July 5, 2025 • 26 mins
Dive into a treasure trove of exceptional travel deals with Mark and Patrick as they unveil extraordinary savings opportunities perfect for your next adventure. The spotlight shines on Globus Tours' flash sale featuring their "Escape Tours" – off-season European journeys offering the dual benefits of 40-50% savings and blissfully uncrowded attractions. Picture yourself exploring Budapest, Vienna, and Prague for just $1,099 per person, or wandering through Scotland's magical landscapes for under $1,000 on a 7-day tour.
A fascinating travel insight emerges when discussing winter travel to the British Isles. While many assume harsh conditions, these northern destinations actually enjoy surprisingly temperate weather thanks to warm ocean currents flowing up from Africa. This creates the perfect opportunity to experience iconic sites without the summer crowds while still enjoying comfortable exploration conditions.
Norwegian Cruise Line steals the show with their remarkable promotion combining 35% savings with an impressive array of free perks: complimentary airfare for your second guest, shore excursion credits, Wi-Fi, unlimited bar package, and specialty dining. The standout offering? A 16-day repositioning cruise from Barcelona to the Dominican Republic starting at just $1,129 per person, featuring an exceptional itinerary with stops in Spain, Morocco, and the Caribbean that balances enriching port experiences with relaxing days at sea.
The hosts also highlight the growing trend of private shore excursions, where savvy travelers are discovering remarkable value in upgrading from large group tours to private experiences. For only slightly more than standard excursions, you can enjoy personalized attention, skip-the-line privileges, and a customized pace that transforms your time in port.
Ready to take advantage of these limited-time offers? Call 888-718-7717 to speak with expert travel advisors who can secure your spot before these deals disappear, or explore options yourself at BluePlanetVacations.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
Time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a
radio show Coming up.
On today's show, mark and Iwill be talking about the flash
sale going on with Globus Toursin Eastern Europe 35% off and
free airfare with NCL, and we'realso gonna give you the top
three cruises with NorwegianCruise Lines.
(00:20):
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcast,a radio show presented by
blueplanetvacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:43):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:07):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:19):
Happy birthday , America.
What a great country we live inand what a privilege it is to
be an American.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo,
coming up in this edition ofthe show.
We will be talking about 35%off and free airfare with
(01:43):
Norwegian Cruise Lines, andwe're also going to give you the
top three destinations.
And if you've always wanted togo to Eastern Europe, we're
going to tell you how to getthere because Globus Tours, one
of our suppliers, has an amazingoffer for our listeners this
week.
The entire purpose of thisradio show and podcast is to
help you plan and book your nextvacation, or just give you
(02:05):
ideas of where you may want toconsider going on vacation next,
and we are presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, and thank you again fortaking the time to stop and
listen.
Mark Faldmo, this is anabbreviated version of the show
because you and I were actuallyrecorded this week, because you
and I are out celebratingAmerica.
Mark Faldmo (02:26):
Where are you today ?
We are Yep.
I'm just at home today gettingready to leave to head down
south to visit some family.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:32):
Let's get right to the travel news
headlines SkyWest.
If people don't know whatSkyWest is, is it a kind of a
commuter airline, regionalairline?
Mark Faldmo (02:42):
SkyWest is a regional carrier and they
operate like Delta Connection.
They also operate AmericanEagle, United Express and
flights for Alaska Airlines.
So they kind of contract withall the airlines to operate
their shorter flights.
And SkyWest is a company that'sbased right here in Utah.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:01):
SkyWest has ordered 60 Embraer E-175 planes.
They've just ordered 60 more.
Mark Faldmo (03:08):
They ordered the 60 Embraer E-175 aircraft, which I
am excited about.
These are slated to replace theolder CRJ-700, which I think is
a good move.
The Embraer E-175 is a muchmore comfortable aircraft to fly
on than those CRJs.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:25):
Hyatt has completed their $2.6 billion
acquisition of Playa.
What do we know?
Mark Faldmo (03:32):
Hyatt wanted to get into the all-inclusive business
, but they didn't want to jumpin full force, and so they
contracted out with PlayaResorts to open.
What are the Hyatt Ziva resorts?
which are some of my favoriteresorts.
A little bit later on Hyattwanted more and so they bought a
company called AM Resorts whichhas Secrets Dreams, a lot of
(03:56):
the really famous all-inclusives.
So Hyatt kind of had these twodifferent companies operating
their hotels so it made sensefor them just to purchase Hyatt.
So now all of the Hyett's areunder one brand, one ownership.
Players Arts also operatedseveral other.
They operated some Wyndhamall-inclusives which are being
(04:17):
sold off.
They operated some Hiltonall-inclusives which are being
incorporated into the Hyattbrand.
Some of those are going to belike dreams and secrets, some of
those old Hilton properties.
So this does add an additional15 hotels to the Hyatt portfolio
in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:38):
Because this is an abbreviated show, because
of the July 4th holiday.
And again, happy birthdayAmerica.
I love living in this greatcountry and I know you do too,
mark.
Mark Faldmo (04:48):
I do.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:48):
Yeah, we're just going to jump right to the
hot travel deal of the week.
This was something that reallycaught my eye.
You told me before the show hey, I really have a good promotion
this week for the hot traveldeal of the week, and this is
the Globus Travel Flash Sale,where you can save up to $500
per person on escape tours.
But my first question is and Ican hear the listeners saying
(05:10):
well, what are escape tours?
It's not like an escape room.
Mark Faldmo (05:15):
No, an escape tour for Globus is an off season tour
, so these are tours thatoperate November through March,
which gives you severaladvantages.
First is the price.
These are very good prices lesscrowds which is always a good
thing.
One of my favorite places to gois Antwerp in Belgium.
(05:38):
There's a main square therethat's always so crowded.
I had the opportunity a fewyears back to go there in March
and we were on the walking tourthrough the city and came out to
this main square.
I have a picture of myself andI am the only person you can see
in the whole picture in frontof the main fountain.
It's so nice to travel whenthere are fewer crowds,
(06:00):
especially when you're goinginto the museums, some of the
different attractions.
These escape tours are designedpurely around that Less crowds
and a lower price.
They're typically 40 to 50%lower than a similar tour is in
the summertime.
So big savings, a big savings.
Okay.
So where are we going?
(06:20):
Let's start with ImperialEscape, which is in Central
Europe.
This is a seven-day tour thatgoes from Budapest to Prague,
and the other stop in that isVienna.
Ad Voice (06:34):
So you spend a few nights in.
Mark Faldmo (06:35):
Budapest, a few nights in Vienna and a few
nights in Prague, and this isnot a cruise, this is a land
tour.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:43):
This is a land tour.
Yeah Wow, a really good tour.
Yeah Wow.
Mark Faldmo (06:46):
A really good tour for that central Europe.
The best part of it is theprice, so that Imperial Escape
again a seven-day tour starts at$1,099 per person.
Wow, so that's your hotel, yourtransportation, you're with a
professional guide, admissionsto all of the places you visit.
(07:08):
You know tours every day.
That is a very good tour.
We'll move on to Scotland.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:15):
I'm personally interested in this one.
Mark Faldmo (07:17):
This one starts in Edinburgh and ends in Glasgow,
or vice versa.
I think this is the bestitinerary, so let's do the one
that starts in Glasgow, or viceversa.
I think this is the bestitinerary, so let's do the one
that starts in Glasgow, soyou'll go up to Fort Williams,
which is by where the HarryPotter train is, at Loch Ness,
Coldenmore, which is in theHighlands, and then to Inverness
(07:39):
, Scotland.
Then you come down and youspend a night in Inverness, and
then you come down, stop in StAndrews famous golf course.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:47):
Oh yeah.
Mark Faldmo (07:48):
And then you finish the tour with a few nights in
Edinburgh.
Oh wow, and this one again.
Seven days is less than $1,000per person.
It's $959 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:03):
Wow.
Mark Faldmo (08:04):
So if you've ever wanted to see Scotland and you
know the one thing that'sinteresting about Ireland and
Scotland, they're a furtherNorth latitude, so a lot of
people say it's going to be coldand snowy, but they get the
warm ocean current up fromAfrica, so the British Isles are
fairly temperate compared to ushere at lower latitude than
(08:26):
there.
So you know, I remember southcoast of Ireland.
I was surprised because thereare palm trees, because the
coconuts, whatever come up inthat current and there's just
palm trees on the south coast ofIreland.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:40):
So oh, wow.
Mark Faldmo (08:42):
So it's cool.
You'll definitely need a jacketor a coat, but it's not weather
like you know we have.
So, see, I would have neverguessed that.
Yeah, so to go during thatNovember through March timeframe
to save the crowds.
This is a great tour.
Yeah, it is.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:57):
Okay, what other tours do we?
Mark Faldmo (08:58):
have English escape tour.
Again, these are all seven-daytours and this one starts in
London.
A few nights in London, thenyou go up to Oxford, then spend
the night in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is Shakespeare country,
and then go up to York, which isone of my favorite places.
(09:19):
I love York, going to the YorkMinster.
They have what's called theShambles there, which is the
narrow streets with glass panedshops Just a wonderful place to
walk through.
And then over the last fewnights in Manchester with some
visits to like Liverpool andother places like that.
Most expensive one of the tripswe've talked about so far it is
(09:44):
1269 dollars per person, butagain, for the tour that's an
amazing price yeah, November toMarch, so we're looking November
2025 to march 2026 to save thiskind of money yeah, to save
this kind of money.
And then we'll just highlightone more, because this is one
(10:04):
that's on my bucket list, theplace that I want to go to,
Northern Africa.
So this tour starts and ends inCasablanca, goes to Casablanca,
Rabat spends two nights in Fez,two nights in Marrakesh and
then back for a few nights inCasablanca.
On the end, Morocco.
(10:25):
It's just always intrigued me.
My dad got back from Morocco afew weeks ago and just said it
was an amazing trip Because youhave the Spanish influence, the
Moorish influence, just a wholebunch of different cultures
merged into that country, whichmake it fascinating.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:42):
Did he say that it was better than what he
had expected?
He did.
Yeah, mm.
Yeah, your dad is well-traveled, well so are you, who has more
miles?
You or your dad?
You have 4 million miles, ornearly 4 million miles, traveled
.
What does he have?
Mark Faldmo (11:00):
I probably have a little bit more because I've
tracked mine more.
He got laid into the kind offrequent flyer game.
I'm sure if you look at it in alifetime he has many more miles
than I have.
But if you look at the frequentflyer accounts I do.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:15):
Look at the evidence.
Who has more miles?
It's you.
Mark Faldmo (11:18):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:20):
What a great experience.
I like what you said november2025 to march 2026 40 to 50 off
what would be the normal pricefor these exact same tours, and
I thought it was interesting howyou said the it's more
temperate because of the thewarmer weather coming up from
africa, if I got that right.
Mark Faldmo (11:40):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:42):
Wow, all right , take advantage of that offer.
That is an exclusive for ourlisteners from Globus.
This is their flash sale.
Call Mark in his office,888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacations.
(12:02):
com when we come back.
It is time for the infamousJust Cruising segment, where
it's only about the cruise newsand it's only about cruise deals
.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast or radio
show continues Alongside MarkFaldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
(12:23):
We will be right back.
Show Voice (12:28):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
Ad Voice (12:49):
We'll be right back waterways, from castles and
capitals 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
(13:09):
blueplanetvacations.
com.
Show Voice (13:20):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, and
(13:40):
check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:10):
Happy birthday to America, a beautiful country
, a great country.
We're still the envy of theworld and it is a privilege to
be called an American and I knowthat I speak for mark.
He has no idea that I'm goingto say this but what an amazing
opportunity to go out and seethe world and then come home and
just go.
You know what America's awesome.
We are blessed to live here.
(14:30):
Coming up in this segment ofthis abbreviated edition of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast or aradio show, we will be talking
about 35% off savings, plus freeairfare for a second guest,
plus free excursion credits,free Wi-Fi, also unlimited bar
and free specialty dining.
(14:51):
This is the infamous justcruising segment, done a little
bit earlier than we normally doit.
Normally we do it at the bottomof the hour, but since Mark and
I are on holiday right nowbecause of the holiday, we're
doing an abbreviated version ofthe show Mark.
Let's get right to the cruisenews headlines.
Cruise guests are increasinglyasking for private premier shore
(15:15):
excursions.
I love this idea.
Mark Faldmo (15:18):
This was two groups that kind of do third party
shore excursions.
One is Shore Excursions Group,which is who I recommend and who
I use all the time.
They're just saying theirdemand for private shore
excursions has about tripled inthe last few years.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:33):
Can I make an important distinction here?
So there's cruise shipexcursions that you pay for, but
this is actually a should Icall them a private company
called Shore Excursions Group.
Mark Faldmo (15:44):
Yes, okay, that's correct.
So they're a third party shoreexcursion provider, so they
often take a lot of the toursthat you find on board a cruise
ship, do them in a little bitsmaller groups for a better
price, and so that's what shoreexcursion group is known for.
But now they're really startingto add these private shore
(16:06):
excursions.
I think a private shoreexcursion is much better than
the group shore excursions.
Sometimes they're a little bitmore expensive.
But I do have an example here.
I have a family going on aMediterranean cruise over
Christmas and we were lookingfor short excursions for them
and they wanted to go inBarcelona, up to Montserrat, to
(16:29):
the monastery, and so the cruiseline short excursion was $105
per person, so that's with agroup of 30 or 40.
And I was looking at shortexcursions group and they have a
private shore excursion, so upto eight people it was $140 per
person.
It's not a whole lot more thanwhat the cruise line was
(16:51):
offering.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:51):
No.
Mark Faldmo (16:52):
But you're in your own vehicle, with your own guide
and your own driver.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:55):
And that's the difference right there.
Mark Faldmo (16:57):
Yeah, and so these private shore excursions, I
think, are the way to go, andactually probably the last three
or four months I've sold moreof these private shore
excursions in three months thanI've probably sold in my whole
career oh wow, it's a great wayto do this, especially like in
Europe, Like if you're in Rome,for instance.
(17:18):
You know those are long days,those are 10 to 12 hours long
shore excursions.
The same family now this is noton a shore excursion because
they're spending a day in Rome,but this can be done as a
private shore excursion from theport.
They had a family of seven andthey did a full day tour for
about $1,800 of Rome.
(17:38):
It includes the entrance to theSistine Chapel, entrance to the
Colosseum, all of the sites,and so to do that one as a
private shore excursion justmakes a lot of sense.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:49):
Do you cut to the front of the line?
Mark Faldmo (17:50):
You do.
Most of these have the skip theline entrances at a lot of the
places.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:55):
I would rather pay a little bit more to get a
better experience than to juststand in line all day.
Mark Faldmo (18:01):
For those that are interested in just looking at
these, on the Blue PlanetVacations website there's a tab
for shore excursions.
You can look at that or just inthe cruise booking engine down
at the very bottom it sayscruise shore excursions.
If you click on that it'll takeyou to this and you can look at
all of the private shoreexcursions or just all of the
shore excursions in general.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:21):
I didn't know that was on the website, so I'm
glad you brought that up.
Always in the infamous justcruising segment is the cruise
deal of the week.
This is what we're famous for,and we've got Norwegian cruise
lines.
It's 35% off savings plus freeairfare for a second guest, free
excursion credit, free Wi-Fi,also unlimited bar and free
(18:46):
specialty dining.
That's a lot of free.
And what promotions do we have?
Well, you know what.
My first question is, mark, howdoes free airfare work with
this promotion?
Mark Faldmo (18:56):
So you know this is a promotion that Norwegians had
for a while, but it is verygood.
So it is free airfare for thesecond person.
So the first person payswhatever Norwegian's rate is for
that and then the second persongoes free.
And sometimes this is a verygood deal and it literally is
almost 50% off the regular price.
(19:18):
So we've talked about theHawaii to Tahiti cruise.
When I had a group that didthat, the first person paid
about $1,200 and the secondperson was free.
So that was basically $600 aperson, when you average it all
out, to go fly to Hawaii and flyhome from Tahiti.
So sometimes you can find thatthis is a great way to go.
(19:40):
Now the drawback with doing thecruise line air and this is true
of almost every cruise line isyou don't have any say in the
airline or flight schedule whenyou buy their airfare.
They put you on whatever fitswithin their contracts.
So it's a great way to savemoney.
But you do have to understandthat you don't have a say in
what airline or what flightschedule you're on.
(20:00):
But other parts of thispromotion the free shore
excursion credit so you get ashore excursion credit in each
port which helps you save moneythe free Wi-Fi package, which is
also it's like 75 or 120minutes free.
You know something like that.
So this is a really good, solidpromotion by Norwegian.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:20):
What are the destinations?
Let's start there.
Mark Faldmo (20:23):
I just picked what I think are the three best
cruise promotions cruisedepartures for Norwegian.
Interesting how I found this Onthe Blue Planet Vacations
website.
You can go in to the cruisesearch but you could just put in
a date and look at all cruiselines and find the best prices
for a certain month.
So this one I just put in adate and look at all cruise
lines and find the best pricesfor a certain month.
So this one I just put inNorwegian Cruise Line, put in
(20:44):
January to see what their bestprices were, and I pulled up
every single sailing ofNorwegian in January so I could
search through all of the bestprices.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:52):
So this is customer facing, meaning
whoever's listening couldliterally go to
BluePlanetVacations.
com and do what you're doing.
It's not something they have tocall you for.
Mark Faldmo (21:02):
Correct.
Yeah, they could go and do theresearch on the cruise they want
.
They can book it online or theycan call us to book their
cruise.
So the first itinerary I lookedat was just a seven day Mexican
Riviera itinerary in January.
This was a January 18th date.
The price is $599 per personbut a balcony is $879 per person
(21:25):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:25):
Oh wow.
Mark Faldmo (21:25):
So for a mid-January date this is pretty
good, and that's just thestandard Mexican Riviera Cabo,
Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, andthen you get that promotion that
we talked about.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:35):
Is that on the Bliss?
Mark Faldmo (21:36):
That's on the Bliss .
Okay, we'll move on to theCaribbean.
This is a round trip from NewOrleans.
Its ports are Cozumel, harvestCay, Roatan and Costa Maya.
Before it gets back to NewOrleans, this is several January
dates that are about the same.
Starts at $659 per person.
(21:57):
Balcony cabins are $889 perperson, so a great way to get
out of the cold.
Roatan, one of my favorites.
Also, costa Maya, one of myfavorites.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:09):
So out of the seven days you have four port
days, Four port days.
Mark Faldmo (22:13):
Wow, okay, what's the last one?
The last one is a repositioningcruise.
I think this one is interesting.
It's December, it's the firstpart of December, leaves
December 6th and it is Barcelonato La Ramona in the Dominican
Republic.
Now, this one would be aperfect itinerary on Norwegian
to look at.
That second person flies free.
(22:34):
Oh yeah, it would, because I'msure the airfare rate on this
would be fantastic.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:40):
How many days is this?
Mark Faldmo (22:41):
one.
So this one is a 16-day cruise,leaves from Barcelona, goes to
Malaga in Spain, Cadiz,Casablanca that we were just
talking about in Morocco, goesto one other port in Morocco,
and then it goes to Porto Grande, which is a port off of Africa,
(23:02):
and then sails across to StMartin Tortola and then ends in
La Romana.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:08):
You go to Phillipsburg on this one, you do
.
Oh, if you go to Phillipsburg,st Martin, go to Maho Beach, and
that's the famous place whereyou can go to the beach and the
planes fly over your head.
One of the best experiencesI've ever had in my life.
Mark Faldmo (23:25):
I love that activity too One of the best
experiences I've ever had in mylife.
I love that activity too.
There's a bar there that haskind of a deck that just looks
out over that.
So I just go and have lunchthere and watch the planes land
and watch the people get blownover by the planes.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:39):
So I was behind one of those jet blasts,
wear eye protection yes.
You'll get a face full of sand.
What ship is this on Mark forthe 16-day repositioning cruise?
Mark Faldmo (23:53):
This is on the Norwegian Sky, which is one of
the Norwegian's smaller vessels.
It's about 92,000 gross tons,so it actually is the smallest
in their fleet right now.
The best part of this is theprice.
16 days inside cabin starts at$1129 per person Wow and the
balcony starts at $2814.
(24:14):
The price is the best part, butprobably that itinerary.
That is one of the moreinteresting repositioning
itineraries that I've seen.
It has more ports than mostitinerary and less know less
days at sea, so it the longestit has is four days at sea.
Most of those would have fiveto seven days at sea, so so you
are breaking up days at sea onthis itinerary take advantage of
(24:38):
that.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:41):
That is a tremendous offer and that starts
January 2026.
That 16-day repositioningcruise did you say it was
December?
What?
6 2025, somewhere in thereDecember 6 through December 22nd
oh, man, take advantage ofthose offers 888-718-7717,
(25:04):
888-771-7, and you can also goto blueplanetvacations.
com.
Well, that's it for thisabbreviated version of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show.
You can listen to this veryshow again tomorrow morning,
Sunday, at 11 am, right here onthis radio station and, of
(25:26):
course, around the country.
Plus, you can stream, downloadand subscribe to the podcast at
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We're on all of the majorpodcast platforms and you can
just stream the show right onthe website.
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
(25:48):
throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thanks for listening.
Happy birthday, America.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
Have a great week.
Show Voice (26:00):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:21):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Time for the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a
radio show Coming up.
On today's show, mark and Iwill be talking about the flash
sale going on with Globus Toursin Eastern Europe 35% off and
free airfare with NCL, and we'realso gonna give you the top
three cruises with NorwegianCruise Lines.
(00:20):
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcast,a radio show presented by
blueplanetvacations.
com, contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:43):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:07):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:19):
Happy birthday , America.
What a great country we live inand what a privilege it is to
be an American.
Welcome to the Inside TravelTalk podcast, a radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe, alongside Mark Faldmo,
coming up in this edition ofthe show.
We will be talking about 35%off and free airfare with
(01:43):
Norwegian Cruise Lines, andwe're also going to give you the
top three destinations.
And if you've always wanted togo to Eastern Europe, we're
going to tell you how to getthere because Globus Tours, one
of our suppliers, has an amazingoffer for our listeners this
week.
The entire purpose of thisradio show and podcast is to
help you plan and book your nextvacation, or just give you
(02:05):
ideas of where you may want toconsider going on vacation next,
and we are presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, and thank you again fortaking the time to stop and
listen.
Mark Faldmo, this is anabbreviated version of the show
because you and I were actuallyrecorded this week, because you
and I are out celebratingAmerica.
Mark Faldmo (02:26):
Where are you today ?
We are Yep.
I'm just at home today gettingready to leave to head down
south to visit some family.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:32):
Let's get right to the travel news
headlines SkyWest.
If people don't know whatSkyWest is, is it a kind of a
commuter airline, regionalairline?
Mark Faldmo (02:42):
SkyWest is a regional carrier and they
operate like Delta Connection.
They also operate AmericanEagle, United Express and
flights for Alaska Airlines.
So they kind of contract withall the airlines to operate
their shorter flights.
And SkyWest is a company that'sbased right here in Utah.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:01):
SkyWest has ordered 60 Embraer E-175 planes.
They've just ordered 60 more.
Mark Faldmo (03:08):
They ordered the 60 Embraer E-175 aircraft, which I
am excited about.
These are slated to replace theolder CRJ-700, which I think is
a good move.
The Embraer E-175 is a muchmore comfortable aircraft to fly
on than those CRJs.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:25):
Hyatt has completed their $2.6 billion
acquisition of Playa.
What do we know?
Mark Faldmo (03:32):
Hyatt wanted to get into the all-inclusive business
, but they didn't want to jumpin full force, and so they
contracted out with PlayaResorts to open.
What are the Hyatt Ziva resorts?
which are some of my favoriteresorts.
A little bit later on Hyattwanted more and so they bought a
company called AM Resorts whichhas Secrets Dreams, a lot of
(03:56):
the really famous all-inclusives.
So Hyatt kind of had these twodifferent companies operating
their hotels so it made sensefor them just to purchase Hyatt.
So now all of the Hyett's areunder one brand, one ownership.
Players Arts also operatedseveral other.
They operated some Wyndhamall-inclusives which are being
(04:17):
sold off.
They operated some Hiltonall-inclusives which are being
incorporated into the Hyattbrand.
Some of those are going to belike dreams and secrets, some of
those old Hilton properties.
So this does add an additional15 hotels to the Hyatt portfolio
in Mexico and the Caribbean.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:38):
Because this is an abbreviated show, because
of the July 4th holiday.
And again, happy birthdayAmerica.
I love living in this greatcountry and I know you do too,
mark.
Mark Faldmo (04:48):
I do.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:48):
Yeah, we're just going to jump right to the
hot travel deal of the week.
This was something that reallycaught my eye.
You told me before the show hey, I really have a good promotion
this week for the hot traveldeal of the week, and this is
the Globus Travel Flash Sale,where you can save up to $500
per person on escape tours.
But my first question is and Ican hear the listeners saying
(05:10):
well, what are escape tours?
It's not like an escape room.
Mark Faldmo (05:15):
No, an escape tour for Globus is an off season tour
, so these are tours thatoperate November through March,
which gives you severaladvantages.
First is the price.
These are very good prices lesscrowds which is always a good
thing.
One of my favorite places to gois Antwerp in Belgium.
(05:38):
There's a main square therethat's always so crowded.
I had the opportunity a fewyears back to go there in March
and we were on the walking tourthrough the city and came out to
this main square.
I have a picture of myself andI am the only person you can see
in the whole picture in frontof the main fountain.
It's so nice to travel whenthere are fewer crowds,
(06:00):
especially when you're goinginto the museums, some of the
different attractions.
These escape tours are designedpurely around that Less crowds
and a lower price.
They're typically 40 to 50%lower than a similar tour is in
the summertime.
So big savings, a big savings.
Okay.
So where are we going?
(06:20):
Let's start with ImperialEscape, which is in Central
Europe.
This is a seven-day tour thatgoes from Budapest to Prague,
and the other stop in that isVienna.
Ad Voice (06:34):
So you spend a few nights in.
Mark Faldmo (06:35):
Budapest, a few nights in Vienna and a few
nights in Prague, and this isnot a cruise, this is a land
tour.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:43):
This is a land tour.
Yeah Wow, a really good tour.
Yeah Wow.
Mark Faldmo (06:46):
A really good tour for that central Europe.
The best part of it is theprice, so that Imperial Escape
again a seven-day tour starts at$1,099 per person.
Wow, so that's your hotel, yourtransportation, you're with a
professional guide, admissionsto all of the places you visit.
(07:08):
You know tours every day.
That is a very good tour.
We'll move on to Scotland.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:15):
I'm personally interested in this one.
Mark Faldmo (07:17):
This one starts in Edinburgh and ends in Glasgow,
or vice versa.
I think this is the bestitinerary, so let's do the one
that starts in Glasgow, or viceversa.
I think this is the bestitinerary, so let's do the one
that starts in Glasgow, soyou'll go up to Fort Williams,
which is by where the HarryPotter train is, at Loch Ness,
Coldenmore, which is in theHighlands, and then to Inverness
(07:39):
, Scotland.
Then you come down and youspend a night in Inverness, and
then you come down, stop in StAndrews famous golf course.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:47):
Oh yeah.
Mark Faldmo (07:48):
And then you finish the tour with a few nights in
Edinburgh.
Oh wow, and this one again.
Seven days is less than $1,000per person.
It's $959 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:03):
Wow.
Mark Faldmo (08:04):
So if you've ever wanted to see Scotland and you
know the one thing that'sinteresting about Ireland and
Scotland, they're a furtherNorth latitude, so a lot of
people say it's going to be coldand snowy, but they get the
warm ocean current up fromAfrica, so the British Isles are
fairly temperate compared to ushere at lower latitude than
(08:26):
there.
So you know, I remember southcoast of Ireland.
I was surprised because thereare palm trees, because the
coconuts, whatever come up inthat current and there's just
palm trees on the south coast ofIreland.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:40):
So oh, wow.
Mark Faldmo (08:42):
So it's cool.
You'll definitely need a jacketor a coat, but it's not weather
like you know we have.
So, see, I would have neverguessed that.
Yeah, so to go during thatNovember through March timeframe
to save the crowds.
This is a great tour.
Yeah, it is.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:57):
Okay, what other tours do we?
Mark Faldmo (08:58):
have English escape tour.
Again, these are all seven-daytours and this one starts in
London.
A few nights in London, thenyou go up to Oxford, then spend
the night in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is Shakespeare country,
and then go up to York, which isone of my favorite places.
(09:19):
I love York, going to the YorkMinster.
They have what's called theShambles there, which is the
narrow streets with glass panedshops Just a wonderful place to
walk through.
And then over the last fewnights in Manchester with some
visits to like Liverpool andother places like that.
Most expensive one of the tripswe've talked about so far it is
(09:44):
1269 dollars per person, butagain, for the tour that's an
amazing price yeah, November toMarch, so we're looking November
2025 to march 2026 to save thiskind of money yeah, to save
this kind of money.
And then we'll just highlightone more, because this is one
(10:04):
that's on my bucket list, theplace that I want to go to,
Northern Africa.
So this tour starts and ends inCasablanca, goes to Casablanca,
Rabat spends two nights in Fez,two nights in Marrakesh and
then back for a few nights inCasablanca.
On the end, Morocco.
(10:25):
It's just always intrigued me.
My dad got back from Morocco afew weeks ago and just said it
was an amazing trip Because youhave the Spanish influence, the
Moorish influence, just a wholebunch of different cultures
merged into that country, whichmake it fascinating.
Patrick Wiscombe (10:42):
Did he say that it was better than what he
had expected?
He did.
Yeah, mm.
Yeah, your dad is well-traveled, well so are you, who has more
miles?
You or your dad?
You have 4 million miles, ornearly 4 million miles, traveled
.
What does he have?
Mark Faldmo (11:00):
I probably have a little bit more because I've
tracked mine more.
He got laid into the kind offrequent flyer game.
I'm sure if you look at it in alifetime he has many more miles
than I have.
But if you look at the frequentflyer accounts I do.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:15):
Look at the evidence.
Who has more miles?
It's you.
Mark Faldmo (11:18):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:20):
What a great experience.
I like what you said november2025 to march 2026 40 to 50 off
what would be the normal pricefor these exact same tours, and
I thought it was interesting howyou said the it's more
temperate because of the thewarmer weather coming up from
africa, if I got that right.
Mark Faldmo (11:40):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:42):
Wow, all right , take advantage of that offer.
That is an exclusive for ourlisteners from Globus.
This is their flash sale.
Call Mark in his office,888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And he'll also post this onblueplanetvacations.
(12:02):
com when we come back.
It is time for the infamousJust Cruising segment, where
it's only about the cruise newsand it's only about cruise deals
.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk podcast or radio
show continues Alongside MarkFaldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
(12:23):
We will be right back.
Show Voice (12:28):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
Ad Voice (12:49):
We'll be right back waterways, from castles and
capitals 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
(13:09):
blueplanetvacations.
com.
Show Voice (13:20):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700, and
(13:40):
check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:10):
Happy birthday to America, a beautiful country
, a great country.
We're still the envy of theworld and it is a privilege to
be called an American and I knowthat I speak for mark.
He has no idea that I'm goingto say this but what an amazing
opportunity to go out and seethe world and then come home and
just go.
You know what America's awesome.
We are blessed to live here.
(14:30):
Coming up in this segment ofthis abbreviated edition of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast or aradio show, we will be talking
about 35% off savings, plus freeairfare for a second guest,
plus free excursion credits,free Wi-Fi, also unlimited bar
and free specialty dining.
(14:51):
This is the infamous justcruising segment, done a little
bit earlier than we normally doit.
Normally we do it at the bottomof the hour, but since Mark and
I are on holiday right nowbecause of the holiday, we're
doing an abbreviated version ofthe show Mark.
Let's get right to the cruisenews headlines.
Cruise guests are increasinglyasking for private premier shore
(15:15):
excursions.
I love this idea.
Mark Faldmo (15:18):
This was two groups that kind of do third party
shore excursions.
One is Shore Excursions Group,which is who I recommend and who
I use all the time.
They're just saying theirdemand for private shore
excursions has about tripled inthe last few years.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:33):
Can I make an important distinction here?
So there's cruise shipexcursions that you pay for, but
this is actually a should Icall them a private company
called Shore Excursions Group.
Mark Faldmo (15:44):
Yes, okay, that's correct.
So they're a third party shoreexcursion provider, so they
often take a lot of the toursthat you find on board a cruise
ship, do them in a little bitsmaller groups for a better
price, and so that's what shoreexcursion group is known for.
But now they're really startingto add these private shore
(16:06):
excursions.
I think a private shoreexcursion is much better than
the group shore excursions.
Sometimes they're a little bitmore expensive.
But I do have an example here.
I have a family going on aMediterranean cruise over
Christmas and we were lookingfor short excursions for them
and they wanted to go inBarcelona, up to Montserrat, to
(16:29):
the monastery, and so the cruiseline short excursion was $105
per person, so that's with agroup of 30 or 40.
And I was looking at shortexcursions group and they have a
private shore excursion, so upto eight people it was $140 per
person.
It's not a whole lot more thanwhat the cruise line was
(16:51):
offering.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:51):
No.
Mark Faldmo (16:52):
But you're in your own vehicle, with your own guide
and your own driver.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:55):
And that's the difference right there.
Mark Faldmo (16:57):
Yeah, and so these private shore excursions, I
think, are the way to go, andactually probably the last three
or four months I've sold moreof these private shore
excursions in three months thanI've probably sold in my whole
career oh wow, it's a great wayto do this, especially like in
Europe, Like if you're in Rome,for instance.
(17:18):
You know those are long days,those are 10 to 12 hours long
shore excursions.
The same family now this is noton a shore excursion because
they're spending a day in Rome,but this can be done as a
private shore excursion from theport.
They had a family of seven andthey did a full day tour for
about $1,800 of Rome.
(17:38):
It includes the entrance to theSistine Chapel, entrance to the
Colosseum, all of the sites,and so to do that one as a
private shore excursion justmakes a lot of sense.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:49):
Do you cut to the front of the line?
Mark Faldmo (17:50):
You do.
Most of these have the skip theline entrances at a lot of the
places.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:55):
I would rather pay a little bit more to get a
better experience than to juststand in line all day.
Mark Faldmo (18:01):
For those that are interested in just looking at
these, on the Blue PlanetVacations website there's a tab
for shore excursions.
You can look at that or just inthe cruise booking engine down
at the very bottom it sayscruise shore excursions.
If you click on that it'll takeyou to this and you can look at
all of the private shoreexcursions or just all of the
shore excursions in general.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:21):
I didn't know that was on the website, so I'm
glad you brought that up.
Always in the infamous justcruising segment is the cruise
deal of the week.
This is what we're famous for,and we've got Norwegian cruise
lines.
It's 35% off savings plus freeairfare for a second guest, free
excursion credit, free Wi-Fi,also unlimited bar and free
(18:46):
specialty dining.
That's a lot of free.
And what promotions do we have?
Well, you know what.
My first question is, mark, howdoes free airfare work with
this promotion?
Mark Faldmo (18:56):
So you know this is a promotion that Norwegians had
for a while, but it is verygood.
So it is free airfare for thesecond person.
So the first person payswhatever Norwegian's rate is for
that and then the second persongoes free.
And sometimes this is a verygood deal and it literally is
almost 50% off the regular price.
(19:18):
So we've talked about theHawaii to Tahiti cruise.
When I had a group that didthat, the first person paid
about $1,200 and the secondperson was free.
So that was basically $600 aperson, when you average it all
out, to go fly to Hawaii and flyhome from Tahiti.
So sometimes you can find thatthis is a great way to go.
(19:40):
Now the drawback with doing thecruise line air and this is true
of almost every cruise line isyou don't have any say in the
airline or flight schedule whenyou buy their airfare.
They put you on whatever fitswithin their contracts.
So it's a great way to savemoney.
But you do have to understandthat you don't have a say in
what airline or what flightschedule you're on.
(20:00):
But other parts of thispromotion the free shore
excursion credit so you get ashore excursion credit in each
port which helps you save moneythe free Wi-Fi package, which is
also it's like 75 or 120minutes free.
You know something like that.
So this is a really good, solidpromotion by Norwegian.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:20):
What are the destinations?
Let's start there.
Mark Faldmo (20:23):
I just picked what I think are the three best
cruise promotions cruisedepartures for Norwegian.
Interesting how I found this Onthe Blue Planet Vacations
website.
You can go in to the cruisesearch but you could just put in
a date and look at all cruiselines and find the best prices
for a certain month.
So this one I just put in adate and look at all cruise
lines and find the best pricesfor a certain month.
So this one I just put inNorwegian Cruise Line, put in
(20:44):
January to see what their bestprices were, and I pulled up
every single sailing ofNorwegian in January so I could
search through all of the bestprices.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:52):
So this is customer facing, meaning
whoever's listening couldliterally go to
BluePlanetVacations.
com and do what you're doing.
It's not something they have tocall you for.
Mark Faldmo (21:02):
Correct.
Yeah, they could go and do theresearch on the cruise they want
.
They can book it online or theycan call us to book their
cruise.
So the first itinerary I lookedat was just a seven day Mexican
Riviera itinerary in January.
This was a January 18th date.
The price is $599 per personbut a balcony is $879 per person
(21:25):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:25):
Oh wow.
Mark Faldmo (21:25):
So for a mid-January date this is pretty
good, and that's just thestandard Mexican Riviera Cabo,
Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, andthen you get that promotion that
we talked about.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:35):
Is that on the Bliss?
Mark Faldmo (21:36):
That's on the Bliss .
Okay, we'll move on to theCaribbean.
This is a round trip from NewOrleans.
Its ports are Cozumel, harvestCay, Roatan and Costa Maya.
Before it gets back to NewOrleans, this is several January
dates that are about the same.
Starts at $659 per person.
(21:57):
Balcony cabins are $889 perperson, so a great way to get
out of the cold.
Roatan, one of my favorites.
Also, costa Maya, one of myfavorites.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:09):
So out of the seven days you have four port
days, Four port days.
Mark Faldmo (22:13):
Wow, okay, what's the last one?
The last one is a repositioningcruise.
I think this one is interesting.
It's December, it's the firstpart of December, leaves
December 6th and it is Barcelonato La Ramona in the Dominican
Republic.
Now, this one would be aperfect itinerary on Norwegian
to look at.
That second person flies free.
(22:34):
Oh yeah, it would, because I'msure the airfare rate on this
would be fantastic.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:40):
How many days is this?
Mark Faldmo (22:41):
one.
So this one is a 16-day cruise,leaves from Barcelona, goes to
Malaga in Spain, Cadiz,Casablanca that we were just
talking about in Morocco, goesto one other port in Morocco,
and then it goes to Porto Grande, which is a port off of Africa,
(23:02):
and then sails across to StMartin Tortola and then ends in
La Romana.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:08):
You go to Phillipsburg on this one, you do
.
Oh, if you go to Phillipsburg,st Martin, go to Maho Beach, and
that's the famous place whereyou can go to the beach and the
planes fly over your head.
One of the best experiencesI've ever had in my life.
Mark Faldmo (23:25):
I love that activity too One of the best
experiences I've ever had in mylife.
I love that activity too.
There's a bar there that haskind of a deck that just looks
out over that.
So I just go and have lunchthere and watch the planes land
and watch the people get blownover by the planes.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:39):
So I was behind one of those jet blasts,
wear eye protection yes.
You'll get a face full of sand.
What ship is this on Mark forthe 16-day repositioning cruise?
Mark Faldmo (23:53):
This is on the Norwegian Sky, which is one of
the Norwegian's smaller vessels.
It's about 92,000 gross tons,so it actually is the smallest
in their fleet right now.
The best part of this is theprice.
16 days inside cabin starts at$1129 per person Wow and the
balcony starts at $2814.
(24:14):
The price is the best part, butprobably that itinerary.
That is one of the moreinteresting repositioning
itineraries that I've seen.
It has more ports than mostitinerary and less know less
days at sea, so it the longestit has is four days at sea.
Most of those would have fiveto seven days at sea, so so you
are breaking up days at sea onthis itinerary take advantage of
(24:38):
that.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:41):
That is a tremendous offer and that starts
January 2026.
That 16-day repositioningcruise did you say it was
December?
What?
6 2025, somewhere in thereDecember 6 through December 22nd
oh, man, take advantage ofthose offers 888-718-7717,
(25:04):
888-771-7, and you can also goto blueplanetvacations.
com.
Well, that's it for thisabbreviated version of the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show.
You can listen to this veryshow again tomorrow morning,
Sunday, at 11 am, right here onthis radio station and, of
(25:26):
course, around the country.
Plus, you can stream, downloadand subscribe to the podcast at
InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We're on all of the majorpodcast platforms and you can
just stream the show right onthe website.
Now it's your turn to get outand explore the world while you
can, because you never know whatcurveballs life is going to
(25:48):
throw at you.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thanks for listening.
Happy birthday, America.
We'll talk to you next Saturdayand Sunday.
Have a great week.
Show Voice (26:00):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:21):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
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