July 19, 2025 • 27 mins
Hidden gems and extraordinary travel experiences await the curious explorer! From Australia's charming penguin parade to luxury villas across the globe, this week's journey through travel possibilities reveals destinations you likely never knew existed.
Mark Faldmo shares his discoveries from the Global Travel Marketplace in Fort Lauderdale, where he connected with fascinating suppliers offering unique adventures. Imagine watching hundreds of bowling pin-sized penguins (just 8-12 inches tall) make their nightly journey from sea to shore on Phillips Island, Australia. Or consider exploring southern New Zealand during winter to witness the spectacular Aurora Australis – the Southern Lights – with optimal viewing in July and August.
For travelers seeking luxury without excessive costs, villa rentals provide surprising value when calculated per room. A fully-staffed five-bedroom beachfront villa in Punta Cana averages $275 per room nightly, comparable to upscale hotels but offering far more privacy and space. Similarly, nine-bedroom villas along Italy's Amalfi Coast start at $200 per room per night – an extraordinary setting at a competitive price when traveling with family or friends.
Adventurous souls will appreciate the newly highlighted five-star tourist railway in Laos, offering scenic daytime journeys with excursion stops and comfortable hotel accommodations. Meanwhile, Florida travelers can experience a rare all-inclusive resort at Sandpiper Bay in Port St. Lucie, providing meals, drinks, and water activities without leaving the United States.
The segment's showstopper deal? Free airfare to Ireland with Globus tours starting at just $1,299 for seven-day itineraries visiting either Northern Ireland or the southern regions. For cruise enthusiasts, exceptional values include MSC Caribbean sailings from $428, transatlantic journeys on Norwegian from $599, and premium Eastern Caribbean cruises on Cunard from $1,215.
Whether you're drawn to wildlife encounters, cultural experiences, or simply phenomenal travel deals, these insights will transform your vacation planning. Ready to experience something truly memorable? Contact Blue Planet Vacations to turn these extraordinary possibilities into your next adventure.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Wiscombe (00:00):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show Coming up.
On today's show, mark and Iwill be talking about bowling,
pin-sized penguins, a uniquevacation idea, free airfare to
Ireland, stinky fruit, India'slink to the Boston Tea Party,
three cruise deals of the weekand is it possible that a fifth
(00:21):
Disney park is coming to Florida.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:47):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show Presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 and
check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:12):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:22):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe.
Mark Faldmo will be here in thestudio here in just a moment
and, if you are brand new tothis show, the entire purpose of
this radio show and podcast isto help you plan and book your
next vacation and give you someideas of where you may want to
(01:44):
consider going on vacation next.
And we are presented by Mark'scompany, blueplanetvacations.
com.
And just a sincere thank youfor taking the time to stop and
listen.
Around the country each andevery weekend, Saturday and
Sunday morning at 11 o'clock.
This week we are talking aboutbowling pin-sized penguins that
(02:08):
you can visit, mark.
Is that in Australia?
I think it is.
Yes, that is in Australia.
Free airfare to Ireland, stinkyfruit, which doesn't sound
interesting on the surface,India's link to the Boston Tea
Party, three cruise deals of theweek and there is a possibility
(02:29):
and mark's got the details onthis.
I don't know if these areexclusive details, but there is
talk of a fifth Disney park inFlorida.
I think there are so manypeople going to Florida right
now that they could probablybuild it.
Mark, what would you say?
Mark Faldmo (02:45):
I would say that they definitely can build that.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:47):
You are just getting back from Fort
Lauderdale where you spent anentire week going to the global
travel marketplace, the GTMmeeting.
What are some of the suppliersthat you came across?
Mark Faldmo (03:01):
I have a list of about 125 partners around the
world that I work with, but thisevent really introduces me to
new suppliers, to newexperiences that I can help pass
on to travelers.
I met five suppliers that I'venever even heard of before but
would probably sell them.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:23):
Where do you want to start?
Australia?
Yeah, let's go there.
Let's start in Australia.
Okay, let's go with the PenguinParade on Phillips Island,
which is how far from Melbourne?
Mark Faldmo (03:33):
Yeah, so it's about two hours south of Melbourne
and this is something I've nevereven heard of before, but it
sounds like it's a prettypopular thing to do, and it is
called the Penguin Parade.
What it is is every night, thepenguins go from the sea to
their nests or burrows and theyhave bleachers set up where you
(03:54):
can watch the penguin parade, sothe penguins don't have the
bleachers set up.
No, no, the little park does.
Well, I'm sure the penguinslike it too.
Oh, I'm sure the penguins likeit too, oh.
Ad Voice (04:04):
I'm sure they do.
Mark Faldmo (04:05):
You know, and so every night there's between 10
and 5,000 penguins that you canwatch.
Do this penguin parade?
Oh wow, and these are calledsmall penguins.
They're about the size ofbowling pins eight inches to 12
inches, and it's a very popularthing to do and it is kind of in
a conservation area.
They also do have a koalaconservation center, and so it's
(04:30):
just a great new activity thatI learned about for Australia.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:35):
I don't think I'd get past the koalas and them
just sitting there eatingeucalyptus.
Mark Faldmo (04:40):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:40):
I'd probably pause right there going.
You know that's pretty cute.
What other new suppliers didyou find?
Mark Faldmo (04:47):
You know we're always talking about rail.
On this program I learned abouta brand new option for rail and
this is actually a new touristline and it's in Laos, so it's a
rail system that runs north tosouth.
It's a five-star train.
It is a day train, so youtravel during the day, see the
(05:07):
scenery, it has some stops forexcursions, and then you spend
the night in hotels.
There are some parts of itwhere you'll get off the train
and do parts of the tour by caror some other vehicle and then
meet up with the train later inthe day or the next day.
But it's pretty good pricingit's a 12-day tour that starts
(05:28):
at about $2,000 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:30):
Where's Laos?
Isn't that near Vietnam,Thailand area I?
Mark Faldmo (05:33):
think it is.
So, yeah, Laos in, that is, inbetween Cambodia and Thailand.
What an interesting part of theworld.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:42):
One thing that I find myself doing much more
than I have ever done in thepast is I love staying in hotels
.
I might be weird that way, butI really do like nice hotels.
But one thing that I've beendoing lately is I've been going
to Airbnbs just seeing whatunique properties are around.
Didn't you run across somebodythat actually has access to
(06:02):
villas?
That would be very similar toAirbnb.
Mark Faldmo (06:05):
Yes, I did get actually a new partner that I am
registered to sell that hasaccess to 50,000 villas around
the world.
These are very nice.
Most of them are, you know,five star accommodations.
The one thing they said whenyou're looking at a villa, don't
look at the total cost, look atthe per room cost.
(06:26):
Yeah, for instance, they have avilla in Punta Cana in the
Dominican Republic.
It's a fully staffed, so it hasa full-time maid, a full-time
cook, full-time gardener, justto keep up with the place, five
bedrooms.
And that villa right on thebeach, its own pool pool, starts
at $275 per room per night,holds up to 14 people, and so
(06:50):
when you break that on per roomto have your own private space,
big lounge, a game room, thatactually works out to about the
same or a little bit less thansome of the hotels in the area,
but it's a private residence,just for you.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:06):
I'm actually starting to go that direction.
Unless it's a really nice hotel, I'm really kind of digging
these staying in uniqueproperties.
I like this idea.
Mark Faldmo (07:15):
Another one Now.
This is larger, but this is avilla on the Amalfi Coast in
Italy.
It is a nine bedroom villa thatstarts for $200 per room per
night.
It comes with a housekeeper, soit doesn't have a chef, all of
that.
But you get 20 people there tospread out that cost, and this
one was perched up on a hilloverlooking the water just a
(07:38):
very beautiful setting.
And this company has all sortsof villas around the world and
the guy that I talked to was theguy that does their buying and
he says everything we have hasto be a great location with a
great view.
So that's kind of theirphilosophy.
If there's a group of you,renting a villa is not
unaffordable.
You may look at the total priceand say, oh, that's a lot, but
(08:00):
if you break it down per room,it's not that much more than
staying in a hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:04):
We've already talked about Australia, but
let's stay kind of close.
Let's go to New Zealand.
What's available there,assuming that there is something
we talk a lot about theNorthern Lights and Aurora
Borealis.
Mark Faldmo (08:14):
Oh yeah, I met a company in New Zealand.
What they do are SouthernLights, which are called Aurora
Australias.
They do tours that are basedaround the Southern Lights in
New Zealand.
Right now is the best time tosee the southern lights, so
optimal time is between Apriland September, which is their
(08:36):
winter.
July and August are the besttwo months in southern New
Zealand for the southern lights.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:41):
Let's work our way back to the United States,
Florida, which is where youspent all of last week meeting
all of these suppliers.
Any new suppliers in Florida?
Mark Faldmo (08:50):
One thing I learned about was a resort called the
Sandpiper Bay Resort.
It's in Port St Lucie, justhalfway between Orlando and
Miami, on the East Coast, andthis is a family-friendly, fully
all-inclusive resort.
In the US we don't talk muchabout all-inclusive resorts
because there just aren't any,but this is a hotel that
(09:11):
includes all your drinks, meals,non-motorized water sports,
right on the east coast ofFlorida.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:18):
And what's the airport that's closest to St
Lucie?
Mark Faldmo (09:22):
The closest airport would be West Palm Beach, but
you could really fly into FortLauderdale, Miami, Orlando
that's about two hours away.
They do have a Brightline stop.
That's about 20 minutes awayfrom their resort, so you could
take the train to that as well.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:39):
You know, you and I are huge Brightline fans,
Brightline train fans.
It is such an easy way to getup and down that East Coast.
Mark Faldmo (10:06):
It is, yeah, very affordable too.
It is Same with the US's 250thyear, so they were trying to
make that link.
They have an independence salethat kind of celebrates India's
independence and US independence.
The link is the tea that wasthrown into the harbor at the
Boston Tea Party came from India.
There we go.
So that's the link they weremaking.
(10:29):
But this company has seven to19 day cruises in India.
The river cruises are mainly inthe eastern part of the country
, and so they also do some landtours to the Golden Triangle,
which is where most touristsvisit Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, where
you'll see the Taj Mahal, andthen you can go do one of their
(10:49):
seven to 19 day river cruises inthe other part of the country.
They're all five star, superdeluxe.
Almost everything that I metwith in India is really deluxe,
but also really good prices.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:02):
Now, one of the things that was on the
rundown was stinky fruit, and Italked about it at the top of
the show.
What's this stinky fruit about?
Mark Faldmo (11:08):
So the name of the fruit is durian.
It's mainly in Indonesia,Borneo, when I was talking about
this was a person that didtours in Borneo and it was kind
of like glamping things likethat, but they brought up the
durian.
The durian is a fruit that inIndonesia it is banned from
public markets because it smellsso bad.
(11:30):
It often smells like raw sewage.
It just smells really bad.
It's in the same family asbreadfruit, but if you can get
your brain around actuallyeating it, it is actually a very
sweet and delicious fruit.
I don't know if my brain wouldallow me to eat it if it smells
that way.
That's just what I was thinkinghere have some poo yeah smells
(11:52):
that way.
That's just what I was thinking.
Here have some poo, yeah.
So you know, I've I've seenthat on like the food network,
like food challenges, where theytry and eat that it does taste
very good if you can get pastthe smell from what people say.
So so you know, that's a kindof more of a trivia thing.
Um, but if you're ever inIndonesia, Borneo kind of in
(12:13):
that area of the world- it's aunique thing to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:21):
Last thing before we go to break, of course
, the hot travel deal of theweek, which is free airfare to
Ireland.
Everyone's ears just went whatI just heard free airfare to
Ireland.
What are the details?
This is with.
Mark Faldmo (12:29):
Globus and a few weeks ago we talked about these
escape deals, which were offseason, you know December
through February dates.
They have just come out with anew promotion and we've sold
several of them at Blue PlanetVacation, so I'm not sure how
long this is going to last.
But they have two tours thatare offered Northern Ireland
(12:51):
Escape, which is round-tripDublin, that goes up to Northern
Ireland, and then they have anIrish Escapes, which is also
seven days, starts from Dublinbut does the southern part of
Ireland.
These tours start at $12.99,including airfare and the
seven-day tour.
Now this is from major gatewayslike Los Angeles, San Francisco
(13:12):
, New York, Chicago, to add onfrom Salt Lake.
I think it's another $200 or$300 to add on from Salt Lake,
but that is still a great deal,oh yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:22):
That's what I was just going to say.
Mark Faldmo (13:23):
And actually and I have not looked at this, I'm
just looking at my inbox rightnow I just got an email from
Globus that they also do have aScotland tour.
Now, this one does not includeairfare, but for January and
February Scotland tours, thattour starts at $699.
Plus airfare.
Okay, so they have some ofthose British Isle tours that
(13:46):
are just great prices right nowfor off-season and, as we talked
about off-season, less crowds,it is a little bit cooler
weather, but it's a great timeto visit these destinations.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:57):
See, this is what this show is good at we
give people ideas of where to gothat they hadn't even
considered, of where to go thatthey hadn't even considered.
If you have heard anything thathas piqued your interest, call
Mark in his office at the break.
I know that we're on the airright now, but call him.
He will return your call, orsomeone in his office will
(14:20):
return your call immediately888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
And you can also find Mark atblueplanetvacations.
com.
When do we come back?
The very segment that we arefamous for.
It is the infamous JustCruising segment.
We've got three cruise deals ofthe week going out of Port
(14:42):
Canaveral, Barcelona and Miami.
And, of course, we've got thecruise news of the week going
out of Port Canaveral, Barcelonaand Miami.
And, of course, we've got thecruise news of the week that is
next when the Inside Travel Talkpodcast, a radio show,
continues alongside my goodfriend Mark Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (15:02):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(15:23):
We'll be right back.
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Travel Talk is brought to youby Anna Waterways.
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Show Voice (15:55):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byblueplanetvacations.
com InsideVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:44):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo All
aboard for the infamous JustCruising segment right here on
the Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe.
Hope you are having a terrificweekend, whether you are
listening to us Saturday orSunday around the country at 11
o'clock am Mountain Time.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend
(17:05):
Coming up in this segment of theshow, the segment of the show
that has made us famousworldwide well, definitely here
in US the infamous Just Cruisingsegment, where it's only about
the cruise news headlines andthe cruise deals of the week, of
which we have three.
But let's first get back to thecruise news headlines.
(17:26):
This was kind of a jarringheadline, mark, when Norwegian
Cruise Line has canceled that'sthe jarring word, cancels 40
plus cruises on two ships.
What are the details?
This is for.
Mark Faldmo (17:40):
November 2026 through March 2027.
They canceled NorwegianBreakaway out of San Juan and
Norwegian Prima out of NewOrleans.
But here's the catch they justswitched the ships.
So the Prima is going to SanJuan and the Breakaway is going
to New Orleans.
Same date, same itineraries,just different size ships.
(18:01):
But this far out those shipsaren't full and so people will
still get the cruise they want.
Now some people may have chosenNew Orleans to go on the
Norwegian Prima because it's oneof the newest ships, but
otherwise you're not missing awhole lot if you are booked on
one of those cruises and decideto stay on the sailing just on a
new ship.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:21):
This one kind of surprised me, though, when
you got back and you weretalking to me about Disney has a
plan or at least they'rediscussing plans to come up with
a fifth park theme park inFlorida oversight district,
which is what Disney World isgoverned under.
Mark Faldmo (18:37):
They have land set aside for a possible fifth theme
park as well as some othersmall parks, and I think Disney
is feeling a little bit leftbehind with Epic Universe with
(18:58):
all of the vacuum that thatcreated, because it had such a
good release kind of sucked thewind out of a lot of things
Disney was trying to do.
I think the last new park thatDisney made was Animal Kingdom.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:10):
That's pretty old, which was 30 years ago.
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo (19:13):
And so they're trying to come up with a new
option and get some of thatfocus back on Disney.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:20):
While we were at the break, we received a text
from was this Jamie?
Yeah, Jamie, yeah, she sent atext during the break that said
in the past you and Mark havementioned to always get a
balcony cabin on a cruise ship.
I want to take a river cruise,but many ships don't have a
balcony.
Should I only look at shipswith a balcony?
(19:42):
The answer is probably no,because I know that there's
French balconies, there'sinfinite verandas, so I'd
probably say no.
What's your opinion, mark?
Mark Faldmo (19:50):
You know, as we've talked about in the past, a lot
of river cruise ships do nothave a balcony.
But they do have Frenchbalconies where the whole wall
opens up, or they have, like onthe MSC cruise ship, where the
window goes down and it turnsyour whole room into a balcony.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:07):
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo (20:08):
The reason for that is is to give you more space.
The room that that balconytakes out of your cabin makes
your room smaller, so I would gowith just even a large picture
window.
There are some older ships thatdon't have opening windows,
which is probably fine, althoughI do like the option to be able
to open up the wall and turn itinto a balcony.
(20:28):
But I'll tell you what might bea problem when you're in port.
A lot of the river crew shipsdock side by side, and so you
might have to walk through threeto five ships just to get
ashore, which is kind ofinteresting, but if you're one
of those middle ships, youwouldn't be able to enjoy your
balcony anyway.
And also just a warning everynight, make sure your curtains
(20:51):
are closed, because you mightwake up and have someone looking
right into your room from theother cabin.
So how you doing?
Yeah, yeah, you know.
And then another reason why abalcony is not quite as
important.
There are a lot of places on theriver.
Let's take the Central Rhine,for instance.
You'll want to have a360-degree view and you'll want
(21:14):
to go through the sceniccruising, probably on the sun
deck, when you're doing theCentral Rhine, that stretch of
river I think it's about a30-mile stretch of river has the
highest concentration ofcastles in the world.
Oh wow.
So you want to have a 360degree view anyway, you might do
that on your balcony and gethalf the castles, but you never
(21:35):
know what's on the other side,unless you're where you can see
it.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:38):
Always in this segment of the show is the
Crucial of the Week, and we'vegot three that we need to talk
about.
Where do you want to start here, Mark Well?
Mark Faldmo (21:45):
let's start with what I think is the best overall
value, which is a seven-dayCaribbean cruise December 14th
from Galveston on MSC CruiseLines.
So this visits Costa Maya,Roatan and Cozumel begins and
ends in Galveston Probably oneof the best prices in a while
and ends in Galveston Probablyone of the best prices in a
while.
Inside cabins start at $428 perperson.
(22:08):
Balcony cabins start at $619per person.
Show Voice (22:13):
Wow, what ship is this on?
Mark Faldmo (22:15):
What MSC this is on the Seascape.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:20):
Oh, okay, so good, it's a newer ship.
Mark Faldmo (22:22):
It's a newer ship.
Yeah, very good pricing.
They're just before Christmas.
If you want to get away whenit's just starting to get cold
here, great time to go First twoweeks of December best time to
travel You're going to find thebest deals.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:36):
What's the cruise deal of the week from NCL
?
Mark Faldmo (22:38):
This is a 12-day transatlantic cruise.
It goes from Barcelona to Miami.
It does have two ports of call,so Cadiz, which is Seville,
spain, and Ponte Delgada, whichis in the Azores, and then with
several days at sea.
But what makes this a good dealis the price.
(23:01):
The inside cabin starts at $599per person for the 12-day
cruise and a balcony cabinstarts at $1299 per person.
Wow.
So again you know, transit lotand cruises, if you like,
cruising days at sea, just wantto get from one place to another
, with some very interestingports.
The Azores are something that alot of people probably would
(23:24):
like to go to, but don't go to alot this is a great way to do
that.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:28):
What ship is this on the NCL ship, that is,
on the Norwegian Jewel, and thenthe last one is out of Miami.
But that's the only detail Ihave.
Mark Faldmo (23:40):
This is a 12-day cruise and what I like about
this it's on Cunard.
So it goes to Miami, it visitsthe Eastern Caribbean cruise
plus what you'd get on a lot ofSouthern Caribbean cruises.
So you know San Juan, St John,St Thomas, but also gets down to
Barbados, some of those otherspots Does this one, get down to
(24:03):
Phillipsburg Maho Beach, wherethe planes fly in over your head
.
It does.
Yes.
So this cruise for 12 daysstarts at $1,215 for an inside
cabin so about $100 a day and abalcony starts at $1,880 per
person oh, it's about $160.80per person, oh, wow.
It's about $160 per person perday.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:26):
Is that a 12-day or a 21-day?
Mark Faldmo (24:29):
That is a 12-day.
So it is that one is a January8th departure and Cunard has
nine, 12 and 21 days run in thewintertime.
Cunard is a good cruise line.
It's considered more of apremium line.
It's very British but a goodway to go.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:50):
Man, you really brought your A game this
week with the cruise deals ofthe week.
Take advantage of those offers.
This is for January 2026.
And MSC is December 14th andNCL is October 15th 2025.
Take advantage of those.
Get out and see the world whileyou can Call Mark in his office
(25:15):
, get the conversation started,no obligation 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
Take advantage of those offers.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning, Sunday,
at 11 am and around the countryat 11 am, right here on the
(25:38):
radio station that you'relistening to right now, and you
can stream, download andsubscribe to the podcast If you
want an encore presentation ofthe show at InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms and we have
links to all of those podcastplatforms on InsideTravelTalk.
com.
Well, it's your turn now to getout and explore the world while
(26:04):
you can, because you never knowwhat Curveball's life is going
to throw at you and hopefullyyou haven't experienced any of
those curveballs lately.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thank you for listening.
We don't have a business, wedon't have a show without you.
Have a great week.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Show Voice (26:26):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:47):
Thanks for listening.
Ad Voice (27:00):
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with authentic all-inclusiveluxury at an El Dorado spa
resort.
To book your romantic beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
com.
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show Coming up.
On today's show, mark and Iwill be talking about bowling,
pin-sized penguins, a uniquevacation idea, free airfare to
Ireland, stinky fruit, India'slink to the Boston Tea Party,
three cruise deals of the weekand is it possible that a fifth
(00:21):
Disney park is coming to Florida.
Let's start the show.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com contains travel deals,promotions and offers that may
be time sensitive.
All offers and information wereaccurate when the show aired.
Travel deals and offers changeconstantly and are capacity
controlled and subject to changewithout notice.
Show Voice (00:47):
Explore your world.
It's the Inside Travel Talkpodcast and radio show Presented
by BluePlanetVacations.
com.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700 and
check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
And now here are your hosts,Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo
(01:12):
.
Patrick Wiscombe (01:22):
Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe.
Mark Faldmo will be here in thestudio here in just a moment
and, if you are brand new tothis show, the entire purpose of
this radio show and podcast isto help you plan and book your
next vacation and give you someideas of where you may want to
(01:44):
consider going on vacation next.
And we are presented by Mark'scompany, blueplanetvacations.
com.
And just a sincere thank youfor taking the time to stop and
listen.
Around the country each andevery weekend, Saturday and
Sunday morning at 11 o'clock.
This week we are talking aboutbowling pin-sized penguins that
(02:08):
you can visit, mark.
Is that in Australia?
I think it is.
Yes, that is in Australia.
Free airfare to Ireland, stinkyfruit, which doesn't sound
interesting on the surface,India's link to the Boston Tea
Party, three cruise deals of theweek and there is a possibility
(02:29):
and mark's got the details onthis.
I don't know if these areexclusive details, but there is
talk of a fifth Disney park inFlorida.
I think there are so manypeople going to Florida right
now that they could probablybuild it.
Mark, what would you say?
Mark Faldmo (02:45):
I would say that they definitely can build that.
Patrick Wiscombe (02:47):
You are just getting back from Fort
Lauderdale where you spent anentire week going to the global
travel marketplace, the GTMmeeting.
What are some of the suppliersthat you came across?
Mark Faldmo (03:01):
I have a list of about 125 partners around the
world that I work with, but thisevent really introduces me to
new suppliers, to newexperiences that I can help pass
on to travelers.
I met five suppliers that I'venever even heard of before but
would probably sell them.
Patrick Wiscombe (03:23):
Where do you want to start?
Australia?
Yeah, let's go there.
Let's start in Australia.
Okay, let's go with the PenguinParade on Phillips Island,
which is how far from Melbourne?
Mark Faldmo (03:33):
Yeah, so it's about two hours south of Melbourne
and this is something I've nevereven heard of before, but it
sounds like it's a prettypopular thing to do, and it is
called the Penguin Parade.
What it is is every night, thepenguins go from the sea to
their nests or burrows and theyhave bleachers set up where you
(03:54):
can watch the penguin parade, sothe penguins don't have the
bleachers set up.
No, no, the little park does.
Well, I'm sure the penguinslike it too.
Oh, I'm sure the penguins likeit too, oh.
Ad Voice (04:04):
I'm sure they do.
Mark Faldmo (04:05):
You know, and so every night there's between 10
and 5,000 penguins that you canwatch.
Do this penguin parade?
Oh wow, and these are calledsmall penguins.
They're about the size ofbowling pins eight inches to 12
inches, and it's a very popularthing to do and it is kind of in
a conservation area.
They also do have a koalaconservation center, and so it's
(04:30):
just a great new activity thatI learned about for Australia.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:35):
I don't think I'd get past the koalas and them
just sitting there eatingeucalyptus.
Mark Faldmo (04:40):
Yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (04:40):
I'd probably pause right there going.
You know that's pretty cute.
What other new suppliers didyou find?
Mark Faldmo (04:47):
You know we're always talking about rail.
On this program I learned abouta brand new option for rail and
this is actually a new touristline and it's in Laos, so it's a
rail system that runs north tosouth.
It's a five-star train.
It is a day train, so youtravel during the day, see the
(05:07):
scenery, it has some stops forexcursions, and then you spend
the night in hotels.
There are some parts of itwhere you'll get off the train
and do parts of the tour by caror some other vehicle and then
meet up with the train later inthe day or the next day.
But it's pretty good pricingit's a 12-day tour that starts
(05:28):
at about $2,000 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:30):
Where's Laos?
Isn't that near Vietnam,Thailand area I?
Mark Faldmo (05:33):
think it is.
So, yeah, Laos in, that is, inbetween Cambodia and Thailand.
What an interesting part of theworld.
Patrick Wiscombe (05:42):
One thing that I find myself doing much more
than I have ever done in thepast is I love staying in hotels
.
I might be weird that way, butI really do like nice hotels.
But one thing that I've beendoing lately is I've been going
to Airbnbs just seeing whatunique properties are around.
Didn't you run across somebodythat actually has access to
(06:02):
villas?
That would be very similar toAirbnb.
Mark Faldmo (06:05):
Yes, I did get actually a new partner that I am
registered to sell that hasaccess to 50,000 villas around
the world.
These are very nice.
Most of them are, you know,five star accommodations.
The one thing they said whenyou're looking at a villa, don't
look at the total cost, look atthe per room cost.
(06:26):
Yeah, for instance, they have avilla in Punta Cana in the
Dominican Republic.
It's a fully staffed, so it hasa full-time maid, a full-time
cook, full-time gardener, justto keep up with the place, five
bedrooms.
And that villa right on thebeach, its own pool pool, starts
at $275 per room per night,holds up to 14 people, and so
(06:50):
when you break that on per roomto have your own private space,
big lounge, a game room, thatactually works out to about the
same or a little bit less thansome of the hotels in the area,
but it's a private residence,just for you.
Patrick Wiscombe (07:06):
I'm actually starting to go that direction.
Unless it's a really nice hotel, I'm really kind of digging
these staying in uniqueproperties.
I like this idea.
Mark Faldmo (07:15):
Another one Now.
This is larger, but this is avilla on the Amalfi Coast in
Italy.
It is a nine bedroom villa thatstarts for $200 per room per
night.
It comes with a housekeeper, soit doesn't have a chef, all of
that.
But you get 20 people there tospread out that cost, and this
one was perched up on a hilloverlooking the water just a
(07:38):
very beautiful setting.
And this company has all sortsof villas around the world and
the guy that I talked to was theguy that does their buying and
he says everything we have hasto be a great location with a
great view.
So that's kind of theirphilosophy.
If there's a group of you,renting a villa is not
unaffordable.
You may look at the total priceand say, oh, that's a lot, but
(08:00):
if you break it down per room,it's not that much more than
staying in a hotel.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:04):
We've already talked about Australia, but
let's stay kind of close.
Let's go to New Zealand.
What's available there,assuming that there is something
we talk a lot about theNorthern Lights and Aurora
Borealis.
Mark Faldmo (08:14):
Oh yeah, I met a company in New Zealand.
What they do are SouthernLights, which are called Aurora
Australias.
They do tours that are basedaround the Southern Lights in
New Zealand.
Right now is the best time tosee the southern lights, so
optimal time is between Apriland September, which is their
(08:36):
winter.
July and August are the besttwo months in southern New
Zealand for the southern lights.
Patrick Wiscombe (08:41):
Let's work our way back to the United States,
Florida, which is where youspent all of last week meeting
all of these suppliers.
Any new suppliers in Florida?
Mark Faldmo (08:50):
One thing I learned about was a resort called the
Sandpiper Bay Resort.
It's in Port St Lucie, justhalfway between Orlando and
Miami, on the East Coast, andthis is a family-friendly, fully
all-inclusive resort.
In the US we don't talk muchabout all-inclusive resorts
because there just aren't any,but this is a hotel that
(09:11):
includes all your drinks, meals,non-motorized water sports,
right on the east coast ofFlorida.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:18):
And what's the airport that's closest to St
Lucie?
Mark Faldmo (09:22):
The closest airport would be West Palm Beach, but
you could really fly into FortLauderdale, Miami, Orlando
that's about two hours away.
They do have a Brightline stop.
That's about 20 minutes awayfrom their resort, so you could
take the train to that as well.
Patrick Wiscombe (09:39):
You know, you and I are huge Brightline fans,
Brightline train fans.
It is such an easy way to getup and down that East Coast.
Mark Faldmo (10:06):
It is, yeah, very affordable too.
It is Same with the US's 250thyear, so they were trying to
make that link.
They have an independence salethat kind of celebrates India's
independence and US independence.
The link is the tea that wasthrown into the harbor at the
Boston Tea Party came from India.
There we go.
So that's the link they weremaking.
(10:29):
But this company has seven to19 day cruises in India.
The river cruises are mainly inthe eastern part of the country
, and so they also do some landtours to the Golden Triangle,
which is where most touristsvisit Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, where
you'll see the Taj Mahal, andthen you can go do one of their
(10:49):
seven to 19 day river cruises inthe other part of the country.
They're all five star, superdeluxe.
Almost everything that I metwith in India is really deluxe,
but also really good prices.
Patrick Wiscombe (11:02):
Now, one of the things that was on the
rundown was stinky fruit, and Italked about it at the top of
the show.
What's this stinky fruit about?
Mark Faldmo (11:08):
So the name of the fruit is durian.
It's mainly in Indonesia,Borneo, when I was talking about
this was a person that didtours in Borneo and it was kind
of like glamping things likethat, but they brought up the
durian.
The durian is a fruit that inIndonesia it is banned from
public markets because it smellsso bad.
(11:30):
It often smells like raw sewage.
It just smells really bad.
It's in the same family asbreadfruit, but if you can get
your brain around actuallyeating it, it is actually a very
sweet and delicious fruit.
I don't know if my brain wouldallow me to eat it if it smells
that way.
That's just what I was thinkinghere have some poo yeah smells
(11:52):
that way.
That's just what I was thinking.
Here have some poo, yeah.
So you know, I've I've seenthat on like the food network,
like food challenges, where theytry and eat that it does taste
very good if you can get pastthe smell from what people say.
So so you know, that's a kindof more of a trivia thing.
Um, but if you're ever inIndonesia, Borneo kind of in
(12:13):
that area of the world- it's aunique thing to do.
Patrick Wiscombe (12:21):
Last thing before we go to break, of course
, the hot travel deal of theweek, which is free airfare to
Ireland.
Everyone's ears just went whatI just heard free airfare to
Ireland.
What are the details?
This is with.
Mark Faldmo (12:29):
Globus and a few weeks ago we talked about these
escape deals, which were offseason, you know December
through February dates.
They have just come out with anew promotion and we've sold
several of them at Blue PlanetVacation, so I'm not sure how
long this is going to last.
But they have two tours thatare offered Northern Ireland
(12:51):
Escape, which is round-tripDublin, that goes up to Northern
Ireland, and then they have anIrish Escapes, which is also
seven days, starts from Dublinbut does the southern part of
Ireland.
These tours start at $12.99,including airfare and the
seven-day tour.
Now this is from major gatewayslike Los Angeles, San Francisco
(13:12):
, New York, Chicago, to add onfrom Salt Lake.
I think it's another $200 or$300 to add on from Salt Lake,
but that is still a great deal,oh yeah.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:22):
That's what I was just going to say.
Mark Faldmo (13:23):
And actually and I have not looked at this, I'm
just looking at my inbox rightnow I just got an email from
Globus that they also do have aScotland tour.
Now, this one does not includeairfare, but for January and
February Scotland tours, thattour starts at $699.
Plus airfare.
Okay, so they have some ofthose British Isle tours that
(13:46):
are just great prices right nowfor off-season and, as we talked
about off-season, less crowds,it is a little bit cooler
weather, but it's a great timeto visit these destinations.
Patrick Wiscombe (13:57):
See, this is what this show is good at we
give people ideas of where to gothat they hadn't even
considered, of where to go thatthey hadn't even considered.
If you have heard anything thathas piqued your interest, call
Mark in his office at the break.
I know that we're on the airright now, but call him.
He will return your call, orsomeone in his office will
(14:20):
return your call immediately888-718-7717, 888-718-7717.
And you can also find Mark atblueplanetvacations.
com.
When do we come back?
The very segment that we arefamous for.
It is the infamous JustCruising segment.
We've got three cruise deals ofthe week going out of Port
(14:42):
Canaveral, Barcelona and Miami.
And, of course, we've got thecruise news of the week going
out of Port Canaveral, Barcelonaand Miami.
And, of course, we've got thecruise news of the week that is
next when the Inside Travel Talkpodcast, a radio show,
continues alongside my goodfriend Mark Faldmo.
My name is Patrick Wiscombe.
Thank you so much for listening.
We will be right back.
Show Voice (15:02):
Taking you to destinations around the world.
The Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show is presented by
BluePlanetVacations.
com, America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
Thanks for listening.
(15:23):
We'll be right back.
3700.
Ad Voice (15:28):
Thanks for listening.
We'll be right back Inside.
Travel Talk is brought to youby Anna Waterways.
From castles and capitals tovistas and villages visit some
of Europe's most remarkablesites and cities To set out on
your own river cruise journey.
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Show Voice (15:55):
Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and
radio show presented byblueplanetvacations.
com InsideVacations.
com America's best traveladvisors.
Call or text the show right now801-649-3700, 801-649-3700.
And check out the podcast atInsideTravelTalk.
com.
Patrick Wiscombe (16:44):
Here's Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo All
aboard for the infamous JustCruising segment right here on
the Inside Travel Talk podcastand radio show.
Hello there, I'm PatrickWiscombe.
Hope you are having a terrificweekend, whether you are
listening to us Saturday orSunday around the country at 11
o'clock am Mountain Time.
Thank you so much for allowingus to be part of your weekend
(17:05):
Coming up in this segment of theshow, the segment of the show
that has made us famousworldwide well, definitely here
in US the infamous Just Cruisingsegment, where it's only about
the cruise news headlines andthe cruise deals of the week, of
which we have three.
But let's first get back to thecruise news headlines.
(17:26):
This was kind of a jarringheadline, mark, when Norwegian
Cruise Line has canceled that'sthe jarring word, cancels 40
plus cruises on two ships.
What are the details?
This is for.
Mark Faldmo (17:40):
November 2026 through March 2027.
They canceled NorwegianBreakaway out of San Juan and
Norwegian Prima out of NewOrleans.
But here's the catch they justswitched the ships.
So the Prima is going to SanJuan and the Breakaway is going
to New Orleans.
Same date, same itineraries,just different size ships.
(18:01):
But this far out those shipsaren't full and so people will
still get the cruise they want.
Now some people may have chosenNew Orleans to go on the
Norwegian Prima because it's oneof the newest ships, but
otherwise you're not missing awhole lot if you are booked on
one of those cruises and decideto stay on the sailing just on a
new ship.
Patrick Wiscombe (18:21):
This one kind of surprised me, though, when
you got back and you weretalking to me about Disney has a
plan or at least they'rediscussing plans to come up with
a fifth park theme park inFlorida oversight district,
which is what Disney World isgoverned under.
Mark Faldmo (18:37):
They have land set aside for a possible fifth theme
park as well as some othersmall parks, and I think Disney
is feeling a little bit leftbehind with Epic Universe with
(18:58):
all of the vacuum that thatcreated, because it had such a
good release kind of sucked thewind out of a lot of things
Disney was trying to do.
I think the last new park thatDisney made was Animal Kingdom.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:10):
That's pretty old, which was 30 years ago.
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo (19:13):
And so they're trying to come up with a new
option and get some of thatfocus back on Disney.
Patrick Wiscombe (19:20):
While we were at the break, we received a text
from was this Jamie?
Yeah, Jamie, yeah, she sent atext during the break that said
in the past you and Mark havementioned to always get a
balcony cabin on a cruise ship.
I want to take a river cruise,but many ships don't have a
balcony.
Should I only look at shipswith a balcony?
(19:42):
The answer is probably no,because I know that there's
French balconies, there'sinfinite verandas, so I'd
probably say no.
What's your opinion, mark?
Mark Faldmo (19:50):
You know, as we've talked about in the past, a lot
of river cruise ships do nothave a balcony.
But they do have Frenchbalconies where the whole wall
opens up, or they have, like onthe MSC cruise ship, where the
window goes down and it turnsyour whole room into a balcony.
Patrick Wiscombe (20:07):
Yeah.
Mark Faldmo (20:08):
The reason for that is is to give you more space.
The room that that balconytakes out of your cabin makes
your room smaller, so I would gowith just even a large picture
window.
There are some older ships thatdon't have opening windows,
which is probably fine, althoughI do like the option to be able
to open up the wall and turn itinto a balcony.
(20:28):
But I'll tell you what might bea problem when you're in port.
A lot of the river crew shipsdock side by side, and so you
might have to walk through threeto five ships just to get
ashore, which is kind ofinteresting, but if you're one
of those middle ships, youwouldn't be able to enjoy your
balcony anyway.
And also just a warning everynight, make sure your curtains
(20:51):
are closed, because you mightwake up and have someone looking
right into your room from theother cabin.
So how you doing?
Yeah, yeah, you know.
And then another reason why abalcony is not quite as
important.
There are a lot of places on theriver.
Let's take the Central Rhine,for instance.
You'll want to have a360-degree view and you'll want
(21:14):
to go through the sceniccruising, probably on the sun
deck, when you're doing theCentral Rhine, that stretch of
river I think it's about a30-mile stretch of river has the
highest concentration ofcastles in the world.
Oh wow.
So you want to have a 360degree view anyway, you might do
that on your balcony and gethalf the castles, but you never
(21:35):
know what's on the other side,unless you're where you can see
it.
Patrick Wiscombe (21:38):
Always in this segment of the show is the
Crucial of the Week, and we'vegot three that we need to talk
about.
Where do you want to start here, Mark Well?
Mark Faldmo (21:45):
let's start with what I think is the best overall
value, which is a seven-dayCaribbean cruise December 14th
from Galveston on MSC CruiseLines.
So this visits Costa Maya,Roatan and Cozumel begins and
ends in Galveston Probably oneof the best prices in a while
and ends in Galveston Probablyone of the best prices in a
while.
Inside cabins start at $428 perperson.
(22:08):
Balcony cabins start at $619per person.
Show Voice (22:13):
Wow, what ship is this on?
Mark Faldmo (22:15):
What MSC this is on the Seascape.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:20):
Oh, okay, so good, it's a newer ship.
Mark Faldmo (22:22):
It's a newer ship.
Yeah, very good pricing.
They're just before Christmas.
If you want to get away whenit's just starting to get cold
here, great time to go First twoweeks of December best time to
travel You're going to find thebest deals.
Patrick Wiscombe (22:36):
What's the cruise deal of the week from NCL
?
Mark Faldmo (22:38):
This is a 12-day transatlantic cruise.
It goes from Barcelona to Miami.
It does have two ports of call,so Cadiz, which is Seville,
spain, and Ponte Delgada, whichis in the Azores, and then with
several days at sea.
But what makes this a good dealis the price.
(23:01):
The inside cabin starts at $599per person for the 12-day
cruise and a balcony cabinstarts at $1299 per person.
Wow.
So again you know, transit lotand cruises, if you like,
cruising days at sea, just wantto get from one place to another
, with some very interestingports.
The Azores are something that alot of people probably would
(23:24):
like to go to, but don't go to alot this is a great way to do
that.
Patrick Wiscombe (23:28):
What ship is this on the NCL ship, that is,
on the Norwegian Jewel, and thenthe last one is out of Miami.
But that's the only detail Ihave.
Mark Faldmo (23:40):
This is a 12-day cruise and what I like about
this it's on Cunard.
So it goes to Miami, it visitsthe Eastern Caribbean cruise
plus what you'd get on a lot ofSouthern Caribbean cruises.
So you know San Juan, St John,St Thomas, but also gets down to
Barbados, some of those otherspots Does this one, get down to
(24:03):
Phillipsburg Maho Beach, wherethe planes fly in over your head
.
It does.
Yes.
So this cruise for 12 daysstarts at $1,215 for an inside
cabin so about $100 a day and abalcony starts at $1,880 per
person oh, it's about $160.80per person, oh, wow.
It's about $160 per person perday.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:26):
Is that a 12-day or a 21-day?
Mark Faldmo (24:29):
That is a 12-day.
So it is that one is a January8th departure and Cunard has
nine, 12 and 21 days run in thewintertime.
Cunard is a good cruise line.
It's considered more of apremium line.
It's very British but a goodway to go.
Patrick Wiscombe (24:50):
Man, you really brought your A game this
week with the cruise deals ofthe week.
Take advantage of those offers.
This is for January 2026.
And MSC is December 14th andNCL is October 15th 2025.
Take advantage of those.
Get out and see the world whileyou can Call Mark in his office
(25:15):
, get the conversation started,no obligation 888-718-7717.
888-718-7717.
Take advantage of those offers.
You can listen to this showagain tomorrow morning, Sunday,
at 11 am and around the countryat 11 am, right here on the
(25:38):
radio station that you'relistening to right now, and you
can stream, download andsubscribe to the podcast If you
want an encore presentation ofthe show at InsideTravelTalk.
com.
We are on all of the majorpodcast platforms and we have
links to all of those podcastplatforms on InsideTravelTalk.
com.
Well, it's your turn now to getout and explore the world while
(26:04):
you can, because you never knowwhat Curveball's life is going
to throw at you and hopefullyyou haven't experienced any of
those curveballs lately.
Live your life deliberately.
Live your life intentionally.
Thank you for listening.
We don't have a business, wedon't have a show without you.
Have a great week.
We will talk to you again nextweek.
Show Voice (26:26):
That's it.
That's the end of the showYou've been listening to the
Inside Travel Talk podcast andradio show with Patrick Wiscombe
and Mark Faldmo, presented byBluePlanetVacations.
com.
Book your adventure right now.
Call 888-718-7717.
That's 888-718-7717.
(26:47):
Thanks for listening.
Ad Voice (27:00):
Have a great week Escape to Cancun's Riviera Maya
with authentic all-inclusiveluxury at an El Dorado spa
resort.
To book your romantic beachgetaway, contact Blue Planet
Vacations at 888-718-7717 orblueplanetvacations.
com.
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