December 27, 2025 • 26 mins
A selfie with your boarding pass could end in a canceled trip—but that’s exactly what happened to one traveler whose reservation was wiped after he posted his full boarding pass online. We dig into the most costly travel don’ts and share practical steps to protect your bookings, your miles, and your sanity before you ever reach the gate.
From there, we jump to big destination news: Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris is transforming into Disney Adventure World, featuring a full World of Frozen land and a water-and-drone show built for golden-hour wow. We also track thoughtful progress in Maui as Lahaina Harbor moves into limited operations and explain how to plan Hawaii responsibly while taking advantage of current Delta Vacations perks for SkyMiles and Medallion members.
If you’re gifting an experience, Costa Rica makes it easy to deliver on wildlife dreams. We map a flexible route through Arenal’s hanging bridges and Manuel Antonio’s pristine beaches, explain how to spot howlers, capuchins, and squirrel monkeys, and break down the best months to visit. Then we set sail for cruise intel: Carnival’s new Ensenada destination upgrades a once-skippable port with a pool-forward playground, and MSC’s New Frontier class balances size with reach to unlock more global ports. For travelers craving fresh Caribbean stamps, we spotlight two Princess itineraries that go beyond the standard loop—a seven-night from San Juan hitting St. Kitts, Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, and Barbados, and a 12-night from Fort Lauderdale that adds Puerto Limón, Colón, Aruba, and Curaçao. With up to 40% off fares, free third and fourth guests, and reduced deposits, the timing is right to lock in value.
Ready to travel smarter and see more? Follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review. Your questions shape future episodes—text or call us with your travel puzzle and we’ll help you solve it.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
It is time for the Inside Travel Talk Podcast
Radio Show.
Coming up on today's show, Markand I will be talking about
what not to do when traveling.
Lahaina, their harbor, is setto reopen.
We're gonna give you details.
Christmas Monkeys, Costa Rica,Baja, the travel deal of the
week, and finally, seven andtwelve-day cruises are the
(00:20):
cruise deal of the week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk PodcastRadio Show, presented by Blue
PlanetVacations.com, containstravel deals, promotions, and
offers that are time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:47):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel TalkPodcast and Radio Show,
presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com.
Call or text the show now.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsidetravalk.com.
And now, here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
(01:11):
Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:23):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast.
I am Patrick Wiscombe.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, he'll behere in just a moment.
The entire purpose of thisradio show and podcast is to
help you plan and book your nextvacation or give you ideas of
where you may want to go onvacation next.
(01:44):
And we are presented, proudlypresented, by Mark's company,
BluePlanetVacations.com, andthank you for taking the time to
stop and listen.
This week we are talking aboutwhat not to do when traveling.
We always talk about what todo, we're going to tell you what
not to do.
Good news.
(02:04):
It's going to reopen.
Slowly reopen.
We'll give you the details.
Christmas Monkeys, Costa Rica,Baja.
We've got the travel deal forthe week.
And we've also got seven and12-day cruises.
And those are the cruise dealof the week.
So those are just a handful ofthe stories we'll be talking
(02:26):
about on today's show.
And let me bring in the co-hostof this award-nominated podcast
or radio show.
We haven't won yet, but wewill.
We will do it this year.
Mark Faldmo (02:36):
Yep.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:39):
By the way, how do you like the new studio
that I'm in?
It is great.
Looks good.
Yeah.
Not that anyone can see itright now since we're on the
radio, but let's get right tothe travel news headlines.
Where do you want to start?
Should we go Disneyland ParisResort?
Let's do Disney Paris.
Okay, so we're gonna give yousome things you need to know or
what we know about DisneyAdventure World at Disneyland
(03:03):
Paris Resort.
A lot of Disney in there, Mark.
Mark Faldmo (03:05):
Disney is actually rebranding Walt Disney Studios
Park in Disneyland Paris.
So on March 29th, they willrebrand it as Disney Adventure
World.
They've changed 90% of thepark's offerings since it opened
about 23 years ago.
And so it's basically a wholenew park.
They're also expanding thepark, they're adding a seven and
(03:29):
a half acre world of frozen,which looks really interesting.
Um, it's a full-scalerecreation of the kingdom of
Arendell from the movie,including a 118-foot high north
mountain.
I've seen some things onlineabout that, and they have Olaf.
They have an Olaf robot.
Olaf is the snowman in Frozenthat's AI, and he just walks
(03:52):
around and talks to people allday.
One thing they're adding is inkind of their main show area,
they're adding the world's firstwater and drone show.
This is where they havefountains and water and they
project things onto the water,but behind that they have a
drone show going on.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:12):
I'm really liking these drone shows.
Yeah, there's some really coolthings that I've seen in drone
shows.
I really like it when they theydo a combo platter of drone
show and fireworks.
That's pretty special.
Yeah.
By the way, speaking of Olaf,Josh Gadd is the voice of Olaf,
did a tremendous job.
That guy genuinely made melaugh.
(04:33):
We always tell you what to dowhen to travel.
This week we're gonna tell youthings not to do when traveling.
Mark Faldmo (04:40):
This is a very interesting story.
I think we've talked about thisonce before on the podcast and
radio show that this applies toany time you're traveling.
Cruises, airlines.
This happens to be an airlinestory.
A first class passenger raggedonline, posted a picture of him,
and he showed his boarding passand said, I can afford a
(05:00):
first-class ticket.
So he's basically bragging thathe can afford a first-class
ticket.
The problem is his boardingpass has everything you need to
pull up his reservation online.
By the time he landed, hisreservation had been canceled.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:16):
Oh my goodness.
I it the second I heard you saythat, I'm like, that's not
good.
Mark Faldmo (05:21):
Last time we talked about it, it was someone that
said how excited they were totake their cruise and posted the
whole confirmation, whichsomeone went in and canceled
that.
So never post yeah, never postanything with that personal
information or anything thatsomeone could access your
reservation.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:41):
Yeah.
Here's some good news.
Lahaina's Harbor is gonna open,which is great news.
The place is still a mess.
So it's good to see thatthere's a little bit of movement
in Lahaina.
Mark Faldmo (05:54):
They have actually had part of Lahaina Harbor open.
There are three of the tourcompanies that have moved back
in to Lahaina Harbor, and thatis good news.
It's still limited operations.
Oh, sure.
There's still damage aroundthere, and actually at the
harbor itself, there's still noelectricity to the harbor.
(06:14):
And so it probably makes it alittle bit hard for some of
those companies to operate, butthey are moving back in, and
that is good news.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:23):
Just as we were coming on the air, you got
some kind of a promotion fromDelta Vacations.
What are the details?
Mark Faldmo (06:28):
This is for all of Hawaii, but since we were
talking about Lahaina, I thoughtI'd throw it in in this segment
here.
So Delta Vacations is Sky Milesmembers save up to $200 per
reservation, and medallionmembers save up to $250 per
reservation.
As long as you're a Sky Milesmember, you can always earn up
to 10,000 bonus Sky Miles.
(06:50):
And if you really want to tryand get to medallion status, you
earn medallion qualifyingdollars on every purchase.
So with one trip, you caneasily get to silver status or
even possibly gold status withjust booking one trip with Delta
Vacations, usually.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:07):
We had a caller question.
This came in a little bitearlier this week.
This is a question from Sarah.
My teenage daughter lovesmonkeys.
Where can I go see monkeys inthe wild?
I gave her a trip for Christmasto see monkeys.
Yeah, that's nice.
Now we need to figure outwhere.
So it sounds like we just needto point her the right
(07:27):
direction.
Mark Faldmo (07:28):
The first place that came to mind for me is
Costa Rica.
There are some other places uhto see monkeys, but every time I
go to Costa Rica, I see tons ofmonkeys.
Costa Rica is one of myfavorite places to visit.
The one thing I like aboutCosta Rica is it packs
rainforests, beaches, volcanoes,and wildlife into the
(07:49):
relatively small country.
I recommend staying in a fewdifferent places on the same
trip in Costa Rica and not goingand staying in the same place.
And Costa Rica also, it's verytourism friendly.
So for a first trip to CentralAmerica, it's the perfect
vacation.
In Costa Rica, there's lots ofwildlife, lots of monkeys.
(08:12):
The most widespread monkey inCosta Rica are howler monkeys.
They will wake you up in themorning if you're too close to
them.
The most recognizable are thewhite-faced capuchin monkeys.
They're very intelligent,social, curious, but they're
also mischievous.
Um, I'll tell a story aboutthat in just a minute.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:31):
That sounds like my son.
Mark Faldmo (08:33):
Yeah.
They're spider monkeys you canoccasionally see.
The hardest to see, but alsoprobably the funnest to see, is
squirrel monkeys because theyusually travel in large packs.
And so you just see them goingthrough the trees or in Costa
Rica crossing roads.
They have, like we havewildlife bridges, they have
(08:53):
wildlife cables, so the monkeyscan cross the road without
interesting risking cars.
Costa Rica is definitely a goodplace to see howler monkeys.
Um, but you'll also seetoucans, scarlet macaws.
There's just a lot ofinteresting wildlife that you
can see there.
There are lots of sloths to seethere.
Just a great place to go seewildlife.
(09:14):
Other than just Costa Rica,where?
I would recommend, and this iskind of the typical trip that I
do, spends a few nights inArenal Volcano, which is in the
rainforest, kind of in thecentral part of the country.
And then I would spend three orfour nights in Manuel Antonio,
which is in the Pacific coastarea, so it's by the beaches.
In Arenal, they have anactivity that's uh the hanging
(09:38):
bridges, where you just walkthrough different layers of the
rainforest on bridges.
It's a path about two mileslong, and you see all sorts of
wildlife.
That would be fun.
There's an aerial tram there,so you can take the tram up, see
the occasional monkey.
I've mostly seen sloths onthat, but you can take the tram
back down, or if you'readventurous, you can zip line
(09:59):
back down the mountain.
There we go.
It has pathway written all overit.
Another place to see monkeys,and this is kind of halfway in
between Arenal and ManuelAntonio.
There's a thing called thePacific Aerial Tram, and it's
the same thing as the other tramin Arenal, but this is where
you'd also see things like thetoucans.
That's the only place I've evertraveled that I've seen a
toucan is at that Pacific Aerialtram.
(10:21):
There's also a boat ride inthat area called the Tarquales
River, where you mostly seelarge crocodiles, but you also
see some monkeys there and otherwildlife.
And then down in ManuelAntonio, you do the Manuel
Antonio National Park.
And that's one where you hikein to a beautiful beach area and
you can spend as much time asyou want there.
(10:44):
Usually go in with a guide andthey take you, point out the
monkeys, and give you theecology of the area.
But this is where my story withthe white-faced Capuchin
monkeys, you always have toleave someone with your stuff
because they'll come down andsteal purses and towels and
food.
Uh, they're very mischievousthere in Manuel Antonio.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:05):
Sarah, if your daughter likes monkeys, we're
kind of nailing it right now.
Yep.
So we've talked about where togo, but I guess I should ask,
when is the best time to go?
Mark Faldmo (11:14):
The best time is December through April.
That's the dry season.
Just keep in mind you are in arainforest, so you can get rain
all the time.
But December through April isthe driest time, the best
weather overall.
There's also what they call thegreen season, May through
November, which other countriescall the rainy season, but for
branding purposes they call itthe green season when everything
(11:37):
is green.
Uh, you know, and that's reallywhen you'll see blossoming
rainforests over on that PacificCoast area.
That is what's called atropical dry forest.
Has all the same plants as arainforest, but it does not get
enough rain to be officiallycalled a rainforest.
I really like the Pacific Coastin the green season.
(11:58):
I'd rather put up with somerain and see it more green.
And then the kind of the sweetspot for traveling is late April
and May, or the best times togo to Costa Rica.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:10):
Why is that?
Mark Faldmo (12:11):
The transition between the dry and green
season.
So a little bit less rain, butit's still pretty green.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:16):
Okay, good.
We do have a travel deal of theweek to Costa Rica, right?
Mark Faldmo (12:20):
We do, yes.
What is that?
This is save up to $200 perperson, so $400 per room.
And if you go toblueplanetvacations.com, under
the sun and fun kind of shows myrecommended trips for Costa
Rica and gives the pricingranges.
Each of those trips has a pricefor standard hotels or deluxe
(12:40):
hotels.
And there is a price for aseven-night, eight-day volcano
and beaches tour.
I actually would up that by aday or two, but you can do it in
those seven nights.
And then there's five night,six-day tour for just volcano or
just the beach if you wanted todo that.
Again, if you go toblueplanetvacations.com and get
(13:01):
all the information on thosethree different options that I
have.
But we also do custom optionsthat we can build whatever type
of trip you want to Costa Rica.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:10):
Sarah, I hope we've been able to help.
Call Mark in the office at thebreak here.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717 is how you get ahold of Mark.
You always talk about themonkeys now that I think about
it.
Mark Faldmo (13:26):
Yeah, that's the best part of Costa Rica, I
think.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:29):
When we come back, it is time, it is time, it
is time, it's time for theinfamous just cruising segment.
We will be talking aboutdestination Baja California MSC.
It's placing an order for anall-new ship class, and we're
going to talk about theCaribbean.
We've got seven-night cruises,we've got 12-night cruises.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk Podcast Radio Show
(13:52):
continues.
Alongside my good friend MarkFaldmo, my name is Patrick
Wiscombe.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (13:59):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk Podcast and Radio
Show.
Presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com.
America's Best Travel Advisors.
Call or text the show now.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
We'll be right back.
(14:19):
Inside Travel Talk is broughtto you by AMA Waterways.
From castles and capitals tovistas and villages, visit some
of Europe's most remarkablesites and cities.
To set out on your own rivercruise journey, contact Blue
Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717or Blue PlanetVacations.com.
(14:41):
Now, back to the Inside TravelTalk Podcast and radio show
presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com, America's best
travel advisors.
And check out the podcast atInside Traveltalk.com.
(15:10):
Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:37):
Hello there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
By the way, Merry Christmas.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Couple days after Christmas, wehope you had a terrific holiday
season.
If you're off work today, welldone.
If you're working today, welldone.
What a great time to be alive.
You can work from home, you canwork, you can travel, you can
(15:58):
do whatever you want.
What a blessing it is to bepart of this great country.
We call the United States ofAmerica.
Let's get back to the cruisenews headlines, which this
segment of the show is onlyabout cruise deals.
It's only about the cruisenews.
This is the segment of the showthat is most popular that we
(16:19):
get the most comments on.
So let's do this.
Carnival Corporation unveils a$26 million plan for is this a
new destination in Baja,California?
Or is it Baja Mexico?
Mark Faldmo (16:32):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:33):
Baja.
Mark Faldmo (16:34):
In Baja.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:34):
What did Carnival Corporation unveil?
Mark Faldmo (16:37):
This is a new destination in Ensenada, Mexico.
Ensenada is a port that a lotof cruise lines sail to, and a
lot of people don't like goingto just Ensenada.
That's where a lot of the threeand four-day cruises go.
But I think this is reallyexciting.
They're not calling this abeach club, and it doesn't look
like a beach club.
(16:58):
Um, but it's very similar tothe private beach club things.
There's a an area with a largeswimming pool, they have zip
lines, they have lots of things,kind of like a small private
destination or small privateisland that they're putting in
Ensenada.
Has all the hallmarks of abeach club.
I would say a pool club.
Okay, there we go.
That's what it looks like.
(17:18):
Um, but they have lots of otheractivities that go in there.
They have a whole area that'sdedicated to chocolate and
tequila tasting.
They're able to accommodate upto 9,000 visitors per day on
that.
So they will welcome not onlycarnival ships, but other cruise
lines can sell this as anactivity.
(17:39):
So that does make somethingreally nice to do in Ensenada.
But I really like Ensenada.
I like going to La Buffetera,the blowhole area that's there.
I don't like to barter, but Ido like to walk that quarter
mile where the bus drops you offdown and talk to all those
vendors.
Oh, yeah, you get nailed there.
They give out free samples ofchurros, so you can eat at least
(18:01):
two churros on your way down offree samples.
And then the city of Ensenadahas some charm.
And I think this thing, thisprivate area that Carnival is
building, will make cruisesthere really good.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:13):
MSC Cruises has placed an order for an
all-new ship class.
So we've got the World America,the world class ships, and we
talked about last week WorldAtlantic.
That's their version fourcoming out in, I think it was
November of 2027.
So a couple of years from now.
What is the new ship class?
Mark Faldmo (18:30):
There's rumor of a new class of ships that was
gonna be bigger, is gonna be thebiggest cruise ships in the
world, so bigger than Icon ofthe Seas.
Oh my word.
Um, but that turned out toprobably be some publicity that
someone put out there.
These ships are called the NewFrontier class of ships, and
they are actually smaller thanthe world class ships, so
(18:50):
they're 180,000 gross tons, sothey are not the 250,000 gross
tons that Icon is.
And so this ship they wanted togo a little bit smaller, so
there's less people, but they dohave access to more ports with
this size ship.
Where MSc sails all over theworld, they have a lot of ships
(19:12):
that home port in South America,that home port in Europe, where
other cruise lines like RoyalCaribbean and all of that, they
have ships that are justpartially.
MSC has cruises in these placesprobably year-round for the
most part.
This new class of ship willmake it easier to access certain
ports.
They have ordered four of thesenew ships.
(19:34):
The first of them will bedelivered yearly starting in
2030.
So 2030 through 2034 is whenthese new class of ships will
come.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:46):
It is time if you're looking for cruise deals.
I heard our listeners perk uplike mere cats.
It's time for the cruise dealof the week.
This was a question that we gotfrom Alex, I believe.
Yeah, Alex.
And if you have travel-relatedquestions, cruise-related
questions, whatever it is, youcan call or text the studio.
All of these texts and calls goto Mark.
(20:08):
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Alex's question is I want to goon a Caribbean cruise in
February 2026.
I've sailed the typicalCaribbean itineraries.
I want something with uniqueports.
What are you going to recommendfor Alex?
Mark Faldmo (20:28):
The typical Caribbean itinerary.
I don't know which ones he'sdone, if it was an Eastern
Caribbean or a WesternCaribbean, but I think some of
the most unique ports in theCaribbean are actually on
Southern Caribbean itineraries.
I absolutely agree.
And so that's what I looked at.
I found a seven night and a12-night itinerary, both on
(20:49):
Princess Cruises.
So uh right now I'll I'll givePrincess's deal that they're
running right now, and then I'llgo over these itineraries.
Princess is up to 40% off oftheir regular fares, third and
fourth guests free in a cabin,and 50% reduced deposits.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:08):
Wow.
Mark Faldmo (21:08):
Wow.
They do have kind of a bonusthing, but that expires today.
But they've been adding aspecial feature every week that
is either some type of anonboard credit, just an on-top
discount on top of that 40% off.
They've been adding somethingspecial every week.
So I don't know what nextweek's promotion is yet until
(21:29):
tomorrow, but that's the mainpromotion that Princess has.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:33):
Alex, you're gonna be happy with the Southern
Caribbean.
What is the seven-night classicSouthern Caribbean on Princess?
What ports are they, and howmuch is it?
Mark Faldmo (21:42):
I've done this one except for one port, and it
probably was my favoriteCaribbean cruise overall.
So it starts in San Juan.
Ooh, yeah.
Puerto Rico's sneaky great.
Yeah, Puerto Rico's a greatdeparture point, and even to go
spend two or three days beforethe cruise there.
So this cruise goes to St.
(22:03):
Kitts, Dominica, Castries,which is on the island of St.
Lucia.
That's the capital city of St.
Lucia.
Goes to St.
George, which is in Grenada,Bridgetown in Barbados.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:18):
Whoa.
Mark Faldmo (22:19):
You know, what I like about this is these islands
all kind of have a little bitdifferent heritage.
You're getting British, French,and Spanish on this cruise.
Each port is unique because ofthe uh countries that used to
own these, and some of them havebeen governed by multiple
countries, and so you get somepretty unique cultures there.
(22:40):
Yep.
This is mid-February, and thisone also has a great price.
Inside cabins start at $599 perperson.
Um, balcony cabins start at$1,099 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:53):
Whoa! Is that the seven night?
Probably.
Yeah, that is the seven night.
Mark Faldmo (22:58):
Okay, let's go to the 12 night then.
The 12 night.
This one is I would call it adeep southern Caribbean cruise.
Um, and it does have some ofthe same ports that Alex might
have visited on a WesternCaribbean cruise.
Um, but it's round trip FortLauderdale.
So it goes to Gran Cayman andFalmouth in Jamaica, but then it
(23:20):
goes down to Porto Limon inCosta Rica, Cologne in Panama,
and goes to Aruba and Curacao.
Has a little bit more days atsea, but also some unique ones,
probably Porto Limon and Cologneare probably ports that Alex
has not done on this, and quitepossibly Aruba and Curacao as
(23:40):
well.
What's the pricing for the12-night deep southern
Caribbean?
Yeah, so the pricing on thisone starts at $1149, so still
less than $100 per person perday.
And then the balcony cabinsstart at $1999.
And that one is towards the endof February, February 21st, on
that one.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:59):
Which is exactly what Alex is asking for.
So to recap, Mark, what I heardyou say, the current princess
deal is save up to 40% off,third and fourth guess free, and
50% reduced deposits.
Did I get that right?
That's correct.
Alex, it is time for you to go.
(24:20):
I'm excited for you.
By the way, the SouthernCaribbean, underrated.
Awesome.
You will not be disappointed,especially if that's what you're
going for.
Call Mark in the office, getthe conversation started, put a
deposit down, hold your spot,and then you can decide what to
do from there.
(24:40):
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And Mark will also put all ofthis on BluePlanet
Vacations.com.
You can listen to thisaward-nominated podcast, a radio
show, each Saturday and Sundaymorning right here on this radio
(25:04):
station and all radio stationsaround the country, starting at
11 a.m.
local time, and you can listento this show by streaming it.
And you can also subscribe toit on inside travel talk.com.
All of the podcast links forthis show can be found on
Insidetrav.com.
(25:24):
We're done.
Merry Christmas, couple daysafter.
Get out and see the world.
Travel while you can becauseyou never know what curveballs
life is going to throw at you.
And hopefully you haven't hadany curveballs thrown at you
this week.
Live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally,
(25:45):
and a sincere thank you forlistening to the show.
We don't have a business or ashow without you.
Make it a great week.
We'll talk to you next week.
By the way, Happy New Year.
Show Voice (25:58):
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 Blue PlanetVacations.com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:20):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
This segment of Inside TravelTalk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years,Star Clippers has offered
unique, authentic tall shipsailing experiences featuring
creative itineraries throughoutthe Mediterranean, Caribbean,
and Central America.
To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
(26:41):
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888 718 7717 or
BluePlanetVacations.com.
It is time for the Inside Travel Talk Podcast
Radio Show.
Coming up on today's show, Markand I will be talking about
what not to do when traveling.
Lahaina, their harbor, is setto reopen.
We're gonna give you details.
Christmas Monkeys, Costa Rica,Baja, the travel deal of the
week, and finally, seven andtwelve-day cruises are the
(00:20):
cruise deal of the week.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk PodcastRadio Show, presented by Blue
PlanetVacations.com, containstravel deals, promotions, and
offers that are time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:47):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel TalkPodcast and Radio Show,
presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com.
Call or text the show now.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsidetravalk.com.
And now, here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark
(01:11):
Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:23):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk Podcast.
I am Patrick Wiscombe.
Alongside Mark Faldmo, he'll behere in just a moment.
The entire purpose of thisradio show and podcast is to
help you plan and book your nextvacation or give you ideas of
where you may want to go onvacation next.
(01:44):
And we are presented, proudlypresented, by Mark's company,
BluePlanetVacations.com, andthank you for taking the time to
stop and listen.
This week we are talking aboutwhat not to do when traveling.
We always talk about what todo, we're going to tell you what
not to do.
Good news.
(02:04):
It's going to reopen.
Slowly reopen.
We'll give you the details.
Christmas Monkeys, Costa Rica,Baja.
We've got the travel deal forthe week.
And we've also got seven and12-day cruises.
And those are the cruise dealof the week.
So those are just a handful ofthe stories we'll be talking
(02:26):
about on today's show.
And let me bring in the co-hostof this award-nominated podcast
or radio show.
We haven't won yet, but wewill.
We will do it this year.
Mark Faldmo (02:36):
Yep.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:39):
By the way, how do you like the new studio
that I'm in?
It is great.
Looks good.
Yeah.
Not that anyone can see itright now since we're on the
radio, but let's get right tothe travel news headlines.
Where do you want to start?
Should we go Disneyland ParisResort?
Let's do Disney Paris.
Okay, so we're gonna give yousome things you need to know or
what we know about DisneyAdventure World at Disneyland
(03:03):
Paris Resort.
A lot of Disney in there, Mark.
Mark Faldmo (03:05):
Disney is actually rebranding Walt Disney Studios
Park in Disneyland Paris.
So on March 29th, they willrebrand it as Disney Adventure
World.
They've changed 90% of thepark's offerings since it opened
about 23 years ago.
And so it's basically a wholenew park.
They're also expanding thepark, they're adding a seven and
(03:29):
a half acre world of frozen,which looks really interesting.
Um, it's a full-scalerecreation of the kingdom of
Arendell from the movie,including a 118-foot high north
mountain.
I've seen some things onlineabout that, and they have Olaf.
They have an Olaf robot.
Olaf is the snowman in Frozenthat's AI, and he just walks
(03:52):
around and talks to people allday.
One thing they're adding is inkind of their main show area,
they're adding the world's firstwater and drone show.
This is where they havefountains and water and they
project things onto the water,but behind that they have a
drone show going on.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:12):
I'm really liking these drone shows.
Yeah, there's some really coolthings that I've seen in drone
shows.
I really like it when they theydo a combo platter of drone
show and fireworks.
That's pretty special.
Yeah.
By the way, speaking of Olaf,Josh Gadd is the voice of Olaf,
did a tremendous job.
That guy genuinely made melaugh.
(04:33):
We always tell you what to dowhen to travel.
This week we're gonna tell youthings not to do when traveling.
Mark Faldmo (04:40):
This is a very interesting story.
I think we've talked about thisonce before on the podcast and
radio show that this applies toany time you're traveling.
Cruises, airlines.
This happens to be an airlinestory.
A first class passenger raggedonline, posted a picture of him,
and he showed his boarding passand said, I can afford a
(05:00):
first-class ticket.
So he's basically bragging thathe can afford a first-class
ticket.
The problem is his boardingpass has everything you need to
pull up his reservation online.
By the time he landed, hisreservation had been canceled.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:16):
Oh my goodness.
I it the second I heard you saythat, I'm like, that's not
good.
Mark Faldmo (05:21):
Last time we talked about it, it was someone that
said how excited they were totake their cruise and posted the
whole confirmation, whichsomeone went in and canceled
that.
So never post yeah, never postanything with that personal
information or anything thatsomeone could access your
reservation.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:41):
Yeah.
Here's some good news.
Lahaina's Harbor is gonna open,which is great news.
The place is still a mess.
So it's good to see thatthere's a little bit of movement
in Lahaina.
Mark Faldmo (05:54):
They have actually had part of Lahaina Harbor open.
There are three of the tourcompanies that have moved back
in to Lahaina Harbor, and thatis good news.
It's still limited operations.
Oh, sure.
There's still damage aroundthere, and actually at the
harbor itself, there's still noelectricity to the harbor.
(06:14):
And so it probably makes it alittle bit hard for some of
those companies to operate, butthey are moving back in, and
that is good news.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:23):
Just as we were coming on the air, you got
some kind of a promotion fromDelta Vacations.
What are the details?
Mark Faldmo (06:28):
This is for all of Hawaii, but since we were
talking about Lahaina, I thoughtI'd throw it in in this segment
here.
So Delta Vacations is Sky Milesmembers save up to $200 per
reservation, and medallionmembers save up to $250 per
reservation.
As long as you're a Sky Milesmember, you can always earn up
to 10,000 bonus Sky Miles.
(06:50):
And if you really want to tryand get to medallion status, you
earn medallion qualifyingdollars on every purchase.
So with one trip, you caneasily get to silver status or
even possibly gold status withjust booking one trip with Delta
Vacations, usually.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:07):
We had a caller question.
This came in a little bitearlier this week.
This is a question from Sarah.
My teenage daughter lovesmonkeys.
Where can I go see monkeys inthe wild?
I gave her a trip for Christmasto see monkeys.
Yeah, that's nice.
Now we need to figure outwhere.
So it sounds like we just needto point her the right
(07:27):
direction.
Mark Faldmo (07:28):
The first place that came to mind for me is
Costa Rica.
There are some other places uhto see monkeys, but every time I
go to Costa Rica, I see tons ofmonkeys.
Costa Rica is one of myfavorite places to visit.
The one thing I like aboutCosta Rica is it packs
rainforests, beaches, volcanoes,and wildlife into the
(07:49):
relatively small country.
I recommend staying in a fewdifferent places on the same
trip in Costa Rica and not goingand staying in the same place.
And Costa Rica also, it's verytourism friendly.
So for a first trip to CentralAmerica, it's the perfect
vacation.
In Costa Rica, there's lots ofwildlife, lots of monkeys.
(08:12):
The most widespread monkey inCosta Rica are howler monkeys.
They will wake you up in themorning if you're too close to
them.
The most recognizable are thewhite-faced capuchin monkeys.
They're very intelligent,social, curious, but they're
also mischievous.
Um, I'll tell a story aboutthat in just a minute.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:31):
That sounds like my son.
Mark Faldmo (08:33):
Yeah.
They're spider monkeys you canoccasionally see.
The hardest to see, but alsoprobably the funnest to see, is
squirrel monkeys because theyusually travel in large packs.
And so you just see them goingthrough the trees or in Costa
Rica crossing roads.
They have, like we havewildlife bridges, they have
(08:53):
wildlife cables, so the monkeyscan cross the road without
interesting risking cars.
Costa Rica is definitely a goodplace to see howler monkeys.
Um, but you'll also seetoucans, scarlet macaws.
There's just a lot ofinteresting wildlife that you
can see there.
There are lots of sloths to seethere.
Just a great place to go seewildlife.
(09:14):
Other than just Costa Rica,where?
I would recommend, and this iskind of the typical trip that I
do, spends a few nights inArenal Volcano, which is in the
rainforest, kind of in thecentral part of the country.
And then I would spend three orfour nights in Manuel Antonio,
which is in the Pacific coastarea, so it's by the beaches.
In Arenal, they have anactivity that's uh the hanging
(09:38):
bridges, where you just walkthrough different layers of the
rainforest on bridges.
It's a path about two mileslong, and you see all sorts of
wildlife.
That would be fun.
There's an aerial tram there,so you can take the tram up, see
the occasional monkey.
I've mostly seen sloths onthat, but you can take the tram
back down, or if you'readventurous, you can zip line
(09:59):
back down the mountain.
There we go.
It has pathway written all overit.
Another place to see monkeys,and this is kind of halfway in
between Arenal and ManuelAntonio.
There's a thing called thePacific Aerial Tram, and it's
the same thing as the other tramin Arenal, but this is where
you'd also see things like thetoucans.
That's the only place I've evertraveled that I've seen a
toucan is at that Pacific Aerialtram.
(10:21):
There's also a boat ride inthat area called the Tarquales
River, where you mostly seelarge crocodiles, but you also
see some monkeys there and otherwildlife.
And then down in ManuelAntonio, you do the Manuel
Antonio National Park.
And that's one where you hikein to a beautiful beach area and
you can spend as much time asyou want there.
(10:44):
Usually go in with a guide andthey take you, point out the
monkeys, and give you theecology of the area.
But this is where my story withthe white-faced Capuchin
monkeys, you always have toleave someone with your stuff
because they'll come down andsteal purses and towels and
food.
Uh, they're very mischievousthere in Manuel Antonio.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:05):
Sarah, if your daughter likes monkeys, we're
kind of nailing it right now.
Yep.
So we've talked about where togo, but I guess I should ask,
when is the best time to go?
Mark Faldmo (11:14):
The best time is December through April.
That's the dry season.
Just keep in mind you are in arainforest, so you can get rain
all the time.
But December through April isthe driest time, the best
weather overall.
There's also what they call thegreen season, May through
November, which other countriescall the rainy season, but for
branding purposes they call itthe green season when everything
(11:37):
is green.
Uh, you know, and that's reallywhen you'll see blossoming
rainforests over on that PacificCoast area.
That is what's called atropical dry forest.
Has all the same plants as arainforest, but it does not get
enough rain to be officiallycalled a rainforest.
I really like the Pacific Coastin the green season.
(11:58):
I'd rather put up with somerain and see it more green.
And then the kind of the sweetspot for traveling is late April
and May, or the best times togo to Costa Rica.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:10):
Why is that?
Mark Faldmo (12:11):
The transition between the dry and green
season.
So a little bit less rain, butit's still pretty green.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:16):
Okay, good.
We do have a travel deal of theweek to Costa Rica, right?
Mark Faldmo (12:20):
We do, yes.
What is that?
This is save up to $200 perperson, so $400 per room.
And if you go toblueplanetvacations.com, under
the sun and fun kind of shows myrecommended trips for Costa
Rica and gives the pricingranges.
Each of those trips has a pricefor standard hotels or deluxe
(12:40):
hotels.
And there is a price for aseven-night, eight-day volcano
and beaches tour.
I actually would up that by aday or two, but you can do it in
those seven nights.
And then there's five night,six-day tour for just volcano or
just the beach if you wanted todo that.
Again, if you go toblueplanetvacations.com and get
(13:01):
all the information on thosethree different options that I
have.
But we also do custom optionsthat we can build whatever type
of trip you want to Costa Rica.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:10):
Sarah, I hope we've been able to help.
Call Mark in the office at thebreak here.
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717 is how you get ahold of Mark.
You always talk about themonkeys now that I think about
it.
Mark Faldmo (13:26):
Yeah, that's the best part of Costa Rica, I
think.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:29):
When we come back, it is time, it is time, it
is time, it's time for theinfamous just cruising segment.
We will be talking aboutdestination Baja California MSC.
It's placing an order for anall-new ship class, and we're
going to talk about theCaribbean.
We've got seven-night cruises,we've got 12-night cruises.
That is next when the InsideTravel Talk Podcast Radio Show
(13:52):
continues.
Alongside my good friend MarkFaldmo, my name is Patrick
Wiscombe.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (13:59):
Explore your world.
You're listening to the InsideTravel Talk Podcast and Radio
Show.
Presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com.
America's Best Travel Advisors.
Call or text the show now.
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
We'll be right back.
(14:19):
Inside Travel Talk is broughtto you by AMA Waterways.
From castles and capitals tovistas and villages, visit some
of Europe's most remarkablesites and cities.
To set out on your own rivercruise journey, contact Blue
Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717or Blue PlanetVacations.com.
(14:41):
Now, back to the Inside TravelTalk Podcast and radio show
presented by Blue PlanetVacations.com, America's best
travel advisors.
And check out the podcast atInside Traveltalk.com.
(15:10):
Here's Patrick and Mark.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:37):
Hello there, I'm Patrick Wiscombe.
By the way, Merry Christmas.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Couple days after Christmas, wehope you had a terrific holiday
season.
If you're off work today, welldone.
If you're working today, welldone.
What a great time to be alive.
You can work from home, you canwork, you can travel, you can
(15:58):
do whatever you want.
What a blessing it is to bepart of this great country.
We call the United States ofAmerica.
Let's get back to the cruisenews headlines, which this
segment of the show is onlyabout cruise deals.
It's only about the cruisenews.
This is the segment of the showthat is most popular that we
(16:19):
get the most comments on.
So let's do this.
Carnival Corporation unveils a$26 million plan for is this a
new destination in Baja,California?
Or is it Baja Mexico?
Mark Faldmo (16:32):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:33):
Baja.
Mark Faldmo (16:34):
In Baja.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:34):
What did Carnival Corporation unveil?
Mark Faldmo (16:37):
This is a new destination in Ensenada, Mexico.
Ensenada is a port that a lotof cruise lines sail to, and a
lot of people don't like goingto just Ensenada.
That's where a lot of the threeand four-day cruises go.
But I think this is reallyexciting.
They're not calling this abeach club, and it doesn't look
like a beach club.
(16:58):
Um, but it's very similar tothe private beach club things.
There's a an area with a largeswimming pool, they have zip
lines, they have lots of things,kind of like a small private
destination or small privateisland that they're putting in
Ensenada.
Has all the hallmarks of abeach club.
I would say a pool club.
Okay, there we go.
That's what it looks like.
(17:18):
Um, but they have lots of otheractivities that go in there.
They have a whole area that'sdedicated to chocolate and
tequila tasting.
They're able to accommodate upto 9,000 visitors per day on
that.
So they will welcome not onlycarnival ships, but other cruise
lines can sell this as anactivity.
(17:39):
So that does make somethingreally nice to do in Ensenada.
But I really like Ensenada.
I like going to La Buffetera,the blowhole area that's there.
I don't like to barter, but Ido like to walk that quarter
mile where the bus drops you offdown and talk to all those
vendors.
Oh, yeah, you get nailed there.
They give out free samples ofchurros, so you can eat at least
(18:01):
two churros on your way down offree samples.
And then the city of Ensenadahas some charm.
And I think this thing, thisprivate area that Carnival is
building, will make cruisesthere really good.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:13):
MSC Cruises has placed an order for an
all-new ship class.
So we've got the World America,the world class ships, and we
talked about last week WorldAtlantic.
That's their version fourcoming out in, I think it was
November of 2027.
So a couple of years from now.
What is the new ship class?
Mark Faldmo (18:30):
There's rumor of a new class of ships that was
gonna be bigger, is gonna be thebiggest cruise ships in the
world, so bigger than Icon ofthe Seas.
Oh my word.
Um, but that turned out toprobably be some publicity that
someone put out there.
These ships are called the NewFrontier class of ships, and
they are actually smaller thanthe world class ships, so
(18:50):
they're 180,000 gross tons, sothey are not the 250,000 gross
tons that Icon is.
And so this ship they wanted togo a little bit smaller, so
there's less people, but they dohave access to more ports with
this size ship.
Where MSc sails all over theworld, they have a lot of ships
(19:12):
that home port in South America,that home port in Europe, where
other cruise lines like RoyalCaribbean and all of that, they
have ships that are justpartially.
MSC has cruises in these placesprobably year-round for the
most part.
This new class of ship willmake it easier to access certain
ports.
They have ordered four of thesenew ships.
(19:34):
The first of them will bedelivered yearly starting in
2030.
So 2030 through 2034 is whenthese new class of ships will
come.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:46):
It is time if you're looking for cruise deals.
I heard our listeners perk uplike mere cats.
It's time for the cruise dealof the week.
This was a question that we gotfrom Alex, I believe.
Yeah, Alex.
And if you have travel-relatedquestions, cruise-related
questions, whatever it is, youcan call or text the studio.
All of these texts and calls goto Mark.
(20:08):
801-649-3700.
801-649-3700.
Alex's question is I want to goon a Caribbean cruise in
February 2026.
I've sailed the typicalCaribbean itineraries.
I want something with uniqueports.
What are you going to recommendfor Alex?
Mark Faldmo (20:28):
The typical Caribbean itinerary.
I don't know which ones he'sdone, if it was an Eastern
Caribbean or a WesternCaribbean, but I think some of
the most unique ports in theCaribbean are actually on
Southern Caribbean itineraries.
I absolutely agree.
And so that's what I looked at.
I found a seven night and a12-night itinerary, both on
(20:49):
Princess Cruises.
So uh right now I'll I'll givePrincess's deal that they're
running right now, and then I'llgo over these itineraries.
Princess is up to 40% off oftheir regular fares, third and
fourth guests free in a cabin,and 50% reduced deposits.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:08):
Wow.
Mark Faldmo (21:08):
Wow.
They do have kind of a bonusthing, but that expires today.
But they've been adding aspecial feature every week that
is either some type of anonboard credit, just an on-top
discount on top of that 40% off.
They've been adding somethingspecial every week.
So I don't know what nextweek's promotion is yet until
(21:29):
tomorrow, but that's the mainpromotion that Princess has.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:33):
Alex, you're gonna be happy with the Southern
Caribbean.
What is the seven-night classicSouthern Caribbean on Princess?
What ports are they, and howmuch is it?
Mark Faldmo (21:42):
I've done this one except for one port, and it
probably was my favoriteCaribbean cruise overall.
So it starts in San Juan.
Ooh, yeah.
Puerto Rico's sneaky great.
Yeah, Puerto Rico's a greatdeparture point, and even to go
spend two or three days beforethe cruise there.
So this cruise goes to St.
(22:03):
Kitts, Dominica, Castries,which is on the island of St.
Lucia.
That's the capital city of St.
Lucia.
Goes to St.
George, which is in Grenada,Bridgetown in Barbados.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:18):
Whoa.
Mark Faldmo (22:19):
You know, what I like about this is these islands
all kind of have a little bitdifferent heritage.
You're getting British, French,and Spanish on this cruise.
Each port is unique because ofthe uh countries that used to
own these, and some of them havebeen governed by multiple
countries, and so you get somepretty unique cultures there.
(22:40):
Yep.
This is mid-February, and thisone also has a great price.
Inside cabins start at $599 perperson.
Um, balcony cabins start at$1,099 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:53):
Whoa! Is that the seven night?
Probably.
Yeah, that is the seven night.
Mark Faldmo (22:58):
Okay, let's go to the 12 night then.
The 12 night.
This one is I would call it adeep southern Caribbean cruise.
Um, and it does have some ofthe same ports that Alex might
have visited on a WesternCaribbean cruise.
Um, but it's round trip FortLauderdale.
So it goes to Gran Cayman andFalmouth in Jamaica, but then it
(23:20):
goes down to Porto Limon inCosta Rica, Cologne in Panama,
and goes to Aruba and Curacao.
Has a little bit more days atsea, but also some unique ones,
probably Porto Limon and Cologneare probably ports that Alex
has not done on this, and quitepossibly Aruba and Curacao as
(23:40):
well.
What's the pricing for the12-night deep southern
Caribbean?
Yeah, so the pricing on thisone starts at $1149, so still
less than $100 per person perday.
And then the balcony cabinsstart at $1999.
And that one is towards the endof February, February 21st, on
that one.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:59):
Which is exactly what Alex is asking for.
So to recap, Mark, what I heardyou say, the current princess
deal is save up to 40% off,third and fourth guess free, and
50% reduced deposits.
Did I get that right?
That's correct.
Alex, it is time for you to go.
(24:20):
I'm excited for you.
By the way, the SouthernCaribbean, underrated.
Awesome.
You will not be disappointed,especially if that's what you're
going for.
Call Mark in the office, getthe conversation started, put a
deposit down, hold your spot,and then you can decide what to
do from there.
(24:40):
888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
And Mark will also put all ofthis on BluePlanet
Vacations.com.
You can listen to thisaward-nominated podcast, a radio
show, each Saturday and Sundaymorning right here on this radio
(25:04):
station and all radio stationsaround the country, starting at
11 a.m.
local time, and you can listento this show by streaming it.
And you can also subscribe toit on inside travel talk.com.
All of the podcast links forthis show can be found on
Insidetrav.com.
(25:24):
We're done.
Merry Christmas, couple daysafter.
Get out and see the world.
Travel while you can becauseyou never know what curveballs
life is going to throw at you.
And hopefully you haven't hadany curveballs thrown at you
this week.
Live your life deliberately,live your life intentionally,
(25:45):
and a sincere thank you forlistening to the show.
We don't have a business or ashow without you.
Make it a great week.
We'll talk to you next week.
By the way, Happy New Year.
Show Voice (25:58):
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 Blue PlanetVacations.com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:20):
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
This segment of Inside TravelTalk is sponsored by
Star Clippers.
For over 30 years,Star Clippers has offered
unique, authentic tall shipsailing experiences featuring
creative itineraries throughoutthe Mediterranean, Caribbean,
and Central America.
To book your unique StarClipper sailing adventure,
(26:41):
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888 718 7717 or
BluePlanetVacations.com.
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