May 10, 2025 • 53 mins
Traveling with a family of five presents unique challenges, especially when it comes to cruise accommodations. Most standard cabins are designed for a maximum of four guests, forcing larger families to book separate rooms—an expensive and sometimes impractical solution. Today, we unveil the cruise lines that offer cabins specifically designed for families of five, including Royal Caribbean's family ocean view cabins, Norwegian's accommodations on their Breakaway class ships, and specialized options from Disney, Carnival, and even Holland America's Koningsdam.
For travelers drawn to European adventures, we explore the innovative "hub and spoke" tour concept from Globus and Cosmos. These tours allow you to unpack just once while enjoying guided excursions to surrounding areas—perfect for those who want to experience multiple destinations without the hassle of constantly changing hotels. The London Country tour from Globus lets you stay in London while venturing out to the Cotswolds, Oxford, and Stonehenge, while Cosmos offers unique culinary experiences in Tuscany and the lesser-known Puglia region.
Princess Cruises is making waves with their announcement of San Juan departures beginning in fall 2025. These Southern Caribbean itineraries reach stunning destinations like Grenada, Dominica, and the British Virgin Islands—ports that are rarely included on standard Caribbean cruises from Miami or Fort Lauderdale. We discuss why San Juan is an underrated gem and how these itineraries offer a rich cultural tapestry with British, Dutch, and French influences throughout the region.
The travel industry continues to evolve, with airlines reporting decreased demand leading to surprisingly affordable fares. We break down what this means for your travel plans and how you might capitalize on these savings. Additionally, we cover essential travel tips including the importance of traveling with a passport even on closed-loop cruises and how to avoid increasingly sophisticated hotel scams.
Whether you're planning a family cruise, European adventure, or Caribbean getaway, this episode provides the practical advice and insider tips you need to make informed decisions. Contact us to turn these travel insights into your next unforgettable vacation experience.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
It is the weekend, which means it's time
to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show
Coming up.
On today's show, we will betalking about cruise cabins that
will accommodate a family offive.
In case you don't know, that'sa big deal.
Princess Cruises has announcedthat they will be sailing from
San Juan a totally underratedisland, by the way, a simple way
(00:23):
to visit Europe with Globus andCosmos, and Delta is officially
teaming up with Uber.
Oh sure, now they do it.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcast,a radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
(00:43):
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:54):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by planet vacations dot com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 and
check out the podcast at insidetravel talk dot com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:18):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:28):
Oh, good morning.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
Hello there, I am PatrickWhisker.
Mark Faldmo will be here injust a moment Coming up on
today's episode of the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
We will be talking about cruisecabins that will accommodate a
(01:50):
family of five.
Now, if you're new to cruising,this is a big deal.
You wouldn't think that goingfrom four to five people in the
same room would be an issue, butit is and we've got a solution
for it.
Princess Cruises has nowannounced that they will be
sailing from San Juan, PuertoRico which, by the way, Nicki
and I were there about two whatwas it three weeks ago?
(02:11):
Really like San Juan, beautifulplace, and we have a simple way
to visit Europe with Globus andCosmos.
If you are brand new to the show, the entire purpose of this
radio show and podcast is tohelp you plan and book your next
vacation.
And if you don't know where togo, we're going to give you
ideas of where to go.
(02:31):
And this show is presented byblueplanetvacations.
com.
And just a big thank you, trulythank you, for taking the time
to stop and listen, becausewithout you, we don't have a
company, we don't have a radioshow.
We don't have a podcast Comingup.
In this segment we've got thedestination of the week and we
want you to be part of the show.
So if you have travel-relatedquestions, text us now or call
(02:55):
us 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700,and we'll get to the text here
just a little bit later.
But let's get to the travelnews headlines.
I saw that Delta and LATAM,which is Latin American Airlines
, expanded their joint ventureagreement to Argentina.
Mark Faldmo (03:14):
So this is exciting because this connects more of
South America to Delta Airlinesnetwork.
This new part of the jointventure is adding Argentina.
This actually started in 2019.
So it already includesdestinations in Chile, Peru,
Colombia and Brazil, but nowthey are adding five airports,
(03:35):
including Buenos Aires, to theirnetwork.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:39):
Argentina is one of those surprisingly
awesome destinations.
Mark Faldmo (03:43):
It is Great steaks there.
I wasn't expecting you to gofood there.
I always come back to food.
So Argentina is a greatdestination.
It's also the starting pointfor many of those South American
cruises that go to Antarcticaand around the Cape to Chile.
So this new partnership willmake it easier for at least
(04:04):
Delta Flyers to get to thosedestinations.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:08):
I thought this was kind of funny.
How to survive your 2025European vacation.
Was this a text from one of ourlisteners?
Mark Faldmo (04:15):
No, that's a little bit later.
This was just a story that kindof goes along with that,
because now people are startingto begin their trips to Europe.
The busy season kind of startsmid-May, goes through
mid-September.
So these are just a couple tips.
Some of these things we'vetalked about before, other
things are just kind of tips forpeople to remember.
The first thing is rememberthere's a new entry requirement
(04:37):
for the United Kingdom.
You do have to purchase anelectronic travel authorization
to enter the United Kingdom.
It's not hard.
You fill out an online form,pay about $20 a person and it's
just attached to your passportnumber.
But you do have to get thatauthorization before traveling
to the United Kingdom.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:56):
And you can help people with that right.
Mark Faldmo (04:58):
Yes, it's easy.
I actually just helped one ofmy customers with that last week
.
Okay, so it's something youhave to do on your own, but I
can help walk you through it.
Okay, the next thing is checkyour passport expiration date.
Many countries require thatyour passport be valid for three
or six months after your lastdate of travel.
(05:19):
This is probably the biggestissue I run into is people that
have a passport that expires tooclose to the end of their trip.
A lot of people don't think ofthat.
They think if my passport'svalid, then I should be able to
travel.
But again, a lot of countriesdo require that longer
expiration date from yourpassport.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:38):
If it's valid, it's valid, but why does it
have to be three to six monthsafter, and sometimes even
haven't you told me even a year?
Mark Faldmo (05:45):
I've seen a year in one case.
I can't even remember whatcountry it was, and that
might've been somewhere.
Covid rule or something when Isaw that, again, a lot are three
to six months and it's because,say, you have a medical
emergency and you're there.
They just want to make surethat you are covered to get home
and don't have to go throughthat hassle of renewing your
(06:06):
passport there.
So a lot of countries actuallyalso require proof of a return
ticket.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:12):
Oh, interesting Okay.
Mark Faldmo (06:13):
Some require proof of insurance and so, country by
country, you kind of have tolook at and see.
But the main thing is thisexpiration date.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:21):
When Nikki and I were on MSC's World America
this would have been about twoto three weeks ago we took off
from Puerto Rico, old San Juan,and in the middle of the night,
several hours in, if you cancheck on whatever map
application you're using, youcan see where you are, assuming
you have Wi-Fi, you can seewhere you are on your phone and
(06:42):
she goes.
I was wondering why.
We had been sailing for aboutthree, four hours and all of a
sudden we were very, very closeto Puerto Rico.
Well, it turns out that theship turned around in the middle
of the night.
I was fast asleep, she wasawake, and it turns out that
they had a medical emergencywhere they actually turned the
ship around because they're andI met the nurse who was
(07:03):
attending this particular personon Ocean Key, MSC's private
island, and I just happened torun into him and he goes hey,
I'm the nurse.
I said did something reallyhappen in Puerto Rico?
He goes yes, one of our guestshe's very polite, very
professional that experiencedcardiac arrest and so that's why
they turned the ship around.
He got off.
So in terms of my question ofwhy do you need a passport past
(07:27):
that expiration date, that's agood example of what could
happen.
I'm not saying everyone's goingto experience cardiac arrest,
but it does happen.
It does, yeah.
What's the number three reasonof how to survive the 2025
European vacation?
Mark Faldmo (07:42):
Summer will bring the crowds, so expect crowds,
but also, you know, as what wetalked about last week, protect
your money, your passports, allof that.
Pickpocketers love crowds andso you want to make sure and
protect your importantinformation.
Last week we talked about theRFID money belts and money
(08:03):
necklaces that can protect yourmoney, credit cards and
passports if you need to bringthem with you on a short
excursion.
So go back and review thosetips that we talked about last
week.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:13):
It was the May .
What May 3rd show.
I think it was.
Mark Faldmo (08:16):
May 3rd show.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:17):
Yep, yeah, it's a good segue.
If you want to listen to othershows that we have done in the
past, go to insidetraveltalk.
com.
Insidetraveltalk.
com.
You can just stream the show onthe website, but we'd also
appreciate if you wouldsubscribe to the show, okay,
Sorry.
Mark Faldmo (08:35):
Tip number four for Europe Always have a plan B.
More important than ever.
Things change flight schedules,train schedules.
Have a plan B if you need to gosomewhere else or do something
different.
Don't have as regimented of aday planned out for tours and
activities.
Be flexible on what you'redoing.
Travel is amazing and fun, but,as I found in all my traveling,
(08:56):
it doesn't always go as youplanned.
So always have a plan B.
Sometimes it's big, sometimesit's small, but always have a
plan B.
I'm going to.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:04):
Sometimes it's small, but always have a plan B
.
I'm going to throw somethingelse in here Make sure you have
just a little bit of extra money, whether that be on a credit
card, cash, whatever Becausewhen unexpected expenses come up
, if you're so tight on moneyand there are people who are
financially really tight youbetter have a little bit of cash
or a little bit of credit linestill, because stuff does come
up.
Mark Faldmo (09:24):
Correct.
The last thing be a consideratetraveler.
Treat people with kindness.
That includes the airlineemployees, your tour guides, all
of that, even the local people.
Just be a considerate traveler.
Respect their cultures andtraditions, rules and laws and
you'll have a great trip Beforewe go to break.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:44):
We received a text from one of our listeners.
Last four numbers are 8963.
I like this text and it's adirect result of last week's
show.
He is a 70-year-old man and hesays in the text I've never been
to Europe.
I would like to go to England.
What other destinations inEurope would you recommend, mark
?
Mark Faldmo (10:04):
The first thing is you could do the British Isles,
so go to England, do London andthen go up to Edinburgh, which
is really easy to do.
So you could do that kind ofEngland and Scotland.
Trains are easy access to getthere.
When I looked at this, I lookedat the ease of transportation
to get from place to place.
So that's option one.
(10:24):
You could do any of this on aGlobus tour or Cosmos tour where
they take care of all of thetransportation for you.
But if you want to do it onyour own, you could do that
England Scotland tour.
Option two would be either aLondon and Paris or London and
Amsterdam.
You can take the Eurostarchannel to those two
destinations and you can do acombination, again London-Paris
(10:48):
or London-Amsterdam.
Personally, of those options Iwould prefer Amsterdam.
I love Amsterdam, staying kindof in the central area and the
canal area, walking around.
It's just such a lovelydestination to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:01):
I hope that answers the question.
Thank you for reaching out tous.
If you have travel relatedquestions, contact the show
during the break here, if youwould 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
If you have your travel relatedquestion, we don't care if you
think it's a dumb question, evenif it's a complex question.
(11:24):
We can break things down foryou 801-649-3700.
Get ahold of us during thebreak when we come back.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week, always in segment
number two, and we will betalking about Cancun.
We got a little bit of awarning on that one and we've
got the hot travel deal of theweek with Cosmos and Globus the
(11:46):
best ways to see London, Italy.
We'll get to that next when theInside Travel Talk podcast or
radio show continues alongsidemy good friend Mark Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back forallowing us to be part of your
weekend.
Show Voice (12:03):
We will be right back, 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.
(12:24):
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (12:31):
Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Anna.
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Show Voice (12:56):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byblueplanetvacations.
com.
Show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
(13:16):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:25):
Coming to you live from the beautiful confines
of Salt Lake City, Utah.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,Mark Falbo is.
I wish I had some relaxingmusic right now.
He is in Fiji and where are youstaying down?
Mark Faldmo (13:44):
there, mark, I'm staying at the Sheraton in Fiji.
You know I'll be here untilactually next Saturday and I'll
do the show again, from Fijiagain, and we'll talk all about
what I did in Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:57):
It's some rough sledding there, buddy.
Yes, what are you staring atright now?
Just paint the visual foreveryone.
I know you're in the hotel roomlooking out At the hotel room.
Mark Faldmo (14:07):
I'm actually in a garden view room so I'm just
looking out to grass and trees,so no good beach view right here
, but I love Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:15):
All I heard was Fiji Coming up.
In this segment of the show wewill be talking about a warning
for tourists in Cancun.
We'll get to that here in justa second.
We also have the hot traveldeal of the week and we're going
to tell listeners how you cansave.
Up to what?
Is it?
Up to $500 per couple on someof these tours by Globus and
Cosmos.
Mark Faldmo (14:36):
There's some great offers on Europe tours right now
.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:38):
Let's get to the travel news headlines.
Us airlines are revising theirforecast with decreasing demand
in air travel.
That surprised me, becauseevery flight that I've been on
in the last 30 days has beenliterally.
They just say, hey, we're fullfront to back.
I guess I'm just kind ofsurprised.
Mark Faldmo (14:57):
There is decreasing demands, there's some jitters
in the economy and so peoplearen't flying.
Delta this year expects, whenthey release their first three
months of the year, not forecastbecause it's done, but $500
million less in revenue thanthey initially forecast.
A lot of that is due tosnowstorms in the southeast and
(15:20):
the northeast and the LAwildfires really impacted
airlines revenue in the firstquarter of this year and then
that has also just translated to.
People just aren't looking tofly anymore.
But I put this in a differentframe.
What does that mean to thevacation traveler?
It means lower prices.
There's more seats availablefor less demand in travel.
(15:44):
I'll give a quick example.
This trip I'm on in Fiji now.
They paid for my airfare andhotel from Los Angeles to Fiji,
but I had to get my own way toLos Angeles.
When I first looked at thatabout three, about four weeks
ago, the price was about $460 toget Salt Lake to Los Angeles,
(16:04):
which is very expensive.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:06):
Oh yeah, that's right.
Mark Faldmo (16:07):
But then about two weeks actually it was about
seven days before I left, so itwas about 10 days ago.
I looked again at that.
I decided to gamble and waitand that airfare dropped down to
$320 for the exact same flights.
And so we talked know, wetalked about Costa Rica last
(16:28):
week.
I've never seen Costa Ricaprices that low, and that's
because the airfares havedropped $200 to $300 per person
for some of these destinations,so there is lower demand.
But if you want to travel, thisis a great time to start
looking for travel.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:44):
We talked about that on the May 3rd show
Again.
If you want to travel, this isa great time to start looking
for travel.
We talked about that on the May3rd show Again.
If you want to listen to thatshow or any of our previous
shows, go to InsideTravelTalk.
com.
You can just stream the showright there or you can subscribe
.
We're on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Yeah, that was the first timethat you mentioned that.
Costa Rica was about at the$1,000 mark, including you know,
five nights hotel flights toand from Salt Lake City around a
(17:12):
thousand bucks which what'd yousay?
It was about three $400 lessthan what it normally goes.
For Than what it normally goes,yeah.
Mark Faldmo (17:16):
Take advantage of that.
That's what the decliningdemand means Now.
Later on it might mean flightschedule updates, so
cancellations consolidation, butright now it is meaning really
good prices to fly.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:27):
Do it.
I saw the story that touristsvisiting Cancun are being warned
to be cautious on all beachesafter some incidents.
First of all, what were theincidents?
Mark Faldmo (17:38):
This is related to the waves and the power of the
ocean, and so they've had tocome out and just make people
extra aware to pay attention.
If it's a double red flag day,don't even touch the water Along
the hotel zone there in Cancun.
There is no reef that reallyprotects that, so those waves
can get pretty big and prettydangerous in the hotel zone.
(18:02):
Sometimes it's glass andsometimes they're huge.
So you just have to be carefulof what the authorities have put
out as far as flags, so youknow again, a red flag is don't
swim, yellow flag is use cautionand a green flag is conditions
are okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:19):
I've never seen a double red flag before.
I've seen a red flag before,but not double red.
Mark Faldmo (18:24):
Double red flag means the.
I've seen a red flag before,but not double red.
Double red flag means the oceanis close to the public due to
extremely dangerous conditions.
Just a single red flag.
It's generally not recommendedto swim.
When a red flag is posted, itmeans the conditions are
dangerous due to strong currents, high surf or other hazards.
A yellow flag is caution.
Conditions might includemoderate surf.
(18:46):
Swimming is allowed, but youshould be careful and aware if
you're not a strong swimmer.
And then a green flag,conditions are generally calm
and swimming is considered safe.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:56):
While we're talking about visiting parts of
the world, let's talk aboutGlobus and Cosmos.
First of all, who are they?
Globus, I know they'rebasically a tour operator, but
Cosmos, I'm assuming that theyare also a tour operator Cosmos
falls under the Globus family ofbrands.
Mark Faldmo (19:10):
So there's Globus tours.
They generally use four or fivestar hotels that are a little
bit more centrally located.
Cosmos is a little bit more ofa budget company.
They use three, four starhotels that are not as well
located.
They might be on the outskirtsof town.
They're mainly a pricedifference.
They have very similar tours.
(19:31):
Globus tours generally includea few more meals than Cosmos
tours, and then Cosmos again, ismore of the I don't want to say
budget, but they're more of thebetter priced tours.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:43):
A couple of weeks ago we had TJ McAvoy with
Globus on the show, but one ofthe things we didn't talk about
was what they call their hub andspoke tour.
So let's talk about that.
Mark Faldmo (19:53):
This is a great idea.
They are tours that generallyyou'll just stay six or seven
nights in one city, but thenthey include all of the
prearranged tours and also someoptional activities that you can
do.
These tours are great becausethey include some built-in
flexibility.
They give you free time toexplore, also, stress-free
(20:13):
travel, because they do includea lot of those main tours, main
things that you'll want to doand see, and you have a tour
director with you the whole time, so you have someone there that
can answer all of yourquestions about the destinations
, where to eat, what to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:28):
That could be a real benefit for some people.
Mark Faldmo (20:30):
It is yeah, and also these provide more value.
So not only do you have theknowledge of the local tour
guide that's with you, you havea single price that covers
accommodation, transportation,all of your guides.
Everything's handled in advance.
I've often told the story.
I love it when I'm with thesetours because I'm getting so
much good information, and thenI see other people with their
(20:52):
heads in guidebooks.
They're trying to figure outwhat to do where to see.
A lot of people, I think, wasteso much time trying to figure
things out when they do it ontheir own.
It's just so much better to doit with a local guide that can
help you figure all of that out.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:06):
This could be a real option for our listener,
the text that we received, the70-year-old gentleman who's
never been to Europe that wantsto go.
This could be a legitimateoption for him.
Mark Faldmo (21:15):
It is, yeah, and these hub and spoke tours, they
actually can do them incombination, so you could do a
London and Paris Okay, takeninto account in between all the
transportation.
So, yes, that definitely is agood option for the Texter.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:33):
Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week,
which is going to be a Globusand Cosmos option.
Mark Faldmo (21:40):
So I'm going to give the current offer for both
of these brands.
Cosmos again, which is a littlebit more budget brand, is $300
per couple off of select tours.
Also one thing to note Cosmosalso has a selection of tours.
Some of them start at around$1,000 a person for these tours,
(22:00):
and then Globus has a save upto $500 on select tours.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:07):
What locations are we talking?
Mark Faldmo (22:08):
about what I've done.
I've chosen three of these kindof hub and spoke tours and
we'll go over what is included.
So the first one is a Globustour, so this does have that
$500 off per couple.
This tour is called LondonCountry.
It's a six night, seven daytour where you stay in London
(22:30):
the whole time.
It includes a few meals alongthe way, but what it does
include are side trips to theCotswolds, to Oxford and
Stratford-upon-Avon, side tripsto Stonehenge and Salisbury, as
well as some trips in Londonitself.
Okay, just a great way to get akind of a comprehensive London
(22:52):
tour.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:53):
What about Cosmos?
What place did you select there?
Mark Faldmo (22:55):
I've got two tours with Cosmos.
Both of them are in Italy.
The first one is called GourmetTuscany, and so this is a
eight-day, seven-night tour andyou actually stay in Tuscany and
Montecini.
Anything in Southern Italy.
This is kind of an off thebeaten path.
It's called Gourmet Puglia.
(23:16):
Now, a lot of people probablydon't know where Puglia is, but
it is in the hill of the boot ofItaly, so it's the little
peninsula, that's the hill ofthe boot Seven night, eight day
tour with just that hub andspoke concept, where you're
going to Bari and then most ofit is in Martina Franca is the
(23:36):
name of the city and then youjust go out and see different
areas in the hill of the boot ofItaly and I have never been in
that area.
It looks fascinating some ofthese tours that they offer.
So you know, these little huband spoke tours are a great way
to get a really in-depthvacation in certain regions of
countries.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:55):
This option is kind of interesting.
Mark Faldmo (23:58):
It's a great way to see places around Europe.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:01):
That's the hot travel deal of the week.
If you are interested in goingon a Globus or Cosmos tour the
ones that we talked about or ifyou want to go to a different
location they're a great companyand they do a great job with
their tours Call Mark.
He can book it for you or justget the conversation started
888-718-7717,.
(24:23):
888-718-7717.
And he will also post this onblueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
It is time for the infamousjust cruising segment.
We've got the cruise news ofthe week and we've got the
cruise deal of the week.
We've got a princess cruise andother Southern Caribbean
(24:46):
sailings.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues, alongside MarkFaldmo, my good friend, who's in
Fiji.
You should have taken me, mark.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (25:10):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show with PatrickWiscombe and Mark Faldmo,
presented by BluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
(25:31):
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (25:38):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
authentic tall ship sailingexperiences featuring creative
itineraries throughout theMediterranean Caribbean and
Central America.
To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
(25:59):
blueplanetvacations.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (26:00):
Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show Coming up.
In the next 28 minutes we willbe talking about Southern
Caribbean cruises Nikki and Iliterally spent 30 days in the
Caribbean last month, amazingand we'll also be talking about
cruise cabins that accommodate afamily of five.
Let's continue the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
(26:24):
blueplanetvacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (26:46):
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 hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(27:15):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:27):
All aboard for the infamous just cruising
segment right here on the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
By the way, that is an actualship horn courtesy of Norwegian
(27:48):
Aqua, as they were blowing theirhorn in the port of Miami.
Kind of a funny story on that,mark.
Well, it's not a funny story.
It literally almost brought meto my knees and I nearly threw
my phone off the side of one ofthe decks.
I was facing the horn, meaningI was looking back at the
smokestack where the horn was,and they blew the horn.
It scared me so badly I nearlyfell to my knees and threw my
(28:14):
phone down to the pool deck.
Those ship horns can sneak up onyou Nicki was laughing so hard
and so was I because I couldn'tbelieve how loud it was coming
up in this segment of the showwe've got the cruise deal of the
week always at the bottom ofthe hour.
But let's first get to thecruise news travel headlines.
And Holland America line isgoing to stay longer in Europe
starting next year, 2026.
Mark Faldmo (28:36):
They have added an extra six weeks to their Europe
season.
Usually, cruise lines end ofSeptember or mid-October send
their ships from theMediterranean to the Caribbean,
but Holland America has decidedto leave a few ships in Europe
for an extra six weeks, one ofthe reasons being is 2026 is
(28:58):
predicted to be a peak year tosee the Aurora Borealis and so
they've added a couple of extraNorthern or they've added, which
they haven't done in the past,some Northern Lights cruises.
Here are just some of the newitineraries they've added, which
they haven't done in the past,some Northern Lights cruises.
Here are just some of the newitineraries they've added where
(29:18):
they're extending Europe, sothey have a Northern Lights
journey.
It's a 14-day Arctic journeythat leaves November 7th 2026.
It includes time spent in theArctic Circle, which will
maximize your chances to see theAurora Borealis, which will
maximize your chances to see theAurora Borealis.
Other newly opened voyages a14-day Mediterranean and
Atlantic Treasures cruise, whichhas an overnight stay in Lisbon
(29:40):
.
And I think one of these daysI'm going to have to do Portugal
as the destination of the weekbecause I think it is the
hottest destination in Europeright now.
So I've heard so much aboutvisiting Portugal, how fantastic
it is.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:53):
If you ever have a chance to see Northern
Lights, do it.
It is genuinely beautiful andit kind of takes your breath
away and it makes you realizehow small you are.
Mark Faldmo (30:04):
It is.
Yeah, you know these cruises.
I think a cruise is a great wayto do that because they can
move around to some extent.
Hopefully they can get to abetter viewing location to see
those.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:15):
Less light pollution.
You talk about being in themiddle of the sea and it is just
pitch black.
Yes, Kind of terrifying, but atthe same time it's kind of
magical too.
Mark Faldmo (30:24):
Yeah, it is A few other cruises.
They've added a series ofseven-day Norway cruises and
then a 15-day cultural crossingwith England and Normandy.
So that's probably the lastcruise when they're going to
send the ship back off to theCaribbean area in late November.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:43):
Norwegian Cruise Line is canceling some
cruises.
Did I get that right?
You did.
Mark Faldmo (30:49):
And that's for a reason.
Two ships are leaving theNorwegian cruise line fleet.
Oh, so they're getting rid of acouple ships.
Then they're getting rid of acouple of ships.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:58):
Oh interesting .
Mark Faldmo (30:59):
I don't like this announcement because one of the
ships is probably my secondfavorite ship in the Norwegian
fleet, which is the NorwegianSky oh really.
Now, this is the smallest shipin their fleet.
It's 77, 000 gross tons.
Tiny ship you're.
The three ships you are on arethree times the size of this
ship, but personally I like thesmaller ship.
(31:21):
It has less than 2 000 peopleand I really like the Norwegian
Sky.
And then the other ship that'sleaving the fleet is the
Norwegian Sun oh, which isprobably my least favorite
Norwegian because it has a weirddeck where some of the outside
cabins are right on thepromenade deck, so you have
people walking past your cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:42):
Yeah, we did that on Holland America Line,
the Rotterdam.
That would have driven me crazyif we had.
I can't remember what deck itwas, it was like deck 12 or
something would have driven mecrazy if we had.
I can't remember what deck itwas, it was like deck 12 or
something.
Mark Faldmo (31:53):
We were walking past people's cabins and I just
the amount of commotion outsideof the room would have driven me
crazy yeah, I've sailed on theNorwegian Sun probably six times
, but it is my least favoriteand I think I cannot confirm
this.
But I've seen some otherstories about some cruise lines
that have acquired ships.
They're going to make themresidential ships where you just
(32:14):
buy your cabin and you sailaround the world.
They're like condominiums asthe ship sails.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:19):
Oh wow.
Mark Faldmo (32:20):
So I think that's what one or two of these ships
is going to do just be aresidential ship.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:26):
So are they going to sell off these ships
then?
Mark Faldmo (32:29):
I did see that.
I think they are actuallyselling the Norwegian Sky and
they are leasing the NorwegianSun to someone else okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:37):
Princess has announced that they are going to
start sailing from San Juanstarting this fall 2025, which,
by the way, we docked in old SanJuan on MSC World America.
Old San Juan is sneaky good.
It was hot when we were there,but it was a beautiful island.
I loved all of the differentbuildings that were different
(32:59):
colors pastel colors.
It was a very you could walkfriendly port.
Mark Faldmo (33:06):
Yes, love it.
I love San Juan.
I've been to San Juan six orseven times and I just enjoy
walking around old San Juan.
I've been to San Juan six orseven times and I just enjoy
walking around old San Juan.
I remember walking through someof those narrow streets and
popping out into a square with acathedral.
Oh yeah, sat down at one of thecafes and had breakfast there
(33:27):
and it was fascinating.
So yeah, I love San Juan,especially old town San Juan.
Patrick Wiscombe (33:34):
Yeah, some of those cathedrals, Nicki and I
went inside and we probablyspent, I don't know, 10, 15
minutes, not because we were hot, but it was a cathedral that
was, that had what was it like1500?
Like it'd been around for along time for you know, like
four or 500 years, and it was.
Mark Faldmo (33:51):
Yeah, it was amazing I'm excited about this
that princess has announcedtheir return to San Juan,
because those southern Caribbeancruises that leave from San
Juan get to some absolutelyfascinating ports that you
typically don't get to yeah ifyou're leaving from Miami or
Fort Lauderdale.
unless they're really longcruises seven day cruise you can
(34:13):
really get down to, likeGrenada, some of those islands
that are just fascinating tovisit.
I know another cruise line,royal Caribbean, actually just
recently announced that they arestarting back their Southern
Caribbean cruises.
These cruises seem to come andgo, but I think they're a great
option for cruise lines to havein their fleet.
Do we know which?
Patrick Wiscombe (34:33):
ship they're going to deploy.
Mark Faldmo (34:34):
It's one ship, and the ship is the Grand Princess.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:39):
In my head, San Juan, Puerto Rico, was not a
great place to go, but aftergetting there and actually
getting out and literallywalking the port, my experience
didn't match what was inside ofmy head, which is the beauty of
travel.
It can completely change yourperspective on a place that
leads into the cruise deal ofthe week, which is going to be
(35:00):
Princess Cruises.
What do we have for listenersthis week?
Mark Faldmo (35:03):
Right now their current promotion, which goes
for about another two weeks orso.
They actually might enhancethis a little bit over Memorial
Day.
Their current promotion is upto a $400 instant savings that's
based on the length of cruiseand the type of cabin you're in
plus up to 40% off, plus freeroom upgrades, plus $99 deposits
(35:26):
on sailings.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:28):
That's a really good promotion, then, and
your overall thoughts ofPrincess just as a company,
their ships do you recommendthem?
Mark Faldmo (35:38):
I love Princess.
You have to look at the reasonwhy you're traveling and where
you're traveling, Cause I thinksome cruises do better in other
destinations.
The two cruise lines I'vecruised on the most are
Norwegian and Princess, so I ama little bit biased towards
those, but you know I lovePrincess.
We've been talking a lot aboutMSC and their pizza.
I actually think MSC might havePrincess beat out slightly.
(36:02):
What?
But Princess, for years, hashad the best pizza at sea.
I love just going on the pooldeck and that's where their
pizza place is.
Them are fighting words, mark,yeah, so so I.
I just like the location betterof where princess's pizza is,
but they're very similar inquality of pizza.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:22):
This might gross you out, but MSC's pizza
was so good, maybe I'm going togross myself out.
I was even drinking the cheesejuice that was on my plate.
Mark Faldmo (36:32):
Yeah, I know what you're talking about, oh man,
that was so good.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:36):
Sorry, sorry about the cheese juice everyone.
Yeah, okay, what otherpromotion do we have, or is that
the only one that we have forPrincess?
Mark Faldmo (36:45):
We have two sailings we're going to talk
about.
Princess has two differentversions of that Southern
Caribbean cruise.
These are October dates, butthe prices are phenomenal.
So leave from San Juan goes toSt Thomas, St Martin, Antigua,
and then to St Kitts, toBarbados a day at sea and back
(37:05):
to San Juan.
That's another reason why Ilike these Southern Caribbean
cruises you have a lot more porttime and a lot less days at sea
.
This one is October 19th thatI'm looking at.
Inside cabin starts at $669,but a balcony.
Now this is a partiallyobstructed balcony but it's a
balcony nonetheless.
(37:25):
$729 per person for a balconycabin on October 19th to the
Southern Caribbean.
You can go up.
It's probably about another 80bucks to go to a regular balcony
cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:41):
It is worth getting a balcony, taking in
that ocean, air, the breeze ohmy goodness.
It was so relaxing.
One of the most specialexperiences of my life is just
hanging out on the balcony withmy wife.
Mark Faldmo (37:52):
It is.
I think, that the balcony is soworth it.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:56):
Oh yeah.
Mark Faldmo (37:57):
So they have another one and this is October
12th or October 26th and this isthe itinerary I would pick.
I love these islands that we goto.
They're not typical.
That first itinerary we gavehas St Thomas and St Martin,
which are two typical EasternCaribbean cruises.
This next one is a trueSouthern Caribbean cruise.
Goes to Tortola, which isBritish Virgin Islands, St Kitts
(38:21):
, Dominica, Grenada, Barbadosand back to San Juan.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:29):
Five port days and then basically a day
getting to and from Correct ohwow, that is great.
Mark Faldmo (38:36):
The things I like about these cruises you're
getting British Virgin Islands,Dutch Virgin Islands.
Some of these have Frenchinfluence, so you're getting
lots of different cultures inthe Southern Caribbean.
Now, these prices they're alittle bit more expensive than
the October 19th cruise that wetalked about, but I think this
is by far a better itinerary.
(38:57):
So October 26th date starts at$765 per person for an inside or
$860 per person for a balconycabin.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:09):
Oh wow, Do we know which ship this one's on
the Southern Caribbean?
Mark Faldmo (39:14):
Yeah, and that's on the Grand Princess, and so you
know it's there from October toabout April of next year.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:22):
Have you seen some of the new ships that
Princess is releasing?
They're beautiful.
Mark Faldmo (39:27):
Yeah, they are.
Yeah, princess has always donea good job with their design.
I like the interiors ofPrincess ships.
I think they always have thebest décor.
I guess you would say, um, Ireally like what princess does
with their ships their horn.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:43):
While we were opening this segment, we were
talking about horns.
Their horn is literally thelove boat theme song yeah, it is
.
Mark Faldmo (39:51):
That's what I like about it, you know, and Disney
does a similar thing with theirhorn, so I like those two when
there's a Princess ship or aDisney ship in port and they
blow their horn and either dowhen you Wish Upon a Star on
Disney, or Princess plays thePrincess love boat theme song.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:11):
In the distance.
When we were getting onCelebrity Ascent, they were
playing the love boat theme andyou could hear in the distance.
I don't know where he was onthe ship, but all of a sudden
you hear the love boat and I gotit on video.
Absolutely hilarious.
Get out see the world.
(40:33):
San Juan, Puerto Rico, love it.
Whatever your perception is andI realize that I'm putting my
feelings on everyone else it isan amazing place.
It is worth getting to callMark in his office, get the
conversation started, takeadvantage of those promotions
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717,888-718-7717.
(40:57):
When we come back, we've gotsome additional travel news that
we need to get to Mark's traveltips and we'll wrap it up.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (41:09):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (41:35):
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 beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
com.
Show Voice (42:00):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700 801-649-3700.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:30):
And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
Faldmo, coming to you live fromFiji, the Sheraton-Denarau
Island.
That is where Mark is this verymoment.
As we come to you on the radioshow and podcast, I'm looking at
your live cam.
I know you're just looking atthe greenness, but even that
green is pretty as beautiful.
Mark Faldmo (42:48):
Yeah yeah, fiji is a great destination.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:51):
So what are you doing down there as a travel
advisor, owner of a company,what are you doing down there?
Mark Faldmo (42:58):
So I'm attending it's called the Fiji Tourism
Exchange and so I am down heremeeting with hotels, activities,
companies, different touristythings to do, and so it's just
days of straight meetings andappointments with people that
help me service Fiji better.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:16):
Okay, and so you can turn around and sell it
to our listeners, basically.
Mark Faldmo (43:20):
Yes, okay, next week, when I'm completely back
with this, we'll have a fullreport on that.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:26):
Okay, coming up in this segment, the final
segment of the show, we will betalking about a question that we
received from Tricia, one ofour listeners, that she has a
family of five and most cruisecabins only hold four.
You wouldn't think going fromfour to five would be a big deal
, but apparently it is and we'vegot a solution for our
listeners.
That's coming up here in theremaining moments of the show,
(43:48):
but let's first get to thetravel news headlines.
Let's talk about cruising witha passport and the reasons to do
so.
Mark Faldmo (43:56):
This is a question I get asked often because,
technically, if you cruise froma port, from a US port, return
back to the same port.
With a few exceptions, you cantravel with just a birth
certificate.
The countries that requirepassports to be valid for longer
.
For similar reasons, I wouldcruise with a passport If you
(44:18):
miss the ship for some reason,you have a medical emergency,
you're in a foreign country andyou need a passport to get back.
So it is just a good idea tosail with a passport.
One thing I have not seenbefore until the last time at
MSC, and I've seen a few othercruise lines, cruise ports that
do this If you have a passport.
A lot of cruise ports that dothis If you have a passport.
A lot of cruise ports are nowfacial ID.
(44:41):
So, you basically just walkthrough.
If you don't have a passport,you're put into a separate line.
It's usually a long line andyou have to get manually
processed by immigrationofficers.
So it'll take you a lot longeron the last day of the cruise to
get off the ship.
So that's another reason tocruise with a passport.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:59):
About a year ago right now, you and I were in
Fort Lauderdale.
We went on Margaritaville atsea Paradise was the name of the
ship.
You got off instantly withglobal entry.
Meanwhile Patrick didn't have apassport yet and he had to go
into the long line and Mark wentto go pick up our car and we
still met about the same time.
Mark Faldmo (45:20):
Yes.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:20):
That's how long that line was.
Mark Faldmo (45:22):
For various reasons , I always recommend cruising
with a passport.
Ad Voice (45:26):
Yeah agreed.
Mark Faldmo (45:27):
You know also there are some countries in Latin
America, in the Caribbean, thatnow do require people to have a
passport Because they've hadissues of people getting stuck
there, people to have a passportbecause they've had issues of
people getting stuck there.
And so again, like I mentioned,there are some exceptions to
being able to cruise with just abirth certificate now.
So keep that in mind whenplanning a cruise as well.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:47):
Hotel scams.
I didn't even think that thiswas still going on hotel scams,
but apparently they are and howour listeners can avoid getting
scammed.
Mark Faldmo (45:57):
My first recommendation would be to book
with a reputable travel agentthat you know, because there are
lots of travel sites out thereand there are several hotel
booking sites that are fake,that put up fake listings and
take your money.
There's a story recently of atraveler that went to Huatulco
in Mexico and got in the taxi,took him to a place and it was
(46:18):
just a vacant lot, and so hewalked around for a while,
eventually made it to arestaurant.
He got all of the local taxidrivers there.
None of them have ever heard ofthis hotel.
Oh boy, and so it was a fakelisting on a site.
So just make sure you book witha reputable site, and the same
(46:38):
goes for booking Airbnb.
There have been lots of scamswith Airbnb, where the owner
contacts people directly andasks them to book outside of the
site, to pay outside of Airbnb,and then when they get there,
there's nothing there andthey've taken their money.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:55):
Oh boy.
Mark Faldmo (46:56):
Just make sure you're booking with reputable
agents or with reputablewebsites, or directly on the
hotel's website itself.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:05):
Southwest is overhauling its fare bundles.
Let's start with that.
What is a fare bundle?
Mark Faldmo (47:11):
A fare bundle is fares that include seat
assignments, fares that includebaggage, different perks.
So Southwest used to.
You bought a ticket and you gottwo free check bags and they
didn't have assigned seats.
You just kind of generallyboarded.
Now Southwest is going toassign seats and they've started
(47:31):
bundling things together likeother airlines, you know, like
basic economy fares, and so thiswill start sometime soon.
But here are the new fareoptions that Southwest is going
to have.
The least expensive fare willbe their basic fare, which
assigns you a seat at check-in,and baggage is additional.
Choice is what they're callingit.
(47:52):
It gives you a standard seatand one bag to check.
Choice preferred lets you bookpreferred seating and you get
preferred boarding.
And then Choice Extra providesseats with extra legroom, free
checked bags and pre-boarding.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:07):
Would that be considered their first class,
for lack of a better way to saythat.
Mark Faldmo (48:12):
Since they don't have first class, that would be
their highest and that would belike on Delta Airlines Comfort
Plus for instance.
So it'll be the extra legroomseats.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:23):
Trisha was asking I have a family of five.
This is her email.
Most cruise cabins only holdfour.
Are there any ships that willaccommodate my family of five?
Normally this wouldn't be a bigdeal but for whatever reason, a
family of five, generallyspeaking, you've always had to
get two cabins.
But apparently there are a fewlines, four or five cruise lines
(48:48):
, that will accommodate herfamily of five.
Mark Faldmo (48:51):
Larger families.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:52):
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo (48:52):
Yeah, and so, generally speaking, the minor
policy on cruises is, if you dohave to get two cabins, you have
to be in a cabin that'sconnecting or adjacent or across
the hall.
It has to be in the same areaas the parent's cabin, which
makes sense with small children.
Yes, there are some ways aroundthat.
You can book one parent in oneroom and another parent in the
(49:14):
other room.
But generally speaking, it'sharder to cruise with larger
families.
But there are a few cruiselines and we'll go through all
of them that do have familyrooms that will hold five people
, and so these aren't suites.
There are some suites that willhold more.
These are just regular cabins.
So Royal Caribbean is the firstone.
(49:35):
They have a family inside cabin, a family ocean view cabin,
which will hold five, and thenthey also offer family suites,
grand suites, owner suites thataccommodate five or more guests.
Norwegian cruise lines,particularly on the breakaway
and breakaway plus classes ofships, have family ocean view
cabins that sleep five.
(49:56):
They also offer two-bedroomdeluxe suites on some ships, on
Norwegian Cruise Line HollandAmerica on the Koningsdam, so
it's only one of Holland Americaships.
Although Holland America is notnecessarily known for family
and kids, they do have familyocean view suites available.
Carnival Cruise Line, on theDream class of ships, they have
(50:18):
a deluxe ocean view cabin thathas two bunk beds and a sofa bed
that can sleep five.
And then Disney, known for itsfamily, does have several cabin
categories that are familyfriendly and can accommodate up
to five.
So there are options andthey're becoming more and more
options as new ships are built.
(50:39):
Probably six or seven years ago, unless you were buying the
suites, you couldn't get afamily of five in a cabin.
So these newer ships are reallystarting to put out.
Especially the cruise lineslike Royal Caribbean, Norwegian
and Disney that really catertowards families have really
added in these categories thatwill hold five.
Patrick Wiscombe (50:59):
Tricia.
I hope that helps you and Ihope that you can get out and go
on a family vacation.
If you are interested in any ofthe vacations that we've
discussed during the past hour,we've got the hot travel deal of
the week, the Globus and Cosmoshub and spoke tours the cruise
(51:20):
deal of the week with $99deposits per person Awesome, Get
out and see the world while youcan Call Mark in his office.
Just get the conversationstarted 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacations.
(51:40):
com.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning, Sunday,
at 11 o'clock right here on thisradio station, and you can
stream, download and subscribeto the podcast on
insidetraveltalk.
com.
You can stream the show righton the website or, if you're a
(52:02):
podcast lover, you can subscribeto the podcast off that site
and we're on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
(52:22):
Live your life intentionally.
Live the life that you want.
Thanks for listening.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Show Voice (52:33):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(52:54):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week 717.
Ad Voice (53:03):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Inside Travel Talk is broughtto 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
blueplanetvacations.
com for more information.
It is the weekend, which means it's time
to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show
Coming up.
On today's show, we will betalking about cruise cabins that
will accommodate a family offive.
In case you don't know, that'sa big deal.
Princess Cruises has announcedthat they will be sailing from
San Juan a totally underratedisland, by the way, a simple way
(00:23):
to visit Europe with Globus andCosmos, and Delta is officially
teaming up with Uber.
Oh sure, now they do it.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcast,a radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
(00:43):
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:54):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by planet vacations dot com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 and
check out the podcast at insidetravel talk dot com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:18):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:28):
Oh, good morning.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
Hello there, I am PatrickWhisker.
Mark Faldmo will be here injust a moment Coming up on
today's episode of the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
We will be talking about cruisecabins that will accommodate a
(01:50):
family of five.
Now, if you're new to cruising,this is a big deal.
You wouldn't think that goingfrom four to five people in the
same room would be an issue, butit is and we've got a solution
for it.
Princess Cruises has nowannounced that they will be
sailing from San Juan, PuertoRico which, by the way, Nicki
and I were there about two whatwas it three weeks ago?
(02:11):
Really like San Juan, beautifulplace, and we have a simple way
to visit Europe with Globus andCosmos.
If you are brand new to the show, the entire purpose of this
radio show and podcast is tohelp you plan and book your next
vacation.
And if you don't know where togo, we're going to give you
ideas of where to go.
(02:31):
And this show is presented byblueplanetvacations.
com.
And just a big thank you, trulythank you, for taking the time
to stop and listen, becausewithout you, we don't have a
company, we don't have a radioshow.
We don't have a podcast Comingup.
In this segment we've got thedestination of the week and we
want you to be part of the show.
So if you have travel-relatedquestions, text us now or call
(02:55):
us 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700,and we'll get to the text here
just a little bit later.
But let's get to the travelnews headlines.
I saw that Delta and LATAM,which is Latin American Airlines
, expanded their joint ventureagreement to Argentina.
Mark Faldmo (03:14):
So this is exciting because this connects more of
South America to Delta Airlinesnetwork.
This new part of the jointventure is adding Argentina.
This actually started in 2019.
So it already includesdestinations in Chile, Peru,
Colombia and Brazil, but nowthey are adding five airports,
(03:35):
including Buenos Aires, to theirnetwork.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:39):
Argentina is one of those surprisingly
awesome destinations.
Mark Faldmo (03:43):
It is Great steaks there.
I wasn't expecting you to gofood there.
I always come back to food.
So Argentina is a greatdestination.
It's also the starting pointfor many of those South American
cruises that go to Antarcticaand around the Cape to Chile.
So this new partnership willmake it easier for at least
(04:04):
Delta Flyers to get to thosedestinations.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:08):
I thought this was kind of funny.
How to survive your 2025European vacation.
Was this a text from one of ourlisteners?
Mark Faldmo (04:15):
No, that's a little bit later.
This was just a story that kindof goes along with that,
because now people are startingto begin their trips to Europe.
The busy season kind of startsmid-May, goes through
mid-September.
So these are just a couple tips.
Some of these things we'vetalked about before, other
things are just kind of tips forpeople to remember.
The first thing is rememberthere's a new entry requirement
(04:37):
for the United Kingdom.
You do have to purchase anelectronic travel authorization
to enter the United Kingdom.
It's not hard.
You fill out an online form,pay about $20 a person and it's
just attached to your passportnumber.
But you do have to get thatauthorization before traveling
to the United Kingdom.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:56):
And you can help people with that right.
Mark Faldmo (04:58):
Yes, it's easy.
I actually just helped one ofmy customers with that last week
.
Okay, so it's something youhave to do on your own, but I
can help walk you through it.
Okay, the next thing is checkyour passport expiration date.
Many countries require thatyour passport be valid for three
or six months after your lastdate of travel.
(05:19):
This is probably the biggestissue I run into is people that
have a passport that expires tooclose to the end of their trip.
A lot of people don't think ofthat.
They think if my passport'svalid, then I should be able to
travel.
But again, a lot of countriesdo require that longer
expiration date from yourpassport.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:38):
If it's valid, it's valid, but why does it
have to be three to six monthsafter, and sometimes even
haven't you told me even a year?
Mark Faldmo (05:45):
I've seen a year in one case.
I can't even remember whatcountry it was, and that
might've been somewhere.
Covid rule or something when Isaw that, again, a lot are three
to six months and it's because,say, you have a medical
emergency and you're there.
They just want to make surethat you are covered to get home
and don't have to go throughthat hassle of renewing your
(06:06):
passport there.
So a lot of countries actuallyalso require proof of a return
ticket.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:12):
Oh, interesting Okay.
Mark Faldmo (06:13):
Some require proof of insurance and so, country by
country, you kind of have tolook at and see.
But the main thing is thisexpiration date.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:21):
When Nikki and I were on MSC's World America
this would have been about twoto three weeks ago we took off
from Puerto Rico, old San Juan,and in the middle of the night,
several hours in, if you cancheck on whatever map
application you're using, youcan see where you are, assuming
you have Wi-Fi, you can seewhere you are on your phone and
(06:42):
she goes.
I was wondering why.
We had been sailing for aboutthree, four hours and all of a
sudden we were very, very closeto Puerto Rico.
Well, it turns out that theship turned around in the middle
of the night.
I was fast asleep, she wasawake, and it turns out that
they had a medical emergencywhere they actually turned the
ship around because they're andI met the nurse who was
(07:03):
attending this particular personon Ocean Key, MSC's private
island, and I just happened torun into him and he goes hey,
I'm the nurse.
I said did something reallyhappen in Puerto Rico?
He goes yes, one of our guestshe's very polite, very
professional that experiencedcardiac arrest and so that's why
they turned the ship around.
He got off.
So in terms of my question ofwhy do you need a passport past
(07:27):
that expiration date, that's agood example of what could
happen.
I'm not saying everyone's goingto experience cardiac arrest,
but it does happen.
It does, yeah.
What's the number three reasonof how to survive the 2025
European vacation?
Mark Faldmo (07:42):
Summer will bring the crowds, so expect crowds,
but also, you know, as what wetalked about last week, protect
your money, your passports, allof that.
Pickpocketers love crowds andso you want to make sure and
protect your importantinformation.
Last week we talked about theRFID money belts and money
(08:03):
necklaces that can protect yourmoney, credit cards and
passports if you need to bringthem with you on a short
excursion.
So go back and review thosetips that we talked about last
week.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:13):
It was the May .
What May 3rd show.
I think it was.
Mark Faldmo (08:16):
May 3rd show.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:17):
Yep, yeah, it's a good segue.
If you want to listen to othershows that we have done in the
past, go to insidetraveltalk.
com.
Insidetraveltalk.
com.
You can just stream the show onthe website, but we'd also
appreciate if you wouldsubscribe to the show, okay,
Sorry.
Mark Faldmo (08:35):
Tip number four for Europe Always have a plan B.
More important than ever.
Things change flight schedules,train schedules.
Have a plan B if you need to gosomewhere else or do something
different.
Don't have as regimented of aday planned out for tours and
activities.
Be flexible on what you'redoing.
Travel is amazing and fun, but,as I found in all my traveling,
(08:56):
it doesn't always go as youplanned.
So always have a plan B.
Sometimes it's big, sometimesit's small, but always have a
plan B.
I'm going to.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:04):
Sometimes it's small, but always have a plan B
.
I'm going to throw somethingelse in here Make sure you have
just a little bit of extra money, whether that be on a credit
card, cash, whatever Becausewhen unexpected expenses come up
, if you're so tight on moneyand there are people who are
financially really tight youbetter have a little bit of cash
or a little bit of credit linestill, because stuff does come
up.
Mark Faldmo (09:24):
Correct.
The last thing be a consideratetraveler.
Treat people with kindness.
That includes the airlineemployees, your tour guides, all
of that, even the local people.
Just be a considerate traveler.
Respect their cultures andtraditions, rules and laws and
you'll have a great trip Beforewe go to break.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:44):
We received a text from one of our listeners.
Last four numbers are 8963.
I like this text and it's adirect result of last week's
show.
He is a 70-year-old man and hesays in the text I've never been
to Europe.
I would like to go to England.
What other destinations inEurope would you recommend, mark
?
Mark Faldmo (10:04):
The first thing is you could do the British Isles,
so go to England, do London andthen go up to Edinburgh, which
is really easy to do.
So you could do that kind ofEngland and Scotland.
Trains are easy access to getthere.
When I looked at this, I lookedat the ease of transportation
to get from place to place.
So that's option one.
(10:24):
You could do any of this on aGlobus tour or Cosmos tour where
they take care of all of thetransportation for you.
But if you want to do it onyour own, you could do that
England Scotland tour.
Option two would be either aLondon and Paris or London and
Amsterdam.
You can take the Eurostarchannel to those two
destinations and you can do acombination, again London-Paris
(10:48):
or London-Amsterdam.
Personally, of those options Iwould prefer Amsterdam.
I love Amsterdam, staying kindof in the central area and the
canal area, walking around.
It's just such a lovelydestination to visit.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:01):
I hope that answers the question.
Thank you for reaching out tous.
If you have travel relatedquestions, contact the show
during the break here, if youwould 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
If you have your travel relatedquestion, we don't care if you
think it's a dumb question, evenif it's a complex question.
(11:24):
We can break things down foryou 801-649-3700.
Get ahold of us during thebreak when we come back.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week, always in segment
number two, and we will betalking about Cancun.
We got a little bit of awarning on that one and we've
got the hot travel deal of theweek with Cosmos and Globus the
(11:46):
best ways to see London, Italy.
We'll get to that next when theInside Travel Talk podcast or
radio show continues alongsidemy good friend Mark Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back forallowing us to be part of your
weekend.
Show Voice (12:03):
We will be right back, 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.
(12:24):
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (12:31):
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
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Show Voice (12:56):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byblueplanetvacations.
com.
Show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
(13:16):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:25):
Coming to you live from the beautiful confines
of Salt Lake City, Utah.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe,Mark Falbo is.
I wish I had some relaxingmusic right now.
He is in Fiji and where are youstaying down?
Mark Faldmo (13:44):
there, mark, I'm staying at the Sheraton in Fiji.
You know I'll be here untilactually next Saturday and I'll
do the show again, from Fijiagain, and we'll talk all about
what I did in Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:57):
It's some rough sledding there, buddy.
Yes, what are you staring atright now?
Just paint the visual foreveryone.
I know you're in the hotel roomlooking out At the hotel room.
Mark Faldmo (14:07):
I'm actually in a garden view room so I'm just
looking out to grass and trees,so no good beach view right here
, but I love Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:15):
All I heard was Fiji Coming up.
In this segment of the show wewill be talking about a warning
for tourists in Cancun.
We'll get to that here in justa second.
We also have the hot traveldeal of the week and we're going
to tell listeners how you cansave.
Up to what?
Is it?
Up to $500 per couple on someof these tours by Globus and
Cosmos.
Mark Faldmo (14:36):
There's some great offers on Europe tours right now
.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:38):
Let's get to the travel news headlines.
Us airlines are revising theirforecast with decreasing demand
in air travel.
That surprised me, becauseevery flight that I've been on
in the last 30 days has beenliterally.
They just say, hey, we're fullfront to back.
I guess I'm just kind ofsurprised.
Mark Faldmo (14:57):
There is decreasing demands, there's some jitters
in the economy and so peoplearen't flying.
Delta this year expects, whenthey release their first three
months of the year, not forecastbecause it's done, but $500
million less in revenue thanthey initially forecast.
A lot of that is due tosnowstorms in the southeast and
(15:20):
the northeast and the LAwildfires really impacted
airlines revenue in the firstquarter of this year and then
that has also just translated to.
People just aren't looking tofly anymore.
But I put this in a differentframe.
What does that mean to thevacation traveler?
It means lower prices.
There's more seats availablefor less demand in travel.
(15:44):
I'll give a quick example.
This trip I'm on in Fiji now.
They paid for my airfare andhotel from Los Angeles to Fiji,
but I had to get my own way toLos Angeles.
When I first looked at thatabout three, about four weeks
ago, the price was about $460 toget Salt Lake to Los Angeles,
(16:04):
which is very expensive.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:06):
Oh yeah, that's right.
Mark Faldmo (16:07):
But then about two weeks actually it was about
seven days before I left, so itwas about 10 days ago.
I looked again at that.
I decided to gamble and waitand that airfare dropped down to
$320 for the exact same flights.
And so we talked know, wetalked about Costa Rica last
(16:28):
week.
I've never seen Costa Ricaprices that low, and that's
because the airfares havedropped $200 to $300 per person
for some of these destinations,so there is lower demand.
But if you want to travel, thisis a great time to start
looking for travel.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:44):
We talked about that on the May 3rd show
Again.
If you want to travel, this isa great time to start looking
for travel.
We talked about that on the May3rd show Again.
If you want to listen to thatshow or any of our previous
shows, go to InsideTravelTalk.
com.
You can just stream the showright there or you can subscribe
.
We're on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Yeah, that was the first timethat you mentioned that.
Costa Rica was about at the$1,000 mark, including you know,
five nights hotel flights toand from Salt Lake City around a
(17:12):
thousand bucks which what'd yousay?
It was about three $400 lessthan what it normally goes.
For Than what it normally goes,yeah.
Mark Faldmo (17:16):
Take advantage of that.
That's what the decliningdemand means Now.
Later on it might mean flightschedule updates, so
cancellations consolidation, butright now it is meaning really
good prices to fly.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:27):
Do it.
I saw the story that touristsvisiting Cancun are being warned
to be cautious on all beachesafter some incidents.
First of all, what were theincidents?
Mark Faldmo (17:38):
This is related to the waves and the power of the
ocean, and so they've had tocome out and just make people
extra aware to pay attention.
If it's a double red flag day,don't even touch the water Along
the hotel zone there in Cancun.
There is no reef that reallyprotects that, so those waves
can get pretty big and prettydangerous in the hotel zone.
(18:02):
Sometimes it's glass andsometimes they're huge.
So you just have to be carefulof what the authorities have put
out as far as flags, so youknow again, a red flag is don't
swim, yellow flag is use cautionand a green flag is conditions
are okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:19):
I've never seen a double red flag before.
I've seen a red flag before,but not double red.
Mark Faldmo (18:24):
Double red flag means the.
I've seen a red flag before,but not double red.
Double red flag means the oceanis close to the public due to
extremely dangerous conditions.
Just a single red flag.
It's generally not recommendedto swim.
When a red flag is posted, itmeans the conditions are
dangerous due to strong currents, high surf or other hazards.
A yellow flag is caution.
Conditions might includemoderate surf.
(18:46):
Swimming is allowed, but youshould be careful and aware if
you're not a strong swimmer.
And then a green flag,conditions are generally calm
and swimming is considered safe.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:56):
While we're talking about visiting parts of
the world, let's talk aboutGlobus and Cosmos.
First of all, who are they?
Globus, I know they'rebasically a tour operator, but
Cosmos, I'm assuming that theyare also a tour operator Cosmos
falls under the Globus family ofbrands.
Mark Faldmo (19:10):
So there's Globus tours.
They generally use four or fivestar hotels that are a little
bit more centrally located.
Cosmos is a little bit more ofa budget company.
They use three, four starhotels that are not as well
located.
They might be on the outskirtsof town.
They're mainly a pricedifference.
They have very similar tours.
(19:31):
Globus tours generally includea few more meals than Cosmos
tours, and then Cosmos again, ismore of the I don't want to say
budget, but they're more of thebetter priced tours.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:43):
A couple of weeks ago we had TJ McAvoy with
Globus on the show, but one ofthe things we didn't talk about
was what they call their hub andspoke tour.
So let's talk about that.
Mark Faldmo (19:53):
This is a great idea.
They are tours that generallyyou'll just stay six or seven
nights in one city, but thenthey include all of the
prearranged tours and also someoptional activities that you can
do.
These tours are great becausethey include some built-in
flexibility.
They give you free time toexplore, also, stress-free
(20:13):
travel, because they do includea lot of those main tours, main
things that you'll want to doand see, and you have a tour
director with you the whole time, so you have someone there that
can answer all of yourquestions about the destinations
, where to eat, what to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:28):
That could be a real benefit for some people.
Mark Faldmo (20:30):
It is yeah, and also these provide more value.
So not only do you have theknowledge of the local tour
guide that's with you, you havea single price that covers
accommodation, transportation,all of your guides.
Everything's handled in advance.
I've often told the story.
I love it when I'm with thesetours because I'm getting so
much good information, and thenI see other people with their
(20:52):
heads in guidebooks.
They're trying to figure outwhat to do where to see.
A lot of people, I think, wasteso much time trying to figure
things out when they do it ontheir own.
It's just so much better to doit with a local guide that can
help you figure all of that out.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:06):
This could be a real option for our listener,
the text that we received, the70-year-old gentleman who's
never been to Europe that wantsto go.
This could be a legitimateoption for him.
Mark Faldmo (21:15):
It is, yeah, and these hub and spoke tours, they
actually can do them incombination, so you could do a
London and Paris Okay, takeninto account in between all the
transportation.
So, yes, that definitely is agood option for the Texter.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:33):
Let's get to the hot travel deal of the week,
which is going to be a Globusand Cosmos option.
Mark Faldmo (21:40):
So I'm going to give the current offer for both
of these brands.
Cosmos again, which is a littlebit more budget brand, is $300
per couple off of select tours.
Also one thing to note Cosmosalso has a selection of tours.
Some of them start at around$1,000 a person for these tours,
(22:00):
and then Globus has a save upto $500 on select tours.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:07):
What locations are we talking?
Mark Faldmo (22:08):
about what I've done.
I've chosen three of these kindof hub and spoke tours and
we'll go over what is included.
So the first one is a Globustour, so this does have that
$500 off per couple.
This tour is called LondonCountry.
It's a six night, seven daytour where you stay in London
(22:30):
the whole time.
It includes a few meals alongthe way, but what it does
include are side trips to theCotswolds, to Oxford and
Stratford-upon-Avon, side tripsto Stonehenge and Salisbury, as
well as some trips in Londonitself.
Okay, just a great way to get akind of a comprehensive London
(22:52):
tour.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:53):
What about Cosmos?
What place did you select there?
Mark Faldmo (22:55):
I've got two tours with Cosmos.
Both of them are in Italy.
The first one is called GourmetTuscany, and so this is a
eight-day, seven-night tour andyou actually stay in Tuscany and
Montecini.
Anything in Southern Italy.
This is kind of an off thebeaten path.
It's called Gourmet Puglia.
(23:16):
Now, a lot of people probablydon't know where Puglia is, but
it is in the hill of the boot ofItaly, so it's the little
peninsula, that's the hill ofthe boot Seven night, eight day
tour with just that hub andspoke concept, where you're
going to Bari and then most ofit is in Martina Franca is the
(23:36):
name of the city and then youjust go out and see different
areas in the hill of the boot ofItaly and I have never been in
that area.
It looks fascinating some ofthese tours that they offer.
So you know, these little huband spoke tours are a great way
to get a really in-depthvacation in certain regions of
countries.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:55):
This option is kind of interesting.
Mark Faldmo (23:58):
It's a great way to see places around Europe.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:01):
That's the hot travel deal of the week.
If you are interested in goingon a Globus or Cosmos tour the
ones that we talked about or ifyou want to go to a different
location they're a great companyand they do a great job with
their tours Call Mark.
He can book it for you or justget the conversation started
888-718-7717,.
(24:23):
888-718-7717.
And he will also post this onblueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
It is time for the infamousjust cruising segment.
We've got the cruise news ofthe week and we've got the
cruise deal of the week.
We've got a princess cruise andother Southern Caribbean
(24:46):
sailings.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show continues, alongside MarkFaldmo, my good friend, who's in
Fiji.
You should have taken me, mark.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (25:10):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show with PatrickWiscombe and Mark Faldmo,
presented by BluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
(25:31):
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (25:38):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
authentic tall ship sailingexperiences featuring creative
itineraries throughout theMediterranean Caribbean and
Central America.
To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
(25:59):
blueplanetvacations.
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Patrick Wiscombe (26:00):
Welcome back to the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show Coming up.
In the next 28 minutes we willbe talking about Southern
Caribbean cruises Nikki and Iliterally spent 30 days in the
Caribbean last month, amazingand we'll also be talking about
cruise cabins that accommodate afamily of five.
Let's continue the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
(26:24):
blueplanetvacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (26:46):
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 hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(27:15):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:27):
All aboard for the infamous just cruising
segment right here on the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show.
By the way, that is an actualship horn courtesy of Norwegian
(27:48):
Aqua, as they were blowing theirhorn in the port of Miami.
Kind of a funny story on that,mark.
Well, it's not a funny story.
It literally almost brought meto my knees and I nearly threw
my phone off the side of one ofthe decks.
I was facing the horn, meaningI was looking back at the
smokestack where the horn was,and they blew the horn.
It scared me so badly I nearlyfell to my knees and threw my
(28:14):
phone down to the pool deck.
Those ship horns can sneak up onyou Nicki was laughing so hard
and so was I because I couldn'tbelieve how loud it was coming
up in this segment of the showwe've got the cruise deal of the
week always at the bottom ofthe hour.
But let's first get to thecruise news travel headlines.
And Holland America line isgoing to stay longer in Europe
starting next year, 2026.
Mark Faldmo (28:36):
They have added an extra six weeks to their Europe
season.
Usually, cruise lines end ofSeptember or mid-October send
their ships from theMediterranean to the Caribbean,
but Holland America has decidedto leave a few ships in Europe
for an extra six weeks, one ofthe reasons being is 2026 is
(28:58):
predicted to be a peak year tosee the Aurora Borealis and so
they've added a couple of extraNorthern or they've added, which
they haven't done in the past,some Northern Lights cruises.
Here are just some of the newitineraries they've added, which
they haven't done in the past,some Northern Lights cruises.
Here are just some of the newitineraries they've added where
(29:18):
they're extending Europe, sothey have a Northern Lights
journey.
It's a 14-day Arctic journeythat leaves November 7th 2026.
It includes time spent in theArctic Circle, which will
maximize your chances to see theAurora Borealis, which will
maximize your chances to see theAurora Borealis.
Other newly opened voyages a14-day Mediterranean and
Atlantic Treasures cruise, whichhas an overnight stay in Lisbon
(29:40):
.
And I think one of these daysI'm going to have to do Portugal
as the destination of the weekbecause I think it is the
hottest destination in Europeright now.
So I've heard so much aboutvisiting Portugal, how fantastic
it is.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:53):
If you ever have a chance to see Northern
Lights, do it.
It is genuinely beautiful andit kind of takes your breath
away and it makes you realizehow small you are.
Mark Faldmo (30:04):
It is.
Yeah, you know these cruises.
I think a cruise is a great wayto do that because they can
move around to some extent.
Hopefully they can get to abetter viewing location to see
those.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:15):
Less light pollution.
You talk about being in themiddle of the sea and it is just
pitch black.
Yes, Kind of terrifying, but atthe same time it's kind of
magical too.
Mark Faldmo (30:24):
Yeah, it is A few other cruises.
They've added a series ofseven-day Norway cruises and
then a 15-day cultural crossingwith England and Normandy.
So that's probably the lastcruise when they're going to
send the ship back off to theCaribbean area in late November.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:43):
Norwegian Cruise Line is canceling some
cruises.
Did I get that right?
You did.
Mark Faldmo (30:49):
And that's for a reason.
Two ships are leaving theNorwegian cruise line fleet.
Oh, so they're getting rid of acouple ships.
Then they're getting rid of acouple of ships.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:58):
Oh interesting .
Mark Faldmo (30:59):
I don't like this announcement because one of the
ships is probably my secondfavorite ship in the Norwegian
fleet, which is the NorwegianSky oh really.
Now, this is the smallest shipin their fleet.
It's 77, 000 gross tons.
Tiny ship you're.
The three ships you are on arethree times the size of this
ship, but personally I like thesmaller ship.
(31:21):
It has less than 2 000 peopleand I really like the Norwegian
Sky.
And then the other ship that'sleaving the fleet is the
Norwegian Sun oh, which isprobably my least favorite
Norwegian because it has a weirddeck where some of the outside
cabins are right on thepromenade deck, so you have
people walking past your cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe (31:42):
Yeah, we did that on Holland America Line,
the Rotterdam.
That would have driven me crazyif we had.
I can't remember what deck itwas, it was like deck 12 or
something would have driven mecrazy if we had.
I can't remember what deck itwas, it was like deck 12 or
something.
Mark Faldmo (31:53):
We were walking past people's cabins and I just
the amount of commotion outsideof the room would have driven me
crazy yeah, I've sailed on theNorwegian Sun probably six times
, but it is my least favoriteand I think I cannot confirm
this.
But I've seen some otherstories about some cruise lines
that have acquired ships.
They're going to make themresidential ships where you just
(32:14):
buy your cabin and you sailaround the world.
They're like condominiums asthe ship sails.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:19):
Oh wow.
Mark Faldmo (32:20):
So I think that's what one or two of these ships
is going to do just be aresidential ship.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:26):
So are they going to sell off these ships
then?
Mark Faldmo (32:29):
I did see that.
I think they are actuallyselling the Norwegian Sky and
they are leasing the NorwegianSun to someone else okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:37):
Princess has announced that they are going to
start sailing from San Juanstarting this fall 2025, which,
by the way, we docked in old SanJuan on MSC World America.
Old San Juan is sneaky good.
It was hot when we were there,but it was a beautiful island.
I loved all of the differentbuildings that were different
(32:59):
colors pastel colors.
It was a very you could walkfriendly port.
Mark Faldmo (33:06):
Yes, love it.
I love San Juan.
I've been to San Juan six orseven times and I just enjoy
walking around old San Juan.
I've been to San Juan six orseven times and I just enjoy
walking around old San Juan.
I remember walking through someof those narrow streets and
popping out into a square with acathedral.
Oh yeah, sat down at one of thecafes and had breakfast there
(33:27):
and it was fascinating.
So yeah, I love San Juan,especially old town San Juan.
Patrick Wiscombe (33:34):
Yeah, some of those cathedrals, Nicki and I
went inside and we probablyspent, I don't know, 10, 15
minutes, not because we were hot, but it was a cathedral that
was, that had what was it like1500?
Like it'd been around for along time for you know, like
four or 500 years, and it was.
Mark Faldmo (33:51):
Yeah, it was amazing I'm excited about this
that princess has announcedtheir return to San Juan,
because those southern Caribbeancruises that leave from San
Juan get to some absolutelyfascinating ports that you
typically don't get to yeah ifyou're leaving from Miami or
Fort Lauderdale.
unless they're really longcruises seven day cruise you can
(34:13):
really get down to, likeGrenada, some of those islands
that are just fascinating tovisit.
I know another cruise line,royal Caribbean, actually just
recently announced that they arestarting back their Southern
Caribbean cruises.
These cruises seem to come andgo, but I think they're a great
option for cruise lines to havein their fleet.
Do we know which?
Patrick Wiscombe (34:33):
ship they're going to deploy.
Mark Faldmo (34:34):
It's one ship, and the ship is the Grand Princess.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:39):
In my head, San Juan, Puerto Rico, was not a
great place to go, but aftergetting there and actually
getting out and literallywalking the port, my experience
didn't match what was inside ofmy head, which is the beauty of
travel.
It can completely change yourperspective on a place that
leads into the cruise deal ofthe week, which is going to be
(35:00):
Princess Cruises.
What do we have for listenersthis week?
Mark Faldmo (35:03):
Right now their current promotion, which goes
for about another two weeks orso.
They actually might enhancethis a little bit over Memorial
Day.
Their current promotion is upto a $400 instant savings that's
based on the length of cruiseand the type of cabin you're in
plus up to 40% off, plus freeroom upgrades, plus $99 deposits
(35:26):
on sailings.
Patrick Wiscombe (35:28):
That's a really good promotion, then, and
your overall thoughts ofPrincess just as a company,
their ships do you recommendthem?
Mark Faldmo (35:38):
I love Princess.
You have to look at the reasonwhy you're traveling and where
you're traveling, Cause I thinksome cruises do better in other
destinations.
The two cruise lines I'vecruised on the most are
Norwegian and Princess, so I ama little bit biased towards
those, but you know I lovePrincess.
We've been talking a lot aboutMSC and their pizza.
I actually think MSC might havePrincess beat out slightly.
(36:02):
What?
But Princess, for years, hashad the best pizza at sea.
I love just going on the pooldeck and that's where their
pizza place is.
Them are fighting words, mark,yeah, so so I.
I just like the location betterof where princess's pizza is,
but they're very similar inquality of pizza.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:22):
This might gross you out, but MSC's pizza
was so good, maybe I'm going togross myself out.
I was even drinking the cheesejuice that was on my plate.
Mark Faldmo (36:32):
Yeah, I know what you're talking about, oh man,
that was so good.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:36):
Sorry, sorry about the cheese juice everyone.
Yeah, okay, what otherpromotion do we have, or is that
the only one that we have forPrincess?
Mark Faldmo (36:45):
We have two sailings we're going to talk
about.
Princess has two differentversions of that Southern
Caribbean cruise.
These are October dates, butthe prices are phenomenal.
So leave from San Juan goes toSt Thomas, St Martin, Antigua,
and then to St Kitts, toBarbados a day at sea and back
(37:05):
to San Juan.
That's another reason why Ilike these Southern Caribbean
cruises you have a lot more porttime and a lot less days at sea
.
This one is October 19th thatI'm looking at.
Inside cabin starts at $669,but a balcony.
Now this is a partiallyobstructed balcony but it's a
balcony nonetheless.
(37:25):
$729 per person for a balconycabin on October 19th to the
Southern Caribbean.
You can go up.
It's probably about another 80bucks to go to a regular balcony
cabin.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:41):
It is worth getting a balcony, taking in
that ocean, air, the breeze ohmy goodness.
It was so relaxing.
One of the most specialexperiences of my life is just
hanging out on the balcony withmy wife.
Mark Faldmo (37:52):
It is.
I think, that the balcony is soworth it.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:56):
Oh yeah.
Mark Faldmo (37:57):
So they have another one and this is October
12th or October 26th and this isthe itinerary I would pick.
I love these islands that we goto.
They're not typical.
That first itinerary we gavehas St Thomas and St Martin,
which are two typical EasternCaribbean cruises.
This next one is a trueSouthern Caribbean cruise.
Goes to Tortola, which isBritish Virgin Islands, St Kitts
(38:21):
, Dominica, Grenada, Barbadosand back to San Juan.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:29):
Five port days and then basically a day
getting to and from Correct ohwow, that is great.
Mark Faldmo (38:36):
The things I like about these cruises you're
getting British Virgin Islands,Dutch Virgin Islands.
Some of these have Frenchinfluence, so you're getting
lots of different cultures inthe Southern Caribbean.
Now, these prices they're alittle bit more expensive than
the October 19th cruise that wetalked about, but I think this
is by far a better itinerary.
(38:57):
So October 26th date starts at$765 per person for an inside or
$860 per person for a balconycabin.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:09):
Oh wow, Do we know which ship this one's on
the Southern Caribbean?
Mark Faldmo (39:14):
Yeah, and that's on the Grand Princess, and so you
know it's there from October toabout April of next year.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:22):
Have you seen some of the new ships that
Princess is releasing?
They're beautiful.
Mark Faldmo (39:27):
Yeah, they are.
Yeah, princess has always donea good job with their design.
I like the interiors ofPrincess ships.
I think they always have thebest décor.
I guess you would say, um, Ireally like what princess does
with their ships their horn.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:43):
While we were opening this segment, we were
talking about horns.
Their horn is literally thelove boat theme song yeah, it is
.
Mark Faldmo (39:51):
That's what I like about it, you know, and Disney
does a similar thing with theirhorn, so I like those two when
there's a Princess ship or aDisney ship in port and they
blow their horn and either dowhen you Wish Upon a Star on
Disney, or Princess plays thePrincess love boat theme song.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:11):
In the distance.
When we were getting onCelebrity Ascent, they were
playing the love boat theme andyou could hear in the distance.
I don't know where he was onthe ship, but all of a sudden
you hear the love boat and I gotit on video.
Absolutely hilarious.
Get out see the world.
(40:33):
San Juan, Puerto Rico, love it.
Whatever your perception is andI realize that I'm putting my
feelings on everyone else it isan amazing place.
It is worth getting to callMark in his office, get the
conversation started, takeadvantage of those promotions
888-718-7717, 888-718-7717,888-718-7717.
(40:57):
When we come back, we've gotsome additional travel news that
we need to get to Mark's traveltips and we'll wrap it up.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (41:09):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
That's 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (41:35):
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 beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
com.
Show Voice (42:00):
This is the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call the show right now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700 801-649-3700.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:30):
And now your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
Faldmo, coming to you live fromFiji, the Sheraton-Denarau
Island.
That is where Mark is this verymoment.
As we come to you on the radioshow and podcast, I'm looking at
your live cam.
I know you're just looking atthe greenness, but even that
green is pretty as beautiful.
Mark Faldmo (42:48):
Yeah yeah, fiji is a great destination.
Patrick Wiscombe (42:51):
So what are you doing down there as a travel
advisor, owner of a company,what are you doing down there?
Mark Faldmo (42:58):
So I'm attending it's called the Fiji Tourism
Exchange and so I am down heremeeting with hotels, activities,
companies, different touristythings to do, and so it's just
days of straight meetings andappointments with people that
help me service Fiji better.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:16):
Okay, and so you can turn around and sell it
to our listeners, basically.
Mark Faldmo (43:20):
Yes, okay, next week, when I'm completely back
with this, we'll have a fullreport on that.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:26):
Okay, coming up in this segment, the final
segment of the show, we will betalking about a question that we
received from Tricia, one ofour listeners, that she has a
family of five and most cruisecabins only hold four.
You wouldn't think going fromfour to five would be a big deal
, but apparently it is and we'vegot a solution for our
listeners.
That's coming up here in theremaining moments of the show,
(43:48):
but let's first get to thetravel news headlines.
Let's talk about cruising witha passport and the reasons to do
so.
Mark Faldmo (43:56):
This is a question I get asked often because,
technically, if you cruise froma port, from a US port, return
back to the same port.
With a few exceptions, you cantravel with just a birth
certificate.
The countries that requirepassports to be valid for longer
.
For similar reasons, I wouldcruise with a passport If you
(44:18):
miss the ship for some reason,you have a medical emergency,
you're in a foreign country andyou need a passport to get back.
So it is just a good idea tosail with a passport.
One thing I have not seenbefore until the last time at
MSC, and I've seen a few othercruise lines, cruise ports that
do this If you have a passport.
A lot of cruise ports that dothis If you have a passport.
A lot of cruise ports are nowfacial ID.
(44:41):
So, you basically just walkthrough.
If you don't have a passport,you're put into a separate line.
It's usually a long line andyou have to get manually
processed by immigrationofficers.
So it'll take you a lot longeron the last day of the cruise to
get off the ship.
So that's another reason tocruise with a passport.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:59):
About a year ago right now, you and I were in
Fort Lauderdale.
We went on Margaritaville atsea Paradise was the name of the
ship.
You got off instantly withglobal entry.
Meanwhile Patrick didn't have apassport yet and he had to go
into the long line and Mark wentto go pick up our car and we
still met about the same time.
Mark Faldmo (45:20):
Yes.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:20):
That's how long that line was.
Mark Faldmo (45:22):
For various reasons , I always recommend cruising
with a passport.
Ad Voice (45:26):
Yeah agreed.
Mark Faldmo (45:27):
You know also there are some countries in Latin
America, in the Caribbean, thatnow do require people to have a
passport Because they've hadissues of people getting stuck
there, people to have a passportbecause they've had issues of
people getting stuck there.
And so again, like I mentioned,there are some exceptions to
being able to cruise with just abirth certificate now.
So keep that in mind whenplanning a cruise as well.
Patrick Wiscombe (45:47):
Hotel scams.
I didn't even think that thiswas still going on hotel scams,
but apparently they are and howour listeners can avoid getting
scammed.
Mark Faldmo (45:57):
My first recommendation would be to book
with a reputable travel agentthat you know, because there are
lots of travel sites out thereand there are several hotel
booking sites that are fake,that put up fake listings and
take your money.
There's a story recently of atraveler that went to Huatulco
in Mexico and got in the taxi,took him to a place and it was
(46:18):
just a vacant lot, and so hewalked around for a while,
eventually made it to arestaurant.
He got all of the local taxidrivers there.
None of them have ever heard ofthis hotel.
Oh boy, and so it was a fakelisting on a site.
So just make sure you book witha reputable site, and the same
(46:38):
goes for booking Airbnb.
There have been lots of scamswith Airbnb, where the owner
contacts people directly andasks them to book outside of the
site, to pay outside of Airbnb,and then when they get there,
there's nothing there andthey've taken their money.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:55):
Oh boy.
Mark Faldmo (46:56):
Just make sure you're booking with reputable
agents or with reputablewebsites, or directly on the
hotel's website itself.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:05):
Southwest is overhauling its fare bundles.
Let's start with that.
What is a fare bundle?
Mark Faldmo (47:11):
A fare bundle is fares that include seat
assignments, fares that includebaggage, different perks.
So Southwest used to.
You bought a ticket and you gottwo free check bags and they
didn't have assigned seats.
You just kind of generallyboarded.
Now Southwest is going toassign seats and they've started
(47:31):
bundling things together likeother airlines, you know, like
basic economy fares, and so thiswill start sometime soon.
But here are the new fareoptions that Southwest is going
to have.
The least expensive fare willbe their basic fare, which
assigns you a seat at check-in,and baggage is additional.
Choice is what they're callingit.
(47:52):
It gives you a standard seatand one bag to check.
Choice preferred lets you bookpreferred seating and you get
preferred boarding.
And then Choice Extra providesseats with extra legroom, free
checked bags and pre-boarding.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:07):
Would that be considered their first class,
for lack of a better way to saythat.
Mark Faldmo (48:12):
Since they don't have first class, that would be
their highest and that would belike on Delta Airlines Comfort
Plus for instance.
So it'll be the extra legroomseats.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:23):
Trisha was asking I have a family of five.
This is her email.
Most cruise cabins only holdfour.
Are there any ships that willaccommodate my family of five?
Normally this wouldn't be a bigdeal but for whatever reason, a
family of five, generallyspeaking, you've always had to
get two cabins.
But apparently there are a fewlines, four or five cruise lines
(48:48):
, that will accommodate herfamily of five.
Mark Faldmo (48:51):
Larger families.
Patrick Wiscombe (48:52):
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo (48:52):
Yeah, and so, generally speaking, the minor
policy on cruises is, if you dohave to get two cabins, you have
to be in a cabin that'sconnecting or adjacent or across
the hall.
It has to be in the same areaas the parent's cabin, which
makes sense with small children.
Yes, there are some ways aroundthat.
You can book one parent in oneroom and another parent in the
(49:14):
other room.
But generally speaking, it'sharder to cruise with larger
families.
But there are a few cruiselines and we'll go through all
of them that do have familyrooms that will hold five people
, and so these aren't suites.
There are some suites that willhold more.
These are just regular cabins.
So Royal Caribbean is the firstone.
(49:35):
They have a family inside cabin, a family ocean view cabin,
which will hold five, and thenthey also offer family suites,
grand suites, owner suites thataccommodate five or more guests.
Norwegian cruise lines,particularly on the breakaway
and breakaway plus classes ofships, have family ocean view
cabins that sleep five.
(49:56):
They also offer two-bedroomdeluxe suites on some ships, on
Norwegian Cruise Line HollandAmerica on the Koningsdam, so
it's only one of Holland Americaships.
Although Holland America is notnecessarily known for family
and kids, they do have familyocean view suites available.
Carnival Cruise Line, on theDream class of ships, they have
(50:18):
a deluxe ocean view cabin thathas two bunk beds and a sofa bed
that can sleep five.
And then Disney, known for itsfamily, does have several cabin
categories that are familyfriendly and can accommodate up
to five.
So there are options andthey're becoming more and more
options as new ships are built.
(50:39):
Probably six or seven years ago, unless you were buying the
suites, you couldn't get afamily of five in a cabin.
So these newer ships are reallystarting to put out.
Especially the cruise lineslike Royal Caribbean, Norwegian
and Disney that really catertowards families have really
added in these categories thatwill hold five.
Patrick Wiscombe (50:59):
Tricia.
I hope that helps you and Ihope that you can get out and go
on a family vacation.
If you are interested in any ofthe vacations that we've
discussed during the past hour,we've got the hot travel deal of
the week, the Globus and Cosmoshub and spoke tours the cruise
(51:20):
deal of the week with $99deposits per person Awesome, Get
out and see the world while youcan Call Mark in his office.
Just get the conversationstarted 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacations.
(51:40):
com.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning, Sunday,
at 11 o'clock right here on thisradio station, and you can
stream, download and subscribeto the podcast on
insidetraveltalk.
com.
You can stream the show righton the website or, if you're a
(52:02):
podcast lover, you can subscribeto the podcast off that site
and we're on all of the majorpodcast platforms.
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
(52:22):
Live your life intentionally.
Live the life that you want.
Thanks for listening.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Show Voice (52:33):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(52:54):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week 717.
Ad Voice (53:03):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Inside Travel Talk is broughtto 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
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