May 17, 2025 • 52 mins
Dreaming of a South Pacific paradise that won't break the bank? This week, we shatter the myth that Fiji is exclusively a honeymoon destination as Mark broadcasts live from the Fiji Tourism Exchange, offering insider knowledge from his fifth visit to these stunning islands.
Discover why Fiji deserves consideration for your next family vacation with three standout family-friendly resorts: the renowned Shangri-La, the beachfront Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort, and the adventure-packed Castaway Island. Each offers comprehensive children's programs, allowing parents to enjoy some alone time while kids create their own tropical memories. The cultural immersion opportunities set Fiji apart – visiting authentic villages, participating in traditional kava ceremonies with local chiefs, and experiencing genuine Fijian hospitality.
The surprising affordability of Fiji emerges as a major revelation, with round-trip flights from Los Angeles starting at just $799 on Fiji Airways and complete vacation packages (including flights and five nights accommodation) from $1,279 per person. We explore accommodation options for every budget, from the four-star Novotel Nandi to the stunning overwater "berets" at Fiji Marriott Momi Bay.
For travelers seeking less-crowded European adventures, we highlight four spectacular alternatives to tourist hotspots: Switzerland's Italian-speaking Ticino region, Romania's castle-filled Transylvania, southern Italy's charming Puglia, and Portugal's sunny, affordable coastline.
Cruise enthusiasts will appreciate our detailed breakdown of Panama Canal voyages, particularly highlighting Princess Cruises' exceptional 16-day repositioning journey from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale starting at just $1,229 per person. This voyage offers a perfect blend of iconic ports, the remarkable Panama Canal transit, and incredible value.
Whether you're planning your next tropical escape, European adventure, or bucket-list cruise, call Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 to turn these travel insights into your next unforgettable journey.
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 is time
to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show
Coming up.
On today's show, Mark and Iwill be talking about Fiji.
He's still there right now.
This show, this first segment,is all about Fiji.
He will be returning today.
Theme parks are making a traveldestination comeback, future
(00:20):
cruise credits and how theyactually work, and a real cruise
from Alaska to the Caribbean.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
(00:42):
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:45):
Travel deals and offers change constantly and are
capacity controlled and subjectto change without notice,
helping you plan your nextvacation.
This is the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
America's best travel advisors.
Call us now 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, andcheck out the podcast at
(01:10):
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:22):
Coming to you live from Fiji.
At least Mark is Hi there.
I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
If you are brand new to theshow, the entire purpose of this
radio and podcast is to helpyou plan and book your next
vacation or just simply give youideas of where you want to
(01:46):
vacation next.
This show is presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, and just at the very top ofthe show.
Thank you for taking the timeto stop and listen and, as I
mentioned in the intro, we willbe talking all about Fiji in
this first segment.
Mark is literally broadcastingfrom there.
And my first question to you,sir and by the way, it's good to
(02:08):
see you, how was your week?
Mark Faldmo (02:09):
My week was good.
I was here for meetings, so Iwas at what's called the Fiji
Tourism Exchange.
Those travel agents and othertravel sellers that sell a lot
of Fiji are invited down and weget to meet with and experience
all of the hotels, suppliers,different tour operators,
activities Fiji has to offer.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:30):
So you have actual experience and you can
talk to people, yes, about whatthey're booking.
Mark Faldmo (02:34):
Yeah yeah, and I've learned some new information.
This is my fifth time or so toFiji, oh wow, but I did learn
some new things.
Fiji has a lot to offer.
It's a great destination spotand it's relatively affordable
as well.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:49):
Well, that's coming up here in the first
segment, all about Fiji.
But let's first get to thetravel news headlines PETA's
campaign.
What does PETA stand for?
People, for the EthicalTreatment of Animals?
Is that right?
Yeah, peta is campaigning.
Basically, they're campaigningto tell tour companies to drop
the camel rides in Egypt.
Personally, I've never been onthe back of a camel.
(03:11):
I can't say that it's at thetop of my list, but I certainly
wouldn't be opposed to gettingon the back of a camel in Egypt.
Mark Faldmo (03:18):
Have you ever been on one?
I have.
I have been on a camel one timein Jordan, did you?
Patrick Wiscombe (03:24):
really.
Mark Faldmo (03:25):
Yes, what PETA's issue is?
These animals are used purelyjust for rides and photos.
They serve no other purposethan that.
When they started looking intothis and other people started
looking into this, those camelsare not treated very well.
They're not fed, they're notmaintained.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:44):
Even for photo ops they don't treat them,
maintained Even for photo ops.
Mark Faldmo (03:45):
They don't treat them well, even for photo ops.
Yeah, so close to 50 touroperators have moved away from
offering camel rides in front ofGiza just because of how those
camels were treated.
Now, in other areas, like Imentioned, Jordan, there's
places in Morocco where thecamels are actually used for
legitimate transportation.
(04:06):
Those camels are well-fed,maintained.
I mentioned I was going toPetra and you either walk three
miles down a gully to Petra,take a camel or a donkey, and it
was used for legitimatetransportation.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:20):
Pleasant, not that.
Being on the back of a camel isgoing to be a pleasant
experience.
I would imagine that it kind ofsmells too.
Mark Faldmo (04:26):
It was better than walking.
I always feel a bit unsteady oncamels.
The one time I rode an elephantin Thailand, the elephant knew
how nervous I was.
Oh no, it just took its earsand wrapped its ears around my
legs to steady me and keep me on.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:43):
Did that freak you out a little bit right at
the very beginning?
Mark Faldmo (04:45):
It did a little bit and then they said what the
elephant was doing Securing thecargo.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:51):
Yes, real ID.
That is the little star that ison driver's licenses.
Real ID has been in the newsquite a bit the last what?
Basically?
Two weeks or so.
So far, so good.
If you don't have a real ID,you Secretary Kristi Noem is
saying that you can still travel.
You'll just be pushed over to asecondary line.
(05:11):
Have they given the guidelinesof the secondary screening?
Mark Faldmo (05:14):
It's a questionnaire and you may be
subject to additional baggagescreening and pat-downs.
It has been all over the newsand a lot of people have
actually been canceling theirtrips because of this, thinking
they couldn't travel, and sothey're coming out saying you
still can travel, you just haveto go through a secondary
screening process you've everbeen in a secondary screening?
Patrick Wiscombe (05:35):
I don't think I have no, but my father has.
Mark Faldmo (05:38):
So he went through with a back brace.
Oh there, we get put into asecondary line, and then they
even had to take him into theback room to check out the back
brace.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:51):
Oh, Mark Faldo Sr getting a full cavity search
.
Mark Faldmo (05:54):
Yes.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:56):
And your dad is the most polite man on the
planet too, and I can just seehim.
I promise, I'm not a terrorist,I'm not doing anything wrong.
Mark Faldmo (06:03):
I just hurt my back .
Yeah, oh sure, my back.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:05):
Yeah, oh sure, sure, we hear that all the time
.
Let's get back to Fiji.
That is quite a view behind youFor anyone listening.
We're doing the radio show andthe podcast live from Fiji, or
at least he is Just set thescene of what's in front of you
right now to whet people'sappetite in front of you right
(06:27):
now to whet people's appetite.
Mark Faldmo (06:28):
What to expect in Fiji.
So we're a day ahead of you.
It is Sunday at 6 am.
For me right now, the sun isjust coming up and, as you can
see, as I mentioned last week,I'm in a garden view room, so
it's just palm trees and grass,but it's still a great view.
If I lean really really hardout my balcony, I can see the
water?
Patrick Wiscombe (06:46):
Who have you met with and what are some of
the things you've been doing?
Mark Faldmo (06:49):
This was just a convention, where I had 20
minute appointments with about80 different suppliers over a
couple of days, and then we wentout on a couple of tours, which
I'll explain in just a moment.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:01):
Oh, so it was rapid fire beat all the
suppliers in 20 minuteincrements, basically.
Mark Faldmo (07:07):
Yeah, yeah, pretty much meet all the suppliers.
Oh, wow, almost every supplieron Fijian islands they met with.
So this one, I kind of camewith a different approach.
I wanted to find out the bestthings for families to do.
Fiji is not often thought of asa family destination, but there
are lots of good things forfamilies to do.
Fiji is not often thought of asa family destination, no, but
there are lots of good thingsfor families to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:29):
What about resorts?
Family-friendly resorts as well, yep.
Mark Faldmo (07:33):
I would go with three hotels that are really
family-friendly.
They offer any service, theyoffer kids programs.
They really help the kids feelwelcome.
The first one is the Shangri-LaIsland.
Really help the kids feelwelcome.
The first one is the Shangri-LaIsland.
You say Shangri-La, shangri-la,yeah, fiji which is a nice
property.
But the next two are the twothat I really think are great.
(07:54):
One is the Outrigger Fiji BeachResort.
We talk about Outrigger quite abit yeah, we do In Hawaii.
There are a lot of Outriggerproperties, but they do a great
job in Fiji, with the familieslocated right on the beach.
They're about 30, 40 minutesaway from the airport, so that's
a great family destination.
And the next one is CastawayIsland in Fiji.
(08:15):
This island is a few miles fromwhere the movie Castaway was
filmed and you have to take aboat to get to it.
It's a small island.
Kids will love it.
They've got the inflatableocean amusement park thing.
You know where there's waterslides and you have kayaks and
all sorts of fun things for thekids to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:36):
You didn't go to the island, did you?
Mark Faldmo (08:37):
I did not go to that island, no.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:40):
I thought you were going to say inflatable
volleyballs Named Wilson.
Mark Faldmo (08:45):
Yes, named Wilson.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:46):
What about activities for?
Mark Faldmo (08:47):
kids.
One reason why I think Fiji isa good destination for family
and kids is the cultural aspectof it.
There are a lot of activitieswhere you go to an actual Fijian
village.
They still live in villages andtribes.
You can go really experiencethe Fijian culture.
All of them include a kavaceremony with the chief of the
(09:09):
village, which kava is a drinkmade from the root of a tree.
But other things that make Fijigood for family lots of really
good snorkeling.
One thing that we did on thiswas island hopping, where you go
out to a small island snorkelswim.
They serve lunch out on theisland.
You can also stop at a placecalled Cloud Nine.
In the daytime it's just afloating bar that just floats
(09:32):
out in the ocean and I'm onCloud Nine.
They serve pizzas and sandwiches.
And if you're really lookingfor adventure, the Sigatoka
River Safari, which is a jetboat that takes you up the
Sigatoka River, and this alsoincludes a stop and visit at one
of the local Fijian villages.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:52):
There's just something about being immersed
in water and consuming food andbeverage that is just so unique
that, if you do it once, it's amemory that stays with you
forever.
Mark Faldmo (10:04):
It is, yeah, this whole segment.
We talked about Fiji forfamilies, but it's great for
couples, great for adults aswell.
I love Fiji.
It is far away, but it'srelatively affordable.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:16):
This is something that you and I talked
about a long long time ago and Idon't know if it's still active
, but I remember was it FijiAirways or was it a different
airline that you could fly toFiji for $799 round trip from LA
.
Is that still applicable or isthat something that was a long
time ago that?
Mark Faldmo (10:35):
is still current with Fiji Airways.
In fact I saw an email.
I haven't checked this or whatdates, so we'll stick with the
$799 for now.
But I did see that they diddrop some dates down into the
$689 range.
Oh my word, because I didn'twant to wake up in the middle of
the night to research that, Ididn't look at it, but these
prices will go over.
(10:56):
I'll just choose two hotels.
One is the Novotel Nandi, whichis a four-star hotel, and this
is airfare five nights hotel inFiji With the international
dateline.
You're actually gone for sevendays.
So the price of that, again atthe Novotel, four-star $12.79
per person from.
(11:17):
Los Angeles.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:18):
Is that with airfare, or is that just the
hotel?
Mark Faldmo (11:21):
That's with airfare .
So that's Airfare from LosAngeles Five Nights Hotel.
You will need to add transfersonto that, which aren't too bad,
but $1279 per person is a greatstarting point for that.
Yeah, it is.
And then if we go up to theOutrigger Resort, which is one
that we talked about, that'sgreat for families that price
(11:42):
goes up to $1789 per person.
That's still amazing.
I'll just throw in one otherhotel, which is the Fiji
Marriott Momi Bay.
This is a hotel I've used a lotfor groups, for corporate
incentive groups.
This is as low as I've everseen it, and that starts at
$18.59 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:00):
And that still includes the airfare.
That still includes the airfare.
Okay, so we're not talking$1859 plus $800.
Mark Faldmo (12:07):
It's just 1859, total, total yeah, one thing I
like about the Fiji Momi Baythis price was in their standard
kind of hotel rooms but theyalso have beach berets and
over-the-water berets if youwant to upgrade to that.
They've actually made aman-made inlet to the ocean and
(12:28):
they've built these over thewater things in this kind of
calm, tranquil bay.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:32):
So what's the difference between an over the
water bungalow and an over waterberet, or is it basically the
same thing?
Different term the language.
Mark Faldmo (12:42):
That's it.
So yeah, bungalow is what theywould call them in Tahiti and
beret is what they would callthem in Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:49):
When you get back.
We've got to discuss this.
I've never been to Fiji.
You've been there.
Did you say?
This is your fifth time?
Fifth time?
Yeah.
One of the things that youmentioned right at the very
beginning, as we were talkingabout Fiji, was that they offer
nanny services, which I which Ithink is a brilliant idea.
Hey, bring the whole family,and if you have young kids and
the adults want to go off and dosomething, your kids are still
(13:09):
covered.
Yep, love that idea.
What time is your flight thismorning?
Mark Faldmo (13:16):
Well, I actually don't leave till 9 pm tonight,
so I've got all day here Finallya day without meetings, I can
relax a little bit.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:25):
Well, you're in the perfect environment,
that's for sure.
We will be booking somethingdown to Fiji, me and Nikki.
If you are interested in goingto Fiji and taking advantage of
these brand new offers to travelto Fiji, call Mark or someone
in his office.
He might be in the air888-718-7717.
(13:46):
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he will also post this onblueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week and we are talking
about Europe.
This is a caller question thatwe had during last week's show.
He wants to go to Europe.
We're going to give him someoptions.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast or radio
(14:10):
show continues.
Alongside my very tan friendMark Voldemort.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (14:22):
If you have travel questions, they have the answers
.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (14:48):
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.
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Show Voice (15:14):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show presented byblueplanetvacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
(15:36):
801-649-3700,.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:42):
Broadcasting live from Fiji, or at least Mark
is.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend,
especially on a Saturday orSunday.
We hope to give you greatinformation about travel and
give you ideas of where you maywant to consider vacationing
(16:04):
next.
If you were listening to thelast segment, mark is
broadcasting from Fiji.
He gave our listeners somepretty great deals.
What was the resort theMarriott Resort that you were
talking about?
Mark Faldmo (16:15):
So the Marriott Resort was the Marriott Momi Bay
Resort, which started at $1859per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:22):
And that includes the airfare, which is
just amazing.
Mark Faldmo (16:24):
So that's airfare from Los Angeles, Five Nights
Hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:33):
And then we talked about the Novotel Nandi
which started at $1279 perperson for the airfare and the
hotel.
Yeah, take advantage of thatoffer.
Call Mark or somebody in hisoffice, because he's in Fiji
right now 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
I just brought up where you are.
717-888-718-7717.
I just brought up where you are, or at least the Marriott
Resort Momi Bay in Fiji, thoseoverwater bungalows.
(16:56):
What was the other thing?
Oh, berets, that is a beautifulsetting Coming up in this
segment of the show.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week and we are talking
about Europe, but let's get tothe travel news headlines first.
I saw this article that themeparks and I'm wondering if
Universal Studios Orlando makesme wonder if they're really
fueling this right now.
Mark Faldmo (17:15):
This list is called the Global 100.
Each year, this survey comesout, so this is the 2025 Global
100.
And of the top 10 attractions,six were theme parks.
Oh really.
So what this looks at?
It takes in a whole bunch ofdifferent data to come up with
this, but it looks at verifieduser ratings, verified user
(17:37):
reviews, booking statistics, websearches.
So you know, it kind ofcombines everything it can to
determine this list, and so thenumber one attraction in the
world was the Louvre Museum inParis.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:50):
Oh, really Okay.
Is that considered a?
Well, it's not a theme park,it's just an attraction.
Okay.
Mark Faldmo (17:55):
It's an attraction, so yeah.
So this list is the top 100attractions.
Okay, got it.
But of the top 10, six of themare theme parks, oh, wow.
And so theme parks do seem tobe driving travel demand.
So number one was the Louvre inParis, number two, walt Disney
World in Florida.
Number three, the Palace Museum.
Number four was Disneyland Parkin California.
(18:18):
Number five, la Sagrada Familia, which is the church in
Barcelona.
Amazing, they've been workingon it for 50 years or 60 years.
Hopefully someday it'll befinished.
Number six was Shanghai DisneyResort.
Number seven was UniversalOrlando Resort.
Number eight was the VaticanMuseums in Rome, and then nine
(18:41):
and 10 were both Universal Parks, universal Studios Japan and
Universal Beijing Resort.
So a lot of theme parks in thattop 10 of the top 100 rankings
of attractions for tourists.
How many have you been to thetop 10?
Of the top 10, I've been to sixof the top 10.
Wow, okay, I haven't been toany of the foreign theme parks,
(19:04):
right, so that kind of that's animpressive record.
I've been to those places ofthe foreign theme parks Right,
Japan.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:08):
That's an impressive record.
Mark Faldmo (19:09):
I've been to those places, just not the theme parks
.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:13):
Atlantis.
Now this is in the Bahamas.
We're talking about kind ofthat coral-colored hotel, kind
of famous.
I won't call it iconic, butit's pretty recognizable.
Atlantis Paradise Island hasannounced some new attractions,
some dining, some entertainment.
What are those?
Mark Faldmo (19:29):
This resort has to kind of continually reimagine
itself.
Yeah, they've just gone through150 million transformation last
year and now they're going toadd eight new dining concepts
which will bring the totalnumber of eateries to 50.
They're going to put in a newmini golf course.
(19:50):
They're going to put in escaperooms, pickleball courts.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:54):
Okay, I get that one, a new beach club.
Beach clubs are so interestingright now.
Mark Faldmo (20:00):
Yeah, that's very interesting to me that they are
so popular.
People just want to go to thatbeach club and escape.
You know where you have a goodbeach but plus some amenities
right there next to well, notreally next to that.
You know, royal Caribbean hasstarted their beach club, which
is an island that's kind ofright across from the cruise
(20:20):
pier.
It's always been a stretch ofbeach that I've wondered who
owns that and what they're goingto do with it.
And Royal Caribbean justannounced their Nassau Beach
Club will be right there in thatsame area.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:30):
I love ocean beaches.
Now I had something kind ofinteresting happen to me when we
were in Bimini Island I'm notsure that I told you this
actually.
So Bimini Island, there was anoceanfront beach and it was
awesome.
It was terrific.
Soft sand, a lot of sand, andyou really had to work out just
to walk through the sand.
It was deep.
But right next to that,literally just behind me, was
(20:52):
the Bimini Beach Club, which wasjust beach chairs, pool, huge
pools Actually there was a fewpools.
I think that is a trend that'sgoing to continue.
To me, that's a really greatupgrade.
If you want the ocean, you haveit, but if you don't want the
ocean, something a little lesssandy and with the beach
amenities, I think it's a great,great idea.
It is Always in this segment.
(21:13):
Segment number two is the hottravel deal of the week and we
got a question from Matt and hecalled the studio line and this
is also the text line801-649-3700, is also the text
line 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700and we want to answer your
travel related questions, soplease submit them there.
801-649-3700.
(21:35):
Matt is asking I want to go toEurope, but to places in Europe
that aren't so crowded.
Mark Faldmo (21:41):
I have four suggestions and we'll just go by
the regions, not necessarilyhow to get there.
A lot of these places we'vetalked about Globus and their
off the beaten path tours A lotof these you can do with Globus
or just on your own, but theplaces you should look at that
are less crowded but you stillget that great European
experience.
One is Ticino in Switzerland.
(22:02):
This is in Southern Switzerland.
It's the Italian speaking areaand kind of what they say is
it's Italian hospitality but onSwiss time.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:13):
You know, so I'm not sure I know what that
means.
Hospitality I get on.
Mark Faldmo (22:17):
Swiss time.
Italians are never on time, andso that's why it's saying,
rather than Italy, sometimestrains are running behind,
people are late for restaurantreservations.
That's why it's saying, ratherthan Italy, sometimes trains are
running behind, people are latefor restaurant reservations,
and so this is more, and theSwiss are very much not like
that.
And so Italian hospitality, onSwiss time, really good Northern
(22:38):
Italian food there.
You're also in the beautifulmountains a lot.
What you think Switzerland is.
That is one place.
The next place and this is aplace I have not been to but it
is definitely on my bucket listis Transylvania, in Romania.
I have been to Romania and Iloved it.
Going to Transylvania, I think,would just be fascinating.
(22:59):
Dracula not included.
Well, you can go to Dracula'scastle.
I'm there, and so that's onething about Romania, this castle
.
I'm there, and so that's onething about Romania, especially
Transylvania.
It has castles in abundance andmedieval towns are everywhere.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:14):
What else do you recommend?
Mark Faldmo (23:14):
from it Puglia Italy which is the hill of the
boot.
Just a wonderful place tovacation.
Italy is one of the top traveldestinations and this is a less
visited region where you stillget that same Italian
hospitality.
I have been to Southern Italyand just a wonderful destination
.
What else do you have for Matt?
The last destination isPortugal.
(23:35):
Portugal is becoming more andmore popular, but it is a great
place to visit.
It's affordable, it has beaches, it has lots of sunshine.
So Portugal is a place,although becoming more popular,
where you can still escape thecrowds a little bit in Europe.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:52):
In terms of promotions for any of these
locations.
What do we have for listenersthis week?
Mark Faldmo (23:58):
Right now we'll go with the Globus promotion that
we talked about last week,because they do offer off the
beaten path tours to theseplaces and right now it's save
up to 500 per couple off of thetour price.
Six to seven night tour that'sreally good.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:15):
That is exceptional.
If you want to go to Europe,man, I hope that helps.
And if you have follow-upquestions, call mark in his
office.
888-718-7717 is how you get ahold of the office.
888-718-7717 is how you get ahold of the office 888-718-7717.
And you can also go toblueplanetvacations.
com.
You know you are reallywhetting my appetite for some
(24:38):
new places that I haven't gone.
Fiji I'm definitely talking toyou about that one.
We'll do that.
When you get back, matt, call888-718-7717 to get that one.
We'll do that.
When you get back, matt, call888-718-7717 to get that booked.
Or if you have follow-upquestions about where you're
going to be staying when we comeback, it is time for the
infamous Just Cruising segment.
(24:59):
We've got the cruise news ofthe week and we've also got the
cruise deal of the week.
So if you want to go fromAlaska to the Caribbean, listen
up.
That is next with the InsideTravel Talk podcast.
The radio show continuesalongside a very tan Mark
Voldemort.
I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (25:21):
They've literally traveled millions of miles to
answer your travel-relatedquestions.
Yeah, they really have.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
America's best travel advisors,Patrick and Mark, will be back
after these messages.
Ad Voice (25:42):
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
blueplanetvacations.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (26:00):
Okay, we're back on the air.
Thank you for listening to theInside Travel Talk podcast or
radio show Coming up.
In the next 30 minutes, markand I will be talking about
Norwegians' upgrades on theirprivate island called Great
Stirrup Cay.
I was there about three weeksago, cruising from Alaska to the
Caribbean, Panama Canal cruises, future cruise credits and what
they really go toward.
(26:21):
And a travel show would not bethe same without the sound of
music.
Let's get back to the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastor radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
(26:42):
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (26:52):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Hit us up right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:13):
Here's Patrick and Mark all aboard for the
(27:40):
infamous just cruising segmentright here on the inside travel
talk podcast or radio show,alongside Mark Faldmo, who is
broadcasting live from Fiji thismorning a very early morning,
by the way.
What time did you get up thismorning?
It's 6, what is it?
6.30 in Fiji right now.
I got up at about 4.45 am tostart preparing for this show.
Mark Faldmo (28:08):
You've got to be so tired right now.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:10):
He's so tired he's rendered speechless.
Yes, coming up in this segmentof the show, we have got to be
talking about Norwegiansupgrades on their private island
, great stirrup key.
Nicki and I were there aboutthree weeks ago.
Awesome, awesome, privateisland.
How many times have you beenthere?
I've been there probably 15 orso.
Oh, okay, all right, so youknow how nice it is there.
(28:31):
Yeah, first time.
Mark Faldmo (28:33):
I went there, it was just a beach and beach
chairs and a little palapa wherethey served lunch.
It is not that anymore.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:40):
Let's get to the travel news headlines and
then we'll get to the cruisedeal of the week.
Sound of Music fans, the hillsare alive with the Sound of
Music.
Take note.
Mark Faldmo (28:49):
This is an interesting cruise, one which I
would love to go on.
I actually didn't watch theSound of Music until recently,
and I really like it.
This is a river cruise onAmadeus River Cruises.
They're an Austrian rivercruise company.
On their July 24th they have anew itinerary which travels
between Passau and Budapest,visits Salzburg, Vienna,
(29:12):
Bratislava and Slovakia.
Their stop in Salzburg.
They're going to have a specialtour guide.
That tour guide's name isElisabeth von Trapp.
She is the granddaughter ofGeorge, and Maria will be the
tour guide.
Do a walking tour of SalzburgSound of Music themed See that
would be a lot of fun.
So right now, Amadeus isoffering a $500 per person
(29:36):
discount for suites or $250 perperson discount on other
staterooms for travelers whobook through the end of May.
This is July 24th sailing.
If you're a Sound of Music fan,this might be the perfect
vacation for you to take.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:51):
My stepdad loves Sound of Music.
I can't tell you the number oftimes I walked into his office
and he was watching the Sound ofMusic.
That's really where my fondnessfor the movie came from and, by
the way, I finally just decidedto watch it, like you, because
of him.
No wonder it won so many Oscars.
Mark Faldmo (30:13):
I have a funny Sound of Music story.
So New Year's Eve I get to picka movie and Heather gets to
pick a movie.
She picked Sound of Music and Ipicked Wolverine.
That night I had a dream withWolverine ripping his shirt off
in the Swiss Alps singing theHills Are Alive with music.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:27):
That's pretty funny.
The thing is is now with a hugeAckman in the Music man or
whatever movie he was in.
It's completely conceivable.
Yes, Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Nikki and I were on theNorwegian Aqua brand new ship
about three weeks ago and theyjust announced that they're
going to be making some upgradesto their private island called
(30:49):
Great Stirrup Key, with a whatwas it?
A pier, which, by the way, wedid see under construction while
we were there a pool.
And I love this idea about thebeach club oh, which, by the way
, just quickly, I was mentioningin Bimini Island how they had a
beach club.
They had the oceanfront stuffthat they had, the beach club.
I didn't tell you why we endedup going there.
So I went to go get in theocean because I was starting to
(31:12):
get hot.
The second I got in the water Isaw hundreds of jellyfish, but
they were just kind of like thesize of small mushrooms and I'm
like you know what?
I think I'll pass on getting inthe water because I didn't want
a chance getting stung byhundreds of jellyfish.
So I'm like you know what?
How about if I just go to thebeach club?
(31:33):
And that's why I'm such a fanof beach clubs.
If something is going on in thewater, yeah, anyway.
So let's talk about theupgrades coming to Great Sturip
Key.
Mark Faldmo (31:43):
So the main one you talked about and we've talked
about before is they are puttingin a pier.
As I've mentioned, I've been tothe island several times.
The first time I went youdidn't even go by regular pier,
you went by beach landing craft.
So they had boats that wouldbeach themselves and the front
of the boat would slide down,would come down and you'd walk
off the bow of the boat onto theisland.
(32:05):
It's like World War II, yeah,so it was beach landing craft
for several years and then theydid make it so they could use
their tender vessels and havethat little marina where the
tenders come into.
But now they are building apier which will make it easier
to get to the island.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:23):
Which was kind of funny because as we were
taking the tender to go to GreatStirrup, cay man, the ocean was
rocking that day.
I don't get motion sick, Nikki,does she just put her head down
?
I have a picture of her justwith her hands in her head going
oh boy, wow, it is reallyrolling.
The point of the story is Ithink they need a pier.
Mark Faldmo (32:43):
Yeah, yeah, and they've missed the island
several times because the seaswere too rough.
A pier will help that.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:51):
Great Stirrup Cay is Norwegian's island and
then, perfect day at Coco Cay isRoyal Caribbean's island, and
you can literally see theirisland in the distance.
And it's not that far.
Yeah, it's right next door.
Mark Faldmo (33:05):
You could actually from island right next door.
You could actually from islandto island.
You could swim.
It's.
It's about 100 yards,lifeguards don't let you do that
and it's constantly patrolled.
So you, yeah, you can't switchup islands.
Norwegian was the first cruiseline with a private island.
They actually purchased thatisland in 1977 and then in the
mid 90s is when it startedbecoming a regular stop on
(33:27):
Norwegians' cruises.
So they've kind of pioneeredthat.
Royal Caribbean got way aheadof everyone with what they did
to Perfect Day at Coco Cay andnow the other cruise lines are
kind of catching up With theseadditions.
At Great Stirrup Cay they'readding a huge pool which is
28,000 square feet.
Key they're adding a huge poolwhich is 28,000 square feet.
(33:49):
They'll have two swim-up bars,a family splash pad pool,
cabanas and more, and so they'realso enhancing their
adults-only beach club, which isrelatively new to that island.
Patrick Wiscombe (33:59):
You can tell that Great Stirrup Key has been
around for a long time becausethe vegetation is so it's
beautiful.
Ad Voice (34:06):
You can tell that it's grown.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:08):
You can tell that it's been decades, and it
is a beautiful presentation fromthe time you get off the tender
all the way in.
It is a truly spectacularentrance, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (34:19):
With these additions it's interesting With
the pier they'll be able to havetwo ships there In 2026,
they're expecting more than 1million passengers, which is up
from 400,000 in 2024.
That's more than doubling intwo years time, and so they need
all of these new enhancementsto accommodate that many guests.
(34:39):
Ever since Royal Caribbeanstarted enhancing their island,
everyone else is doing the same.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:45):
Yep, I have a question what is a future cruise
credit?
I actually texted you from theship if a future cruise credit
was worth it.
So that's a question fromPatrick, who happens to just be
the co-host of the show.
Mark Faldmo (34:58):
Future cruise credits are very much worth it.
What happens when you get onboard?
They have a future cruiseconsultant.
Every cruise line has them andif you put down a future cruise
credit and this is just ingeneral.
Cruise lines operate these alittle bit differently but you
know, fairly similar If you putdown a future cruise credit, you
(35:19):
don't even have to have a shipin sailing, you can just buy a
credit.
Buy a $500 future cruise credit.
They will give you an onboardcredit.
So I think, Patrick, what youasked me about was if you put
down a future cruise credit,Norwegian was offering you $200
onboard credit to use on yourcurrent cruise.
So that's like getting $200free spending money on your
(35:43):
current cruise and then you havea future cruise credit to use
towards another cruise and thatjust goes into your account.
As a travel agent, I reallyenjoy these.
When a customer puts down afuture cruise credit, I get
notified that they've put down afuture cruise credit and then
they notify me every few months,say these customers have future
(36:04):
cruise credits.
So I help manage those futurecruise credits for customers.
It is a good way to really getsome extra money on your current
cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:15):
We didn't have a drink pack just because
Patrick is off the Diet Coke.
No, actually he's on the DietCoke bandwagon and he didn't
want to fall off the wagon.
Yeah, but we could have usedthat for specialty dining.
It was a little bit late, thecruise.
I think we only had like a dayleft, maybe a day and a half
left, and I'm like, oh man.
(36:37):
My first thought well, let's goto the steakhouse.
That was some spectacular steak.
I was blown away at how goodthat was.
Mark Faldmo (36:44):
It's very good.
That steakhouse does a greatjob.
I think the top steakhouse at aC.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:50):
I didn't know that meat could be that tender.
I won't say it's cotton candythat just dissolves in your
mouth, but it was kind of inthat range where it's like, well
, this is effortless chewinghere.
It's like a vacation for myteeth.
Before we go to break here,we've got to get to the cruise
deal of the week.
I know that you've received anumber of calls for Panama Canal
.
Let's give our listeners thecruise deal, or, I guess in this
(37:13):
case, cruise deals of the week.
Mark Faldmo (37:16):
There are a couple of ways you can do Panama Canal.
I think the best time and bestprice to do the Panama Canal is
when cruise lines are movingtheir ships from the Caribbean
to Alaska or vice versa, Alaskato the Caribbean.
Princess, I think, has the bestitineraries through the Panama
Canal.
So at the end of the Alaskaseason is the sailing I'll look
(37:37):
at.
But first, Princess is offeringup to $400 instant savings,
plus up to 40% off free roomupgrades and $99 deposits.
So that's on all sailings ingeneral.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:54):
Oh, so that's not even for Alaska to the
Caribbean.
This is just a promotion that'sgoing on.
Mark Faldmo (37:58):
It's a promotion that's just going on.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:00):
Oh, that's a good one.
Mark Faldmo (38:02):
So this Panama Canal cruise that I'll give does
include that.
As I mentioned, I thinkPrincess does Panama Canal the
best.
They have more ports.
Some cruise lines have a fewports with lots of days at sea.
I think Princess has more portsthan anybody, at least this
year when I was looking.
Now you can do this fromSeattle as a ship comes out of
(38:23):
Alaska, but I'm just taking theportion of it from Los Angeles.
So this is Los Angeles to FortLauderdale.
It is a 16-day cruise.
Inside cabins start at $1229per person and balcony cabins
start at $1989 per person For 16days, and that's for 16 days.
The ports on that PuertoVallarta, Huatulco, which I love
(38:47):
, Huatulco, yes you do.
Chiapas, costa Rica, which youlove also, which I love as well,
and then it has a stop inPanama City, and then you go
through the Panama Canal thenext day.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:01):
Is that a full day experience to go through
the canal, or is it, you know,like half a day, three quarters
of a day?
Mark Faldmo (39:08):
It's a full day when you go through the canal.
You'll go through early in themorning, so the canal crossing
will start probably 5 am or so,and Panama Canal traffic only
goes one way, so they go northto south in the morning, south
to north in the evening, and sowhat happens is they'll go
through the canal and thenyou'll stop in Gatun Lake, let
(39:30):
some other ships come in, andthen you'll go out in the
evening, out into the AtlanticOcean, and then it also stops in
Aruba before a few days at sea,ending in Fort Lauderdale.
Wow.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:41):
So 16 days?
What was the price on that?
Again Starts at $1229 perperson.
So that's the inside cabin.
Balcony cabin was how much.
Mark Faldmo (39:49):
Starts at $1989 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:52):
Now could you pick that up all the way from
Alaska, meaning turn that into a?
What a 21 days, I'm guessing.
Mark Faldmo (39:59):
Or is it longer than that?
There is an option that startsin Seattle so you could do a
round trip Alaska cruise andthen do the Pacific Coastal.
That'd probably be more like 25or 28 days, so you could do
that.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:12):
Sign me up.
What was the departure date?
I don't think you gave that.
Mark Faldmo (40:17):
I didn't, yeah, so the departure date is October
28th of this year, so just afterthat Alaska season, again
sailing through the Panama Canal, starting in Los Angeles and
ending in Fort Lauderdale.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:29):
Oh, man, take advantage of that.
That's a great itinerary.
Call Mark in his office, Getthe conversation started during
the break 888-718-7717.
888-718-77178, 718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacations.
(40:49):
com when we come back.
Man, it's already time to wrapup the show.
Mark's Travel Tips.
We're going to be talking aboutTSA pre-check scams and airline
customer service scams.
We're going to help you out onhow to avoid being scammed.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
(41:10):
show, continues.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, my nameis Patrick Wiscombe.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (41:19):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show Presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (41:58):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
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They'll help you plan and book your next vacation
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Yeah, really, you're listeningto the Inside Travel Talk
podcast and radio show presentedby bluelanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:17):
And now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
Faldmo coming to you live fromFiji at least Mark Faldmo is.
You are listening to the insidetravel talk podcast or radio
show coming up in this finalsegment of the show, we've got
(43:39):
Mark's travel tips and we'regoing to tell you how to avoid
being scammed.
Not that the TSA is going toscam you, but there are TSA
pre-check scams out there, andwe are also going to talk about
airline customer service scams.
There was an article.
(44:00):
From who was this?
The points guy?
The points guy, yeah, he saysthat there are five common and
very expensive travel scams, andso let's just talk about the
TSA PreCheck scam first.
Mark Faldmo (44:14):
This one is when you're applying for TSA PreCheck
for the first time.
One thing to know is there arefraudulent websites posing as
official PreCheck applicationprocessing providers and they
look legitimate.
They do, and they steal yourpersonal information.
(44:38):
They steal your application fee.
One thing to look for.
Any government website will endin gov, so that's one key to
look at.
When you apply for TSApre-check, the first time you
need to show up in an enrollmentcenter.
They will not ask for paymentuntil you show up at the
enrollment center.
So that is when you willactually pay for TSA PreCheck.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:56):
TSAgov is what we're talking about
specifically in this case.
Mark Faldmo (45:00):
Yeah, that little tip kind of goes on to our next
story, the airline customerservice scam.
When you're flying, thingsdon't always go right Flight
cancellations, flight delays.
A common thing for people to dois to just call the airline and
try and fix their flight.
When you do a search, make surethat it's the official airline
(45:22):
website.
There are a lot of sites outthere that look very official
Delta customer service theofficial airline website.
There are a lot of sites outthere that look very official
Delta Customer Service.
If you do a search for DeltaCustomer Service, you'll find
one legitimate website andprobably 20 or 30 fake websites.
People will call those fakewebsites and they'll rebook them
on a flight.
They'll take their card andcharge it and you won't be
(45:43):
rebooked and you'll have lostyour credit card fee.
So use the app, download theofficial app.
You can communicate that waythrough chat with customer
service.
If you do know the actualnumber to the airline, call it,
but make sure that it is thelegitimate airline number.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:01):
I'm a big fan of Airbnb Nikki and I have
stayed in a few just recentlyjust because we've been on the
road and rental home scams.
This is also from the points,guy.
What do we need to be aware ofthere?
Mark Faldmo (46:14):
So we talked about this a little bit last week,
where hosts call at the lastminute and say your home is not
available, I want to switch youto another home.
Or they ask you to pay offlineand not use the app Airbnb or
whatnot.
They ask you to go offline andpay for it.
So there are lots of rentalhome scams.
(46:37):
So the rule there is if itsounds fishy, it probably is
fishy.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:42):
I was not indicting Airbnb on that, that
was just rental home scams.
There's a few of them out there, not scams, but just sites,
sites, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (46:50):
So there are legitimate ones, and there are,
within those organizations, afew homeowners that are not
legitimate, but for the mostpart they are, and you just have
to be careful about what you'regetting into.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:02):
What about cruise port scams?
Did he mention anything aboutthat?
Mark Faldmo (47:06):
Yeah, you know there's a couple of cruise port
scams out there.
One is the free gift.
You'll leave and someone willbe offering you a free gift to
come inside.
That person is to get youinside and then you will be
handed off to a professionalsalesperson that sees thousands
(47:27):
of cruise passengers a week.
Oh yeah, and if you try andleave that place with that free
gift, they won't let you.
You either have to give thefree gift back or buy something.
Oh boy, so that's one of themost common scams.
The other one is a discountexcursion scam if you don't have
anything pre-booked.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:47):
By the way, I was astonished at the number of
people in San Juan old San Juanport that were selling tours Hop
on this bus, pay 30 bucks orwhatever it was to hop on.
But I was surprised how manyhustlers there were out there.
That was interesting.
Not that I'm saying Puerto Rico, you know, the old San Juan was
full of a bunch of fraudsters.
(48:09):
I just I've never been accostedlike that before.
Hey, you know, come with us andthey'll.
They'll put the pressure on youtoo.
Yes, they will.
Mark Faldmo (48:17):
Yeah, the last cruise scam.
Someone will come up and askyou to hold something for them.
In a lot of ports in theCaribbean it's like a giant
conch shell or something likethat, and they do this to
confuse you pick pocketers canget to you.
Or they just say you used it asa photo opportunity and they'll
(48:37):
hound you until you pay themmoney.
Yeah, I did see that one Conchshell, and so there are lots of
scams to look out for.
Go through trusted sources forshore excursions.
Either use a cruise line I havea really good third-party shore
excursion group that I use sothose are the best ways to not
(48:59):
get scammed in a cruise port.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:01):
Those are some really, really helpful tips.
How many cruises have you beenon?
I stopped counting at 150.
Mark Faldmo (49:05):
That's so much.
How many cruises have you beenon?
I stopped counting at 150.
That's so much.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:09):
And how many miles have you flown?
Mark Faldmo (49:10):
I'm a 2 million miler on Delta, a million miler
on American, so I'm probablyclose to 4 million.
I don't have a track with otherairlines but I'm probably close
to that 4 million mile mark andyou take off tonight at 9
o'clock Tahiti time, Fiji time.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:24):
I'm probably close to that 4 million mile
mark and you take off tonight at9 o'clock Tahiti time, Fiji
time.
I'm sorry, Fiji time, Fiji time.
Well, enjoy your time off.
You've had a lot of meetingsdown there.
Yes, had some rough sledding inFiji.
Call Mark in his office If youwant to book any of the Crucial
(49:45):
of the Week Panama, Alaska tothe Caribbean, Los Angeles to
Fort Lauderdale, the Fijiitineraries and the places that
we mentioned in the firstsection of the show.
Call Mark in his office, 888718-7717, 888-718-7717.
(50:11):
And, of course, you can go toblueplanetvacations.
com to get all of theinformation.
You can listen to us all overagain tomorrow morning at 11 am
on Sunday, right here on thisradio station, and you can
stream, download and subscribeto the podcast at
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
(50:31):
You can just listen to the showand you can subscribe to the
show because we're on all of themajor podcast platforms.
Well, now it's your turn to getout and explore the world while
you can, because you never knowwhat curveball's life is going
to throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Live the life that you want tolive.
(50:51):
Thank you so much for listening.
We don't have a business, wedon't have a show without you.
Thank you for being part of theshow.
We'll talk to you again nextweek.
Have a great week.
Show Voice (51:04):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
You've been listening to theInside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show with Patrick Wiscombeand Mark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(51:25):
Thanks for listening.
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Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
blueplanetvacations.
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It is the weekend, which means it is time
to talk travel.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show
Coming up.
On today's show, Mark and Iwill be talking about Fiji.
He's still there right now.
This show, this first segment,is all about Fiji.
He will be returning today.
Theme parks are making a traveldestination comeback, future
(00:20):
cruise credits and how theyactually work, and a real cruise
from Alaska to the Caribbean.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
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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
(00:42):
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:45):
Travel deals and offers change constantly and are
capacity controlled and subjectto change without notice,
helping you plan your nextvacation.
This is the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
America's best travel advisors.
Call us now 801-649-3700.
801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, andcheck out the podcast at
(01:10):
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:22):
Coming to you live from Fiji.
At least Mark is Hi there.
I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast and radio show.
If you are brand new to theshow, the entire purpose of this
radio and podcast is to helpyou plan and book your next
vacation or just simply give youideas of where you want to
(01:46):
vacation next.
This show is presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, and just at the very top ofthe show.
Thank you for taking the timeto stop and listen and, as I
mentioned in the intro, we willbe talking all about Fiji in
this first segment.
Mark is literally broadcastingfrom there.
And my first question to you,sir and by the way, it's good to
(02:08):
see you, how was your week?
Mark Faldmo (02:09):
My week was good.
I was here for meetings, so Iwas at what's called the Fiji
Tourism Exchange.
Those travel agents and othertravel sellers that sell a lot
of Fiji are invited down and weget to meet with and experience
all of the hotels, suppliers,different tour operators,
activities Fiji has to offer.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:30):
So you have actual experience and you can
talk to people, yes, about whatthey're booking.
Mark Faldmo (02:34):
Yeah yeah, and I've learned some new information.
This is my fifth time or so toFiji, oh wow, but I did learn
some new things.
Fiji has a lot to offer.
It's a great destination spotand it's relatively affordable
as well.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:49):
Well, that's coming up here in the first
segment, all about Fiji.
But let's first get to thetravel news headlines PETA's
campaign.
What does PETA stand for?
People, for the EthicalTreatment of Animals?
Is that right?
Yeah, peta is campaigning.
Basically, they're campaigningto tell tour companies to drop
the camel rides in Egypt.
Personally, I've never been onthe back of a camel.
(03:11):
I can't say that it's at thetop of my list, but I certainly
wouldn't be opposed to gettingon the back of a camel in Egypt.
Mark Faldmo (03:18):
Have you ever been on one?
I have.
I have been on a camel one timein Jordan, did you?
Patrick Wiscombe (03:24):
really.
Mark Faldmo (03:25):
Yes, what PETA's issue is?
These animals are used purelyjust for rides and photos.
They serve no other purposethan that.
When they started looking intothis and other people started
looking into this, those camelsare not treated very well.
They're not fed, they're notmaintained.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:44):
Even for photo ops they don't treat them,
maintained Even for photo ops.
Mark Faldmo (03:45):
They don't treat them well, even for photo ops.
Yeah, so close to 50 touroperators have moved away from
offering camel rides in front ofGiza just because of how those
camels were treated.
Now, in other areas, like Imentioned, Jordan, there's
places in Morocco where thecamels are actually used for
legitimate transportation.
(04:06):
Those camels are well-fed,maintained.
I mentioned I was going toPetra and you either walk three
miles down a gully to Petra,take a camel or a donkey, and it
was used for legitimatetransportation.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:20):
Pleasant, not that.
Being on the back of a camel isgoing to be a pleasant
experience.
I would imagine that it kind ofsmells too.
Mark Faldmo (04:26):
It was better than walking.
I always feel a bit unsteady oncamels.
The one time I rode an elephantin Thailand, the elephant knew
how nervous I was.
Oh no, it just took its earsand wrapped its ears around my
legs to steady me and keep me on.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:43):
Did that freak you out a little bit right at
the very beginning?
Mark Faldmo (04:45):
It did a little bit and then they said what the
elephant was doing Securing thecargo.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:51):
Yes, real ID.
That is the little star that ison driver's licenses.
Real ID has been in the newsquite a bit the last what?
Basically?
Two weeks or so.
So far, so good.
If you don't have a real ID,you Secretary Kristi Noem is
saying that you can still travel.
You'll just be pushed over to asecondary line.
(05:11):
Have they given the guidelinesof the secondary screening?
Mark Faldmo (05:14):
It's a questionnaire and you may be
subject to additional baggagescreening and pat-downs.
It has been all over the newsand a lot of people have
actually been canceling theirtrips because of this, thinking
they couldn't travel, and sothey're coming out saying you
still can travel, you just haveto go through a secondary
screening process you've everbeen in a secondary screening?
Patrick Wiscombe (05:35):
I don't think I have no, but my father has.
Mark Faldmo (05:38):
So he went through with a back brace.
Oh there, we get put into asecondary line, and then they
even had to take him into theback room to check out the back
brace.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:51):
Oh, Mark Faldo Sr getting a full cavity search
.
Mark Faldmo (05:54):
Yes.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:56):
And your dad is the most polite man on the
planet too, and I can just seehim.
I promise, I'm not a terrorist,I'm not doing anything wrong.
Mark Faldmo (06:03):
I just hurt my back .
Yeah, oh sure, my back.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:05):
Yeah, oh sure, sure, we hear that all the time
.
Let's get back to Fiji.
That is quite a view behind youFor anyone listening.
We're doing the radio show andthe podcast live from Fiji, or
at least he is Just set thescene of what's in front of you
right now to whet people'sappetite in front of you right
(06:27):
now to whet people's appetite.
Mark Faldmo (06:28):
What to expect in Fiji.
So we're a day ahead of you.
It is Sunday at 6 am.
For me right now, the sun isjust coming up and, as you can
see, as I mentioned last week,I'm in a garden view room, so
it's just palm trees and grass,but it's still a great view.
If I lean really really hardout my balcony, I can see the
water?
Patrick Wiscombe (06:46):
Who have you met with and what are some of
the things you've been doing?
Mark Faldmo (06:49):
This was just a convention, where I had 20
minute appointments with about80 different suppliers over a
couple of days, and then we wentout on a couple of tours, which
I'll explain in just a moment.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:01):
Oh, so it was rapid fire beat all the
suppliers in 20 minuteincrements, basically.
Mark Faldmo (07:07):
Yeah, yeah, pretty much meet all the suppliers.
Oh, wow, almost every supplieron Fijian islands they met with.
So this one, I kind of camewith a different approach.
I wanted to find out the bestthings for families to do.
Fiji is not often thought of asa family destination, but there
are lots of good things forfamilies to do.
Fiji is not often thought of asa family destination, no, but
there are lots of good thingsfor families to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:29):
What about resorts?
Family-friendly resorts as well, yep.
Mark Faldmo (07:33):
I would go with three hotels that are really
family-friendly.
They offer any service, theyoffer kids programs.
They really help the kids feelwelcome.
The first one is the Shangri-LaIsland.
Really help the kids feelwelcome.
The first one is the Shangri-LaIsland.
You say Shangri-La, shangri-la,yeah, fiji which is a nice
property.
But the next two are the twothat I really think are great.
(07:54):
One is the Outrigger Fiji BeachResort.
We talk about Outrigger quite abit yeah, we do In Hawaii.
There are a lot of Outriggerproperties, but they do a great
job in Fiji, with the familieslocated right on the beach.
They're about 30, 40 minutesaway from the airport, so that's
a great family destination.
And the next one is CastawayIsland in Fiji.
(08:15):
This island is a few miles fromwhere the movie Castaway was
filmed and you have to take aboat to get to it.
It's a small island.
Kids will love it.
They've got the inflatableocean amusement park thing.
You know where there's waterslides and you have kayaks and
all sorts of fun things for thekids to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:36):
You didn't go to the island, did you?
Mark Faldmo (08:37):
I did not go to that island, no.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:40):
I thought you were going to say inflatable
volleyballs Named Wilson.
Mark Faldmo (08:45):
Yes, named Wilson.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:46):
What about activities for?
Mark Faldmo (08:47):
kids.
One reason why I think Fiji isa good destination for family
and kids is the cultural aspectof it.
There are a lot of activitieswhere you go to an actual Fijian
village.
They still live in villages andtribes.
You can go really experiencethe Fijian culture.
All of them include a kavaceremony with the chief of the
(09:09):
village, which kava is a drinkmade from the root of a tree.
But other things that make Fijigood for family lots of really
good snorkeling.
One thing that we did on thiswas island hopping, where you go
out to a small island snorkelswim.
They serve lunch out on theisland.
You can also stop at a placecalled Cloud Nine.
In the daytime it's just afloating bar that just floats
(09:32):
out in the ocean and I'm onCloud Nine.
They serve pizzas and sandwiches.
And if you're really lookingfor adventure, the Sigatoka
River Safari, which is a jetboat that takes you up the
Sigatoka River, and this alsoincludes a stop and visit at one
of the local Fijian villages.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:52):
There's just something about being immersed
in water and consuming food andbeverage that is just so unique
that, if you do it once, it's amemory that stays with you
forever.
Mark Faldmo (10:04):
It is, yeah, this whole segment.
We talked about Fiji forfamilies, but it's great for
couples, great for adults aswell.
I love Fiji.
It is far away, but it'srelatively affordable.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:16):
This is something that you and I talked
about a long long time ago and Idon't know if it's still active
, but I remember was it FijiAirways or was it a different
airline that you could fly toFiji for $799 round trip from LA
.
Is that still applicable or isthat something that was a long
time ago that?
Mark Faldmo (10:35):
is still current with Fiji Airways.
In fact I saw an email.
I haven't checked this or whatdates, so we'll stick with the
$799 for now.
But I did see that they diddrop some dates down into the
$689 range.
Oh my word, because I didn'twant to wake up in the middle of
the night to research that, Ididn't look at it, but these
prices will go over.
(10:56):
I'll just choose two hotels.
One is the Novotel Nandi, whichis a four-star hotel, and this
is airfare five nights hotel inFiji With the international
dateline.
You're actually gone for sevendays.
So the price of that, again atthe Novotel, four-star $12.79
per person from.
(11:17):
Los Angeles.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:18):
Is that with airfare, or is that just the
hotel?
Mark Faldmo (11:21):
That's with airfare .
So that's Airfare from LosAngeles Five Nights Hotel.
You will need to add transfersonto that, which aren't too bad,
but $1279 per person is a greatstarting point for that.
Yeah, it is.
And then if we go up to theOutrigger Resort, which is one
that we talked about, that'sgreat for families that price
(11:42):
goes up to $1789 per person.
That's still amazing.
I'll just throw in one otherhotel, which is the Fiji
Marriott Momi Bay.
This is a hotel I've used a lotfor groups, for corporate
incentive groups.
This is as low as I've everseen it, and that starts at
$18.59 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:00):
And that still includes the airfare.
That still includes the airfare.
Okay, so we're not talking$1859 plus $800.
Mark Faldmo (12:07):
It's just 1859, total, total yeah, one thing I
like about the Fiji Momi Baythis price was in their standard
kind of hotel rooms but theyalso have beach berets and
over-the-water berets if youwant to upgrade to that.
They've actually made aman-made inlet to the ocean and
(12:28):
they've built these over thewater things in this kind of
calm, tranquil bay.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:32):
So what's the difference between an over the
water bungalow and an over waterberet, or is it basically the
same thing?
Different term the language.
Mark Faldmo (12:42):
That's it.
So yeah, bungalow is what theywould call them in Tahiti and
beret is what they would callthem in Fiji.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:49):
When you get back.
We've got to discuss this.
I've never been to Fiji.
You've been there.
Did you say?
This is your fifth time?
Fifth time?
Yeah.
One of the things that youmentioned right at the very
beginning, as we were talkingabout Fiji, was that they offer
nanny services, which I which Ithink is a brilliant idea.
Hey, bring the whole family,and if you have young kids and
the adults want to go off and dosomething, your kids are still
(13:09):
covered.
Yep, love that idea.
What time is your flight thismorning?
Mark Faldmo (13:16):
Well, I actually don't leave till 9 pm tonight,
so I've got all day here Finallya day without meetings, I can
relax a little bit.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:25):
Well, you're in the perfect environment,
that's for sure.
We will be booking somethingdown to Fiji, me and Nikki.
If you are interested in goingto Fiji and taking advantage of
these brand new offers to travelto Fiji, call Mark or someone
in his office.
He might be in the air888-718-7717.
(13:46):
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he will also post this onblueplanetvacations.
com when we come back.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week and we are talking
about Europe.
This is a caller question thatwe had during last week's show.
He wants to go to Europe.
We're going to give him someoptions.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast or radio
(14:10):
show continues.
Alongside my very tan friendMark Voldemort.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (14:22):
If you have travel questions, they have the answers
.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show with Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (14:48):
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.
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Show Voice (15:14):
You're listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast
and radio show presented byblueplanetvacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
(15:36):
801-649-3700,.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:42):
Broadcasting live from Fiji, or at least Mark
is.
You are listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
show.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend,
especially on a Saturday orSunday.
We hope to give you greatinformation about travel and
give you ideas of where you maywant to consider vacationing
(16:04):
next.
If you were listening to thelast segment, mark is
broadcasting from Fiji.
He gave our listeners somepretty great deals.
What was the resort theMarriott Resort that you were
talking about?
Mark Faldmo (16:15):
So the Marriott Resort was the Marriott Momi Bay
Resort, which started at $1859per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:22):
And that includes the airfare, which is
just amazing.
Mark Faldmo (16:24):
So that's airfare from Los Angeles, Five Nights
Hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:33):
And then we talked about the Novotel Nandi
which started at $1279 perperson for the airfare and the
hotel.
Yeah, take advantage of thatoffer.
Call Mark or somebody in hisoffice, because he's in Fiji
right now 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
I just brought up where you are.
717-888-718-7717.
I just brought up where you are, or at least the Marriott
Resort Momi Bay in Fiji, thoseoverwater bungalows.
(16:56):
What was the other thing?
Oh, berets, that is a beautifulsetting Coming up in this
segment of the show.
We've got the hot travel dealof the week and we are talking
about Europe, but let's get tothe travel news headlines first.
I saw this article that themeparks and I'm wondering if
Universal Studios Orlando makesme wonder if they're really
fueling this right now.
Mark Faldmo (17:15):
This list is called the Global 100.
Each year, this survey comesout, so this is the 2025 Global
100.
And of the top 10 attractions,six were theme parks.
Oh really.
So what this looks at?
It takes in a whole bunch ofdifferent data to come up with
this, but it looks at verifieduser ratings, verified user
(17:37):
reviews, booking statistics, websearches.
So you know, it kind ofcombines everything it can to
determine this list, and so thenumber one attraction in the
world was the Louvre Museum inParis.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:50):
Oh, really Okay.
Is that considered a?
Well, it's not a theme park,it's just an attraction.
Okay.
Mark Faldmo (17:55):
It's an attraction, so yeah.
So this list is the top 100attractions.
Okay, got it.
But of the top 10, six of themare theme parks, oh, wow.
And so theme parks do seem tobe driving travel demand.
So number one was the Louvre inParis, number two, walt Disney
World in Florida.
Number three, the Palace Museum.
Number four was Disneyland Parkin California.
(18:18):
Number five, la Sagrada Familia, which is the church in
Barcelona.
Amazing, they've been workingon it for 50 years or 60 years.
Hopefully someday it'll befinished.
Number six was Shanghai DisneyResort.
Number seven was UniversalOrlando Resort.
Number eight was the VaticanMuseums in Rome, and then nine
(18:41):
and 10 were both Universal Parks, universal Studios Japan and
Universal Beijing Resort.
So a lot of theme parks in thattop 10 of the top 100 rankings
of attractions for tourists.
How many have you been to thetop 10?
Of the top 10, I've been to sixof the top 10.
Wow, okay, I haven't been toany of the foreign theme parks,
(19:04):
right, so that kind of that's animpressive record.
I've been to those places ofthe foreign theme parks Right,
Japan.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:08):
That's an impressive record.
Mark Faldmo (19:09):
I've been to those places, just not the theme parks
.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:13):
Atlantis.
Now this is in the Bahamas.
We're talking about kind ofthat coral-colored hotel, kind
of famous.
I won't call it iconic, butit's pretty recognizable.
Atlantis Paradise Island hasannounced some new attractions,
some dining, some entertainment.
What are those?
Mark Faldmo (19:29):
This resort has to kind of continually reimagine
itself.
Yeah, they've just gone through150 million transformation last
year and now they're going toadd eight new dining concepts
which will bring the totalnumber of eateries to 50.
They're going to put in a newmini golf course.
(19:50):
They're going to put in escaperooms, pickleball courts.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:54):
Okay, I get that one, a new beach club.
Beach clubs are so interestingright now.
Mark Faldmo (20:00):
Yeah, that's very interesting to me that they are
so popular.
People just want to go to thatbeach club and escape.
You know where you have a goodbeach but plus some amenities
right there next to well, notreally next to that.
You know, royal Caribbean hasstarted their beach club, which
is an island that's kind ofright across from the cruise
(20:20):
pier.
It's always been a stretch ofbeach that I've wondered who
owns that and what they're goingto do with it.
And Royal Caribbean justannounced their Nassau Beach
Club will be right there in thatsame area.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:30):
I love ocean beaches.
Now I had something kind ofinteresting happen to me when we
were in Bimini Island I'm notsure that I told you this
actually.
So Bimini Island, there was anoceanfront beach and it was
awesome.
It was terrific.
Soft sand, a lot of sand, andyou really had to work out just
to walk through the sand.
It was deep.
But right next to that,literally just behind me, was
(20:52):
the Bimini Beach Club, which wasjust beach chairs, pool, huge
pools Actually there was a fewpools.
I think that is a trend that'sgoing to continue.
To me, that's a really greatupgrade.
If you want the ocean, you haveit, but if you don't want the
ocean, something a little lesssandy and with the beach
amenities, I think it's a great,great idea.
It is Always in this segment.
(21:13):
Segment number two is the hottravel deal of the week and we
got a question from Matt and hecalled the studio line and this
is also the text line801-649-3700, is also the text
line 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700and we want to answer your
travel related questions, soplease submit them there.
801-649-3700.
(21:35):
Matt is asking I want to go toEurope, but to places in Europe
that aren't so crowded.
Mark Faldmo (21:41):
I have four suggestions and we'll just go by
the regions, not necessarilyhow to get there.
A lot of these places we'vetalked about Globus and their
off the beaten path tours A lotof these you can do with Globus
or just on your own, but theplaces you should look at that
are less crowded but you stillget that great European
experience.
One is Ticino in Switzerland.
(22:02):
This is in Southern Switzerland.
It's the Italian speaking areaand kind of what they say is
it's Italian hospitality but onSwiss time.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:13):
You know, so I'm not sure I know what that
means.
Hospitality I get on.
Mark Faldmo (22:17):
Swiss time.
Italians are never on time, andso that's why it's saying,
rather than Italy, sometimestrains are running behind,
people are late for restaurantreservations.
That's why it's saying, ratherthan Italy, sometimes trains are
running behind, people are latefor restaurant reservations,
and so this is more, and theSwiss are very much not like
that.
And so Italian hospitality, onSwiss time, really good Northern
(22:38):
Italian food there.
You're also in the beautifulmountains a lot.
What you think Switzerland is.
That is one place.
The next place and this is aplace I have not been to but it
is definitely on my bucket listis Transylvania, in Romania.
I have been to Romania and Iloved it.
Going to Transylvania, I think,would just be fascinating.
(22:59):
Dracula not included.
Well, you can go to Dracula'scastle.
I'm there, and so that's onething about Romania, this castle
.
I'm there, and so that's onething about Romania, especially
Transylvania.
It has castles in abundance andmedieval towns are everywhere.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:14):
What else do you recommend?
Mark Faldmo (23:14):
from it Puglia Italy which is the hill of the
boot.
Just a wonderful place tovacation.
Italy is one of the top traveldestinations and this is a less
visited region where you stillget that same Italian
hospitality.
I have been to Southern Italyand just a wonderful destination
.
What else do you have for Matt?
The last destination isPortugal.
(23:35):
Portugal is becoming more andmore popular, but it is a great
place to visit.
It's affordable, it has beaches, it has lots of sunshine.
So Portugal is a place,although becoming more popular,
where you can still escape thecrowds a little bit in Europe.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:52):
In terms of promotions for any of these
locations.
What do we have for listenersthis week?
Mark Faldmo (23:58):
Right now we'll go with the Globus promotion that
we talked about last week,because they do offer off the
beaten path tours to theseplaces and right now it's save
up to 500 per couple off of thetour price.
Six to seven night tour that'sreally good.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:15):
That is exceptional.
If you want to go to Europe,man, I hope that helps.
And if you have follow-upquestions, call mark in his
office.
888-718-7717 is how you get ahold of the office.
888-718-7717 is how you get ahold of the office 888-718-7717.
And you can also go toblueplanetvacations.
com.
You know you are reallywhetting my appetite for some
(24:38):
new places that I haven't gone.
Fiji I'm definitely talking toyou about that one.
We'll do that.
When you get back, matt, call888-718-7717 to get that one.
We'll do that.
When you get back, matt, call888-718-7717 to get that booked.
Or if you have follow-upquestions about where you're
going to be staying when we comeback, it is time for the
infamous Just Cruising segment.
(24:59):
We've got the cruise news ofthe week and we've also got the
cruise deal of the week.
So if you want to go fromAlaska to the Caribbean, listen
up.
That is next with the InsideTravel Talk podcast.
The radio show continuesalongside a very tan Mark
Voldemort.
I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (25:21):
They've literally traveled millions of miles to
answer your travel-relatedquestions.
Yeah, they really have.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
America's best travel advisors,Patrick and Mark, will be back
after these messages.
Ad Voice (25:42):
Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Anna.
Waterways, from castles andcapitals to vistas and villages
visit some of Europe's mostremarkable sites and cities To
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Contact Blue Planet Vacationsat 888-718-7717 or
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Patrick Wiscombe (26:00):
Okay, we're back on the air.
Thank you for listening to theInside Travel Talk podcast or
radio show Coming up.
In the next 30 minutes, markand I will be talking about
Norwegians' upgrades on theirprivate island called Great
Stirrup Cay.
I was there about three weeksago, cruising from Alaska to the
Caribbean, Panama Canal cruises, future cruise credits and what
they really go toward.
(26:21):
And a travel show would not bethe same without the sound of
music.
Let's get back to the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastor radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
(26:42):
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (26:52):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Hit us up right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (27:13):
Here's Patrick and Mark all aboard for the
(27:40):
infamous just cruising segmentright here on the inside travel
talk podcast or radio show,alongside Mark Faldmo, who is
broadcasting live from Fiji thismorning a very early morning,
by the way.
What time did you get up thismorning?
It's 6, what is it?
6.30 in Fiji right now.
I got up at about 4.45 am tostart preparing for this show.
Mark Faldmo (28:08):
You've got to be so tired right now.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:10):
He's so tired he's rendered speechless.
Yes, coming up in this segmentof the show, we have got to be
talking about Norwegiansupgrades on their private island
, great stirrup key.
Nicki and I were there aboutthree weeks ago.
Awesome, awesome, privateisland.
How many times have you beenthere?
I've been there probably 15 orso.
Oh, okay, all right, so youknow how nice it is there.
(28:31):
Yeah, first time.
Mark Faldmo (28:33):
I went there, it was just a beach and beach
chairs and a little palapa wherethey served lunch.
It is not that anymore.
Patrick Wiscombe (28:40):
Let's get to the travel news headlines and
then we'll get to the cruisedeal of the week.
Sound of Music fans, the hillsare alive with the Sound of
Music.
Take note.
Mark Faldmo (28:49):
This is an interesting cruise, one which I
would love to go on.
I actually didn't watch theSound of Music until recently,
and I really like it.
This is a river cruise onAmadeus River Cruises.
They're an Austrian rivercruise company.
On their July 24th they have anew itinerary which travels
between Passau and Budapest,visits Salzburg, Vienna,
(29:12):
Bratislava and Slovakia.
Their stop in Salzburg.
They're going to have a specialtour guide.
That tour guide's name isElisabeth von Trapp.
She is the granddaughter ofGeorge, and Maria will be the
tour guide.
Do a walking tour of SalzburgSound of Music themed See that
would be a lot of fun.
So right now, Amadeus isoffering a $500 per person
(29:36):
discount for suites or $250 perperson discount on other
staterooms for travelers whobook through the end of May.
This is July 24th sailing.
If you're a Sound of Music fan,this might be the perfect
vacation for you to take.
Patrick Wiscombe (29:51):
My stepdad loves Sound of Music.
I can't tell you the number oftimes I walked into his office
and he was watching the Sound ofMusic.
That's really where my fondnessfor the movie came from and, by
the way, I finally just decidedto watch it, like you, because
of him.
No wonder it won so many Oscars.
Mark Faldmo (30:13):
I have a funny Sound of Music story.
So New Year's Eve I get to picka movie and Heather gets to
pick a movie.
She picked Sound of Music and Ipicked Wolverine.
That night I had a dream withWolverine ripping his shirt off
in the Swiss Alps singing theHills Are Alive with music.
Patrick Wiscombe (30:27):
That's pretty funny.
The thing is is now with a hugeAckman in the Music man or
whatever movie he was in.
It's completely conceivable.
Yes, Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Nikki and I were on theNorwegian Aqua brand new ship
about three weeks ago and theyjust announced that they're
going to be making some upgradesto their private island called
(30:49):
Great Stirrup Key, with a whatwas it?
A pier, which, by the way, wedid see under construction while
we were there a pool.
And I love this idea about thebeach club oh, which, by the way
, just quickly, I was mentioningin Bimini Island how they had a
beach club.
They had the oceanfront stuffthat they had, the beach club.
I didn't tell you why we endedup going there.
So I went to go get in theocean because I was starting to
(31:12):
get hot.
The second I got in the water Isaw hundreds of jellyfish, but
they were just kind of like thesize of small mushrooms and I'm
like you know what?
I think I'll pass on getting inthe water because I didn't want
a chance getting stung byhundreds of jellyfish.
So I'm like you know what?
How about if I just go to thebeach club?
(31:33):
And that's why I'm such a fanof beach clubs.
If something is going on in thewater, yeah, anyway.
So let's talk about theupgrades coming to Great Sturip
Key.
Mark Faldmo (31:43):
So the main one you talked about and we've talked
about before is they are puttingin a pier.
As I've mentioned, I've been tothe island several times.
The first time I went youdidn't even go by regular pier,
you went by beach landing craft.
So they had boats that wouldbeach themselves and the front
of the boat would slide down,would come down and you'd walk
off the bow of the boat onto theisland.
(32:05):
It's like World War II, yeah,so it was beach landing craft
for several years and then theydid make it so they could use
their tender vessels and havethat little marina where the
tenders come into.
But now they are building apier which will make it easier
to get to the island.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:23):
Which was kind of funny because as we were
taking the tender to go to GreatStirrup, cay man, the ocean was
rocking that day.
I don't get motion sick, Nikki,does she just put her head down
?
I have a picture of her justwith her hands in her head going
oh boy, wow, it is reallyrolling.
The point of the story is Ithink they need a pier.
Mark Faldmo (32:43):
Yeah, yeah, and they've missed the island
several times because the seaswere too rough.
A pier will help that.
Patrick Wiscombe (32:51):
Great Stirrup Cay is Norwegian's island and
then, perfect day at Coco Cay isRoyal Caribbean's island, and
you can literally see theirisland in the distance.
And it's not that far.
Yeah, it's right next door.
Mark Faldmo (33:05):
You could actually from island right next door.
You could actually from islandto island.
You could swim.
It's.
It's about 100 yards,lifeguards don't let you do that
and it's constantly patrolled.
So you, yeah, you can't switchup islands.
Norwegian was the first cruiseline with a private island.
They actually purchased thatisland in 1977 and then in the
mid 90s is when it startedbecoming a regular stop on
(33:27):
Norwegians' cruises.
So they've kind of pioneeredthat.
Royal Caribbean got way aheadof everyone with what they did
to Perfect Day at Coco Cay andnow the other cruise lines are
kind of catching up With theseadditions.
At Great Stirrup Cay they'readding a huge pool which is
28,000 square feet.
Key they're adding a huge poolwhich is 28,000 square feet.
(33:49):
They'll have two swim-up bars,a family splash pad pool,
cabanas and more, and so they'realso enhancing their
adults-only beach club, which isrelatively new to that island.
Patrick Wiscombe (33:59):
You can tell that Great Stirrup Key has been
around for a long time becausethe vegetation is so it's
beautiful.
Ad Voice (34:06):
You can tell that it's grown.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:08):
You can tell that it's been decades, and it
is a beautiful presentation fromthe time you get off the tender
all the way in.
It is a truly spectacularentrance, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (34:19):
With these additions it's interesting With
the pier they'll be able to havetwo ships there In 2026,
they're expecting more than 1million passengers, which is up
from 400,000 in 2024.
That's more than doubling intwo years time, and so they need
all of these new enhancementsto accommodate that many guests.
(34:39):
Ever since Royal Caribbeanstarted enhancing their island,
everyone else is doing the same.
Patrick Wiscombe (34:45):
Yep, I have a question what is a future cruise
credit?
I actually texted you from theship if a future cruise credit
was worth it.
So that's a question fromPatrick, who happens to just be
the co-host of the show.
Mark Faldmo (34:58):
Future cruise credits are very much worth it.
What happens when you get onboard?
They have a future cruiseconsultant.
Every cruise line has them andif you put down a future cruise
credit and this is just ingeneral.
Cruise lines operate these alittle bit differently but you
know, fairly similar If you putdown a future cruise credit, you
(35:19):
don't even have to have a shipin sailing, you can just buy a
credit.
Buy a $500 future cruise credit.
They will give you an onboardcredit.
So I think, Patrick, what youasked me about was if you put
down a future cruise credit,Norwegian was offering you $200
onboard credit to use on yourcurrent cruise.
So that's like getting $200free spending money on your
(35:43):
current cruise and then you havea future cruise credit to use
towards another cruise and thatjust goes into your account.
As a travel agent, I reallyenjoy these.
When a customer puts down afuture cruise credit, I get
notified that they've put down afuture cruise credit and then
they notify me every few months,say these customers have future
(36:04):
cruise credits.
So I help manage those futurecruise credits for customers.
It is a good way to really getsome extra money on your current
cruise.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:15):
We didn't have a drink pack just because
Patrick is off the Diet Coke.
No, actually he's on the DietCoke bandwagon and he didn't
want to fall off the wagon.
Yeah, but we could have usedthat for specialty dining.
It was a little bit late, thecruise.
I think we only had like a dayleft, maybe a day and a half
left, and I'm like, oh man.
(36:37):
My first thought well, let's goto the steakhouse.
That was some spectacular steak.
I was blown away at how goodthat was.
Mark Faldmo (36:44):
It's very good.
That steakhouse does a greatjob.
I think the top steakhouse at aC.
Patrick Wiscombe (36:50):
I didn't know that meat could be that tender.
I won't say it's cotton candythat just dissolves in your
mouth, but it was kind of inthat range where it's like, well
, this is effortless chewinghere.
It's like a vacation for myteeth.
Before we go to break here,we've got to get to the cruise
deal of the week.
I know that you've received anumber of calls for Panama Canal
.
Let's give our listeners thecruise deal, or, I guess in this
(37:13):
case, cruise deals of the week.
Mark Faldmo (37:16):
There are a couple of ways you can do Panama Canal.
I think the best time and bestprice to do the Panama Canal is
when cruise lines are movingtheir ships from the Caribbean
to Alaska or vice versa, Alaskato the Caribbean.
Princess, I think, has the bestitineraries through the Panama
Canal.
So at the end of the Alaskaseason is the sailing I'll look
(37:37):
at.
But first, Princess is offeringup to $400 instant savings,
plus up to 40% off free roomupgrades and $99 deposits.
So that's on all sailings ingeneral.
Patrick Wiscombe (37:54):
Oh, so that's not even for Alaska to the
Caribbean.
This is just a promotion that'sgoing on.
Mark Faldmo (37:58):
It's a promotion that's just going on.
Patrick Wiscombe (38:00):
Oh, that's a good one.
Mark Faldmo (38:02):
So this Panama Canal cruise that I'll give does
include that.
As I mentioned, I thinkPrincess does Panama Canal the
best.
They have more ports.
Some cruise lines have a fewports with lots of days at sea.
I think Princess has more portsthan anybody, at least this
year when I was looking.
Now you can do this fromSeattle as a ship comes out of
(38:23):
Alaska, but I'm just taking theportion of it from Los Angeles.
So this is Los Angeles to FortLauderdale.
It is a 16-day cruise.
Inside cabins start at $1229per person and balcony cabins
start at $1989 per person For 16days, and that's for 16 days.
The ports on that PuertoVallarta, Huatulco, which I love
(38:47):
, Huatulco, yes you do.
Chiapas, costa Rica, which youlove also, which I love as well,
and then it has a stop inPanama City, and then you go
through the Panama Canal thenext day.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:01):
Is that a full day experience to go through
the canal, or is it, you know,like half a day, three quarters
of a day?
Mark Faldmo (39:08):
It's a full day when you go through the canal.
You'll go through early in themorning, so the canal crossing
will start probably 5 am or so,and Panama Canal traffic only
goes one way, so they go northto south in the morning, south
to north in the evening, and sowhat happens is they'll go
through the canal and thenyou'll stop in Gatun Lake, let
(39:30):
some other ships come in, andthen you'll go out in the
evening, out into the AtlanticOcean, and then it also stops in
Aruba before a few days at sea,ending in Fort Lauderdale.
Wow.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:41):
So 16 days?
What was the price on that?
Again Starts at $1229 perperson.
So that's the inside cabin.
Balcony cabin was how much.
Mark Faldmo (39:49):
Starts at $1989 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (39:52):
Now could you pick that up all the way from
Alaska, meaning turn that into a?
What a 21 days, I'm guessing.
Mark Faldmo (39:59):
Or is it longer than that?
There is an option that startsin Seattle so you could do a
round trip Alaska cruise andthen do the Pacific Coastal.
That'd probably be more like 25or 28 days, so you could do
that.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:12):
Sign me up.
What was the departure date?
I don't think you gave that.
Mark Faldmo (40:17):
I didn't, yeah, so the departure date is October
28th of this year, so just afterthat Alaska season, again
sailing through the Panama Canal, starting in Los Angeles and
ending in Fort Lauderdale.
Patrick Wiscombe (40:29):
Oh, man, take advantage of that.
That's a great itinerary.
Call Mark in his office, Getthe conversation started during
the break 888-718-7717.
888-718-77178, 718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacations.
(40:49):
com when we come back.
Man, it's already time to wrapup the show.
Mark's Travel Tips.
We're going to be talking aboutTSA pre-check scams and airline
customer service scams.
We're going to help you out onhow to avoid being scammed.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast, a radio
(41:10):
show, continues.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, my nameis Patrick Wiscombe.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (41:19):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk podcast and radio
show Presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
We'll be right back.
Ad Voice (41:58):
This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by
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podcast and radio show presentedby bluelanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Patrick Wiscombe (43:17):
And now here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
Faldmo coming to you live fromFiji at least Mark Faldmo is.
You are listening to the insidetravel talk podcast or radio
show coming up in this finalsegment of the show, we've got
(43:39):
Mark's travel tips and we'regoing to tell you how to avoid
being scammed.
Not that the TSA is going toscam you, but there are TSA
pre-check scams out there, andwe are also going to talk about
airline customer service scams.
There was an article.
(44:00):
From who was this?
The points guy?
The points guy, yeah, he saysthat there are five common and
very expensive travel scams, andso let's just talk about the
TSA PreCheck scam first.
Mark Faldmo (44:14):
This one is when you're applying for TSA PreCheck
for the first time.
One thing to know is there arefraudulent websites posing as
official PreCheck applicationprocessing providers and they
look legitimate.
They do, and they steal yourpersonal information.
(44:38):
They steal your application fee.
One thing to look for.
Any government website will endin gov, so that's one key to
look at.
When you apply for TSApre-check, the first time you
need to show up in an enrollmentcenter.
They will not ask for paymentuntil you show up at the
enrollment center.
So that is when you willactually pay for TSA PreCheck.
Patrick Wiscombe (44:56):
TSAgov is what we're talking about
specifically in this case.
Mark Faldmo (45:00):
Yeah, that little tip kind of goes on to our next
story, the airline customerservice scam.
When you're flying, thingsdon't always go right Flight
cancellations, flight delays.
A common thing for people to dois to just call the airline and
try and fix their flight.
When you do a search, make surethat it's the official airline
(45:22):
website.
There are a lot of sites outthere that look very official
Delta customer service theofficial airline website.
There are a lot of sites outthere that look very official
Delta Customer Service.
If you do a search for DeltaCustomer Service, you'll find
one legitimate website andprobably 20 or 30 fake websites.
People will call those fakewebsites and they'll rebook them
on a flight.
They'll take their card andcharge it and you won't be
(45:43):
rebooked and you'll have lostyour credit card fee.
So use the app, download theofficial app.
You can communicate that waythrough chat with customer
service.
If you do know the actualnumber to the airline, call it,
but make sure that it is thelegitimate airline number.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:01):
I'm a big fan of Airbnb Nikki and I have
stayed in a few just recentlyjust because we've been on the
road and rental home scams.
This is also from the points,guy.
What do we need to be aware ofthere?
Mark Faldmo (46:14):
So we talked about this a little bit last week,
where hosts call at the lastminute and say your home is not
available, I want to switch youto another home.
Or they ask you to pay offlineand not use the app Airbnb or
whatnot.
They ask you to go offline andpay for it.
So there are lots of rentalhome scams.
(46:37):
So the rule there is if itsounds fishy, it probably is
fishy.
Patrick Wiscombe (46:42):
I was not indicting Airbnb on that, that
was just rental home scams.
There's a few of them out there, not scams, but just sites,
sites, yeah.
Mark Faldmo (46:50):
So there are legitimate ones, and there are,
within those organizations, afew homeowners that are not
legitimate, but for the mostpart they are, and you just have
to be careful about what you'regetting into.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:02):
What about cruise port scams?
Did he mention anything aboutthat?
Mark Faldmo (47:06):
Yeah, you know there's a couple of cruise port
scams out there.
One is the free gift.
You'll leave and someone willbe offering you a free gift to
come inside.
That person is to get youinside and then you will be
handed off to a professionalsalesperson that sees thousands
(47:27):
of cruise passengers a week.
Oh yeah, and if you try andleave that place with that free
gift, they won't let you.
You either have to give thefree gift back or buy something.
Oh boy, so that's one of themost common scams.
The other one is a discountexcursion scam if you don't have
anything pre-booked.
Patrick Wiscombe (47:47):
By the way, I was astonished at the number of
people in San Juan old San Juanport that were selling tours Hop
on this bus, pay 30 bucks orwhatever it was to hop on.
But I was surprised how manyhustlers there were out there.
That was interesting.
Not that I'm saying Puerto Rico, you know, the old San Juan was
full of a bunch of fraudsters.
(48:09):
I just I've never been accostedlike that before.
Hey, you know, come with us andthey'll.
They'll put the pressure on youtoo.
Yes, they will.
Mark Faldmo (48:17):
Yeah, the last cruise scam.
Someone will come up and askyou to hold something for them.
In a lot of ports in theCaribbean it's like a giant
conch shell or something likethat, and they do this to
confuse you pick pocketers canget to you.
Or they just say you used it asa photo opportunity and they'll
(48:37):
hound you until you pay themmoney.
Yeah, I did see that one Conchshell, and so there are lots of
scams to look out for.
Go through trusted sources forshore excursions.
Either use a cruise line I havea really good third-party shore
excursion group that I use sothose are the best ways to not
(48:59):
get scammed in a cruise port.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:01):
Those are some really, really helpful tips.
How many cruises have you beenon?
I stopped counting at 150.
Mark Faldmo (49:05):
That's so much.
How many cruises have you beenon?
I stopped counting at 150.
That's so much.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:09):
And how many miles have you flown?
Mark Faldmo (49:10):
I'm a 2 million miler on Delta, a million miler
on American, so I'm probablyclose to 4 million.
I don't have a track with otherairlines but I'm probably close
to that 4 million mile mark andyou take off tonight at 9
o'clock Tahiti time, Fiji time.
Patrick Wiscombe (49:24):
I'm probably close to that 4 million mile
mark and you take off tonight at9 o'clock Tahiti time, Fiji
time.
I'm sorry, Fiji time, Fiji time.
Well, enjoy your time off.
You've had a lot of meetingsdown there.
Yes, had some rough sledding inFiji.
Call Mark in his office If youwant to book any of the Crucial
(49:45):
of the Week Panama, Alaska tothe Caribbean, Los Angeles to
Fort Lauderdale, the Fijiitineraries and the places that
we mentioned in the firstsection of the show.
Call Mark in his office, 888718-7717, 888-718-7717.
(50:11):
And, of course, you can go toblueplanetvacations.
com to get all of theinformation.
You can listen to us all overagain tomorrow morning at 11 am
on Sunday, right here on thisradio station, and you can
stream, download and subscribeto the podcast at
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
(50:31):
You can just listen to the showand you can subscribe to the
show because we're on all of themajor podcast platforms.
Well, now it's your turn to getout and explore the world while
you can, because you never knowwhat curveball's life is going
to throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Live the life that you want tolive.
(50:51):
Thank you so much for listening.
We don't have a business, wedon't have a show without you.
Thank you for being part of theshow.
We'll talk to you again nextweek.
Have a great week.
Show Voice (51:04):
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
That's it.
That's the end of the show.
You've been listening to theInside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show with Patrick Wiscombeand Mark Faldmo, presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(51:25):
Thanks for listening.
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