Inside Travel Talk
Explore Your World! The Inside Travel Talk Podcast is filled with destination information and travel, cruise and vacation tips and tricks. Its the Christmas catalogue of Travel! We are here to help you get out there and Explore Your World.
Inside Travel Talk
Fantastic Escapes: Hawaiian Getaways and Luxurious River Cruises
Discover the shocking truth behind Delta's IT meltdown and how the Department of Transportation is stepping in to investigate the chaos that has plagued the airline. We also break the news about Southwest Airlines' radical shift from their open seating policy to assigned seating, starting in 2025, along with their plans to introduce red-eye flights and a premium cabin. Plus, we've unearthed the hottest travel deal of the week: an unforgettable journey to Kauai, Hawaii, complete with our top hotel picks and must-do activities.
Rail enthusiasts, this one's for you! Get the inside scoop on our recent adventures aboard Florida's Brightline train and how it stacks up against Amtrak's ambitious plans to double ridership by 2040 with a massive $22 billion investment. We'll guide you through Amtrak's vacation packages and discounts, highlighting routes that promise stunning scenery. And if Hawaii is calling your name, you'll love our exclusive travel deals to Kauai, packed with recommendations for stays and thrilling activities like visits to Waimea Canyon and fern grotto explorations.
The cruising world is buzzing with excitement, and we're here to keep you in the loop. Learn about Holland America's glacier guarantee on Alaska cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines' fleet expansion with three new colossal ships. We'll also spotlight AmaWaterways' special anniversary sale, offering incredible savings on European river cruises. Don't miss this episode packed with travel tips, exclusive deals, and the latest industry news!
The Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com contains travel deals, promotions and offers that may be time-sensitive. All offers and information were accurate when the show aired. Travel deals and offers change constantly and are capacity-controlled and subject to change without notice.
Show Voice:Explore your world. It's the Inside travel talk podcast and radio show presented by blue planet vacations. com. Call or text the show now, 801-649-3700, and check out the podcast at inside travel talktalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:It is another Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Ahoy, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Alongside Mark Faldmo, this is the show where we talk just about travel and we also share the best travel deals with listeners every single Saturday, 10 am. If you want to start traveling the world, you have found the perfect podcast Coming up on this edition of the show. Delta's been in the news. They're having an it meltdown. We'll give you the latest on that and that's it mark. It's over. Southwest airlines is getting rid of their open seating policy. We'll get to that story here in just a second. And, of course, in this segment of the, we've got the hot travel deal of the week, just because I was running into the studio very quick. Where are we going this week?
Mark Faldmo:We're going to Hawaii, the island of Kauai to be specific.
Patrick Wiscombe:Awesome. This is still unfolding as we hit the air on Saturday morning. Delta's having some IT issues. This is days after the crowd strike windows that brought everything down Delta's still having issues.
Mark Faldmo:They're pretty close back to normal now. Delta and United seem to have some issues. United pretty much got back to normal a few days ago and Delta has continued to struggle a lot longer. The Department of Transportation is now opening an investigation into what happened with Delta because their issues took a lot longer to resolve than other airlines. I'm actually leaving for Cancun here in about three hours, so my flight so far is on time.
Mark Faldmo:Delta's issue stemmed from their staffing issues. I saw I think it was on Tuesday. Delta started just sending out emails to their flight crews saying where are you? Tell us which hotel and what city you're in. They lost track of what our flight crews were and I had some clients flying earlier this week where their plane was there but they didn't have a flight crew and that's kind of similar to the issue you and I had. Yeah, they've just had problems catching up pilots and flight attendants to flights to get things scheduled correctly. So that appears to mostly be resolved now. But again, the Department of Transportation is going to start an investigation on this to try and figure out what happened specifically with Delta.
Patrick Wiscombe:You brought this story to my attention that Southwest Airlines, after 57 years, is dropping its open seating policy. That's amazing to me.
Mark Faldmo:This is interesting. This has been part of Southwest DNA for 57 years. There's a lot of people I've seen commented on this that they don't like the change. Although Southwest has done some pretty hefty market research and it indicated that 80% of Southwest customers and 86% of potential customers prefer an assigned seat, they're actually making a couple of other big changes. One that we talked about in the past that they finally got approval to do overnight flights, and so when the seating starts, which is going to be sometime in early 2025, I saw one story that said starting immediately, but other stories say starting in 2025.
Mark Faldmo:But they'll also be operating red-eye or overnight flights, which we have talked about. And then a change to the seating is they are going to offer a premium cabin, so they are going to offer seats with more legroom that do cost more money. Airlines are seeing more people traveling than ever, but revenues are down overall because all their other costs are up. So this is the way Southwest is trying to get that more revenue. So they are going to have a comfort type cabin with more legroom, which will be about a third of the seats.
Patrick Wiscombe:You and I were in Florida that was about two and a half months ago, something like that and you and I took Brightline the train. We didn't go from Orlando to Miami, but that's the distance that they cover. There was a story about Amtrak. They're trying to double their ridership. Now my perception of Amtrak is that it's old, it's one of those. Okay Amtrak, do I really have to take it? That's my perception, whereas Brightline was a remarkable experience.
Mark Faldmo:That's kind of the perception that a lot of people have of Amtrak and they are trying to change that. Trying to change that. They did recently receive $22 billion in guaranteed funding over five years from the government to help them with their goal of doubling their ridership by 2040. Right now they serve about 30 million rides on Amtrak each year and they want to get that up to 66 million by 2040. And they're putting this into new sleeper cars. They have 15 long distance routes, some of which I would love to ride. Looking at the routes on these, like the Starlight Express that goes Seattle to Los Angeles down the West Coast yeah, that'd be fun.
Mark Faldmo:They have the California Zephyr, which is Chicago to Los Angeles, you know goes through the Rocky Mountains. They really are going to try and enhance that product by adding new cars, new sleeper cars. Now, of those 15 long distance routes, those account for about 14% of Amtrak's ridership but they bring in about 25% of the ticket revenue. So they're going to really try and increase those long distance routes and make them more attractive to vacation travelers.
Patrick Wiscombe:Do they have any deals to incent riders to get on board?
Mark Faldmo:They do. Right now with Amtrak vacations they have a deal to save up to $600. So save $150 on three to six night rail vacations, 400 on seven to nine, 500 on 10 to 14, and 600 on 15 day plus and these are fully set vacations that include the rail. I would assume any hotels, if any hotels are needed. Just looking at some of those that fit in that shorter route. So $150 off.
Mark Faldmo:They have a five-day that goes Chicago to Glacier National Park and Whitefish. That's round-trip Chicago. They have rails to the Grand Canyon, which is a round-trip Los Angeles. This is also a five-day. But some of these longer routes are the ones that kind of really interest me, looking at a 14 day trip that they have. So this is the save $500 again, round trip Chicago, but at Chicago to Grand Canyon, to San Francisco, to Seattle, to Glacier National Park and back to Chicago. Wow, they have a route that goes up through Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana and then Seattle. They also have a route that's Chicago to Los Angeles, more of a southerly route that kind of follows I guess it'd be Route 66. So right now if you're interested in rail vacations, there are some pretty good deals with Amtrak.
Patrick Wiscombe:Can you book that stuff, or do they pretty good deals with Amtrak? Can you book that stuff, or do they have to go to Amtrak on that one? No, I can book that. Oh, okay, good, all right. As you know, because you booked it, nikki and I were in Hawaii. We went on NCL's Pride of America, so we ended up in Kauai. You sent me this news story that tourism in Hawaii and the spending levels are actually down.
Mark Faldmo:That's kind of why I made Hawaii our hot travel deal of the week. I actually found some really good rates on that and that's probably why. Because now airlines and hotels are fighting for customers so they've had to lower their prices to do that. So each of the last five months tourism to Hawaii has dropped Year over year. They're down 4.8%. That's a lot. So almost 5%. That makes a big difference to hotels. So for instance, in May, that 4.8, almost 5% is about 40,000 visitors less to the state of Hawaii. I think now, if you are looking to go to Hawaii in this fall found some great rates and with that why don't we just move into the hot travel deal of the week? I think we're going to.
Patrick Wiscombe:Kauai, is that what you said?
Mark Faldmo:Yes, Kauai, this is a five more on that. But in kawaii, staying at the 3.5 star ISO hotel, the price is $819 dollars per person for five days in Hawaii, wow five days and flights in Hawaii, which is amazing yeah, it is the ISO hotel is.
Mark Faldmo:it's not the five-star deluxe hotel, but it is a very solid hotel. I've toured that hotel. I would stay there. If we jump up to the Outrigger Kauai Beach, which is a four-star hotel, the price goes to $1329 per person. The Sheraton Kauai Coconut Coast, which is also a four-star, which is $1449 per person. That's still good yeah. Of these hotels, I'd probably recommend the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Coast. My very favorite hotel is the Hyatt Regency on Poipu Beach, but it was not available for these dates that I was looking at, which was November 7th for this departure. That hotel on Poipu Beach is just amazing.
Patrick Wiscombe:What are some of the things you can do in Hawaii? Waimea Canyon.
Mark Faldmo:Drive up to the top of that and then you get to overlook the Nepali coast Just an amazing view from the top. So that's one thing you can do. There's also the fern grotto, in which you take a boat up one of the rivers and come to a kind of a rock outcrop that's just covered in ferns Very beautiful place to go on that. They have a lot of weddings up there, different things like that, but fern grotto is a pretty popular thing to do. My favorite thing to do there is kayak on the rivers. You kayak through some of the movie sets of Jurassic Park. It's a very gentle kayak. You have the wind at your back, so you're kind of pushed up the river and then you take vehicles back to the starting point.
Patrick Wiscombe:On that, the scenery in Jurassic Park is awesome. Kauai was awesome. I was not expecting it to be so green. I didn't think the islands of Hawaii would differ that much. Kauai is just different. It's a beautiful island.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, that's why they call it the Garden Isle, because it's so green. And also, what I like about Kauai is it does get less tourist compared to the other islands, so you don't feel as crowded.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's exactly how it felt.
Mark Faldmo:Other places you can go. You can go to Hanalei, which is down a cute little town kind of on the north side of the island. You can take a helicopter tour and then there's also some good food. Probably my favorite restaurant in all of Hawaii is Puka Dog, which is it's a footlong hot dog. They have the buns but they're not sliced, they kind of toast them from the inside, so they have kind of like a curling iron that they stick up in there and toast the buns from the inside and then they drop the relish down in and drop the dog in. I think it's great types of garlic, lemon sauce, mild original jalapeno, hot chili, pepper, habanero that you can put in. And then you have choices of relish. I have a mango relish, a coconut relish, a pineapple relish, a banana relish, papaya relish and a starfruit relish, and then they have a little Koi, a Hawaiian mustard that you can put in. I like the Hawaiian mustard with the coconut relish.
Ad Voice:Wow, it is so good.
Mark Faldmo:So there's lots of fun things to do in Kauai, and right now for the fall, early November, it's a great rate.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, recap it. So the ISO 3.5 star hotel, was that a? What did you say? $819? $819 per person? Okay, so $819 per person. And then the Outrigger Kauai Beach four-star hotel was how much?
Mark Faldmo:It was $1329 per person. And then what's the last one, and then the Sheraton Coconut Coast, also a four-star $1449 per person.
Patrick Wiscombe:Okay, November 7th from Salt Lake for all of those rates, and you do have to connect through LAX using Basic Economy with these rates In Basic Economy, yep, okay. So if you're interested going before Thanksgiving, before you have to go be with family, go find your Zen, call Mark 888-718-7717, 888-718-7717, or you can go to his website, blueplanetvacations. com. When we come back, it's the infamous Just Cruising segment and Carnival Cruise Line is making some big announcements and we've also got the Holland America that they're giving Alaska. Was it the glaciers that they're guaranteeing that? You will see glaciers, correct, yeah, that is next. And of course, we have the cruise deal of the week when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, I am Patrick Wiscombe, mark, and I will be right back.
Show Voice:Taking you to destinations around the world the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show is presented by BluePlanetVacations. com America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. Thanks for listening. We'll be right back.
Ad Voice:Inside Travel Talk is brought to you by Ammo Waterways. From castles and capitals to vistas and villages, visit some of Europe's most remarkable sites and cities. The award-winning and family-owned river cruise line Emma Waterways offers a wide variety of unforgettable itineraries along Europe's iconic rivers, perfectly suited to every traveler's interests. Whether you are passionate about music, history, architecture or enjoy the finer things in a Europe, river cruise on Emma Waterways is the gift that keeps on giving To set out on your own river cruise journey, contact Blue Planet Vacations at 888-718-7717 or blueplanetvacations. com.
Show Voice:Now back to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show presented by BluePlanetVacations. com, America's best travel advisors. Call or text the show right now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. Here's Patrick Wiskombe and Mark Faldmo.
Patrick Wiscombe:All aboard for segment number two of the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. This is the Just Cruising segment, where it's only about cruising, one of our favorite activities to do with our lives. We've got a I think it's some kind of a deal on Ama Waterways. So if you've always wanted to do a river cruise, pay attention, because that's what we're talking about in this segment. But before we get there, let's get to the cruise news of the week. I like this idea that Holland America are guaranteeing that you will see Alaska glaciers. It was a magical experience to see glaciers and to hear them crack and to hear them hit the water. It sounds like gunshots, like really loud gunshots. The setting is quiet when you listen to the glaciers hit the water not so quiet.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, seeing a glacier is one of the highlights of an Alaska cruise. I think this is a good program that Home America has put out. So it's for sailings between May and September. They may have some sailings in April and some in October, kind of the tail end of the season, so this does not count for them. But any sailing in May through September. They have their glacier guarantee, which if you do not see a glacier then they'll give you a future cruise credit equal to 15% of your total cruise fare.
Patrick Wiscombe:My question is how could you not see a glacier?
Mark Faldmo:If you go to Glacier Bay you'll probably always see a glacier Right Other glaciers like Hubbard, glacier. Sometimes there's too much ice and they can't make it up there.
Mark Faldmo:Oh okay, so you don't make it up there, and there are a couple of others like Sawyer Glacier, so it depends on what glacier you're at. A lot of the glaciers in the Juneau area that cruise ships go to. If you don't go to Glacier Bay, it's a really narrow fjord and it can just get sucked in with fog, so they may not even attempt to go to that glacier for obvious safety reasons.
Patrick Wiscombe:And I noticed that when we were sailing into Glacier Bay how slow they went. They really take their time. It's not, you know, 20 knots, it's not 25 knots. Let's get in and out, let's get going. They really take their time. So everyone can stop and just ooh and ah, and that's the reaction you're going to have.
Mark Faldmo:Yeah, they do take their time. And Glacier Bay there's usually not a problem. Hubbard Glacier, which is the largest glacier. It's amazing to see Hubbard Glacier. It puts off so much ice. Sometimes there's too much ice to get up there and then some of the other glaciers. Again, like I mentioned, do have some weather issues getting up to them, but definitely seeing a glacier is a highlight.
Patrick Wiscombe:Carnival Cruise Lines is adding three ships. What are they adding?
Mark Faldmo:They are adding three big ships. Carnival typically has not really gone into these great big ships, although their last few ships have been pretty big, but these are going to be 30% larger than any of their other ships. So reships that will come out in 2029, 2031, and 2033, and each of them will carry 8,000 guests at full capacity. They're going to be 230,000 gross tons and have more than 3,000 guest rooms.
Patrick Wiscombe:That's not icon of the seas big, but that's really not that far behind either.
Mark Faldmo:It's very close in size to those large Royal Caribbean ships and Carnival Cruise Line has really been bringing on ships. They brought in some of the P&O ships from Australia that are going to come into the Carnival fleet. They've taken some new builds from Costa and just made them Carnival ships rather than Costa ships. So they are really growing their fleet size. Carnival is basically adding almost a new ship every year until 2033. They're going to have a new ship in the fleet, making a big bet on cruising.
Mark Faldmo:Cruise lines are building so many new cruise ships. It's going to be interesting to see what happens. Personally, I think they may be overbuilding capacity. What happens? Personally, I think they may be overbuilding capacity. There's all these studies out that only 10, 12% of all vacationers have considered or looked at a cruise. So there's a huge market to grow into. They just have to make it interesting. As we've talked about in weeks past. There's those that go for the destinations, there's those that go for the ship and balancing those the great big cruise ships. People are mainly going for the cruise ships. You know I'm one that likes more of those exploratory type cruises. So I personally go for the destination and I don't care about the ship. In fact, I'd rather have a medium to small size ship than the big ships. There's all those personal preferences that cruise lines have to figure out as they grow their fleets.
Patrick Wiscombe:Let's get to the cruise deal of the week. We are going to Europe for this one, I think it's AmaWaterways. What promotion are they allowing us to talk about?
Mark Faldmo:They have their anniversary sale. If you book a river cruise with AmaWaterways by September 10th, you'll receive up to 20% on the cruise, savings Plus. That's also combinable with their Airbus fixed rate to Europe. That's $899, which is a pretty good rate to fly to Europe. Oh it sure is. They have several itineraries to fit your needs, wants, what you want to see and do.
Mark Faldmo:I just chose three to go over their itineraries here, because I needs, wants, what you want to see and do. I just chose three to go over their itineraries here, because I think these are probably at least two of them are the most popular and then one is unique. The first one is the Blue Danube. The Danube is my favorite river, so this sailing goes from Budapest to Nuremberg or vice versa, and you'll have an overnight in Budapest, one of my favorite cities in Europe, and then you'll stop in Vienna, Dernstein, Linz and Passau, which is where you can get to Salzburg. Everyone wants to go, sound of Music, see Salzburg, and then go to Regensburg, which is that's Bavaria. It's a UNESCO city, just amazing and then again end in Nuremberg. I think that probably is my favorite itinerary to do on that. And the Danube is amazing.
Mark Faldmo:For most people is the Rhine River the one I chose here was called Captivating Rhine with Amma Waterways and it sells between Amsterdam and Basel in Switzerland. Amsterdam goes to Dusseldorf amazing cathedral there that still has a bomb in it from World War II. They just never wanted to remove it because they didn't want to blow up the cathedral. A bomb that didn't explode is stuck on the roof of that. And then the Rhine River Gorge, which is castle country. I've actually sailed on this part of the Rhine just on a day trip. You just sail castle after castle on the hill Very interesting, scenic cruising and then go to Rudersheim and then Strasbourg and then end in Basel in Switzerland. Actually I've sailed pretty much this whole itinerary as well.
Mark Faldmo:There's nothing like sailing on the rivers in Europe, especially on a river cruise where you're going to a lot of places that tourists don't go to. You're stopping in smaller cities. You do hit some of the bigger cities, but you do get a stop in smaller towns and you get to experience more of the local Europe on a river cruise. Just one last thing to mention on this 20% off discount. It's also good on their seasonal sailings. So Christmas markets and tulip time cruises A lot of times times. Those cruises are not included in the promotions because they're so popular, but you can get those either the Christmas markets or the tulip time cruises on Alma waterways.
Patrick Wiscombe:You've always liked the Christmas markets and the tulip time cruises. If you want to book this cruise deal of the week, the Alma Waterways, save 20% on your river cruise and airfare is $899 per person to Europe, which is just a phenomenal offer just by itself. That's amazing. Call Mark in his office as soon as we get off the air 888-718-7717,. 888-718-7717. If you get voicemail, just leave a message. He'll call you back, because I've noticed that there, generally speaking, is a surge of calls after the show, obviously because we've just shared the hot travel deal of the week and the cruise deal of the week. Just leave a message, I promise he'll call you back, or you can also text that number again 888-718-7717. Mark, we're done. We're done. It's a great show. You've got to get to the airport. You and Heather have really got to get going.
Mark Faldmo:I'm exactly two hours from departure, so I've got to get to the airport. You and Heather have really got to get going. I'm exactly two hours from departure, so I've got to get going right now.
Patrick Wiscombe:All right, see you, brother. Have a good time in Cancun. Just one quick reminder Remember to subscribe to the podcast so you'll just get it in your feed. Go to InsideTravelTalk. com we are on all the major podcast platforms. Just click on who you subscribe to and you'll get the show and leave us a five-star review. If you would have a great week, we'll talk to you next Saturday.
Show Voice:That's it. That's the end of the show. You've been listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show with Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo, presented by BluePlanetVacationsc. om. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
Ad Voice:This segment of Inside Travel Talk is sponsored by El Dorado Spa Resorts. Escape to Cancun's Riviera Maya with authentic all-inclusive luxury at an El Dorado Spa Resort. Our oceanfront resorts are exclusively for adults and have been voted among the most romantic resorts in Mexico and the world. El Dorado resorts are perfect for anniversaries, honeymoons or to get away with your significant other. El Dorado Spa Resorts feature seven all-inclusive oceanfront resorts along the Riviera Maya, where the culinary excellence is a fundamental part of the experience and each resort offers unique accommodations where you can choose from swim-up suites, rooms with private plunge or infinity pools, or beautiful overwater bungalows. Thank you.