Episode Transcript
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PatrickWiscombe (00:00):
Thank you for
listening to the Inside Travel
Talk Podcast, a radio show.
Coming up on today's show, wewill be talking about
vacationing in Cancun.
Their numbers are down.
Now's a good time to go.
Traveling to Malta.
Airlines have new rules aboutcharging your devices when
you're in the air.
The airport with the worstflight delays, Mark was just
there.
And count 'em.
(00:20):
One, two, three, four, five.
Cruise deals of the week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk Podcastradio show presented by Blue
PlanetVacations.com containstravel deals, promotions, and
offers that are time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
ShowVoice (00:38):
Travel deals and
offers change constantly and are
capacity controlled and subjectto change without notice.com.
Call or text the show now.
(00:59):
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInside Travel Talk.com.
And now, here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
Falkland.
PatrickWiscombe (01:26):
Oh, thank you
so much for listening to the
Inside Travel Talk Podcast RadioShow.
Hello there.
I am Patrick Wiscombe.
The entire purpose of thisradio show and podcast is to
help you plan and book your nextvacation.
And if you have no idea whereto go, well, we're going to give
(01:46):
you some ideas of where you maywant to vacation next.
And we are presented, proudlypresented, by my friend's
company, BluePlanetVacations.com.
This week we're talking aboutvacationing in Cancun.
Now is the perfect time to gobecause their numbers are way
down, which means they're goingto be dropping prices.
We're going to go in depthabout traveling to Malta.
(02:09):
Airlines have new rules aboutcharging your devices when
you're in the air or justbringing them on the plane.
And we're going to tell you theairport with the worst flight
delays.
Mark was just there, and we'vegot five cruise deals of the
week.
And Mark Faldmo is back fromNashville.
Have you had enough barbecueyet?
MarkFaldmo (02:29):
I have.
I had some of the best barbecueI've ever had.
Oh, where'd you get it?
Uh, it's called Hunt'sBarbecue.
Look them up on their Facebookpage.
It's amazing.
Uh, it's a little food truck,and we stopped a tour bus with
50 people there.
Um, they were prepared for us,they knew we were coming, but it
literally is a food truck justout in the middle of nowhere,
(02:51):
Tennessee.
PatrickWiscombe (02:52):
Hey Hank, we're
gonna need another side of beef
in here.
MarkFaldmo (02:55):
Yep.
Um, he has his own pits thathe's built, and it was so good.
We ate barbecue actually threeof the seven nights with the
group.
Very good.
You know what?
Barbecue is one of my favoritefoods.
This Hunt's barbecue is one ofthe places that still does whole
hog barbecue.
So he's built his pits forwhole hog.
(03:15):
It was so good.
It was amazing.
PatrickWiscombe (03:19):
Let's get to
the travel news headlines.
Let's start with the uh newrules for power banks on
flights.
I guess that would include notonly in the air, but it would
also include bringing thedevices or the battery packs
onto the plane.
MarkFaldmo (03:33):
Southwest Airlines
in May became the first airline
to ban passengers from chargingdevices with a power bank inside
your carry-on bags.
So I flew Tennessee onSouthwest, and one of the
announcements they make now isif you have a power bank and
you're charging your device, ithas to be out of your carry-on
(03:54):
bags and in plain sight.
In July, a Delta Flight was uhforced to make an emergency
landing because the power bankcaught on fire, and so now they
have to be out.
But you know, a lot ofinternational airlines,
Lufthansa, Singapore, ThaiAirways, China Airlines, each
have a similar policy.
The nation of South Korea has anationwide ban on portable
(04:16):
charging in flight and has alsoprohibited passengers from power
banks in the overhead bins orunderneath the plane.
But you just can't bring apower bank on board any flight
in South Korea.
And Emirates is also going todo the same thing in October.
PatrickWiscombe (04:31):
Isn't there a
website that has what the
amenities, I think that's theright word, for a particular
seat?
MarkFaldmo (04:38):
Yeah, you can go to
uh seatmaps.com and it tells you
what is in the seat.
You put in your flight number,and so it'll tell you if it has
charging, no charging, if it's apreferred seat for the
location, or if it has nowindow, all sorts of different
things like that that you don'talways get on the airlines
website.
PatrickWiscombe (04:58):
Let's talk
about the airport that was just
named the worst in the UnitedStates for flight delays.
You were just there.
MarkFaldmo (05:05):
It is Dallas Fort
Worth.
It has an average on time rateof just 71%.
That's a C minus.
Pretty low.
Yeah.
Yeah, that is.
You know, others uh which I'llbe going to this week is Ronald
Reagan DCA Airport.
It is 72%, and Denver is 75%.
(05:25):
So those are the airlines thatare pretty low in the on-time
departures.
The opposite of that, Salt LakeCity, where we are, is the best
airport in the country foron-time performance.
PatrickWiscombe (05:36):
If we go with
high school and college math,
that would be a B.
It's a solid B.
In your face, Dallas.
Yes.
Delta is launching directtransatlantic flights to Malta.
MarkFaldmo (05:51):
I'm really excited
for this.
Malta is probably one of myfavorite destinations in that
Mediterranean region to visit.
It's just so unique, and we'lltalk about it here in just a
minute.
But Delta is launching flightsstarting in June from JFK to
Malta.
It's not every day, it's threeweekly flights, and it'll be
(06:14):
seasonal, running from June toOctober.
So basically the peak season.
It will be operated by a767-300 aircraft, which is my
favorite because the seating isjust 232 of the seven seats.
All but one of them is either awindow or an aisle.
So six of the seven seats onthat are a window or an aisle.
PatrickWiscombe (06:33):
Yeah, I love
those big wide planes.
Even though you were inNashville, Memphis this past
week, I know that you and uhsomeone in your office was
working on a trip to Malta forJennifer.
This will be the uh destinationof the week, Malta.
But let's just go over some ofthe options that you gave
Jennifer during this past week.
MarkFaldmo (06:55):
Malta is a small
Mediterranean island, and it's
just south of the island ofSicily.
So it's kind of right there inbetween Sicily and Egypt.
There are three main islands,but most would go to Malta,
which is the the main island.
It's known for its history.
It also has some of the bestsnorkel and scuba diving areas
(07:17):
in the Mediterranean, and it'salso known for its sunshine.
More than 300 days a year ofsunshine.
Sounds like Florida.
And it's been owned by theRomans, it's been owned by
Arabs, it's been owned by theKnights of St.
John, which are the hospitalknights during the Crusades,
it's been owned by the French,and it's in been owned by the
(07:39):
British.
PatrickWiscombe (07:40):
And there is a
lot of influencer.
MarkFaldmo (07:42):
Yeah, so it is a
real crossroads of
civilizations.
English is widely spoken, andit's the capital city, which is
Valletta, is a UNESCO uh WorldHeritage City.
PatrickWiscombe (07:53):
Valletta is one
of those places that a lot of
cruise ships are uh flagged outof.
MarkFaldmo (07:58):
Yes, they are.
Yeah, a lot are flagged inMalta.
And speaking of cruises,cruising into Valletta, there in
Malta, is probably one of thetop five best cities to cruise
into just because the city iskind of up on a cliff and you're
cruising in and you have all ofthat architecture to the
(08:19):
buildings there, and it's justfascinating to cruise into
Valletta.
PatrickWiscombe (08:23):
I know you've
been to Malta how many times
now?
Three times.
Okay, what did you want tocruise ship?
MarkFaldmo (08:28):
But I would love to
go back and spend a few days
there.
One thing I like is it's asmall destination, it's not that
big of an island.
You could actually get aroundthe whole island um of Malta in
under an hour, um, but it is sopacked with history and great
beaches.
It's known as a fortressnation.
(08:51):
The three cities that are therein Valletta have massive city
walls that kind of fortify andgo around each city there.
And then the other thing I likeis the culture.
You know, we talked about allof the different cultures that
have run that.
And the thing that I like isthe history that ties back to
the Knights of St.
(09:11):
John and the Crusades.
Go to some of their fortressesthat they had, touring through
those.
It was just fascinating.
What hotels did you recommendfor Jennifer?
The top three that I recommendthere are the Phoenicia Malta.
It's a five-star hotel rightnear the city's main gate.
It's kind of classicMediterranean luxury, and then
(09:32):
the Zara Palace, and it isinside the old city walls, kind
of romantic, quiet, and full ofold world charm.
Those are kind of the two thatI recommend.
There's also a Weston if youwant kind of a more resort style
that has coastline water views,and then there's another one
(09:54):
called the Crew Grand Messina,which is a boutique fortress
style hotel.
So it looks like a fortress,but it's a small boutique hotel.
PatrickWiscombe (10:02):
Come stay in
our castle.
MarkFaldmo (10:04):
Yeah, so some pretty
unique places to stay in Malta.
It's just a wonderfuldestination.
And now, as we talked aboutwith Delta, starting up the
non-stop flight from JFK, be agreat time to go visit and see
the island of Malta.
PatrickWiscombe (10:20):
Let's get to
the travel deal of the week,
which is not Malta.
That was just for Jennifer.
We're going to Cancun.
We're going to help you save upto $550, but you have to pay in
full when you book with Mark.
MarkFaldmo (10:35):
This is a special.
Save up to $550 when you pay infull.
And we've mentioned this overthe last few weeks.
PatrickWiscombe (10:42):
But listeners
are really taking advantage of
this.
MarkFaldmo (10:44):
They are, yeah.
Um, and we actually haven'ttalked about this one in
conjunction with Cancun yet.
So I just wanted to point thatout that that's a pretty big
discount for Cancun.
I just had uh one of the guidesI work with down in Cancun.
He asked me if I could doanything to get more visitors to
Cancun.
He drove through on Sundayafternoon, drove through Cancun
(11:08):
and just had his video, took avideo of him driving, and
there's no one on the streets inCancun.
Oh, really?
It's just looking at that, andhe's like, please, please,
please have people come toCancun.
And I don't know what it is.
You know, September is usuallya slower month for Cancun.
Cancun had such a big boomduring COVID, people went there
two and three times, and I thinkpeople might be a little bit
(11:32):
cancuned out.
But I would say if you'rewanting to go to a nice beach
destination, look at Cancun withthis discount of uh $550.
And if you go toblueplanetvacations.com, there
is a page on there that listsall of the prices for Cancun.
PatrickWiscombe (11:48):
Take advantage
of that.
Yep.
That's a good deal.
So save up to $550 when you payin full.
So meaning, call Mark, you haveto pay for the entire vacation
up front.
And then, of course, travel.
That is an awesome deal.
Cancun, amazing.
And uh, Mark, just quickly,what's your favorite place to
(12:10):
stay down there?
Just personally.
MarkFaldmo (12:13):
The El Dorado Casita
Suites.
Yep.
PatrickWiscombe (12:16):
I love it.
I knew you were gonna say that.
Take advantage of that.
Get the conversation started,whether it's for Malta, whether
it's for Cancun Call Mark at thebrig.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he'll put all of thisinformation on
blueplanetvacations.com.
(12:37):
When we come back, it is timefor the infamous Just Cruising
segment, the segment of the showthat has made us popular around
the country and around theworld.
We've got five cruise deals ofthe week.
We'll give you the details.
That's next.
When we continue on the InsideTravel Talk Podcast or radio
show, alongside Mark Faldmo.
I am Patrick Wiscombe.
(12:59):
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your Saturday
and Sunday.
We will be right back.
Give us about 60 seconds.
ShowVoice (13:07):
Taking you to
destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk Podcastand Radio Show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.comAmerica's Best Travel Advisors.
Call or text the show now.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(13:29):
We'll be right back.
AdVoice (13:33):
Inside Travel Talk is
brought to you by Anna
Waterways.
From castles and capitals tovistas and villages, visit some
of Europe's most remarkablesites and cities to set out on
your own river cruise journey.
ShowVoice (13:44):
Contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 or
Blue Planet Vacations.com backto the Inside Travel Talk
Podcast and Radio Show,presented by Blue Planet
(14:06):
Vacations.com, America's besttravel advisors.
And check out the podcast atInside Travel Talk.
PatrickWiscombe (14:47):
Oh boy.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk Podcast, a radio
show, alongside my friend andco-host, Mark Faldmo.
I am Patrick Wiscombe.
Coming up in this segment ofthe show, we are talking about
five.
Count them.
One, two, three, four, five.
Cruise deals of the week.
(15:08):
We'll give you the details onthat.
And we'll also be going overthe cruise news headlines.
In fact, Mark, let's just startthere.
Where do you want to go here?
Do you want to go CarnivalCruise Lines or should we go AMA
waterways, river cruising?
Let's do Carnival becausethat's that's an interesting
story.
(15:29):
Okay, Carnival Cruise lineguests are already asking for a
ban.
It's a strong word.
On a rumored edition.
What rumored edition is that,Mark?
MarkFaldmo (15:42):
I can't believe
this.
When I told Heather last night,she looked at me, her face
said, Are you serious?
They are going to introducesunscreen flavored ice cream.
Okay.
I I can see why people wantthat band.
So I don't I don't know if thatis something to uh just get a
(16:06):
little bit of media buzz orwhat, but I I'm not sure.
Sunscreen flavored ice cream isuh pretty good flavor.
PatrickWiscombe (16:14):
I'll have the
copper tone SPF.
MarkFaldmo (16:19):
Yeah.
PatrickWiscombe (16:21):
I love those
artificial chemicals.
Very tasty.
MarkFaldmo (16:25):
So, well, I don't
know.
Maybe it's the like what isthat?
The sunscreen, the sunbumthat's coconut.
So maybe it's just co it'scoconut flavored ice cream in
reality.
PatrickWiscombe (16:36):
That feels like
a total carnival move right
there.
Yeah.
AmaWaterways is offeringcomplimentary nights on select
New Year's Eve departures.
MarkFaldmo (16:49):
Okay.
And so they're offering a freepre-night and a free post-night
on seven-day cruises around NewYear's.
And now, some of these, it'sone night in a hotel and one
night extra on the cruise ship.
But one that I really like,it's on the called the Melodies
of the Danube.
So it leaves December 24th.
(17:10):
The cruise price on that is$3,039 per person.
But that also comes with a onenight pre-cruise stay.
So the night of December 23rdin Budapest, Hungary, and a one
night post-cruise hotel stay inPrague on December 31st.
Okay, that's pretty good.
So that is the one I wouldchoose.
PatrickWiscombe (17:33):
Yeah.
MarkFaldmo (17:33):
Um, most of the
other ones are, you know, like
one night in pre-cruise and thenone night on the ship.
But that one has two stays thatare in a hotel.
All of those are December 31stor January 1st are the dates of
that extra night.
So instead of flying home onNew Year's Eve, you're
experiencing New Year's in thedestination, then flying home
(17:54):
the next day.
That's a good marketing pieceright there.
PatrickWiscombe (17:58):
Stay here for
an extra night and experience
the city on New Year's.
And that's a good call.
MarkFaldmo (18:02):
That's two free
nights.
You're basically getting eitheron the ship or in a hotel.
PatrickWiscombe (18:06):
So it's I'd
probably go hotel in that case.
In the in the cities.
MarkFaldmo (18:11):
Yep.
Well, especially in Prague.
I think that would be a funplace to experience New Year's
Eve.
Agreed.
PatrickWiscombe (18:17):
Solo travelers
are set to get their own river
cruise ship.
MarkFaldmo (18:20):
Who's doing this?
We've talked a few times aboutsingle and solo travel is
becoming more and more popular.
A lot of cruise lines make youpay double 200%.
Um yeah, because you're payingfor the other bed basically.
PatrickWiscombe (18:34):
Yeah.
MarkFaldmo (18:35):
Yeah, and some of
them have discounts that they
offer.
But now Riviera cruise line ismaking a ship completely geared
towards solo travelers.
So all they'll sell are solocabins.
That is going to start in 2027.
And I'm interested to see howthat goes and if other river
(18:56):
cruise lines decide to go withthat and make some of their
other ships exclusively for thesingle solo traveler.
PatrickWiscombe (19:03):
One of your
favorite cruise companies,
Aranui Cruises, will have twoships sailing French Polynesia
in 2027.
MarkFaldmo (19:11):
So yeah, they're
adding a second ship to the
Aranui brand.
So they'll have the Aranui 5,which is the one that we've
talked about on the show before.
PatrickWiscombe (19:20):
Yeah, how many
times have you been on the
Aranui 5?
MarkFaldmo (19:23):
I've been on it just
one time, okay, but it probably
is the best travel experiencethat I've ever had.
It's so unique and sodifferent.
Now in 2027, they're going tointroduce the Aranoa is the name
of the ship.
And it will do the same thing.
It'll sail French Polynesia,including Bora Bora.
(19:44):
The new ship is 198 guests,whereas Aranui 5, a little bit
larger, 230 guests.
The Aranoa will feature 18itineraries in that maiden
season.
Right now, for that new ship,if you book any of those 2027
departure dates prior toDecember 31st, they have between
(20:05):
a 10 and 15% discount,depending on the itinerary that
you book.
They have some specialitineraries that go down to the
Austral Islands and the PitcairnIsland Islands.
The Pitcairn Islands is where alot of the mutiny on the bounty
crew fled to.
You get down there and they'reso isolated.
(20:25):
They're just beautiful andisolated.
So they also go to some ofthese places that no other
cruise line goes to.
It's just Aranui that goes tothe Austral and the Pitcairn
Islands.
PatrickWiscombe (20:35):
Let's get to
the cruise deal of the week.
Let's hammer out very quicklythe five cruise deals of the
week that we have for listeners.
MarkFaldmo (20:43):
I just wanted to
highlight on
BluePlanetVacations.com.
Um we do have if you click oncruise deals, we have the top
five cruise deals of the week.
And it actually has 10 or 15cruise deals listed there.
I get going on this and I say,This is good, this is good, this
is good.
So so I add more than the topfive, but I wanted to go through
(21:04):
a couple of these because theyare so good.
Some of these are last minute,some of them are into 2027.
But we'll first start with theseven-day Mexican Riviera
cruise.
This one is in November,November 15th, and it's on
Princess Cruise Lines.
The balcony cabins, and I'mjust gonna go with that because
(21:25):
it's so good.
Balcony cabins start at $719 uhper person.
PatrickWiscombe (21:30):
Wow.
MarkFaldmo (21:31):
The inside cabins
are a good price too.
But for that price, I'd go withthe balcony because that's the
cost of a normal seven-daycruise for an inside.
So again, balcony cabin $719.
Even better in January of 2026.
This is a seven-day WesternCaribbean cruise on MSc from
Galveston.
(21:51):
And I think two weeks ago wetalked about Galveston cruises.
Um, but a balcony cabin startsat $689 per person, so that's
even lower.
Wow.
Um just a great itinerary forthe Western Caribbean.
One that I really like, and Iput this one in here just
(22:11):
because of the uniqueness of theitinerary.
This is a 12-day WesternCaribbean cruise, it's on CUNAR
cruise line.
It's January 29th of 2026.
An inside cabin starts at 11.99per person, and a balcony cabin
starts at 1529.
Um, but I chose this becauseit's a 12-day round trip from
(22:34):
Miami.
It goes to San Juan, Barbados,St.
Martin, St.
John.
Wait, St.
Martin.
You go into Phillipsburg?
Phillipsburg.
Mahu Beach.
Um and then it gets down intothat deep Southern Caribbean.
PatrickWiscombe (22:51):
The Southern
Caribbean doesn't get enough
attention.
It doesn't.
Oh my goodness, it's amazingdown there.
MarkFaldmo (22:57):
Yeah.
That definitely is an itinerarythat I would choose.
And that's a good price for uhCunard, uh, which is kind of
more of a premium uh cruiseline.
That's about a hundred bucks aday per person.
Per person, yeah.
Wow.
Yeah, and then if we go earlyMay, seven-day Norwegian fjords
(23:17):
cruise on Holland, America.
So this is a May 3rd date.
2026.
2026, yeah.
And I'm just gonna go with thebalcony cabin because it starts
at 1559 per person.
Whoa, that's good.
That's only about $40 more thanthe inside cabin.
So yeah, just just get abalcony on that, and that one
(23:38):
leaves from Rotterdam, goes touh Kirkwall, which is way north
in Scotland, and then goes toBergen and two other stops in
Norway.
Wow, that's amazing.
May 2026 on Norwegian cruiseline.
It's a 12-day Hawaii and Tahiticruise.
This one is all for theitinerary.
(24:02):
The price is still pretty good,but it's more expensive than
what we've talked about.
It starts in Honolulu, cruisesall of the Hawaiian islands, so
the Big Island, Maui, and Kauai,and then it sails down uh to
Tahiti, where you'll get BoraBora, Raiatea, Morea, and
(24:23):
Pappette.
Inside cabin on that starts at1879, and a balcony starts at
41.79.
There's a 12-day cruise, andand actually that balcony cost
of anything we've talked about,that's by far the most
expensive.
Oh, yeah.
But I've seen this as high asabout $5,500 on this itinerary,
so it still is a pretty gooddeal for that itinerary, but
(24:45):
again, just the experience ofthat.
You know, there's nothing likeafter four days at sea, sailing
into Bora Bora is a specialexperience.
PatrickWiscombe (24:57):
Man, you came
fully prepared.
Five cruise deals of the weekthat really kind of turned into
15 on the Blue PlanetVacations.com.
If you know anything aboutMark, and we've been doing the
show just a hair over uh twoyears right now, when he sees a
good deal and he posts it, it'sworth taking a look at.
(25:21):
You can listen to thisaward-nominated podcast or radio
show every Saturday and Sundaymorning right here on the very
radio station that you'relistening to right now around
the country at 11 a.m.
local time, and you can listento an encore presentation of
this show by subscribing,downloading, or streaming the
(25:41):
show on Insidetraveltalk.com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms, and all of
those links can be found oninside travel talk.com.
Okay, we're done.
It is now your turn to get outand travel the world while you
can because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
throw at you.
And hopefully those curveballsdidn't hit you this past week.
(26:03):
Live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally.
And a sincere thank you to allof you for listening.
Make it a great week.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
ShowVoice (26:15):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
You've been listening to theInside Travel Talk Podcast and
Radio Show with Patrick Whiskeyand Mark Faldmo.
Presented byBluePlanetVacations.com. Book
your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:36):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
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Travel Talk is sponsored by
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