LauraOkanowski in segment three of

(02:14):
the show, where we talkextensively about the brand new
not even out yet brand new MSCWorld America.
It is a gigantic ship and it isbeautiful.
But let's first get to thetravel news headlines.
I saw that Holland AmericaCruise Lines is making
improvements to its Denali Lodgein Alaska.

(02:35):
What kind of improvements arethey making?

Mark Faldmo (02:37):
First, we should talk about what is the purpose
of this lodge.
One of the topics we often talkabout is Alaska cruises one of
our favorite cruise itinerarieson this show and we've talked
about the cruise tours, which iswhere you spend a few days in
the heart of Alaska and then youtake a cruise either before or
after that, and this is thelodge that Holland America uses

(02:58):
for their Denali portion of theAlaska cruise tour.
They own the lodges whereyou'll stay at for the most part
when you take a cruise tourwith Holland America.

Oh, I didn't know that.

So yeah, Holland America and Princess both own
their own lodges in Alaska thatare used exclusively for cruise
tour guests.

What kind of upgrades are they doing to the
lodge?

It's a three-year project.
This year, in 2025, they'regoing to be making improvements
to their interpretive trailsaround the resort, adding and
renovating scenic viewpoints,and then they're also going to
change their menu and make someimprovements to their restaurant
.
Next year, in 2026, they'regoing to remodel all of the

(03:41):
rooms at Denali Lodge, add acoffee shop and expand their
restaurant, which they need toexpand their restaurant for what
they plan on doing in 2027,which is to build an additional
building with 120 units in it.
So, the demand for the cruisetours is such that they need to
build more rooms to accommodatemore passengers on the cruise

(04:04):
tours.

If you've never gone on a cruise, Alaska
is a good first starter cruiseyou can't go wrong with that one
.

Yeah, I would agree with that.
I love Alaska cruises, that andHawaii, yes, yeah, those two
places are probably my favoriteplaces.
I have lots of favorites, butprobably the ones I visited the
most is Alaska and Hawaii.

Hawaii vacation rental demand drops
dramatically.
Why is the demand for rentalsdropping?

This is through services like Airbnb and VRBO,
and according to those companiesand some other studies, that's
done.
It's just a changing traveler.
More and more travelers areopting for hotels because of
their expanded amenities andgenerally better locations.
In November of 2024, of the803,000 vacation rental units

(04:55):
available in Hawaii, only388,000 were rented.
That's less than half of allthe available vacation rentals
were used in the month ofNovember.
It's a decrease of about 5%compared to 2023.
And then, when we go back topre-COVID numbers, that's a 40%
drop from 2019.

(05:17):
All of the studies are showingthat it's just a shift in what
travelers are looking for.
They're looking for moreamenities that hotels have to
offer, and one thing that thestudy did note is now the
average nightly rate of avacation rental is the same as a
hotel.
They used to be a lot less, butnow it's the same price.
So again, people are opting forthe same price but more

(05:39):
amenities at a hotel.

I saw that Disney's new ship class are
going to be about 30% smaller.
That surprises me, because Ithought that they would have
gone the other direction Rightnow the Wish class, which is the
most recent class.

there's one more of those still to come out.
That's 144,000 gross tons, butthis new class is only going to
be about 100,000 gross tons andcarry 3,000 guests.
I mean it's still a lot ofpeople, but it's still a lot of
people, but it's smaller, andthe reason Disney is doing this
is to have access to more portsand destinations globally.

(06:14):
A lot of ports are unable totake the big, huge ships.
We've talked about the PanamaCanal.
A lot of people want to gothrough the old Panama Canal and
I believe this ship it's righton the edge, but I believe it's
the size where it can go throughthe old Panama Canal, which is

(06:35):
much more scenic.
But there are some Caribbeanislands that can't take the big
ships.
Now this is still larger thanthe first few ships Disney built
.
They were about 84,000 grosstons.
So they do have some smallerships in their fleet already,
but they're not continuing thatbig trend of large mega ships,
like other cruise lines are.

Always in this segment is the destination of
the week and we are just talkingabout cruising.
Normally we save that forsegment three of the show, but
we're just going to put it hereright now.
Let's talk about South Americacruises.
What are the cruise options andwhere do they go?

There are several different options to cruise in
South America.
Probably the most popular arethe Cape Horn cruises, which
would be like Ushuaia,Antarctica.
So they're the cruises thatsail between, like either Rio or
Buenos Aires and Santiago Chile, so they go around Cape Horn.
Other cruises there are Amazoncruises that you can take.

I would want to do that.

Ad Voice (07:31):
Parts of Amazon.

Yes, yeah, amazon would be wonderful to do.
There are in the SouthernCaribbean.
You can have some stops thatinclude Columbia and maybe some
Amazon stops.
So I think a few months ago wetalked about a cruise that left
Miami and it did Amazon.
It was a Caribbean cruise butit included the Amazon River.
So there are cruises like thatand the other part is

(07:54):
repositioning cruises, sothey're repositioning cruises
between South America and Europe.
Or there are cruises that arePanama Canal cruises, where
they're repositioning the cruisefrom, say, the Caribbean, so
Miami through the Panama Canal,ending in Santiago Chile, to
start those Cape Horn cruises,wow.
So there's a lot of options inSouth America and I've been

(08:17):
getting a lot of requests oncruising in South America.
That's kind of why I put it inthe topics this week for the
show.

What is the best time to go do this type of?

cruise.
Well, you have to keep in mindtheir seasons are opposite of
ours, right.
So right now is the best timeto go.
So, especially if you'relooking for Antarctica cruises,
january, february, maybe March,are the best times to do the
Antarctica cruises because it'stheir summer, pretty much.
Our winter time is the besttime to go because of their

(08:47):
seasons.

So if it's cold here, go there.
Yes.

It's their summer.

What repositioning cruises do we have
for listeners this week?
I?

chose one repositioning cruise.
This was kind of last minute.
It's March 9th, oh quick, soabout a month and a half away.
Okay, but it is quite anamazing price.
So this is a cruise that leavesfrom Rio de Janeiro and sails
to Rome.
It has a few ports in SouthAmerica, a few ports in Africa,

(09:19):
a few ports in the Mediterranean, and I'll quickly go over some
of those ports in just a moment.
But the best part of this isthe price.
Inside cabin starts at $1,036per person and a balcony cabin
starts at $1,476 per person For18 days.
For 18 days, so that's lessthan $100 per person per day.
Rio to Rome this starts in Rio,goes to Santos in Brazil, and

(09:45):
then goes to an island calledagain I can't pronounce it, I
think it's Maceo, which is anisland off of Africa, and then
goes to the Tenerife Islands,goes to Casablanca in Morocco,
barcelona, spain, naples, inItaly, and then ends in Rome.
So pretty good itinerary.
And that one's quick.
Spain, naples in Italy, andthen ends in Rome.

(10:05):
Wow, so pretty good itinerary.

And that one's quick, so that's coming up in
about six weeks, 45 days or so.

Six weeks, 45 days, but I think the price is right
for that.
Oh yeah, and that is on MSCCruise Lines, on the MSC
Orchestra.

Give the price again, if you would.
That was an unbelievable priceRio to.

Rome Inside cabin starts at $1,036 and balcony
starts at $1,476 per person.

What's the other travel deal we have for
listeners of?

the show, I chose the Cape Horn cruise.
There are not really any thatyou could really do this year.
So this is a 2026 sailing inFebruary of 2026.
And this one goes Santiago,chile, to Buenos Aires, in
Argentina.
And so this is a Cape Horncruise cruise ports.
It goes to Port Amant cruisesthe Chilean fjords, the Magellan

(11:00):
Strait.

Now hold on.
Stop on the Chilean fjords.
Those are beautiful, to put itmildly.
They are Breathtaking beauty.

They are quite amazing, and there's another
port on here that I'll get to injust a moment, which is similar
and amazing as well.
So then it goes through theBeagle Channel, and as part of
that there's a place called theGlacier Alley, and it's where
you just sail past tidewaterglaciers Similar to Glacier Bay,
but I think this is a littlebit more spectacular than

(11:31):
Glacier Bay is in Alaska.

That's hard to imagine.

Glacier Bay is pretty amazing, and then it goes
to Ushuaia, which is on a lotof people's bucket list cruises.
The Cape Horn Place I'd like togo to goes to the Falkland
Islands, then Montevideo andends in Buenos Aires.
Pretty amazing itinerary downaround Cape Horn, oh yeah, and
that one start.
That's a 14-day cruise startsat $21.39 per person for an

(11:58):
inside or $31.89 for a balcony.
Those are a lot higher than therepositioning cruises that we
mentioned, Right, but this is avery good price for this
itinerary, oh yeah, absolutely.

It is Cruising .
It's just really a great way togo see the world, because then
you've got a floating hotel.
Get out, go see the worldReally.
Call Mark in his office, justget the conversation started.
His number is 888-718-7717.

(12:31):
888-718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacationscom when we
come back.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week.
We're going to recap theSouthwest Vacations offer that
we talked about I think it waslast week, yeah, it was and

(12:51):
we're also going to give youeight of the world's best places
for stargazing.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast or radio
show continues.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, my nameis Patrick Wiscom.
Thank you so much for allowingthis to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.

Show Voice (13:11):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.

(13:31):
We'll be right back.

Ad Voice (13:40):
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 To book your romantic

(14:02):
beach getaway.

Show Voice (14:05):
Contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718 presented
by BluePlanetVacationscom.
America's best travel advisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.

(14:28):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.

Welcome back inside of the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show.
I hope you're having a terrificweekend.
My name is Patrick Wiskum.
Alongside my good friend, markFaldmo, you are listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show.
This show is all about travel.

(14:58):
It's only about travel, wherewe encourage people to get out
and see the world and if youdon't know where to go, we will
give you ideas Coming up in thissegment of the show we are
going to be talking about I gotto find my notes, mark.
I forgot what we're talkingabout.
We're going to talk about theeight of the world's best places
for stargazing and in thissegment we'll be talking about

(15:21):
the hot travel deal of the week.
We're going to recap lastweek's Southwest vacations
promotion, where you can save upto $500 when you go to Hawaii,
mexico and the Caribbean.
We'll get to those details herein just a second.
But let's continue on with thetravel news headlines.
This one kind of surprised mewhen I saw that Delta, because

(15:42):
right within the Delta app,delta is ditching Lyft and
they're going to start promotingUber.
If you have the Delta app,they've got their partner stuff.
So I guess Lyft is going to goaway and you're going to see
Uber there now at some point,and I'm kind of torn on this one
.

I was always an Uber rider and then, when Delta
introduced this partnership withLyft, I switched to Lyft, and
now I don't know what I'm goingto do, because Lyft is typically
a lot less expensive than Uberis.
I'm not really sure why Deltadid this.
The only thing it says in thepress release is they're going
with the larger company, uber,so I guess to give more options.

When you are a Delta member and you use one of
their partner websites, doesthat go towards your medallion
qualifying dollars?
That does, oh, it's okay.
So that's why you're kind oftorn on that because you want to
get all of the medallionqualifying dollars so you can
get status each and every year,each year.

Yeah, but then, as I mentioned, lyft is usually
about 20% less than Uber.
That's a hard one to decide.
I usually shop on both, butprobably 90% of the time I end
up going with Lyft.

I saw a story that has to do with Hawaii, but
there's another airline that'sbringing new wide body jets and
flights to Hawaii.
Now let's explain the seating,generally speaking, on a wide
body jet.
Let's go traditional and thenlet's contrast that with wide
body jets.

Yep, so a wide body is a plane that has two aisles
seats, an aisle seats an aisle,so that's a wide body.
Traditional would just be likeyour three seats, aisle, three
seats.
So just with the single aisleaircraft, and this is one
particularly for us in Salt LakeCity, delta is adding the A330

(17:28):
300 planes on the Salt Lake Cityto Honolulu route starting
April 15th of this year.

Ad Voice (17:34):
Oh, really Okay.

So they're replacing the 767s with the
newer Airbus A330s.
Now, what this will do is thereare some days of the week where
Delta has had two flights a day, but since the Airbus A330s,
now, what this will do is thereare some days of the week where
Delta has had two flights a day,but since the Airbus A330 is a
larger aircraft, that's going togo to one daily flight to
Honolulu.

Let's talk about the eight of the world's
best places for stargazing, andthen we'll get to the hot travel
deal of the week.

This kind of plays on.
I think it was two weeks ago.
We talked about the, nottourism, the rise in popularity
seeing the Northern Lightsstargazing, so I came across
this story.
That was pretty interesting.
So it lists them from one toeight.
Some of them I'll comment onand others I'll just mention
because I don't know a whole lotabout them.
The number one spot is theSalar de Uyuni.

(18:22):
How would you say that, patrick?
I think you looked it upearlier, but in Bolivia, I have
no idea, keep saying it Seemslike every week, the last few
weeks.
I shouldn't put things on thatI can't pronounce, but this is a
desert in Bolivia and itactually, looking at the
pictures, reminds me of the SaltFlats here in western Utah.

(18:42):
So it's just a salt, flat desertwith unobstructed views to the
sky.

Have you ever been out to the Bonneville salt
flats?
I have, dude, amazing.
It's kind of weird to thinkthat that whole thing used to be
a lake.
Yes, it's just bizarre.
I don't know why.
That just freaks me out.

I'm like, oh man, I'm underwater Number two close
to home.
It says Utah and Arizona in theSouthwestern US.
I'm not going to spend a lot oftime on that, but they actually
do mention the Bonneville SaltFlats.
It's a great place to look atthe sky, and then also the Grand
Canyon in Arizona.

Oh, Grand Canyon.
I used to think it's just a bighole, and then I got older.
I'm like man, this is reallymagnificent here.
How did I just get kind ofbored with it?
Yep.

Number three is Mont Magnantique in Canada.
It's in Quebec and it is actualthe world's first dark sky
reserve, so it's one of thefirst places to protect dark
skies.
Number four is the NambiranNature Reserve in Nambia.
Number five, mount Bromo inIndonesia, which is actually on

(19:50):
the island of Java, so it's anactive volcano that you can hike
on and stargaze at the sametime.
Number six is the IrokaiMackenzie Dark Sky Reserve in
New Zealand.
So another dark sky reserve,another place that is protecting
those dark skies.
Number seven is a little bitinteresting for me.

(20:10):
I would have not thought this,but it's the Wild Atlantic Way
in Ireland.
It's spots in between Dublinand Cork is where that is.
Number eight is the one I wantto talk about, which is the Wadi
Rum Desert in Jordan.
You've been there, I've beenthere, so that's why I wanted to
talk about that a little bit.
It is just so fascinating and Iwas there at nighttime and I

(20:33):
remember we had a dinner at aBedouin tent out there, had some
Bedouin food, and I justremember walking out and looking
up and seeing how many starsthere were.
So that is definitely one Ithink is good for stargazing.

Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week
and let's just go over lastweek's Southwest vacation
promotion.

Yeah, and again, as we mentioned last week, I think
this is one of the better orbest deals that I've seen out
there for Hawaii, mexico and theCaribbean on Southwest vacation
.
So this is the one you have topackage with a flight and a
hotel, but it's saved up to $500per package and book by
February 10th.

So you still have a couple.
What about two weeks?

two and a half weeks Two and a half weeks to
book this.
The reason why I say this is sogood is because of the tiers.
Most of these are tiered, butthis is the best tiers I've ever
seen for a discount.
So it saved $300 on packagesbetween 500 and 999.
If you were able to find apackage which I don't think you
can but for $500, they wouldtake $300 off of that.

(21:39):
That is significant.
That is significant.
And then it is $400, 1,000 to$1,499.
So you may be able to find somepackages in that to Hawaii,
mexico or the Caribbean, butthen just save $500 on packages
of $1,500 or more.
Last week I looked at this.
I found a Hawaii package about$2,200.

(22:03):
And it took $500 off of that.

So it is automatically taking that
discount, taking that discountoff.

Yeah, so it made that $2,200 package down to
$1,700.
That's really good.
So it is a great deal there,especially to get to Hawaii and
Mexico Hawaii, mexico and theCaribbean.

You have to book by February 10th but you
have to travel by when you haveto travel by October 1st of 2025
.
Okay, so you basically have, ifmy math is right, about eight
months, about eight months, totravel Like that.

Okay, and Southwest doesn't have their schedule out
past then anyway, so that's allyou could book anyway.

Okay, let's talk about the hot travel deal
of the week, deal number two.
Where are we going on this one?
We're going to go to Fiji.

Oh, you love Fiji.
Yeah, I love Fiji and I chosethis one just again.
It's a very good airfare deal.
So from Los Angeles or SanFrancisco to Nadi in Fiji is
$799 per person round trip,which is an amazing deal.
So I took that airfare andcombined that with a couple of

(23:10):
hotel options, and I'll justmention two the Novo Hotel Nandi
, which is a four-star hotel$13.19 per person.
And so that's for a five-nighthotel package airfare from Los
Angeles or San Francisco andtransfers to and from the hotel.
How much, $13.19 per person,wow.

(23:32):
So to go to Fiji, that's afive-night hotel that actually
will be seven calendar daysbecause of the international
date line.
Five nights hotel but sevennights total travel.
And then the next hotel isprobably my favorite resort to
stay at.
There is the Outrigger Resortand Spa, yeah, which is a four
star, and that one starts at$19.29 per person, again,

(23:55):
airfare from San Francisco orLos Angeles, for both of those
hotels.
This was for a departure dateof April 9th, so April 9th to
the 16th, but there are otherdays where that $7.99 airfare is
available that we can look at.

Which airline is it that's on Fiji Airways?
Oh, fiji.
Okay, man, take advantage ofthat offer to Fiji.
Well, both, really SouthwestVacation, save up to $500.
Hawaii, mexico and theCaribbean, and that deal to Fiji
?
Good grief, that's awesome.
All right, get the conversationstarted with Mark in his office

(24:31):
.
Call him during the break888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
And he'll also put that deal onblueplanetvacationscom when we
come back.
It's the infamous Just Cruisingsegment.
We're going to be talking aboutMSC's brand new ship, msc World

(24:53):
America.
Mark will be on that ship.
Did you say it was April 4th?
I think is what you said.

I think, yeah, that first second weekend of April.

We're going to have a conversation with Laura
Okunowski of MSC Cruises.
You're going to want to hearsome of the features of this
ship.
It is unbelievable and we areexcited to go.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show, continues Alongside MarkFaldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscom.

(25:23):
Thank you so much for listeningand allowing us to be part of
your weekend.

Show Voice (25:28):
We will be right back You're listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmoe, presented byBluePlanetVacationscom America's
best travel advisors.

(25:48):
That's 801-649-3700.

Ad Voice (26:00):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
StarCippers.
For over 30 years, starcippershas offered unique authentic
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To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or

(26:21):
blueplanetvacationscom.

Welcome back and thanks for listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show Coming up.
In the next 30 minutes we willbe talking about MSC's brand new
ship coming out in April.
We will be on that ship, theMSC World America, and we've got
our interview with LauraOkunowski with MSC Cruises, and
Mark is going to give his reviewof Sandals Royal Bahamian.

(26:45):
Let's get back to the show hisreview of Sandals Royal Bahamian
.
Let's get back to the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastradio show presented by
BluePlanetVacationscom containstravel deals, promotions and
offers that may be timesensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.

Show Voice (27:17):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacationscom,
america's best travel advisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And now here are your hostsPatrick Wiscombe and Mark

(27:41):
Faltmoe.

All aboard for segment number three of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show.
This is the infamous JustCruising segment, where we only
talk about cruising in thissection of the show.
And we've got a treat forlisteners this week where we had
a conversation with LauraOkunowski a little bit earlier

(28:09):
this week with MSC Cruises andwe went in-depth about MSC's new
ship called World America.
Mark and I will be on theinaugural cruise on April 4th.
I'm excited to go.

Yeah, that'll be very fun to go on.

Where are we going out of?
I think it was Miami.

Out of Miami.

Let's get to the interview that we did with
Laura Okunowski a little bitearlier this week, and it was
her birthday.
The birthday girl herself,Laura Okunowski, business
development manager for MSCCruises, joins Mark and I on the
show.
It's good to see you.

Laura Okonowski (28:40):
Well, thank you both for having me and Happy
New Year to both of you and allyour listeners.

Let's talk about some of the promotions
that you have going on at MSCCruises right now.

I am so excited to tell you that it is
currently wave season Now.
Wave season traditionally is atime of year, usually first
quarter of the year, when cruiselines offer their best savings
promotions to get people todetermine what their vacations
and travels will be for the restof the year.
Right now we currently have apromotion it is our wave

(29:12):
promotion offering 35% offmultiple voyages throughout the
world, including free wifi andkids sail free.
So this is especially helpfulfor families who have kiddos
that they like to take onvacation with them.
It will be good for selectsailings and what I encourage
people to do is contact Markwith Blue Planet Vacations and

(29:33):
he can check to see whichvoyages it will be applicable to
to see if that works out fortheir travel plans.

I also understand that there are some
plans for the Big Game.

You got it, Patrick the Big Game coming in
February, February 9th to beexact, MSC Cruises, for the
first time in our history, isgoing to have a commercial.
It is going to be a full60-second commercial and I've
gotten word that it's actuallygoing to take place during the
second bank of commercials.

(30:06):
That happens in the firstquarter.
So if you are standing bywatching that big game and
there's a commercial break, goget your extra snacks and chips
and take your bathroom breakduring the first set of
commercials, but make sure youstay put in front of that TV
screen or device wherever you'rewatching the big game from,
because you don't want to missthe MSC Cruises commercial spot.

One thing on the special savings is a particular
area.
On the blueplanetvacationscomwebsite Under the cruises I have
the top five cruise deals ofthe week.
There's really about 15 cruiseslisted there and I do have
several MSC cruises that arevalid for this promotion posted
under that top five cruise dealsof the week.

Restate the promotion if you would one more
time.

Yeah.
So, patrick, we have a wavepromotion happening right now.
It began January 7th and willrun till February 10th, and what
it includes is a 35% savings,plus free Wi-Fi and kids sale
free on a great majority ofvoyages.

Utah is very family centric.
As you know, we have 800 kidsper family.

It's a lot of diapers, Patrick.

Let's talk about going on vacation with
your family and the real valueof that, because you did it with
your family in not too long ago.

You're absolutely right.
Yes, my family and I wetraveled in October, so my 12
year old son he has a fall breakevery October and we went on an
MSC cruise out of Miami and itwas wonderful.
So not only does MSC cruises doa lot and have a lot to
interest adults, with all theamenities on board, but we

(31:43):
really do an amazing job for thekids too.
In fact, we have complimentarykids programs determined for all
age groups, starting from threeyears old all the way on up to
the teens.
And with my 12-year-old son,you know he might have a
tendency to roll his eyes whenwe want to drop him off at a
kids program, but then once hegets there and he hangs out with
the other kids and makesfriends.
He made a friend from Britain,he made another friend from

(32:05):
Germany.
They started playing videogames.
He had just an amazing time.
There's also differentactivities water slides that
both kids and parents orfamilies can participate in
together.
We have video arcades.
We have actually a Formula Oneracing car too where they can
jump in that and it's a you know, it's a module driving game.
So tons of fun there.

(32:26):
But the value in cruising youknow when you think about three
meals a day, plus, plus, plusfor all your family members, the
price of accommodation, all thegreat amenities and spaces and
things to do on board a ship,plus the evening entertainment,
plus free kids programs.
I mean, Patrick, I can't tellyou how much I've spent through
the years on camps for my son.

(32:46):
During a spring break, whenwe're not going away, or summer
break, fall break, it almost isthe best idea to just pack up
the suitcase and go somewhere asa family, because we're going
to pay quite some fees in thesecamp dollars here and there.
So when we have the kidsprograms that are complimentary
on board each of our MSC vessels, there's tremendous value in
that, and when you have happykids, you know what else you

(33:08):
have.

Happy parents, oh yes.

In fact, we did book for next October as well,
so you've already done it.
I have.
I pulled the trigger, I madethe deposit and, yes, we're
going back again and guess whichship it's going to be?

It's either going to be the Maravia, or the
Seascape, or the Seashoreassuming you're going out of
Miami or the World America oh,I'm sorry, world America.

Mark is the winner.
We are going to be on the newWorld America.
So the new World America debutsin April just a couple of
months away.
But our first opportunity as afamily to get to go with our
schedules is going to be October.
So I did lock that in becauseit's a very popular ship.
There have been a lot of peoplemaking bookings in the last six

(33:52):
or eight months that thereservations have been open.
So I really encourage anyonelistening.
If you like that new ship smelland all the new fangled
amenities and things to do, dothink about World America as
your next vacation choice.

Let's talk about just the sheer size of
World, america and the number ofrooms, some of the things that
to be highlighted about thatship.

I'm happy to say that she is going to be our
biggest and most beautifulvessel at sea, for our entire
fleet.
Wow.
So, 215,000 tons gross tons,that is, and carrying near 7,000
guests.
It's actually 6,762 if it'sfull ship and exact numbers, 6,

(34:34):
which equates to about 2600staterooms.
Wow.
Yeah, it's a floating city.
However, we have so manydifferent venues and amenities
on board that you never seeeverybody all in the same space.
That's one of the beauties Ithink of cruising is you can
still get on a big ship, but youcan still tailor, make and

(34:57):
customize your cruisingexperience.
A couple of ways you can dothat is you can look at booking
the Yacht Club, which is ourspecial ship within a ship
experience.
So it comes with a lot of extrabells and whistles, such as
priority embarkation anddisembarkation, such as priority
embarkation and disembarkation.
So you are just checking in inan expedited line with maybe a
couple hundred people and not acouple thousand people.

(35:19):
So that really bodes well forme.
I enjoy that.
I also enjoy the dedicatedrestaurant that Yacht Club has
where, if you like your steakcooked to a certain temperature
and doneness, it will be cookedto order to your liking.
And I mean, who doesn't likethat?

Ad Voice (35:35):
right.

There's also a special dedicated butler that is
assigned to every suite withinthe Yacht Club accommodations
and the butler is there to helpyou with certain things, like
maybe escort you to the showlounge at night for the evening
entertainment, or they can helpyou with disembarkation and
embarkation when you're arrivingat a port of call.

(35:56):
So there are ways to reallynavigate a big ship and still
have a personalized, customizedexperience.

Yep, absolutely agree.
It's funny that when you talkabout just the sheer number of
people on ships, that you cantruly find quiet spots that
almost to yourself.
It's kind of amazing.

It really is One of my favorite pro tips, if
you will, Patrick and Mark, iswhen everybody gets off the ship
to go ashore and do their shoreexcursions or take a walkabout
in the port.
I like to hang back and stay onthe ship for a couple of hours,
because the ship is your own atthat time.

Oh yeah.

Yes, it is just wonderful to go sit by the pool
and have almost an entire deckto yourself, and then our family
will eventually navigate meunder off the ship.
But I do like to pause and waita couple of hours before doing
that.
I mean, of course, unless Ihave a shore excursion scheduled
and I need to get ashore forthat.

(36:55):
But that's one of my pro tips,that if you're not in a hurry
and you didn't book a shoreexcursion, then just linger on
the ship a little bit longer andjust check out to see how that
feels.
It's a really cool feeling.

You know, and on that topic of ship size, it's
amazing how the shipbuildersdesign these.
When I was on the seaside backI think it was on its inaugural
sailing out of New York I askedis this the full ship?
And they said yes, it's thefull ship, and it didn't feel
like it.
The way they flow peoplethrough and the way there are so
many different things that youcan do, it doesn't feel like

(37:28):
there's that many people on.

Another thing that MSC, I think, is being
recognized for as well in thecruising space is our
sustainability.
So when we go to create thesebig, beautiful ships, you know
we're very conscious of thefootprint that we are leaving
around the ocean waters.
World America vessel will bepowered with LNG power,

(37:52):
liquefied natural gas, andthat's a big deal.
That's one of the things thatworking for the company makes me
feel really good about whatwe're doing out there.
We're trying to better theocean's waters and leave places
and spaces better than we foundthem, which is what we did with
our private island, ocean Key.
That used to be an industrialwasteland off the coast of the

(38:14):
Bahamas, and what we've donewith that island is just
stunning.
We cleaned it up.
It took three years actually toclean it.
We've created these beautifulcoral reefs.
We have employed Bahanianemployees to be on board the
island so they anticipate theship's arrival when the ship
gets there and they geteverything set up for the guests
.
So we've really done awonderful job and it makes me

(38:37):
proud as an employee to work forMSC Cruises.

Mark and I were talking about MSC Ocean Key
.
Was it last week, Mark, or acouple weeks ago?

It was on last week's episode.

I was just painting the picture of what the
island is.
Of course you have the oceanaround it, but then you have
that amazing lagoon powder,sugar sand, white sand lagoon.
The water is warm.
It's, you know, two to threefeet deep in the middle.
It is honestly justbreathtaking to be in the middle
of all of that and see the shipin the distance.
Msc couldn't have done a betterjob.

And you know they vowed to keep it very
natural, natural habitat, and sothey don't want to clutter that
space with zip lines or rollercoasters or anything like that.
We want to keep it very naturalfor snorkeling, for enjoying,
for water sports and just relishthat natural beauty.
It's hard to find, I think, aquiet natural space these days

(39:31):
without having a lot of extranoise and distraction, but Ocean
Key does serve as a beautifuloasis.

Let's talk about some of the features of
World of America.
We've already talked about howbig it is, how long it is, how
heavy it is, but let's talkabout the creature comforts.

So, as we began 2025 with MSC Cruises, we
actually have a new taglineslogan, if you will European
style and American comfort, andthat truly does depict what an
MSC cruise experience is.
We know the hardware of the shipitself is beautiful lines,
stunning curvatures, stainlesssteel, swarovski crystal stairs

(40:09):
but when you take that and youadd the soft goods of wonderful
linens and thick plush towels,and then all the amazing food,
restaurants and outletsthroughout the vessel that we,
as Americans, really come toenjoy, not only on land, in our
homes, in restaurants we visit,but we have this expectation

(40:30):
when we go on cruises as well.
Right, we want the bed to becomfortable, we want wonderful
linens, we want multiplerestaurants to be able to dine
in and lounges to visit.
So we are actually going to beoffering five different main
dining rooms, a lot ofinternational buffets too, I'm
being told, with a whole bevy ofspecialty restaurants,

(40:51):
including a Mexican restaurant,sushi bar, tip and yaki, our
butcher's cut steakhouse.
They're also building thispromenade area of wonderful
restaurants, including a pubtype of atmosphere juice bar.
I mean, it just seems to bewhatever people can think of.

(41:12):
We're doing it or it's there.

And don't forget the pizza, the best pizza
I've ever had in my life onthat ship.

People do love the pizza.
Now for the listeners, in caseyou're wondering, because
there's been this endless battleright in the United States
Chicago style thin versus orexcuse me Chicago style thick
versus New York style thin.
Well, you could probably attestit's more the New York thin.

Yes, it is.

Yes, and they make it fresh and people queue
up in a line and they wait forit during lunch and they wait
for it at midnight and if youperuse the buffet at dinnertime
you are probably going to haveto stop and wait for the next
pizza to come out of the oven,because it moves quick.

I know that pizza is subjective, but it
truly was the best pizza I'veever had in my life.
This is going to sound gross,but the cheese juice was good.

Well, I was going to ask you do you think
it's the crust, do you thinkit's the cheese, or do you think
it's the sauce?
What do you think?

Yes.

All of it right , all of it together, but the
crust is great, I would say yesto all as well.

Yeah, it's good.

You know, another thing that sets MSC
Cruises apart from other cruiselines is being that we have a
European heritage.
There's a lot of Europeanthings that we still do on board
that maybe some other linesdon't.
We bake our own bread.

Ad Voice (42:27):
We make our own pasta.

So when we're baking bread and making things
like that, we're making our ownpizza dough as well.
We will roast our own coffeebeans and we make our own
chocolate on board.
So there's a lot of goodiesthat we oh gelato.
How could I forget the gelato?
And ice cream?
We make those on board too.

Let me just go rooms, because I know we've hit
food pretty hard.
The rooms are comfortable andthey're big.

You're right.
The rooms are very spacious andwhen you look at the entire
accompaniment of accommodationsthat we offer, we have suites,
we have duplex suites, we havebalconies.
In fact, this new ship, theWorld America, is going to have
a promenade type feature as well.
So the back aft of the ship islike a double hull for part of

(43:15):
it.
So if you are booking into anaria suite with a promenade
balcony, what that means is whenyou step out onto your balcony,
you're looking at the interiorof the ship and you can see
across to another set ofbalconies where guests would be
on the other far side.
Then, as you're sitting outthere, if you turn to the left

(43:37):
or the right, depending on whichside of the ship you're
positioned on you'll be able tosee the water as well.
So it's a really cool feature.
It's like a hybrid balcony, Ifeel, because you're getting
that promenade feel of theinterior of a ship, but you
still have the water view andit's all open air.
It's really really cool.
So only two ships offer that.
That's the World Europa, whichtypically sails over in Europe

(44:00):
and other parts of the world,and then, with the new vessel
coming to Miami, world Americais going to also have that
feature.

I'm excited for all of us to get on this
ship.

Yes, I can't wait.
I can't wait.
She's going to be a beauty andwe're going to see a lot more
ramping up in 2025 withadvertising and that big game
commercial.
So stay tuned, make sure you'reall ready for game time.

So the second break in the first quarter is
what I'm hearing you say.

You got it, that's right.
February 9th.

And then more promotions to follow.

Yes.
So I don't even know whatpromotion is going to follow yet
.
That's how super secret it is.
But we were told that on Monday, february 10th, there will be
something to continue the waveof wave season.
But I would encourage all thelisteners to mark February 9th,
of course, on their calendars,and February 10th to reach out

(44:57):
to Mark with Blue PlanetVacations, because we'll have
all the details on February 10th.

The birthday girl herself, laura Okunowski,
with MSC Cruises.
It is so good to see you.

Thank you, patrick and Mark.
Happy New Year again and takegood care.
Everyone Happy cruising.

We are very fortunate that we get to go on
the inaugural sailing.
I know that you've done a fewof those, but I have not yet,
yep, I'm looking forward to it.

They're a great experience.

We're going to take a break here.
We went a little bit long withLaura on that one.
If you're interested in sailingon MSC's World America or just
any of the ships that we'vealready discussed during the
show, call Mark in his officeduring the break.
You're not obligated to doanything, just get the
conversation going 888-718-7717.

(45:47):
888-718-7717.
You can also see everythingthat we've talked about on
When we come back we've gotMark's travel tips and he just
got back from Sandals, royalBahamian in Nassau, bahamas.
He's going to give us hisreview of that particular resort

(46:08):
.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.

Show Voice (46:19):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Fultmo.
That's 801-649-3700.'s801-649-3700, and check out the
podcast at InsideTravelTalkcom.

Ad Voice (46:43):
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
set out on your own river cruisejourney.
Contact Blue Planet Vacationsat 888-718-7717 or

And now your hosts, Patrick Wiskam and Mark
Faldmo and Mark Faldmoe Finalsegment of this week's Inside
Travel Talk podcast and radioshow.
First of all, let me just saythank you for allowing us to be
part of your weekend each andevery weekend for the past year

(48:47):
and a half.
Mark and I love traveling theworld and we love sharing
adventures with you.
It's not to make you envious orhey, what a great life they
have.
It has nothing to do with that.
Getting out and traveling theworld is one of the great ways
to experience not only the worldbut different cultures,

(49:11):
different people.
It just makes you appreciatewhat you really have.
It's just a special way totravel with friends, family,
because it's a common bondingexperience that you can have
with your friends and family,and that's why we like to share
our adventures with everyone.

(49:32):
Coming up in this final segmentof the show.
This will be kind of a quickone because we went long with
Laura in the previous segment.
We've got a couple of travelnews headlines, but let's start.
Mark.
You just got back from Sandals,royal Bahamian in Nassau,
bahamas.
Let's hear a 30 second to oneminute recap.
This was a great vacation.

I've never really had any interest in traveling to
Nassau, bahamas I think wetalked about this a little bit
last week but I really enjoyedit.
It's different than if youvisit on a cruise.
I'd really recommend peoplethat if they're somewhere on
your bucket list and you hearother people talking bad about
it, just go because it'sprobably a good vacation for you
.
The Sandals Resort was amazing.

(50:15):
They have their own beach club,private island.
You can take a boat out too,and Sandals is a pretty high-end
resort.
I just loved it.
It was great.
Now we were complaining abouthow cold it was there, because
it was about 70 degrees, but tocome back to where we are, in
the teens, 70 degrees was great.

They were complaining about 70?
.

Really it was a little bit windy, so we had some
events outside and it was cold.

So your blood does get thinner once you get
used to the warm.
Yeah, a couple of quick newsstories.
The UK government has made amove to raise electronic travel
authorization visa prices by 60%.

And this is interesting because that just
started January 8th and they'realready moving to increase it
from about 10 US dollars toabout 19 US dollars.
Jeez, you know they're sayingthey want to get their whole
border and security fundedthrough this visa, so it doesn't
come from any private citizentaxpayers in the UK.

You're going to reference the website
travelstategov.
For this reason, the UnitedStates State Department has
issued a level two warning ifyou're going to Chile.
Now let's go over the differentlevels level one, two, three
and four.
I was surprised that a leveltwo was issued.
Level one is exercise normalcaution.

Level two is exercise increased caution.
Level three is reconsidertravel and level four is do not
travel.
So the interesting thing aboutthis is, they say, pickpocketing
.
You know, petty crime, muggingsis on the rise in Chile and
there's also some governmentprotest marches have been going

(52:04):
on, particularly in Santiago.
They have raised that.
But keep in mind, level two isthe same level as France, Sweden
, United Kingdom, Italy and theNetherlands.
A lot of places that we visitare this level two, which is
just exercise increased caution.
All right.

So basically, most countries around the world
are level two anyway, correct?
It was just kind of weird to seeit go from level one to level
two.
Level two yeah, it is time towrap up for the week.
Go to blueplanetvacationscom tobook any of the deals that

(52:43):
we've talked about this week, orjust call Mark in his office,
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning, sunday,
at 11 am Mountain Time, righthere on this radio station, and

(53:03):
you can stream, download andsubscribe to the podcast at
insidetraveltalkcom.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Well, we've done our job.
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to

(53:23):
throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
Have a great week, mark, and Iwill talk to you next week,
allowing this to be part of yourweekend.

Show Voice (53:37):
Have a great week, mark, and I will talk to you
next week, helping you get outand see the world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmoe, presented by
BluePlanetVacationscom America'sbest travel advisors.
Book your vacation now888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.

Ad Voice (54:06):
Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Travelex
Insurance Services.
Their travel insurance planscan help protect you and your
vacation.
Travelex is known for theiraward-winning customer service
and high claims paid rate.
Contact Blue Planet Vacationsat 888-718-7717 or
blueplanetvacationscom for moreinformation.

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