Inside Travel Talk

Wanderlust Whims: Italian Train Journeys, Jamaica Escapes, and Luxurious Cruises

• Mark Faldmo & Patrick Wiscombe • Season 2 • Episode 34

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Ever wondered how a simple mistake could make your travel story go viral? This week on Inside Travel Talk, we share a hilarious Game of Thrones-inspired passport application blunder and celebrate TSA PreCheck's incredible milestone of 20 million members. Tune in for exciting news about our expansion to a new radio station in Salt Lake City, airing on 860 AM every weekend, and uncover the hottest travel deal of the week. We also dive into luxury travel trends, including new Orient Express routes in Italy and an adventurous train-ferry journey to Sicily. Plus, get a sneak peek into our upcoming Rocky Mountaineer adventure from Denver to Moab.

Ready to plan your next tropical escape? We take you on an in-depth exploration of Jamaica's top destinations: Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril. Discover the most thrilling activities, from bamboo rafting and conquering Dunn's River Falls to soaking in Negril's breathtaking sunsets on Seven Mile Beach. Whether you’re an adventure seeker or looking for relaxation, we've got you covered with our top all-inclusive resort recommendations, including the Hideaway at Royalton Blue Waters, perfect for first-time visitors. And don’t miss the teaser on our next segment about once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse cruises in Europe.

Join us as we address the shocking behavior of tourists defacing a 2,000-year-old house in Pompeii and the importance of respecting historical sites. We also highlight new luxury offerings from the cruise industry, featuring Princess Cruise Lines' Sanctuary Collection and adults-only Marvelous Voyages by Virgin Voyages. To wrap things up, we whisk you away on a magical sailing adventure with Star Clippers, capturing the essence of tall ship sailing through stunning destinations in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Central America. This episode is packed with riveting stories, valuable travel tips, and unforgettable experiences you won’t want to miss!

Patrick Wiscombe:

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 BluePlanetVacations. com. Call or text the show now 801-649-3700, 801-649-3700. And check out the podcast at InsideTravelTalk. com. And now here are your hosts, Patrick Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Good morning. Welcome to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show Alongside Mark Faldmo, who will join me here in just a second. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. We are live in Salt Lake City this very moment. Mark, can we talk about some of the big news? We can. Okay, let's start off with the exciting news For us. This is a big deal. I'll let you give all the details.

Mark Faldmo:

We just picked up a new station in the Salt Lake City area. We'll be airing Saturdays and Sundays on 860 AM.

Patrick Wiscombe:

The backstory about how Blue Planet Vacations came to be is that Mark and I about a year ago right now, you and I had a lunch and we were talking about you were going to venture out on your own and it started this. We've been doing this show for almost a year now, which is just unbelievable to me. It's been a quick year but it's been a fun year. 8.60 am, 11 o'clock in the morning. Is that our time slot? That'll be the time slot, yep.

Mark Faldmo:

Okay, and then also 11 am on Sunday. I believe.

Patrick Wiscombe:

So same show, that one will be recorded, but it will just be an encore presentation, as it were. Yes, so that's the good news Coming up on this edition of the show. We are going to be talking about the hot travel deal of the week, always in segment number one. We've got the travel news of the week Hot travel deal of the week, always in segment number one.

Mark Faldmo:

We've got the travel news of the week. Where are we going this week? We are going to go to Jamaica.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Let's get to the travel news of the week, and I thought this was funny If you are a Game of Thrones fan which I've never even seen one episode of the show but if you are a Game of Thrones fan a passport application was rejected due to a Game of Thrones name. What was the?

Mark Faldmo:

name. Yeah, it's kind of interesting, the mother big Game of Thrones fan. She named her daughter Kelsey but spelled K-H-A-L-E-E-S-I after a character in Game of Thrones, and the passport office refused to give them a passport without the official go-ahead from Warner Brothers, who owns the trademark for it. Are you kidding? So that was interesting. In the end they did get a lawyer involved and not the Game of Thrones trademark only exists for goods and services, not the name. So they did get the passport issued in time for their trip to Disneyland Paris, but it was quite the ordeal to do that.

Patrick Wiscombe:

That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

Mark Faldmo:

Yes, I guess that's government regulations for you.

Patrick Wiscombe:

At least they weren't getting a passport to cover the east of Ethos or the lands of ice and fire. Yes, Nikki and I have finally, finally being the operative word. After six months of waiting, we are finally headed to the Salt Lake International Airport to finally go get our TSA pre-check. Our appointment is October 21st. That ties into this story of TSA Precheck hitting 20 million members. That's a massive milestone.

Mark Faldmo:

That is so. The program was started the end of 2013. And just this year they've had a 33% growth in the TSA PreCheck program. I've noticed as I've been traveling they are opening more and more pre-check lines. Sometimes the regular line is shorter than the pre-check line because there's so many people in the pre-check line. I still like the pre-check line because you don't have to take your shoes off or pull anything out of your bag, so it makes it a lot easier to go through. But it's just interesting that there's been so much growth in this and that doesn't even take into account those people that have global entry, which is what you applied for, which also includes TSA PreCheck, so that's just people that applied for a TSA PreCheck as a standalone by itself.

Patrick Wiscombe:

The Orient Express is bringing a luxury train ride or travel to Italy. What do we know about that?

Mark Faldmo:

Later today I'm off to fly to Denver because I'm going to take the Rocky Mountaineer tomorrow on their Rockies to the Red Rocks train. So Denver to Moab, denver to Moab yeah, this is interesting. Orient Express is a really high-end, luxury train. They've had their traditional route, which I think is mainly between Paris and Budapest, but now they're adding their La Dolce Vita Orient Express and they have eight different routes in Italy that they will cover. And it's interesting because there are 12 train cars. The total passengers on the train is 62 passengers, and so this is a luxury train with living quarters, dining space, there are 12 deluxe cabins and 18 suites on board the train. They just have different routes, again, eight different routes through Italy, and they have one that includes a train ferry. So you say a train, what Ferry, train, ferry, train, ferry. So the train will actually pull onto a ferry and they'll take the ferry across to Sicily and then it'll get on and do train around Sicily.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Wow, I've never even heard of something like that.

Mark Faldmo:

I will say I've looked at Orient Express before and they are pretty pricey. It's on my bucket list if I can ever get on to do it. They start at about $3,500 per night per person. That's how deluxe. I mean, they're super high-end deluxe. This would be interesting. Take the train up through the Italian Alps Venice area, down through central Italy. It'd be a great place, I think, to take a train.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Always in segment number one. It's the hot travel deal of the week, regardless of the destination. Mark has already told you that we're going to Jamaica. Let's start by going to Jamaica on a cruise. Let's contrast that against staying at a resort, meaning flying in, staying at a resort and then, of course, flying back out. What's the difference other than transportation?

Mark Faldmo:

I'll tell you my perspective and it actually, I think, mirrors a lot of people's perspective of Jamaica. How you travel to Jamaica, I think, really influences the way you think about Jamaica. Oh really, the first two times I visited Jamaica was on a cruise and I really didn't care to go back after that. Really, you know, when you go on a cruise, the cruise terminal I'm not a person that likes to barter. There's a lot of pushy people that like to barter. You go on some of the excursions and those people seem to follow the cruise ship excursions around. It's like yeah, it's a beautiful country, but I don't know that I necessarily want to go back.

Mark Faldmo:

A few years after that I was invited to go. Just stay in a resort there. I love to travel, so I took that opportunity up and Jamaica became one of my favorite spots, probably my top spot in the Caribbean to visit of all the places I've been. Wow, I love going to Jamaica. It is a whole different ballgame when you go and stay in a resort versus visiting on a cruise ship. So if you've been to Jamaica on a cruise and had my experience where you didn't really care for it, I would say, definitely give it another chance and go back and stay a couple of days. The country is so beautiful, the waterfalls, how tropical it is, some great sunsets there, great food. We've talked in the past about my favorite place, Scoochie's, which is a jerk chicken place, which is amazing. Dip your jerk chicken in some scotch bonnet sauce which is like a habanero. It's great. I sweat it Ketchup.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah, we're broadcasting live from Salt Lake City. How do we get from Salt Lake? And obviously, if you live in other parts of the country, we can help you get there from wherever you live, but let's talk about getting there from Salt Lake.

Mark Faldmo:

Yep. So traditionally, from most places in the West Coast you've had to take an overnight flight, connect somewhere and then go on to Jamaica. Delta Airlines from Salt Lake and probably other Western cities as well, has added an earlier am flight to Atlanta which now gets you in time so you can connect in one day.

Mark Faldmo:

I think you leave at 7 am and get into Jamaica at like 4.30 or 5 pm, so you now can get there all in one day. United has added on Saturdays where you can get there, connecting Salt Lake to Denver, Denver to Jamaica, so now we have a lot more options to get there in the same day where, as in the past, you've either had taken overnight flight or what I've done in that case. I don't like overnight flights, so I'll just take the last flight of the day, spend a night in the hotel in the connection city and then fly out the next morning, because I just do everything I can to avoid overnight flight. But now we have a fairly easy route to get to Jamaica.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Let's talk about where to stay in Jamaica. What's your favorite place Now?

Mark Faldmo:

there are three main areas of Jamaica and there are some other secondary areas which we won't talk about, but the main areas are Montego Bay, which is known as Jamaica's second city, has great beaches and you can have a fairly active vacation here. It's close to a lot of activities. The next area is Ocho Rios and it's known for its natural beauty. That's where one of the most famous activities is, which is Duns River Falls. It's also where the Jamaican bobsled experience is at. And then there's Negril, which has more of a laid back vibe and has world famous sunsets. There's Seven Mile Beach there, which is a great stretch of beach that has a lot of hotels on it, and for the sunsets, one of my favorite places to go to, Rick's Cafe. Have a meal, watch the sunset there. It's kind of perched up on a cliff.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Let's talk about some of the activities. Only because you brought it up before. I know that bamboo rafting has to be on this list, just because you loved it so much.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, that's my number one. It's not really an adventurous thing. They make rafts out of bamboo. They hold two people, so you're on with a raft driver and two people and you just lazily kind of float down the river. The boat driver slash guide explains about Jamaica. You have good conversations. It's a really good way to kind of get a local flavor of things. I love bamboo rafting.

Patrick Wiscombe:

For bamboo rafting. What section of Jamaica is that in? Is that Ocho Rios, negril? Where is that?

Mark Faldmo:

There's a couple of places you can do that. You can do that in the Montego Bay area and the Ocho Rios area. I've done it in both areas and I think there's a few other places that you can do it as well.

Patrick Wiscombe:

You mentioned the bobsled experience. Have you done that?

Mark Faldmo:

I've done the bobsled experience. Jamaica famous for the only year-round warm weather destination to have a team in the Winter Olympics. We all know the cool running story, so they really play on that and you take a ski lift up a mountain and it's kind of like a mountain roller coaster is what it is. And then I also talked about Duns River Falls. Yeah, it's a pretty touristy thing to do If you want natural beauty. You go down ocean level where a river runs into the ocean, and then you kind of hike up the waterfall. It's a gradual set of waterfalls that you hike up.

Mark Faldmo:

And then another thing I like to do is explore Nine Mile Village, which is Bob Marley's hometown.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Okay, that's what I thought, bobsled and Bob Marley, they should just call it the bobbing Come bob here in Jamaica. My perception of Jamaica is all-inclusive resorts around the different areas. What properties do you recommend and how much are they? I looked at three properties.

Mark Faldmo:

This pricing is five night all-inclusive package with airfare from Salt Lake City. I did use that Saturday departure on United in November. That was the best price. Delta's price is a little bit more expensive, so United did have a better price. And then I also went with four star and above hotels. First one is the Iberostar Waves Rose Hall Beach and that's in the Montego Bay area. It's a four and a half star hotel and that starts at $1349 per person.

Mark Faldmo:

Again, that's airfare five nights hotel and transfers between the airport and hotel that's a big deal. You know, I was actually quite pleased with what these five-star resorts came in. At the Hideaway at Royalton, blue Waters, that's in between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, it's a five-star resort. Starts at $1429 per person. Wow, that's phenomenal. And then one of my favorite hotels is the Azul Beach, Negril. So this is over in the Negril area Five stars. Starts at $1479 per person.

Patrick Wiscombe:

If you have never been to Jamaica ever, what would be your first choice if you've never been there?

Mark Faldmo:

if you want to have a great experience in Jamaica, I probably would go with the Hideaway Royalton, Blue Waters $1429,. Right, that's phenomenal.

Patrick Wiscombe:

You know, I just looked at the clock. We got to take a break. Let's take a break To book your Jamaica experience. And what dates were that? In November, this coming November.

Mark Faldmo:

Saturdays, and that price is good on almost all Saturdays, except when you get to Thanksgiving.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Yeah, that would make sense. I don't know, maybe you should go during Thanksgiving. Just take the family, just go. Just go Call Mark, call his office, 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. And you can also go to blueplanetvacations. com. Coming up in segment number two, it's the infamous Just Cruising segment and we're going to talk about solar eclipse cruises. The eclipse is coming back and we're headed to Europe. That is next when the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show continues. Alongside Mark Faldmo, my name is Patrick Wiscombe. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday morning. He 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.

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Show Voice:

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 Wiscombe and Mark Faldmo.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Serving travelers around the world. You are listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast and radio show. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Mark Faldmo is in his radio studio as we broadcast live here in Salt Lake City. Just as an announcement, we have added another radio station to our growing network of radio stations radio station 860 KKAT in Salt Lake. That's correct, yep. Thank you to KKAT. Thank you, tom, for getting this on the air. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your Saturday morning. Whatever you're doing, thank you for allowing us inside of your ears. Hopefully we can keep you entertained if you're doing something just terrible Coming up in this segment of the show.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Always in segment number two, it is the Just Cruising segment, and we've also got the cruise news of the week that's coming up here in a second as we went into the break. We were talking about the Virgin Voyages, the solar eclipse cruises. We're going to give pricing on that. Right, we are. So that will be for 2026, but I have a feeling, if, uh, history is any indication, these will probably sell out very, very quickly these cabins they will and they just went on sale three days ago.

Patrick Wiscombe:

They are selling fast so call mark in case you're going. Oh, I want to do that, I don't care what the price is. 888-718-7717. 888-718-7717. Let's get to the cruise news of the week. There was a story about a property I think it was a house in Pompeii, and a tourist or tourist decided to just not be nice to this house.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, Pompeii is the city that was covered in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, so it's a historical site fully restored. It's an amazing place to go tour around and see, because the ash came on these people so fast that it basically preserved everything. Wow, this happened over 2,000 years ago. A tourist was caught carving his name and his daughter's name into a 2,000-year-old home in the ruins of Pompeii. Of course he did. This is a tourist behaving badly. Segment Other things like this in the news a group of tourists in California were caught playing paintball in a national park. A tourist in Spain wanted to get a better picture of some ancient cave drawings, and so he poured water on them to make it look better in a photo, I guess, and so respect where you're traveling.

Mark Faldmo:

In Italy or Pompeii, the fine is between 20,000 and 60,000 euros, so that's about 25 to 70,000 dollars, and could face jail time of up to five years for that. If people start doing this, they're just going to close them down and you won't be able to enjoy them.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I saw this story that Princess Cruise Lines is introducing the Sanctuary Collection.

Mark Faldmo:

Princess is adding a different category of cruises. We've talked about the Haven on Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean has some suite access. They've added what they call the Sanctuary Collection on their two newest ships. People that are sailing in Sanctuary have access to their own top deck space reserved exclusively for adults. They have their own private restaurant. They all come with the Princess Premier package, which is their highest level of service, which basically makes your cruise all-inclusive Unlimited specialty dining, unlimited casual dining, unlimited drinks, and then they have premium amenities and service that come with each suite. The thing that I think is interesting about this is you can buy the Sanctuary Collection in three different areas of the ship. They have Sanctuary Suites, sanctuary ship. They have sanctuary suites, sanctuary mini suites and sanctuary balconies, so you can get this package in just a regular balcony cabin.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Oh, really okay. So it's a level of service, not necessarily the room. Well, I guess that includes the room too yeah, yeah, includes the room.

Mark Faldmo:

So and I haven't looked at the deck plan this does not appear to be like the haven on Norwegian, where it is just in one section. There probably are some that are all together, but this does appear. You can buy these different levels around the ship. A lot of these come with butlers and, like I don't even know what to do with the butler, I don't either. The butlers keep calling. Can I do anything for you? Sanctuary Collection is on Princess's two newest ships, the Sun Princess and the Star Princess.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Virgin Voyages has what they're calling the Marvelous Voyages.

Mark Faldmo:

Yeah, they do, and these are really exciting voyages. These are bucket list awe-inspiring voyages, so it's a collection of some of the most iconic places to visit around the world, and they try and incorporate different special things in these sailings, like our hot cruise deal of the week is going to be. They have solar eclipse cruises.

Patrick Wiscombe:

This sounds awesome.

Mark Faldmo:

So they really try to tie in special experiences in with these cruises and that's why they're called Marvelous Voyages.

Patrick Wiscombe:

What details do we have and how much is it going to cost Yep?

Mark Faldmo:

So they have two different cruises and they both have, I think, really great itineraries, and the first one is in the Mediterranean. This will be under the path of the total eclipse is in the Mediterranean. This will be under the path of the total eclipse. It sails Barcelona to Rome, visit Palma, acones, France, Corsica, board in the Amalfi Coast, Salerno, Sicily, and then end in Rome.

Patrick Wiscombe:

How many days is that?

Mark Faldmo:

It's a 12-night cruise, oh wow, and the sailing dates is August 10th to the 22nd 2026. And that cruise starts at $6,739 per cabin, based on two in a cabin. Okay, so this is the total price for two people, and that actually does include about a 30% discount off of their regular pricing for this.

Patrick Wiscombe:

That might be the most expensive cruise that we've ever promoted on the show, but they're leaning very heavily into the specialness of following the eclipse. And let's not forget, it's a 12-night cruise. That's a long cruise.

Mark Faldmo:

It's a 12-night cruise. Virgin Voyages would be considered a premium cruise cruise. Virgin Voyages would be considered a premium cruise, so they are a step up from your Royal Caribbean's, your Norwegian Carnival Cruise Lines. They also are adults only, which is, I think, a nice perk. Not that I don't like kids, but it is nice to go on a cruise and just have everything more oriented towards adults. I think they have the best food I've ever had. You know, as we mentioned in the past, my wife has some food allergies. Virgin Voyages is the only travel experience where we didn't have to worry about those food allergies. Wow, okay, they do such a great job in the kitchen for everyone. Where this is a summer, a lot of cruise lines are going to be in the Med, oh yeah, so I'm sure most cruise lines are going to follow suit. This one really caught my mind, one because it's Virgin Voyages, because I like them and they have two itineraries One is the Med and one is in Scandinavia.

Patrick Wiscombe:

How many times have you been to Europe, Scandinavia?

Mark Faldmo:

I've probably been to Europe, I don't know 30 times probably, and Scandinavia a handful of those. Scandinavia is one of my favorite places, but probably 10 times or so to Scandinavia.

Patrick Wiscombe:

Tell me about the Virgin Voyages Scandinavia Eclipse Cruise.

Mark Faldmo:

This is one I definitely would love to do because I love Scandinavia. It's a 15-night cruise, starts in Portsmouth and ends in Edinburgh. Fly into London, start your cruise in Portsmouth and then it goes to Dublin, Glasgow area, isle of Lewis, and then it goes over to Greenland and Iceland and then ends in Edinburgh, this one's August 5th to the 20th I'm not sure where the eclipse falls within that, but it being Scandinavia, this one is more expensive than the MAD one that we talked about and it starts at about $10,000 for a cabin. But again, 15-night cruise on a premium cruise line doing a special thing, which is seeing the eclipse that will be in Europe at that time.

Patrick Wiscombe:

I hope glasses are included. I'm sure they will be For 10 grand. To book that experience, call Mark in his office. Go talk it over with your significant other and then call Mark in his office, no-transcript. Make it a great day. Live your life intentionally. Live your life deliberately. Explore the world If you can travel. Don't wait. People say I want to travel, I want to travel, and then they never travel and then some health issue or something goes wrong. Don't put it off any longer. Live your life like you mean it. It's such a great time to live. Thank you so much for allowing us to be part of your Saturday morning. You have been listening to the Inside Travel Talk podcast, a radio show alongside Mark Faldmo. My name is Patrick Wiscombe. Oh, one quick thing before we take off, be sure to subscribe to the podcast. Go to insidetraveltalk. com, insidetraveltalk. com and you can subscribe to the podcast, and we're on all of the major podcast platforms. Have a terrific Saturday. We'll talk to you next week.

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 BluePlanetVacations. com. Book your adventure right now. Call 888-718-7717. That's 888-718-7717. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.

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