December 28, 2024 • 26 mins
Embark on a journey with me, Mark Faldmo, as I reveal how travel can transform your view of the world by stepping off the beaten path. What if your next adventure took you to places you've never even considered, like the culturally rich Novi Sad in Serbia or the serene fjords of Montenegro? Discover how these less-traveled destinations can offer a profound experience far removed from the crowds of Paris and London. I’ll share my unique voyage aboard the Aranui, where the fusion of a cruise and cargo ship provided an eye-opening adventure through the Marquesas Islands, offering an authentic taste of French Polynesia’s untouched beauty.
But the adventure doesn't stop there. Venture with me to the enchanting islands of the South Pacific, where the cultural richness of traditional Polynesian life promises unforgettable memories. We’ll also explore Panama's vibrant blend of history and modern charm, from the iconic Panama Canal to indigenous villages, and I'll give you the inside scoop on the best places to stay. Feel the wind in the sails aboard the Star Clippers, where the atmosphere is more akin to a close-knit family gathering than a typical cruise, redefining the way we connect with fellow travelers and the world around us. Join me for an inspiring journey that challenges the norm and reveals the hidden gems waiting to be discovered.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mark Faldmo (00:00):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
On today's show we're going totalk about vacationing in Panama
and tall ship sailing on theStar Clipper.
Let's start the show.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:11):
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time-sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Show Voice (00:30):
Travel deals and offers change constantly and are
capacity controlled and subjectto change without notice.
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.
(00:52):
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Mark Faldmo (01:03):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
My name is Mark Faldmo.
Thank you for taking the timeto stop by and listen to the
show this week.
The entire purpose of this showis to help you plan and book
your next vacation.
Our tagline is Explore yourWorld, and we hope to give you
some ideas on where your nextvacation could be.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is sponsored by
(01:26):
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
This week the show is shortenedfrom our normal length due to
the holidays.
If you're listening on theradio, you'll hear a replay of
the first 30 minutes and thesecond half of the hour.
Also, Patrick is unable to behere this week, but we're able
to talk earlier this week andhave a discussion on why we
travel and some unique traveldestinations.
(01:47):
Let's listen to that segment.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:50):
I know that we wanted to talk about how travel
opens minds.
This has been my experience.
When you're home, you kind ofhave your own world of things.
You know, you drive to work,you podcast, you kind of make
the world kind of small thatwhen you go out and travel you
see just how amazing humans areand how travel opens minds.
(02:11):
And I want to talk, to have youtalk, about some of your travel
experiences and how that'staken place for you.
Mark Faldmo (02:16):
As long as I can remember, you know, I've been
traveling.
I'm third generation and in thebusiness in the business.
So you know, I've grown up, mygrandparents started it, my
parents and you know I've justalways traveled.
I've kind of taken some ofthose experiences for granted,
but just as a child, being ableto experience new customs, new
cultures, you know, it really issomething that I'm a proponent
(02:40):
of you know, trying to helppeople.
You know like the tagline of ourpodcast is explore your world.
Help people to get out thereand experience new cultures,
which I think is very importantto do.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:52):
I don't think you realize this, that I'm going
to hit you cold right now, thatwhen you start talking about
cruising in Eastern Europe,Serbia, I don't think you
realize just how your facelights up.
You really do get excited aboutthat stuff.
Mark Faldmo (03:06):
It is very unique and important experiences in my
life.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:10):
You've been talking about Eastern Europe and
Serbia.
I guess the former Yugoslaviaman that dates us just a little
bit.
But Serbia, bosnia andHerzegovina, that was something
special.
So instead of going to Paris,going to London, that you
actually went to Eastern Europe,that was pretty interesting for
you.
Mark Faldmo (03:28):
And that kind of plays into another kind of story
that's in travel now is overtourism.
You know there are a lot ofplaces you know, like Venice for
instance, that has been cruiseships of certain sizes.
You know some places just arereally experiencing over tourism
.
So how do we combat that?
Patrick Wiscombe (03:47):
Now, when you say over tourism, you're
literally talking about too manypeople going to the same place.
Mark Faldmo (03:52):
Correct Too many people going to the same place.
You know, as Americans, youknow we think of Rome, Venice,
Paris, London.
If we think of going to Europe,that's probably where we go.
But there are other places, forinstance, Novistad in Serbia,
one of the most fascinatingEuropean cities I've ever
visited.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:10):
What was?
Mark Faldmo (04:10):
it.
I mean just, it was a medievalcity that had, you know, all of
the same things that you find inother European cities.
There was nobody there, it wasjust a unique experience that
had the history.
Now it has different history.
You know, the Eastern Europeanhistory is different, but just
fascinating.
You know, another one isMontenegro, which is in that
(04:33):
same area, you know, taking acruise up and it's called Europe
Southern Fjord, and you cruiseup this fjord, it's actually a
sunken river bed and you end inthis little town at the end.
What boat were you on that?
Patrick Wiscombe (04:47):
was Norwegian.
Mark Faldmo (04:48):
Oh was it I was on NCL, but a lot of cruise lines
go there.
Think of some of these otherunique out of the box places, so
that you know you don't, Iguess, overcrowd other places.
And some of those places whenthere's lots of people there,
like Venice, is almost not funto visit.
You know, I tell people, ifyou're going to go to visit to
(05:08):
Venice, stay overnight.
In the day it's crowded and atnight it is a wonderful place.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:13):
I think we talked about that last week or
the week before A couple ofweeks ago.
Mark Faldmo (05:18):
There are lots of unique places that you don't
think of.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:20):
The first episodes when we were on the air
or on the podcast that you weretalking about the Aranui cruise
ship.
Aranui is the name of thecruise line, I think yes, and
how it was half freighter or athird freighter, and then I
forgot what the combination was.
But basically it was a cruiseship and a freighter, because
you're out in the middle ofnowhere.
Mark Faldmo (05:42):
So you know again, this is another fabulous
experience in exploring anotherculture.
So this leaves from Papeete inFrench Polynesia, Tahiti, and
it's literally half cruise shipand half container ship.
Fantastic, because you go tothese islands, these small
islands in the Marquesas Islands.
You deliver freight Well, youdon't do it, the boat's
(06:04):
delivering freight.
You go out and see the island,experience the culture.
All the locals cook you a youknow we would call it a luau
here, you know.
So you go out and have theroasted pig from the ground and
just local traditional lunch.
They put on traditional dances.
Just amazing to immerseyourself in that culture that
very few people get to go to.
(06:24):
One of the islands that I wentto has reminded me a lot of the
island of Kauai in Hawaii, Greentropical, but there were only
300 people that lived on thatisland.
Oh, and so that's the kind ofdifference and experience you
get Untouched South Pacificislands.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:42):
Was it a little unsettling, just a little
bit, just to be that remote itwas a little bit, you know, but
also exciting at the same timebecause you are out there on
these remote islands.
Mark Faldmo (06:53):
I think the largest one we visited had a population
of maybe 1,500, 2,000 people.
That's not a lot of people.
You just go all the locals thatreally aren't so-called shore
excursions.
All the locals show up in theirking cab pickup trucks and you
stick four of you in and theydrive you around the island.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:11):
It's just a train of that's the bus so yeah,
so you know again veryinteresting I can see some old
Dotsons, Nissans king cab yeahso, and you know that Polynesian
culture is one that's near anddear to me and my family.
Mark Faldmo (07:28):
I love going to the Pacific Islands and
experiencing that.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:31):
That is one thing that I've consistently
heard from you and your dad.
I wish listeners could see thesoftness in your eyes.
You really do love thatPolynesian people.
Mark Faldmo (07:42):
Now let's talk about another unique destination
.
This week I received a callfrom a client that wants to go
to Panama and he was wonderingwhere to stay, and client that
wants to go to Panama and he waswondering where to stay and
what there was to do in Panama.
You know, panama is a uniquedestination.
We've talked a lot about onthis show about Costa Rica.
There are two fairly similardestinations, but Panama has
(08:03):
some uniqueness, especiallybecause of the Panama Canal.
You know a lot of people thinkof visiting Panama by doing a
Panama Canal cruise, but if yougo there just as a vacation, it
is a wonderful destination spot,and here are some of the things
that you can do in Panama.
One of my favorite things to dois visit the Canal Museum.
(08:24):
This is a museum that talksabout the building of the Panama
Canal.
It also has a viewing stationwhere you can go watch the ships
go through the locks.
It's fascinating how they movethe ships through the locks and
this definitely should be onyour list of things to do when
visiting Panama.
Another thing is Monkey Island.
(08:45):
This is out in Lake Gatun,which is the lake in between the
locks.
You can go out on boat andvisit islands that are just
filled with monkeys.
Pretty interesting thing to do.
One of my favorite things isOld Panama City.
There's the new city that hastall skyscrapers and you go into
the old city which is kind ofperched a little bit up on a
(09:07):
hill.
You can look across the bay tothe new city.
Just has a really colonialatmosphere, really good
restaurants.
Old Panama City is somethingdefinitely worth visiting.
Probably one of the most uniquethings you can do in Panama is
visit indigenous villages.
You go by canoe to thesevillages, villages and they
(09:29):
teach you all about the villagelife.
The one thing in Panama isthere still are several native
indigenous tribes and to visitthem, experience their culture,
learn their way of life, ispretty fascinating.
And then another unique thingis the Gamboa Aerial Tram We've
talked about a similarexperience in Costa Rica and
(09:50):
this is a tram that goes upthrough the rainforest.
You see the wildlife, thedifferent levels of the canopy
and learn about the rainforest,how it works and how to preserve
that.
Now we can transition to whereto stay.
In Panama there really are kindof two areas to stay.
One is the city, which is inthe city with the skyscrapers.
(10:12):
The other is the beach area,and this is where you'll find a
lot of the all-inclusive hotelsin Panama, and actually my
favorite places to stay are notin these two places.
There's kind of a transitionarea as you're going from the
city to the beach, and it's inan area called Bonita.
My favorite place to stay thereis the Dreams Playa Bonita, and
(10:36):
also on that beach is theWestin Playa Bonita.
I did a quick look for afive-night package from Salt
Lake City this is departingfairly close in February 12,
12th staying at the Dreams PlayaBonita, which is a five-star
the cost of airfare transfershotel and the all-inclusive is
$1939 per person.
(10:57):
And then the other hotel onthat list was the Westin Playa
Bonita, which is a four-star.
It's not all-inclusive, but youcan upgrade to a meal package,
and that one starts at $1659 perperson.
One other hotel that I'd liketo point out is the Gamboa
Rainforest Reserve.
This is a hotel that is out onGamboa Lake.
(11:20):
This actually used to be theofficer's club when the US
military controlled the canalzone, and so they've converted
this to a four-star resort likethe Westin.
It's not all-inclusive, but youcan upgrade to a meal package,
and that starts at $16.59 perperson.
Again, that was February 12thfor five nights.
(11:41):
Panama is just a wonderful kindof not-thought-of destination
to visit.
There's a lot of history there,a place I would highly
recommend to add to your bucketlist or future vacation plans.
Well, that'll do it for thefirst segment of the show.
We'll be back in just a minuteto talk about star clippers and
tall ships sailing around theworld.
Show Voice (12:09):
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.
Ad Voice (12:42):
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
authentic tall-ship sailingexperiences featuring creative
itineraries throughout theMediterranean Caribbean and
Central America.
Show Voice (12:54):
To book your unique Star Clipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
blueplanetvacations.
com now back to the insidetravel talk podcast and radio
(13:16):
show presented by blue planetvacations dot com, America's
best travel advisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 and
check out the podcast at insidetravel talk dot com.
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo (13:36):
Welcome back to segment two of the Inside Travel
Talk podcast and radio show.
My name is Mark Faldmo.
We're glad you're with us Now.
A few weeks ago, Patrick hadthe opportunity to interview
Beth Lindsley-Elwood from StarClippers.
Star Clippers is a passengersailing ship one of the most
unique experiences that I've hadin cruising.
Let's listen to the interviewwith Patrick and Beth.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:00):
Let me introduce to our listeners Beth
Lindsley-Elwood with StarClippers.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
How are you?
I've been really excited totalk to you.
I love that.
Mark has brought this up to mea few times that when he sailed
on Star Clippers he could notsay enough good things about his
(14:22):
experience.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (14:23):
Nothing gladdened my heart more, Patrick
, and I don't know if I sharedthis with you, but nothing
gladdened my heart more, Patrick, and I don't know if I shared
this with you, but nothinggladdened my heart more than
when Mark sailed with us and Ifound out that he, through my
boss, terry, that he was lovingit so much and that he was
posting while he was on board,he was posting on social media,
et cetera.
You know, I was just like yes.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:45):
How did you get started with Star Clippers?
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (14:48):
I signed with the company and never
stepped on board the ship.
They put me on board the shipeight weeks later and about the
second or third day on board Istopped myself and I was
thinking I've got to figure outwhy I love this so much.
And I was thunderstruck when Irealized that I was relaxed and
I have never relaxed, even onpersonal vacations or whatever.
(15:10):
So when people say, oh yeah,I'm relaxing, have a good time,
they don't know it until theyreally get on board, understand
what no lines, no crowds, veryfew decisions, all those stress
points of a typical vacationliterally just peel away.
It's astounding.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:27):
You met Nikki, my wife right.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:29):
I did, you did Okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:30):
I thought you did.
We were literally just talkingabout this.
It's our 30 wedding anniversary.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:37):
Come on, Patrick.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:37):
You should know that Hold on 32nd wedding
anniversary.
Okay, I said love, we have togo do this.
And I showed her the website.
She goes oh, that is different.
And I said yeah, that's whywe're going to go do it.
I am going to book it for Mark.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:55):
Okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:56):
When would you book and when would you sail?
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:58):
Well, putting it in perspective, we
are open for sale throughOctober of 2025, which includes
the entire Mediterranean season,and if you don't jump on it now
, you're not going to get theship, the sale date and the
cabin category and availabilitythat you want, because as soon
as our new brochure comes out,give us another week or two,
(16:18):
maybe three max stuff will startflying off the shelf, but Royal
will always sell first and herdeluxe accommodations will
always sell first, so there'sstuff that's already moved on.
Some of the best sale dates Isthe Royal, the ship.
The Royal Clipper is theflagship of the fleet.
Okay, but back to your originalquestion.
(16:40):
I always say travel when youwant to travel.
I say go when you want to goand are able to go, because
there's different parts of theseason and don't try to outguess
the weather.
So I really do mean that.
The seasonality, though, issuch that more people are
starting to book shoulder seasontending to A for the crowds,
(17:03):
and or B, perhaps not as hot.
When we launch the new brochurein another one to three weeks,
wherever that is, we're alsogoing to open for sale through
March of 26.
Oh, wow.
So not only do we have December24 through March of 25 open.
We're going to be openingDecember 25 through March of 26.
(17:27):
And, as Beyonce would say, ifyou see it and you like it, put
the ring on it.
Okay, yep, that's the responsethat I wanted, but people get it
when I say that and I really,really mean that, because two
ships only have 83 stateroomsand one ship has 114.
And we have a lot of repeatguests that know that.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:49):
What is your favorite thing about Star
Clippers?
Like the first thing that comesto mind.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (17:55):
Family.
I step on board.
They know me, they are myfamily.
I feel like I'm home.
There's nothing odd or anythingthat I feel.
You know, it's like I'm here,I'm home, this is where I want
to be.
My husband felt that way.
He sailed the first time withme in October of 22.
And that was the multi-coastedSicily.
Yeah, so it really connectswith people.
(18:19):
I went on board knowing very,very, very little.
You know, I knew when to showup, but I just knew I had
cruised before.
I know how to get myself to theport, I know how to open a
house account, I know cruising.
What I didn't know wasexperience of sailing and just
(18:40):
feeling.
And again, that's why I had tostop myself second or third day
in, because people are easy toget to know and to talk to.
There are no lines, crowds, thestress points are gone.
It is the coolest feeling to beout on deck, whether you're
there with others and you're inyour own little world, or you're
out early in the morning, forexample, where you're
(19:01):
essentially alone and the sailsare flapping, whether it's one
sail, three sails, four sails,whatever, and the serenity that
surrounds you between the skyand the sea and just being there
is phenomenal.
And I don't know how else tosay it, Patrick, except that I
did not know I needed sails.
S-a-i-l-s.
(19:21):
Everybody needs sails.
Wow, it's very, very freeingand that's again, it's very part
and parcel to the casual,relaxed atmosphere we have on
board, which is exactly whatpeople appreciate.
We're not out there hawkinganything.
If you want a cocktail, if youwant a mocktail.
(19:42):
Just go to the Tropical Bar.
There's nobody on deck that'sgoing to come around.
But we do announcements, maybemidday from the captain or if
something really exciting isgoing on, the cruise director
will get on.
We're essentiallyannouncement-free.
Unbeknownst to me.
Dinner, I knew, was from 7.30 to10, and I was by myself and it
(20:02):
was the very first night onboard and I thought I'm just not
going to be one of those peoplethat shows up exactly at 7.30.
I'll just come down a little.
Before eight o'clock the entiredining room was already filled.
It was astounding to me, andwhat I learned was the dining
rooms hold the entire complementof the ship.
People come in after having anamazing day, whether it's first
(20:26):
day on board, or whether it'sinto the sailing, where you've
been at the beach, or you'vebeen on a shore excursion, or
you've been out doing your ownthing in port.
There's no one rushing you.
It's a great meal.
We have Michelin trained chefsand people relax and they regale
their day.
And what I found out on thatsailing 50% of our guests were
(20:47):
repeat.
So Med is our most popular andthat's why all three ships are
there for a very, very longseason.
It's certainly the most popularfor us.
And then we move the shipsaccording to the weather.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:59):
When you say Med, you mean Mediterranean,
okay.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (21:03):
People are lovely, it's like-minded
people that are curious, peoplethat want to see the world.
It's people that don't want thecrowds.
They don't even know we're outthere.
So that's why we work extrahard in terms of introducing the
brand, so that they know andunderstand that there's a
different journey out there thanwhat you see in all the ads,
(21:26):
which is generally big ship.
But so many cruisers move from,you know, when their first
cruise experience was generallyon a broad market brand through
the years into a smaller shipexperience, whether it's all
inclusive, six star, six starplus or whether it's a premium
brand like ourselves.
But they come to learn andunderstand.
(21:47):
You know what.
I don't need all the bells andwhistles.
I don't need to be entertained24-7.
I want to do and have andwhatever.
So we're not inclusive onpurpose and that means if you
want a short excursion, purchaseit on board.
If you want a spa treatment ormassage, you sign up for it on
board.
We keep pricing for beverages,so we don't even offer beverage
(22:12):
packages.
Not everybody drinks.
Not everybody wants $75 a dayto have to pay for all these
things.
I mean you don't drink 24-7.
Most people don't.
I spend quite a bit of time onintroducing the smooth sailing
concept, because I Insider Tipssuggests refer to us as sailing
(22:32):
or authentic sailing, or uniquesailing adventures, something
with sailing, not a typicalcruise.
If you and I say cruise, itgoes completely the other
direction.
They're going to have aperception of what we should
look like, what we should offer,what my cabin looks like.
It just is in the wrongdirection.
So when you say sailing, whathappens is then you get.
(22:55):
This is all they can think ofis that catamaran ride that they
took in the Caribbean or thatsailboat or boating experience
that they had in Catalina Islandor San Francisco Bay.
So I do spend time both on theconsumer and the advisor side
speaking to the largesse of theships, how they're built, how
they actually move through thewater and just simply the fact
(23:19):
that we're small enough that wedon't have to.
We can hug coastlines, we canjust drop anchor.
We don't have to be in a bigport, we don't have a casino on
board, so we don't have to be ininternational waters.
So I spend quite a bit of timecomforting them and kind of just
overcoming some of that fear ofwow, introduce a ship that's
(23:47):
either a football field long,end zone to end zone or a
football field and a half long.
All of a sudden the perceptionstarts to change and when you
describe the movement becauseit's built like a sailboat, it's
not a cruise ship with ashallow hull that sits on top of
the water.
A sailboat has a draft.
So we're 18 and a half feetdown in the water, held by the
keel.
So the movement is more likesitting in a rocking chair where
you sit down and then we'recutting through and moving
(24:10):
forward through the water, whichmeans that again it's the
soothing forward and backwardword type of movement.
It's not the side by side thatthey think about.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:20):
I didn't even think about that.
It comes up right away, sothrough the water rather than
bobbing on top of the water.
Mark Faldmo (24:28):
And thank you, Patrick, for that interview.
Star Clippers has a reallygreat special going on right now
.
If you're interested in doingone of the tall ships around the
world Right now, everyone canenjoy a 10% discount off of
their cruise and if you're newto Star Clippers, you'll get an
additional 5% off.
So that's a and if you're newto Star Clippers, you'll get an
additional 5% off.
So that's a total discount.
(24:50):
If you're new to Star Clippers,of 15%, or if you've sailed on
Star Clipper, you'll get 10% off.
Star Clippers sells variousdestinations around the world.
They sail in the Caribbean,central America, eastern and
Western Mediterranean and thensome specialty cruises through
the Panama Canal different oceanvoyages One of the most unique
experiences you can have incruising.
(25:11):
Well, that'll do it for thisweek's show of Inside Travel
Talk podcast and radio show.
Tune in next week and we'll getyou some more travel deals and
travel information.
Show Voice (25:27):
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.
(25:47):
That's 888-718-7717.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Ad Voice (25:58):
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Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
On today's show we're going totalk about vacationing in Panama
and tall ship sailing on theStar Clipper.
Let's start the show.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:11):
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio
show presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time-sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Show Voice (00:30):
Travel deals and offers change constantly and are
capacity controlled and subjectto change without notice.
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.
(00:52):
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
.
Mark Faldmo (01:03):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
My name is Mark Faldmo.
Thank you for taking the timeto stop by and listen to the
show this week.
The entire purpose of this showis to help you plan and book
your next vacation.
Our tagline is Explore yourWorld, and we hope to give you
some ideas on where your nextvacation could be.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is sponsored by
(01:26):
BluePlanetVacations.
com.
This week the show is shortenedfrom our normal length due to
the holidays.
If you're listening on theradio, you'll hear a replay of
the first 30 minutes and thesecond half of the hour.
Also, Patrick is unable to behere this week, but we're able
to talk earlier this week andhave a discussion on why we
travel and some unique traveldestinations.
(01:47):
Let's listen to that segment.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:50):
I know that we wanted to talk about how travel
opens minds.
This has been my experience.
When you're home, you kind ofhave your own world of things.
You know, you drive to work,you podcast, you kind of make
the world kind of small thatwhen you go out and travel you
see just how amazing humans areand how travel opens minds.
(02:11):
And I want to talk, to have youtalk, about some of your travel
experiences and how that'staken place for you.
Mark Faldmo (02:16):
As long as I can remember, you know, I've been
traveling.
I'm third generation and in thebusiness in the business.
So you know, I've grown up, mygrandparents started it, my
parents and you know I've justalways traveled.
I've kind of taken some ofthose experiences for granted,
but just as a child, being ableto experience new customs, new
cultures, you know, it really issomething that I'm a proponent
(02:40):
of you know, trying to helppeople.
You know like the tagline of ourpodcast is explore your world.
Help people to get out thereand experience new cultures,
which I think is very importantto do.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:52):
I don't think you realize this, that I'm going
to hit you cold right now, thatwhen you start talking about
cruising in Eastern Europe,Serbia, I don't think you
realize just how your facelights up.
You really do get excited aboutthat stuff.
Mark Faldmo (03:06):
It is very unique and important experiences in my
life.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:10):
You've been talking about Eastern Europe and
Serbia.
I guess the former Yugoslaviaman that dates us just a little
bit.
But Serbia, bosnia andHerzegovina, that was something
special.
So instead of going to Paris,going to London, that you
actually went to Eastern Europe,that was pretty interesting for
you.
Mark Faldmo (03:28):
And that kind of plays into another kind of story
that's in travel now is overtourism.
You know there are a lot ofplaces you know, like Venice for
instance, that has been cruiseships of certain sizes.
You know some places just arereally experiencing over tourism
.
So how do we combat that?
Patrick Wiscombe (03:47):
Now, when you say over tourism, you're
literally talking about too manypeople going to the same place.
Mark Faldmo (03:52):
Correct Too many people going to the same place.
You know, as Americans, youknow we think of Rome, Venice,
Paris, London.
If we think of going to Europe,that's probably where we go.
But there are other places, forinstance, Novistad in Serbia,
one of the most fascinatingEuropean cities I've ever
visited.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:10):
What was?
Mark Faldmo (04:10):
it.
I mean just, it was a medievalcity that had, you know, all of
the same things that you find inother European cities.
There was nobody there, it wasjust a unique experience that
had the history.
Now it has different history.
You know, the Eastern Europeanhistory is different, but just
fascinating.
You know, another one isMontenegro, which is in that
(04:33):
same area, you know, taking acruise up and it's called Europe
Southern Fjord, and you cruiseup this fjord, it's actually a
sunken river bed and you end inthis little town at the end.
What boat were you on that?
Patrick Wiscombe (04:47):
was Norwegian.
Mark Faldmo (04:48):
Oh was it I was on NCL, but a lot of cruise lines
go there.
Think of some of these otherunique out of the box places, so
that you know you don't, Iguess, overcrowd other places.
And some of those places whenthere's lots of people there,
like Venice, is almost not funto visit.
You know, I tell people, ifyou're going to go to visit to
(05:08):
Venice, stay overnight.
In the day it's crowded and atnight it is a wonderful place.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:13):
I think we talked about that last week or
the week before A couple ofweeks ago.
Mark Faldmo (05:18):
There are lots of unique places that you don't
think of.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:20):
The first episodes when we were on the air
or on the podcast that you weretalking about the Aranui cruise
ship.
Aranui is the name of thecruise line, I think yes, and
how it was half freighter or athird freighter, and then I
forgot what the combination was.
But basically it was a cruiseship and a freighter, because
you're out in the middle ofnowhere.
Mark Faldmo (05:42):
So you know again, this is another fabulous
experience in exploring anotherculture.
So this leaves from Papeete inFrench Polynesia, Tahiti, and
it's literally half cruise shipand half container ship.
Fantastic, because you go tothese islands, these small
islands in the Marquesas Islands.
You deliver freight Well, youdon't do it, the boat's
(06:04):
delivering freight.
You go out and see the island,experience the culture.
All the locals cook you a youknow we would call it a luau
here, you know.
So you go out and have theroasted pig from the ground and
just local traditional lunch.
They put on traditional dances.
Just amazing to immerseyourself in that culture that
very few people get to go to.
(06:24):
One of the islands that I wentto has reminded me a lot of the
island of Kauai in Hawaii, Greentropical, but there were only
300 people that lived on thatisland.
Oh, and so that's the kind ofdifference and experience you
get Untouched South Pacificislands.
Patrick Wiscombe (06:42):
Was it a little unsettling, just a little
bit, just to be that remote itwas a little bit, you know, but
also exciting at the same timebecause you are out there on
these remote islands.
Mark Faldmo (06:53):
I think the largest one we visited had a population
of maybe 1,500, 2,000 people.
That's not a lot of people.
You just go all the locals thatreally aren't so-called shore
excursions.
All the locals show up in theirking cab pickup trucks and you
stick four of you in and theydrive you around the island.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:11):
It's just a train of that's the bus so yeah,
so you know again veryinteresting I can see some old
Dotsons, Nissans king cab yeahso, and you know that Polynesian
culture is one that's near anddear to me and my family.
Mark Faldmo (07:28):
I love going to the Pacific Islands and
experiencing that.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:31):
That is one thing that I've consistently
heard from you and your dad.
I wish listeners could see thesoftness in your eyes.
You really do love thatPolynesian people.
Mark Faldmo (07:42):
Now let's talk about another unique destination
.
This week I received a callfrom a client that wants to go
to Panama and he was wonderingwhere to stay, and client that
wants to go to Panama and he waswondering where to stay and
what there was to do in Panama.
You know, panama is a uniquedestination.
We've talked a lot about onthis show about Costa Rica.
There are two fairly similardestinations, but Panama has
(08:03):
some uniqueness, especiallybecause of the Panama Canal.
You know a lot of people thinkof visiting Panama by doing a
Panama Canal cruise, but if yougo there just as a vacation, it
is a wonderful destination spot,and here are some of the things
that you can do in Panama.
One of my favorite things to dois visit the Canal Museum.
(08:24):
This is a museum that talksabout the building of the Panama
Canal.
It also has a viewing stationwhere you can go watch the ships
go through the locks.
It's fascinating how they movethe ships through the locks and
this definitely should be onyour list of things to do when
visiting Panama.
Another thing is Monkey Island.
(08:45):
This is out in Lake Gatun,which is the lake in between the
locks.
You can go out on boat andvisit islands that are just
filled with monkeys.
Pretty interesting thing to do.
One of my favorite things isOld Panama City.
There's the new city that hastall skyscrapers and you go into
the old city which is kind ofperched a little bit up on a
(09:07):
hill.
You can look across the bay tothe new city.
Just has a really colonialatmosphere, really good
restaurants.
Old Panama City is somethingdefinitely worth visiting.
Probably one of the most uniquethings you can do in Panama is
visit indigenous villages.
You go by canoe to thesevillages, villages and they
(09:29):
teach you all about the villagelife.
The one thing in Panama isthere still are several native
indigenous tribes and to visitthem, experience their culture,
learn their way of life, ispretty fascinating.
And then another unique thingis the Gamboa Aerial Tram We've
talked about a similarexperience in Costa Rica and
(09:50):
this is a tram that goes upthrough the rainforest.
You see the wildlife, thedifferent levels of the canopy
and learn about the rainforest,how it works and how to preserve
that.
Now we can transition to whereto stay.
In Panama there really are kindof two areas to stay.
One is the city, which is inthe city with the skyscrapers.
(10:12):
The other is the beach area,and this is where you'll find a
lot of the all-inclusive hotelsin Panama, and actually my
favorite places to stay are notin these two places.
There's kind of a transitionarea as you're going from the
city to the beach, and it's inan area called Bonita.
My favorite place to stay thereis the Dreams Playa Bonita, and
(10:36):
also on that beach is theWestin Playa Bonita.
I did a quick look for afive-night package from Salt
Lake City this is departingfairly close in February 12,
12th staying at the Dreams PlayaBonita, which is a five-star
the cost of airfare transfershotel and the all-inclusive is
$1939 per person.
(10:57):
And then the other hotel onthat list was the Westin Playa
Bonita, which is a four-star.
It's not all-inclusive, but youcan upgrade to a meal package,
and that one starts at $1659 perperson.
One other hotel that I'd liketo point out is the Gamboa
Rainforest Reserve.
This is a hotel that is out onGamboa Lake.
(11:20):
This actually used to be theofficer's club when the US
military controlled the canalzone, and so they've converted
this to a four-star resort likethe Westin.
It's not all-inclusive, but youcan upgrade to a meal package,
and that starts at $16.59 perperson.
Again, that was February 12thfor five nights.
(11:41):
Panama is just a wonderful kindof not-thought-of destination
to visit.
There's a lot of history there,a place I would highly
recommend to add to your bucketlist or future vacation plans.
Well, that'll do it for thefirst segment of the show.
We'll be back in just a minuteto talk about star clippers and
tall ships sailing around theworld.
Show Voice (12:09):
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.
Ad Voice (12:42):
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back.
For over 30 years, starClippers has offered unique,
authentic tall-ship sailingexperiences featuring creative
itineraries throughout theMediterranean Caribbean and
Central America.
Show Voice (12:54):
To book your unique Star Clipper sailing adventure,
contact Blue Planet Vacations at888-718-7717 or
blueplanetvacations.
com now back to the insidetravel talk podcast and radio
(13:16):
show presented by blue planetvacations dot com, America's
best travel advisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 and
check out the podcast at insidetravel talk dot com.
Here's Patrick Wiscombe andMark Faldmo.
Mark Faldmo (13:36):
Welcome back to segment two of the Inside Travel
Talk podcast and radio show.
My name is Mark Faldmo.
We're glad you're with us Now.
A few weeks ago, Patrick hadthe opportunity to interview
Beth Lindsley-Elwood from StarClippers.
Star Clippers is a passengersailing ship one of the most
unique experiences that I've hadin cruising.
Let's listen to the interviewwith Patrick and Beth.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:00):
Let me introduce to our listeners Beth
Lindsley-Elwood with StarClippers.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
How are you?
I've been really excited totalk to you.
I love that.
Mark has brought this up to mea few times that when he sailed
on Star Clippers he could notsay enough good things about his
(14:22):
experience.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (14:23):
Nothing gladdened my heart more, Patrick
, and I don't know if I sharedthis with you, but nothing
gladdened my heart more, Patrick, and I don't know if I shared
this with you, but nothinggladdened my heart more than
when Mark sailed with us and Ifound out that he, through my
boss, terry, that he was lovingit so much and that he was
posting while he was on board,he was posting on social media,
et cetera.
You know, I was just like yes.
Patrick Wiscombe (14:45):
How did you get started with Star Clippers?
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (14:48):
I signed with the company and never
stepped on board the ship.
They put me on board the shipeight weeks later and about the
second or third day on board Istopped myself and I was
thinking I've got to figure outwhy I love this so much.
And I was thunderstruck when Irealized that I was relaxed and
I have never relaxed, even onpersonal vacations or whatever.
(15:10):
So when people say, oh yeah,I'm relaxing, have a good time,
they don't know it until theyreally get on board, understand
what no lines, no crowds, veryfew decisions, all those stress
points of a typical vacationliterally just peel away.
It's astounding.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:27):
You met Nikki, my wife right.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:29):
I did, you did Okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:30):
I thought you did.
We were literally just talkingabout this.
It's our 30 wedding anniversary.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:37):
Come on, Patrick.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:37):
You should know that Hold on 32nd wedding
anniversary.
Okay, I said love, we have togo do this.
And I showed her the website.
She goes oh, that is different.
And I said yeah, that's whywe're going to go do it.
I am going to book it for Mark.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:55):
Okay.
Patrick Wiscombe (15:56):
When would you book and when would you sail?
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (15:58):
Well, putting it in perspective, we
are open for sale throughOctober of 2025, which includes
the entire Mediterranean season,and if you don't jump on it now
, you're not going to get theship, the sale date and the
cabin category and availabilitythat you want, because as soon
as our new brochure comes out,give us another week or two,
(16:18):
maybe three max stuff will startflying off the shelf, but Royal
will always sell first and herdeluxe accommodations will
always sell first, so there'sstuff that's already moved on.
Some of the best sale dates Isthe Royal, the ship.
The Royal Clipper is theflagship of the fleet.
Okay, but back to your originalquestion.
(16:40):
I always say travel when youwant to travel.
I say go when you want to goand are able to go, because
there's different parts of theseason and don't try to outguess
the weather.
So I really do mean that.
The seasonality, though, issuch that more people are
starting to book shoulder seasontending to A for the crowds,
(17:03):
and or B, perhaps not as hot.
When we launch the new brochurein another one to three weeks,
wherever that is, we're alsogoing to open for sale through
March of 26.
Oh, wow.
So not only do we have December24 through March of 25 open.
We're going to be openingDecember 25 through March of 26.
(17:27):
And, as Beyonce would say, ifyou see it and you like it, put
the ring on it.
Okay, yep, that's the responsethat I wanted, but people get it
when I say that and I really,really mean that, because two
ships only have 83 stateroomsand one ship has 114.
And we have a lot of repeatguests that know that.
Patrick Wiscombe (17:49):
What is your favorite thing about Star
Clippers?
Like the first thing that comesto mind.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (17:55):
Family.
I step on board.
They know me, they are myfamily.
I feel like I'm home.
There's nothing odd or anythingthat I feel.
You know, it's like I'm here,I'm home, this is where I want
to be.
My husband felt that way.
He sailed the first time withme in October of 22.
And that was the multi-coastedSicily.
Yeah, so it really connectswith people.
(18:19):
I went on board knowing very,very, very little.
You know, I knew when to showup, but I just knew I had
cruised before.
I know how to get myself to theport, I know how to open a
house account, I know cruising.
What I didn't know wasexperience of sailing and just
(18:40):
feeling.
And again, that's why I had tostop myself second or third day
in, because people are easy toget to know and to talk to.
There are no lines, crowds, thestress points are gone.
It is the coolest feeling to beout on deck, whether you're
there with others and you're inyour own little world, or you're
out early in the morning, forexample, where you're
(19:01):
essentially alone and the sailsare flapping, whether it's one
sail, three sails, four sails,whatever, and the serenity that
surrounds you between the skyand the sea and just being there
is phenomenal.
And I don't know how else tosay it, Patrick, except that I
did not know I needed sails.
S-a-i-l-s.
(19:21):
Everybody needs sails.
Wow, it's very, very freeingand that's again, it's very part
and parcel to the casual,relaxed atmosphere we have on
board, which is exactly whatpeople appreciate.
We're not out there hawkinganything.
If you want a cocktail, if youwant a mocktail.
(19:42):
Just go to the Tropical Bar.
There's nobody on deck that'sgoing to come around.
But we do announcements, maybemidday from the captain or if
something really exciting isgoing on, the cruise director
will get on.
We're essentiallyannouncement-free.
Unbeknownst to me.
Dinner, I knew, was from 7.30 to10, and I was by myself and it
(20:02):
was the very first night onboard and I thought I'm just not
going to be one of those peoplethat shows up exactly at 7.30.
I'll just come down a little.
Before eight o'clock the entiredining room was already filled.
It was astounding to me, andwhat I learned was the dining
rooms hold the entire complementof the ship.
People come in after having anamazing day, whether it's first
(20:26):
day on board, or whether it'sinto the sailing, where you've
been at the beach, or you'vebeen on a shore excursion, or
you've been out doing your ownthing in port.
There's no one rushing you.
It's a great meal.
We have Michelin trained chefsand people relax and they regale
their day.
And what I found out on thatsailing 50% of our guests were
(20:47):
repeat.
So Med is our most popular andthat's why all three ships are
there for a very, very longseason.
It's certainly the most popularfor us.
And then we move the shipsaccording to the weather.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:59):
When you say Med, you mean Mediterranean,
okay.
Beth Lindsley Ellwood (21:03):
People are lovely, it's like-minded
people that are curious, peoplethat want to see the world.
It's people that don't want thecrowds.
They don't even know we're outthere.
So that's why we work extrahard in terms of introducing the
brand, so that they know andunderstand that there's a
different journey out there thanwhat you see in all the ads,
(21:26):
which is generally big ship.
But so many cruisers move from,you know, when their first
cruise experience was generallyon a broad market brand through
the years into a smaller shipexperience, whether it's all
inclusive, six star, six starplus or whether it's a premium
brand like ourselves.
But they come to learn andunderstand.
(21:47):
You know what.
I don't need all the bells andwhistles.
I don't need to be entertained24-7.
I want to do and have andwhatever.
So we're not inclusive onpurpose and that means if you
want a short excursion, purchaseit on board.
If you want a spa treatment ormassage, you sign up for it on
board.
We keep pricing for beverages,so we don't even offer beverage
(22:12):
packages.
Not everybody drinks.
Not everybody wants $75 a dayto have to pay for all these
things.
I mean you don't drink 24-7.
Most people don't.
I spend quite a bit of time onintroducing the smooth sailing
concept, because I Insider Tipssuggests refer to us as sailing
(22:32):
or authentic sailing, or uniquesailing adventures, something
with sailing, not a typicalcruise.
If you and I say cruise, itgoes completely the other
direction.
They're going to have aperception of what we should
look like, what we should offer,what my cabin looks like.
It just is in the wrongdirection.
So when you say sailing, whathappens is then you get.
(22:55):
This is all they can think ofis that catamaran ride that they
took in the Caribbean or thatsailboat or boating experience
that they had in Catalina Islandor San Francisco Bay.
So I do spend time both on theconsumer and the advisor side
speaking to the largesse of theships, how they're built, how
they actually move through thewater and just simply the fact
(23:19):
that we're small enough that wedon't have to.
We can hug coastlines, we canjust drop anchor.
We don't have to be in a bigport, we don't have a casino on
board, so we don't have to be ininternational waters.
So I spend quite a bit of timecomforting them and kind of just
overcoming some of that fear ofwow, introduce a ship that's
(23:47):
either a football field long,end zone to end zone or a
football field and a half long.
All of a sudden the perceptionstarts to change and when you
describe the movement becauseit's built like a sailboat, it's
not a cruise ship with ashallow hull that sits on top of
the water.
A sailboat has a draft.
So we're 18 and a half feetdown in the water, held by the
keel.
So the movement is more likesitting in a rocking chair where
you sit down and then we'recutting through and moving
(24:10):
forward through the water, whichmeans that again it's the
soothing forward and backwardword type of movement.
It's not the side by side thatthey think about.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:20):
I didn't even think about that.
It comes up right away, sothrough the water rather than
bobbing on top of the water.
Mark Faldmo (24:28):
And thank you, Patrick, for that interview.
Star Clippers has a reallygreat special going on right now
.
If you're interested in doingone of the tall ships around the
world Right now, everyone canenjoy a 10% discount off of
their cruise and if you're newto Star Clippers, you'll get an
additional 5% off.
So that's a and if you're newto Star Clippers, you'll get an
additional 5% off.
So that's a total discount.
(24:50):
If you're new to Star Clippers,of 15%, or if you've sailed on
Star Clipper, you'll get 10% off.
Star Clippers sells variousdestinations around the world.
They sail in the Caribbean,central America, eastern and
Western Mediterranean and thensome specialty cruises through
the Panama Canal different oceanvoyages One of the most unique
experiences you can have incruising.
(25:11):
Well, that'll do it for thisweek's show of Inside Travel
Talk podcast and radio show.
Tune in next week and we'll getyou some more travel deals and
travel information.
Show Voice (25:27):
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.
(25:47):
That's 888-718-7717.
Thanks for listening.
Have a great week.
Ad Voice (25:58):
Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Ammo Waterways
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of Europe's most remarkablesites and cities.
The award-winning andfamily-owned river cruise line
Emma Waterways offers a widevariety of unforgettable
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(26:18):
Whether you are passionateabout music, history,
architecture or enjoy the finerthings in a Europe, river cruise
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